30 Before 30

Got this image from http://dearmusketeer.blogspot.com

You’ve seen this title before, I know. To set your expectations, this post is no different from any other “30 before 30″ posts you’ve read. I made this list January of 2011 and so far, I was able to accomplish some. An hour and seven minutes more and I’ll be 23. Then 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. And finally, 30. I have approximately seven years, one hour, and seven minutes to fulfill what’s on this list.

As far as I’m concerned, I belong to the middle class, which means to say that I have a “not-so-poor-yet-not-so-rich” level of living. And because of that, I made whatever’s on this list affordable attainable by someone who lives a simple life. Go check it.

1. Ride a hot air balloon. I heard Pampanga has some kind of a hot air balloon fest every February. I need to get more scoop on that.

2. Learn to drive. A friend once taught me how to drive but I ended up giving abrasions to the flawless skin of his car. I never tried it again after that. But now, I have seven years to think it over and one week to master it. Or actually, give me two days. *Wink*

3. Travel around the Philippines. At least 20 tourist spots. And I’m doing it little by little.

4. Learn to swim. My last post is about me going to Bora and acting like I know everything about it. But really, all I did there was wear my bikinis and take pictures, and island hop, and take pictures, and reef walk, and take pictures, and eat, and take pictures, and watch fire dancers, and take pictures, and…. everything else — except swimming.

5. Go abroad. Just for travel purposes. Or yeah, work, if it pays well. But before that, I have to do one thing first. Check out number 6.

6. Get a Visa. I heard this is quite difficult speacially if you’re going to countries like U.S., etc. The embassy will interview you, let you pay for everything, and then deny your request afterwards. I can give it a shot.

7. Get shot. By an HPV Vaccine. It’s a little expensive but I need this before I turn 30!!!

8. Ride a plane. Done.

9. Get married. La la la la la. ♥♥♥

10. Buy my own car. Any car will do as long as I bought it with my own money.

11. Save at least PhP 200,000. That should be the actual money in the bank, after the car and everything.

12. Watch a movie at a cinema all by myself.

13. Get promoted at work twice. Done.

14. Gain at least 10 pounds. Tried and failed. I gained 8 pounds and it stopped there!

15. Go to the gym. My boyfriend paid for arranged a one year membership at Gold’s Gym for me. I haven’t done anything yet. LOL. I shall start before the year ends. I hope.

16. Do a charity work for the less fortunate. Done. I’ll blog about it soon.

17. Have a Pap Smear test. Done.

18. Read at least 100 novels. Getting there.

19. Get drunk. I don’t drink so I don’t even know how to start this.

20. Go green for at least a week. Braaah. This is difficult because I’m a meat-lover. And I weigh a mere 99 lbs. If I go vegan even just for a day, I might lose half my 99 lbs. LOL.

21. Get braces for my teeth. Easy. But no. Maybe not. I work as a Communications Trainer and this might affect the way I speak. Easy? No. Attainable? Definitely.

22. Travel out of town all by myself. I’ll tell you when. Then if I don’t call or text within 24 hours, please call the police. Thanks.

23. Try waxing. Done. The most painful thing ever. Haha. You’ll go like: One, two, (hold your breath) three! AAAAAH!!!!!! Whoo. LOL. Hahaha.

Get something like this from Watson's

24. Donate blood. This could also be difficult because of my low-blood condition. But if the doctor gives me a green sign, I’m in!

25. Send a complete stranger to school. Very attainable because I used to be a full-time scholar. In turn, I’ll be a sponsor for the same organization before I reach my thirtieth.

26. Get a Master’s Degree or a Second Course.

27. Master another language. Probably French because I already studied it for a year.

28. Complete a 365-day journal. Without even a day missed. I always buy journals and start on it well, but I always become lazy come 9th month.

29. Learn to play any musical instrument.

30. Do something really silly. Like BIG TIME silly. Any suggestions?

Boracay for Idiots

L to R: Liz, Me, Relle, and Lai

Oh yes, it’s the most popular white beach in the Philippines and I just went there. There are probably a lot of people who are planning to go there. Some have probably gone there before and thought of going back, while some are probably the NEWBIES who have not been to Bora ever in their lives yet, and who probably have no idea what to expect, if not for the TV features and internet posts — like this one.

So this post goes to the newbies. If in case you stumbled to my page because you typed “Boracay” into the Google Search Field, well, you got to the right page. And let me clarify, I went to Boracay during the OFF-PEAK season (July), so whatever price I mention here might be different during the peak season.

1. THE PLANE TICKETS

A View from the Window Seat

First suggestion: Book early. Why? Because a lot of air lines offer promos months before your desired date. So I suggest that if you’re a little stingy and you want to experience Bora for less, then go look for promotional offers that will slash off your plane ticket cost for up to 60%. I got mine for only PHP 1800, round trip, via AirPhil Express. I booked for July 21-24, but my booking date was February. My friends got theirs for only PHP 500, round trip, via ZestAir. They booked at the same day, for the same flight. So that’s what I mean when I say BOOK EARLY.

2. THE BAGGAGE

Okay. This Bora experience was the first time that I’ve been outside of Luzon so I kind of over-reacted with what I brought. Really, I looked like a first-timer with the weight of my bag. I suggest that you pack light for two reasons: First, only camels like to carry heavy burdens; Second, you don’t want to look like a noob. Specially that you’re going to the beach, you’re expected to bring teenie weenie clothes with you.

What to Bring:

a. Charger. You’ll stay there for days. You don’t wanna go there overnight.

b. Camera. Take a lot of pictures and blog it.

c. Plastic / Ziplocks. For your wet stuff. And for biyahilo purposes. You know what I mean.

d. Beach Bag. While on the beach, you need a bag to make sure that all your stuff like shades, towels, and sunblocks are all stored together. Have you ever seen those thin waterproof bags that you can fold and store in a very small purse that comes with it? Bring one of those. They’re cheap (around PHP 100-150), useful, stylish, and easy to pack.

e. ATM Cards. You don’t need all your money. They have BPI teller machines on the beach.

f. Bonamine. Or something similar to that. Going to Bora from Manila is almost half a day of transpo. If you’re biyahilo, you need something to save you from the embarrassment of having to vomit in front of everyone.

g. Swim Suits. You’re going to the beach, right?

h. Dresses for the girls, Surf Shorts for the boys. These are the clothes that are easy to pack. Clothes like these have light fabrics, and are fashionable if worn the right way. So, ditch the denims!

What NOT to Bring:

a. Tripod. If you’re with your friends, just take turns of who takes the pictures and who gets to have their pictures taken. Tripods are steel and long and heavy and bulky. Ditch!

b. Extra Flip flops. I suggest that you travel with rubber flip flops, or the same pair that you will wear on the beach. that way, you don’t need to bring extra.

c. Food and water. There are A LOT of restos and fast food chains in Bora. Food and drinks will definitely not be a problem.

d. Shampoo and Soap. These are often messy. You can buy shampoo sachets and body bars in sari-sari stores in Bora. There’s no price hike. Each sachet of shampoo and conditioner cost me PHP 6.00 each, and I bought a small body bar (Palmolive Papaya) for PHP 25. Same cost, lighter baggage.

e. Towels. You’re supposed to be able to get it from the hotel you’ll check in to. That being said, then choose a hotel that will provide you with towels.

f. Gimmick Outfit. Clubs in Bora have no dress code! Ooh-la-la. You can be there in your nighties if you want. Haha.

3. THE TRIP

Here’s a summary of what’s gonna happen, how long it’s gonna happen, and how much you need to allot for each.

a. Plane ride from Manila to Kalibo. Manila to Caticlan is actually an easier route, but my friends and I booked for Manila to Kalibo. If you booked for the same route, here’s how to play along.

DURATION: 45 minutes to an hour
PREPARE: PHP 200 Terminal Fee that you have to pay for at NAIA, before you board the plane

b. Van ride from Kalibo to Caticlan Port. Before you board the van, make sure that you prepared yourself for a long drive with no stop-over. That being said, make sure that you’re bladder is okay, and your tummy is not crying for food. Vans are parked outside of Kalibo Airport, and barkers will be around. Just talk to one and ask which van will take you to Caticlan Port.

DURATION: 2 hours
PREPARE: Your music player, and PHP 200. This fee includes the van fare and the boat fare. We’ll talk more about the boat later.

c. Boat ride from the Port to Boracay Island. By the time you get off the van, you will enter the port, wherein you have to fill out the log with your name and info. A travel adviser employed by the Caticlan Government might suggest some hotels you might wanna check into. These travel advisers are all legit as long as you see them wearing their huge government IDs. You don’t need to pay them, but you can be generous and give a tip. One of their employees named Kuya Ernie even accompanied us to the main beach and helped us look for a hotel.

DURATION: 10-15 minutes
PREPARE: PHP 50 environmental fee, and PHP 25 terminal fee

d. Tricycle ride from the Port to the Beach. Finally, you are in Boracay! But wait, there’s more. You aren’t at the main beach yet. To get there, you will need to ride a tricycle that can seat 8-10 people. Yes, their trikes are pretty spacious compared to ours in Manila.

DURATION: 10-15 minutes
PREPARE: PHP 100. This fee is for the whole trike. If there are five of you then you can just pay PHP20 each.

4. THE BEACH

Finally, you’ll get to see the exact white sand beach the TVs refer to as the famous Boracay. But if you haven’t booked a hotel yet before you went there, then you can go hotel hunting. Before you look for a hotel, consider that the Boracay Beach is quite long that it consists of three stations. Station 1 is where almost all the boats used for island hopping land. meaning, if you’re in Station 2 or 3 and you wanna go island hopping, you have to walk to Station 1 because the boats are there. The sand in station 1 is also finer than stations 2 and 3. Station 2 is where the mall is. The mall is called “D Mall” and that’s where all the cafes, shops, restos, fast food chains, and clubs are. We didn’t really go to station 3 so I don’t know what’s in there. You can check other sites like and if you wanna know more about Stations 1-3.

And that’s about it! Don’t forget to bring home souvenirs. My suggestion? Go to D Talipapa, outside the white beach. Take a tricycle and tell Manong to take you there. PHP 20 fare should do you good. D Talipapa is like the Divisoria of Boracay where everything is available and CHEAP.

Enjoy your trip!

Nah-ah-ah!

Contrary to what you guys might have thought, and what even I have actually thought, my blog is not defunct. And just so it clarifies itself, this site is currently being updated. Bwahahahahaha (demonic laugh with attitude and conviction)!!!

Waiting galore lang kayo, err-kay?

this is why i’m mad

not just towards you, but towards how you let things happen, or how you DID NOT let things happen. i am disappointed because i know you can do better than what you did, yet you chose not to. you SLACKED, and let things fall out the way they did — and i cannot understand why. i am still trying to figure out why you NEVER gave credits for every millisecond that i held on tight. i was the one who first decided to let go, BUT YOU STOPPED ME and what sucks even more is that i let you. i frikkin’ let you stop me. why the hell did you stop me if in the first place, you are never sure of what you felt or of how things might go in the near future. and it sucks to think that i trusted you when you told me this is it, damn it. you never kept your word, you scammer! since the beginning of it, you have always had your shortcomings, and i was the one making up for it. i worked so hard to make the relationship click, but you screwed it all up just because you woke up one day and you decided to have a stupid change of heart. people change hearts, fine, and i know you are not obliged to reciprocate what i have exerted. but you have entered into a commitment and so you are supposed to do your thing just like how i have been doing mine. well, apparently, “your thing” is not about making the relationship grow. “your thing” is about staying as long as you’re happy, and immediately hopping to another one, after you find out that the other one will make you happier, you LEECH. congratulations with doing your part of the relationship. it’s pretty obvious that you succeeded.

i am the most stupid person in the world for even wholeheartedly understanding you. i should’ve trusted my instincts when i first thought of jumping out of the relationship since my impression is that it’s not gonna work. i should’ve trusted my brain and not your brain because what turned out is that your brain does not work well, and so it comes up with stupid ideas, say, we’ll make it. those stupid ideas make stupid people believe it, and unfortunately, i happen to be stupid that’s why you caught me. nice catch, dude!

so how were her hands? better than mine, maybe. when you held them, did you even think about how i would feel? of course you did not because you are a numb moron. moron enough to flirt with a girl YOU DO NOT EVEN LIKE and make me find out about it. and imbecile enough to think that i believed you when you said you do not even like her. what am i, a kid? tell you what, you are a kid. go formulate some strategies of playing or flirting with long-legged bitches in heels, and make sure that your formulae will include techniques on how your girlfriend will not find out about the bigtime flirting. you think you can play, but hey, you suck with playing. go get a tutor.

goodness, i cannot believe i even asked you to stay after everything. thank holy shrek, i found my long lost ego. now, i’ll continue with the road of my own and make sure that i’ll get myself to the top, while you can continue dating flirty no-brainers who cannot even strike up a healthy conversation. good luck.

What’s Up?

I am in the lobby of our office, trying to kill time. Of course the company has enough money to provide free internet access to employees, and so I decided to be a slacker and do a big time slacking in front of one of the company’s PC’s. The first thing I did was try to access Friendster, of course, and I was right, it’s blocked. Nice try, though. So I tried to get to the number 2 website on my list, Peyupi.com. Same thing, BLOCKED. Where else can I go? Yahoomail? A little boring, but yeah that’s where I went. I found an email notification from WordPress telling me that Ax left me a comment. That’s the only time I realized that I have a WordPress account, and of course, it’s almost a dead blog. ROFL.

 

I haven’t been able to login for quite sometime now, and the “short while of being gone” that I mentioned in my last post has now become a “very long while of almost-absence”. So what’s really up with Jill?

 

1. I am working. Want the full details? Naah you guys gotta search for it. Haha! But I’m earning 5 digits a month. That’s as far as I can go anyway. LOL.

2. My sister Joyce already gave birth to her baby boy! I’ll be posting pictures after another “short while” because the pictures are in my laptop, and I don’t have my laptop at this moment.

3. I was unable to attend the blog summit ’09 (should it be capitalized? idk sorry) last May 9. Allen reserved a seat for me and I wasted the moment, shoot it! Am I too busy? Err talk about REGRET!

4. I changed my theme. See? It’s gray now! Weee. Well I don’t know how to customize my page because I’m an html semi-idiot, so I’m using WordPress-designed themes. Thanks, WP. Haha!

5. I will be enrolling this month, so it’s back to school. And just for the record, I will be continuing my work. So it’s a school-work (or the other way around) routine again. More WordPress absence, you bet!

There you go. Five bullets for what’s up with me. I’m never gonna leave my WP, but it will be hibernating for now. So…. see you around?

Coffee, Please!

Have you ever experienced something like when you burp, what comes out smells like coffee? Well that’s actually what I’m going through right now. There’s no sleep, and there are bottomless coffee mugs plus the coffeeshop aroma in the sala, which signals only one thing — FINALS WEEK. Haha! Well, I usually enjoy cramming, but not that part where I’m actually looking like cramming already. I sort of “like” cramming because it gives me the idea that every tic of the clock is life, and every minute is consumed wisely. I last felt it when I once worked as a call center agent while studying at the same time. Hitting two birds in one shot, don’t you think? Anyway, during that time I was literally sleeping during my fifteen minute coffee break. Imagine that? POWER NAP, ahhbsolutely! Afterwhich, I’m gonna get back to work and start taking calls for another three hours and forty five minutes. Stressful, indeed! And then after the whole shift, I’m gonna go straight home, eat breakfast (Or dinner? Call center people got their body clocks confused.), take a nice bath, get dressed, then go to…..tadaa! SCHOOL. See that’s why I look like I don’t have any more blood left in my system. Anyway, where am I? Oh yeah the finals thing. Or the cramming thing? Whichever. The main point is, I am currently busy, and I might leave my site un-updated for a short while. Short while? Now that’s very un-specific, huh? haha! So to the people who visit my blog, are there even any? Ehl-oww-ehl. Yeah chill with me on my next posts which are gonna come up after a “short while”. Thanks! Wee ooh wee ooh wee. =)

Iloilo Cuisine. HELP!

I JUST WANNA COOK! I’m not an Ilongga. I’ve never been there, actually (But I’m gonna be there real soon, baby). And too bad, it’s just the La Paz Batchoy I’ve tasted, nothing more.

Okay. I am desperate, to the point that I even came up with a post about this. I was supposed to do a lesson plan for my demo teaching this week. Apparently, I ended up browsing the net for Ilonggo recipes. And yep, today’s not my lucky day. Tomorrow doesn’t seem like it either. I can’t find any! It’s either I’m a bad net-surfer, or there just aren’t any. So with this, I think I’m gonna need the help of you guys. How I wish people are actually reading my posts. LOL. Haha!

So who knows how to cook Ilonggo Cuisine? Puhleeease teach me how. And in return, I’m gonna.. ahmm.. let you taste my cooking! How does that sound? Fair enough, I guess. =)

(update: i just found a VERY USEFUL site. http://flavoursofiloilo.blogspot.com <– check it!)

Who Said There Ain’t No Dress Code???

I once wore this to the Libe. I kept scratching my legs afterwards.

I’ve been there probably the same number of times I’ve been to Megamall, and if you’re planning to chillax and free your minds off stress, then you might wanna check this post out first. Oops, I’m talking about no other place than our very own National Library. Yep. The one standing proud in Kalaw, beside the National Historical Institute.

1. First time? Bring a 1×1 picture and money not less than 60 pesos. What for? Before you can delight yourself with the books, you have to sign up for a library card first. Membership fee is about forty pesos during my time (as if I’m too old), but bring something less than a hundred to make it safe. I guess the cliche “Prices may change without prior notice.” applies here. The card needs your face, thus, the 1×1 picture. You will be using that library card for the rest of your life that’s why if I were you, I’ll make sure that I put my best photo on it. Don’t worry about the glue. They have lots. I guess it comes with the membership fee.

2. Don’t use the elevator. It is older than my great great great grandparent, so basically, it doesn’t follow commands. If you get inside and press the button saying “4″, the lift will take you to all floors except the fourth. Unable to comprehend, I pressume. So just use the stairs, get to your floor for sure, and get lean legs. Win-win.

3. All bags should be surrendered to the counter. Just get these from your bag before you say bye-bye to it: paper, pen, money, cellphone, fan, face towel or hanky but I suggest face towel, school I.D., school registrtion card, your ever precious library card, and electric fan, if you have any. And take care of your number card. It’s worth your bag.

4. Be techie. Or pretend to be one until you become one. Only the PUP library uses card catalogs, oww-ehm-gee. In the National Libe, people use OPAC. Not familiar with it? Go ask Google, or kill yourself.

5. If you’re there for a thesis, you hafta know that the NL people don’t photocopy theses aside from their abstracts. So if you want to have a copy of a thesis you want to replicate, good luck to you. My suggestion? Bring pen and paper — lots of both, actually.

6. Good news, though. Books can be photocopied from cover to cover. But here’s the catch. Xerox fee costs a peso per page. So after reading your photocopied book pages, go to Cebuana Lhuillier. Maybe they’ll be able to figure something out.

7. There’s a canteen on the 6th. Again, use the stairs. The food, surprisingly, is not costly. It tastes relatively fair, too. But hey, don’t eat or drink too much. Why? Check out number 8.

8. The only available rest rooms are the ones on the ground floor. The ladies’ room has always been clean. You don’t expect me to check the men’s, do you?

9. Don’t wear short pants or mini skirts unless you wanna go home carrying dengue. Aside from the readers and the personnel, there are flying invertebrates hanging around, too. Maybe Off Lotion can make a difference, though.

10. Sure you’ll look terrible after a long day of research. Don’t worry. There’s this one best thing I love about the Libe — the mirrors inside and outside the ladies’ room! Makes me think that the NL people have concerns about the looks of narcisstic readers like me, huh?

My bestfriend and I at the NL washroom, after a loooooong day of research.

There you go. Ten bullets that sum up what I wanna share about what had been my second home. After unstressing and stressing yourself out, it’s nice to hang out and get some fresh air at Luneta, just at the back of the building. Oftentimes, that’s what my bestfriend and I do. And then we will walk all the way to Robinson’s Place Ermita to grab a snack. Usually, a Choco Chill Quickly and some pizza. Try it!

Rihanna’s Photo After She Was “HIT”

I got this from a friend, who, apparently, got this from his friend. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that friend of my friend also got this from a friend of a friend of his friend. Well, it’s not important where I got this. The bottomline is that Rihanna is badly beaten up. Look at the picture. I didn’t disregard the possibility of Adobe art, but hey, you’ve got your own eyes and minds and rationality to judge by yourselves. I just posted the image, you do the rest.

** I don’t know the whole story about it and so I didn’t mention anything, though I have read A LOT about the issue. All I wanna say is that she was “HIT”, and I WOULDN’T even say who allegedly did it.

A List of What Never Failed to Annoy Me

Haha! It’s been so long since I last updated my blog, and my friend, Allen, has already been nagging big time, so here I am, back with a new post. Not cheesy. Not oh-so-serious. Just a list of the things that never failed to annoy the hell out of me. And I bet they annoyed you, too.

1. Bedbugs

After a very long, tiring day, all that we’re ever gonna look up to is a nice bed to lie down in. The night is quiet, stars are shining goodnight, and our backs are placed comfortably on the matt. Then suddenly, we’re bitten. And presto! Goodbye, sleeping mood.

2. Heavy Traffic In a Hot Noon While I’m Having My Period.

Heavy traffic is tolerable, specially now that we’ve almost gotten ourselves used to it. Being stuck in heavy traffic has become more of an everyday ritual to us — but when it is in a hot noon while I’m having hot flushes coming out of me, not to mention the headache and lower back pain that perfectly go with it, that’s just about one of the most unfortunate scenarios that every woman has to go through.

3. Bad Haircut

Bad hairday occurs by nature, and so we have no one else to blame but nature — and we can’t fight nature, so more or less, we pretty much have to deal with it. Bad haircut, on the other hand, does not happen by nature. And as often as all the time, there is an idiot hairstylist that should take the blame for it. What’s even more annoying is the fact that the people to blame are the ones whom you thought are there to “make you over”. I mean, it hurts. You walk in a salon with people claiming to be the best hairstylists, and then the “idiot you” trusts them. You then tell them that this is the hairstyle that you want yada yada yada. They’ll say alright they can do it, and afterwards proceed with the traumatic cutting and shaping. And when they’re done, you’re totally new — with a new hairstyle that’s totally not supposed to be like that.

4. Boring Professors

You went to class wanting to learn. And then you end up wanting to sleep, or wanting to go home, or wanting to daydream — aside from wanting to kill the eyeglassed creature speaking like an expert in front of you. Heck, you wouldn’t be surprised that more than half of your classmates are wanting the same thing.

5. Slow Internet Connection

Exactly. Especially if you’re bloghopping, or chatting with your ultimate crush, or sneaking to a Friendster profile of the other woman of your man. Here in the Philipppines, we pay monthly for unlimited internet connection. But if the connection is as slow as snail (I’m bad with simile.), then better think again if you’re paying wisely.

6. Tagalized Foreign Songs

I just don’t get it. Why do we have to tagalize RnB songs when we can always compose new ones? What happened to the composition prowess of Pinoys? Well maybe it went away with all these taxes that seemed to have vanished in just a snap. I’m not surprised. But i still hate (Yes. HATE.) it when I hear the tagalized version of my number one crush, Chris Brown’s “With You”. Grr. They murdered my Chris’s song. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against OPM. Dice and K9′s Eargasmic is on my playlist, FYI.

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll update this list some other time. It’s almost 2am and I gotta get going. I’ll have this post published because I never save posts on my draft and so I make sure that I publish posts the day I make them. See you guys next time for the continuation of the list!

Walking Tour With Allen Yuarata =]

Okay. So this is an un-famous version of the very famous Walking Tour With Carlos Celdran. Haha! Allen is a fan of Carlos, and thanks to him for being my tour guide for this day. So this is how it all started. Allen and I were at Jollibee (together with some friends from the Peyupi family), when after eating, I just thought of going somewhere with him (somewhere safe, mind you.). So I blurted out, “Hey Allen, let’s go to Intramuros!”. He thought it was a great idea, and so we gave it a shot.

While almost on our way, he suggested that we go to Paco Park after the Intramuros tour. Just for the record, I am known to be indecisive and my mind changes a lot. To my surprise, Allen is of the same kind. Haha! So what we did was totally different from the “Intramuros-then-Paco-Park” plan. We headed straight to my house to get spare batteries for his digital camera. This was the first time Allen saw our place, and yeah, he liked the view from the rooftop and even took pictures while he was there.

After taking six shots and getting the spare batteries, we headed straight to Paco Park. It’s two jeepney rides away from our house.

Allen seems to know every little detail about Paco Park. I bet he’d been there for the nth time. Haha! He was touring me around like he built the place himself, and he was discussing some facts about Rizal, and all that stuff, like he had a masters degree in history. ROFL.

Me at Paco Park. Taken by Allen.

Second stop: Intramuros, the very reason why Allen and I went out. The gates of Fort Santiago closes at 6pm. Because Allen was so slow (Haha. It’s my blog, Allen), it was about 5pm when we reached the entrance of Intramuros, so we decided not to mind paying a 40-peso pedicab ride to reach Fort Santiago before 6. Upon arriving at Fort, we immediately bought tickets (@ 50 pesos each), and decided not to waste any more time. Shame on me, but the last time I went to Fort Santiago was when I was in my grade school fieldtrip. It’s just now that I decided to be historically adventurous, and finally, I found a partner in Allen.

After the Intramuros tour, we thought we hadn’t had enough yet. Our feet were craving for more, and so were our tummies. We looked for a place to eat and along the way,  saw a series of fast food chains we have gotten used to since childhood – Jollibee, McDonalds, Chowking, Max’s, et cetera. But hey, that day was an adventure, so food should also be “something unknown to our intestines”. Tadaaa! Chinese food is the answer.

Next stop: Ongpin. Yes. That place in Manila where almost half the population is made up of chinky-eyed people. What’s even more exciting is that from Intramuros, we literally walked our hearts to Ongpin. Heck, we don’t even know how to get there by foot, though Allen knows that it comes right after a bridge somewhere. And so we found our ways to Ongpin, and after almost two hours of walking here and there, and after rejecting so many restaurants that didn’t look very inviting, we finally found a place to eat – a restaurant with a purple-and-green motif plus a very highly-technological automatic sliding door! Haha! We ordered a beef wanton noodle soup – the best I have tasted in my entire life.

After filling our tummies with the best wanton noodle soup matched with asado ubepao (asado flavored siopao with ube mantao bread), we prepared ourselves for another set of walkathon – from Ongpin to Quiapo. It was another 30-minute walk (I guess) before we reached Quiapo, and from there, we took an immediate rest inside the jeepney on our way back home. And of course, everything ends with a blog post.

GUSTO KO NG TAGALOG NA POST EH, BAKIT BA?

1:39 am na pero gising parin ako. nakakaloka. eh tutal naman nakabukas ang laptop at may internet, bakit hindi nalang ako magpaantok diba? so as usual, refresh ako ng refresh ng friendster page ko kasi feeling ko may magcocomment pero wala naman kasi nga pala madaling araw na. tapos basa ako nang basa ng mga entry sa blog ni prose at allen anak ng pating kabisado ko na nga ata. naisip ko lang, pwede naman ako gumawa ng blog post diba? oo nga. tsaka napansin ko wala akong tagalog na blog post. ano ko, maarte? haha. so eto gagawa ako. tagalog at semi-walang kwenta. semi lang naman. wala pa kong maikwento eh. teka cr muna ako.

ayan nakabalik na ko. at may ishe-share narin ako. share ko lang yung mga taong tanga. haha. pasensya na pero dude, walang better term sa tanga. haha. mabilis kasi ako mabwisit sa mga engot e.hindi naman sa sinasabi ko na matalino ako. minsan tanga rin ako at naaasar ako sa sarili ko pag ganun. pero syempre bias ako kaya mas naiinis ako sa ibang tao pag tanga sila. haha. so ayun na nga, eto yung fair share ko ng mga moment ko with stupid people.

1. common scenario to. malamang napapansin nyo rin. oh malamang ganito rin kayo minsan. ahaha. nakakabwisit to, trust me. umaandar yung jeep. tapos habang nasa gitna ng kalsada, papara si manang. “para, mama!”. syempre narinig ni manong yun. eh kaso alanganin, itatabi muna ni manong yung jeep. eh medyo mahirap kasi nga alanganin, so umaandar parin nang konti. si manang sisigaw ulit “mama para! para!” tapos may halo pang katok sa kisame ng jeep para super combo finish. so si manong medyo panic-striken na. ipipilit ngayon ni manong na itabi yung jeep agad. pagkahinto ng jeep, si manang may rebuttals pa, “kanina pa ko para ng para jusko ang layo layo na!” oha. nakakaasar diba? parang ang engot ni manang. alam naman nyang nasa gitna yung jeep eh tapos gusto nya instant stopping galore. ano yun “ella enchanted”? biglang humihinto? ganun gusto nya? tapos inaway pa si manong eh jusko sya kaya mag drive. hirap hirap mag drive eh lalo pag may pasahero kang naku ubod ng talino.

2. eto naman ibang strategy ng pagpara. si ateng mahinhin naman ang bida. umaandar ang jeep. eh nasa destination na ni ateng mahinhin. so papara ngayon si ate. “para po”. pabulong. syempre hindi narinig ni manong unless bionic ears si manong. uulitin ni ate. “para po”. hindi parin maririnig ni manong. uulitin ulit ni ate. uulitin nya ng uulitin for the nth time. ulit sya ng ulit pero di nagbabago yung boses nya. bulong sya ng bulong ng “para”. my gawd! ang tanga diba? ineexpect nya bang biglang lalakas yung earsight (earsight amp. imbento ah.) ni manong?? eh kung nilalakasan kaya nya yung boses nya. hello, ateng mahinhin!? you’re supposed to be heard! unless naka mic ka diba?

3. oh tama na sa mga “para” moments. sa bayad moments naman tayo. haha. syempre pagsakay sa jeep, magbabayad tayo. unless trip natin mag 1 2 3 diba? eh kaso, nasa bandang far end tayo. so yung bayad natin, ipapaabot natin sa kung sino yung malapit kay manong. eh ang kaso, yung taong insensitive na nasa tabi natin, ayaw mag-abot. hindi natin alam kung bakit ayaw nyang iabot yung bayad natin pero may mga hypotheses tayo. una, baka di nya naririnig. so lalakasan natin. waepek. ahhhhhh. baka tulog. sinilip natin. gising naman. aaaaaah. baka nakaearphone. sinilip ulit natin. walang earphone! eh bakit ayaw iabot yung bayad natin? nag “please” naman tayo. kinalabit naman natin sya at na-feel naman nya yun. muka naman syang conscious. humihinga naman. at hindi naman sya mukhang nag memeditate. pero ayaw nyang iabot. ahhhhh. siguro tanga sya. my gulay. hindi ba nya alam na sa pagsakay ng jeep, may mga unwritten rules (uy masarap iblog to ah. later =p), at kasama dito ay ang rule na kapag malapit ka sa driver, automatic na mag-aabot ka ng bayad ng mga nasa far end. unless eh si lastikman sila at maiaabot nila yung bayad kahit malayo sila. ngayon, kung ayaw mo mag-abot ng bayad, sumabit ka! ewan ko nalang kung may makaistorbo pa sayo sa pagpapaabot ng bayad ah. unless nasa labas si manong driver. gudlak naman.

so ayun. marami pa yan actually. kaso inaantok na ko. baka ma-late ako kay mam junie bukas, mabengga pa ko. hahaha. effective ah inantok ako. may typo ba? pakicheck nalang. basta type lang ako ng type eh. tuldok system pa naman ako mag type. hahaha. naks may tagalog blog na ko! yabang.

Help Me. I’m Pregnant.

Admit it. The title caught your attention. Those are the exact words that woke me up one October morning – the exact date of which I intentionally forgot. I am not a morning person and I often wake up after everyone had lunch. But everything changed that morning. 6 AM and my eyes are open at their widest.

The words came from my fifteen-year old sister – the youngest in the family. Apparently she took a self-test and got two horrifying red lines. Two thick red lines with no signs of error. Two thick red lines of which I saw with my own eyes. With her wake-up words, I instantly bolted up.With my heart at its fastest pace, I just sat up. I just looked at her without the slightest blink of an eye. There she was, sitting in the same bed. She was right in front of me, shivering with fear and tremble. I recognized a pool of tears at the corners of her eye. The tears could have dropped hadn’t I joked, “Hala kaaaaaaaa.”. To joke about anything at that particular time is stupid, but I thought that it was the least that I could do – to show her and make her feel that we can both laugh it all off.

Mom died when I was nine, Joyce was four. She can’t even do the four fundamentals of math yet when mom left her to me. I became her mom. At nine, I became a mom of a four-year old. Since mom died, Joyce and I became inseparable. We studied at the same school, wore the same sandals, watched the same cartoons, played the same games, and read the same books. I helped her master the four basics of math. I helped her familiarize herself with the Phhilippine history. I helped her draw circles and sticks. From 1998 up to now, I became her mom.

I ain’t just a mom. I’m also her sister. Her friend. Her confidante. Her guardian. Her mentor. That’s why upon hearing her breaking news, I felt the world fall down on me. I’m confused. Scared. I felt probably thrice the trembling she was feeling that time. I thought of so many things, but not of slapping her. I never thought about slapping her.

For that was the time she needed me the most. I took it as another chance to make her feel my best as a sister. I turned my back against late-night gimmicks. I said no to house party invites. I had my name removed on the Jaipur guestlist. I skipped shopping with friends. I waved goodbye to my habitual venti galore with my best pals. I said pass on the usual barkada rituals. There has been a major change. But I remained the same sister – ten times the TLC.

Right now, she’s at her fourth month of pregnancy. This afternoon, she just had an appointment with her doctor. I wasn’t there. Little by little, I have to let her stand on her own. I’m not leaving her. I’m just focusing on my role as a mentor, and a part of it is to welcome her to the world of being independently strong. On her check-up, she was with John, her very loyal boyfriend who takes care of her almost the way I do. He missed on one, though. But he’s been forgiven.

So far, we have passed the first level of this new labyrinth. There’s a long way to go. Joyce will soon be a mom and with that, all I’m wishing is for her to be the best mommy in the world. The baby will be named Marsha (assuming that it’s a girl). Joyce and I had a deal – Marsha will call her “Mama”, and me “Mommy”. Fair enough.

My Life Minus the Typographical Errors

Words, by far, are what I consider the best weapon I have against the fiendish villains of real life. There are several reasons why I blog. First, life also has what we call “dead air”. Sometimes, we have nothing to do but sit in a bedbug-infested couch and wait ’til our backs ache. We stare at the television, forcing ourself to watch those teleseryes shown by the biggest TV networks after their top-rated noontime varieties – teleseryes that we can’t even remember the titles of. To sum it all up, life reaches to a boring point. And to make the spare time productive, I write.

Second, my major is English, and I am required to write – a requirement that I do time after time with the best enthusiasm I can possibly extract from me. Not writing wouldn’t make me less of an English major, but writing makes me more of it, so I choose to write.

Third, writing is better than having premarital sex, or doing drugs, or swimming in a pool of beer, or going to the mall to splurge more than a thousand pesos for a pair of rubber flops. Writing doesn’t kill time. Rather, it makes the time livelier.

And fourth, my camera can’t capture all my good-for-writing experiences, so I use my pen, my paper, and my words to do the shots. Besides, I am not good with photography, but I am a humble woman of the pen-and-paper activity. With passion as the initial capital, I am trying hard to develop the kiosk of writing prowess I have with me.

I check my blog site everyday. I don’t know why. Maybe I am just a bit narcissistic when it comes to my “masterpieces”, or maybe, it just really feels good to reminisce and appreciate how well I was able to capture the moments using my own version of a five-megapixel camera. I care about people viewing my site. Otherwise, I woldn’t have signed up for a free WordPress account. I made my blog site open for everyone to see. I would be pleased to know that the readers have somehow been entertained by my posts. But I would be even more pleased to see that the readers have been touched by what some others consider as mere trash. Haters are unavoidable, so to my co-writers, let us not be intimidated by those who appreciate in the inconvenient way. We’re still alive. We will be famous when we die.

Questions of a Woman

If a woman would give it all, be it tangible or not, would she ever be loved by a man? If a woman would fully submit herself to the wills of a man, would she possibly get the amount of love that she deserves to have? If a woman would have herself confined within the walls of what a man dictates, would she ever be respected or at least treated fairly? If a woman would give up the essence of womanhood, and face a whole new role, something close to a slavery, would a man show her how valuable she is? Or would her value slowly slip away? If a woman would disregard herself and shift her attention to the man she truly loves, would she ever get something to compensate with the lack of self-fulfillment? If a woman would give a love that’s everlasting, would she get the same ounce of love that she gave? Would it rain love for her? Or would she just be showered by occasional drizzles of affection?

Words to the Secret Alter-Ego

Stupidity is a contagious disease and you seem to have been inflicted. Once again you stand still, showcasing an image — a desperate image ready to endure the ironically unexpected outcomes of desperate expectations. You suffered several days of not being able to get up because of the emotional fevers and chills that wouldn’t go away, nor would be abated by sardonic medications, which, for the record, are unprescribed.

For the nth time, you submitted yourself to the trap of deception. You satisfied someone else’s exigency while you constantly hurt yourself. You were never known as a masochist yet you seem to derive pleasure from the pains he invariably throws to you.

Perhaps it is the blasphemous love that draws you close to him. Perhaps it is the blasphemous love that leaves you choiceless despite the million choices laid unseen before you. If that’s the case, then screw love.

But that, for sure, is one thing that you wouldn’t do. For you are emotionally weak. And you seem to have mastered the art of martyrdom and puerility, and the indissoluble combination of the two.

You’ve spread your diamonds before him, yet he found no brilliancy in them. You’ve shone your brightest light towards his perfectly crafted face, yet his eyes didn’t show the slightest flicker. His cold shoulder is something you are aware of, yet you embraced the idea of giving him some more. You embraced that absurd idea, undeterred by the fact that your indulgence will never be returned.

Where’s the indisputable self-respect you once boasted? Where’s the solid dignity you once displayed? Where’s the undeniable wit you once emblazoned? Where’s the rocklike pride you once showed off?

Your self-respect has withered. Your dignity has become stale. Your wit has dried up. Your pride has deteriorated. You are nothing but a discomposured statue of abashment.

Standing firm is one thing you’re good at. And I wouldn’t dare let you tumble down. I wouldn’t dare make you fall once more. Hate is too severe a word, and I wouldn’t dare hate you. For after all of these, everything narrows down to one final conclusion — I am you, and you are me.