I decided to spend my afternoon in the nearby shopping center. I needed a change of place so I went to Hema and enjoyed a cup of cappuccino and people-watched for a bit, then I wrote letters. In times like this, I wish we have coffee shops like those back home. You know, like Starbucks. They don't really have those here. They have cafes, though, but when you're alone, you don't tend to pick those places to have some peace and quiet. It's just different. I used to hang at Blugre Coffee to read, write, meet up with friends and have time alone from everything else. I could stay there for hours and not notice the time. A few months before I moved here, a friend and I went there twice or thrice a week and talked until 2 am. Some times I went there with Mama when we just wanted to get out of the house, lounge in an air conditioned room and try out different coffee and treat ourselves with sweets and cakes. I miss that.
What I also miss is going to the salon and have my hair cut and nails done for cheap. You can easily walk in and get the service you want without making appointments, granted that it's not so busy. Here, you need to book an appointment or you can choose to wait for hours if you want your hair done that day. Sometimes, even with an appointment, you end up waiting for half an hour to an hour. There are times you do get helped on time, if you're lucky. The price of a haircut here is equivalent to a manicure & pedicure, a facial, a haircut and hot oil treatment in Pinas. A half day spa! A haircut + hair dye = whole day of spa. Outrageous, huh? That's why, I rarely go to the salon here. And when I do, it's really to get my hair cut short which will last me for half a year or longer. I also learned to do my nails and give myself a facial once in a while.
Spontaneity being the word of the day, I went to the salon to test my luck. Lo and behold, the free slot was in two and a half hours. Two and a half hours! Are they kidding me? Without thinking twice, I declined and booked myself for tomorrow instead. Now that I think about it, I kind of not want it anymore. The thought of going back there has lost its appeal. But I want to get a haircut before we go to Nijmegen on Friday. We're spending the weekend there with the family to celebrate the parents-in-law's 35th wedding anniversary and I need a change of hair-do. It's really just one of those moments when I have to change something with my hair. I almost cut it myself last weekend but Mike told me to have it done professionally before I regret it, which I most likely would have. So I conceded. He knows me too well.
I also signed up for Postcrossing (read about it from Odette's lovely blog) this morning and requested an address. My first postcard will be going to Finland. I was so excited until I read the recipients profile. This is what she wrote: "I prefer unwritten cards, so please if possible, send your card in envelope and put the card-ID in envelope, thanks!!!!" Am I just going to send a blank postcard? Or am I supposed to write my note on a different piece of paper and insert it with the blank postcard into an envelope? Postcards normally don't come in envelopes and the whole idea of Postcrossing is to bring snail mailing back. I'll think about what I'll do later. For now, I'll go make dinner and wrap the parcels so I can mail them tomorrow.
Posted in Daily Madness | Comments (5)
Jess at May 06 2008 | 23:48 |
| Too bad in Holland there really isn't a 'sit down, read, write, & lounge' culture in public places...they'd kick you out if you didn't order something every 30mins and were just relaxing in their space hahaha Maybe you should find another person to send your first postcard to...a postcard in its own envelope without anything written on it is just weird hehe   I know! They do have a couple of modern coffee shops in the stad but when I'm there, I tend go window shopping instead of hang somewhere. It is weird! I'm going to request more address now. :D |
odette at May 07 2008 | 07:31 |
| yes some people like their postcards clean when it gets to them, and they collect the stamps too, hence the envelope which they can just cut without damaging the postcard. ;-) you can request up to 5 addresses at the same time! click on the same process 4 more times and that's the limit of addresses you can have at one time. soon as your sent postcards were received and registered, you can get more addresses, the concept being, you can have as much as 5 travelling postcards at the same time. did i make it sound complicated? hehe i hope not! why can we not be neighbors with our favorite people in the world? it would've been nice to hop over for tea or coffee in your kitchen, and we can just crochet our time away, or brainstorm business ideas. wish ko lang. ;-) Thank you! That will save me a lot of time. Hehehe. Will request for 4 more addresses after this.I wish we're neighbors, too! I'd really like that. Our upstairs neighbors are moving out so *hint*... You guys should move back here soon!!! |
Sleepyjane at May 07 2008 | 08:52 |
| Going to a salon here just for a cut and colour costs and arm and a leg too so most of the time I just go as is until it gets really bad and I give in and dish out the cash. *sigh* I say you should go too - you'll feel better and show us how your hair turns out won't you? :) Exactly! I only go there when I really need to. I had my appointment for today cancelled, been having bad thoughts about it last night. So silly. I'll get the haircut next week and will show my new hair then. :) |
caryn at May 08 2008 | 07:53 |
| i too miss all the cheap kikay stuff we can have done in manila. here in tokyo it costs an arm and a leg. hehehe. i want to get my hair cut too! summer na! I know! I always have kikay stuff done whenever I get home. I book days off my vacation for pampering alone. Hehehe. Got a whole weekend to mull over the haircut. I don't know if I like the cut that I have in mind. lol |
Ilse at May 18 2008 | 21:20 |
| I'm thinking about joining postcrossing too, but just sending a postcard with nothing on it doesn't sound like a lot of fun! |
