the air up here...

By 2pm,I was done with my training class and I was excited to meet J outside the office. He did promise me months ago he would see me off at the Bus station going to Baguio. I hugged him and he shyly handed me a small,christmas-y gift which I (shyly) thanked him for. We trailed the EDSA traffic for what seemed to be eternity getting to the terminal. As soon as the cab pulled over,I saw my scheduled bus speeding away. So luckily,we rescheduled it after 30 minutes and I bade goodbye to J against the window.

After six hours,a chicharon and a hotdog later,I opened my eyes to find the usual MRT replaced by mountains and a really cold sharp gust of wind. My brother W took my paperbag and we walked happily to the car where Mom and Car waited. They asked me if we were gonna have dinner before heading home but I was just too tired. So they got dinner to go at a nearby Chinese resto and I was glad we were home. I took the familiar scent of wood and freesia of the house and sat comfortable on the couch. We were munching on siopao and dimsum when I decided that I wanted to climb to bed early,so as a reflex I looked for my shoulder bag that had my toothbrush in it. But OMG!!! I left my bag in the bus! Quickly,I pictured what the contents in my bag were and there I mentally scanned for..a toothbrush,a twenty peso bill and my SSS ID..I called the dispatcher's office and they said they got a hold of it...whew!

Tomorrow's another day...party,food and more food. Glad I'm here. Back in my comfort zone

a long December 10 - part 1

December 10 of all the years to come will always be important for the family. It is a longtime tradition of remembering and celebrating a very important event -- my brother's birthday. We're six children and all of our birthdays are special. But what makes my brother's even special than the rest of us? Well, the fact that we forgot his birthday in years past. My parents were in London, and all of us had to be someplace else where it required overnight for schoolwork, my excuse was thesis. Anyway, when we all got together the weekend after my brother's birthday, he reminded us that we forgot and he went out in the night, blew a candle on top of a big mac and cried.
So in the longstanding tradition of this event, we got him his favorite cake on the eve of his birthday. A Coffee Crunch from Red ribbon, Bihon from Lola Helen's, barbecues and sodas. His eyes lit up like a child when he saw the bounty.
After a few days, Cai surprised him with a birthday dinner at the Shang and we had a blast. It was the best dinner we had for some time. Sharing it with my loved ones made it a perfect evening...

the "shoo-in"

I will be posting several blogs today as I've been slacking off for the last week. This one's appropriately titled due to a few silly but wondrous things along the way.
Monday. I entered Company XYZ for a walk-in and tried my luck. The reception area was huge and candy-colored like nursery. I scanned the room to see a lot of applicants dressed to the nines reviewing their CVs and looked at me for a brief second. I sat comfortably on the couch right after signing my name at the receptionist's desk. My hands were cold and clammy from nervousness. I just wanted to go home and curl up in bed. The confidence I had when I rode the cab, flew out of the window but I told myself, it's too late to go home, at least I tried should I fail this one.
My name was called and I was asked to take an accuracy test for dictation and typing, a girl named Keena smiled to calm me down. She said I was only allowed to have two errors on page.So in a matter of minutes, I was typing nervously while listening to the words of the voice-over. The page prompted that I had finished it and a message bubble appeared "10 errors on page"! Dear Lord! I failed. Keena approached me and shook her head apologetically: "I'm sorry but I cannot endorse you to the next step, you may reapply after four months", my heart fell to my shoes but.. as I got up, some sort of miracle happened.. Keena was standing beside me, ready to walk away, but she stayed,and she looked at me firmly, sighing, "Please wait at the lobby.", a glimmer of hope filled my heart but I didn't wanna entertain it because it might be some false hope she was giving out. Nearly all the applicants were done but they came out of the room, disappointed. "Was I the only one Keena believed in?" I muttered to myself.
Keena signaled me to the room and rubbed the mouse gently as she instructed me to re-take the test but this time, 50 wpm goal. Oh wow! I sat there looking at my computer with a vengeance, this time, typing with care ever so slowly and enjoying dictation like it were Typing 101. The verdict: 1 error on page, 53 wpm! Keena smiled triumphantly and said I was ready to take another exam before final interview. So I did my best and aced everything, I think I had my Oprah-Aha! moment when I finally received my job offer.
I texted Tina to say that I won the bet and she was treating me out to dinner. So I waited for her and I wanted to surprise J as well, but he wasn't replying to my messages. Oh well..
Me and Tina settled for Pancake House and she ordered like we didn't for days.. a hefty potato salad starter, chicken, hot roast, tuna mac, buttered toasts, spaghetti and tacos. As if that wasn't enough, we downed glass fulls of iced coffee beverages from Starbucks. I deserve this happy feeling. Thank you, Tina for sharing the joy of believing that I'm the one for the job.

the weekend that was...

Pares

I woke up by the sound of my phone buzzing crazily and I checked who it was "B calling..." it read. I grumpily answered, asking why he called and he said he was gonna make plans for the both of us to have breakfast at Banapple and he was picking me up at the office in half an hour but I fibbed saying I was sick. I smiled thinking of J, I really wanted to meet up with the gang!

So I texted J asking what the plans were gonna be for that morning and I hope Charles tags along he-he, after half an hour, I sat comfortably at a stool in Pares, a favorite hangout and got excited that morning for our Angono trip. One order of siomai later, a box type car pulled up on the resto's driveway and I squinted to see J waving frantically at the backseat with Pechay, Myke, and Meg in tow. J gave me a long hug and said he was really happy to see me. I feel loved! Just a really good saturday fix to see all my closest friends there gave me a natural high. Everybody gathered on the U-bar and noisily ordered breakfast while Cher arrived which made the gang even more crazy.

Left or Right?

Meg was driving and J was navigating where we were supposed to go. But after Meg and her boyfriend had a spat, Meg was too upset to drive that J had to say if we were going left or right at the very last minute. The gang was really noisy that morning, talking about work, the car was literally on prozac with all the 'estrogen' coming out of the group.

Hello,Nanay

I whispered, "Good morning, Nanay" when we got to Angono. J's place is the bomb! Three bedrooms on the second floor, a homey kitchen, a comfy couch on the living room with all the christmas decors made my place looked like a shoebox or a rat house. We all headed to J's room where the little baby dogs greeted us lovingly. Jacko, the shih-tzu, Osis, the black dachshund and Molly, the streetdog who looked more human than Cher followed Myke and J everywhere. So J and discussed what we were going to eat for the whole day and I told him grilled food would be nice to have around the table during drinking spree

Let the pig-out day begin!

Okay, so I went to the kitchen to find J busy cooking pinsec frito dumplings and I helped a little by chopping the onions and tomatoes, he was really busy in the kitchen and Myke had been a sweetheart just asking me what he could get for me. A few minutes later, J gathered everyone on the table and had everyone impressed by the bountiful spread: Roasted Chicken, sodas, sizzling pork teriyaki and pinsec frito. We all had a great time talking about stuff around the table.

As we pat our tummies full, we all went out to have some air and while some of us smoked away, J was dragging out the grill and charcoal, so we could start on the barbecue. This bestfriend of mine never waste time! Being the wonderful host that he already is, he go ask everybody if they were having a good time and he kept saying how he appreciates the bonding moment. Here's the spread of the spree: 8 pitchers of beer, a platter full of fries, liempo, fish and barbecue. Myke keeps checking back with my glass full of soda and ice, yum! I can see J, animatedly telling his stories and happily sipping all the beer that he could muster.

One for the road

By the time night fall, we found Tetay sleeping happily over the couch while Molly barks on his favorite victim, Cher. Myke shared pictures of dogs and tells me how much maintenance they had to go through and it was worth it. Suddenly, Myke tells J that they should be getting on with dinner before everybody goes home. They really made sure the party was all out! So dinner was as splendid as our other eating sessions so, we hurried it up and had Meg hit the gas. We went home finding ourselves horseback riding instead of riding the car because of all the humps we had to go through. Angono was more than worth it. I had a great time and was telling Mama all about it. J and Myke, thanks for hosting a fab party! It was the best. You make good friends and because of your friendship, you make parties like these reach wonderful heights of bonding!

for Meg..

Everyday is a struggle, a work-in-progress. I know that this is hard for you but like I said, it takes baby steps to teach yourself that you can persevere. You have a strong support system, your kids foremost, but no one in this world will get you through your personal battle except yourself.

I see myself in you before..the very person who was weak and breaks everytime there is defeat. We may have lead different lives with a unique line of pattern. But the heartbreak you go through may have been the same pain I went through.

For you, Meg, my dear, a prayer. To teach your heart to be strong and courageous. Know that respect from someone who loves you is rewarding, however, giving due respect to you because you are a woman, is the ultimate gift from a person who values your beauty and sacredness.

Find sacrifice in love..that every tear you shed is a tear that will make you strong and no one will ever pull you down because you have loved so much. You are beautiful and may no person tell you any different.

Forgive what is left of your past and learn that there is no road leading back but moving forward.

Meg, if any guy have wronged you, just think that these are trials to help you know what you're capable of becoming for the future. A good man will treat you right and put you in a pedestal because he knows that you deserve to be there. Be in a happy place where nothing will doubt the love you give and the respect you have earned.

Be strong and hold your head up high, there is a lifetime ahead of you, a life filled with trials and tribulations but remember this is your life, you create memories, you decide on what needs to be done and the only boss of it, is you...