I See Your True Color

Finally I'm home! Whew!!!

I went straight to the polling station at Baesa (LRPMES) to cast my vote. I have indelible ink on my finger now after traveling from Cabiao - Clark Airport - Dau Terminal - Manila. Kapagod!

Today, almost everyone is excited to try the PCOS machines. That's why I insisted on going back to Manila though I had to travel alone. I don't want to miss this opportunity!

I was with Kuks when he voted this morning at Palasinan. He's a GREEN and an "accidental" PINK.

I'm a YELLOW and BLUE. I hope you are, too!


CREDIT:

FRAME by Ellie Lash

But the most important thing is, whatever your color is, you'll find time to go out and make a difference!

When it Rains... It Pours!!!

When I was in my DL yesterday morning, it was still raining, but I had no idea I was going to experience the worst storm to hit Metro Manila in so many years. I am used to seeing floodwater on the streets of Fidel and Ambrocia when it rains.

I watched as the floodwater starts to creep near my DL's gate and I try to tell the kids who are enjoying the floodwater to back off. Kakatalon nila and swimming umaalon yung tubig and pumapasok na sa gate. Then I saw Ate Neth, the Caretaker, dripping wet with rain water. She told me she was helping the apartment tenants save their things as the floodwater already entered their houses. I started to panic. I was monitoring the floodwater very closely. After a few minutes, Ate Neth came back and told me that the floodwater at the apartment is already knee-deep. I opened the back door to check and foul smell greeted me. I walked to the CR to turn on the lights but after a few steps, I felt my foot is already submerged in water. At first, I thought I forgot to turn the faucet off, but when the lights turned on. I was shocked to see black, dirty and murky floodwater!!! Oh my God! I started grabbing things and placed them on top of the chairs. As in shit, hindi ko na alam kung ano ang dadamputin ko. When I went back to the shop area, I saw the floodwater come in. I told the customers that I have to shutdown all the computers. Then I started to grab my things again. Mark, one of the customers offered help. And I'm so thankful that he did offer. I was able to save most of my things though we did it the hard way, I turned off the main switch to avoid short circuits. So imagine me grabbing things while shouting "Oh my God" and "Shit! Shit! Shit!" in pitch black darkness. When Rellie called, I was literally shouting on the phone... I didn't know how to explain what happened. Things happened so fast. As in, in less than 30 minutes, I found myself already submerged in knee-deep dark water. He couldn't believe it either. I saw some of my things floating but didn't care na to pick them up. I was tired and so stressed out, at the same time worrying too much about my computer units.

I went out of my DL and locked up the shop. It was still raining. I can't go home to MCB1 as the floodwater is waist high at Diego Silang. When I decided to brave the floodwater on Fidel street, I made sure I was holding on tightly to Kuya Alex (caretaker). The current is so strong I had to remove my Havaianas and walk with barefoot. I stayed at the caretaker's house, they are lucky to have a dry home. I was sitting there worried sick, couldn't believe what actually happened. Rellie would call from time to time. By 2pm he told me to go back and disassemble the monitors so I can place them in a safer place. It was tiring. One hell of a day! But my only consolation is that I was there when things started to happen, and that I was able to save most of my things, especially my computer units. And that I am safe. Thank you Lord!!!

Kuya Dennis picked me up from my DL around 4PM. Their home served as my evacuation center. The streets are still flooded. When electricity went back by 8PM, I watched the news updates. A lot of areas got flooded, some with waist high and chest high water. A lot of people were displaced, lost their properties, lost their homes, and some even lost their lives. Some are still stuck in the streets, some on the second level of their houses, and some are already on the roof of their houses. Typhoon Ondoy brought a month worth of rainfall in Metro Manila in just 9 hours.

Sunday morning was spent sorting and cleaning up. Thank heavens my computer units are dry. I didn't try to switch on the electricity yet, I have to wait until tomorrow to make sure the sockets are really dry. As I write this entry... I am renting a PC somewhere in the streets of Amoranto or Mayon (I'm not sure). I'll be spending the night at Rellie's home. I'm glad he's now in Manila because I do need a big, warm hug!

I Forgot To Remember To Forget

Okay. Is this weird because it feels really weird. I know this shouldn't be a big deal and I don't even know why I'm writing about this. Aaaaaaaaaaargh!

We had a relationship. We can't pretend that we didn't. But before that we we're really... really close friends. And there's no reason we can't have that again. I shared a big part of my life with you. I don't want to burn bridges.

And now this!?!

Indian Pana Kakana-kana

Just got back from SM North and bought our gift for Alx. Nakabili na rin ako ng costume for Kuks. Hay excited na ako!!! I'm sharing this funny story so you'll have an idea kung ano binili kong gift.

TUYA RENEBOY: "Anong gusto mong gift?" (hugs Alx)
ALX: "Baby Alive!!!"
TUYA RENEBOY: "Baby Alive? Ano yun!?!"
ALX: "Yung doll na kumakain, nagsasalita tsaka pumupupu"
TUYA RENEBOY: "Meron ba nun!?!"
ALX: "Five thousand pesos kaya yun!"
TUYA RENEBOY: "Ang mahal naman. Pwede ba bigyan na lang kita ng P50 tapos sa iba mo na lang hingin yung P4950?"
ATE CHENELYN: "Hindi ba pwede CHICKEN ALIVE na lang!?! Madami si Tuya Boy nun! Tumitilaok pa!"
(Alx turns her back on us and pretends she's studying)

Hahaha! Ayos ba yun!?! Dinedma na nya kami, as in after that.

Tomorrow's gonna be a very busy day. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna love it. For now, I will have to practice my "♫♫ Indian Pana Kakana-kana... ♫♫ " and my Sun Dance as well. At sana makatulog ako... umeepekto na naman ang low EQ.

Home for the Holy Week

Rellie is already in Cabiao since Holy Tuesday. I left Manila alone on a Sierra Madre bus. Would you believe I almost canceled this trip for business reasons. I was having second thoughts on leaving my DL for a long time. But I know Rellie will really mind if I don't go. He was starting to toy with the idea that I have other plans that's why I did not immediately said yes to his invitation. He's been teasing me for days with this, "Siguro magswi-swimming ka kaya ayaw mo umuwi". And so... I have to head "home".

CREDIT:
PAPER from Grungy Bug Kit by Christina Brown Designs
FRAME by Manu70
ROAD TRACK from Road Trip Kit by Tracy Drane
ROAD SIGN from Road Trip Kit by Tracy Drane
FONT Arial Black

It's been two months since my last stay in Cabiao. Nothing much changed, except that their garden and backyard are now full of fighting cocks. That afternoon when I arrived, Rellie was busy injecting Vit B for his pets

CREDIT:
STICKER from Sweet Easter Kit by Rgi Musa


CREDIT:
ROOSTER STAMP from Farm House Collection Kit by Raspberry Road Designs


CREDIT:
STICKER from Sweet Easter Kit by Rgi Musa

I'll share a short funny kwento. Jan-Jan climbed the guava tree to get the ripe guavas. But some are already eaten by worms while some are already over ripe, so Rellie told Jan, "Itabi mo na lang. Panuka na lang yan". I didn't understand what he said so I asked...

ME: "Ano yung "panuka"?"
RELLIE: "Pangluto... ung pang-sigang."
ME: "Yaiks... ang baho kaya nun."
RELLIE: "Ano ka!?! Paborito kaya namin yun dito. Ang dalas kaya namin kumain nun."
ME: "Weeeeee????? Hindi nga!?!"

Rellie then shouted out, "Tay, 'di ba paborito natin yung Sinigang sa Bayabas?" And Tay nodded to agree. Rellie looked at me with a smirk on his face. Toink! But the story doesn't end there... no not yet.

During dinner, Tay was talking to Nanay...

TAY: "Nay, mag-sigang ka nga sa bayabas para makahigop tayo ng sabaw."
NAY: "O sige, sa Sabado ng umaga bibili ako ng buto-buto."

I looked at Rellie while I was forcing myself to put up a poker face. Then I caught Tay looking at me before saying, "Kaya lang mukhang hindi kumakain yung isang bata d'yan nun eh", and he laughed. My face went red . Hahaha! Perhaps Tatay was able to hear my conversation with Rellie earlier.

And yes, when Saturday came, we had Sinigang sa Bayabas for lunch. No joke!

Lying in the Sands of Laiya

Sorry if it took me days before I post about my Laiya weekend. I have to wait for the photos from Joy's cam. Most of which are already up in both my Friendster and Facebook account by now. The only difference that you will see in this post are some side stories

Oh yes, I had another trip to the beach! Actually, the night before this trip, I was already having second thoughts if I should really go or not. Something bad happened recently at my DL so I gave it a lot of thought. But I ended up thinking, "Why should I be affected?" For sure "their" purpose is to send me a warning or something. So I decided not to be afraid and just go on and play fair. My second reason is... I haven't told Kuks about the trip until 1130PM, Friday night He was shocked and a little irritated based on his tone. "Kelan nyo pa na-plano yan!?!" Hehe. But after some discussions, he eventually said, "Okay, mag-ingat ka ha."

Puyat from packing my things, and praying that nothing bad will happen while I was away, I think I didn't hear my alarm clock. I jumped out of bed, had a quick shower and I hit the road. Muntik na ako maiwan. I met up with Joy and her family at GMA station. Laiya... here we come!

CREDIT:
CAR from Cars Go Beep Beep Kit by August Designs
FONT Jokerman

After a long drive, a lot of stop-overs, and getting lost on the road twice, hehehe ... I had a chance to be one with the sea again *warm heart* We checked in at Sigayan Bay Beach Resort. We settled for a one big air-conditioned bedroom on the second level, with a veranda, private CR, and refrigerator.

There are also air-conditioned Nipa huts, cool 'di ba!?! This package also includes private CR, refrigerator, hot and cold water dispenser with 5 gallon purified water at Php4000. Not bad.

There were a lot of bakasyunistas and we are lucky that there's still one available room left. So we took it na.

We rested for a little while inside the room. It felt like we've been on the road the whole day... I can't feel my butt. We lounged around for a bit and took some photos.

CREDIT:
FRAME from Starburst Kit by K Lewis
FONT ArabBruD


CREDIT:
FRAME from Think Spring Kit by Lucia Maleckova (LazyKitty)
TAG by K Teague
STAPLE WIRE by Gunhild Storeide
FONT Cheryl


CREDIT:
FRAME by Manu70
FLOWER from Marvin Kit by Petit Moineaux
TAPE by Sable brule of Line for Digiscrap'mania
FONT DeVinneOrn

I was thinking of taking a nap but the kids are already excited to swim. Well... me too!!! Let's step out and enjoy the sun!

CREDIT:
FRAME from Olivia Mini Kit by Kiki Halbert
RIBBON from ADB Birthday Kit by Anja J.


CREDIT:
FRAME by Kim B. Designs


CREDIT:
FRAME from Grape Crush Kit by A Work in Progress


CREDIT:
FRAME from LittleKit by Helena Monteiro
RIBBON from Candy Jar Kit by Ziggle Designs & Kami Leonard
STAPLE WIRE from Anaflor Design
FONT Kristen ITC

Sun... sun... sun... here we come!!!

Time and Tide

“The cure for anything is salt water -

sweat, tears, or the sea.”

~ * ~ Isak Dinesen ~ * ~

I am off to a rehab, hahaha! Photos and stories when I get back.