NINE HOPEFULS TO MANAOAG

WHEN NINE HOPEFULS decided to take a break from the pages of their books,they ended with a fun-filled short trip ------------ sundae and fries @ 3 AM, roller coaster ride from Shaw to Cubao @ 3:30 AM, dews in the meadow @ 6 AM, a pilgrimage/blessing @ 10 , lunch @ 11 , a sound sleep @ the bus back to Manila, a refreshed and empowered spirit to carry on...

MY KFC DAY!

Waking up from a 5 hours of sleep, and being late I didn’t have the time to prepare breakfast. I have to meet Kris and Bing at UN Avenue for our review session that we badly need this time. After 30 minutes, I was all dressed up, grabbed my bag, put hand-outs and books that I need inside (without considering if I can read them all for the day) then rushed to our meeting place. While I was on the FX, I received a text message from Kris that they’ll be coming late. Well, it was acceptable since they are to be coming from UP while I was just staying near Banawe.

It was near 10 am and I didn’t have a good dinner night before, meaning I was really starving. My stomach seems to concur as it started to create a gurgling sound. So when I saw KFC, I instantly knew what I’ll have for brunch. I ordered for chix and spaghetti and requested for a breast or thigh part. To my dismay, the crew told me that the only part that can be served with the spaghetti is a choice between the wing and the leg part. So I asked if that was a new directive of some kind from the Manager, and with conviction, the crew told me that I have to choose, LEG or WING. Disappointed, I again asked the Crew if it is only in KFC UN Avenue that I can’t have my thigh/ breast part. Again now with confidence, she told me that it has always been leg or wing for spaghetti. Hmmn, OK, thinking of not ruining my day, I got my spaghetti with little chicken wing, and got my receipt.

When I was about to put my tray on the table, my receipt fell on the floor and so I picked it up. I don’t know what happened, but I later found myself sending a message to the Customer service of KFC, (the number was printed in the receipt.)

Kris and Bing arrived and while they were having their brunch, I told them what happened. And since the three of us are regular KFC customers, both of them can’t believe that I was not given my fave part.

After KFC, we headed to FIGARO UN AVE. It’s a quite long walk from Taft Avenue but it is where we feel that we are productive in our review, well compared to other places. Coffee is good, pizza superb, friendly and accommodating crews, a great place indeed.

We were already reading for like four hours, when I got a phone call from an unknown number. I answered it and this was the conversation (something like this)…
Flaj: Yes, Hello?
Caller : Hello Ma’am, Im the Manager of KFC UN Avenue, the head office informed me of your complain. Can I get your name Ma’am
Flaj: Ah Oo, yung sa chicken kasi di ako binigyan ng breast part kasi daw pag spaghetti wing or leg lang.. ganun bat talga un? Matagal naman na akong kumakain sa KFC ngaun ko lang nalaman un..
Caller: Sana po Ma’am hinanap niyo po ako kanina para po nabigyan ko kayo nung gusto niyong part. Ma’am sino nga po ulit ito?
Flaj: This is Flager, Sinend ko na name ko kanina ah, nung nag text ako sa CS niyo.
Caller: Yan po ba talaga pangalan niyo?? Kala kop o imbento lang..
Flaj: Aba, oo.may ID ako, gusto mo makita. Eh Miss, ok na un, wala naman na tayong magagawa diba, tapos na un, unless bibigyan niyo ulit ako ng chicken, ung part na gusto ko.. ( irritated)
Caller: Ay pwede rin po, asan po ba kau?
Flaj: Haha, sure ka..andito lang ako sa FIGARO UN Ave. Pwede din kitang daanan jan for my chicken..
Caller: Naku, wag na po, ipapadeliver ko na lang jan…..



Then I ended the call, after 15 minutes, a KFC deliveryman, approached our table and gave me my KFC order.


Kris and Bing can’t help but laugh. Sometimes, customer service assistance also has their use.

NEVER too FAR ( for a title)

I met Kris and Bing on the 17th of August at our usual hang out—UN Avenue Manila. In preparation for a pilgrimage, I asked them to accompany me to Cordillera so I can ask permission from my Aunt for a sleep over at Makatarungan. Luckily, Aunt was out, so I did not have the ordeal of feeling like a dormer set with rules and regulations on sleepover and curfews.
At Makatarungan, we spent about two to three hours of pretensions( reading and studying hehe ) but finally decided to call it a day at 11 PM. We went to Bing’s cozy room, I taking the bed with her, while Kris in a mattress on the floor. We were all about to sleep, when we became troubled with the title of a particular song being sung by one of the crew at the coffee shop that day. What I can remember was that, it was one of Mariah’s songs. Bing was not around yet when the crew was doing his performance level act inside the coffee shop, so she doesn’t really know what Kris and I were talking about. Displeased that we cannot remember the tune and the lyrics, Kris turned on his laptop, searched through his playlist, and searched the net, while Bing and I tried to sing songs by Mariah. We were all remembering the music video but were really having a solid time remembering the words, the tune, worst and the title. The attempt to stop that nonsense quest of the song was torturing. We all convinced ourselves that the title would just pop out in our minds once we ignore that thought that we need the title, that we need to remember the song. Silence was felt once in a while; each one was doing her/his thing. Bing was trying to hum songs, while Kris and I were trying to recollect the music video. When we felt that time has eaten us up with that kind of test, we then forced ourselves to sleep. Our bodies were really tired after a long day, our minds were all used up deciphering laws, unfortunately yet, our spirits were in that kind of mood for song title searches. WE CANNOT SLEEP!
I borrowed Kris’s laptop, hopeful that I might be able to get the title and just be able to sing the chorus to stop the madness. More than an hour had passed, tired as we all were, no one wants to give up and sleep, unless that song has been named. Until I finally came across the title.. NEVER TOO FAR!! Grrr..

I + FLAGER = FRAGILE

I like his voice; I like his silence
I like his soft smile and his puckered brows
I like him to the extent I overlooked standards
Since I like liking him…I liked him even more.

And then I loved him
I loved him wordlessly; I loved him in private
I loved him that only my soul knows
I loved him while he may possibly adore others…

Since I loved him
My heart was broken; but I could only let him go
There’s nothing I can do, other than to move on,
I’m stupid, heart-broken, troubled
Hopeless and down...

It's not over...

Imagine.

Days of curfew,
Months of repressions,
Years of tyranny,
A Decade or so of confinement

Imagine.

Military supremacy,
Death tolls and disappearances
Cronyism, if not poverty
Hunger and fear in every faces.

Imagine.

Liberty, incomparable power
Filipinos united in the streets
Protected by roses and prayers,
Hear the voice of democracy, at its best.

Live.

For you are free, unrestricted
Wage war if needed,
If attempt to sovereignty is taken
Don’t let this nation be forsaken

Live.

For this undertaking;
Bury the evils of autocracy forever
Condemn solons of deceptions
Don’t let another dictator take over.

Live.

For you are FILIPINOS
The people worth dying for
Stand up, be grateful and proud
For the air you breathe is the air of freedom.


Thank you Tita Cory

AM-ish/ PM-ish SYNDROME

I am infected with the 5 to 7 pm-ish syndrome and yesterday, was diagnosed Stage 4. Yes, it’s a rare disease and for some who don’t know about it would never get a chance to understand it. Science might have a better explanation for all the signs that are being manifested, but, the treatment can only be given by someone who are not medically inclined, but by someone humane and truly concerned.

The syndrome actually varies. If, I would be given a chance to name “it,” I would call it the AM-ish/ PM-ish syndrome. Signs and symptoms might differ except for one manifestation which is obvious. That is the fear of being alone on a particular time.

I don’t have any idea as to the incubation period of this. I might have acquired it here in Manila.
In Naga, I don’t remember dreading for the 5 o’clock class for it was my time to see my law super friends. I would patiently and would even willingly cook dinner and wait from 6 pm to 7 pm, for Mom, my brother or sister to arrive from school, (which only means, I don’t like the Prof or simply skipped class ) I enjoy watching school kids pass through our home who never missed to annoy , Spunkie- our dog. I don’t even care if I feel so domesticated; folding my clean clothes/fix or tidy up the living room, as I positively let the sun set.

The least right I have now is to complain as to my living condition here in Manila. I am extremely lucky to have an exceptional room, with a cozy bathroom with mini-tub. With the modern touch of architecture, I am more like living in a condominium for FREE. We are three single ladies living in a 4-storey house. The ground floor is the manpower agency office. Part of the second floor is used for the trainings. That is where I get my free massage and free nail art. The other part of the second floor is with cubicles for the Managers. Since both of the Managers are in Abu Dhabi, I use Tita Sarah’s cubicle for my “review.” That is also the best site for the fastest internet connection since it has the router in it. The building is actually wi-fi ready, but as one goes up, the signal becomes low. The residence is at the third floor. Then they have the laundry area at the roof top. I had basically tried putting out all my paraphernalia and props, with every table available. I tried the mezzanine, the training room, the living room, the veranda. But I must say that Richard’s room (my temporary room since Richard is in Abu Dhabi too) turned out to be my Manila crib, the only space that tolerates my strangeness.

Both of my housemates work for the manpower agency at the ground floor for my Tita Sarah,( the owner). They go down around 8 AM, would have lunch around 12 and call it a day usually at 8 PM. I have the whole second and third floor for myself most of the time. I do cook for lunch. I use it as a break and just a means to get away with boredom or stress. And as a routine, like a duty assigned to me, I call my housemates after I prepare lunch for them, through the intercom ( Yes, I am that secluded that I have to use the intercom, but would sometime just yell out their names for some sort of release) I visit them at the office sometimes- to do paper works, read summons, communicate with the lawyer, or purely to give some express amusement . The office’s PC is also the best remedy of not being trapped or fixed with the internet. All I can do with the office’s PC is to check my mail. Aware of my limited time, I will not be tempted to stay hours online.

I like it when there are trainees. I love meeting people. I learn a lot from them - from gay lingo, to tele-seryes and real life stories. I usually spend like hours or so with them and would usually end my days with a good laugh, with hope and admiration.
Things are essentially normal. After the review classes, I struggled to follow a schedule. Yet now I have a chase to do. Compared to the others, I had been so slow. I am inspired, no question about it. I am overwhelmed with encouragement and support from family, friends, and acquaintances (which as a matter of fact brought me to tears in two separate occasions- first was when Manong Guard at the Supreme Court, checked my bag, got my ID, asked if my petition’s OK and then gave me the sincerest wish of luck and when Manang Yosi, after having a short conversation with her, eagerly offered to include me in her prayers.)

Although I’m enduring a self afflicted heart-ache ( I’ll post the article when I am ready), I “believe” that I am completely in control. Let’s just say I have it “my own way”. (And whatever way it is, the competence of it will only be known about 8 months from now.)

I had turned down invitations from my friends: the trip to Baguio with Monica, (which made me cry for guilt, it was the plan for her birthday ), the trip to Davao with Vangie, weekends at Cavite, ON at KNL, “mahaba-haba at mausok na usapan” with Hannah, Movies plus chat with Pat, Sumptuous dinner with Gen, spiced up conversations with Jigs, Photoshoot with Peachy and Maja, concerts, beaches and other getaways. Aside from the reason that I don’t have work now and that I’m back to my Dad’s full scholarship program, I just don’t want my friends to see me in the “not-so-Flager- Sweet” mood.

The funny and weird thing is that I regularly experience this deep emotion, the so called “not-so-Flager-Sweet” mood, periodically, around 5 to 7 PM and I don’t know why…

Maybe I am tensed. I am stressed not because of September but because of the thought of what I am going through right now. But as friend would always say, ‘it will all come to pass’. Maybe he’s right, there can be no way now to avoid September. And what should be done should be done. It’s just like saying, what two hours of infection is when you are given another twenty two hours of immunity… what is the remaining two months after surviving the past four months… what is a little amount of sacrifice, if those sacrifices would be a way to help others and hopefully put people you love in bliss.