san valentin

i just had one of the best v-days in a looong time.
wasn't planning on doing anything.
actually wanted to kinda disregard the whole v-day thing altogether...

except everyone around me was wearing red.
and greeting, "happy valentimes!"
and asking me stuff like, "ano, ate karen, may valentine ka ba?
sabi ko, "wala ho. pero okay lang yun."
sabi nila, "di bale, hinanap kita."

was all ready to spend a quiet night at home.
"watch" a movie and do paperwork.
was going to catch up on clinic stuff.
no shortage of things to do...

actually thursdays are one my favorite days at the clinic.
the two thursday physical therapists are great.
one is Estong.
the other is Michelle.

riot naman si Estong talaga.
tawang tawa kami si Michelle.

corny, corny pinoy jokes all day long.
"ang corny!"
come to think of it, he and Nathanel would have a field day marathon.
they also have great rapport with the clients and their families.

turns out Estong can also play the guitar and sing.
so, pagkatapos ang clinic namin, nag song hits kami.
for the past two thursdays, Estong has brought a plastic shopping bag full of song hits.
worn out and tattered, the stack of song hits magazines are a treasure trove of guitar tab and lyrics.
tagalog songs, love songs, folk, pop, oldies, hip hop even.
i really love hanging out with musicians.

on thursdays, the three of us go out to lunch together.
always to armi's carinderia.
the three of us somehow manage to fit onto Estong's scooter.
Michelle crouched in front.
Estong in the middle, driving.
me in the back.

then we order tortang talong, lechon paksiw, pusong saging, sisig, meatballs, pinakbet, beef caldereta, sinigang...
whatever strikes our fancy that particular day.
ako, palagi, nag order ako ng lechon paksiw at kalahating order na pusong saging.
sarap!

always a liter of pepsi to share.
(to think i RARELY drank soda before this trip)

atsaka tatlong kanin.

the tv is usually on tuned into the lunchtime program variety show/game show.
we call out the answers to the quiz questions.
i feel embarrassed when the show host pokes fun at the contestants and makes them dance to sexy music.
after lunch, we go back to the clinic and do song hits and our charting, in that order.

in the middle of song hits, i got a two texts.
one was from Reimon, wanting to drop by the clinic for a valentine's hug, as he made his way back to manila.
the other from Maryan, inviting me to an arty, foodie, concert taking place at the angeles museum.

by the time song hits ended and charting was done, it was around 4pm.
naligo ako.

Reimon and his driver Kuya Eugene showed up as the sun was setting.
i invited Reimon to the angeles museum thing.
we exchanged our vday hug, and he gave me a small gift bag filled with pastillas, saging, and (jyesss, ang bagong favorite ko) passionfruit. also a pirated copy of brokeback mountain, a movie that we were wanting to see together last week. we had this long conversation on longing kasi, and we thought that that movie captured it, heartbreakingly so.

around 5:30pm is when people start buying and preparing for dinner.
vendors sell garlic peanuts, fish balls, balut, boiled corn, etc. in the streets.
the sun is setting and it is cool. people are out in droves.
as we left madapdap, we bought corn and peanuts.

as we drove towards angeles, the sky was lit up with setting sunlight. the high clouds caught the light and reflected back pinks and yellows.

"let's watch the sunset!"

"sige, where's a good place?"

"let's find a hill. or a bridge."

the sun waits for no one.
nary a hill nor a bridge could be found fast enough.
we pulled off the road into the middle of a sugar cane field.

Kuya Eugene magically produced (as he is wont to do) two chairs out of nowhere.
we sat and munched on corn and roasted peanuts and sipped prado basil tea from a yellow thermos.

we laughed as Eugene snapped our photo in the middle of the sugar cane field.
talagang production number ito.
our conversation meandered from topic to topic. we laughed and were quiet.
a swarm of mosquitos hovered and spiraled near my head, but didn't bite me.

sappy tagalog love songs were playing from the pick up.
we made fun of them and pretended that we didn't know who sang them.
the sheltering sky bade us farewell.
and the moon came out, right above our heads.
"hello Beautiful," i whispered to her.

Reimon was craving chickenjoy from jollibee.
so we went to dau, and i had my very first chickenjoy.
it was so amusing to eat fastfood with him kasi, whenever we are together, it is usually organic this, biodynamic that.

afterwards, it was 8pm.
he dropped me off at the museum.
he had to get back to manila so Eugene and his wife could celebrate valentine's day.

celebrated v-day again with the Tayags.
met 4 or 5 of Claude's siblings. (12 all together!)
and mga pamangkin.
and his ina.

Maryan made kwento-kwento about watching the recent senate hearings live.
the music floated up to us from below.
Maryan made buffalo chicken wings and boasted that she is a better cook than Claude.
they were good ha.
nice cheeses.
and wine.
a full, full evening.
Claude made baon for me with all the leftover things that don't need refrigeration.
he was really thoughtful.
alam niya, wala pa akong ref, eh.
they dropped me home at 11pm, i think the latest i've been home to the clinic.

got online and chatted and talked and skyped.
that was five hours ago.
left the house, Joy!
now, i just gotta remember to get some sleep!