Back in the Philippines Day 1

After 15 months, I once again set foot on my home country. My flight was at midnight so I got little sleep because there’s no way to get a restful sleep while sitting upright in a very cold plane.

We landed at around 4am and after checking out, I looked for a cab to take me to my friend Caloy’s place where I was staying. The fixed meter cabs downstairs put the fare at P750 to Makati. No thanks, Manong.

I asked the security guard if there were any normal cabs nearby and he directed me upstairs. I found one and got in. 5 minutes later, I noticed that his meter was off, so I asked, “Saan ang metro nyo, Kuya?” (Where’s your meter?) He turned it on.

This is one thing I don’t miss at all – cabbies who cheat you or overcharge you if you’re not careful.

My fare was only P100+. Thank goodness I had made sure to withdraw money in hundred peso bills or he would have pretended not to have change if I had given him a 500 peso bill. I know these guys too well. 🙁

When we whizzed past Pasong Tamo, I was hit by a major pang of nostalgia. This was my home for four years, where I first learned to be independent, to grow up.

It was probably around 5am when I finally managed to find Caloy’s place using his detailed instructions. I called him to open the door for me. After I wheeled my luggage into his living room, I gave him a hug and said, “Tulog na tayo. Mamaya na tayo magchikahan.” (Let’s sleep now and talk later.) LOL. No time for pleasantries, I’m too sleepy!

Caloy showed me my bed and we promptly fell asleep to the soothing sounds of a jazz radio station. (“Caloy, bakit ganyan ang sounds mo, parang any moment may masahista lang na papasok.”) We woke up later and did chat. Caloy whipped up brunch for us – corned beef and tuna with eggs.

Then he headed to work while I headed to Keso’s seamstress to pick up my bridesmaid gown. It was so far away – San Lazaro, and the traffic was so bad, the cars were bumper to bumper and crawling forward an inch at a time.

This was one more thing I did not miss – along with the next one I experienced once I eventually reached the place – men (and boys, can you believe it?) whistling catcalls as I walked down the street in my dress. In Singapore, nobody does that because it’s apparently finable at S$150, or so Gary tells me.

Anyway, I eventually found the place and saw my dress – it was a different color from what I had chosen not to mention it looked and fit differently from what I had expected based on the sketch, but I didn’t want to have it altered and have to come back for it again, so I just took the dress along with Gelle’s and headed back to Caloy’s.

By the time I got out of there and to Glorietta mall, it was already 4pm and I still hadn’t had lunch. So I dropped by the country’s number one fastfood joint – Jollibee. I ordered my favorite burger of all time – Yum with TLC (tomato, lettuce and cheese) and it was gone in 60 seconds. Either I was that hungry or it was that delicious, to me, at least. I also ordered a slice of Red Ribbon’s chocolate heaven. It was too sweet. I wish I had stuck to my tried-and-tested favorite chocolate mousse.

I walked around the Ayala Malls – where I used to spend my weekends and weeknights, up until two years ago. I bought our gift for Kes and a few other stuff like sleep wear and a Cosmopolitan magazine – I used to read these every month.

Then my feet were beginning to kill me so I stopped over at Seattle’s Best Coffee for my favorite (notice how often I use this word to describe food) Javanilla shake – the best coffee milkshake in the world (or so they claim). It was also here that I finally found wifi, though it was password-protected for customers only.

While lining up for a cab to take me to the venue for Keso’s bridal shower, she called me and she was in GB1 too, so I met up with her and rode with her in her car. The venue was a videoke place called Centerstage (formerly known as IO).

When we walked in, there was a kink cake and balloons. The entire event was organized by the maid of honor Sweet and hosted by my friend Drew.

We played charades and Pinoy Henyo and “Who knows the bride best.” Our team “Spain” won all the games.

Then we gave our gifts for Kes to unwrap, each time explaining that she needed our gifts because she was going on a 45-day honeymoon (around the world). It was my first time to meet the rest of Keso’s friends, but we all enjoyed ourselves immensely.

I’ll end this entry here, as this was day 1 of my vacation. I need to sleep for now as I barely had enough sleep during the entire week.

I notice that I never get enough sleep whenever I’m on vacation. I always feel like I wasted my money on plane fare, etc, if I just spend too much of it sleeping, so as a result, I’m always up early, cramming way too many activities into my days.

And to think vacations are supposed to be about rest and relaxation.

But anyway, my eye is twitching like crazy again, reminding me that I need sleep. So goodnight for now! Till day 2!