Bye-bye Jaeger?

Bugger. Hubby hated the Jaeger. “It’s not elegant,” he says, “I don’t like it and nothing will convince me otherwise.” Hmmm …

Thought I’d test the opinion. My brother-in-law is a watch connoisseur of sorts – a horology expert, you might say.

He initially told me, by text message, that the Jaeger is a “good looking sports watch.” I almost went crazy with happiness. Then, OC that I am, I decided to call him.

He says the reviews are solid. “It’s a good watch then?”, I ask. “Well, you can’t go wrong with a Jaeger,” he replies. “But Jaeger’s really famous for the Reverso” (which I absolutely hate, by the way). “And the look of the Master Compressor Automatic is, well, let’s say, not classic.” Bro-in-law says in 2 years’ time I will tire of it.

His suggestions? “Find a vintage Rolex Bubbleback, c. 1940s. Or a second-hand Oyster Perpetual DateJust. A Rolex is a starter-set,” he says, “you should have one and build on it.” (An opinion McSweetie shares.)

I’m heartbroken. I absolutely loved the Jaeger and surfing the net tonight, I found myself actually drawn to watches that have a similarly sporty, modern look.

Oh, the h@#$#l with it! I like it and just might defy the nay-sayers. Then again, I’ll never hear the end of it from Hubby and my in-laws. Sigh …

BAAAWLLLL…

Croc-attack

I’ve given in to Crocs despite The Great Manolo’s violent objections to them.

My daughter, Maia, tried on a pair at Rustan’s recently and wouldn’t take them off. She was jumping and running (they must be really comfortable) and showing them off to her grandmother and refusing to put her (old) shoes back on. And she chose the color, too – “purple”, she says decidedly when asked to choose from among baby pink, orange, yellow, green and what to me looked more like hot pink than purple. I couldn’t resist getting one for myself to match hers (I also made a mental note to purchase tandem outfits to go with them – call me weird). Hubby also managed to get himself a blue and beige Islander.

Realized (too) soon afterwards that the pink Crocs are virtually impossible to wear outside the house (and with anything except shorts). I mean, they do call attention to themselves. I did manage to wear them once one Sunday lunch with my in-laws where our matching Crocs got the expected, er, attention – how cute are they with the matching boat shoes?! ARGH (Only one brother-in-law remarked he might get pairs for himself, his wife, and his 2-year old daughter, too).

I look at the Crocs now and realize, well, the kid-sized ones are still really cute (cuter even when worn) --- but how the hell can any grown woman get away with shoes like these?!?!

P45°

Hubby took me to Parallel Forty Five (P45°) at 871 Samat Street, Mandaluyong City (Samat is off-Shaw, at or near the flyover running to Pasig) for a much-deserved birthday dinner. According to a chef friend who recommended the place, P45°would be finest “fine dining” experience.

My choices from the menu were:

• Oysters baked with duck liver Hollandaise and quatro fromagie
• Tomato and fresh buffalo Mozzarella cheese with prosciutto, rocket pesto, and basil salad in “aged” balsamic vinaigrette
• Lobster and prawn bisque with poached oysters
• The Best-selling “Cowgirl Steak”, all 350 grams of Certified Angus choice rib-eye steak with herb butter, Merlot-braised onions and grilled seasonal vegetables
• Cabernet 2003 (California)
• And for dessert, Trio of Sorbet – raspberry, dalandan dill (particularly yummy) and lemon

The waitstaff must have been scouring the papers the next day for a review. I asked our inarticulate waitress, you see, to list down the dishes we had (and she did so quite efficiently) – for this blog, I have no shame (no, actually, you will appreciate that I didn’t whip out a camera) – which may have given the false impression that I am a food critic of sorts. But I’m a gourmand, you see (fairly obvious probably from the unimaginative choices I made from the menu for the evening) and do not “dine” in the manner gourmets do. But there were no gourmets in the place, thank god – no other diner in fact – to blow my cover.

So will this phony food critic go back to P45° to sample its other menu offerings?, you ask. The food was, well, satisfactory (with the exception of the sorbet, which was truly delicious). The wine was excellent. Problem is, I asked for a medium-rare steak. I was served rare. Hubby preferred his steak cooked medium-well. He got it medium-rare. But the real problem is, the prices on the carte du jour were almost shocking. The Cowgirl Steak cost a whopping Php1,900++ per plate (comparable in price but maybe not in taste to Red’s, if my memory serves me right), the oysters Php700++, and my salad about Php600.

The answer to the question then? I will try anything once (and P45° is a good choice on a special occasion such as your 36th birthday). For P45°, I may in future find good cause to go back for seconds. But then again maybe not. Not if I have to pay for the meal anyway.

[To sample ParallelFortyFive yourself, go to www.p45.com.ph or call (+632)718-1777]

Lola

My 2-year old Maia would meet Lola Lina, who is afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, at the 3rd Floor poolside and playground commons of our condominium building every morning and every afternoon. Both are brought by their yayas for their routine “pasyal” and to hang out with the (other) kids who gather together to play there. Maia talked about Lola to me often enough. But I didn’t really realize how fond they were of each other until one night, Lola Lina’s daughter called me to invite Maia to Lola Lina’s 80th Birthday Party at the Intercon. And she had this special request: Would Maia sing the “Happy Birthday” song at the party? And so we went. It was a formal dinner party with over a hundred guests (Lola Lina’s children flew all the way from the States for the special occasion).

This article, written by Maia’s grandmother (ever proud of her one and only grandchild), was inspired by the events of that evening and the very special friendship that Lola Lina and Maia share.

My life is in a haze, suspended between the here and there, between what was and what is. I am in a daze. I forget things. I forget what I am doing. Most of the time, I do not know where I am. It is all so confusing. And people are so strange. This woman comes and kisses me and calls me mama. She says she is my daughter. Do I have a daughter? “Do you remember?” people ask. Remember what?

It’s all because I have grown so old. Although they tell me it’s because I have this illness with a strange name. I forget the name.

There are many things I can no longer do. I cannot walk. I move around in a wheelchair. And I have a yaya who feeds me, bathes me, dresses me and cleans after me. She pushes me around in my wheelchair like a baby, like I did for my own babies. Yes, I had babies once. My babies also had yayas. Like Maia.

I had a big house then. I remember a big house with many rooms. It’s gone now. Today, I live in a unit, number 505, it says on the door. Units are small. Even my room is small with just one window through which sunlight comes in. Pero no importa.

Maia also lives in a unit, just below mine. After my afternoon nap, my yaya brings me down to the 3rd floor, where there are plants in pots, a playground and a swimming pool. Maia goes there too, after her own nap.

The first time I saw her, she came and stood in front of me. “Hello,” she said. Then she came closer. Putting her hand to her chest, she said, “Maia”. I tried to tell her my name but the sound wouldn’t come out.

“Si Lola ‘yan,” her yaya said. “Lo-la”, she mouthed and smiled.

She is a tiny two year old. A pretty little mestiza, fragile looking but very active. She runs around a lot with one or two other children following her lead. A happy, friendly child who laughs often.

One day she came to me to show me two stuffed toys. They were both red and looked alike, except that one was bigger. “This is Elmo, Lola,” she said of the bigger one. “And this is Baby Elmo.”

I remember because she was so cute that I couldn’t help reaching out and pinching her cheeks. “No, Lola,” she protested, “that hu’ts.” But she didn’t cry. I have never seen her cry. She does not have crying fits like the other children.

I am now 80 years old, you know. I had a birthday party in a large hall filled with many people. There was a program, with songs and dances and speeches just for me.

“Mama has a little friend who came to sing to her,” my daughter was saying. And there she was … Maia! She walked confidently, straight to where I was, took the microphone and sang the birthday song. The words rang out very clearly, and for a 2 year old, in perfect tune. Everybody applauded when she bowed. I clapped too. She turned around, looked at me, and said, ”I love you, Lola!”

There was a light around her, a halo, and her pretty green dress glittered. She was smiling … sweetly. I knew at that moment that Maia is an angel, una pequena querubin, with soft straight hair. I know she is an angel heaven sent to me, my own special angel!

When I get to heaven’s gate, I will tell them that I have an angel friend. Her name is Maia, I will say. Then, surely they will let me in. I must not forget her name. I must always remember. Maia.

Jaeger, yeay girl!

Peeped into Lucerne today with my friend, rbt, who bought his wife a Philip Stein Small for her birthday – what a sweety – and had the shock of my life. The Patek Philippe Aquanaut has just zoomed out of mortal reach. The Small Aquanaut (Quartz, remember ...) is now selling for an already-discounted, unbelievable price of Php450,000!!! And the Medium, Php600 f@#gg$in’-thousand!!! Horrors. How can anyone afford this and sleep well at night? Who in the world has such a conscience? Just thinking about forking out that much cash makes me want to pull out all the recently-dyed hair on my head ... and then some.

Good news is I just found a suitable (and, arguably, equally fabulous) alternative. Check out the Jaeger LeCoultre Master Compressor Automatic (Ref: Q172 24 40), seen here with a tan leather strap (I personally prefer the black strap – sorry, couldn’t find pics fast enough). Nar, the Lucerne salesman, says it’s a lady’s watch (and so do some sites that sell it online) but Jaeger official site says it’s a “medium-size” watch that suits both women and men.

I have these good things to say about it:

1. 36.8 cm case diameter is small enough to be feminine but is large enough not to be girly, and to look and mean business. Think Elizabeth Bennett meets kick-ass Lara Croft.

2. Movement is automatic (Hooray!!), Caliber 960, 28,800 vph, 72-hour power reserve. Monster!

3. Bi-directional rotating bezel under the crystal manipulated through outside screw crown. Clever!

4. Patented compression key system on crown and button which makes it water resistant to 20 atm.

5. Selling at Lucerne at the cash price of Php190,000+ (or Php204,000++ by credit card at 0% interest courtesy of Citibank). Not bad for a Jaeger.

6. It’s freaky gorgeous to me (Hubby, on the other hand, thinks it too plain; though he adds, "Then again, it's a Jaeger ...") and, according to my good friend, rbt, the sporty but serious look is so suited to my “lifestyle.”

Ahhhh…. Am deliriously happy but confused. Another Php85,000 and I'd have a Rolex. Yet ... might not sleep at all tonight just dreaming about this watch. Help meeeeeeeee