Let’s Drink To That

Those were the thoughts going through my head today while I was driving in downtown Dumaguete. I was extra careful in driving since I was driving on an expired license. LoL. Being the law-abiding citizen that I was, it was bothering me that I had been doing just that.

My conscience got the better of me, so I headed down to the local Land Transportation Office (LTO) to secure a driver’s license renewal form so that I could perhaps take care of my renewal tomorrow, while I was still in Dumaguete. Anyway, it wasn’t 5PM yet but the window in charge of issuing renewal forms was already closed. Typical! I opted to finish my medical/drug tests instead, the results of which would be available first thing tomorrow morning. I am going to the LTO office early tomorrow so that I’d be first in line and hopefully be able to finish my license renewal before the morning is over. I’ll be dragging Borski along so that she could renew her license as well.

—–

I got in touch with BPI customer support earlier this afternoon (on the prodding of a friend/badminton buddy of ours who works at the local BPI branch here) to follow up on the status of my credit card application. That friend of ours even advised me to sound angry on the phone so that they would prioritize the delivery since it was already due December of last year still. LoL. They had previously tried to deliver my card late last year but found that I didn’t leave an authorization note with Borski to receive my CC, so they did not leave it. I called up to inform them that I had left the authorization on the first unit of our apartment since more often than not the first unit always had someone to receive in case there were deliveries such as those. Anyway, I was informed that they tried to deliver the said card 3x already, the last one being last January 19, and that my card was already destroyed. I mean, cmon! Well, needless to say, I did manage to raise my voice a bit as I was pissed at the mix up. I did inform the customer service rep that  I explicitly gave instructions for them to deliver it to the first unit.

Anyway, they informed me that they would put up a request for reactivation of my account and schedule a delivery of my CC. It wouldn’t be due for 2 weeks so I will be waiting for that. I hope there will no longer be a mix up this time.

—–

I am also taking care of my requirements for my passport. Among all of us siblings, I am the only one who still does not have a passport. Blame it on restrictions put forth on me by the Republic of the Philippines. No, I do not have a pending case, and no I am not a terrorist (although at times i think that I do look like one…LoL). The restriction is part of my agreement when I signed a contract with the Department of Science and Technology as one of their JLAP scholars. Anyway, I did accomplish my end of the agreement, with 3 years accumulated employment duration with a local company, and I just recently secured clearance from DOST so that they would already remove my name from the blacklist. I just got my baptismal certificate this afternoon. Good thing the attendant was extra accommodating and just made me wait for a few minutes instead of making me come back for it the next day. I hope to be able to complete my requirements by this week.

—–

Whew! I was able to do quite a lot of things today. Now I am looking forward to an evening of badminton. Yahoo!

Yahoo! I will be home for Valentines. I am missing Borski so much already. Today is my 28th day of duty (straight, mind you!), so it is but expected that I am looking forward to getting some time off and being able to relax and spend Valentines day with Borski.

She called me up just now, and was quite annoyed as to why I was not giving her a definite date of my arrival. LoL. Anyway, as usual, I was planning on surprising her again by coming a day early. I told her days before that I’d be arriving on Sunday yet, so boy is she in for a surprise when I come home tomorrow.

The more they stay the same..or so the saying goes..

I was feeling quite introspective today as I was pondering over the goings-on in our family. What came to mind was how very true the simple teachings we were taught when we were still young. Among those, we were taught that whenever we did something wrong, we were taught early on that we had to say “I’m sorry…” Even to the point of mimicking our parents, we were taught that whenever we were at fault, we had to apologize.

During those times, there was no such thing as pride. If you were at fault, you had to apologize. It was as simple as that.

As we got older, and as our eyes were slowly opened to the realities of life, and when we sometimes feel as though we can stand on our own, we sometimes become guilty of this thing they call “pride”. Even though we are at fault, sometimes we find it hard to extend an apologizing hand first.

Sometimes I wish you could see through my eyes. I wanna take you back to the time not so long ago. When they would not allow as much as a fly to land on your skin. When they did all that they could do just so no harm would come to you.

Before you start pointing fingers, we must ask ourselves, have we taken a look at the mirror lately?

It seems as though it was just new year’s day yesterday, and now, January is almost over. I have been quite busy with work, what with the 12-hour work shifts, and add to that the very harsh conditions at our work site. Imagine this: chilly winds, with almost whole-day/night rainshowers. More than enough to make your chin shiver (is that even the right term? LoL)…

Anyway, I was talking to the assistant driller the other night and he told me that in this line of work, we would certainly age faster. I asked him why he thought so, to which he answered that not only was our work demanding physically (with the conditions I mentioned before), but we had to keep sharp mentally as well, with the multimillion peso value of the repercussions of our decisions. I had to agree with him.

As we were discussing this, another thing came to mind, another image. As I was looking at them braving the cold and the windy chill of the night, I couldn’t help but think of errant and irresponsible children, so very caught up in the life and liberty that they enjoy. Sometimes to the point of just taking their studies for granted, engaging in drinking, drugs and other similar activities. I am no saint, but I can honestly say that whatever it was that I went through, it has certainly made me all the wiser. After all, what is important is not in the falling, but in the getting up after, right? So cliche. LoL.

What I would give to be able to take them on a magical trip, much like the pensieve of the Harry Potter novels. Just so they would see how difficult their parents toil to provide for them. I can’t help it. I don’t know, call it maturity perhaps, but somehow I just see life through a different perspective nowadays.

The circle of life. Funny but true.

Another belated post. LoL. I’ve been meaning to post about my musings as the year got underway but was just too damn lazy to do so.

First of all, I was feeling melancholic at the start of the year. This was mainly due to the reason of me not making it to the sendoff of my brother Ray. He had been arranging his work papers to Dubai during the 2nd half of last year and before the year was over, he got word that he’d be leaving early in 2009. He will be there for a 2-year work contract. When he got word that his final travel date would be January 7, he immediately texted me asking me when I’d be home. My base off from work would not be until the 10th so I asked him to delay his departure so that we’d still see each other before he leaves. There was no way I could escape from my work schedule and I was in Kidapawan that time.

Emotionally, I didn’t know how to describe how it felt thinking that he’d be leaving soon. Growing up separated by just 2 years (I am older, but I could easily pass off as younger than him..LoL), there was the usual sibling rivalry. It even is funny now that I think of the memories. My brother and I used to sleep in 1 bed together when we were still little. He was malikot when he slept, often kicking and turning about throughout the night, and I’d be awakened by this trait of his. At times, I’d punch him when this happened. Naturally, he would be at the losing end since I was awake, while he wasn’t..LoL. We weren’t that close growing up as I think I sort of looked at him as competition. Even in sports, we both were very competitive. I was even closer to my friends and classmates than I was with him. Oftentimes, we couldn’t converse without one eventually raising his voice. This did not get by without our parents noticing and numerous times, they even brought this to our attention. Blood was thicker than water, they told me.

As far as I remember, the turning point came when we were separated from each other for a long time, when he decided to work in Manila as a callcenter agent. When he came back after that, things were different. I couldn’t quite describe how, but it was just that. We were more gentle with each other. Another thing that brought us closer to each other was the game of badminton. We became partners and on a number of occasions, we went out of town to on road trips to join badminton tournaments. Yes, the usual conflicts between us were still there, but somehow, we were already communicating and it was easier to talk things over, unlike our situation before. When I was assigned in Bacolod, he’d text me whatever was happening back home, sometimes also to blow off some steam. I guess our bonding developed at that point. It came at a later part in our lives, but I think what was important was it did.

..1st runner up during our first tournament..

The whole family went to Cebu to send him off at Mactan International Airport last January 7..while I had to be contented with being passed around and talking to everybody on the mobile phone while they were at the pre-departure area. My brother is now an OFW.

Blood indeed is thicker than water.

Ingat always dinha brod!

Now who would’ve thought that I’d end up spending Christmas in Dumaguete, and new year in Kidapawan (or Davao, if I can get away with a little pitik-pitik) hehehe..

I just about made up my mind already that I wouldn’t be able to spend my Christmas and New Year holidays with Borski and my family but alas! God is so good.

Earlier in the month, Borski kept texting me as to when she could get my definite schedule so that she could already purchase plane tickets early so as to avoid the skyrocketing prices of plane fare now that the holidays are here. And my answer was the same all through out..I still don’t know my schedule.

Last week though, I got word that after my Christmas holidays (I got Dec. 23-27 off yipee!), I would be reporting to Davao on December 27 and would be spending my New Year there, hopefully with Borski and her family. Actually I will be reporting to Kidapawan, in Cotabato but I am hoping to be able to escape to Davao City on New Year’s eve and I am optimistic that my superior will allow me to spend that time in Davao, and not high up in the mountains, cold and lonely. LoL.

I am now at NAIA terminal 3 awaiting for my connecting flight to Dumaguete. At every gate I passed today, I kept wishing people I met along the way with ‘Merry Christmas’ complete with the ear-wide grin. I am gonna be home later today!

Yebedep! I’ll be home for Christmas…you can count on it!

Wet or very wet.

As I have already mentioned in my previous post, that is how I would describe the weather here. I am speaking of course as someone who resides high up in the mountainous regions (read: taga bukid). LoL. Anyway, at first, I did find it hard to adjust to the very wet weather here and to days that never go by without any rainfall, but I am pretty much warming up to it nowadays.

Due to the high altitude, more often than not, I also get to experience really foggy days (and I mean really foggy!), and as I look below the cliffs beside as we travel to and from our work site, I can’t help but imagine the eerie feeling you somehow always get when you watch horror movies.

One time I asked our driver,

“Meron naba nahulog sa bangin dito?” (yep..tagalog kunuhay…hehehe),

to which he replied,

“Wala pa ho sir, gusto nyong subukan?”

LoL. Kidding..the first part was his reply, and the second part was part of my mental conversation, my unverbalized thoughts, hehe.

Anyway, as we travel to our site, we get to see the majestic Mt. Mayon from afar, granted that the skies are clear and there is no fog. We’ve seen it on a couple of occasions and indeed, it is a sight to behold. I mean, I have seen it on postcards and from numerous history books, but nothing really compares to the feeling of seeing it with your own two eyes.

..ang mga bakasyonista..bow!..

Which reminds me..my exilim digicam has bade me goodnight. Game over. I dunno but there seem to be many horizontal lines whenever I try and take pics with it, but when I use it to take videos, all seems to be working well. I dunno whadaheck is wrong with it. I am not in the mood to purchase a new one anytime soon. But it always is good to have one in hand whenever you are in the mood for taking snapshots, right?

Everyday I get to watch the perfect conical shape of Mt. Mayon from afar, and everyday I am reminded of my retired digital cam…

sigh…

(This post is a bit belated since we are waaaay up there in the mountains. LoL. Still, I couldn’t help but post my thoughts on this subject matter.)

When both guys came out after the sounding of the bell for round 1, that was what initially came to mind. The disparity between height and build was so obvious that once couldn’t help but notice it. Add to that that the betting odds were 2 to 1 in favor of the big guy. Amid the excitement, I was still able to send my dad a text message, and it went a little something like this..

“It’s David versus Goliath..Pacquiao is dead..”

But then again, as the rounds went by 1 by one, I was like a child mystified and awestruck by what I saw. Instead of Oscar dela Hoya (ODLH) giving Pacman a boxing lesson, it went the other way, with Pacman tagging and rocking ODLH’s head numerous times. And he was as precise as clockwork.

At first, I was ecstatic, watching Pacman connect again and again, to the delight of the jampacked theater in downtown Legaspi. But as the bout went on, I no longer felt that way. I felt pity for Oscar. Here was a guy, a respected and accomplished boxer during his prime. I had high regard for him, having watched him fight quality opponents time and again. But here he was at the mercy of our modern day David. I pitied him, and wished that his cornerman would stop the fight. Everytime Pacman would fake a punch, I could see him visibly retreating and almost cringe in anticipation of the next barrage of power punches.

After the fight was over, and as I looked back in retrospect, I could only hope that Pacman would be spared the same beating he gave Oscar that day. I do hope he would have the sense to retire while he is still on top. I could only hope. For history has always told us of a different story. Many boxing greats exited the stage pretty much the same way. Even the great Muhammad Ali retired in the same fashion. It’s Oscar dela Hoya’s time now, and soon, it will be Manny’s.

After Oscar refused to come out for the 9th round, I got this txt message from my dad..

“Goliath retired after the 8th round”

I couldn’t help but smile.

Here’s to you Manny! Let’s drink to that!