さよなら

scorching summer winds
a release from winter's grip
steel feathers falling

[Half a moon away, fourteen dreams from now.
If all goes well, released on a day for freedom.
As they send their dragons skyward, so shall I, take to the winds.
On wings of iron, it's tail aflame, the crane shall take me,
into the rising sun...]

It's been a year and 20 days since I started working at ci-tech (among other things...). For almost half that time, I'd been waiting for one of the few real perks of my job, apart from flexi-time: Travel Opportunities. In a few weeks time, ahead of everyone in our batch, ahead even of the batch before us, I'll be leaving the Philippines.

I was scheduled for the end of July, but the engineers in SOC wanted me to leave earlier, so with a great big rush, we started processing my documents yesterday. Give or take a few days, I'll be landing at Narita on July 04, 2006. Big deal right??? Damn-right! I'm already very excited!!!

I'll be needing a lot of supplies, considering that everything costs a hell of a lot more in Tokyo. Clothes, toiletries, shoes, everything! If I could only bring with me a sack of rice and a hunk of jerked beef, I would!

I've got a LOT of shopping to do.

Hmmm... clothes... damn... It just so happens that the office in shimo requires slacks, leather shoes, and collared shirts... three things I don't necessarily have in quantity... I'll only be able to do my laundry once a week, so I'll need a set of clothes that'll last more than 7 days, unless of course I want to do my load clad in just a bathrobe (like a certain samurai we know)... I'll bet the local people would just love that aye?

All that stuff will need to go into something... So I'll need a new suitcase (since we don't have an old one). My backpack, the old patched-up fogey isn't Tokyo-street-worthy anymore, hehe. Plus, my eyesight is bad right now, very bad. I'll need new glasses.

All these will dent my considerably diminished resources... thanks to birthday misfortunes... It's a good thing then that they'll advance my allowance for all those weeks, YAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!

There are a ton of reasons why I'm excited. Let's list them down...

• The best Ibanez models are made and sold in Japan and so-called "luxury goods" are very-very cheap there (JS1200 or Artcore??? HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!! )
• Mt. Fuji
• REAL Japanese Cuisine
• #ent@1 (4 my prens, I promise!!!)
• AKIHABARA!!! (mamumulubi talaga ako dahil dito, pramis...)
• HARAJUKU (Uhhh... Harajuku-girls??? gothic lolitas??? neh... me simbahan sa Ruponggi... totoo!!!)
• DVD's, DVD's, DVD's
• dirt-cheap Master Grade Gundam kits
• Authentic Konoha head-protectors anyone?
• Sake

There are lots more reasons, but I'll leave the list as it is for now.

Hmmm... I've been thinking of how to celebrate my departure... On July 1, we'll be playing at mag:net. That's a saturday night... so maybe afterwards, I can party till tuesday morning, hehe... Let's see what comes up.

気
遣
う
私
の
た
め
に、
私
は
戻
る
July 28, 2006.

It won't be all fun and games though... The japanese are notoriously hardworking. It remains to be seen whether or not I'll survive their rigorous discipline. I also won't be able to enjoy the comforts that living with your own family has, such as 24-hour houskeeping and a fully stocked ref...

That's not even taking into consideration that I'll be leaving a considerably large portion of my life here in the Philippines... It's a good thing that they're football crazy over there. My friends and family can always reach me through the net and a roaming cellphone... but I don't have one right now... demmit... (add a phone to my shopping list).

Nevertheless... I just wanna get outta here for a while, and I wanna get out of here now!!! Let's go!!!

[wag na nating pagusapan kung sino ang kahawig ng mga hinayupak na haponesang yan, at kung sino ang kilala kong gustong-gusto talaga makapunta sa tokyo... alangya... malas niya, belaaaaaaat! Buti na lang mahilig daw sila sa mga europeo dun, yahaha! kaso... yung mga tado kong katrabaho, niloloko akong mukahng iranian daw... hindi aleman. Al-qaeda daw... shiyeet]

hApPY Birthday Rai!

Ika-unang araw ng Hunyo ang kaarawang ng aking kapatid na si Rai. Simula pa nung maliit kami, kung ano-ano na ang pinagdadaanan namin pag dumarating ang unang linggo ng buwang ito. Dahil sa magkalapit ang mga araw ng aming pagsilang, halos lagi kaming sabay magdiwang nito. Iilan lang ang naalala kong party ko lang ang party ng birthday ko.

Hindi lang yun, parang me tradition pa kaming magkapatid... isang tradition ng... kamalasan, nako! Tuwing malalapit na lang ang aming mga kaarawan, kung ano-ano na lang ang nangyayari samin. Mga disgrasya atbp. Isa sa mga hindi ko malilimutan ay nung head-buttin ni Rai yung isang gripo malapit sa court nung maliit pa kami. Siyempre nabutas ang noo niya (kaya siya me peklat sa noo, ala Harry Potter). Pero da best na siguro yung nangyari kahapon.

Ano nga bang nangyari??? Umagang-umaga, ang napakalisto kong kapatid ay nag-internet Cafe bago umuwi galing UST, kakatapos lang ng training niya sa Team B ng varsity. Di pa sila nagtatagal ng kasama niya eh bigla-bigla na lang siyang tinanong nung isang bata kung bag ba niya yung nakalapag sa tabi niya kanina. Binababa niya kasi sa sahig yung gahiganteng bag niya eh. Laking gulat ni Rai, wala na ang kaniyang bag. Kakalabas lang daw nung kumuha, kaya dali-dali niyang hinabol palabas. Pag punta niya sa kalye, walang tao... Astig talaga mga tao sa Quiapo no???

Ang lulan ng kaniyang bag... ang kaniyang pinakamamahal na Shox at perpetually-walang-load niyang cellphone. Anong gagawin ng hinayupak na magnanakaw na yun sa size 14 na rubber shoes??? Mamangka ba siya papuntang Bataan galing sa Manila Bay? Di ko na siguro kukuwento ang napakawalang-kwentang mga pulis dun sa presintong pinuntahan ng kapatid ko.

Kung yun lang sana ang happenings nung wednesday, ayos lang. But no!!! Pagkauwi ko galing UP, nalaman ko na ang Big Black Dog naming si Mitch ay nakalapa daw ng isang 8-year old na bata. Bibili sana yung bata ng Halo-halo kaya lumapit siya sa pinto namin. Lingid sa kanyang kaalaman, nakakubli pala sa halamanan ang isang katakot-takot na halimaw! Ang aming 1/4 Great Dane, 1/4th German Shepherd, 1/4th Japanese Spitz, 1/4th dikonaalam na aso. Napakalaki daw ng sugat sa kamay nung bata. Siyempre kasalanan naming lumapit sa aso namin yung bata diba, kaya pinadoktor namin siya... aba! Napaka-mura pala talaga sa medical city!!! lagpas P4,000.00 lang naman nagasta namin!!! Areko...

Siyempre, walang sapatos na gagamitin tong mokong na kapatid ko sa training, at wala na kaming pambili dahil nga nagpaospital kami ng matalinong bata... Oh yeah... Rai, Happy Birthday nga!!!

[Hmmm... pano kaya next week? Medyo kinakabahan na ako... Last year, hmmm... Masaya ba birthday ko last year??? Parang ayos lang, pero topic na ng ibang blog entry siguro yun... hehehe...]