Trip to ten and trunk

I read some where that one way to make the most of our daily lives is by consulting the past. Which meant going back to as early as ten years old. I've thought about the things that really gunned my engine and fired me up when I was ten-ish.

• History and pop culture, imagine having to memorize 100 Philippine history facts per day and then keeping up with the latest names in the national government. Even though I cannot remember how our teacher chose the candidates for the interschool quiz bee, I could not have thanked her enough for choosing me to be one of them. Back then, it gave me a sense of pride, a sense of responsibility.

• Dance is probably one of my oldest passions to which I don't remember having a beginning. Memories of my toddler, elementary and high school years were peppered with photos in various outifts doing all sorts of dances. I've been a trained folk dancer in high school but have also done my share of pearly shell, mr boombastic, macarena, and let's get it started. I've danced to ethnic songs, gospel songs, and a live rondalla. I'm not a great dancer. I just really love to dance so much that in another lifetime, if all choices were mine to make, I would want to be reborn a hardcore dancer. I could be a ballerina in one lifetime, a hiphop dancer the next, a jazz dancer in another.

• Old stuff, think Maria Clara dresses, capiz windows, four-poster beds, and wooden trunks. I don't know why, I just think they're elegantly beautiful, soulful.

• Taekwondo or just about any form of martial arts. I remember keeping a yellowed instructional booklet or was that just a figment of my imagination? But fact is, against my Dad's wishes, I egged my brother to coach me. Unfortunately, he didn't have the will nor the patience, despite my annoying persistence.

• Playing tindera at a neighbor's sari-sari store. I've lived in a closely-knit neighborhood for most of my life. My parents were close with some of the neighbors and that meant where ever my parents were at, there I was. Of the many houses and families we'd go to, I'm fond of at least two households because they owned a sari-sari store. Everytime there's a customer, I would feel so happy just by simply asking what they needed and being able to give the item to them. I had silly fun at peeling sachets of toothpaste, and shampoos, getting coke or beer inside the ref.

Then my mind digressed to what I'll do when I become a mom in the future. That will be to remember buying a wooden trunk for each of my kids. A trunk, or anything that can hold memories of my kids' childhood. That trunk will be their very own time capsule to hold things they've created, wrote,or took home. Maybe it will be something they can go back to when they come of age, most especially on a time when they are trying to find themselves. Probably back to a time when they had their most innocent desires, were in their happiest state.

Missing

Two daughters, or maybe three, are missing their dads today. 

Though my dad has passed away seven years ago, the longing never did.

Stranger and a tissue

It's not everyday that we meet kind people. Not that I'm a pessimist, but kindness often times feel like a virtue on the verge of extinction. Today though, a lady offered me tissue. The sweltering morning has my entire body covered in sweat and it's just the start of the day. The lady in long sleeved pink polo saw how utterly uncomfortable I was and that after going through my bag I seemed to have forgotten my hanky; she then opened her bag, searched for a short while and then got a pack of tissue and offered it to me. Grateful, I took two pulls out of the pack but she just held it in front of me and I decided to take another pull. I had nothing but thank yous to say. She could have cared less about a total stranger without a hanky.

photo from www.minorsaint.com/

The Quarter-Life Crisis

The Quarter-Life Crisis
by unknown

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know and may or may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too and are not really cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you would be doing or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and are scared.

You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing with the same people on a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they weren't so great after all.

You are beginning to understand yourself and what you want and do not want. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging a bit more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and add things to your list of what is acceptable and what is not. You are insecure and then secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough to get to know better. You love someone but maybe love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are not a bad person.

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap and getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision.

You worry about loans and money and the future and making a life for yourself and while wining the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~shane/text/quarterlifecrisis.html
*photo not my own

MRT 3

My daily commute to work via MRT reminds me of so many things. Today, much to my amusement, it reminded of a game called musical chairs, also known as trip to Jerusalem.



In the game, a lively music is played and the kids must go around the chairs set in the middle of a room. When the music stops the kids scramble to find a vacant chair. The one kid left standing, is out of the game. The next round begins with fewer kids and even fewer chairs. Sounds familiar, right? It was fun too. School age fun that is.

Now I'm just like any urban professional anxiously waiting at the platform. I can feel everyone is getting ready to play. Everyone is waiting for the train to make its stop. As the train finally arrives and the door slowly opens, one girl nearest to the opening places both her hands on the door, as if willing it to open wide faster. Think, darna-style here. At the smallest possible space, she squeezes in and then another follows, and then everyone gets a go at it. In seconds, the throng of females at the platform filled the train. Today, I got a good seat and most likely have shoved at least one girl out of my way. So much for musical chair fun.



Seeing my daily grind in the MRT as playing musical chair is better. Makes the experience more tolerable and getting a seat is the prize itself. Being a kid left standing is not okay anymore. Not while you are left standing while rubbing skin with another sweaty female, while another's butt and boobs is pressed on your back, while you are pressed against another female who has her long hair sticking all over your sweaty face. It's awful and that is an understatement.

*photos not my own

Charlie's Grill and Grind

Just after my late lunch I remembered yesterday's Ang Pinaka episode, Top 10 budget-friendly places to eat in the metro.I'm thrilled that my personal fave Charlie's Grill & Grind in Kapitolyo, Pasig is in the list. Even more so that an untried mexican fast food is just one tricycle ride away from where I live. It's comforting to come home to what's tried and tested delicious but there's an equally yummy satisfaction to be had in the untried and unexplored.


Italicized in the "Ang Pinaka" list are two places that I've tried myself. Good burger is more budget-friendly but go to Charlie's for the juicy, fresh black angus burger and come back again, and again for their "fresh fries." Ohhhh... Heaven... Did I already say juicy, freshly-made burgers and fries?

Must bring your dad, your brothers, uncles, and guy friends to Charlie's. Schedule burger-fries bonding with your girl friends too, but make sure the ladies bring their appetite. Charlie's big messy burgers are not for the faint-hearted nor the waif-thin. And please ladies or gentlemen, eat your burger with two hands. It's more of an experience that way.

Ang Pinaka-Budget-Friendly Tsibugan
more aptly called, eats for Php 200 and below...
(QTV's Ang Pinaka / June 06, 2010 episode)

10. Persia Grill
09. Charlie's Grind & Grill
08. Buffalo's Wings N' Things
07. Ya Kun Kaya Toast
06. Burger Avenue
05. Yen Yen Taiwan Streetfood
04. Good Burgers
03. Masuki Mami House
02. Mexican Express
01. Adobo 'To!

first blog high

Welcome to fivecents!

fivecents is my take on things trivial or otherwise.

Other titles that crossed my fickle mind:

• self-indulgence...too wordy
• mental masturbation...liked it, but might not be helpful in conversations with green-minded guy friends or guy acquaintances
• i masturbate...right. like i'd actually use this, ever.

the other titles just seemed too fancy or too lame.
five cents is my two cents' worth of anything and everything under the sun.