The Great Move Down, Down South

Gosh, it's already 2012 and I'm still backlogged to 2011 and 2010! Embarrassing I know, but hardly surprising. All the moving and freelancing took up much of my time, okay, fine, I admit, Facebook and making chica did so too. Anyway, I'll try get in bits and pieces.

Let's start with The Great Move Down, Down South. Well, I don't want to dwell anymore with emotions, as it was tiring then and pointless now. To put it succinctly, death sentence and dreaded illness were the metaphors I used to describe The Great Move Down South. Let this be about the logistics of it all. I have friends who moved from here to the United States and from the United States to Oz. Both had to go without their respective spouses, as they either went ahead or was left behind only to follow on another time. When they related how they had to pack and bring everything (one of whom brought a matress to the United States, seriously, a mattress) with them and the kids, sure, I UNDERSTOOD how difficult it was, but I guess I never really EMPATHIZED. You know the saying "before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes," right? It's like that. You will really never know the pain and struggles someone went through unless you experience it as well. During the packing and the trip, I felt empathy for these friends and gave them a whole new level of respect. Yeah, yeah, I know, this would be about logistics, so here it is. First off, we bought lots, and I do mean lots of packing tape and balikbayan boxes, which are freaking expensive (PHP120-140), by the way!!! I should have just bought cigarette boxes for all the small stuff. No, I didn't buy stuffing or bubble wrap, I just wrapped all breakables with clothes, and I'm happy and proud to say nothing got broken, but our rice cooker got a bit dented. Oh well, still, not bad. Sidenote to that though: It took me months (seriously!) to unbox everything, and we kept on looking for our rechargeable lamp but couldn't find it. We looked for it at our home in Laguna when we went home last August and again in September, and only when I unpacked the last box last December did I find it, all wrapped with clothes that I'll be selling over Ebay, and just in time too for Typhoon Sendong. I digress, I swear I have the attention span of a slug. I figured it would be too expensive to put everything, as in all, on a container van, especially because I was not quite sure how I'd cope moving here and I extracted a promise from TheHusband that if I don't like it here, we're going home to Laguna in 3 months. Seriously, that's how self-centered I am. I. I. I. I. I. I. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me.  Kakahiya. I shipped most of the essentials through 2Go, which do not pick up from the province. Why they did pick up our shipment from Laguna is a totally different and possibly ethically questionable story. Some nonessentials were left at home, and all other crucial things that we needed while in Laguna were left for me to bring myself, and that's where the fun began. By crucial I mean three balikbayan boxes of various things, one huge box for the TV and desktop computer, two huge bags of clothes, Sharkteeth, and Kelly, the dog. I hired an airport taxi driven by a neighbor, who, although charged me fair fees for the transport, hit me up for a tip. I'm not being miserly, no. It's just that he owns the cab, and do you ever tip the owner of a salon? I think not. And I'd much prefer that he gave me the exact fee that he wanted instead of asking for a tip while in the middle of the Paranaque. I find such behavior deplorable. Another thing that galled me is that I repeatedly asked him if our things would fit in the car, which is a sedan, and even asked him a day in advance to go look at our packed things just to be sure, and he said it would fit. And yah, everything eventually did after much rearranging, but he was grumbling all along...haaaayyy, were we not in a hurry and had I known there's another cab in the village, I would have changed cabs even if I would have to unload everything myself. Oh-kay, enough with the bitterness. Now visualize this: three balikbayan boxes, huge box with fragile things, two bags, Sharkteeth, Kelly (in a huge cage), and me + driver + sedan. Can't? Me neither. I still marvel up to now how we were able to fit. We had to take the dog out of the cage and tie the cage on top of the trunk door. The funny, and smelly, thing was, we (Sharkteeth) had to sit together on a tiny space at the back of the car. And I don't mean the whole of the back, just a third of it, if memory serves. Kelly, Sharkteeth, and I, all squished together---I could smell the dog, who by the way, was so tensed he kept on drooling. Muntik na kaming magkapalit-palitan ng mukha. Yung driver lang ang comfortable sa upuan. When we got to the airport, there were porters who helped us move our things. No, help is a gracious word, I paid them to move our things. The airport personnel who x-ray-ed our things thought we just got back from abroad (balikbayan boxes, see) and was hinting on a tip, "Ate, ikaw na bahala sa amin," sabay slightly himas(!!!) sa braso ko. Eeeeewwwww...disgusting! All the while, I was thinking, gagah, wala ka mapapala sa akin. Moving on. Not surprisingly, we had excessive baggage. An airport cop told us we can cut cost on the baggage if we ship it through Cebu Pacific's shipment service in the Domestic Airport, but it's gonna be a flight later and he said with concern (right, yeah, yeah) we might be late for our flight if we bring our baggage there ourself. He then proceeded to tell us that if we trust him,  he can arrange it himself, but with a little fee. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand the "fee," after all, it's gonna be an effort to haul all those boxes. When we weighed our things and asked him how much, he said that it's 11K. Whoa! Eleven thousand freaking pesos?! Thank you very much, but NO. So I called my FIL, who lives near the airport. We agreed that he'll go to the Domestic Airport himself and check how much it really is to ship the damned boxes and if totally out of budget, he can just ship it through 2Go. You know what? 7K! That's the amount we paid to CebuPac's shipment service through the Domestic Airport. Unbelievable! That's 4K we saved right there. *Napapailing na lang ako pag naaalala ko*

It was generally an uneventful flight, but Sharkteeth kinda panicked because of the air pressure in her ears that couldn't be released by swallowing. I don't know why, but this always happens when we're on our way south but never happens when we're going north. Once we touched-down, she was fine and was feeling silly. Kelly was with us during the flight, albeit in the baggage compartment down. The poor dog must have been so scared, with no beloved humans around, and especially so because he was in a cage. (By the way, checking him in was a breeze. I just had to present his immunization records and he was good to go. Bloody expensive though. His fare was twice mine.) As I was saying, the poor dog was so scared, and when his cage was deplaned, he first saw TheHusband,  the first person that he knows, and really, he was brimming with happiness (and relief?). Now, their relationship is tenuous at best---you know, after the Bunny Buns debacle, but at that moment, seeing TheHusband, for Kelly, the most important thing was he was "home." I daresay, even TheHusband was happy to see him. And yes, we are HOME.

Sharkteeth-isms

On a potty break: "Mymy, I'm gonna poo now. Can you keep me entertained?"

WTF???!!!!

While showing her a potato with a tiny stubby part: "Mymy, you know what? Julia's little brother took off his pants in school today and ran around holding his penis. It was soooooo tiny teeny. Eeeeeeeeeewwwww!!!"

LOL!!!

Last Sunday: "It's the feast of the three kings, Bacon, Ham, and Cheese."

Taking cover in case lightning hits her. LOL!

While feeling my callused soles: Mymy, use Foot Appeal na. These are hard as STEEL!

Again, WTF???!!!

She can be headstrong and mouthy at times (yeah, like night times and day times), but life with Sharkteeth is never boring.

Thanks For The Vote Of Confidence

Sharkteeth: Mymy, who's the son of King David?
TPS:                  Dunno...
Sharkteeth: King Solomon?
TPS:                  Dunno. Probably.
Sharkteeth: You DON'T know much, do you?

For Sharkteeth

Due to the undying clamor of my readers (riiiigggghhht!), I'm back!!!

Simply put, I survived the Great Move Down South. But before anything else, I'd like to thank my indefatigable and very supportive daughter, Sharkteeth. (Her shark-like pointy milk teeth, by the way, are slowly but surely falling out and pretty soon, I would have to use another term of endearment for her. Suggestions, anyone?) I got to hand it to her---she was really very mature and "adult" about it. It was a particularly stressful time for me...with TheHusband already down south and I was left alone, well, with Sharkteeth, to pack everything, I'm ashamed to say that I was full of resentment. For starters, I didn't want to leave our home. See, I tend to stay in one place. I'm not the adventurous sort. And for me to pack our things and leave our home is a big thing, something akin to a great illness. It left me so stressed I got severe acne breakouts and patience that ran so thin. And here's where Sharkteeth came in. She helped me pack. She soothed my frayed nerves. She put up with my bad temper, and boy, was it really bad. She never complained. And I forgot that she, too, must be stressed. That she, too, will miss her friends. That she, too, will miss her lolos and lolas. That she, too, will miss our home, where she grew up. I forgot all these, yet, unlike me, she didn't throw a tantrum. So, to you, Sharkteeth, thank you so much! You don't know much it meant to me.

I have so many stories to tell, but they would have to be on a different post. Let this be for my lovely daughter. And for some parting words, home is where the heart is. Trite but true.

Oh, sige na nga, I'd like to add something: UST's in the final four! There's still hope, I tell you. Ang bola ay bilog!

Tumbleweeds*

The house is still a mess, as it has been for the last three and a half months, only now, most of the stuff are gone, and what's left is either utterly important that it needs to be with me when I fly or hopelessly unnecessary but being hopefully clung on. I shipped the things a few days ago---our life in ten or so boxes. I never thought packing would be this draining, physically or emotionally.

*Thanks, Phel, for the suggestion.

Happy Easter!

Here's to the promise of Easter!

Oh, Gwen!

You're all grown up!

Smile Of Guilt

Once she realized she was being accused of something she's actually guilty of, she let out her charm offensive. With a smile like that, how can you stay mad?

Oh, I'm still alive, by the way! Let's talk again later.

Attempt Failed

So No Chance On Getting A Bite At That Cookie...

While asking for a sip of frapp (that I bought with MY money) from Sharkteeth...

Sharkteeth: Just a sip, ha?
TPS: Haaaaaay, when I was single without a kid and I bought something for me, it's all mine. Now...
Sharkteeth: Now those days are GONE.

Chef Elbert's Cheesesteak

I wanted to blog about this a couple weeks ago, but that was when the Big Bad Blogger* brouhaha exploded and I didn't want my post to be misconstrued as nakiki-ride sa gimmickry. So there, just blogging about it now, weeks after eaten, savored, digested, and, uhm, dumped.

I heard about Chef Elbert's Cheesesteak a year (or two?) ago, but I wasn't all that interested because I'm trying (emphasis on trying) to avoid red meat and mostly because I couldn't care less for a sandwich, any sandwich, unless maybe I'm starving and there's no other food around. Even then I would just pick the palaman. Long story short, there's a lot of Groupon-like deals flying around and one of the offers from Twangoo was Chef Elbert's Cheesesteak and I figured that, well, for 300 pesos (600-peso worth), it can be a nice pasalubong for TheHusband, who loves sandwiches.

When I went to Powerplant to pick it up, a man outside the counter said something that I didn't quite understand (English eh). Then he repeated, "How did you find out about Twangoo?" I replied, with my arms gesticulating wildly, which I guess startled him to momentary silence, "Well, there are lots of deals around right now and I was interested in this offer because of a glowing review I read. I thank you!" [I swear, napasabak ako ng English! Lord, isn't it enough that my nose bleeds everytime I'm talking with Sharkteeth? Is this payback for critizing authors?] I stupidly assumed that he's from Twangoo and asked if he is. *toink* It turned out he's Chef Elbert himself!!! I tell you, I was starstruck! Others get starstruck with actors and celebrities, I get starstruck with chefs and boutique/store owners! I remember seeing the owner of Leyende manning her freestanding shop in Glorietta and I ended up starstruck and blabbing incoherently. Lord knows what I would do if I see TheBagHag. Baka himatayin ako. Oh, enough with the gushing. I asked the guy in the counter for his recommendation, and he said their bestsellers are steak sandwich (PHP290) and American cheesesteak (PHP350). The sandwiches were cooked right then and there and were ready in a few minutes. Boy, did they smell glorious! But as I told you, I'm a bit impervious to the power of the sandwiches and only succumbed on my way home (about four hours later), when I got very hungry while stuck in traffic! I was planning on eating only a small portion, just to stave off my hunger, but I ended eating more than half! Delicious is an understatement! To think it was already cold by then. The following day, I reheated the remaining steak sandwich and the American cheesesteak, and I must say that it was the best 300-peso purchase I had in a long time. The meat was succulent, tender, and very flavorful, and the caramelized onions were juicy and, I don't know, I can't find any word for it...sublime? Don't take my word for it---try it! And that's coming from someone who doesn't like (or at least used to) sandwiches. I guess Chef Elbert's Cheesesteak is my Damascus.

*I have a BBB-related question: Why did most people point at Anton? Perhaps I'm naive, but I couldn't really see why. So many things were thrown around, like that he's mayabang and all, but I don't, can't see it. Or that his reviews were not really well-written. Ah, that I can see, but I think he's a diner first and a food reviewer second, so the lack of food critic-esque terminologies. So, why, I ask? On a related note, I noticed that a lot of beauty bloggers who receive freebies from cosmetic companies kept mum on the issue. Why kaya? *facetious* Hahahaha!

And, no, this isn't a paid post!

Antipatikah!

Sharkteeth:    Mymy, I'm going to get your autograph...
Mymy:               Okay.
Sharkteeth:    What's your name?
Mymy:               Ellen Ganda.
Sharkteeth:    I only need your name, not the adjective.

Kasi naman, feelingera ang lola nyo eh.

Requiem for Rabbit

He was *just* a replacement bunny. After Bunny Buns' untimely death, I was frantic to replace him and my only requirement was that he be a rabbit. For a very small bunny, Rabbit had big shoes to fill. Bunny Buns was the most gregarious rabbit around, even abnormally so, and I guess, TheHusband and Sharkteeth, and I'm ashamed to admit it, even I, never really felt that Rabbit can replace Bunny Buns and didn't get as attached.

Rabbit, for all his shyness, loves touch and affection. He loves being cuddled gently and stroked. The neighbor's very naughty dog was able to charm him by licking Rabbit's head.

While he loved the outdoors and lounging under the hydrangeas, he was quite unadventurous and would always return home. I can't remember if it was Ondoy or Pepeng, but TheHusband and I woke up in the middle of the night because of the howling wind and when I looked at his cage, Rabbit wasn't there, and I was afraid that he escaped and might get hurt by a falling tree or something. It turned out he went to our front door, perhaps seeking comfort inside. He was all wet and shivering, and it was funny, sad, and so very touching.

More than a week ago, I noticed that he lost his appetite. It was quite obvious because I rarely see him not munching on some veggie or fruit, and for once, his food was left untouched, neither was his water. I brought him to the vet, who couldn't find anything wrong and just told me to give him some multivitamins every morning and afternoon. I could already feel his hipbones sticking out. By Thursday, he was munching on an apple and drinking some water. Not as much as I hoped, but still I was glad that he was eating. I really thought he could weather this, but come Saturday afternoon, I noticed that he was steadily becoming, well, droopy, for lack of a better word. You see, he usually sits alert at his cage, even when he was sick, but when the evening hit, he was already lying on his side. I asked Sharkteeth to say her goodbye, and with much tears, she did. I checked on him every few minutes or so, and I saw his breath getting labored, and he made this miserable plaintive cry that was really heartbreaking---all his life, he never really made much noise, maybe just a squeak or two, but never this piteous sound. I think Sharkteeth summed all the guilt and emotions I was feeling, "Mymy, I love Rabbit so much, and I'm so sorry that I didn't take care of him well. Do you remember Bunny-Buns? When he died, I was angry at Kelly [for killing him], but now, I am just sooooo sad. I don't think I want to have another bunny, I just love Rabbit so much."

Rabbit's last picture, taken last Saturday afternoon, January 29, 2011. Bye, Rabbit.

Viva Santo Tomas!

Today is the 400th anniversary the University of Santo Tomas. Plans for the celebrations were in motion a couple of years ago, and I eagerly anticipated the event. I don't know why---maybe I'm just a total sentimental weirdo.

I have recently resigned, and as such, I'm now an aliping saguiguilid, but in honor of the occassion, my master and little mistress gave me a dispensation (READ: day off, 'Day) for the day, with the proviso that I have to be home by 4 p.m., lest no one would let the little mistress in when she gets back from school. I got to UST around noon and the preparation for the dinner celebration was in full swing. It's totally crazy, and so very cheesy, but I got goosebumps as soon as I stepped inside the campus.

(I'm hate to admit it, but it's quite obvious that most, if not all, the pictures I took suck; many people were milling about and I couldn't get a good vantage point. Taking the picture of the Arch of the Centuries was an act of bravery in itself because getting on the center means being in the middle of the road with cars passing by every minute or so.)

The Arch of the Centuries was a part of the original university in Intramuros. When the university was transferred to Sampaloc, Manila, the arch was moved piece by piece and was rebuilt. Bayanihan at its best. Apparently, there's an urban legend saying that any undergraduate who passes under that arch won't graduate from the university. I think this is a fairly recent folklore because I haven't heard about it when I was still there. All we heard were whispers of scary stories like the headless friar walking around once darkness sets in----we were always in a hurry to leave our microbiology class once 7 p.m. hits. Gullible fools.

This is the Main Building and where the College of Science is housed. When I went inside and climbed the wooden stairs, I couldn't help but feel transported to the time I first climbed those steps---maybe I remember it like yesterday because on my first day of school I was wearing a pair of new Figlia shoes that were not broken in and by the time I reached my classroom, my feet were covered with angry blisters. I remember going to the museum before PE class and my friend-classmate suggested that we change into our gym clothes in the museum---yes, that confirms it, we're dorks---that was the most daring thing we were prepared to do. (In case you're wondering, and I know you are, no, we didn't. The guard was giving us the stinkeye.) And, oh, there's another thing I remember well---as I was walking to an early class, I saw a pair of bra left on a secluded part of the hedges---and as a virgin freshman, I was torn between being appalled and being excited at the prospect of, uhm, a new experience. (Alas. It turned out I won't be leaving my bra, or any other article of clothing, on any hedge during my stay in UST. Or even after.)  This was where I found my dearest friends, and for this reason alone, I'm thankful I'm a Thomasian. I have so many memories of the school and of classmates and friends, happy ones trumping the bitter, and I always look back at my stay as one of the happiest points of my life.

  

(That's Fr. Benavidez, and us Thomasians, and I'm guessing, especially the students of the College of Science, have a private joke about him. However, in deference to TheHusband and to friends from Morayta and Recto, I'll refrain from uttering that joke.)

I got these First Day Covers---I literally had to beg the clerk to sell me the set. I believe it was already reserved, but I let out my charm offensive and I eventually got my way. *Brat* In my defense, the person who reserved the set is from the university and can get his/hers once the supply is replenished, whereas I live from a land far, far away and would be totally inconvenienced. *Off to the precinct*

It was an enjoyable day for me, and the horrendous traffic didn't even dampen my mood.

You know what would make the quadricentennial celebration even better? Us winning the 2011-2012 UAAP men's basketball (and be the overall champion as well)! *Wish! Wish!*

Viva Santo Tomas!

Weekend R&R At Tagaytay

I was a bit dissatisfied with our annual Baguio trip at the tail end of 2010 and coaxed TheHusband to go to Tagaytay for a brief R&R. Our Tagaytay trip, as with any of our other trips, was the same---Pancake House and Starbucks. Well, we're creatures of habit, and we do not usually stray out of our "formula." I think the "consistency" gives my obsessive-compulsive self some comfort and relaxation. [I guess no backpacking tours for me then. Well, I'd make an exception for Taj Mahal and Angkor Wat.] We first went to the Our Lady of Lourdes Church, and that was where we found this darling. She shares Sharkteeth's name and is no less pretty (hehehehe, patronize you own, right?). She's a sweetheart but is a bit shy. I asked for her human's permission to take a picture, and while he acquiesced, she wouldn't let me take her picture---turning her beautiful head this way or that and at one point even faced the other way as if saying that I can kiss her ass.  This is the only decent picture I got of her face and oh so beautiful eyes.

There's Sharkteeth reading the Sunday paper, or rather, the comics section of the Sunday paper. There was once a point when she was little that I got worried because she didn't seem to like reading, which was odd because TheHusband and I love to read, as well as our respective parents, and I was all, "hmmmm, she doesn't resemble me a bit and doesn't like reading? She really might have been exchanged at the hospital's nursery after all." [Hahahaha, kidding bebe ghel---seeing the sharp flash in your eyes when you are angry is enough proof that you're mine!]  Of course, that's just me being a paranoid mudrakels because when she learned how to read, she never stopped. You know what my nerdlet asked for Christmas, well, aside from the requisite toys and dolls?  A book! I shouldn't have worried about her not liking reading. Which reminds me, Baduday posted this link in her FB. Do read it---it's quite funny. Sample: "[N]othing sucks worse than a girl who reads. Do it [date an illiterate girl], I say, because a life in purgatory is better than a life in hell. Do it, because a girl who reads possesses a vocabulary that can describe that amorphous discontent as a life unfulfilled—a vocabulary that parses the innate beauty of the world and makes it an accessible necessity instead of an alien wonder. A girl who reads lays claim to a vocabulary that distinguishes between the specious and soulless rhetoric of someone who cannot love her, and the inarticulate desperation of someone who loves her too much. A vocabulary, god damnit, that makes my vacuous sophistry a cheap trick."

No matter how many times I've been in Tagaytay, I never fail to take a picture of Taal Volcano, though I have yet to go to the volcano, or the lake, itself. Sharkteeth told me to shoot her down the crater ala Angry Birds. Oooooo-weeeeeee!

The weather was a bit bipolar---misty with brief light shower that gave way to a bright sunshine with a touch of cool wind just a few moments later. Relaxing indeed.