Goodbyes and Old Friends

I don't know if it's part of the features of my new Sony Ericsson phone, or if I really have gone schizo coz my phone's been texting and calling this certain person on its own. One moment I will just suddenly receive a text from him, a supposed to be reply to my text. And one day he asked me why I called when kakahawak ko lang nga ng phone ko. But thank God I discovered that it's been Nats who is texting him all along ( I almost got convinced that I really have gone shizophrenic!) She explained that aside from boredom the reason why she did it is that I need a proper goodbye. But the problem is I don't want a proper goodbye. Para sa akin it is not something you ask from someone, it is supposed to be given to you with kusang loob and you don't have to act like a stalker or something.

On the other side of the world, Lizette is also dealing with her own goodbye. She has finally able to get a goodbye from her KF in a form of an updated Friendster status of Single and a deletion of the binding testimonial coupled with his usual silence.

We may only get silence.. but the answer to our questions are loud and clear...that is the game is over.

Isaksak nila sa mga baga nila mga goodbye nila. Okay na ako. Ndi ko na kailangan nun.

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My old friend Louie and I crossed path through Friendster the other day. And last night we talked on the phone for two hours. He works in Cebu, I've worked in that place for four years and never kami nagkita, not even once. Funny that we have to meet when I am already here in Manila. Louie is one of my close guy friends back in highschool, and it was nostalgic when we were recalling our good old days. I realized na makakalimutin na talaga ako coz I couldn't remember most of his stories anymore.

It really makes me happy when I reconnect old ties with friends from Davao. It's like going back to those days when life was simpler and laughter was cheap.

And goodbye is a word you tell your friends during graduation.

Sagada

Amazingly beautiful and exciting.

That's how I will describe my Sagada experience last holy week. Our adventure began when we took the bus enroute Manila-Banaue-Bontoc, I have never passed a road that steep, yun bang pagtumingin ka sa bintana ng bus eh bangin agad makikita mo, feeling ko one small mistake ng driver eh tigok na kami. I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid of heights.

From Bontoc where we took a quick breakfast, we rode the jeepney going to Sagada, it was a rough (to the max!) 30-minute ride, sumakit talaga pwet ko. But when we got there in Sagada... it was all worth it. First, ang daming cute na foreign tourists.. hehehe... ang sarap sa mata, nice view and handsome guys makes a heaven on earth. =p

Our first agenda after enlisting our names at the municipal hall was Spelunking at Sumaging Cave. Pababa pa lang ako ng cave eh sumeplang na ako buti naman reliable tong pwet ko at ndi ako dumiretso sa ilalim. Sliding through the 500-meter deep underground is not my idea of Spelunking. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. I am not athletic and malling is my only way of an exercise that's why being able to finish the 2 hour caving without a bruise or a scratch is truly a feat for me. And I have my 20/20 vision to thank for that because I didn't have a hard time seeing through the dark path. It was even easy for me to look for a rock to hang on to when the path is slippery.

I came out of the cave cold and wet but I still manage to walk to our inn, and took more pictures and looked through the souvenir stores along the way. We wanted to have a bonfire after dinner but since we were all so dead-tired, we decided to sleep early that night so we can have a good rest and still have time to see more sights the next day. But before bedtime Nats and I were able to find their famous yoghurt with strawberry preserve which was only available at St. Joseph Inn. Lunchtime pa lang naglalaway na kami for that pero lagi kaming nauubusan, but it turned out not so delicious naman pla. Ang asim!

The next day, I woke up at 6 am.. ayoko sana maligo, pero ang lagkit-lagkit na ng buhok ko at feeling ko ang dumi-dumi ko na. So I braved the cold water.. I took a bath for 5 minutes, ang lamiiig ng tubig, I thought I was going to die inside the bathroom. I couldn't feel the towel anymore run through my skin after the bath.

So that's what they mean when they say "cold, cold heart".. because coldness can really be numbing. =p

After a breakfast of club sandwich and pancake at the famous Yoghurt House, we head off to the Echo Valley. Kung saan nag eecho pag sumigaw ka. Dun ko sinigaw yung mga tanong ko sa buhay-buhay.. hoping to hear back some answers but I only got echos. Maybe we don't necessarily need voices to answer our questions.

I love that place on top of the hill, I was sitting under the tree, watching the beautiful view and taking in the fresh air. I wish we had more time, it's the best place to read a good book, it's very serene... it's now my favorite place on earth.

We left at around 1 pm, I was really tired and sleepy but I couldn't bring myself to close my eyes when we were leaving Sagada because the view was breathtaking.

What makes Sagada a paradise is not the mountain view that surrounds it, but it's the experience that will leave you enchanted. It's truly a once in a lifetime experience to see the pages in your Social Studies books back in gradeschool come alive.

I am lucky and I feel so blessed.

Thank you Lord.

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check out my pictures at http://ariadbeetle.multiply.com/photos/album/10

The Song of My Heart

This is the song that kept playing on the bus during our trip to Sagada last weekend. Such a beautiful song for someone whom I truly, truly miss.

I'd Really Love To See You Tonight

Hello, yeah its been a while
Not much, how 'bout u
I'm not sure why I called
I guess I really just wanted to talk to you
And I was thinking maybe later on
We could get together for a while
It's been such a long time
And I really do miss your smile

I'm not talking bout moving in
And I dont wanna change your life
But there's a warm wind blowing
The stars are out
And I'd really love to see you tonight

We could go walking through a windy park
Take a drive along the beach
Or stay at home and watch TV
You see it really doesn't matter much to me

I won't ask for promises
So you dont have to lie
We both played that game before
Say I love you then say goodbye

My New Love

This morning, while walking along Ayala Avenue headed for work, I saw this guy making a phone call with his Samsung cellphone. The clamshell type phone really look pretty, classy and i don't know, it just have this appeal that kicks. It was indeed an eye candy but I still didn't regret choosing my Sony Ericsson K500i over that latest Samsung E600.

Yep, I just bought a new cellphone and I just died my hair in 3 shades lighter than my natural color. I am officially blonde! hehehe

Anyways, last week was an emotional roller coaster for me that made me realize that letting go of the past, learning to forgive and forget are my only ways to get off that ride. So I thought of giving up the tangible things as a start. It's like pushing off that seatbelt which I hang on for dear life and make a one big leap off that track. And my Nokia 6610 should be the first one to go. My close friends don't have to ask why.

Nats and I realized that choosing what phone to buy is analogous to picking a love of your life. I originally wanted the Samsung E600 because I've always wanted a flip-flop type phone like that of the phones I saw in Japan. This latest model of Samsung is aesthetically what I wanted. But its features is kinda disappointing, it doesn't play MP3, it has very small memory size and its infrared is not compatible to other phones. Plus it is so expensive! Even if it fits my budget, I still think that it is overpriced. Then I found out about this K500i, which carries all the features I wanted but looks very ordinary. I really don't like how it looks especially its orange backlight, but it is very affordable, way cheaper than Samsung but it plays MP3 and Video, it has bigger memory, a camera and has Quickshare. Indeed a value for your money.

So that's where my dilemma started. With all those features laid down before me, I still couldn't decide. It was hard to decide especially when you're not sure of what you are looking for. Like choosing a partner, we ask from our close friends for advice. So I texted my friends and asked their opinions but they unanimously answered Samsung coz it looks good on a kikay like me. But i'm still not convinced, so I went to Samsung shop to take a look on their demo phone. E600 looks really good, it's like holding on to my dream phone. But when I checked on it, it was unsatisfying. I even felt suffocated coz it was too small and its features were just few, just no room to do something else. But it still looks pretty though.

Apparently Nats was confused already, so she asked me.. "What are you really looking for?" and I just answered "I don't know. Samsung is an eye-candy but lacks feature, Ericsson is ugly but does a lot of things.", and then she threw me another question "So do you really need the MP3 and video player? since that's the only big difference on their features?" and I sad "No, I just need to text and call.", and then she dropped the bomb.. "Then why are you looking for something that you don't really need?" Which made me think hard.

But the features are not the only reason for my useless dilemma... it's the cost of the unit. K500i is really cheap, I can buy a lot more with my spare money. And when it gets lost, I wouldn't feel so bad since I didn't invest on it too much. And then she said, "Why are you so afraid of losing things? Ndi mo pa nga nakukuha, natatakot ka na na mawala. kaya masyado kang takot mag invest financially at emotionally."

I never thought that buying a phone could help me learn better about myself. My personality indeed reflects on how I see things. Maybe that's why I still feel unfree, I just can't save myself from this emotional bondage. I'm just afraid of giving too much for nothing.

I decided to buy the Sony Ericsson K500i, its original price is P9,000 but I was able to haggle it for only P8,700 and I bought the spare money for the pretty leather cellphone jacket and holder.

Physically, I still love Samsung... but Sony Ericsson gave me more than I expected. It has a larger screen which made me enjoy my pictures, videos and the Java games better. I can set my favorite mp3 as an alarm signal to wake me up everymorning (instead of that boring and irritating alarm sound). So even if I'm not busy texting, I'm still enjoying tinkering on my phone. I have learned to love it. I don't mind the ugly orange background anymore.

Maybe you really don't have to know what you want, you just have to be open to know it better first. Coz sometimes there's more than meets the eye. There are things that you thought you never needed but will end up important to you, and you won't imagine how you lived without it.

I just love my new phone!