Butong Pakwan Sessions for the Not So Typical Holiday Season

Hey folks it's 2005!!! Year of the Rooster. It's a good year says that creepy looking guy who happens to be calles "The Nostradamus of Asia". I never really believed in those things before but when I learned he predicted about FPJ's death and the fires...well..maybe he can predict the future. But as what Dad kept saying, the future is not predicted. Yep. I've always believed in that.

Woohoo...got to be with the SARMY ARMY. I miss going to Villasis with the whole Sarmy Army. We used to have a tree house there and the duyan!!! We'd all take a bath in the palanggana in the poso. Those days. Life was so much simpler then. At least we still get to spend a lot of time together, still having a good time.

When we got there, we immediately watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (for a movie with forgettable songs and characters..it wasn't so forgettable) in Tito Ernie's laptop since all the TV there didn't seem to work. We tried to squeeze all our butts in the tiny bed, but we were too big. Some stood up and some sat on the floor. Hayy... All that to watch a movie with pink-faced midgets sing. After the movie, we all got out of the room to see that they bought a brand new flat screen TV and VCD. YEY!!! We didn't have to punish ourselves! Haha..Then that night, we had the "party". There was this magic mic from Tito Ging and Tita Baby then we had the gift-giving. I got a picture frame for the exchange gifts. WOOPEE!! (I'm not complaining...I just wanna know..why?!). It was fun though. Hehe..

After that, we took full advantage of the new TV and VCD player so we watched Ring 0 (well..we didn't even finish the 1st CD..we were getting to the good part when I heard Kokoy snore). So I decided that we just all go to bed. The next morning was the Ubaldo reunion. It was the typical family reunion with kids singing and a few games. The moms chat about everything and the dads are somehwere outside sitting in a table drinking lotsa beer. The funny thing was that I have this distant cousin. She kept sending me these testimonials in Friendster. It's really flattering that she finds me very pretty and she wants me to talk to her when we see each other. Sure, right? But I just find it awkward to talk to her. Well, we were able to interact with each other a little when the clowns were having the magic show. But after that, I was with the PTF the whole time and we were just having a good time by ourselves so we weren't really able to talk. Then we had to go so that was that.

When we got back to the house, we watched Dreams. Unfortunately, Tito Eddie and Tito Rolly had to go so Eona, Denden, EJ, Earl and Elyza weren't there anymore. Well, Eona was the only one who would probably appreciate the Kurasawa movie, but it's sad that they had to go. Then we watched Before Sunrise. And as expected...only Kokoy, Ikay and me were up for it. Hehe. Ikay, Kokoy and I were sooo high up the clouds after the movie when we began talking about the movie. Then we talked about love. Hehe... Then Ate Erin, Zaza and Isay joined in. Yep. Just listening to each other's love stories (I listened all the way in this part since I didn't have anything to share..haha!) to the serious stuff (I got to ask those silly questions I've been wanting to ask), to our dreams (the literal sense..as in the things that happen when you're asleep). Well..unfortunately, Kokoy and I were the only ones awake when we reached the dreams part. Isay was just about to close her eyes when Lola with her big hair came into the room. It was time for them to go. Oh well...

I'd call those bonding sessions as Butong Pakwan Sessions. We seemed to have enjoyed eating those while watching the movies. We kept eating them non-stop! Our lips survived, I'm happy to say. No bleeding or anything. I still have to learn how to eat them right though. (My mom does the whole process with just her mouth. Amazing. She cracks it then bam! It's inside her mouth).

Then we got home 8am the next day. On our way home, I swear I had one of those out of body experiences I was telling Kokoy about. But this time, I did it consciously. It was scary. I wanna do it again, but I was so scared cos I felt like I was gonna die when I saw flashes of colors... It was creepy! I was sleeping the whole ride. I woke up and we were in Ubay already.

We spent this holiday season very differently. We didn't have Noche Buena. There weren't quezo de bola or hot chocolate Christmas Eve. We prayed, however at 12 midnight. For New Year's, we were at the Bellevue hotel instead of being home watching fireworks. We had the countdown with Mitch Valdez singing on a stage (it was a good show, btw) and a few socialites. After that, we went straight to our 19th floor suite and watched fireworks from above. We didn't eat that 12 round foods since there were only grapes (and I don't eat those) so I wasn't able to have my usual 12 wishes on New Year's. I was confused, really if I liked it or the traditional way better.

I'm still thinking if I should make a New Year's Resolution. Haha. Yeah right. I'll end up thinking if I should have and by the end of this week, I'd have forgotten that I should make one. I never keep 'em anyway.

Hmm..so does that mean that every year is the same for me? Through the years, have I changed to be a better person?