Awesome Weekend

My weekend started last Friday, August 26. 6 of us went to San Jose Antique to pick up our friend, Eden. She works at a bank there.

We left Iloilo City at around 5 pm. It was raining and all but we were determined to go to Boracay via Culasi. It’s a different route. Hmm let just say that were adventurous that way.

At around 6 pm, there was a landslide somewhere in Antique. The damage was bad as vehicles could not get through it. We were left with no choice but to walk in the damaged area and ride on the next bus. (Buses going to Iloilo could not get through in the same way that buses going to Antique could not get through as well.)

Other than the Ceres Liner, there are also vans for hire going to and fro. The people in this vans made us uncomfortable in the Ceres. We walked slow because of our bags and we were almost left by the Ceres which is unfair because we were the original passengers with the tickets and all.

It was raining from Iloilo to antique up to our first day in Boracay. Our weekend is long, wet and filled with a lot of fun.

Friday:

-met at Starmart in the afternoon
-went to the terminal (walking distance from the met up place)
-walked in the landslide
-arrived at Antique
-dinner at a bar slash restaurant below our friend’s boarding house
-power napped at our friend’s boarding house with Gladys, her housemate.

Saturday

-arrived at Dalipe for the first trip to Caticlan (3 am)
-shouted to wake the drivers up
-got off at Nabas, Aklan and waited for a jeep to Caticlan
-arrived in Boracay
-checked in at St. Vincent at Station 2, just at the back of La Carmela.
-slept
-lunch at Smoke
-slept
-dinner at Big Momma’s
-hang out at Exit
-hang out at Jungle Bar

Sunday

-brunch at Mama Mias ( I am not so sure of the name of the place)
-checked out the place
-bathed at station one
-merienda at Jonah’s
-dinner at Mang Inasal
-hang out at our place

Monday

-check out at Saint Vincent
-brunch at carinderia
-met up with Jess for reef walking
-reef walking at Bolabog Beach.
-prepared to go home
-arrived at Caticlan
-negotiate but we did not give in
-went back to Boracay
-dinner at Gasthof
-slept at the staff house of Harren’s Nanay

Tuesday

-brunch at carinderia
-go home

Old Maid at 25

At 25, I feel like an old maid. Don’t get me wrong, I am in a relationship and I don’t have a child out-of-wedlock. If civil status in legal papers is to be considered, I am single in every essence of the word. If you base it on social networks, then I’ m in a Relationship.

It’s not that I feel bad about being single. I feel so blessed, I feel ecstatic and I have always been thankful to the fact that I get to live my life in a way that I want. No child to think of, no tuition fees to worry about and so on.

Early this morning, my mother told me about my cousin who just gave birth. She is five years younger than I am. She just graduated last March. My mother who is fond of putting two and two together is very disappointed in her niece as she was already pregnant when she graduated five months ago.

This cousin from the mother side is the third niece in the family. I am the first girl granddaughter, 25 and as I’ve said, single. The second granddaughter who is three years younger than I am is married twice, it’s the same man that she married twice. Church and civil wedding is what I am talking about. They have two kids now. The third granddaughter is the one who just gave birth. She graduated as Summa Cum Laude in their school.

Last March, the rest of the family was just so proud of her. My mom claims about the “smartness gene” coming from them. Now, everyone is disappointed in her. I think so, I mean I can see the disappointment in my mom’s face when she told me about it. I imagine the same disappointment from the siblings of my mother, most especially my uncles, my cousins father.

On my father side, I am the 4th granddaughter. All three cousins who are ahead of me are now married. The first one married after her debut, 18th birthday. The next one married while she was still in college thus she quit school. The third one is now married, unlike the first two she was older when she decided to tie the knot and it was not because she’s knocked up. Unlike the other two who got hitched because their bellies are growing bigger and bigger each day.

At 25, I feel like an old maid in our family. An old maid who has seen the world. An old maid who travelled. I may not have the fulfillment that they have, you know the stuff about motherhood that they are talking about but at least I got to enjoy my singleness. I pity these cousins. It’s not as if they have better life as we belong to the middle-lower class. ( You know, lower-lower class, middle-lower class, upper-lower class, lower middle class, middle-middle class, upper middle class and so on.)

I feel sorry for these cousins but most of all I feel terrible for their children. Well not really all of their children just the elder ones who one day may wake up and realize that it’s not just virginity that their mothers lost because of them but more. They lost their lives and an early age, they lost the opportunities that may have come their way.

But then again, I can see that their mothers (my cousins) are in love with their dads. Love might really make things different for them. I hope it does.

iSad

Steve Jobs resigned from Apple and I am deeply saddened by this news. It’s not that I am a die hard Apple fan or that I fear the delay of iPhone 5. I have an iPad and I don’t plan to purchase any Apple product soon.

I know he is rich and all the last thing that I need to feel about him is be sorry. But if I set capitalism aside, I have nothing but sympathy for this guy. Shoot me!

For one, he is the epitome of “follow your heart and everything will turn out right” kind of life. I don’t know if geeks here in my country, being a 3rd world can afford that kind of luck. To be a drop out of say AMA computer college and succeed like Steve Jobs did. I am not trying to question the talent of computer people here, I have always believed in the genius and talent of Filipinos but when it comes looking ahead, say setting up a company or something like that, where will an AMA dropout genius get the funds that he needs?Again, we have to blame our government for this. But I am not talking about inequality of life. I am here to salute the passion of the man behind Apple and Pixar.

He did not die and though my Facebook post may seem like an obituary for him, I feel like the resignation killed something in that man. A spark, a fire, a passion. I am mourning for that loss. I feel bad that a believer in dreams, destiny, karma and everything else in between has to feel this way.

I imagine Steve jobs crying, depressed and wanting to die. Not because he lost power, stocks, control or anything like that. Nothing financial but more on the fact that he no longer has the same power over something which defined his life. Something which money can not buy. It’s the fulfillment that a mother gets when all her children grows up to be good citizens. Imagine telling this mom that she no longer will be the mother of these kids that she raised. I think that is how Steve Jobs is feeling right now.

I may be romanticizing this and that. Maybe I need to learn about his other side if there are any but I choose to settle for the Steve Jobs who went to hell and back, slept on the floors, ate free meals at Hare Krishna Temples, went to India, survived cancer, followed his heart and lived to tell the tale.

His legacy may be forever tainted with Apple but for me, it’s his passion that will leave a bigger and better mark in this world and not just in Silicon Valley.

To Steve Jobs:

Dude, to burn out may be such an awful feeling and I feel bad for you. But I just want to let you know that you have been an inspiration to a lot of people. I am a fan of your genius but I am a follower of your PASSION.

I will never listen to other people, I will never live my life for others and I promise to pursue what I love. I will connect the dots and look backwards in my old age for I know that just like you it will lead me to the right path.

Just another raining Wednesday

 

I hate it when it rains. It gets in the way of your schedule, it gets in the way of your emotions. I am one of the many who read The Twilight Saga, I skipped the Jacob Part of New Moon though. They live in Forks,Georgia where it rains all the time. Had I been born there or had I lived there, I would have been the laziest and emo-iest person ever.

My boyfriend says it’s the serotonin thing that depresses me during the absence of the Sun but hey, I live in the Philippines where according to Glee’s Lea Michelle is sunny all the time. Why of course it should really be sunny in here! What are beaches for other than for frolicking in the sun?

This Friday we are going to Boracay. I want it to be sunny as my parents may not allow me to go to the beach on a rainy slash stormy weather like this. Yes I may be 25, earning my own money and all but I still live with my parents and just like any 15 year old kid, I need to ask their permission first before leaving.

Calling out to the Universe to please make the sun shine tomorrow until Sunday.

Attracting Abundance

Today I vow to think of nothing but positive thoughts. I want to attract money, abundance and success.

I will not allow negativity, worries and everything else in between to drag me down.

I have done this before, I know I can do it again.

Mannie pull a tive

She said he was manipulative. I thought she was just bitter but I saw how he manipulates people. Now I know how manipulative he really is.

We are a group of people who loves to travel. We may have known each other for years but our travels made us closer. We became some sort of a family. But things happen, couples break up and the like.

We have this seat sale trip on October. He said he would come whether the girl comes or not. She on the other hand is determined to come whether he’d be there or not.

When they talked the girl told the guy that she was seeing someone new. She wants that someone new to come. The guy said it was okay. The girl made her someone new book a ticket immediately.

After a week, the guy said he was uncomfortable and that he would tell the girl to leave someone new. He was even willing to pay for someone new’s airfare ticket if he had already booked.

His being uncomfortable is understood but for him to claim that is a win-win situation for them both is something that I can not comprehend. It would be win win for him but not for the girl. The win win for the girl would be to come on the trip with someone new but of course the guy would be uncomfortable in this setting.

I just hope that he didn’t use our name or the clause about us, the friends getting uncomfortable about their situation because frankly speaking, we don’t give a damn anymore.

Hippo Bath Day

This is my friend Cathy. I knew her from way back then but it was not until 2009 when I got to know her better.

In ever thought that she would be an important part of my life.

Felix Compleano Mi Amiga!

MV Friend Ship

Ask me to describe friendship and I’ll answer it with a line that I heard somewhere, IT IS THE ONLY UNSINKABLE SHIP.

It may sound real funny but if one comes to analyze it, there is a hint of truth in that answer. Romantic relationships may end anytime but not friendship.

If it were compared to a ship it would indeed be unsinkable.

The bed is where the heart is

After the long bus ride from Pagudpod, we decided to check in at a”hotel” in Quezon City. By hotel I mean dirty-cockroach infested hotel. People who check in here are answering to the immediate call of the flesh. We were there because we wanted to answer hygiene’s call.

Moshe offered her place to us but since my Cherry Mobile P1 runs out of battery after 24 hours regardless I use it or not, I didn’t have any means of reaching her. Timi failed to get Moshe’s number from my phone and her phone is not turning on as well.Technology can suck at times.

We were thinking of going to Victoria Court or Sogo Hotel. Q Mart Hotel was the first hotel that we found, we were tired of walking and the Q Mart is the first hotel to come our way so we decided to check in there. We paid 400 pesos to take a bath and rest for a few minutes in one of their rooms.

It was early Sunday morning and people, lovers check in there. When we went to the room, we saw that the four of us can’t fit in there. We took turns in getting in the room. We had huge bags, two of us are fat while Rogeric is a 6 Foot giant. It’s impossible for us to be in that cramped room all at the same time.

I took a bath first. I closed my mouth as I’m scared that the water might enter in my mouth. Timi went to the bathroom after me. Then it was Rogeric’s turn and then Augustine’s. After taking a bath, we hurriedly packed our things and left the hotel. What we paid for was good for a 3 hour stay but we did not even bother getting our money’s worth.

The linens have stains, the TV looks like it might fall off anytime, the towels are worn out, the bathroom is dirty, there are traces of peepholes, the ceiling looks like it can be lifted easily. (Rogeric tried lifting it off and it did detach in as easy as 1,2,3.). The only thing that made me smile in this place is the HEART in the headboard of the bed.

This places indeed for lovers or at least for those who don’t mind hygiene as long as they get to release their love hormones and what not.

Maria Clara: Fact or Fiction?

Maria Clara is a fictional character created by Rizal. She is the love interest of Juan Crisostomo Ibarra. She is also the epitome of prim and properness. The former may not be that known to everyone but the latter is as bright as day. When one is compared to Maria Clara, she can either be as virginal as a saint, that is if the comparison is positive or as dirty as a ho, that is if the comparison is negative.

In a world where everything is as fast as lightning, can Maria Clara even exist? Playing hard to get is so-Maria Clara. Yes,it may be sweet and all but really, what is the point of pretending not to like someone when the truth of the matter is you are head over heels in love with that person? Going after a guy that you like is so unlike Maria Clara. Girls should wait,guys should do the move. If the girl becomes too aggressive, she becomes a flirt or worst, slutty

Just like a coin, there are two sides to Maria Clara. One is that of a prim and proper lady and the other is that of an imprisoned person.

The prim and proper Maria Clara lives her life in such a way that no eyebrows are raised. She sticks to the norms. She goes to church because it’s expected from her to be there. She lowers her voice because she was made to believe that a lady speaks in no other way than that way. She waits for the guy of her dreams to court her. She believes in the sanctity of marriage and so on.

To be a girl in a country that is chained in morality, religion and hypocrisy is tough and sometimes confusing. You sing along to Spice Girls and live the “girl power” thing but if you openly woo a guy, you raise people’s eyebrows. You were told that men and women are created equal but if a guy philanders, it’s acceptable because he is a guy and if you have an affair behind your boyfriend or husband’s back, you are criticized. Where is the fairness in that?

Being a girl alone is a struggle in itself. To be asked to pattern one’s behavior on a fictional character is baloney. We have to recognize the difference between fact and fiction. Maria Clara is not real, she is nothing but a product of Jose Rizal’s imagination. Don’t judge women based on Maria Clara, you don’t want to be judged based on Edward Cullen, don’t you?