do you love geeks? i do.
there are many advantages to loving (and eventually, as i have) marrying one. excellent conversation, mental math and electronics/furniture assembly skills aside, marlon's geekiness has garnered him many, many takashimaya and borders vouchers for various awards at work. like the proverbial neanderthal dragging home the carcass of its sabertooth tiger as a trophy for his waiting wife, or (sige na nga) mythical knight galloping home with the head of a dragon proudly skewered on his lance for his lady to see, marlon dutifully turns over these vouchers to me year after year, translating his forte (geekdom) into mine (shopping).
this time, my beloved geek brings home yet another trophy. a promotion! hurray! and with his new role comes a little wiggle room in our budget and a whole lot of travel. meetings in hong kong, shanghai, bangkok, kobe (japan) all within this month and the next. which means i get to tag along!
it is a testament to my complete cluelessness that i chose to book a weekend flight to bangkok to dovetail with one of marlon's meetings. if mickey hadn't even told me about the unrest, i never would have guessed. hell i was already upping my walking and cutting down on carbs with thai-sized clothing in mind. but it's all up in the air now as p&g decides this friday whether or not to let marlon fly.
apparently it seems to be like manila. mukhang super gulo from the outside, pero pagdating mo ok naman pala. but we'll see...
since there's another trip i can tag along on, which is hong kong! wheee! a bit more expensive and the flight schedules are a little inconvenient. but then again... what's a little inconvenience when there's h&m?
in october there are meetings in shanghai (same weekend as a big shoot, so no go) and kobe (the weekend of my birthday). now, do i want to go to japan? or just save the money and the leave days, and go to boracay in december? hmmm.
Thursday, September 4
Monday, September 1
Rogue, day 2
so yesterday was our second day with the kitten formerly known as charcoal. we spent most of the day out, leaving our little rogue to mew mournfully after us as we left. me to rogue: loka ka! kagabi dinededma-deadma mo kami, ngayong paalis kami saka mo kami iiyakan? i jest, of course, in my usual babaeng bakla fashion, but i was getting a bit worried by the time we left because she still hadn't eaten or done any business.
the morning was spent attending mass and a lunch for ateneo alumni at the parish of st. ignatius because our beloved fr. ben (dumbledore!) was visiting, along with the OAA director and my philo 104 teacher fr. nemy, and marlon's favorite math teacher ma'am jo. i can't tell you what a beautiful, beautiful feeling it was to sing filipino jesuit church music.
i was also completely moved by the opportunity extended to ateneo alumni in singapore to help with funding for scholars. that's pretty much because i was a scholar too. i was stunned to learn that 14% of ateneo college students are on scholarship -- not because it's a small number (it's actually more than decent), but it really hit me how lucky i was to have been that 14% in my time. also how lucky i was to be among the 250 scholars a year who are given scholarships out of the 850 who apply. so marlon and i agreed to set aside a little amount each month to contribute to the scholarship fund, because i know just how much difference a little bit can make to a scholar who really needs the money.
afterwards, we went all the way down to harbourfront to shop at charcoal/rogue's foster parents (FPs) pet store of choice. as the cashier rang up our cat food, cat-away spray, feeding dishes, scratch pad, cat carrier, catnip, cat collar and various other cat paraphernalia, he murmured: "first-time cat owner, huh?" you'd better believe it.
maryosep tantanan n'yo na kami
actually, walang tatalo sa pagka-first time cat owners ng mga FP ni charcoal/rogue. after we got out from our afternoon screening of WALL-E, nagpumilit lang naman silang dalawin ang pusa, ostensibly para i-turn over ang mga natitira nilang mga kagamitang pang-pusa... kahit tumanggi ako (politely of course) at sinabi kong nakapamili na kami. but no nagpumilit pa rin sila. k fine. baka nami-miss lang nila. pagbigyan.
ang mga kasangkapang dinala: litter tray and litter sand (kahit sinabi kong meron na kaming binili), cat-away spray (ditto), pagkain, flea spray para sa carpet, flea powder para sa pusa, mga samu't saring laruan, at... dito ako muling tumambling. shampoo. dahil araw-araw daw nila itong pinapaliguan.
diyoskoday. naloka ako. unang-una, naiimbyerna po ang mga pusa kapag sila'y nababasa. ikalawa, ang mga pusa po ay may katangi-tanging abilidad na paliguan ang kanilang mga sarili.
bigla kong na-realize kung bakit ang dialogue ng mga FP ay panay ganito: "gusto sana namin ng pusa, pero wala kaming oras eh." e gaga pala sila. kung pinapahirapan nila ang mga sarili nila sa araw-araw na pagpapaligo at pagpupulbos at 2x kada araw na paglilinis con johnson's baby wipes ng isang hayop na napakalinis sa sarili nitong katawan, e mawawalan talaga sila ng oras!
eto pa ang maganda. ayaw daw nilang makaistorbo, pero bibisita raw sila every two weeks para tingnan kung inaalagaan namin ng mabuti ang pusa. talagang nagkatinginan kami ni marlon sa napakandang non sequitur na ito. buti na lang ay kaagad kong sinabi na mas mabuti kung kada buwan na lang, kung hindi baka napagulong pa ang aming mga eyeballs. haha sorry naubusan ako ng tagalog. siguro dahil ganun na lang ang kabuwisitang naramdaman ko sa taong nais magpulis sa aming pet-rearing skills.
all's well that ends well
...because at the end of the day, we have our rogue and she's worth it. TV time has turned to kitty time, as we discovered the singular pleasure she takes in being cuddled by two simpering humans at one time. in the midst of some heavy-duty double cuddling, she fell asleep in the cozy hollow created by our bodies as we watched TV on our tiny two-seater couch. really, marlon and i completely melted.
that TV cuddle seems to have finally impressed upon her that marlon and i are good humans to have around, because this morning she actually came out of her favorite sub-coffee-table hideaway when we came out of our bedroom for breakfast. plus, she actually came to me when i called her! marlon hasn't quite succeeded yet, as he has yet to undo 26 years of dog training and stop saying "here, boy!" hahaha! but not bad for just two days eh?
the morning was spent attending mass and a lunch for ateneo alumni at the parish of st. ignatius because our beloved fr. ben (dumbledore!) was visiting, along with the OAA director and my philo 104 teacher fr. nemy, and marlon's favorite math teacher ma'am jo. i can't tell you what a beautiful, beautiful feeling it was to sing filipino jesuit church music.
i was also completely moved by the opportunity extended to ateneo alumni in singapore to help with funding for scholars. that's pretty much because i was a scholar too. i was stunned to learn that 14% of ateneo college students are on scholarship -- not because it's a small number (it's actually more than decent), but it really hit me how lucky i was to have been that 14% in my time. also how lucky i was to be among the 250 scholars a year who are given scholarships out of the 850 who apply. so marlon and i agreed to set aside a little amount each month to contribute to the scholarship fund, because i know just how much difference a little bit can make to a scholar who really needs the money.
afterwards, we went all the way down to harbourfront to shop at charcoal/rogue's foster parents (FPs) pet store of choice. as the cashier rang up our cat food, cat-away spray, feeding dishes, scratch pad, cat carrier, catnip, cat collar and various other cat paraphernalia, he murmured: "first-time cat owner, huh?" you'd better believe it.
maryosep tantanan n'yo na kami
actually, walang tatalo sa pagka-first time cat owners ng mga FP ni charcoal/rogue. after we got out from our afternoon screening of WALL-E, nagpumilit lang naman silang dalawin ang pusa, ostensibly para i-turn over ang mga natitira nilang mga kagamitang pang-pusa... kahit tumanggi ako (politely of course) at sinabi kong nakapamili na kami. but no nagpumilit pa rin sila. k fine. baka nami-miss lang nila. pagbigyan.
ang mga kasangkapang dinala: litter tray and litter sand (kahit sinabi kong meron na kaming binili), cat-away spray (ditto), pagkain, flea spray para sa carpet, flea powder para sa pusa, mga samu't saring laruan, at... dito ako muling tumambling. shampoo. dahil araw-araw daw nila itong pinapaliguan.
diyoskoday. naloka ako. unang-una, naiimbyerna po ang mga pusa kapag sila'y nababasa. ikalawa, ang mga pusa po ay may katangi-tanging abilidad na paliguan ang kanilang mga sarili.
bigla kong na-realize kung bakit ang dialogue ng mga FP ay panay ganito: "gusto sana namin ng pusa, pero wala kaming oras eh." e gaga pala sila. kung pinapahirapan nila ang mga sarili nila sa araw-araw na pagpapaligo at pagpupulbos at 2x kada araw na paglilinis con johnson's baby wipes ng isang hayop na napakalinis sa sarili nitong katawan, e mawawalan talaga sila ng oras!
eto pa ang maganda. ayaw daw nilang makaistorbo, pero bibisita raw sila every two weeks para tingnan kung inaalagaan namin ng mabuti ang pusa. talagang nagkatinginan kami ni marlon sa napakandang non sequitur na ito. buti na lang ay kaagad kong sinabi na mas mabuti kung kada buwan na lang, kung hindi baka napagulong pa ang aming mga eyeballs. haha sorry naubusan ako ng tagalog. siguro dahil ganun na lang ang kabuwisitang naramdaman ko sa taong nais magpulis sa aming pet-rearing skills.
all's well that ends well
...because at the end of the day, we have our rogue and she's worth it. TV time has turned to kitty time, as we discovered the singular pleasure she takes in being cuddled by two simpering humans at one time. in the midst of some heavy-duty double cuddling, she fell asleep in the cozy hollow created by our bodies as we watched TV on our tiny two-seater couch. really, marlon and i completely melted.
that TV cuddle seems to have finally impressed upon her that marlon and i are good humans to have around, because this morning she actually came out of her favorite sub-coffee-table hideaway when we came out of our bedroom for breakfast. plus, she actually came to me when i called her! marlon hasn't quite succeeded yet, as he has yet to undo 26 years of dog training and stop saying "here, boy!" hahaha! but not bad for just two days eh?
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