TOP 10

10 Things I miss most about being in Manila/Philippines:

1) mom [and dad’s] cooking – well yes, we still get to cook Filipino dishes in the apartment, pero iba pa din talaga ang cooking ng ina (no, I’m not cursing! Hehehe). Ung tipong she’ll ask me if I want a particular dish for dinner or for the weekend. I especially miss her inihaw na bangus and pakbet combination, embutido, pochero. Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly-kc lumaki ako ng ganito! hehehe) my dad’s a good cook din and I miss his sisig, kilawin, his ginataan dishes (especially fish, chicken and jackfruit!) and lechon kawali and papaitan!!! Gaahd! Just thinking about it makes me want to go home!

2) Starbucks and Seattle’s Best Coffee – kase sobrang aga nagsasara dito (like 11:30PM)!! I miss hanging out at Starbucks 6750 til the wee hours of the morning!!! I miss SBC (pakers!) kc wala ditto! Gusto ko ng brownie javakula!!! Isa pa palang namiss ko ay ung mga cute baristas na pwede kang makipagchikahan kahit papano coz they friggin’ understand what you’re saying!!! (pansin ko lang daming exclamation point ng entry na toh!)

3) Listening to Chico & Del (the morning rush) on my way to the office or while preparing to go-depending on what time I wake up! Hehehehe…I’m actually doing this entry as a tribute to my favorite part of their show-TOP 10…La lang, I just miss literally laughing out loud to these two’s crazy antics and witty remarks!

4) Related to entry number 3: Listeningto OPM and Western artists’ music na hindi galling sa cd na binurn…ung tipong listening to the music as soon as they release it…jusme dito kc isa lang ang station na nagpeplay ng songs from international artists, and so far, si Christian Bautista pa lang ang OPM artist that I’ve heard here, tapos The Way You Look At Me pa yung song! Hallur ilang songs na ba ang narelease nya after that??!

5) Manila traffic – yup, you’ve read it right! When you’re in Bangkok, you’ll appreciate traffic in Manila! At least sa tin kapag rush hour lang napupuno ang kalsada ng sasakyan! Dito hindi eh! Go out anytime of the day, or night for that matter, mauubos talaga ang pasensha mo sa traffic! Buti medjo mas laid back (read: walang sense of urgency) mga tao dito at di kasing baba ng EQ ng drivers sa atin kundi madami na siguro nagbarilan sa kalsada!

6) Pantry breaks, turon breaks at lahat ng klaseng logical break that we could come up with sa previous project ko (hallur sa mga projectmates reading this!hehehe)… ung tipong kumpulan sa pagpunta sa pantry para kumuha ng coffee or juice, ung pagbili ng lunch sa jollyjeep or sa 12th floor, ung kwentuhan sa long table (bins na pinagdugtong-dugtong) during lunch, merienda sa hapon and ung sabay-sabay na pag-uwi sa gabi (or madaling-araw)…ung mga lagareng OT na minsan may kasamang apartment/condo na pag-o-overnightan kahit siksikan ever! Ung pagpasok during weekends tapos direcho na ng gimmick…charades and overnight teambuildings…ung mga takas papuntang megamall/greenhills area…need I say more?

7) Friday lunchouts – be it with startgroup or projectmates, kahit pahirapan magdecide kung saan kakain (problema din namin dito yan eh!)…ung tipong you have an excuse to be out until like 2:30PM coz it’s Friday and everybody else is late din naman babalik ng office! I miss glorietta and greenbelt area! Dito kc para makapunta ka ng mall, test of patience talaga (read entry number 5!)

8) Videoke, Valero park, and every bonding session with [what's left of] cross stitch club/startgroup…(shempre hallur din sa mga startgroup and sessionmates reading this!!!) ung mga kantahan hanggang mamaga ang lalamunan sa kabibirit (with matching choreography pa shempre!)…tapos pag pagod na, direcho ng 6750 or ng Valero park para magchikahan hanggang umaga…and if we really can’t get enough of each other’s company, magbebreakfast pa sa mcdo or wait for the stalls to open sa weekend market at Valero park for the barbecue or bibingka or even paella (di ba Tin?! Hehehe)…

9) Out-of-town trips with friends and family! - I know there are a lot of places to explore here kaso lang kase, sobrang hirap makipagcommunicate mawawalan ka ng gana umalis! It still amazes me kung pano nabubuhay sa turismo tong bansang toh when a lot of people couldn’t really understand/speak English…sa atin kahit tindera lang kanto would get by with simple English conversations eh…cguro when I'm feeling more adventurous, try ko magexplore...

10) Hugs from mom and dad….hayy…I just miss hugging them when I go home after a stressful day at the office…ung tipong I don’t have to say a word and they will understand instinctively that I’ve had a bad day. Even the way my dad would fool around kapag alam nyang badtrip ako or whenever my mom’s pissed off just to lighten up our mood and how my mom selflessly takes care of our everyday needs...hayy...now I have to take care of everything here...crap...

I could still go on and on talking about the things I miss about being in manila pero hindi na magiging akma ung title…hehehe…eto lang ung mga nasa top of the list… even if they say manila’s one of the worst cities to live at these days, the past 24 years of my existence somehow tells me it’s not that bad after all…