69 2013

it’s not really the middle of the year, it’s actually quite a month from it, but today’s significant in how it is the day of hope. or something like that. i just made that up now, attributing it to the sign of hope. but i’m not so hopeful. maybe i’m exhausted. or maybe i got even lazier. eitherway, i should get back to being that hopeful self that i am. well, i think i can. then i will.

4 weeks go by quickly

at ganun na lang, ilang oras, patapos na ang buwan ng mayo. di ko pa nga natapos yung lookback ko sa abril, maghu-hunyo na. at marami-rami rin akong hindi natapos. bawi bukas? lagi naman. pero sana talaga. ay, hindi. dapat pala.

vacation mode april (intermission)

oh, it’s May 1st already. part 3 and 4 didn’t make it before the month changed. well, quite like how rebuild of eva 3 and final got a long time in between 2 and 3. anyways, i realised i’ve been typing for 2 hours.  i’ll continue later my look back in the month of april. or maybe on the weekend. wouldn’t want to miss so much in blogging about a fun summer.

vacation mode april (part 3)

i can’t seem to remember what happened in between until that friday. april 19, toe, live in manila. venue was changed from b-side to mega tent at pasig. we discovered that on that day itself.

i survived the mrt queue at the magallanes station and ride (thanks to tristan’s stored value card) to ortigas station and met up with yaluts, dogi and ced. the walk to metrowalk was not quick but not bad since there were breezes on the way. we didn’t take that long to get inside the place and picked our spot—near the center of the crowd, left of the drummer. the band was in the middle of the crowd in a circular stage. before it got crowded, i managed to spot bugie, yot, martin, and karen f. later i saw pau join them and before we left, ray.

rewind back to the concert, i took pictures. well, redundant pics really. i didn’t take videos. i just audio recorded the whole concert including the “back”acts. (the front acts were on a stage behind the band.) i wished we had position ourselves a little to the left so that the orange guitar amp didn’t cover the bassist. not so bad, though. still had a good view of the drummer’s dynamics. the band was great. inspiring and a bit exhausting. in a good way. the energy was over the top.

we had dinner after and i realized how long it was since i had a seat. we took a taxi home and i packed my stuff for that weekend’s company outing. and yes, went online in skype.

got up with enough time to get to the office before being left by the bus. i got my toothbrush and water bottle from my workarea and went back to board the bus. we left at around 8am and there were 2 rounds of emperador light c/o m.e. boys. bianca and ej were already in quezon by then. not an hour after, we picked up the rest of the struct guys at cainta junction then we were off to real, quezon. i think i’ve switched my xperia back to its regular battery by then. i loaded the spare battery that morning and it lasted only 4 hours. oh well. i think i spent most of the charge online at home.

almost midday, we arrived at the villa jamaica resort, settled down, and had lunch. the place was ok. not bad, but there were complaints. i held back on giving countercomments. i was one who didn’t wear sunblock afterall.

left my phones because of the absence of a cellular signal and the risk of dropping them in the river or getting lost in the beach. first stop, a small water falls. feeling experienced and stuff, i kinda assisted the ladies in the trail to and fro. alas, i injured myself with a fleshwound early on. the falls was pretty. the clear water was cool.

back in the resort, i tried to rest but later joined in the reaketo drinking game with linette, francis, cesar, bem, tristan, jj, mike, bianca and ej. i think we’ve finished the bottle by the time the whole group was to go to the beach.

the beach was fun with the waves. the seaweeds were a bit of a nuance but nothing serious. i also found i fun how others were scared of the seaweed. frisbee wasn’t that fun with the strong wind so i think it was ej who suggested panintero. and we all realized later that it was very tiring. still, fun.

back in the resort, i’m glad the structural guys decided to mingle with the others. it was still a little akward so i think it was a good idea that i asked for our second bottle of empi light. inuman around the pool. heat and cold. and then dinner. and then another raketo. and then it’s over…videoke time.

won’t blog much about those but i recorded 5 and a half hours in my phone’s audio recorder. we ended at 2am, sir roger and tristan being the last men drinking. well, that’s aside from me.

sunday morning, we were off to balagbag falls were we had breakfast on leaves. my body wasn’t in tip top condition most likely due to the previous drinking session. i had my breakfast slowly being left by the group as they went up. i went up in a struggle with logical fear that my drunken state cannot make it. gladly, thank God, i made it. cool. beautiful. now i wish i had jumped but i think it was right that i chose not to. i was not in my least athletic condition. some other time.

struct guys and girls and i took the upper seats on the jeepney ride this time, back to the resort. i took a nap and did my bathroom needs in the outside bathroom. we were off to makati after lunch. and there, semp outing / linette’s farewell party.

pasalubong stop somewhere in laguna where i bought some broas for my mama and papa, uraro for SMC, and espasol for me. the struct guys were dropped off again in cainta. bus arrived at dccd with the sun still up. i think it was around 4pm. i walked home since i was too lazy to wait for a jeepney and didn’t want to walk up the pedestrian overpass. i had a coconut afterall.

i got a straw and drank the coconut juice here at home while online. mama and papa got home later and the rest of the day was another relaxing sunday at home after another fun weekend out of town.

after the Mass, SMC hanged out for a while at allen’s where kuya yet discussed the groupings and some info on the following weekends’ sportsfest.

vacation mode april (part 2)

balik opisina matapos magpahinga nang sabado at linggo. medyo nagiging seryoso (o mas nagkakaroon ng pangangailangang magseryoso) sa project sa opisina, pero hindi maipagkakaila ang pagka-excite ko para sa outing sa darating na sabado. pero bitin sa pahinga at tinatamad pang magtrabaho, panalo talaga na holiday kinabukasan. pahinga mode uli.

miyerkules, nakipagkita ako sa isa sa mga tinulungan kong mapuan para kunin ang bayad dun sa ginawa ko. ok yun, dagdag stability pangontra sa mga darating na cash out. huwebes, nakabili ako ng spare battery para sa xperia ko (na nung ginamit ko na, hindi rin nagamit ang +/- 90 percent charge. dapat ata dinrain ko muna bago ko inunang charge. ok lang. kahit papaano, nagamit naman.) biyernes ng gabi, nag-empake na ako at nagtungo kasama ni yaluts kina dogi. special mention, hinatid kami ng mga magulang ko. hehe. baby.

umidlip-idlip ako nun sa harap ng pc ni miro. nakapag-skype muna panandali para makita’t makausap ang mhaehal ko bago ang trip dahil walang internet/siguradong power source sa pupuntahan. ayokong matulog sa kama, e. hehe. ilang oras pagkaraan ng estimated time of departure, nagtungo na kami sa zambales.

medyo energetic akong tinulungan si kevin na manatiling gising kasama ni goey at venjo habang tulog sa tabi ni venjo si cez, tulog sa likod sina dogi at ced, at patulog-tulog si yaluts sa front passenger seat. pagkatapos ng stopover sa chowking, dun na ako sa likod at natulog na unan ang sleeping bag habang akap ang bass speaker ng crosswind nina kevin.

pagdating sa destinasyon, iniwan ang sasakyan sa Luzon at nagbangka papuntang Magalawa Island. setup camp, pasaing ng 2kilong kanin (na hindi rin namin naubos hanggang kinabukasan), lunch, at swimming sa ma-seaweed na mababaw na dagat. syempre, reporting maya’t maya. hehe. theme song ko nun, wish you were here ng incubus. pagkatapos ng hapunan, naappreciate ko ang public restroom doon sa isla. nang bumalik na ako sa campsite para samahan sila sa inuman / joey’s hotseat session, hindi na ako nakatangging uminom at hindi na ako nakainom ng ventolin. oo nga pala, pakiramdam ko hinihika ako nung linggong iyon mula nung bumlik ako mula Bicol. buti na lang at umayos din pakiramdam ko. easy inuman ng whiskey sa nakalatag na dalawang sleeping bag sa beach. ibang klase talaga, ang sarap kasama ng mga kabarkada ko.

at bumuhos ang ulan. takbo sa mesa/tambayan namin. maya-maya, takbo na sa tent. naging refugee tent ang red tent dahil hindi pala water proof ang party tent. ako na naman ang unang nakatulog. mga 3am, tumawag si mhae. lumabas ako ng tent at sinagot. kwento konti sa ginaw. maginaw nun. may halong panghihinayang na sa telepono/skype lang kami nagkausap pero hindi mawawala ang tuwa na malayo mang, parang kadikit lang ng pisngi sa lapit.

noong umaga, tumambay kami nina dogi, venjo, kevin, at goey sa floating tambayan hanggang sa mag-aagahan na. pagkakain, hindi na ata ako lumublob at naging taga-document na lang ng jellyfishing nung apat habang nagkatambay with technology sina ced at si yaluts at hindi ko alam anong whereabouts ni cez noon. maya-maya, nasa tent na ako, tulog. pagkagising, malapit nang mag-12 at aalis na kami. nag-bathroom requirements ako at tumulong sa pagliligpit. nang maka-pa(c)k up na at dumating na ang bangka, group picture muna tapos alis. ayon nga kay venjo ilang araw pagkatapos, “another one for the history books.”

pagbalik sa Luzon, naglinis ng mga mabuhanging paa at nag-ayos ng mga gamit sa sasakyan, tapos biyahe na uli. kasama na namin ang mga nahuling dikya. syempre, iniwan na namin ang sinunog ni venjong dikya. naawa ako pero naisip ko, bahagi lang yun ng vendetta niya. sana hindi naman makasama sa mga species ng dikya ang ginawa nilang panghuhuli. at namatay na ang xperia ko. wala. oh well. tumagal naman ng 8 hours yung spare battery. pwede na rin.

nag-stopover kami para tingnan ang kumakalampag sa mga gamit sa ibabaw ng kotse at kumain ng ice cream. hindi naayos yung kumakalampag na marahil ay galing sa bag. tumigil kami isang beses pa para tumingin ng mangga pero walang natripan. isa pang stopover, nakabili na ng mga pasalubong. bumili ako ng 35pesos na mga singkamas na bilin ni mama. naalis na rin ang kalampag ng strap ng bag nun.

nag-celebrate kami sa subic sa xtremely xpresso. challenge ang pizza. sakto, yung dalawang xtreme size na pizza, 6 na slice ang natira dun sa isa at 9 sa isa. smooth riding na nun pauwi. binaba namin sina dogi at ced sa bahay nina dogi. sumunod na dropoff sina venjo at cez sa kfc/caltex/petron. doon na ako sa SIP nagpababa bago ihatid ni kevin sina yaluts at goey. panalo, nakaabot pa ako sa 8pm Mass. ang sarap. next year uli. sana kasama na si mhae next year.