adventures in neverland

pls click here for my tagaytay adventure in december. if you care.) sunday. two in the afternoon. january twenty seven. the sun was at its hottest. while a cold wind was blowing, i still removed my sweater because it was not enough to ease the sun's angry rays. elbowing with other shoppers, we made our way into the depths of the market place looking for jackfruit. one vendor told us that it was not in season, so it would be hard to find. but we were undaunted. like seasoned shoppers, the harder to find the thing is, the more determined we are to get it.  the "it's not in season" is for the novice, the callow, the weak. we are the opposite. we are seasoned. we are ripe for picking the best, not for the picking. there were mangoes, green, yellow, ripe. seductive. alluring. pineapples with their promise of sweet, juicy meat inside. but we ignored them. yellow, tiny bananas abound. watermelons too, big as basketballs, even bigger. heralding the advent of s...

we were supposed to go beaching. but because we are women, we changed our minds, ditched puerto gallera and headed to gay tagaytay instead. driving on a quiet, traffic-free saturday, with the sun still undecided if she would honour us with her majestic presence, we did not regret our sudden change of heart. the two hour drive was a breeze, with katy perry humming "peacock" (i want to see your peacock) and her other novelty songs keeping us jovial all the way. %%%%%%% it's been a long, long time (more than a decade, at least) since i last spent the night in tagaytay. the last one, i think, was the seminar sponsored by san miguel corporation for manila-based reporters who were members of the economic journalists association of the philippines. i will forever remember those beer fueled, fun filled nights when reporters got together discussing not the day's biggest economic and business news, but the gossips, quirks of the people we cover, comic antics and other ...

it's sunny outside, although the air is a bit chilly. these are the last days of summer and soon winter will set in. i ought to be in the beach, but i still have to find the energy to pack towels, swimsuits, books, magazines, cameras, snacks for a day of lounging at the seashore. plus i don't have the nerve yet to ask a former special friend to drive me to our favourite beach, which is an an hour's drive away from central. he is the only one i know in central who drives a proper car. we are still awkward with each other. we have not talked much since i came back. we had coffee once, but we were both quiet. chos. &&&&&& i just finished cleaning up my flat. i realised i haven't done this thorough cleaning in two months or more. the last time i did so was when the gay squad (tito mon, erik and jimmy) was in town. it's my favourite household chore, by the way, cleaning, scrubbing, changing the sheets and pillow cases. wiping dust and...