My Saturday March 9, 2008

Yesterday was a very looong day. My friend M is getting married in April so we went to the manang who would make the gowns for the entourage to have me (together with a cousin & an aunt) measured for the gown. We both came from a shift Friday night so we didn’t have any sleep. Saturday morning, we left the office at 7am to go home to her house to leave my car & to meet up with M’s aunt & cousin. Thank God they were taking a driver because I wouldn’t have any energy to drive anymore. Divisoria is an area in Manila where you see all kinds of people from different walks of life. This is like the source of everything - fabrics, baking ingredients, baking stuff, ribbons, pans, pots, as in everything at 250% less the price outside (like department stores, boutiques or malls). But you could just imagine how crowded this place is. Don’t take me wrong, I like it here, not only because your thousand bucks can go a long way but you’d be surprised at the things you’ll see & experience. We walked to the manang then had ourselves measured then walked back out. Oh, we brought along 1 of the flower girls (she’s 6 years old) and she was mesmerized! Haha she kept on looking around and taking in the sites - I think she enjoyed herself! We had snacks in KFC but this was inside Tutuban Center already - airconditioned mall type center but with still low prices. We all slept on the way back to M’s house.

 

There’s a new Petron across the highway from M’s place that just opened and it’s like of the many gas stations in the metro that has coffee shops/establishments that was built in it. We stayed at Gonuts Donuts for a while. We were waiting for BF’s text so that we’ll know what time to leave for Mall of Asia. I had a Hazelnut Crunch cupcake (described in their website as walnuts and crunch swimming in smoky choco-hazel frost over chocolate cake) and a Choc-o-hazelnut frappe of some kind. The cupcake was yummy; it wasn’t too sweet and I liked how it was true to its name and had some crunch in the icing. The drink was a different story! It was sooo sweet I didn’t even finish it. M and I were saying that since the cupcake wasn’t sweet it was pretty balanced but no, it wasn’t. The drink was really too sweet for me - and to think I like sweets! M had hot coffee and a Butterscotch sticky roll (no picture in their website yet, tsk tsk) - that was too sweet for me too but she liked it so, good, because that was hers anyway.

 

M’s fiance works at Dell in their Mall Of Asia (MOA) site so she was still with me when I went to MOA. We just walked around when we got there. We attempted to look at Havaianas flip flops in All Flip Flops but there were sooo many people! You couldn’t even get close to the slippers on the wall because there was a crowd gathered in front already so we just decided to go to Crocs and look at their stuff instead. I am in love with the Malindi! It’s like the Prima but the style of this one is its a slingback! I WILL buy one! I will just have to save for it I want to buy one in Mango, Silver or in Turquoise. I want one in Gold but I’m not sure if it’s available, didn’t see it in their website. It’s priced at P1,850 (about $45.6 here. When M’s fiance, N, got out of his shift we decided to have dinner at Gerry’s Grill since M has a coupon that we can use. They ordered a Beef Casserole (P220) and rice while I had Tahong (Mussels) ala Pobre - P135) - now this was yummy! Every time we eat at Gerry’s (BF and I or with friends), I always eye this dish but never got to order it until yesterday. So now, every time we’ll eat at Gerry’s, I will have to order this. After dinner, we just stayed there to wait for BF to arrive. There’s a fireworks display in MOA every 7pm on weekends so we just waited for that. After the fireworks we went our separate ways already. BF and I decided to watch 10,000 B.C. - we caught the 7:50 pm screening - my take on this movie on a separate post. Since BF hadn’t eaten dinner yet, he did so after the movie. We ate at President Tea House over at the new “Baywalk” in front (or back) of MOA. It’s a row of restaurants by the bay. We ordered this yummy beef with rice noodles, siomai and mini siopao (pork buns). At this point, I was so tired already. I’ve been up for 24 hours (and counting) already. BF met up with our friends in Metrowalk but I called it a night already and headed home. I texted my friend who’s older brother put up a home service massage thing and I scheduled for one at midnight; we left MOA around 11pm. The massage was sooo good! The manang that they sent over was so nice. I like massages but I never liked the hard ones. And this manang had the right touch. Ahhh, pure bliss! I fell asleep immediately after that, haha!

Boracay (Feb 2008) February 24, 2008

I went back to Boracay last February. It was a much needed R & R for everyone! We were there February 9 (Saturday) - 14 (Thursday)! That was my longest stay ever on the island. We were able to stay there that long because daddy followed on Monday (February 11). We went back to Boracay because daddy’s sister, husband & my cousin visited from Sydney. And it was my uncle’s 50th birthday - he’s the uncle that’s living in Boracay, he’s a diving instructor. I can’t really give a blow by blow account of what we did for every single day because, you know me, I’m such a Dory (from Finding Nemo). During the weekend our friend, R, was w/ BF and I in our resort. The we separated Monday - he moved in w/ his GF in another resort and BF and I moved in with daddy. There was just one thing that pissed me off the whole trip - my camera acted up! It would only take bright white shots during the day! But night shots are just fine. Grrr.. We tried setting up everything to Automatic, it still won’t take decent day shots then we tried to setup stuff manually, still the same. Good thing my uncle had a memory card reader and everyone was given copies of everyone’s pictures. Anyway, here are some of the highlights of our trip.

When in Boracay, you should always go to Jonah’s and have their shakes. They’re so creamy and full of flavor! My personal favorites are the Choco-Banana and Strawberry shakes. BF’s favorite is the Choco-Banana-Peanut shake. This, I’m sure, we had our first day in Boracay. We walked from d Mall to Jonah’s (just to work up our thirst) and had shakes. BF’s manager from work (who is a very good friend of ours) was also in Boracay for the weekend with his semi-girlfriend (we really don’t know their status). She treated us to shakes and a pizza. After our shakes we walked some more and found a manong putting up his barbecue stall already (once 4pm strikes these bbq stalls pop up like mushrooms). I had a hotdog while they had isaw (chicken intestines) and pusit (dried squid). I also eat these but I opted for the hotdog instead. After this, we decided to head back in our own hotels to rest & freshen up for dinner - manager invited us to dinner, his treat.

Dinner that day (Saturday) was at Gasthof. It’s located in D Mall and they’re famous for their ribs. But when we placed our orders they ran out of ribs, imagine! We chose to eat there because of that! But since it was the dinner rush already and it was full everywhere, we already had a table, so we just opted to stay and have dinner there. We just had Inihaw na Liempo, Sinigang na Hipon, and Chopseuy. Then manager approached the bbq station again and lo and behold, they ribs again! Haha so he ordered 1 whole slab which we just had as pica pica since we were almost finished with dinner already. It was really yummy.

During the day BF and I spent time together. We would usually meet up with daddy and my titos (uncles) and titas (aunts) for midmorning or after lunch sunbathing and swimming sessions and during happy hour, around 4:30-5:30pm. BF and I would eat a heavy breakfast and just eat again like no tomorrow at night, hehe. For 2 consecutive days we had breakfast at Aria in D Mall. It’s an Italian restaurant known for their pizza & pastas. Cafe Del Sol, which is right across from Aria, is also owned by whoever owns Aria. For 2 mornings I had Boneless Bangus (milkfish) - the first day I found it really, really delicious so I had to order it again the next day. My breakfast comes with 1 egg (scrambled for me, of course), Atchara (pickled something), coffee or juice (which I upgraded to a fresh one - yummy!), and fresh mango. Our first breakfast there, BF had a Spanish Omelette which he didn’t finish because it was as huge as the plate (believe me, the plate was huge!) but on our second breakfast there he had the Tenderloin Tapa instead - which came with the same stuff as my order. We ordered coffee separately and had fresh juice with our breakfast - I had fresh mango juice while BF had fresh orange juice.

Tuesday - We celebrated my uncle’s birthday. 2 more uncles from Ilo Ilo (our province) came over for dinner. We had Drunken Chicken (by my uncle’s girlfriend), Eggplant with Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar (also by the same girlfriend), Grilled Fish (not sure what kind but it was huge & yummy), Grilled Stuffed Squid and Grilled Porkchops (all grilled by the birthday boy), we also had sliced green mango, beer, wine (red & white) and Coke. My other cousin (wasn’t able to come home) gave my uncle a “Dickhead” shirt, haha, my uncle is bald already so it was such a ‘right on’ shirt! Hahaha then my other cousin (the one w/ us) gave my uncle a red, white & blue wig - she got it in Sydney for Australia day and thought about my uncle right away so she brought it with her. It was so funny! Then everyone had to have their picture taken with the wig with their funny faces on! Even the dog and chicken wasn’t able to get out of it! Heck, even the coconut had a picture with the wig! Hahaha! It was such a fun-filled night.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - This is a day in the whole trip I will never forget! I went scuba diving for the first time in my 25 years of life! It was such a nerve-wracking but exciting experience! First things first, I’m hella scared of open waters; I always think that something will just pull me down from underneath. We watch an introduction to diving video first then we geared up. Putting on the wet suit is hell! It was so hard! Pulling and tugging and pulling and tugging some more! But after everything is zipped up, it was pretty cool, haha! Now, we had to do the skills practice - how to breathe thru the regulator, how to remove water in your mask if you’re 30 feet underwater, how to remove water if you swallowed some if you remove your regulator and the like. This is done just by the shore, there would be a floating buoy near us saying “Diver’s Below” - wow! Hehe We were just practicing breathing when I started hyperventilating! I was asked to step away from the group! Haha I even to be on a separate class (remedial, perhaps?)! My uncle had an assistant, L who helped me out - he would be my personal lifesaver! (And my cousin & I found him cute, in a rugged, bad boy sorta way ;)) He would make ‘inhale, exhale’ hand gestures to me under the water to help me breathe normally - I was breathing way too fast. Sound was multiplied ten times underneath so it scared me even more to hear myself breathing that way. Oh, and did I mention I was also claustrophobic? Ay yay yay, recipe for disaster! So skills practice was done so we went up to the dive shop again to put our tanks in a push cart then we walked to the speed boat. I was able to regulate my breathing as this point. Everyone in our [diving] group (me, my cousin, daddy, my 2 uncles plus L) thought I wouldn’t be able to go down. I was thinking the same thing too, actually. And then we had to go down the water doing the ‘flip thing’! Aaagh! It was so funny because I was all geared up and ready to flip so my uncle was in front of me pushing me! Haha and I was not falling! I was holding on to dear life! Until I just flipped on my own (it was fun!). Then I started breathing really fast again - imagine this is the open ocean already! So L was beside me again and doing the inhale, exhale hand signal again. He was so good actually, that I didn’t notice that he was slowly bringing me down already (nice one, L!). At this point, I was still so concentrated on my breathing that I wasn’t appreciating the view yet. I was holding on to L with 2 hands! Haha I looked stupid, I’m sure. Then he let go 1 of my hands and I started ‘feeling’ the water. Then we swam a bit and he took me so near the coral that I started swimming away from it! Haha I wasn’t ready to touch stuff yet! And then I found Nemo, hehe that was really fun! And I think it was at this point that I started enjoying the dive. It was so monumental! And then L let go of my other hand and just held my vest. I felt so free! Haha but I did look at him every once in a while to check if he was still holding my vest! There was a ‘clearing’ on the sea floor where my uncle called everyone to have our group picture taken. My cousin and I were kneeling down while daddy & 1 uncle was behind then our other uncle (the instructor) laid down in front of us while L took our photos. Once we were back on the speed boat, I wanted to cry! Haha never in my entire life would I have experienced this! I wouldn’t have had the guts to try it out on a whim! My cousin was afraid of the sea too so she convincing me to dive was one of the reasons. And BF also told me that diving is expensive so just grab the opportunity to dive for free! Hahaha! I’m so proud of myself! Wootwoot!

This trip to Boracay was my best yet. I had so much fun plus I got to bond with my cousin, again! I’m so excited about our Grand family reunion in 2010!

Nintendo Wii February 18, 2008

I am addicted! Haha, it is sooo fun! My mom got my brother one for Christmas (2007) and we’ve all been playing non stop ever since. It’s a fun way of exercising since it’s a really physical game. My mom told me that if she knew that it’s just a Wii that would make get up and sweat, she should have bought one when it first came out. Haha!

BF and I asked around in Greenhills how much it would take for them to convert the Wii (convert it so that it can play pirated games - bad!) and it would cost P4,000! Told mom about it and decided that she’ll just buy original games in the States - good! And original games are cheaper in the US (around $20) compared to buying them here (around Php2,000) which are triple the US prices.

I’m so excited to buy the extra ‘gadgets’ and I’m so eager to try the other games as well.

Holidays 2007 January 2, 2008

For the family, Christmas this year was not as joyous as past Christmases. 2 of the youngest siblings were hospitalized on the 24th. The youngest started vomiting around 10pm of the 23rd and was still vomiting up until early morning of the 24th. Mommy woke me up around 4:30am because my brother’s hands were cramping already and mommy was so scared already. We brought him to the ER of Medical Center Parañaque; the cramping, we were told, was due to the lack of electrolytes, sodium, calcium, salts, etc. He was so dehydrated already. He was given a shot of Paracetamol since he couldn’t drink anymore and was under observation until around 7:30am. We were prescribed Glucolyte to rehydrate him. This was in powder form to be mixed with 250ml of water and drank slowly. We were advised to start giving him the solution at 8am and if by 12nn he can keep it down he can start eating. But he’s to be on a strict soft diet. He was able to finish 1 glass but by 12:20pm he threw up everything again. We were advised to bring him back to the hospital if this happens because he’ll have to be rehydrated through IV already. By 4pm that afternoon he was in a room already. My sister (2nd) was still at home and we called her up to have bring some clothes to the hospital. My other sister (3rd) was already sick for 2 days, I asked sister #2 to take her (#3) temperature - it was at 39 degrees already so mom said to bring sister #3 with her to the hospital already. By 7:30pm they were both admitted already. Good thing the room was spacious enough to fit 2 hospital beds (and one small padded bench in the middle for mom). At the very least, mommy can look over the both of them without the hassle of going in and out of 2 rooms.  After some tests, brother was diagnosed with UTI (Urinary Track Infection) which triggered his Asthma. Sister #3 was being suspected of Dengue already. Her blood was being tested every so and so hours. I’m sure that was painful. After a few days, since brother’s fever was going up & down also, he was suspected of Dengue too. This was the most stressful and nerve wracking wait of my life. Dengue is such a deadly disease! Good thing they were both cleared of the disease and was given the “may go home” status by the doctor.

Now, New Year was way better than Christmas. Simply because no one was in the hospital anymore and we spent the turn of the year in our new house. The only sad part was Daddy still wasn’t with us. Yes, new house! We’re moving! Still in BF Homes but it’s a bigger house - same number of rooms though but the rooms in the new house are way bigger. And the land area too! It’s a tradition (here in the Philippines anyway) that when you start transferring stuff to a new house you have to start with some necessary stuff. Like sugar, oil, salt, rice, image of the Holy Family, etc. We were there around 11:30pm of December 31 and brought those stuff in. It is said that if you bring these stuff in your house will be abundant with these. With regard to the Holy Family, that your house will be blessed and looked after. We have very nice neighbors (in front). Well, she’s the broker of the house so mom knew her already. But after midnight, we were invited over for a snack. We’ll probably start moving by the 2nd or 3rd week of January.

I have so much to be thankful for for the past 2007 that I don’t know where to start. So I’ll just pray and be thankful for all that happened to me - may it be good or bad.

Happy New Year everyone! Cheers to 2008!

I was trying to find a good video of Auld Lang Syne because I really like that song and New Year’s won’t be complete if I don’t listen to it - but I can’t find a decent one! Oh well, next time.

A Long Walk Home December 14, 2007

This is probably the story that touched me the most. Made me cry the most. Everyone passes through this stage of rebellion against one’s parents and I, for one, am guilty of this. I snuck out or I told them I was doing a project at a classmate’s house when we were just hanging out (which is really just hanging out). These little snippets of “withheld information” all accumulate to guilt. Whether the truth was discovered or not when you see your mom coming home from her flight all tired but she still manages to be cheerful and even have something for each child, it’s that guilt you’re feeling, it eats you up inside. Or when daddy comes home after several months and all he hears is bickering and shouting. How you deeply wished that you didn’t tell them that you just hung out in school and not spent the extra hour “doing projects”. As we grow old, these snippets of lies turn into more serious stuff. You’re not just over at a classmate’s house for the afternoon; you’re even there until the next day. Sometimes you do have projects but other times you’re there to drink and be cool. I can go on and on and on with all of these “activities” but I’ll just let this story do the telling.

A Long Walk Home
by Jason Bocarro

 

          I grew up in the south of Spain in a little community called Estepona. I was 16 when one morning, my father told me I could drive him into a remote village called Mijas, about 18 miles away, on the condition that I take the car in to be serviced at a nearby garage. Having just learned to drive, and hardly ever having the opportunity to use the car, I readily accepted. I drove dad into MIjas and promised to pick him up by 4 pm, then drove to a nearby garage and dropped off the car. Because I had a few hours to spare, I decided to catch a couple of movies at a theater near the garage. However, I became so immersed in the films that I completely lost track of time. When the last movie had finished, I looked down at my watch. It was six o’ clock. I was two hours late!

 

I knew Dad would be angry if he found out I’d been watching movies. He’d never let me drive again. I decided to tell him that the car needed some repairs and that they had taken longer than had been expected. I drove up to the place where we had planned to meet and saw Dad waiting patiently on the corner. I apologized for being late and told him that I’d come as quickly as I could, but the car had needed some major repairs. I’ll never forget the look he gave me.

 

“I’m disappointed that you feel you have to lie to me, Jason.”

 

“What do you mean? I’m telling the truth.”

 

Dad looked at me again. “When you did not show up, I called the garage to ask if there were any problems, and they told me that you had not yet picked up the car. So you see, I know there were no problems with the car.” A rush of guilt ran through me as I feebly confessed to my trip to the movie theater and the real reason for my tardiness. Dad listened intently as a sadness passed through him.

 

“I’m angry, not with you but with myself. You see, I realize that I have failed as a father if after all these years you feel that you have to lie to me. I have failed because I have brought up a son who cannot even tell the truth to his own father. I’m going to walk home now and contemplate where I have gone wrong all these years.”

 

“But Dad, it’s 18 miles to home. It’s dark. You can’t walk home.”

 

My protests, my apologies and the rest of my utterances were useless. I had let my father down, and I was about to learn one of the most painful lessons of my life. Dad began walking along the dusty roads. I quickly jumped in the car and followed behind, hoping he would relent. I pleaded all the way, telling him how sorry I was, but he simply ignored me, continuing on silently, thoughtfully and painfully. For 18 miles I drove behind him, averaging about 5 miles per hour.

 

Seeing my father in so much physical and emotional pain was the most distressing and painful experience that I have ever faced. However, it was also the most successful lesson. I have never lied to him since.

The Cost of Gratefulness December 14, 2007

I was smoking outside again and the first reading material I picked up on the way outside was the Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, again. The couple of stories/entries I read told me that even if it says it’s for the “teenage” soul; it isn’t really like that. What I’m trying to say is that adults can’t just dismiss the material just because it says it’s for the teenage soul; we were teenagers once, right? And it doesn’t hurt to get slapped in the face sometimes to realize that we’re living much too fast. We have to stop and look around and appreciate all the beauty that’s surrounding us. Not just nature per se but the people that are directly and indirectly involved in our life. Here are a couple of the stories that made me tear up (well, I am a cry baby).

The Cost of Gratefulness
By Randal Jones

I was about 13. My father frequently took me on short outings on Saturdays. Sometimes we went to a park, or to a marina to look at boats. My favorites were trips to junk stores, where we could admire old electronic stuff. Once in a while we would buy something for 50 cents just to take it apart.

On the way home from these trips, Dad frequently stopped at the Dairy Queen for 10-cent ice cream cones. Not every single time; just often enough. I couldn’t expect it, but I could hope and pray from the time we started heading home to that critical corner where we would either go straight for the ice cream or turn and go home empty-handed. That corner meant either mouth-watering excitement or disappointment.

A few times my father teased my by going home the long way. “I’m just going this way for variety,” he would say, as we drove by the Dairy Queen without stopping. It was a game, and I was well fed, so we’re not talking torture here.

On the best days he would ask, in a tone that made it sound novel and spontaneous, “Would you like an ice cream cone?” and I would say, “That sounds great, Dad!” I’d always have chocolate and he’d have vanilla. He would hand me 20 cents and I would run in to buy the usual. We’d eat them in the car. I loved my dad and I loved ice cream – so that was heaven.

On one fateful day, we were heading home, and I was hoping and praying for the beautiful sound of his offer. It came. “Would you like an ice cream cone today?”

“That sounds great, Dad!”

But then he said, “It sounds good to me too, Son. How would you like to treat today?”

Twenty cents! Twenty cents! My mind reeled. I could afford it. I got 25 cents a week allowance, plus some extra for odd jobs. But saving money was important. Dad told me that. And when it was money, ice cream just wasn’t a good use of it.

Why didn’t it occur to me that this was a golden opportunity to give something back to my very generous father? Why didn’t I think that he bought me 50 ice cream cones, and I had never bought him one? But all I could think was “20 cents!”

In a fit of selfish, miserly ingratitude, I said the awful words that have rung in my ears ever since. “Well, in that case, I guess I’ll pass.”

My father just said, “Okay, Son.”

But was we turned to head home, I realized how wrong I was and begged him to turn back. “I’ll pay,” I pleaded.

But he just said, “That’s okay, we don’t really need one,” and wouldn’t hear my pleading. We drove home.

I felt awful for my selfishness and ungratefulness. He didn’t rub it in, or even act disappointed. But I don’t think he could have done anything to make a deeper impression on me.

I learned that generosity goes two ways and gratefulness sometimes costs a little more than “thank you.” On that day gratefulness would have cost 20 cents, and it would have been the best ice cream I’d ever had.

I’ll tell you one more thing. We went on another trip the next week, and as we approached the crucial corner, I said, “Dad, would you like an ice cream cone today? My treat.”

Little Brown Book December 8, 2007

M and I went to the pick up point of the Little Brown Book (which I just gave a nickname of LBB). It’s a planner/food directory/delivery reference all rolled into one. It wasn’t how I expected it to look like, but this isn’t in a bad way. I just imagined the daily part as different - or maybe I’ve just been so used on how the Starbucks planner looked like inside (which I stopped collecting the stickers for). I found out about the LBB here through Marketman’s blog. I think it was mentioned in his latest post (where he reminded us of the LBB pick up) that he might drop by. I was kinda hoping he would so I’d get to meet him. I wanted to ask the lady if he would drop by but as I was trying to practice the question in my head, I suddenly got shy. How would I ask her, “Miss, dadaan po ba si Marketman?” or “Miss, mag dro-drop by po ba si Mr. MM?” Hay… I don’t even know the guy’s name. I guess he’d be just like a “Charlie” to me.

I look forward to his posts every single day. He sounds like such a nice guy, cool dad & sweet husband. Oh, he’s really funny too. When he puts pictures in his posts and he just happens to be in it, he’s always “partly hidden” or he’d put a caption like “I’m the one wearing a cap.” Hehe reminds me of Charlie from Charlie’s Angels. But it’s perfectly fine by me if he doesn’t want to ‘reveal’ himself. Look at me, I’m maintaining this and I’m not even publishing it. Yet. Even BF doesn’t know I have this. Anyway, here are the pictures of my cute and über informative Little Brown Book (or LBB, hehe).

It comes with this cute box

My own Little Brown Book

It has a garter to keep it closed when not in use

How the back of the front cover looks like; cool print!

The cute print up close (please excuse my thumb, hehe)

Separators on the side

How the Diary (Daily) part looks like

How the Directory looks like (its Conti’s!)

A closer look
Marketmanila’s ad inside

Adulthood December 7, 2007

I always bring something to read with me when I’m smoking. Be it a romance novel (firtst choice always :)) magazine, newspaper, Reader’s Digest or whatever happens to be lying around the house or on the dinner table. The book that I grabbed yesterday was Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul; the first one. Because there’s a part 2 already then there’s the journal and I think a 3rd already, not sure on that anymore. Anyway, I was just flipping through the pages and came upon this article that I really liked. It’s so real and it didn’t sugarcoat anything and it’s funny too. I tried finding the article online so that I can just copy it here but I can’t find it (or maybe my research skills are not working). So, I’ll just type it manually here - that’s how much I like it.

Adulthood
by Robert Fulghum

After the dishes are washed and the sink rinsed out, there are remains in the strainer at the bottom of the sink what I will call, momentarily, some “stuff”. A rational, intelligent, objective person would say this is simply a mixture of bits of protein, carbohydrates, fat and fiber. Dinner dandruff.

Furthermore, the person might add that not only was that material first sterilized by the high heat of cooking, but further sanitized by going through the detergent and hot water of the dishpan, and rinsed. No problem.

But any teenager who has been dragooned into washing dishes knows this explanation as a lie. That stuff in the bottom of the strainer is toxic waste — deadly poison — a danger to health. In other words, about as icky as icky gets.

One of the very few reasons I had any respect for my mother when I was 13 was because she would reach into the sink with her bare hands - BARE HANDS - and pick up that lethal gunk and drop it into the garbage. To top that, I saw her reach into the wet garbage and fish around in there looking for a lost teaspoon BAREHANDED - a kind of mad courage. She found the spoon in a clump of coffee grounds mixed with scrambled egg remains and the end of the vegetable soup. I almost passed out when she handed it to me to rinse off. No teenager who wanted to live would have touched that without being armed with gloves, a face mask and stainless-steel tongs.

Once, in school, I came across the French word ordure, and when the teacher told me it meant “unspeakable filth” I knew exactly to what it referred. We had it every night. In the bottom of the sink.

When I reported my new word to my mother at dish washing time, she gave me her my-son-the-idiot look and explained that the dinner I had just eaten was in just about the same condition in my stomach at the moment, rotting, and it hadn’t even been washed and rinsed before it went down my drain. If she had given me a choice between that news and being hit across the head with a two-by-four, I would have gone for the board.

I lobbied long and hard for a disposal and automatic dishwasher, knowing full well that they had been invented so that nobody would ever have to touch the gunk again.

Never mind what any parent or objective adult might tell me, I knew the stuff in the sink drainer was lethal and septic. It would give you leprosy, or something worse. If you should accidentally touch it, you must never touch any other part of your body with your finger until you had scalded and soaped and rinsed your hands. Even worse, I knew that the stuff could congeal and mush up and mutate into some living thing that would crawl out of the sink during the night and get loose in the house.

Why not just use rubber gloves, you ask? Oh, come on. Rubber gloves are for sissies. Besides, my mother used her bare hands, remember. My father never came closer than three feet to the sink in his life. My mother said he was lazy. But I knew that he knew what I knew about the gunk.

Once, after dinner, I said to him that I bet Jesus never had to wash dishes and clean the gunk out of the sink. He agreed. It was the only theological discussion we ever had.

My father, however, would take a plunger to the toilet when it was stopped up with even more worse stuff. I wouldn’t even go in the room when he did it. I didn’t want to know.

But now. Now, I am a grown-up. And have been for some time. And I imagine making a speech to a high school graduating class. First, I would ask them, “How many of you would like to be an adult, an independent, on-your-own citizen?” All would raise their hands with some enthusiasm. And then I would give them a list of things that grown-ups do.

• clean the sink strainer
• plunge out the toilet
• clean up babies when they poop and pee
• wipe runny noses
• clean up the floor when the baby throws strained spinach
• clean ovens and grease traps and roasting pans
• empty the kitty box and scrape up the dog doo
• carry out the garbage
• pump out the bilges
• bury dead pets when they get run over in the street

I’d tell the graduates that when they can do these things, they will be adults. Some of the students might not want to go on at this point. But they may as well face the truth.

It can get even worse that the list suggests. My wife is a doctor, and I won’t tell you what she tells me she has to do sometimes. I wish I didn’t know. I feel ill at ease sometimes being around someone who does those things. And also proud.

A willingness to do your share of cleaning up the mess is a test. And taking out the garbage of this life is a condition of membership in a community.

When you are a kid, you feel that if they really loved you, they wouldn’t ever ask you to take out the garbage. When you join the ranks of the grown-ups, you take out the garbage because you love them. And by “them” I mean not only your own family, but the family of mankind.

The old cliche holds firm and true.

Being an adult is dirty work.

But someone has to do it.

20 days to go December 4, 2007

and it’s Christmas already (again)! Aside from the usual Christmas songs like Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Silent Night, etc. I like a few songs that are not so cheery in terms of the tone & rhythm but I like them nonetheless.

• Opera of the Bells
  
• The Christmas Song
• Sleigh Ride
  
• Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Here are the lyrics to my ultimate favorite Christmas song (I have to memorize this!ü):

Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells
All seem to say throw cares away
Christmas is here, bringing good cheer
To young and old, meek and the bold

Ding-dong, ding-dong, that is their song
With joyful ring, all caroling
One seems to hear, words of good cheer
From everywhere, filling the air

Gaily they ring, while people sing
Songs of good cheer, Christmas is here
Merry merry merry merry Christmas
Merry merry merry merry Christmas
On and on they send, on without end
Their joyful tone to every home
Ding-dong ding-dong, ding-dong ding-dong
Ding-dong ding-dong, ding-dong ding-dong
Diiiiiiiiiiiing (ding ding ding), doooooooooong (ding ding ding)
Diiiiiiiiiiiing (ding ding ding), doooooooooong (ding ding ding)
Diiiiiiiiiiiing (ding ding ding), doooooooooong (ding ding ding)
Diiiiiiiiiiiing (ding ding ding), doooooooooong (ding ding ding)
Ding, di-di-di-di-di-di-di-ding, ding, di-di-di-di-di-di-di-ding
Ding, di-di-di-di-di-di-di-ding, ding, di-di-di-di-di-di-di-ding
Ding, di-di-di-di-di-di-di-ding, ding, di-di-di-di-di-di-di-ding
Ding, di-di-di-di-di-di-di-ding, ding, di-di-di-di-di-di-di-ding
Ding, di-di-di-di-di-di-di-ding, ding, di-di-di-di-di-di-di-ding

Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells
All seem to say throw cares away
Christmas is here, bringing good cheer
To young and old, meek and the bold

Ding-dong, ding-dong, that is their song
With joyful ring, all caroling
One seems to hear, words of good cheer
From everywhere, filling the air

Gaily they ring, while people sing
Songs of good cheer, Christmas is here
On and on they send, on without end
Their joyful tone to every home
To every home (ooh, ooh), to every home (ooh, oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ooh)
To every home (ooh, ooh), to every home (ooh, oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ooh)
To every home (ooh, ooh), to every home (ooh)

Diiiiing (oh-oh), doooong (oh-oh)
Diiiiing (oh-oh), doooong (oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Diiiiiing (oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh), doooong (oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)
Diiiiiing (ding ding ding ding ding), doooong (dong dong dong dong dong)

Ding (ding-dong ding-ding), ding (dong-ding ding-ding)
Ding (ding-dong ding-ding), ding (dong-ding ding-ding)

Hark how the bells, sweet silver beels
All seem to say throw cares away
Christmas is here, bringing good cheer
To young and old, meek and the bold

Ding-dong, ding-dong, that is their song
With joyful ring, all caroling
One seems to hear, words of good cheer
From everywhere, filling the air

Gaily they ring, while people sing
Songs of good cheer, Christmas is here
Merry merry merry merry Christmas (merry merry merry)
Merry merry merry merry Christmas
On and on they send, on without end
Their joyful tone to every home

Ding, ding, dong, dong….
Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding

DONG

Here’s another unique version, kinda pop-rockish. It’s kinda long, but it’s cool.

Of teeth and vagina December 4, 2007

I went to the dentist last November 28 and had a prophylaxis. I can’t remember when I had my teeth cleaned prior to this so this was, uhm, uncomfortable to say the least. The dentist really had to pry and drill through the nook and crannies of my mouth. It was hell! My gums were bleeding so bad and I just wanted it to stop! Every time she asked me to gargle water I would spit out blood. Ack.

Why I went to the dentist in the first place is because the back of my lower front teeth (which are called Lower Incisors-had to research on this) were constantly hurting. Hmm not really hurting, I’m still trying to look for an English translation but the teeth were nangingilo (sensitive teeth? like what the toothpaste Sensodyne is for). It was being like that constantly. It turns out I have Gingivitis. Now, I had to research this because it sounded so horrible. Good thing it’s just inflammation of the gums - not just just, at least it wasn’t bad breath or anything. It’s plaque build up plus the fact that I don’t have my teeth cleaned regularly and I smoke. I now swear that I’ll do this twice a year so as not to undergo that horrible, horrible prophylaxis again.

After that, as I was driving home it came upon me that the 2 people in your life that you don’t want to mess with are your dentist and your Ob-Gyn. Why the OB? It’s because they can insert (excuse me for the term) instruments you know where. And even if they tell you to just relax, you simply can’t! Especially if you see the thing they’re about to use (read more about it here) So keep ‘em close and be überly nice to them even if you just see them twice or even once a year.

Go figure.