Of Cellphone Snatchers, Pokpok Shoes, and Oishi Pillows

Kaeiy is listening to That Song In The Coke Ad

Thursday was a very tough day for me. Thursday, I was in emotional turmoil. Refusing to let go. Stubborn me. I refused to let go of something that practically asked to be let go. I could not. I refused to let go without a fight. I never go down without a fight. My Comm 2 prof knows that (fat old b*tch!) and I proved to her that even if she gave me three consecutive singkos for being absent during crucial reports I could still get to a 2.0 in her darned class. Persistence is key, I knew. Persistence, courage, a true-blue stubborn spirit and a very very very hard head!

At the end of the day, neither let go. I didn't. Walang bumitaw. Walang binitawan. All's well and good. Thank goodness!

But that Thursday afternoon, I unwillingly said goodbye to my cellphone. I did not, however, let go without a fight. I held on and twisted my arm around to grab it back. Sad to say, I went into EXternal shoulder rotation instead of INternal shoulder rotation. Wrong move. I ended up with an empty hand and a mildly sprained wrist. He then proceeded to WALK away (more like swagger away!). Kung hindi lang malaki yung bag ko nung araw na yun, hahabulin ko pa yung pakshite na yun at bubugbugin ko pa! Kaso naisip ko, may mga kasama yun. Ayoko ata masaksak! If I had him stranded beside the vehicle I was in, I'd probably whack him right then and there. Oh well... phone's gone and I'm alive so let it go. Sure... let it go... Grrrrr... (On a side note, I have a new SIM and a new number now. I'm starting to hunt down my old contacts and will start stalking them via text soon. Harharhar...)

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Pokpok shoes. That is what my mom calls sneakers that are folded at the back and turned into slippers. Something like slip-on sneakers. She calls them such because some eight years ago, a well-known (hence, notorious?) group of teenaged females in our area (collectively labeled "pokpoks" by the entire neighborhood) wore their sneakers folded at the back. The thought just occurred to me. Sorry. Hehehe. I know the entry isn't making much sense.

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Anyway, for three days, I endured the harrowing double-edged sword experience of 1) using an archaic, hard-as-concrete-keypad Nokia 6150 and 2) being "line-less"...therefore had to use a pre-paid Globe SIM! Waaaah! Que Horror!

In those three days, I consumed more than 500 bucks worth of prepaid credits. To think I didn't use my phone to CALL! All I did was text! Wah! Never never never again! I will forever be a line subscriber. For someone who has had a line since time imemorial (ok fine, since I got my first phone seven years ago...which was...tantanaran! A Nokia 5110 which I named Gypsy after I painted the battery and the case with glitter nailpolish and stuck body stickers on it), going pre-paid felt like going into battle with a gun... an unloaded gun!

So I got a second hand SE T230 from (Uncle) Rodj's officemate dirt cheap and yesterday, I went to Globe to get my new SIM. They didn't have the last 4 digits I wanted (one was not allowed for my line bracket or something... it's intended for the lower end plans, as I understood. And the other available number was blacklisted. Ang daya! Lagot sila saken pag nag-apply ako ng bagong linya sa May! I demand THAT number!) so I settled for the next best thing. Got that one, fortunately. So now, I am back in contact with the rest of the world... well, anyway, I am back in contact with those whose numbers I either 1) memorized by heart (tatlong tao lang yan: si Espresso, Tequila Breath, and my best friend Pao) or 2) was able to write down somewhere somehow sometime in the past.

There! So much for my weekend! Dumaan na ang Sabado at Linggo! Next week, on Thursday (I'm beginning to detest Thursdays!) will be my classes' turn for Parent-Child Interaction Day. Whazzat? Think of it this way: I will be conducting my "usual" classes"... with the parents (and their other relatives) watching us! Wah! Directress said not to be afraid. To quote the Great Teacher Lilian, "They are here to see how their children are, not to criticize you. So don't cover up. Be as true as possible. Show them how their children are in school." Right! Right? Wah!

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Horny Angel, a part of my Pisay barkada once commented "Bakit hindi ganun ka-nformative yung blog mo? Parang pira-prasong kwento!" So I explained to her that a blog is a blog. It's not my WHOLE life. It's more of... about 10% of my life. Sometimes more. Sometimes less. There are some things in this blog that I let slip for one reason or another, that I never would under different circumstances but did anyway. But it is never the big picture. They're but thumbnails, so to speak. But whatever little bits I say here, they're all true. Not the whole picture. Just bits and pieces. But genuine bits and pieces. As I said to her, a blog isn't everything. Even my journal (a notebook that I write in... as in sulat-kamay) is only about 80% of my thoughts.

How come? Well, try as I might, even if I work on a computer (which I have attempted in the past, but I found that the smell of paper and ink is a crucial element in the art of journal-keeping), my fingers are never fast enough to keep up with the speed at which my thoughts bounce around in my head. I am writing down Thought One while Thought Two forms then branches into Thoughts Two-point-one and Two-point-two. And when I finish expounding on Thought Two and its two offspring, Thoughts Three and Four have flown by at the speed of light and I am grappling to connect Thoughts Five and Six to the just-passed-me-by Three and Four.

Very frustrating. Indeed.

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I am currently hooked on Oishi Pillows. Well, I have been for a long time. It's only last night that I realized how hooked I was (well, me and my sister Kritz). We bought ALL the Oishi Pillows that a nearby sari-sari store had. And when they ran out, we trekked to the next store to buy out their stock. All in all, we (meaning me, my mom and my sibs) ate about twenty bags of Pillows. Ulk!

So much for losing weight in time for this summer's Dance and Movement Class which Kaye and I will teach. Plus, I plan to go back to rowing by the middle of next month so I have about two weeks to get my endurance up a notch. When I get back to rowing, I'm positive I'll be huffing and puffing my way through about 10km of hard paddling. Huwah! Thank goodness I've quit smoking!

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Trivia for the day: External rotation (ER) of the shoulder results in the inside of your arm, including the biceps, facing out. Internal rotation exposes your elbow and your triceps. In a cellphone-grab situation such as the one explained above, doing internal rotation (IR) will allow you to use your biceps to flex (bend) your elbow towards your body, effectively giving you the upper hand in getting your phone back (and twisting your assailant's arm into ER) As a bonus, you can hit the assailant's elbow OUT since he is in ER, he is liable to sprain his elbow if the blow is hard enough. Ah, sweet revenge!

The Cycle of Salt and Sugar

Kaeiy is listening to: Same Ground - Kitchie Nadal

I know when my cycle begins anew. It is when I start craving chicharong laman from Lapid's, blueberry cheesecake from Becky's (though I'm not THAT crazy over blueberries, I'd still eat the topping because it will cause diabetes in mice), Lay's potato chips, Chocolate Decadent cake from Jack's Loft, Caesar's salad from Dome (my latest craze...the croutons on that thing is amazing! And the dressing is something else!), Spicy Chicken Floss from Bread Talk, dozens and dozens of donuts (chocolate loops from Gonuts Donuts, maple-raised from Country Style, Belgian Bites from Mister Donut), Beard Papa cream puffs (aaahh, a piece of heaven!), a grande cafe latte (screw soymilk! I get it with WHOLE milk. Yipes!) from Starbucks with an extra espresso shot... and three sugars, and any form of salty-sweet carbohydrates I can freely stuff myself with until I burst.

The cycle of Salt and Sugar marks the beginning of PMS. Yup, you read it right. Pre-Menstrual Syndrome. About a week later, the world turns red.

It's really strange. I've been "a lady" for 8 years now and yet my cycle is as regular as a 2-year old's penmanship. See, I was a late bloomer. In my high school batch, I was second to the last to get my period. I got mine the summer before sophomore year (and the last in our batch got hers at the beginning of our sophomore schoolyear), so yes, that's late in this world when 9-year olds bleed every month.

The only way I can predict when my monthly (if it decides NOT to skip) kalbaryo begins is when I begin to pig out, eat ten times what I normally do (and based on what's "normal" with me, that is a LOT) and I begin to bloat and retain water from all the salt and sugar.

And when the crimson tide comes, I am a pig with a slit throat.

Yuck...

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My best friend Pao asked me one day, "Hindi ka pa ba napapagod sa kaka-mens mo? Magpaka-lalaki ka na lang kaya?" while he was sympathizing with a doubled-over-in-pain-Kasseopeia while watching me eat my third slice of New York cheesecake. HAH! Kahit masakit mag-mens, kahit mag-cramps ako buong araw, kahit may lumbosacral pain ako for three to four days of my cycle, hinding-hindi ko pipiliin maging lalaki! Haller?!?

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And because I have nothing better to do today, I snagged this quiz from this blog.

Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. write down what it says:
>> it says "... ang mga kalaban ko ng possessed na video ni Sadako, na...! " (10 bucks to the one who can guess what book this is from. Hehehe...)

Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?
>> a mound of my dirty clothes. Yuck...

What was the last thing you watched on tv?
>> Extreme Discovery on the Discovery Channel, a one-hour ep on the lives of Doctors Without Borders volunteers in war-torn areas of Sri Lanka and Burundi. (Hay, this is one of the items in my list of 100 things to do before I die: to go on a medical mission as a volunteer...)

Without looking, guess what time it is.
>> around 9:30 kasi gising nako...

Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
>> 9:45 am. Hah! That was pretty accurate!

With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
>> "Lihim" by Cambio playing into my ear. Haheheh...

When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
>> Yesterday, went to the mall. What was I doing? Having a good day. ;-)

Before you came to this website, what did you look at?
>> Peyups. Homepage eh. Yun talaga ang unang magl-load.

What are you wearing?
>> A black Peyups shirt and green shorts.

Did you dream last night?
>> Yup. Multiple dreams pa. Sheesh!

When did you last laugh?
>> As in a from-the-belly-utot-inducing laughter? Yesterday. Naaliw ako sa kasama ko sa mall. Ang kulet! Binu-bully ako. Nagpapa-bully naman ako! Hehehe...

What is on the walls of the room you are in?
>> An orange wall clock. Rows of bags. A light switch. A full-length mirror.

Seen anything weird lately?
>> What I'm eating right now: fresh strawberry slices in wheat bread. Weird but it's good. Either that or my hormones are tricking me again. Hehehe. :-p

What do you think of this quiz?
>> Uh, it gives me something to do so... thanks. Hahehe...

If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?
>> A big house within Manila that has a big garden. I already have one in mind. All I have to do is to wait to become a multi-millionaire, nyahahaha!

Tell me something about you that I don't know.
>> Errrr... that I'm on the rag? :-p

If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
>> Allow same-gender marriages anywhere and not just in some selected places. Marriage should be about love and commitment and nothing else. (Naku, nakikini-kinita ko na reaksyon ng isang lurker dyan! Keber!)

Do you like to dance?
>> Yes, despite the fact that I have two left feet. Hahehehe. I'd rather dance than sing!

Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
>> Ayoko isipin. Baka ma-unsyami.

Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
>> Sinabing ayoko isipin eh...

Would you ever consider living abroad?
>> Not unless kasama ko si... Hehehe... (lakas ng pangarap powers! Yebah!)

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I was right. Crimson Tide has come. Ugh. Tomorrow means Concentration C(r)amp. On a Monday too. Double Ugh!

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Wow! I have quite a long entry today. I know why... kasi ako ay nagpaka-busy-busy-han this past week so I guess I have a lot to write about.

This week, the kids were abnormally unruly. Their energy never seemd to dissipate. They'd usually be at their rowdiest on a Tuesday then their energy would taper down towards Friday. But come Friday, ther were still being little... well... unruly children. I even had a kid bite another kid! Biting again?!? Yargh! Kagatin ko sila dyan eh...

Well anyway, all's good. It's a Sunday today. I enjoyed my Saturday. I guess I'll be ready to go back to work tomorrow.

When I finish this darned LP. Sheesh...

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Quote of the day: "It is never too late to be what you might have been." - George Eliot

The Diary of a Shrimp Allergy

Kaeiy is listening to: The Weakness In Me - Joan Armatrading

At 12 midnight, we woke up. We knew Kaeiy was awake too, tummy rumbling. We readied ourselves, knowing we were the only edible thing in the fridge as of the moment. Papatusin kami nun, yun pa! Sure enough, there she was, eyes half-closed and one hand reaching into the coldness of the fridge.

Jackpot! She grabbed us, the plate of halabos na hipon barely chilled from fifteen minutes in the subzero temperature, and proceeded to dump all ten of us big fat shrimps (about as long as her palm and twice the size of her index finger) on a clump of warm rice. With her shrimp-peeling prowess, she used a spoon and a fork to undress us in less than four minutes.

She speared Number One closest to the edge of the plate, dipped it in a vinegar-onion-garlic-chili pepper dip and stuffed One in her mouth. Swallowed.

Round two! Fight... and devoured all ten of us in three minutes flat. She cracked open a can of Coke Light, washed down our remains, brushed her teeth, washed her face and went back to bed.

So the Ten Shrimps went to heaven.

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I just ate shrimps for my midnight snack. Ewan ko ba, nagutom ako eh. So I went downstairs and peeked into the fridge. No other edible stuff in there... except for a plate of shrimps. Upon closer inspection, I saw they were halabos. I can smell the Seven Up in there... How juicy! Yummy! But wait... shrimps + Kaeiy = allergic reaction. Allergic reaction = rose-like rashes all over! Whee! SO WHAT? They're shrimps and they're yummy!

ATTACK!

What does one need to devour ten huge shrimp? A spoon and a fork for peeling ( I can use my hands but not when I'm in a hurry!), a bowl of vinegar with onion slices, crushed garlic, chopped siling labuyo and cracked black pepper... and a heap of warm steamed rice.

3 minutes after... KO!

So I went to bed... and woke up with red eyes. A pair of numbed lips and numb fingertips. Not bad, I thought. Then I looked in the mirror! Wow! Mukha akong Yakuza! Pula nga lang! Rosettes on my face, a map of the Philippines on my back (in red!), red dalmatian spots on my arms and a smattering of red freckles on my thighs! Whee! I wanted to take pictures and post them kaso mukha akong monster at ayoko naman maging sanhi ng bangungot! So take my word for it, it's just like an alcohol allergy.

What did I do? Call up the school to say I'll be absent! Did I take antihistamine? Nope. Not yet anyway. I think I won't need to. As of the moment, the Philippine map has bene reduced to an EZ map of Manila, the rosettes on my face have withered and died and the dalmatian spots have become garapata spots. Hehehe...

So thanks to ten lucky shrimp, who are probably on their way to becoming poop in my large intestine, I get to spend one whole day at home... rubbing my eyes red, redder, reddest. Kidding!

I think I saw the crab vendor stop in front of the house this morning... and I saw Nanay talking to her. Whee! Steamed crabs for dinner? I can't wait!

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Naiintriga na talaga ako dyan sa My Sassy Girl na yan ha! Sino ba may kopya nyan ha? Oh please, end my curiosity! Heehee...

I smell chicken soy sauce cooking downstairs. Mama's probably cooking. So I guess we won't be having crabs anyway. Aaawww... oh well, I don't want to be absent tomorrow with my full allergic regalia, though it may be fun to see how my kids will react to a puffy, bloated, red-spotted teacher with red eyes. Ang saya saya!

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Missing someone so bad is a bite in the arse, ain't it? Come to think of it, I've said this before and I've said I'd write an entry for this but never did. Oh well, let's leave it at that. Missing someone is really very hard. I will do anything to be beside the one I miss but of course, I can't! It would be placing the one I miss in jeopardy... well, not really. I just don't know how to get to where I can see the one I miss. Dratness and everything in between! But it's ok. I know makikita ko pa siya ulit.

And when I do, recharged nanaman ang Happiness Factor ko! Wheeee!

Hay, miss na miss ko na siya talaga... Gusto ko na siyang makita! Argh...

Lagot saken yun pag nakita ko siya mamaya... heehee...

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The schoolyear's end is approaching quickly. Parang kailan lang, ninenerbyos pa ako na magkaron ng sarili kong klase... ngayon parang chicken na lang siya. Well, it's not all rainbows and butterflies. There's plenty of paperwork (lesson plans, brainstorming, assessment reports, narratives) and since individualized programs are used, I make 27 different exercises for the kids at least 3x a week. And when the days are bad, my God, they're really bad. Think having 27 3-year olds in one house... all throwing a tantrum, fighting, crying or being simply bratty. When it rains, it pours! Minsan pa, bumabaha!

But when the days are good, they are very good. It's like heaven smiled down on me and God just sent me a package of blessings. Door to door! Hahehe...

In teaching, as it is with any other thing (especially LOVE), the joy of the good days always repays the sorrow of the bad days. May sukli pang pwede ipang-pondo ng negosyo! Hahaha. It's when the profit becomes negative that one should start thinking of leaving.

For now, the kids make me happy. Working with them fulfills me. And I will stay in education as long as the passion in me burns. It burns bright and I am not one to leave in the middle of something good. Who would want to, anyway?

So what if I am a licensed Physical Therapist? I'm not leaving the country. I don't care if I can get more money practicing my profession out of the country. It's not my passion. Please (eherm, Titas and Titos, sorry... pero hindi talaga. Ayaw. Wag muna.) stop "tempting" me. It's not working.

But...

Ayoko pang pumasok bukas! Pwede bang one long weekend na lang ako? (gahaman eh no?)

Fridays and Food Poisoning

Kaeiy is listening to: Underneath It All - No Doubt

Yesterday, my tummy was making drama drama *lol*. Oo, masakit siya kahapon pero walang nangyayari! Masakit lang siya. Nagpapakipot pa. Letche! So I ignored it. Tuloy lang ang ligaya, turo pa rin ng ABC, 123 ng mga bata.

Lunchtime today, my co-teacher Teresa had food delivered to celebrate her birthday. Fifteen minutes later she comments, "there's something funky about the morcon." Ooops, I ate morcon.

Half an hour later, my tummy was doing cartwheels. Oh please stop! My afternoon class is coming in an hour. Oh please STOP!

An hour later, it still didn't stop. I hurled half of my lunch into the sparkling white toilet bowl. Wheee! Sh*t...

Fifteen minutes into my class, I hurled again.

Half an hour later, fifteen minutes into Chinese period (therefore I was on break), strike three!

After Chinese period, ball four. Walk! Wala na. Ubos na. Bile na lang yung lumalabas.

Game over. Finally.

F*cking finally.

Gory...

So come dismissal time, Teresa brings in two half-gallons of ice cream (Fruits In Ice Cream strawberries and cream and Chocnut I think) and therefore, my tummy being empty gave me license to devour not one, not two but FOUR mugs. Heehee...

Moral of the story: get food poisoned. You can eat all the ice cream you want later on anyway.

Pwe.

Heniwei, surreal moment of the day (night?): I went with a friend to scout's shoot where Jacklyn Jose was (is? - my brain, FYI, is not functioning and is currently being sustained by a tall espresso frap from Starbucks. Sh*t... sh*t for brains! Hehehehe... ). Friend says "Ano kayang puno ito?" while gesturing to a tree (which I suppose was either a Golden Shower or a red Fire Tree), and to which I pointed while saying "Alin, ito?" My friend freaked out and shrieked "Anukaba! Turo ka nang turo dyan! Baka kung anong nandyan!" to which I replied "Ano ka ba! Kung may kung ano dyan, sasabihin ko naman sayo!" At that moment, Miss J said "Naku, magbasa ka nga!" gesturing to the base of the tree where a cafe was built around it. It was named "Tabi Tabi Po Cafe"

Oh...kay!

Whee! Anyway, point being, nakatyawan ako ni Miss J. I don't mind. Kahit sampung beses nya ulitin... Ganda nya! Shite!!! Hehehe...

So there... my brain, actually, is not in working order. I am currently being sustained by a tall Espresso Frap from Starbucks. And the caffeine in it is nowhere near enough. Gah!

And a plea to the KINDEST people in this side of the country... PLEASE! Help me fill up my second booklet. Kritz wants her own planner! I have 8 days! Eight freaking days! Haller?!? Mamamatay ako sa dami ng kapeeeeee! Saklolooooooo!

Speaking of "saklolo", I remember that as a child I always laughed at that word. It made me imagine my maternal grandfather being stuffed into a sack of rice. Chickboy kasi eh kaya buti nga sa kanya kung ganun ang mapala niya! Kidding... But no sh*t. I didn't know "saklolo" was a real Tagalog word. Yipes.

So anyway, I gotta go hit my own sack. I need to sleep. It's been a hard day! I've been chasing kids, breaking up fights (over a piece of chalk! Haller?!?), talking to an overprotective mother ("Teacher, hindi pa kasi siya marunong humawak ng pencil. Baka matusok siya." Haller?!?) and an apathetic father (haller?!? Nananapak yung anak mo! Don't you get it? Your child just hurt a classmate! and you say "He'll outgrow it someday" Goodluck! Sana hindi ka umabot sa Principal's Office pagtungtong ng anak mo ng grade school! Josko! ), checking 27 notebooks, keeping 15 kids off each other at the slides. AND Imagine retching in the middle of class! On second thought, no, don't imagine it. It ain't a pretty sight. Trust me!

Anyway, enough of my blabbering. I need to hit the sack. Shut up. And spare the poor readers. Ta-ta! Sayonara!

The Garage

Across the street from my house is the garage. Contained therein are two cars, a motorcycle and piles and piles of junk. Well, not mostly. This is also where I keep my old medicine textbooks, my pcoketbooks, my journals, boxes of pictures... and half my life.

Last night, my old journal ran out. It scared me. Not because I had nowhere else to write. I did. It was just that... it was in the garage.

I'm not afraid of mice. I'm not afraid of cockroaches (as children, my brother Kais and I would catch live roaches and throw them at each other), spiders (though big ones freak me out), or ants.

I'm afraid of the garage.

It looks like a gaping maw. Like it would swallow everything than crosses the threshold. Sucked in. And digested into oblivion.

Waaaaahhh!

But I had no choice, did I?

So armed with my (miniscule) courage, the garage keys and a dust mask... I embarked on my journey.

I crossed the street
.
I put the key into the lock. Turned it. Put the key in the other lock. Turned it.

The door creaked open.

*intro death march here*

I put one foot forward, followed by the other. Two more steps and I entered the musty bowels of The Garage.

Then a voice from heaven.

"Hoy Kaeiy! Baket may notebook ka dito na walang sulat?" my Mom yelled.

Hallelujah!

I am saved!

Hehehe...