She Who Must Not Be Named

I was all set to give my new baby a name. Suffice to say it was just short of having a baptismal party, with ninongs and ninangs in tow and the works.

After all, the hardest part – determining the most suitable name to call my new car- was over.

Technically the car isn’t mine, it belongs to the company. But so long as I humbly submit myself to the beck and call of the almighty company, to work and to slave, for better or for worse, in paid sick leaves and in health, till resignation/ retrenchment do us part, I shall be enjoying the car benefit.

And since I will be stuck with the car for the next five years, I thought of giving her a name to personalize the ..uh.. partnership.

Arriving at THE NAME has not been an easy task. For one, there is that looming benchmark; it has to be a name at par with her predecessor…the exotically and seductively sounding Tanya..

It didn’t help that after posting the Tanya entry I have received numerous messages from inquisitive friends asking who my next car will be. Talk about pressure. .

So name-shopping I did…

Initially, I considered some Spanish names – Maria, Corazon, Socorro, Rosario, Dolor, Amparo. Just listening to the series makes you sigh and utter gibberishly …Madre mia, que bonita”; “Tiene una cara perfecta pero es si inteligente?, Mama Cita donde esta Santa Claus?”.. But before I get flipped out by the romance of the language, I had to remind myself that these names are now attributed to women of the bygone era . Ah que lastima !

The name, I decided, has to be more 21st century. It should evoke mystery. Undoubtedly feminine with finesse and spunk. It should be enduring. Pleasant to the ear even after a couple of years and thousands of mileage.

Tiffany, Stephanie, Katrina, Olivia, Kristina, Melissa – Such gorgeous names. Unfortunately I had to scrap them out from the list because I have folks in my network with these names. Lest I earn their ire, I took the safer route. Hell hath no fury than a lady friend named after a lifeless metallic junk.

Moving on with the list

Amanda – hmmm I picture Griffin and Page here. I haven’t known anyone named Amanda who’s not pretty… a good name… a possibility…

Asia - too slutty, no thanks.

Cindy – a winner… but could be associated with Cindy Kato and Patay Cindy… sorry Ms. Kurleto, this one’s out…

Anjanette – close your eyes… what comes to your mind?.... nice name right?...

Britney – taken na po (hikbi)….. .definitely out…. (Trivia- Britney and I have the same birth date, kewl- ok so you’ve got something in common, so what?)

Bianca – ah… a name fit for senoritas and herederas, fair-skinned damsels who’d faint at a pin prick, another one of those “Tiene una cara perfecta” kind of name.. Marvelous (sigh) …but way up there on the pedestal…unreachable.

Hermione – Cute name. Cute character. You gotta admit the way she says “Wingardium Levi-yoooo-sa” is kinda haughty, smart and sexy. She could Avada Kedavra me anytime… But cradle snatcher I am not ….next please…

Winona – hmmm fancy, I did consider this. I picture Ms Ryder in Coppolla’s “Dracula” before her klepto bout. Her name though, is used so often in gay lingo, its glamour has been reduced to the level of chaka, chuvalu, and cheness so I guess this one is definitely chugi .

Jolens, Jopay and Juday – If it starts with a J, It’s kinda okay (hey that rhymes !!)….but nah…too Jologs.

Keanna, Kuhdet, Krungkrung, – What’s with K man? I’d rather walk half-naked from Antipolo to Bicutan, in the heat of the midday sun than name my car after them..

And then it hit me…I saw a big sign in a construction site with THE NAME to be… Yep That’s it. ! Why not? Cute name… very feminine. .. Not too classy. Not too jologs either. The recall is great. Two syllables, 007 letters, and starts with a P. Can be both scientific and poetic. Ah perfect… The search is over…

But life is full of ironies.. On the night, I planned to reveal the name, my friend Jenny offered an urban legend. It sounded more like a curse. (Hi Jen, sorry for the delay, I know you looked forward to this entry.) (By the way, folks out there, if you’re planning to buy Flowers for Valentine’s or for wedding, please order from Ka-Blooms, owned and managed by my lovely friend Jen. Grabe shameless plugging ito hehehe)

Now where was I? Oh yeah, the curse… According to the curse, guys who name their cars don’t end up in a meaningful relationship.

Hhhhuwhaaaat???? My incredulity exactly. (It was not just an ordinary what. It was more surreal, like the Dove commercial “No, she’s not my daughter, she’s my granddaughter” incredulous kind of what)

Hey I might have the name ready and all but…..I just didn’t want to taunt fate.

Am not superstitious… (Yeah right ).

You must understand my situation I had no choice…(Ok we hear you)

So reluctantly I have finally decided to call the car “She Who Must Not Be Named”.

Darn !

(In case you’re wondering what the name would have been, you’re invited to guess. Hanep ah, naging interactive na itong blog. First one to guess it correctly gets 2 orders of kinilaw and 6 bottles of San Mig light in Riverbanks or a dinner at Seven Suites at Antipolo. Cheers!)

(Special thanks to Atty Mildred for the photo used in this entry. Great shot! Keep shooting!)

GOODBYE TANYA

Goodbye Tanya.

Alas…Some good things never last.

As you’re going your way and I goin’ mine, let us be grateful for the journey that has been.

Thank you for one and a half years of fun-filled memories.
It has been such a great ride and it wouldn’t have been as memorable without you.

You were my first and that makes you special…

I will always remember our frequent drive to White Rock- the way we deftly maneuvered the serpentine roads of Antipolo.

I will cherish our Carpe Diem moments – unscheduled lunches in Tagaytay, spur-of the-moment RORO to Antique, free-wheeling in Baguio, getting stranded in Calapan, sunset-chasing in San Jose, ghost hunting in Bugasong.

I will always recall the sounds we’ve listened to, from the hilarious tambalang balasubas at balahura to the weekend tandem of Cherry and Paul in Light Rock to the “ginapamitaan bisan diin” time slot of my bro.

I will never forget your captivating Coronado Cherry scent.

You’ve been part of the family. I know my parents, my brothers and my sisters, even my friends who knew you intimately, would surely miss you.

You were always there for me - when I had to go early to the office or when I had to stay late to finish some stuff. Even on weekends you dutifully accompanied me, like a princess in green shining armor

I know at times I may have neglected you.
If I could turn back time…. I would spend more time with you, sleep with you more often, wash your whole body with more passion.

But now it’s time for us to go on our separate ways. I would definitely miss you.

Goodbye Tanya.


(Tanya is the name I gave to the green Civic issued to me in Wrigley. My first car. I shall be turning her over this week to the next owner)

You're Dah Man, Pac Man !!!!!

Last night I found myself clutching the rosary uttering the Apostles Creed, Our Father and the 53 Hail Mary’s in Espanol (one way I practice Spanish ).

Pray the rosary, I rarely do, unless there’s something I really wanted to ask- like the release of Angelo Dela Cruz.

Last night I was restless and desperate; I baaaaadly wanted Manny Pacquiao to win the fight against Morales. I have never salivated like a hungry wolf over a victory before- well not since the Onyok Velasco Olympic fight.

This just wasn’t Manny’s fight. It was the fight of the Philippines. The hope of the entire nation lay on his hands literally.

In these times of uncertainty, of despair, of endless political bickering, we badly need an inspiration. We need a hero to remind us that we are indeed lucky to be Filipinos.

There was no other way. Manny has got to win. ( I actually received a joke text message that the 4 Magdalo members who got out just wanted to watch the Pacman fight and promised to return on Monday-hehe cute joke.)

Sunday morning, I was glued to the TV watching the much-awaited fight. Wanting to savor the excitement, I texted my 2 supervisors who were watching in SM Cinema not to text the outcome of the results.

However while round 2 was still going on TV, I received a message from a former student

GJ : “ Sir, alam ko na result ng laban =( “

The “=(“. led me to thinking,… My God . Was it a loss? I pleaded to God that it wasn’t true. Please please, the Philippines badly needed this win.

Damn I didn’t know I was that desperate, I actually negotiated that if He would let Pacquiao win, I would not just be a good boy, I will be a very very very good boy. ( Sa amin na lang ni Lord, kung anong mga pinangako ko hehehe)

If the battle was indeed a loss, I would have to know that very moment. So I googled “Pacquiao” and there it was, the announcement “ Pacquiao beats Morales”.

It turned out the “=( “ actually was to express disappointment by GJ for knowing the results already.

At any rate I didn’t care if I knew the result already while round 2 was still going on.

Pacquiao did it ! We made it ! The Philippines did it !

YEBA !!!!!!!! YEBA !!!!!! YEBA!!!!!

Damn, I have never been so proud to be a Filipino…

To Manny the PacMan… You’re the MAN!!!!

Thank you. Merci Gracias. Salamat ! for making us proud!

Kahit mali mali English mo, I don’t give a damn, I have elevated you to idol status along with Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Jose Rizal, Agatha Christie, Pope John Paul 2, J.K. Rowling, James Bond and Angus MacGyver.

I am so ecstatic I will actually treat my friends for a beer drinking session to celebrate your victory. (well kung ilan kakasya sa apartment)

Damn I am so happy I will buy your album instead of Ultraelectromagneticjam (didn’t know till today that you’re a recording artist).

I will give up being Kapuso temporarily if only to watch you in the Kapamilya network

I will totally support you, I will buy all the products you endorse.

I will stock supplies of Alaxan kahit wala akong body pains.

I will pakyaw Darlington socks kahit baduy commercial niyo.

I will wash my clothes and scrub my toilet with Surf powder – hell, even wash my face with it.

I will wear No Fear Underwear even though I may not have the balls for it.

(Just make sure you don’t endorse Bambini, Pau Liniment or Likas Papaya when you come back, ok?)

I will consume my entire load if you become a Big Brother housemate.

I will erect a statue for you when I become rich someday.

I will name my first child after you, kahit babae… (okay, okay will somebody whack me please)

Manny, Maraming maraming salamat !

Response to the Message in a Bottle

A friend asked how the Jodl of 2006 would have responded to the Message in a bottle. So Cecille, here goes a rather long entry. Suffice to say my planned 3 entries for the week have been fulfilled.

Thanks Stan for the photo.

THE RESPONSE

January 20, 2006

Dear Jodl of 2001,

Hello there. Got your message. Though am not sure if the letter was meant for me or for some future version of us, the Jodl of 2011 maybe?

You threw a non-biodegradable mineral bottle to the sea? Tsk tsk.. your passionate environmentalist friends would crucify you. Better make it up for Mother Earth. Go plant kamachile or santol or any fruit-bearing tree in the backyard after reading this. And I mean it.

No, that bottle was never picked up. You failed to include the fourth scenario: saving a draft of the message in your journal and reading it a few years after.

An older, bolder and rather exhibitionist version of yourself (C’est moi) posted it on the net. Now the whole cyberspace knows what a sappy person you are. Tsk tsk tsk… Kidding.

The year now is 2006. We are five years apart. It’s kinda weird writing to you. I mean I don’t have any idea how to send this message to you ( time machines are not yet invented and will probably not be in my lifetime, I mean our lifetime, …whatever). But I do hope you get this message wherever you are in this time-space continuum. (Geez this is really weird, kinda like talking to yourself with a dose of Einstein and Wormholes and Twilight Zone kind of stuff… weird but kewl !)

At any rate today is JANUARY 20. At this date in your time, you, Aims, Meann and your first year class are in Davao for the Art Appreciation Field Trip.

How can I forget? You were checking in at the hotel when it was announced on national TV that Erap has stepped down and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was sworn in as the new President. You screamed at the top of your lungs like some lunatic. Indeed it was a great time of rejoicing for the whole nation. Cory Aquino, Raul Roco, Loren Legarda, Franklin Drilon, Teofisto Guingona and GMA were crying and hugging each other at the Edsa Shrine. Mabuhay ang Edsa 2! Once again the Filipinos have proven the power of unity.

But your gut instincts were right bro. You knew it was too good to be true and that it would be a matter of time when politics would rear its ugly head. If I could tell you now how things went for the next 5 years you will be amazed.

I won’t give you the details but here are some hints.

A person would make a supreme sacrifice kuno only to make bawi.

GMA will choose a Vice president who will eventually be her antagonist.

One Antri-Estrada senator who cried copiously for committee refusal of opening the envelop eventually sided with Estrada in the 2004 elections.

A movie actor who once said he would never join politics would be a presidential candidate in 04 elections.

On hindsight, a person who could come up with an equation that would predict how politicians would align after a certain period, would be a friggin’ genius. I bet a predictive equation (assuming one can be derived) involving the factors and uncertainties and extraneous variables in politics would far beat the equations of Chaos Theory, Quantum Mechanics and Thermodynamics combined.

Wow am amazed with the unpredictability of politics Go figure bro!

I didn’t realize this letter is already getting long. Anyway I’m really enjoying this.

Know what? I suck. I mean it has been five years since you planned of buying that dream house. My progress so far? Zilch. Nada. Zero . I wish I could send you a winning combination of Lotto or something. And when you win, buy that beachfront property in Taringting you’ve been eyeing since high school.

But then again if you win, that would alter drastically the time- space continuum. The Jodl of 2006 would be a filthy rich millionaire and that means I, a corporate slave, an ordinary aliping saguiguilid would cease to exist (gasp!). No sir, I wish to continue my existence, worthless it may seem, so I guess I will not send you the winning numbers after all.

Remember the 6 degree theory mentioned by Chris Montemanyak ? That one can link to anyone in this planet through a max of 6 connections? Well that was the underlying concept of a revolutionary thing right now called Friendster.. You’ll get to know it in 2004 and it will somehow change your life. Plus there’s this exciting thing called blogging. You’ll love it. Just like the journal emails you’ve been sending from Mindanao. Only this time it’s like writing your journal naked in front of a big audience hehe.

You will get to have your closure in due time. Just be patient. Friendster would be the key to your closure. I know it has been a tough time for you. Finally deciding to give up the teaching job to go back to Manila and pursue your dream …our dream. I can’t guarantee you the ride will be smooth. The withdrawal would really be hard but it’s for the best. Sometimes it’s the pain, the emptiness and the longing that make us whole. ( Naks, ayan nagpakaprofound na naman kuno ako)

Still the romantic fool eh? I mean come on, you threw a message in a bottle right? That’s sooooo 20^th century. It’s the 21^st century already bro. People no longer believe in soul mates or destiny or messages in a bottle. The one person you’re born to love forever? Come on, get real! And you’re already in your 20s. Grow up!

Ok ok. Sorry. I may have sounded harsh. I was only testing your mettle.

Let’s face it. How many guys at your age throw some sappy message in a bottle? Probably one in a thousand. Probably even one in a million. You see, my point exactly. You’re unique. Nah, weird is the more appropriate term.

You’re special… . No kidding. Kumbaga sa child, you’re a special child. hehehe

Kumbaga sa mga birds, you’re a Pithecophaga jefferyi a dying breed.

Kumbaga sa animal kingdom you’re an endangered species. Doomed for extinction.

So you see, the odds are against you. Better change with the changing times. Be more practical. Give it up man. If you want to survive go with the flow. Succumb to the banalities of life. Believe me… it’s liberating.

There now. I was just testing how strong you would hold on to your ideals. You don’t think for one sec I would forsake you, do you? A lot may find your act of throwing that message in a bottle, pathetic if not mawkish, foolish if not weird.

But you know what? I am proud of what you did. Many many years from now I would have a wonderful story to tell my kids.

Yes the world is no longer a romantic place. It is a harsh place for dreamers like you. For dreamers like us. But so long as there are people who see the romance and the possibilities, there is still hope.

Yes I have received your message and the message is clear. There is hope.

Hold your head up young man. I’m proud of you.

Jodl of 2006

P.S. You will be held up in an FX in the year 2002. That’s the closest thing you’ll have for a life-threatening experience. It will make you appreciate life more. I don’t want to alter much the time-space continuum but if you could just save the phone numbers of your 2 unknown text mates in another file it’ll be great. I have forever lost them.

Job Posting, Brain Boosting, Blog Bugging

1. Just this morning a friend told me that job street sent him a notice of this opening. Small world...It turns out that this was a posting for the job Ijust vacated.. hehe.. Any of you guys interested to handle Lean Manufacturing? Do send me a note I could send you the contact details of HR.

2. Check this out. Multitasking can be detrimental to the quality of your work. ( I wish I could tell this to my boss) Coffee can boost your mental performance (aside from babe watching, that's one more reason to hang out in Starbucks). Grey cells need to work out too just like your body. (reminds me of a Far Side cartoon last Sunday). Go grab a copy of TIME Magazine Jan 23, 2006. Lots of useful articles there on and for the brain.

3. As part of my New Year’s Resolution I shall be updating my blog at least once a week (if only to make sense of my boring life). Sorry if Friendster has this annoying program that sends Blog update notices, inundating your mailboxes. But hey better Friendster notices eating up your space than those pesky chain letters about a kid dying from cancer (shouldn’t that kid be dead by now, that letter was circulating since the 90's), or some religious stuff that makes you feel guilty and eternally damned if you break the chain or some suspicious proposal for fund transfer from Mlukesh Kwebagabu of Uganda.

Now here's a tongue twister. Try saying the title of this entry three time in 5 seconds. Cheers !

Goodbye Wrigley

Sigh….

Life indeed is a journey.

Last Friday, I capped off a one-and-a-half-year journey in Wrigley. Though short-lived it has been a wonderful and meaningful detour. ( BTW, It was a Friday the 13^th hmmm, it seems that significant moments of my life happen on this day)

I have accepted an exciting offer from my previous company, GE, to take on an expanded role of Environment Health and Safety Manager for 3 locations plus of course the role of a Six Sigma Black Belt

Most of my Wrigley colleagues were still in shock and in denial about my decision. I told them that it had been a tough and painful decision. I too was overwhelmed by the turn of events.

Looking back I could cite at least 2 reasons why I passed by Wrigley. One, maybe God wanted me to be an instrument to link two souls together. I’ve set up a blind date for a Wrigley colleague and a close friend from DPS. The two are now very much in love with each other.

Another, maybe He wanted me to meet two souls who would remind me of an unclosed chapter of my life. I’ve met 2 persons who were former officemates of ‘supposedly THE ONE’. It led me eventually to have my long due closure

At any rate, “Consummatum est”, the journey has come to an end and it’s time for me to move on.

The lines from a song by Jose Mari Chan come to my mind…

We’re on the road.

We move from place to place.

And oftentimes when we’re

About to call it home

We’ve had to move along

Life is a constant change

And nothing stays the same

Oh no…

Message in a (Mineral Water) Bottle

Five years ago today, I threw a message in a bottle in the sea of Zamboanga on my way to Gen San.

As a kid who grew up beside the sea I had this fascination of casting bottles to the sea. The possibility of my message reaching places far beyond my sight thrilled me so much. I guess five years ago it thrilled me still hence the rather mawkish act. ( I got the idea of sending a note to one’s self from Richard Bach)

Fortunately I had a draft of the message meant for me in my journal. It’s kinda funny reading it now, exactly five years from when it was written. It’s like going back in time and talking to my younger self. I hope I am not betraying my younger self if I posted it here. After all the message is probably meant for me now.

Jan 03, 2001

Dear Jodl,

Hello! In case you have forgotten you sent this letter to yourself in the year 2001. I am writing this letter on board MS Ezekiel Moreno of Negros Navigation. You are taking this trip to Gensan where you will drop off on your way to Dole Philippines School. This is your second year of teaching in that school.

I will put this letter in a plastic bottle ( would have wanted to put this in a wine bottle but none is available). I could think of 3 possible fates of this message. One this message in a bottle would never be found. Two, this message might be found but it would never reach you. Three, this message will be found by someone who will then send this to you. It must be the will of God then that this letter reaches you. ( Hmmm I guess I forgot to include the 4^th scenario, saving a draft of the message and reading it again a few years after hehe)

I don’t know why I’m sending this letter. Maybe it’s my way of assuring that I have hope for the future. I just wish that wherever you are right now you have achieved whatever your heart desired. Right now I might be at the crossroads of my life. I still have that dream of building a house beside the sea. I still dream of that magical moment when I’ll get to meet my soul mate. Have you found her already? How I wish things could be the other way around, that you are the one sending this message to me assuring me that things are going to be fine.

I hope you are happy where you are. I feel like succumbing now to the banalities of life. But I guess if you are happy, then I have made the right decisions. I am longing for that moment when I would finally become you.

Wherever you are don’t forget that you were once me. I’m at a loss right now. I hope that when you receive this letter you would already have found yourself.

Bon voyage. Enjoy this journey called life.

All the best,

Jodl of year 2001

The last sunset of the year

There’s something about the last day of the year that makes me nostalgic. It’s the last leg of yet another year of the journey.

Since 1999 I have an annual ritual of going to the beach here in Antique and watching the last sunset of the year.

Over a bottle of Super Dry and a plate of French fries or kinilaw, I would gaze in awe at the sun making its final touchdown for the year.

A celebration of a journey’s end.

There’s something so enthralling about the scene that sets me in the mood for recollection, for contemplation, for discernment.

And I go home recharged knowing that tomorrow the sunrise of a new year comes.

Closure

"You're Beautiful" by James Blunt

My life is brilliant.

My life is brilliant.
My love is pure.
I saw an angel.
Of that I'm sure.

After six years of running away, I finally got to meet her.

She was a girl with an enigmatic smile. The one who made my life meaningful. Yet caused so much pain.

We had been classmates together. She glided through our Math classroom one June afternoon. Never did I realize she would snatch my heart one day. We would walk together after class. She would tell her silly stories. I would tell mine.

She became my seatmate the following sem. And on a fateful November afternoon I saw her in a different light. There before my eyes I saw my destiny. She was the one.

She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.

But how can a goddess love a mortal? And so I took my time to prove my worth.

After college we worked in different companies. We would occasionally exchange emails. I did let her know about my feelings once but she was emotionally unavailable. She never knew how deep my feelings were.

I never lost hope. I was busy planning and building for our future. A year later, when I laid down my cards it was already too late. She was getting married.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

I did not attend her wedding. I couldn’t bear to see my dream crumbling before my eyes. I ran away. I kept thinking that in time the pain would go away.

And so I stayed for years over the mountains.

Far from the city. Far from the pain. Far from reality.

Yeah, she caught my eye,
As we walked on by.
She could see from my face that I was,
Flying high,
And I don't think that I'll see her again,
But we shared a moment that will last till the end.

And slowly she became a remnant of the past- a past that has slowly drifted away.

Occasionally she would surface in my dreams, in my intoxication, in my solitude.

I moved back to the city after three years. It took another three years before I got news about her.

I had to see her if only to close a chapter and move on.
As fate would have it. I got to meet her at the same place where I had seen her last.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

We talked like old friends catching up with each other's lives.
She’s still beautiful. It all made sense why I fell in love all those years.

But now it’s time to move on.

I have embraced the truth.

And though painful …….the truth is liberating.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
But it's time to face the truth,
I will never be with you.

Tawi Tawi Tales

TAWI TAWI TALES – PART 1

Last night, I and my friends from UP Astronomical Society celebrated the 10^th year anniversary of our trip to Tawi Tawi.

Ten years ago, we went against all odds to go south to witness a total solar eclipse -a phenomenon that would not happen again in the country till 2027.

The year was 1995. Ramos was halfway through his term. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo topped the senate race that May, breaking previous records. Channel 5’s Tropang Trumpo was the number 1 gag show, triggering GMA 7 to pirate Ogie and Michael V to form the Bubble Gang. Reigning queen Rossanna Roces, and boobsy challenger Amanda Page, were the sought-after TF stars- their movies Basa sa Dagat and Gayuma pitted against each other.

We at that time were wide-eyed, idealistic, impatient students of UP Diliman, living on a measly student allowance, dealing with egoistical, sadistic and prurient professors, spending the free time watching the stars in the tambayan (one of the brilliant ways to chill out - nada cash outlay)

Our four-year old organization was running low on funds. The members whose main competencies were along the line of star hunting and cataloguing heavenly bodies never knew how to package the Solar Eclipse as a lucrative event. We did not have the marketing pizzazz to convince, cajole or coerce the filthy rich would-be sponsors– they simply found the idea of watching the moon blocking the sun as neither glamorous nor investment-worthy.

We were so desperate we even decided to join the Game Show “Ready Get Set Go”. But we failed to make it in the screening process. The producer probably decided that a bunch of bespectacled, stiff, star-crazed “nerdaks” could plummet the show to un-cool depths.

In the end, the 12 Tawitawi hopefuls who yearned to go had to do each one’s personal solicitation. It was a huge sacrifice on my part as I had to really cut down on my expenses –for a typical Isko student, this meant the usual Aristocart meal instead of the Jollibee ChickenJoy- to collect an amount close to 2 thousand pesos.

If money generation was tough, the travel down there was hell.

In order to fit our budget we had to take the Air Force C-130 flight to Mindanao. Getting booked was rather tricky; a process involving repeated calling and begging, even name-dropping to give us some slots. The C-130 is a military cargo plane and ideal hitching vehicle for the cash-strapped and the clueless. One simply had to endure standing amidst the haphazardly stacked irregularly-shaped cargoes- like playing the Human Twister game in a warm humid room several thousand feet above the ground. It was far worse than ROTC; in ROTC you stand erect under the sun but could shift your weight to loosen those stiff muscles, in the C 130 flight you would have to wait for the stop-over to rearrange your awkward position and redistribute the blood circulation to blood-starved areas. (on hindsight the tasks done in the Extra Challenge and Amazing Race seemed anemic)

After a 2-hour grueling ride, 2 stopovers and several muscle cramps later, we dropped off at Zamboanga. Like the horror movies, this one had a sequel. The boat we took to Tawi Tawi didn’t have any shower –and the trip would be for two nights!!!. We were awfully sticky from sweat, dust, salt spray and grime spread all over our body; our pores were clogged up and gasping for breath. We couldn’t drown the thoughts of discomfort by sleeping it over; our skin was uncomfortably sticking to our bunk. Thank goodness for cotton, Eskinol and Rubbing alcohol, this was the closest thing we could have for a bath.

No shower, I could probably take. But seeing other passengers spitting anywhere on the ship floor is another. For the lack of an apt word it’s totally - Eewww.!!! To avoid stepping on these mucous landmines I spent almost the entire trip lying on my bunk.

(to be continued)