Meet The Parents

27 11 2007

Maliban sa pagde-defense ng thesis saka pagsagot sa tanong na ‘kelan ba talaga masasapul ng asteroid ang mundo?’, isa pang nakakakabang experiens ‘yung pagharap sa magulang ng maylabs opyurlayp.  Para ka ring sumali sa isang talent show na kinakaliskisan ka ng  buhay ng panel of judges na simbangis ni Simon Cowell.  “Anong alam mo sa buhay?  Anong ipapakain mo sa anak ko, bato?”.  Hindi po.  Betlogs ko po.   

Muwi kami ni BebeKo sa probinsiya namin nung Linggo para hingin nga ang kamay ni BebeKo.  Kabado nga ako kasi baka seryosohin kamay lang talaga ang ibigay.  Hindi naman ako nabigo kasi may kasama namang legs saka katawan.  Haha. 

Buti na lang at wala tayo sa makalumang panahon na ang mga namamanhikan ay hinahanapan ng dote o ‘yung ari-arian tulad ng lupa, at bank account.  Pano na lang pala kung hinanapan ako ng account.  “Ahh, meron po akong limang prenster account, saka multiply account din po.  Meron din akong fixed asset, ‘yung ari ko po mismong nakadikit”.    Sabi noon ang babae, hindi nililigawan sa kalsada, kelangang sa bahay.  Kaso mo, di ka nga naman tanggap sa bahay kaya wala kang choice kundi ibalik sa kalsada ang pagmamahalan.  Alala ko tuloy nung nililigawan ko pa lang si BebeKo, magsasalubong kami nyan sa palengke na kala mo di magkakilala sabay palitan ng ‘lab notes’ na walang tingin tingin kala mo negosasyon ng Mafia na nagbibigay ng ransom note.  At nakasulat nga in bold letters gamit ang Estabilo Boss, “Mamyang gabi sa bodega, tabi ng basura, iwan mo ang isa pang lab notes o irog”.  Hay nakow, nakakatawang alalahanin ang nakaraan. 

Siyempre naman hindi makulay ang lab story kung walang kumokontra.  Ayaw talaga sa ‘kin ng Mama ni BebeKo.  “Anong gusto mo sa lalaking ‘yan playboy?  Itsura pa lang, adik yan, adik”, laging pa-discourage epeks ni Mama kay BebeKo.  Huwat ?  Ako adik ?  Tong itsurang ito ?  Hindi kaya ako marunong mag-marijuana. Shabu lang.  Haha !  Hinde.  Biro lang.  Hindi talaga.  [hitit hitit buga] Sobrang relihiyosa din ang Mama ni BebeKo.  Nung nanliligaw pa lang ako at nakakatuntong na sa bahay nila, palaging nakabantay sa min, kala mo anytime bigla akong tubuan ng sungay kaya nakahandang buhusan ako ng holy water.  Mama, water proof na kaya ang mga cute debils ngayon.  Di ka kasi nanonood ng Youtube. 

Makapal na din mukha ko ngayon.  Dati kasi tito saka tita lang ang tawag ko, ngayon nakiki-Mama saka Daddy na rin ako.  Nung nanliligaw pa lang kala mo di makabasag pinggan na nakaupo sa kasuluk-sulukan ng sala, ngayon pakalat-kalat na ako sa kanilang bahay na naka-shorts na lang at nakasampa pa ung paa kong amoy dedbol na isda sa rocking chair habang pumipindot-pindot ng channel sa remote.  Haha, ang kulay kalabaw, pinturahan mo man, lalabas at lalabas pa rin ang tunay na kulay [salawikain ba ‘yun ?  Parang ang tunog gawa gawa ko lang ah]. 

Siyempre por dat time being, hiwalay muna kami ng tulugan ni BebeKo.  Di pa alam nina Mama at Daddy na ‘living together’ mode na nga kami ni BebeKo dito sa Maynila.  Unless one day, bigla siyang mangalikot ng internet at mabasa ‘tong blog na to.  Salamat, buti na lang mabait ang diyos at inimbento ang tinatawag na ‘generation gap’.





My House Is Your House

12 12 2006

Maybebe pays for the house’s rent for three grand.  When she first moved in, the place was empty.  No TV.  No bed.  Nothing.  I moved in to her house last October, 2006 the time I asked her we should buy an electric fan. I can’t sleep without an electric fan.  That was our humble beginning.  We had to sleep on makeshift bed made of cardboard boxes covered with a comforter.  We have no money to buy things.

It’s also her first few weeks in the job as administrator, while I had my at least three months at work as software engineer.

By this month, I borrowed money from my company’s local loan association and started buying our first few appliances.  The watching machine, the refrigerator, tv, rice cooker, and of course, my first chopping board.  We name our applicances like our friendly neighbors.  I call the refrigerator as Banonoy.  He’s a Sharp buddy ref.  The rice cooker is Indira, after maybebe’s friend.  Indira is a freebie when we bought Banonoy.  Tv is aptly named Tebe, and the dvd player is Debede.  The washing machine is Bakekang.  I don’t know how sane it is to be naming one’s appliances, but it sure does feel like you have many members in the family. 

Naming your appliance I guess, is a way of battling the loneliness in this urban jungle.  Everyday when you go to work, you sit beside a total stranger in the bus, or race to the escalator with someone you don’t even say hi with.  In the movie Castaway (2000) Tom Hanks talks to Wilson, a volleyball painted with a face out of charcoal to survive the odds of being in desolate island. 

Or maybe, I just get a kick out of calling cold metal appliances with a name.  I have a motorcycle in our province Cagayan and my friends call him Hulog.  Hulog meaning it is being paid installment for three years at the motorshop. 





Boy Meets Girl

12 11 2006

Boy meets girl.  Boy courts the girl.  Boy gets his first date, never mind what’s the showing whether it’s some triple x.  Girl gets attracted up to the kili kili level.  Girl says yes to the boy.  After all the usual rituals of courtship, BebeKo and I is now in the adjustment phase of our relationship.  That’s the time when boy moves in to the girl’s apartment.  We have weathered from the storming phase, and that’s the time when girl is suspecting boy has another one and boy is jealous even with the girl’s brother.

Part of living together is knowing who’s to do what and what to do next.  It’s awkward at first but it is exciting like the excitement you get when your balls get tickled by chicken feather.  I do the laundry, and BebeKo does the cooking, ironing and cleaning the house. 





How Do You Know You’re Ready to Get Married?

6 08 2005

It’s booze session again.  On a round table, over a bottle of gin and grilled bangus dipped in puttanesca  (some backyard spices that pareng Gerry mixed with tomato, garlic and chili). 

Here we talk of things mundane to things profound.  We debate on the system of our government, the politics and how dirty it is (Gerry is the ‘debate whip’ and he has to argue it’s not dirty because his family is in politics), and finally, when we’re all sober, we go weakling and discuss the eternal feeling of love.  What a schmuck.

Gerry:  When do you think you are ready to marry?

Me:  When I have the money.

Gerry:  No, that’s a rhetorical question.

Me:  W-hat is rhe-torical question?

Gerry:  You don’t answer.  I ans-wer.

Me:  Insipid.

 

Gerry:  I am not insipid.  I am bastard.

Me:  I know.  We all are.

Gerry:  But dude, the moment… you wake up one morning with your girl.  And you look at her… She’s sleeping like a princess even if she isn’t… and she’s snoring… and you have the guts to tell yourself…  “I think I don’t want to wake up one morning without her by my side.”  Now, that’s the time you are ready to get married.

Me:  Sweet.