Archive for August, 2005

26
Aug

Cast your vote!

By sinigang 0 Comments
Categories: Current Affairs

I rarely plug and this is one of those times I’m doing it.

The Philippines has made it to the circle of 12 Proj_lg_img_10a
in the world challenge in search for
the best enterpreneur in the world…

The Philippines’ entry is Preventing landslides in the Philippines using waste coconut husks entitled "Coconet."

I knew there were a hundred and one ways to make use of our coconuts (our mascots in the government have taken advantage of that over the years!). Here’s one. Click on the link and don’t just read it. Cast your vote that it may put us in the map again, so to speak…

http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/index.html

25
Aug

Acclamations

By sinigang 0 Comments
Categories: Sanaysay at Liham (Essays & Letters)

ONE OF THE BEST poems ever written in my book is "Funeral Blues" from Wynstan Hugh Auden. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for poetry for his book "Age of Anxiety." This was the poem we all cried over in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral, and yes, he was gay.

P_town_195Funeral Blues
by W.H. Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policeman wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out everyone
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

I get teary-eyed everytime I read the poem. Poignant, searing, haunting; It’s like a knife piercing into your heart. That kind of pain, that kind of emotions that can only come from somebody who truly loved.

My wish is that my family would read this to me on my funeral. I hope I deserve it anyway. I hope they’d read it not because I requested it but because that’s exactly how they’d feel when I’m gone. Let this be part of my living will. Hey it’s my death, am entitled. I want to be part of the planning!

While am on the subject, I want all the works in my funeral- not elaborate but rather simple… I want to see white everywhere. White clothing, white balloons, white flowers, white doves! I want the mood to be a little sad yet festive. NO long sermons but there should be a eulogy done in the cemetery. C’mmon, there must be some things I did right and some good deeds I’ve made! So a eulogy or two from members of my family and perhaps from 2 close friends should do well. I want all my friends to be there, all the people I’ve come across with past and present.

A must music should include: Des’ree’s You Gotta Be, Boys II Men and Mariah Carey’s One Sweet Day, Kavana’s Will You Wait For Me, Norah Jones’ Come Away with Me, Dido’s Thank You, Alanis Morissette’s You Learn. There should be a live band singing those songs in church or OK, I’ll settle for an acoustic ensemble. If you can do away please, with religious songs like "hindi kita malilimutan" or really, really sad tagalog songs. I forgot what they are but they’re the ones almost always played in funerals. Now, I don’t want to hear those, OK?

There should be like a party after with some great music I love from the albums of Everything But the Girl, Swing Out Sister, U2, Beatles songs, some 90’s dance songs like Life, Hey, Better than You, Give Me A little more time, I’ll be  Missing You, If You Could read my mind, Love You down, The Real Thing, The best Things, Do you believe in me- go ahead, play them! Maybe I’ll live to be a hundred- now those songs would sound really weird for my chidren and grandchildren. But that would be a nice subject to talk about by itself. Should I die young, then everybody else should be able to relate with the music.

If something else comes up, I’ll let you know. Meanwhile, note on this and remember…

19
Aug

How To End A Love Story

By sinigang 0 Comments
Categories: Sanaysay at Liham (Essays & Letters)

Heart To end a love story, amend not.
Mend and it doesn’t end.
Bend and the message isn’t sent.
Hate not, fear not, resent not.
Be glad it wasn’t meant.
Move on and let go.

I WAS 19 WHEN I MET HIM. There was nothing unusual about the meeting. There were no sparks. The earth didn’t shook nor did it stop revolving. He didn’t blow me away. Angels didn’t sing. No, I didn’t hear the music! He didn’t come on strong. He didn’t steal my heart in an instant. Heck, I can go on and rattle on love cliche’s! Unfortunately, at that time there wasn’t any. It wasn’t love at first sight. There is no such a thing! I don’t believe in love at first sight- not anymore. I used to when I was at the age of naiveness. But you grow up a little bit and realize, hey, that’s not love. That’s my hormone acting up! You’re feeling a sudden rush of attraction to the other person. You can’t mix up attraction with love on first meeting! Sure, your heart flutters, skips a beat, you’d feel flushed, but that’s not love, ok?! Nonetheless, I guess when you’re 16 or 18 you can get away with it because you love (and or either hate) every imaginable thing at that age! "Oh, I love my new hairstyle! I love my purse! I love my cellphone! I love Jollibee! I love my dog! I love him!" Now, you don’t want to put Mr. nice guy on the same category as your dog, do you? Nope, can’t put them on the same line. So I’m telling you, when you’re past 18, you’d know there is no such a thing as love-at-first-sight.

But see, where I met him. That’s a whole different story. In any new beginnings, the setting is crucial. Egad, I have yet to hear a love story that kicked off in the wet market! What are you gonna tell me- that you fell in love with him while the both of you were reaching for that last galunggong (scads)?! And that your hands touched, your eyes met and you were in love! All that happening while you were in your pjs and flip flops and having the worst hair day! And he was on his porontong! Hell, no! So setting is crucial.

The setting was Boracay Island in the summer of ‘93. He was representing his school paper to the College Editor’s Guild of the Philippines’ Annual Convention and so was I. It was to be a week-long gathering of (radical) minds to further student journalism in the Philippines and be active participants in promoting awareness and stirring the minds of the students on the sad plight of our poor country through the school paper (yadda, yadda, yadda…). Amid different sessions on very serious topics on student activism, our paths crossed- in the "Gender Sensitivity" talk no less!

He introduced himself, tried to be smooth and said something funny. I smiled. We exchanged names. Next thing I know, we were sitting next to each other on almost all remaining sessions, ate meals together in the hall, talked about stuff, issues and our lives. On the side, we were having fun exploring the paradise in our midst; swimming, goofing around on the white, powdery sand beach of the island. We clicked.

On our last night together, we barely slept. We stayed on the beach all night long like the rest of the hundreds of delegates from all over the country. And then, with the brightlit moon and thousands of stars as his witness he professed his extreme fondness for me. I was swept away. We hugged and kissed. The beach was ours. We sat there, staring sadly and quietly at the open sea. The time was ticking. It was time to go and part ways.

We both left Boracay full of great memories but with a heavy heart. We met in the center of Visayas. He was going back to the North of Luzon and me to the South of Mindanao. With that distance- it was over. There goes my isang linggong pag-ibig (one week romance), I thought.

It wasn’t. After only a week, I heard from him. We exchanged letters. We wrote beautiful letters to each other and we burned the phone talking for hours! (Cellphone was just kicking off then BUT no text messaging yet!) I was skeptical still about the whole thing. I couldn’t believe this guy’s for real! Until he showed up in our doorstep one day after six months since Boracay!

He spent a week with me and my family. At that point I was smitten, no doubt. It was the beginning of our journey together, as a couple in a long distance relationship. For two years it worked smoothly. I went to Manila to visit him. He came to see me. I spent a weekend in Baguio with him and my sisters. He followed me in Cebu when I was there to attend a convention. We were going back and forth. We were all over the place. We somehow worked it out and managed to fill in the gaps.

When I graduated, admittedly, there was nowhere to go next but to go closer where he was. It was into our third year that I moved to Manila. We were still separated because he lived in Pampanga. You’d think that now that we we’re closer, things will even look more promising for us. It was at first. But something went wrong along the way. It was both the best and worst of times. I still don’t know what happened there.

All I remember was that, the visits became scarcier, dates were getting cancelled, phone calls weren’t being answered or returned. We were seeing less and less of each other. Was it my fault? His fault? I was shattered. I was devastated. My whole world crumbled and fell in front of me. The man whom I was giving up my last name in exchange of his, have children with, grow old with, the man whom I would have spend the rest of my life with just out of the blue, without warning, suddenly left me in the cold.

It was very cold indeed. He couldn’t have timed it better. I was scheduled to leave for Tokyo in two months. I was alone, lonely, crushed, hurt, stunned, ravaged. I tried to pull myself together and fixed the whole thing. I was running out of time. A week before my departure we talked on the phone for the last time. I remember crying like I never cried before! Drunk like I never felt drunk-sick before! Shameless like never before! For awhile there, I lost my sanity and what’s left of my dignity by desperately trying so hard to win him back. He ignored all pleas.

My last request was to see him before I leave. He didn’t show up in my despidida party or at the airport. He could have killed me then and I wouldn’t know the difference. I stayed in Tokyo for 5 months going through the 5 stages of ‘dying’ or of losing someone alone. First, I was in denial, living a lie that we were still a couple! Then it was followed with anger. Boy, was I angry at him?!! After awhile, I was bargaining, thinking, hoping and convincing myself that all this shall pass and it was a mistake and everything will be back as it should. Then depression came. I came back to Manila. There was still no sign of him. It will be two years later before I am to see him again.

The meeting was casual more than friendly. I was emotionless but not bitter. Quiet but no longer angry. We spent a whole afternoon together talking but not really talking about what happened. Looking back, I still should have confronted him about what went wrong. But at that point I was beginning to accept that he was totally gone and that we can never be. What’s the point? We parted ways still with some questions left unanswered, still with a tinge of longing yet ambivalent, still with a little bit of confusion feelings wise.

I went through the last stage of losing someone without even trying. That meeting in ‘98 was all I needed to get into the acceptance phase. It was time to bury my past with him. But I didn’t throw the tangibles left of the relationship. I couldn’t throw all the love letters he wrote. Not so much because I wanted to reread them again and rekindle the past and hope one day it will be us again. Bloody no! It was more of a reminder to me that after everything, he is still part of who I am today. Meaning I would still go through all the pain and hurt because every tear I shed made me a ton stronger! He broke my heart and that made me tough! Still, you gotta respect the letters and the memento which went with it. I will never open and read them again. But that box is and will be my catharsis. How ironic that the very thing that caused (well, a representation of it) me so much pain 9 years ago is the very thing that liberated me from those disturbing emotions. Just seeing the box makes me shrug my shoulders, heave a sigh and smile…

Before long, after that meeting in ‘98, I received an email from him in late 2000. He said that after everything, he still feels like he owes me the biggest apology! I never replied to his incessant emails all hinting of getting back together and coming to where I was to see me. My reply would have been: "Of course, you idiot! You totally ruined it for us big time! I didn’t deserve what you did to me and to the relationship! Just what were you thinking?! You should be sorry. I am." He ended the note with: "from the guy who was stupid enough to break-up with you. Well, thank you for admitting that! I feel better. I do!" He stopped writing. I never answered. We lost contact again. 

Why am I sharing all these? Lo and behold! I got an unexpected, startling missive from him more than a month ago. The effect of reading whom it was from was quite uncanny almost unnerving. My mind was racing whether to open it or not, to read or to delete, however, my brain mater was quicker to react as it just made my pointer hit the subject line "hi." How a simple hi from someone in your past can suddenly alter your mood and render physiological changes such as increased heart rate, cold palms, slight chill all over and a knot in the stomach- after 5 years from that last email? I don’t know…! I read the short note first quickly and then slowly, digesting what was written. I still don’t know what to make of it.

I know one day, you’ll get to read this, perhaps sooner than I think. This post is for you! You said you just wanted to say hi! What for? You must know I’ve moved on years ago. I see you’ve moved on too. Wasn’t it you who wrote that if we can’t be as a couple, then we can never be friends?! or something to that effect?! I resented that for awhile. But I realized you were right. You and I can never be friends after everything we’ve been through. Just because we have a past doesn’t make our present accessible to each other. I’d really rather not start.

No, you were not stupid enough to break up with me. You did what you thought was right at that time. I forgive you. Let not our memory be of regret and anger but of kindness and respect. True, I’ve loved you once and we shared a life once. Pardon the truism, it was good while it lasted. It was worth all the ride! Let’s leave it at that- all but a reminiscence; Some stories don’t have happy endings. Ours is one.

How to end a love story? I just did.

13
Aug

8893

By sinigang 4 Comments
Categories: Tula (Poetry)

the sound of the waves
gently touching the shoreline,
the wind blowing softly
caressing willing bodies.
the feel of fine sands
on one’s feet,
the thousand of stars
watching over…

the warm sea water seducing
wanting bodies,
why in the midst of all these,
without you,
it’s depressing more than exhilirating,
gloomy and sullen
more than pleasurable
what can one make happy in times such as this?
it’s not all those, no. not at all.

it’s being with you– period.

Feet_1

08
Aug

My Lunches…

By sinigang 1 Comment
Categories: Sanaysay at Liham (Essays & Letters)

Pics01 Img006 THIS IS WHAT I HAD for lunch today! I paid $8.33 for an ordinary fastfood chinese which consisted of 2 tiny slabs of sesame chicken in coconut sauce, some pulled pork, and stir fry veges! I just had a smoothie yogurt and water to go with it… Cheap ko no?! Well, considering how much I had to pay for the simple meal!! See, this is how your ordinary meals would cost here. That’s why I bring my baon everyday to save my dollars. Once or twice a week I treat myself and buy me some decent lunch. A sit-down meal would go from $12 to 25 to as high as $40 per meal depending on where it is and what type of restaurant. A fastfood would go from $4 to 9.99. The receipt says $33.75, that’s coz I asked for a cash back of $25.00 debited from my account. I realized I didn’t have a single dollar in my wallet! There you go :-)

Wholefoods Pics11 And this was what I had from three weeks back! Again from the same store which is literally next door our office. I paid $6.23 for the small piece of crap of food! I had tofu, some veges, and rice! The store has like a buffet bar where you pick what you like but be careful not to get carried away on those heavy stuffy food because they weigh them @ $5.99 per pound when you get to the register.Pics03 Pics09 Pics10

Last but not the least, Mc donald’s!! You’d think it’s the cheapest you can get– yes, it is! At $5.24 for their value meal no. 3- a big n’ tasty cheeseburger meal with fries on the side and a soda, that is one of the Img008 cheapest meals you could get. Thier medium size soda is like our large there- even bigger, I think! So there you see I finished my meal, and I barely drank all my powerade! Moral of this post? Bring your own baon!! By doing so, I save about $120 a month! If only I can save on my shopping too! I’m a certified shopaholic and crazy over coupons and discounts! :-)

SO, I heard jollibee’s prices has ridiculously gone up! Well whatever, I sure can’t wait to have my jolly chicken joy and burger steak with rice!! No such thing as that here in Mc Donald’s anywhere. The closest you could get to chicken is Mc Nuggets, unless you go to KFC but then they don’t have rice there! Oh well… that’s how I do lunch here.

05
Aug

Muling Pagtatagpo

By sinigang 0 Comments
Categories: Sanaysay at Liham (Essays & Letters)

ANG TAGAL NA! Ilang taon na nga noong huli tayong nagkita? Basta ang naaalala ko eh uso pa rin ang spray net sa buhok, ang expression na "as if" eh in na in, si Keanu Reeves eh sumikat sa "Speed" bago pa man ang sensational hit na The Matrix, at sa edad na 20 o 21 eh wala pa rin tayong mga buot!! Halos mga batang isip pa rin kahit na at that time we were preparing for the nerve wracking local nursing board exam sa Pilipinas.

Pilit kong binabalik ang aking alala sa taong 1995. Aba, kinakalawang na yata ang utak ko. Hazy at cloudy na ang mga pangyayari… Bakit naman kasi iniwan-iwan ko pa ang yearbook ko sa ‘Pinas at mas piniling dalhin and sang katutak na "ginisa at sinigang mix" at ’sang katerbang damit at sapatos! (Isip-isip ko kasi para hindi na ako bibili dito! Nakatulong naman, pang summer nga lang lahat! Hayon, dumating ako ng july dito- mahigit 2 months ko lang nagamit! Kina-ilangan ng bumili ng pang fall at winter na damit!! GRRR!) Ang yearbook lang sana ang link ko sa aking mga batchmates, iniwan ko pa.

Salvador_dali_museum_of_art    Naputol ang komunikasyon ko sa halos lahat ng batchmates ko noong college pagkatapos ng ‘bored’ exam. Pano naman kasi ang bilis ng ikot ng mundo ko, paikot-ikot ako sa manila at gensan at kung saan-saan sa Pilipinas at sa labas- nakarating pa nga ako ng Tokyo! Hindi ko na namalayan sampung taon na ang nagdaan.
At heto, may mini reunion daw kami dito sa east coast.

Philly_downtown_1 Kung hindi dahil sa Friendster, hindi siguro ako makakadalo. Wala akong contact ni-isa sa batchmates ko. Isang araw, inisa-isa ko ang list of friends ko at tiningnan ang list of friends nila at ang friends of friends. Hanggang nakakita ako ng mga familiar names! Na-excite naman ako at I invited them all or they invited me too, when I started adding others. Next thing I know, I’m already exchanging emails with them. And there they were, planning a mini-reunion in Philadelphia last May 28 and 29! Aba, biruin mo nga naman, two months bago pa ako magkwento!

Minireunionbesi_006Sa totoo lang, medyo asiwa kasi akong magkwento ng mga escapades ko dito. Hindi ko na siguro kailangan litanyahin in detail kung saan man ako nakaka-abot dito kasi nandito na ako. (Plano kong gumawa ng album one day soon! So i’ll let the pictures speak for itself na lang kung saan mang mga lugar iyon. ;-)) Kaya naman ako mag-kukwento ngayon kasi meaningful at significant para sa akin iyong short meeting ko with my college friends. Wala na yatang mas hihigit pa sa bonding ng mga estudyanteng kumukuha ng Nursing course or other medical field. Ibang klase! Kahit pa hindi kayo magkita ng sampo or dalawampung taon, there’s a certain connection with each one of them. Parang kapamilya mo na (O Kapuso?!!).  I am sooo looking forward to seeing the rest of my batchmates again, ke dito man, sa Pilipinas or sa UK!

Anim lang silang kaklase na na-meet ko sa 211 naming graduates. Kung tutuusin, para anim lang. Iyong anim na yon eh sapat na para mabuhay ulit ang mundo ko kahit papano! Ako’y nalolongkot at walang makaosap deto! hehe You’ll never feel so alone ’til you’re living on your own in a foreign country. Talagang you’ll feel alienated. (hmm, ever wonder bakit alien ang tawag sa mga taong dayo sa ibang bansa??!) Kaya when I was invited, I did what I can to get to Philly. Sulit ang plane ticket ko!

Dumating ako sa Philadelphia International Airport bandang 11.30 ng umaga. Ang liit ng Airport nila! Kumpara sa Boston Logan Airport or San Francisco. Mas malaki pa nga ang NAIA- pero considering naman na tatlo yata ang airport sa Philly alone, enough said. Upo lang ako sa tabi at nag-antay until mga 12noon. Sa wakas, dumating na ang sundo kong si Bessie na shang nag-organize ng mini-reunion. Smart and young at heart Bessie! Like me, she hasn’t changed a bit from the last time I saw her- batang-isip in some ways but definitely serious when need to be. I thought she looked good- in love at ikakasal na kasi! We were now waiting for 2 others, Kate and Wena. Kate would be coming from Virginia Beach and Wena from Michigan. Oh my! The two were a sight to see! Hiyang na hiyang tong dalawa sa Amerika!

Off we went to meet another classmate, Joanne, whom unfortunately couldn’t join us on our escapades because she has a duty at the hospital. So she kindly offered to host our lunch para magkita-kita kahit a few hours. Wow, 10 years didn’t change her din. Basta happy ang disposition mo, hindi ka tatanda! At our ages of 30 & 31, feeling nasa 20’s pa din kami pati looks! hehe There, waiting for us was another classmate, Vivian with her hubby, kiko and their 10-yr old son. What a happy surprise! She is carrying another baby! The last time I saw her, she was pregnant and  now ten years later, buntis ulit! What a beautiful preggy mom she is! I wish ganun din ako mag-buntis!! Kelan kaya yon?!

Philly_dgang    It was about one before we had our lunch. Grabe, ang handa! Lahat ng paborito ko (wala lang sinigang!!) Merong Palabok, halabos na hipon, buffalo wings, and most of all kare-kare at bagoong with rice!! Ang dami kong nakain nun! Hab-hab gyud! Dumating ng late ang main reason ng get-together namin, si yo! Si yo- our student council president then and the one whom we tease as our next President because of his penchant for governance. Shempre, hindi sha nurse and he’s working as a public servant in Davao! Nakapasa sha sa interview ng US embassy- pano ba naman from office of the president ang endorsement nya to attend a convention sa Minneapolis ba yon. He was only to stay here two weeks pero pagdating nya sa immigration dito, he was granted 2 months!! Kaya hayon naka-ikot sha sa different states and had a chance to meet other classmates. Kaka-uwi lang nya this month. Binubuyo nga namin na wag ng umuwi pero shempre ayaw naman nya masira record not only nya but ang record ng mga pilipino with the embassy. Paano naman hindi hihigpit ang US embassy eh sa sampung granted ng tourist visa, isa o dalawa lang bumabalik! Anyway, late sha bacause mali yun nasakyan nyang train (or was it bus?) going direct from New York (where he was staying with his relatives) to Philly. He has grown weight! Sorry YO pero yan talaga ang unang mapapansin pero gwapo pa rin! How’s that? :-)

Kwento dito, kwento doon! Para kaming mga shrieking teenagers, pataasan at palakasan ng boses para marinig kasi we were all talking at the same time! What can i tell you? a typical Filipino gathering. Kaya naman pag may amerkanong nakaka-witness ng ganitong mga tagpo o party eh napapa-iling na lang. :-) Who cares?! I don’t care, ako pa nga ang may pinakamalakas na boses eh! hehe. Ganun pa din daw ako ka hyper and excited about anything! Calcibloc/Nifedipine please! lol

By around three pm we were heading off to our first stop- city tour of Philadelphia. Dalawang kotse kami, convoy. Well, there wasn’t really much to see in the main city. From its overall appeal, the buildings aren’t that impressive compared with like Boston (not because I live here).

Philly’s buildings are modern and contemporary. Boston has this century-old feel to it. Philly_rocky_2 At least majority of the buildings are and it’s meant to stay that way- so the old and new blends in admirably. We visited the Salvador Dali Museum, famous for the most part because it was where Sly Stallone trained in Rocky- going up and down the long stairs. In fact he has his foot print or should I say, shoe print there at the top of the stairs. For the fun of it, sinukat ko pa ang shoe size ko with his (see exhibit photo B, hehe)! :-)

Philly__bfranklin   Naka park kami sa Dali museum at $10 kaya we decided sana to take the bus or taxi going to our next stop- to see the Liberty Bell; the very icon of America’s freedom! Aba, expect the unexpected pala dito sa Philly! Bigla na lang, from a very clear, sunny and warm day- nag overcast ang sky. Dumilim at humangin! As in humangin! And it was later rated as one of the strongest in history at 62mph gusty winds!! My, that’s 100 kph! can you imagine ang takbo ng car at 100 kph?! Ganun kalakas ang wind na bumulaga sa amin! And then, lightning and thunder at malakas na buhos ng ulan ang sumunod! Nasa kalye kami nag-aabang ng masakyan! Sabay takbo sa kotse na halos parang may pumipigil sa mga paa namin! Grabe, feeling ko talaga literally liliparin ako ng hangin- parang twister!

Pag alis namin ng parking lot aba, humupa ang ulan! anak ng tipaklong, para kang nawalan ng $10! Wala pa kaming 30 min sa Dali museum. Na-dali kami doon ah! Anyway, off we went to see the famous Liberty Bell. Nakakatuwa lang, what that heck is the big fuss?! Pagdating namin doon, heavily guarded ang place. Para kang entering ng airport passing the security section. As in, they scanned our bags, told us to remove our jackets and belts and they body searched us. Si YO, naku, ang daming gadget at naka boots pa! So andun kami tawa ng tawa pinapanuod sha, habang sha’y agitated at somewhat confused na why he kept on beeping doon sa sensor! He took off his jacket, belt, all the contents of his pockets, coins and everything, surrendered his video cam, his PDA, his ipod, his wallet, still he was beeping!! Akala namin eh paghuhubarin na sha, kasi ang mismong pantalon na suot nya eh tumutunog!! Hanggang sa nag-give up na lang din yun security at pina pass na sha!

Philly_bel     Sigh! To our surprise, yun museum is just that- one big bell and then some big posters about it, about who came and visited, its history, yada, yada. Mas matagal pa kami sa security section kesa doon sa tour! Yun lang, yun bell. I guess I shouldn’t belittle something as significant as that to them! Pero sorry, can’t relate eh. Hindi ko nga makuhang maging proud sa Pilipinas ngayon, i-appreciate ko pa ang bell nila! They have every reason to love, respect and appreciate their history kasi ito yong nag mold sa kanila to become a great, strong nation where they are now. They should be proud! Eh tayo? we have a great history in the likes of Aguinaldo and Rizal, pero anong nangyari? nasan tayo ngayon?! Sinira ng ating gobyerno ang ating magandang history! Shame on them. Ang hirap magkaroon ng national pride kasi puro kahihiyan ang dulot ng sistema ng ating gobyerno. Hindi naman present admin me kasalanan eh kundi ang predecessors nila at ng bago pa sa kanya at ng bago pa sa huli!

Philly_decla Pupunta pa sana kami sa building na katabi kung saan nakatago ang "declaration of Independence" ng Amerika- buti na lang sarado na kasi hanggang 5 lang sila. Bakit buti na lang? Maiinis lang ako at maiinggit sa kanila!
Malulungkot lang ako kasi agad kong naiisip ang bayan kong sawi at naghihikahos… double sigh. Besides, we don’t know what to expect or how tight the the security there would be! Baka paghubarin na talaga kami dun kasi muka kaming mga terrorists naka disguised as hot babes!! hehe

Philly_trumpYun lang at naikot na namin ang Philly! Akala ko eh hanggang Philly lang ako. Marami palang plano si Bessie para sa amin. Punta daw kami ng Atlantic City, New Jersey! Anong meron doon? Mini Las Vegas sha! Andun ang hotel and casino ng business mogul na si Donald Trump, Ceasar’s Palace, Taj Majal, atbp.  Casino-haven kaya tourist ‘infested’ din! Hindi kami nag-gamble- dinaanan lang namin lahat ng mga casino restos and hotels. Philly_eam Tama na sa amin ang maka pa-picture sa mga lugar! Sinuri namin at nilakad ang so-called boardwalk! Dito sa atlantic City, makikita mo ang mga lugar na nakalagay sa larong Monopoly! Makikita mo rin dito ang Atlantic ocean, kaya nga Atlantic city sha! hehe

Nakabalik kami ng Philly bandang alas onse ng gabi! Pagod sa lakad kaya we retired early sa apartment ni Bessie. By morning, we had our breakfast of leftover palabok and chiken wings and rice!! Sweet bessie, binilhan pa ako ng fresh lemon to fully enjoy the palabok!! Nung sa lunch kasi, nakalimutan nila yun at being a lover of kalamansi, lime, lemon and anything sour, shempre yun agad ang unang hinanap ko. Masarap ang palabok PERO wala ng sasarap pa sa palabok na may kalamansi or lemon in this case! SO there, I binged on the palabok with the fresh lemons! Thanks Bes, as in!

Philly_annaBessie also had to wake up a lot earlier than all of us kasi kate has to go back to Virginia and has to catch an early flight! Mga 5:30am ata gising na sila. Hindi ko na namalayan ang pag-alis at pagbalik ni bessie, himbing ng tulog eh! SO Kate, a jetsetter only stayed in Philly for about 17 hours! not quite a full day! :-)

Philly_oathOur next in itenirary was to go to Baltimore and Annapolis, Maryland! It’s about two and a half hours away din from Philly. Kung may oras pa nga, diretso sana kami ng Washington, DC. Sayang!! We head off to Annapolis first! Known for it’s hundreds of sailing boats beautifully floating at sea; and home of the US Naval Academy. It’s a small, Philly_naval quiet town. Super linis ng streets! Hanep ang ganda at ang laki ng academy! Touring the entire school gives you a sense of awe and pride and yes, a tinge of envy again for what the Philippines lacks.

Hindi namin namalayan ang oras, 3pm na!! Naku!! I have a flight to catch at 5pm!! Hindi na ako aabot!! Oh my goodness, I felt myself flushing and sweating and it wasn’t all that hot! Super kabado ako as we all rushed to the car. I was thinking of the worst case scenario. If I stayed, it would cost me a whole lot. First, I’d have to pay the no-show fee of I think $200! A rebooking fee of $150.00 to fly the next day. Then I couldn’t go to work the following day! And that day was memorial day, which is a holiday; that means I’d be lose time and a half pay if I didn’t show up at work. So there was nothing on my mind at that time but to get to the airport and be on the plane back to Boston! Of course, I could only pray at the backseat- as they were all teasing me to relax and loosen up… I was just there, oblivious, staring blankly at nothing, Philly_fast_1 biting my nails! I trusted Bessie to drive us as quickly and yet as safely as possible! How she did it was beyond me!!
I knew she did her best and I’ll never forget how she broke the rules for me on the highway! Goodness, she was driving at 85-90mph!! Imagine, that’s 140kph!! The normal speed limit in the highway is only 55. You could go to 60 and hope no police would catch you! BUT 90mph??!! You must be crazy driving that fast!! Or otherwise, you are driving someone crazy to the airport to catch a flight home!! It’s the latter of course! So all’s well that ends well. I made it to the airport, running, stumbling, pushing and shoving others, expectedly out of breath, loss for words, and the last person to check-in!! A typical day in another insane person’s life! So, Bess you gotta do something foolish even once in your lifetime and I thank you for doing it on my behalf ;-) Philly_2005_226

Philly_hall_1 Philly_coyoteThere goes my first mini-reunion adventure here in the east coast. Thank you, Bess, Wena, Kate, Joanne, Vivian, Kiko and YO! for the enlivening experience. For awhile there, I felt so close to home! Sa uulitin!