Unfortunately for us Filipinos, we never got to experience what American kids call Treat-or-Treating. Nowadays, malls organize Trick-or-Treats during Halloween where they invite kids to dress in costumes and the participants go together as one group to participating mall boutiques to get treats. So basically, everyone gets a treat and nobody gets tricked.Yeah, I really don't think that counts. I don't even remember anyone calling it Halloween when I was a kid. It was always All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day or Araw ng mga Patay or Todos los Santos or Undas. And the custom was to go to the cemetery and visit the graves of our dead loved ones. We even had to clean up the graves and rid it of overgrown weeds. Other people stay on the cemetery overnight and play cards or drink alcoholic beverages (or both) with their other relatives who are, of course, still alive. What the logic is behind this phenomenon, I have no idea. Maybe it is to show the beloved dead that they are still being remembered. But you can do that just by visiting the graves, right? Why stay overnight, play cards and drink beer? Maybe somehow it sends this message: Hey, dead guy, if you were alive, you'd be playing poker and drinking beer with us. But since you are not, take comfort from the fact that we remember you enough to do it on your grave once a year.
I don't know. If I were dead, I'd probably be smirking at those people and say, "I appreciate your pretense of remembrance, but I'm dead. You, however, are not. So why not worry about yourselves?" (Dead guys, I mean well by this. Please don't do the Lazarus just so that you can smack me on the head.)
Whatever. All I know is that on Halloween, the place to be in the Philippines is at the cemeteries, not on our neighbor's house. In a way, it makes sense. Because if Halloween is defined by Trick-or-Treating on your neighbors, then it's Halloween all year round in the Philippines.
To our beloved dead, please look down upon us with hope and love, not a smirk. (photo source)
Over the weekend I went to Bohol with a bunch of guys. There was Janica and her fiance JP, who were the masterminds behind the trip, her three younger siblings, her two cousins and her three officemates. We stayed there for two days and a night. The first day was spent on the beach of the resort we were staying in. The whole day of the second day was spent on our country side tour. We all had a blast. By the time we went back to the port to catch a ferry back to Cebu, we were all so exhausted, we were barely moving. But at the same time, I feel like those two days were not enough. I have not spent enough time at the beach. I have not seen enough of the place. Therefore, with a rock-solid resolve, I vowed to return to Bohol. Someday... Bohol, when that time comes, make sure you're ready for me.
This is the place where we were staying. It was cheaper than the rest of them but it was still great.
Since I came to Cebu, I have had a very public affair with the beach. Beach, I love you.
This is from Sagbayan Peak. It is an amusement park. We went to the topmost part of the place and the view was freakin' awesome. It's worth climbing all those steps for. Can you tell that we were having a great time?
The infamous Chocolate Hills. Another breath-taking view worth climbing a couple hundred steps for.
Man-made forest. Cool and creepy at the same time. Janica's fiance said that it's his most favorite spot because we just had to stop at the side of the road and take wacky pictures all day long. No entrance fee required.
Because Facebook was blocked today in the office network but Blogger was not, out of boredom here is what I did:
I pledged to read one book per month starting next month for my own pleasure to Jessicarulestheuniverse.com. And because I love Jessica Zafra, I promise to do my best-est to abide by this pledge for as long as I live and I will also spread the awareness by nagging my friends to do the same. The website targeted to have 300 pledges by yesterday afternoon but since I was out for the whole weekend and yesterday being a holiday, I was not able to submit my pledge on time. What was more tragic was that only half of the target pledge was submitted by the deadline. Oh well, who says that battling illiteracy is easy? At least this is a good start. Now, all I have to do is make a conscious effort. On the bright side, I now have the extra push to really finish the last Lord of the Rings book. I have been stuck on it for, like, months. I know, I'm sooo lame. I'll do better. I promise.
Really. What is this abomination that they called a masculine wash? Do guys really need it? Granting, guys really smell bad, like, in general. But down there? I think this metrosexual bullshit is blurring the fine line between male homo and hetero. I mean, what could be more gay than a masculine wash? Where the hell is the stupid machismo that you guys seem to take so much pride in?
Guys, trust me. You don't smell down there. At least, not as bad as women do. I will be the first to admit that our smell requires a feminine wash. Yours doesn't. If you think you smell bad enough to be needing a masculine wash, you probably need to see a doctor.
A masculine wash. The thought alone makes me cringe. It is amusing come to think of it but mostly it is just disgusting. I am not being a prudish feminist but this is just incomprehensible. Is this a manifestation of your repressed jealousy of the female species? I'm just thinking out loud here. But here is another thought: why don't you guys grow a vagina? Then you can have a real use for a wash. And a pap smear. That way you can have PMS and can also bear children. Please, spare us from the torment of child-birth. That's a hell lot more useful than your need for a masculine wash.
And to the manufacturers of this detestable product, here's an idea from my friend: masculine wash that comes in different flavors! Just like the condoms! Oh boy. A man-purse, I could take. Maybe you should think about an innovation more worthy of a nobel prize, like breast pumps for guys. Or tampons for him. If that isn't a sign of the apocalypse, I don't know what is. Time to repent.
A movie I have not seen. Man-pregnancies
are convenient but not really appealing.
I have a confession to make. I have a fear of marriage.
When I was a kid, I had always imagined myself being married around this age. Now that I'm at this age and marriage is still nowhere near the horizon, I've grown skeptical about the whole thing. And now, there are all these talks about getting married. Almost everyone I know is either married or planning to get hitched. It could be that I'm imagining things but I feel like there are a lot of scrambling-to-get-married going on around me. Don't get me wrong. I am geniunely happy for those of my friends who felt that the time has come for them. But it is alienating to be standing alone on the other end of the spectrum. Okay, so I am not really alone. I know a couple of other people who share my sentiments so it's the three of us high-fiving each other on the anti-marriage corner. You may also say that this is mere sour-graping on my part. And I admit, it could be.
But let's face it. Marriage is not for everybody. All we have to do is look around us to realize this. My own mother is lucky. My father may not be perfect but he belongs to a different male human species long gone and extinct. Don't even get me started about the guys of my generation. That would entail a separate blog entry altogether. All I can say is, if I'm really desperate for someone to scratch my back, I'd get a dog. At least, it can be trained not to shit all over the place.
Be that as it may, I have not completely ruled out marriage in my uhmmm... future. In the far off chance that the universe will play a cosmic joke, then I will embrace it completely. Just make sure that it is not gonna be to somebody who is going to beat the crap out of me. Because unlike some people, I am not scared to spit in the face of the sanctity that is marriage. The joke is not gonna be on me.
I'm a goddess.
I'm a nut-case.
I just realized that I've become a here-and-now person and not anymore the look-far-into-the-future type I used to be.
I laugh hard.
I love harder.
