TNT, Palace Casino and six pinoys

I had my supper yesterday at the TNT supermaket(asian grocery in West Edmonton Mall). There are two other pinoys eating, Ed and his daughter Trisha(not their real names). We managed to have a chat while eating as we're just on opposite tables. He works for a car dealership company during the day, and at a hotel a night, typical of pinoys I meet, they either have two jobs or more.

We had a lively conversation, he asked me what I'm doing at WEM when my home and work is at downtown? I told him I'm catching a movie. And then he goes like "ey, you better watch movies on weekend. start early, pay for one movie, and once your in, hop on to each theatre". Good and very feasible 'coz moviehouses here are pretty much open, you just have to surrender your ticket in the main entrance, and your pretty much on your own, free to enter any door you want. No one will seem to apprehend you, as nobody really cares. I told him I know that, but really haven't tried yet =)

While inside the bus on my way home, I have four filipinas in front of me talking. The middle aged lesbo is showing the grocery she bought at TNT, I realized by the way they talk that they just met. "I bought this Laing(taro leaves on coconut milk) in the can, its really good, just heat it up and you have a Bicol dish on your plate". "How much for each?" asked one of the three. "Only a dollar and 30 cents, quite cheap, instead of buying Longganisa or Tocino, I'd rather have this, in fact this is my usual meal at work", she uttered in filipino. I love seeing filipinos who remains the same, keeping their identity and still prefers having food they grew up eating. I know someone who's only been here for a year and doesn't eat rice anymore. She eats salad most of the time, and she acts as if she's been here long, only she can't talk decent English. Quite annoying!

Moments after, I overheard the lesbo talking again. She was asked if she works in the Palace(casino inside the mall) as she's been seen there a couple of times. "No, I only go there to play. Today, I lost 400 bucks, I only had 50 left so I decided to call it a day", she replied sadly. I'm stunned, 400 bucks is 17K pesos, we went there once and I feel so bad after losing 20. I guess it's because it's my first time and its her nth. I should probably not go back there, I don't wanna end up losing much like her. It's worth my two days work, and for her, it's probably four or even five. There are lots of filipinos in the casino when we went there, I just hope they are just there to have fun, and not to lose a lot.