TelePond Reunion

That was a hell of a headache that struck me last night. When I woke up at 1:30 am for a much needed toilet break, I found the television still on, the monitor displaying the main menu for "New Moon" which I meant to watch while drying Pooh.

The morning was spent getting lost looking for the chapel for the funeral service offered before the cremation of Ms. Jo's mum in the US. It was a new experience for most people, the priest included, to celebrate a necrological service sans the body. He shared an anecdote he experienced at Rolling Hills one time when he celebrated a service simultaneously with a pastor. Barely hearing himself speak, he decided to listen first to the other speaker. He learned that if there is something that couldn't be shared is that personal relationship with God. That it was something that you can't ask other people to do for you.

Lunch was not necessary. I had carbonara, a brownie, a fresh roll, chicken a l a king and a sandwich for the ultimate carbo-load experience. That when I finally got to Diana's I went directly into the motions of preparing my hand-rolled chicken empanadas. Even with Diana's cousin rolling the dough, the preparation still took a minimum of two hours. That we did simultaneously with Diana's experimental carbonara, which came out really great.

People started to come at nightfall. I had to extend my stay until at least half of the party has arrived. By 7pm, I had to go so as not to disappoint the dog waiting at home. So, I did not get to the talking part as our minds are one in sampling the food that each newcomer has brought and laid on the table.

unrequited emotion

Work ended in an unexpected yet interesting manner. While cramming in the preparation of the documents that TESDA called in earlier in the day, a female student breezed through the door. In her wake was a male student. That it was an odd occurrence did not occur to me until the girl started with her litany (read: rejection speech). It was straightforward and would have rendered the fainthearted speechless. Despite admonitions of channeling his ardor to something useful like his studies, the boy remained unruffled, his eyes trained on the girl, barely blinking. That she sounded so much like me, at one time, brought smile to my lips.

I may have crossed some invisible line though. It was so awkward, I felt I had to say something. I'm afraid that it was to the detriment of boy's suit. I said something about showing his feelings by respecting the girl's wish and leave her alone. In a nice way, of course. He nodded his assent and left the room in peace.

It was difficult not to laugh. Most of the time, I took solace behind the monitor so I could shake my head and compose my face into some semblance of seriousness.

Note: The picture (which I downloaded from the net not long after the team visited Bacolod) is not related to the story. I just experimented on the possibilities of using One Note. Well, it is very interesting. I might end up going paperless with my journal, without publishing it for all to see.

Azkals vs Mongolia at Panaad

(i was there...)

"I'll leave during halftime," said the football fan the day before she went to see the Azkals game in Panaad against Mongolia.

It was a difficult decision to make. And the fanatic inside won. Who in the right mind anyways would want to leave in the middle of a heated match. Before the first half, the azkals scored a goal. Had I left I would have missed "chieffy's" amazing goal from my end of the pitch.

But I had to forgo the after game party. Duty awaits.

I' m glad I stayed for the whole game.

my hero...J. Younghusband

silay/talisay/bacolod heritage tour

(with side trips to taculing and alijis)

This has been the second week in a row that I woke up before anyone else did. Ex-colleagues from lear came to visit, that's why. Either I was too early or Lira's party started late as I stayed for over an hour ruminating on my "big breakfast" with coffee and hash brown.

A full day has already passed. I hope I can still remember the stories as they were told by our guides. If not, then I will somehow come up with my own take on the places we visited.

First stop was "balay negrense". It was a house owned by the Gastons who came to the Philippines in the 19th century. It's a typical two-story house reminiscent of the Spanish era. While most of the wood parts were replaced, the ceiling remained the same to this day and its age showed by watermarks and by actual rain water leaking from it. Mind, the blue painted walls looked out of place.

My favorite room was the office which has a 6-seater glass-topped table in the middle. Upon close inspection, on it was a the family tree representing seven generations of Gastons in the Philippines by concentric circles. I wonder why I haven't thought of it first :)

Next stop was at what was left of a grand house built in the 1920's by the Lacsons aptly dubbed as the taj mahal of the Phillipines and popularly known as the "ruins" in Talisay. There are three ways to get there and we went by the Bata route (I have yet to discover and try the other two to take advantage of dusk shots). We arrived after one or two wrong turns.

The mansion is not only huge. It was built to last (It took gallons of gasoline and used oil to burn down its wood parts. Even then, the fire lasted for three days. It was an act of defiance against the Japanese. The owners chose to burn the place down than have the enemy used it as a garrison). It's roomy interior (with a depth that can comfortably accommodate a modern day two-story house) was designed to take full advantage of the sun's unobstructed light as well as fresh air. The love part of the story lies on the carved letters in each pillar. Those were actually Ms which stand for the owners' initials: Mariano and Maria.

Most of the concrete structure was untouched, except for the kitchen which was converted into an office. The tiles on the landing as well as inside the house were original. Since the owner was with shipping, he had the means then to bring them in from Europe.

A short stop to feed the tilapia at the capitol lagoon was next before everyone declared it was time for lunch. We chose Chicken Haus at East Block where it's not too crowded. Everyone had chicken of course. Dessert was sans rival bought from bob's pastry house just across the street.

To avoid the unusual heat, there was a suggestion to pass by the forest park nearby before heading to Panaad and hopefully see the Azkals practice for their big game on Wednesday. That we did only to find that the park has been transformed into a water garden. It looked inviting but nobody brought their swimming gear and P80 pesos is just too steep just for us to get our pictures taken inside the facility. So on to Panaad we went. The stories of the people there did not match. One said that the practice game was already done last Monday. Another one said the team will play against CPU that afternoon between 4-6 PM. Well, I thought I just have to wait for the big day to arrive.

I was tired (the bad news did it, maybe) so after a quick trip at Bongbong's where I bought piaya (the hot variety, as in freshly toasted), cooled myself inside the supermarket while the Opon girls had their pictures taken at Pope John Paul's landmark and said my goodbyes. It has been a long day.

Is that the sun?

After days of overcast skies and scattered rain showers, the sun is finally peeking from its hiding place, lending a bit of warmth to ward off the cold wind. It's about time, especially after spying Cuchi this morning lying on the tiled floor with her back on the kitchen door shivering. She elected to sleep there over the comfort of her own crib. Crazy dog!

The wind has been merciless. Its mild strength bent countless branches to submission and the resistant to topple to the ground in disgrace (or Cuchi was the culprit). The kids at school reveled in wearing their bonnets and jackets. Whereas I had the most difficult time getting out of bed and taking a shower.