Archive for the ‘personal stories’ Category
Filed under culture, personal stories, religion
Misa de Gallo or Simbang Gabi is a traditional evening mass in the Philippines, held at the crack of dawn from December 16 to December 24. It’s very much a part of the Christmas celebration of Filipinos that people make it a point to be there everyday for nine days. I’m not Catholic, though, so I never went to one growing up. I only read about it in books and heard about it from friends, and to me it sounded like a fun and colorful tradition.
So when my roommate announced that she was going to the Misa de Gallo this year, I volunteered to go with her. She had a laughing fit when I said that; she thought it was a big joke because I usually wake up at past nine, the earliest. The few times that she tried to wake me up earlier than that (sometimes I ask her to–I usually don’t hear my alarm clocks), she would fail, even if waking me up sometimes becomes a physical feat for her (wrist-grabbing, pinching–those stuff).
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Filed under events, personal stories
I got converted to the Belle de Jour way when a friend in Manila sent me a Belle de Jour planner last year as a random gift. I loved it from the moment I lifted it from the package. It was not like the other planners or organizers that I’ve had. It had an expense tracker, a birthday tracker, a menstrual tracker, and a vacation tracker, to name few. There was a quote for the week every week, and every month there was a theme and tips for the season.
But the best part was that it came with 36 discount coupons to different boutiques and coffee shops!
So when I heard that Belle de Jour was soon releasing the 2009 power planner, I reserved mine right away. Here it is now!
It’s a lot better than the 2008 planner, although that one was already love. I especially likee the cover design. It has more discount coupons, too! It has 60!
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Filed under art, corporate shit, personal stories
I went mural-painting with some people from the company some Saturdays ago, and these were the fruit of our labor.
You can find those murals at the Guizo Elementary School in Mandaue City. 
We didn’t get to work on the mural for the stage because there were few of us volunteers and we ran out of time. It was dark by the time we finished the second wall. We are going back there one of these days. I am just waiting for the call.
If there’s one admirable thing about my employer, it is how it cares for the community. We have outreach programs many times a year. We have two adopted public schools and one adopted Gawad Kalinga site. I’ve dug dirt for the foundation of the houses at the GK site, weighed kids to see if they are properly nourished, and made a clown of myself at children’s parties, among others. My employer pays for all of that though, we only do the work.
Filed under people, personal stories
It used to be that this big, old house had 12 merry girls living under its roof. Weekday nights were filled with conversation and laughter while we sit around the television and eat dinner in front of it. Oftentimes, in the middle of the night, someone would say she’s hungry, and we’d be happy to have an excuse to order burgers and fries and Coke and boxes of pizza.
Sometimes we would all just go out in our pambahay clothes to eat at the fastfood outlets that abound in this area of the city. Every time there is a birthday, or a promotion, or a regularization, or just about anything worth celebrating, we would hold a party, and because there were 12 of us, we would have at least one party a month. That excludes the big party at Christmas, the weekly official gatherings on Monday nights, and the random getaways.
Things have changed, though, in only a span of few months. There are only six of us now. The others have gotten married, eloped with the boyfriend, left to live with a sick father, or moved back to watch over the empty family home. Of the six of us still here, one is rarely here because her family lives just a town away, and two are always out with their boyfriends. (Should I just get a boyfriend, too? LOL). My roommate is also leaving in a week to prepare for the coming of her baby. It’s sad, but I’m also glad that she is keeping the baby.
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Filed under opinion, personal stories, rants
I find it weird whenever I am asked abroad if I have a degree, or if I ever went to school, or if we have this or that at home.
I just shrug it off, and answer the best way I can. I see no point in going into a long defense of who I am, where I went, or what I have seen of or done in this world. Sometimes they are surprised when I can converse well in English (Hello?).
No, I am not mad at all. And no, I don’t think the people I talked to were racists. It just makes me sad that the rest of the world still thinks of us as heathens, and this is probably our fault.
I was talking to someone (an American) awhile ago who told me a crazy story about a 20-year-old Filipina who was seriously considering a marriage proposal made on the phone by a 55-year-old American that she has never met.
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Filed under people, personal stories
One of the unlikely places to hear about the dreams and aspirations of random strangers is at the US embassy. There’s this lounge where you wait for the visa interview. On one side of the room is a line of booths where the consuls are. The consuls decide whether you can enter the United States. People try to look their best and arm themselves with the best English they have.
When your number is called, you go to a window, and then the consul grills you on the purpose of your visit, how long you would be staying there, when are you coming back. They also ask you details about your family, your properties, your finances, even your plans for the future.
Because the place is packed, and because sometimes the consuls probe that deep, visa applicants give details of their plans 40 years into the future. One woman the other day said she would manage a restaurant when she gets there, and hopes that that would be her financial investment. Another woman, who I understand is a social studies teacher, said she will share her knowledge when about different cultures, and said some things that an ambassador or a Miss Universe contestant would say.
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Filed under personal stories
I am half blind these days. After my left contact lens was torn last month while I was trying to remove it, a torn piece “got lost” in my eye, and the doctor told me to stop wearing contact lenses for awhile. She said it was to avoid possible infection, even though a test showed hours of poking didn’t scratch my cornea.
I’ve slept with my lenses on before, and I’ve “lost” lenses in my eye, but I had always solved that little problem on my own. I went to a doctor that one time because I couldn’t get the lost piece out after hours of trying, and I didn’t know where it was. I could only feel it whenever I blinked.
To make the long story short, I was able to remove the torn piece after the medical interns at the hospital had fun poking at my eye flipping my eyelids. They weren’t very useful. I had to pay an emergency room fee of P500 and a temperature check fee (what on earth is that?!) of P10 even though I was only there for 15 minutes.
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Filed under personal stories
I write this out of frustration. I am annoyed when people ask me when I’d marry, especially people from church. They are the ones who are obsessed about it.
I am only 23 freaking years old. I am not in a hurry. I am not even looking around for someone.
I still have a lot of plans. I want to travel more. I want to study abroad. I want to go to Europe. I want to make a documentary. I might go to law school.
You see, when you get married, you can’t go anywhere as you please. Every decision has to be a compromise, and I don’t want to compromise. At least not now.
I know myself better than anyone. I know that when I fall, I fall hard, and I get distracted. I know I would give in.
I believe in marriage. I believe in sacrifice. I believe in love that lasts through eternity. I want to have kids, lots of them.
But does anyone have to hurry? It’s not a race. There’s no reason to be anxious about it, even as life adds a year to your age.
Besides, can you imagine me getting hooked at this point? I might end up feeding my children with pizza and Coke and have a party.
Okay, I am kidding; I might change when I get there. But I really am not over with nightouts and sleepovers. I am not over exploring the world.
I plan to marry at 30. Any problem with that?
Filed under celebrations, personal stories
My birthday started with a bang, and this is not a tall tale. There was noise in the house so loud I was awakened from my sleep, considering that I don’t even hear two alarm clocks ringing simultaneously on normal days.
I thought it was very sweet of my housemates to throw me a surprise party at 7 a.m., so I dragged myself out of bed at that ungodly hour and went downstairs to tell them I appreciate their efforts but would rather just sleep.
It turned out there was an uproar in the house. One of my housemates, who was about to be married this month, was crying her eyes out while her boyfriend (and his balls) shrunk in front of very angry women. The boyfriend had come to the house so early in the morning after finding out that my housemate was breaking up with him. The guy, who was so used to hitting her he forgot that he wasn’t in his territory, hit her for all the neighbors to see.
When the queen mother of the Order of the Old House on Kamuning Street found out, the guy saw the end to his machismo. I’m sure he would never again come within 100 meters from our street.
After the guy was out the door and all was settled, I went back to my room to continue my beauty sleep. That was when I saw this little thing sitting on my study table.
She was all wrapped in pretty paper, of course. She came with a note that said her name should be Cluckee. Why my abnormal (above-normal) housemate Cathleen chose to give a stuffed clock to a sleepyhead is beyond me. 
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Filed under celebrations, personal stories
Today is my birthday. At this time last year I was on a road trip from Kentucky to New York to Washington, D.C. My friends and I welcomed May 28 at an inn in Baltimore, Maryland, before moving on to spend the day in Washington, D.C.
It was Memorial Day and we were in the capital city, so I got to witness all the holiday hullabaloo. Patriotism was thick in the air, there was a parade, and there were booths and goods everywhere.
This year the midnight is rather uneventful. While waiting for the rain to stop so I could go out and grab something to eat (I live in a part of the city that never sleeps), I was blog-hopping when I realized that it is May 28 already. I realize it’s too late now to go out, I am starved, and the only person with me is my roommate, who has fallen asleep. Kamusta naman.
So in an effort to come up with something profound and thought-provoking (because, after all, I am supposed to turn a year wiser) on this milestone of my history, I dug my archives to check my old birthday entries. Here are the ones I found for 2004, 2005, and 2006. I can’t find the one I wrote for 2007, or maybe I did not write one. Be warned that I was just kid when I wrote those entries. I pray to the high heavens that you notice at least a slight improvement in my wisdom through the years, otherwise I am a total failure as a citizen.
I better sleep. I have a long day ahead. Maybe I’ll have the inspiration for that thought-provoking birthday post after the parties are over.
