The Globe network is so bad here in my hometown of Zamboanga! Or maybe not exactly the entire city but just my neighborhood. So bad I’m even thinking of getting a wilson booster so I won’t miss or drop calls.
When I am inside my room, the signal indicator on my phone actually disappears! Yes! No signal whatsoever. Whenever I want to call my boyfriend I have to go outside in the yard, ugh, bummer! I get no privacy at all. And when I do get a signal I have to make sure NOT TO MOVE from my location or I could lose the signal.
And you know choppy it gets when the signal is low. I keep having to say, “What? Can you repeat what you said??”. Frustrating to say the least.
Remind me to buy a Smart prepaid kit to use whenever I go home!
There’s still time for some last-minute shopping as the holidays aren’t over yet, so here are some Ralph Lauren coupons to get you going!
I’m a bad giver like I said a few posts ago. I didn’t have time to do any shopping in Manila, so when I came home to Zamboanga I decided to pass by Lantaka to buy a few trinkets as gifts. I remembered the previous year, there were a lot of cute pearly baubles that were being sold very cheaply. Unfortunately, this time around the wares weren’t that interesting.
I ended up buying some smooth marble-like stones. The seller called them “healing stones”. They were very pretty, smooth to the touch but sparkly and she was selling them at 3 for 100. I don’t know what came over me, but I decided to buy a dozen so I ended up finishing almost all of her stones and forked over Php400! LOL. She was so happy!! She thanked the gods, thanked us, thanked her lucky stars. Hahaha. It was funny how happy she was.
I ended up not giving any of my stones away. It seemed a weird gift, in hindsight. I think I’ll just keep them around. Maybe the more I have, the more healing power I will get. LOL.
Bottomline, I’m just glad that the seller got a sale that day. I hope she and her family had a good Christmas.
I wish I had gold bars for the holidays. As it is I’ve been spending money like water ever since I came home for Christmas! This has more to do with me realizing how cheaper restaurant prices are in my hometown compared to the big city! Thus, I keep eating out. Overall I have been spending so merrily I think in just one week I’ve burnt through my 13th month pay already!!!
Anyway. It’s Christmas! Wow, how the year flew! Nothing much has changed in my life, but a lot certainly has in Gim’s, and somehow I mark the changes this year by the events in his life.
In February of this year, he took the medical boards in Cebu and passed. The week before his exams, he pre-celebrated with me in Manila, and after his exams came back to me and spent a few weeks just bumming around.
He went back to Zamboanga and started working as an on-call GP across the major hospitals, for about a month or so. By April, he had enough time and money to come visit me in Manila. Spent a fun week with me, and went back home. After one day of being back in Zamboanga, he missed me SO much that he decided to be with me for good and so he went back to Manila. Haha. Best decision he ever made this year!
Around this time, I changed teams at work and started working nights to support Europe, North/Latin America and Asian regions due to the global nature of my job. It was tough at first but I got used to it after a few weeks. The one thing I like about it is being able to go shopping early afternoon during weekdays, when there aren’t that many people in the malls.
End of May, Gim landed a job at UP PGH as a researcher. Not his dream job but he craved the idea of belonging to such a prestigious institution. After a few months, he was bummed out because the job was more menial than he thought, he was doing jobs that a PR person might do, and decided that he needed to find a more suitable job (for his degree).
I urged him to enter residency, because I had never liked him joining UP PGH, and did my best to dissuade him from entering corporate medicine. He applied to a wide range of jobs. By September, he was accepted as an ear-nose-throat surgery resident at Ospital ng Maynila, and I was THRILLED for him. He was beyond ecstatic.
Oh, and by this time, another new thing was that we had moved from our shared condo with two college friends, since the lease was up. We decided to get our own place, and rented an old apartment in the residential part of Makati. It was equal parts near his work and mine. Good thing too I got a raise since it was pretty expensive furnishing everything in our two-storey house!
And that’s how my 2011 went. See what I meant by the time being mostly marked by Gim? I didn’t travel much this year, but Gim and I did spend a lot more time together than the past six years. I foresee lesser and lesser travels as Gim’s job keeps him really busy. But it also means I am more available to friends, and I am hoping to be able to make travel plans with my friends, by myself, and not as a buy-one-take-one half of a couple.
A friend of mine once asked on Twitter why some people suddenly become a “we” and seem to lose their individuality once they become a couple. I think that I am one of these people. But I don’t want to be. And maybe in 2012 I can get some of that Flisha-ness back.
I looove flowers! Gim knows it, too, which is why he gives me flowers on special days. Sometimes, he would even buy me flowers just because I want some! This is usually when we pass winter/spring/summer/Fall flower arrangements stalls. (In the Philippines we only have sunny/rainy but most flowers are imported so it’s like we have seasons too lol.)
I am a sucker for flowers. I love that they’re so pretty, colorful and delicate. And it’s a bonus if they give off a sweet fragrance! I do enjoy roses, but I also like Malaysian mums, and I do love calla lilies.
Around March, the day he left for Zamboanga, Gim left me three red roses in my room. Those were the most bittersweet roses I ever got, because though they were pretty and I wanted to love them, they also reminded me that Gim had left, and that I was all by my lonesome, again.
Thankfully, Gim couldn’t bear the loneliness either!! So, barely a week after he had gone back to Zamboanga, he decided to come back to me and stay for good. Hahaha! I had mixed feelings about that. Because my room is so small, and at the time, I had only one bed, he had to share with me. And trust me when I say I move a lot in my sleep. And whenever I sleep with Gim, I can’t, because obviously there isn’t any space. So… I end up not sleeping much. But of course I wanted Gim with me, first and foremost. So I bore with the limited space, and then we bought a sofa soon after to augment our sleeping area. Hehehe!
For our 9th anniversary a month later, Gim gave me some roses mixed in with carnations. (Yes, 9 years!) And it came with a cake (ok, shared resource!) and a cute little stuffed lion! (Because I’m a Leo!)
Pretty flowers!!
This was Belgian cheesecake from Cheesecake, etc. Sooo rich and creamy and yes, CHEESY! They have the yummiest cheesecakes ever!! Plus, they always cut and arrange the fruits in front of you, so you know they’re fresh – and did you know kiwi goes really well with cheesecake? I loved the combination!
I’m not the type to wear hip hop clothes, but business formal isn’t my thing either. I’m my most comfortable in casual wear. Just a shirt and jeans, or shorts, is me.
So it was a lot of fun being able to go home last Holy Week and just spend leisurely days with my long-time boyfriend, whom I’ve missed so much.
One lazy afternoon we decided to hit the beach and watch the sunset. The tide was pretty low that afternoon, so we were able to sit on the exposed rocks lining the shore.
We drank some beer, sat, reminisced about the old times when we used to do the same thing almost every weekend, and just enjoyed each others presence.
Our main takeaway? We realized our happiest times were the simplest – just being together and enjoying nature. Be it the beach or the river or the mountains, it doesn’t take a whole lot of money to make us happy. For me, it’s just being with Gim. He lights me up, and I do the same for him.
I hope we can be together again really soon. And for good.
This is a song by Comic Relief, a Zamboanga band. Since Maldita just got a music contract, I am hoping Comic Relief will too. Because they have great songs.
Here is one of my favorites. It’s entitled, “No Hay Mas.” (Okay, well, the band titled it as Nuay Mas but it’s the wrong spelling. So I am just correcting it. Sorry, OC.)
I. Hinde ba ya abla ya iyo
Didn’t I tell you already? No quiere mas iyo contigo
I don’t love you anymore Cuanto beses necesita abla
How many times do I need to say it? Sum-ut ya yo man bira-bira
I’m sick and tired of running around in circles
Chorus: No sabe porque
I don’t know why Hinde tu ta kre/No quiere tu kre
You don’t believe me/You don’t want to believe me Manada rason
There are so many reasons Puede ba entende
I wish you would understand Di mio amor
My love Hinay ta perde/Bigla ya perde
Is slowly fading/Has suddenly faded Etu el rason
You are the reason Mi corazon ta duele
My heart is hurting
II. Mira derecho na mi ojos
Look me in the eye No mas estranja si yo tan lejos
Stop worrying if I walk away Alegre yo cuando kita pa dos
I was happy when we were together Pensaba yo llega ta años
I thought we would reach years
Bridge: Donde ya el amor
Where is the love? Perdido ya pero porque pa necesita porsa
It’s gone but why do we need to force it? Hace yo sale na mi pecho
I am taking off my chest El maga sentimiento
All these feelings Tiempo ya
It’s about time
Cosa yo ya palta
What did I lack? Para tu ay rabya
For you to be angry? Todo’l dia comigo etu ta pelya
Everyday, you argued with me Mas bueno gaha yo ya lang separta
Perhaps it’s better that I leave first Para nohay mas ya
So that there is no more… Nohay mas ya kita
…No more “us”
Gim and I were on the taxi on the way to SM Megamall a couple of days ago chattering as usual. The music from the radio seemed very familiar but it didn’t sink in until about halfway through the song, I realized, the song was in Chavacano! It was the song “Porque” by Maldita, a Zamboanga band. I was so elated!
That song was a hit back home but I hadn’t realized it was getting Manila airplays too. Until the taxi ride. And – what a surprise – there was some part sung in Tagalog too! But those parts weren’t that good, the song was more beautiful with Chavacano words.
Porque means “Why” in Chavacano. The single is the first released by Maldita, originally a local Zamboanga band. Vocalists are Francel de Leon and Demz Espinosa.
Other members of the band:
Drums – Mad Nubhan
Guitars – James Collin Medina, Whey Guevarra
Keyboard – Jesser Sison
Here is the translation of Porque by Maldita, if anyone is looking for it.
Solo solo na mi cuarto
All alone in my room Hende ta puede durmi
Cannot sleep Bira-bira na cabesa
Back and forth, swirling in my mind El dolor yo ya cinti
The pain I felt
Porque pa contigo yo ya quiere?
Why did I have to fall for you? Como bula lang tu ya perde
But like a bubble you just disappeared
Porque contigo yo ya escuji?
Why was it that I chose you? Ahora mi corazon ta supri
Now my heart is suffering Bien simple lang iyo ta pidi
What a simple thing to ask Era cinti tu el cosa yo ya cinti
I hope you feel what I feel Ta pidi milagro, bira’l tiempo
Asking for a miracle, to turn back time El mali hace derecho
All the wrong, make right Na dimio rezo ta pidi yo
In my prayer, I am asking Era olvida yo contigo
To forget you
Todo-todo yo ya dale
Everything, I gave Ahora ta aripinti
Now I am regretting Sobra-sobra el dolencia
The pain is too much Tormento para vivi
Living is a torment
Porque pa contigo yo ya quiere?
Why did I have to love you? Como bula lang tu ya perde
Like a bubble you disappeared
Porque contigo yo ya escuji?
Why did I have to choose you? Ahora mi corazon ta supri
Now my heart is suffering Bien simple lang iyo ta pidi
What a simple thing to ask Era cinti tu el cosa yo ya cinti
I hope you feel what I felt Ta pidi milagro, bira’l tiempo
I am asking for a miracle, to turn back time El mali hace derecho
Turn the wrong things right Na dimio rezo ta pidi yo
In my prayers, I ask Era olvida yo contigo
I hope I forget you
No tu distorba
Don’t you bother me Y no atraka kay baka palmadia yo contigo
And don’t you come near me, I just might slap you Nunca accepta
Never will I accept Si tu ay bira por dolor ya cinti
Your return, for the pain I felt
Porque contigo yo ya escuji?
Why did I have to choose you? Ahora mi corazon ta supri
Now my heart is suffering Bien simple lang iyo ta pidi
What a simple thing to ask Era cinti tu el cosa yo ya cinti
I hope you feel what I felt
Porque contigo yo ya escuji?
Why did I have to choose you? Ahora mi corazon ta supri
Now my heart is suffering Bien simple lang iyo ta pidi
What a simple thing to ask Era cinti tu el cosa yo ya cinti
I hope you feel what I felt Ta pidi milagro, bira’l tiempo
I am asking for a miracle, to turn back time El mali hace derecho
Turn the wrong things right
Na dimio rezo ta pidi yo
In my prayers, I ask Era olvida yo contigo
I hope I forget you
Ooohh.. Porque contigo yo ya eskuhi?
Why did I have to choose you? Ahora mi corazon ta supri…
Now my heart is hurting…
When I am in Zamboanga I always wish I’d remembered to bring sunglasses (or sun readers if I could). I forget how sunny a day can get especially when you’re driving around in a motorcycle.
On sunny days, Gim and I always go out for joyrides and eats. Lately I’ve been picking up a hobby. Like taking pictures of Gim with his hands like this.
Doesn’t he look sheepish? Haha. I’ve been getting Gim to show me some hearts everywhere we go. LOL. I can’t resist and he can’t resist ME!
But I don’t want to be. And maybe in 2012 I can get some of that Flisha-ness back.
So I am just correcting it. Sorry, OC.)
