BAKLANG IPIS (I miss you Daddy)

Imbestigador drivers are the best. After all, years of chasing criminals and rushing to raids and operations do wonders for your driving skills. So imagine my great pride when they tell me – ALL THE TIME – that I drive like them.

My dad taught me how to drive when I was 12. “Release the clutch and step on the accelerator” he said. And I did. The car lurched horribly before shuddering to its untimely death. “You just said release and step. You didn’t say release and step SLOWLY”, I said accusingly. He laughed.

I began driving myself to school when I was in 4th year high school. My parents’ friends all thought I would wreck the car or at least, do some serious damage. Even the Assumption nuns were worried. My dad simply said, “She won’t learn until she hits something” but to me he said, “I know you won’t hit anything but it’s okay if you do”. That was all the confidence I needed. And to this day, I have never been in any car mishap. NEVER.

My friends adored him. He was the cool dad. He knew my friends’ boyfriends because they all trusted him (Mind you, they kept it from their own fathers). He used to say he loved hosting soirees – having my friends and their boyfriends over at our home. Years later, he admitted that he wasn’t totally in love with the idea of high school relationships but would rather have them happy and healthy under his own roof than secretly meeting elsewhere.

Dad loved doing crazy things. I got that kooky side of me from him. I remember how we used to buy water guns to spray our unsuspecting chef who would later insist our roof had a leak. We would giggle and leave the kitchen quietly, leaving my mom to deal with the catastrophe we made.

He loved giving people nicknames based on quirks/traits he found amusing. He called my sister “uning-uning” because he taught she got a bit cranky in med school. He called me “madame” for reasons only he and I will share – but you may take a guess.

I got THE call on the morning of October 1st. Not just sick, not just in the hospital but already gone. We cremated him the day after. No eulogies. No printed names on shiny strips of ribbon inside the coffin. No blown-up pictures. No flowers. No comforting.

New friends wondered why I did not bother to tell them. Old friends were not surprised. Seven years ago, I skipped class for 4 days. My best friend asked where I’d been and I told her my mom had died. Not that I didn’t need comforting but I knew I would never stop crying if my friends came over. Hugging unleashes tears.

Dad’s urn is on my writing table. While staring at it last night, I asked him to somehow let me know he was okay and happily reunited with my mom. I waited and waited for a sign but none came. In movies, protagonists often ask for a specific-colored butterfly as their sign. Considering how congested and polluted Timog is, I knew seeing a butterfly is as likely as the current Philippine president winning the Nobel Peace Prize, or at least having a net positive satisfaction rating.

All I saw was a huge, fat cockroach flying around my bathroom before disappearing through the window. I froze. Then I cried. And I laughed. Because even in death, Dad was funny. He knew I would get the connection because being his daughter meant we shared the same zany humor and silly penchant for corny, forwarded text jokes. One of our favorites was…

“I am a butterly…. A pretty, brown butterly” ---- BAKLANG IPIS. ☺

He didn’t give me a butterfly but I got something better…ipis!!! And I laughed – really laughed - for what felt like the first time in a really long time.

A famous TV host said ,“It will take a lifetime for us to be okay”. Yes, I think it will take a lifetime… and about three AFTERlifes.

I miss you Daddy. And I will miss you more in the coming days.

When someone dies, what most people really fear is that they would forget… but I could never forget the good person, fantastic friend, and great dad you were. I am honored to have the privilege of calling you my father.

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal.
Love leaves a memory no one can steal.
Manuel A. Directo, Jr + (1954-2009)

sad...

that i never felt this excited for local election stuff! hahaha i've been glued to CNN like crazy! :)

can't wait for barack's inauguration speech...

but more importantly, can't wait for michelle obama's designer choice :) i've been happily guessing since her husband became the president-elect months ago! 3 likely choices so far but i'm giving the "lead" to maria pinto! :)

i can't wait!!!


taken more than a year ago. now, im so glad they are working together. hillary's "smart power" is amazing! i'm sure she'll be the best secy. of state!


hope lives! :)

with this suuuuper hot president....


who wouldn't want to be a white house intern? eat your heart out monica lewinsky hehe

really longing to "apparate" (like in harry potter- hehehe) in washington! wish i could join the parade! can't believe the crowd i saw on TV!

took this picture in 2007 when i went crazy buying books about the president-elect and his secy. of state. the obama book in this picture, my beloved christmas gift/request from bowe hehehe noi and ate madel has since added books to this growing collection! :)

eat your heart out sarkozy! :)

yes, bill clinton is handsome but barack is sizzling! hahahaha it's weird that the president-elect of the world's most powerful nation has achieved heartthrob status. bwehehe just imagine, if al gore won (and bush was totally out of the picture), the last three US presidents would have all been smokin' hot!!! :) mr. america/commander in chief! yay! :)

shooed away!

grabe it was sooooo funny! i got this from AP:

BAGHDAD - It gives fresh meaning to the phrase shooed away.

President George W. Bush ducked a pair of shoes hurled at his head _ one shoe after the other _ in the middle of a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Both shoes narrowly missed their target and thumped loudly against the wall behind the leaders.

"Don't worry about it," the president said as the room erupted into chaos.

Iraqi reporters started shouting what Bush later explained were apologies for the incident.

"So what if the guy threw a shoe at me?" Bush said, comparing the action to political protests in the United States.

"If you want the facts, it was a size 10," he joked.

The shoe attack came as Bush and al-Maliki were about to shake hands. The assailant _ later identified as television correspondent Muntadar al-Zeidi _ leapt from his chair and hurled his footwear at the president, who was about 20 feet away.

"This is a farewell kiss, you dog," he yelled in Arabic. "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

The crowd descended on al-Zeidi, who works for Al-Baghdadia television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt. He was wrestled to the ground by security officials and then hauled away, moaning as they departed the room. Later, a trail of fresh blood could be seen on the carpet, although the source was not known.

In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt. When U.S. Marines toppled Saddam Hussein's statue on Firdos Square in 2003, the assembled crowd whacked it with their shoes.

When Bush met with reporters later aboard Air Force One, he had a joke prepared: "I didn't know what the guy said but I saw his `sole.'" Later, he said: "I'm going to be thinking of shoe jokes for a long time. I haven't heard any good ones yet."

Al-Baghdadia's Baghdad manager told the AP he had no idea what prompted his reporter to go on the attack.

"I am trying to reach Muntadar since the incident, but in vain," said Fityan Mohammed. "His phone is switched off."

The station issued a statement on the air Sunday night asking the Iraqi government to release al-Zeidi "to spare his life."

"The station calls on journalists all over the world to express their solidarity for the release of al-Zeidi," it said.
:)

yey!

taken about a year ago. of course we know she didn't get to shatter that high glass ceiling but "it's got about 18 million cracks in it!" :)

i am happy to see the end of GOP rule!!!! i'd rather be a "woman in charge" than have the "audacity of hope" but whatever... At least the REPS are OUT!!! :)

from iowa and new hampshire to november 4... WOW! :) i am now brimming with hope :)

newsmakers: sept 28 - 10:30 PM, GMA 7 :)

ibang klaseng pagod ang naranasan ko... for three months! kaya nawala ako sa paningin ng mga mahal ko sa buhay... sleep-deprived and bitchier than usual... thanks family and friends for understanding :) pero ngayon na patapos na, super wow! i am super privileged to be part of this special. history in the making. such an ambitious project... pero ang pinakamahalaga sa lahat, NAGAWA! :) we never thought we can pull this off. and after three months... FINALLY! i'm so honored to be a part of gma news and public affairs! :)

thank you lord for the opportunity :) 4 living presidents and a former first lady... really lord, THANK YOU!

i'll be posting the rest of the photos in my multiply account :)

*** by the way, the photos i took were used by inquirer and star! :) hahaha they picked my photos over the official ones! but don't worry wanks, you're still the photographer between the two of us. accidental lang iyong sa akin :)

sa wakas!!!

i am proud to say that i converted at least 50% (probably more!) of MAC users in public affairs. i say public affairs because the news department is already covered by josh hehehe

but my biggest frustration has always been my best friend. she's a stubborn pc user but because she adores her iPod, she BRIEFLY considered getting a MAC. then i didn't see her for a few weeks...

just last night, she showed me her new laptop. its... eeeewww! i'm not gonna mention the brand so i don't offend anyone hahaha as in super DINAOT ko siya! bwahahaha i super teased her about her laptop being pirated and ayun... she decided then and there to get a MAC the next day. ganun kasimple. parang candy ang bibilhin hehehe

and just a few hours ago...

ang mag-best friend at ang kanilang mga laptop...whoooo! i'm sooo happy! you go girl. you will be so happy i promise! :)

kuya fundy orienting gracie... kamay ni kuya nomer iyong extra hehehe

yey, another convert! hey steve jobs, i should be getting paid for this already! :)