So there’s this guy I met in Singapore during our conferences. He messaged me this afternoon to say that he is in Manila and when can I meet him?

Dude, it’s so short notice. Who do you think you are?!

I asked him when is he leaving because I live far from the CBD area i.e. Makati and when I go there, I pack my meetings on days I have other things to do there, like on Thursday.

He said he will be leaving on Wednesday. Pfffftttt.

Does he think that I will just go and drive through the monsoon rains and horrible traffic that has gotten worse compared to pre-pandemic era just because he says so? Hey, when you introduced yourself to me, you didn’t even have a business card and you just got mine. I couldn’t even search for you on LinkedIn because your name is very common. Then you just messaged me on WhatsApp and had the gall to ask me for free entry into some of the our conferences that you weren’t able to purchase tickets for. The nerve.

Then you message me now like that?

No.

I don’t even know what kind of company you represent and I don’t think I would get any story from you.

Whoa dude. I only waste diesel and my energy on very important people.

Meanwhile, one of my old sources who has transferred to an investment bank in Washington is back in town and he asked for a coffee date. So yeah well, at least he told me he will be here until Sept so I can time that meeting with other things. Unfortunately, I can’t give him new updates because he’s so focused on mining and I’m not covering that sector often these days because the conferences by the Chamber of Mines have yet to come back. Plus none of my regular contacts have been looking into mining.

She invited herself in, plopped on my bed and slept. She can be adorable and annoying, like this:

Ah Monday. I was in a good mood and started working early. I still have a backlog of emails though that I need to attack tomorrow. I still have a long piece from Japan that I need to finish editing. It is a lot of work.

I took a break and went to Araneta Center to check if Ticketnet is still selling the cheapest seats for the G(Idle) concert in September for my girls as a little reward for finishing review school (which will end on Sunday). Ah well, they ran out of the Level 4 tickets so it’s a no-go for the girls. I won’t spend PHP 5,300 for each child. I even did not spend that much on my ticket to see GooGoo Dolls in 2017 and I waited for them for 20 years!

I didn’t go home empty-handed though. I wasted diesel so might as well pick up something from Gateway.

My bestfriend and I are still thinking if we should queue on Sunday (when they start selling) at the SM Mall nearest my hometown for the tickets to the NCT concert. Nope, I’m not watching; it’s for her and the girls. My music preferences have evolved through the years but this evolution does not include Kpop.

Earlier tonight, I was going through my receipts that I accumulated from my trip to Singapore since I needed to issue an invoice for the refund of all my expenses there. Even my bottled water from Guardian. LOL. I wondered about my spending habits there; either I’m a cheap girl or food is more affordable there since I only incurred less than PHP 7,000 for subsistence there for 10 days! (well, that does not include lunch for four days when I was at the conferences) That’s pretty cheap. I mean when I eat here in Metro Manila whenever I’m out, every meal would cost somewhere between PHP 400-PHP 500 or SGD 7.4-SGD 12.3. Well, maybe because in SG I can eat at the hawkers or Kopitiam and I would still feel satiated. I would only go over SGD 10 if I buy lunch or dinner at the financial district.

My hotel, however, is a different story. The hotel accommodations in SG have risen so much because conferences are back and the HK conferences and events (like the SuperReturn Asia PE/VC Conference 2022) have transferred to SG. There are a lot of transients as well—these are the people who are uprooting themselves from HK to SG. Since the demand for housing has shot up, those who are in transition had to stay in hotels, contributing to the tightness in room supply in the city.

Anyway, I just realized I’m a cheap person. It only takes a little to make me comfortable and content.