Hello baby brother!

When my brother was a baby, three year old me adored him. Our old photo albums showed me hugging him and cradling him and reaching to him as he slept in his duyan. As young children he was my closest friend and ally. We liked the same things (I say he idolized me hahaha) and we did everything together, even celebrating our birthdays! (We celebrated our birthdays twice a year. Yay.)

Over the years though, we grew apart and he became the pesky little brother who was always tailing me while I became the mean big sister who kept brushing him off. I fought him over everything: books, TV channels, even toys, because when I was growing up I liked his matchbox cars and tonka trucks too and I thought it was unfair I never received any. Hehehe.

I'm glad that when we both reached high school, we reconnected just like magic! Haha. Right now we like the same things again -- math, physics, books (I started bringing home Terry Pratchett books for him and now he's a Discworld fanatic), TV shows ("Ate, what's a good series to watch?"), weird food, even girls hahaha I'M KIDDING! A few months ago, we settled into a routine of watching Numb3rs (our favorite TV series ever) every night. That was our nightly bonding time. But we've finished that already and I'm thinking about introducing him to Dexter my favorite psychopath.

Okay before this goes on and I just start churning out disturbing and ridiculous things about myself, I just really wrote this to greet my favorite brother (as if I had a choice LOL) a happy happy birthday! Having you for a brother is really cool and awesome and I hope we stay close until we're old and wrinkled and smell like prunes and baby powder. I love you! :)

We have no pictures together on my laptop and I'm too lazy to get up (post-zumba body aches auugh) so I'll just post this picture of him which I took after his incessant nagging. Haha.

Happy birthday! :)

Vacation Diary, Mostly in Photos: Cagayan de Oro

Kapoy! (Tired!)

It was a busy week, with Lolo's and my cousin C's birthday celebration, visits to Lola's grave, and a flurry of family lunches and dinners and karaoke parties and bonding sessions with my cousins, I wasn't even able to go white water rafting!

Day 1

Departure from Manila to Cagayan de Oro
I hate traveling during the peak season! The lines are awful, even at the web check-in counter. Oh and WHAT LINES? Pinoys are horrible when it comes to falling in line and waiting for their turn. Even paying for the terminal fee and falling in line to board the plane felt like hustling for the MRT! :/ Ano ba, the plane won't leave you!!! I don't get it, it's not like the last one to get on the plane will have to travel standing up. People, chill.

Our flight was delayed too. Apparently the plane had to turn around twice before landing because of the runway traffic. We had time to take pictures at the cut-out photo wall and shop haha. And when we had boarded, we had to sit there and wait for more than half an hour for takeoff. I finished my Smile magazine even before the plane left the airport! We were supposed to land at 4:25PM but we got there a little past 6. Sunset on the plane was gorgeous though. :)

Top: line at the web check-in counter, more lines at the
terminal fee booth, flipflops we bought while killing time, photo wall.
Bottom: finally boarding the plane, my Smile magazine,
and my gorgeous view of the sunset (except for the plane wing haha)

Day 2

Lolo's Birthday Party
It was Lolo's 85th, and my cousin's 25th birthday, so it was a grand grand affair complete with lechon from Cebu! :) (BTW, thanks to Picasa 3 for the instant tarpaulins. I love you to death Google!)

Day 3  

Trip to Divine Mercy Shrine in El Salvador City

All those stairs were tiring! But the place was really beautiful and quiet. It's a really good place for prayer and meditation. Or in my case, for enjoying the scenery and taking pretty pictures.

Picnic at lola's grave
Hello 'La. I hope you were watching us. :)

Day 4

Zipline at Dahilayan Adventure Park in Bukidnon
Adrenaline ruuuuuush! Dahilayan Adventure Park purportedly had Asia's longest dual zipline which was 840m long. According to my Smile magazine, it starts at 4000m above sea level and swoops down to end at around 100m ASL. Whoa, intense! And it really felt like flying! I was terrified at first, buti na lang there were also 320m and 150m ziplines which were like trial runs. :)

It felt so good, I did all three rides twice because I couldn't get enough of the feeling you get when you're swooping in the air above the trees!

I was less scared on my second round, so on the 320m ride I was able to hold my camera with one hand while holding on to the ropes with the other.

Cousins' night out

Our first night out without the parents! :D Don't judge us, we live miles apart hahaha. We had dinner at Mooon Cafe, a quaint Mexican-ish restaurant which serves cheap but yummy food, and watched Praybeyt Benjamin which was funny not exactly good. Hehehe. Oh well, it's the company that counts!

Day 5

Xavier University

English mass at the chapel, then watched our cousin L play frisbee

"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?"
-St. Francis Xavier

Beach Trip

Because no family outing is complete without a trip to the beach. 

Post-dinner entertainment
My cousin O and my nephew AJ ham it up for an audience. :)

Day 6

Lunch at Panagatan
The food was yummy, but it was overshadowed by the view. Awesome. If you find yourself in the vicinity, you should eat there because I can't think of a better place to eat seafood.

It made a pretty good background for photo-ops too. :D

Vigil at Lola's grave
AKA another picnic. In the spirit of halloween, we brought masks and bought matching devil horns. Hrhrhr.

Day 7

Last Minute Shopping, Departure to Manila :(
Sad sad day. I didn't want to leave yet! If I didn't have the boards to study for I would have asked to be left behind.

On the plane I was seated beside the window AGAIN. Boohoo, and the Manila skyline was so pretty, too bad I couldn't take decent pictures.

It's the best vacation I've had ever. I love how big our extended family is and I loved being surrounded by so many uncles and cousins and nephews and nieces! I really wish I had gone home more often before, my cousins make the best company. Of all the things we did, I enjoyed our nightly bonding sessions over alcohol and karaoke/ movies the most.

I already miss the noise and the endless kulitan.

"Ate Patulong Naman, Please."

Those words changed the course of my afternoon.

I had planned to get away from the house, hang out in a coffee-shop for a while --maybe read a chapter of Snell and answer a crossword or two -- then go to the mall and window-shop. Instead I ended up slumped on the floor cutting paper and wrestling with long strips of tape. Not exactly the way I wanted to spend my afternoon! 

But how do you say no to your little brother?

I was watching another episode of Numb3rs (S04E11) earlier today (I have all episodes on my hard drive and I never get tired of repeatedly watching them!) and there was a scene where Charlie gives an interview about a case then gets stalked and almost gets killed. When Don arrives at the scene they have the following conversation:

CHARLIE: That wasn't the first time I saw that truck, I think he followed me last night.
DON: What are you talking about, why didn't you tell me?
CHARLIE: Because you were already so pissed off about my interview. So I just didn't tell you.
DON: C'mon Charlie. C'mon. You can come to me. You come to me for everything.

Maybe it's instinctive, that when your younger siblings need help, you want to be the one they ask for it. No matter how long you haven't been in touch. No matter what the circumstances. Whether it be an engineering project, or a murderous stalker, or financial assistance. Kahit pa hindi kayo masyadong close.

So today, I was THRILLED to be asked for help. It felt really really good to be needed by my super-smart-soon-to-be-engineer brother. Even if it was only to glue and tape sheets of paper together! That's something I can do better than he can, YAY! Haha joke lang! Truth is, I missed doing stuff him. We used to be really close (we even named each other "Brother Dear" and "Dearest Sis" on our phonebooks haha) and do lots of things together like jigsaw puzzles and movies, but these past years, we've just become too busy and involved with our own lives. Even now that I'm living at home we mostly stay in our own bedrooms because he's always studying for an exam or doing his manuscript or finishing a project while I keep myself busy with StumbleUpon and my stash of downloaded TV shows (what a productive life I lead haha). So yeah, today was nice.

Another scene from Numb3rs (S03E23):

SHRINK: So Don, How do you fee working with Charlie now?
DON: I just feel like I'm taking advantage of him you know? Like I'm using him or something.
SHRINK: Charlie?
CHARLIE: I love it. I love working with my brother.

I hope my brother (or my sister) never hesitates to ask for my help ever, because I love working with him too. :)

Family Ties

Last week, my cousin got married, and because it was a long weekend, our relatives from Mindanao came to attend the wedding and do some sightseeing. There were 20 of them! So again yay to Cebu Pacific for the cheap domestic flights! (I've been a fan of the airline since I flew to Davao in 2004, I hate delayed flights kasi hehe and now they always have seat sales pa!)

Can you imagine touring 20 people around the metro? Including the three families who lived here in Luzon, there were more than 30 of us! Haha. Meals were always difficult because it was hard to find places where we'd fit, plus the kids kept running around, so mostly we ended up eating in food courts and at one time, sa party area ng Jollibee! 

And it was tiring. :| If you were the one on vacation, syempre you'd like to cram as many sights and activities as possible, so naturally they wanted to do so many things, like go to Manila Ocean Park, watch in IMAX, go to Tagaytay, club hop in Tomas Morato, visit the house of Jose Rizal and the new Rizal Park, try out the rides in Enchanted Kingdom, go to Serendra eh they were here for 4 days lang including the wedding! And since my dad and his brothers were planning, their plan was no plan at all, typical boys! Hahaha. It was a rioooot! But it was also loads of fun, so when they left I was grateful for the quiet but I missed the noise haha ang labo.

The good thing about cousins is that although you never really get to see each other much, you somehow remain close. I don't know how that works, but I'm glad it does. I'm also happy that although all of us have obviously grown up, we haven't grown apart. :]

But what I really liked about their visit was seeing my dad and his brothers interact. They were so protective of Lolo and one another! During a late night drive to Antipolo, and during the drive home, they were calling each other in half hour intervals asking stuff like "Where are you now?" and "Are you okay?" nung una nakakainis because it was 1AM and I was trying to sleep and there was daddy yelling on the phone but it also made me smile kasi nakakatuwa sila. 

My brother and I are close while my younger sister grew up not really close to either of us.As kids, my brother and I fought a lot too, because seriously, little brothers are nosy little pests! But as we grew older and started to have similar interests in books and music, we grew closer. Now we're tightlikethis. Haha. My sister and I never really had that chance because I "left" for Manila when she was 9. All three of us live with my parents now, though, and we get along better now than we ever did before. So yay! I really hope that when we grow older and have families, we become just as close as my dad and his brothers and sister. Nakakainggit kasi! :)

Cousins

I remember the days when my cousins and I were really close. I had a cousin my age and we'd dress up in matching clothes to church, fix our hair the same way, sing and dance together for family, tell each other all our secrets. I'd get excited whenever she'd come over to visit, and I'd beg my mom to go to their house all the time. And then somehow, we changed. I don't actually miss her, we've grown too far apart for that, but I wish we'd never lost touch, stayed close, never grew up.

I don't have any picture of the two of us as children so I'm posting this one instead. They're the grandkids of our foster parents in the community. Aaah, bedtime gossip. My cousin and I used to do this all the time. I'd make sumbong how mean my yaya was to me and she'd always be supportive. 

I love you too, Dad. :]

My dad has never been one to express his emotions with words. For the past 22 years I only remember my dad saying "I love you" once, and it was on a card sent via LBC on my 17th birthday, the first birthday I had away from home. My relationship with my dad during my high school years was a tumultuous one, so I literally bawled my eyes out when I got that card. My eyes still sting and I still get the sniffles everytime I remember that tacky card with a telegram-style

Happy birthday Alison. I love you. Daddy.

Now five more years have passed and my "I love you" count remains at one. I'm betting that I'll probably get my second on my wedding day. But it's fine. Words or without, I know without a doubt that I am loved by my father.

My dad is the type to excuse himself from meetings or to dismiss his class early just so he could drive me someplace or pick me up from the bus stop on the rare chances I get home. On Mondays that I have to leave at 5 to get to Manila in time for class, he'd get up earlier to rouse me from sleep (knowing I am deaf to alarm clocks) and prepare my stuff. He'd drive me to where I can get a bus and then patiently wait with me until I am safely aboard. When my free weekends became scarce and going home became tedious, my dad would take a 2 hour commute to Manila on weekends to bring me home-cooked food, milk and gallons of yogurt. He'd drop off his package, take me somewhere to eat, bring me back to the condo, kiss me goodbye, then would leave, never complaining that the time he spent alone on a bus traveling was eight-fold the time he spent with me. Whenever my phones got lost or my laptop breaks down he'd put up with my tantrums and would be here the following morning to lend me his laptop or bring me a spare phone. He'd send me extra money without having to ask, puts up with my shopping expenses although he doesn't really get the point of having to buy a new dress or a new pair of shoes. My roommate tells me I'm spoiled, and yes I probably am. Although my dad never pampered me to excess I always got more than what I needed and most anything I wanted that he could provide.

Sometimes I wish my dad was better with words, but there isn't really anything he could say that I don't already know. I can only wish he knows how much I love him in the same way I know that he loves me.

So thank you Dad, for everything. No matter what you think, you are and you will always be the number 1 guy in my life. I miss you, and I love you too. Happy Father's Day. :]