PAUNAWA: an explanation of why so late a post…
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April 6, 2006
Cebu Pacific Flight 5J560

ha. got to the airport at 5:45 A.M. to those who don’t know me, early morning isn’t exactly my time of day. got a slight tolerable headache when i hopped on a taxi. what do i expect? i barely had sleep. subjected myself to two days of sleep deprivation in order to turn in the last two remaining sets that my boss expects of me. the night before, i had to hastily write love letters to chin and yam, as well as to team philippines, to give last minute instructions. left the office hungry at a little past eleven o’clock. oh yeah, forgot to grab dinner as i was bent on finishing my end of the deal before i leave. got home around twelve midnight. remembered that i didn’t have dinner, raided the kitchen only to realize that I still have not packed for my trip.

seat 17 D — worst seat ever… i sure didn’t fancy looking at the plane’s wings…

seatbelt incident — ignorant that was me, had difficulty fastening the damn belt [hey! it was just my second time to ride an airplane, though i take the taxi every day of my life going to work -- i'm not a "fasten your seatbelt" follower]– much to my dismay and embarrassment, the guy sitting on my left had to fasten it for me .. the rest of the flight … well,

plane scribbles….. refresh??? — incidentally, it’s the name of the juice served to all passengers… crazy thoughts start — is she in her ‘wishful thinking’ mode again? refresh??? she normally can find something better to do with her time — [it's probably the embarrassement creeping in, still] … white clouds (sea of it)- aren’t much of an inspiration to her. the view is generally giving her a double dose of headache and she has the idea that she’s escaping from all those causing her blood vessels to constrict?!%?#

– CLOSE your EYES and FORGET you have a nasty headache

—- how’d you do that? when every fiber of your brain cells is screaming

H-E-A-D–A–C–H–E!!!!

– RELAX… there’s something spectacular out there

– REMOVE headache and you’d probably enjoy the ride……

headache + white vista = more headache for her. ha! and she has to sit it out for like 30 or so minutes…

– TOUGH LUCK!!!

—AND you were thinking, you’ll stop having the headache once you get away from work

– NOT a CHANCE!!!

– boredom screaming!!!

– SIT BACK.. RELAX….

– how’d you do that? white vista is not her idea of a pleasant stimulus.

– crap. it’s making her headache worse

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April 6, 2006 AM
jen’s aunt’s place
carmona, cavite

first stop. landed at the manila domestic airport a few minutes before eight o’clock. got off the plane and lugged one of jen’s bags and my own all-around sling bag through the tarmac out to the carousel’s location, to collect my backpack. walking towards the carousel, the first thought that came to mind was – finally! i’ve had enough of white clouds and flat plane’s wing for a view; at least the pain in my temple started to ease. i never imagined the sight of clouds would give me the headache. well, it’s not so much the clouds [i can never have enough of cloud formations, in fact, it's the reason i step out of the office to go to our building's rooftop every afternoon] that’s giving me the headache, it’s the overall whiteness of the view that got to me. i am not much of a fan of something white.

as soon as i got my bag, we head out of the airport, to wait for jen’s aunt to pick us up. a few minutes later, her aunt and cousin arrived to greet us hmmm….to greet jen and her nanay [grandma], actually… [vet's thought, now there goes the awkward moment; get over it vet and smile]… as the four relatives were doing their hugs and greetings, i got fascinated by my surroundings… gubot siya ha [in a pleasant sort of way]… soon after, we hopped on a vehicle to be on our way to carmona. passed through paranaque on to south luzon expressway… wider streets, pollution, toll booths, e-coupons, high-speed driving… huge gasoline stations were what caught my interest. i had fun looking at the things in front of me while i held a mental image of good old cebu. nah, cebu pa rin!! overall, the ride to carmona, was hassle-free. if i were asked to go there via public transportation, i’d be lost. that’s my only regret. i revel at being lost in a place i’ve only set on for the first time, sure, you’ll get the trepidation thing, but it’s exhilirating at the same time.

an hour and miles after, we arrived at jen’s aunt’s place. her aunt prepared breakfast for us and we all ate. as excited as i was to get on with the day and start roaming, my body cave in to sleepiness. two-day sleep deprivation was my max, even with great resistance on my part – i readily went to the land of zzzz… so much for exploring new territories.