j a n s e n. i. s. m.

I had high expectations when I woke up this morning. I wore a slim necktie whose color combination perfectly matched my white long sleeve shirt and black slacks. Without the tie, the outfit would make me look like as if I’ll be serving appetizers anytime. I made it before 8am to office but I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the weekly team meeting because “Obnox” was there. There was only one thing I was excited about– a lunch out with a friend, but due to some schedule conflict I ended up with takeout food once again and spent lunch alone in my cube. Maybe the necktie was the jinx but another friend reminded me that there are some things that are not meant to happen. And I agreed.

I was able to get over the heartbreak lunch but the rest of the office day tended to be just as disappointing. I tried inviting my two close former colleagues for a night out later but another schedule conflict it was so we decided to move it next week.

Retail therapy and an interesting dinner seemed to have uplifted my sprit a little. Did some shopping for things I need for the beach outing this long weekend. Tried the Louis Couture Tray of Delifrance, it’s like combo meal French style (French Dip Roast Beef sandwich, Tuscan Pepper Shrimp Linguine, plus appetizer, drink and dessert), truly bon appétit and I’m now a fan.

On my travel home, one of my college friends I have not seen and hear from in a while made an advanced greeting thru a text message. It reminded me suddenly how fewer friends will be able to greet me this year especially personally and made me guilty a bit since I did not invite most of them to my birthday celebration this year which I planned to be in a beach with just a few friends.

A few minutes after I got home, my mother told me that my father is suggesting that we cancel the family lunch out tomorrow that I told them about a few days ago. My father has not explained to me yet his reason for this, but I am turning 25 in a short while so I guess it’s something that my mature understanding can grasp.

I am watching the clock hit midnight and I am not worrying about staying up late because tomorrow I am on vacation leave. I hope God brings out the sun for the next four days and I hope I can get over this birthday blues (a probable sign of aging).

It started when my friend Arem made an unannounced visit to the house in the morning with a surprise company. We were supposed to meet at a later time to get our ‘chichacorn pasalubong’ from our friend Gretchen who’s back from her Ilocos getaway (she said the beach, windmill and lighthouse are super great!). But lo and behold, the surprise company is not Gretchen but Lady—an elementary friend as well who we have not seen or talked to for several months. Apparently she’s back in town and she’s determined to win her friends back.

So several hours later, in the night, she invited us to her re-opened bar in GST. Arem said that it’s Lady’s treat so it was hard to resist such invite. We came to the bar early so while waiting for Lady, Arem, Gretchen and I indulged in a pint of strawberry ice cream we bought in 7-11 store (Selecta Gold Series Berry Strawberry, yum).

The vodka tonic (i wish the one we had looked this nice)

Then there came finally the host, and she took out a bottle of vodka and started concocting a recessionista version of a vodka tonic (vodka+Sprite+calamansi instead of Vodka+tonic water+lime). For some reason, Arem preferred cocktails over beer, Gretchen was strictly observing the lent season and stayed sober the whole night sipping on her iced tea, while Lady and I are shifting between our vodka and beer. Mike came in to the table late as usual with his underage cousin Jerome, both ready for shots. Other spotted in GST, the dessert from my last hangout with high school friends, a former elementary classmate who didn’t seem too thrilled to see us and Russel who acknowledged me at least three times .

My friend Arem

On a serious note, later in the evening, Arem confided that he will be undergoing a minor surgery (as if he’s not been through a lot after surviving lymphoma last year), this time to remove a boil in his wrist. Both Chen and I couldn’t help but be worried and just whisper a silent prayer that all things will go just as fine. Despite that, Arem remained cheerful the whole night providing most of the comic relief (imagine Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” choreography).

It was almost midnight when we left the bar and Mike was almost pushy about doing the “Bisita Iglesia” (i.e. go to 13 churches). However, I wasn’t fond of going to a church, and the alcohol was starting to hit me. So we decided to just go home and soon, when I reached my bed, the vodka did to me what Stilnox does to insomniacs. Zzzz.

My four-month old laptop just suddenly died two weekends ago. I was downloading some songs via Limewire and trying to add them up to my Itunes when all of a sudden the laptop restarted and would not come back to the Windows log-in page. It was stuck on the options for starting Windows and I began to be worried. I hate it when such happens, and the ironic thing is even if I am a computer engineering graduate I feel like I am a dumb when presented with a computer problem. Instinctively, I tried to run the OS installer in my attempt to reformat the laptop but to no luck. Since the unit is still under warranty, I gave up on fixing it myself, texted my dear cousin Sheena to accompany me to a laptop doctor (a.k.a. the technicians where I bought the laptop) to resolve the issue the next day.

It was a good one-on-one bonding moment with Sheena, we had the chance to catch up on each other’s lives. Then the diagnosis for my broken laptop came, it was not a Trojan infection as I initially thought it was rather a hard disk crash so it needed a part replacement. It broke my heart to know that I had to wait for a week for it to be returned and the very fact that there’s no way to recover all the files in it.

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I could swim but I couldn’t trust my aquatic skills especially when the bottom of the water gets beyond the reach of my toes. So when an opportunity to go snorkeling happened last March 29 in the summer outing of our project in Zambales, I was quite anxious. It was my first time to go snorkeling so when we reached the site, I had hesitations dipping into the water because it’s deep and I am distrustful if the life jacket could make me float me and save me should the worst happen. A couple of my officemates were already enjoying the coral site underwater so I knew I just had to jump in as well and worry about life saving later.

The water was cold and salty, and when I attempted to view what’s underwater with the mask they provided, it was almost surreal seeing the moss green colored coral formations below sans fish. My face couldn’t stay submerged in the water for a long time because the mask (covering both eyes and nose) was kind of uncomfortable to wear. My snorkeling experience lasted for about 10-15 minutes only because I had to give up my gears for other member of the groups to try the snorkeling.

This was the best part of the stay we had in the Bakasyunan sa Baybay Dagat resort (snorkeling courtesy of Ritzie). I just wish there was more time to do it because the experience was rather short-lived and I wish I was a more confident swimmer so I wouldn’t have to wear a life vest. I can’t wait to try it all over again. Puerto Galera, anyone?

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