This is to thank the people who greeted me happy birthday.  Rest assured that I will remain yummy and delicious in the coming years.  Your greetings has truly added warmth and smile in my overwhelming fountain of gladness.  Thanks to (in no particular order)…

Gie Abainza; Robert Megino; Beth Teodoro; Monchito Roco; Melo Balingit; Karen Teotico; Kuki Catindig; Chef Onil Pitogo; Red Juacalla; Kuya Wreigh Langit; Christian Concepcion; Ate Gaying Clamor; Erika Langit; Migs, Gabs and Neneng Langit; Denden Langit; Frankie De Vera; Baby Angeles; Leo Balasanos; Eugene Billones; Nette Capiral; Sheridan Sia; Joy Reyes-Dela Cruz; Marlon Tobias; Jerry Avena; Marc Vincent “Jessie” Aurelian; Karen Batangan-Elumba; Vernon Bernarte; Ma. Grace Linsangan- Villadolid; Armin David; Jade Dinglasan, Jerome Rivera; Suzette Cuerpo; Thatcher Nagamatsu Langit; Jocelyn Romasanta; Chanky Tiangco; Pao Anas; Michelle Martinez; Bitoy Dionzon; Anna Victoria; Sharon Antoinette Ignacio; Rose David-Cosico; Avic Langit; Charles Chan; Merle Dela Pena; Mlou Domingo; Joesel Javier; Kate Langit; Denton Torio; Carlo Concepcion; Vanessa Tirazona-Munsayac; Marie Dela Victoria; Tet Aguila Rustria; Abe Trinoma staff and officers; Lito Lacerna.

Tenk yu…

As serious as it may seem, I couldn’t stop chuckling at an intense letter of complaint sent by an angry client in one of the Class A restaurants in the metropolis.  The client introduced herself as an executive of a top insurance company in the country.  After reading the letter, I think this angry executive is the one who needs retraining on how to prepare a well constructed and grammatically correct business letter or even a simple letter of complaint.  Here’s her letter, enjoy…

Please retrain your personnel in your xxxx xxxx restaurant, they accidental threw som hot chocolate at my back and did not bother to apologize until the time i freak out , I been a very loyal client in that restaurant, ( 1st date, 1st business transaction etc) It happened last night july 4 2009. Your server’s name is xxxx xxxx. He is so stupid and arrogrant. You dont have a manager on duty, just a OIC. even you drink are so lousy now, your margarita taste like water with crash ice. You coco lychee taste so awful , every thing is changing, sayang naman

Pwede naman kasi mag-Tagalog!  Haler…

British jazz pop duo, Swing Out Sisters is the first international band that I have watched in a live concert.  I remember more than 15 years ago during my college days, me and my classmates went to Ninoy Aquino Stadium to watch their first concert in the country.  The stadium was full packed.

A couple of weeks ago, along with my usual tour mate Karen Friendship, we watched the latest concert of the Swing Out Sisters at the Araneta Coliseum.  As usual and as expected there were agglomeration of people who arrived to watch the show.  One thing is noticeable though, those who went to see the concert were obviously of my same age range and grew up in the pop-cultured 80’s generation.

Me and Karen Friendship enjoyed the show.  What added more to the fun we were already having were the two couples right in front of us.  What I know usually on a double date, may it be in a concert or in a cinema, the ladies would sit beside each other and the men would settle at both ends.  This time surprisingly, it’s the men who were beside each other and their girlfriends were the ones who were sitting at each end, disabling them to do their usual girly talk.  These couples like the other watchers would stand up, sing and dance along to the tune every time a common hit song would be played and sang by the band.

What was even more surprising that got me and Karen laughed our heart out was when the song “Am I The Same Girl?” was played by the band!  Both the boyfriends jumped out of their seats, danced and sing along with the tune.  Both boyfriends were singing… “Am I the same girl, you used to know?… Yes I am! Yes I am!” while dancing, facing each other and pointing at each other not minding at all what their girlfirends were doing.  It was hilarious!

Ang saya ng palatuntunan sa entablado at sa harap namin ni Karengkeng.

Text, texts, twist, twisted, wit, wits, witted, west, test, tested, wise, wised, tie, ties, tied, tit, tits, exist, existed, site, sited, sit, set, exit, exited, sex, sexed, sew, sewed, stew, stewed, wet, wets, wetted, six, twit, twits, twitted, die, dies, diet, diets, tee, tees, teed, ewe, ewes, wee, see, seed, tide, tides, sweet, deist, edit, edits…

Hala! Nabaliw na!

One Sunday afternoon I took a jeepney ride on my way home after shopping, lunch and a haircut at SM Mall of Asia.  The jeep was full packed my knees would hit the corpulent man’s knees in front of me.

The events inside the jeep were a usual scenario.  Folks handling over the payment of other folks seated at the back, lovers whispering nonsense to each other, teenagers texting, a mother seating her child on her lap so that the kiddo would have a free ride and so on.

A chubby lady with fake eyebrows beside me wearing an all black dress and a colorful scarf around her waist spoke in straight English saying, “Will you hand over my payment?” I was stunned and yet still took the coins in her hand and handed it over to the driver saying in Tagalog, “Mama bayad daw po.”  The lady then said to the driver in commanding voice and again in straight English, “I’ll alight at the shed area.”

Everybody inside the jeepney looked at her but the driver did not seem to hear what she said.  When the jeepney was already passing the shed area along EDSA, the puffed-up lady spoke in louder voice, “Mister, I said shed area! I told you I will go down at the shed area!” but still the driver does not seem to hear her for he did not stop from driving.

Everybody inside the jeep was looking at her dazed and puzzled.  In her even louder voice, Her Highness shouted “Shed areaaaa! I said shed area!” but the jeepney was still running and was already 50 meters away from the shed area.

I was chuckling and trying to control my laughter.  I did not want to speak and do not want to translate in Tagalog whatever she was saying for I was enjoying every moment of it.  Then suddenly a man seated at the back spoke in a not so loud voice said “para” which the driver obviously heard for he stopped at the nearest corner.  Being seated at the backmost portion, the man was able to alight the vehicle almost instantly.  Then the jeepney started to run again giving no chance for the overweight lady to stand and get out of the jeepney.

I failed to control from laughing when the snooty lady shouted in clear Tagalog language. “Mama! Para! Itigil mo na ang jeep! Bababa na ako!”  That’s the time the driver understood her, heard her and got startled.  He immediately put the vehicle to a stop and let the chubby lady get off the vehicle.

But before the high and mighty lady got off her seat, she again spoke furiously to the driver in English saying, “I will mark your plate!”  The driver just looked at her with an unruffled face and did not seem to comprehend.  The driver looked at me and asked, “Ano daw?”  That was the time I gave in to a very loud laugh.

The lady descended the jeepney, looked at the vehicle’s plate number then turned around while gnashing her teeth.  I answered the driver telling him, “Wala po.  Salamat daw.”  Then the driver smiled and continued with his driving.

Lesson of the story: ilagay ang pagpapa-sosyal sa tamang lugar para tumigil ang jeep sa tamang lugar.

My cable TV do have CNN, BBC, Discovery, Animal Planet, HBO, Disney and other popular international channels.  But I don’t know what specific cable channel provider in the Philippines shows the American ABC channel.

Recently, ABC channel in the US featured a documentary presenting the backstory of the most popularly viewed viral video in YouTube for the past weeks.  The "Thriller – Pinoy Inmates" video exploded in the internet and was overwhelmingly rife that CNN even featured it in one of their stories.  I personally have seen the short CNN news feature.  The CNN news feature was not as comprehensive as the ABC report.

I know Pinoys have the tendency to imitate other people who are featured in the news, like those dim witted mortals going up the billboards in EDSA so as to catch media’s attention.   I hope that this won’t send a wrong message to Pinoy morons that a way to be popular in the internet, they need to be in jail.

Hate it or be proud of it.  Personally, I’m not pleased with it.  But you be the judge on how others see us…

Umeksena na naman ang mga Pinoy… tsk, tsk, tsk!

Sunday night my brain melted.  I wasted more than 6 precious hours of my life in front of the computer playing Bejeweled 2, a Yahoo on-line game.  I dealt with triangular, square, circular and hexagonal shaped stones of various colors trying to align it so as to reach the next level.

I experienced various emotions while playing.  There were times I was happy for the luck that struck but there were more times I was mad due to the wrong placements and decisions I made.  I was so nutty that I would actually shout at my computer saying that its mother belongs to the oldest profession!

Every time the game would end for I no longer have any move option, I would always whisper to myself to play one last time.  By the time I decided to stop and close the computer, I was exhausted and was already suffering from catatonia.  My eye lids could no longer held up, my right hand was numb and my back was killing me.

During sleep, my neurotransmitters kept on shooting and my brain is still running with the remnants of the game.  My dream continued on, playing with the semi-precious stones… instead, I dreamt swallowing all those colored stones that come my way.

I would not recommend this game… daig pa yata ang shabu, nakaka-adik ang mga batong ‘yan!

Traveling from TriNoma to Gateway at 5:00 PM today to have a super late lunch, I witnessed the sign that splendid summer is nearly ending.  It rained!

Lukewarm baths straight from the tap will soon be over.  We will all be soon done with moments of sweating even without moving.  Umbrella will soon be part of the gears I pack when going to the office, gym or mall.  Time to pull out those knitted shirts and safe keep those speedo trunks and shorts.  Colognes are off, perfumes are on.

Part of my grocery list this weekend will be a big bottle of isopropyl alcohol that I will be spreading unto my lower extremities after dashing those would be flooded streets.  It’s the appropriate time to purchase batteries for my rickety flashlight to get ready with blackouts that usually follows after a storm or a heavy cloudburst.  It’s not before long when radio stations will play Apo’s "Pumapatak Na Naman Ang Ulan" and Eraserheads’ "Tuwing Umuulan At Kapiling Ka".  Enough on the grumbling and verbal altercations with cab drivers with busted air conditioning…

Days are counted when we will be watching and listening again to Korina Sanchez and Kuya Kim regarding the confusing conditions of the Inter Tropical Convergent Zone!