Smile for me ;)

Planned dates and unexpected visits.

Jan 18, 2012

I said to myself that I deserved punishment if I missed out on my breakfast date with Ara and Patt. Not wanting to take away things I promised myself, I made extra effort to make sure I wouldn’t oversleep. 

Luckily, I was able to wake up early enough and make it to one of the best mornings I’ve had in a while. My mornings usually involve a very lazy me trying to get myself out of bed and not succeeding & then a montage of fast songs in my head accompany my rushing to not be horrendously late to class.

This morning, I woke up a lot earlier than expected, had my things ready, took a bath and headed off. No rush, no schedule, just my own time and the happy idea of what was to come. 

We ate at Subspace, a quaint little coffee shop in Ortigas that had the most adorable furnishing. The place was a mix of Korean influences, vintage staples and a nod to a sort of space theme. It was small, quiet and perfect for a much needed rant session concerning ongoing things in our lives. 

We couldn’t stay past lunch because Patt had class to go to and Ara had duty to worry about.

I was then left with an afternoon that go anywhere depending on what I decided to do with it. 

I didn’t want to go home right away and I already decided that I was going to buy something I was eyeing another time and promised to go back for(a bag that I was sure was going to be gone if I didn’t buy it -just like another bag of the sort from another store) so I did that first. (I got the last piece :>)  

Afterwards, I was torn between spending the rest of my day in a coffee shop or tea shop to study OR going to see friends since I was already in the Ortigas area. Not letting the opportunity pass me by, I obviously opted to see if any of my friends in the area were home. I sent out texts asking where they were and also thought about going to St. Paul, my old high school. Coincidentally, my best friend was already in St. Paul and after I found out, I rushed over, not wanting to waste any of my precious Wednesday “me time”. 

There’s this feeling I always get when I go to Ortigas (or anywhere that I relate to school-Shang, Galle,etc) especially when I actually go to St. Paul(Pasig). It never fails to put a smile on my face when I know I’m near. The minute I step out of the FX to start walking down St. Paul Rd. towards my alma mater, I always whisper to myself “I’m home.”

I went straight to Tita Beng’s office when I got there and what greeted me was a huge group of Seniors consulting with Tita about college and also, my best friend, Erika was in the room too. I walked around feeling giddy and greeting familiar faces, sharing stories. Bought myself a drink ‘cause I was parched and was trying to battle the heat. Gelou kept wiping my sweat ‘cause it was quite hot and I was soaking the back of my shirt already, even.I went around looking for people I wanted to see and by chance, ran into them right away. Jess, Celina and I couldn’t help but scream in each other’s faces and hug like the sentimental fools we are when we crossed paths. I tried not to go around so much considering I was wearing something that was inappropriate for the nuns that run our school so I spent a lot of time with the Seniors in Tita’s office. When they headed off to class, Tita and I had more than enough time to talk about a lot of things. I spent around 2 or more hours just talking and listening and reacting and what-have-you. I still have so much to say and that’s funny ‘cause we spent most of the afternoon talking but I guess there’s just a lot to talk about still. My emotions would roller coaster with my stories, escalating then maintaining then plummeting and going around in circles and I couldn’t help but talk even louder than usual and get carried away. 

Our conversations would always get interrupted by a random group of Seniors or a lone Senior asking about something or sharing something to Tita. I was amused at how different their batch was from ours and I enjoyed being part of the conversations they had. I admit I got a lot tired and a bit stressed over all the emotions going around because college results were coming out here and there and the batch was frantic; some were aloof, others accepting, others in pain, others rejoicing. I have no idea how our counselors do it and I applaud them for being able to handle it the way they do. When my little cousin texted that she got her UPCAT results(and passed all the schools she applied to :D) I started shrieking at Tita Beng: “TITA LUMABAS NA UPCAT OHMYGOD I’M SO PROUD PERO WHAT BAKIT NGAYON LUMABAS, TITA, CHECK MO!”   

I went as far as locking her door ‘cause I knew na “darating na sila, hala ka, susugod na yung fourth year sa office mo.” True enough, when word got out that the results were out not just for UST but also for UP (kind of harsh throwing that at them on the same day but ohwell) it was pandemonium. Unfortunately, the internet server started to crash so Tita couldn’t give them answers anyway. That didn’t stop them from acting like we had no rules against gadgets ‘cause they started bringing out every possible gadget with access to the internet just to see if they would be able to check. Just like during our time, people were borrowing laptops, looking for broadband connections, trying to find a spot with stronger wifi, etc. 

It was so fun to look back on the time when we were in their shoes. I compared how we were, how it felt for me then, how I felt seeing and witnessing the Seniors now, and how we are now after all of that. 

My day turned to night with me heading home with Celina and then waiting for Maisa at her place, then eating at Jollibee, planning our next week get-together. I was so happy to see my “kids” and be able to bond with them like no time had passed at all since I last saw them. 

I got home with my wallet crying, my throat sore, my body weaker but with me ten times happier. 

It’s these sort of friendships that I would call the love of my life. I can never go wrong with good food(that I had a lot of all throughout the day- I think I kept eating and talking, eating and talking), and great friends. 

It’s refreshing and so nice to know that there are so many good-natured, fun-loving people in my life and that I will always have them to give me days like this.