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It is a Wednesday, two more days ’til the beautiful weekend finally arrives to rejuvenate the dull and weary minds of the many ongoing rushers in the busy streets of Manila.

Not much of a surprise but just to let you know, I’ve never been more excited for Friday to finally come. It’s going to be a long weekend, and I’m gonna spend my Sunday with my friends over in Tagaytay.

Yesterday was my good friend’s 18th birthday. Normally, 18-year-old girls need to have debuts—it’s kinda the big social event to let the world know that finally, they are adults and they can do whatever they want. And who doesn’t want a party thrown for your honor?

But with the recession going on for the past few… years, less and less people are opting to spend hundreds and thousands of pesos just for one night. We, meaning me and my friends, are one of those people. So instead of having one ginormous party where all you do is sit down, smile the whole night ’til your cheeks hurt and wave prettily, we decided to just hang out, chill and eat.

Yes, eating solves everything. When you’re depressed, bring out the tub and a spoon and dig into your fave ice cream. When you’re lonely, plug in a DVD of your movie/lifestory and eat your heart out with chocolates. Feeling the midnight craving? Thank God for the 24-hour McDonalds down the street.

But besides all the hysterical drama it often falls prey to, food can be the foundation for building relationships, bonding of family and friends, and can simply be a source of happiness.

I have been blessed with an absolutely gifted chef for a mom, and I have had the pleasure of living life every single day because of her. It might seem like a very small thing, but for me, every day that my mom wakes up at 6am just to make us breakfast is amazing. She never fails to cook something delicious, and I can just see her passion and love in the things that she makes. Only downside is, I seem to be gaining a lot more weight than usual. Oh, to live happily in the comfort of food for the rest of my days without any worries would be bliss..

And the great thing about having a chef for a mom is that I get to appreciate food for what it really is. For me, when I see food, it’s not just something I eat. But it’s something that took time to prepare, something that was carefully created with different ingredients that can produce a totally new thing perfectly, a blend of spices that balances all the flavors out.

So for my Saturday night, me and my friends will be having a sleepover and I’ll be making them dinner! I still don’t know what I’ll be making, but it’s gonna be quite difficult since one of my friends doesn’t eat vegetables, two are really picky, and one is on a strict Gatorade diet. Hmm. So in other words I’ll be making dinner for 3 people. Hooray

When I’m at home though with nothing to do, I either play the piano or cook. But cooking is more relaxing because anything you put can result to something totally new and different. And it’s a challenge since I live with 5 other people, and they know if the food is good, or to be frank, not.

Plus, shopping for food is fun! I love the smell of fresh fruits and freshly-baked bread in the morning. Same principles as for hunting for bargains in the mall, it’s just as fun to find the best product—or produce—for your money.

Let’s just see where tomorrow leads me, and whichever I’ll get to buy for Saturday night’s party.

As Luciano Pavarotti once said, “One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.”

Again, it’s the start of another week and as always, Mondays are the worst. Its the hardest day to wake up and go to work, to school, to wherever you have to go on such an early schedule. I got the Monday blues…

I came straight from school all sweaty from my favorite CAT class (in case you don’t know, it’s Citizens Army Training. Yup, military stuff and yes that was sarcastic.), I was running late for my meeting, and the traffic in EDSA was horrible with a capital H! I wasn’t having a very good day to begin with.

But as I was driving down EDSA late yesterday afternoon, I was listening to my fave radio station Monster Radio, and Gino and Fran was on.

And you know how sometimes when nothing seems to go right that you just want to lock yourself in your room and play your “demon music” so loud that your parents are threatening to kick you out already, something right finally happens? Like a piece of heaven floating down ever so gently that was given to you by God just so that you can finally put a smile into your stone-cold face?

That’s what happened to me yesterday. Well… close to that.

Kristinia DeBarge’s “Future Love” just played and I swear there is something about that song that just makes me feel all giddy and happy that instantly, I felt completely myself again! Seriously!

It’s like I imagine a girl getting in her car after a very nice first date and this is the song that’s playing and the girl is all kilig and thinking about what could happen between her and the guy.

And it’s nice to think about the future stuff that could happen to you—could be in school, at work, with another colleague, or with just an unrequited love. And hey, you can never can tell right?

Sorry, I’m sappy this way. It’s the post V-day remittances at work.

Anyway, I just wanted to share how hearing one song made my day completely better. So if you guys are feeling down, just pick up your iPod, hit your most pick-me-up song and fire the volume away. I swear, it’s a lifesaver.

And it wouldn’t hurt to hear your name being greeted on air as well, hahaha.

For all the other Chinoys out here, February 14 is a double celebration for all of us. It’s one of the most celebrated holidays in the world, the day of Hearts, and also a time to celebrate our Chinese roots. A lot of people will be busy celebrating from day to night with their loved ones and even the single ladies out there can celebrate the holidays without having the need for a boyfriend.

Taken from one certified SSB—single since birth—we don’t need a man to keep us feeling on top of the world during this holiday. Here are a couple of things that I’ll be doing for my weekend holiday, and surely any true Candy girl can do too for this year’s double-up holiday.

Here are just a couple of suggestions that I’ll be doing, and that you can do too! Don’t be afraid to try new things and just have fun! The weekend is for relaxation, and the holidays are for bonding with the ones you love. So lucky us we get to spend both of them in one day! And we can also do these things even if it’s not V-Day/New year, too.

So hope you girls have a great weekend, and let me know if you try any of these things! Hoping that everyone will have a fantastic holiday and that everyone will get to spend their weekend with the people they love the most.

Cheers!

Kung Hei Fat Choi

Meet Jayjay.

He’s 6 years old, and he has autism. He is an orphan.

Yesterday morning, me and my class went to Concordia Children Services as a required school activity. Waking up at 6 am on a Saturday was hell! It was so hard to roll out of my soft soft bed, and to force my sleeping eyes to pry open was almost as hard as forcing a fat kid to go on strike on candy bars. Personally, I love kids. I really love them, but I actually thought that going to the orphanage wasn’t gonna be a fun start to my very short weekend (mainly because I was intending to sleep til noon hehe :p).

Boy, I was in for a lot of surprises.

Riding a jeep to the orphanage was an adventure! Being in a Chinese family with three girls, my dad doesn’t really like the idea of me commuting, so riding a jeep is at the part of my things-I-have-to-do-that-can-show-how-independent-I-am list. :p

When we got to the orphanage, we were assigned to which group we were gonna be taking care of. I was secretly wishing to be with the infants ’cause I really love kids, but as fate would have it, I got assigned to be in the toddlers area.

That’s when I met Jayjay.

He was the oldest in the whole orphanage, and at age 6 he still couldn’t talk properly and comprehend well what other people tell him. And being the most special in the group, it’s much harder for him to be adopted. I got the chance to spend one whole morning with him, playing with him, talking to him like a grownup, feeding him, even watching him bathe (we weren’t allowed inside the showers haha :p) and change his clothes. And of course, that one morning isn’t enough.

There was this connection with him that I really couldn’t explain, and I kind of admitted to myself that maybe I was meant to adopt this kid. Still, I am too young to legally adopt a kid, so I thought of another way. For the summer, I could volunteer at the home and be Jayjay’s caregiver

Not the greatest idea for my parents, but seeing me really happy makes them happy too. So they didn’t have a choice but to let me volunteer. Yay.

As I lay in bed, I’m thinking about a lot of things—mostly about college stuff. And I was actually considering about changing my course to SpEd (Special Education). When I told my mom about this, she just told me that I should think really hard about what I want, and that no matter what course I may take or what profession I may pursue in the future, what matters the most is that I am happy, and that I make other people happy along the way. Oh I love my mom so much.

It’s a Sunday again, and as always, the weekend flies so fast.

It might be a long time ’til I can get the chance to go back to the orphanage, and I know that by the time I do go back Jayjay might have forgotten my already or maybe he could’ve been adopted already (sad for me, but I’m so happy for him.. </3). But the morning that I spent with him really gave me a lesson that I think I’ll be remembering for a long time: Be grateful for my blessings. I have a great dad and mom, a mom who carried me around for 9 months and didn’t give me up as soon as I was born, who took care of me for the past 17 years and gave me a solid education at a great school, a family who gives me everything I need and almost everything that I want, who taught me all my values and who supported me all throughout my activities and future endeavors, and who will always be there for me no matter what. Jayjay taught me to be happy with whatever life may throw at me, and to always continue smiling. He doesn’t understand much, but he understands that there is still something worth smiling everyday. And that’s more important than anything I could ever learn in my life.

I hope to come back soon to Concordia, and to visit Jayjay and watch him grow up into a wonderful person I know he is. The people who will adopt him are so lucky to be blessed with such a kind and smart boy, and I pray that they treat him the way he deserves to be treated. With much love

To know more about Concordia Childrens’ Services, visit www.concordia.com.

Letting go.

Two words that sound so simple but are actually the hardest thing to do. People keep saying that we should just forgive, live and let go; but the people who say this are the ones who haven’t been in that situation.

My cousin died this morning due to a car accident in the NLEX highway, and he crashed into a post. Imagine, out of the entire grassland that surrounds the highway, he actually had the misfortune of crashing into a post. It was such a horrible morning in our house. When I woke up, I never could have imagined how 4 words could change my life, change who I am, and change everything.

My cousin Christopher was a shy and quiet boy, and he was only 23 years old. He was a graduate of College of Saint Benilde, and he was happy. He had a great family, his sister was finally getting married—the first one in the family, he had a great job; he was happy. He used to be wild and rebelled a lot but finally he calmed down and was starting to change for the better. I know that everything happens for a reason but what could the reason be for taking my cousin at such a young age?

My aunt, cousins, and my parents were at St.Luke’s when he was rushed early this morning. My cousin was the one who was talking to the doctors while my aunt was quiet the whole time. He was the first born. How can a mother accept that her son is gone? How can a mother accept that her son died before the mother?

I actually still can’t believe that he’s gone, and that I’ll never get a chance to talk to him again. How can a person know when to be ready to die? You can’t actually plan things, especially things like death. But I guess the only thing we can do is to live for today. Its not the things that we didn’t do that matters, but the things that we left undone.

We should always be aware of the actions that we take, and to do our best to fix our mistakes. It’s never too late to make amends, even if it has been yesterday, a week, a month, or a year ago. Saying sorry makes things better as long as it came from the heart.

I know that time heals all wounds, but I’m scared that it might be a long time until things will be back to normal, if things will ever become normal again. I just hope that he’s in a better place now, and that wherever he may be, he’s happier.