mymemoryproject

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How Smiley looks when she wants to go outside. Miss you, Smiley!

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Apologies to the Barbie dolls whose hairs we cut 'cos, they'll grow long anyway 😂

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I remember when we were kids, there were times we would go to Video City with Papa to rent VCDs, tapos panonoorin namin sa bahay. It was a joy to go through shelves of CDs -- merong pambata, foreign, and local films -- and choose one we wanted to watch! Andaming choices! I think we were able to watch Legally Blonde and Princess Diaries pa dahil dun. Depending on the film, you can rent it for three or five days yata. For P60, if I remember it right. Hay, ang saya alalahanin. 😊💕

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It was supposed to be a joke.

When we were kids, I went through my father's wallet, got all the money and divided it between my younger sister and me. I had imagined it like this: I'd tell Papa we found his wallet, he'd freak that his money is missing, and then we go show him he have the money. And he will be glad because the money's not gone.

Flash to reality: told Papa his wallet, he saw the money was gone, he got angry and asked us where the money was, we got spanked hahaha. And then he said, "wag kayong kukuha ng hindi sa inyo." Omaygahd I still remember it up to now. Kaya rin siguro never ako kumuha ng gamit na hindi sa akin.

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A friend posted this photo and I suddenly remembered the bed that my late lolo (Tatay) got for me. Pinagawa niya. Made of wood, dark varnish, with carvings/curves. Yung bed na pwedeng gawing upuan, tas pwedeng gawing kama. Haaay. Nasa probinsya yun ngayon. Dunno if I'll ever get to use it or bring it dito samin, parang nakakahiya kasi (cos parang kinukuha ko sa relatives ko)? Haha. I only saw it once. Tas when they renovated the house sa province, di ko na nakita. Sana magamit ko.

Tatay has always been good and kind to me, to us. Thank you Tatay, for the love. ❤️

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Eating auntie's suman reminded me of morong, and the tricycle driver who recommended it to me.

On my one and only day in Tacloban, 2013, I hired a tricycle to get me to San Juanico bridge. The tricycle driver eagerly drove me there, stopped at certain points, and gladly took photos of me. Grabe rin kwentuhan namin during the trip, haha. Tapos inikot niya ko sa iba pang tourist spots, though di na ko nakapasok kasi, may bayad na/wala nang time. I asked anong magandang pasalubong from Tacloban, and he proudly mentioned their delicacy, moron. He said I should try it.

Back in downtown after the gala, he helped me find a cheap hotel to stay for the night, and volunteered to take me to the airport the next day. I freaked out haha so I kinda evaded him (which I sort of regret to this day hahaha, kasi I realized people in the provinces are just so kind and helpful. Masyado tayo nasanay sa Manila people na evil. HAHA).

The next day, he took me to the airport. But first, we drove to this pasalubong store where I bought moron, and other stuff. Sobrang konti lang ng binili kong moron (it was, 15 pcs?!) kasi I wasn't sure if it's really delicious, like what they say. Di ako mahilig sa kakanin so I didn't try it kahit na they were so excited for me to try it. Haha. So there. We drove to the airport. (this part I'm not sure if sa kanya or sa ibang time na nag-Tacloban ako: He insisted it was for free pero, I paid him pa rin. Haha. I dunno if it was rude of me to turn him down pero, I said the company was paying for it naman.)

Pag-uwi ko, bitin ang moron! Sobrang sarap pala! Mygas. I should have bought A LOT. Haha. Kaloka. (I really did, the next time I returned there.)

Lesson learned: minsan it pays to be kind and to trust people. Not everyone will take advantage of you. Haha.

PS. A few months after my trip, Yolanda happened :( part of me wanted to know how the tricycle driver was doing, pero wala naman akong contact so paano :( i did hope he and his family were okay.

[mymemoryproject]

Earphones

While listening to music this dawn, I am suddenly reminded of my teammates' birthday gift to me six years ago: earphones. They got me one since my earphones broke, and I guess they knew I loved listening and singing along to songs (at work). Thank you, teammates! I found it thoughtful of you, guys. 😊

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This sudden thought while sunset stalking today:

I used to watch animé. In our province, I used to watch those with my siblings and cousins and an uncle who's just a year older than me. One animé that stood out was Ghost Fighter. I remember watching it with my face glued to the TV. I was just an arm's length away: my arms stretched to the TV cabinet, my hands touching it and my body leaning towards it. I thought then that it was just because I loved animé so much. Years later I realized I was that way because I couldn't see it--I had blurred vision.

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Just remembered today that I went to my father's office when I was a kid. It was their Christmas party, but what I remember the most was that I wandered about and rode the elevator by myself 😊 (it was both fun and scary!).

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Crazy memory.

When we were kids, Papa used to bring home diced hopias as pasalubong from work. 😋

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Asked my auntie to braid my hair kanina and she happily obliged. Naalala ko nung mga bata pa kami, she used to braid our hair pag nasa probinsya kami. Tapos sa last day namin dun, before yung byahe, ibbraid niya ulit kami. Hehe. Good memory. 😊

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Papa put up the duyan yesterday.

Naalala ko nung 1st year high school ako, I read the Harry Potter book 3 here, every morning bago pumasok sa school (pang-hapon ako). I finished it in three days!

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Always knew where the sun was at particular times of the day. Guess I started paying more attention to it since a companion complained about it.

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Subway

Passed by Katipunan today and saw Subway at Regis. I remembered the times my former officemates suggested to eat there. Grabe pinag-iipunan namin. Pero di ako sumasama. Haha. My poor self didn't even know what Subway was, or kung ano meron dun. And knowing me, I was such an introvert that time I wasn't comfortable eating at unfamiliar places for fear of making a mess. Haha. Pagpili pa lang ng kakainin kinakabahan na ko. Di ko rin kaya mag order. Haha. At nakakaconscious kumain. So I avoided it.

Fastforward to today and alam ko na anong meron sa Subway. And yes, masarap siya. Haha.

So... Seeing it again made me smile because I remembered the old times. And curiously, sila pa rin naaalala ko sa Subway: my good old officemates. ☺️

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Earlier in the day:

Sistar went outside to look at the helicopter; I followed. Looking up at the sky I remembered our younger days: we get excited over planes/helicopters and we always rushed outside whenever we hear one, sometimes enthusiastically waving at it and shouting hellos. When I grew a bit older I used to look at planes and wonder if our mother was in that one (she was constantly riding planes), along with a prayer to God to keep her safe.

Later in the evening another plane passed by, so my sister rushes outside again, but this time we didn't see the plane; all that we had was the violet sky and the whirring of a plane in flight.

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Red eggs and tomatoes remind me of college days:

First year college, after a fieldwork in Victoria, Laguna. We stopped over for lunch somewhere in campus (our rich classmate brought us packed lunch!). It was my (and my groupmates') first time to actually peel a red egg, and the classmate had to show us how pa. Kasi naman, we were peeling it like a regular egg! Eh pwede naman palang tusukin na lang sa gitna yung egg, with a fork, then scoop yung egg!

Third year college, LTS in Real, Quezon. We travel about 4hrs each weekend, for six weeks, tapos dadaan sa palengke para mamili ng food. Our favorite then was the red egg with tomatoes! Haha. Di ko alam bakit sarap na sarap kami dun. Well, masarap naman nga. Simple joys ng buhay. 😊

Today's memory brought to you by, of course, my red egg and tomatoes breakfast today. Yum!

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When we were young, we got a taste of the books wherein you choose what happens next. The books, Choose Your Own Adventure series, were given by Ate Tabs, a friend of our Tita in Cagayan.

I also read some of our Tita's books that had short stories in it. Can't remember the titles though.

Growing up, my mother gave me a lot of books -- and I read a lot: Nancy Drew series, The Babysitter's Club, Pockets, etc etc. I also liked Harry Potter.