Remember, Remember

What a beautiful day, summer is finally here! So happy that I can now do my laundry whenever I please because it's sunny all day, every day! How is your summer situation? I've been pretty packed these past weeks that I could not gather my thoughts to write a decent post. There have been so many ganaps  I don't know where to begin! I guess I'll start with our road-trip to Dolores and me having a new child - godchild.

Our godchildren, Seanna Aquisha and Clent Lorenze, just graduated from Grail School last Thursday and their stage ninangs were there to proudly cheer them on! 😍 It seems like only yesterday when these cutie pies made headlines in our small barkada. I can still remember when Lornts, Lorenze's mom, broke the news about her bun in the oven. She was so chill about it while I was terrified for her and her CE Board Exams later that year. And who would forget the day when Shan, Seanna's mom, called us at Lorenze's christening to inform us that she was one month pregnant with her ass ex boyfriend. I was doubly scared for her because of her circumstances then. But life really surprises you. Now, the little ones just finished pre-school!

Grail School Graduation Day, March 1996 I have always thought of worst-case scenarios whenever I travel. A plane gets hijacked. The ship gets caught in a terrible typhoon. The car loses its brakes and falls into a deadly cliff. The motorcycle gets crushed by a huge truck. And in those times that I entertain these morbid thoughts, I think of ways to get myself out of it, if fortunate enough to survive. I have always imagined these but I never really believed that it can become my reality. When Papa announced that he was driving to Tacloban City on March 7th for their annual physical examination, I asked if I could join them for I had something to do at BPI. He agreed and told me that we will leave at 3 in the morning. Now I am not a morning person. I have to be dragged out of bed every Sunday to hear mass at 6 AM. But on that day, I woke up at 2 and was set to go thirty minutes later. I wore a black shirt we recently dug out of an ukayan and mama's old brown bell-bottoms whi...

Ever heard about how beautiful Sabin Resort Hotel is? Or seen photos of it shared on Facebook? I have! My mom went there for a friend's birthday party and spoke highly of the place. But did I pay attention when she told me about it? Nope! In fact, I just scrolled down my news feeds after seeing thumbnail pictures of it. So should you pay attention to my story about SRH too? Don't make the same mistake, I think you should! HEHE. My older sister, Tasha, invited me to join her on a trip to Ormoc two weeks ago. Since I was emotionally drained from all the insane happenings here at home and at the Bureau of Internal Revenue, I immediately said yes and thought of things to do when I get there. Both Ate and I pursued our other studies in Cebu and passed through Ormoc for 4-5 years. However, neither of us have seen the city beyond the port area. Imagine my delight when I realized I could finally see the rest of it (though only for a short while)! I thought of  making an itinerary ...

Get in the loop with HOOP! I am so ecstatic to share with everyone my latest project, a travel agency, HOOP Travels and Services! We are a home-based enterprise that offers domestic and international airline ticketing services, hotel accommodations and tour packages. We opened for business on January 20th and are operating 8 hours a day, all days of the week. I learned about this trade from Jerby, one of my college best-friends, who also owns one. She encouraged me to try it too, especially since I don't need much to get started. With a few hundred bucks and fast internet, I could book flights for anyone to anywhere around the world. I absolutely loved the idea and thought it was perfect for someone who has zero business management experience. I decided to pursue it once I get home, and with God's grace, we are now the first and only booking office in our area! 😊

I've been reading Monica Ali's international bestselling novel, Brick Lane. Since I got home two months ago, I swore to pick up my pending summer reads to improve my grammar and vocabulary. It seems that my 5-year stay in suicide school made my English communication skills dull and rusty. However, I've been busy setting up my new business venture that I can't even finish a chapter in a day! But it's okay as  I don't have a schedule to stick to (perks of being unemployed 😅). Brick Lane is a story about Nazneen, a Bengali woman who moved to London after she was married off to a much older guy, Chanu. It's about her struggles in making sense of her existence in the strange new place and doing her duties as a wife and mother. The story has many characters with an equally rich background that almost instantly intrigued and entertained me. Few pages in I began highlighting phrases that tugged my heart and found this one quite striking:

Marvin and I celebrated our 5th anniversary as a couple by not talking to each other. Well, I, ignoring him. He got me incensed six days earlier for dropping me when I wanted to talk to him. I got hurt so bad I went MIA and never bothered to check up on him for almost a week. That's how it has been with Marvin. At least for the past couple of days. There are some days that we are infinite, we are happy. And some days that I just want to jump off a cliff and forget ever meeting him. Of course, I am exaggerating but I think you get how I feel. I try to blame it on distance and time zones. By it, I mean our petty fights. He works abroad while I review for my exams here in the Philippines. When he gets off his job, I am already asleep. When I wake up in the morning, I'll have to wait for five hours or so before I receive morning greetings from him. The next message that I will get will be another five hours later when he takes his lunch and the last would be when he gets home. Some...

For weeks I have been staring into space, unaware of what I have been feeling. It seems like an endless cycle — one day I would feel empty, extremely lonely, and inadequate, then on the next, I'd be quite okay. I would then try to keep myself busy and focus on my study. But five minutes into my reading, I would grab my phone, play Village City and forget the world. At least for a minute or so. I would decide to go out to relax, but just when I had already put on my lipstick, I would sit on my bed and then change back to my jammies.  I do not want to see and talk to people. Last night, I stayed up late to talk to my boyfriend, Marvin, who has become my pseudo-therapist for the last five years. He is in Riyadh, KSA so I have to wait until about 12 midnight (PH time) to call him as it is around that time that he gets off work. All my hopes, fears, disappointments, frustrations, joys — all that I think and feel — I tell him. Well, maybe not  everything because there are times tha...

Self-blame by Anastasiia Grygorieva, 2016 Like a stone On a hill That is how you see me. Like a bug On a plant That is how you see me. Like an anchor On the shore That is how you see me. Like a needle That pricks your finger That is how you see me. Is that how I see? PK.K.M.