Well, I actually like the house I live in now but Vic is still looking for that stand-alone house in a nice neighborhood. Anyway, we almost bought a vacant lot in Cebu before, with a magnificent view of the city - but it didn't push through. This year though, I will actively seek out vacant lots again in nice addresses, so that we can achieve that dream of building a nice house in a nice neighborhood. Even in Roxas District is no problem since it's proximity to everywhere is great!
Due to budgetary constraints this year, I decided to drop my habit of buying magazines. Before, I'd used to drop almost 10K pesos (US$228) a month just for magazines! So I had so many glossies beside my bed - and no time to read them! It was ridiculous! So last year, I decided to be more strict with myself - and just buy those titles that I actually read - and it even came to the point where I just dropped the habit and just see everything online! Of course, nothing beats reading it on paper, a habit for me which is hard to give up - since I don't want to be in front of a screen 24/7. Anyway, for this year, these are the titles I'm buying -
1. GT - of course! still one of the best gay rags around! I just miss their local versions like Icon and L.
2. Vanity Fair - for me, still the most readable magazine around! I just love their investigative stories.
3. Men's Health - I am now bored with my current workout and I need new ideas. Time to buy the local version of this one.
4. Rogue - in my opinion, the most intelligent local magazine we have - well-researched and well-written articles, and the most interesting topics. I'm a latecomer to this magazine since I'm not really attracted to sexy female covers, but when my brother started buying copies of it - I was blown away by the quality of the articles. I am now a loyal fan! I just hope they also put a sexy guy beside that almost naked chick, puhhlleeezze!!
5. Lifestyle Asia - the more readable version of the 'elite' magazines since it has more interesting stories than ads
6. Philippine Tatler - I just buy this magazine to take a peek at what our local high society is up to. Not much substance here but so many aspirational brands - eye candy if you please! And it's always great to see nicely dressed people on the pages - I mean real people - not models whose physiques are so impossible to ape!
These past two years saw an explosion of new friends for me! I guess Facebook does help but I've also been doing some new things on the side so that's why I got friends whose interests are as diverse as can be. I will continue to do that this year! I will be joining Spanish class this year, as well as take keyboard lessons again, so let's see how that goes! I hope I can find another group of friends to add to the already established ones. Last year, I had found new friends through hip hop, since I began attending classes religiously again, and I've added new friends from my French class. Well, as my good friend Francis says, basta "Smile ka lang ng smile, people will respond to you positively"!
Even if we gave up our office this year, it doesn't mean we might not need an office in the future. So for 2011, one of the things I'm going to do is to check the Sunday ads religiously and look for a possible office for us, preferably here in Quezon City. Years ago, we saw some nice offices in Ortigas with a really beautiful view, but we weren't ready yet to get. Missed opportunities! The office has to be something which can accomodate an editorial team and possibly some area for a photography studio too, just in case shoots are needed.
I've been planning to learn Spanish for a long time now, and since I think I'm ok with my French, I think it's time I move on and learn une autre langue. So, I already checked the schedule at the Instituto Cervantes, and this January, I plan to enroll in a Tue-Thu afternoon class which would last for a month. Well, no particular reason to learn Spanish except to be able to speak it if I do meet Spanish-speaking people when I travel. Also, it would come in handy if we do decide to travel in South America in the future. It would be a treat too if I could read Don Quixote - en espagnole!
