Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Biskwit

December 2007.
Gusto daw ako makita ni lola. Mukhang malabo, naisip ko. Wala na open slot for vacation leave. Kung makakabakasyon man ako sa pasko, mahaba na yung tatlong araw. Makakuwi ako sa bahay, pero baka hindi ko mabibisita lola ko sa baryo. Malayo kasi yun mula sa bayan, at wala pa sasakyan kaya kailangan lakarin. Nakakapagod.

Umuwi at nakarating ako sa bahay mula Manila hapon ng December 23. Tinanong agad ako kung gusto ko lumakad. Negative. Pagod ako sa byahe at hindi ko na kaya maglakad ng ilang kilometro.

Pero nagbago isip ko bigla pagdating ng Noche Buena. Bago matulog sinabi ko na lalakad kami madaling araw ng 25 at balik din kami ng hapon, kailangan ko bumiyahe ng 26 ng umaga kasi may work ako kinagabihan. Kasama ko si papa at nakababatang kapatid, bitbit ang mga pasalubong, nagsimula kami maglakad alas singko ng umaga. Mahaba-habang lakaran. Dala ko camera ko kaya ang dalawang oras, nadoble.

Kahit malabo na ang paningin, nakilala agad ako ni lola pagdating namin. Abot tenga ang ngiti. Malaki ang tinanda niya mula nung huli ko siya nakita. Sa tono ng pananalita, para na siyang namamaalam. Pero binalewala ko. Pabiro kong sinabi;
"huwag po muna, saka kung sakali man, huwag po sa tag-ulan ha?". Napatawa lang siya.

Halos di na siya kumakain ng kanin. Puro tinapay na lang, gatas o kape, milo, instant noodles. Noon ko na-realize na sa mga pasalubong naming dala, wala ni isa galing sa bulsa ko. Sabi ko sa kanya,
"Lola, sa sunod na pagbisita ko, dalhan kita isang lata ng biskwit, yung malaki." Tumango lang siya. Mahina na rin kasi pandinig, di ko alam kung naintindihan niya ang sinabi ko.

Biswit. At least pwede yun tumagal kahit ilang linggo. Pag tinapay kasi madali masira.



Kahapon ng hapon, nakatanggap ako ng tawag mula sa ate ko.

Bukas, uwi ako. Babyahe tapos lalakad ako ng ilang kilometro papunta sa bahay ng lola ko...



bitbit, ang lata ng biskwit.

Friday, July 25, 2008

ilocano


This was the exact message I received from a (long lost) friend. She just arrived from
Dubai a few months ago. We’ve never met since she graduated from college.

“Hoy!!!!grabe ka.....

AYaw mo talagang magparamdam....

Masyado mong pinapahalata na Ilocano ka e....HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAA”


I didn’t reply to her previous message asking me to treat her kaya yan, dinamay niya pagiging Ilocano ko.

And I got offended.

In my previous post, Enrico was giving me tips to save money (read: magtipid) which is something that is very hard for me to do. And when I do it, I get remarks from people who tend to negatively associate my being thrifty with my ethnicity.

Madami naman sa mga Pinoy ang nagtitipid, pero pag Ilocano naging matipid, bat tinatawag na kuripot?

Monday, July 21, 2008

meme: better late than never


A tag from footiam that's long overdue.
Here, the participants will have to answer a series of questions with a one word answer:

Yourself: Shy
Your Partner: None
Your Hair: Short
Your Mother: Conservative
Your Father: Tough
Your Favorite Item: Camera
Your Dream Last Night: None
Your Favorite Drink: Hmmm...
Your Dream Home: Huge
The Room You Are In: Office
Your Fear: None
Where Do You Want to be in 10 years: Worldwide
Who You Hung Out With Last Night: None
What You Are Not: Genius
Muffins: No
One of Your Wish Items: Laptop
Time: Gold
Last Thing You Did: Chatting
What You Are Wearing: Shirt
Your Favorite Weather: Blue
Your Favorite Book: None
Last Thing You Ate: Shiomai
Your Mood: Irate
Your Best Friends: None
What Are You Thinking About Right Now: Work
Your Car: Nnone
Your Summer: Great
What’s on your TV: Hmmm
What Is Your Weather Like: Wet
When Was the Last Time You Laughed: Today
What is your relationship status: Single!


Well, I'm tagging everyone!
Cheers!


Saturday, July 19, 2008

The double eyelid

“You have very big eyes!”

That's from the Korean lady seated in front of me (two years ago). I was busy discussing something and I noticed that strange look in her face. She was just staring at me, which made me thought she was just attentive. When I asked something, I realized she wasn’t actually listening. She was just awed by my “big eyes”.

If it was from a fellow Filipino, I would have been offended, but from a Korean, it’s a compliment. I learned later on that they have this double eyelid craze. The absence of it is like having flat nose for Filipinos. It’s not considered very beautiful.
I just remembered this when I saw a related topic featured at National Geographic. Never know this has gotten so big among our Asian neighbors that they’re willing to spend money and go under the knife to have it.

When my co-employee saw the girl, she reacted: “Panget pagkagawa ng mata, halatang fake!”.


The girl happened to have surgically made double eyelids herself, which I didn’t notice.

Now, when I see those Korean and Taiwanese actors, I can't help but think: fake double eyelids.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Sweet tooth

An officemate just shared us this story.

Then fresh from college, she applied for a job for the first time.
She’s through with all the exams and interviews and she’s up for the final interview

Despite being nervous, the interview started all right.
Then came the dreaded question:

"What is your weakness?"

She decided not to deliver a speech she got from a job-interview-how-to’s handbook, she said she wanted to give a fresh answer, but she ran out of words instead.

After a few seconds of dead air and uhms… she went:

"Uh, my weakness?! Uh…well...


...chocolates!!!"


And the very serious interviewer started laughing.

We couldn't help but laugh too and our initial question was, did you get the job?!

Say she answered all the other questions well and you are the interviewer, are you gonna hire her?

Friday, July 11, 2008

Boy Suplado 2

I don't really chat at YM very often. Minsan lang pag kinakailangan. I have two email accounts at yahoo, one for my "regular mails" which i consider private, and one for my Friendster. And because my sister abroad keeps on asking me to go online when she's logged in, I started to keep my YM busy lately, I get some "Stranger wants to add you as a contact" messages from time to time.

Someone just added me again today. I got this message before my shift ends:


Too lazy to double click? Here's how to conversation went:

Stranger: Hello

Me: hi, sino to?

Stranger: pinoy. taga los angeles ca. ikaw taga saan sa atin

Me: ha? san mo pow nakuha YM ko?







Stranger: sa friendster. puede ka bang maging kaibigan. kasi uwi ako sa pinas sa dec.

Me: hindi eh, hindi naman kita kilala (insert: hahaha emoticon). sorry

Stranger: ok. lang kung ayaw, di na bale. akala ko this could be the start of frinedship. (he corrected the spelling)

Me: Madami dyan, naghahanap ng friends. dami ko na kasi friends.

Stranger: ok lang. huwag na lang kung gayon.


Well I feel sorry for him. I didn't get the answer that I want so I gave him what he deserve. I was asking kung sino siya, "taga-LA" ba naman ang sagot? Anu un? Ang layo naman ata ng "sino ka?" sa "taga-saan ka?"

Just another day...



The truth is, konti lang talaga friends ko, pero lahat "real friends". At ok lang kahit iisa na lang matira, basta totoo...

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Flying without wings

Lilipad ako para lang sayo...

I always dream about flying. It started when I was in high school and it all began with me running really fast while being chased by someone (or something), then all off a sudden I started to slowly elevate, my entire body paralleled to the ground, until I discovered I was already flying, and I could.

I love it.

Now it's just flying, no more chasing. I'd fly with no wings, no costume, not as a feathered creature or anything. One thing I noticed is that I can’t go as high as the clouds. I’ve seen myself flying above rooftops, above the trees, but not higher than maybe 50 feet. I always try to keep as near to the ground as possible.

If before I tried to be unnoticed, last night’s flying dream was different. I saw people looking at me, and that didn’t bother me anymore. In fact I was trying to show them how I do it. It made me proud and I loved it.

But flying is not always very easy. Sometimes it’s hard to soar high; kinda tiring it needs a lot of energy in order not to fall, which by the way never happened so far. Most often, the flying is slow, but one time I was in this highway and I was flying as fast as the cars speeding below.

Weird. But it feels great. And unlike my other dreams which are all blurry and totally unremembered once I'm awake, the flying is so real. I can remember every detail, everything that I did, the place, the people…


uh, well.


Google's providing a lot of interpretations of this dream, from ancient interpretations, Egyptian to Mesopotamian, from Native America to Africa, most of them of a winged man flying. I think this is the closest to mine, I got it from a UK based site:


“Most flying dreams, are positive. They make you feel independent and free. You may also experience the feeling of being able to reach greater heights, that nothing is impossible. Flying also gives you great insight in that you can see both where you have been and where you are going. Many times, people that have jobs that require high performance, such as a salesperson or athlete, have flying dreams. People who are involved in an activity or hobby they love also may frequently experience flying dreams. It is believed that people who dream of flying are of a high intelligence and are very creative and expressive.”


uhu.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

forced RDOT?!? is it legal?

I'm furious, our office declared an RDOT for tomorrow a week ago and it is FORCED as in attendance is a must. I asked an HR from another company and he told me I have all the rights not to attend since it's a rest day.

My TL just informed me that "neglect of duty" would be my maximum possible sanction should I be absent.


That angers me more!!!