Things I Know You Know About Me!

I have been doing nothing this weekend and decided to just browse the internet on my bed. I was getting bored by the minute until I chanced upon "Peetol's 25" on my facebook account. I remember I had fun writing this and I just want to share it again here. For those who have not read it yet, here it is. For those who have, well, just go over it again and you will surely enjoy it for the second time.

Here goes....

1) I usually score very high on IQ tests...so, there is hope for mankind!

2) When I was still young, my ambition was to become an engineer who build bridges...so don't be baffled when I do crazy things with the mahjong tiles.

3) I can sit or stand still for half a day without getting bored...which makes me a very good security guard if ever I need to change profession.

4) I (with a capital I) consider myself musically gifted. (Onie, please stop smirking!)

5) I learned to play the piano by myself when I was 5 years old. I was considered too young to be taught by a piano teacher, so I studied the basics and observed my mother's piano technique.

6) At age 7, I used to play "Ballade Pour Adeline" on the piano during parties at home to impress girls my age, but ended up being smooched by my mom's friends, so I decided to end my career early.

7) I started formal piano lessons at age 10, but my teacher always left me to learn by myself, because she somehow knew I was not learning from her (not that she is a bad teacher...it is just that I am the worst student!)

8) When I was in grade six, I developed a crush on a girl 4 years older than me. I would participate in essay writing contests just so I can sit beside her and join her on stage during awarding ceremonies. *GRIN*

9) My parents bought Peps a band set (drums, 2 electric guitars, and a bass electric guitar) as a Christmas gift when I was in first year high school. I ended up owning the set and learned to play the guitars and drums.

10) I eventually formed a band in high school and we played Fra Lippo Lippi and other 80's cheesy songs. We had at least 1 major concert per year...yup, I was rich back then!

11) I used to excel in academics until grade 3, when I lost interest in achieving anything in school because of a neighbor who deliberately did not give me a gift for just placing third, and rewarded my older brothers who came in 2nd and 1st respectively in their classes.

12) I was so lazy at school that I only used up 4 notebooks for subjects in 4 years of high school... but I had dozens of other notebooks filled up with drawings and scribbles.

12) I suffered my first "cinco" in life when I was in college. It was in Algebra (first year), which I thought I did not deserve, so I retook it that summer and redeemed myself by getting an "uno".

13) After tasting my first "cinco", I suddenly got the hang of it and collected quite a few thereafter!

14) I did not graduate on time in college. It took me 9 years to get a college degree...and I am not a doctor!

15) I am a frustrated basketball player. In elementary, I was taller than basketball player Kenneth Duremdes by three inches (we are of the same age, although I am a batch higher than him). I took up the game during my second year in high school and, together with Kenneth, was a reserve on the varsity team. On my third year, Kenneth suddenly grew to 6 ft, and I remained at 5'7". Not surprisingly, he was elevated to the varsity team, and I quit playing on top of my game!

16) I used to play soccer in my younger days, but has to stop when I grew rounder than the ball.

17) If I did not took up business in college, I would have been an infamous rock star by now.

18) I seriously considered auditioning for "Ang TV" way back when I was still within the show's age limit.

19) I used to sleep on the same bed with a girl named Cheska from high school and all through college. (Most intriguing indeed!)

20) I would ride my BMX bike every afternoon from when I was 5 years old until I reached 15 years old.

21) When I was a child, I would climb up trees but did not know how to get down.

22) I walk funny, a trait I seem to have inherited...just observe my brothers' walk!

23) I learned Mu Do Kwan (Martial Arts) when I was young, but never got to use it...one of my useless talents!

24) I recently added a removable body part, and now I have two! (guess what! harhar..harkkk...*gurgle*...!)

25) I married Onie at a young age, and this has been my only shining achievement in life!

The Fog

Have you ever seen John Carpenter's The Fog in the '80s? It starred Jamie Lee Curtis (yes, in one of her horror/slasher films) and Janet Leigh. I distinctly remember this movie because my little brother was scarred for life after watching it.

For years he would be terrified of the fog and thought it would bring with it the power to make the dead undead.

Well, it didn't. And I know this because Christchurch has been in a fog for almost a week. Yes, I am not kidding. You wake up in the morning to a mist covered sun. You walk to the city with just a few meters of visibility. And you sleep soundly at night knowing that the fog will not be missed the following morning.

After a day or so, you begin to get used to it. And now that it is sunny again, you kind of miss that feel of Evian spray on your face as soon as you walk outside that door. Plus, it seems to be warmer when the fog descends and stays on the ground than on a clear day like this.

Now it's back to a wintry morning day. I woke up to a freezing 0 deg Celsius temperature and hoping that spring will hastily make its way to the land of the big white cloud. One more week to go and winter will officially be over!

The Pollen, Me, and the Sneeze

Spring is just around the corner! I know this because I was sneezing my way to work this morning. No, its not New Zealand's more famous breed of swine flu that's causing me to sound like a sputtering engine submerged in the Avon River. It is that yellowish and powdery substance known to modern science simply as the pollen.

Yes, pollen do cause some people to sneeze. And in temperate climates like here in Christchurch, plants and trees throw a multitude of them away at the very first chance they get after hibernating for almost three months.

Think of it this way. After spending about three months cooped up in your house, there is that certain urge to just throw open the door and party with anyone you might come upon. There is of course a better analogy, but only Papo with his not so clean mind would be able to get it.

But who is complaining about these sneezes. It is in fact a welcoming sound. It means warmer days are just around the corner, and I can't wait to see the flowers bloom again.

A Haircut At Last

After five whole months since arriving in New Zealand, I finally had my first haircut. And why did it took me that long? Well for starters, the price of getting one scared the hell out of me. With my limited grooming budget of $5, which is almost PhP160, I seem to fail to chance upon any establishment that offer their services at such balut-reasonable price.

And so to be kiwi-reasonable, I then increased that urgently important grooming budget to double the previous amount. I was able to find some dubious shops within that budget but it was always closed when I get there. You see, shops do open in Christchurch, but by the time you get off from work, the shops people are hurriedly going home as well. Talk about enthusiasm for work.

Some shops do open beyond office hours, but it will cost you, and, having our strict set of priorities, I do not want to eat into our shopping budget.

And so my hair grew and grew to proportions that would have Samson able to carry the world. Delilah would have deliriously wanted to cut it if she had chanced upon me.

But being in winter, long hair has its own perks. It kept my head and neck warm enough that I begun to miss my fancy caps and beanies. And so as the cold days gone by getting a haircut just drifted out of my consciousness.

Then the signs of spring pulled me back to reality. After a hearty meal at a Korean restaurant last Sunday, Onie and I made that big decision to borrow from our shopping budget and go for the $17 haircut that was open that day, a whopping 70% increase in previously rated acceptable amount.

We were greeted at the door by an old Japanese gentleman with long hair. Think of Doc from the 'Back to the Future' series but with slanted eyes. Onie engaged in small talk as I was being prepared for the eventful haircut, and the only useful information we had was that his name is Osaka, or something similar.

When prodded as to what type of haircut I wanted, I pointed to a picture in the wall of a handsome young man with short hair. And to his delight, he started clipping away making grunts and moaning sounds that are reminiscent of artists engrossed with their work on their masterpieces.

A full hour later, he stepped back and admired his work, while I sneaked a smile towards Onie who was bemused at the way a PhP540 haircut turned out. Having owned a hair salon in that small town in the boondocks of the balut eating nation, I would say we were not amused.

But, as the saying goes, a bad haircut is just two weeks away from a good one. All I have to do is wait!