Top 10 September 2016

It ain't officially Christmas yet but it feels like it already. This month started with something that made me feel like my nuts roasting in an open fire it- like an accident happened. See item 2 in this list for more details about this bad-hair-day season kickoff. It may not have been a good start but the end of this beginning augured well for the rest of the month. Am sure you will agree with me if you read on to see what I mean.

1. The Word.

Whenever a feeling of greatness creeps into my wicked head, these words set my feet back on the ground. Then I am good again. Then I make my next move right:

     Brothers and sisters:

      Let no one deceive himself.

      If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age,

      let him become a fool, so as to become wise.

      For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God,

      for it is written:

      God catches the wise in their own ruses,

      and again:

      The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. 1Cor3:18-20

2. I Rear-ended A Car No One Witnessed.

SM parking building. Seven o’clock in the morning. No witnesses. No cameras to capture the crime. Perfect, I thought. Almost. I still have a choice to make: do what is right or escape.

I confess that the thought of running away crossed my mind but I knew that it will bother me no end: every time I pray, every time I hear mass, every time I park a car. If I ran away, what has the daily mass made of my Christian character?

I walked to look for security guards in the parking building. None. I waited a bit for the owner to return. No one came.

Before leaving, I left a note on the windshield of the car that says:

I was the one who caused the damage in your bumper.

I am sorry. I am willing to pay for the cost of repair. 

[My name and contact number.]

The whole day went by without any text or call. The following morning, a text message came. I called him and apologized. We agreed on an amount. I deposited to his bank account. He is grateful. I am free. 

My character was put to the test. Did I do good? Only God knows. I made it a personal opportunity  to explore myself. My verdict: I’m throwing modesty out the right rear window of the car with the way I feel now.

3. High in Three Counts.

Cholesterol, uric acid, sugar. Cholesterol was double than normal. Uric is a little over normal. Sugar is high but not over normal. Thing is, when you’re high on three, the only things left that’s safe for you to eat are food labels and packagings. And cholesterol-free organic place mats. And meth. But I know neither pusher nor user except Heisenberg. But he died three seasons ago.

Maybe discipline and exercise will work. That is, discipline for lunch and exercise for dinner. 

And I will have lunch and dinner for breakfast. Watta life!

4. Battery Gone But Watch Still Tells Correct Time 2x A Day.

I need a battery for my Swatch watch. 

I go to SM mall.

Then to the Swatch kiosk.

I give my watch to the sales lady.

"Change battery, please."

I wait a few minutes.

I watch lady replace battery.

Lady gives back my watch, now working properly.

"Thanks. How much?"

"It’s free, sir. We’re having a promo."

"No way!"

"Yes way, sir."

Woo-hoo. Lunch is on me!

5. A Senior Boy.

The eldest is officially old. Cong Boy turned hexagenarian or sexagenarian. I wanted to expound on this but since this blog is rated G, so there.

In our hometown where everyone knew everyone else’s stray dogs and pigs (would you believe?), the first-born boy is usually nicknamed Boy + nickname of the mother. Like Boy Viring (son of Viring) or Boy Trining (son of Trining). Since our mother Leonila is nicknamed Ilang, Cong Boy is known in our place as Boy Ilang. His real name is Leonido which is a combi of my mother’s and my father’s (Bienvenido) names.

Cong Boy has been thru a lot: survived a mango tree fall; survived Diego Garcia; survived a shock-wave kidney stone treatment; out-survived John Lennon and George Harrison.

You are a survivor Cong Boy. May you enjoy the very best of your senior life ahead of you.

6. New Client.

Dai-ichi literary means number one. It also means one new client for Toespin. My team and I keep busy with only a handful of clients. So now, it’s a handful and 1. God is good all the time!

7. Chinese Visa.

We’re going to China in October to reclaim what should have been ours since the Continental Drift. Not! 

For a family R&R. 
Yup.

The visas didn’t come like a fast order of hakao dimsum. There were suspenseful and thrilling moments. If you look at the map of China, nowhere there will you find Spratleys and Scarborough Shoals. Much like it, when you look at the Chinese embassy website, nowhere there will you find 'additional’ requirements for visa. I didn’t bring my sister’s old passport anymore because I thought it was not needed. They say it’s a new requirement, among many not published. I was told I needed to submit it before 11:00am. That was around 10am.

Immediately I called Tess and instructed her to bring me her old passport as fast as she can.

"I’ll take a quick shower," she said. 

"No! Leave now!" In 60 seconds flat, she was inside the train in her day-old skin.

She arrived in the nick of time, submitted the old passport with 5 minutes to spare.

We got the visas the following week. 

Hi Shang!

8. Saturdate.

Some couples date in fancy restaurants. I know some who go to movies regularly. For me and my lovely wife, it’s the Bonifacio wet market in Monumento, Caloocan city -about a 10-min drive away. There are two other wet markets closer to where we live but Bonifacio wet market is the only one that offers memories of good-ol’ Caloocan days. We stayed in my wife’s family old house in Caloocan for the first 17 years of our marriage. It is from this dirty and smelly fish and meat stalls of Bonifacio market where our first home-cooked meals as married couple were bought.

Our date consists of me buying buko juice while Rissa buys meat, fish, fruits and vegetables -everything but the buko. Leave the buko to me, I can handle that!

Then, she rings my phone. I go upstairs. There our eyes meet again. Then she makes the move -with her red lips, she motions me to pick up bags and bags of the 'everything but the buko.' 

Then back to the car. Then drive home.

Sweeeet… I know, right?

9. From Japan to Hong Kong.

Brunch time one Sunday morning, it was decided that we go Japanese at Oedo, this family’s go-to Japanese resto lately. After the Sunday mass which ended at 9:30am, we drove straight to the place only to find it still close. It opens at 11. If this family won’t get food in the next 30mins, Monday won’t be forthcoming. So from Japan, we headed south to Hong Kong Street Food in Banaue st. I’ve only been there once before I thought it’s worth another try. For less than a thousand bucks, we had our fill of dimsum and congee.

The following day, Monday, came.

10. Final Word from Padre Pio.

"Love and practice simplicity and humility and don't worry about the opinion of the world, because if this world had nothing to say against us, we would not be real servants of God."

Oo nga naman.

May you be showered with God's abundance.

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