Photo credit (for header photo of Jorge): Rica Camacho
This is an Nth attempt at a blog; Blogspot, Friendster, LiveJournal, Multiply…name it…I’ve been there. Hopefully, this one will find perpetuity, with more humor [and information] and less drama.
For those who know me [or check this everyday -you know who you are 
], thank you for your continued “interest”. For those who don’t, an introduction is in order…
Here I am in Via Mare, outside, at the very same spot we sat that day we both got our new watches. It seems like it was just yesterday yet it seems like a lifetime ago. I am not the same person I was back then. And neither are you.
When asked years ago on Oprah, “Wife, Family, then God”, in that order, was Seal’s secret to a successful marriage to Heidi Klum. I remember thinking it was both genius and brave. Genius because I agree that “A happy wife is a happy marriage”; Brave because, to my knowledge, he is the only person who has actually admitted that God doesn’t necessarily come first.
The news of their break-up saddens me. I can’t help but wonder what led them to “irreconcilable differences”.
HTC Wildfire, HTC Desire Z, Samsung 551, Alcatel OT-980, Wildfire, Alcatel OT-980, HTC Desire Z, Samsung Y Pro… These are the Android phones I’ve had since I made a leap of faith last 2010. Somewhere in between I acquired an iPhone 4. That lasted less than a week.
To me, what makes Android absolutely unbeatable is 1) the fact that I am able to access my Contacts [via Gmail] without ever having to input a single name or number on the actual phone and 2) being able to back-up all SMS and Call logs within my Gmail account. Everything else that Android can do (which is A LOT) is icing.
To Cynthia, Anna, Tony, and Chi (and other Android converts out there) …Here’s my simple (suggested) tutorial for you to follow to make the transition as painless as possible. Just trust me on this.
CONTACTS
Make the habit of updating names/numbers on your Gmail Contacts NOT on your phone. If someone gives your their number and you must store it on your phone, look for the option (before pressing Save) where it says you are actually saving it to Google. If you save your names/numbers on the phone and you lose/switch phones, you will lose all your names/numbers.
SMS BACK-UP (if backing up your SMS is important to you; because you can)
RECOMMENDED APPS
Curtsy.
Agot and I always used to say we could marry a “fisherman in Palawan” -if it was LOVE. I know that still holds true.
I’ve been “stuck” in Manila for years, despite my belief that I don’t belong in a Third World setting, because my heart has always been in Manila.
Opportunities to relocate came and went but I always refused to leave any Artist behind (that’s the non-quitter and always-put-others-first part of me) and never could get myself to leave in case the Ex changed his mind. The latter…totally pathetic, I know.
Since late 2009, it’s been only Health keeping me in Manila. Or, at least, that has been my excuse.
If I really think about it, now is the perfect time to go while I am not bound by profession, love, or even family (just Jorge who can always come along). I should go. But where?
The problem, really, is that my heart is in some sort of limbo. It is neither here nor there.
Everytime I leave New York to head back to Manila, I feel like I leave a part of me. For now, that is the only place I see myself in.
But I know there are still so many places I have yet to discover. The challenge now is to find a new home for this heart of mine.
Agot and I always used to say we could marry a “fisherman in Palawan” -if it was LOVE. That still holds true.
Cynthia had relatives over from the States till the 31st which meant this would be one of those New Year vacations that start late (departing on the 31st instead of the usual 28th or 29th) and would be cut short (she is usually able to file for leave until the 2nd or 3rd only).
31 December, 2011
I spent the morning delivering a few gifts, pretty much just waiting for Cynthia to be ready. She said she needed a few hours after her relatives boarded their flight since she hadn’t packed a thing -which was imaginable considering their hectic schedule on this visit to which Cynthia acted as chauffer and tour guide.
My only goal was to get to Baler before midnight. We loaded a full tank on the way to Balintawak. That’s where I started timing our trip. It was 515pm on my clock. We made only one stop and got to our “hotel”, some 260 kilometers away, in exactly 5.5 hours. Not bad considering we traveled at night and, therefore, with more caution.
On the web, Bay’s Inn appears to be the most decent and popular lodging there is in Baler. I signed up for a room near the shore and settled for a “fan only” room thinking it would be cool enough. Well, the room was miserable and it was not cool (literally and figuratively). To make matters worse, their restau was closed. So I spent midnight with PeeWee and Jorge at the restaurant eating Cookies and drinking Soy Milk that I’d brought along while Cynthia passed out in the room.
The only up side to Bay’s Inn’s restau being closed was that their Guard directed us to the adjacent hotel, Bay-ler View Hotel. Their restau was closed as well but the hotel looked promising.
Both dogs, probably because they were in their crates, would not stop whining. I am able to block that out but I didn’t want Cynthia, who clearly needed sleep, to go through it. So I brought them back to the car, with windows slightly open of course, to spend the night.
1 January, 2012
I woke up at dawn and decided to check up on my babies. I also took that chance to check out Bay-ler View Hotel.
After our delightful free Pinoy breakfast we checked out of Bay’s Inn and checked in at Bay-ler View.
I immediately took Jorge to the beach. Jorge, who generally isn’t afraid of water, was terrified of the waves. I had to keep pulling him away from the shore. Twice I tried to carry him with the intention of bringing him deeper so I could see him actually swim (“langoy aso”) but all that got me were scratches here in there from all his resistance.
Each dish at Bay-lew View was good, inexpensive, and apparently good for two. I wish we’d known the latter before we unintentionally ordered up a storm for late lunch/early dinner.
2 January, 2012
The waves were angry. It was such an experience to watch the local surfers ride the waves over yet another delightful Pinoy breakfast by the shore.
I told Cynthia that I would walk Jorge along the shore. I’m glad she joined us. I had no intention of getting Jorge to swim again but the waves were stronger and Jorge was less terrified (or at least less shocked). It was so much fun!
We spent the rest of the afternoon in the room, on the ‘net and watching cable. For the first time, both dogs actually spent the whole afternoon with us inside the room. When PeeWee started to whine I brought him back to the car. Jorge, on the other hand, clearly exhausted from all that wave-dodging, slept for 10 hours! No activity prior to this experience has ever wiped him out that bad. I love it!
3 January, 2012
And I thought the waves yesterday morning were angry…Today there were probably about seven layers of tall waves. It was cloudy. I just knew it meant rain.
We couldn’t really decide which of the Baler attractions we felt like checking out. On our way to the Market, we happened to drive past the Museo ng Baler -the birthplace of President Manuel Quezon; We bought Baler Suman and Gabi Chips at the Pasalubong Center; We found our way to Ermita Hill, in search of a Cross that Cynthia spotted all the way from our hotel; Turns out, Ermita Hill is also the location of the Tsunami Memorial; The “Largest Balete Tree of Asia” was our next and last destination which happened to be on route to Manila.
They weren’t kidding about the Balete tree! It’s huge! We actually went inside it and came out on the other side. An Avatar experience.
The drive back to Manila was pleasant despite slippery roads. I’m glad we got to see the countryside in daylight. The Philippines truly is beautiful.
By about 4pm we realized we were famished, having eaten only Breakfast. We both craved for McDonald’s. So instead of heading to SCTEX, we cut through Cabanatuan City.
From Cabanatuan City, my GPS led us back to SCTEX using back roads (the kind you know you’re passing for the first -and last- time) which saved us a lot of traffic. Because of this, and because the GPS efficiently guided us during the entire trip to and around Baler, I promise to never bitch at it again.
Disclaimer: These officially start when I get back from New Year Adventure #10
Learning about my “condition” in late 2009 inevitably made 2010 all about me (for once) and my health. By October 2009 I had let go of all my Artists (officially making it my 3rd retirement from the music industry); By January 2010 I started on a Diet that changed my life.
I don’t know what happened to me in 2011. Somehow I just stopped…and let go…of everything.
I went on and off my Diet and medicine. As a result, I gained back most of the weight I’d lost the year before. And as a result, I stopped seeing my Doctor. What I’m doing (or not doing), healthwise, is actually quite suicidal.
I also got tired of giving so much to Alfredo’s.
I let go of two businesses…
I. Just. Stopped.
With the exception of the 35 days I recently spent in New York City, I feel like I just slept through the whole of 2011. Almost like Sleeping Beauty (Read back; I said almost).
Fortunately, on the last month of the year, I met someone that woke me up.
Just like that. Almost as if God clapped his hands or snapped his fingers. Just like that.
It took a complete stranger to make me realize that life is good, the world is beautiful, and that there is still love in the world worth fighting -and living- for; It took a complete stranger (that I could not have met or would not normally have given the time of day to) to remind me of things I’ve always known but have chosen to burry in the depths of despair, somehow.
In line with believing that there is a reason for everything, I believe that people come in -and out- of our lives for a very good and specific reason.
2012…I’m wide awake now. I’m ready for you.
11 years ago, I moved out of Delgado -the house where I was born. I’d been planning that for months (I already checked out the apartment I wanted to move into). Luckily or unfortunately (it really depends on how you look at it), it took a big fight between me and one of my sisters for it to come from Mom herself. “If the two of you can’t get along, both of you move out!” Music to my ears! That fight happened at about 9am. By noon I signed the lease to my new apartment.
I moved into a huge unit on a prime spot in Malate, Manila. Huge: it occupied half of the entire second floor and the balcony could have fit 3 mahjong tables; Prime: I brushed my teeth facing Nakpil but washed dishes facing Adriatico.
Malate, particularly Nakpil St., had been the “in” place for years. Although I had a car, I usually preferred to walk since restaurants, banks, and even the mall were just a few steps away. Ironically, those 12 months spent there were my most anti-social days. If it weren’t for gigs in Gotham on Nakpil or Nth along Adriatico, I usually just stayed home. In hindsight, that’s probably where I learned the art of blocking-off noise because cars passing, loud music thumping, a lot of people either drunk, laughing, singing, or arguing went on easily till 5am every single day, especially on weekends.
2000 was the year when I had 6 bands so the place constantly had people coming in and out. Despite that, I knew it was temporary so I never really fixed it up. But that’s where I really learned to cook and entertain, got even closer to Melody (she lived in 202 and was the reason I learned about that apartment in the first place), got my first maid, learned to gym (and officially quit drinking as a result), got PeeWee… Countless memories, too many to mention, all packed into those 12 unforgettable months of my life.
On EDSA, just about a kilometer from my condo, a passing car’s driver pointed at my tires. I didn’t want to stop immediately (nor could I anyway since I was driving on the middle lane) for fear that it was one of those robbery scams. But after about 2 or 3 more passing cars motioned the same thing, we pulled over at the gas station -Caltex on EDSA corner Connecticut, Greenhills. True enough, my left rear tire was completely flat. I asked for help from the Gasoline Boys. And in no time, 3 other guys showed up and helped out.
While Matthew and I stood behind my car to watch the whole operation, a San Juan Police patrol slowed down and handed me an envelope. I took it, just nodded, then went back to overseeing the operation.
Part of me was irritated because I was oh-so-obviously in the middle of car trouble so it was of poor taste for them to prey on someone like me right at that moment; Part of me was still [secretly] trying to figure out how to tip the 3 boys helping us out considering I knew I had only P20 left on me and I wasn’t about to ask Matthew for money (I solved that by withdrawing from the ATM inside the gas station’s mini-mart); Part of me was worried that I wouldn’t get Matthew to the airport on time (it’s a good thing we left at about 645am instead of 7am, as originally planned); But the biggest part of me was hoping Matthew wouldn’t ask what that envelope was for. But he did. So “Begging for Christmas money” I believe was what I came up with.
The reason I was hoping Matthew wouldn’t ask about it was because, ever since we met, we’ve already had countless discussions on [the effects of] Capitalism in the Philippines, corruption and poverty, the division between social classes, and so on. I was already quite ashamed of certain aspects of Philippine culture or at least the impression it leaves on a foreigner like him. So for him to see corruption that close was not helping.
The patrol car (“Mobile Car 433/436″ according to the envelope) hung around, probably waiting for me to shell out. They eventually parked and stopped for coffee inside the mini-mart. I just ignored them completely.
