Okay, I'm trying to blog even if there's nothing real big to share. I used to be able to write about the most mundane things anyway. Today I've begun making cocktails for work! Yehey! I used to have to rely on Richard and Paul to make them for me everytime I had a drink order and Lily usually cuts me off the sched if there's too much people at work because the boys are needed on the floor more because they can bartend. I've been expressing my desire to learn so I'm less of a burden to the two boys during busy nights. Today, Richard was patient enough to teach me and let me handle drinks everytime an order comes. I can make cocktails yehey! Ang babaw ko shet pero big deal sakin yun. Hindi na ako sobrang walang kwenta.

Was supposed to be off by 11pm but Richard and I got out by midnight because of a group of girls who wouldn't stop drinking. Oh well...Good thing the trains didn't give me too much of a hard time and I got home not too long after that.

Yun lang naman. Wala naman ako talagang kwento. Miss ko na si Mica, isang linggo pa bago siya makauwi. Wala akong makulit sa bahay shet.

I just spent the past hour watching through some of the flip videos I've accumulated ever since I bought the camera. I've been laughing and clapping like an idiot reminiscing on the good ol' times I spent with my friends. Man, there was a lot of drinking and eating...man oh man, the eating! A lot of the videos I have on file are unpublished ones that didn't make it to this blog and the previous one. They make me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

Speaking of reminiscing, I meant to publish these a few days ago after me and Louiie chatted during one of my drunken nights. It was meant to have a blog on it's own entitled "Letters from a Ghost" but I didn't want to sift through the rest of them so I will publish the following two excerpts:

"I am having a blast in New York. This place is dirty as hell,
but it has a weird energy to it (or maybe it's because they stop serving
alcohol at 4am instead of 2am) and I am seriously considering living
here before I turn 30. As they say, if you can make it in New York...."

"I think I just left my heart in New York. The day I was leaving I felt
this 'bittersweet elation' coming over me which was weird since I feel
I'm more a rational person than an emotional one, but sometimes I
have a penchant for contradicting myself. NY really is the modern
Babylon, and when you're there you can just see and feel so many
disparate elements converging in this one place, as if to say
'everything that matters happens here, and only here.' "

July 2005

I was reminded of these letters a few weeks ago when I was in the train on my way to work. When I take the subway to work, I try to make it a point to sit on the left side by the window, so I always have a good view of the Brooklyn Bridge and downtown Manhattan as it crosses the Manhattan Bridge. No matter how exhausted or sleepy I am, that scene always makes me thankful for everything's that's happened so far.

At the end of the day, I just remind myself that I AM IN NEW YORK.

Remember Omee's Mohawk? Well someone else got a hawk...sort of.

Although from here, it looks more like a cowlick.
She's cute anyway so it works for me.
Gawd I miss her so much.

Yes, sorry. It's been so long since I've written a proper post. It's either I have no time, no energy or there just hasn't been an abundance of exciting events for me to share. It's my day off and I had originally planned on going to a museum. Which museum? Any! I just wanted to do have a date with myself for once since I haven't done that in a long time. But I slept really late last night watching Slumdog Millionaire (finally) and I woke up at noon which caused me to pretty much lose half the day. I did laundry and shopped for groceries. I cooked thai green curry for a very late lunch. It was already around 4pm when I managed to get some food in me.


So what have I been up to? Well, aside from work, nothing much really. Eisa is now back in Manila. She had a send-off a few days ago. I can't believe she's gone. I've only known her a few months. That just didn't seem like enough time. Mica left last Thursday for Poland and will be back in 10 days. Benny is in LA for a show and Andy is...well...I don't know where Andy is but he hasn't been home a lot lately. So here I am, home alone once again. I've been spending my days off in the past two weeks trying to visit tita chon and family and I think it's only now that I've managed to take a personal day.

Been trying to learn cantonese, the operative word being trying. I've learned a few bits and pieces and can say a few phrases but I doubt I'll ever be able to speak it fluently. The people in the restaurant (well, some of them) have been helpful in teaching me. The people in the kitchen are astounded at how well I can pronounce the words. Mimicing people is a gift that I seem to have. I try to learn one new word or phrase a day and use it in the restaurant. My personal joke to myself is my current facebook status which reads, "Ngo m ji dou ngo gong mat ye" which translates to "I don't know what I'm talking about."

I've been delinquent in my daily chanting, which I'm not particularly proud of. Will need to work on that. I attended a Youth Division meeting at the center last Monday. It was a pretty big event. Around 500 of SGI's youth came together. An entire building of people chanting at the same time. It was pretty major. I missed the filipino meeting the day before that because of work but I followed Rann, Mica, Eisa and Tita M to a Spanish Tapas place in Chelsea where we all proceeded to gulp down 6 pitchers of sangria. Mica and I were so drunk that we couldn't even take the subway home and took a cab all the way to Brooklyn. I slept at 8:30pm that night.

I miss my friends. I miss having someone to call. I look at my phone's address book and I have a very limited call circle. Someone call me!

My back pains have gotten worse. I really have to buy a new mattress. Who can donate $140? Hahaha!

Spring has officially arrived and we are currently enjoying the beginning of 50+ degree weathers, hopefully higher. It should get warmer in the coming months. I can wear lighter coats and no longer need to double up shirts. My laundry bag has gotten significantly lighter compared to previous loads.

I wish I had better stories to tell but since the housewarming, my days have pretty much been uneventful. I've been meaning to get a haircut but I keep forgetting to set an appointment.

Now excuse me while I give myself a manicure/pedicure.

Had the day off and Kelly was in NY so she dropped by for lunch. She got lost and got a traffic violation but she managed to find her way over here. We enjoyed Mica's adobo for lunch and chatted. She dropped me off at Ana's to pick up the pasalubong nana brought for me from Manila then I decided to head over to Queens to pay the Elabdouni's a visit. Tita Chon and Nana were at a salon and Roosevelt and Tita Chon treated me to a shampoo + head and shoulder massage. It was so good I wish we had something like that around here. I will have to scout for cheap salons near my place as I will want to have that regularly. We picked up Omee from school and since I had my hair blown straight, he didn't recognize me at first which was funny. He stared at me for a couple of seconds before he realized it was me and ran for a hug. We headed back to the salon so he can finally get a haircut.

BEFORE

he messed it up for the purpose of this "before" photo

Omee's killer line:
(while waiting to get called for his cut, he touched his hair)
"My hair is a challenge for these people."

AFTER

ang guwapo ng bebe ko

He wanted to style his hair like a mohawk so he asked the lady to gel it up. It didn't quite look like a hawk because of his curly hair. His mom said he looked more like a rooster.

OMG. I look like my mom.

I had chicken and beans dinner c/o nana and watched Omee play Halo a bit before I hopped on a train back to Brooklyn. I fell asleep on the train as usual and woke up just in time for my transfer. I will have to wake up early tomorrow to do laundry since I'm running out of socks. Nyt now...