maybe this is how NOAH felt

One whole day of EPIC rainfall in Metro Manila brought about massive flooding everywhere in the city yesterday. The weather bureau says that more rain fell in 6 hours than it usually falls in a MONTH. And we live in a tropical country (meaning we get more rain in a month than other countries get in a year). It is just surreal.

I woke up to a rainy morning but I didn't think much of it until I went outside and tried to go the mall to meet up with a friend. I walked as far as the main thoroughfare, braving the wind and ankle deep water, until my mother text messaged me that the areas around the mall were already waist deep in floodwater.

I immediately turned back and spent the day at home - watching the news about the disaster that the floods were bringing about everywhere. The massive currents were flinging cars around like they were made of plastic and sweeping away cats, dogs and children. I started texting my friends to see if anyone was stranded, or worse, cold, wet and homeless.

It took a while but it seems like everyone I know is safe. Thank God.
I realized how extremely lucky we are that we live where we live. If it ever floods in our house, it would spell disaster for the people down our street. They would have nowhere to live.

It stopped raining at around midnight yesterday. The typhoon went away leaving at least 40 people dead and incredible amounts of property destroyed. Today the streets were seen littered with soil, garbage and evacuees. The floods have subsided in some areas but it's going to take a while to clean everything up, especially for the people whose homes and properties suffered along with them. Everyone needs to pitch in. I know I will.

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In happier news,

I got to celebrate my 23rd birthday in 5 separate occasions.

On wednesday, Julius bought everyone (read:TK) an Italian feast as his final farewell before flying off to japan - I bought cake in the aftermath. Little did I know that I would be having slices of cake all week :D

On thursday, it was more pizza and pasta with my HRIM buddies after we dropped by funeraria paz and paid our last respects to one of our beloved professors. (Ma'am V, may you rest in peace).

On friday (birthday day!), it was pizza for the 3rd DAY in a row. Cherrie (co-september celebrant) and I bought 3 MONSTER pies for the office which made everyone happy. I guess that was also a great way to introduce myself to those who still didn't know me after I started working there two weeks ago.

After work, my family took me out to dinner at ARYA, a newly opened persian restaurant in the ortigas district.
I had wanted to try out something other than what we usually eat when we go out as a family (that would be Italian, Japanese or Spanish) and this restaurant sounded interesting. I LOVED the long grain rice. I LOVE rice. period.

Yesterday, I was supposed to have guests over but the rains wouldn't have it. Postponed.

Tonight, I finally got to make a wish and blow a candle on MY birthday cake/pie. Happy Birthday to ME ♥ (I know you're not supposed to say what you wished for, but I wished for sunny skies and an outpouring of love for all the people who lost their homes and livelihood in the storm that just passed. I know God is good and will grant everybody peace at the very least).

God bless us all.

simple pleasures

Kimmy Dora with Nice after work on friday, In My Life and Mccafe with Jayvee and Razel on saturday and a tagaytay wedding with Clarice and the team on sunday.

whew.

Good thing today was a holiday :)
I spent the day listening/singing along to musicals and eating beautiful carbohydrates. I say, there is no better way to spend a three day weekend than to completely tire yourself out the first two days and spend the last one in bed. Don't forget to eat and EAT GOOD.

I was so happy to have seen two filipino movies that I have been wanting to catch since they opened in the box office. Nice and I ended up sitting on the stairs of the theatre because the cinema was completely packed. We were able to get seats halfway through the movie and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard at the movies. I guess our train ride home was quiet because we were completely exhausted.

Saturday's movie was In My Life (Vilma Santos, JLC and Luis Manzano). I initially thought the movie would just be a 2 hour extended version of the trailer, but there were a lot more plot twists involved (along with one COMPLETE SHOCK). When the lights came back on, they revealed me and my eyes which were swollen from crying. The movie was so emotionally HEAVY that we had to go for a sugar and caffeine boost.


I bought coffee and cake for the three of us. McCafe remains to be MY place to go for a good cup of cappuccino. I forgot to tell the barista to serve our drinks in ceramic cups and they came in the paper kind with the plastic lids. The servers must not like to wash dishes very much. Sorry mother nature :(



Then we went to Timezone because somewhere in our conversations over coffee, we ended up talking about purikura. There's a new japanese purikura machine in the arcade at G4. It's more expensive than the korean one we used to frequent but the colors are nicer and there's more space in the booth to jump around in. I want to go back sometime just to test how many people we can fit in one box.



Wheeeeee~ something sparkly for the corkboard :)

Sunday's wedding was fun too. It was the bumping into unexpected people kind of fun.
And I might have some new (read: fabulous) shoes on the way. Love!

breakfast

The month of August was declared by the DOH as "National Lung Month". That time, I was in and out of the lung center for the bulk of a week trying to get myself clearance to work. A radiologist at the medical center spotted a slight irregularity in my x-ray and referred me to a pulmonologist. I wasn't at all happy about it because hospitals scare me and I don't like how some doctors make me feel powerless and ignorant. Anyway, I sought out the help of a lung doctor and he sent off to get some tests done.

I was eventually diagnosed with latent PTB (in layman's terms, I had the TB virus sleeping somewhere in my lungs) and the doctor decided to put me on medication for the next 6 months to make sure the virus doesn't go crazy and lead to infect other people. Strictly no alcohol and limited late nights while I'm taking mega doses of drugs that I cannot pronounce.

what does this have to do with breakfast?

My pills have to be taken on an empty stomach once a day and I decided on taking them every morning before everything else. That meant I would have to wake up an extra 30 minutes to an hour earlier to make sure I get to eat breakfast before heading out to work.

As much as I love breakfast, the past few days have been hard. It's gotten me thinking if I should have chosen sleep instead. Gulping down huge pills isn't really a stellar way to greet the morning.

But, because I really want to make this medication as effective as it should be (and so I would never have to be subject to it ever again), I'm sticking with the good morning pill routine. I just feel like I'm going to get a better routine out of it. Meanwhile, I'm going to work extra hard to make my breakfasts even more special. Like poached eggs on toast. Or on salad. Or on everything.

Doctor says I should also keep a closer eye on my weight. The drugs might make me gain.

So more of this:


and less of this:


Only the best for the most important meal of the day :)

Pledging weekends

More than a year ago, I came across an ad in the corkboard of the university shopping center. It was an ordinary looking piece of white paper, no different from the ones beside it except that it didn't advertise a room for rent, an org activity or a tutor for hire. Rather, it was an ad about this group called "An event to remember" that was currently looking for assistant wedding coordinators. I was intrigued. I snatched the ad off the board, put it in my pocket and walked off to do the things I was there to do.

I emailed my resume in the very next day. It wouldn't hurt to have a real part-time job, I thought. I certainly did very well balancing studies, moneymaking and being a normal person when I was in Japan. Prior to being an exchange student, the only real job I had was encoding receipts for my parents' auditing firm for one summer.

A few days later, someone called Mariel called to invite me for an interview. It was a school day and I had an EXECOM meeting to preside over but I agreed anyway. Our execom meeting was made short and sweet so I had plenty of time to head over to the coffee shop where I was to meet my interviewers. It was only when I got there that I realized that I wasn't exactly dressed for a job interview. I hoped they would understand. I could always explain that people (especially students) don't really dress up for school in UP and at least I wasn't in my pajamas.

I walked in the cafe and surveyed the people inside. The usual crowd, I thought. I was a little early for our appointment so I ordered some coffee and waited for a text or a call.

After ten minutes of nothing, I called them.

Simultaneously, a phone started ringing inside the cafe.

I stood up to look for the person with the ringing phone, and our eyes met. I had to laugh a little - we were sitting across from each other all along. I walked up to their table and introduced myself to two VERY pregnant women. There were printed copies of my resume in their hands. We talked for a good 30 minutes, then stood up and shook hands. I drank the rest of my coffee on the way home.

That same weekend, I was called in for an orientation, which turned out to be more of a dinner with the rest of the coordination team. They explained to us new girls how event coordination isn't for everyone. Sure, it sounds glamorous and its fun to get to go to elaborate parties but it is also a lot of physical and mental work. To be a coordinator requires stamina, quick wit, and a great sense of humor. Plus you need multi-tasking skills, a keen eye for detail and flawless taste. The list goes on. Yes. You have to be so fabulous, you sweat glitter.

I happily counted off my first three "test" weddings.

Sometime in the months following that, I just lost count.

I also lost a lot of weekends.

In the year that I've been doing this, I have come to understand to a greater extent why wedding coordination isn't for everyone and why it took Clarice so long to build this team. Our Team.

In two days, I am going to be part of the "real world". I am going to be commuting everyday for my "real job". But I know I am not going to give this up. Even if it means no more weekends.

Images by Paul Vincent Photo