i spent most of my birthday at home along da riles. hehe. as i mentioned previously, today we went around the areas affected by the philippine national railway. in case you haven't heard yet, the government is planning to construct a railroad system a la MRT from la union to way south. it's a good thing, actually, for most of us, but not for the 70,000++ families that will be relocated from their homes. what we did was mainly to interview people regarding their problems with regard to the procedures undertaken by the national housing authority. later that day, the CPE person [ kuya glen ] tried to explain to the people their forthcoming dilemma and daisy and i [ well daisy mostly hehe ] were able to shed light on the legality of the issue and what they can do about it, if any. it was so stressful, i can't imagine any person actually going there to help the people without expecting anything in return, which is what kuya glen does. i mean i wouldn't even be there if it wasn't required. i didn't even want to be involved in the urban poor sector knowing the complexity of the problem. but i guess now it feels good to know that i'm actually doing something substantial. and maybe the law is becoming more interesting; it's better to see it in action than to read it in books forever. and in a way i feel guilty about a lot of things - for being such a brat; for wanting the most shallow things when there are thousands of people who are worse off than me; for not wanting to help out in the first place. i told trina, my college friend, about the internship this morning, and she was joking that i should be given a "bobbyguev's best student award" for doing this. and i was just reminded of all the things we've learned in theo class [ remember preferential option for the poor hehe ] under sir guevarra, and i felt a sense of pride in working for the NGO i'm in right now. especially since sir guevarra always complained about his past students who subsequently went to law school and have really twisted priorities.
anyway, i'm glad i made it in time for my birthday dinner at home. unlike last year, i didn't invite any of my friends. every year, i invite most of my friends that i don't get to spend it much with my family. besides, i think it would hassle them too much to go all the way to fairview. i would prefer that we go out on a different date, when it's more comfortable with everyone. aside from my immediate family, only auntie abbe, uncle les, kaye, lyka, manong iam and cariz came. there were loads of food as always. we just talked, watched our home videos from US. nothing special. and it's completely fine with me. i prefer it that way this time [ maybe i'm just too exhausted from work ].
some nice little gifts from friends/family:
some pics:
did i mention i got a new haircut last saturday? i was actually inspired by pichi lemon, this japanese teen magazine claudette gave me [ hehe ]. but of course those japanese girls have such perfect hair, and my final haircut didn't look anything like theirs. mine looks like F4 meets the 70's show gone wrong. i need to have my hair relaxed but i don't have money anymore [ and i need some for mesotherapy too. joke. hehe ]. time for ukay ukay again. hehe.
Labels: birthday, family, internship, summer
birthdays are supposed to be a celebration of life. while not discounting that fact, i just hate the thought that i'm not getting any younger. that i'm continuously growing in age (and weight) but not in mental development. hehe. happy birthday to me.
i'll update this post later. for now, i have to go to work [ naks, work ]; i have internship this summer in the center for popular empowerment, an NGO addressing the needs of the urban poor. i'll be spending the whole day at tondo, manila with the communities along the railroad tracks, the area which will be demolished for the philippine national railways.
o siya siya mamaya na lang.
Labels: birthday, internship, summer
[ click on pic to see the full mosaic effect ]
ang tanda tanda mo na. hehehe. halata bang natuwa ako masyado sa mosaic program? [ thanks to claudette and randi ] :D
ok. now where do i begin.
i could jump to 'i saw brad pitt in the flesh yesterday', or 'i have a new iPod mini', or 'i'm taking up summer classes tomorrow [ blah ]', but i decided to make this a very long post [ sorry! this is mostly for my siblings who want a detailed account of the vacation hehe ] about my mini-summer break.
so, today, i just arrived from the longest 10-day vacation of my life. i went to the states for only 10 days because it's the only time i have [ as i've written before, my finals ended on the 5th and i have summer class tomorrow ], but it seemed like a whole month. in short, sulit siya. i may have kept my shopping instincts to a minimum [ especially after seeing a 200 peso american eagle outfitter shirt from greenhills at the actual american eagle store display window for $15++ ], but the whole vacation was great. as i've mentioned in a past entry [ i think i did mention it ], it was the first time all my siblings and i got together for the first time in 5 years since my brother left for the states for good back in 1999.
it was actually a miracle that i was able to arrive maryland. well maybe i'm exaggerating, but really, all odds seemed to be against the trip. aside from the fact that i had to squeeze in the vacation within my short 10-day break, our labor exam was rescheduled from 1-3 pm to 6-8 pm, and my flight was at 10 pm that evening. to add to that, i developed colds, cough and slight fever two days before the exam and flight. i was trying to study labor while fighting off drowsiness caused by the anti-histamine and just grabbed some clothes to stuff in my luggage. one day before the flight, i interviewed a lawyer in makati for our labor paper. it was my only contribution for the project [ of which i deeply regret ] because i was leaving, so i really pushed myself to accomplish the interview that day and other school stuff before i leave. my labor prof was kind enough to give me a special exam for labor at 2-4 pm the next day. i hope it turned out okay, because i had to take a different exam, and she even mentioned that it's more difficult than the one she's giving the rest of the class.
anyway, after the exam, i had to rush to the airport, where i stayed from 5 pm until 11:45 in the evening. apparently, my flight was two hours delayed. i had to line up three times before checking in the luggage because i lined up in the wrong line twice. there was no counter number for our flight so i had no idea where to go. upon reaching the counter, i don't know why the counter guy took so long encoding the whole thing. i was about to walk away, until i saw the name on the ticket - "emili bacomo". so he had to redo the whole thing all over again. i was supposed to have dinner with my parents, who were waiting outside, but since i finished late, i just met up with them and went back inside, where i forced a bland tasting seafood sandwhich down my throat. i needed to eat before i take in my meds, so i had no choice. i stayed in the airport the whole evening without any book or other form of entertainment [ aside from the labor code in my bag and my phone ]. the plane finally took off at 12 am.
after 11 hours, i reached san francisco airport. upon reaching the airport, i felt like i was back in the philippines again [ which would've been a nightmare ] because a LOT of the airport employees were filipinos. plus, i arrived there with a plane-ful of pinoys, and we were treating each other like family already when we reached the airport. at the immigration, i didn't even think twice in speaking tagalog to the immigration officer. i later on realized the awkwardness of the situation when the officer told me, "ah pilipino ka?" coldly, which made me think that i shouldn't have assumed that she's a filipina. even the janitress at the restroom was filipina, and again, i spoke tagalog. she was nicer than the immigration officer though.
i was staying there for only 2 hours, so i met up with my cousin, zel, auntie lina and nanang and tatang at the waiting area. i haven't seen them for quite sometime, especially zel, so i was pretty excited to meet up with them even if it's less than two hours. we updated each other quickly about the goings on; nanang cried [ again hehe ]. 'makes me feel guilty that i didn't spend a day or two in sanfo. but then again, given my limited vacation, i couldn't really do much about it.
the flight from sanfo to atlanta was delayed again. i missed my flight from atlanta to baltimore, so i had to take the next one. travelling alone wasn't so bad after all; and i'm glad my aunt helped me out with the baggage at the sanfo airport. i was concerned that i wouldn't be able to think coherently on my own and end up in some obscure country, but i managed to ride the plane on my own. yay! hehe.
the last few hours of the whole trip was torture. i spent more than 24 hours wasting away in the manila airport until i reach baltimore. by the time i was on the second to the last local flight to baltimore, i was beginning to wonder if, indeed, i would actually get there. it felt terrible. i've slept for so long throughout the flights already and in the airport that i had to exert effort in attempting to sleep. i've worn the same clothes for more than a day, i haven't taken a bath yet, and the last decent meal i had was at home, when i had lunch before labor finals [ the airlplane food was just plain icky, i only ate 1/4 of it, and they only served snacks in the local flights ]. it was a good thing my colds weren't acting up.
upon reaching the airport, i waited for 30 minutes until my siblings arrived with the large 12-seater van they rented especially for the vacation. for a few seconds upon getting inside the van, i felt a sense of joy and satisfaction seeing us all together, reunited, which was the main purpose of why i went there in the first place. seeing my cute little niece/nephews from the states and of course, all my siblings altogether made the whole 24++ hour trip worth it. my mood shifted, however, when i started feeling dizzy in the van and i felt extremely hungry [ oh yeah, i haven't eaten in more than 8 hours ]. we went directly to the d.c. zoo, but i only stayed in the car. the weather was surprisingly hotter there than in manila, especially since we've been having occasional rain showers back in manila for the past few days. in the car, i literally wolfed down one of the turkey sandwiches and half an omelet from the leftovers in ihop, where they had lunch. we went to my brother's place and stayed there for only 1.5 hours, which i spent unloading my baggage and e-mailing something for labor class and then packing clothes for our new york/new jersey stay. and then we left the house for new york. grabe. my life is so busy for the last few days. eversince the labor finals, it felt that i was always catching up on something, that there was no time to pause or rest [ until now, actually. remember i have summer class in a few hours. oh well. ]. i didn't even feel jet lag the entire time; maybe because i was too busy doing things that i had no time to sleep either.
i got to sit up front with my brother during the long drive to new jersey. the van with three kids and two babies and 7 semi-adults [ hehe ] was almost chaotic, but still surprisingly bearable. the kids [ patti, bianca and benjo ] were fighting over the gameboys and the portable dvd player and were asking for snacks/drinks ever so often. but the little pamangkins were as cute as always; i'm glad that i'm able to witness toby and sophia as they grow up. it would pain me to see them after how many years without them recognizing me or even knowing that they have an aunt existing in the philippines. anyway, we reached uncle stanley's house at around 9 pm, where we were served with authentic pinoy dishes [ with rice and everything ]. and then i finally took a bath for the first time in almost 2 days. heehee.
day 1: new york
the next day, we went to the statue of liberty. we rode a ferry for 45 minutes, where the wind was freezing cold.
i had a humiliating experience at the security befor reaching the statue thanks to my supportive sister. haha basta had something to do with the air ek ek at the metal detectors. the security there was even tighter than at the airport. and i think it's with good reason.
after the trip, we went to downtown new york. i haven't noticed this on my first visit to new york, but this time, i realized that some streets of new york look like divisoria. they even sell the same goods [ which are overpriced of course ]. we went to chinatown, where we ate at hop kee restaurant. filipinos probably frequent the place because the chinese waiters already know how to speak tagalog.
for the past nights, we would sleep really late [ as in 1 am late ] and wake up as early as 7 in the morning. uncle stanley would often go down in the basement where my siblings and i were and we would talk till dawn. my sister leiya and i would even talk for a longer time before we actually fall asleep. it was, i think, the only opportunity we had to really talk, given our pretty busy sched. uncle stanley was the best host. he's one of the nicest relative we have, to think that we're not even that closely related. he really made sure we had fun/we were comfortable and that we had lots of food on the dining table in the morning.
day 2: outlet day
we spent the whole day at the jersey gardens, where i headed directly to the old navy store [ after babysitting the kids at jeepers ] and bought flip flops for myself and some friends. we drove home to baltimore on the same day.
day 3: kings dominion
we drove over to virginia [ 2 hours drive away from baltimore ] to go to kings dominion, another theme park by paramount pictures [ like great america ]. highlight of the day: seeing [ a mechanical float of ] spongebob and patrick! the downside was, i didn't get to ride any of the thrilling rides.
one nice thing i like about theme parks is that the fun transcends any age limitations. everyone becomes a kid again, no matter how old you are. and so we spent the whole day like kids [ well i didn't have to pretend hehe ]
day 4: virginia again
we went to bombee's relatives' house in virgina, where tita nina/des prepared a feast for us. hehe. we were so full we had to walk it off at leesburg premium outlets, which was 10 minutes away. again proceeded to old navy and bought myself a few sale items.
despite our busy days, we still managed to sleep late and get up early [ something that surprisingly, i'm capable of doing ]. we even got to watch feng shui [ hehe ] and magnifico [ a sad sad movie ]. sometimes we would talk about the most shallow things like we used to while folding the laundry, and as always, my sister lani would lead in making wisecracks about everything. hehe. nakaka-miss, but i take comfort in the belief that, next year [ hopefully ], we would all be together once again either in US or in the phil.
day 5: my sister leiya, patrick and sophia were leaving monday night, so we decided to just shop around stores near the house. i went with my brother when he drove them to the airport that evening. it suddenly hit me how fast time flew. the whole time i was thinking, a tapos na pala? and that we were leaving maryland the next day. the day before, i didn't even feel that it was our last day already. during my past vacations abroad, the last week/the last few days were considered rest days which were usually spent at home to pack stuff and prepare for the flight home. but this time, every single day was like the first day. looking back, the week seemed much longer though, with all the things we did and all the places we've been to. as i've said, it was just worth it. on the 30 minute drive home, my brother and i talked. when i would stay there for vacation for the past summers, we would usually talk for hours, also with my sister in law. but this year, 30 minutes is all we had. on a more philosophical note [ hehehe ] ideally, each day should be spent to the fullest, like we did. seize the day. leave no minute wasted [ not discounting the fact that we should rest of course ]. 'sure beats stagnating in my room doing completely nothing.
in the evening, i watched NBA with nong and bombee. they got complementary tickets [ which are worth $240(!) ] from a friend. i know nothing about the NBA; in fact, it was the first time i heard about the washington wizards and the milwaukee bucks [ hehe ] but i watched anyway. it was fun, though; it was like, to quote my brother, a circus. we were even featured in the screen [ bombee and i were shown for the "kiss me" segment. uhh right. stupid cameraman. they even caught by surprise in the same segment two complete strangers - a black guy and a white girl while announcing, "do these people even know each other?". hehe ]
my stay in baltimore was short, but it was really worth it. in contrast to last year's trip [ the supposedly relaxing vacation which we spent mostly in the hospital or in the doctor's clinic because of mama's condition ], i spent the vacation in the backseat - i practically let my older siblings do the deciding and the paying [ hehe ] for me without doing anything. and i occasionally get free shopping sprees from my siblings also. i thought that the age disparity would work to my disadvantage [ sometimes i feel too young with my siblings; i'm 9 years younger than my older sibling and i'm the only one among us without a spouse/children; and i'm also too old to relate with my nieces/nephews, the oldest being 13 years younger than me ]. on the contrary, it worked for me. i always get to do the simplest chores [ they didn't want to leave me to do the chores because i was too slow hehe ], and i get to be relegated to being a child again while the adults work things out. hehe. i was probably the only one who mostly relaxed throughout the vacation, being a mere freerider.
but i guess a week together with my siblings is also enough; i'm thinking if we spend a few more weeks together, the house won't be able to tolerate it. really, 12 people living under one roof is chaotic [ in the same way it is while we're in the car ]. you can't walk on the carpet without occasionally stepping on something wet or damp [ you would rather not know what it is ]; somewhere, there's a kid climbing on something or running about and getting bumped in the head [ especially toby ]; you wake up at 2 in the morning to the cries of one or two of the little ones [ on the double deck, sophia and my sister were on the bottom bed and i was on top, so there was really no way i couldn't hear her cries ]. every hour, someone is getting reprimanded for whatever reason. the restroom is never vacant [ that's why i took my daily showers in the evening, when everyone else is asleep ].
my sister's family and i flew to LA, where we stayed at orange county at bombee's sister's house. the last few days were rest days for us, which is just appropriate since we spent the past week trying to meet our itinerary. on one of those days, i bought the iPod mini at best buy. i bought the one with the lowest memory [ 4GB ]. i figured it's the only capacity i need anyway [ plus the fact that i didn't want to spend too much on it ]. 'also got to eat krispy kreme again.
on the day before i left the US, i met up with claudette [ high school batchmate and close friend ] at irvine spectrum, where we spent the evening shopping [ huling hirit hehe ], strolling around, eating and talking about the sheer loneliness of life in the US. we were joking that we graduated from our high school jolog "gimmicks" in galleria watching some local flick entitled batang px and now we're strolling around a conyo place in US. haha. i wish i could've stayed longer though. i realized we do have a lot of common interests especially in terms of music, tastes, etc. we could've watched a nice gig/concert there or shopped for good indie cd's there, given the time. well, there's always next year, i guess. hopefully.
about brad pitt [ ehe parang joke ], we saw him at the LA airport! we were peacefully eating our dinner at the food court on the second floor with other pinoys when i saw a commotion downstairs. i actually thought there was a terrorist in the airport that would prevent us from leaving [ given my luck, human error seems to abound. so it won't be surprising that they accidentally let a terrorist in the vicinity ] it was a group of paparazzi trying to catch up with brad pitt, who was walking really fast. it was so surreal, seeing the camera flashes and everything, the kind of things you only see in movies and daydreams. anyway, it took me a while to figure out that it was actually him. some pinoys on the other table were even making up stories that he was with angelina jolie to incite the crowd's interest.
the ride home was more bearable; at least i was with my sister, bombee, patti and bianca. and now i'm home again, finally.
Labels: california, maryland, new jersey, new york, trip
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brushes for the banner from echoica, encre and trashion art.
