forever friends

Since yesterday is Friendship Day, this post is dedicated to my college barkada.

One sunny morning of June 1997, I was anxious to go to school... too excited to be in college; to be "out there", at the same time scared to death of what awaits me...

So finally after summoning all my courage, I went to the room assigned for 1T1, the room at the far end of 2nd floor near the girls' washroom, GREAT!

There I saw a tall morena girl with long black hair (naks, parang model description ko say Berna, dapat may bayad to! wahaha!) I instantly recognized her because we've met during the interview (for college admission). I don't have to worry, I have a friend. What a sigh of relief! Inside the room we chose to be seated 2nd row from the front. Then, one tiny girl sat beside me, introduced herself as Cla; and right in front of me sat a Mylene Dizon look-alike who was carrying a thick pocketbook. This girl would always looked at us and give out a wide grin. Eventually in the years to come, she would sat beside us so as not to have stiff neck from always looking at her back. (palagi kase nakalingon sa likod!)

neoprint mania

Seated at our back (3rd row) were a group of 4 girls; one stands out because of her bogartness quality though will not manifest yet in the years to come but you can still feel and identify her unique bogart like qualities. Also seated at bogart's back (4th row) were another group of girls , one has a goddess like aura which I can strongly identify with (di ba Goddess Nikki?!), Then there's really tall girl with beauty queen like stature; beside her was a really quiet laid back kinda girl and at the far end of the that row was a shy girl who was really fond of mickey mouse.

This is where it all started ....

Proximity might have something to do with it or maybe not, or maybe it must be fate that lead us to seat on that one side of the room...

OR maybe just maybe that's just the way it should be to find friends you know you'll treasure forever...


P.S. we made this pact that every year or every quarter we would meet up and/or travel somewhere. And it had always been like that since 2001 after graduation.

almost complete (si nicanor kase eh!)

more than a decade of friendship...

Something Borrowed

Movies are made to entertain us, to make us happy or sad, oftentimes it teaches us a lesson, and sometimes it mirrors our lives, some way or  another it reminds us of memories, good or bad that had happened in our lives. There are movies that evoke or awaken our feelings, feelings that we pushed aside knowing that it is better to have it stay hidden.

And so this is one of those movies. Last night, I watched Something Borrowed. I heard that it didn't receive good reviews in the US, still I like the movie. For others, this is just another chick flick but for me its more than that.

At first, I thought I was like Rachel, the 30 something terminally single girl who had feelings for Dex but kept her feelings to herself. The problem is Dex is getting married and he realized that he loved Rachel too but he isn't man enough to call the wedding off. I thought that part was a ripoff from my life minus the best friend part of course. And then there's this line that Rachel said "...it's hard to see you with her..." kinda reminds me of what had happened a few years ago. At least in the movie, Rachel made a choice. 

But towards the end, I think I'm more like Ethan. The silent type who would still be there for his love even if it pains him to see her with someone else; who would push you to go after your one true love just to make you happy; who would keep all your secrets; the one who would fight for you and defend you, if there's a fight he'll always be on your side. And Ethan knows when to stop, and walk away, to not pursue things that aren't meant to be. 

So yeah, I guess I'm more of an Ethan than a Rachel.

And like in the movies, I'll have my happy ending too. :)

P.S. I think Colin Egglesfield stole my heart. hehe! Loved the sountrack too! 

my alter ego

My sister jaichey and I have an idea of creating a blog about travel. We've been talking about this since last year and finally its up! Dear friends, if you have time please do visit and follow our site, http://tripidsistahs.blogspot.com/.

so why tripidsistahs?

It is a portmanteau taken from 3 words. TIPID (tagalog word for budget/low cost); TRIP (traveling) and SISTAHS (the slang of sister).  We have a passion for budget travel. We like to explore and discover new places without having to damage our already burnt pockets. Join us as we conquer the world and learn more about the joys of traveling. This blog is dedicated to 'financially challenged' wanderlusting yuppies like us.

P.S. I will still maintain this blog as my personal page. :)

blessed

Yesterday, my officemates attended a mass. I opted to stay home. After an hour, Mimi called and told me that Renel is going to pick me up. We're having dinnner somewhere, I barely had enough money to get me by for the rest of the week; but its my CRK family, who can say NO to them. 

my CRK family

We ate at a famous pizza place here in Angeles, when its time to pay for the bill. They didn't let me pay for my share, its their treat! I was touched coz they could have eaten dinner without me. The church is just 5mins away from the pizza place but they went back to pick me up at the apartment, and then treated me for dinner. I feel really blessed having these guys around. I'm so glad to have met these people in my lifetime. For some, this is just a 'mababaw' moment but for me these moments are what endeared me to these group. We look out for each other, we've been to hell and back.

When Law needed a place a to crash, he took refuge at our apartment. And he is more than welcome to crash our place anytime in the future. If Josh wants to vent, we would drop everything and be there for him or for anyone who needs comfort. We are not merely colleagues, or friends, we are more than that. We regard its each as a family, we may not be blood related but I love them to death. I have found another set of brothers and sisters away from home. 

I do wish all you to find these kind of people in your life. Treasure them, they are a rare find. :)

From Evernote:

freeloader

The past 2 nights at the apartment we were able to get connected to the cyberworld courtesy of my neighbor. I don't know if they are aware that their wifi isn't password protected.

Mimi and I were ecstatic! Free wifi for all day, all night, unlimited chat and internet surfing. We slept really late. The first night I slept around 4am just browsing the net. Last night, slept at 2 am watching Russell Peters. 

Tonight, is the 3rd night that we had a free internet access. I'm beginning to think that this blessing is becoming a curse causing us to have sleepless nights. My housemate and I didn't talk to each other for the past 2 nights because we were overwhelmed by the thought of having free internet access whenever we want to... at the comforts of our room. 

EDIT: As I was writing this blog (last night), I got disconnected. And when I tried looking for the wifi connection its now password protected. Indeed, some good things never last and maybe its for the better. Its also a welcome relief 'coz by 10pm I was already in dreamworld, and got my much needed sleep.

Mimi and I are still contemplating on idea of having internet connection installed in the apartment. It may be a good idea or maybe not. I think moderation is the key to balance it . We'll just have to figure it out. 

From Evernote:

shut up and watch

The other night I watched the final installment of The Harry Potter series' Deathly Hallows. And no, I won't give a review or comment about how great or bad the film is or give you any spoiler for those who haven't read the book. This is all about my movie experience.

Okay, so first of all we go to the cinema to watch a movie not to chitchat with our friends or go there to harness our commentator skills. But there are some movie patrons that are really annoying and does not care about people who are there to watch and enjoy the movie too.  I'm all cool with those who give exaggerated reactions (when watching) like a loud laugh, or a high pitch scream, a constant giggle those are all but natural response . What irritates me are those who go to the movie house and watch as if they own the place. 

Meet some of my annoying seat mates:

a. The Commentator - these are the people who can never keep their mouth shut. every scene they have to say something; like how lame the actor's expression is; how Ron's eyes are big; how the twins have grown, that Dumbledore looks like Gandalf, that Ginny is ugly, blah blah blah blah blah... Its alright to express your opinion but to give out your comment on every scene and actor is way too much for me to handle. i didn't go there to hear you speak your thoughts on the film.  

b. The (feeling) Know-it-All - the smarty pants who thinks that they know everything that happens in the story. even if you read the book or wrote the script itself who don't have the right to tell the others what will happen next or how the protagonist will die or whatever inside info you have read on the book. you're killing the climax!

A man seated at the back explains something about Snape. In all movies, before the film ends there's an explanation why certain events happen. duh?! But he kept on blabbering about it. And then my seat mate, another wiseass said (when he saw the 9 3/4 platform at the train station); oh look, yung nine and three PORTERS! kuya pa-impress: EPIC FAIL!

c. The Chatter - at the very least the commentator and the know-it-all talks about the movie, but the chatter doesn't care about the movie. All she/he cares about are the mundane things that happen about him or between him and his companion. how the exam was hard; or how demanding his boss was. hello?! you can do that talk somewhere else. i didn't go the movie house to listen to your life and problems. I have my own, I don't need yours.

d. The Rocker - these people never sit still. they rock or swing their feet back and forth which in turn makes the whole row feel the swaying motion of his feet. When Law, Mimi and I watched X-Men we thought there was an earthquake, turns out the man at the end of the row was rocking his feet so hard. Mimi and I got dizzy. Please people be considerate.

Also falling on this category are those who tap their feet behind your seat. Its irritating. 

e. The Don - speaking of feet, these people doesn't respect those who sits in front of them. They put their feet up on your headrest so you have 2 big rabbit ears behind your head. what's bad is when you turn to face them you'll catch a whiff of smelly feet or worse you might even accidentally kiss their soles.

To deal with those insensitive movie patrons, here's what i do:

a. the move - I shift or change my sitting position and give a loud sigh, enough to make the annoying seat mate realize that they are bothering me. 

b. parinig  - if the 'move' doesn't get enough attention; i resort to parinig. i usually say, 'ang ingay naman!' or 'bawal magkwento ng mangyayari', 'wag kang malikot nahihilo ako'. As i said, there was this 'rocker' who kept on swaying his feet, i'm starting to have a headache, so I blurted out, 'isa pa tatadyakan na kita'. then he stop swaying. for a while. then after 10 minutes, he started swaying again which led me to confront him.

c. the confrontation - when all else failed. this is my last resort. i would call their attention and tell to stop talking or stop swaying their feet. it depends on the level of my annoyance, i do it in a nice way. But sometimes, my mean streak would come out and i don't care if they'll be humiliated in front of other people, i'll say what i want. 

i tapped the "rocker's", shoulder and said, could you please stop that (pointing to his swinging feet). hilo na kame dito eh! (and by the way, we were one seat apart, and Mimi was 2 seats away from him that's how strong he was swaying).

then there's this one time, i lost my cool and a group of girls seated at my back got a taste of my fury. 'pwede pakihinaan ang kwentuhan nyo, hinde lang kayo ang nanonood dito! 

Remember when you watch a movie be mindful of other people watching too.  Don't talk loud, if you can't resist telling the plot, do it discreetly. Please don't put your feet up or rock your feet. Think of your GMRC (Good Morals and Right Conduct) lessons when you were young. Now is the time to make use of that.

cheated

I felt cheated. why?! coz I'm forfeiting my ticket with Cebu Pacific. Our roundtrip ticket costs around 2000php per person for our MNL-LGP-MNL trip this coming July 20. Up until last week I was excited to finally unwind and have my much needed rest. But something came up and the money that was supposed to be used for the trip went to something else more important. Its a promo ticket so the only option is to rebook the flight with penalty of course plus fare difference. Its non-refundable, non-transferable. If we rebook the flight the cost is way too expensive, this I know because I work for an airline that has the same concept as CebuPac. The best option is to forfeit the ticket. Now, I felt how our passengers feel when they can't do anything their flight. 

I'm not THAT rich to forfeit a 2000php ticket. It breaks my heart but what else can I do? 

And cla, is quite supertitious. She said that there are signs why we should  not push through with the trip. Like me, she had an emergency and her pocket money was used for some unexpected medical expenses. Then, Bogart couldn't confirm our 3 nights stay in Misibis because there's a big event coming up next week, she can only confirm one night, the 2 other nights will be spent on a hotel in the city. 

this is what I'll miss... :(   *photos courtesy of vina*

For all my selfish reasons, I wish a storm would come up next week that will make CebuPac cancel the flight and rebook my ticket without penalties. I wish no one any harm, no floods, no very strong rain, no strong wind, just enough drizzle and wind.

Mt. Mayon, Misibis and Pili nuts, I promise i'll visit you some other time.