Elevator scene:

Semi-stranger from the office: How are you?

Me: Ok!

SSFO: You look happy. 🙂

Me: Yeah we’re going out to eat.

SSFO: The whole Marketing?

Me: Nah, just me and my friends.

End scene.

I spent the rest of the afternoon smiling feeling so grateful of the people I do have and yeah, I was (and still am) happy.

Why did it take a semi-stranger telling me for me to realize that? 😛

Yes, at 23 I have a bucket list. When I told someone about it, he told me it was weird and morbid. I kinda like it. It’s more like a “Things I want to experience in life” list.  It’s a strange smattering of small (Read: Bake red velvet cupcakes) to kinda hard things (Take Pa to an Olympics), and when I finally crossed off ONE thing on the ever expanding list, I felt so happy.

Try Indian Food.

Item one, yep, the simplest thing on the list. I’ve always been curious about Indian Food. I’ve seen the culture of homespun food delivery like three times and it peaked my interest. But see, this country, not so much. Italian (or the Filipino version of Italian) and (Fil)Jap places abound, but I’ve only seen a couple Indian places and they’re all in the South. (I hardly ever go to the south, and if i do it’s always for a pretty good reason)

Lo and behold, when I was at Podium to be Anna’s guinea pig I saw a New Bombay up on the top floor. We had to eat there. And Abby, RC and their team had already gone to rave reviews, so I felt pretty confident going there with Moms and Joannaman.

We ordered, a chicken thing, a mutton thing, a vegetable thing, rice for them, chapatti for me. (I heart bread) I cannot for the life of me remember the names of what we ordered, we just asked what the waitress would recommend, and pointed at stuff that looked interesting.

What’s the verdict?

It was an experience. The chapatti I loved, the mutton thing, reminded me of caldereta. the vegetable thing was kinda sweet so i was kinda annoyed (I’m not a fan of sweet savory stuff, keep it apart, or keep it subtle), and the chicken, my favorite. Everything was spicy even though we asked for the mildest they could give us (but i guess we’re just weenies when it comes to spicy), but it complimented the taste of the food, it’d have been boring if not for the little kick accompanied with every bite. [For weenies like us, order the almond lassi (yogurt drink?) it cuts through the spicy aftertaste just great.]

Verdict: Not as yummy or different as I expected, but hey, maybe we should try the more exotic ones next time. Will i go looking for it in the future? Maybe not. Will i tell people to try it? Definitely, especially those people who love spicy food.

But for now, I’m heading to Mr. Kabab for my chelo kabab fix. 🙂 (Miss, do you have chapatti?)

I am no history buff. I cannot pretend to know how much impact Ninoy Aquino had on our country. All i know are the basics. He came back after three years in the US and was shot. His wife campaigned for President and won, ending martial law in the country.

Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree if you’re happy that we’re free.

Don’t call me naive, just delusionally optimistic, thanks. 🙂

I’d rather look happy than hot, any day.

I remember someone asked me a few months ago why I make a big deal out of birthdays. Coz I do. In my own little way, I try to make a person in my life feel as happy as they’ve made me and a birthday is the perfect opportunity to do that. It’s this person’s day for themselves, as they turn a year older. They may resent aging, or hate being the center of attention, but hey, not everything is glass half empty.

It can be as simple as a perfectly timed greeting or as elaborate as planning a surprise, it all depends on the person, or the situation.

Come on, who wants their birthday forgot? (Maybe those fighting looking their age at every step, but so far, never met anyone who’s like that yet) Birthdays are a way of thanking god for another year, and for me, something done is thanking god for the year you’ve known the celebrant, and the years to come.

I’m not saying to spend all yer hard-earned cash to have a barbershop quartet serenade yer girlfriend. Surprises are tricky, gifts, scary. But a hug always works. 🙂

Pao. 26. Still the same damn kid we met a year ago.
And yeah, careful kiddies.

Happy birthday!!

It’s “debut” apparently.
21, and with kiko riding shotgun.
Happeee birthday!

And it took me forever to get a decent but memorable picture.

Happy Birthday Bo!
Former seatmate, friend, tormentor.
Here’s a wink, a snigger and a hug to grow on.
Have a great one!