Starting the Year in the Zone... The Twilight Zone

The Vanilla Bear and I have always had an eerie kind of connection. We would spend a lot of time sitting in our respective cubes in the office and chatting online so it would look like we were busy working. We were almost always found out because we would be giggling too loudly and slapping our thighs so hard.

What was so LOL/LMAO/ROFL/LYSOL/BOLOL/PIMPLMAO-funny was that we were reading each other's minds. You can hear our keyboards clicking away, punctuated by the hard CLACK of the Enter key to signify being sent across. And right on cue, the stifled laughters would burst forth. Because while our fingers were busy typing, our brains were already communicating. We would be typing the exact same thing, rushing to beat the other at the Enter key, only to read back the exact same words we sent.

We called it the Twilight Zone connection, complete with the LSS-ful theme: "Ni-nu-ni-nu, ni-nu-ni-nu..." And it is special. It is almost statistically impossible to meet 1 person out of almost 7 billion in the world that you have that kind of connection with. I thought I was lucky to have that statistical impossibility tucked under my belt. Until now.

Now, I am twice as lucky. I have met another Twilight Zone connectee. B.B.T.B. currently holds the number 1 spot on the Quickest Time to Achieve category (sorry, Vanilla Bear!). It took him all of 2 seconds to establish this connection with me. He also, by the way, currently holds the record for Most Times Done in The Shortest Time Possible category. Only because I have been talking to him more than the Vanilla Bear lately.

Man, oh, man. While others are wishing they had even half a connectee, here I am with two. I wonder how it would be like to have both of them in the same room. Hhmmm... maybe we don't have to say anything at all. We would probably just be L-ing our A's O!

Note to Self Part 1

Finally! After being back for over a month now, I got to catch up with my Foyer Fifol.

I was excited to hear the news about Jiggs opening a bar. I always wanted to have a "place", you know. Somewhere you can hang out at with friends, and stay until after closing time. Someplace where you will always be welcome, where you will always find a familiar face, "...where everybody knows your name..." Sorry, couldn't help it.

Only problem is, as always, it's way out there in QC. I live in the South, about a 2-hour commute away if you don't have a car, which on Saturday night was the case with me. Or you can cut down travel time if you take the MRT (by maybe 30 minutes), or a cab (but will cost you more). So you see my dilemma. I now have a "place", but it is so far away from where I live that it poses too many hassles:

1 - i have to get an early start for dinner (travel time takes 2 hours, remember?)
2 - i have to brave the traffic from South to North (all along EDSA or C5. Either way, traffic's a b*tch!)
3 - i can bring the car, but that means i shouldn't drink... too much (and what's the point then?)
4 - if i don't bring the car, then i will be dependent on the good graces of my friends (?) to drive me home. If they're not feeling gracious, that's another 250-cab ride at an ungodly hour
5 - i can't get drunk (see numbers 3 and 4), which kind of negates the purpose of coming to the bar

hhhmmmm..... dilema, dilemma.

But I was there last Saturday to show my support, and break my sober streak. Yes, I had to leave the house 2 hours before the time on the invite. And yes I had to take public transportation, and endure all the exciting things that come with it: cheap music, loud passengers, heavy traffic and stale air from the air-conditioning.

I also got to congratulate Jiggs on opening his dream bar. I saw my college buddies again after 6 months. We re-hashed all the old stories. We told the same jokes. We made fun of the same people. We made new memories.

So my note to self: a 2-hour commute in heavy traffic is worth seeing your friends for. will do again... and again...and again. RIDE n ROLL!

Movie Mania

It has been a while since the Vanilla and I saw a good movie. We were starting to weekend-mushy-movie-date when we were sort of interrupted when I was "shipped out" 2 years ago. And now that I am back, all our sabik-ness came pouring out.

We made a date to see the latest Nicholas Sparks romance, Nights in Rodanthe. This movie had all the makings of becoming a favorite in both mine and the Vanilla's books. It starred 2 of our most liked actors: Richard Gere (who in the Vanilla's words, is still ma-pogi at his age), and Diane Lane, who is Gere's equal in achieving the art of aging gracefully; it was one of those "aaaaw!" movies; and it was set in the most amazing beach house in the world -- it sits right at the edge of the water!

I don't want to give away the ending for those who have not seen it yet, and I do not intend to write a review here. So I will not give a synopsis, but talk about the experience instead. All I will say about the movie is that it did not disappoint. It might have upset some people *wink wink*, but it did not disappoint.

The movie was a reward. If the Vanilla was a good girl and went to the dentist's, then we will go see a movie. "It's okay, don't be scurrrred." And don't be embarrassed either. I know a lot of grown-ups who have never gotten over their fear of the dentist, or at least the dentist's drill. It's one of life's unpleasant necessities that we have to accept. Good girl!

On our merry way to Festival Mall, and somewhere in the heap of the multiple conversations we usually have going at the same time, we kind of admitted to liking Troy Bolton, a.k.a. Zac Efron, and the rest of the HSM gang! *kiliiiiig moment!!!*

I know, I know, it sounds so juvenile. But it's sooooooo refreshing to see a teen movie that has no sex, no violence, no drugs, and just kiligy-cute actors re-living high school! I have to admit, too, that I have seen all 3 movies now. Staying at the Pungkin Patch for a few months means watching the Disney Channel. I was surprised that I enjoyed HSM as much as I did. So it was inevitable that we had marked HSM3's opening on our calendars. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to see it with the pungkins, seeing as I was back here in Manila when it opened.

The Vanilla was gracious enough to see it with me, even if she's already seen it. We timed our screenings perfectly so we'd come out of Nights just in time for HSM3's opening credits. Ingenious, too, that we went to the feel-happy-kind-of-sad movie first before the feel-really-good movie so we wouldn't be leaving the movie house in tears. Ooops, did I just give away the ending to Nights in Rodanthe?

Vanilla, I have a reminder for you: "Keep ticket for inspection." And so we're back!

Vanilla, Vanilla

To use the words from one of our Motown hits over the weekend: "[Vanilla, Vanilla], I keep coming back to [Vanilla]..."

Ok, so I switched the words. But I meant to say the same thing. I do keep coming back to Vanilla.

I have always liked vanilla -- as an ice cream flavor, as a base-note for colognes and perfumes, as flavoring for gourmet dishes. Vanilla reminds me of what home should feel like. It conjures a picture of a comfortable stuffed armchair, a good book, a hot cup of cocoa, and a rainy day. It warms me up inside, and makes me feel that indescribable feeling in the pit of my stomach when I am utterly and absolutely...happy.

It's the way I feel when I wake up in the morning, and give myself a long liesurely stretch -- like a cat -- savoring that heady, and semi-woozy feeling in the head when I come out of it. It's that feeling of laughing out loud until you are doubled over in a ball, with tears streaming down your cheeks and holding on to that stitch on your side.

This is the ultimate feel-good feeling. It's the exact same feeling I have when I spend time with Vanilla. To add to my list of favorites, Vanilla is now a favorite friend, too. I feel at home with her. I feel like myself with her -- no pretensions, no excuses, no justifications for who or what I am.

I made a good choice. Pat on the back for me :)

Stretching the Altis

Yesterday was the Mrs. Salves' bebe's christening, and of course, we had to go. Even if it meant driving all the way to Pampanga.

It was one looooong road trip starting from Parañaque to Pampanga in the morning, then passing Parañaque again all the way to Tagaytay on the way back while playing (and dancing and singing to) motown/funk/OPM disco tunes all the way.

Why? Because it was a Sunday! And we were driving a rental. You know how a rental is -- the new-car scent that hits you when you open the door for the first time, the slippy-slidy feel of your fabric-clad bum on the new leather seat, the cold whiff of air from the air-conditioners, that no-bump ride courtesy of a brand new suspension, and the secure feeling of no break-downs/overheats/other fill-in-the-blank car troubles.

Alright, so the scent wasn't so new-car-ish; and the seats weren't leather, and I'm not even sure if it's the suspension that makes the ride smooth (hehe). But you have to admit, laughing out loud with close friends, making fools of yourselves by staging on the spot mini concerts, and the unlimited kwentos you had to catch up on is one of the best ways to spend an idle Sunday, and makes a 9-hour drive worth it! Well, plus the fact that I didn't have to do the driving :)

And our quote(s) for the day: "Do not sarwa! NEEEEEH!"

This is me, just posing with the car. No, I did't drive. But I did most of the singing and dancing :)

With the Vanilla, waiting for dinner to be served @ Leslie's in Tagaytay. (Stole this picture from her, because this is sooo much better than the one I previously posted here)