Boys Night Out

I and 7 teammates from my previous work have this thing on Wednesdays. We would hie off somewhere in the metro after work. Have dinner. Drink a few beers. Talk about the most mundane of topics to the more serious ones. Sometimes we would cap the night over coffee at Starbucks.

If I was from outside looking in we would look like college boys celebrating the end of final exams. Boisterous. Loud. Carefree. Except that we would be on business attires. And harassed after spending a day racking our brains. Or, in my case, keeping my sanity intact while having nothing to do at work.

Age knows no barriers in the group. The youngest is in their early 20s, the eldest in the early 30s. The night would always be fun but leaves a minor dent on the pocket.

THAT poses a problem for me. I'm almost broke and plan to save more after purchasing Efa. And spending hundreds of pesos every week on alcohol is not helping.

I'm at a bind. Should I go on AWOL for a while? Or should I not? W

We'll see in 11 hours...

Leaving Las Vegas

Last night, on a friend's birthday dinner, was my first time to play mahjong. The birthday celebrator taught us the mechanics. Madali lang pala. I learned about flowers, sticks, characters, circles(dots?), chow, ping, chang. We played 7 games. I won twice. Not bad.

But before that they wanted to play pusoy dos. I said I didn't know how. They suggested tong-its. I said I didn't know that too. They laughed. Ano lang ba alam mo they asked. Solitaire and unggoy-unngoy (pare-pares) lang I answered. I shrugged. I think my parents did not know how. And I was too obedient a kid to ask an uncle or a neighbor to teach me the rules of the game.

I did learn how to play cards many years ago when someone taught me during an outing so that I could join in on the fun. I didn't commit the mechanics to memory.

So there I was in my late twenties sitting in the living room couch with my former officemates bottle of beer in hand sheepishly smiling. Then the host saved my ass. He suggested mahjong. So we did. But there was no real money involved.

Another group a few feet from us played poker. Then they switched to Monopoly. Others took turns playing the piano. Others, myself included, also took turns checking our Facebook accounts using a computer kiosk that was set-up, I think, just for that night.

It was fun. Too bad it had to end.

Dance with His Father

I had just finished working out. I opened my locker, fished out my phones, and checked my messages. There were three.

The first was from my brother asking me to buy him a Francis Magalona shirt. I mentally noted to buy him one.

The second was from a friend cancelling a date. I blogged about this here.

The last one was from another friend. Our common friend she said, who is based in London since last year, is coming home.

His dad died.

I know that my friend was having the best year of his life in the UK. His online photo albums can attest to this - pics of him in Paris. Rome. Barcelona. He has bought gadgets that he wanted to own. A PSP. A Canon EOS 450D. A MacBook.

Then the tragic news.

I later learned that his dad was a victim of hit and run. Caused by a reckless jeepney driver somewhere in Recto. That is devastating. To have someone taken away from you that way. Death by natural cause(s)would have been much easier to accept.

*****

When I and this friend would get together, which we seldom do, we always talk about our respective families. I would talk about my niece. He his nephew. I would talk about my brother. He his siblings. I would rant about my work. He would rave about his.

But we never talked about his parents. He has mentioned his father only twice, though never his mother, since we became friends back in 2004. I remember him telling me that whenever he would have the 6am shift his father would wake up early to fix his coffee and cook his breakfast. He fondly told me about this. And I'm sure he will terribly miss.

He is back in town now. He called a friend of mine a few hours ago. He said he was still in a state of shock. Di pa daw nagsisink-in na wala na ang tatay niya.

I haven't texted him. Or called to give my condolences. I want to leave him alone for now. Alone with his father. His family. His thoughts.

Tomorrow will be different though. I'll be going to the wake after work with a friend. I'm not sure what I'd say. Or how I'd act. But I want to hug my friend. Give him a pat in the back. Be a shoulder to cry on. Be there when he needs someone to talk to. Be there to share his anger. His pain. His grief.

*****

I'm going to end this post with Luther Vandross' Dance with My Father. This is a terrific song from a terrific album of the same title.

Bolt

I am reprinting here, with permission of course, a text conversation with a friend last Friday.

11.28.08 2pm
Scud : hey. bolt!
Her : huh?
Scud : yung movie. :-)
Her : what movie?
Scud : bolt! google or youtube mo.
Her : cge later. d2 ko clinic. papa-physical exam. kainis yung sa lab twice ako tinusok dahil sira ang tube. ansakit!
Scud : haha. gusto ka lang hawakan ng nurse.
Her : yeah buti sana kung guy at pogi. hehe!

11.28.08 3pm
Scud : hanggang anong oras ka mamaya?
Her : tapos na work ko. why?
Scud : oh. naghahanap ng kasama manood ng bolt. Hehe.
Her : ikaw walang kasama? libre mo b ko?
Scud : manlibre ka dinner.
Her : sa fastfood.
Scud : starbucks na lang.
Her : di ko pwede di mag-dinner noh. kita ko na ung movie. maganda ba yun?
Scud : nakakatuwa. starbucks at dinner na lang. hehe.
Her : aba tas ngayon dalawa na. wat tym ba out mo?
Scud : 6pm pa. hehe.
Her : tagal naman.

11.28.08 4pm
Her : last screening ba hinahabol mo?
Scud : hindi naman. sobrang late na yun. between 7-8.
Her : teka seryoso ka ba?
Scud : hindi ako lasing! (niloloko ko kasi yun pag nakainom ako)

(di na nag-reply)

Scud : seryoso ako!
Her : akala ko nagjo-joke lang tayo e. hahaha!
Scud : maaga pa para maglokohan. game?
Her : di ba pwede tom?
Scud : may mga lakad na ako bukas.
Her : cge ayain ko yung friend ko kung gusto nya watch. nagmamatigas kasi ayaw niya ipa-mit ung special friend nya. hehe!

11.28.08 6pm
Her : nakahanap ka na ba kasama mo?
Scud : haha. nakosensya ka. uwi ka na lang.
Her : hindi ah. kasi naman sa susunod pag nag-aya ka hindi ora-orada. libre mo na lang ako coffee later. hahaha!

11.29.08 8pm
Scud : noted!
Her : haha! joke ba yun?
Scud : sa tingin mo?
Her : oo. lagi ka naman joke lang e. hehe!

naisip ko ganyan ba talaga pag palagi ka na lang nagjokoke? pag nagseseryoso ka di ka na siniseryoso?

*****

watched bolt earlier in a fully packed theatre. i highly recommend this laugh-out-loud funny and full-of-heart film. now, i badly want a dog. live ones who don't piss and shit. haha.

Blow

A year ago I attended an officemate's wedding. It was fun. We cheered the newlyweds. We ate. We drank wine. We had our pictures taken. Then our officemate, who I shall call Simon, started calling out names of male friends who were still single. Siyempre isa na ako dun.


We reluctantly walked towards the front. Oras na pala para sa garter-getting contest. Each of us were given a balloon. The emcee informed us of the game's mechanics. What we needed to do was inflate the balloon. Whoever has the smallest inflated balloon after a pre-determined time wins unless someone unexpectedly explodes his balloon.

And there was a twist. We needed to blow it using our nose. I was aghast. I would surely win the game since I had the colds. I muttered expletives. I heard the emcee gave additional instructions but I didn't mind her. I was too focused strategizing on how to inflate the damn balloon.

Then it was game on. I blew and blew through my nose. I saw a teammate whose balloon was smaller than mine. I was ecstatic. After a few seconds I saw that his balloon was getting bigger than mine. I got desperate and blew harder. I heard laughter and I thought these people are enjoying our misery. Then boom! Simon's best friend's balloon exploded. More laughter. I heaved a sigh of relief. Di ako nanalo. Wohooo!

But then the emcee approached me and asked what my name was. She was obviously amused and I wondered why. Then she told me that we weren't supposed to blow the balloon through the nose. It was just a freaking joke! Binawi nya pala ang naunang instuction but I wasn't listening. Now I know why everyone was laughing. It was embarassing standing infront of those people with cameras flashing. I blushed. I wanted to be that villain in Terminator 2 and melt by will. I found the whole thing funny and laughed at my stupidity while mentally saying Fuck!

The next workday I was the center of attention. Este yung mga pictures pala. One officemate event went the extra mile and uploaded them to her multiply account and sent the link to our American team lead. My lead was impressed. I took all of it in stride though. Charge it to experience na lang. Haha.

Sa susunod na buwan, dalawang kasal ang pupuntahan ko. Kinunchaba ko na ang mga ikakasal na huwag akong tawagin pag garter-getting contest na. Baka malampasan ko pa ang nagawa ko noong isang taon. Mahirap na. Baka ma-YouTube.