Well, I’m currently around 40000 feet in the air as I write this. I don’t know exactly where I am, but I know I’m in Philippine airspace. I’m gonna try and keep a regular blog whilst I’m overseas, so I can remember exactly what I did. I usually remember every single day and event that happens when I go on a trip, or when people from the old country visit Sydney. In recent times, though, I think I’ve lost my touch, so I’m using this blog as a means of playing it safe.
I’ll recap all the pre-flight happenings first up, then get into the nitty gritty a bit later on.
November 27-28: The One With The Planning
So the beach was originally organised for Monday, the 28th. But, after seeing the weather over the weekend, Lette had second thoughts and we contemplated a change of date to Thursday, the 1st of December. But, this would’ve meant that I’d miss out, seeing as my flight was on Wednesday. Also, my parents got back from the Phils today, and they recommended that I delay my flight for a week or so, seeing as my cousins still had school, which would leave me bored and with nothing to do. So, this would work out perfectly: I delay my flight, meaning I make it to the beach, as well as Jay’s party on Wednesday night, and I don‘t spend too much time being bored in the Phils. Awesome, right? I went to work calling the fellaz and telling them that Monday was off, and that the new plan was set for Thursday. After a phone call or fifteen, everything was all set. I felt bad for Matt though, who was gonna miss out ‘cause Clare’s graduation and formal was set for Thursday. Other than that, things were great. I went to sleep Sunday night satisfied; I got the new Smackdown! game earlier that day as well, and I played it for about 7-8 hours, no joke.
Monday morning was a different story, though. Ma told me that they couldn’t get the flight delayed; December was fully booked. If I wanted, I could just leave in January instead. Seeing as that meant missing out on my cousin’s 17th birthday, I politely refused. So, this meant that I would miss out on the beach, the one thing I looked forward to before I left. Awesome. I think this put me in a really bad mood, ‘cause I remember being extremely abrasive and agitated for the rest of the day, until me and Karl went to watch Pat’s team at KB. I think that, and the basketball we played in the rain, put me in a much better mood. I tried to watch the NBA DVD’s that the folks brought back from the old country, but I was just too tired to stay awake. With the DVD running, I fell asleep.
November 29: The One With The Spoils Of The Spoiled
For the last couple of years, I’ve resented the idea of being labelled a spoiled brat. Admittedly, I am spoiled, but by no means was I going to accept the tag of a brat. But, I think after today, I’m ready to have a huge ‘spoiled brat’ vinyl sticker with big block letters adherent to my chest (thank you for that line, Ben Gibbard =D). Anywho, this is because of the way I casually schmoozed my way to a brand-spankin’ new PSP. Sweeeeeeet. It started out with my brother refusing to let me take my slim PS2 overseas, ‘cause for some reason he enjoys the lagging on the PS2 version of NBA Live 06. So, before we left for Westpoint, I casually slipped the PSP idea in the middle of a conversation with my mum. I did my whole ‘please, please, please’ routine, which I’ve mastered in my years as the golden child, and I got the answer I was looking for: ‘We’ll see.’ In my case, seeing as I’m the younger child, that usually means, we’ll get it later today. It’s the same ‘we’ll see’ that she says when I ask for games, or a new console. Anywho, more schmoozing, this time with Dad, led to an even better response: ‘Look around for a cheap price and we’ll see.’ I found a pretty good deal at Games Wizards, so I ended up with a PSP, a bunch of accessories, and Burnout Legends. Seeing as Burnout Revenge pwns on Xbox, this mini version should be a doozy as well.
Anyways, later that night, I talked to people on the phone, then went on MSN to waste some time. I expressed my paranoid fears to a certain people, but I’ve been assured that I won’t be ending up as the next Schappelle Corby. A bunch of people said their goodbyes and wished me well, which was cool. I slunk back to my room early (11:30PM) to try and get a good night’s sleep, but I got distracted by my new gadget and decided to stay up another hour getting used to Burnout. Awesome. =D By 12:30AM, I was in a deep, deep sleep.
November 30: The One Where Marty Flies Alone
Woke up at around 5:30AM to get ready for the flight. I had been told that we were taking the train to the airport, which would’ve been a bitch. Luckily, my dad found his heart, and agreed to the long-winded drive. Arriving at the airport, I displayed my paranoia by frantically checking my bag every 20 seconds to make sure everything was still there. But with all the stuff I brought along for the flight (iPod, laptop, PSP and digicam), I don’t think I was overreacting. Also, it was to make sure I hadn’t lost my passport or boarding pass, seeing as I’d had my fill of passport issues over the last couple of weeks. With everything set, my parents and I said our tearless goodbyes at the gate. I went in pretty early to avoid the annoying lines at immigration, which was a blessing. The last couple of times I’d flown, immigration was more packed than a Chinese classroom. I boarded at around 11AM; by 11:55AM, I was on my way up.
In-flight: The One With The Stale Taste Of Recycled Air
I’ve been on a plane eight times, but this is the first time I’ve ever flown by myself. This is in accordance with my newfound sense of self-dependence. It was pretty freaky at first, but so far I’m handling it okay. I was hyperkinetic as soon as I got on the plane; all my friends know that I’m a very fidgety person, so I can’t sit still, ever. I passed the time early on by playing Burnout; time flew by pretty quickly until the in-flight meal. In-flight meals still SUCK. The chicken was pretty decent, but the pasta wasn’t something to remember. I left most of it in the little foil box thingy, and moved on to the bread and butter. After the meal, I decided to listen to my iPod. Me being me, I forgot that I usually set my iPod to turn on around 7:45AM so it can wake me up. So, when I checked my iPod, around half the battery had been used up ‘cause it had been playing for the last 4 hours or so. Great. Appropriately enough, I had an enjoyable listening experience with The Postal Service. I think that album becomes a better listen when I’m on a plane. Don’t know why, exactly. Somehow, it still managed to last a good 3-4 hours of play, so that kept me occupied for a while. I kept slipping into little three minute pockets of sleep. I think I’ve gotten used to functioning on five hours of sleep. Anyways, as the iPod was about to die on me, I switched back to the PSP. Luckily, playing around with the brightness settings extended the life of the PSP battery, so it looks like that’ll be taking up most of my flight time from now on. I played Burnout for a good 2-3 hours, before stopping to rest my eyes. And now, I’m writing this entry. The stewardess just skipped me for the second in-flight meal, which was cool seeing as I didn’t really want to deal with more in-flight food. Oh wait, she just interrupted my blogging to bring me some nice-looking ham. Now it’s a bitch to type ‘cause I have no space. So I guess I’ll end this here.
Post-flight: The One With The Lame Baggage Claim
We touched down at around 5PM, Philippine time, which is a bit later than expected. I turned on my phone to find out my Auntie had called about six times because the flight was a bit late. After more paranoid baggage checking, I, along with the rest of the passengers, made my way out of the plane in an orderly fashion. Anywho, first thing I noticed was the immediate weather change. Hot and crazy HUMID. Making my way through the airport, I kept getting calls from my Auntie. I learned later on that this was thanks to my parents, who had been texting her every five minutes to check up on me. Thanks, paranoid parents. Anyways, baggage claim = LAME! This is the only thing I hate about flying. Waiting around for your baggage requires patience, which sometimes I lack. This was one of those times; waiting around for two little bags in hot and humid weather pretty much wore out my patience. Anywho, after twenty minutes or so of waiting, I got my bags and left the airport. My Auntie picked me up, we went back to her house, ate dinner, and I watched basketball until I fell asleep.
December 2: The One With The Love/Hate List
I just woke up; it’s 8:22AM local time. I’ve been here for around a day and a half now, and already I can make a list of things to love, and things to hate about the old country. Look for this this list to grow in the future.
Hate -
- Baggage claim = lame.
- Traffic is a fucking BITCH! Talk about eating up your time.
- No ADSL connection in the house, only 56k. And damnit, I seriously can’t be bothered struggling with that again.
- Needing an adaptor for all my gadgets other than my mobile.
- The inability to charge all my gadgets at the same time, as I do back home.
- Despite being a million miles from home, the issues I tried to leave behind sometimes still really affect me.
Love -
- Michelle’s here! =D
- My other cousins are here as well! =D
- And all my other relatives, including new niece, Adelaide Sophia, born on July 27, 2005. I saw her for the first time, and she’s really, really, ridiculously cute.
- The food! Not necessarily Filo food, but the Filo-style of cooking. There’s something about it that makes the food taste ever so slightly better than it does back home.
- How I can turn to three different sports channels and still be watching basketball. AWESOME.
- The obscene amount of channels; although some are just toasted, the others are worthwhile. Crime channel, anyone?
- My cousin’s overwhelming Zoids collection. OMG! I think I pissed myself when I saw his entire table covered in Zoids. I’m currently devising a plan to somehow smuggle them into my luggage. =D
- Being able to buy PSP games here and have them work on my PSP. All hail region-free UMD discs HURRAH!
- How the malls don’t close until around 10PM or so. Allows me to test the merits of the phrase “shop ‘til you drop.”
- How blogging (i.e. like this entry) helps to keep me occupied, and altogether sane.
I think that should about do it for this entry. Tomorrow, my cousin’s invited me to some rock concert thingy happening with bands from her school and such, so it should be a fun experience. Apparently, she’s trying to set me up with one of her friends, which should be a painful experience for all. If not all, then just me. Oh well, gotta roll with the punches, right?
December 4: The One With The Fellow Friends Addict
Well, apparently yesterday wasn’t a set-up; my cousin’s friend just needed someone else to go with, which was a relief. There’s too much unwanted pressure associated with a set-up, and I was just happy to be out of the house having fun. Anywho, the girl found her cousin as soon as she got in, but I still wasn’t left third-wheeling with my cousin and her boyfriend, ’cause her other friend kept me company as the fourth wheel. Sweet. =D Anywho, we kept each other company for the night, and she was actually a lot of fun to hang out with. We spent the night cynically mocking every band that came up on stage, which made the five hours go faster than usual. Anywho, turns out she’s also a Friends addict, so we spent the last hour or so quoting various lines and phrases. Freaky: she also has all ten seasons on DVD (except hers are pirated), and we have the same favourite character (Chandler Bing) and episode (“The One With the Embryos”). We also had a debate on the benefits of sharing, with both of us agreeing ‘it’s good to share,’ even though neither of us shared what we had with the other. I still have to bug my cousin for embarrassing stuff about her. Also, she discovered just how bad I can get when I mock/annoy people, especially after they stuff up a couple of times. Awesome.
Later today, I’m supposed to go meet up with the kiddies and watch a movie, although I have a sinking feeling they’ll want to watch Harry-freakin’-Potter for the umpteenth time. God, please give them the courage to watch a scary movie, so I can be entertained as well? Think they’re gonna be here soon, so this is goodbye for now.
P.S. Happy 36th birthday, Shawn Carter!
December 5: The One With All The Realisations
Today was the day that it officially hit me: I’m finished High School! I know, I know, welcome to four weeks ago, but those close to me are already fully aware of my sloth-like reflexes, and so should be used to it. I think it was earlier today when I was watching TV at around 3:30PM local time when I realised that it was 6:30PM back home. Then I started trying to remember what I would’ve been doing around this time if I still had school to worry about. Plus, as I type this, my cousin’s in the middle of her Filipino homework. Watching and listening to her trying to memorise phrases and absorb information, it just suddenly struck me how lucky I am that I don’t have to deal with anything like that for the next couple of months. I don’t think I was able to appreciate this luxury right after the end of the HSC ‘cause I had to adapt to having responsibility over the house and Bron, but now, being a million miles away from home with virtually no responsibilities, it’s all hitting me smack dab in the face. And don’t it feel good.
On a different issue, I find it very weird to have everything being done for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful to all the housekeepers who are willing to do all the work around me, but after getting some responsibility around the house, I think I got a bit used to it. Now, I feel a tad uncomfortable that people are doing things for me again, and I don’t think I’m used to it yet. I still try and do some things for myself; I think the obsessive-compulsive control freak within me refuses to be waited on, hand and foot. Like today; I wasn’t hungry early on, so I politely refused lunch. However, even as the grumbling started, I still didn’t eat. I think it was because I wanted to eat on my own accord, not when people tell me to; I might have foolish pride issues to attend to.
New things to add to the hate/love list - I hate not having my DVD’s with me. Felt dick-ish after realising I could’ve brought them along and used them to pass the time. Even other DVD’s that I barely watched (i.e. my Death Cab “Drive Well, Sleep Carefully“ DVD), I still miss (which is the reason I have the Title and Registration screen-cap as my wallpaper right now). However, I love how being so far away from home helps the mending process, ‘cause, with my glove compartment being a million miles away, there aren’t nearly as many souvenirs from better times. And that concludes this one.
December 12: The One With A Week Crammed Into One Entry
So far, the trip’s been a lot different to how I thought it was gonna be. With my cousins still in school, I figured I’d be spending everyday bored out of my brain. However, so far it’s been anything but. Sure, there have been a couple of instances when I’ve had nothing to do. But for the most part, it’s been a whole lot of fun. So much so, that I’ve considered the possibility of extending my stay, if only for a couple of days. Might end up spending New Year’s here. This also means my surprise plan, which by now probably isn’t a surprise to a lot of people, isn’t gonna be happening. And that’s one decision I’m happy to make.
Anyways, I’ve got a lot to cover; it’s been a week. Tuesday was spent browsing the cheap ‘tiangge’ stalls of Greenhills for bargains. I actually got quite a bit of Christmas shopping done while I was there; Karl, Mike and Ian are covered as far as Christmas requests. Only stuff left are the stuff that Cels and Lette asked for, and Grace’s birthday present. Also, I got my eyes checked, and turned out my eyes were worse than I originally assumed. My auntie ordered a new pair of glasses to replace the pair I lost back home, and apparently I’m supposed to use this pair a lot more than I used my other one. *shrugs*
Wednesday was a lot of fun. =D My cousin finished school early, around noon. So, I went to lunch with her and her two friends Shana and Val (the fellow Friends addict). Shana’s boyfriend Gerrick joined us later. He was pretty cool; we had a common interest in dorky stuff, although he was a whole lot more knowledgeable than I was. He knew all the comics and graphics novels and stuff; I just freaked out over Spider-Man and Scarface. Also, spent a lot of the day going back and forth with Val in our usual witty banter. Turns out I found out quite a bit of embarrassing information about her (thank you, Mich), so I let my obnoxious quasi-alter ego take over. I guess it was fair though; she had embarrassing stuff about me as well, so it all evened out. Also, I let her win in a game of air hockey. (Yup, let her win. Didn’t lose. Not at all. Psshh. Me? Lose? Psshh.) Anyways, the three of them left soon after. Mich and I went off to our scheduled dermatologist appointment, and then made our way back home. We spent the night playing retro educational games on my laptop, and taking turns talking to good old Parasol (Jokes, Val! I told you, I‘m nice! =D) on the phone. Also, Mich got her new iPod video. After all that fun, we both fell asleep.
Thursday was Mich’s free day, seeing as it was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We showed how lazy a family we can be. The night before, we planned to be out of the house before lunch, so that we could make full use of her day off school. Us being us, and her wanting to install her new iPod right away, we took our sweet time and left the house at around 4PM. Awesome. We malled it for a while, with me looking to buy Famous shirts for myself and for TJ. Sadly, no stock. The time went by too quickly though; but I blame Mich for taking so long! Jokes, buddy; it was a family effort. Anywho, I found a SWEET Vote For Pedro shirt, and proceeded to make Pat jealous with it when I got home.
Friday and Saturday were my days with the father’s side of the family. After picking up my SWEET new Silhouette glasses, it was off to meet up with my Uncle and Auntie. Spent quite some time chatting about life in general, then slept over at their house. The father requested a crapload of photogs, so I snapped some shots of their Christmas decorations. Speaking of photogs, found the best Christmas tree ever: black with silver decorations! It was for some art exhibition at the Hotel where I met up with my Uncle, and I took the opportunity to photog it. Anywho, fell asleep listening to my iPod. My Uncle woke me up the next morning, and it was off to my Grandma’s old house. It was a solemn experience walking into her house, especially her room. Aside from some of my other Uncle’s stuff being there as well, the room was still pretty much the way it was before she passed. My Auntie showed me her diary for this year; two things about it amazed me. One, despite her age and health, she still found the time to write an entry every single night of this year. Two, as a testament to just how caring and loving a Grandmother she was, she remembered every single one of her children and grandchildren’s birthdays. After meeting some of the other relatives (including another cute new nephew, Keanan), it was time to head back to the mother’s side. I met up with Mich at Glorietta, where we did a lot more shopping. I took advantage of the CD’s being AU$10 here. Purchased: ‘Dogs Die in Hot Cars - Please Describe Yourself’ and ‘Hot Hot Heat - Elevator.’
Sunday was the laziest day, so far. After Sunday morning mass, me and Mich spent the whole day trying to work her iPod video converter thingy. Too much hassle with this iPod; every video has to be converted before it can actually work. But if you can be bothered, then it’s a pretty cool payoff. Mich kept getting stressed out ‘cause the computer was lagging HARD. I was getting pretty bored at this point, but then Val called Mich and I decided to butt in. Further witty banter ensued. Anywho, after that, I tried my luck struggling through her 40kb/s Internet, but me being me, impatience took over and I just decided to sleep. Well, after one last D&M with Mich. After that, it was sleep time.
Now it’s Monday, and I’m sitting here writing this long-ass entry. Outtie!
December 20: The One With The Decent Days And Nights
This has gone pretty unnoticed for a while, but it’s for a good reason. Over the past eight days, the idea of updating the blog has come up more than once, but then I get distracted by something else, and the idea never gets followed up. It’s actually been quite a busy week and one day. Important events worth noting:
Went to the Philippine Airlines Office last Wednesday to try and get my trip extended for the maximum duration of the ticket. I was put on the waiting list; my extension was confirmed yesterday. =D So now, my return flight’s on January 3 rather than December 30. Sweeeeeet. Filo New Year celebrations >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Aussie New Year Celebrations. Fireworks shenanigans for all!
Had the 40th day Mass for the passing of my Lola. It was a nice ceremony, but marred by the priest constantly referring to my Lola as ‘him,’ as well as sometimes getting her name wrong. I guess his English isn’t the best, so it’s not unforgivable. Still kinda off-putting, though. Anyways, after the Mass, all 14 people from the Mass went out to celebrate my Auntie’s birthday. Filo buffets = L337. =D Then, me and four of my cousins hung out around Greenbelt. The fun thing about the Phils is that they never, ever ask for ID. My cousins just told me to lie and say I was eighteen if people ever asked about my age. They wouldn’t go as far as actually requesting to see the ID. Was fun to hang out with the father’s side of the family; stories, jokes and memories aplenty.
Went to my first ever Misa de Gallo. I’m not sure of the English translation, but it’s the early, early morning Mass celebrated for the nine days before Christmas. So far, me and Mich, along with the housekeepers, have made it to the first five masses. However, seeing as we’re going on a mini-pre-Christmas holiday on some resort, we’re probably gonna end up missing the last 2 or 3 masses.
Got my HSC results last Friday. I seriously couldn’t sleep on Thursday night; I was SO FREAKIN’ NERVOUS! But, they were better than I expected. I’m pretty happy with them. They are as follows:
Subject Exam Mark Asst. Mark HSC Mark Band
Business Studies 87/100 87/100 87/100 5
Economics 84/100 90/100 87/100 5
English (Advanced) 81/100 76/100 79/100 4
Mathematics 88/100 92/100 90/100 6
Mathematics Ext. 1 41/50 43/50 42/50 E3
Physics 84/100 78/100 81/100 5
Studies of Religion II 80/100 83/100 82/100 5
All of that amounted to a UAI of 91.30! Yay! I’m rejoicing ‘cause I got over 90! I always told myself that I’d be happy with anything over 90. As such, I’m all smiles. Of course, it’s not perfect. But damnit, it’s good enough for me! =D
So far, I’ve done more CD shopping in a week than I have over the last 2 months. Six CD’s, eight days. Instead of spending AU$180, I’ve only had to spend roughly a third of that amount. Awesome.
This is in contrast to my lack of shopping for other items. Damn! My credit card gets activated and I don’t go out and abuse it right away? I think I’m growing up. =D
Actually, I take that back. When my cousin invited Val over to watch DVD’s, we spent the day knocking things over and having pillow fights. Gosh, three immature people in the one room? Aggregate age: 49 years. Aggregate maturity level: 27 years. Funny thing is, we watched not one DVD. But, we did discover the magic of muvee software. =D I didn’t even know I had this program. You can make movies using your existing videos and photogs, with accompanying music in the background. Sleepless nights are sure to ensue in the future thanks to this newfound pastime. First thing I’m lookin’ to do is make a movie with all of my Clean Rodriguez photogs, with ‘In This Diary’ as the background music. =D
Went out to a bar with my cousins. It was a fun night; just hanging out, listening to a live band. One of the bands has a lead singer who pretends to be gay (hmm…that characteristic sounds familiar). He does this REALLY well if he’s actually straight. Anyways, during the audience interaction, it’s brought to his attention that I’m foreign exchange. So, he decides to joke around with me. Actually, ‘joke’ is the wrong word to use. How about traumatise? There. Much better. Long story short, I end up on stage, having to give him a kiss on the cheek…..sorry, just threw up in my mouth a little bit. Anywho, me being me, I decided to just try a cheek-to-cheek to play it safe. Luckily, he was bluffing and was planning to kiss me on the lips, so my paranoia served me well. Traumatic, but also heaps entertaining.
Finally, went to watch King Kong with my cousin and her mates (who are awesome, by the way). Fell asleep twice in the first 90 minutes of the movie, then had a great time watching King Kong pwn dinosaur and homo sapien ass in the next 90 minutes. Lasting image: King Kong snapping the T-Rex jaw in about a jillion different places, then playing with the dead dino’s skull. He tops it all off by standing over the T-Rex’s limp body and beating his chest, all the while thinking “OMG! U jst gtt PwN3D!!!!!11shift+1”
Anyways, gotta go watch Queen of the Damned. Later!
December 21: The One With All The Shopping
I read an article today that described this year’s Christmas as being bleak, economy-wise. This is due to consumers choosing to save their money rather than fuel the annual Christmas season earnings boost. Hmm, after today, I think I’ve done my part to try and help out the struggling economy. I’m such a humanitarian! =D
Note: * - denotes Christmas gift
- The Small World Children’s Club - My First CD: 45 Educational Songs* - P160
- The Eraserheads - Cutterpillow - P280
- Sum*41 - Chuck - P450
- The Cribs - The Cribs - P400
- NBA Street Series: Ankle Breakers, Vol. 1 - P350
- Yellow/Green Havaianas - P795
- White Havaianas Sandals*- P895
- Perpetual Travel Undated Calendar*- P879
- Black Lacoste Shirt*- P3450
- Green Lacoste Shirt*- P3450
- Grey/Yellow Diesel Shirt - P2450
- Light Green Diesel Shirt - P3850
- Red Diesel Shirt - P2850
- Blue Striped Springfield Shirt - P1650
- Red/Orange Springfield Shirt - P1450
- Pink/Green Vanity Kit* - P295
- White Floral Vanity Kit* - P275
- Slam Presents: Streetball Vol. 2 (Back Issue) - P286
- Haircut at Bruno’s - P180
- Mentholated Scalp Treatment at Bruno’s - P475
Grand spending total for today - P24870 = AU$621.75
Took us about nine hours of shopping to rack up that list. That list only includes stuff I’ve bought; Mich bought some stuff herself as well. Anyways, tomorrow it’s off to Punta Fuego. We’re spending the next three days there; it’s a huge family gathering (members and associates of the Cabral Mafia arrived last night to a welcome dinner at Ninong Paul’s) at a reportedly idyllic and beautiful resort. Sweeeeet. =D
December 22-24: The One With The Awesome Resort
Punta Fuego = L337 OMGWTF s0o0o0o AwEs0mE!!!!!!!111shift+1! God, I love leetspeak. But in all seriousness, the vacation, amazing; the location, gorgeous; the relaxation, necessary. I snapped a crapload of photogs. I spent nearly an entire day swimming in all sorts of waterholes. I swam in an ocean by myself! Me! I don’t even know how to float, let alone swim (relatively) unassisted in an ocean! Fine, fine. I was wearing a lifejacket, and my cousins eased me into the ocean. But still! Being in the water without touching the bottom was such a freaky experience for me. It was definitely an experience worth remembering. Well, for me anyway. Apart from the beach (by the way, downside: sand was too coarse; I was picking shells out of my shorts for two days), I also took my time in the infinity pool. Viewing the sunset from the infinity pool = L337. Photogs from the infinity pool = L337. Also, I sent about a billion text messages back and forth over the three days. SMS worth P1 = L337. We got back from Punta Fuego at around 2PM on Saturday afternoon, and me and Mich promptly rushed to the DVD player to watch Scary Movie 2. I. Love. That. Movie.
After Punta Fuego was the traditional Noche Buena Cabral Christmas Eve Dinner. For some reason, it wasn’t as fun as I used to remember it. It wasn’t as lively this year for some reason. Not that it wasn’t fun; it just wasn’t AS fun. It was still great to hang out with the cousinhood.
Things to add to the hate/love list - I hate constantly having headaches while I‘m here. A million miles away from home, they still plague me! But, I do love how Panadol works its magic and doesn’t discriminate based on the country it’s being used in. =D Also, I love having a whole channel dedicated to Japanese Anime dubbed in Tagalog! I mean, the shows are abso-fuckin’-lutely annoying, but at the same time, they’re abso-fuckin’-lutely HI-LARIOUS. I’d hate them, but they’re just too funny to hate. They’re pretty borderline.
My mind is elsewhere tonight, and my head is hurting a fair bit. This ends now. [Written on December 31, 2005]
December 25: The One Where Marty Returns To Cavite
Christmas Day marked my return to Cavite. Celebrations were spent with the father’s side of the family. This day marked the last time I’d see some of my cousins on this trip. We planned to go out again on the 29th, this time getting everyone involved instead of just having three of us drinking at Malate, but that trip didn’t eventuate because Keanan needed a babysitter. As such, the Cavitenos weren’t allowed out. Boo. Anywho, Christmas Day itself was pretty cool. Even though the father’s side of the family isn’t as extravagant as the mother’s side, it was still pretty cool to be able to find joy in the simple things in life. Got back to the Valle around 5PM to find Ate Shiels and Kuya Glenn lounging there. We planned to go out that night as well; Ate Shiels had a family dinner with the other side of the family, so we were hoping to catch a late movie session. Alas, the only English movie out was King Kong, and I’d already seen that. It was either King Kong, or nonsensical and altogether unwatchable Filo films. Stuff that, right? After some Yahoo Messenger chatting with Her Highness the Princess/Queen/Dictatress Valerie (see? I’m nice! I addressed you by your full title), I went back to the room to have some late-night D&M with the cousins. Topic of the night: what to do about Mich’s relationship issues. After getting that sorted out, it was time for bed. [Written on January 3, 2006]
December 26: The One With Michelle’s Birthday Party
Today was Michelle’s roller-coaster day. After handling her relationship business in the morning (leaving her emotionally exhausted) it was decided that a nice day out would suffice to help her forget about things. However, a nice day out turned into an annoying back-and-forth scramble to fix up the cakes and such for her birthday party later that night, followed by half-decent shopping. I found an awesome Six Faces of Madness set at the Virra Mall. I was debating on whether or not I should buy it. If I had a place to put it for the flight home, I’d snap it up in a heartbeat. Anywho, we made our way back home at around 3PM ‘cause Mich had to get dressed for her celebrations. Ate Shiels did her hair whilst me and Kuya Glenn jostled over the shower. (Forgot to mention that since 8PM the previous night, I’d been on a voluntary hunger strike. I ate way too much for dinner, so I didn’t feel like eating for around 24 hours. I had my first meal at 8PM, December 26.) In other news, the party was excellent! Val, Shana and Pepi had planned a surprise entrance; earlier that night, they told Mich that they couldn’t make it. They snuck in, said hi to Tita Cel, then hid upstairs in Mich’s room. Anywho, I saw them walk in, and didn’t know that they were planning to surprise Mich. So, I blabbed. Whoops. I apologised as they made their way down the stairs. Anywho, hung out with Mich’s friends as well as Cabral Mafia associates (we formed our own Australian table, comprised of the Sydney-based members and associates of the Mafia). There was liquor present, and with neither of my parents around, I took my liberties. Val gave me her pressie (sweet design; yes, I do do my own stunts), whilst I stalled on hers. Shana tried to teach me how to play Poker, but I was slightly, umm, pissed.
Shana: The first thing you need to know about Poker is…
Marty: *ERROR* Does not compute. *ERROR*
Anywho, the Poker lesson went out the window, so we stuck to a less boggling game of Bullshit. Johnny was starting to wear off by this time, so I had a slightly more successful and enjoyable time playing Bullshit as compared to my attempts at Poker. In other news, there were NUMEROUS candid photogs taken that night. Unfortunately, not all of them were taken from my camera. They eventually had to leave; Mich’s half-brother dropped them off. Kuya Glenn and Ate Shiels stayed back, unexpectedly but fortunately. I thought we’d have another D&M before sleeping, but my Johnny-infested bloodstream decided to put me to sleep. [Written on January 3, 2006]
December 27: The One Where Everyone Was Late
First and foremost, I’d like to welcome to the Christian world, my first ever God-daughter, Adelaide Sophia Cabral. Today was her Christening, and for the first time, I was picked as a Godfather. Awesome. Me, Ate Shiels and Mich were all chosen as Godparents, so we were all looking forward to her celebration. Unfortunately, with our family’s constant refusal to abide by any sort of schedule, all three of us missed out on the actual Baptism. Our collective bads. We were seriously on the way and we really wanted to be there, but we irresponsibly took too long. We got all dressed up for nothing, aside for the reception at a Christian meeting hall. I was taken by surprise; they were playing songs from Hillsong at the venue. I was like, whoa! Anywho, seeing as it would officially be Mich’s 17th birthday by the stroke of midnight, December 28th, we all decided to head out to Greenbelt to celebrate. RD sent me an SMS early telling me that he was staying across the road from Greenbelt for the next couple of days, so I invited him to celebrate with us. The bastard got big! No clue if it’s fat or muscle, but either way, RD has increased in mass. The place we went to was, (how do I say this nicely), fornicated. With an iron stick. The place itself wasn’t bad; the food and drink was great. But, the music they played? And the group that sang? And the idiots who danced to the music? OMG! WTF! Needless to say, everyone was bored and uninterested, until around Midnight when we wished Mich her Happy Birthday. Me, Mich and RD amused ourselves by making fun of the singer (who RD had a ginormous crush on; he just couldn’t admit it) and of the rhythm-less white guys who thought they were cool. Oh well. RD went back home as soon as we did, and as soon as we got back to the Valle, Mich and I caught some shut-eye. [Written on January 3, 2006]
December 28: The One With The Crankiness
This day was a tad disappointing. For one thing, I woke up a bit early so that me and Mich would be ready for our planned lunch with Glenn and Shiels. I eventually got Mich out of bed, and we were prepared early. BUT, apparently, there were plans to pick up Mich’s cake. Unfortunately, these plans went down the crapper. As such, it was up to us to save the cake. Mich and I had to wait for the driver, which took ages, and then we had to run errands, which, too, took ages. Oh and for those who don’t know, if I haven’t eaten for an extended period of time, and I’m not occupied by either a gaming console or Basketball, I get my boxers tied up in several different bunches. This was one of those days. I was cranky, but I knew my cousins weren’t the problem, so I tried my best not to let it out on them. Anywho, we made it to Glorietta but we totally missed lunch, so we just had a light meal at Cibo that was kinda in between lunch and dinner (lunner?). Cibo kinda settled my crank. I got Mich her birthday pressie (a bunch of clothes from Bayo) and got myself a couple more shirts. Along the way, Mich and I saw this Armani Exchange (ARMANI EXCHANGE SERPENTS! HSSSSSSSSS!!!!!) display thingy that looked exactly like Shana. We were so amazed at the Shana Doppelganger that we had to take a picture. (We quizzed her later on if Armani Exhange was one of the places that she’d modelled at. She was as shocked about the uncanniness as we were, but she denied that it was actually her.) In other news, we made our way back home to greet the youngest of the Mafia Sistserhood, my Tita Rose. She’s one of the four people that I consider to be my mother (aside from my actual Mother), so I was heaps excited to see her. It was great! She was welcomed with (in keeping with Mafia tradition) a rather generous feast. As always, the inner circle was present. Anywho, after the pigging out, it was back to bed. [Written on January 3, 2006]
December 29: The One With The Failed Outing
Today, I awaited a message from my cousins on the father’s side to inform me of the planned outgoings for the night. Apparently, it was supposed to be a sweet get-together. I made plans for the morning and early arvo to be spent tiangge-browsing with Shiels and Mich. As tedious as that was for us, it did let us catch up on some presents that we forgot to buy earlier. Oh, and it also gave us a chance to eat at Tropical Hut. Oh, the Hut. It was a trip down memory lane for me; Mother used to work at a Mario’s restaurant, which had a Hut nearby. The Hut filled my stomach linings many a time. And today for the first time in about nine years or so, I had lunch at the Hut. Awesome. Anywho, I received a message later on that the gathering was cancelled; Keanan had no sitter. As such, I made alternative arrangements for dinner at Gerry’s Grill with Mich and Shiels. It was pretty great; awesome food (we had way too much) accompanied by awesome storytelling (again, way too much) and topped off by awesome Starbucks (coffee conversations at Starbucks = L337). [Written on January 3, 2006]
December 30: The One With All The Wrapping
For the life of me, I can’t remember exactly what happened today. I can’t form a coherent paragraph description, so I guess I’ll stick to my trusted bullet points.
- The early morning consisted of me and Mich remembering to wrap Val’s Christmas pressie. Mich made a righteous mess, but she came up with a clever and imaginative design for the wrapping. Plus, the decoy present needed to be elaborately manufactured as well. We made a hell of a team: I took care of the tape, and Mich handled everything else. All hail imbalanced work loads HURRAH!
- Speaking of the PQD, she came back from Malaysia today. As such, we planned one last hangout session before I had to leave. Figuring I’d be busy from tomorrow until the 3rd, we organised some sort of dessert at Greenhills. After sorting through Val’s driver issues, we set things up; seeing as I ‘owed’ her peach mango pie from Jollibee, we decided to eat out at the Jollibee at Greenhills. Since Shana was coming along, me and Mich had to scramble to wrap her pressie as well.
- The day was hectic; having to sort out presents and wrapping, then trying to organise the desert plans. In the middle of everything, we had to make it to the dinner Ninong Paul organised for us at Sugi.
- Me and Mich went walking around the Promenade after dinner but before dessert. Val, Shana and Gerrick got there after we did, but we didn’t complain: Gerrick needed knee surgery (ouch). And so, the presents were presented. The decoy present trick worked. =D Since we didn’t get to buy Gerrick a present, we treated him to two orders of Jolly Cheezy Fries.
- Sounds like a fun night, right? Wrong-ish. We had to get picked up way too early; driver scheduling issues. As such, we only got to hang out for about a good twenty minutes; way too short when you’ve got an emotional speech planned. I rain checked myself on the speech, we said our final (or what we thought would be final…see January 2, 2006) goodbyes, and I swallowed my disappointment at the shortened hangout session.
- Now I remember something fun about the day! Val called Mich when we got home. I would butt in every once in a while, until Mich had to get some shuteye and passed the phone on to me. It was a pretty cool way to end the night.
[Written on January 3, 2006]
December 31: The One With The Lights And Sounds
Woke up early, despite the phone taking up some of my needed sleep time from the night before. Had to wake up early anyways; there was a planned lunch at my Ninong Pito’s house in Cavite. It was awesome seeing everyone again. I spent the afternoon playing with Zoe; if it’s possible, she gets cuter and cuter everyday. Around the afternoon, we made our way back home to the Valle to prepare for the night’s big New Year’s Eve celebrations. Along the way, my Grandmother was bitten by the nostalgia bug; we took a detour to the place where all ten of her children (my mother included) grew up. Memories sufficiently resurrected, we made our way back home. After a patented 15 minute power nap, I got ready for New Year’s. Oh, had another Philippines-to-Australia shouting match with a parent, this time with the mother. This one involved them looking out for me a tad too much. Night sufficiently dampened, I went downstairs to let my frustrations loose through the loud bangs and beautiful booms of the Filo New Year’s Celebrations. Frustrations sufficiently expelled, I made my way over to the post-firework pork feast. All that food put me to sleep right away. [Written on January 3, 2006]
January 1: The One With All The Basketball
I woke up to two text messages from the mother; apologising over SMS isn’t as lame as some people might imagine. For my situation, it was actually quite appropriate. Anyways, I didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast today, thanks to a 10AM awakening. Thus, it was summarily skipped. Today, I got to do something I had been craving for month; play some basketball. It was a bad situation though; no food (lunch was also skipped) + no exercise for a month + three hours or so of basketball = MA ERROR. Surprisingly though, it was as if I had been playing all this time. I didn’t dominate (like I ever do, in the first place) but I surprised myself with what I was actually able to do. Also, it was one of those times when you just feel like jelly after playing. I’ve missed the sensation of not having the energy to walk off the court. But, physically I paid the price. My head throbbed so bad afterwards; I was barely myself for dinner. Speaking of, the plan was to eat dinner at 6:30PM. Seeing as by 6PM we were still on the basketball court, those plans were thrown down the crapper. We were about 90 minutes late for dinner (this family + scheduled plans = SYNTAX ERROR). Dinner was awesome though; having my first meal at 8PM was not. After dinner, I fell asleep at Ninong Paul‘s. *shrugs* I woke up, said goodbye to the homebound-contingent of the Mafia, then went back home for some much-needed sleep. [Written on January 3, 2006]
January 2: The One With The Japanese Dinner
Well, this was my last full day in the Phils. Surprisingly, I wasn’t as melodramatic about the day as I thought I was gonna be. Seeing as I ran out of credit last night, today didn’t involve my usual 30 text messages per day. Anywho, we went to Megamall, where Tita Cel bought a 12” LeBron James figure (awesome, by the way) for my brother. Then, Mich and I made dinner plans for my last night. After buying the Six Faces of Madness set at Virra Mall, we had dinner with Val, Shana and Gerrick at Nirai. We didn’t think we’d get another chance to hang out, but Tita Cel said we could hang out one last time seeing as I was leaving the next day. It was the perfect way to spend my last night: just hanging out with my cousin and her friends, great conversation, great food and a bunch of photogs. After dinner, we were about to have Starbucks, but turns out we got picked up a tad too early again. So, after a couple more photogs and some final goodbyes, I headed off. As soon as we got home, Mich organised the CD’s containing all the stuff she wanted to scab off my laptop: music and photogs and such. Sometime in the middle of all this, Val called ‘cause she was bored; we talked while Mich handled her CD business (all the while busy with texting a certain someone as well =P). At around 3:30AM, Val and I bid each other farewell, and Mich and I proceeded to fall asleep. [Written on January 7, 2006]
January 3: The One With The Packing
I was amazed at my ability to actually organise and pack all my stuff. Usually, organisation’s not my strong point; I may be clinical when it comes to obsessive-compulsiveness, but ‘Marty’ and ‘Organisation’ just do not compute. Anywho, I had my last Phils-based meal to keep me going throughout the flight, then I went to visit Ninong Paul to say thanks for everything. After that, it was off to the airport. I don’t feel like recounting my experience here: pisses me off way too much. Plus, I’ve already covered it on Multiply anyways. [Written on January 7, 2006]
This was seriously the best trip I’ve ever been on. It was definitely an awesome experience. Hopefully, I can do it again for this Christmas. Besides, I promised Mich I’d be there for her 18th Birthday. I’m still sorta in Phase One of my Phils-recovery; it’s never easy for me to leave the Phils behind, or to be left behind for the Phils. It takes time, but it’ll happen, eventually. Just might take longer this time seeing as I don’t have High School anymore to keep me busy. Being in school usually took my mind off things, and without it, I’m left without a way to manage. Oh well, just gotta keep going, right? Plus, March will be here soon enough, bringing with it Mich and University. That’s definitely a month to look forward to. Anyways, later days!
- marty..
P.S. Dang, my beloved bullet points didn't work. Oh well. *shrugs*
END COMMUNICATION.
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