home alone

October 30, 2009. 9:55 pm. I’m home alone. Not that i haven’t been alone at home even for once, in my 28 years of existence in this blue and green planet third from the sun called Earth. After high school i’ve lived independently away from home, struggling in the academic republic of Diliman, living from one dormitory to another. Well, technically i was still dependent on my father’s money then, but i wash my own underwear and cook my own instant noodles—well, you get the drift. i take care of my own stuff and ignore another else’s. It’s a dog eat dog world out there; that i learned early on in life, thanks to the daily jostling i was subjected to, for a good four years of my college life. Work didn’t improve my lot; i learned that things only get more interesting as you go further down the road. But yes, it’s my first time to be literally left at home here in the province.

Ate, Kuya and the kids had to beat the rush so to speak, of people going to the cemetery for the celebration of All Saint’s Day. It’s always been like this for 5 years already, ever since my brother-in-law’s father died. They had to go to Pampanga early so they could be here for All Saint’s Day; so that we could all visit Tatay’s grave together. But this time, they took Nanay with them. After all the stresses the recent typhoon brought, they thought a little travelling could do Nanay good, to get her mind off the everyday things. So when i arrived last night from Manila, Ate informed me right away na taong bahay ako.

The plan is quite simple. See to it that the dogs are fed, see to it that the doors are bolted properly and the cooking gas shut tight before leaving the old house for the new one at night. The house thing is simple enough. One only has to read between the lines for the “house” instruction : don’t get it burned or burglarized. Simple? Yes. But nonetheless, nerve-wracking. I’m OC by the way; so i had to check the cooking gas quite a number of times before being able to convince myself that i did a good job in closing it tightly. Feeding the dogs, well it’s quite manageable. But I quite forgot to consider the fact that there are three puppies involved—and they’re not even potty trained! So i spent a good deal of the afternoon in the garage picking up puppy poop. Of all the places they could choose to relieve themselves, sa sementadong part pa. Pwede naman sa gilid-gilid ng bakuran. Haay.

I’m writing this entry quite disappointed knowing that i would not be able to post it right after i seal it with my kiss. Remember my free internet 24/7 entry some weeks ago? Well, nadiscover na ata ng globe ang booboo nila and they’re equalizing all the “free” access time i had back then by sucking up every single peso i load on my visibility kit. Imagine ha, nag-load ako ng 100. In five minutes time, zero balance na ako. That was also the case the other night. I tried loading the 100 pesos kanina using a new simcard with the hope that since it’s a new sim, they won’t be able to charge it to guilty-user-me. malas. (hindi yan malas, ang tawag dyan, karma hehehe). Seems they’re tracking the gadget itself, and not the sim as i previously thought. Unable to surf the net as originally planned, i decided to make it a productive me-time by doing a full yoga session.

Lumalalim na ang gabi. Manunood pa sana ako ng Moulin Rouge (hehe, dami ko plano noh?) pero bukas na nga lang. Inaantok na ako. Sana dumating na sina Ate bukas at huwag sa mismong November 1 pa.. ayoko nang magdakot ng pupu ng mga tuta!

the meeting

i was in one of the restaurants near shangrila mall's cinema lobby, attending a meeting. funny how the chairs the attendees (including myself) sat on, resembled those highschool armchairs we used back at school. i was at the back row, with most backs turned away from me; but i had the funny feeling that all the men and women attending this meeting were all high profile people in the society--businessmen perhaps, or politicians even--i can tell from the suits and the coats. in front of us, customers were lining up for gourmet sandwiches at Oliver's sandwich counter. the light chatter starting to emerge was suddenly hushed when she entered the room, resplendent in her eighties big blonde hair, teased to perfection; big pearl bling-blings dangling from her neck, happily chewing her bubble gum. "ooh, its melanie marquez! haha, great", i thought to myself. a booming voice somewhere declared, "all rise for the president". and suddenly all the men and women in the meeting rose to greet her. Horror of all horrors. Am i really seeing this? this is melanie marquez, right? then she started to speak : "All right ladies and gentlemen, you may take your seats. as you all know i called this cabinet meeting to let you see my new dress". a red polka-dot piece with big shoulderpads. "You see, this is the current state of our country".

and then i woke up. thank God i woke up.

sleepless

when i held you last night, i just knew i have to have you for myself one day

pag-iipunan kita.

curious little things

things i've recently seen that fill my head when there's nothing else to think about:

1. the wonderful tv series GLEE and its cast of wonderfully talented characters.



2. and two foreign language films shown in the recently held spanish and italian filmfests:

the riveting performances of the lead characters, with Maribel Verdu in topnotch performance as a smoldering hot momma in Los Girasoles Ciegos (The Blind Sunflowers)


and the exuberant coming of age film Ma Che Ci Faccio Qui which translates as What Am I Doing Here?

yet another pepeng post

Wrote this aboard the bus going back to manila last sunday. Yes, this is another pepeng post. don't say i didn't warn you.

Pabalik na ako ng manila. I never realized that my two days worth of stay in the province would be so much different from my previous weekends there. For one, the landscape has changed a great deal. Antaas ng putik na naiwan ng baha, from the looks of it, malamang galing pa yung mga yun sa bundok. Yung graba na ipinatambak ni tatay sa bakuran nung kakalipat lang namin nung 1995, nabaon na. Nagi-start nang mag crack up yung putik dahil kahit paano umaaraw na the past few days. i just dunno how it will fare in the following days, with the coming of the new typhoon.. will it harden up enough na maging lupa na sya ulit.. or will it return to muck? Secondly, i’ve been stationed with the washing machine. As in all-day activity ito ha. Most of our clothes got soaked by floodwater, at walang choice kundi labhan lahat, otherwise mangangamoy lang yung mga yun sa cabinet. Mula sa makakapal na maong hanggang sa light articles, from new ones to the oldest, everything had to be washed. Gustuhin ko mang magmoment everytime may naeencounter akong favorite kong t-shirt nung bata pa ako, e hindi ko magawa sa dami ng kelangan pang labhan. No wonder pagkakain ng dinner, ang aga kong nakatulog. Grabe mga tumatamang bagyo sa atin ngayon. And its not surprising that the senate had to create a new committee just to deal with all things pertaining to climate change—for how else can we explain all the things that befell us so far? suddenly, all the major issues that used to preoccupy the media had to take a backseat. Even Sunday afternoon entertainment shows like SOP had to change format to conform to the call of the times. you suddenly see the major stars from the two big media networks manning the telephone lines. Uso eh. That’s how i used to think when ondoy hit Marikina the hardest. Mag-iiba pala ang pananaw mo when the tragedy hits closer to home.

too much, just too much

It’s 6 in the evening. I’m in the dining room scattered with dismantled seats that my brother-in-law managed to salvage from the wreak that is our L-300. We still haven’t plugged-in the refrigerator in its assigned sockets for fear that the electrical wirings that got soaked in the flood would short circuit and explode. I arrived early to find much of our clothes hanging in the clothesline drying in the open air; the newly-bought washing machine (the old one perished with the great flood) whirring all day; and much of the house, still badly in need of cleaning. As Geloy accurately described it, Camantiles (our barrio) has turned into a swamp. True enough, i arrived early in the afternoon by tricycle, but had to walk the remaining two blocks to get to our house because the tricycle driver refused to go on anymore for fear of getting stuck in the mud. Good thing, ate had already warned me against wearing shoes and pants, so i arrived in style, wearing the shortest shorts i could ever find, and a pair of flip-flops to compliment my get-up. The flip-flops didn’t serve its purpose though, as i learned early on that more than a fashion accessory, it’s actually a hindrance—the road being slippery and all; so i walked barefoot, amidst the mud that looked like the chocolate used in the turtlepie we ate at Conti’s last week, and the swimming tadpoles slightly visible in the murky waters beneath my feet. It feels like i woke up suddenly to find myself an unwilling contestant in a magsasaka challenge, in one of GMA’s reality tv shows.

Suddenly, my eleven days of continuous workout, my recent trip to Makati Med to have my wrist checked for the tendon cyst that’s been bothering me for a year already, and the impromptu “show” i put up at the gym—doing a full yoga session last Wednesday, despite having already finished my workout earlier, just because a member did a few poses in which i felt “upstaged”—all their seeming immediacy (and bloggability) vanished at the site of this total devastation that befell our household. Sis said its gonna take us til Christmas to be totally out of this mess. I bet it’s gonna be a longer healing period for our neighbor who lost her husband to the great flood.

This is too much, just too much.

hey blog.

hey blog.

i forgot to greet you last night. i ought to, but so many concerns have been running on my mind all day, and i totally forgot. sorry.

a year huh? well. hard to believe. but it is. a year. and you were with me, laughing with me when i make a fool of myself; crying with me when i'm hard-pressed against a wall of uncertainties.

thanks blog, one year of living, laughing, loving and learning. i ought to make this post one heluva tearjerker, but on the last minute, i decided not to overdo it.. madami pa namang ibang pagkakataon. maybe on our silver anniversary, i'll throw you a grand parteeh--i-giguest natin sina marian and dingdong, wachasei?

but for now, a simple thank you will suffice.

thank you, blog.. and i love you.

ondoy part two

yesterday was part 2 of my romantic workout, something that the fitness trainers in the gym have come to call the act of working out by candlelight. the brownout has been projected to last way until monday, so the management have stocked well on their candle supply; while i have prepared myself to do my cardio using the stationary bikes, given that the treadmills are currently rendered inutile by the situation. on my way home last night, i have planned to write about how i was kinda easing well into the situation, not being irked anymore by the constant squinting in the partial darkness just so i could be certain that the individual weights i'm putting on is what my program says they should be.

but the general mood (and my concerns) suddenly changed when the taxi driver turned the radio on, to monitor the flood situation in pangasinan. i froze in my seat to hear what has befell my province. prior to that news, i have been in constant exchange of short messages with my sister, saying that the flood waters have already reached our yard. that was before i had my dinner; there was a gap all throughout my gym session, and when i checked my celfone as was prompted by the radio that manong driver was currently tuned in, i was terribly troubled to find out that much of the low-lying houses surrounding our house have already succumbed to the floodwaters, and three households have already taken refuge at our house. yes, we have turned into an instant evacuation center. my nephew told me when i called this morning to check on the situation, that "may tubig na sa silong"; to think that tatay saw to it that the house had certain leverage in elevation when it was constructed five years ago.

pepeng, you have turned our province into ondoy part two. i hate you.

hardcore

"dito magkakaalaman kung sino talaga ang hardcore. brownout? brownout ba? sus. brownout lang pala eh. hehehe."

thus went the overheard talk among trainers at the gym last night, having arrived just mere minutes before the brownout-in-conversation nearly ruined my schedule. nearly, that is. i won't be fazed by a mere power interruption--after taking much trouble to get there after office hours, first by mrt then by jeepney--and i've already changed costume in the lockers for chrissakes!

so i worked out by candlelight. did my cardio by candlelight. amidst ghost stories the trainers shared with each other, i did my crunches. and nope, i'm not "hardcore", i just don't want the effort put to waste.

third day ko pa lang kaya, hehehe, after matigil ng ilang linggo because of the pusit (see related story here).

excited.

i had oatmeal cereals for breakfast today, then i made tuna sandwiches and packed 'em for lunch. i've been planning how this day will play out, since before going to bed last night; making sure that i wake up earlier than usual to prepare my meals. excited ba. i even bought multi-colored sandwich bags at Rustans (chochal) for me to put my cute little sandwiches in.

oh, and i'm also downing barrel-fuls of green tea since last week pa. hehehe.

sana lang magtuloy-tuloy, no?.

free internet 24/7

its been over a week now that i have free access to the internet. i dunno if it's a glitch from globe or probably a come-on to lure more customers into buying their visibility prepaid kits-turned tatoo; go on.. lure 'em into the free service.. wait.. wait.. then bam! charge to the hilt! (or something like that--i'm never good in concocting conspiracy theories to start with, hehehe) tho i suspect it more to be the first reason.. for why else would internet service be free, given that we're living in the information age and every scrap of information is priceless? yeah. probably a glitch. and i'm loving every minute of it. and who wouldn't? gentle online 24/7 without spending a single peso to surf the net, do his blogging and stuff. how i wish there's no end to it! but as they say, all good things must come to an end--and globe is bound to discover their charity work in due time and make reparations to the system. but for the meantime, its free and i'm enjoying it to the max! hehehe.