About My Dorm

I've never really written anything about the place I'm staying at. About time I do so.

It's a quaint place. I share a room with my girlfriend and it's quite spacious. Enough for her stuff and mine and even a wall cabinet. Of course, my girlfriend has more stuff than I do. I haven't gotten around to buying more stuff for myself just yet.

Anyways, the two bathrooms are communal. The common room's where I have my TV. Thankfully the other guys are not abusing the boobtube too much. And there is a number of interesting tenants as well. Obviously I'm going to put them in aliases. Heh.

There's the next-door neighbor's are P and M. P's boyfriend is overseas and might be returning to the Philippines soon. Also, it's looking likely that P will move out this August. And M? She defenitely needs to move out soon. Her work's at Quezon City. That's HOURS away from Makati and we're talking about rush hour here. She's getting thinner by the week.

And then we have the transients T, L, and E. They all know each other from before staying at the dorm. E and L are in the same music band. I don't seem them often and when I do see them, they're usually jamming together to practice or they just came from an event. T is quite a party girl too. At the very least, she goes to an awful lot of parties.

And then we have J. he has a room all to himself and likes to keep it that way. Unless his girlfriend's over but she's in Cebu and she'll be there for years. Anyways, he's got nothing to do but collect movies and anime figures. Those or earn money to buy gifts for his girlfriend.

And then we have D. He's the one that cracks us up sometimes. He's engaged to be married soon and he still won't give up fooling around with whoever he sets his eyes on. And to think that his fiancee's dad is a soldier. On active duty. Who still has his service firearms with him. You get the picture.

And then we have B. He's the perv of the place. Ok, it's a given the guys are pervs to some degrees but he bakes the cake. I mean, his social skills can REALLY use a lot of polishing. He can be creepy sometimes. He holds his head by hunching forward and looking down his nose. Not a very comforting sight really.

Oh. The newest tenant. M2. He's into buy-and-sell but income's shaky. Which is why he still hasn't been able to pay me my 150 pesos despite being weeks due. Sigh. People often seem to owe me and I'm too lazy to collect. Gotta change that.

Anyways, those are the people staying on my floor, the second floor. Hmmm... I gotta include the big rat that raids our garbage from time to time, the mice that scurry where ever they please, and the cockroaches that range even farther.

No matter how many roaches we kill, they just keep popping out of the worst places. Anyways, the food pantry's loaded with roachballs so there's no way in heck they're raiding our larder.

National Museum

After around 18 years, I was finally able to make it back to the National Museum and tour the exhibits. It was Mitch's idea. She said since I didn't grow up here in Manila and didn't know the sights, I might as well start crossing items off my list. So off to the museum we went.

I had fun looking at the San Diego shipwreck exhibits. Nothing much save metal and ceramics and pottery survived centuries being under the sea. But what little survived thrilled me. No, I did not get excited over the plates. I don't think anyone could be excited by that. I was excited by the various sizes of cannons. To think these cannons were used in the past to fire the cannonballs I saw was interesting. For some reason I imagined being there, aboard the San Diego.

And then of course this little imp of details starts telling me the San Diego wasn't engaged in broadside firing. It only fired once and then it rammed the Dutch ship it was facing. That brought me up short. As much as I would like to hear the thunder of cannons, I don't think I'd enjoy the ship I was on mooching the other ship. Unless of course it's a boarding action for close-quarter combat.

But I digress. The point it, the museum's fun. Nice place too. The building used to be a government building and had to be rebuilt after the war. Imperial Navy soldiers decided to use the building to resist the American liberation. The Americans responded by pouring artillery shells on the place. The Imperial units in the building were destroyed. So was the building too, judging from the photos.

More to this in the future.

The Drawing Board

Ok. So before I went to sleep yesterday, I calculated my actual expenses. I had initially thought 200 pesos would be sufficient for my needs. But I was wrong. Dead wrong. My actual for meals, fares, and miscellaneous expenses actually total 340 pesos. Ok.... My budget plan is out of date and in need of serious review. This means re-allocating some of the payments I've planned. My landlady won't be too happy but she'll have to live with it. I'm still paying after all.

Anyways, the goal's 4,000 pesos by my birthday. Hmmm... This will be a fine challenge. I should really start pulling some strings. Remind people who owe me that they owe me, stuff like that.

Gotta make a plannned expenses' report and at the end of the pay-cycle make an actual expenses' report. Then I ought to compare the two and see what other blindspots I have. Cripes. This is gonna be tiresome.

On a different subject, the jester of the department is gone. Today was his last day. Others called him the Showman. He will be missed. He always had something funny to say and never failed in getting at least a smile from all of us. I hope he finds greener pastures and whatever it is he's looking for.

Uh Oh. Dry Spell...

I was looking at the calendar. If we're lucky it's payday today. If not, then it'll be tomorrow, after shift. And while looking at it, I looked at when the next one would be. The distance my eyes travelled from tomorrow to the next payday was long. Too long for comfort. Crap. 16 days.

Half of my pay will be gone in an instant and I have expenses to settle. And I'm supposed to make my remaining cash last 16 days?! Ohhhhh boy. Looks like I'll have to do serious refinancing. Screw this. Serious adjustments are in order. Rent'll be delayed but I'm effing tired of paying dues in full and then scrambling around looking for ways to borrow. For once in a long, long while, I'd like to be on top of my finances.

Nostalgia

I was about to drift to sleep yesterday when for some reason, I started missing the toys of my youth. Strange really. I look at them now and I see cheap plastic, usurious mark-ups, and passing fads. I look at them with jaded eyes. But for a single instant, I was able to recall looking at them with awe, the bright colors holding my attention. Surprising really. I thought the kid in me had died long ago. I was pleasently wrong. I wonder what else will pique my nostalgia...

On Being Too Cerebral

I know someone in the office. Smart guy. Very smart in fact. Information ready to be shared in an instant. Even if you're not looking for any data. Hmmm... To know more than you expect to. To be engrossed in what catches your fancy. It's the mental version of a physical workout.

Too bad I don't do that anymore. I don't know why. There was a time when I would go out and seek knowledge for the sake of knowing. Not anymore. I'm a voracious reader, addicted to written words. But nowadays, I learn what I want to learn because I like to know about them. Or I have to, as the case may be.

Which goes back to the first paragraph. As much as I appreciate the information overload I get from time to time, I'm not really ready for the sharing. For some reason I feel my personal space gets encroached. If what is said is in the context of the discussion, then sure. Even if it's a tangent, as long as it's connected to the topic, it's alright. But to have a discussion that's totally unrelated and came out of nowhere? Man but it's irritating. Maybe I'm just being a grouch sometimes. Or most times. Meh.

Monday. Monday Always Sucks.

Been an exhausting shift. I'm tired. On the bright side, there was free pizza. Any free pizza is by definition a good pizza. Same with beer. Free beer is good beer. They're to be enjoyed. Now if I can only have both free, I'm happy.

Also, it's a good thing it's the season for rain. I love rains. I don't know why. It's cooler, I think. I don't like warm weather when I was thinner. And now I'm heavier (or fatter) I hate warm weather even more. If it rains, I'm happy. I also enjoy walking under a drizzle. I like the feeling of raindrops fallin on my head. Nothing beats having coffee and cigarettes while watching the view while it's raining. It's peaceful. A time for reflections and thinking.

Mitch and I've been planning our trips this year. Ideally Baguio for September and Davao for December. It's going to cost me. Fare and other expenses will bleed me dry. Sigh. No avoiding it. It's been 17 years since I was last in Baguio. It's been 16 months since I was last in Davao. I want to visit my birth city. I have to visit the city where I grew up for the sake of family. If nothing else, I miss my siblings. I keep wondering how they look like, how they're doing right now. The youngest, Qayes, will be in high school soon. I'm sure he's growing out of his babyish looks. Well, gotta face it. Of the three of us males in our brood, he's the most good-looking.

I'm torn between buying a new console and saving up for my last semester. Hellspawn. Wants and Needs have never been neck-to-neck like this before. Life sucks. Hard. If only things were more linear. But if it was so, I'd be riling against life in general. It's funny. I push for independence and free will and now I have them, I'm almost immobilized by my choices. I know what I must do. Not too happy with it though. Funny. I not only want to have the cake, I want to have it too at the same time. Well, life's never like that. It never works the way we want it to.

I'd insert a dramatic title but I'm not up for it

Hmmm... I've been going over my earliest posts. They were more... open. The recent posts seem a tad bit restricted. Time to change that. The basic no-no is anything about work. I won't discuss my work day here. Instead, I'm gonna write about my life outside the office. That's a useful guide for me.

I'm still the King of Procrastination. No getting around that. I keep lengthening my list of things to do and keep making up new excuses to delay them. If I can only harness that creativity to something more productive, I'd be unstoppable. I think. Maybe.

Anyways, it's the start of my weekend. I'm happy since I can chill. God knows I slow down every Friday. Now I have Saturday and Sunday to relax and watch DVD's. I haven't gone out half a year now. No clubs. No bars. Nothing. Even getting drunk is now a bi-monthly affair. Or even less, sometimes.

Sigh. At least my rent's catching up slowly. Glacially slow though. By September I'm up to date. That means delaying any purchases I plan. Lord, so many plans to put into motion. At least my plans are better-defined now. For starters, I may be my father's son but that counts nothing for him. So I've removed him as back-up in case disaster strikes. Which means I must establish my own fallback position.

Irony

I can't say fate has no humor. I mean, here I was expecting a burden to be gone from my shoulders. A day before that was supposed to happen, a short series of mistakes on my part made it worse. Meh.

But still no complaints. No worries. I've got enough white hair on my head. No sense in adding more to it.

Also, it would seem it's nearing time to move to a new address. One preferably away from Makati, if possible. Away from Mayapis St to be precise. Sigh. My stepdad had given me a couple of docs to register at Manila City Hall. He knows I work at night and sleep by day. As to how he expects I do it, I've no idea. I don't even want to think about this.

Well, he shouldn't expect rush service. I'm here in Manila to start a new life and the past catches up on me slowly. Next thing I know they'll have me running errands. Again. Not anymore. I've had enough of that, thank you very much.

Off day. Bleh

Well, this day sucked. Where to begin.... I got my pay yesterday morning and I was supposed to wire money to my mom. Was planning a little extra since it's her birthday today. Anyways, I was more exhausted than I initially though. I just laid down for a bit and I remember nothing after that. I was practically in a coma.

And then the traffic was so bad last night there was no time for dinner on the way. My best efforts to get to work on time weren't enough. I was still late 14 minutes for my shift. The only consolation's the fact there's a lot of us who were late. It's official. If it's a Friday, traffic's heavy. If it's a Friday and it rained, then you're screwed in so many ways. Crap.

Well, since the day started so badly, it had to make sense it would end the same way. I don't think right in my head. My thought patterns are way off. I'm not as alert as I'm supposed to be. I made errors and mistakes. I sucked. Big time.

Anyways, gonna make amends this Saturday morning. I'm gonna get home. Have a hearty breakfast. Bond with Mitch. Watch videos. Nap a bit. And drink until I get a pleasant buzz. I could use the buzz. Frack it all to oblivion.

The Past Catches Up...

Ok, I left Davao over a year ago so I can start a new life. I had to go far away because the family has a long reach. So, since March of 2008, I was happy that despite the chains that bind me to my mom, I'm more or less free with what I do here in Manila. Not anymore.

You see, my stepdad was getting sick of working for his insurance company with the work climate becoming unbearable. Fate gave him an alternative. He'll manage a manpower agency that has a clean and good reputation. So he's here now. Normally I wouldn't mind but Fate decided to pull a joke on me. I live on one end of Mayapis street. My stepdad's office and his pad are on the other end. Until now I still can't internalize that bloody fact.

And what happens when mom comes to Manila to pay a visit or stay for a few weeks? I don't even want to think about it.