Catching Up With Pepsi and Diana

Going to a meeting in the same clothes that I slept in? I have never done that since I got out of college. But this was special.

Having slept late with catching up which lasted until three in the morning, it took three doses of caffeine to awaken my brains. It didn't help that we had to wake up unnecessarily early to aid Pepsi who reportedly had a flat tire. Off we went to Libertad area where we picked her up, together with her mechanic Gorby (see only male specimen in the picture, that's him). She left her car at Camella so I had the chance to get in the village and see her apartment. I must say that all the hype about living in Camella is unnecessary. As opposed to what is visible outside, not everyone has a lawn or shade in extreme heat. Add to that the fact that transportation could be quite an issue if you don't own a vehicle. So anyways, getting the busted tire vulcanized and back into working order took some time. I quickly calculated the time it will take for us to finish breakfast and freshen up, I will definitely be late for the meeting and I didn't want that to happen. And so, I suggested Kuppa and ditched the idea of changing clothes into something appropriate. JM came in first and followed shortly by the lady boss.

The meeting was adjourned at around three. It started to rain and Diana is still detained somewhere I decided to take JD's offer of a ride to Robinson's. Waiting with nothing to do is so beyond me I scoured for cheap books from Booksale and bought Arthur Miller's The Crucible for me and a book on Michael Jackson for my housekeeper.

It was nearly dark when Diana asked me to meet her at SM. We had to fetch Pepsi from work as she left her tail lights on all day that drained her car battery. After accepting the fact that battery shops are no longer open at that time, we made our way through the rain to that modest grill restaurant at Shopping where we had dinner before finally going on our separate ways.

An Unexpected Journey

There is no wealth of experience that I could tap from with this idea of entertaining a person whom I came to know yet seldom interact with from almost a decade ago.

Slow nights and free data are definitely ingredients for a silly recipe. I picked Marlo up from a bunch of guys I know to chat with one night. After a brief exchange, I found myself inviting him over to spend the Holy Week. He sounded unsure most of the time I checked him on his preparation that I didn't mind until one day before he was due to arrive, I suddenly realized I know very little about him and so began worrying about how to make his stay with me worth his spending hours on the road to get here.

He arrived four-ish and I picked him up from the terminal. He seemed to have not changed, it didn't take me long to find him in the crowd. He sat at the back most part of the terminal. At 31, he still looks youthful (just like me...hahaha).

His coming was welcomed by a torrential rain which came during dessert at Calea (after coffee at Kuppa ans dinner at Manokan Country). Taxi was scarce I did the impossible like calling the Maits (Jing2 and Manong) to get us one, to no avail. It didn't help that after getting wet, we stood on the bus for almost half the time that it took for us to reach LC.

I don't know how to label our partnership. Back home, were like an old couple retiring for the night with him busy on his manga and me in front of the computer while we chat about what happened in the intervening years. Our exchange was a quiet one, maybe because he was tired. He has been traveling since 7am.