The Birthday Celebrant

1/7 of one's life. I am blessed of having the opportunity to be part of 1/7 of one's life. Its been 3 years and counting now since we got together, and today, March 1, she's on the 21st year of her journey called life. Most of you might ask, "Who the hell are you mumbling about?" Allow me ma'am/sir to introduce her to you.

I won't start by saying how nice and kind this person is for it might sound and look like I am delivering a eulogy speech. (I am really wondering why all good things one has to say about a person comes out so easily when the person is already lying still in a coffin?)

Anyway, just one look at this person, you could already grasp the message that she is not the one that you'd want to mess with. Unintentionally and unconsciously, she'd raise you a brow as if she's saying, "I hold more powers than you. Show some respect dude!" She even goes far as in looking at you cephalocaudal and vice versa. This mannerisms of hers often misleads others to branding her as primadonna, but they're wrong. This is how she looks at you and a brow raised means her involuntary facial muscles are at work. She doesn't even know that her brow is raised nor she notices that she looks at you from head to toe. (So to others who think they've been raised and examined, think again! =D)

Enough with the stares and brows and the looks. Once you get passed the barriers mentioned, you'd have the chance of a lifetime to get to know her better. You won't actually have a difficulty in initiating a conversation with her for she usually starts the conversation. She'd start by smiling and saying, "Gwapa ko noh?" (I am pretty, right?). If others were to reply "No", she'd just laugh and just burst another topic, and so the conversation begins. But if I were to reply "No", I'd just either look to the left or right and then "Paaaak!", she'd slap me once, twice. But there's a sorry in between slaps so its okey I guess. =D. Just between me and you (reader), her slaps doesn't really hurt. Shhhh! Please don't tell her. (Evil laugh!)

Once you've started conversing with her, that's when you'd realize that she's not so bad after all. In fact, she could be the best friend you'll ever have. By best friend I really mean best. She'd be there for you when you need someone, she'd even be there when you don't need someone. In short, she'd really make a way to be part of your life, not in an annoying way though, but in her own and cute little ways. Yet they say that your best friend could be your worst enemy. She'd become your worst nightmare if you let your traitor blood flow from within. Once the trust is broken, prepare. She won't let anyone step on her. She doesn't care who you are, what position you are in to, and who you were in her life. If she knows she's right, there's no stopping her. She's even bolder and stronger than me when I come to think of it.

Those are just some of the serious stuffs about her and believe it or not, she has more funny stuffs circumscribing her. =D.

I've been practicing her way of appreciating music for years but I still fail. You'd know that she digs the music when she starts to move his head like those puppy decors you often see in cars, in short, she has a bobbly head. Bobbling of her head is always accompanied by out of rhythm lip movements. (I am hoping I could show you a video of her bobbly head move but I doubt it.) These movements come natural with her and I find it cute. I find it cute even more when she notices that you are observing her movement and expresses a reaction that you yourself couldn't mimic. I find it hard to explain it words and I advice you to catch her reaction in person, really, you should see it. =D.

Besides music, she also loves books. In fact, she has a collection of almost 500 books. (Don't get to impressed, these are e-books. Illegally downloaded e-books. Bwahahaha!) And you wouldn't even guess how many of these books she had finished reading already. What's your guess? 20? 50? 100? Ennngggggk! She has not finished a single book. Haha. She's on her way though in ending the chapter of the first book. Not bad! And oh, she loves books that much that she could not respond to the call of nature effectively without a book in her hands. Amazing, right?

What I really want you to know about her is that she likes to wake up early. She won't fail in reminding you to wake her up 2 hours before the 1st class starts. So this is me calling her and waking her up at 5am for a 7am class. And she wakes up without difficulty. The problem is, she has a hard time getting out of bed. Her eyes are wide open, but her mind still feels like sleeping. Waking up at 5am ends up getting out of bed at 630am, getting dressed and rushing to school at 710am. You cannot blame her since she literally woke up early. =D.

I still have lots of things to expose but I believe I should leave some stuffs for you to discover yourself. All I really wanted to express in this essay is that no matter how serious and stiff a person might look physically, you'd still find interesting and varied facts about her when you just spend time in getting to know her. Its just like reading a book with a plain old cover yet when you turn the pages one by one, you'd start to see colors blending.

No matter how hard her stares are, how high her brows are, how intimidating her ways of looking are, how fierce her personality is, she's still the same person who initiates a conversation with "Gwapa ko noh?", who bobbles her head in ways only she could do, who collects books without reading them, who likes to wake up early but gets tardy most of the time, who cherishes friendship no matter how far or close the distance is, who is your friend, who is my bestfriend, Timmy.

Happy Birthday! I Love You. =D.

Me Getting Pissed

Have you ever came across with public utility vehicles that metaphorically made you release smokes in your ears?

There are those who'd make you look for change for your 100 peso bill even though its supposed to be part of what they must do. There are those who'd give you a 1-peso deficit change and you have no say about it but when it's you (passenger) who'd give a 1-peso deficit fare, they'd react as if you murdered one of them. There are those who doesn't honor you a fare privilege for students because you are not wearing uniform when in fact the fare matrix only requires a valid identification card. There are those who made you feel how it is to be one of the sardines in a tin can for they carry more passengers than the number allowed by the law. There are those who would not bring you to your designated location even though there route says they must.

Those are just few of the many complaints. Complaints that were not addressed. They were not addressed since what do passengers know about it? What could they possibly say to PUV drivers and conductors to make a point? (Making a point and arguing with PUV drivers and conductors is typically hard for they seem to have a "know-all" attitude and they "think" they are always right, unfortunately.)

I personally have experienced the incidents stated above and the most recent was around 5:30 PM this afternoon (February 27). The route of the van says that it would go to Gaisano Mall and all the way to KCC Mall. But I didn't know how to react when the conductor asked me to step down for they won't push through the KCC route for their reason that it would cost extra hassle for them. Because I am not much of a nagger, I quietly went out and walked my way to KCC. But I am tired of repeatedly experiencing these cases and I would like to make an end on all of them. And so, I did a research and found out that I could make a list of all the violations that they committed and would cost them much hassle than expected. (Bwahahahaha! Evil Laugh.)

Under the Memorandum Circular 2005-006, public utility vehicles are required to provide additional markings "No Smoking" and "How's my driving? (with LTO/LTFRB Hotline Numbers)." Failure to adhere would have a penalty of 500.00 pesos per signage per offense.

Fare matrix must also be displayed, and take note of this, it must be the original copy, not a photocopied one according the Memorandum Circular 2005-024. I have never seen an original fare matrix displayed by the way. Failure to adhere would have a 500.00 penalty for the 1st offense, 1000.00 for the second offense, and cancellation of permit on the 3rd offense.

Memorandum Circular 2008-031 also includes mandatory display of fare matrix and mandatory compliance to the fare matrix. Overcharging and not honoring 20% discount for students has a penalty of 3000.00 for the 1st offense, 4000.00 for the 2nd, 5000.00 for the 3rd, suspension for the 4th, and cancellation for the 5th offense.

Section 32 (Exceeding Registered Capacity) of Republic Act 4136 states that no person operating any vehicle shall allow more passenger in his vehicle than its registered carrying capacity. Failure to adhere would unfortunately only have a 100.00-peso fine.

All in all, the PUV driver I rode earlier could have paid 1,400 pesos to 7,100 pesos as fines for all penalties mentioned above.

There are more laws that would cater our transportation needs specifically the students when Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara's House Bill 00090 would be accepted. It is an act institutionalizing the grant of student fare discount privileges on land, water and air transport utilities and for other purposes. One of its key section is the Section 4 stating a 20% discount privilege for students during the entire school year for elementary and secondary students, during the semester for college students, and during the duration of the course for vocational or technical students, including Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays, and Christmas vacations. (Yehey!!!)

This is a result of me getting pissed off. This may and could also serve as information for all of you out there who share my concern.

The "Zit" Theory

Scientifically, a zit is a kind of acne resulting from excess oil getting trapped in the pores. But that's science. I personally believe there's a theory that would be most acceptable. I call it the Zit Theory.

The zit theory begins with a simple phrase known to all, "We are all created equal." Basically there should be no existence of the rich nor the poor, the weak nor the strong, the tall nor the short, and many others, but don't forget, the ugly nor the handsome/pretty.

But due to our human nature, we helped in the existence of those opposites mentioned above. There are those who belong to the high class, there are those to the low class of citizens. There are ones like Manny Pacquiao, yet there are those unknown and being bullied. There are those blessed with a 6 foot height and be a basketball player, and there are others who could not even be a flight stewardess. And finally, there are those like Brad Pitt, and there are those like....I'll leave it up to you to look for Brad Pitt's counterpart.

Now, moving on, because it is known to men that we are all and must be equal, a solution has to be made. It would be hard and would need a lot of procedures (costly too) to make Brad Pitt's counterpart be Brad Pitt too. On the other hand, it would be easy and wouldn't need a lot of procedures to make Brad Pitt be Brad Pitt's counterpart.

Now here's the fun part, in order to have equilibrium, a destruction on the face and some parts of the body must be added to handsome/pretty persons. In that way, somehow equilibrium is achieved. (Wohooo!)

Just remember, zit existence and your handsome/pretty state is directly proportional with each other. The more handsome/pretty you are, the more zit you would have. (Isn't it amazing?)

Be proud of your zit guys! =)

Agent ExConvict0112 - Volume 1

A successful mission was again surpassed by Agent ExConvict0112. Everything has been well taken care of. It was time to check for updates of upcoming missions when a call came. Even without having been answered, Agent 0112 knows what the call was about, a new and exciting mission. He deciphered that it would take much preparations and courage to surpass it. So, he gathered all necessary and vital resources, packed his things, and wasted no single second.

"Beep. Beep. Beep." A message was received. "Greetings Agent ExConvict0112! Here are the details of your new mission. Be at this location ........." He didn't continue browsing the message for he wanted thrills and challenges during a mission. He just relies on his gut-feels and sees where the latter would bring him. Whether he'd be at the right location at the right time, or at the wrong location and worst, at the wrong time, no one knows but me (the author. Evil Laugh! ^^,).

Agent 0112 didn't exactly know where he was going yet he didn't stop walking and looking for trails. Suddenly, he heard a loud rumbling noise. It was his gut murmuring, telling him what he needs to do and where he must go. Finally, an enlightenment for our independent agent. His gut told him to prepare bombs and to plant them at an exact location.

Good thing he has all the materials in order to create an improvised explosive device. On his way, he found an abandoned house, sneaked in, placed the material in order of use. He began Project: Bomb Making. He has limited time, and again, no single second must be wasted. Agent ExConvict0112 knows that this is a delicate process, as a result, he was soaking wet with sweat all over his body. Cold and big sweats. (Phew!) His hands were shaking, he's down to the last and final wire. If he fails, the explosive device would detonate earlier than usual. Which means, he'd be in pieces by then. "Toot. Toot. Toot." Alas! Project: Bomb Making was a success. All he needs to do now is to plant them before the clock runs out.

He started walking and looked for the spot where he must plant the explosive device. He saw a nearby signage saying, "C4 Region". He knows that C4 is a type of explosive, so he is at the right trails. He's a few steps away from the location when he saw an old man. He noticed that the latter and him was going at the same location. He tried outrunning the man but he must not do unnecessary movements for it might trigger an early explosion. So he gave up, he failed. The old man won and entered the location. Agent ExConvict0112 patiently waited outside for he knows he'd have his chance in a few seconds or so. He was so excited to succeed another mission but he was also so nervous for the time was running out.

"Sqeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaak!", finally, the door opened, the man went out, and Agent ExConvict0112 hurriedly entered the location. He took from his bag the explosive he made, sat down, and planted it. "Plop! Plop! Plop!" The bomb has been planted! The bomb gave off an extremely debilitating odor which is a sign that it was a success! And the location goes wild but fortunately for Agent ExConvict0112, the bomb was planted right on time and didn't explode while it was in his bag.

"Beep. Beep. Beep." Another message was received. "Congratulations, Agent! Mission successful! Please wait for further notices regarding your succeeding missions."

Cross

I told him firmly, go back to your parents.

His reply suddenly made me stop for a second, stared at him for a couple seconds more, and said nothing a few seconds longer.

It was the 23rd of February, an awesome night, if not perfect, to loiter around the park. There's a month long celebration for an upcoming festival and stalls (food) are put up. It has been a tradition for me and Timmy to spend even just one night at the park hunting for food, especially the most-awaited pancit with toppings. (yum!) And so we went and prepared to secrete increased amounts of hydrochloric acid just to aid us in digestion.

We stopped by stall by stall, devouring different food each stop. It was like being an F1 racer and those stalls being our pitstop. In our case, we just can't stop refueling q 15 minutes (every 15 minutes).

One pitstop later, I happened to come across with an obstacle. While we were busy sharing a hotdog (a literal hotdog, not the one that's on your mind you green one!), a kid stopped by. He gestured his hands, and I figured out, he was begging.

For me, begging is a sign of weakness, and the only way to counteract this is to ignore begging, do not give in. I kept on repeating in my conscious mind, "Do not give in. Do not give in.". But my subconscious tells me, "He's just a kid, help him. Give in." After a few seconds of Conscious-Subconscious war, there was a unanimous decision, DO NOT GIVE IN.

And so, I told him firmly, go back to your parents.

His reply suddenly made me stop for a second, stared at him for a couple seconds more, and said nothing a few seconds longer.

The kid gestured, making a cross out of his two fingers and asked me, "Kabalo ka unsa pasabot ani? (Do you know what this means?)"

It was late that I recognized that it was a cross so even before realizing the sign, I answered with a shrug, "No. What does that mean anyway?"

"They're dead."

The next thing I know, those words bore a hole in my heart (scientifically speaking, in my brain). I just gave a look at Timmy, and what has to be done was done.