Monday, March 28, 2005
11:23 PM


oh summer, please be nice

it has been weeks and I still haven't done anything productive. I have so many plans, as always, but I am never certain if I can actually get to do all those things.

Anyways, I guess the start of summer was quite okay. We went to pangasinan for the holy week and though I wasn't with my mom, it went just fine. It was even beneficial on my part because I planned on giving up the net. Since pangasinan was far from the much-necessitated tech, I had to cope up with primitiveness. such pain in the ass. Needless to say, I succeeded with my grand lenten sacrifice. And it's only now that I can have enough time to come up with decent entries.

anyways, going back, we had to ride a jeepney-type vehicle which held close resemblance with the white, four-wheeled automobile used to transfer caskets of the dead. How luxurious is that? The seats also were not cushioned that my butt was almost swelling after the 8/9-hr trip and I swear it was really painful. I had to change position for like a hundred times just to save it from complete numbness. To demonstrate further how 'fun' it was, let me just add that for the entire trip, I felt like the garterized lining of my underwear was already buried down the depths of my skin and has already touched its subcutaneous tissue. Pathetic. Despite the great calvary, I'm still grateful because I had a great time with my cousins. Hearing their stories and seeing them laugh insanely made everything worthwhile. :)

Here are all the things that happened:

1st day:
-first had to sleep for a couple of hours before we could finally get into work. Since people in the province wake up very, and I mean VERY early, we had to be up by 9
-visited lolo, uncle Fabian, and uncle Canoy in the cemetery (yes, they're the deceased). There, I spent most of my time talking to uncle Canoy, guaranteeing him that he will always be my most favorite uncle. I just miss him soooo much :(
-went to the wet market though my cousins and I just stayed outside, near the church. Of course, I prayed there
-went to balat after having our siesta. It was such a weird name for a place but it was fun there anyways. I got to meet new relatives who I never even thought existed and it made me realize that I belong to a very BIG family. It was so exciting to meet my 2nd cousins, and the other distant relatives
-heavens must have really showered me with enough blessings this day-- I received a bag of Cadbury fruit and nut/dairy milk. One of my uncles whom I have met for the first time just arrived home from Europe. I have been craving for chocolates for 2 days already and suddenly receiving a bag of it was really something

2nd day:
-woke up at 4am. Should have seen how reluctant I was
-we had our visita iglecia although it was a little, umm.. different. We didn't have the prayer booklet so instead of having the typical way of the cross, we just had to say our own prayers. We visited a total of 8 churches, of course including Manaoag. I felt so privileged to actually experience that because I felt so intimate with God
- had one of the greatest meals ever. People close to me know that I'm a big sucker for sinigang na isda (preferably bangus) and green mangoes. Give me any of the two and I'll be loving you forever. But then it's definitely a different story if you give me both at the same time. Well, I guess I'm really loved because that was just what my lola did. She prepared a meal they call "sinigang na bangus sa manga." Ahh. Speechlessness at an awe-inspiring scale. It was such a thorny experience trying to get my taste buds satisfied
- went to balat again. Aileen was there so she invited us over for dinner in their house. His brother Kennard gave us a lift and the car he used smelled really awful. It was a good thing he drove fast that we didn't have to suffer from too much air 'pollution'. Aileen, Joyce, and ate Ritz cooked for us and though they were plain inventing, we had a great meal. :)

3rd day:
- woke up at around 6am. I was really surprised-slash-annoyed at how early people in the province wake up. There's a long day ahead, for crying out loud! Why do we have to limit the should-be lengthy pleasure from oversleeping? Sheesh. Making life so complicated
- went to the beach. It wasn't actually a very nice sight to see but hey, it's still the ocean anyways! While looking for a parking slot, something funny happened..

maan: "Ay. Tignan nyo! Ang laki ng mga alon!"
Riva: "shux, oo nga noh!"
Joyce: "naku safe kaya?"
*the conversation went on and yes, it was quite serious. But then my lola butt in..
lola: "ay. Bat ganon? May pader na sa dagat?"
*nyiii!! Lola, alon po yon eh. Hindi po yon pader.
*hahaha. May pader sa dagat? Pano nangyari yon? Anyiinyii!

The waves were REALLY overwhelming. But despite this, plus the constant reminder from my uncle and cousins to just stay near the shore, I went with kuya jonjon to the deeper part of the water. It was actually risky but hell, it was fun trying to defy the waves! Haha.

- went to chang inet to help out with the chores. The babang luksa for uncle canoy was to be held the following day and they were to murder a big fat swine for the celebration. Really uncanny, but we had to bear with it
- ate a lot of green mangoes. I was so addicted to it that while the others already felt full, I continued eating feeling like I just couldn't get enough of it. Must have appeared like a PG, but seriously, I can forget any trace of coyness just for the sake of this green fruit

4th and last day:
- woke up at around 7:30am. do you realize how early that was?
- fixed my things/pasalubong
- went to uncle canoy's babang luksa. The dishes were just.so.great. I ate everything that was served except for the sisig. It must have tasted reeeaaaallllyyy good because they were all so satisfied with it. Now I'm regretting over the lost opportunity and I'm putting the blame on my cousins. I would have gotten the chance to at least taste it if not for them. I actually was looking forward to having it because I heard that people there really do it well. But at the time it has finally reached the table, and while millions of neurons began rushing through my nerves, some already reaching my brain and persistently dictating on it to already pick up the fork, I overheard them talking about what it was made of. To my surprise, it consisted of the pig's brain. Okaaay. Thanks much. I eventually decided not to have it. Argh.
-I suffered from stomachache. To make things worse, I realized that I already had to unzip my pants because it would no longer fit! Tsk3. such great attack against my ego
- Left pangasinan at around 1:30pm. Do you realize how hot it was during that time? And, yes, we had to travel with the same vehicle! Gawd. Some experience.
-finally reached manila at around 8:00pm. Joyce was insisting that I go home the following morning but my ID wouldn't allow it. I was so looking forward to hugging and kissing my mom, and also, to surfing the net. :)

***some funny moments:

Aileen: "grabe mga kotse kanina, halos lahat nago-over take."
Joyce: "oo nga! Nakakainis."
Ritz: "hindi kasi pede bilisan ni daddy e. maxado kasi mabigat ung load"
Grace: "hayaan nyo, bukas, luluhod din ang mga tala"
* all of us: huh?? [puzzled]
Grace: "eerrr. wala na kong masabi eh. Hahaha"
**okay. Everyone burst to laughter. Huwwwatttsdataggeen?
*hahaha

*Noah and Philip. The tale of the two crazy siblings.
-->My new names according to them:
1.Tita Liba/ tita Limba/ Tita Limbang- Noah
2.Tita Biba/ Tita Bimba- Philip
Gawd. They were fighting almost 75% of the time. They were really causing me headache, but still, i love them. :)
-->new terms, as provided by the two
-babibi- Jollibee
-mado- mcdo
-tubi- tubig
-ika- ikaw
-pot na- tapos na
and the list goes on.

Now I think I'll already stop. This has been one loooong entry and my eyes are already getting strained. I don't wanna suffer from sightlessness so I'm gonna do myself a favor now and just, stop.