My Most Embarrassing Experience

"HUUUuuuuuMANAaaY!!!!!!!!!!", a call from the quadrangle of our school. We all know the drill and with less than a minute, there we are, all lined up, right at the center of the quadrangle with our corpse commander in front. A single call that makes the quadrangle filled with junior and senior robots, I mean studes saying "hop, hoe!" hop, hoe "left, ryt" left, ryt!".

I was a senior student then, old enough for the drills, but young enough to experience the most embarrassing experience of my life. Let me tell you more about that...

We had a subject called PMT (puppet military training), I mean, Preliminary Military Training. When
the clock hits 5, the HUuuMANAAAaaaY!!! will be heard and the juniors and seniors will come rushing
to where Mr. Huuumanaay is, lining up into platoons. Every platoon has their own Puppeteer ( I mean Officer), checking the attendance before they start yelling their lungs out!..

For an hour, we will be practicing the, "patakda, na!" where we suppose to start walking like robots
and the "pulutong, hinto!" where we should stop walking and stand fixed without a single motion. At times, we will be toy soldiers carrying a riffle saying "hop, hoe!" " hop, hoe" and will turn right or left
with our remote controll yelling "harap sa kanan, harap!" or "harap sa kaliwa, 'rap!". All these, in a snappy rhythmic cadence, otherwise, youll hear the "give me two weeks" and that's 14 push-ups, or "three weeks!" for 21 , or more. Same punishment for lousy, unprepared, "pasaway" ,etc.

So there was I, one of the robots who cant even scratch his *****( because of punishment that could bring shame after the session), hearing all the yelling and doing all the robot thing. But before that, let me go back just a bit...

Earlier that day, I was having trouble with my belt buckles( the hinge is kind of broken) and loose pants. My mother told me, "sa sunod an tayo bili anak, pwede pa yan". Well, I can do nothing but to convince myself with" Be happy with what you have".

Huumanaaay!! and the campus is clouded with dust after the sound of thousand Horse's feet. I was there standing among the robots of platoon Alpha (for cute guys..hehe), worrying about my broken buckles and loose pants. Well, it wasn't long before I have forgotten about that "anxiety" because someone has brightened-up my day^^,. That cute girl on the girls platoon Ive been eying..^^

At the middle of the session, our officer may have noticed that we were doing good so we were given 4 mins to quench and fix ourselves. Right at that moment, the girls platoon is right at our back, which I haven't noticed bytheway. " Men!! you got 4 mins to quench and fix yourselves, tuck your clothes in emman!". " Now, harap sa likod, 'harap!"

We were just waiting for the signal "Go!" to get the 4 mins "rest" started, when my buckles gave up and my loose pants fell-off.( Jan pu nagunaw ang mundo ko mga kapuso). I was there, with my pants down, FACING the platoon of girls.

My blood came rushing-up from my feet all the way up to my head " na parang sasabog sa kahihiyan!!" as the girl Ive been eying is right in front of me who cant seem to look anywhere down my chest..haha!!
I later realized it all happened because I wasn't wearing my lucky brief^^( or should I say, I wasnt wearing any brief....but boxer) ..haha!!

We became friends after..hehe..

My Most Unforgettable Experience

"Don, katayin mo nga yung dumalaga natin". I hesitated it though it wasn't my first time to dress/butcher a live chicken but my father told me so, so I had to. I had to prepare it for dinner.

Almost every morning I throw a hand-full of rice grains at our the backyard to feed our chicken. I love to see those young little chicks feeding with their mother Hen. Each of them pecking every grain they see. It was nice to see them growing up though I would like to see them remain as young chicks as they are.
Among those little chicks I had one favorite. The one which was so "makulet" and mabait and cute.

Time came, they were all grown up and about to be sold. When a buyer comes, I choose which one to be sold and intentionally, I had my favorite one left.

My father may have noticed that we have one left and we had nothing for dinner. Its been quite a long time since our last 'native-chicken tinola', so he uttered, "don, katayin mo yung dumalaga natin".

I really hated the fact that I have to kill and slaughter my favorite chicken, but I cant do anything, they were all expecting for a delicious tinola by dinner.

It wasnt hard to catch my favorite chicken coz it was "mabait". After my hundreds of apologies to it, I had my little brother clip the wings as I grab the feet and hold it a little up-side down. The edge of the knife hasnt touched the neck of the chicken yet but my eyes were becoming itchy and feels like a pail of water wants to come out of it.

I dont want to be scolded by my father, so I just closed my eyes as I gently began making a slit on its neck . Its blood started dripping down the bowl and along is my pail of tears. It was followed by another hundreds of apologies, followed by a goodbye. I covered its head by putting it underneath its wings.

I set it aside as I prepare a boiling water where the chicken will be soaked to dress it. I prepared the ingredients as waited for the water to boil.

When the water is done, I went back to get the chicken to soak it, but to my surprise! the chicken was GONE!!!! I dont have any idea as to who took the chicken. I asked anyone possible if they happen to see who took the chicken from the kitchen, but to my dismay, none of them had any idea. We all started looking for it anywhere possible but we all failed.

After a moment, I hear a chicken crowing a little coarse, then I hear my little sister saying" kuya may manok duon sa likod" I then saw my chicken feeding like it was before.

I didn't know what to feel, my chicken is somewhat saying " This might be the last time I will make you laugh"

Ohh..

Insomia

I am sick.I didn't know. It all started when my body clock changed..well, because of TP. I cant blame my job now, so I blame it on coffee,("hey! what did you do to me?").I then wanted to get rid of it..found it hard, I did it gradually.., the the sweets, chocolates and late night movie-watching. It may have helped somehow but not to the point of having the ability to sleep so soundly. Well, staying up is totally fine for me, I love night, I'm just sick and tired of ineffective sugar-rush in the morning to keep me up. I cant help it. The sun is hurting my eyes, my eyelids become so heavvvy. I want to enclose myself somewhere dark, so I can rest, for years.

Ive got a disease, its chronic and its becoming severe. Now, Im just waiting for a more severe and obvious symptoms, the lengthening of my fangs, becoming mysterious and becoming totally handsome.. oh forgive me, I just feel tat it requires becoming one . I dont know but vampire movies caught my regular late night movie-watching. Im starting to realize that I really liked them, love them from a worth-a-watch movie thought.

They, one night, came into my imagination before I realized they found a shelter. Enchanting as the night, their eyes, strong personality, belief and attitude I found irresistible. Charismatic. So modern now.
I noticed the"why cant I sleep" question has gone. I close my eyes and clear my mind. I felt something, an attachment. Bond. Life. Brotherhood. Then saw something. It was there.
A mass hysteria I figured I didn't resist joining. I'm one. Ive been. I just realized it.

Good life

Pen rubbing against the paper. Clock ticking. Sounds. Words running, bouncing at every wall of my mind. Me, being with myself.
I just went out and had my dinner. Saw only few people in the street. Went back and puff some "lights."
What a lovely night. I can feel the satiety, a body satisfied by my favorite tapsilog. Yawning and stretching, relieving my muscles reminded me of a good life, over this cold night.
Summarizing. Pretty much what happened today is ordinary. Same day, same pressures, same worries, same me. I remember, being ordinary is what scares most of American youngs, just like how birds hate scarecrows. But out of this ordinary scene, I guess I’m omitting something.
I always feel that Im being left behind. I always feel na wla akong nararating. I sometimes feel the word “success” nags me. A pressure.
I took a deep breath , right at the point where I cant take more air, I hold my breath. I see an immense number of pictures flashing though. Natigilan ako, then I smile, breathing out.
Worries can make you overlook things you should be thankful of. This night makes me realize that success doesn’t mean financial triumph, a title or position.. or an elevated social status.
Sometimes success comes in small things. Small things from few people who make me realized I’m successful in some ways, especially.. by having them. Small things that mean a lot for me,
Out of ordinary day, out of ordinary people and out of ordinary friends you’ll get to know a one in a million. In this world where people come and go, time and situation filter the million into a few. Just like this night who revealed those few in the street who stayed up out of thousands of passersby by day. Millions into a few through the screening process of adversity.
Out of this few that I have, someone said, “sino ba cla? Employer lang sila”. A strong thought from someone who knows that friendship is a more permanent concept than a title, a position or a job. Im not lucky for having a decent job but for having a friend who is one in a million. He is pretty much an advisor, a boss, “utangan”, “kainuman”, “barkada”..but is best described by the word friend. Bob. A person who never elevate himself, someone worth looking up to. That’s Bob. A super down to earth humble friend who, in front of bottles of redhorse, I celebrate the thing I have overlooked with. A good life.