Surprise Call

10:54 AM, Delifrance, The Podium

After paying the sandwich I ordered, the cashier lady handed me my change and my order number - 4 (Must be my lucky day; Four's my number). I sat on the chair of one of the vacant table sets and waited patiently to get my midday repast. Whimsically, I checked my phone to see if there were lingering new SMS in my inbox. To my surprise, someone was calling.... The number: +000000 - how obscure.... Coming to my senses, I thought it might be some computer generated or international call dispatched indirectly to my number.

"Hello?", I said. No one answered.
"Hello?", I said again. This time someone answered back with a familiar voice. Who could that be?
Rehashing my memory... oh my gosh! It's Jannah, my college friend who's been living in the US for three years now.

She called me just to greet me a Happy Birthday - geez, how thoughtful of her to do.. Well, it's not yet my natal day. Then again, she ringed me just to make sure she does not forget to leave me a greeting.

Thanks Jannah! I appreciate the call very much! Hope to see you back here in Pinas. Don't forget, I still owe you a movie date. (^_^)

A Gluttonous End for September

I and my close guy college friends (the ones I was with in Hong Kong three months ago) got together again yesterday, this time at TriNoMa. Itinerary for that day: have lunch, watch Resident Evil: Extinction, and do spontaneity afterwards (e.g. shopping, coerce me to play DotA, gallivant along the mallways).

As planned, we had lunch from Mexicali (my treat 'cause of my forthcoming natal day), and viewed Resident Evil afterwards. I even managed to grab Darwin's Origin of Species: A Biography from Powerbooks, which I did not pretty much expect from myself then (why the heck did I get that book anyway?).


Anyway, our repasts from Mexicali, I would have to say, was hefty enough to our average stomachs. My two friends got each one a California-sized burrito (one Grilled Steak and one Ground Beef, which they hardly consumed because of the enormous serving), and I ordered a good-for-two serving of Chicken Fajitas.

Darn, the food was too much for my appetite (I underestimated their good-for-two serving. Apparently, it was "really" meant for two persons). Though the chicken was very tender and tasty, with all the sliced onions and julienned red bell peppers mixed, I was feeling almost sated after having just a couple of tortilla wraps. That was quite surprising as I often have big appetites, especially when rice's not included in the course. Good thing they had garlic dressing served, which helped my craving last long enough to take in all the remaining tortillas and chicken strips.

For dessert? Oh yes! We had dessert after that filling Mexican meal. One of my friends then was compelled to buy the trio afters as a penalty for arriving half an hour past our meeting time.

Exiting from Mexicali, we saw a nearby Mrs. Fields cafe. I thought it was a good idea to have a white chocolate macadamia cookie from the said store so I suggested he get us our sweet treats from there. Unfortunately, instead of getting cookies, my other friend suggested we get ice cream. Being complaisant enough, I submitted to the suggestion as I haven't tasted Mrs. Fields' frozen delights. From the six flavors available, I sticked loyal to my taste and chose the macadamia-flavored one. To my disappointment, the ice cream was too sweet and had more of a sorbet feel on the tongue.

After watching Resident Evil: Extinction, the three of us waited for the fourth member of our clique. He was late to arrive due to some Sunday work in his company.

It was already dinner time when our group was completed. My late arriver friend came in famished. Though my stomach wasn't aching for more food then (as I could still taste Chicken Fajitas from my occasional belching), we decided to get our evening meals. This time, we went outside the mall and into TriNoMa's facade, where Terikayi Boy was installed. Here's what we had.

The Tempura Maki, Tofu, and Asparagus Wrapped in Bacon Strips are the ones I ordered for sharing. Unlike my friends, I did not get a rice bowl of my choice because I was still feeling sated. Then again, I enjoyed the food we had - of course!

After that satisfying dinner, I thought we were to do some strolling along the mallways just to let the food sink deeper into our gastronomic systems. We debated on what to do next: Watch another movie? Play DotA, which I really do not know how to? Sing karaoke at Red Box?

When we seemed to be going into a futile discussion, one of my friends butted in and suggested we get dessert from Razon's of Guagua - his treat. What?!? Food again?!?

Much to the delight of me and my other two friends being regaled, we agreed and apparently became oblivious of our satiation.


Gosh! I could hardly finish by serving of Halo-halo. In as much as I wanted to enjoy it, it was more of a chore for me to even spear a spoon of milk and ice to my mouth. Only my late arriver friend managed to finish his. I... just half of the plastic cup.

After that icy treat, I thought we were about to call it a day. Surprisingly, again, one of my friend, this time it was late arriver, volunteered to take us to Five Cows to try their ice cream cakes. Waaah! Dessert again!


And guess what? Without much hesitation to disregard the generosity, we accepted his invitation as it was on him this time (Well, we don't reject blessings do we. Haha!). Check out these fancy creations.

The cakes: S'mores Cake, Rocky Almond Bar, and Torta de Manila. The first two are too sweet for me, especially their crusts (I suspect embedded granules of white sugar to be the culprit to over-sweetness). The last one, which was the most intriguing of the three, was actually a cake made of vanilla ice cream and saging na turon (banana spring rolls). Yes, you read it right, saging na turon (what a clever idea!). I liked it the most because of the vanilla ice cream used - it made it less sweet compared to the two chocolate-based ones. But then, my gustation was just too tired from over-indulgence and I couldn't be righteous enough to criticize and savor the delicacy of each cold wedge.

It was almost mall closing time when we ended our gastronomic caprice (whew!). Thank God! On the other hand, I felt quite guilty being a glutton for a day; It was a total deviation from my mundane life. Oh well, I guessed an episodic food tripping wouldn't hurt much, especially if shared with good old friends. (^_^)
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Re: To be one of the 100?

Call time: 10AM.

I arrived half an hour early on the site at the ABS-CBN compound. The heavy rains then would have convinced me to cancel my attendance. But then, my friend, who accompanied me to the screening, was eager to help me get over my second thought. It was just too bad he wasn't allowed to go inside the compound as only invited persons were permitted.

Going inside the entrance gate, a security guard, slash event marshal, asked for the invitation SMS. Checking it was valid, he let me pass through.

Around 40 people were there, under the covered area for 1 vs. 100 applicants. I queued to get a Basic Application form. When I reached the counter, the man asked for the SMS invitation and a valid ID. I turned in my phone and my Social Security System ID card. After he searched for my long name, he let me sign my record entry on the applicant's list, to make sure my slot was filled, and handed over the Basic Application form.

10 AM came in and I wasn't yet finished filling up the queries on the form. One of the event marshals instructed the participants to follow him towards the studio where the tests would be given. I just completed the form when I took my seat inside the cold studio room.

The Test

I only expected an exam paper, filled with anything-under-the-sun questions. Yes, I was given that. But it was not the only test I needed to pass. Before the written examination commenced, all the participants had a dose of some slapstick "mature" comedy. Yes. The cold room was suddenly transformed into a comedy bar. I laughed a few times, for some corny reasons, but most of the time, the host wasn't funny at all. Or probably it was the other way around -it was just me who wasn't getting the hang of his raunchy humor.

According to the host, he needed to do his comic routine in order to see who among us could handle seemingly ridiculing or abashing antics. Was he bluffing or not, that I did not know.

After almost an hour of "torturing" the conservative minds of some grandmothers inside the studio, the test papers came in.

The exam lasted for only 6 minutes. The number of questions? Thirty.

Items in the tests were pulled from various topics: from World History to Greek Mythology, to Sciences, to Calendar Events, to Showbiz, to Pinoy Common Knowledge, etcetera, etcetera. The questions are literally a combination of sorts. On the first minute of the exam, I was actually quite awestruck as I wasn't able to answer quite surely on my first run on the papers. Probably because my brain was lagging from two years of suspension to such examination. Fortunately, I was able to drive my brain cells to work and answered the best I could.

The Test Result

When all the papers were checked, they were turned over back to the host to announce which ones qualified. As he was announcing the names of those who passed, I waited patiently, hoping my answers were good enough to make me qualify. 5... 10... 15 names were called... I did not hear my name. Then out of nowhere, I heard a very familiar phrase... MY NAME WAS CALLED!

I went out of the studio to queue for the qualifier's list. When it was my turn on the booth, a lady facilitator took a picture of me, and had my finger marks digitally recorded, so as not to bring any identification cards if told to come back. She then told me to get a form and come back after an hour for the interview. What? A new form to fill-up and an interview? I thought I only needed to pass the test to become a player. Err...

The Interview

Not all the passers got an instruction to wait for immediate interview. Only 10 (more or less) waited. I wondered why.... My suspicion was that one of us remaining were still under consideration for the "1" spot (the main contestant's spot in the game). When it was my turn to be interviewed, I wasn't nervous at all. That was so unlikely because interviews had always been nerve-wrecking to me (I am just good in hiding the tension from the interviewer). On second thought, maybe I've changed. Hehe.

My interview elapsed for like 10-15 minutes. It was a casual conversation involving some slam-book questions. Everything went well - I answered all questions confidently, except for one, which made me stammer a bit. I did not see the question coming. So when I heard it, it was a bit mind-blocking. The question was: "Straight or gay?"

Whew!

To be one of the 100?

I forgot to check my phone this past morning. Just when I was reminded, I took it from my green messenger bag. To my surprise, seven SMS ready to be read; Not a typical scenario as I often receive, on the average, less than 5 text messages in a day, two of which are SMART's unsolicited promo texts (such an annoyance sometimes). As I skimmed over the new messages list, I saw this ostensible promo text from 231. I was about to delete it, good thing, I read the first part of the message 'cause it wasn't one of those SMART alerts. It said verbatim:

MOB:May chans ka 2b a 1 vs. 100 contestant!Ur invited 2 come 2 ABSCBN QC on SATURDAY 9/22/07,10am for screening.Bring valid ID & ballpen.Dnt erase ds msg.

Hahaha! My first reaction was to laugh. I couldn't believe the one registration SMS I sent a couple of weeks (or more?) ago, on the night I first watched 1 vs. 100 would really entitle me of a screening invitation.

When it sank into my mind, the next imperative question came in... should I go to the screening?

I was supposed to leave the metro this evening for my weekly reprieve to my hometown. I guess that would be postponed until tomorrow afternoon, right after the screening.

Yes... I am going tomorrow. Haha! This is so out of my league, and it's making me anxious!

Tomorrow will sure be a new experience. I only like participating in such quiz shows from a boob tube perspective. A probable participation inside that boob tube is a different one. Haha!

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The irony of it all: I do not watch 1 vs. 100, except on the night I sent my registration out of sheer curiosity and whim. (^_^) Good luck to this seemingly capricious pursuit. Who knows I might end up getting a bit richer after all. *Wishful thinking*

Chuck and Larry

A quarter passed six in last evening, I arrived in this mall after approximately 10 minutes of cantering from the office. Good thing the atmosphere outside wasn't too humid to incite my sweat glands to work, else I'd be one sweaty fella on the run. Apparently I was 15 minutes late and my best friend, Sib, has been there waiting and gallivanting along the mall corridors. We did not have much time to waste as we planned to watch Chuck and Larry then. Time slot: 7:20 PM.

Good riddance, we still had time to grab some food as Sib was terribly famished. But before our gastronomic gratification, we went to the movie house ticket booth, asked for two tickets on the 7:20 slot, reserved good seats, then paid 300. With no much time to perform Elimination Method through the limited choices of food places available, we just opted to eat again at this diner-like place. We dined, that is, despite our time constraint, as we had less than half an hour to devour each repasts. Good riddance again, service was fast and the crew was very accommodating. I got Smoked Salmon and Gruyere Cheese Omelette with an extra serving of wheat bread on the side (yeah, I was starving alright, hehe). Sib ordered Grilled Chicken Tortilla Wrap (gosh, I actually liked hers, though the omelette was too persuasive to be shrugged off from my attention - I'm a sucker for eggs you know - no punning intended please =p). We emptied our plates... (Alright, only mine. Sib wasn't able to finish her food. Ergo, I got to take the leftovers. Haha! Talking about being a glutton.)... just in time to get the bill, pay, and head off to the cinema. Lucky us, we arrived a couple of minutes earlier before show time.

Inside the Movie House

The dark room was sparsely filled with viewers - I think there were less than 30 people inside. The "flashlight" lady helped us locate our seats - very comfy seats by the way, with cushioning support on the head. Sib and I were situated within the "best seats area". Unfortunately, the "best seats" qualifier was voided too early during the show due to some overacting XX-chromosomed viewers at my back who kept on splattering their annoying "oh no!", "no way!", "aaawwww", "oh my gosh".... Well, I just quelled the thought and enjoyed the rest of the flick.

The Movie

Apparently, the movie would superficially qualify to be comical in theme. Well, yes it was. A lot of times I went laughing, giggling or simply savoring the gay and not so gay punch lines of the casts. There were some eyebrow-raising scenes though, which gave me the instinctive I-don't-agree face, especially those relating to gay issues and the sex-crazed, promiscuous perception imposed on the queers - my default perception that is. At hindsight, I just let everything pass. Besides, it's a comic film.

Looking outside the box, the story was not mainly rooted on gay inspiration (though a lot of good insights regarding queers were shown) but on the idea of friendship. I won't tell much about it as I don't want to spoil anticipating viewers.

As a whole, the movie's worthy of good laughs and some good inspiration.

Israel Trip Putoff

I just had a whirlwind of on-off decisions in the past 24 hours....

Yesterday was my supposed departure to Israel but it was called off because of a technical problem of the airline carrier that would take me from Hong Kong to Tel Aviv. I was already at the Centennial Airport when I got the official directive from my office's Admin Assistant that the flight's delayed until August 18. Ergo, I left NAIA 2 with a frustrated mood (for wasting all the effort of bringing my heavy luggage and paying a hefty taxi fare, all for nothing) and went back home.

Then on the following sunrise...

Heads-up... a high-priority e-mail topping my Outlook inbox. 'Twas from my Senior Manager informing me and my other officemate that our arrival in Israel would be postponed indefinitely due to changes in the project schedule.

It makes me happy that I need not leave the country soon. It's just frustrating that I've already set myself yesterday on my departure. In the coming days, I need to set myself again once a new flight schedule's finally achieved.

For now, I am just happy to not leave the country (To tell you the truth, I was already missing the country and my loved-ones just while on my way to the airport). And if the trip would be scrubbed totally, the one thing I'd regret is missing the chance to wander in new land gratis.

Emancipation Anniversary Part 2

Best friend and I met again yesterday evening to have coffee session at Starbucks in Shangri-La Plaza mall, the same venue where I had my revelation a year ago. We were not able to get the same set of table and chairs we sat on before, so we just sufficed ourselves with a vacant sofa set, pretty much perfect for us.


As usual, I ordered my favorite Raspberry Iced Tea. Best friend wanted to eat SB's Oreo Cheesecake but unfortunately, it wasn't available. So, I just got her a Mango Ref Cake (I forgot the actual name of the dessert). As for me, I ordered a chocolate frosted Cream Puff.

Cream puffs are one of my guilty pleasures. I like their subtle sweet taste and creamy centers. As for the Cream Puff I got last night, too bad to say, wasn't at par to the other cream puffs I divinely enjoyed in the past. The bread was a bit tougher for its class ("makunat-kunat" if I'd say in the vernacular). The cream, though generously filling the whole pastry, was lacking its buttery taste. It actually tasted more of the commercial whipped cream, and wasn't gourmet at all. The epicure in me was unsatisfied. Then again, I did not let it spoil the occasion.

To console my bereft senses, I tasted best friend's Mango Cake. To my surprise, it was actually good! The taste was a tad different from that of the Sansrival, if not just for the mango.

While relishing our sweet treats, we talked about my coming to her and how I made my confession/revelation a year ago. We reminisce most of the details - how the talking started and ended. Though we both couldn't remember vividly everything, we still tried to pull out the memories we had left. It was nostalgia creeping through my veins as we tried to recap things.

Last year, I wasn't overly detailed about my revelation so as to be wary enough not to overwhelm best friend with the why-am-I-gay stuff . But yesterday, since we were just seemingly reminiscing everything, I decided to tell her the details. Of course, I asked her if it was OK with her 'cause everything I'd say required a very open mind and mature understanding. Giving a nod, I started to share with her the fragments of my incredible yore.*

We talked and talked, one piece of yesteryear segued to another. I tried to tell everything in chronology for her to understand everything well. The conversation went on not knowing that it's almost time for the mall to close. Though I wanted to extend the tete-a-tete, our personal curfews were cutting us short. So, we abruptly capped the day off and went to the MRT station, parting in opposite ways.

*I've been meaning to transcribe my past in this blog but haven't gotten the perfect time to do so. Soon is the time. ¡Adios!
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Emancipation Anniversary Part 1

Today is the first anniversary of my emancipation - my coming out! But not a coming out to the whole clan, friends, colleagues, society... no, I am not there yet. This day marks my first attempt to open up myself to a close friend, my best friend now, that I am homosexual. And not just my being homosexual, but also the profession of my heart's true desire - that my once high school best friend is not just simply a best friend, but is the person whom my heart has found refuge.

How time flies swiftly, I hardly noticed it's been a year already.

To remember this "somehow" liberating day of mine, my best friend and I went on for dinner last night at SumoSam, located at the Ledge of Shangri-La Plaza Mall. SumoSam has been a venue for one of the significant events in my life.

Marvin Agustin's SumoSam: Americanized Japanese eating place.

I haven't tried their California rolls so I opted to get them. (Yum yum!)

Best friend's Katsudon (we shared), my Green Iced Tea, and her Red one.

The California rolls were delectable to the palate - the mango tasted fresh. The only kvetch I had was that the rolls were not tightly made and sealed, and seemed to be a bit anorexic to my expectation. The Katsudon, which's often ordered whenever we dine at SumoSam, was fairly delicious, though the meat wasn't tender enough for me. Best friend thought that its taste was different from the first time we had it on our table almost a year ago. And so did I... (Probably because of change in chef(?)). Then again, the rice was still divine - glistening like sparkles of crystal to the eyes, and cooked well enough to achieve optimal pleasure while chewing.

For dessert, we bought each one a cup of ice cream from FIC. I was the one who suggested to have dessert so... I had to pay for our treat. Haha! Well, I actually volunteered. (^_^)

FIC Ice Cream Booth

LITE Mango and Raspberry Ice Cream

This evening, I am anticipating another meet-up with best friend. We hope to have an SB moment on the same venue, on the same set of table and chairs, where I finally emancipated myself, at least, to an important person whom I can now talk freely and confidently about anything, even if it's queer. ;)
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You got me

The start of my day was so bad - with lack of sleep, blurry vision, and a missed swim session - I was terribly out of my sanity zone. Adding up to my dismay was drizzling polluted rain on my way to the office. I was so lethargic I did not even bother to get my folding umbrella from my backpack and snap it open.

I was so not getting the feel of working and doing my planned tasks if not for the unexpected cute smile of my "chinito" officemate turned crush. Gosh! He melted me with his smile. It's a rare feat for him to notice me in a morning like this.

He is so chin-dropping mesmerizing cute! (Giggles!) He's sooo a boy-next-door guy, who'd ever think he's a husband and dad already (I didn't).

Too bad I can't share a picture of him. (^_^)

At the pool, the Internet, and Hong Kong

Today's one of those boring days when I get do nothing significant on my desk, and I just fiddled on my laptop's keys trying to suffice my drying wetware's insatiable need for input (LOLz!). Surfing aimlessly and whimsically the web was a common reflex of my antsy psyche, trying to focus itself into something worthwhile and somewhat productive task.

Browsing the multifarious dimensions of the Internet, I bumped into quite a number of web sites that merely tempted my mercurial appetite. For a while, everything just seemed to be futile. So, I thought of doing something a little less non-productive then. Since my Hong Kong trip is fast approaching, I decided to check out some travel guides and travelogues regarding this Chinese territory.

Below is a rundown of the sites I bumped into (Some of these I have already browsed months ago). You might also find them helpful if you are planning to sojourn to HK. :)

1. Discover Hong Kong - The Hong Kong Tourism Guide
   
2. Hong Kong Food Guide - It has a good collection of food shops and restaurants ranging from the budget type to the high-ends.
3. MTR Customer Website - Everything you would want to know regarding the MTR's operation through the HK Islands. This offers some helpful maps, travel tips for tourists, and other relevant and useful infos. I myself prefer to use the MTR extensively during my stay there. It's seemingly practical and cost-efficient, pretty like how the MRT is.
4. Octopus Card Website - Anything you want to know about the Octopus Card, the ubiquitous monetary transaction medium of most services in Hong Kong, is found here.
5. Hong Kong Disney - Hong Kong Disney's English Website. You may reserve tickets here.
6. Ocean Park - This is the English portal to the largest aquarium in the world. A lot of tourist information is available here e.g. how to get here?, rates.
7. Lonely Planet Hong Kong - It has a number of tourist tips concisely written for a common traveler. You might find the hotel/hostels review here reputable

Aside from these websites, I knocked into a couple other interesting ones, though not HK-related.

1. Hug Nation - This is an advocacy about the significance of hugging and what it can do to other people's lives. People needs hug, and so do I (It's just too bad my parents are not very touchy. Hence, I do not receive hugs. Huhuhu... Can someone hug me? [LOLz!])
2. Logue It! - It's BootsnAll's network of online travel guides. If you travel a lot and loves to write about your sojourns, you might be interested to apply to this website as an author. Yes, they accept writers who has the passion to transcribe their travelogues on the web. And yes again, you get paid for writing.
   

Apparently, that's what had transpired in my 9-hour stay in this cold office....
I get paid to do my own stuff here, who gets the luxury of that? (LOLz!) Kidding aside, it doesn't feel good and it's not always nice to be like this. Next time, I'll do something more productive. Hehe. (By the way, I actually did some "work", if I'd say, just an hour ago. Hehe.)

---<<--- Before the start of my day in the office, I went swimming again! Woohoo! It was a fine morning at the pool, with cloudy, shady skies and intermittent rain fall. There were pleasantly few people, with no kids around. In the dressing room, there was this weird guy who seemed to be looking at me for most of the time. I don't know why but he seemed to assimilate the gestures the voyeur had when I encountered the latter.

I was pretty much successful refining my freestyle this morning. The body twisting and balance problems I had last Saturday were gone, and I had determined the causes of my difficulties then. Also, it was my first time to do a 30-meter fly without ever panting. It seemed that my body undulation was improving.

I just can't wait for my next swim! :)
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After a fortnight of hiatus

Last Saturday was a satisfying fine day for me. After such an ostentatious week in the office and consequent lapses from my regular swim routine, I finally got the chance to swim again. Aside from that, my best friend and I rendezvoused again.... I missed these in the past fortnight....

My best friend and I met at around 1 PM at SM Megamall to have lunch together. We took our afternoon repasts from Pho Hoa. I ordered a small serving of Seafood Pho (Pho is Vietnamese noodle soup) and she had Grilled Chicken and Fried Spring Rolls. My bowl wasn't very delectable with it's bland mild taste. I was expecting a more brined soup since it's flavored seafood. Then again, it was still satisfying as there was a generous addition of fish fillet, shelled shrimps, and cuttle bone balls (a.k.a. Squid balls). Also, the bowl was relatively large despite the menu's averment of a small serving.

While we were serving our individual appetite, we started the conversation to catch up for the past days. Well, I did not much to talk about but I still managed to crack up some thoughts. Most of my talking revolved around Shane. I just gave my best friend an update on my current status/feelings regarding him. We talked about it as we finished our dishes. (I don't want to expound on the details. The mere point was that "I am moving on"... moving on gracefully.)

After paying the bill, we went for a short stroll to help the food inside our systems dribble down. We went to this garment stall to do my best friend's quick errand then went straight to Starbucks.

We ordered a Split Venti Azuki Blended-Coffee Frappuccino, the newest seasonal frap from SB. I never knew what's Azuki until I sipped the cold drink from my cup. Azuki's just simply red bean, which pretty much assimilated the taste and texture of the common red mung bean. (The drink reminded me of the red bean cold porridge my paternal grandmother used to cook divinely.) We also tried the new Azuki Scone (If you'd use your wild imagination on the Azuki toppings of the scone, you'd suspect them to be roach eggs. Eeeewww!).


I appreciated more the scone than the frap. The scone was what I expected it to be - two crumbly layers of biscuit sandwiching a spread of sweet Azuki paste. The Azuki frap, on the other hand, tasted bitter and "burnt" after a few sips, most probably because of the coffee. Maybe if it were a blended-cream, the taste would have been more pleasurable. Nevertheless, it wasn't really displeasing.

If you plan to get an Azuki frap, be warned that the Azuki beans are gritty on the tongue and palate. If you don't like such sensation, be wary not to enjoy the drink.

Talking about each other's recent experiences, from her encounter to her former-crush-turned-annoyance to her , to my nonsensical butt-ins (Haha!), segueing to unprecedented topics we did not intend to talk about, we finally capped our tete-a-tete at around 4:30 PM. From there, we bid goodbyes and parted ways. She went to the direction of Shangri-La Plaza Mall and I went straight to Cubao to get a bus going to my hometown - my usual weekend retreat from the bustling metro - to see my family once more.
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Give me a break

This week's such an awkward and unusual week for me. It's not that it's Independence Week. It's because of the unprecedented influx of high-ranking managers lingering the office. They're like bees flying, i mean pacing along the corridors, surprisingly showing up without me noticing them (That gives me the creeps!). I'm not really used to them.

And because of their presence, I need to make myself look and "be" busy. Oh damn! I need work load, so give me some to occupy my lallygagging mind! Hehe. Besides, the company's paying me so I should do something for it. Harhar. Well... good riddance I get to have intermittent (at least) work loads, just like now (I am so stuck fixing this elusive code bug; Maybe I'll just call the day off and just continue tomorrow morning). Yey, tomorrow is Friday, the end of the week! No more bosses after that. ;)

Enough said about work. Lately, I've been missing a few things...
- I miss going to the pool. I haven't been in the water for the past two weeks. That's a sin to my weekly routine! And it doesn't feel good not having enough physical work. My body's already demanding an explanation!
- I miss going out of the office and meeting bestfriend to talk about our recent chronicles. I miss the coffee sessions too!

Gosh! It's 11 minutes before 7 0'clock. I better get going now 'cause I need to rise early for tomorrow. I still need to bear 2 hours of road travel just to get home. Adios!

Tidbits of the past days

... Last Friday, Shane finally replied to my most recent SMS to him. I thought he'd not care to reply but he did. Hehe. It's good progress for me to be reestablishing my lines with him again as good friends.

... Last Saturday I watched the grand finals of Pinoy Pop Superstar Season 3. The production numbers were pretty amusing and were highly embellished, especially the first production number of the grand contenders. Regine Velasquez never failed to burst her lungs out during her numbers as she always belted each climactic note (somewhat annoying to the ear). Good riddance she's devoid of the unflattering and perennial breast-peeking gowns (Kudos Regine!). Congratulations to the Top 2 finalists, namely Maricris Garcia and Bryan Termulo. The former was crowned the new PPS champion. I was quite disappointed on the result given that during the grand showdown of the two, it's so apparent that Bryan delivered a better rendition and interpretation of the song "One Voice" (the deciding song of the finale). Also, Maricris had some few glitches in her version. If I were to accept the criterion of "back to zero" scores for the last round, Bryan would have won. Then again, the decision had been laid down.

... Yesterday was an awfully painful, stomach-purging day! I couldn't believe I had to defecate four times. The culprit - the tangy and delicious Indian and Carabao mangoessssss (I mean a lot of mangoes here) I devoured last Sunday. They were so ready-to-be-eaten, I wasn't able to resist their charm (Yes, I love to eat mangoes, especially the tart ones!).

An emotional outburst of the passionate sort

Yesterday was a very emotional day - a disturbing and debilitating one; I was feeling weak and a bit out of control and I wasn't in my full strength to handle my senses. Hence, I was experiencing another painful catharsis.

The culprit was my so steadfast and stubborn... passionate love for Shane (Damn! I just can't seem to move one!). This feeling of yearning for his company and time was just so terribly excruciating; I just couldn't seem to detach this love from my system merely because I still didn't want to... (Absurd it was...). And so, my mind was floating in thin air as I was doing my office tasks on my desk; Half of my attention was on Shane and on the melodramatic and heart-impaling lines of songs that unsuspectedly played from my shuffled iTunes. One of these songs was Only a Friend by Gary Valenciano and it went...

Will it matter if I told you just how much I long to be more to you
Coz only a friend can mend a heart that’s torn and broke in two
And only a friend can keep your trust and love you just for just being you
Only a fool can overlook the way I look at you
But it doesn’t really matter after all
Coz I’m only a friend to you

It's pathetic to think that after two months of telling the truth to Shane, nothing has significantly changed from my perspective. He still is the one. I am so stubbornly bridled to him. I can get loose but I simply don't want to... I just simply can't! This is ridiculous 'cause I obviously know the solution to my problem. The only question is when and how to deal with the solution...

I told my best friend about my emotional crisis yesterday. Too bad we were not able to have another SB session. Nevertheless, she surprised me for being present despite the heavy downpour (Thanks bestfriend! I appreciate the gesture.). She even got me a Raspberry Frapp (my favorite)!
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All of a sudden I was transported to South Korea!

After my swim last Saturday at the ULTRA, I saw these Korean footballers on the loose in the track and field arena of the famous (and incidentally infamous) Sports Complex. Anyong ha se yo!!! (LOLz!)

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