Holiday recall

“As little children we would dream of Christmas morn, and all our gifts and toys…we knew we’d find but we never realized…a baby born one blessed night…gave us the greatest gift of our lives…”

Undeniably, when we were kids, we never cared for anything on Christmas day but the gifts we received that we believed came from Santa Claus who would sneak into our house through the chimney (ironically, houses here in the Philippines do not have chimneys, and has nobody ever wondered where he would try to get inside the house?). As we grew up, we had absorbed the real meaning of Christmas, why dawn masses were held before the 25th, and for whom we would really celebrate the occasion.

But, of course, it feels good to relive childhood memories—those times that our concept of the yuletide season was shallow, when a small simple gift would draw curves on our lips and when upon seeing Christmas tree covered with colorful and dancing lights, the joy in our hearts would ignite.

I remember spending Christmas day at my grandmother’s brother’s beautiful house in Marikina City where I played games with other children whom I didn’t even know (were we related to one another?). Toys were prepared and wrapped as prizes for the winners. Of course I got some—a ball, a set of power rangers, a toy gun and other toys I can no longer recall.

That's me, the baby in red shoes, when I was about 1 year old.

Fun served in a Mug

Imagine you’re bar hopping one night. You order your favorite beer or whatever drink you like and at one gulp, you suddenly realize that you’re tired of the usual. Do you have some place in mind where your excitement will level up, somewhere new and unique that you’ll love instantly?

Well, I do and have experienced it myself. Owned and managed by Rose Quizon and her daughter, Ren, Mug Shotz Sports Bar is now making a name and building up a new sense of excitement in the bar and restaurant industry in Calasiao, just a 10-minute drive at most from Dagupan City.

Savoring the ride

I’m not an “It’s-the-end-of-the-world-today” believer, so instead of preparing my ass for that doomsday almost everyone is talking about, I choose to do something else: Start the countdown to my 21st birthday.

It’s going to happen in 17 days. There will be no big party, but the way I’ll celebrate my special day on January 7 will still be big for me in some ways. And I know exactly what to do, something I’ve been looking forward to for years. (But I won’t divulge it yet lest it gets pre-empted. Hehe. And hopefully, I get the budget for that.)

To someone I can't lose

Dear New-Found-Love,

It was an accident. I never meant to seriously like you the way I do now.  I never intended to fall in love deeply with you the way I am about to. We’ve known each other for months now and have become close to each other. And the more I get to know you, the more I get drawn. Your personality may not awe all the people around you, but for me, it’s perfectly fine. I like every inch of it, actually, though there are really some parts that you have to tone down and augment.

Why we don't fit

Dear Princess,

I remember the first time I saw you. You entered the room, looking uncertain and seemingly feeling awkward about your new milieu. Something about you caught my attention. Something that got my eyes stuck on you the whole time you were there in front. Something that until now I haven’t completely figured out.

Being a naturally shy person, I whiled away some time before I finally mustered the courage to talk to you. But even before that, you’d already heard of rumors about me having a crush on you. Rumors that turned out to be true.

Senioritis: Chapter 1

Ten Years Later

The lights man put the spotlight off. I sighed in relief. That blinding light always gave me the feeling a big ravenous monster would come out of it and eat me like finger food.

“Another good show, EJ,” JD said as I inched my way towards the chair next to hers. She was the very enthusiastic director of my travel TV show, En Route. She had been my school mate in college, took up the same course I finished which was Mass Communications, and been my friend since.

Senioritis: Prologue

Graduation Kiss

“I’ll miss you,” she said while looking me in the eyes. She didn’t exhibit even the slightest hint of tears. That was her, hardly the type of girl who cried easily. In more than a year that I had known her, I never saw her cry. Not even a single tear.

“I’ll miss you more,” I answered with the kind of smile she liked best. I knew it made her heart race as she would always tell me how much she liked my sincere smile that I showed her every day, but it was obvious just how much she tried to suppress the feeling. Blushing in front of me was perhaps the most embarrassing thing for her. For what reason, I wasn’t sure.