atbang

After my 12 hours stay at Manila yesterday, I was reminded why I dreaded coming to that place. It's not a bad place at all. In fact, I was dreaming to have a whole week stay in there and experience how wild Manilanians get when the sun sets.

I arrived around 6 in the morning. Took a taxi and told the driver that I'm heading to Makati Medical Center. The truth is I'll be going to RCBC Tower fronting the hospital. But I was searching for the Tagalog term of "atbang". During my ride, I realized that I need to tell the driver that I want to be parked on RCBC Tower. I desperately scanned my brain for Tagalog vocabulary but nothing came out. I contemplated calling Clara but it was still 6 in the morning. She wouldn't want me disturbing her about a stupid Tagalog term that early in the morning. So I took my chances with the driver. Miraculously, he knew where RCBC Tower is and began his chit-chat about it. Damn! It was good he knew the place but please spare me the conversation. My tongue is too ill-positioned to speak the dialect. I only laughed and butted my "oo nga po", "tama nga ho", "ah ganoon ba?" every now and then.

RCBC Tower is one hell of a building. There are a lot of elevators but not all would stop on each floor. A set of elevators would go directly to floors 31-45. Another set would go to floors 21-30 and another set is for floors 1-20. The bad part is I didn't know. I immediately embarked on the elevator and searched for 25 but dammit, I couldn't find the number. I tried searching on the other side but it was not there either. A thought of going out in the elevator came late. It was already speeding towards 31st. *sob*

The interview went okay if you call it an interview at all. The consul didn't ask me anything. He only said that he can't give me a multiple entry visa since it was my first. Then, he told me that I need to photocopy my insurance docs and that's it.

The hard part is getting to where the photocopy machine is. The guard said it was on the 3rd floor. I now knew what elevator to take. After embarking, I was surprised to see that there is no other buttons on the elevator except for G. Waaaaah! How can I get to the bloody 3rd floor?!? The LED indicator suddenly stopped at 3. What the?!? Is it a mind-operated elevator? I was sure I heard the sound of the elevator door opened but the door in front of me remained closed. I turned around and saw that there is another door at the back. Oooooh! When I passed the back door, I took a glimpse of all the buttons besides it. Nandyan lang pala kayo, mga hinayupak na buttons!

I was avoiding conversation as much as I can. But the damn driver of the taxi I took going to Glorietta wouldn't let me. He asked me if he should turn left. How would I fucking know? But I said, "Oo ho. Kaliwa ho tayo." just so he wouldn't think I'm an out-of-towner. Then after a few more turns he asked again. "Sir, kaliwa ho tayo o mag-U turn tayo dito." Puta talaga ang ina niya. Hindi ko alam! I only said "U turn tayo" English kasi. Holy animals! Are we not there yet? For the last time he asked me, "Saan ho kayo bababa? Dito o doon pa?" . To stop our conversation right there and then. I told him "Dito lang ho tayo." though I'm not exactly sure if the building is Glorietta. Fortunately, it is.

Lunch was at a Vietnamese resto in Glorietta after I pestered Clara with text messages asking what's a good resto that is not in Cebu yet. I invited her to join me and to my delight she said yes. *BIG grin* But only after I cajoled her to the point of begging. hehehe... Ako siya gi-bribe ug free lunch and free one-way taxi fare. At first she insisted that I should buy coffee and look for some chiks rather than invite her for lunch. My goodness! I can't even stand a simple conversation with a taxi driver! My stomach could no longer withstand the hunger so I ordered first. After I finished and paid everything, the waitress came to my table. "Sir, tapos na ho ba kayo? Meron po kasing naghintay sa table nyo." I was strucked. Tabaaaang! Unsaon nako pagtubag sa Tagalog? I need to stay and wait for Clara. I stared at her wide-eyed for a few seconds but I still couldn't form a Tagalog sentence to answer her. "I'm waiting for somebody to join me. She should be here in a minute or two." Syit! I'm such a disappointment to my Filipino teachers. Now, I wonder how I got exempted from final exam in my Filipino 1 in college.

I finally experienced watching movie in a THX certified theater in Greenbelt. Cinema 1 and 2 lang ang ilang THX. Salamat diay kang Clara sa pagtultol sa ako didto. Libog kaayo ang Glorietta. Daghan lusot-lusot to other malls and department stores. Although, the movie, Ultraviolet, was a big big disappointment, I was thrilled nonetheless to feel the pure bass of THX shaking the movie chairs.

P.S.
I have seen women wither after marriage. I've also seen some who blossomed. But I've never seen someone blossomed sooo beautifully and sooo attractively until I met Clara yesterday. Mingsamot ug kagwapa unya mingsexy pag-ayo. tsk tsk tsk. Ataya! Wala nasayang ang free lunch. hehehehe World peace, Clara!