honest questions, honest answers

a "meme" i got from Kay. (can someone please tell me what a "meme" is exactly?)

1. My ex is still...
the same old chap i loved for three years. which is good. it'd be a bummer if he morphs into a toad.

2. I am listening to...
here, there, and everywhere by the beatles

3. Maybe I should...
sleep a bit before i go to my doctor's appointment this afternoon.

4. I love...
my family, mark, and worry free wednesdays

5. My bestfriend(s)...
is mark

6. I dont understand...
richard gomez

7. I lost my respect for....
people who will vote for richard gomez

9. The meaning of my screen name is...
nothing really profound. it's a nickname for me that my tita mimi uses.

10. Love is...
something i choose not to understand, else it loses its real meaning.

11. Somewhere, someone is...
taking a dump, and loving it

12. I will always...
be a sucker for fireworks in a clear, amusement park night sky, while being enveloped in someone's arms.

13. Forever seems...
can i rephrase? forever starts today.

14. I never ever want to lose...
my glasses

15. My mobile phone is...
old and ratty, but still quite loveable

16. When I wake up in the morning...
the rest of the world's probably already running way ahead of me

17. I get annoyed at...
pretty much anyone who tries way.too.hard.

18. Parties are...
more often than not, a waste of time. but it depends what kind of party we're talking about.

19. My pet(s)..
are insane!

20. Kisses are.....
something i can't live without. :*

21. Today ...
is my favorite saint, st. joseph's day

22. I really want...
to go to a weird location in the states (like new mexico for instance. hehe) and finish my manuscript

Then again maybe...

Last Wednesday, the (in)famous Worry Free Wednesday (WFW) tropa, that's us by the way, well we were supposed to watch Noel as usual only to find out that he canceled his flight home from the States or something. Pissed and in dire need of cold beer and the good-for-now kinda music, we went to this place in Marikina, a bar of sorts, that, if I remember correctly, didn't even have a name. Of course, Fr. Manoling Francisco may correct me if I'm wrong - according to Chek, he's a nameless-Marikina-bar regular. So anyway, we decided to have our WFW moment there.

After several good swigs, Gian "Driver Bitch" Cauton, who was right beside me, starts texting me... I saved the message of course. I was drunk, but I was sane enough to save a good SMS. It says...

Funny how one can be so sure and take the leap... lay all the cards and shit, then another is just being plain polite and all. Funny how it crushes us... and how powerless it leaves us... and how we just pray that the hurt and the yearning will leave us... but it all just lingers... and hangs on our heads... we wait, we pray... but still live life through leaps and bounds.

That's "Driver Bitch"'s super talent -- just give him some beer and he can read through your mind and heart, and he'll even document it for you. I wanted to slap him for being so damn precise.

Then again... he says at 2:14am...

Do or do not... there is no try... there is no try. No try to move on. No try to be happy. No try to be good. Only will. Will move on. Will be happy. Will be good.

Thanks to Jedi Master Yoda, he's redeemed Driver Bitch from being Rub-It-In Bitch. Hehe. Don't get me wrong though, I love Gian for this insane quirk of his. Puts me back to my senses every time.

Here's to more WFW moments.

Good Eats, Bad Eats

Friday is usually Shang day for us in the office. but Vicky and the rest of my team didn't feel like crossing the overpass from EDSA Central to the Plaza. They went ahead and had lunch at Bacolod Chicken just a few steps away from the office. Mark, Alfie, and I went to check out Green Tomato in Shang.

Mark had the common lasagna, Alfie ordered a dulong pasta which is supposed to consist of Pinoy fish bits, and I ordered puttanesca because I wanted something spicy. I was also craving for anchovies.

The food sucked.

My puttanesca had way too much anchovies. I mean sure, I had a craving but I'm not a freaking cat. Alfie kept sprinkling parmesan cheese every two bites. I think Mark made the best choice. I should've listened to him when he said that freaking Green Tomato restaurant wasn't worth the money. It wasn't worth my poor tastebuds either.

My consolation came later during the night when Mark and I celebrated our 4th month with dinner and a movie (Eragon, which sucked. but that deserves a whole nother blog entry, so stay tuned). We decided to try out that Cocorama place (which my dad warned me about) so I wasn't that excited, but what the hell, I was hungry. I had grilled pork chops, scrambled eggs with spinach, and crazy rice (basically rice fried with creamy butter, corn, peas, carrots, and bell peppers), and Mark had his usual medium rare porterhouse. It was GOOD. I finished everything. We had a Jackson 5 pancake dessert afterwards as well, which was also damn good. Move over, Heaven 'n' Eggs. You've got competition. Cocorama's food is great, their service is great, their ambiance is funky, and they have a disco ball.

I'll talk about Eragon in a while -- by greatest disappointment of the year. And the year just started, dammit. I'll have lunch first. Happy birthday, Ate!

Wishin' I knew Panggalatok

What does Pangasinan have that Manila lacks?

A real sanctuary
Time doesn't seem to move, but it does
Igado and pinapaitan cooked in a vintage kaldero
Using a smooth stone instead of a bar of soap
Long but blissful car trips
Unpretentious conversation with just about anyone
Fresh, clean air
Mrs. Cake
Slacking off sans the guilt
Childhood memories
Other people's memories that seem to be your own too
Preserved legacies

This is where everything started. This was where my great grandparents down to my mother were born. These are my roots. This is home.

Sidenote: That's my lolo praying during our trip to Our Lady of Manaoag. Papa's a true blue Ilocano - walang tatalo sa kakuriputan niya. Pero hayop magbigay ng tip yan sa mga tiga Lingayen. It's heartwarming, actually, how he gave 50 bucks to a watch-your-car-boy and said, in Ilocano (oh yeah, the Panggalatok and Ilocano dialects are rather similar), "Yan, pang softdrinks mo!"

Panalo talaga sa Norte... Panalo.

Back to the real world

Balik opisina ako bukas. Last night was my last big hurrah, it was alright. Wala pa rin tatalo sa nangyari nung Miyerkules. Then again, I'm still thankful, cos I got to spend the entire day with my better half.

Mark accompanied me on my last lab test (for now) at St. Luke's. i thought I was late for my scheduled ultrasound at 12:10. Yun pala, 12:20 yung schedule ko. Medyo mahaba yung pila, pero mabilis naman since there were 3 ultrasound machines and around 4 very efficient doctors. Sabi ko kay Mark, mag-antay ka nalang diyan sa "Father's Waiting Lounge". Hahaha!

We had to wait for the results so we had lunch at Saint's first. Had spaghetti bolognese (as usual... kahit sa Japanese restaurant spaghetti pa rin ino-order ko e!) which was way too sweet (Pinoy style) and Mark had soya rice (very tasty) and inihaw na liempo. We got the results after lunch, and everything seemed normal naman. still have to drop by to have it interpreted by my doctor though, para sure.

We just chilled at home until we had to get ready for Patricia's birthday party at sidebar in el pueblo. Dropped by Shangrila before heading to the venue to get Pat her gift. I got her a really naughty, hot pink thong from People are People. Pagdating ko, sabi ko, "happy birthday Paolo". Sinilip ni Paolo yung regalo, sabi niya, "Swak na swak yung kulay." Hahaha!

Tried the uber cheap 6-shot package of Vodka. They were pretty weak, actually. But i had to wash them down with around 8 bottles of San Mig. I was kinda disappointed at myself for being tipsy-- dammit, last hurrah ko nga, hindi man lang ako tinatamaan! Si Louie, sobrang lafftrip. Di niya nakayanan yung bloody mary. Talo pa siya ni Michelle. Actually, the boys in general (Except for Mark, Paolo, and my dad) all got drunk way too easily. They were all becoming so emo after only around several swigs. It was really funny.

Louie and michelle went ahead early, and Mark and I followed (naunang umuwi ang mga couples!). Ay wait, si JJ pala ang unang umalis. Siguro mga 10pm palang, "guys, i'll go ahead na". Hmmm I wonder why. Hehe. I was sleepy, and Mark needed to drive to Cavite the next morning so we hit the road at Cinderella time.

Some pictures from last night, from Michelle's camera. Thanks beautiful!

Walanghiya ka talaga louie (doing the sungay)

much better... pero senglot na yata si ynan dito, ganda ng kuha ng crowd ah!

si louie, talo pa ni michelle sa inuman

It was a fun night. Happy birthday, Patricia. 28 ka na daw? Upakan ang P.A.!

I'm gonna take a nap.... Cheers!

pasyente, panibagong itay, at puregold

Dumaan ako kanina sa ospital, last check up ko. Absent ako for more than two weeks na. Tinakbo kasi ako sa ER kamakailan lang, hanggang ngayon di pa rin namin alam kung ano talaga nangyari sakin. But we're getting warm kahit papano. Dapat lang, kelangan ko na bumalik sa opisina. Baka sisantihin nako.

May pagkasosyal nga lang yung doktor na binisita ko kanina. Di man lang siya accredited ng health card ko, kaya parating full payment ako. Anlungkot parati ng bulsa ko pag pumupunta ako sa kanya. Pero di ko mabitawan. 6 years na niyakong ginagamot e.

Bukas, ultrasound nanaman. Magbabayad nanaman. Anyaman na talaga ni St. Luke dahil sakin.

Dati pako sakitin e. Mistulang bata pako, ganito nako.
May rason nga siguro kung bakit di ako pinayagan makipaglaro sa mga walanghiyang batang kalye sa labas ng gate namin. Pero ansaya makipag-agawan ng tsinelas e.

Proud na proud ako sa tatay ko. Buong buhay niya, smoker siya. Pero sa wakas, nakapag quit din siya. Nakakatuwa nga e, kasi tumataba na siya. Kain kasi ng kain ng Cornetto, yung mga ice cream drumstick. Pag nagyoyosi break mga kabarkada niya, dadaan muna yan ng 7-11 para bumili ng ice cream. Nakakataba ng puso pag ini-imagine ko yun.

Sinamahan ako ni itay at ng Ate ko sa St. Luke's. Pagtapos ng check up ko, dumaan kami sa bagong Puregold sa E. Rodriguez. Yung Puregold Qi Central. Nung una natatakot ako pumasok dun. Bakit naman kasi napag-isipang tawaging "Qi Central" yun? Na-imagine ko talaga, puro pasyenteng may TB yung pumipila sa cashier.

Pero astig, anlake ng Puregold Qi Central. Patok pa sa produkto. Ang mumura! Yung Spam na binibili namin sa Unimart, umaabot minsan ng dalawang daan. Yung sa Puregold Qi Central, 99 pesos lang! Dalawang lata nga binili namin e.

Ansaya pa nung music na pinapatugtog -- Angelina, Ispageti Pababa, and the like. Pinoy na Pinoy. I felt so at home. And so free. Di katulad sa Rustan's Supermarket, masyadong malamig. Yung aircon sa Puregold, tamang tama lang. Simpleng Pinoy lang naman ako e. Di ako sanay sa malamig.

Behold the Surreal at Conspiracy

Had a rockin’ good time last night in Conspiracy with my Worry Free Wednesday folks Gian, Chek, and Kris, and two of their other college/law school friends PJ and Lex, who are still in the process of being initiated into WFW. I hope they pass, what with our very high standards. Anyway, that’s another story.

Kicked off the night with Grill Queen take out (care of Gian… kahit nagkulang ang barbecue), tinola (care of Chek), great sake and Red Label (again care of Chek) at Chek’s place (say Chek again and I’ll bite your head off). So that was pre-Noel, and we were already tipsy by 9PM. All I can say is, lolo drinks are traitors.

We entered Conspiracy surprised to see an ice blonde Belgian woman with an accordion jamming with Noel. All I could grasp from the song was “Bella Ciao! Bella Ciao! Bella Ciao! Ciao! Ciao!”, so I cursed Chek’s damn Red Label again. But then I realized, something special’s probably gonna happen tonight. That thought was confirmed when Cynthia Alexander hopped on stage, asking Noel about his Dame guitar. Her mere presence proved that this was gonna be one hell of a night.

Solve na solve na kami by Noel’s opening song—“41”. Things were going so well around 10+ bottles of hard cold beer later and until the latter part of the first set, when suddenly the rest of the god gang went inside—Joey Ayala grabbed Noel’s guitar and started belting out songs I really can’t remember anymore (curses, Red Label). I just remember PJ slurring, “Makibaka songs, pare. Makibaka.” Cynthia was just by her brother’s side, rooting for him, which was fine—just breathing the same air she’s breathing’s damn enough for me thankyouvermuch. And Cookie Chua, who was as drunk as I was, was there too. We couldn’t take it anymore. We wanted Cookie. She later on jammed during the last set.

Can I just say that I am still hungover shitless and can’t put together coherent paragraphs anymore? Here are the highlights from last night:

• One of the boys (either Gian or Chek), went out for a smoke and after 3 seconds dashed inside, seemingly dumbfounded. He then turns to me and whispers, “Putangina dude, si Joey Ayala naka-helmet.” And I’m like dude you’re wasted. So I go out, and there you have it—si Joey Ayala nga, naka-helmet. Apparently, he was already on his way out and uses a good ol’ bike to move around town. We all should’ve known, right?

• Cookie Chua was finally on stage, and she just capped off our night so perfectly. She’s just amazing. “Goddess, dude. She’s a goddess.” And Chek was like, “She’s MY goddess damn you. MY goddess!” Cookie Chua happens to be Chek’s longtime crush.

• "Dalampasigan ng Puso”, “Dahil Nariyan Ka”, “With or Without You”, “Crash Into Me”, “What a Wonderful World” and “Stay”.

• Belgian Woman: “I shall now sing a peace song in different languages—French, Italian, Spanish, yada yada yada” Noel: “And I will sing in Ilocano.”

• I started texting nonsense to everyone. I just found out about it this morning when I checked my Sent Folder.

• In addition to the previous, I found a text message in my outbox that apparently Chek was supposed to send to this guy I used to date. It says, “NO. I DDINT TXT U. HINDI KITA KAILANGAN!,,,.)-..” It wasn’t in my Sent Folder, so thank god for that.

• Gian drove me home, and Chek tagged along. We were already approaching the entry to our neighborhood, when suddenly, Chek goes, “Dude, Scott’s Burger na ito.” Gian shifts and makes a sharp U-Turn, parks and before we knew it, we were tripping on 6 burgers, at the Scott’s Burger stall mind you. Quezon Avenue was such a sight to behold that night.

But my #1 highlight of the night is, drum roll please…

• A super drunk Conrado de Quiros jamming Beatles songs with Noel. I’m not kidding.

Yes, last night was, to say the least, the most surreal night I've ever had in Conspiracy. That place is my #2 escape, next to Bora. So here's to more Worry Free Wednesdays! Thank you Team WFW. Thank you everpresent Noel Cabangon! Thank you Joey Ayala, Cynthia Alexander, Cookie Chua, and Conrado de Quiros! Thank you Scott's Burger! Cheers to y'all!