| It has been quite a while since my last post here (like I stated before, I ignored this Xanga). In my last post, I listed some things that I wanted to do before I left New York: While I was only able to accomplish a handful of these goals that I set for myself, I was pretty satisfied with the outcome. Prior to leaving NYC, I felt calm and decisive. I knew that moving to Philippines to study was a big step for me to take— Imagine, hoping for years to come back to your native land to study? How cool is that? It has been one of my dreams ever since my mother took me to New York over twelve years ago, on June 19, 1995, to be exact. While many people question my decision ("Apay kaykayat mo ditoy?", they question), I am very glad that, for once in my life, I actually put 100% into this choice, and although there have been times that I have felt regret for this, I am generally happy. Of course, I am sad at times, and I yearn to go back home, sleep on my comfortable bed, see my friends, annoy my sister. However, I know that I cannot do the aforementioned for the time being, and it is alright. They are the sacrifices that I am willing to make to achieve my idea of a success, which in this sense is attaining a somewhat affluent life coupled with happiness and the love of family and friends. I cannot expect to have success handed to me in a silver platter— I understand that it does require hard work. As Einstein once said, "Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration". Anyway, I left NYC at about 8:30 AM on February 27th, and I arried at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (which I believe was the then Marcous International Airport built by Ferdinand Marcos) in Manila at about 10:30 in the evening. Funny, the Starbucks green tea lattes in the airport in Minnesota where the plane made a pitstop was only $1.80. I was very astounded by the price, and even considered buying another one, hehe, but I knew it was bad for my bladder, especially since I stuck in one of seats in the middle of the airplane (which was unsurprisingly a Boeing 747). Although the green tea latte was quite, well, cheap, the Subway was really pricey. My foot-long chicken teriyaki came to about $10 without any drinks if I remember correctly. Anyway, the airport in Minnesota (I took NWA) was pretty nice. It was much nicer than JFK and had a lot of stores (if only I had $$). I stayed there for about 2 or 3 hours in which I spent my time making some last minute phone calls to my family, friends, and Dalena (birthday wishes hehe), reminiscing about NYC, and doing some wishful thinking about my life in the Philippines. We then left for Japan. In Japan, the payphones suck. They took all my coins and gave me like 1-2 minute phone calls. Gosh, so expensive. Hehe. On the plane to Philippines from Japan, I met a nice old lady (in her 70s) who kept humming tunes. She introduced herself as Annie and told me to go watch one of her jazz performances in NYC (I forgot the name of the club but I'll look it up later). I just smiled and dosed off to sleep as she showed me her family pictures and shared her life stories as I was getting jet-lagged. Much to my demise, Annie was/is really this popular person named Annie Brazil, the grand dame of Filipino jazz and the mother of Richard Merck, former husband of some popular Filipina actress. Oh well, too bad. Hehehe So then many hours later, a bola bola siopao, and some tinupig, I arrived home after being picked up at the airport by my lolo, my two uncles,and my lola's cousin. The dreaded moment came— meeting the mistress (T-Rex). Feeling the urgency to urinate, I ran to the bathroom, and as I came out, lo and behold, who was there? The creepy old lady. I said, "Hi! Siak ni Tik Tik. Masapol nga dalusak ti imak" (pointing to my fingers with my mouth), and ran to the faucet. Gosh, so freaking awkward, and OMG she is so lazy. She has my grandfather wrapped around her fingers, but why not? After 20+ years of cheating behind my grandmother's back, who wouldn't fall Andres to a sexy beast like that? LOL. Gosh, she wears unfittingly sexier outfits than anyone in the town just to go sell some chicken. It has been five months and four days since that day, and the memory is still fresh in my mind. A lot has happened since then. I celebrated the second anniversary of my lola's death, having a picture of her enlarged (which really creeped all our neighbors); I celebrated my 20th birthday with my cousin in 3 parts (the eating, the band playing, and the karaoke-drinking); I returned to a familiar place and sat atop the rock that I once climbed four years ago; I attended my first class at Saint Louis University as a biology major, and the first person I met was a foreigner; I got in touch with my childhood best friend whom I had not spoken to since first grade; I met my goddaughter— the apol of my eye (She always calls out "Tik Tik")  ; I changed my major once again to Pharmacy; I cleaned my grandmother's grave; I got called a drunkard although I have never been drunk in my whole life; I got my license without any help from connections; I took a spontaneous trip to Laoag just to eat at Cindy's and come back home again; I surprised my mother in Ilocos; I met up with Jessica at the lake; I felt independence but was still incapacitated. Until next time. bc. bs. Gb. |
