1.      Dang, my back hurts still and all the more every time I enter a jeepney ‘coz of too much stooping…e most often than not, people wouldn’t budge to make space or if they do, they’d move until the only free space is the inner most spot — the one at the back of the driver or the front passenger seat. 

2.      Can we have a real sidewalk in this side of Manila?  One that is well-paved, clean, and free of clutter? Imagine, I’ve got the heels of two shoes destroyed due to the uneven sidewalks I trudge on day in and day out the past weeks.  Arg.

3.      I see so many thingamajigs being sold at the streets from my place of work to the nearby mall: cellphone cases, scrunchies, eyeglass frames, books/newspapers/magazines, food, slippers/sandals, candies, and these weird standing Batman action figures (they are like small soldiers lined up at the side of the road)!  I noticed, one of the vendors is one real old lady.  Sobrang kawawa.  I mean for her age, she shouldn’t be at the sidewalk, inhaling smog, and working the whole day!  Everyday, I want to buy all her wares so she can just go home and rest; but what will I do with small bright blue sandals naman kasi?

4.      There is also this man-beggar who plays a harmonica for some coins near our building.  I remember when I was younger, there was a similar man in front of the Daily Express Building (papa’s office then) whom my brother and I make a point to buy extra polvoron/snacks for. Today, I’m ready for Mr. Harmonica Man.  I grabbed some instant noodles in the car and made baon to give him later.  Sigh, what other food can I give him every so often? Nakaka-awa kasi talaga eh.

***I swear, it just breaks my heart when I see old people in the streets — too old to make a living or to be elsewhere (enter  “Another Day for You and Me in Paradise” by Phil Collins MTV).  But I am also discriminating — kasi minsan, may elders na obviously being used by some gangs to beg eh.  Well, for the times I cannot distinguish, I let myself think na ok lang kasi food and not money naman binigay ko eh.  As for kids, I’m actually less compassionate (whoa! AHRC-AKAP might disown me) ‘coz they can be sooooo kulit, abusado, and bastos pa.  Also, giving to them is like rewarding their stupid and uncaring parents pa kasi eh.  Oh well, just the same, when I do feel generous, expect not money from me, kiddos!

5.        There is just so many people in this side of the City (yeah, I know mas marami pa elsewhere; but everyday ang dami kong nakakasabay maglakad/commute dito eh).  Nakakatakot actually to breathe kasi: 1) stale air na; 2) baka may air borne diseases hovering na; 3) ma-smog masyado.  I swear, para nga akong na-psychologically conditioned na.  Every time I hear a person coughing nearby, I automatically stop breathing for like 10 seconds or until I am a few steps away from the cough-er’s perimeter!  Gosh, parang every week kasi I get sipon na eh despite my massive Ascorbic Acid and water intake.  Kung hindi lang kasi mahal ang Lysol spray, I’d spray the whole office building and the areas I pass by everyday! Haha.

***Aside (speaking of spray kasi): the door to the office squeaks like crazy!  I’m sobrang itching to bring my can of DW-40 and spray away.  Kaso, I try to contain my O.C.-ness kasi baka the people there intentionally want the door squeak as an ‘alarm’ that someone is entering/leaving.***

ria: ang init!

mel: the past days and while wala ka, makulimlim naman.

ria: serious?

mel: yeah, ngayong umuwi ka ang araw!

ria’s mind: can this be for real?  me, no longer a rain magnet?!

• i learned a new route going to julia’s (then to work) last sunday.  same kilometrage, but faster (as i don’t have to suffer the Service-Road-Sales- Bridge traffic).  and dang, cars fly there!
• hmmm, the director of my life seems to have run out of bibo black cats.  on my way home, the black dog that usually runs across my path would just lay down asleep on the side of the road!  hahaha, production budget must have been slashed 10 folds.
• i hate the bar code tagging in almost all grocery stores these days (dang, even Cash & Carry now have such system).  buti sana if tama yung price/size (kung meron man) na naka-lagay below the products/items eh.  kaso, most often than not, wala or mali.  buti rin sana if maraming price checking machines or gumagana kung meron man to verify the prices agad.  but most often than not, i have to ask a personnel to check the price for me (that is if may mahagilap akong tao).  dang, i usually end being surprised at the price that pops sa screen ng cashier upon payment eh. ibalik ang sticker price tags!!!
• it’s so sad that kris’ siblings, nephews, and nieces had gone back to where they reside na.  it was great seeing them often the past weeks.  i really like their company and bonding with the kids eh.
• tomorrow, we watch harry potter movie! yehey. to think, i haven’t read the latest book yet…work can be tiring.
• got home early today…hoping to start writing on the xmas cards i’ll be sending to friends and relatives abroad/province.  but then, this blogging and email checking/deleting (ang daming naiipon kasi i got no internet access sa cube ko) is eating my time away. haha. and then, i was able to catch kim possible on disney channel pa.  hahaha, a good cartoon dose after a long break from t.v.!
• nanang had a foodie experiment today:  chicken pork adobo…with ketchup! dang!  pero in fairness, mel and i think it tasted like asado.
• 39 days to go before xmas! how time flies.

Dear Ms. Ria xxx Berbano,

We would like to invite you to a Memorial Mass for all Ateneo alumni who have passed away. This will be on Sunday, 20 November 2005, 10:30 a.m. at the Church of the Gesù. Fr. Bienvenido F. Nebres, S.J., Ateneo de Manila University President, will be presiding.

For the Mass, we invite you also to write the name/s of departed alumni friends and family members on slips of paper and drop them in the bowl which will be placed near the holy water font in the Gesù. These will all be presented to our Lord during the offertory.

Thank you.
Office of University Development and Alumni Relations

it’s the fourth day of me completing the required pre-employment medical exams.

one day at NBI for drug testing.  the next, psychological tests.  the day after, physical exam. and today, laboratory exams (gosh, no hand to squeeze as they did a blood extraction — parang kagat lang daw ng langgam….eh i  i hate ants and their bites really wound me)!

may dental check-up pa (to think kakapunta ko lang kay mitch for a check-up last month).  oh well.

• the week had been sooo crazy after work.  so many dinners with the ablan siblings — but, i don’t mind, i love the company!  i just hate the added pounds due to stuff i’ve eaten away.
• i’m really not that hectic yet, but there are just many errands (work and non-work related) that my O.C. mind is spinning.
• my right thumb still pains me…uh oh.  and my back is sooo much worse.  dang, i’m trapped in a ‘lola’ body already!  i wonder how i’d be when i’m in my 30s or 40s or worst, 50s?!
• as much as i want to write my experiences about work and the office, i decided it is better not to do so.  i might absent-mindedly write something that might stir trouble if read in a different light. 
• my email inboxes have so many new messages.  it’s been days since i last checked and blogged.  work, dinners, pagod from commute/drive, and errands. 
• yahoo, weekend ngayon. longer hours to sleep and time to tick off personal errands!

I got an NBI clearance last thursday as part of the requirements in my new employment.  dang, what an experience! 

for others’ info, people who’d get NBI clearance for the first time, the branch you should go to is the one at Carriedo (ride the LRT 1 and it’s a few meters away from the station); for renewals, you can just go to satellite branches found in malls/etc. And there is no any drug test involved in getting one.

i got a bit confused with the LRT (as to which way is carriedo…hahaha, it’s been soooo long since i’ve ridden the LRT 1 line)!  i also got confused which way to go after going down the LRT 1 station (’pag hde ka talaga familiar sa lugar na matao and ang daming nagbebenta everywhere, nakaka-baliw mapadpad dun). after asking a number of people for directions, i finally found the place.  gosh, ang daming tao!  sobrang init (i was sweating to the point that the adhesive of my bandage was failing on me already)!

the clearance cost Php 115.  then at the thumbmarking sections, the wet tissues are sold for Php 2.00 each (what a business!). 

speaking of thumbmarking, gusto kong patayin yung nag- ‘assist’ sa akin.  dang, he just grabbed the bandaged portion of my left wrist and started pounding my fingers at the black ‘grease’ pad to my personal info card. ang sakeeeet.  grrr.

oh and yeah, umulan when i ventured to NBI.  buti na lang ang daming nag-be-benta sa carriedo ng, "payong, payong, singkwenta lang…o, payong kayo dyan, singkwenta lang!"

• gosh, the whole traffic ticketing system is such a mess.  now we got different traffic codes enforced in metro manila apart from the MMDA system (today effective ang manila traffic code).  our proposed traffic apprehension "project" has now gained some media mileage.  recent news depicted what we’re so against in not having a single ticketing system: that if one gets apprehended in the city of manila, his/her driver’s license will be confiscated and he/she will be issued a TVR.  then, whe the same driver gets apprehended in makati the same day, he/she will be fined P1,000 for driving without a license (+ the fine for the violation committed in the said city).  then, if he/she gets apprehended in other cities the very same day (let’s pretend he/she is an ultra unlucky person *ouch*), then his traffic "bill" increases immensely! and he/she still has got to go through the hassle of claiming his/her driver’s license. so irritatingly sad.
• how ironic that Greenpeace destroyed some coral reefs in Palawan while campaigning to save the very same things.
• traffic today was sooooo horrible.  back to school/work kasi most of the people after the very long holiday. dang, took me a little over an hour to get to Manila. 
• i drive 3/4 way to work — 3/4 ‘coz i park at julia’s place as i am not yet familiar with the parking areas near the institution i work for, plus save on parking fees na rin.  as to the remaining 1/4, i take one jeepney ride from julia’s gate to the intitution’s gate.  going home, i just do the reverse of my route.  i’m very lucky that my dad is still letting me have the most convenience in life despite the fact that he is no longer physically present in our lives.  this, i kept on telling myself whenever i feel ’stressed’ with the short jeepney ride i take (siksikan kasi, ang bigat ng gamit ko, nakaka-praning ang mga snatchers, ang usok, and my back hurts talaga that climbing up the jeep is so painful).  i told myself this more on my jeepney ride going to julia’s one day last week ‘coz i sat beside a big woman who was breastfeeding her toddler who kept of kicking my thigh.  the experience was actually disconcerting!

i cannot read nor see auras.  but there are just some people who exude great auras that i bet even a non-believer of supernatural matters would even feel them.

there are some i’ve met with high level of negativity surrounding them — can stir up my curiosity to see if i can be a friend and help; but sometimes, they are best avoided in order not to charge myself with the same negative vibes.

those with good/positive auras are great to have around…but they can be tiring as well for being overly "bibo."

recently, there is this person hovering about me who just exudes dark aura.  so dark that i sense there are some petty evil thoughts lurking in her mind that are ready to be unleashed.  kakatakot nga eh. 

• now back in manila from laoag.  travelled the night to get here this morning and have time to rest the whole day before going to work tom. unfortunately, my tummy isn’t resting good.  four tablets of tums already and still my gut aches mightily.  dang.
• the burial of lola mining was fantastic yesterday — overwhelming emotions; super hot/humid weather (yes, i was there yet not a single drop of rain.  the sun was just soooo powerful); multitude of people; several ilocano customs/rituals/traditions observed: the turning of the casket, the sticky-food offerings, the walking alongside the horse-driven-carriage from the protestant service and catholic mass to the burial site (while a chopper showered flower petals above), the vinegar face washing…
• it was more than great to see and be with kris’ eight siblings (with the respective wives), 15 nephews/nieces, one granddaughter, and other relatives together again.  so beautiful/touching to witness an extended family sharing grief together and updating one another with their lives after all these years. also, i’m so happy they are welcoming to me as they’ve always been.  on the otherhand, the fear of M*** L** was quite exagerated by the nephews and nieces, really.  alright, perhaps she mellowed a bit after all these years — but great for me ‘coz she conversed with me normally and actually quite pleasantly despite having just met her. whew.
• most of us went back to the site of lola mining in the afternoon of her burial day. we stayed there enjoying the company of one another, the setting sun and the short program prepared by the kids for lola.  gosh, i got scared when the littlest one suddenly walked towards nothing and stared at the other graves.  then, while we were praying, i sensed there were lots who got curious with us.  oh well. may their souls rest in peace.
• quite funny to hear some people talk about me in ilocano IN MY PRESENCE.  just because i use english and filipino more doesn’t mean i don’t have a clue what they are saying. i may sound funny trying to speak the language (hahaha, any ilocano speaking region will disown me because my intonation is so misplaced daw); but my understanding of so is 100x better.
• hmmm, what’s the point of greeting a person who doesn’t greet back nor even acknowledge one’s presence?  i see none, really; but out of curtesy and respect brought about by manners instilled by my elders, i still do so.  oo, bato bato sa langit, sana tamaan ang makabasa.