Temper Trap as the final act in Wanderland 2013

Up until about half-past seven on Saturday I had been so sure I was going to miss Wanderland – I was at work and I had no tickets, but that was until some kind soul (hi Rissa haha thank you) decided to hand me not one but TWO tickets to the thing and I was like, LORD HAVE MERCY AND THANK YOU.

When we got there, we were down to the last three big acts — Nada Surf, Neon Trees and Temper Trap.

TEMPER TRAP.

I could not even with Temper Trap. They opened with Love Lost, and my god, I haven’t danced so hard in recent memory but then they started playing Drum Song and I’m like, FUCK THIS, THEY SO GOOOOOOOD. Yep. Of course, they closed out with Sweet Disposition (which I have on video and I’m like, HOW IS THIS EVEN REAL)

So, yeah.

Aftermath. Thanks Cam for taking this shot! =)

Postscript: LOL Anderland. How appropriate.

postscript:

Halfway through this night, Andrea lost her wallet. We went around retracing steps twice, but still, na-da. We were ready for the next steps — affidavits, long lines — she knew what IDs were there, and we were already resigned to the fact that she had already lost them.

However, we did not exactly lose all hope: She talked to the bouncers and the cleaning guys and the lost and found peeps, and told them that her wallet was missing. You know her — she’s a natural at these things. I watched her in awe — as the night wore on, her smile toward these people whenever she checked for progress only got kinder. Even when their answer was no.

And then, toward the end of the Neon Trees set, a miracle happened: Her wallet was found, and all the IDs were there. A young girl brought it to one of the cleaners, who surrendered it to the bouncers, who surrendered it to the lost and found guys, who texted all our numbers: Both my phones as well as Andrea’s.

The night was sweet and kind.

I thought I’d share that here to say the security of that Wanderland event was superb. Thanks, kind sirs! We will remember this night forever.

Been a while since I last posted here — I wish I could properly illustrate just how crazy the past few days have been, but since everything’s just a jumble these days, let me start with Monday.

Monday, 13 May. PH midterm elections.

Woke at 5 a.m. to prep for the day. Left house at 6, arrived at the polling precinct at 6:15, located my voting area 6:30. Waited there until the voting area opened, was first to cast my vote. Ate breakfast in Jollibee, was back in the house by 8. Took a nap before returning to work at 10 a.m. (Insert CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY here) Updated tallies until past 11 p.m., got home around midnight.

Realized I missed the Tegan and Sara concert in Singapore. Wallowed in self-pity, but only a little. Who am I kidding, if I had to give up another Tegan and Sara concert just to help cover a Philippine election, I’d do it again anyway. In a heartbeat.

I’d be leaving my socio-political commentary for another entry. I’m not feeling like it right now.

Week before elections

Attended handful of meetings to prep for elections. Fever pitch, etc etc. Met my best friend’s boyfriend for the first time. Hands down highlight of the week. Also: Accompanied Andrea to her Sunday art class and met Julie for brunch. That Sunday was pretty awesome.

First week of May

Girls’ night out at Chili’s was an, um, eye-opening experience. Haha. We should do that more often!

Last week of April

Was in Cebu for the last Senate Inquirer forum! It was pretty neat. Left Thursday morning, ate dinner staring at the most FANTASTIC view Thursday night, covered the debate Friday morning, then went back to Manila (zubuchon-less) Friday night AND THEN met my girls for late night dessert-ing at Slice for Cy’s birthday. Fun. Also: Attended Alloy’s son’s first birthday at McDonald’s. Good times.

In between: Zumba and core training (easy highlights of every week — did I just write that down? yep), and episodes of the following shows: Lost Girl (finale feelings still all over the place, many many days hence; in a word: TAMSIN), two particularly upsetting Grey’s Anatomy episodes (in two words: LAUREN BOSWELL), fantastic episodes from Game of Thrones (in three words: DAENERYS MOFCKN TARGARYEN) and a couple of new shows I clearly do not need to start obsessing about, but I kind of am: Elementary (in four words: Lucy Liu as Watson), and Orphan Black (in five words: Tatiana Maslany as NINE PEOPLE /or alternatively: Cosima Niehaus, are you trying to kill me?)

And all that while sending two kids to private school and never missing a quiz bee. And for a good chunk of those years being landline-less and cell phone-less and absolutely text messaging-less and wifi-less and INTERNET-less. (How did people get anything done before cell phones and the Internet??)

Had my mother survived 1997 and lived until today, she’d probably have an iPad, an iPhone and an Android phone (and maybe one more just so she can have a Globe line, a Smart line and a Sun line all at the same time. I bet my life on this). Perhaps she’d still be driving fast and racing trucks and buses and cursing loudly on Edsa but I bet she’ll love the whole SCTEx thing to bits. She’d love all these new resorts just two hours away from home, and she’d love all these malls, and the cheap airfare and all these 24/7 news channels. She’d be crazy about gym memberships, and probably yoga. And S&R.

*

Other things that may or may not be true in this alternate timeline where my mother is alive: We’re filthy rich, I got a car after college graduation, there’s a condo somewhere in Makati, I would be 28 and worry-less. (Perhaps also: I would be closeted, as I would never have left our house, and my mother, expectedly, would have been the hardest person to come out to.)

*

That said, I usually remember my mother whenever I’m in a really tight place. Haha. This month has just begun and already it’s motherfuckingcrazy, and I’m not even talking about the elections yet.

Anyway, right now I hear her saying, You gotta roll with the punches. It’s what strong people do. And then, Mind that I say ‘Roll with’ — not roll over. Nobody tells my firstborn to just ‘roll over’, okay?

Yeah, loud and clear, mom. As always. Rolling.

So: We ended this term with a grad school party of sorts on Saturday — truth be told  I’d been kind of reluctant to attend the whole she-bang until very late on Saturday, when I just decided: Ah fuck it, whatever. I arrived after 9, and do you know how hard it is to enter a party completely unaware re: where your peoples are at? IT WAS TERRIFYING, okay.

ANYWAY–fast forward to actually finding people, we stood around a table near the fan (the night was fkng hot!) and drank as much The Bar than was appropriate–too much that I actually still feel some of it in my veins right now. (I mostly drank with my BusWri classmates, and we kept drunkenly toasting to ADVERBS! CONJUNCTIONS! It was awesome.)

The “party” lasted till midnight, then we transferred to Burgos circle, then I found myself drunkenly hauling myself up three flights of newly painted stairs at 5 in the morning.

FIVE IN THE MORNING. Oh man. This is why I went back to school. (Joke. Not really. Maybe 25%.)

Anyway, tl;dr — I’m not as socially inept as I thought I would be; or maybe alcohol just makes things a lot easier. Haha.  Maybe it’s the alcohol. 

Also: I remember being in this exact same place in 2001, and by exact same place I mean when I entered college, I was mostly prepared to do all of it alone. Well, we all know what happened in those four years, hehe — never been happier to have been proven wrong. When I entered grad school last year, I was also  prepared to just attend my classes and be mostly under the radar in all of them, but then — well, here we are. Making friends and then some, and wow, I also kind of like it when people are still surprised when I say I’m gay. Like, seriously, guys? =) Have you seen me?

A wise friend told me that some friendships I’ll be making in grad school will be for keeps, and this fills me with so much hope. If they’re anything like the friends I got in college — well, I sure hope I meet them =)

Sibling Day

Apparently, there’s a Siblings Day going on in some part of the world, so I’m here to share an overlooked event: Early April, my genius of a sister managed to keep her medical scholarship. Which was a miracle by a hairline. In the days leading up to Holy Week, she’d been prepping us for the full-blown, x-amount-of-thousands of it, and we were nearly ready (of the sell your animal farm kind) and voila! Have I told you that though I may not be religious, that was one of those moments that I realized that Someone was really Listening? Indeed. Now we have only my brother to think about tiding over. Which is easier by a mile. Can y’all spare a moment to imagine my brother, who was, like, eight when we graduated in 2005, now renting a room somewhere near PhilPost this June? Imagine that. Time flies, huh. Anyway, here’s to conquering things:

Boracay 2012.

Baby Book Entry

And speaking of conquering things: Last weekend was just The Worst — I was down with some sort of stomach flu that actually knocked me out of circulation. Something about bad meat on Friday. I was out of it the entire weekend, including Sunday, which was when I hauled myself to a clinic, thanks to Andrea’s prodding. Whew. Never getting sick again like that, I hope.

*

Insert Gaslight Anthem here

Wednesday I found myself back at the UP Film Center for the Senate forum I was supposed to cover via Instagram (not even kidding). I think it was the first time I was back inside the Film Center since 2005, which was graduation. I arrived early around 7-ish, and it was still quiet and, eh. I just kept looking around thinking, The percentage of my life I spent here: 80%+ Haha. I was looking for the wooden bench out front — you know the one, I remember sitting there in 2003 and telling a girl. Oh well, gone now, and HEY — far too long ago and actually 10 years ago. (Check that out: 2003 vs 2013) Who would have thought.

*

Socially Inept Panda

Apparently, there’s a gradschool party that everyone’s asking me to go to? And as always I’m feeling a little… inept. Come on, I never do parties too well. Not to mention I never know what to wear. Party tips, anyone? Classmates from both classes are actually asking to go ~together, and I’m like, wow, I kind of have friends now. Yay? #life #sociallyineptpanda

Barge into my shower anytime, Tamsin.

UGH. I do not have time for these FEELINGS, really — I have two final papers and a report due by Saturday! What are you doing to me, Lost Girl!

HNGGG. Anyway, just to be quick about it:

• Lauren is being stupid. See? This is what you get by choosing the boy over the girl, gdi. Who the fuck leaves her phone at home? (Except when you have to go to the US Embassy, of course.)
• Kenzi/Hale. Buhay pa pala tong arc na to, mga teh?
• New OT3: Bo/Tamsin/Bath tub. (OT4 kung idadagdag natin yung hawak niyang… Tanduay? Whatevs.)
• Ugh Tamsin calling Bo perfect. I don’t know what this is about, akala ko kakanta ng I Knew I Loved You ng Savage Garden si Tamsin sa background habang lasing (it would have been totally appropriate btw), but just — oh my God. Nalaglag puso ko, pakipulot plz. Where do you get off being so perfect? I mean, so much has been inferred about this bath tub scene, so  many ridiculous dialogue, but THIS SPEECH: This speech came out of nowhere and just. UGH. I don’t know whether to feel giddy, turned on or horribly heartbroken about it. (For the meantime, I have decided I am heartbroken.)
• That said, if Tamsin isn’t in Season 4 I will be irreparably heartbroken.
• Drunk!Tamsin being all forward yet cryptic, dipping into bath tubs in her sexy tanktop and fitted jeans alongside  naked sudsy ladies and being all, “Your eyes are blue and brown at the same time. You’re not supposed to be real.“ Ugh can we keep her? Please? (Though less drunk and more snarky? Please?)
• Please? I am done losing my favorite characters to fictional deaths. SO. DONE.
• … please?

Been a while since I did one of these. Rediscovered this mix while on a bus home on Good Friday. Meron pala akong mix na ganito haha. I have all sorts of weird mixes on my iPod. Well, why not make a mix of songs with places in their titles? Done and done.

Photo for cover taken in Baler, 2013.

Baler, Quezon! Travel took all of 16 hours (8 hrs each way) and took us to rather interesting duct-tape-less areas (inside joke), but man, the waves were so worth it. Sabang Beach was such a chill place! We’d love to come back soon!

Here be the Grand Map: Makati to Baler in 8 hours.

Actually, until Saturday morning the plan was to spend Maundy Thursday in Potipot off Zambales. I love how flexible this group is! So we made a few phone calls to Baler and made last minute re-arrangements with the van, and voila! That’s how we found ourselves on the road at past midnight, just a few hours after getting off Wednesday duty. Amazing.

Prepping for the trip was a bit tricky — our van driver was unfamiliar with Baler, and so were we. So we had to spend a little extra time studying the route and printing out maps. Our contact from Baler emailed me step-by-step road directions, and  I plotted it on Google Maps. That map can be found here.

The Makati contingent left PDI at midnight. I initially thought we’d be too early for our 1 a.m. call time at McDo Quezon Ave for the QC contingent, but the traffic on Edsa was INSANE. Took us an hour to get there. We entered NLEX past 1, and it was already moderate-to-heavy northbound. From NLEX, we proceeded to SCTEX, and by 3:30 a.m. we were out. After three and a half hours — our trip has just begun.

We headed east along the Santa Rosa-Tarlac Rd — smooth flowing given the hour, but then when we started looking for the Zaragoza-Aliaga Rd, things started getting a bit ‘The Road’-ish. Haha. The semi-rough road and all-too-dark houses sure woke everyone up. Sharing Stephen King-esque plot possibilities at 4 in the morning in the middle of nowhere? This is why I love this group.

(It was at this point that I discovered how handy my phone’s built-in GPS was. [I carry a Samsung Galaxy SIII] Never used it before, but I now love it to bits!)

We followed the Carmen-Cabanatuan road, turned left at the Felipe Vergara highway, followed the Pan-Philippine highway before heading into the Pinagpanaan-Rizal-Pantabangan Road. Admittedly, I got a bit excited when I saw bits of the Pantabangan dam in the almost-morning light. The beautiful full moon to our right + Pantabangan dam to our left = perfect pre-dawn hours. (When you get caught between the Moon and Pantabangan dam nga naman…)

The road started winding a bit, especially when we started going up the mountain. At some point it got so chilly that we had to turn the van’s aircon off and open the windows. It was also foggy in some areas. We were carefully zigzagging through the mountain when sunrise caught up with us. It was beautiful.

Canili River Reservoir in the early morning light

Sunrise on the highway.

This was a somewhat long-ish stretch, during which everyone started waking up. Onboard banter: Always priceless. When we entered Maria Aurora, we knew we were getting close. After getting a bit lost and looking for alternate routes on account of closed roads, we finally made it to Sabang beach. It was 7:30 a.m.

Our contact was from Baler Surf. Due to the short notice, we were unable to get into any of the beachfront resorts, which were already packed for the day. Good thing Baler Surf set up a tent for us on the shore — complete with bean bags! Thanks guys!

Here be the group. Also somewhere in this photo: Bean bags. Thanks Kim for taking this photo! Standing, L-R: Jayvie, Andrea, Me, Jaycee, Alexis. Sitting, L-R: Ana, Abi, Almi, Mayi, Cy, Ian, Schatz.

After resting for a bit, we headed out to surf. P350/head for an hour of one-on-one surfing instruction, inclusive of instructor, board, sunblock and a bottle of water. Not a bad deal for first timers. =)

Define walang kadala-dala. I’ve surfed a few times before, in La Union and Real, Quezon and they always turned unpretty! Haha! Here’s me before x number of wipeouts! Thanks Marie for the rashguard!

The Baler surf crowd. Chill, laid-back, easy community.

The only photo I have on top of the water (right). This lasted for a splitsecond tops. HAHA. The rest of the time I’m under. Haha. Thanks love for managing to take this photo! =) Beside me: Almi and Abi in what seems to be a surfing tango. Experts na kasi =)

Andrea’s turn. Girl’s a natural!

Surf’s up! As I’ve said — Andrea’s a natural! =) Also: I TOOK THIS PHOTO IT IS MY GIFT, etc.

We were shacked up in front of Bay’s Inn, where we also ate our lunch. After surfing, we tried our hand in beach volleyball. Let’s just say nasunburn lang ako at nabugbog hahaha. Sorry team!

Team Sunburn! Thanks Kim for taking this shot! =)

Eto pa. Team Drawing. Naghahamon ng gulo mga to eh. Salamat pa rin kay Kim sa pagtyaga sa pagkuha nito hahaha.

Camwhore sa tabing dagat muna. Hehe. L-R Schatz, Ana, Me, Kim, Almi, Jayvie, Jaycee, Lex, Abi, Mayi, Cy, Ian, Andrea. Let’s pause for a moment to appreciate the composition of this photo HAHAHA.

It was a relatively chill beach. I expected more people, but I guess the rest of them peeps were scheduled to arrive Friday and stay til Easter. On my wishlist: A proper public shower room for daytrippers like our group. Get to it, Baler! But other than that: Beautiful place! We’ll be back — hopefully staying for a longer time. =)

We left the beach around 3 p.m. We didn’t want to get stuck on the long and winding road by nightfall — and how right we were. On the way back we took (by mistake) the other route to Cabanatuan, the Nueva Ecija-Aurora road. We missed a turn to go back to the Pantabangan-Canili-Basal-Baler road, and soon we found ourselves plowing through rough terrain up and down and around the mountain. Lesson: Just because it’s on the GPS, doesn’t mean it’s a huge paved road. Ok we know that now! =)

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: The Nueva Ecija-Aurora Road is not for the faint of heart.

Good thing we left early — we were able to get out of that stretch by past 6, just as the sun was setting. Would’ve been crazy scary to negotiate with the uneven terrain in the dark! Not to mention there were a couple of spots where there was actually NO ROAD. In one, we had to cross a fucking river. Hahahaha what in the world. Along the way, we passed a couple of sedans — and trust me when I say that wasn’t a good spot for sedans AT ALL, and one of them was driven by college kids who waved at us to ask for DUCT TAPE. Hands down the scariest portion of this trip.

Anyhow — by 8 p.m. we were already having dinner in Chic Boy Cabanatuan. On the way back we decided to skip the whole Zaragoza-Aliaga stretch, and by midnight — right on the dot — we were back in Manila. How’s that for a Midnight-to-Midnight trip? #teenagedream

PS: Andrea’s account of this trip is up on her LJ.

Particulars about this trip:
Van rental (24 hours, Manila-Baler-Manila): P6,000 van only, excluding fuel (we spent P3,000), toll (around P700, both ways) and food of our super bait driver Kuya Jaime via Sprint Travel and Tours – 0906-5784917. We rode a Nissan Urvan, and it was just ok for 13 pax traveling with a cooler.

Baler Surf offers one-on-one surfing lessons and more! Actually, we called Bay’s Inn first to ask about their daytour packages, and they were the ones who referred us to Baler Surf when we said we were planning to go surfing. Call Ria of Baler Surf at 0920-9829998 for inquiries. Thanks for accommodating us despite short notice! =)

ALSO: I’ve been told JoyBus in Cubao has Cubao-Baler-Cubao trips that leave Cubao at midnight and reach Baler at 6 a.m. The next time we’re doing Baler, we’re totally trying that soon. =)

BONUS GIF: (That I hope you can view. It moves!)

This GIF moves.

happy month 66!

this day started way too early — i was in Pisay early this morning for wy’s graduation. can you believe this? he’s finally out of high school. i remember the first outing we went to with the fam, it was to celebrate krista’s graduation from college and wy’s  graduation from grade school. now we’ve got a doctor on the way and a high school graduate. how time flies.

i love graduations; they’re so hopeful. this, despite the fact that a batch mate died three days ago, during graduation practice. when his name got called his mother went up the stage, holding a bouquet of flowers. we all stood up to applaud her (him, in spirit). it was one of the longest ovations i’ve ever participated in.

*

graduations are curious things in that they’re beginnings disguised as endings. i remember going through mine all of twelve years ago more with a sense of terror about some uncertain future faraway than, say, nostalgia and sadness.

i’ll share a memory: in the days leading up to high school graduation, i spent most mornings in a small chapel across the faculty room. i think i was most devout in high school; it was a place so uncertain that i had to pray about everything: about getting up after my mother died, about patching up with a really angry friend, about accepting outcomes that were not in my favor. looking back now, it actually is ridiculous, but at the time it was the biggest thing: i’d been hoping to graduate second but came up short. not even the last-minute surge did it for me, and that was that. it was my life’s biggest disappointment, at the time. high school was a place where people had roles, and my role was that of the insufferable smart kid, and at that point i thought, if i couldn’t be good at this — if i couldn’t be good enough even for second place —  now what?

insert: if i knew then what i know now.

so yeah, i took that with me, chip on my shoulder style, lugging it around like a backpack, letting myself get weighed down. and then something amazing happened: i went to college and met everyone else. suddenly, i’m so small, and suddenly, i was so light.

so this was what was missing all along.

(actually, this should be: suddenly, i met ALCOHOL. haha. kids, don’t try this at home.)

i was talking with auntie during the ceremony and she said something about my brother regretting he had not made it to the list of students who graduated with distinction — there were about 50 of them, two full rows of students separated from everybody else in the seating arrangement. i understand the pressure — one thing i’m thankful about is coming ahead of my sister, who is, by all counts, a genius. i was spared from the sort of comparison that he must have been subjected to, day in day out for all four years. and standing there applauding him i knew deep inside — graduating under those circumstances is no easy feat. in fact, i think i had it easy, and he’s had it really hard.

and now this chapter is done. amazing how people manage to turn page after page after page and  then eventually get to the end of it. these days when i look at him i still try to look for traces of that small boy i used to only see on weekends when i was in college — but then, all i see now is a boy on the verge of becoming a man.

so. the thing about graduations is that, ultimately, they’re points in our lives that we continue to move away from. 12 years since bene, eight years since UP. just numbers, you’d say, but when i want to think about it in terms of how far i’ve come – i still feel, to be honest, decidedly underwhelmed. i wonder what my mother would have to say about my utter failure to buy a car or a house, or maybe show some signs that i was the least bit interested in having children of my own. almost 30 and what have you to show? looking at all those kids in the gym today, togas donned and all, i can’t help but be envious — oh how much time you have, guys. so much time.

shrug. this must be all the bechdel i am reading, but yeah. there are things at the back of my head that don’t necessarily involve the news.

today was a good day. did the small laundry and sent out the huge ones and re-arranged your workstation for a bit, plus I managed to close your bursting file-thingie, the mint green one. yep. joined one of john’s core sessions — it was torture, but it was a pleasant sort of experience. i borrowed your yoga mat — it was very comforting. class was okay, albeit a bit confusing. i did well in the last quiz, which is a relief.

tomorrow, wy’s graduating from high school and i’ll be there to attend the ceremony. i’m so excited. <3

also tomorrow: we’re marking 66 months! plus you’re only three sleeps away now! i can’t wait.

come home,

me.