Friday, April 18, 2008

Subic

I had a wonderful time this weekend. My family and I went on a summer getaway to kill boredom, sweat and money. The trip was set last month; 5th to 6th of April is the date we shouldn’t break. All agreed. Subic, here we come!

Before the set date came I applied as an agent in a BPO company in Cubao. I was scheduled for a final interview April 5 at 6:45 in the morning. I never thought that I would be scheduled that early since I passed my application near the weekend, I presumed that the HR operations would start next week. Bad timing! My brother and I were supposed to be picked up around 5:30 in the morning the same day! I had to make some arrangements, I asked my aunt to just pick me up at around 7AM because of my final interview. They gladly agreed! Thanks to them I don’t have to drop one. Well anyways I passed the final interview and was scheduled a job offer at 11 AM, the same day. WTF! I asked the operations if they could reschedule my job offer to accommodate my planned getaway; they replied that my job offer would be placed on hold and I’ll just have to wait or a call from them next week. I have no choice since I asked my aunt to fetch me in Cubao, I had to turn down the would-be job offer just wait for a phone call.

At around 7:15AM I got out of the building and head to the parking lot of Araneta Coliseum. I quickly saw my uncle’s white pick-up truck with people around, holding Jollibee plastic bags. Ok, I haven’t eaten yet, I’m hungry but I just had my braces on a couple of weeks ago. I can’t eat a burger with a leaf; I mean with a lettuce, it will stay on my wires for a long time. But anyways I still ate it, what can I do? I’m starving to death! We left Quezon City and by 8 AM we’re at NLEX. We stopped over at a gasoline station to answer the call of nature. Then head for my most coveted destination, as of the moment, Subic!


Traffic got us at around 10 AM in San Fernando, Pampanga. My other uncle, together with my other relatives, who left earlier, is already there in Subic. They’re asking where we at. We are currently trapped in a jam while my freaking brother almost always ask us where we at as well, for some bullshit reason. Annoying! It’s almost noon when we reached the All Hands Beach in Subic, just behind the Subic International Airport. I wonder why they named the resort All Hands, maybe… I don’t know. Anyways, the beach was inviting so we quickly dipped in and soaked up the sun. No waves at all, we’re like in a bay or something. You can ride a Jet-ski pulling a banana boat for 300 pesos. My aunt actually wants to try the ‘Banana Float’, is that a drink or something? You can do water cycling as well. The sun is so powerful, yes powerful, it drained me. We ate lunch and prepared to head for the booked hotel room. By the way my cousin Luigi, while goofing around, accidentally showed ‘himself’ to a tourist.



While on our way to Legenda Hotel and Resort we were stopped by a traffic enforcer, saying we should do full stop whenever we see a STOP print on the road even though there are no vehicles around. In Subic, there are no traffic lights; the road plan is patterned from an American suburb obviously because Subic was a US Airbase. Inside the resort, as if swimming in the beach is not enough, my cousins jumped and dived into the hotels pool. I was there to watch them over because two of my other cousins are just a bit taller than the 4-foot-pool. Yes I was there to guard them but I’m kind of tired so I almost dozed off. Luckily, the elders came down to look over the kids. Wow, did I just use ‘the Elders’? That’s so LOTR-ish. I went up our hotel room and tried to sleep but I left my ‘sleepyhead’ by the pool. I just watched cable and bored myself to death. Then came dinner, after that we went outside to the Boardwalk, equivalent to Manila’s Baywalk except for the fact the there in Subic you can actually feel you’re beside the seashore minus the smell of a canal, if you know what I mean. That night the Kitty Girls are going to be performing their latest hit which is… um… the… yes, their song. But sadly we didn’t have the time to watch it, ‘the elders’ have to retire, as early as possible. But before that we watched some bands, ate and, personally, I drank a bottle of booze. The brand: RH. Back at the hotel room I washed myself to freshen up and retired for the day.

That night was so weird. Picture this out, from the left of the bed was my BIG cousin Iggy, next is my shitty brother Erick, me, and ‘Mr. Present in Every Outing’, who is actually a thin little kid. In the morning, I woke up in a depressing position, Iggy is on the floor and Mr. PiEO cranked up half of the bed. Amazing, then I remembered that deep in the night Mr. PiEO is subconsciously trying to push us away, as if swimming.

The next day, 6th of April, we ate at Jollibee for breakfast. Two consecutive days Jollibee is our breakfast, I didn’t even like that fast food that much, except for the Chickenjoy and Jolly spaghetti! We went back to the hotel, and for the last time, I hope, my cousins swam again. It’s around 10 AM; it’s so hot, why not dip in as well? We goofed around, we tried all sorts of horse playing and wrestling. We had fun under the sun. The elders said that we had to check out ASAP because they want to go to the Freeport and buy some stuffs.

At the lobby of the hotel, there’s a very big chandelier that looks like a jellyfish, it’s gleaming, glittering. At the Freeport we had our lunch in Chowking then after that we head to the stores. My brother’s been bugging me to buy him a coin purse that costs 40PhP, he got what he wanted. Then he saw another merchandise, a stupid necklace, tribal theme, very ethnic, 50Php. He asked me again for it, but no not that, it’s so stupid looking I tell you. It’s time for us to go, at the last minute he got what he wanted. Surprisingly he got 50PhP somewhere inside his pocket. Then I thought have I just been tricked? Now I understand why he wants a coin purse ‘coz he was going to put some money on it, I didn’t know he had it at that moment. What am I saying? Whining over 40PhP?

Anyways, on our way home we used Macapagal Hi-way. The view was magnificent; we saw several vast rice fields, dead rivers and mountains. Mount Arayat then came to our attention, now she’s the main attraction. Along the way, I noticed that the ends of the mountains and hills were removed, or was carved into mini valleys to give way to the long, long hi-way. You will also notice that the sides of the carved mountain ends are cemented, and drainages were installed to prevent erosion. Quite clever! After that long ride, we did our last stop over at a gasoline station before heading straight to the Metro. Another gift shop came into my brother’s view. He wants two friendship bracelets, the nerve, but I bought him those anyways.

That was a very long weekend. We reached Pasig at around 4 PM. Tired and out, but the relaxation hasn’t ended yet. The 7th of April, which is a Monday, was declared as a legal holiday by PGMA. She really gave us a very long weekend. I uploaded our pictures from my cellphone to my uncle’s laptop, while doing that I then started this blogpost.

Later that night we’re planned to eat "Goto" at Tiendesitas. Maybe after that I can retire for the day and resume to our daily routine of a bum when Tuesday comes.

Just to let you guys know I just received a text, an invitation to go Clark, Pampanga for another getaway. I won’t definitely back out. So Clark, here I come!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Without the Sight of You

apr.28.2008

You never really cared
Then someone came along
Inviting me for a chance on love
I was still waiting for you to step up, but I left

The wait is too long
I thought I could just hibernate
And wake up with you in-love
We had our chance, tine and space blew it

Did you really think I was that naive?
Sometimes I felt I would die without you
But now thinking, I am still standing
Maybe I'm better off without you

I never really felt the love that I needed
Or that I expected
Am I asking too much?
Was I hungry for love?

I'm almost ready to give it all again
But not with you
But to whom I, again, felt the spark
Without the sight of you.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Are You A Vampire?

I was in my early high school when I first took a chance in reading one of my mom’s books, she was fond of reading. I see selections from romance, politics, social and sci-fi, but what caught my eye is the eerie paperback about a vampire. The book was Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice, first published in 1977 in Canada, my mom’s paperback was printed way back 1993. I was really curious about this Vampire chronicles so I started reading. It probably took me 3 days or so after putting down the book. I think the book just tired me. I understood the story, or so I thought, but I don’t remember if I did raved on it or something. But a spark of flame of belief came into me, about vampires being real or not and immortality. Do I believe in vampires back then? Yes. Did I sometimes wish of being one? Yes. Was I afraid of being bitten by one? Definitely not! It’s as if I want to experience a bite from a vampire, an ecstasy, owning.

Several years have passed, after the Queen of the Damned (an adaptation of Rice’s novel, a part of vampire chronicles) came out of the cinemas and blew me away because of the neo-gothic Lestat, another book by the same author, of the same theme came into my possession – Vittorio the Vampire, published 1999. As claimed by Rice, this one’s not part of the chronicles, it was about an Italian gentleman’s becoming as a vampire with Italy’s Golden Age as the background. I was not at awe after finishing the novel but was shocked with the vast information that I never assumed a book about a vampire could offer. It was a history slash art book but is definitely a fiction. I immediately ran back to our bookcase and looked for the Interview with the Vampire novel and read it non-stop. Now I did appreciate the gothic-emo-charm of Lestat and Claudia, and Armand, the book. Rice’s description of eroticism in the novel is striking. Tarnished innocence and awakening is her niche. As well as falling in the deep wells of darkness were solemnly told. Worked well for me, a six year old imagination paired with a very openly-curious, well-read adult mind in the midst of confusion and being lost, perfect!

Just recently, I came across this article in Time Magazine, dated March 17, 2008 with the unassumingly happy US Senator Hilary Clinton on the cover. It’s about readers asking Anne Rice questions; reasonably the article is titled 10 Questions. Apparently, Rice has switched into writing about the Lord (latest book – Christ the Lord: Road to Cana) and that she had vowed not to write anything about vampires, ultimately about Lestat, ever or perhaps not in the old way anymore. She says that she would write another novel about Lestat that imposes his redemption to God. "– wresting with the existence of God", Rice explained. Anne Rice was a self-proclaimed atheist but now a believer. What’s the reason for her conversion? She as well wrestled with God’s existence, and with constant searching faith came back to her.

On my point of view, I think Rice is the vampire she has been writing all along, all these years. By the way, she doesn’t believe in vampires at all, who in these contemporary times? "Vampires are perfect metaphors for the lost soul," as Rice shared. A clear as it is, as personified, she was the lost soul that found redemption.
Right now, thinking about these things, I guess I’m a vampire. Are you one of us?



One of America's most read and celebrated authors, Anne Rice (born October 4, 1941) is known for weaving the visible and supernatural worlds together in epic stories that both entertain and challenge readers. Her books are rich tapestries of history, belief, philosophy, religion, and compelling characters that examine and extend our physical world beyond the limits we perceive.Anne lives and works in California. Anne's life experiences and intellectual inquisitiveness provide her with constant inspiration for her work.