Gelatissimo: Good Gelato, Terrific Tambayan

Summer brings temperatures that melt one's brain. If you're a student or someone with a job that requires you to be on your laptop and connected to the 'Net, you might just want to go out and chill somewhere, but it can be quite hard to get a good spot in your typical cafes. CBTL's got free Wi-Fi for Swirl Card owners, but recently most branches have cut back on the number of electrical outlets. Starbucks usually have many outlets, but their Wi-Fi access isn't exactly cheap and the noise levels in their branches can be irritating. In any case, the sheer number of other people who want a place to cool off in these hot summer days makes finding a good work/study spot difficult.

Enter Gelatissimo.

Well, in this case, it's just Gelatissimo Trinoma. I haven't tried other branches (heck, I don't know where the other branches are except for that stall in Greenbelt). It's cool, cozy, bright, and has a plethora of gelato flavors from which you can choose. There are three outlets, and usually it's not hard to get a spot because most people don't really stay for long. Just be prepared to wait a bit sometimes because the place can get crowded thanks to the Trinoma Cinema promo [every ticket comes with a "buy 1 scoop, get 1 free" stub]. The Wi-Fi is free and fast, too.

The staff will let you sample the flavors before you invest--one scoop is a steep PhP110, two scoops cost PhP160, and so on. Flavors range from the commonplace convenience store varieties like vanilla and mango to the more exciting ones like chocolate truffle and chocolate with chili (I forget the exact flavor name). They also have my favorite, pistachio [though I still think Arce Dairy's is the best pistachio ice cream on the market]. You can also opt to add a warm waffle to your scoops for just 50 pesos. They also have gelato shakes, sundaes, and affogato. For large groups, you can try out the Bambino, which is 32 small scoops of your choice.

My go-to order is the PhP200 Coppa Tre. It's basically a sundae made up of three big Gelato scoops. You get to choose the flavors, and it comes with a cracker, whipped cream, a stick or two of Stik-o, choco dip, random crushed nuts, and a cherry on top. I don't really know which flavors get this, but on occasion, my girlfriend and I have had coppa tres with a small sugar cone and in a different glass cup. Anyway, it's a nice mid-range treat that somehow, in my mind, justifies leeching off the establishment's electricity and Internet connection for 4 to 6 hours. It's near what you'll be spending for a drink or two in a cafe, depending on how dependent you are on caffeine.

Coppa Tre

Aside from the dependable Wi-Fi and the outlets, the ambience also helps get work done. It's never too noisy, people usually don't stay longer than 15-20 minutes, and most of the seats are comfortable. The place also has its own clean comfort room inside. And there are chandeliers, man. I don't know how that helps, but I wanted to mention it nonetheless.

So there. Gelatissimo Trinoma is an excellent alternative to the three Starbucks and two Coffee Beans in that mall. If you're someone who needs to get some studying or work done, you can ditch the usual jam-packed places and just head on straight to Gelatissimo to save yourself the trouble of finding a good spot. Plus, the staff's real nice and the gelato's great!

The Rookie Wall

I've hit the rookie wall.

Yep, I've been working as a copywriter for an ad agency for a mere 3 days and I don't think I've got it figured out. I'm a rookie, and I've hit the rookie wall.

My first day, I got mixed up on which of my teammates to follow so I got involved in a meeting with *drumroll* the CEO. After that meeting, I was tasked to produce a line that'll blow everyone's mind. I couldn't figure out the whole brainstorming dynamic so I was just silent for most of the time. To make things worse, the one I'm supposed to replace was still there, so I just couldn't shrug off the feeling of being second-rate.

I logged overtime those first 3 days, and everything was just a blur. The learning curve is very, very steep, and there are so many new things to grasp--made even harder by the fact that people seem to forget that I'm a rookie with no industry experience. I've gotten involved in 5 different accounts in 3 days, including one with a crossover between different teams. Needless to say, there's a lot of pressure on my part, pressure that's put on me both by the situations and also by myself.

But then... ginusto ko to, eh. I've got to hang in there. There's too much at stake. I also don't want to disappoint my best friend who's working there, and I don't want to mess up knowing that people know where I'm from. I can't let it be said that this guy from the University of the Philippines' creative writing program can't crack the rotation.

Most of all, I have to make it for my own sake. I've tried to live my whole life without doing anything half-assed, and I most certainly won't start now.

Fuck the rookie wall!

ETA: On my sixth day, I decided to call it quits. A case of too much, too soon? Schedule getting me down? Utter lack of feeling that I belong? It's a mix of all those, and in the end, I had to make a decision. It was a hard decision, considering the pay and the opportunity, but there are simply some sacrifices that I'm not willing to make. A couple months later, I don't regret a thing.

3:00AM

It's 3 in the morning and I'm still awake. I've slipped through a couple of half-dazed, half-asleep states already, and at this point there is really nothing left in my tank. My mind is blanker than the empty page on which a measly little cursor blinks in and out of sight.

Ah, the empty page.

Just a little recap of the past 19 hours: I churned out 18 200-word copies at work, went to town on 4 500-word articles, and have finished another copy before fighting another bout of heavy-eyelid syndrome. That's at least 5,800 words right there, in less than a day. And yet here I am, still typing away.

Is it for a lack of anything to do? I'm busy as hell; in fact, I don't think the devil himself is willing to subject himself to a 6,000-word day.

Maybe it's just because I just want to write. I've been doing the mindless, automatic shit for far too long (though admittedly not as long as others) that the writer in me, for all his pretensions and failed aspirations, is struggling to see the light of day.

Here you go, self. Here's your little piece of freedom. Now that you've gotten this far, well... at this point, I realize that it's 3:08, and 8 more copies are still on my plate. Freedom, once again, will have to wait.