Monday, November 21, 2005

State of our economy

Please forgive me for not posting so often. I guess that's what happens when you're busy living life; you can't sit down to write about your life. :) Well I hope to turn a new leaf now and write more often here.

Just yesterday, we went to Crustasia Restaurant at The Power Plant Mall for a 3 p.m. lunch/snack--it was lunch for my sister and her family, and snacks for my mom, my son and me. Now crabs, fried rice, shrimps, and spring rolls don't exactly qualify as snack menu, but it was my sister's birthday after all. Food's great, but service was not so great, as they forgot my son's tofu. But that's ok, since we were so full anyway that there wasn't room anymore in our tummies. In fact, we skipped dinner last night.

Last Monday, I got to interview one of our country's bright economists, Dr. Cielito Habito of the Ateneo, for a story in a mag I write for. He was also former NEDA director-general and former socio-economic planning secretary during Ramos's time. And he explained in simple terms what we will more or less face next year: higher prices, not enough jobs, no wage increases--basically what we're experiencing now. And that calls for more belt tightening, he says.

Well yesterday was sale day at The Power Plant and the place was swarming with people, although, not quite Megamall on a 3-day sale. Still, there were so many people. And they were buying and buying at Fully Booked (20% off on cash purchases, 15% off on credit card buys), Bayo, Marks and Spencer, and even Lacoste was full! And that got me thinking: Are we really getting poorer as our economists say? Looks like life's a blast at The Power Plant yesterday. I bumped into whole families eating Coldstone ice cream (P150 per cup; buy one take one yesterday), saw men ogling the new Benzes on display and even taking them out for a test drive, women with shopping bags in tow.

Hard times? Maybe not here. But it's out there, on Agham Road in QC where we saw a little boy pulling his toy car (two wooden blocks placed on top of each other with four bottlecaps as wheels), on Mindanao Avenue where streetkids show you their dirty palms as they ask for change so they can eat...I could go on and on.

BOOK OF THE WEEK: My friend Cielo let me borrow her book Wild At Heart by John Eldredge. It's about "discovering the secret of a man's soul." There are three things a man needs: a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. Too often, we women (moms/wives/friends) curtail that wild side in a man and so men turn out to be wimps. A great read! I'm just halfway through it but it's so amazing.

VERSE OF THE WEEK: Luke 12:22b-23;25-26: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?"