The Essence of Me

December was a very busy and very memorable month for me. I went out almost every night, meeting and spending time with friends, dancing, drinking, talking, and just hanging out. It’s been a while since my last entry, so I’ll try to give you a glimpse of the things I did this December. Parental guidance is not needed because I’ve been very good and wholesome (hear that, Santa?).

Meeting Wins

Wins, one of the feistiest girls you’ll ever meet, invited us over to her lair (Mocha Blends Morato). I arrived there first, then GL, Flammy, Missy, Gina, and later on, Alain and Gail, followed. It was a night of making and meeting (note: MEETing, not MEATing hehe) new friends. Cool people + delicious coffee + fun conversation + rain = a great time! We went to McDo to fulfill Missy’s wish of completing her beanie bears, then off we went to Danny’s Grill (which made me extremely uncomfortable because of it’s proximity to, erm, never mind.) By this time, our group thinned to only five people: Alain, Flam, Gail, Gina, and yours truly. Nevertheless, we had a good time discovering stuff about one another (as in wholesome stuff hehe).

Kleng’s Birthday Party

Bec and I went to Kleng’s Birthday party at Citadel Inn in Makati. I was reluctant to go at first, because I really don’t hang out with Kleng that much and I was afraid I would feel out of place. But when we got there and met her other friends, we had a great time eating, drinking, and singing! But it was also then that I swore I would never, ever drink tequila (or any hard liquor, for that matter) again! 

Dinner at Gail’s

One night, (I couldn’t even remember the date anymore) I was lounging at the Shoutbox with Alain, Gail, and several other people. I was joking about my unfortunate state of homelessness, joblessness, and almost pennilessness when Gail gamely volunteered to feed me! It was one of those spur-of-the-moment decisions, and off I went with Alain to Gail’s place in Manila. We arrived there at around 10:00pm, and we had patatim and fried boneless bangus (yum!). Gail was the perfect hostess, and even though there were only three of us, we had so much fun! Alain concocted this weird drink he calls Boracay Mix (Grand Matador, Coke, coffee, and milk). It smelled fine, but after one sip I couldn’t take anymore because I could taste the brandy. I just hate the taste of brandy. Anyway, the three of us swapped stories and joked about a lot of things. I told them about how this pervert harassed me after liquor rendered me immobile. I still get shivers when I think about that incident, and how I wish I vomited on the creep while he was kissing me! (Without my consent!) Gail and Alain finished the Boracay Mix while I got drunk on Coke (as in Coca-Cola). We talked some more until King Sun commanded us to go home.

Ginapai’s Pa Canton and Club Ska’s 8th Anniversary

The shoutboxers have long been planning to watch the Lantern Parade, and Miss Friendship, Ginapai, said she’d have a pa-canton, pa-hipon, and pa-BJ (Buko Juice) after. I met Kyle, GL, Flammy, Carol, Cess, Kat, and Gina in front of Jollibee Philcoa. The parade was canceled, but we still went to UP to wait (in vain) for Alain. Shy Ace met us there, too. Kuya Jak called us up and we had a chance to thank him for chipping in (he’s in the Middle East and he wired us money for our session hehe). After ten years, Wins texted us that she’s already with Alain and Redhead in Morato. We had a difficult time catching a cab, and by the time we got to Morato, we were positively ravenous! We ate to our hearts’ content then went to Kolumn Bar for CS8 (Thanks, May, for inviting us!). It was my first exposure to Ska and I absolutely enjoyed it! Especially when we all started dancing and taking pictures. We got wasted and got thrown out of the bar… nah, just kidding. But we had to leave because the bar closes at 5:00am. Off we went to Kalye Juan to have coffee and talk some more. Boy, it was definitely one of the best nights of my life!

The Beans Society + Flammy

Kat was on leave and she asked Redhead, Flammy, and I to meet her in Megamall so we can have dinner and coffee. Katty gave us cool presents (loooove the flip-flops!), then we went to Starbucks to wait for Red. After having coffee, the four of us went to the Jam station and brought Webby Polie our peace offering. We hung out and had our pictures taken at the booth with the absolutely talented and gorgeous Chris Cayzer, Wacky DJ Migs, and Nice and Pretty DJ Lana. Then, off we went to Shakey’s to satisfy our rebelling tummies.

Session at Gail’s Barung-barong

Gail invited us to have dinner and session at her barung-barong in Cainta. It was one of the most slammin’ barung-barong you’ll ever see… absolutely beautiful! Anyway, it was worth the long journey (Alain convinced Kyle and I to take the Ortigas-Cainta route and it took us a hundred years before we reached Gail’s place). We drank and talked and saw this big gecko lizard. The thing was around seven inches long! I was really scared. Then Kyle had to go home because he had to go to work at 6:00am. Alain and Gail went out with him to get more beer and cigarettes for Alain (he needed his nicotine fix). At around 7:00am, Alain decided to cook his specialty, buttered tilapia, for breakfast. Since I’m no good in the kitchen, I took a nap on the couch, only to wake up and discover that Alain and Gail slept, too! (Clarification: they slept separately, hehe) It was noon when we all woke up and baby Shoti was awake, too. Our breakfast became lunch, and then Wins called us up. Finally, at 2:00pm, we said goodbye and went our separate ways.

Blood Diamond with Kyle

Last Friday, Kyle and I watched the advance screening of Blood Diamond, with tickets courtesy of Polie (thanks, man!). It was a great, heart-wrenching movie, and Djimon Hounsou amazed me again. He was great in Amistad, and he had exceeded my expectations in this movie. Not much of a DiCaprio fan, I liked him in this movie except his British accent was a bit unnatural. After the movie, we met Ginapai and her date (naks!), and we chatted for a while. Kyle and I were still a bit restless so we decided to take a tour around Ortigas. After we ran out of streets to discover, we decided to go home and rest our tired feet.

At Daphne’s Place

I met Daphne for coffee in Figaro on the 24th. We were lucky enough to see a marvelous fireworks display at the car park. Then, she invited me to her place for their family get-together. With nothing to do, I agreed to come and we had fun singing, drinking, and talking. I also met her kids, nephews, and niece. I love them already! I guess I’m just one of those people who are absolutely smitten with kids. I have no difficulty getting along with them. We became really fast friends. I also discovered something that gave me a little hope about one aspect of my life. Let’s see if something comes out of it.

A New Home

I just moved to a new place, still in UP Bliss but in a different building. It’s a great place! What a wonderful Christmas gift, to not be homeless anymore! I spent Christmas with my new roommate and we had takeout food and shared love stories. Too bad she’s leaving for Singapore in January. It would have been fun rooming with her.

Girls’ Day Out

My Friday Girl, Daphne, and I went and got ourselves (drum roll, please)… a massage! It was absolutely heaven! I felt so good, so relaxed, and so ready for the battle ahead. It’s fun to pamper oneself once in a while.

Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah (Did I spell it correctly?)

Yesterday, I picked up my goodies at Jam and then did some window-shopping in Robinson’s Galleria. I felt like watching a movie and after seeing all the choices, I quickly picked Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah because I’ve been hearing a lot of great reviews of the play. I don’t watch a lot of Filipino films, but I certainly enjoyed this one. Chokoleit was so darn funny! I think he had all the good lines hehe. I still don’t see why people think Alfred Vargas is a hottie…I just don’t. (My apologies to his fans.) Rustom could give Carmina a run for her money. He was so pretty! He’d be a great hit in Thailand.

Home for the Holidays (or what’s left of it)

I’ll be going home tomorrow after  my job interview in Makati. I’ll come back first week of January. I’m excited about the New Year, but also scared. I feel sort of reborn… I know I can change my life if I want to, and that if I fail it would be nobody’s fault but my own. I have a lot of plans, and I am determined to see them through. I’m tired of just going with the flow. It’s time to take control and lead my life where I want it to go. Wish me luck!

Time to make my New Year’s Resolutions. Have a very happy New Year and see you all soon!

Ten Steps in Erasing Someone from Your Life

1. Delete his number from your phonebook.
2. Delete him from your Friendster list, and restrict your account to your Friends.
3. Delete all your photos with him.
4. Set a punishment for every thought you waste on him. This way you can condition your mind not to think about him at all.
5. Avoid places where you used to hang out with him. Avoid things that are connected with him.
6. Do not talk about him with your friends.
7. Do not blog about him.
8. Spend more time with friends.
9. Think happy thoughts.
10. Even though you are erasing him from your life, never, ever regret the time you spent with him. Your mantra should be: "It was fun while it lasted."

Now, isn’t that easy?