FTW

I finally bought one! I've been working for a gaming company for a year and scraped up enough moolah to buy myself a Nintendo DS Lite. Let me tell you, it is worth it to the last centavo i coughed up. Games that i MUST play according to Ahorney (a.k.a. RyanC):

<Ryan C>  Luminous Arc is one.
                    Revenant Wings, if you're an FF fan.
                    Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker is supposed to be good.
                    And Pokemon Diamond/Pearl.
                    Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is good too.
                    Rune Factory is another one.
                    Dementium: The Ward is good, too.
                    Phantom Hourglass is a given.
                    Animal Crossing is an obsession.
                    Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol.
                    Personal recommendations: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 1 and 2, Taiko no Tatsujin DS, and Hotel Dusk: Room 152.

Of course, i already have Cooking Mama 2 (even if she sold out to the call of money and overall commercialism, she still gives the best positive reinforcement), the DS remake of FFIII, Luminous Arc, and Mario Kart DS. I'm such a geek. Anyway, if you knew me back when i was still hopelessly addicted to Ragnarok, you know what this means....

Don't be surprised if i ask you what day it is.

Oh and I owe another post about the adventure that was the trip to Greenhills. :D next time nalang.

all i want for christmas...

Me: So what are you getting yourself this Christmas, Chibichan?
Chibichan: A boyfriend! Haha!
Me: You found a place where we can buy them? O_o
Chibichan: I actually did, though they're only good for 24 hours. And they don't come with manuals or a warranty.
Me: Ack. That's too darn bad. [Contrary to popular belief, warranties and manuals are very important.]
Chibichan: That's what I thought too. So I think I'm going to splurge on clothes instead. Oh and I bought a new shirt. Guess what the print says.
Me: "Can't touch this"?
Chibichan: Haha! No... But I like the sound of that too. It says "Little Miss Stubborn" and it has a picture of a girl with her arms crossed.
Me: Oooh. I gotta get me one of those.
Chibichan: And they also have a Little Miss Bossy, Naughty, etc. Though I think I like "Boys Lie" best.




Oh so true. That's why I'm going to spend my money on a DS instead.

fallout

By my standards, anything that requires me to move my ass more than usual can be categorized as "busy." That said, the -ber months have not been easy for me. And so imagine what I'd do next... sleep for 13hrs a day and play Neopets. :p i was planning to write something about epiphanies, but then I got sidetracked by this:

Just about the luckiest Scratchcard ever. :D

first time for everything

The other day, Chris lent me one of his books, Haruki Murakami's South of the Border, West of the Sun (or Kokkyō no minami, taiyō no nishi). Previously, he lent me Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected (The Landlady, Taste, and The Way Up to Heaven). Wonderfully twisted and sometimes scary stories that hooked my eyeballs and kept them strained on the pages until the end.

Back to Murakami. I've never read any of his books before South of the Border and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Especially when Chris handed it to me and said simply, "It's not for prudes." I'm halfway through the book and every night, I have to pry the book from my fingers since I still had work the next morning. More on it when I finish reading.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At work a few days ago, Rica (

nano_speaks

) sent me a poem from Pablo Neruda. She despises Paulo Coehlo and decided that if I must have mush in my life, then I should have mush in good taste. Anyway, she sent me Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines by Pablo Neruda.

Heart wrenching. It feels like somebody rips you heart out, puts it in a blender, hits puree, and adds salt and pepper to taste.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example,'The night is shattered
and the blue stars shiver in the distance.'

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.








Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me sometimes, and I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.











To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.



What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is shattered and she is not with me.


This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight searches for her as though to go to her.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another's. She will be another's. Like my kisses before.
Her voice. Her bright body. Her infinite eyes.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.








Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.





















This poem spells out what I felt when PEXBF1, PEXGF1,  and PEXBF2 left me behind all those years ago. Weirdly, my heart doesn't ache for them anymore, it's just that my brain feels hurt that it had been so stupid and my pride kicks itself for those momentary periods of insanity. I mean, I did love them (a tad too much) but thankfully, not anymore.

There IS a first time for everything. It just so happened that my firsts for this week were incredibly mushy. Now I feel lonely again. *sigh* Dammit. Hurry up, Mr. Darcy! Where the bloody hell are you? T___T

SS, the pick-me-upper

earlier, i was pissed off bad. murderous bad. well, my shiftmates wouldn't have any of it. Glen's writing another fab (read: fabricated) article.

Glen: The PS3 is ONE... Ah! Ah! Ah! One piece of crap! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ryan: The Xbox has THREE! Three red rings! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Oh yes. We are called SS or Shift Sarcastic for a reason. And it seems that we're enjoying ourselves, too:

sobra. tayong lahat ata kung pwede ipako na dito e... S1 kicks ass... warm fuzzy feeling!



And then something bittersweet:
wag naman
potah wag talaga

conversations over coffee

i had coffee with Remi earlier and flatmate April last night, and had the most comforting, disturbing conversations with them.

With April, I talked about the vicious cycle of discrimination, very bad managers, people, and life. When we got back to the condo, I was a little sad. A thought was stuck in my mind. April thinks that it is harder to be evil. That good is the "default setting" we all have. I argued that it takes a more conscious effort to be good. That not caring was essentially more energy efficient.

I'd like to think (and hope) that somehow, she's right and I'm wrong. I'd be glad to be wrong in that argument, but then again, something tells me that I'm probably right.

And then she asked me how i can bare my soul in most of what i write, meaning my writings when not at work. I didn't know either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rem had been busy the past few months since she's been holding down a freelance writing job and an NGO so we had lots to talk about over coffee.

She told me about her adventures while in La Union last week. They had to (quite literally) hug the side of a mountain to prevent from plunging to their deaths. Picture this, there's a community on the other side of the mountain (situated ON the side of a mountain) and there are only two ways to get there: take a day-long boat ride or walk along a road on the side of the mountain. Too bad they they took the latter option.

I guess the fact that two feet is all that stands between them and the river below didn't sink in until they were hugging the mountainside.

She recounts that their guide had given them fair warning: "Medyo makitid po ung daan, kaya pag nahulog po kayo, dalawa lang po ang pwedeng mangyari. Mauntog kayo sa mga bato pababa at mamatay o mahulog sa tubig at malunod. Pero pwede rin po kayong kumapit sa mga baging dyan (points down)."

So it was cling to the side of the mountain - and for dear life - or fall to inevitable doom. It's good that they got to that community safely, and got back in one piece.

Rica (nano_speaks): Huwow! We should try that sometime.

Another thing we got to talk about are the "band-aid measures" people are bent on using these days. Temporary solutions to big problems that could and will probably lead to cancer if continually plastered with band-aids. Somehow I can imagine that someday, when we remove those little bandages, we'll discover gangrene underneath it all.

Conversations

One thing I love about going home during my off days is the conversations I have with the people at LP. My dad for example, Oyi-chan, and the others provide profound insight on some things. Plus some funny stuff that get stuck in my head Here are some examples:

Dad: You might not not remember your Lola Entang, she migrated to the States. She got so pissed at a black guy, she grabbed the nearest blunt object and thought, 'Teka, ano nga bang english ng patay gutom?'

Patay = Dead
Gutom = Hungry



And so she screamed that and ran after the poor guy. All that while waving a PVC pipe, I think, over her head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More to follow...

Undead and Un-sucky

Some of my friends have given me funny looks when I happily told them that I'm currently collecting a chick lit series (Come to think of it, I get funnier looks when they find out that I've read two Paulo Coehlo books). Well, when under stress, I usually look for light and slightly brainless things to entertain me.

Chibi-chan (

skittlebean_lei

) recommended the book, Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson. During the last big book fair, I bought the second book in the series, Undead and Underappreciated to try out the entire chick lit thing.

I wasn't disappointed.

It's laugh out loud fun. Who wouldn't laugh at words like such:

BabyJon blatted and I felt his diaper get warmer. And heavier. No! Hull integrity would not hold! She's losing it, Captain, she's losing it!

My roomies think that I swallowed two bottles of Prozac when they observe me reading Undead.

I currently have four books in the series, and though the series has some obvious flaws (it's not very consistent with facts, events, and character behavior), I'm still going to buy the next books in the series. It's all about a girl who gets hit by a Pontiac Aztec, dies, wakes up in a morgue, and discovers that she's a vampire. Pretty sucky if you ask me. But come to think about it, what would be suckier? Dying or un-dying?

brings tears to my eyes

....
[12:19:51 PM] <Chris> we have a couple applicants
[12:19:57 PM] <Chris> texted them both
[12:19:59 PM] <Chris> one responded
[12:20:11 PM] <Chris> 'good pm sir/mam, i'd be willing to come in your office tomorrow'
[12:20:13 PM] <Chris> AHAHAHAHAHAHAH
[12:20:35 PM] <Chris> GODDAMN IT HIJA THIS IS NOT THAT KIND OF JOB
[12:20:45 PM] <Chiyo> *gasp*
[12:22:08 PM] <Elai>  weeeeeeeeeh... extra service.... hehehe
[12:22:34 PM] <Chiyo> nyhahahahahahahahahahahaha
[12:23:16 PM] <Chris> LOL! LOL!

God.

Sans Rival of Darkness

Early morning chat messages with co-worker and co-member of SS (Shift Sarcastic).

Glen:
bumili ako ng 1 box ng sansrival to celebrate undas.
Glen: 200 pesos
Glen: aaminin ko....
Glen: mas astig pa ginawa nyo!
Glen: hehe

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Another hapless person falls into the trap of my insidious culinary skills. Actually, it was a joint project of the root of all evil, nano_speaks and the Overlord Noreen, so you can probably tell what the end product would be.

*cue Captain Planet music* With your powers combined, I am Captain Pl-- er... moving on.

The sans rival in question was made - no, "created" at the condo, after hours upon hours of stirring and whipping and beating. The damned thing just refused to be the right consistency. In the end, it turned out fine.

Who said I couldn't fluff?

The sans rival of evil (needless to say, it should be called such) was brought to the office and unleashed upon the unsuspecting hungry masses. It was over before anybody could pass gas or burp. What can I say? The triumvirate of evil can not only bitch, bully, and unleash laser beams of death, but can also make sans rival.

Oh, and Glen, you can count on some sans rival when I finally decide to make some myself. I alone probably won't be able to imbue it with the evil necessary for its creation but I'll do my best.

Will you still love me when I'm 24?

The past week has been crazy, busy, surreal, lethargic - in a nutshell, it has been a roller coaster ride of sorts. Well, it all started with last Friday.

nano_speaks had planned an all-out wakasan party to be held at the condo. She needed to get drunk, incidentally, so did Mabie, Annabs, Rem, Chris and me, and it just so happened that October 26 was within the vicinity of my birthday. She scheduled it three weeks before said date, but the best laid plans failed at the last minute. Rica got sick (a very valid excuse), while Rem had a sudden urgent conference for her NGO (also a very valid excuse). Also, I found out that Annabs was currently "out of it", so I canceled.

I just asked Chris out for coffee. Of course, I had to wait until he gets off work at 4, which was okay since I needed to send out some emails anyway. In a bad twist,kalendaryo lost his wallet and slept in the gaming room until the accounting office coughed up his salary in cash. He heard that we were going out for coffee and so he offered to wait with me at the coffee shop until Chris got off work. I texted Mabie to see if she wanted to come with and she suggested Bretton.

And so off we went. It was pretty fun talking with Karl again. Let's just say we've been uncommunicative the past few weeks, he's dead tired and sleepy in the morning while I'm sleepy and cranky (arguably, all the time).

Needless to say, I enjoyed that everything-went-wrong day and it turned out into something fun. Thanks goes to Karl for the Cafe Liegeois (my second favorite coffee) and the something-Pinay crepe, plus Mabie, Chris, and Karl for the company.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then comes Carmel on October 27 who jolted me to wakefulness with this text message: "dude, manganganak na ako." On the 30th, she pops up again with, "Give me suggestions for a name." It's a baby boy by the way, though he'll have to spend some days in an incubator since he's premature.

No name yet, but I vehemently expressed opposition to "Rayver."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

October 29 started crazy and got worse in a hurry. I barely had any sleep due to a bad case of insomnia (I've been getting less sleep than usual the past few weeks, hence getting more lates). I was lone editor for the SS (Shift Sarcastic) since Rica was out. In addition to the usual insane Monday deadlines, I also had to fix the team building stuff. After the shift, I had to wait for Chris for our meeting with the "professional" named "Jhun." I'm sorry but I really found it hard to take the guy seriously based simply on how he spelled his name. (Later, I discovered that his real name was Maximo and I kinda forgave him for the extra H.)

Meeting ended at around 6 or 7-ish, and Chris neatly placed the cherry on top of my day by saying, "He was SO hitting on you." I rolled my eyes and gave him my patented WTF look.

And so I dragged my weary ass into a cab and headed for home. When finally got to the condo, I staggered straight to the room, only mustering half-hearted hellos to my roomies. They were all there, April, Jen, and Cha plus Mark. I should have known.

Jen went inside the room and asked, "Dude, are you going to sleep na?" I was still resting my oh-so-tired carcass and couldn't drop into unconsciousness straight away so I held up my new book (Undead and Unpopular) and waved it around. "Still reading."

Famous last words.

Roomie Jen exits and there was a bit of commotion outside the door. Three tentative knocks, then "Choch?"

More weirded out than irritated, i thought, 'What, she locked herself out?' I unplaster myself from the bed and haplessly opened the door to a single candle atop a blueberry cheese cake (I could smell it). My crazy roomies were huddled in the hallway shouting, "Surprise!"

You guys are crazy, I said as I faced them in my usual sando, shorts, and disheveled hair.

"Get dressed, we're going out," says April. So I did.

We trooped into Mark's Innova (his Honda is still sitting in some parking lot in Valero) and drove to Timog. The last time I was there was... wait, what year is this? Anyway, we ended up in Behrouz (our eyebrows went into orbit due to the uncouth waitress' unbelievably rude manners) and scuttled to Starbucks afterwards. I was about to drop dead so we went home. Then I collapsed to bed and snored until 1 in the afternoon.

Thanks guys. For throwing me my first birthday surprise and for letting me know that you remembered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hmm... I feel oddly, I dunno... detached? Weird? It's been a crazy week and somehow I feel like I don't fit in my own skin. Maybe it's just that I haven't slept at all today and this heady feeling is just my brain shutting down slowly. Anyway, my traditional birthday post will have to wait until later.

Words of the Wise, part 2

I have more quotable quotes from certain friends and today's dose of quirky statements come from Rem. She found some crazy posters in Galeria and sent them to me.

Profound poster number 1:
Sometimes, even music cannot substitute for tears.

Profound poster number 2:
My hands are never empty when I'm smoking. And with every cigarette, I have a companion for the next five minutes.

Anyway, here are more sayings that aren't from profound posters, but profound nonetheless.

Rem: Lahat ng dahilan ay nagsisimula sa letter P - pagod, pressure, pera, putangnang lovelife, pangtuition...

nano_speaks: Fascinating in what way? Why? How? Which part? What are you reading anyway? Throw it away, bottom of the trench, to the left.

Another one: If there wasn't a kid inside the cell wanting to be loved, what did you find?

And another one: Time flies like a fly. Swat! It's dead.

Princess Mabie: And stop with the OMG. You'll wear it out... Besides, he's our god too.

More from Mabie: Easy Sun (Madaling Araw)
[Don't look too surprised, that's coming from a person who interchanges things like sinangag and sinigang on a daily basis.]

Then SWIM for God's sake, SWIM!

Think of how many people want - expect, you to fail
And think of how much you want to prove them wrong (and possibly shove it down their gullets).
Then think of how many people believe in you
And how much you want to prove them right.

I've told you this a gazillion times, but there are still times when I forget. Of course, you scold me for forgetting.

You know just how to make me haul my sorry butt out of my pit of depression - and you know just how much tough love I need when my naivety and idealism gets the better of me (and my better judgement). You give me much needed reality checks whenever I need it and you help me when I have no idea what I'm doing. You listen when I rant, you console me when I am downtrodden, and you run to me when I cry. You loathe those who hurt me, because you know I hurt easily.

You have seen me with the paint off and you have seen the kid inside me, as I have seen the kid inside that fortress of yours.

You said you'll be disappointed with me if I quit. You made it sound so trivial, though you know how hard I would try not to disappoint you.

And I know how incredibly sappy this sounds but I just wanted to say these things out loud. I guess you really know you're good friends when you shamelessly take each other for granted. I guess we have, one way or another so I need to say this. Just like you need to say:

Then honey, you make sure you don't fail.

I guess what I want to say is: Thanks for believing, Chibi-chan.

Kape 101

I love coffee. It's the stuff that *should* be injected to me via IV if I get hospitalized. I know you guys like it too, but did you know that coffee has another use as a word? Here's kape 101 for you.

kape [ka-pe]
    - noun
    1. the tagalog word for coffee, primary source of caffeine for most people
    2. in a dialect of gay lingo (my friend Francois' to be exact), it has the following meanings:
             a. insult or non-flattering statement reserved for people who are too assuming (read: garapal gooms) or too proud of qualities that are nonexistent in themselves
             b. a shorter, more effective way of saying, "get over yourself"
             c. can also be used as a verb, magkape

Proper use of Kape:
Kape is mostly used for the unbelievably insensitive and the remarkably dense. For maximum effect, it should be delivered by a gay person.

Examples:

"Magkape nga sya, ang ganda pala nya eh."
"Magkape ka nga para kabahan ka naman ng konti sa mga pinagsasasabi mo."
"Akala lang nya magaling sya, kailangang magkape nun para magising sa katotohanan."

Got it?
... This lesson was brought to us by nano_speaks, skittlebean_lei, and the letters W, T, and F.

The day of woes, wants, and blasted questions

Sometimes, you just can't win.

The blows keep on coming and you feel like the little Dutch boy. You do everything possible but your fingers just can't plug all the holes in that blasted dike.

Sometimes, you hold people close and will them not to break.

But they break anyway. There was nothing you could have done.

Sometimes, you meet people with an emotional range of a cockroach.

And they don't know it. There is nothing more frustrating. There's nothing you can do about it but let them go and spare yourself from more insensitivity. Burn bridge, burn.

Sometimes, idiots will make you feel inadequate by saying the most insipid things.

But they don't know you. They just think they do. You just suffered a short burst of insanity when you let them into your heart. Mistakes can be rectified, be sure to smile and wave when you say good bye.

Sometimes, people ask questions hoping you have the answers.

But you don't.

Sometimes, people will use your weaknesses to destroy you, purely for ambition or fun.

Don't let them.

Sometimes, you have to spell things out.

S-A-R-C-A-S-M. I-R-O-N-Y. Write it down. And remember it. Don't come near me, I'm still trying convince myself that you are not worth killing. Because when all things are said and done, you are worth nothing.

Dead Fantasy I

I know i do this every single effing day at the office (ok, five days a week) and you'd think i'm sick of it (well, lately i am but that's beside the point), but this particular video caught my eye and impressed the heck out of me. It's a user made video from GameTrailers, and it's by a guy (or girl, whatever) named Monty Oum.

It can be best described as a catfight between Dead or Alive characters Kasumi, Ayane, and Hitomi brawling (sorry, but it does look eeriely like Super Smash Bros.) against Final Fantasy X characters, Yuna (second personal favorite) and Rikku. Choreography's great, plus animation is above amateurish and I've got no complaints against casting.

As far as I can tell, the DoA characters are sporting their Dead or Alive 4 costumes, while Yuna and Rikku are wearing their FFX-2 attires.

Yes, I am nearly slobbering here. Here's why: The Final Fantasy girls were taking a beating (they were outnumbered after all) until Tifa from Final Fantasy VII makes an appearance. TIFA LOCKHEART!!! *faints* Yes, geeking out. She is wearing her Advent Children garb and kicking ass and my first personal FF favorite so don't even try, ok?

Tanda, the upper pill

An early morning SMS convo really made my day:

Tanda: Chochi! May kape ka! Pumasa ako, TIER at final interview na lang!
Me: Huwaw! Congrats! n_n
Tanda: Salamat!
Me: Kelan tayo magkakape?
Tanda: Sa sweldo! Venti!
Me (practically jumping up and down): Yehey!

Nothing beats a good pick me upper in the morning.

Words of the Wise

The quotes written here maybe quoted from somewhere else, so i'm giving an apology in advance... not for not sourcing, but for being lazy. And you might not understand what they are talking about, but i assure you that you wouldn't want to know (in most cases).

the Mahstah: Reality is what you want it to be. Or what others impose on you.

Flatmate April: You know what? Screw that. Next time, I'm going to charge.

Chibichan: Chiyo-san... Shikkari shite.

Again, from the Mahstah: you just became the current you at some point in your life without you noticing

Chibichan: Anata wa ne, yappari tokidoki kichigai no.

On my off days

Yesterday, i decided that coffee and cigarettes are my new best friends. I went home to Las Piñas for my off days and took some time alone at a near empty coffee shop.

Did i mention i'm depressed? Well, i am. I dunno, it's another one of my phases i guess. I had a number of conversations over the past weeks that i kept saying i'd write about... I'm a bit late, i know, but who cares right?

Last week, my flatmates and i had a very interesting conversation about ballbreaking and why women subject themselves to men's utter inability to grow up. It was a fun convo, mainly because i was wondering why i can't get one bloody date.

...... wait, my friends are here. i'm getting kidnapped so i'll drop this for now.

Another thing about friends

Since i'm  slightly happier now - slightly.... (I'm not out of my apathetic Ice mode yet.) - i'm going to write something about my leave last week.

I was stuck at home for the most part of the first three days, but on the fourth day, i braved the weather to see my friends. Oh-kay, i was FORCED to brave the weather.

I woke up to hearing my best friend Oyi-chan's voice. "Si Chi-chan ba 'to? Parang isang balunbon lang kumot." Me, groggy and cranky as i hate getting woken up, managed to growl, "Anong ginagawa nyo dito?" Another voice answered, "Bangon na!"

I finally pulled the covers off my head, and blinked at them. They were standing at my bedside and i lay still, wondering, 'It might be a good idea to get some rabid guard dogs and post them right outside my bedroom door.'

With Oyi-chan was our other friend. Itatago ko siya sa pangalang Boogles... ay, wait. Bryan nalang pala. Moving on....

Bryan then sat on my legs. He's the same height as i am and built like a tank. Of course, circulation to my lower extremities were cut off immediately. Oyi-chan, though shorter than i am, is worth one and a half of me on the weighing scale. When i saw her moving toward me with a malicious look on her face, i promptly kicked Bryan off and sat up in bed. The sheets and the soft bed were still beckoning to me but i knew the price i would pay for trying to go back to sleep is death - very painful and very slow.

I realized belatedly that we were going out that day, and it had been scheduled the day before. Oyi-chan was recently promoted to HR recruitment something, manager, i think. Hence, she was treating. (i never got to treat them when i got promoted, starving writer that i am) "Where's Mark?" I asked, inquiring about my other bestfriend. They shrugged. "Anong oras na ba?" I asked and took a cursory glance at my wall clock. 12 PM. "What the *bleep*? Akala ko ba after lunch?"

"After lunch nga to," Bryan says calmly.

"Four o' clock ang after lunch," i said, eyeing the bed again. Oyi-chan raised an eyebrow and Bryan promptly clutched one of my legs and pulled my out of bed - quite literally. "Opo, tatayo na po."

Thirty minutes later, we were out of my house and planning out food trip. "Bumili na lang tayo ng pizza, dalawa," Bryan suggests. "Hmm... Parang gusto ko ng pasta, magluto ka kaya, Chi-chan?" says Oyi-chan.

Lazy fart that i am, i said reproachfully, "You woke me up at 12. Sabi mo four." She then gave me a vertebrae crushing hug and said, "Papakainin ka na nga eh. Ganito nalang, isang chicken and a pizza."

I was happier. Then i asked again, "Where's Mark?" Bryan looked at his celphone, "Nasa Taft ata. Meron siyang klase ngayon."

I looked at him blankly. "Ha? Anong klase?" "Masteral. Di mo ba alam un?"

@__@ i knew he currently has two girlfriends but geez, i didn't know about the MA.

Itutuloy...

Of happy food and happy friends

So where do i start? I was on leave last week and was stuck at home while i let the storm rage outside.

Two weeks ago, i was depressed. I was down from indecision and from assorted problems. Right after the last post, my friends came to the rescue. I'm very grateful for all the happy food they presented me before i went on leave.

Hitori went by the office and presented me with a very sinful slice of chocolate cake from my favorite coffee place (i think that was for not being able to accompany me to the said coffee place), next came Rica, my editor, who gave me her homemade ice cream cake - also extremely sinful (since she had to sit beside me while i wallowed in misery), while Victor, my other boss, voluntarily spoke the taboo word of the day and gave me large fries.

Now that i think about it, maybe they're conspiring to make me consume vast amounts of food and then sit back and watch me grow in size. (Kidding! :D)

Anyway, with their help, i was able to climb back from the abyss of depression. and i can't begin to describe how happy i am to have friends like that. I really can't.

Watashi ha nin anatani hijouni kanshashi teiru. Watashi wosokoniarukotowo hontou niarigatou. (i hope that was grammatically correct, or Chibi-chan will murder me. T__T)

Of moving in and moving on

My phone's dead. As in, really dead. It lasted barely a couple of months in my possession.

Know what that means? No parts for Last Vestiges, a fantasy fiction story i've been writing; no communication to the outside world, and no games.

*sigh* pero siguro medyo mas ok na ung ganito. Marami akong gustong kalimutan sa ngayon at siguro makakatulong nga na wala akong paraan para mag give-in sa weakness. Ang malungkot lang, hindi ko ma-text ang nanay ko at mga kaibigan ko.

Ay, ang drama. Pero hmm... ano nga kaya kung uber tagal akong maging celphone-less after this?

Anyway, i got to move to the condo a couple of days back. It's nice, but my blasted insomnia is keeping me from sleeping properly. I miss my huggable pillow. I love the independent feel (and having the office at walking distance) but it feels sorta lonely.

I don't know why.

Lovesick Weekend

I'd cheat destiny just to be near you
If this is giving up, then I'm giving up
If this is giving up, then I'm giving up, giving up
On love, On love

Is it really that hard to fall in love? Maybe the real question is "Why it it so hard to find the one?" 
(Of course, you know I'm not referring to Jet Li.)

It's an interesting conundrum and it came to my attention simply because I found some of my friends' 
lovesickess contagious this weekend. Annabs introduced me to a song called "Wreck of the Day" by 
Anna Nalick. I found it extremely sad - and I thought about the partnership of Batman and Joel Lamangan, 
fairy tales, and chess.

If you're not so familiar with them, Joel Lamangan is a director of uberly cheesy (and trite) movies. 
While Batman is how we (my friends and I) refer to the upstairs person or The Power That Is 
(derived from "Bahala na si Batman"). To compensate for lazy typing we'll refer to them as Joel and 
Batman.

Back to the subject. They came to mind because I wondered how the story of our lives are written 
"up there". Not to be rude to Batman, but sometimes our stories just become so trite it all 
becomes a movie by Joel. Take a friend of mine for example - we'll call her... uhm... Hippo 
- she's been "playing games" with some guy (we won't give him an alias since he's basically irrelevant). 
Now that she's grown tired of playing, she can't find the courage to ask him what they are to 
each other: just playmates? Or something more special?

I'm sure we've all cursed Joel into oblivion atleast once in our lives and that's if you're lucky and 
found the person whose feet fit the one shoe you're holding. The truth is, only the extremely 
lucky ever find their princes and princesses (preferrably only one per person). The problem is, we 
go through several fairy tales with bad endings. Only the hope that the happy ending exists keep 
us hoping and waiting and loving. I wouldn't really suggest that you see a fairy tale everywhere 
since you'd be wearing your heart on your sleeve every single time. There's a reason why the 
heart was placed in the middle of the chest cavity with skin, muscle, and bone protecting it. 
It's fragile and breaks easily. Wearing it on your sleeve all the time will be like holding an 
antique vase with your two pinky fingers. Though if you clam up, you won't be able to let somebody in. 
Catch 22.

Another thing I'd like to point out is chess. Hippo's just tired of waiting for the checkmate. Who'd want 
to play chess with somebody who can't make a move for weeks and won't agree to the "Touch Move" 
rule? It's a given perhaps once you agree to play the game. It's extremely hard to find somebody you 
can play chess with - one who plays fair and won't cheat when you're not looking.