Many Merry Xmases

Hong Kong Fluey, Part 4 (of 4)

Dec. 14: Still felt sick and too weak to even shower and slept poorly on couch mattresses laid on the carpeted floor. No blankets, so in hindsight bringing my sweatshirt was a good call. Felt much better in the morning, thankfully, although last night's bout of stomach flu probably helped. Guess it IS possible to get sick from eating too much Chinese food.

At this point I barely remember packing, much less where we had breakfast, although it was definitely not congee. What I do remember was the train ride to Central Station, where we and our 15 pieces of luggage checked in early. The next two hours were spent going around the IFC Mall.

Again I'm amazed w/ what the Chinese did to make what's in essence a really interesting train stop. Then again I'm not sure if the place was built before or after the train station, but either way the Shangri-La, Trinoma or Gateway Mall stops don't hold a candle to this place. Ultimately it was too high-end priced for my wallet, and getting lost wasn't difficult. There are definitely worse to places to kill time while waiting for your trip to the airport.

Our flight was fully booked. Evett and I were still a little sick, and the sight of a crowded flying bus filled even more coughing and sneezing passengers chilled my germ-phobic heart. Whoo, at least I'm conscious enough to enjoy the in-flight entertainment. (30 Rock rerun or a view from the plane's "belly-cam?")

When I finally got home and removed my socks I was surprised to see my left foot (and not-so-much my right) riddled w/ red spots. I thought What the hell? Am I allergic to my socks now? The spots didn't itch, but were still disconcerting to see. (Be thankful I didn't take pictures.) Online research pointed to sand fleas as the likely suspect. Lesson? Don't sleep on Excelsior Hotel's sofas, at least not w/o bedsheets covering it, or thorough vacuuming.

Hong Kong Fluey, Part 3 (of 4)

Panoramic shot of my hosts' flat in Tung Chung

Dec. 13: Tried but failed to keep my congee-resto breakfast light. Afterwards on the way to SoGo we noticed a lot of police cars and TV news vans parking right outside the department store, and on-site reporters getting their TV faces on, microphones at hand. Sunday Man-on-the-street puff pieces? Who knows/cares. I was there to pick out a housewarming/Xmas/birthday gift to for old classmate/friend/little sister Aimee Uy (Chong,) currently living here in HK w/ husband Richard. Settled for Baby shampoo-bath set.

After one MTR misstep (fyi, Chai Wan not the same as Wan Chai, but the the right-to-left reading can make things confusing for novices) I was off to Tung Chung, located at the end of Kowloon. With one transfer to Central Station the whole commute took about an hour and I exited into what turned out to be the Citygate Outlet Mall. With the exception of the restaurants and the gadget shop, all shops had items at presumably rock-bottom prices. And me w/o a shopping list. Oh, yeah, they didn't have any galoshes, either.

Aims met me at the Adidas shop and we (later joined by Richard) had dumplings for lunch, where ordering from the menu was like taking a college entrance exam: just tick on the right circle and hope for the best. And boy we ordered a lot of dumplings. I know Aims is supposed to be eating for 2, and Richard just looks like he is as well, but... whoof. (I kid, Bong. I kid.) After the hearty meal we took a walk back to their flat, located in a private compound in an area that reminds me of the apartment complexes rising up in Bonifacio Global City: a budding and quickly growing urban ecosystem.

After the brief tour Aims and I just bought some gum and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting by their park bench to shoot the shit. Preggy life for her (at 5 months and counting) is nothing but busy right now. When hubby's department was recently downsized she became the sole breadwinner, so Bong went back to school to get his Masters degree. But resiliency is her strong suit (as well as Numbers), so I wouldn't worry about her making it through this w/ head up high. I'm also cutting this short before I end up airing all the dirty laundry here.

When I got back to my hotel room I was blessed w/ an uninterrupted WiFi connection, so time was killed chatting w/ Robs and Eileen. I later met up w/ everyone else for some wonton and noodle soup dinner, as well as my first taste of HK gelatto for dessert. And the mystery of the parked police and news people is solved. Turns out while we were at the wedding banquet last night there was another acid-attack (the 5th this year) that happened nearby.

Evett wasn't feeling well so he got the bed this time. A couple of hours later I started feeling a bit under the weather, as well. Ugh, the one time my Internet connection's not going away I'm losing strength to type on the keyboard to chat.

Hong Kong Fluey, Part 2 (of 4)

Caught up on much needed sleep last night, but only because Evett opted to take the couch cushions while I got the bed. We all had breakfast at the nearby congee restaurant, frankly because it was only eating place open that early in the morning. Our carbo-loaded meals consisted of congee ('natch), twisted doughnuts, fried noodles and shrimp wrapped in glutinous rice blankets. Also had a first taste of cold soy milk in a long while. Funky.

While looking around Sogo (got a new Lamborghini wallet, 'coz why buy the car when this will do) I spotted a cool bowler hat I thought Lola would like, but the ridiculous HK$1990 sticker price -- with a comma after the 1 instead of a decimal between the 9s-- made my eyes water. And I would've preferred a top hat but apparently those were only for the display mannequins. And they had so many on them on display, all piled up and linked together by plastic rope. Add some snow,leaves and Hugh Jackman w/ a goatee it would've looked like the opening scene to The Prestige.

All that shopping made us late for the wedding, which was held in one of their national parks (I'm guessing it was public since we didn't have to pay to enter) where the families reserved one of the courtyards. Cousin Danny's sister's son Eric and bride Nicole had just finished the formal kowtowing and giving thanks to the Heavens, their parents and relatives. Then it was on to the kissing, as guests who came from as far as The US, Thailand and Manila watched. The snack buffet tent was a nice touch, as well.

But wait! They're not done. There was no priest to officiate (duh, we weren't at a church), just a Man In Black to handle the contract signing and formalize the newlywed's union while their fathers sat nearby. As my Cantonese is so rusty to the point of being toxic I can just sum up the whole ceremony to literal pomp and circumstance. And lots of picture-taking, w/c took a novel (imo) approach of starting w/ the huge group shots (all relatives and friends) before moving down to just the couple. All this and we still had 5 hours to kill before the wedding banquet.

Next thing I knew we Chinoys were in not-so-familiar Mody Road, checking out the shopping boutiques across the overpass from the Kowloon Shangri La Hotel (seems the common feature of SL hotels in Asia are large marble centerpieces in the lobby). Giordano's was having a sale, so I got several sets for boxers (personal use and Xmas gifts), as well as a couple of belts. The ladies ended up spending much more to reach/pass the $1000 minimum needed to avail of the free bags. At the shoe store next door they spent even more, and I got a pair of Hush Puppies.

It was at our last stop at G2000 where we went for broke (not literally) and yours truly a suit and tie for the occasion. Modesty aside, I know I can carry a suit, but I just don't like wearing them, as they are occasional clothes for me, as in worn only on formal occasions, of w/c I don't attend many. That said, the wedding banquet was a formal occasion, and frankly the clothes I wore that afternoon (see the first pic, where I wasn't even wearing my brown winter jacket that, along w/ my camera and tripod, made me look like the hired wedding photographer) was an embarrassment. Backhanded comments I received after my "makeover" were more of implying how badly I looked before. ("Wow, you really looked better now than this afternoon.")

Several shopping bags and one cab ride later we were at Harbour Plaza Metropolis Hotel. (I'm able to specify the venue only because I took home their complimentary wet-wipe) At Harbour View Chinese Cuisine the newlyweds were onstage in the ballroom, now wearing their formal Western wedding outfits and having their pictures taken with guests lined up waiting in front of them. Cocktail food and drinks were prepared just outside the ballroom for other guests before the actual banquet started. Beats peanuts and 7-Up, definitely.

Dinner started past 9PM and by frustrating coincidence for my palette, the food selection was 95% similar to what we had last night at the birthday party, w/ the small distinction of the roast pig having blinking lights in its cherry-tomato eyes. The newlyweds also didn't have a presidential table and instead just sat at the first table w/ their parents and immediate family. By their third outfit change (the Going Away Evening Wear) we were treated to a song number w/ Eric on vocals and Nicole on piano. Let's just say it's a good thing Eric was surrounded by friends and family.

Hong Kong Fluey, Part 1 (of 4)

Times Square Building, Causeway Bay

*The next 4 blog entries will cover my to trip to Hong Kong last weekend.

Dec. 11-- Early morning flight, so I didn't bother to sleep the night before and instead tried to finish watching some dloaded TV. Mom and I picked up my cousin, 3 aunts and 1 uncle before headed out, flying to and landing on Hong Kong airport. Despite having had breakfast at the NAIA and on the Cathay Pacific flight, my companions still wanted to eat before going to the Excelsior Hotel.

Lucked out finding a free WiFi spot just by the desk facing the window in my hotel room, but it blinks out so often that blogging in HK wasn't an option. Worse when you're on YM and crucial questions about to be answered go unanswered. And when we arrived there we barely settled in before heading for lunch. This is all sounding like a pretty condensed account of the last 5 hours, but seeing as how I haven't gotten any decent sleep it sure felt like it went by quickly.

If only the next 5 hours went by as quickly.

After lunch we all headed out looking for Percival Street trying to find one particular jewelry store. The ladies stayed and starting looking and bargaining for shiny shiny rocks on pins. Although I was in the minority (read: male) I refused to just sit there gawking at baubles. I must've gone around a block or three several times, but my quest to find galoshes for Lola also didn't bear fruit, probably because it wasn't the rainy season anymore so all they had to offer were leather boots and moccasins.

What was a surprise to me was when we all visited the Times Square building was the books in PageOne were crazy-expensive, and every appliance store highlighted LED widescreen TVs (good show, Samsung). Unbelievable was 14 floors and still no sign of galoshes.

Now while we came to Hong Kong to attend a wedding tomorrow it just so happened my Ah-kim was celebrating her birthday tonight. So this will also be the first time I'm attending a birthday dinner party (of any kind) in Hong Kong. Surprisingly it didn't differ much from your typical Chinoy dinner in President's Tea House in Ongpin. You had your fill of peanuts and softdrinks before the 8-10 course meal started. Two glaring differences were the usual starter of coldcuts replaced by lean roasted suckling pig. (Imagine lechon shrunk to half its size, spread on a plate like a bearskin rug, and proportionally as thick, meaning you had the crispy skin w/ lean portions of meat and/or fat underneath it. Top it off with cherry tomatoes for eyes.)

The other was they simultaneously brought out the fried noodles and rice near the end. Gah, I knew I shouldn't have filled up on broccoli, lettuce and scallops.

What reminded me of the dinner parties back home was the one table filled w/ Chinese men (but in this party Chinese men and one woman) playing the "finger guessing"drinking game. From what I learned of its mechanics it's Rock, Paper, Scissors meets Basic Math and Amateur Poetry. I thought it was considerate of some participants to take the shot for the losing player who looked had he's had enough to drink, like Cousin Sonny, whose long stay in Hong Kong gave him my father's yellow teeth and chain-smoking habit. He's what Dad would be had he not left China.

PostDated

My Wednesday afternoon last week was occupied w/ two meal-meets w/ friends, though the latter was an "early early dinner" (her words) date, as the lady-in-mention still needs to eat in-between jobs.

Lunch was at Eastwood (easy enough drive) w/ Jennifer Chua, who's in town from the US (where Trend Micro sent her) until early January. She arrived in late November and still had a craving for Filipino food, so we ate at Razon's (a first for me). Afterwards I walked her back to her office at the IBM building, killed time walking around Eastwood Mall, left the place and proceeded to get lost on the road (along c5) trying to drive to Podium.

After finally getting my bearings (and better map-reading) I made it w/ 10 minutes to spare, more than enough time to buy some roses for the occasion (corny, I know, but whatever's needed to remove any doubt that this was a date).

J (ooh, now I use initials) arrived and we had the early early dinner at Arya, where she showed a predilection for spicy lamb. If there were any bumps I think they were negligible. That said, don't over-analyze, as you are wont to do. Just try to see her again.

Party (4 Hours 'Til) Dawn

Day was spent w/ Sis and the kids at SM MoA looking for toys to get them for Xmas (only Hans picked out some 4-D insect puzzles). Afterwards I picked up the 'Rents at Century Hotel, then we stopped by National at Robinson's Otis and bought gift wrappers for Rencel's and Jaimie's presents, as well as a smaller picture frame for Renz.

Even though I arrived at Rencel's house fashionably late (though dressed in black I looked like a scrawny bouncer) I was apparently still too early. Even after a 20-minute nap in the car I was still "common friends" guest number One. Eventually everybody arrived, we had good food, quiz games (we won second place and got personalized coffee mugs), I had a my first taste of Jaegermeister (might as well be diluted cough syrup). And for the first time in recent memory I stayed out well past midnight (left the place past 2:30AM) at a party of someone who wasn't related to me. Sheer luck the 'Rents didn't check up on moi past midnight.

To top the looong evening off, friends of girl-I-met-at-Quiz-Night were already teasing her (will little subtlely) about me. Take it down a notch, dudes. Or at least wait til an actual first date. :p

Beijinoys Break Bread (or Nachos)

Joanne was in town w/ her husband Henry. Jane and her sister Elaine were also in the country, though whether they flew in from China or Australia I wasn't sure. Jella arranged for a dinner meet w/ the Original Beijinoys, i.e. the ones that came to Beijing before we came up w/ the term. We met up at the new Chili's in Greenbelt 5.

While Henry opted out to join us in scarfing down bottomless servings of nachos, Dave, JP and Die! managed to show up just in time. Conversations were often split evenly on both sides of the table, w/ topics ranging from the old life in China to upcoming births and nuptials w/in the group. Major events were all on the female side, as save for Fernd's upcoming trip to the UK to visit his girlfriend, there wasn't much happening w/ the guys.

Rad (flew in from Singapore, flies back Sunday) managed to show up, but unfortunately not catch up w/ us. He did go to Chili's, but to meet w/ other friends. The few of us that remained had a nightcap at Seattle's Best.

Someone Old, Something New

For Ma's 67th birthday it was decided we chip in to buy her a mini notebook, priced the same as the one I'm using, only better branded (Ever heard of Minix? Exactly.) and runs on Windows 7. Given that my mother's total hours of experience working a computer runs less than one Pixar movie, the term crash course may be an understatement. The funny thing is she only uses it to check on the local stock exchange reports in real time, assuming she remembers to refresh the PSE webpage regularly. That 160GB hard-drive isn't gonna be filled up anytime soon.

The Minix is now strategically placed on the table behind her office chair, so when she's not facing the office TV to check on stock reports live on ANC, she can turn 180 degrees to check on it online as well. Welcome to the future.

NagaDay and NagaNight

Flew in w/ the 'Rents to Naga via Cebu Pacific. Airport displays Thank You banners of JP Enrile and Bong Revilla, much to my disgust. The driver of 5-Kim's CBD Plaza Hotel shuttle service picked us up, and on the way to Mabulo (5-Kim's place where we stayed for the duration of this trip) I was given some insight into Gov. Villafuerte's ego (or insecurities) when every other multi-purpose hall and waiting shed had his named painted on their roofs.

Had birthday mi-sua for breakfast at birthday man 3-Ku's house in Bagumbayan before we headed out to visit dearly departed relatives at their gravesites. While dearly departed 2-Ku's gated tomb at Sto. Niño Memorial Park could use some work, 5-Kim's parents have an air-conditioned mausoleum complete w/ cable-tv access and welcome garden. Went back to 3-Ku's place and had krispy pata, clam soup and salted sliced tomatoes for lunch. Fruit desserts included grapes, home-made mango ice cream and insect-riddled lanzones.

That afternoon we went to CBD Plaza Hotel (located along the sycophantic sounding Ninoy & Cory Avenue), the latest working project of the Maryselle Olivan mini-empire (future projects include a wet market and an extra wing added to the 60-room hotel). While for me the room rates are a little steep (minimum 1000 for overnight stays 500 for... 3-hour naps), the rooms weren't too shabby. The Schindler elevator had a nice futuristic design, contrasted by act deco lighting fixtures in the lobby and their America-circa-1959 polka dot curtains. Someone should also talk to them about Photoshopping the wrinkles out of the not-so-tightly-tucked-in bedsheets on their room gallery menu.

When the (older) adults opted to drive outta town to check out the Seaoil refineries, I asked to be driven back to Mabulo, where I web-browsed and caught up on much-needed sleep. A couple of hours later Evett went in the room to change for the 3-Ku's bday party. Good thing he did, too, because everybody else thought I already went ahead to the party venue, and they would've gone ahead had Evett not decided to change to a red shirt.

I'm sure hosting 3-Ku's 70th birthday party at a place called Lolo's Music Bar and Restaurant was just a coincidence. Who cares, they served good cheesesticks, chicken fingers, cucumber and carrot sticks for appetizers, salad, angel-hair pasta and steak, and pie ala mode. The highlight of the program was the professionally produced/edited AVP of 3-Ku's kids, grandkids and wife Auntie Rose talking about him in one-on-one interviews w/ old pictures spliced in between. No star-wipes or corny-@$$ graphics, just sincere and heartfelt stories.

Another thing to look forward to at Olivan parties is when 4-Ku and my ninong, Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo sit at the same table for some political and business gossip. Screw SNN, this is where the really juicy stuff comes out. Thing was, it was hard to catch all the dirt when the restaurant's featured singing quartet kept belting out at crucial moments of Ninong Jess' anecdotes. Some highlights: Chiz and BF may be moving to support Noynoy, Erap's popularity waning, the Villafuertes feud is only for show, Mar may be in the closet, and retired generals really run The Show. We're actually living in a militocracy.

The storytelling, sans Ninong Jess, continued at a coffee bar nightcap. I learned it was bad to do business w/ SMC, warehouse rental is viable, and you have better odds at a casino than investing in the foreign exchange market.

Birthday Boy Barandiaran at Boni

It was deja vu when I found myself back at The Fort Strip to attend Manol's open bar birthday party, two days short of a year.

Piedra was now called Fuel. I came alone: no Diana, TinTin or The Ex. This year I had dinner first w/ Fernds, Jella and her friend Jade at the Cafe resto next to The Fort. Manol, Dave and Marco joined us later on for some storytelling. It was also my second time too meet Feesca (and her hubby Ed) face-to-face (when I'm not leaving relatively humorous comments on her Facebook page, that is).

The music was just as loud, tho' the DJ couldn't decide on a specific decade for his playlist. I had a better time this year, surprisingly, as I was able to mingle more. I even tested my tolerance for low-level alkie drinks, now up to 2 Rum&Cokes. Whoo, I'm a lush.

Quiz Show

My initial reluctance to attend my first ever Quiz Night at Alegro 121 Bar (Pasong Tamo Ext., Makati) was born out of an irrational fear of driving to faraway (read: any place that needs thorough map reading from me) bars and passive laziness. I committed myself to making the trip by asking Rona and Dee to join me after I got the invite from The Contessa.

Thankfully the enjoyable evening put my fears to rest. I thought Rons and I arrived early, but in turned out Contessa 'n' Friends were having a ciggie break outside. I found that out too late and registered the team name Contessa in her honor. (They used to be Team Itlog, for some reason.) We had 2-3 false starts w/ the whiteboard markers, and I was made de facto Board Scribe. More people (and Dee) arrived in time for gametime.

We started slow w/ Sports (Manny Pacquiao) and Geography, but thankfully I/we/I killed in the Steve Martin and Cartoon Sidekicks categories (save for one hiccup in the former --Leap of Faith, idiot, not Keep the Faith-- and the names of Inspector Gadget's dog, Bravestarr's horse, the Jetson's springy pet and Space Ghost's monkey in the latter). Everyone in the group was dumbfounded (no pun intended) by my writing down correct movie and cartoon answers like Hollywood Rain Man. For my part I always knew useless stock knowledge would only prove useful in party situations and not employment options. Everyone on our table w/ a digicam wanted a picture w/ me as a keepsake. (Hurrah, geekdom!)

The Science category we did ok in, but stunk in Current Events. Whatever chance we had of winning any gift certificates was long gone. But who cares? Rons bought me a beer (tardiness penalty) and I had fun. Got home past 1AM w/ Ma waiting for me upstairs, but still had fun.

Oh, Bi the Way...

My fellow TV-n-Movie pal had "kwento" to share. No, it wasn't about the Ex texting her (although that did happen). This time she was about to share news about her being in a relationship. Can't share the conversation verbatim, but key words for me were manic depressive, second suicide attempt, drugs, cry for help and writer. (Ok, that last one wasn't really as bothersome.)

They're old graduate college classmates, but she never finished getting her master's degree. She said she ran into him at this year's book expo (man, that event's starting to feel more like a curse than a coincidence) where she was working and reconnected there. Recently the guy had another "episode" and is currently seeking treatment scheduled (read: "confined") until January next year.

Being that this is her first "real" like-like relationship in 2 shades of forever, this wasn't so much dangling her toes in the water and more like jumping into the Olympic diving pool for wading lessons. Ignorance and an overactive imagination had me picturing Tim Burton, Vincent van Gogh and Jeremy Sisto's bipolar character Billy in Six Feet Under. My Freudian slip came when I said, "Well at least manic-depressive lang, hindi bipolar." (Later research reveals they're the same thing. Oops and yikes.)

That said, you can't help who you fall for, and when you do you're more forgiving of their past. Being her selfish, concerned and ignorant friend, I played supportive Devil's advocate. I told her I'm happy she's happy, but thought she could do better. I said I worry for her physical safety, but if her effect on him is similar to Helen Hunt on Jack Nicholson in As Good as It Gets, then I guess she'll be fine.

Ok, I'm gonna stop now before I shove my foot up my mouth any further and have to go to Mr. Quickie for treatment.

Ad Extremeet

The classmates of SJCS 1994 have long since gone their separate ways and "cliques." Last night wasn't what I'd call a 15th Anniversary reunion. It's not like I'd call up everybody on the batch directory and hope they show up. Just those I feel close or enjoy talking to... and hope they show up. About half of them made it.

In a way this meeting was arranged for Irene's (second from left) benefit. Sem-break had just started in SJCS (where she works) and she said she doesn't get out much, much less go out w/ friends. Two birds and all that, I thought. Contact a specific group of friends and a mini-reunion out of it. Keep the gathering small, intentionally or otherwise. Nikki, Wijinne, Stonibert, Wendy and Jean Agnes had to bow out.

(In hindsight I broke my own rule of not going to a expensive restaurant since the main goal was to meet friends and chat, not order pricey pasta.)

Everyone who came had been my classmate at one point, be it in elementary or high school. I seemed to have the most amount of recall w/ recognition, as Junius (second from right) barely remembers. Then again I forgot Jasper (behind Junius) didn't graduate w/ us and instead continued his studies in Singapore. Now to update from left to right:

Lisabelle Chan (Teng) is married to Gilbert Teng and now works as a Bowen Technique practitioner and Physiotherapist at Fort BGC Branch of The Spa.

Irene Tang Uy works in the administration office of Saint Jude Catholic School.

Adeline Ting works in the administration office of Philippine Cultural High School.

Jasper Soon works on government information technology projects.

Junius Yu is a published author, w/ the first book of his Legends of the 9 fantasy series already out and available at Fully Booked. He is currently working on the second book.

Baby Talk

In my attempt to save electricity I inadvertently woke up my 3-going-4-year-old nephew Jian from his afternoon nap. (Seems his sleep cycle was attuned to the air conditioner being turned on or off.) I tried to keep quiet, hoping he'd still be too groggy and fall asleep again. No such luck, as he saw me and made half-opened eye contact.

The weirdness started when I asked him (quietly) to go back to sleep. "What?" he asked, eyes tearing up and mouth blubbering. Whuh?

I repeated myself. Ditto for him w/ the tears and blubber. What did I say to elicit this reaction, I thought? Maybe he was lying on one of Mr. Potatohead's appendages and it was digging into his back? Unlikely.

While he was still awake I couldn't just leave the room. But after I browsed enough books I decided to make a go for it and ask him to come w/ me downstairs. More sniffling from him, almost about to bawl. And for some reason he was pointing to the table by the wall.

Now to place some things in context. One: Jian is of the generation of toddlers who speaks English as a first language and in complete, academic textbook sentences, since that's what his preschool teaches him. So if I want to make sense of what he's saying (and his inability to pronounce the letter L) I speak to him like we were on an American sitcom (i.e. like a small adult, but patronizing.)

Two: As my brother BoiT has taken on the role of fun-loving, ready-to-play uncle to our nephews and nieces, I have resigned myself to being the stern-but-not-completely-unapproachable, no-patience-for-whining uncle (the latter role my sister has taken for her kids, as well). I'm always reminded of that scene in House where Hugh Laurie's character takes a firm tone to a crying baby and tells him to be quiet, and the baby complies.

While I haven't tried it on babies, it seems to work on toddlers who speak English in complete, academic textbook sentences. Our exchange:

ME: Jian! What? What is it?

JIAN: (Sobbing.)

Jian. Shoti! I cannot talk to you when you're crying.

(Sobbing, points to wall)

Jian! 3-Tsiak will leave this room if you don't stop.

(Stops crying.)

Ok. What is it? What are you pointing at?

(Blubbering, points to wall)

Is it the table?

No... (points in general direction of wall)

Is it the mirror?

No... (points in general direction of wall)

That's a vase.

No... (points in general direction of wall)

Those are slippers.

No... (points in general direction of wall)

Is it the wall?
Yes...

What? The wall?
No...

Is there something on the wall?
No...

Is there something inside the wall?
Yes.

Shoti, did you have a bad dream?
Yes...

Are you still asleep?
No.

So are you awake?

Yes.

Shoti, you're awake so there's nothing there.

No... (in denial)

Shoti. Shoti! Who's in this room right now?

(Points to me.)

Yes. And?
Shoti.

No-one else, right?

Yes.

Ok. Let's go.

Ok.

Go wear your slippers.

Let's see Mamet come up w/ better dialog than that...

DACS' Day

Baptismal party for my latest nephew, Darren Anthony Chao Santos, or DACS. I missed the actual ceremony, since Mary the Queen's baptismal room frowned on latecomers. Killed the half-hour w/ Mia and Ryan buying overpriced taho just outside the church. (Twenty bucks a glass? It's not Starbucks saggoccino.)

After mandatory pictorials and handshakes everyone headed for Agno for lunch. While the tacos didn't make as much impact at the DIY lumpia, I was particular to the crab drumsticks. The roast beef and stewed lamb weren't bad, either. Since it was Dacs' baptismal and not his birthday, cake was not in the dessert list. Halo halo and ice cream, on the other hand...

With the combined number of nieces, nephews, plus Boit and Dionne's friends and relatives' kids, it's a wonder we didn't hire a magician or clown for them. Hell, we didn't even set up a Wii. Good thing mababaw lang kaligayahan nila, so shooting hoops, short races and a game of Catch the Flying Pooh (trademark) sufficed. Save for one race-related injury (grazing, really) everything went smoothly, w/ the help of a bottle of Chinese Mercurochrome.

Now that everybody not directly related to us has gone home, all that's left is leftovers (mmm, tacos...) and cleaning up.

Bytes and Pieces

• Sick of having to wait our turn to use the office PC, BoiT first tried setting up a second desktop unit on my desk, but the CRTV monitor and crappy mouse proved too cumbersome. In the end Ma splurged for a Chinese mini-notebook. Wirelsss router was set up 2 days ago.

• Stopped by SM Centerpoint the other day to buy a multiport USB hub. The mall was still in flood damage cleanup mode so they were still clearing out the basement area. What really hit me was the smell. Every other area of SM Sta. Mesa had really bad case of halitosis, or if it had cavities a piece of food got stuck there and stayed stuck.

• Attended another Sy Association dinner last night. It seems these things are the opposite of weddings in terms of seeing familiar faces. At Tsinoy weddings I always manage to recognize someone in the crowd, proving the Small Tsinoy World Theory. But at clan association meets this theory is disproved. Worse, the mini-notebook's battery didn't get past the 2nd comic reading of the evening before it conked out. Portability is gonna be a problem if I have to start bringing a 2nd battery. If the ill-named youth choir (composed of 70% middle-aged member who really don't know when to quit) wasn't enough to make me regret coming, having the speakers blaring in our direction made me wish I brought my MP3 player instead to cancel out the noise. And as a final boring kic to the gut, Pa missed the raffle's cash prize by ONE DIGIT.

Remember, Rejoice, Renew (or, Thank Jehan for Free Tickets!)

Last Saturday Batch '84 hosted this year's Saint Jude Catholic School grand alumni homecoming and also celebrated their Silver Jubilee. Batches '89 and '94 were in their 20th and 15th year, respectively, so they each got 10 free tickets, and 2 of them ended up in my hands. Neither sisters Mona nor Melody could/would make it, but luckily batchmate (and one of my favorite phone-pals) Irene was nice enough to accompany me to SJCS (where she currently works at their Administration Office).

By the time we arrived the buffet dinner had already started. Irene and I deposited the gift bags the folks at the registration table gave us at her office before riding the elevator up to the 5th floor dining hall. Food was courtesy of North Park (other restaurant sponsor Gerry's gave meal coupons as raffle prizes), and there was even a photobooth set up. Ran into other batchmates Stonibert and Jean Agnes, both of whom were set to perform later. Their being cousins was the closest thing my batch had to a singing duo resembling the Osmonds.

After dinner we went up to the auditorium, where fellow alumni and current prep-school teacher Lourdes Tiu (and sister to my batchmate Paul Eric) managed to snag us seats near the stage. (Helps to know someone on the inside.) After the requisite "thru the years" video montages, tributes, song and dance numbers by various members of Batch '84, we got to the meat of the program (no pun intended).

One look at the Mocha Girl's outfits and I had to wonder (aside from "Are those real?") if whoever hired them knew that there were going to be kids in the audience. And priests. And nuns. And in general a relatively conservative Tsinoy crowd. Ah well, if the old guard of Tsao, Yang and Tchou were still in charge they wouldn't even have made it past the side curtains. Good thing the new guard was game, albeit reluctantly in the case of poor principal Fr. Nicasio. The Mocha Girls dragged him onstage, where he repeatedly looked up and half-jokingly (I hope) had his hands clapped in prayer postition w/ that "Lord, lead me not to temptation" look on his face. Good thing the whole bit came out more funny than risuqe, especially when the girls asked to give him his "first kiss." ("Never been kissed," he said. Also: "Why in front of so many witnesses?") In the end they settled for a group hug. Hooray for audience participation.

After a mock awards ceremony the program headliner came out onstage (after the "male" dancers). I first saw Ai Ai delas Alas perform a couple of years back at the Folk Arts Theater, and seeing her now I noticed a definite improvement. She was more energetic and confident with her body, if not her costume, as she kept pressing her hand to chest in case her ai ais jump out of her reverse-worn leather corset. And ang galing humirit. Only she could turn something as mundane as a scholarship awarding (where was just supposed to hand out prize bags to the scholars) into a laugh riot.

After Ai Ai's performance it was getting late and most of the people were ready to leave (especially since our hosts give their "wrapping it up" speeches), already accepting "special guest" Kiko Pangilinan's and billed 2nd Act Christian Bautista's no-show. But the announcer asked us to wait for the latter, so we did. When he appeared we were still calm. When he decided to sing alongside a die-hard fan she went gaga (w/ husband watching). When he sang Jose Marie Chan's Beautiful Girl while walking along the aisles the wimmen went gaga. All throughout the barely 3-minute song he stopped (or was held down) to take pictures w/ the audience. Even after the show he was gracious enough to stick around for more impromptu photo sessions.

Overall I'm glad I went, storm signal warning notwithstanding. (It seems every time we overprepare for a supertyphoon it never shows, or vice versa.) It was also a chance to see the latest renovations in the old school building (e.g., all the teachers' offices on the 2nd floor are GONE, as well at the stairways leading to the 2nd floor, and they have a sunken badminton court as deep as a well-built mineshaft). Didn't win any of the raffle prizes, w/c was just as well since I didn't really pay for anything tonight except the parking fee. Also I may have learned a thing or two about what not to do in a grand alumni homecoming program when our turn comes up in 2019 ("No more dance numbers from the 80s").

The Mysterious Lives of Bookshelves

I accompanied (not-so-willingly) Mom to SNR Pricesmart at Congressional because she wanted to buy some Lifetime tables going for (more or less) a thousand bucks off. (She also ended up buying an obscene amount --26 six-pack boxes-- Safeguard bath soaps.) As an indirect form of compensation I eyed a large chocolate-colored bookshelf and asked if we could get it for my room. She said Okay.

I wouldn't call the first store clerk Ma approached, "lazy." "Incompetent," more like it. First the guy first tells Mom that it's out of stock and only the display unit it left, then he removes the price tag so no-one else asks about it. While lining up at the checkout lane Mom confirmed to me that she asked the guy to check w/ other SNR outlets for the bookshelf's availability, but the idiot couldn't be bothered, or even delegate the task if he was too busy bossing around the forklift operator or something. I tried again, but this time went to the more helpful store clerks who took mom's orders for the Lifetime tables.

Lo and behold, not only were they in stock, they were stocked/stacked behind a different model bookshelf (silver-colored and twice the price). We had it wheeled over to checkout lane 13 for purchase.

Once home I was anxious enough to finish dinner early and get to work in assembling this heavy piece of room furniture. It took about 5 hours--procrastinating time included--, and STILL I was missing one long black screw. (It'll probably turn up. ) When finished the thing was taller than me and a pain in the back to move around (heavy mother...).

I was supposed to take some step-by-step pictures of the assembly-in-progress, but only remembered to do so after I'd fastened every ('cept that missing one) screw, hammered the flimsy plywood back panels in place, and moved all the books from the gray plastic bookcase (see 2nd pic) to their new home/shelf.

As you can see there's still plenty of shelf space, tho' that won't last.

Ondoy and Under (or, What a Floody Web We Weave...)

All things considered, my family was really lucky during the stormy weekend 48 hours past.

I was about to get the answer to a crucial question (How do you pronounce "Canaan?") when we lost power around 1:30PM Saturday, and it only came back around 6:30PM Sunday. (Sorry for the delay, Flixster Soulmate.) After that it was howling winds, leaky walls and a rainy afternoon.

That night (after using the remaining daylight to catch up on my reading), we were witness to Mother Nature's sense of Irony when an electical fire broke out at the neighboring shanty area 2 blocks from our house. (Oh, now the rains stop and winds pick up.) From my bedroom window I saw the fire raze westward and peppered w/ explosions (probably propane tanks or electric appliances). Looks were deceiving as the fire looked closer than it really was, prompting Aissa's paranoia to get our essential files and folders out of the steel cabinet and ready for moving. Firetrucks had trouble getting to the fire because some idiots decided to avoid the flooded streets by parking and leaving their vehicles in the middle of my street, effectively roadblocking it.

I killed time chatting w/ Eileen on the phone til' one in the morning.

Come next morning we were still w/o power (we'd only see the magnitude of the damage the day after online), and not having showered for over 24 hours I was feeling... sticky. Ma still managed to get to Makati to have her hair and makeup done, since the 'rents had a wedding to attend in the afternoon. I joined them afterward for the evening reception (yes, after bathing).

When we got to Makati Shang you'd think no-one had gone thru hell and high water (literally) to get here. Amidst RJ Ledesma's emceening (man, that guy's loud... why bother w/ the microphone) I saw a familiar face at Table 40, and my mind raced the entire evening figuring out who she was. Turns out it was Krishna from DLSU Englicom days, and to prove how small the Tsinoy world is, her dad and my mom turned out to be classmates in high school. Also ran into Ad Extremian Tracy Lim's sister Vanessa and her husband. While her voice hasn't changed, her hair grew. A lot.

*Sad Postscript: Words won't do justice to the level of sadness you can't help but feel when going through these pictures. (And speaking of sad, how is it Facebook has better photo coverage of Typhoon Ondoy than actual news media organizations?).

Imagine 2-meter high MMDA pink fences along SM Centerpoint riddled w/ torn plastic bags, giving you a clue as to how high the floodwaters were that day. Cars vertically piled in twos or threes after being washed into that position by strong currents. Beds and refrigerators ending up on high electric power lines, w/c were also being climbed on by people avoiding the currents. The lower half of 2-storey houes caked in mud. Road underpasses under water. People almost drowning trying to save their Sto. Nino statues.

Makes not having water nor electricity but at least high and dry seem frivilous, doesn't it?

Wedding Addendum (or Weddendum)

More details on my cousin's wedding last Sunday:

My other cousin Aissa (and my sister to some extent) was all giddy upon hearing that morning FM radio hosts Chico & Delamar were emceeing. Too bad for them that the program was more AVP/guest centric, so their fans didn't get to hear them say much except during the quiz portion.

Super-long AVPs are the bane of my wedding reception experience. If the goal was to have something to play in the background while the waiters served dinner, bravo, they succeeded. Otherwise, I get it: Baby pix, kid pix, jump-like-Jesus'-bible-bio-straight-to-adulthood pix, couple-pix. Continuity is fine. It's the length I have issues with. (Do you really need 3 songs to tell an already truncated version of your biography? I guarantee just one will tell and leave an impression just as effectively. It's like there'll be quiz afterwards.)

On the other hand, movie trailer-like on-site AVPs I adore. Michael Bay-ish sweeping pan shots are getting tiresome, though.

Aside from the string band they had an acapella group glee away the time while dinner went on. The highlight of the evening's entertainment was probably a performance by Johann's dad's Philippine Argentine Tango group (of w/c he's president or chairman). I half expected them to use Por Una Cabeza (aka tango number from Scent of a Woman and True Lies), but no, they went w/ something longer and more obscure. That said, everyone in the ballroom stopped in their tracks to watch.

Ran into a number of Ad Extremians, including now-published author Junius Yu. I joked w/ Melissa Tong how buti pa si Junius may libro na, while the two of us were blogging for bupkis. Tim Yap was also there, sporting a tiny tie, w/c Melissa guessed was left over from our 6th grade graduation period.

Matrimonial Non-Sequitors

My cousin got married last weekend. And a coupla days before that I met up w/ a girl my mom's cousin was trying to set me up with and w/ whom I've been corresponding lately.

(And now the details:)

She works as an on-board translator for our nation's flag-carrier in the skies. And she goes to the gym. And she looks cute, as her amateur modeling photos online would attest. After chatting and texting for the past couple of weeks we decided to meet up at the Book Expo at SMX (Convenient coinkydink, shut up.) After making the rounds (separately) on what was again another mediocre literary affair (no reflection on you, Lola), she bought a book but wouldn't tell me nor Lols the title. Weird.

We went for coffee and tea at CB&TL. And there it all began to unravel further.

While we got along better online, she seemed perturbed at some of my sincere questions about her work. (Because really, I'm curious what a not-quite-a-flight-attendant does when she's in the air for 3 hours on route to China, stays on the plane for the next 2, caps it off w/ another 3 hours on the flight back.) Her facial expressions seemed to connote a "Well, DUH, what else can you do but your job" message. Lovely.

Change subject.

I asked her about her singing experience because I saw pix of her recording an album w/ some Fil-Chi youth league, but she seemed to deny it happened, much less knew what I was talking about. I was thinking, seriously? But this was on your Facebook album.

Change subject.

Where do u go to gym? Fitness first, really? What do you get w/ your membership? Again, sincere question (I go to Slimmers). Again, that "Well, DUH" look on her face. The coffee meet was turning into a Mars-Venus First Contact scenario.

Mebbe she didn't like taking about her job, but after the meeting I've not seen her online since. Must be leaving. On a jet plane.

Now the reason I placed a picture of my cousin Eliza (COINCIDENCE, SHADDAP) and her new husband Johannes wedding reception at the Sofitel Ballroom (that's them on the projector screen, middle right), was because it's nice to know that at least somebody else I know had a nice meeting pay off for them this week.

Jehan, we are now cousins. Sort of. No, I insist.

To CineEuropa 12 Organizers*:

*Come to think of it, to all those organizing free film screenings for the general public:

If all you'll do is have people wait in long lines for long hours only to have a DVD movie projected unto a 40-foot screen, w/o any regard to diminished picture quality (or the DVD skipping), I'd sooner just download the freaking films and watch 'em in my living room. FOR FREE. AND NOT EVEN PAY FOR PARKING.

Mediocre Movie Weekend

Last week was better, when Lola and I caught District 9. It's up there w/ Star Trek in terms of great sci-fi films, only the shaky camera movements in D9 had me wishing that I took some Bonamine beforehand. By comparison Cloverfield looked like it was shot w/ a tripod.

Nope, this week after giving my brain a rest from watching Sir David Attenborough's documentary series Planet Earth in gorgeous HD, I finally caught up w/ some older flix, but after watching them wished I never bothered getting them in 720p:

Steet Kings. There's 105 minutes of my life I could've used on Yoga had I known this badly-dialogued, poorly plotted pointless flick ended the way it did. Really should've done IMDB research. Sure, I recognized most of the supporting cast (hey, it's Aidan from SATC, Sucre from Prison Break, Dr. House and The Human Torch!), but the screenwriter also wrote Ultraviolet, Equilibrium and The Thomas Crown Affair remake. Also bleh films w/ big-name stars.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. I'm sorry for not listening to Lola when she said this film was bad. The first scene in B.P.R.D. headquarters made me wince and weary for the rest of the cast. Save for the fight scenes, colorful set pieces, Doug Jones' hand-acting (though if you pay too much attention to his fingers it can get distracting) and "glasshole" Johan Krauss (voiced by Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane), the story wasn't all that compelling. Hellboy is basically a bully, casually killing off characters like Tim Burton's Batman. That said, I never really liked the Hellboy comic (the B.P.R.D. spinoff series are a much better read), so I shouldn't be surprised the movie adaptations never caught my interest.

Final Week Winddown

I don't think I've ever been as busy socially as I was this last week of August. Hell, this year, even. On w/ the summarizing:

Aug. 26: Met up w/ Lyndon for one last hurrah dinner at Arya in Greenhills, where we were joined by his old officemate Amie, and later on David Lee and 'Orie Tong. Dennis Choi caught up in time for dessert of complimentary sliced watermelon. Robin Padilla (accompanied by Claire de la Fuente and friends) was also eating there when we arrived. Since David knew Arya's owner Shin Karami, he asked him to ask Robin (after we all finished eating, of course) to humor some of us starstruck (read: Amie) patrons for some pictures w/ him. Cool dude that he is he obliged. The picture on the upper left is dedicated to the Beijinoy Spice Boys.

Aug. 27: Met up w/ Dee at MoA to catch a screening of UP in 3D. After watching it I was convinced that my only hope in seeing 3D put to good use as a storytelling tool lay in Coraline, because as w/ Disney's previous CGI movie Bolt, it added nothing to this movie. I should've trusted Pixar to just deliver the goods as always and tell an entertaining story w/ memorable characters, w/o having to ask the audience to wear special glasses to enjoy them. So far the current 3D selection leaves much to be desired... like a good movie, period. We finished the evening w/ Subway melt sandwiches.

Aug. 28: Carpooled w/ Di, Tin and Pei in heavy rain and traffic until we reached Aubergine Restaurant in Bonifacio Global City for the First birthday party/dinner of Dada and Derwin's son Daeron. When we finally got there my lower back felt like it was compressed by 3 discs. Don't think that back-support thingie is working right, and it doesn't even have moving parts.

Dinner was buffet, and I tasted foie gras for the first time (tender). Chavit Singson was in attendance, this time w/o Manny Pacquiao next to him having the lobster tail w/ spinach. As for the other party guests, they seemed to be composed of either family members or yuppie newlyweds, w/the wives looking hotter and younger (but no less pregnant). Baby Daeron was denfinitely up way past his bedtime.

The evening ended on a dull note, because the traffic we encountered getting here persisted when we left. Worse, traffic lights were kaput along Makati and Rizal Avenue, so we (sans Di because she carpooled w/ David Lee, but got lost on the same route I did w/ The Contessa some time ago) were stuck for quite a bit. More dull back pain, and of all the times not to bring the Zen and only 1 CD (Chage & Aska Uplugged) instead. Must be bad karma for my leaving the car engine running the whole time it was parked while we are at the party. Next to having the spare keys hanging on the antenna while I went shopping, this was definitely the most boneheaded, absentminded thing I've ever done w/ the car.

Aug. 29: We had a mini-reunion for the Palawan Wedding Group (not a real group) at Angel's Kitchen restaurant in Greenhills. Di went w/ me and when we arrived Pei, Tin, Jazz and Kurt were already having complimentary bread and flavored butter. The house water was placed in intricate glass bottles, so I checked to make sure they weren't serving us gin. Mira and Bong joined us midway though the main course. Last night's heavy rains made a repeat performance, forcing me to cancel my last-full-show movie plans w/ Lola.

But it was just as well, because after dinner we carpooled (boy, that GM Tahoe was spacious) to Moksha Bar on Wilson Street, where I had my first taste of Sangria (suggested by Pei, and it had a slushy, fruity ice flavor). At first I ordered a Nutty Irishman (suggested by Kurt), but it never came. The guys were convinced that the bartender didn't really know how to make it and the bar just came up w/ the names using random words written on strips of paper and stuck them on a dartboard.

To cap off our drink-on, Pei and Kurt treated us to what I think was a Kahlua cockroach, or whatever other shot of liquor that needed to be set fire first before sucking it out w/ a straw (and preferably quickly before the straw melts). My bid for a fancy picture almost went up in flames (literally) as I picked up my K-Cockroach and spilled some of the flaming liquid on my hand. At least now I could relate to Ken's earlier story of a similar incident w/ a similar drink. It the end it wouldn't have worked coz' the flash from the camera canceled out the blue flames rising from the shotglasses.