Dammit, my stupid comp died right when I was typing my last entry. Boooo. Lemme see if I can restart my entry.
Soo, I think I was talking about Golden Week and how I'm sad that it's over. Work starts again tomorrow. With G-week over, it only means I don't get another vaykay until August! *sigh* Oh well, that's life.
Spent most of last Sunday travelling from Utsunomiya to Narita to Manila. Arrived in PI late nite Sunday and had a great welcoming party. Felt even better than the first time. Why? Maybe because I was more than just a family member, I was familiar. It was a good feeling. Dropped off my stuff at my kuya's place and said hello to everyone, then wasted no time. After all, my time was golden. Hit up AF1 of course! What a great way to start a vaykay. Afterwards, hit up one of my favorite live band places, Cowboy Grill, and finished off a keg of San Mig with the usual "maniacs." Good times 2x. To top if all off, saw the sunrise on the way to buy some pandesal on my friend's bike. Good way to end the night/start the morning.
Slept most of Monday and had my kuya and ate take me to Glorietta mall after waking up. Got a much needed haircut and did some well deserved shopping. Damn I can't describe how much I missed the cheaper prices and great service. My parents arrived that night. For the first time, I was actually part of the ones na sumusundo imbis na the ones na sinusundo. I felt so local! I posted up at the bottom of the ramp. Even though there were 2 ramps, I knew my parents would go down the left one, for it was labelled clearly for "last names starting with A-M." I know my mom, she follows rules, hehe. Think I got some decent footage of them coming down the ramp. What a feeling it must've been for them because they haven't gone back for over 15 years. I can only imagine how that must feel like. It may not have shown much in their faces, but I'm more that sure it was because of the 24hrs+ of travel time they had to endure. After they met the fam and got settled at my kuya's place, of course, kuya and I went for another night on the town. Ended up checking out some place we've never been to yet called Billboards, yes, like the top list of current music. Well, couldn't complain about the joint. The drinks were fairly priced and at the end of the night, I had to say, it was the most I've ever spent in a PI joint BUT I felt it was worth it. It was my type of place. All of the girls were pretty and CAN DANCE. During the interims, they had dance groups up on stage doing choreography. I have to say I was entertained and enjoyed it more than a strip joint of any sort, lol. We ended up making friends with the manager and they kept bringing us drinks on the house, while we kept buying them drinks. Sort of like a give and take thing we had going. I also have to say I think I surpasses my "A" game in drinking that night because I was FUUUUCKED UP. The next morning spoke for itself....
Tuesday was mostly a day of recovery. Lessons learned from previous training sessions taught me to swallow my pride and yak up the alcohol instead when breaching one's limits. So I did just that. Yeah I felt like shit before doing it, but after the dirty deed was done, I was on the way down recovery road. Well, at least I had my shits and giggles b/c I knew for the rest of the time, we'd be on my parents' itinerary. As so what was happened. My auntie ollie also arrived on Tuesday, completing the non-local cast. Checked into the crazy suite my mom rented that day as well. A 3bed/3bath ginormous suite at the Oakwood hotel literally in Glorietta mall (the entrance was on the ground floor of the mall). EVERYONE came and stayed. It was a crazy yet comfy feeling having everyone there, since they were all family. I mean, how often do you get to live with nobody but family, even for only a week? When we opened up all of the pasolubongs, it was a straight supermarket in there with all the goods we had. Nuts. No literally, nuts, candies, canned goods, toiletries, the works! Good stuff 2x. Later that night, we drove over to my dad's old hood and surprised his family there. I walked in first, pretending to be my dad. Somehow, they knew I was his offspring, haha. We invited them to a big get-together the following night for a pre-celebration of my dad's 48th birthday. My dad's side is HUGE. Not much to do but have kids and stuff since unforunately, they're not financially well off. I guess our goal was just to bring more happiness in their lives, or more like, share some of our excess.
Wednesday was spent travelling to Tagaytay. We rented a big ass van that seated 14 and used my kuya's car as well. We checked out the scenice volcano view and while the older heads went to see/pray at a famous church, the younger heads went horseback riding. It was my first time riding a horse! I'm pretty sure I got some interesting footage as well. We dined at a grilling place in the area. The funniest part was when the bill came. In our fam, we like to gamble at the price and guess what the total is. Price is Right rules. My mom offered a 1000peso reward to the closest bidder. We were so loud and crazy but it wasn't embarassing at all. I could tell everyone was just jealous as to how much fun we were having. =P One of my uncles ended up winning. The majority of us actually bid too low. That night, we had my dad's celebration at Kamayan, an all u can eat restaurant in Glorietta, for about $10 a head. Since we invited all of my dad's family, and all of my mom's family, we ended up having about 100 heads and filling up most of the restaurant! Straight madness once again, but fun none-the-less. A bit overwhelming though as to how many people I was actually related to (more like the reality of how many) and who was who. My dad's cake was rated R, a pair of boobies with oversized nipples. Only in the Philippines I guess. Barely got to eat. It's just too hard when everyone wants to meet you or you're being introduced to everyone. Late that night my parents still found it in them to want to check out a comedy bar, so we hit up Laffline. I knew people there so they already knew we were coming, LoL. Guess I have my own fanclub, haha. Front row seats, like always and personalized greetings and entertainment. My parents enjoyed, I'm sure. Afterwards, we checked out CF and low and behold, I didn't gamble! I figure, I'm on a 2-month gamble free streak. Might as well keep it going. *Ronnel pats himself on the back* Let's see if I can make it last. Slept little to none.
Thursday, the whole crew ventured out to Wowowee. This time it was a live show and loads of fun. The stage and set had been redone, for the better. We had a crazy good time. My dad was chosen as a contestant as I was 2 months ago. What can I say, like son, like father, right!? What a sight we must've been, loaded with dollar crowns and scarves and sashes. Instant celebs, haha. Or at least, celebs for a day. Funny what a little money can do. I remember afterwards getting texts from my PI friends saying hey, I just saw you! Hahaha. Small world indeed, especially if you're on live national TV. Ate at a place like Dampa that night, where you first buy the fresh seafood etc. from the stands then go to the places nextdoor who cook and serve it to you. Goes hand in hand. Straight fiesta, once again. My last nite in PI and I still didn't get to do a lot of what I had planned. It's ok though, crammed most of it into that night! A few of us, well like 10, went to a local health club. Pretty much, I got a facial, pedicure, hair dyed burgundy, and a full body 1hr aromatherapy massage all in one night. We once again closed the place down and were the last to leave.
Friday. Probably like 3 or 4am when we got back because we still stopped for some more pandesal. I was mostly thinking about how I had to be at the airport by 6am b/c my flight was at 8am. As you may have guessed, didn't sleep again b/c I had to use my time to pack my shit. Plenty of time to sleep travelling back I guessed. Airport sucked b/c of all the lines and checkpoints and shit. Flight back was quick cuz I slept the whole time. Bus from Narita back here was quick too b/c of the same reason. The whole day just felt like a daze. What sucked even more was that I had work the next day.
Saturday at work was actually good though. No manager b/c she was at some training. No group lessons scheduled b/c of g-week. Only 4 private lessons. Spent most of the time planning for this upcoming week. Much needed too b/c the 'rents arrive in Japan tomorrow. Pretty excited they're visiting actually. But, after Sat, I guess I was so pissed that I had to work I adventured and looked for something to do. Ended up randomly finding this club which didn't turn out so bad. Yeah, I had to be piss drunk to enjoy it but the music was decent and for a 1000 yen cover with a free drink, it couldn't have been better. They played trance, house etc in one room and mainstream hiphop/rnb in the other. Sad to say no one could keep up to me on the dance floor. Everyone kept asking me O-kuni wa? Which is, what country are u from? America, bitches!!! Hahaha. Sorry, I'm not your typical white boy, but I am from America!
This past weekend was spent mostly at my own pad. I'm learning to appreciate it more and more, especially since now, I have a plethora of DVDs which I exported from PI, well, more like from my kuya. Gotta learn to live cheaply and effectively for a bit. Did some extensive cleaning for my parents' arrival. Actually looking forward to this week and a bit of routine. Don't know why. Oh well, I shouldn't question the good feelings eh? Hopefully, I'll remember to blog more. Wanna look back on this someday and actually see PROGRESS. Haven't had much of that in the last couple of years, or at least that's just how I feel...
"Doesn't matter how u get there, as long as you enjoyed the ride..."
