Laiya, Batangas
Ang sarap sa beach kasama ang masasarap na kasamang mga kaibigan! 
Mula sa kaliwa: Kate, Chris, Lili Mae, JD
Ang payat pa ni Chris dito, ang taba pa ni JD. Ang tagal na pala nito. Year two-thousand and five! Hehehe.
For my photo-essay of that trip, please click here.
My Homes Away from Home
I have just realized that for the past five years, I made numerous dorms, boarding houses and rooms to make my home away from home.
For my first year in college, I was in Kalayaan Residence Hall, second floor, ladies’ wing, near the fire exit. I was then so fresh from high school, so fresh from the province, so fresh from my highly introvert days. I made a few friends, I hope I did not make enemies, and I had a few wonderful memories. I knew then that I did not want to move on to another dormitory. Kalayaan, the dorm exclusive for freshman, was probably the best dorm in the campus. I did not want to suffer from not so good bathrooms anymore.
Then for the summer of 2002, I stayed with my friend and blockmate in her boarding house. I was then also certain that I did not want to stay longer in that house. There were lots of dogs in the street and mostl likely, I would not be able to get out of that house and get to my classes alone. So afraid of dogs, I might even have a heart attack. That’s how I bad I was (still am) with dogs.
In my second year, I moved to Katipunan. For two years, I stayed in #25-B Park 9 Street, Loyola Heights, Quezon City. There, I learned to be more independent and mingle with people from Ateneo and Miriam. I met really intelligent people and those who needed a little help from me (I was the kind one who helped her simple math.)
Then my senior year. The irony of it all was that I had to live with my grandmother when I was already on my senior year. I looked for a room to rent where I could live alone, cook for myself and take the responsibility of almost everything. Well, my family would not let me live alone. So I was with my grandmother.
It was the best place I have lived in anyway. Even with my grandmother there, it was fun. I still had independence. I just wished I had not bored her so much.
After the final exams, I kept the place until I found a work in Makati. Those were the best days in Sunrise Building. I cooked, I cleaned the bathroom, I mopped the floor, and also slept in a room of chaos and disarray. Hihi.
Then the boarding house in Cardona Street, Poblacion, Makati City. It was less comfortable than my previous place, but my landlady and her family were nice. It was cheap and near my work place, so it was of great value to me. I just have to forget the flying cockroaches and energetic little mice.
After resigning from work, I got no place to stay anywhere there anymore. Except in Manila, where my friend lives in the boarding house of her mother’s best friend. Just recently, I moved there. Not yet officially though. I still haven’t paid my rent, I still borrow shampoo, soap, toothpaste, tissue, electric fan, pillow, and bed sheets from her. Except for the rent (the owner of the house is still shopping in the US), I’ll bring my stuff this week. The place is far from Ortigas and not so near from Makati, but I like it there. I want to take the challenge of being on time even if I lived more than 15 minutes from work.
With all these experiences, I have concluded for the moment that there are things I associate with the three cities I lived in.
Quezon City – a free and independent feeling
Manila – a homey feeling
Makati – a stressful life
I like Quezon City because it is where I learned to be independent and be responsible for myself. It is where I made a drastic change in the way I think. It was like my home away from home. I was happy and comfortable living there.
I like the homey feeling of Manila because I have actually lived there for a while. I was born in Manila and also stayed there for a year after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. Even with the pollution, the smell of the black water in the street, the noise and the craze, I like it there. Probably it was also because I remember my mother while living in Manila. It was only a year of stay there, but the moments in Manila were the ones I remember most of my childhood with my mother. The railway, the wooden stairs, the predictable layout of a house, the jeeps, the smell of Blumentritt, the Central Market, the humble life in Manila (we had a more comfortable life in Zambales) — I like them all.
With Makati City, I just like the fantasy world I have in that place. I was earning a little money in Makati that I would easily spend, I was not a student anymore, I was wearing office clothes that are not strictly corporate, I was working for a big multinational company but employed by an agency, I was in an environment I was not comfortable in. I hate the stress I associate with Makati.
I still have to experience living in Manila while working. Most likely, I would be looking for another place to stay while I am outside of Castillejos. Until I find a place of my own around Metro Manila, I would probably experience more homes away from home drama.
Frustrations
Time check: 10:39 p.m.
Where I am: Office
What I am doing: Getting frustrated over these planograms and fuckin’ nonexistent database
What I am feeling: Frustrated, tired, sleepy, frustrated
What I am thinking: “This is supposed to be a multinational company (a leading multinational company), yet it’s category management system/approach/process is very well behind. As in sooooooo behind. Yet they’re expecting us to make a miracle.”
I’m not feeling well…
Yesterday, I had some great ideas to write here. But I’m just not in the mood right now to beautifully put together some simple words that would reflect how I feel, or felt.
Ah! Sore throat! For the nth time, I have sore throat, giving me fever and a bit of a headache. Still, I’m here facing the computer.
Anyway, I hope I would feel much much better by this afternoon. I originally planned to go to Manila today, but postponed it until tomorrow due to my sore throat and another reason of another person =). I hope I will feel even much much more better by tomorrow since tomorrow’s going to be our graduation practice and graduation party!
Hay, I’m graduating from college, tapos ang sama pa ng pakiramdam ko ngayon! Dapat may maganda akong grad gift nito!
Congrats to BATCH 2005!
