So so so so

Sign that you're back in New York: Today I woke up to a stretch limo outside my doorstep and about 50 people dressed up for a Punjabi wedding. Nahihirapan akong mag-Ingles. I just watched my diving video at natuwa ako kasi di nila inedit out yung bullshit in divespeak sign na ginawa ko underwater na tinuro ng British instructor ko. Kahit napailing yung cameraman nung kinukunan niya kami. I had an awesome time. I got to go scuba diving and snorkelling and I got to hang out with Rocs and Roy. My mom had her 60th birthday. I finally met Smokey, my parents' two-year-old lab. I gorged myself with so much food that I got indigestion. I got to eat lanzones. Quincy and I got pulled over by a cop and we managed to get off without paying anything. I got to see my high school and college classmates. I found my college band's first and only demo that I gave to Ruby. I saw Jeline, Charmaine, and Nash in one afternoon. I got to see Ciudad play even if it was just the last two songs and even if Rhiza had to drive in circles around Remedios Circle. I met a lot of new people. Basta. I had the best time. Thanks everyone. I miss you all.

P.S. Bumili kayo ng its like a magic ng Ciudad ha. May launch sila sa Nov. 18. Punta kayo.

I'm in the Philippines!

Hey. I'm in an internet cafe in Bacolod, typing as fast as I can because my parents are picking me up in five minutes to get coffee at a shop owned by a friend who also sells cactus, that we are buying to bring to the cemetery on All Souls Day. I hope this doesn't cost much. I only have 200 bucks in my wallet right now (about $4)because I didn't get enough money changed.

I'm going to Boracay on Friday and I'll be in Manila next week. Any good gigs on Nov. 10 and 11??? I'm dying to see a band, preferrably Ciudad or itchyworms or Twisted Halo or Sugarfree or Cynthia or anyone!

Gotta go!

Something to do with my hands

Okay, here's one thing that sucks about living in New York. Real estate is too freaking expensive! I was blog-hopping and this guy bought a three-bedroom house built in 2004 in another Eastern state, with a garage and a backyard, for $125K. The house is gorgeous. It's modest, but it's perfect for a first house. Now, what would $125K get you in New York? Hmm, let me see. A studio in Flushing, a vacant lot in the Bronx, a cottage in the Catskills, or a mobile home. Add another zero for a fighting chance. I've been on a few open houses, and a fixer-upper in Queens with a creepy basement was selling for $535K. A two-bedroom condo in my current neighborhood is selling for $549K! Even with the assumption that four people are going to be sharing the mortgage for our dreamhouse, where are we going to find a two-family house near public transportation as none of us have cars (because it's expensive and unnecessary). Oh well. Hence, the age-old dilemma, would I rather be in my own nice townhouse in the middle of nowhere or my rented box in New York?

There is such a thing as a real estate miracle, though.

My dad's shopping list for me:
1. Centrum Silver
2. Vitamin E 300 units
3. Brut aftershave
4. Tea (Lipton or Tetley)
5. Cheese
6. Turkey bacon

Wala bang turkey bacon sa Pilipinas?

Withdrawal



1. Steadier Footing - Death Cab for Cutie
2. Air - The Owls
3. Anthems for A Seventeen Year-Old Girl - Broken Social Scene
4. Chocolate - Snow Patrol
5. One More Hour - Sleater-Kinney
6. Last Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
7. In Between Days (acoustic) - The Cure
8. Move On - Rentals
9. Miss Misery (piano version) - Elliott Smith
10. Entire - The Spinanes
11. Just Pretend - The Bens
12. No Woman No Cry - Bob Marley
13. Alone Again (Naturally) - Gilbert O'Sullivan

Withdrawal

I've been off caffeine for a month now =)

Well, from four cups a day, it's down to my morning mocha, which doesn't even have that much caffeine because it's one of those pre-bottled things from Starbucks.

It's not like I totally quit. I'll have an iced coffee on the week-ends every now and then. But I think a certain someone was jealous of my resolve enough to quit nicotine. Ha!

Why you'd want to live here

Pinag-isipan ko talaga nang matagal, Jeline.

Is living in NY all it's cracked up to be?

I vacillate between wide-eyed wonder (the view from the Brooklyn Bridge at night still takes my breath away) and a sort of jadedness (hay, eto na naman, sasakay na naman ako ng subway at magmamadali at uupo sa desk ko nang walong oras, and on my way home there's going to be another police investigation and I'll be stuck underground for an hour).

Maybe it is that way with Paris or London or Tokyo. I felt that way about Manila when I first moved from Bacolod.

But yeah, I really love living here. I know I wouldn't want to live here forever. Soon I'll be more concerned about my rent money going towards a mortgage than being close to all the "cool" things. I'm going to get increasingly annoyed with being around a lot of people all the time. I'll finally get sick of the commute. New York is not kind to old people.

But for now, if I could be in any American city, it'd still be New York. It just sucks that the people that I'd want to be doing all the things you could do in NY with aren't here.

Tagalog

I miss speaking Tagalog. It's either English or Ilonggo for me nowadays. I have no one to speak Tagalog to, especially on weekdays. At work, I have a habit of saying "Hay naku!" all the time. People must think I'm nuts. So this whole post is going to be in Tagalog. Just for kicks.

Matagal akong hindi nakapagsulat dito kasi abala ako sa maraming bagay. Mga walang kuwentang bagay.

Nung holiday (araw na pangilin ayon sa diksyunaryo sa pangkalawakang sapot) pumunta kami sa Pennsylvania para gumala at magmukhang tanga. Kami po ay sumakay sa balsang gawa sa goma at nagpaanod sa puting tubig. Salbahe yung isa kong kasama at binasa niya lahat ng tao. Wala kaming baril na may tubig sa loob gaya nung ibang mga bata (Ha! Pakiramdam namin ay bata din kami.) pero meron kaming mga timba. Marami kaming kasamang mga estrangherong galing sa iba't ibang landas. Noong una ay ayaw nilang mabasa pero wala silang magawa. Kasi po naman, bakit ka sasakay sa balsang gawa sa goma at magpapaanod sa puting tubig kung wala kang balak mabasa? Meron dun isang nanay na intsik na mukhang maselan at maarte. Sabi niya, "Wag po! wag po!" Kaya sabi namin dun sa isang batang may baril na tubig ang bala, hindi naman makatarungan kung hindi lahat ng tao mabasa. Nung bandang huli, isang balsa na lang yung tuyo kasi masusungit ang mga taong nakasakay dun. Ninakaw ng tatay na intsik yung isa naming timba. Ninakaw niya rin yung baril nung isang bata. Tapos tawa siya nang tawa. Tatlong oras kaming nagpaanod at pagkatapos ay pagod at masaya lahat nang tao maliban dun sa mga masusungit.

Tumigil pala kami sandali para sa pananghalian. Wala kaming dalang pagkain ng mga kaibigan ko kasi akala namin may libreng pananghalian. Kaya maliliit na tilad ng patatas at isang boteng inumin lang ang dali namin. Tig-iisang higop lang kami sa inumin. Ako yung huling humigop sa bote kasi may ubo ako noon. Dahil doon mas lalong naging malapit kami sa isa't isa.

Kanina, masyadong maraming gawain sa opisina. Wala akong ginawa kundi tumakbo. Hindi literal ha. Wala kasi yung isa kong kasama, kaya ako gumawa ng trabaho niya. Wala rin yung isang inaasahan ko palagi, kaya masyado akong abala. Hindi na rin ako nakapagpananghalian. Hindi ko na sasabihin kung ano yung kinain ko kasi mahirap siyang isalin.

Alas siyete na ako nakaalis sa trabaho. Dumaan muna ako sa Daffy's. Sinoli ko yung binili kong damit nung isang araw. Maganda siya at kakaiba pero mas mahal pa siya kesa sa binigay ko sa mga biktima ni Katrina kaya nanghinayang ako.

Pagdating ko sa bahay, sobrang gutom ako. Gusto ko sanang kumain ng karne ng baka at uminom ng serbesa (kasi masarap siya kasama ng baka) sa restauran ng mga taga-Vietnam pero parang hindi ko na kayang maglakad ng siyam na kalye sa sobrang gutom. Kaya dito na lang ako sa bahay. Wala naman akong pagkain dito maliban sa maliliit na tilad ng patatas at yung kalamay ng mga Italyano na gawa sa krema at binalot ng tsokolate. Masarap siya pero gusto ko pa rin ng baka.

Kailangan ko nang matulog kasi gigising ako nang maaga bukas. Hindi ako puwedeng pumasok nang huli sa trabaho kasi masisisante na ako. Kutob ko may problema ako sa pangangasiwa ng oras. O siya. Nakakapagod pala magsalita ng tuwid na Tagalog.

P.S. Gusto ko lang ikuwento; kagabi, pinanood ko yung panayam ni Spike Jonze kay Fatlip. Kasama siya sa DVD ng mga gawa ni Spike Jonze. Si Fatlip ay dating miyembro ng Pharcyde, yung may astig na bidyo ng Drop. Sobrang naaliw ako sa kanya! At nagustuhan ko yung kanta niyang What's Up, Fatlip? At sinaliksik ko pa yung salita ng kanta sa pangkalawakang sapot para masabayan ko yung bidyo. Gusto ko siyang ikarga sa pantugtog ng musika na nadadala kung saan-saan!