where the moon shines

The Broadband Internet service from Sky Cable is having some technical issues in our area. Thus, we have very slow connectivity. We noticed it a few nights ago but I dismissed it to just your regular loss due to high network traffic. But the next day when it was still pretty much the same, and none of us could load our Cafes in Cafe World, I figured we needed to do something about it. So I asked the boyfriend to give Sky a call.

That’s when we learned of the problem somewhere that’s been interrupting the service since last week, and is scheduled for resolution next week.  Being in customer service ourselves we knew what kind of concessions we can demand for and the boyfriend tried to go for credit for time lost, and he got confirmation for it! So I’m looking forward to next month’s bill, and I sure hope it will reflect the promised adjustment. If not, then they better be ready for this irate customer.

So anyway, with my connection being as bad as it is, I spent time in front of the PC, offline. I used Writer to work on posts for Between the Covers (notice how there’s so much activity there lately? I also spent some time doing post processing on our photos.

I started with pictures from the campaign for the 2010 Barangay Elections.  Both the boyfriend and I joined my cousins and other friends in a motorcade/walk to campaign for my Uncle Walter. I didn’t know about the motorcade until half an hour before it started, but off we went. I remember campaigning for my grandfather when we were kids, those were fun times, and there was no vote buying.

Anyhoo, here are the photos. All courtesy of the boyfriend, the photographer.

Alrighty, I gotta go do the dishes before the Kohler kitchen sinks get too laden with so much stuff. Oh wait, I don’t have dishwasher duties tonight do I? Alfred???

I don’t remember my sixteenth birthday. And I don’t say that with any bitterness ha, I just really don’t remember what we did or who I was with at the time.

My niece and goddaughter Ycha Shanti celebrated her 16th birthday on National Heroes’ Day, August 30th. It was a simple celebration, but she had a LOT of guests! I’m sure she will remember this for a long time.

She’ll be graduating from high school in a few months, and then she’ll be starting a brand new adventure: college/university life! Earlier this month, she took the UPCAT (University of the Philippines College Admission Test). Soon, she’ll be taking entrance exams to other universities in the metro. I have no doubt that she will find a good school. She has the head and heart for school, but she also doesn’t forget to enjoy and just be a kid.

I heard that she’s also interested in learning photography. Maybe my gift to her would be to help her develop that (since I don’t have the dough to get her her camera, haha).

Mana sa Ninang

Ate, with Da Boys

Me, Papa (our grandfather), and Shanti

with her girlfriends (since they were younger kids)

with her schoolmates, the other boys in her class didn't join the shoot. but there's probably as many boys as there were girls.

All photos were captured by the boyfriend, which explains the abundance of my face in these stills. Haha

It’s my mom’s birthday! Because of that, it’s a holiday in the cities of Manila and San Juan. She has work though since we live (and work) in QC.

<<Imagine smiling photo of Ma in this space>>

Ma turns a year older today, but she still doesn’t look her true age. She’s one of those women who can proudly say that age is just a number. I so want to show you a nice photo of her, one where she might actually be smiling. The ones I took from our Causeway lunch weren’t very flattering. I promise to take a nice one and update this post with it. The birthday girl deserves to have her photo splashed onto these pages. haha

Ahhh for the meantime, let’s use a photo from last year:

In her FB status, Ma mentioned that she’s starting to feel her age, but seriously she doesn’t look it (oh, I’ve said that already?). She can star in her own wrinkle cream commercial and people will buy the product. She doesn’t have much wrinkles. Truth be told, she’s often mistaken to be my sister!  :)

Ma is addicted to Facebook like I am. She probably even updates her status message more than I do. We often Co-op in Farmville, and she watches over the dishes cooking in my Cafe World when I can’t.

They say (I don’t know who they are though) that as we grow older, we become like our parents. Some people don’t like the thought of that. As for me, I really wouldn’t mind if I became just like her.

I don’t say this often enough, I love you Mommy!

Umpukan is a Tagalog word used to describe people who have come together to socialize (naks, that’s my definition, hehe). I did a Bing search and found a Wikipedia article on Philippine Psychology that mentions umpukan and it’s role in our culture. Anyway, I mention this now because I’ve spent hours with my cousins and their kids in an umpukan outside our homes.

The kids in this compound don’t need reasons to spend time outdoors. Recently though, they installed a basketball ring in the driveway and the boys have played ball at all hours of the day (and night). Sadly though, it broke off on Saturday. For us adults (their Moms and Aunts), Ton’s garage sale and the arrival of Edward were good enough reasons. Edward was an old neighbor of ours, and also my cousin’s brother-in-law. He also does hair. So he’s here from the province, and on this particular visit he had the tools of his trade. So while others lined up to get a haircut and color, I stayed there to just hang. Thankfully, mahangin kahapon so it wasn’t too hot out. Sunday afternoon was pretty much the same. I had a shift from 2am until noon, and then Alfred and I went to Trinoma right after. Still, I felt good and okay to sit with my cousins exactly where we were the day before.

What do we do in such occasions? Nothing. Mostly, we just chat. There are no restrictions too on what we talk about. It’s a good opportunity to catch up on everyone, and to find out what’s been happening to everyone else. You know, stuff you won’t read in the news. hehe. We used to do that a lot, there was a time when we’d be outside every afternoon or even in the evenings seated in the mismatch pieces of log furniture (benches/tables made of hardwood) outside. An iteration of this gathering would be when we would actually be doing something apart from just chatting: making cards (my uncle used to be in the card export business), playing Bingo, or even tong-its.

I realize that I can’t hangout that way with everybody else. I mean, with some people it just isn’t enough, we have to be doing something. You know what I mean? Others don’t like spending their time doing, as they say, nothing. Take the boyfriend for example. Simply hanging out isn’t his thing, unless there are bottles of ice-cold beer involved.

This year’s general elections, the first ever to be automated in the country, was a family affair for us. We headed to the voting precinct together, Dad, Mom, and I. Kuya followed a few minutes later.

We didn’t necessarily leave the place as a family though.

For Ma, and this will show her age (sorry!), her voting experience was expedited. Let’s just say that she qualified for special treatment. She stayed in line with us for almost an hour though before she was able to get on to the express lane. Hehe. My big brother was a few people away from us to the back of the line. He was there for over an hour before he decided to join mom and dad for lunch at KFC a few steps away from the precinct, after that, he decided to go home and bring lunch to Diane. He was supposed to go back but we were waiting in line for five hours, and the line behind us was growing longer. He had work that night so he had to go to bed…

So I spent the most time with Dad, and my cousins Nikki and Che. We ate kwek-kwek, KFC fries, drank KFC Krushers, cold water, and Coke, in those five hours. It was soooo hot that day, but being under the tent, and there being chairs, helped to keep our heads cool. Cool lang kahit na there were people who cut into the line. Friends who were supposed to be about four or five people down the line from us got pushed farther back. Tsk.

Anyway speaking of family, I’ll try to include a photo of Dad showing how much stomach fat loss he’s had. Yep, he’s lost a lot of inches and he’s been very proud of that. Other photos of the family on election day will be added to this post in a few…