Mon Reve, A Trip with Bro Bear

Oct 16 2008 is flashing on my cellphone screen.

I’m on my first day of my leave from work. It’s the start of the healing process after several months under stress and pressure in sales and in the environment that I was in. Not to mention my personal situation and my emotional and physical state of being that seemed to be subjected to frequent nudging of a coup de grace.

 

So I’m here at the 12^thfloor of GT Tower International. As I wait for my Bro Bear to finish his work at a nearby office, I’m tinkering on my lappy to plan out my activities with him for the next 4 days. Before we left his house this noon, we agreed to go to a place that is far from the stressful jungle that is Manila. We have a shortlist of places to go, of what activities we may possibly do. But we would finalize the plan as the night progresses.

We had a short discussion on where we could possibly go. Bro Bear doesn’t want anything that involves trekking or hiking or climbing. I personally do not like the beach or anything that has to do with water because I could always hit the beach or any island in my hometown Cebu.

Bro Bear likes history and art. I like anything beautiful and old. I like old churches, buildings and structures; Bro Bear relates every subject and object to history. I like to take pictures of the places I went to. Bro Bear manifests passion for photography.

It’s almost dark here. Later on, an itinerary would be finalized. And tomorrow, Bro Bear and I would be traveling somewhere far from the claws and talons of Manila.

At FlapJaps Greenbelt, at the thick of discussion with friends, Bro Bear and I decided go on a 4-day trip. Over garden salad and blueberry pancakes, we drafted an itinerary for our visit to up north. Our friends who already visited the place helped us concoct a sequence of places to be visited.

We agreed to fly there on our first day. It’s a better option rather than to take a bus and suffer the 8-10 hours ride. For the following day, half of it will be spent in the city and the rest of the day would be for travel down to another spot. On the third day we would visit churches and some monuments. The final day would be for UNESCO World Heritage Site and for the road trip back to airport where we would catch the night flight to Manila.

Bro Bear and I are anchoring on the baroque churches that are included in the World Heritage Site list of UNESCO. From these old churches, we would be exploring other old churches and houses and expose ourselves to their history and culture.

I got excited on the thought of going to Ilocos. It would be my first time in Ilocandia. A first with my Bro Bear.

Where Am I Going?

I stuffed some clothes in my backpack, some basic gadgets in my sling bag. Toiletries, money and my round trip ticket. I am taking a vacation. A break from my all the stress and worries in my job.

I decided to give myself some time. Maybe some time somewhere. Tonight, I’ll be flying to the capital. And when I’ll step down the plane, I’ll think of a wonderful place to visit.

But for now, I’m thinking about old churches and old spanish houses and time-locked buildings.

So where should I go?

Nod’s as Good as a Wink

It’s almost weekend. A friend flew in from the capital to retrace his past in this mid city. He wanted to explore the city again for he never explored Cebu before. He never got the chance to visit the spots back then in college. He was consumed in thoughts accompanied by lust or love for a dorm mate. Now he wanted to visit the places together with his college friends. He asked me where our friends were. I just shrugged.

We belonged to the same group in college. We were the outsiders, the misfits, yet we were the better students. Well almost all of us in the bunch. Our noses were never up in the air. We were grounded. We were fine.

Those who were once a part of the group have already left Cebu. One is happily married in Chicago while another is surviving pretty well in the urban jungle of New York. Another has been working in Taiwan on a contract while another has left his job and family here in Cebu for a big job in the UK. We also have one who works in a petrochemical plant as a chemical engineer while i left a similar job in Cavite and shifted to sales and distribution. We also have someone who heads the the quality department and another one who works in the industry of information technology. And of course there are others who are happily settled with kids.

Ours was a group who just wanted to get through with college. After graduation, we moved on and embarked on different journeys. But once in a while, we saw our paths cross.

Now this particular meeting of paths had given me so much thought. 

1. That the ties that bind friendships could get thicker or thinner through time; may get stronger or weaker through the years.  It’s could be because of varied priorities, needs or objectives. Forcing paths to meet is a gargantuan task.

2.  That things would never be the same after graduation. The group may be rock-solid during college days but then, it’s bound to break into smaller pieces.  People tend to cluster because of common needs and purpose. We had a close-knit group because we need to pass our subjects without necessarily looking geeky or something. We wanted to project to the rest of the batch that one could actually get through with studies and have fun at the same time.

3. That memories and memorable experiences are usually the topics of conversation. Oftentimes people do a roll call and pitch in some information about the person. People would take turns in taking the floor and retell their experiences to anyone.

4. That reunions and get-together’s are sappy and stir the emotions towards the nostalgic. People talk about their current activities, their dream jobs and family success and as you listen to their triumphs you tend to recall the times when you dreamt about such in college. And then, you feel happy that some dreams have really materialized.

5. That everyone’s bound to meet some old friends and classmates in the future. I’m not actually wishing for the moment, it would just come around. Or maybe it wouldn’t.

All I need is a wink for the future. I’m not closing my eyes for the possibilities. Nod’s as Good as a Wink.

The A-E Syndrome

Last Thursday, while biding my time to pick up my friend from the airport, I went to the Synergis I.T. Building along F. Cabahug St. to have lunch at a fast food store. It was already past 1pm when I got there, so there weren’t that much people munching on burgers and fries. i just spotted about 8 people having lunch.

A young crew member greeted me as I approached the counter. I looked on their posters and checked out their value meals. I was craving for the nuggets that time so i read through their picture-list of set meals.

Crew: Sir welcome to McDonald’s. May i take your order? 

Takeshi: Yes one Letter E please.

Meal E consists of chicken mcnuggets, a choice of rice or fries, and a regular-sized drink.

Crew: Okay one Letter A

He pressed a key from the registry, he then turned around and shouted out to a kitchen crew a code for the meal.

Crew: would that be for dine in or take-out?

Takeshi: It’s for here. I’ll have orange juice instead of regular coke.

Crew: Sir you would have to add 12 pesos for that.

Takeshi: its okay. Is that regular-sized or medium?

Crew: Sir, it’s medium-sized.

Takeshi: Okay then.

He went back to the registry and pressed the key for the change of drinks. He pulled out a tray, took some napkins and a set of spoon and fork and placed them on the tray. Then I wondered why he placed a spoon on the tray. I thought that there could be some other way to eat the nuggets. I pulled out a 100 and a 20 peso bill for meal.

Crew: That would be 98 pesos sir.

I looked at the electronic display of his cash register than shifted my stare to their list of meals. My bill should be 112 pesos. How come he only asked for 98 pesos. I tried to process mentally what he said.

Takeshi: Hey, I ordered the meal with the fries, not with the rice.

I saw a troubled look on his face. He seemed a little bit puzzled. I could already sense that there was something wrong. I looked up and saw set Meal A. Meal A would cost about 98 pesos if you ‘upgrade’ the drinks from soda to orange juice.

Okay. So maybe he got confused on what he heard from me. He could have thought that I ordered for Meal A. The nerve. I checked my pronunciation of A and E and they are different and distinct. I could slap him for hearing my E as A. Gohd.

I don’t have an E-A syndrome, or an E-I syndrome or worst P-F syndrome.  The epol-apple thing is totally not my style. I frowned in disbelief and glared at the crew for not listening properly.

With my right hand on my waist, I told him that I ordered E as in Eagle and not A as in apple. Seemed like the crew was about to pee in his pants after I said my orders again. He called out his boss to have the order void.

The boss approched him and asked for the reason of the void.  The troubled crew explained that I ordered for Meal E and he pressed Meal A.  After his boss reset the the machine, he punched the keys for my orders, placed the 120 pesos on the money compartment and gave me my change. In his panicked state, he uttered,

Crew: Sir, wait for your change.

Takeshi: I have it already. Thanks.

Poor guy. Perhaps he had been skipping males… i mean, meals.

The CLASH of ZeeWee and The Lady

I arrived home at 3.30 in the morning and I parked ZeeWee in the driveway with some bruises on her booty. I haven’t told anyone yet that she was hit from behind.

At about 1.30 in the morning of Sunday, we arrived at this party area in uptown Cebu to check out Numero Doce.  I was with my friends from Rotaract and we were trying to get sober from a heavy drinking and videoke session in Maxim’s Lahug. To get sober, we planned to dance at the said pub to get ourselves drenched in sweat and warmed by the humid air. I was not intoxicated with alcohol since my doctor had strictly instructed me to refrain from beer and stuff. I was 100% sure that I was on my right state of mind.

Just as I was about to park ZeeWee, an old dark sedan bumped her from behind. My friends heard a thud and we felt the nudge from the back and I got terrified of the thought that my poor ZeeWee had been hit again.

So I got off the car, hurriedly walked to the back and tapped on the old sedan, asking the driver to come out. A lady stepped out of the driver’s seat. With my worried voice,  I sported a frown and told her that my car was hit.

We moved towards ZeeWee and I pointed to her these:

 

She got her calling card and I ran to my dashboard to get mine. We exchanged calling cards. In her carte de visit, the name that was written was Lady. OK. Her parents were so creative to have thought about a name like LADY. I said my name to her and asked on how she should carry out the repair. 

I told LADY that I would be calling her on Monday to arrange for a meeting at the city traffic enforcer’s office and have the repairs done next week. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she would be true to her words about the repair. Comparing this to the previous incident where my car was hit by speeding car in Talisay, at least this time, the lady did not drive away after hitting ZeeWee.

With the damage on the rear bumper, how am i supposed to tell my folks how the incident happened, why we were there at almost 2am and why we ever did parked at Green Mango Square. I think this is a major vehicular setback. I hope the LADY would fulfill her promise.

Dying to Have a Vacation

This year has been pretty busy. Busy in the sense that I’ve been hopping from one place to another and making the rounds in VisMin for several times just to generate sales and to achieve my operative plan every month. The field is my office. I do not have a cubicled existence for the past two years. My life isn’t sedentary and stationary. I have always been on the go. But then, life must have to slow down a bit sometimes. I noticed that I wanted to have a break. Perhaps my body has started to get tired from wandering around. I need to get a vacation.

Stress from work is very bad for my health. But it’s part of my job, part of my career. It’s part of any job actually. Ergo, my health would suffer eventually because of stress. Stressors can be found anywhere at anytime. My boss is a big source of stress.  The corporate system is also stressful. Even your officemates give you stress. Office politics, mudslinging, crab mentality etc also elevate one’s stress.

When I’m stressed, I tend to eat a lot. I eat a lot actually but if I’m very stressed, i could eat a horse. I have a sweet tooth and I crave so much for chocolates. I remember back when I was still working in a manufacturing plant, my officemate and I would go out of our staff houses to buy ice cream from the convenience store. Stress drove us to buy half a gallon of cookies and cream or double-dutch and we would forget about our stress as we consumed the ice cream into the night.

Stress took a toll on my body. I need rest to free myself from stress for a bit and to let my body recover from arthritis. Oh my GA (gouty arthri)! I’m going GAGA over GA simply because it makes me a handicap. I could not walk well, I could not push the clutch pedal that much.  I could not even climb up a stair. It’s torture.  Not to mention the fact that the medication is not cheap and that I need to visit my doctor more often to monitor my uric acid, cholesterol and glucose levels. Goodness gracious holy cow!. I earn enough to just keep my body and soul together.

And besides, I still have a lot of unconsumed vacation leaves. I need to use them because it would be forfeited next year if I don’t. So where should I go?

Should I go to the beach or to any tropical resorts? Haaaaaay. I’ve seen so many beaches already. This year alone, I’ve seen the Pacific Ocean,  the beaches of Tandag City, Bantayan Island, San Rem, Zamboanguita, of course Mactan Island etc. Resorts like Badian Island, Alegre Beach, Plantation Bay, Mambukal, etc.

Or should I go on a bar trip?  But i will be knitting my brows if I do this because a chronologically-advance person shouldn’t be bar-hopping and dancing all-night. Hmmm.  Cholesterol and SGPT levels shoot up because I spent more time social-drinking with officemates and friends in watering holes and yuppy bars. Nah. I should just let the devil take the hindmost.

I wish I had a light-bulb moment. I already filed a vacation leave, but what should I do? Where should I go?  Who should come with me? Should I go alone?

Pout About Gout

I finally lifted myself out of my knee trouble. Yes, my doctor said that it’s gouty arthritis. I was not shocked when she told me that it is GA since I looked at my lab results beforehand and read that my uric acid level was really high. What shocked me was her bomb of a question.

Doctor: You know what, I wanted to ask you this question yesterday but I could not because your mom was here.

Takeshi: Okay doc. What is it that you wanted to ask me about?

My heart began to beat hard and fast. I saw a big frown on my physician’s visage. Her thick layer of make-up was about to crack open.

Doctor: Are you sexually active lately?

My jaw dropped to the floor. I wanted to get off my seat and pick it up. She waited for my answer. I asked her back.

Takeshi: Huh? Why’d you ask?

Doctor: Have you had sex with prostitutes?

Now I looked down and saw my jaw running out of the doctor’s clinic.

Takeshi: Ummm, no. May i know why?

Doctor: When was the last time you had sex?

Takeshi: Oh my

Could this be the Spanish Inquisition? I wanted to ask her to be specific with her inquiries. She should have asked me “when was my last sex with a girl?” and i should have answered “not yet, no, never.” But if she asked me when I last had sex with a guy, then I would just run out of her clinic and play catch-up with my jaw.

Takeshi: I’ve been experiencing drought for the past 3 months. Why such questions doc?

Doctor: Did you experience difficulty in urinating?

Takeshi: No, I pee with ease.

Doctor: Okay. Because in your case, you only had gouty arthritis in one knee.  I suspect that you got arthritis as complication of STD. Arthritis can be caused by GONORRHEA!

Whoa. This is ridiculous. How the hell should I get gonorrhea when in fact I didn’t have any sexual contact for a quarter of a year now? And besides, infection caused by the presence of neisseria gonorrhoeae could already be detected 2-30 days after sex.

Doctor: It’s a common symptom among men. You did not experience gout in the joints of your feet, it went directly to your knee. Which had me suspect that it’s due to Gonorrhea but then I checked the results of your urinalysis and the test results were okay.

Takeshi: Sigh. Good relief.

I called up Bro Bear after the consultation. I asked him the same set of questions and told him everything that my doctor had said. We just laughed it all off.