Hong Kong Happiness

Getting into character

Sabic sa Subic

Singapore Family Getaway

Becoming my parents

Oh no! It's starting to happen. Not that I am fathering a child already (who to do it with has become a perennial problem). A little while ago, I was in conversation with a new colleague (NC) and we happened to talk about a former officemate (FO) of mine who incidentally was a friend of NC's boyfriend.

Me: It's really a small world.
NC: Yeah. So you know FO?
Me: Yes, he was our medical editor before. How do you know him?
NC: He and my boyfriend met each other through cycling.
Me: Oh, yeah. FO is a cycler (gasp!).

I immediately stopped on my tracks. That just didn't feel nor sound right! Jeepers! What's happening to me? And before I could say another word to redeem myself, she uttered, "Cyclist, you mean." And then she goes on to ask, "So, what exactly do you do here?"

Need I reveal that I work as an editor? For crying out loud, what's happening to my vocabulary!?! 

Word to the uninitiated: There is such as term as cycler, although cyclist is conventionally used to refer to someone who rides a bike. This is according to a very good friend of mine, who collaborated with Merriam-Webster.

My Lovable Lola

Great! I just got into a car accident! Thank God, nothing bad happened to me or to the car, just a slight scratch. It only left me P2,000 poorer. The poor guy had a really bad fender after the accident. Not that it was my fault... no! It was his fault entirely, not sure where to go whether straight or right. People who drive around Makati should be aware of the difficulty of driving around the city, with all the one ways and what nots. But that's another story.

My story about my lovable grandmother happened this morning. After lunch, she went to my room asking whether I would like to have dessert. I flatly said no. She then offered me some oranges, which I declined. She tried to convince me more by saying that it was as sweet as the oranges I buy from the office. I said that I was too full to eat another bite. She said that there were lots of oranges in the refrigerator, and that my aunt left a bag for us.

"She got it from SM," she said. "She got it for BUY TAKE, ONE TAKE!" Now isn't that a GREAT deal?!? She ought to be in showbusiness!

Hello again, blog!

It's 6:37 (it will change in a bit, but I'm sticking with this time) and I'm waiting for friends to drop by in my favorite hangout, Starbucks. After a very long week, I just feel so tired, so exhausted. Imagine spending almost the entire day in the office trying so hard to meet deadlines, waiting for my uncle after office, some nights drinking until the wee hours of the morning. It's Friday, and thank God, I have nothing much to do tonight but have a quiet time with friends.

Speaking of friends, I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine who just happened to drop by. His name is Jovy (well, I'd prefer to call him that), a 79-year-old chap who lives in San Francisco who just happens to like to stay in the Philippines more than in the US. He is a Filipino and he went there during his late teens after his family was given a chance to live there. His father helped the Americans during the second world war.

Being with Jovy is like being in a page of Tuesdays with Morrie. He would tell us stories of his youth, of how life was in wartime Tondo, his late wife and the San Francisco earthquake a couple of decades back, or his friends back in San Francisco and so much more. It is always welcome break to be chatting with this guy, sometimes sharing funny antics, with a few curses here and there. Well, right this very moment, he is telling me stories about his trip to Hong Kong and how amazed he was with Victoria Peak. The funny thing is, I can still manage to type this blog while looking him straight in the eye, listening to his stories. Now, that's journalism in action!