How I Spent My Summer December, pt III

Mood: oks~! Now Playing:None

Paskuhan and The Things That Come After

So. Paskuhan. I honestly cannot remember what i did for last year's Paskuhan, so i decided to try attending this 2011 one. The last paskuhan i attended was way back when i was a freshman, and as far as i could remember, it was pretty awesome.

So this year, i was late. I was grabbing onto this pack of manila papers to keep them from running away from my fingers, i guess when this voice shouts out: "DING!" Thinking it was someone else, i continued on walking. But the voice was joined by another, until i was sure it was someone i knew. I whipped around and saw the siblings Kevin and Karen, plus Mikee and some guy i didn't know. Sorry if you're reading this, btw.

I haven't seen Kevin in months. He's this underclassman i knew way back in highschool, and we were both in the school paper together. "Oy, Kevin!" i said, pulling him into a manly shoulder bump. "Shet kamusta na?!" He grinned, i grinned, and just like that, for the next five minutes i was at SAS again.

So that's how i began my night - with that five minute nostalgia. I excused myself after a while amidst plenty of fist bumps and such. I picked my way through the hordes of little children (for everyone is a kid at a Paskuhan), gaining speed as i pushed myself here and there. As i inched across the crowds, the people were considerably lessening, until i could walk normally through the grass and i could see the patch of grass that we once called our own. I picked up my pace again, hurrying to see those bitches that have become a part of something that feels warm inside of me.

Paskuhan is always a wonderful time, and this time was no exception, i guess. The vibe was there, the groove was in, hell, even the scent of all it was there. I don't know why, but there were a lot of toys in that paskuhan, and soon enough, our camp was filled with bubbles and these soap suds that apparently leave a stain on brown things, plus those propellers that use a rubber band to launch them through the air. Told you everyone's a kid at paskuhan.

Anyway, when kamikazee started playing at the stage, we steeled ourselves to get near the stage, as word has it that pupil will be there. Plus the fireworks were better seen under the clear canopy of skies, not under the speckled patches in between the trees.

We were near the front, when everything all started at once: Pupil hitting the first few notes of their song, the first firework exploding at the sky, the first scream to be released from everybody's throats. Then suddenly, everything came rushing in an explosion of sound and i could only hold on to my ears for dear life as the crowds of people just kept whooping and clapping and ely's at the front of it all, stirring the crowd up.

Yeah. I was part of that.

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We stayed for a while after that - waiting for everybody's rides to come and pick them up. While we waited, we blew up bubble after bubble, retelling scary stories and not so scary stories. And i wanted to just curl up and listen to everyone around because they just kept on and on and everything just seemed so interesting and why the hell does this bubble blowing be so much fun?

Anyway, we were left with just three of us soon, and since it was late, i was seriously considering staying over. But there are some things that you can't just give up, so i made my exit at around 2 or was it 3 in the morning to get to a house in Paranaque on time for a promise. I was there in 30 minutes. Traffic evaporates at 2, you see.

It smelled like someone threw up, and someone really did.

Simbang Gabi was in full bloom by the time i staggered out of the house to hear the mass. I was nodding off as i stood, hitting people inadvertently with my shoulder. I was tired to the brim. I picked myself up after the mass and made my way back, cause i realized after much feeling of my pants pocket, that i had left my bubble blower at the house. I could only pray there was some bubbles left in there.

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People Are Nicer When It Is December

So people are infinitely nicer in December. I give you two examples:

Example 1:
I was with my bro at UST, when we passed by this 7-11. Sakto namang may lumabas na may dalang tubig, mainit na cup na lucky me instant noodles at saka tinapay. Inabot nila yun sa nakaupong matanda sa gilid ng 7-11 ng nakangiti.

Example 2:
I was sitting in an FX, right at the back part, when unfortunately, my hand slipped while i was paying the fare. My coins slipped right under the seats and for a good 5 minute or so, the ones at the middle were rummaging inside their seats when the driver just have a shrug and said, "sige iho, okay lang un"


I rest my case. :)

How I Spent My Summer December, pt II

Mood: still happy
Now Playing: none

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Hey, Dad

My dad calls every once a week, and i think it may just be me who's noticing this, but the calls come in more frequently. There was a time a few weeks back when i was sitting at the sala watching TV (which i do periodically now), when suddenly, the phone rang, effectively cutting out the dialogue of Mark Logan's comedy feature of the day.

"Hellloooo?" in my best imitation of a zombie eating brains.
"Hello, dar?" came the response. Hushet, si Pa! Came my immediate thought. Fight or flight na to. Should i call for help and pass the phone to someone or should i talk for a bit?

"Ui, Pa! Kamusta?" Came my reply, cringing almost as soon as the words left my mouth.

I honestly cannot remember what we talked about after that. Nope, true story. Anyway, it's pretty funny to see when my parents talk on the phone. Not that i can see papa's reactions anyway, but mama is pure gold. She gushes, she speaks in hushed tones, her whole auditory vocabulary is reduced to that of a teeny girl. It's very amusing to watch, actually. No kid.

Yesterday, we celebrated dad's birthday. Yep, December 31. Pretty cool, eh? Anyway every year we do this thing for dad. We make a collage of pictures of us or we send him videos to cheer him up there. Every single year. Come to think of it, every single occasion, heh. So one afternoon, i made a college and wrote a letter signed by all of us. His reply just came in a few minutes ago: "....As always I'm Proud of you Guys ... and Mama and Me were always there with you and We all wanted to see you all Happy and be Successfull in all WHAT LIFE IS THERE AHEAD..."

Foreboding, much? Grammar-wise it sucked bigtime. But then again, grammar isn't everything.

PS.
What's weird is that even though i signed it "from all of us", he started with "hello, son" I don't know if it's simply an oversight of things or what. Also, son. Woot, woot.

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Catching Up

So i caught up to the guys one night and when out some drinks at BF. Catching up to them felt pretty good. People were doing well, it seems.

It's amazing to see how much we've grown over these past few years. For one, we no longer have those ridiculously short haircuts that CAT demands of us. For another, i guess we've gotten enough scars to warrant us a medical certificate, to the point that we can proudly wear them on our sleeves. Lesson learned, in other words. We're more mature, more amazing and more daring than we've ever been since then. And i guess even if the jokes are still the same, the meaning behind it changes, and you learn to appreciate that, y'know? The fact that you could joke around, but the smiles are still all too knowing, all too understanding.

Yeah. So we stopped at a Goodah (open 25/8!) at around 1 am, i think? Talking shit and nonsense. I think i once pointed out that shit and reason flies out the window past 2 am, but i guess i have to revise that a bit. Sometimes, reason remains, and it is in this half-asleep, half-passed out state that some of the best conversations are born.

We capped off the night with a round of DOtA at around 4, with clearing the last round at 6 or 5 ish, i think. Some things never change, i guess, and i hope that some things never do.

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This Is Why You Should Regularly Clean Your Room

One day in my sembreak, i found out that i had absolutely nothing to do. As an extreme act of boredom, i found myself digging out my closets, cleaning them out from within.

I started cleaning at about 7. I ended up finishing at around past 11. 11 PM. Hnggh. Maybe my methods were overly meticulous - taking out of all the contents of a drawer, cabinet or shelf, then cleaning the dust off with a vacuum cleaner, then wiping a damp cloth on the area before putting the contents of the shelf back again. If i find a loose nail, i hammer it down. If i find a loose thread of fabric, i cut it free. It's that tedious, it's almost unbelievable, really.

But i guess the one reason why i took so long is because i needed to go through each item one by one. I'm a huge packrat. I keep around prize tickets from game machines, i fold receipts and used wrappers of candy, i pin to my board any souvenier or memorabilia i find.

So it comes to no surprise to find my cabinet full to bursting with a lot of memories. Some were pretty sucky, yeah, i'll grant you that. But the thing is, they're still my precious memories, and i wouldn't trade them for anything else in the world. Unless of course you've got a PS2 you want to sell for about a hundred, then... loljk kidding. I won't trade these for anything.

Among the items i found there was this draft of a letter written in a piece of brown stationery addressed to someone. Yeah, i know. I write drafts in stationery. That was how... weird i was then - writing even a draft on a piece of stationery. Hay, puberty.

Another of one those old relics i've found is these bunch of old photographs, taken when i was in elementary. Pretty standard poses back then, i guess. As school kids, we were taught that swearing was bad and we should never ever do it. So we didn't. Really. I seldom cursed back in elementary. High school was... different, i guess. My favorite expression back then was this: "AY, POGITA!" I'd shout "AY, POGITA!" whenever i fell down or knocked someone over, or whenever i felt like cursing at the world in general. "AY, POGITA!"

To my great joy and embarrassment, i ended up unearthing a set of old notebooks, with the last pages crumply with writing. It was weird to see how the young me wrote stuff up - there was one with a detailed plan on how to liberate the philippines, a map of the subdivision, and the makings of an rpg game. Sheesh. How geeky can one get? xDD

All in all, it was a very long and very tiring day, but i came up with a few spoils. I unearthed a director's set of a chair and table, as well as numerous old notebooks that could be good for a decent night of writing or just as scratch paper. But just as well, i ended up unearthing things i buried so long ago, too.

This time, instead of burying them again, i took them all and placed them neatly on a separate space, away from everything else. Sometimes, i guess even if the pain or what's left of it kills you to bits, it still feels good to remember.

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