Of Cement Benches, Lamp Posts, Waves and Balot

Zamboanga City's boulevard, I must admit, is not the best in the world. It's not even the best in the Philippines. But it's the only one we've got around here. And it has a million stories to tell. If only those white paint colored cement benches could talk, it could tell of men who promised the moon, the full moon, and the stars littered in the dark, dark sky to win the hearts of women. If only those lamp posts could speak, it could tell of those who found light and reason to go on and move on. If only those rough rocks mossed by the rushing waves from Basilan Strait could talk, it could tell of the countless souls who have searched for answers. If only the sea itself could talk, it could tell of those who have breathed its salty breeze to find peace, to find meaning.

Last Saturday night...

Yes, dot dot dot! I was looking at my posts here and saw this draft. I can't remember which Saturday night I was to refer to.

Besides, there have been too many Saturday nights I want to forget! Too many I want to bury. Too many I want those waves to crush on those mossed and sharp rocks .

From now on, no more blue musings. Oh, I just crossed my fingers. :)

The Marathon

The Ateneo Fiesta 2007, dubbed AtFest07, kicked off last Friday, November 30, 2007. The opening event was the traditional 5-kilometer run. This was from the waterpool in Pasonanca to the La Purisima Campus of Ateneo. Over forty joined the event. I was one of those who arrived at a little past five am. It was to start at 5 a.m.

But I was lucky because the run started late! I failed to prepare for the event. I wasn't there to win anyway. I was there to prove to myself that I can do it. That I have the balls to run the 5 kilometers in short shorts and a pair of pink socks! :) I don't have to say that I didn't win. I did not even figure in the top ten! It took me 34 minutes to finish the race sans water, sans rest! I ran, actually more like jogged! I enjoyed it. I really did. Father Tony, the Father President, also joined the marathon. Even grade schoolers were there. And those kids were amazing! You should have seen them running like mice! They were fast! I'm not sure if two of them outran me, but someone from their group did, that I am sure of!

When I reached the finish line, I was looking for Lito who was covering the event on a bike. He was carrying my pink bag. Yes, apart from my socks which were pink, my bag was also pink. :)

He was nowhere to be found. Apparently, he had a flat tire. So, I was roaming around the campus in those short shorts. I didn't care anyway. I was just worried about the wet shirt I was wearing. It wasn't pink! Though I brought one. I was to wear the shirt of the team I was representing, the Faculty and Staff. It's gray. Oh well, at least I had my bag and socks. :)

Finally, after waiting for a little over thirty minutes, Lito arrived with my bag. I changed clothes, got into a pair of pants and a pink superman shirt, all too ready for the parade.

It was, well, a memory I'd want to come back to someday. When everyone and everything seem to run after me, I will just have to go back to the Marathon and relive it. I faced it, I ran for it and I finished it!

I placed eleventh. :)

Go to ateneofiesta.com to check out AtFest07.

-sigh-

Tonight, I will fall into a deep slumber, hoping never to wake up. And tomorrow, I will open my eyes, already aware that never is a myth. I told myself never to make this same mistake, but here I am lost, hurt and hopeless, again.

--i was supposed to watch episode 4 of A Beautiful Life last night-- ;-(

Simplicity is Bliss

That is a gumamela that you see. I took it on October 11, bisperas del Zamboanga Hermosa Festival. It was on display in the botanical show in Plaza Pershing. Every time I look at this, it never fails to amaze me. A gumamela is pretty too, especially this one. I have bubbly memories on gumamela. We used to pick this flower, pound it until its sticky juice becomes inviting. We prepare in some separate container a soap and water solution. We mix this with the pounded gumamela and get ourselves a stick from the walis tingting, make a loop at its soft end. And have a bubble party! Oh joy! But seeing this gumamela, I don't have the heart to pound it. It' s so pretty. This is one proof that the beautiful things in life are those that are simple. Pure joy!
Like this other photo. We went to Zamboanga's boulevard to have balot. Life can't get any better than this. I couldn't simply find the words to express the joy I felt that day.
It's not really the balot. Any given day, any given time, any given place, if you are with your closest friends, that's pure bliss. And it's amazing really. Who ever knew that we would meet and be friends and have that balot session in the boulevard?

Heroes

Alighting from the pedicab, I was thinking of what to write about today. I thought of Sunshine's manna from heaven (read: bird poop) that she got last night would be funny. Writing that she indulged in treating me to Dunkin's bunwich after the incident would have been enough gratitude from my end. Squinting at the bright day, I rode a tricycle that dropped two ladies (one in her late thirties and the other probably her mother, an octogenarian) right in front of me. I asked the driver to bring me to Ateneo then he asked whether in Purisima or Tumaga. As I was about to say Purisima, he quickly added "and how much ?" I said 30. Then he started the tryke and off we went to Ateneo. I was still wondering what to write about. As we were nearing the Manaog Church near the Tumaga Bridge, I noticed a bit of a traffic jam. There were vehicles lined up in the other lane, all sorts of vehicles. There were PUJs, tricycles, and a few cars. I also saw two uniformed men from the army near the entrance of the Church. There were also ladies crowded near the same entrance. They seemed to be teachers of a high school as their uniform suggested. Then there seemed to be a flag carried by, again, men in uniform. I realized that they were carrying a coffin draped with the Philippine Flag. He probably was one of the four men who had an encounter with the Abu Sayyaf recently, the man in inside that is. The coffin was cream in color, a mixture of yellow and dirty white. There were a few delicate carvings that seemed to be flowers, but I wasn't sure because the tryke was starting to speed up. It seemed small, the coffin. He could not have been taller than 5'4". He probably had dark skin, browned by the many hours that he might have spent under sun in some coast of Basilan. I could see him chatting with his comrades, probably wondering when they would be home. I suddenly felt like I was drowning in doldrums.
The government's stand to eliminate the Abu Sayyaf is totally understandable. It's stand that peace will be attained once it will win this war is one pill I cannot swallow. They say that the government shouldn't go to war if it's not sure it's going to win. I disagree. Nobody wins in a war. Granting that the Abu Sayyaf will be eliminated, every one of its members, doesn't the government think that there will be a number who will be more than willing to continue what the Abu Sayyaf has started and see to fruition its mission?
So long as there are parents who will not let their daughter marry her boyfriend because he happens to be Muslim and so long as there are parents who will not let their daughter marry her boyfriend because he is Christian, I don't think we will ever solve this problem. I don't think we will ever win this one.

Commuting

Our professor in Criminal Law announced Monday night that we were to meet for three hours on Tuesday. Armed with the 21 Aggravating circumstances provided in Article XIV of the RPC, I went to class early. Don't worry, this is not about our class. He didn't meet us, after waiting for him for over an hour. So that was an unproductive night, a lazy night. I usually commute in going home. From school, I take a jeep to the pueblo. Once there, I'd take an 8-minute walk to the jeep terminal of Tumaga (this is where I live, Barangay Tumaga). I am usually with Eve and Shine (two of my closest buds in law school) gladly taking advantage of public transportation. The 8-minute walk includes a constant watch over our heads and shoulders. The electric wires in the pueblo are squatted by hundreds of birds. They line up in those wires, making them the elegant king-sized bed of Queen Marie Antoinette. We cover our mouths every time we laugh at something funny. Nobody wants bird-poop dropped in their mouths, fresh and warm! I wonder when these birds are going to leave the pueblo for good. From the looks of it, they don't have any plans of leaving. I also try to stay away from big crowds. It's almost fiesta, so bomb threats are flooding, literally. I think we had 3 in the last two months, explosions, not just threats. Reaching the terminal is a security blanket. Once there, I still am vigilant, constantly looking for unattended bags, both plastic and not. These days, we can never be too careful. Last night there was this girl in the jeep. She was so annoying. She was sitting beside her friend Ryan. You could see that she was flirting with him. She was wearing this dirty white baby tee, a pair of faded jeans and a pair of sneakers, a wanting imitation of chucks. She was thin, really thin. She had thick lips and big eyes. She was brown. And boy, was she bubbly! The kind that will suffocate you. Ryan was seated to her right. He just nodded to practically everything what this girl was saying. I was in front of them, by the way. Ryan was in a white polo with a faded undershirt, obviously a school uniform. A pair of slacks, which were obviously well ironed, and a pair of mudded black leather shoes. He had a growing mustache and a boyish smile. Astonishingly, he had perfect teeth and nice red lips, which made me conclude that he doesn't smoke. No wonder this girl was going gaga over him. Finally, we reached the girl's stop and she bid goodbye to Ryan and not hearing her, called out his name girlishly. That's it, good riddance. It seemed a relief more to me than to him. But Ryan didn't mind it at all. He never got annoyed with the girl. He smiled when he needed, nodded when their conversation called for it and laughed, quite unabashedly, when told a joke. For the record, I wasn't eavesdropping. He had chinky eyes and he was, well, handsome. Then my time came to bid him goodbye. We reached my stop. I felt like walking, so instead of taking the pedicab I indulged myself in taking that walk. It was a nice walk. Picture a full moon and star-filled and star-lit sky and you, basking under its romance. Hold on to that picture because last night there was no moon. Only two distant stars. It was cloudy. Cold. Sad. And lonely. (Picture courtesy of www.mightydacs98.blogspot.com)

Breather

I wrote this a long time ago. I even posted this in my friendster blog. I think I just don't have anything better to do. Well, just read on. :D

ALAS

FamiliarFacesUnfamiliarStares
AmongMultitudesIStand
FromNamelessRuins
IHaveFound
AloneWanting.
AVisionAblazed
Pain
BitterSweet
Tears
ColdAndHard
Sighs
LongAndFull
TheDancingTwilightStopped
TheJoyfulBreezeSobbed
WhyInTormentsBreathe
TheSunDevouringItself
TheSeaDrowningItself
EverythingGoneToOblivion


RestDear
TireOfIt
LetGo
Fly
WoundedWings
StringedWings

ALAS
ISuccumbed
A
Foreboding
Painless
Tasteless
Farewell

Fellowship

We arrived there at around 8 p.m. I was with Mana Suzette and Mano Leo. We cramped ourselves in a tricycle since none of us had a ride. When we reached Chinito's (the one near Village), Mano Yuri was already there having an animated conversation with Mano Ator. Before going there, Mana Suzette and I had Batchoy and Japanese cake in one of the canteens in WMSU. We had a class with Atty. Mano Jun Liong until around 6 p.m. People started arriving and I can't clearly remember who arrived before who. People started ordering and I believe the first on the list was the Chinito's platter, two of that. Some had San Mig light, others had Cali, and for some others, Red Horse (including myself). I downed three bottles of stallion and the thinly sliced Hungarian sausages didn't escape my appetite for food for the gods. I used to bring my friends in Los Baños Hungarian sausages for pasalubong (Mr. Sausage makes the best sausages here in Zamboanga City, Gregor, penge naman ng mga sampung packs! Feeling close, eh di naman nya ako kilala. hehehe.). People were having discussions of sorts. Mana Emma was able to successfully corner Mano Alex and they seemed to have enjoyed talking about the Jaycees. Mano Leo's small brood seemed to have been talking about, well, there was just too many and I wasn't eavesdropping anyway. Our group, well, suffice it to say, a lot. Mana Tyne and I were a bit worried about our friend Tony. I hope she's ok now. Mana Suzette and Mana Liza were having their own chit chat as well. Then some started leaving, starting with Mano Ator (it was quite early when he left, I think he was there for just a little over an hour). While others were already leaving, some were on their way. Atty. Mano Tor and Atty. Mano Jun Liong were two of those. They came from a basketball game. Interestingly, I never asked how their game was or if they won in the game and who they were playing with and against. Yes, I downed three RH stallion but that even didn't loosen up the air of bashfulness around me. That was my first fellowship and it was so too for Mana Suzette, Mana Bads, Mana Gleen, Mana Jen and Mano Ator (Go POPCORN, GO!). I don't know if it was just me but somehow, I felt like I was in a bar surrounded by a band of strangers. Albeit their faces were familiar, albeit their hands I shake every time I chance upon them in school, they are mostly still strangers to me. I tried, I tried to blend in, I tried to have my share of reaching out. But I guess it was still wanting. This is probably normal. I think trying too hard to blend in, trying to hard to feel that I belong, trying this hard is not healthy, it simply is trying too damn hard. I expected this to happen, for me to feel like I don't belong. I fear that I might not be liked, I might no fit in after all. I guess I must not force things to happen. I'll let time take its course and let things happen naturally. And I hope this happens soon enough (there I go again, pushing too much).

Missing them

I had a hard time getting up this morning. Seeing that I didn't have any class in the morning, I didn't bother to get up early like I usually do. While lying there on my bed, I realized that I needed to change my sheets. It's been two weeks since I last changed sheets. I brought these sheets home from Los Banos. Maple leaves are the only ornaments to the sheets, and they are orange. Weird. I've stayed in Los Banos for three years and staying in a place that long makes you miss it once you leave it. Leaving it was harder. Not because of the dirty kitchen of the dormitory nor of the two dysfunctional televisions. Not even the sudden ring of the phone at around 1:30 a.m. when I am in a deep slumber. But I do miss the food there. I do miss cooking there. I miss the freedom park there which has always been my inspiration to free myself of the flabs around my waist. I miss Adobo, no, not the adobo. Adobo is the adopted dog of the International House Residence Hall. When our guard can't seem to fight the urge to doze off (he seems to be lethargic, always) Adobo was always there playing guard and he seems to be doing one helluva job, mostof the time outdoing our real guard (Kuya, peace)! I miss the lager! That's one of the nicest things you can find in a dormitory full of graduate students, lager is breath, lager is life! And most of all, I miss them. They have been my family away from home. I miss you guys. I promise to finish my thesis so I will be forced to go there and see you guys and cook for you. Love you all!

Satti

My friends and I went to the canteen for some snack. Then I saw it there on display then all efforts to resist it has suddenly become futile! It's called Satti. I think this is a Malaysian/Indonesian delicacy. Though I am not sure of its origin, I love this treat anyway! It's hot and it's great! It's red and I love pink (huh?). That's barbecued beef bits on the sticks and that's rice seemingly floating on the scrumptious red hot sauce! You should try it...You can either go to Malaysia or Indonesia. But you can come visit Zamboanga City. And for those who live in Metro Manila, you can go to UP Diliman, I believe there's a place there where Satti is available. The owner even came here to Zamboanga City to check out this delectable treat. Jimmy's serves the best Satti here in Asia's Latin City!

Just saying...

I was watching UKG in ABS this morning and there was news about private employees who won't be receiving any bonus this Christmas. And some are already ranting about this!
It's almost Christmas, it's gonna be October this coming Monday! I am working in a private company too, and believe it or not, we only receive PhP1,500 for a bonus! How is that!
I guess I just have to be thankful right? The bonus is not mandatory any way, but the 13th month pay is! I mean, no one is gonna give you 1,500 these days for free! Do I sound like I'm trying to convince myself that I'm ok with this? :D

Boring!

It's 11 a.m. and I haven't started reading Art. 14 of the RPC. We have a recitation this afternoon (as always). Last time we met for this class, our Prof, Judge Elumba, called my name out (I was the one who was called for recitation that day). And he asked me if I've seen a naked lady before. ANd I said "Of course not!" and he asked if I said "yuck!" My recitation went well. But I can't say the same for this afternoon's recitation! I haven't memorized the 20 aggravating circumstances yet! well, I've got 5 hours to do that! I told you this is a boring day! I'm relating to you guys stuff about school!
I have to grab that book now... :D

Juliet's Romeo

i confess to the stars
what once upon shakespeare's wit
juliet evinced to the nightingale
her love both innocent and erudite
to the one Providence warranted her
Romeo
Romeo is hers and she is his
But this one Romeo
This Romeo is mine NOT.