On Thanksgiving Day, I went to the annual Christmas celebration with the Dino Lara and Jason Magbanua teams. We’ve been celebrating together for years now, and in the spirit of good food and extreme funny moments, it is our way of appreciating all the good stuff we’ve been blessed with.

I got transparent playing cards and that’s me in my cutesy Korean pose care of Ate Pang’s super cool polaroid camera.

I guess you’re wondering why we had our Christmas party already when it’s only November. December and January are the busiest months in the Philippine wedding industry. Wedding suppliers are booked almost every single day of those months. Surprising, huh?

We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in the Philippines but I would like to give thanks anyway for all the wonderful things that happened. I’m thankful that I was blessed with the coolest clients that collaborated with me to come up with amazing website designs that we are both happy with. I am a few blinks away from launching a couple of websites I’m working on and I am swelling with pride because nothing beats the feeling of making a client happy with a design you believe in. The only form of validation we should seek is the smile on the faces of people we serve.

There’s so much to be thankful for. In gratitude we harvest positive energy, and that kind of energy benefits everybody, even small pets. Stay tuned for a tribute to Booni, the beloved bunny a.k.a. the best pet ever.

It’s amazing how our lives are forever changed by online applications. Case in fact, a lot of people are into farming now but in the sense of Farmville, Farm Town and Country Story. Restaurants have become interactive in the sense of owning one in Restaurant City and Cafe World. I am sure there are other games related to these that I just haven’t explored. I’m loyal to Playfish games since they center mostly on design.

Without further ado, here are my Restaurant City artworks.

I made a Chinese restaurant, while playing with the Filipino word “inihaw” meaning grilled.

Designing a room layout will forever excite, challenge and intrigue me.

Of course, we must always remember to add a touch of bunny.

Aside from design, there is a 10-second daily food quiz, too, which is nothing short of brilliant. It’s a nice way to learn and test one’s food knowledge. You have to manage your crew’s stamina or else they will lay down on the floor and scream in red bubbles. Low stamina will cause them to pout and move slow which will annoy customers. And annoyed customers will give you an unsightly thumbs down bubble causing your popularity rating to go down. If you visit your friends’ restaurants be prepared to help them from leaks, fire, a giant sleeping bear, hungry penguins and nasty skunks. Also, a big part of the game is to be quite sociable and trade with your friends for ingredients. This game is a charmer in its overall cuteness and wit.

Apparently, the grandiose gold statues I have in the middle attract posh people.

I got a lot of inquiries asking how I got clear and big pictures and the answer is I used my Print Screen button to capture every space and put them together in Photoshop. Yes, hard work. But hard work is satisfying and in this case- truly enjoyable.

I promise to go to a real restaurant soon, my friends.

While most people attended various Halloween parties in full costume, I celebrated my longest Halloween in the comfort of my computer chair. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the beautiful and crazy world of Pet Society.

What I love most about the game is how you can be as creative as you can. I treat it like a modern-day collage kit. There’s also a lot to look forward to since Playfish, the uber-genius-bordering-evil makers, update often with new things that are impeccably designed. They also improve the whole experience as well by adding new activities every once in a while. So let me share my “artworks” from the game.

You can change your pet’s outfits and can even be tricked. See the egg on my face?

Some of the items in the game are animated and that feature adds up to the overall appeal.

Playfish is also clever in tapping into the magic of your wallet by making you pay for extra cute stuff.

And if you have a light switch, you can turn off the lights and see the luminous objects glow. It’s a kind of magic!

And as if Pet Society wasn’t enough, I’m also hooked in playing another Playfish game called Country Story. It also lets the player get creative in designing his/her farm.

It took a lot of screen caps and Photoshop skills to produce a bird’s eye view. We’re hoping for a camera function soon, Playfish.

So there you go- as nerdy and as silly as ever with my little games. Aside from being a creative exercise, these games also give me opportunity to spend quality time with family members that are equally hooked to the game. Although I admit I got a stiff neck already from playing too much. Haha. I hope you guys had an awesome Halloween whether in the real world or not.

*You can play Pet Society on Facebook. or by going to petsociety.com.