23

i figured it would be a shame to let my birthday sneak by without saying anything about it on this blog. so in keeping with my true nature as a compulsive list-maker, here are 23 things (in random order) that made my 23rd birthday a happy one.

1. lots of greetings. which is always nice. funny--people started greeting me as far back as one month ago (joseph, marlon's bro, greeted me on september 17 or thereabouts. "you sure it isn't your birthday today?"). lots of people texted and messaged me at friendster. one of the sweetest greetings came from mickey, who i didn't think would remember. man i miss college.

2. the fact that it's still sort of my birthday. i'm still getting friendster messages (miguel: "i'm here for the late birthday greetings. do i just go to the end of the line?") today. plus i celebrated with my family and at the office just yesterday, since i took ...

3. a half-day off from work! to have...

4. a foot spa! a nail spa opened at paseo center, just a couple of doors down from my building. it has a great view of the ugarte park (formerly the ayalas' private landing strip! grabe!), is very quiet, and uses this fantastic thick, creamy peppermint scrub. my feet and calves stayed tingly for hours. only Php 380 with a pedicure! more valuable than the pretty feet though was that it gave me...

5. some very good "me" time. which, again, is always nice.

6. post-foot spa nap. see, it takes very little to pamper me. just put me to bed after administering a dose of kikay-ness.

7. dressing up. hot pink t-shirt + white circle skirt embroidered with gold flowers and candy-colored beads + gold ballet shoes and apple green thai silk scarf. saya! bading na bading ako! i just looove dressing up. all in preparation for...

8. social climbing/gatecrashing. emper got us free tickets to the ayala corp. 170th anniversary event at greenbelt, which was a rep revue with cocktails. i lured marlon with free food. ("let's go sit up front where everyone can see us and realize that they've never seen us before!") his discomfiture with not knowing a single soul disappeared at the sight of all-you-can-eat roast lamb. naturally.

9. sangria and red wine.

10. chocolate fondue. as in, literally a FOUNTAIN of chocolate. yummmm.

11. pretending that the whole shebang was really MY party. "so glad you could make it! i really wanted breadfruit and pomegranates for the fondue, but they just couldn't be flown here in time!" hee hee.

12. JAZA! JAZA! JAZA! that's MISTER jaime augusto zobel de ayala to you, buster. gawd i was sooo starstruck (as always) when i saw him. also felt the mad urge to strangle his gorgeous, skinny, fashionable colombian wife.

13. broadway. i have not seen a rep show in ages, but knowing my current musical tastes and the gravity of rep diaspora (the greats are all inactive or abroad in various musicals), i warned marlon that the show had immense potential to annoy me. in fairness, it didn't. liesl batucan did. the woman has been doing that simpering sweetness act for nearly ten years. it's soo not cute anymore. besides, her voice is vastly irritating.

anyway, that said, the better part of the show reminded me of old dreams: how much i loved broadway shows, how much fun they are to sing along to, and how early i developed a love of performing. i remember the last rep musical i watched--jesus christ superstar--right before the cast of miss saigon netherlands left. i remember being so pleasantly amazed: angelo had such a wonderful voice that i never fully appreciated. sigh. i miss the old rep.

14. menchu launchengco-yulo's performance of "the meadow lark" from the baker's wife. ringing with clarity and passion. what a great way to be introduced to a song you've never met before.

15. elver esquivel and michael williams. elver has always been known for being rooted in solid classical technique. while michael apparently lived in london for a coupla years doing more plays, including the king and i, and now he has this very nice, light and warm broadway voice.

16. caffe puccini at the fort. new discovery away from the "madding crowd" (hi leow! hehe) of greenbelt. bintan-esque pizzas, candlelight and coffee in front of a nice open square. and it's right in front of pier one, so anytime you're sick of the expat atmosphere you can just cross the square, grab a bottle of negra and play billiards.

17. marlon. like, duh. spending this week with him has been the best birthday gift of all ("happy birthweek!" indeed, as he keeps on saying). i couldn't have thought of anything better than to have him home for ten whole days! a few things threatened to get me very depressed during the day, but he has this wonderful calming presence. it also helps that he knows how to make me laugh like a maniac and gives great big bear hugs. okay, i'll stop before i get overmushy. but really, i can't believe that i've been lucky enough to celebrate a second birthday with him.

18. marlon's present: a cd/vcd player! he said it wasn't right that someone who loves music so much (and hoards so many cds) doesn't have a cd player. so he got me one. i truly appreciated this when i listened to my scarlatti piano concertos before bed last night: it drowns out the annoying loud neighbors. oh and classical music sounds way better on it than on a cd-rom drive and bundled speakers. :-)

19. crepes with my family last night. at cafe breton, of course. my diabetic mother got a nutella crepe, of course. if anything made me realize how old we all are now, it was seeing my mom and sister sharing yosi.

20. birthday cake care of my boss. tuesday morning, surajit swung by my desk to greet me happy birthday.

SURAJIT: where's my cake?
ME: i don't know. i don't even know where mine is.
SURAJIT: what? you have no cake? that's so impossible.

then he picked up the phone to ask acy to buy me a cake. she actually bought me two--my classic red ribbon faves, chocolate mousse and chocolate crunch!

SURAJIT: how old are you?
ME: 23.
SURAJIT: you are ANCIENT!
ME: i know! doesn't it make you feel positively jurassic?
SURAJIT: of course not. don't be fooled by my big stomach [and kids, when he says big stomach, he ain't kidding. this is bigger than andrei's was in his prime]. i'm only 15.
ME: of course not. i wasn't fooled at all. that's just baby fat.
SURAJIT: very good. you're learning. you have a very bright future in this company.

go figure. it's astounding how nonsensical conversations with surajit can be, considering he's the big boss around here.

21. going to bed at night feeling tired but happy to have had a full day.

22. my future. marlon and i have been talking about the future a lot lately. not so much "our' future as a couple but our individual ambitions, which both involve further education and a major career shift (he wants to be a professional geek, i want to be a professional KSP).

i am a lot more optimistic about the future now then i was a year or even half a year ago. there were times when i couldn't talk to marlon about what i wanted without crying because i felt like there was no way it was going to happen and because i felt so guilty for even just wanting it. there were also times when he'd bring up planning for our futures and i'd feel cornered and pressured.

but now i'm much more focused and a lot less paralyzed by fear. i'll always remember something marlon told me: "there enough obstacles to your ambitions without the ones that you're creating for yourself in your head." if i didn't have marlon i might have given up a couple of months ago. but dreaming, strategizing and just talking about my dreams with him has done wonders for my attitude.

i still have some hang-ups, but overall i've stopped making excuses for myself and gotten off my ass to put together my action plan. i've been scouring around for schools, and talking to robert buckland from kammerchor stuttgart about career paths. chris pong and i teamed up recently to gather information on music programs as well. oh and there's more... but anyway briefly put: there is still so much to prepare for, learn, discover and do.

i am scared and humbled by the future, but excited, challenged, resolute and hopeful as well. a good combination of things to be upon turning a year older.

23. you actually got to #23? good for you. i never made it to the end of the list.