It’ s been pretty weird in the past how many days. The state of emergency has been declared and now I have been receiving messages about possible threats of rallies and stuff on the streets.

This is difficult because of the amount of negative media coverage we have been given these days.

Part of me doesn’t want to go home anymore - just sleep over in the office so I won’t have trouble on the way home. But then again, I’d rather be home when something happens.

It’s the general feeling of dread spreading out and it’s making the people paranoid all the more.

Being in Makati for work makes me check out the different branches of Ministop and 7-11 in the area.

There are items that are more expensive in Ministop compared to 7-11 and vice versa.

They charge waaaay too much if you ask me. Like for a can of Coke - Php20. Thereabouts. It depends on where you are buying. And instant noodles - gah. They’re very expensive in convenience stores but I end up buying them anyway because I forgot to bring my stock (the ones I usually get from the supermarket).
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It’s now four days since the President declared Proclamation 1017 (State of National Emergency) and everything from an attempted coup, a raid of local newspaper Daily Tribune, arrests of prominent anti-government figures and a stand off in Fort Bonifacio has mucked the celebration of People Power.

Classes in all levels within the metro are suspended today (Monday). There is still heavy police and military presence in major roads including EDSA (Ortigas), South Luzon Tollway (Nichols), North Luzon Tollway (Balintawak) and roads leading to the Airport (NAIA).

Avoid the following areas which have barricades or are blocked - Fort Bonifacio (heading to Nichols), Mendiola and Malcanang, People Power Monument and EDSA shrine Ortigas.

If you’ve ever bought or at least checked out craft magazines–be it about beadwork, quilting, jewelry-making, bag-making and the like–you’ll know how insanely expensive they are. There are some that cost just around 200 pesos, but considering the fact that they usually have less than 10 pages, you’re better off buying the pricey ones. Don’t get me started on craft books.

While browsing through the shelves of National Bookstore on Scout Borromeo, I discovered an untapped alternative. On the same row of shelves as the fashion books, I saw locally-made manuals on patternmaking, tailoring and sewing. Below those, I saw Japanese and Chinese magazines that had a lot of patterns inside.
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Paolo Manalo—”filtering like a good Spycraft agent should” (and who’s also my Online Writing prof!), has been regularly updating a very extensive filter blog. Check out his LJ posts that cover the latest news such as the current state of local politics, entertainment and literature among other things.

I was on the way home from the supermarket (Yes, the country’s in a state of national emergency and all I’m concerned about is doing my grocery), when I heard this bit over the radio:

“…papasok sana ako sa isang fastfood outlet nang hinarang ako ng mga militanteng groupo. Hindi daw kasi ito makabayan.” (I was going to go inside the fastfood joint, but I was stopped by militant groups/protesters because it wasn’t patriotic).

As much as this is an amazing human drama, ripe with fantastic photographic elements, I’m not getting paid by MetroBlogger (or any other media!!) to risk life and limb for a great shot! So you’ll have to settle with the sole photo I took on the way back home to watch things unfold on CNN and ANC (which has now switched to all Tagalog, all the time- so I’m out of luck! ) Hope everybody got where they needed to go safely tonight!

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This morning, the military cracked down on a coup attempt that aims to overthrow President Gloria Arroyo. Several members of the Armed Forces were planning to start a coup and join protest rallies set today. The army and police are now in red alert.

Classes in all levels within the metro are suspended. There is heavy police and military presence in Makati and Ortigas (both business districts).

NOTE: This is a developing story.
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Philippine Airlines has been dubbed as “Plane Always Late.” (Which, in my opinion, better than Fly as Asians, arrive as spirits for Asian Spirit. Har.) I’ve flown with PAL twice and I must have forgotten to wear a watch because I can’t remember if the plane was late or not. However, I’m still alive and blogging, and that’s good enough for me.

What I *can* remember though, is that the queue in the PAL offices are ALWAYS something to dread. I was pretty optimistic earlier when I went to their Cubao office in Alimall, but I made sure I brought a book and some writing material with me.

Upon entering, I turned to the guard for a service number. I got 729, and to my horror, there were two digital signboards displaying the number up for service at the counter. One says 595, the other, 695. I do hope my number’s in the 695 category.

Still, it took me more than an hour of waiting for service that didn’t last for more than 15 minutes. Oh well, at least I’ll be on the Centennial airport.