officially my week end started with a taxi ride from Malate, Manila to our house in LPC. yes i was in another gimmik with my officemates since it would be the last day of our boss before he takes his vacation leave. so we went to The Library again and laughed our hearts out from the comedic acts of its performers. Even better than when we went there last last week. We decided to head our separate ways at around 1 in the morning. So after waiting for about 30 minutes, i finally convinced a cabbie to take me home to our humble abode.
i got home, if i remember correctly, at around 2:30 in the morning to find my father just arriving from his business trip around northern luzon telling my mother how he got caught in trafice on his way home. we all went to bed at around 3:00 as we still need shut eyes before the wedding of my niece, sarah. she is my niece but i treat her like an older cousin. her wedding was held in our lady of lourdes church in tagaytay city. tagaytay is a city in cavite that houses the smallest volcano in the philippines or in the entire world (am not sure, but im sure it's the smallest!) my last visit to tagaytay was so long ago that the thought of being in tagaytay was a joy to be experienced again with family members.
we were late for the wedding ceremony. not entirely late though. the weather was cold.. ah yes! it was cold. in manila, you can experience coldness through air conditioning. but in tagaytay, it was free. add the clean air, and it is just a joy to be anywhere in tagaytay. it was a great rest from my nicotine-filled lungs<hehehe>
reception was done in sonya's garden, a hidden garden within alfonso cavite. the name speaks for its self. it is a beautiful garden indeed. food that was served was all organicly grown in the garden. it's not purely a vegetable garden. it also has ornamental plant. Simple and peaceful would be the best words to describe it. food at sonya's was great too! free flowing salads and freshly squezed dalandan (from the orange family) juice for all to share.
to ate sarge and kuya richard, my best wishes for you! enjoy your new adventure as husband and wife!
on our way back to manila, i received shocking text message from a friend. it said that one of our batchmate from highschool passed away already. jaws open, i re-read the message then replied "weh?? di nga? (this a a really local way of saying "really?"). the reply i got did not give me peace: it read, "it's all over his Facebook". i still didn't believe it 'til i checked it for myself. had to wait home to log-in to my Facebook account through Bookie. i didn't want to think about it so i just slept.
when i got home, i opened Bookie, logged on to my FB account and checked his profile. on his wall were different "you'll be missed..", "rest in peace" messages. i had shivers. i knew this guys from highschool as a nerdy boy who wanted to prove himself, no vices: didn't even smoke or drink, and an all around OK guy..and he was dead.. but how can that happen?? that was the burning question in my head. channeling the detective aspect of my persona, i looked back at his past posts. from what i researched before my internet connection failed, he was in the ICU last friday and he was stable. the next posts said that he passed away already.
my question was left unanswered. i knew i needed to visit his wake to know what really happened.
the good thing about technology is that i bridges gap. by the time my internet connection failed, almost all of my HS classmates knew about his passing through text messaging from there somebody have organized everyone to go visit his wake the following night.
we got completed at the memorial chapel by around 8:30 pm. i finally saw him after 3 years and it was indeed shocking to see him in side a coffin. it was surreal actually. a sad kind of surreal feeling that i still can't associate with a known emotion. then we got the facts: he died during his recovery in their home two weeks after his knee surgery due to (if i remember correctly) bone infection. the injury was from playing basketball. though i was never a fan of basketball, i know that it is a contact sport and injuries are quite common. but it seems weird still that he is still in a coffin.
our group sat down in the chapel and took the opportunity to chat and catch up with each other and share our sentiments about his passing. one thing was evident, we were all sad that he passed. some of us remembered our moments with him. mine was actually during our 5th grade: i arrived early for school (yes, i did although i must have outgrown it since i'm almost always late for work nowadays) and he decided to have a small boxing fight with me. i wasn't in the mood of course since it was so early in the morning but he didn't stop. he kept punching me. i had enough. i looked at him and threw a few punches.. the next thing i knew, he fell down<snap! i had a future as a boxer! hahaha>. we were classmates from grade 5 til 4th year highschool.
since i am a bit sensitive to paranormal stuff, i tried to reach him. i got a response. he just said "thank you for coming"
he will be buried this wednesday.
to domingo, there would be no goodbyes but just "see you soon". i might just have to shout, because im sliding and jumping on rainbow next to heaven<wink>.
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