pinakamaganda

In the old days, when tribes build up the society, there were also these “elders”. They are the ones who kinda make the decisions for the tribe. And you cannot oppose them, unless you’re dead… Well, the last sentence was something I just made up.

I live in the same neighborhood since birth. Everybody knows me, my parents and my brothers… the same thing as I know my neighbors, their surnames, how long they lived in the neighborhood, my friends, etc… It’s like some kinda showbiz circle here. When somebody goes out of the country, it becomes known to a lot of people. When somebody gets married, gets pregnant, kills a cat, it becomes the talk of the town… Something like that. So imagine when the elders (now I do not know what to really call them… Basically they’re the friends of my parents), weren’t able to see me for the longest time… They kinda start imagining stuffs about me. Haha.

Talk of the town is, I’m a spinster, and I hate boys..men..guys!

So here it is, it’s my mom’s birthday, and she shares the same birthday with one of our neighbor’s kid, who happen to have some party going on. We went to the house, and hey, the mom’s neighbor friends are there! And of course, having been in the neighborhood since birth, they definitely know me, and they missed me it seems… Here are some of the greetings,

“I haven’t seen you for the long time, and I was in the mall too, I saw you and your mom, and I whispered to <name>, oh it’s Joane, the old maid”

“Don’t you have a boyfriend? Dear child, you should find a husband now,”

“You don’t wanna end up alone, no kids, and no love (other term for s**)”

“You’re not getting any younger… ”

“Just make babies if you can’t find any husband”

“I have someone for you to meet, this guy’s great”

“Or if you don’t like the guy, there’s a second choice for you!”

Before, I could remember seeing them and their advices were like… “Don’t do boyfriends yet huh, finish studies first, don’t get pregnant, blah blah blah”. Now everything’s turned upside down… These people, though they’re just my neighbors, they’re like a parent to me too (coz they’re close to my parents). And it just happened that I’m the only one in MY generation that time. So they don’t have anyone else to make fun of.

And the good part was, I didn’t find it annoying. I even stayed and drank lots of wine with them. I had my fun. I missed these types of gathering… Even though I’m with the “elders”, it ironically reminds me of my childhood.

As many of you know, I have a very poor set of eyes. It has been like this since HS, and since then, I have always refused to wear glasses. Uhm.. well, when my eyes were clear, I remembered I wished that I had a pair of glasses so I could look cute (be careful for what you wish for ). I refused because I realized that I could still look cute even without one. Hahaha. Or I could still look smart and intelligent, most of all

Fast forward to today, I still refuse to wear glasses. I was actually hoping that my eyesight would get better. But they don’t. Even if everything’s blurred afar, I still prefer strutting in the mall or anywhere with my bare eyes all exposed. Unfortunaely, I’m losing friends (coz they feel I’m a snob – which is definitely not the case – faces are just blurred 4-5 meters away).

I’m totally being shallow here… I hate that I have a poor eye sight. I have great and stunning eyes (yes!) on the outside, yet, the works are not that really great on the inside.  And I could not carry the eye glasses around all day… Or rush back to my desk to get the glasses just so I can see what’s being presented in the conference room… Or always defend myself that I am not a snob.

So I ordered a pair of contact lenses. Also swore to wear them everyday… just to get used to them. Besides, I need them for my driving, playing, movie/boy-watching, and oh yeah working!

I thought I needed some time to renew and rejuvenate, so I started to plan for a vacation. You know, to refresh a bit before starting anew.

I had no idea where to go yet. Remember, I said that I wanted to go to the beach… to chill and relax, because that was what I needed. Never planned anything, until something just came up, and then I found myself rollin’ in Hong Kong for a week!

The last time I came to Hong Kong was with my teammates as some kinda “treat” for a job well done, that was 2005. First time to get a passport, and to go abroad. I was totally excited because of all the firsts I got to experience. But it was a short time only. For 3 days, 2 nights, we had to squeeze all the time to roam around Hongkong and China. So it was like 1 1/2 day HK, 1 1/2 day China. But still it was fun. Here are some photos I managed to dig from my files:

As I said, it was a really really short trip hence I did not have the chance to see the whole city. Besides, we had to work on the next workday immediately.

My trip this time is quite lucky, I guess (could not find the appropriate term ) I have all the time to myself, no worries (maybe a little on the budget because I was kinda broke). But everything went out really really fine. All the stuffs I failed to do the first time I got there, I was able to do this time.

I wasn’t able to take lots of photos because there is something wrong with my camera (or was it just me..? ) Anyway, will post them soon…

Back in the “old days”, I used to celebrate the holy week season with the family and my BFFs here in the neighborhood. We used to visit 7 churches during Holy Thursdays, do the Stations of the Cross, attend the mass for the Washing of the Feet… Then also attend a procession on Good Friday… Easter Vigil, you tell me… I’ve been with all those. In the last couple of years I failed to meet them, because I was outside of the country, and traditions like these don’t sound like fun in Japan. True, I enjoyed the Holy Week (and the holy weekends) in Church before, and reciting all these prayers in the past.

But things have changed. I was so hooked up with work these days, that I see holy week as my season of vacation (and R&R). It’s what I’m looking forward to nowadays. It’s a “blessing” I am so broke nowadays, because given the circumstances, I would probably be off to some island, flashing bikinis all the way.

And this time, I had my chance to go back through it again – do something religious, but I bailed on the last minute. I was so dead tired. That all I wanted to do was sleep. I was sleeping the whole weekend. Eating and sleeping and watching and eating again. It was terrible because how come I am not feeling any guilt at all? I believe I’m losing some faith here. I don’t go to Church anymore. Been months already. And I don’t really feel bad.

When mommy asked me to go to the Good Friday Procession with her and her BFFs, and my BFFs, I told her I’m going to work (which is true, I have plenty of work to do at home), I was told to forget work for a while. Do the praying by myself at least this time, because it’s always she who does the praying for me all the time.

Of course I will get affected, I know how faith did wonders to us. I won’t promise any change in my part. I believe I’m still in that crossroads, whatever you call that stage, wherein everything’s blurred and it worries the hell out of you. I don’t know.

Have a meaningful Easter everyone!

And when it’s over… I’m going to the beach…

Well, it has been a hell of a month/s.

I’ve taken some side jobs to help me survive my days. Plus, a few convincing, probably annoying, tricks to get moolah from my homies… A few more of that, and I am slowly crawling my way out of poverty. Due to my issues, I had thought about really really crazy stuffs just to get me through. It has been a stressful start of 2010. But somehow, my sanity preferred to stay with me.

I think I deserve a break. I really wanted to have one. I want to go to Boracay.. and get a photo shoot. Hope I can bully someone to take my photos. Haha!

This morning, my mom and I went to see the doctor. Again, I got paranoid that something might be wrong with my health. My weight is slowly dropping and the coughs and colds are about to reappear. My mom, on the other hand, needs her regular dose of checkups. So off we go.

We went to the nearby drug store to buy meds afterwards. Mom asked first how much each tablet would cost us. We were on a tight budget and it’s her habit also, to compute everything first before buying (which is kinda good). The two of us figured that we’re not so good in math at that point so we needed to use a calculator. As I start to go to my bag pocket for my cellphone (to calculate things up), mommy reached for her bag and got this out:

It’s big and is shouting in orange! While almost everything about simple math can be done with any little digital stuffs like a cellphone (she even got two!), mommy would always have to bring this big one in her bag all the time.

The surprised look on my face was very obvious the minute she got that out. And I was on the verge of laughing out loud but stopped myself coz mom was serious on using it.

Hehehe I found it so cute. Funny how mothers show their humor even under serious conditions.