That Girl Was Me!

As I celebrate my anniversary at Cityland Pasong Tamo, I’m also in the process of packing up my things and leaving for a new place. This is, of course, my nth moving. Since I came back from the States (2003), I’ve lived in Cityland Pioneer, WackWack Twin Towers and Cityland Pasong Tamo. Although our place at WackWack was my favorite (few cockroaches, rich neighbors, presence of celebrities like Paolo Paraiso, nice building), I’d have to say that my place at Cityland Pasong Tamo is the most memorable…because this is the first place I really had on my own. I found it on Buy & Sell by myself, negotiated with the broker, fixed up my stuff and lived in it (and messed it up) for a year…all on my own. I also paid my P7,500/month rent all by myself=T

I will truly never forget….

- How I smuggled in and kept a cat (BB) for the first few months so I won’t be so   lonely. (would’ve gotten a guard dog but it’s not allowed)

- My peeping-tom jolog neighbors who used to always wave at me and yell "Miss! Miss!"  everytime I forget to close my drapes (or "Miss, baka mahulog yung pusa!" when my cat wanders out the canopy). They moved out a few months ago and were replaced by this girl who I caught making out with a guy by the window…of course, I kept watching behind my drapes to see if ‘anything’ happens=P There also used to be a window through which I can see two girls with nice legs who always slept in short shorts in a lower apartment but I don’t get to see them anymore.

- All the pokpoks and kabits in my building.

-The ’service’ boys who drive me to work for P60.

-How I take out the trash at 3am so no one will see me ‘cuz I’m too lazy to wear a bra.

-How I carried heavy groceries from Waltermart

-The I-cafe’s where I sit with maids who spend hours chatting with Punjabi-looking foreigners. And that wonderful I-cafe that rents out DVD’s=)

-The ‘toot! toot!’ of the train (home along da riles ako=P)

-THE COCKROACHES!!! ew!

-Last Valentine’s Day when I got a really bad bout of UTI and needed to be brought to the ER but there was no one I could call to take me.

Things I wish I could’ve done in my 1 year of living there:

- I wish I had talked to the cute semi-kal guy who lives on my floor.

-Wish I spoke to even just one neighbor! Gosh, I’m such a hermit!

-Wish I had gone swimming at least once! (the pool is always filled with jologs people kasi so I don’t bother)

-Wish I had my toilet fixed instead of leaving it broken for a year!

-Wish I had gotten cable TV!

-Wish I had crashed at least one roof deck party!…Instead of just yelling "SHUT UP!!!" everytime people were making noise up there.

People I’d like to thank:

My broker and the owner of the unit…who are a bit too motherly towards me sometimes…or i guess they’re just making sure I’m still alive.

My laundry-lady who I entrust with washing even my dirty undies=P (haha, tamad talaga ako eh!)

My ex, who filled my ref with groceries the first few months I started living there.

My dearest Manang Linda….who can turn this:

 

to this:   

(Of course, i mess it up again a few days after.)

Never mind that she also made all my clothes smell like moth balls (by filling my cabinets with packs of moth balls) and broke my toilet. Never mind that she sends me bizarre texts like "Salamat po sa tenapy" (thanking me for the pastries I gave her) or "Yung Meralco mo due dit na" (reminding me of a due date) or "Sorry hindi ako naka refly agad" (for not replying) or the most recent "Debale pag wla kng urs magbayad etxt molng ako sagleten ko". Never mind also that she once placed a bottle of Maggi seasoning with my books and DVD’s=P Without her, I’d be living in a pigsty!

And so, goodbye to my little haven on the 12th floor. How i wish i can finally settle in a permanent place…a place i can call home forever…or at least for more than a year.

In support of my theater actress friend who recently got casted, I set out to watch Repertory’s newest offering; Aladdin, Jr. (Stress on the JUNIOR). I am no stranger to Rep’s musicals for Children. In fact, I have watched quite a number of them when my mom and I were trying to infuse a sense of culture into my little brother…who years later collected Chuck Palahniuk’s novels and painted scenes of demons and bloodied, gun-shot ridden bodies…so much for culture. This time, however, I am 26 years old with no kid to drag to the play as an excuse.

The other reason I am watching is because it also stars the cutest, most talented thespian in Rep: NICCOLO MANAHAN. In fact, I am watching the play TWICE because Nico (close kami) plays Jafar and Genie alternately. So I watched him as Jafar last Saturday and will watch him again as Genie (which I heard he is better as) next week.

As the word "pathetic" always seems to follow me around, it just so happened that none of my friends could go last Saturday. So I ended up being a 26 year old, watching a JUNIOR play…ALONE…to see Niccolo Manahan play Jafar.

Just as I have comforted myself with the thought that I am simply an independent woman out to enjoy a cultured play, I entered the theater and was greeted by hundreds of screaming and running kids and the music "It’s a small world after all" playing in the background. I had no difficulty finding a seat near the stage though, since I only needed to find ONE seat.

However, as I settled comfortably on my chair, I noticed that I had sat myself right in the middle of a row of ’special’ kids….and by special…I mean special! As in one of them required a head gear. It was a whole group of them out on a field trip. As I told my friend later, "Dulingin ko nalang mata ko magmumuka nakong kasama nila eh". They were very behaved though, and one mongoloid kid even spoke with a British accent (their teacher was a British lady). That was, until their teacher started singing and dancing freakishly to "it’s a small world". That’s when the kids suddenly started stomping their feet and yelling gibberish…and the girl beside me looked like she was having convulsions.

As the play was about to start, I heard an announcement: "Hey kids, this is the Genie speaking. To your left is a sign marked EXIT. E-X-I-T. Exit! Can everybody say Exit?" Kids: "Exit!!!" Oh no…I felt like I was teleported into Dora the Explorer’s world.

I felt better as the play started. It is based on (but a shorter version of) Disney’s Aladdin and was quite fun to watch. I was amazed at how they employed black lights for the genie scenes (really colorful and wonderful to watch)…and they even had a flying carpet! It’s a real treat for kids…and adults too…especially those who like watching Niccolo Manahan=P He was a very adorable villain…I would’ve wanted to be the lamp he rubs…or if he’s playing the genie, I would’ve loved to be the one rubbing his lamp=P (Hopefully he doesn’t find his way to this blog or I might have a restraining order served at my doorstep.)

The "A Whole New World" song numbers were surprisingly enchanting. The freakish British teacher and I connected as we both found ourselves in an ‘awww’ moment when Jasmine and Aladdin sang the famous duet. I even saw her wiping her eyes at the end of the scene. She’s single, no doubt about it.

If you are planning to watch this with your nieces, nephews or children, be sure to bring a digicam because you can take pics with the cast right after the play. I was too embarrassed to pose with Jafar…nakakahiya naman makipagsisikan sa mga bata…but I was able to get a shot of him through my phone (I even acted like I was taking a picture of some pretend-kid I have in front)=P

Okay…so it’s not such a nice shot…I couldn’t make my way through all the moms and dads crowding around trying to get pictures of their kids. Hindi na sila naawa sa maliit.

Next week, I’ll be watching again to see Nico as Genie and his dad, Bunggoy Manahan, as the sultan=) This time, I’ll come prepared!

On the eve of my 26^th birthday, I found myself sitting on my bed eating my birthday cake ALONE.

Now at about

11pm

, I’m here, at the office, supposedly working on a report…but then decided to write this entry.

I think it’s just about right for a person celebrating a birthday (and having no party or gimik whatsoever) to assess where he/she in life. So I did an assessment of the different areas in my life.

HEALTH:

I recently had a horrific experience at Fitness First with a trainer who kept threatening me that I will NEVER lose weight if I don’t pay for a personal trainer. My attention, however, was seized by the piece of paper he handed out to me. It contained my ‘measurements’…and I found out the awful truth that I’m FAT! I’m 10lbs. overweight (for my height…) and my FAT % is 22.8%! I am one unhealthy, fat bee-otch!

Although I’ve never been hospitalized and I just get like one or two cold infections a year, I had to spend sooo much recently for dental needs and something else that has to do with hormones=P And at 26, I will soon be donning a tin grin…as in I’ll be getting braces!

CAREER:

My position is great. My work is challenging. My pay? Don’t ask!

LOVE LIFE:

I should just be dramatic and leave this area blank. I’ve always wished that one birthday, I would have a bouquet of flowers on my office desk to surprise me…either from a boyfriend…or even better, a secret admirer (and I would be all flushed and surprised..”Oh I wonder who this is from!”….)=P Well, it has NEVER happened! In fact, no guy has ever given me flowers! (except for my 21^st birthday when my friends forced 21 guys from campus to hand me long stemmed roses…most of them were cute which led me to suspect my friends were just using that as an excuse to talk to cute guys=P)

After 2 ½ relationships (1/2 is my count for a pseudo relationship=P) with guys who were VERY different from one another, I don’t know anymore what to look for in men to guarantee that the relationship would work.  To make it easy, I just narrowed it down to:

Brave (He must be able to make me feel secure)

Intelligent

Good-hearted

Prosperous (niyehehehe)

Energetic (must be able to keep up with me)

No vices (no to drug addicts, alcoholics, gamblers, promiscuous men. Smoking is negotiable.)

Industrious

Sweet and Sincere

FAMILY:

The people that I count as my immediate family are my brothers and sister. My older brother is married and recently had a baby boy. My older sister is married and recently had a baby boy. When we get together (which isn’t often), I’m the only one with no baby or childbirth stories to tell. My youngest brother is in

San Diego

. He is currently having a blast in

Las Vegas

with his girlfriend and totally forgot to greet me. I live by myself…and with my family busy with their own happenings, I’m pretty much alone.

FRIENDS:

When I was in high school, I considered myself very popular. A lot of people, even those not from my batch, knew me because I was usually on stage doing something silly. Now, I realize that your popularity in school counts for absolutely nothing! All my friends are either married, gone abroad or in relationships… leaving me gimik-less on weekends and with no-one to talk to but my officemates.

With everything on a bad note, I should just forget about celebrating my birthday altogether. =P But encouragingly enough, I got a birthday message from a friend that said:

“I get to read your blog from time to time and it’s funny how you’ve managed to stay the same. Kwela pa din! You always see the bright side of things. =)”

So why should this be different. I should still see the brighter side of things. With another birthday at hand, I see this as an opportunity to get my life on track again. As quarter-life crisis dawns upon me and the sounds ‘tic-tock-tic-tock” growing louder, I’m compelled to REALLY do something about my life…as Incubus said, “take the wheel and steer”.=)

My birthday dinner (Starbucks Iced Choco and leftover pansit)

Sharing a cake with my newborn nephew.

My traditional mocha cake…kulang nalang ng candle blowing=) (with my family)

The only pic I took during my birthday ‘pansit and puto’ party which I shared with other August celebrants.

At about age 5, I wanted to join Little Miss Philippines…seriously. My mom, the dakilang konsintidor, would let me practice on questions like: "Pano kung tumatae ka tapos ubos na pala ang tissue, anong gagawin mo?" "Maghuhugas ng pwet?" "Pano kung walang tubig" "Tatawagin ko mommy ko?" "Pano kung mag-isa ka sa bahay?" "Umm…tatawag ako ng kapit-bahay?". I also practiced my Madonna dance numbers in full costume. Unfortunately, my mom never let me join…and Aiza Suegera beat me to being discovered through the contest.

At age 6-9, I wanted to become a teacher. Inspired by Ms. Taboso, my 1st grade teacher, I would conduct my own classes with my stuffed toys as students. I wasted tons of paper conducting ‘exams’ and angered my mom with my crayola scribblings on the wall.

At age 10, I wanted to become a spy or detective (brought about by my addiction to Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and the like). This became an on and off fantasy until I was in college…when it finally occured to me that the CIA will NOT discover through some secret test that I’m genetically pre-dispositioned for intelligence work and get me as an operative.

At age 11, I wanted to become an actress and act in an Oscar-winning role alongside Edward Furlong (Of course, years later, I watched Terminator 2 again and said "What the hell was I thinking!" Edward Furlong was sooo NOT hot!) or Leanardo Di Caprio (this was way before Titanic. I discovered Leo on the pages of BOP and TeenBeat).

At age 12, I wanted to become a circus performer or an olympic gymnast.

At age 13, I wanted to become a Laker Girl. This is also an on and off fantasy…which I’ve pretty much given up on. I just content myself now with watching them on YouTube. I also wanted to become one of Janet Jackson’s dancers.

At age 14, I wanted to become a lawyer. But my mom said, "Hindi pa namamatay ang mga lawyer, sinusunog na kaluluwa nila sa impyerno."

At age 15-17, I wanted to become a theater actress or an Oprah type host.

At age 18, I wanted to become a literature teacher.

At age 19, I wanted to become a professor at the Ateneo or a teacher at ICA.

At age 20-22, I wanted to become a copywriter for an ad agency.

At age 22, I worked in the States for a law firm. My job consisted mostly of cleaning the office in the morning, filing stuff, taking in calls, pretending to be working when I’m really chatting, computing the work hours of the lawyers, preparing coffee for depositions, going to the bathroom to chat with the mexican girl from next door, writing checks for my boss, fixing the copier and printers, and a lot of other clerical stuff. I decided I wanted to get a REAL job and went back to the Philippines.

At age 23-24, I worked for Summit. I felt I was right where I should be…working in media. But after realizing I won’t get anywhere financially in that field, I decided to go corporate.

At age 25, I became a brand manager. Playtime was over and I felt the stress and pressure that goes with the title. And I realized I’m not cut out for a super corporate job.

At age 26 (well, I’m turning 26 in a few days), I don’t know what I want to be anymore.

I’m torn between wanting to be a modern day, independent career woman who will rise to the ranks of CEO…or working for a moderately well-paying but non-competitive job (petiks lang)…or maybe even just marrying someone rich and becoming a gym-going, mall-hopping housewife!=P

I have recently decided on going for number 2. Get a boring, high-paying job which will give me enough time to enjoy other things like taking lessons after work or whatever. My decision was affirmed further after reading a book by Sophie Kinsella (I refused to read it at first because I didn’t want to patronize the author of "Confessions of a Shopaholic" but it turned out to be okay) called "The Undomestic Goddess" about this high ranking lawyer who unwittingly loses her job and becomes a maid for a rich couple. In the end, she chose the simple life over her career. Here’s an excerpt:

"I’ve learned a different way to live. I do my day’s work and I finish– and that’s it. I’m free. I don’t need to take paperwork home. i don’t need to have my Blackberry switched 24/7. I can go to the pub, I can make weekend plans, I can go sit in the garden for half an hour with my feet up– and it doesn’t matter! I don’t have that constant pressure anymore. I’m not stressed out and it suits me!"

I’ve experienced the stress and the pressure of working for a fast-paced industry…and I’m getting tired.

However, everytime I look into other companies that would give me that kind of life, I start to crave the challenge…the prestige…the ‘feeling important’-ness of a corporate job.

Hay, maybe I should just go look for a rich husband and become a professional mall matrona.

Some people were surprised I keep a blog on Friendster. I’m usually not into things like this and I seem to usually be too busy to have time for blogs.

Well, one dateless Friday night, I got so bored that I decided to start this blog=) After a number of busy Friday nights (not with dates but with WORK), I find myself here again, in the office, dateless, and with nothing better to do than to write another entry. After watching YOUTUBE from 8pm to 12am, I thought of explaining in my blog why my blog is named "That Girl Was Me". If you know where the "That Girl Was Me" came from then you must be…a girl…who likes pop music…or you’ve probably watched Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. I’ll leave the explaining to this video link…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78lc_dmkJq8&search=lindsay%20lohan%20

Yup, got it from my 3rd most-watched Lindsay Lohan movie, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. That song is also my alarm ring tone by the way=) I just love the positivity of that song so I thought it would be great if it’s the first thing I hear in the morning . I used to sing that song with Max (my friend…who happens to be a grade school student from Poveda=P) all afternoon and we’d fight over who gets to be the ‘girl’ in "That girl was me!"=)

Anyone who’s close with me would know I’m a huge Lindsay fan. I even feud with Bea because she’s a Hilary fan. I dream every night of waking up one day and looking down to realize I have Lindsay’s pre-breast-shrinking-bulimia BODY!  (I even tried putting my face together with Lindsay’s body using Adobe Photoshop but it looked totally strange. I’ll try it again soon and post it on Friendster…niyehehe!=P)

Other confessions…

I colored my hair RED twice because Lindsay’s hair was red. But then my hair was too black so the red just shows when the sun hits it. And right after I colored mine red, Lindsay went BLOND!

I watch MEAN GIRLS everytime I get depressed.

I have watched (repeatedly) Parent Trap, Get a Clue, Freaky Friday, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Mean Girls, and Herbie: Fully Loaded. I’ll soon be watching Just My Luck.

I wanted to get a perm to match Lindsay’s wavy hair.

I got excited about the fact that Lindsay and I both love Pharell.

I plan to name my (future) first daughter Lindsay Dominique ______(fill in with surname of future husband). Lindsay, of course, comes from Lindsay Lohan. Dominique comes from Dominique Moceanu…my favorite gymnast. Kawawa nalang siya if my future husband’s surname would turn her into, say, Lindsay Dominique Dakuykoy or Lindsay Dominique Tulalay…=P

I watch entries in YouTube listed under Lindsay Lohan at night when I’m all alone in the office (Thanks to BROADBAND!=P)

I have a collage (which I got from the net) of several Lindsay photos where her nipples popped out=P

I almost left Lindsay for Jojo…but went back to being a Lindsay fan. Jojo just can’t match Lindsay’s…CUP SIZE!=P

Anyway, back to the title. I know one day I’ll be looking  back at my blog entries and I would say That girl was me!…but look how I am now!=)

There was a girl I knew who always wanted to be the one to stand out from the crowd
Always believed that she was gonna live her dreams
That what went down was gonna come around
For all the doubters, non-believers, the cynicals that once were dreamers
One of these days you’ll open up your eyes
And you’ll realize

That girl was a one time teenage drama queen
A hot, tough everyday wannabee
But she’ll have changed her destiny
Now she’s a somebody
That girl was a wild child dreamer but she’ll find herself
‘Cause she believes in nothin’ else
And you’ll look back and you won’t believe
That girl was me

Armed with an attitude that she knows how to use
She’s gonna get there any way she can
Now she knows what she wants
No one is gonna stop her
Nothing’s ever gonna hold her back
For all the doubters, non-believers the cynical that once were dreamers
One of these days you’ll know that you were wrong (who would’ve known)

Life is a work of art- you gotta paint it colorful
You can make it anything you want
Don’t have to stick to any rules
You don’t need a high IQ to succeed in what you do
You just gotta have no doubt just believe in yourself

Doubters, non-believers, once were dreamers
One of these days you’ll open up your eyes
And you’ll realize

That girl was a one time teenage drama queen
A hot, tough everyday wannabee
But she’ll have changed her destiny
Now she’s a somebody
That girl was a wild child dreamer but she’ll find herself
‘Cause she believes in nothin’ else
And you’ll look back and you won’t believe
That girl was me