Weighing In For The New Year

It’s the eve of 2008 and while my parents are still busy tinkering with their kitchen gadgets and while every one else is preoccupied with their respective preparations for the new year, I’m here in my very room, thinking about things to look forward to for next year.

Foremost is my personal life. I haven’t had the courage to tell my folks about me. I made small successes though in confiding myself to my siblings. It took a lot of will and nerve to come out. And I appreciated their understanding and acceptance. I’ve been dying to tell my folks about me. But then I do not want to see them die in shock if I’d tell them right now. Mom is still hypertensive and dad, aside from being hyperglycemic, he has already been confirmed to have scars in his heart muscles. So it seemed that 2007 would not be the year to reveal myself to them. I’m still looking forward for that chance.

In two weeks time, I’ll be turning 30. So far, things are running smoothly in my life. I got a job that I like, I’m in my comfort zone, my family that is, and I got several opportunities to travel to Manila and spend wonderful time with my Bro Bear. It’s such a wonderful year.

In the year of the Rat, I would see myself adjusting to the changes in the office. Merck would be shifting to a new method to better position itself for 2008. It would be a tougher challenge for the sales and marketing force, yet I am full of hope that Merck Chemicals Division would be performing much better than ever.

I also couldn’t wait for me and Bro Bear to get even stronger in our relationship next year. I’ve been forever grateful to him. Though at times he hated me for not being prompt in answering his calls or texts, I know I could still improve in that aspect. My Bro Bear has always been thoughtful. He would ‘text’ me about his conversations with cab drivers, or he would talk to me about his discomforts in riding public transport utilities, or the juicy news from the grapevine, the latest trend in fashion, the latest block buster films and the current political development. I love my Bro Bear so much. Grrrrrh!

Bro Bear has always been my reason for breathing. It’s has always been good to have him around. We spent most of our times away from each other. We may be more than 300 miles apart but distance wasn’t a negative factor in our relationship. For 2007 alone, we had gone to Boracay a couple of times together, we had fun touring the island of Bohol, and of course, I had a wonderful time with him in Cebu and Dumaguete. Next Year, I hope we could still visit new places together.

I wish that 2008 would offer me a lot of wonderful experiences. As I could recall, some of the exciting moments in 2007 include my trip to Mindanao (Davao, Gen. Santos, Cagayan de Oro and Cotabato), Marj and Den’s Wedding in Boracay, our road trip and church visits with friends in Southern Cebu, pilgrimage to Sibonga and Carmen, and so much more.

I hope that I would be happier next year. Being happy fuels my life. I do not want to see myself draped in sadness, in anger, in discomfort or in pain. I needed to be happy, healthy and vibrant. I would like to see myself fit and healthy in 2008. In preparation, I have already enrolled myself back to the workout fitness center. I’ve been hitting the gym for several days now and hopefully, I could carry it through next year. I engaged myself to brisk walking everyday. Some times, my dad accompanies me to a nearby subdivision and we do rounds of walking for about an hour. I need a lot of exercise to trim down my weight and to tone my body.

It hurts to admit that I’m overweight for my height. My BMI is not looking good.  So I purchased this.

Hopefully next year, my numbers would be acceptable. I have to weigh myself in for the coming year.

HAPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!! 

The Day He Caved In

Bro Bear woke me up yesterday morning via a text message, saying that my ultimate porn idol has finally ‘bottomed’ for the very first time. I doubted Bro Bear’s news at first because yesterday was ‘Innocent’s Day’ where people crack jokes and fabricate stories for fun. Such news was hard to believe, considering that Chris Rockway, my favorite porn star could never be forced to take that specific path.

 

(pictures from Toronto Ron’s)

Part of me though has been praying that he would do it anytime in the future. I thought that he might consider it next year. Chris Rockway has been in the stable of RandyBlue for quite some time now. He has done several ‘films’ with RandyBlue, having been paired with a lot of porn actors too. The porn outfit has made him exclusive this year. Often times, he performs as a ‘top’ and has been responsible for popping the cherries of some popular studs like Alex Eden.

For those who are not quite familiar with the terms ‘top’, ‘bottom’ and ‘popping the cherry’, please consult your nearest gay friend or  ask your friendly homo neighbor.

I rose from bed and immediately turned on the PC and visited a blogsite before Bro Bear texted me back to say the Chris was in a video with Reese and Alex. I saw what Bro Bear was talking about when I read that particular blog entry of Jeremy Lucido and I was grinning from ear to ear. The news was true. By the way, Jeremy Lucido was the photographer and at the same time, he directed that particular film. Whoa.

It was one of the best Christmas gifts ever. Naaah. I guess it’s one of the happiest days of my homo life. I know, several PLUs were elated as well. Bro Bear reported that for Friday alone, the movie has already been downloaded at least 700 times.

A lot of us were waiting for Chris to take the role as ‘receiver’. He might be aware that a lot of his fans are dying to see him get a prostate massage. Now all the Chris Rockway fans could go to bed and die.

My Bro Bear was really amused about my reaction to the news. I’d gone ballistic about it, simply because I’d been following the activities of this porn person for almost a year now. I had traced every little clip of Chris from his recruitment, his audition at RandyBlue, to solo’s and toys, then eventually to hard-core action in pairs or in groups. The guy never kissed anyone until just two films before this ‘momentous’ one.

He has already tried kissing another man. In front of the camera, he has done a lot of things to a guy. It was just about time for him to try something new. To have his cherry popped is but one of the many things that he would never forget.

In case I forget, I’ll mark December 28 as the Chris Rockway Popped Cherry Day.  

The Way Christmas Was

The Spirit of the Season was about to reach its highest point. We spent the day in the house with all the family members except for the prodigal daughter and her baby who chose to stay in Canada. The family of the Little RockStar Diva would not be coming over for late night dinner because her mom had developed chicken pox since yesterday. So only 6 of us were left to spend Christmas in the house. Some of us wondered how time flew so fast. Some of us thought about how the night would prosper. But  just the same, in our family, we had these experiences.

There were decors hanging from one of the arches

And on the walls

There were presents placed randomly on one side of the living room

 

Some were already given

And some were not.

Mom’s favorite this season,

Comes with several glass goblets for the Spanish red wines.

Santa Claus came to our house

  

As an icing on top of the Chocolate Cake from Leona’s. 

We waited for the clock to strike midnight.

When it came, we greeted each other with warm hugs and kisses.

There was reconciliation, there was love, there was happiness and hope.

We said our prayers before we started feasting.

And we welcomed CHRISTMAS in our Family Again.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!!!

     

I Wonder How My Parents Would React

Yesterday, my mom was so delighted and excited to go to the town mall to purchase a set of beautiful yet a bit costly curtains for the living room. I gave her the gift checks that I received from the office. Not so long ago, mom had a brief argument with my not so OC sister Ellen because of window draperies. Mom wanted to take off the curtains that she installed and threatened us that she will not hang any more curtains in the house from then on. I got worried about the thought that there wouldn’t be any more curtains in the house, much more any privacy and protection from the prying eyes of our wonderful neighbors. And so, a new set of curtains hang beautifully in the living room.

But I wonder how my parents would take this. . .

Right at this moment, there’s a big box in the trunk of my car. The box contains a DVD player, a sub-woofer and 5 other speakers which are part of the home sound system. My sister Ken and my brother Lester were with me at an appliance shop yesterday, late in the afternoon, to search for a perfect gift for mom and dad.  We’ve been dying to give them something to be happy about. My sister Ken had suggested early on that it’s time to replace our old Sharp Cinemaborg. The Cinemaborg was the TV set which my dad purchased when I was still in high school.

Dad had been complaining about the poor picture quality so many times and we had already sent it to a repair shop on several occasions. I think the unit has rendered service for more than 12 years and its picture tube has since gone deteriorated. Mom had complained about the TV set too. She’s left in the house almost all the time and she usually turn on the TV shows for her dose of noontime game shows. She said the reception was always terrible. And since it’s hard to watch the shows with the images jumping up and down, she would just switch off the tube and take her afternoon nap instead.

And so Ken, Lester and I found this slim flat screen TV set bundled with a DVD player and a set of home sound system. C’ést parfait. We decided to make it our Christmas presents for them. The TV set will be delivered anytime this afternoon: a perfect time to surprise them. But I wonder how my parents would react to our little Christmas surprise.

Just after lunch, a delivery van stopped in front of the house. The driver yelled out my dad’s name. I peeped through the new curtains and saw my dad standing at the front gate. I just went out of the house with the lock keys and approached dad. He was a bit confused why there’s a delivery on Christmas eve. He thought that the goods were from my office. He got more confused when he saw the TV rack and a very big box being unloaded from the van. Dad was speechless for like several minutes. He let the delivery personnel in and asked them to place the items in the living room.

Mom was also surprised by what happened. She thought that the goods were from Merck and that she was worried about me making the house an extension of the Merck warehouse. She wondered why the boxes do not have the logo of Merck. She was dumbfounded when she saw the SAMSUNG label on the big box. Just like dad, she was speechless for quite some time.

Dad went back to me and asked me what these were all about. I opened the trunk of my car and showed him the box of DVD player and the home speaker system. He realized then that it’s our Christmas present for him. To think that earlier in the day, he asked my sister Ken about the TV we have in Cavite if we could have it shipped to Cebu. But now his face lit up and I saw how extremely happy he was. I handed the box to him and told him that we needed to check the items and assemble them soon so he could watch ESPN and StarSports in a much larger screen.

While we were setting up the tube and the dvd player, Dad approached me once again. I could see the expression on his face. It was pure bliss. Lester, Ken and Ellen were also anticipating mom and dad’s reaction to this surprise. Mom was teary-eyed when she saw us setting up the appliances. We were having a grand time watching how our parents took the entire experience. We waited for them to speak up and say something.

Later on, mom approached me. She hugged and kissed me in gratitude for the wonderful presents we gave them. She said that Dad was so happy about it, so much happy that tears of joy fell from his eyes. She thanked everyone of us for making this particular Christmas very wonderful. I am more than satisfied about the outcome of event.

What Happened in Between

There seems to be a big fissure between my blog about Cotabato and my latest blog entry. I’ve been hounded by my bosses for several weeks, pushing me to deliver the sales figures for the last quarter of 2007. In the sales and marketing world, December is the time to finalize the plans and projects for the following year. And just before Christmas, the set-up and the targets are almost near its finality.

So what has happened to me during the big fissure? Here’s the run down.

Tacloban City

 

A visit that is long overdue. The trip was re-scheduled several times due to a series of weather disturbances. Remember Typhoon ‘Lando’ who ravaged the Visayan islands and left the country for Vietnam only to return to the Philippine area of responsibility several days after? When Typhoon ‘Mina’ was about to leave the Philippines.

With Adeth of DIAMED in Tacloban

We sailed to Ormoc City one Monday morning and took a van-for-hire for a 3 hour trip to Tacloban City. Before reaching the Waray city at Cancabato Bay, our van experienced engine trouble. At midday, the van could not start-up. I had my first experience of pushing the van for several meters in my slacks, leather boots and corporate shirt before the engine finally started.

Manila City

Then I flew to Manila to participate in the PAMET Convention at the Manila Hotel. The annual event for the medical technologists happened from November 28 – 30. MERCK is one of the major exhibitors for the national meet. On November 29, news about the Manila Peninsula Stand-off was all over the place. We watched the development during a late lunch with my dealers at a nearby restaurant. When we returned to the exhibit area, we were informed to pack-up for the day and were advised to go home early.

My teammates and I decided to have dinner at an Italian resto in Quezon City where we meet our former boss and her daughter. By 8pm, everybody’s received text messages and calls, informing us that there would be an imposed curfew in Metro Manila by 12 pm. My dad and my partner called me up and told me to return to the hotel early. It was my first time to experience curfew. I couldn’t imagine how it was like when Marcos placed the entire country under martial law.

Boracay Island

The following week, I went to Boracay through Kalibo to witness a wedding. Chong’s sister Marj got married last December 8. It was my first time to experience a holy matrimony in Boracay amd also my very first time to witness a wedding reception by the beach at sunset. It was truly a solemn ceremony attended only by the newly-wed couple’s closest friends and relatives. I never thought Boracay could be ‘that’ romantic in December.

The Beach in the Morning

Merck Christmas Party

I flew back to Manila for a series of meeting with my dealers and with my bosses and also to participate in company’s Christmas Party at the poolside of the Manila Polo Club inside Forbes Park. The usual right of passage or initiation for the newly-hired employees is to render a production number, be it a song, an act or a dance sequence. We were able to come up with a dance number using songs from the ‘80s. Many were surprised and everyone went crazy when they saw us dance to the tune of ‘Boogie Wonderland’ and ‘rico Mambo’.

It was also my first time to sing with a band in front of a lot of people. Part of the party program was a search for the ultimate band front man. Someone listed my name and I got scared when the emcee asked me to come up the stage to sing. The catch was I could only choose one from the six songs that the band has performed.  And guess what I chose to sing that night? FEELINGS. Roger Whittaker did justice to this song but I made it my own when I sang it that night.

   

Later that night, the band announced that they decided to make me their front man. Wow. Not to forget, the theme of the party was Mardi Gras. Several officemates came in costumes. Some in bright colorful parade ensemble complete with feather boas and head gears. I came in as a cross between a ‘mumbaki’ or an indigenous Cordillera medicine man and a Native American chieftain. I made the head dress myself which, in a way, looked like rough and ready. I was cited as a finalist for the best costume award. I was a loser though. I had my stay in Manila extended over the weekend.

Cebu, Cebu

On my return flight to Cebu, I had this first-time experience with carry-on baggage. At boarding time, a Korean lady sat on my assigned seat. Her boarding ticket had a 39C seat assignment. Mine was 36C. I place my laptop bag and my ‘mumbaki’ head dress in the overhead compartment and told the lady to transfer to her assigned seat. The woman seemed to be lost or wasn’t in her right senses. She stood up, transferred her things and sat on 39C.

When we landed in Cebu and while I prepared myself to disembark, I searched for my laptop back. I couldn’t find it anymore. All that’s left was my blue Merck bag containing my headdress and one small black laptop back. The bag was not mine. Someone took my bag and left his or hers in the plane. I told the cabin crew that I couldn’t find my bag and that someone took it. I went off the plane and hurriedly proceeded to the baggage counter to check on people who might be carrying an IBM bag.

I instructed the bag tag checker to hold anyone with an IBM bag so that I could check if its mine or not. I was worried and nervous that time. I placed my wallet, my claim stubs, my cards and my mobile phones in that bag too. I just don’t know what to do if I couldn’t retrieve it. I’m afraid that the person may have left the airport with my bag.

Soon after I got all my bags I headed to the exit door. I saw the Korean lady again. She had an airport cart with a black bag placed on the upper cart rack. It was an IBM bag. I knew it was my bag and so I approached her and said, “Excuse me, I think that’s my bag!” 

The lady looked at the black bag and realized that it wasn’t hers. She covered her open mouth with her hands. She was so shocked. She apologized for her mistake. Then I told her that she left her bag on the plane and that she has to seek assistance from the ground crew to retrieve it. The Korean lady was the last person to leave the building. I don’t know if she was able to get her bag. I don’t care anymore. As long as my laptop bag is already with me.       

By the Way, Christmas is HERE

It’s almost too late when I realized that Christmas Day is just a few days away. I never felt the Yuletide spirit as much as I should. Unlike other people who are deeply stricken by the Christmas bug. For days I found myself stuck in the middle of the road, enough for me to say ‘la circulation est trés mouvaise’ while I frown and connect my eyebrows.

The lowly elements on the street would wait for the red traffic light to flash so that they could start going to every vehicle singing their carols in haste. Most of them are children who have no homes and who have no other option but to beg for alms to survive. At times I consider them as eyesores. Most of the times, they distract motorists. I fear them. I’m afraid that cars and trucks might sweep them off the streets and drag them to their deaths.

I see them as traffic hazards. They tap on your car to ask for coins and in cases that you ran out of loose change or when you don’t want to give them any, they would tap on your car even harder. And you would be scared enough that they would do something to your car. They could easily make scratches on your hood or put something underneath and make your tires go flat. Christmas is the season for beggars.

And then there’s this huge scarcity of parking spaces. It’s so hard to go to the mall at this time of the year and I realized how hard it is to find a space to park ZeeWee. A couple of times, I spent so much time driving in and around the parking lot.  I wasted so much gas and my feet got sores from searching for such space. Which is why I decided to not to go to the malls at this time. And if ever I feel the need to drop by SM or Ayala, I’d go there in the morning on the first hour that stores would open.

Then the malls are filled with flocks of people. I saw people rushing in panic towards malls and grocery stores to buy presents while I stroll at ease, walking from shop to shop, searching for something decent to wear for work. People seem to be in haste to buy anything worth giving to their loved ones. They walk past me in double steps with several shopping bags in each hand. Adults would bring along their kids. I see a lot of children tugging along with their parents. Some of the kids would cry out loud and some would scream in frustration if their moms and dads would not bring them to the fast food joints.

I would understand why people bring kids to the mall. Christmas they say is for the children. If that is the case, why not let these children enjoy the season at home? It’s cumbersome to see them in some capitalist’s temple. And besides, bringing them to the malls would only spark some ‘materialistic itches’ in them. We are to be blamed if these kids would equate Christmas to ‘gift-receiving.’

I always had the hardest time in picking presents for anyone. Be it a gift for my officemates, my partner, family or friend, I view Christmas as a personal ordeal because I couldn’t come up with creative gift suggestion. I always fear that the recepients of my gifts would not like them or they would make some comments that would just dampen my spirit. This is the reason why I do not expect to receive any gift from anyone. I’m quite certain though that in cases when people do give me presents, I personally express my gratitude to them.

And there is this long queue at the cash dispensing machines. The banks usually turn greedy during this season. They usually program the ATMs not to dispense a lot of money and they would schedule the machines to be unavailable for most of the time. It is at Christmas when people would experience shortage of money because their bank’s ATM would go off-line.  I wouldn’t be surprised at all. Banks fear that there would be a huge withdrawal of money from their vaults. But then, these are people’s money and not theirs.

Every Christmas, my mom would go ballistic on the thought that distant relatives would pay us a visit. Our kins on my dad’s side would come either to my dad’s house or at my grandma’s place in droves. She hated the fact that our relatives would fight like vultures on almost everything my dad would give them, be it money or food or used clothing. They would always come around to tell my dad that they spent their last money for traveling from their place to the city. They use the same old style to let dad shell out money for them. The vultures have become more clever each year.

This year, mom wanted to us to go somewhere on Christmas Day. She doesn’t want to stay in the house and do the painful task of accommodating our relatives and their univited guests. My mom wanted to have a different way of spending Christmas with the immediate family. We still are not sure where to go. And Christmas Day is like 2 more days before it comes.

Christmas. Oh Christmas. It causes headache. I might just bang my head on the wall and declare that its the season to be JOLLY. Christmas is no longer at a corner. It has already crashed flat on my face. By the way, Merry Christmas everyone.