My Asinine Thoughts

Happy New Year everyone!

I’ve been so busy the past couple of weeks that I haven’t found the time to do anything but eat.

Naturally, new year’s resolution number one is to go on a diet, but I won’t start just yet. I have to wait until ditsi and Arnel leave because it’s impossible to NOT eat when EVERYONE is eating.

We spent the new year here in California watching dvds and playing mahjong. No party, no fireworks, nothing particularly special but we spent it with family so it’s all good. Two servings each of atsi’s yummy fried rice and a bottle of merlot were all that was needed to fill our tummies.

2007 was a pretty good year (since I spent about half of it doing absolutely nothing, boy how time flies). Not fantastic but definitely better than the year before and that’s what I’m hoping will continue on this year. I know 2008 will be even better than 2007, I’m going to meet my first ever pamangkin (a nephew!) this January for starters. Yay!

The Third Turkey (11/22/2007):

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Jamie’s family in Daly City (where there are about a billion Filipinos according to the J-man). I had a lot of fun eating, eating and eating since his relatives made a lot of food for everybody. I had lumpia, salmon, mashed potatoes, pancit, sioma, biko, cream puff, chocolate cheesecake, and of course turkey! Great combination ano?

The Second Turkey (11/21/2007):

Atsi still had work the day before Thanksgiving so I accompanied her to her school and joined her class in the celebration. We had to cook and prepare the food first though. Atsi’s students are really sweet and nice and I felt like I was a kindergarten teacher again although this time the students were a hell of a whole lot bigger!

Atsi’s first ever turkey (that she had to cook herself) turned out to be more than edible, it was yummy! Success!

The First Turkey:

I suggested we watch this movie.
I HATE Zack Helm now.
I’m never going to live this one down.

It’s Chinese New Year again and I’m off from work for a week and a half (You can’t see it, but I have a very big smile plastered on my face). I had plans for the long vacation, such as: (1)a trip to Kaoshiung via the new bullet train (2)a visit to Leofoo, a theme park (3)cook mechado for my friends - this will take a whole day because I have to chop a lot and give my mom a call to ask for cooking directions again. So did I push through with any of these plans?

Nope!

A reason would be because I’m almost flat broke and my boss forgot to give me my red envelope, although this would have been remedied by asking Jeff to lend me some money BUT! A throat infection has been plaguing me for the better part of 2 weeks as well. I’ve already visited our friendly neighborhood doctor and I did feel better afterwards but after a few days, it came back. Since my doctor was already on vacation by then, I did what my family has been doing for decades. Self-medicate.

Well my throat still hurts a bit and I still feel faint whenever I exert any kind of effort so I don’t think the antibiotics I’m taking are working. My friends don’t believe me anymore whenever I say I want to throw up or my head feels like it’s exploding from the pain, but I swear, no, I REALLY swear, all of my complaints are valid! If I don’t eat on time because I’m feeling too lazy (yes, it happens), I get a headache. If I’m in a stuffy room, I get a headache. If I smell something or someone malodorous, I get a headache. If I get tired, I get a headache. If I’m riding a cab, I get a headache. All of these headaches have but one outcome: one big, nasty barf-o-rama.

I’ve probably puked all over Taipei by now but last Friday was the first time I came close to puking in front of small kiddies. I met Gina for lunch that day and we went to Costco for some grocery shopping and since we bought a lot of heavy stuff, we decided to take a cab back to Hsinchuang. So you know, cab ride, stuffy, smelly driver all rolled into one. When I got home my head was already pounding and I had to go to class in an hour and a half! So I took a nap first thinking it would drive the headache away enough for me to teach for a couple of hours that night but when I woke up…damn! I had no choice but to go to work though because I was subbing for Joyce and it would really be embarassing for her if I don’t show up at the school. So anyway, halfway through the first class I was turning green until I couldn’t hold it anymore and ditched the classroom for the toilet. I did this a couple of times until the Chinese teachers took pity on me and sent me home.

Well now it’s a week later and I’m still lacking in energy units so I haven’t really done anything much but back-up my files and weed out useless files from my hard drive. Oh, and also watch lots and lots of movies.

I’ve often dreamed of becoming one of Jane Austen’s heroines. I mean, all they do is sit around the house, tinkle with the pianoforte, knit, visit neighbors, gossip and wait for some hot men to come to their neighborhood. Living without a computer would be a blow true, but then I’d have more time to read books so it’ll be ok. I’m reminded of this character in Pride and Prejudice called Anne de Bourgh, the daughter of the mega rich + mega bitch Lady Catherine de Bourgh. She’s described as this pale, small, thin girl (1 out of 3 for me is not bad, I AM pale) - one of a sickly constitution you know? So people around her understood that she should not exert herself too much, not even to learn how to play the aforesaid pianoforte. But now in the 21st century, that ain’t gonna fly. You feel like shit? Well take a pill, get over it and go back to work is more the thing. I’m hating the 21st century all of a sudden.

Christmas time:

Christmas is in the air so they say. Bus drivers here are already wearing Santa Claus suits and shops are full of Christmas decorations. Christmas cards, Christmas gift wrappers, Christmas lights, Christmas trees, snowmen, snowglobes, ribbons, and pretty lights are everywhere… the only thing missing from the Taiwanese way of celebrating Christmas is to actually celebrate it by not having to go to school or work. Normally this would piss me off especially since the 25th falls on a Monday, but this year I won’t be here because I. Am. Coming. Home. Tomorrow!!!

Celebrating Christmas:

This will be the first time I’ll celebrate Christmas back home since I left for Taiwan a few years ago and I am excited, but I would have been more excited if I wasn’t on a diet. Yes! Diet during the holiday season!!! I may cheat but not much, and it’s not because I have a lot of self-control but because my sister Pebbles is getting married in January and I’m the maid-of-dishonor! I have to wear an actual gown(!) No pictures of me wearing the damned thing would be posted anywhere near here unless by some miracle it was shot at an angle where I looked slender or ditsi’s friend comes through and he photoshops the hell out of it.

The food I will miss:

I’ll be home for almost 4 weeks and 2/3 of that time I can’t eat. I told ditsi that as soon as we get to the reception… fuck the diet. I can’t believe I won’t be able to eat the traditional fare at Tita Inday’s house on Christmas day. There’s the KFC chicken, spaghetti, salad, chocolates atbp. I’ve been listing down the restaurants I’m gonna go to as soon as I’m able, to name a few:

1. Jollibee - spaghetti, palabok, chicken joy, peach mango pie, even jolly hotdog
2. McDonald’s - longganisa meal, quarter pounder (they don’t have it here), twister fries
3. Shakey’s - mojos
4. Dominos - baked spaghetti, apple crumble
5. Kimchi - beef stew
6. Pancake House - spaghetti, grilled cheese
7. Mister Donut - spaghetti (yes, I love love love spaghetti)
8. Red Ribbon - chicken empanada, coffee crunch, chocolate mousse
9. Hotshots - Bacon cheeseburger
10. Tokyo Tokyo - red iced tea! potato balls, gyudon, tonkatsu, yakisoba
11. Aristocrat - pork bbq, java rice
12. Cafe Med - chicken kebab
13. Kaya - beef bulgogi, chicken bulgogi, chap jae
14. Little Asia - the beef with cheese thingy, fish
15. Hap Chan - wanton, fish fillet with lots of garlic on top!
16. Le Ching - siomai, shrimp dumplings, spareribs
17. Italiannis - spaghetti
18. KFC - gravy gravy gravy, mashed potatoes
19. Donuts!!! GoNuts, Krispy Kreme, Dunkin, Mister Donut - lahat yan!
20. Luto ni nanay - mechado, sabaw ng baka, adobo, chicken curry, beef steak, beef stew, Cobb’s chicken

I need to breathe. All of that in 1 week, I’ll have to get on a wheelchair to board the plane back to Taiwan when my vacation ends.

In preparation for my vacation:

I’m very worried about leaving my little kiddies for such a long time. I have set this time table for them from the time we started the school year up to July next year and I don’t want it to get all fucked up because I was gone for a long time. Hopefully my sub will do a good job in taking over my duties. We are already starting with long vowels and longer and more difficult words so it’s pretty exciting haha! So since last month I’ve been planning three different lesson plans (for three different English classes) for the teachers who will sub for me including notes about who’s naughty or nice I also finished this AVP that the boss has been asking for to show during the Christmas program and I truly hope she remembers to use it because I slaved away in front of the computer for hours doing that.

Next was Christmas gifts. I’m always on a tight budget any time of the year, any year of my life so shopping was a bit of a challenge. I didn’t want to buy anything heavy because I’m bringing home a lot of things already but I fear that when I get to the airport tomorrow, money will be parted from my wallet as I pay for my excess baggage. I’ve been buying assorted snacks and trinkets and bilins and I hope I remembered all of them because I’m not going out of the house anymore tonight because it’s raining and so frakkin’ cold. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past few weekends, just shopping - sometimes alone, sometimes with Joyce, sometimes with Jeff and sometimes with both!

I was also panicking a few weeks ago because I still haven’t found a pair of shoes that I will need to wear with my gown. Ditsi said it had to be light gold and I said meh! No problem! There are tons of pretty shoes here in Taiwan from the seediest nightmarket to the poshest mall. Wrong! Well, partly wrong because there are a lot of shoes here but finding one that would fit my ginormous feet? Not so easy. I’ve been so used to wearing rubber shoes and flat sandals that finding a pair of delicate, ladylike shoes became this whole ordeal. I was trying on so many and nothing would fit I felt like one of the ugly stepsisters in Cinderella! I was about to throw in the towel when one day some of my friends and I went to Taipei to do the things we needed to get done when Joyce spotted a pair of light gold shoes in this poshy shop. I was busy buying my ice cream cone at McDonald’s at the time (I had no lunch! That was my excuse) and when I went out, they were gone. Yun pala, they inquired na about the shoes for me so when I went into the shop, I tried it on and it FIT! Then I looked at the price tag and almost fainted. I was thinking, how much do I love ditsi? Hmmm, more importantly, how much pride do I have left? Even if I look like a pale longganisa in my gown, at least I’m wearing really nice shoes. So I closed my eyes and handed the saleslady my credit card. Kaching!

Delayed start in preparations:

I’m in a bit of a rush now because I hit a few bumps at the end of November. First, I got a cold, then the flu then an ear infection. One after another for more than 2 weeks!!! I hate getting sick and I never used to get sick when I was back in the PI. The occasional fever o
nce a year and that’s it! This year has been bookeneded with trips to the doctor. I hope I fare better next year.

This is my second new year in Taiwan and I thought I’d do something different this time and spend the first few hours of 2006 amidst strangers. December 31st is not a holiday so I still had to go to work. After my classes ended, I went straight to Taipei City to meet up with the girls for a late lunch at Swensen’s. I’ve been here almost 2 years and I didn’t even know there were several branches of Swensen’s scattered around. Goes to show how much I’ve explored the place.

Joyce and I agreed that we would watch the fireworks from the 101 building at midnight so we thought we’d check out the place early and emerge from the mall just in time for the countdown. It went like this. Before we went to 101, we stopped by this English bookstore to scout new books for the next term. The basement of the store was pretty stuffy and I started getting a headache. This headache is the type that does not go away no matter the number of painkillers I ingest. The only sure-fire way of killing it is to sleep it off or throw up. Both options were not feasible for obvious reasons.

As soon as we got off the train, warning bells started ringing in my head. There were tons of people heading straight to the City Hall where there was going to be a concert that night. It seemed pretty cool at first so thoughts of maybe hanging out at the mall first and maybe watching a movie after went out the proverbial window. I got to see S.H.E. as well as other pop stars perform but the rain was intermittent and the jostling around with the others really bugged me. At the time, my headache was getting worse and there was still 3 hours to go before midnight so we were kinda in for a very long and torturous (for me) wait. A part of me was saying, “go home!” But a part of me was also saying, “stay, dumbass!” That stupid part won and we stayed.

After several unbelievable hours of waiting, the place filled up. You couldn’t even see the streets anymore since there were scores and scores of people. Joyce and I got really good seats since we’ve been sitting and waiting for hours. Ah, finally. The countdown. In Chinese, ok? 　十 九 八 七 六 五 四 三 二 一　!!! Dingdingding! Happy New Year!　

A few minutes later, I went to an available tree and threw up. Bodes well for 2006.

The challenge of ending a so-so year in a fantastic note is the challenge of stopping my kids to say so-so. No, really. I ask them if they like/hate a particular thing and they always come up with”So-so, teacher.” I have actually banned so-so in the classroom. I never thought I could hate “so-so” so much in my entire life, but there you go. I think I just wrote so-so 5x, make that 6x.

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The 23rd of December 2005

Had to work all day today and boss was not even around to celebrate Christmas like we did last year. No games, no candies, no Santa Claus. Bummer. Looks like I will have to pull out all the stops this year with my kids.

I started off the morning by giving my kiddies candy canes and gifts. The gifts were just cheap stuff but combined with my hohoho’s and Santa hat, I did alright. We sang a few carols and made Christmas cards for their folks so I think they got into the Christmas spirit eventually.

My afternoon classes were also treated to some hoilday cheer since I gave them gifts and candies as well. We’ve been practicing ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ for a few days now and they’re really raring to show their stuff. I made them sing in front of a couple of classes so that our practicing and going out of breath would not have been in vain.

To wrap up my class, I told them the Christmas Carol story. I can’t believe they’ve never heard of Scrooge even in Chinese.

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The 24th of December 2005

07:00 am
Woke up from deep slumber. Rats! Work!

08:15
Got on the Gong Si-Bei Men bus to go to my other school in Taishan City.

08:30
Went to McDo to buy breakfast.

09:00
Started my first class with a bunch of sleepyheads I call my high school students. The impish Small Mike was naughty as usual. I tried explaining inference to the best of my abilities. I should be getting better pay for this shite.

10:00
Next class was with a bunch of kids whom I have to review 15 Chapters with… in 50 minutes! We played bowling with me asking questions on the sly. It’s a tough life but someone’s gotta do it.

11:00
My second high school class. This time I was trying to make them understand humor in writing. I try and I try and in the end, I spoon feed them with answers. Lousy educator.

12:30
On my way to Blockbuster to rent Christmas-themed movies. Gah! Seems like everyone had the same idea. Most of the good stuff were gone and I couldn’t rent a damned thing.

Did last minute shopping.

14:30
Lunch then nap.

15:30
Woke up to buy food. My roomies and I decided to celebrate noche buena by cooking/buying one meal each. I planned on feeding them with Ma Po Tofu which I will personally cook. I called my mom first early on to ask for directions and I hoped to God I get it all right since I have no intention of poisoning anybody despite my pronouncements.

Called Juliet to ask what wonder powder and leeks look like but phone couldn’t be reached. I’ll just have to do without I guess.

16:20
Got home armed with minced pork (I spent 10 minutes deciding what minced pork looked like. Since there was no one I could ask, bahala na), onion, shrimp, and tofu. I hope the dish turns out alright without the other ingredients I couldn’t find.

16:30
I hate chopping onions! Sniff.

17:00
After chopping onions, garlic, and shrimp I was ready to start cooking. This was my first time ever to really cook real food. Frying canned goods does not count.

17:25
Hey! My Ma Po Tofu looks a lot like mom’s! I hope it tastes the same as well.

17:30
Juliet’s home. Now it’s her turn to work her magic in the kitchen. I hie off to the living room to rest. Cooking is exhausting work.

21:00
Gina and Jennifer get home bearing take-outs. Smells good! Oh noche buena is going to be a feast!

22:30
Can’t wait anymore. Dinner must be had.

02:05
Played scrabble for more than an hour. Then feeling of empacho started setting in, we went off to bed.

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The 25th of December 2005

Celebrated at Auntie Lolit’s place where we had spaghetti, bbq and fish. How’s that for combination? I slummed at Jeff’s room because it’s like a big entertainment center what with his gadgets and all!

Called ahiya to greet him and Aileen a Merry Christmas. Labyuguysmuah!

Got a phone call from atsi late afternoon to greet me a Merry Christmas. A shout out to atsi-pooh who has probably never visited, hmphf! Labyumuah!

Got a phone call at around 7:30pm from ditch to tell me that she’s… engaged!!! Yipee! I told her that bridesmaids are never fat so I’m going to start dieting on January 1, 2006. She said I had 10 to 12 months so by God! I’ll start dragging Jeff to California Fitness so that I’ll have company in my treadmill misery. Labyuditsimuah!

MI3 means…
Mission Impossible part 3? Non.
MIchelle the 3rd? Non.
May Itlog na Tatlo? Non.
Moving In part three? Oui.

I’ve finally settled in the new apartment and have procured all the basic necessities to make life at home comfy. To mark the occassion (moving in), I bought a dreamy new quilt cover from Ikea in anticipation of winter… or should I say, in trepidation. I want to freeze in style. I also bought an observator for my future mini TV because I was quickly running out of space. I’m quite ashamed to admit that I have more personal stuff than I think Gina and her sisters have combined. The only good thing I can say about my numerous books, dvds, cds, and magazines is that I’m one big entertainment center who rents out for free.

My room is tiny and there’s only room enough for a bed and a big table or a big wardrobe. I chose the table of course. I don’t mind putting my clothes in boxes as long as I have a table to write on. By the way, we finally have an ADSL connection so I’m now in heaven after an almost 3-week hell of no internet. I had recurring nightmares that Brangelina have already come out in the open and I still didn’t know anything about it.

MF05 means…
Motha F***a 2005? Nein.
Mister Fonut (5 round fonuts)? Nein.
Shortened version of MILF for 2005? Nein.
Moon Festival 2005? Ja!

Last year’s Moon Festival fell on a weekday so no classes, yay! I probably spent the whole day in bed watching the telly and munching on corn chips. This year was a lot different - it was on a Sunday and I barbecued. According to my boss, Taiwan has been celebrating the Moon Festival not only with mooncakes but with bbqs these past few years and she doesn’t really know why. Anyway, the capitalist pigs have taken advantage and a few weeks before the festival, you can find tons of cheap grills being sold in the market along with assorted bbq sauces, sticks, charcoals, starters and brushes.

As people are wont to do when they get together, they cook up schemes they would never normally think of on their own. Juliet suggested we follow Taiwanese tradition and have a bbq as well, and as all of us were greatly fond of eating, the suggestion was quickly followed by enthusiastic yeahs. Jennifer and I found ourselves shopping for food at Carrefour a few days before the event so we bought fish, hotdog, bell peppers, potatoes, nuggets, chicken slices, beef slices, drinks, grill, and charcoal. Difficult shopping out of the way, I told her the marinating would have to be done by the other two (Gina and Juliet). Which is just as well really since I’m the last person you would ask to marinate anything unless you want to choke and die.

So last Saturday night we took our stuff to the building’s rooftop to do some serious grilling (and eating). There was so much food that I was prompted to sing a modified version of ‘Sana Dalawa ang Puso Ko‘ to ‘Sana Dalawa ang Stomach Ko‘ for fear that we would have tons of leftover food the next day. All fears were unfounded.

p.s. another good thing happened that day because I went to Jason’s with Jeff before the bbq and was able to find Grenadine! According to Joyce, if you mix Grenadine with Iced Tea you would get an Iced Tea very similar to the one from Tokyo Tokyo. Oh, Joy!

SNN905 means…
Saksi News Network 9:05? Não.
Sinunulog Festival (905 dance steps)? Não.
Sir Numerius Negidius a.k.a. Sir John Doe with 905 moles on his face? Não.
Shopping NaNaman (si Michelle this September 2005)? Sim, baby, Sim.

It started with my feet aching one day right after I got my paycheck. I went to the mall and bought a pair of shoes from Rockport. It was a necessity. I had to buy the shoes. Had to.

Then I finally decided to buy the DVD set of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. I can be a real pleasure delayer sometimes. I loved loved loved Before Sunrise so I really had high expectations for Before Sunset. I was sure it would work so I held out for the last possible minute before watching it since I can only watch it for the first time once. I had to buy it. Had to!

Then I went to Costco with the Ching family and saw that the Indiana Jones set was on sale, as in 4 DVDs at reduced price. It was a steal. I had to buy it. Had to!

Then there was this one day sale at Page One the other day, all books at 20% off! I thought of how much money I would save if I buy the remaining Terry Pratchett Discworld books I didn’t have. It was impossible though since I still needed to buy around 19 books to complete the set. I mean, 19! Come on! So I bought only 5. And a Peter Mayle book. I had to buy them because they were on sale. Had to!

The challenge of the blank page is the challenge of starting anew.

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The Michelle Sy Diary. Doesn’t have the same ring to it as “The Adrian Mole Diaries,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” or “Bridget Jones’s Diary” but what the hey!

The 24th of December 2004

12:30am
Finished my laundry.

2:15am
Slept late due to incessant fiddling with new laptop.

7:05am
First wake-up call; woke up amidst the beeping noise of alarm clock (honestly one of the most hideous but invaluable inventions of our time).

7:15am
Woke up again after hitting the snooze button the first time around.

7:20am
Actually got out of bed after much deliberation:
call in sick? everyone’s sick, that’s no excuse.
pretend to be dying? quite true, but no one will believe me.
just deadma? deadma also the paycheck.
go to work late? bad work ethic which will take a lifetime to undo.
face the music? is there no other choice?

7:20:30am
Stupid conscience.

7:40am
Finished washing up.

7:50am
Got dressed.

8:00am
Did last minute preparation of lesson plan since forgot to do so last night as was too engrossed with new baby - which shall hereby be referred to as ‘Jeeves.’ This in honor of great and prolific P.G. Wodehouse who had amused me to no end this month.

8:15am
Ran around the apartment to make sure nothing was forgotten. Santa Claus hat, check. Magic wands, check. Flashcards, check. Christmas cards, check. English book, check. Jeeves, check. Money, check. Oops! Shoes, check.

8:25am
Bought a sandwich and proceeded to the bus stop. Where’s the stupid 235? Or even the 802?

9:05am
Got to school with 10 minutes to spare. Apparently, dilly-dallying in bed earlier this morning had no adverse effect.

9:15am
Started class with rousing rendition of B-I-N-G-O with matching clap-clap, stomp-stomp and woof-woof for sound effects.

9:25am
Halfway through Jingle Bells. Been practicing this song since last week, oh God please let it end.

9:30am
Told the kids to drink up, I was croaking - agua! agua!

9:31am
Asked everyone to read “Little Red Riding Hood.” Enunciate! It’s cape, not kep! It’s wore, not whore!

9:50am
Had 10 minutes left before Christmas party… what to do? What to do? Ah! Told a story I made up on the spot called “Santa Claus and the boy named Eric.” There was a naughty boy in my class with that name so this story made him pay attention for like, 5 seconds.

10:05am
Got ready to watch Santa (white minister from boss’s church in black socks and blue slippers) entertain the kiddies with his ho-ho-hos and agility despite the encumbrance that is the huge ball appended to his midsection.

11:15am
Settled the kids down with a bit of Q&A and role-play. Did you like Santa? What gifts would you like him to give you? Do you even get gifts? Who can do Santa? Who can say ho-ho-ho the loudest?

11:30am
Lunch!

12:00pm
Tutored the boss. Already halfway through Harry Potter 5. How to explain ‘that puts me in my place?’

3:30pm
Class dismissed!

4:30pm
Wrapping gifts in apartment. Keeping it close = procrastinator.

5:00pm
On the way to Auntie’s place.

5:45pm
Gaaah! Heavy traffic driving me insane!

6:10pm
Finally! A 20-minute bus ride turned into more than an hour. Honestly.

6:30pm
Found out Christmas party has been postponed. Most of the people have work the next day, the 25th. Consolation was found in a bucket of KFC.

7:30pm
Bought Christmas gifts online. Amazon is Santa Claus this year. Can’t wait to get hands on new DVDs. Seems like hints to family memebers did not work so must buy gifts myself. Repercussions with regards to the budget will be dealt with at a late
r date.

9:00pm
Ditsi called to say Merry Christmas, gifts were discussed.
Mummy: A coupon stating that the bearer of which is entitled to a free trip anywhere in Asia valid for 6 months. Ditsi’s got style. She came up with the idea, the rest of us will just send money.
Pops: ……… Shoes? Wallet? I.O.U. on this one. Always get stumped with papa.
Syoti: mp3 player, rubber shoes, Bora trip. Hmm… my lack of presence in the country certainly turned to this boy’s advantage.

9:15pm
Talked to the folks. Both worried about my cold and ever worsening cough. Yaaaaahhhh-Choooo!

12:00mn
It’s Christmas! Was able to survive first Christmas eve on my own.

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The 25th of December 2004

12:01am
Surfing.

4:00am
Gave in to droopy eyes.

8:00am
Started organizing folders in Outlook. Emails in an absolute mess.

11:00am
Talked to best friend Cheryl who is also spending Christmas by her lonesome in Hongkong. Was informed of her being given a Chinese name courtesy of the laundry woman. Congratulations!

11:30am
Doritos for lunch.

2:00pm
Took a nap.

5:00pm
On the way to Auntie’s for Christmas party.

8:00pm
Called my mummy and popsy. All of them on their way home from annual Christmas party at Tita Inday’s. Felt a pang.

8:50pm
Christmas feast was yum yum yum. All the basic food groups needed by the body: spaghetti, chicken and coke.

9:30pm
Elected to watch FPJ’s necrological service on ABS-CBN website due to popular demand. Was surrounded by middle-aged, diehard fans. Resistance was futile. Everyone trooped into auntie’s room to mourn Da King.

10:00pm
Gave in and cried during Erap speech and Eddie speech. I am and will always be Pinoy at heart. How else can you explain it?

11:58pm
Ahiya and Atsi still haven’t called to greet me a Merry Christmas. Tampo! Will guilt-trip them into buying me gifts.

11:59pm
Merry Christmas! Woink! Woink! Woink!