separate lives, a movie date and a birthday girl

i don't even know where to start.

but i have to or this post won't see the light of day, so to speak.

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let me begin here then.

embarking on new adventures

two of my friends over at the central bank press corps are embarking on a new journey, with the other  one treading a new path that's quite far from business journalism.

let me start with mitch. the dreamy young woman who has it all -- beauty, brains, height, tons of talents - but remains humble, is joining the government's investor relations office to help sell the philippines' success story overseas. in case you have not noticed, we have quite a lot of triumphs the past few months, the biggest of which is the recent upgrade from standard & poor's, which raised the country's credit rating to a notch above the lowest investment grade level.

her joining the iro comes as no surprise (at least for me). we've always talked about having a job that's not only self fulfilling, but also has a positive impact on the country. we've toyed the idea of volunteering for various non-profit organizations, even putting up our own websites that will sell the philippines not only as a tourist destination but an investment haven.

of course, being both dreamers, nothing much has come out of those talks over coffee or beer at our favourite hang out, the harbour square that offers us a breathtaking view of the manila bay on  a clear, summer day, and if we are lucky, the famous sunset at night. it's like being in boracay minus the beachcombers in their distracting tiny, tiny bikinis.

i am so glad that finally, mitch has found her calling. the iro is just perfect for her unassuming, outgoing and hardworking personality.

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another reporter whose name also starts with m, max, is going for the road less travelled, as the cliche goes. i hope he won't mind if i spell the beans, pardon the use of another cliche, that he's joining the priesthood. this may seem like a huge surprise to everyone, but those close to him quite expected this because max has always been close to god, and is really spiritual by nature.

too, he is as humble as the next saint.

in the years that i've known him, i never heard him speak ill of others (that is, to gossip about someone just to ruin his reputation), nor heard him put himself up by putting others down. he's always been humble and unassuming. he has this simple demeanor that endears him to everyone. that is why if someone gets into his nerves, then chances are that person is at fault. not him.

i never really had the chance to be close to max unlike mitch. first because he doesn't go out much after work at the central bank. he doesn't drink beer, nor even have coffee (chos!). one gets the feeling that he deliberately avoids being with people who might soil his good reputation, or even corrupt his soul. he is that pure. double chos!

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to mitch and max --- wish you, separately of course, all the best in your chosen new careers.

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the wife, the lawyer and the boobs

then a movie date. i haven't been with mother fil for quite a long time. we were both busy. right after typhoon yolanda struck my hometown, i have been doing a lot of domestic errands. too, there were those frequent visits by my biological mother to the city for various reasons that i no longer want to elaborate. maybe indira just misses mahatma gandah's beauty. hahaha.

anyway, after we saw each other at mitch's send off party on thursday night, she asked me if i wanted to go on a movie date with her. you see, i have always been her constant movie companion on those corny, forgettable filipino movies that only make me want to sleep. triple chos! this time, i said i would go with her on one condition -- we are not going to watch anymore filipino film.

of course, she said, because we will be watching the the other woman, a comedy and woman empowerment (no, i won't go as far as using the "f" word -- feminist, gagah) sort of movie starring the funny cameron diaz (remember her perfect comic turns in my bestfriend's wedding and there's something about mary? i do).

so the next day, after her golf match over the rainbow, we had fun laughing at cameron's and her two other "friends" antics as they tried to come up with various schemes to get back at the man who fooled the three of them -- the wife, the lawyer and the boobs!

but before we headed to the cinema, we first had frozen margaritas at friday's in greenbelt three at three in the afternoon. alcoholics lang ang peg!!

here's the trailer of the movie in case you're interested:

(by the way, there was a second condition that she also agreed -- she would pay for everything. haha)

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birthday girl

while i hate celebrating my own birthday, ironically, i love going to someone else's birthday parties. syempre saan ka pa kundi sa libre? haha.

girl, was i glad that kler asked me to join her, cecille and digs to celebrate carmina's birthday over dinner at a japanese restaurant along pasay road. it was a simple dinner, but of course. what made it special were the conversations that we had while feasting on, what else, japanese food.

it was funny because as we entered our cubicle, we saw a group of nuns in white habits dining at another cubicle right across ours. a few minutes after we settled in, they left. one of us joked that maybe they sensed the arrival of the anti-zzzzzz people. hahaha.

we gossiped a lot. talked about the most recent scandals that rocked the country's elites -- the media shy daughter of a former president and her flamboyant husband, son of of one of the old rich families in this side of hollywood -- among other personalities. oh, it feels so good indeed to talk about the lives of these unreachable men and women of high society and their scandalous lives.

we were, i think, the noisiest group in the entire restaurant that a couple next to our table left right away after they finished their food. they probably wanted to transfer to another table, but the place was packed on that friday evening. well, we cant' blame them. the patrons. the food was indeed divine, authentic japanese according to a friend who recently visited tokyo, and quite cheap.

digs brought an ice cream cake that we hungrily and lustily devoured in a few minutes. haha.

thank you to the four of you for your time and presence even if you are too busy. true friends always make time for each other even if they're too preoccupied saving the world.

& to carmina, here's to more happy, fulfilling years. wish you more success!

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