7 posts tagged “drops of oil”

The Nameless Cat

My parents adopted this cat in 3Q of last year. They told me that the cat would drop by our house and meow incessantly for minutes as if begging for food. Instead of throwing meal left overs away, my parents gave them to this beggar cat until she became at home with us. Kobe, our mongrel, even gave in to her charms and eventually stopped barking like mad at her. Despite keeping her, we don't pet her because she wasn't spayed and vaccinated yet. Thus, she is still, technically, a feral cat.

I named her Nala, after The Lion King character. I told my parents about it, but my parents wanted to call her Nila. Our helper had another idea, and decided for herself to refer to her as Ming-ming or sometimes, just "'yung pusa," since she's the only cat in our compound. Visiting relatives also simply call her "'yung pusa." Possessing a variety of names, I think this cat still lacks its own identity in our house, so I think she's still nameless. Thus, I dub thee, The Nameless Cat.

One Friday night in January, we forgot to lock the kitchen door. The following day, Saturday, my father woke up early for his weekly exercise and went through the kitchen to get his bike. At 5AM, it was still dark and he didn't see The Nameless Cat, who was in the kitchen. He accidentally stepped on the cat's tail. As a backfire, The Nameless Cat scratched my father's foot. It didn't bleed, though.

That same morning, my mother decided to take the issue to her hand. "She doesn't belong here," she reasoned. She asked our helper to put The Nameless Cat inside a big empty dogfood bag, and then the two of them drove off to the next town. Our helper dropped the dogfood bag on a grassy area along the highway.

I woke up at around 9AM that morning. My father had returned from his cycling and my mother from her cat-dropoff task. "I'm going to miss that cat," my father lamented and even pretended to cry. "We should've closed and locked the door so she didn't get in." I, on the other hand, felt no attachment to the cat. After all, she doesn't respond to me whenever I call her "Nala." I was content having Kobe and Balto around.

But come that Friday night, I came home, opened the garage gate and saw an orange cat under the parked SUV. "Nala?" I said. The orange cat didn't respond, but cats are naturally arrogant. So I turned to my mother.

"Is that the same cat?" I asked incredulously.

Yes, it's the same cat, my mother said. It's Nala/Nila/Ming-ming. Confused with her own name, she didn't even respond when I called her Nala. My mother said it returned that Wednesday morning, around 3AM, meowing by their room window. She had to get up from bed and fix The Nameless Cat a meal upon her return.

I remembered the song "When She Loved Me" by Sarah McLachlan, which was used for a Toy Story 2 scene when the toys were abandoned. It was pretty much like The Nameless Cat. The difference is, she was able to return and bug my parents to fix her a meal upon her arrival. From then on, we took care of her again. She recently gave birth to four kittens. We will have her spayed and vaccinated pretty soon, as we intend to keep a few of her babies too.

Canines: Baltik and Kobe-yucky

Balto, our rott, is no entertainer, as he is trained to kill guard. I used to play with him when he was younger and smaller. He got big and more ferocious-looking as grew older. Hence, I would recoil whenever he would run to me playfully. We drifted apart--estranged, actually. I stayed in Los Baños often, left for vacation, and then started working, thus leaving no time for us to really bond. Today, he goes berserk whenever I get near him to say hi and call him a variety of names--Baltik, Baltok etc.

He's a good dog, though. Watch him obey my order:

Despite his vicious look, my father claims that he's such a sweet thing because they get to walk together and play around. Here's a photo of Balto when he "kissed" the guest speaker for our Dog Walk last year:

While Balto gets annoyed by my mere presence, Kobe responds positively whenever I call him--even when I call him Kobe-yucky.

"Call me any names you want," Kobe would probably say. "I look handsome in this photo anyway."

City pets

Some pets don't respond at all. And you'd understand because they're inanimate, just like Crikey and Chantek. They're my "pets" away from home. I just can't keep dogs in the city because I just can't leave the burden of pet care to the ates in the dorm whenever I'm away. I also can't bring dogs to the office. Nor can they travel with me to and from the city.

I also can't keep a fish. It might freeze in our room. These dogs just have enough synthetic fur to keep themselves warm whenever we turn the airconditioner to super cool.

Hello and goodbye is pretty much like yin and yang--a pair of complementary opposites. We say hello; we bid goodbye.

Since Wednesday, I've been dragging myself out of the office and forcing myself to go home to a nearly empty room. Trina has left, while Nona is on a two-week vacation. I've never complained about being alone, but these girls have been my roomies for almost a year now. So I find it quite lonely staying there alone. The thought that they're not out for just a night or a weekend made me feel lonely. And with the room swiped clean of Trina's stuff and Nona's bed without her PC, the room looks bare and stripped of its homey environment.

As if God has been watching me carefully everyday, He sprinkled a few hello's to my Thursday and Friday. I was on my way to Chimara yesterday when I thought I saw a familiar face passed by. I thought I was mistaken, but he also turned to take a second look. It was Ralph, one of my friends from high school. As much as we wanted to have some chat after three years of not seeing each other and six years of not really having the chance to talk, we only had a few minutes to say our hello's, how are you's, and brief updates of where we work.

Friday came. I was busy at work, but Jappy texted me to say that he's there in the building. I haven't seen him for quite some time since he's now Laguna-based. So despite the busy schedule and a full stomach, I decided to take a lunch break to meet up with him. Over salad (naks, how healthy!), we talked about what has been happening with our lives. Another goodbye and see-you-soon said, and I was back to the office in about less than an hour.

I logged out of the office later than my usual log-out time. But as always, my office mates and I walked our way to the terminal, where I waited for what seemed like a lifetime before a bus arrived. Then came Ralph. Again! And he was about to tag in to get into the bus ahead of us. I called out his name and so, he didn't appear to be someone tagging in. Hehe. This time, we were given about an hour to have some chit-chat as we traveled to Laguna. We shared our mobile numbers before I dropped off at the mall, where my father fetches me every Friday.

Outside the mall, I saw Tin, one of my college friends. She was also waiting for her father. Before our fathers arrived (geez, it sounded like kindergartens waiting for their fathers), we got the chance to update our phone books with our mobile numbers and a quick update of our lives.

I knew it--there's an omniscient Someone out there who knows the ill effect of a sudden goodbye to me. He gave me a few hello's to old friends--Jappy, Ralph and Tin. It served as a gentle reminder that someday, I'll say hello's to people I bade goodbye to. These hello's that I said recently served as my 500mg dose of uppers.

And oh, the chocolates and tofu chips helped too. :-)

Goodbyes are never easy for me--be it the simple parting ways after a get-together, leaving a place I've been into and fell in love with, moving out, a friend leaving for a job abroad or death of a loved one. They require mental and emotional preparation, and an assurance that it's not the last goodbye and that we're both better off to move on.

I've been staying in the same dorm and room in Makati for more than a year now. My first room mates and I only shared the room a semester together, after which they both graduated. A few weeks before their graduation, I asked one of them how she feels about graduation. She said she was excited, so I didn't want to spoil their much-awaited graduation by gushing that I'm sad that they're about to leave. A few days later, she realized that she'll miss the dorm life and our room.

Some transient interns occupied the room soon after, spending about only a few nights and we didn't even have the chance to say our goodbyes.

Another goodbye
So far, I have shared the room longest with Nona and Trina, my current room mates. But Trina will be leaving soon after she was informed last January that she got a job abroad. Soon after, she was working on the requirements, but she assured us that it'll take a few months before the visa arrives. Then, life went back to normal.

Last Sunday, we talked about where we'd spend the Holy Week. But there's a force stronger than planning. I woke up yesterday with two large suitcases in the room. I was getting ready for work when Trina woke up. She told me that she found out the other day that her plane ticket arrived--and she's scheduled to leave next week. Talk about planning your Holy Week activity, and then suddenly changing plans and packing up your stuff to leave the country even before Good Friday.

"People come and go," a friend once said. He was probably speaking from experience. I guess I should just brush the sadness aside. I tend to be sentimental and be attached to people, places, experiences and things. That's why I have a lot memorabilia. And maybe that's why I'm always stressed out--I have a lot of emotional baggage.

Goodbyes are a staple of the circle of life. The situation, of course, is more difficult for her. We won't be sharing the room with her anymore, but it's not like we'll never see each other again. This is a great careeropportunity for her, and I guess we should all focus on that; it would lessen the anxiety that we're all feeling. She'll be fine and she'll be back anyway.

For the last two days, Trina's been saying that she feels like she's just in a dream. Well, who wouldn't be? You have less than a week to say your goodbye's and pack your stuff for a new life. I'll surely miss her. Last night, just like the other week nights, I was exhausted by 9PM. But I stayed up, watched some TV with her while she packed and chattered, thinking that it's the last night we'll share the room together.

"This is a great opportunity for you, right?" I blurted out, trying to focus on the good it'll bring for her and trying not to add more anxiety and sadness.

"Yeah," she agreed. The moving out was keeping her busy that she didn't even have time to feel scared or sad, she said.

This morning, I was dressed up and almost ready to leave for work. Trina resumed packing her stuff. Nica dropped by to say goodbye. And a few minutes later, I also had to leave.

When I turned to look at her, she was wiping her tears with tissue. I knew it--it's going to be harder for her. We hugged, said our "I'll miss you's" and "keep in touch," and cracked last-minute jokes to ease the feeling. She'll leave the dorm in the afternoon. So when I come home later, I'll be going home to a nearly-empty room--none of her stuff and none of my room mates (Nona's on vacation).

Nona's an incoming senior. In about a year's time, she'll graduate and leave. Haay, I hope I can just stop whining about how cruel saying goodbye is. Now I know I'm such a drama queen!

When I was in college, the Feb fair was just one of the university affairs that would slip through my fingers. The fun usually starts late in the evening, just when I was about to hurry to the dorm for curfew. I enjoyed it, though. My dorm mates and I would sometimes sneak out, and that was the whole thrill of it. What if they would lock us out? What if they’d call our parents? What if the chapel gate was locked and we have to climb over it?

That’s just all the fun I got. I didn’t get to stroll around the campus until dawn with friends or lie down the grass to stargaze until the sun rises above our heads.

Last-minute decision
The LB fair is normally crowded, and I’m allergic to people. But the thought that I missed all the fun of Feb fair when I was still a student made me think twice of skipping the event this year. I didn’t want to spend another Friday night in front of our PC. So on Thursday, I called up a friend and begged her that we go the fair together on Friday.

There were some glitches in our plan, but we both managed to get to LB on Friday, albeit separately.

Is this for real?
My father brought me to LB and dropped me off at LB Square, which was opened a semester after I left the school. It was a new environment, but just a few steps down the Square, I heard a chorus yell “Tracy!” and saw some of my co-majors and other batchmates. I couldn’t believe it. I went to the Square to look for a different set of friends, and some of my friends happen to be there too.

Moments later, I met up with another set of LB friends. And scattered around LB Square are familiar faces. And it’s funny, they didn’t tease me, “Hey, it’s way past your curfew. Sister is already looking for you!” the way they teased me when we were students.

24 hours
What makes the fair enjoyable is not really the activities on stage. When I was a student, I didn’t get to watch all the fun ones (after all, it’s always been the front act that I get to watch). It’s about hanging out with friends, setting aside the academics and enjoying the beauty Makiling has to offer.

I met up with Ma’am Dee in LB Square. Some Therese-yan, Devcom, Scicom and even org friends were in LB last Friday too. I wished I could hang out with different cliques longer. I got the chance to spend the long night with Hazel and Van, and our imaginary friends Mr. and Mrs. McDonalds (Lack of sleep has temporary adverse effects on one’s mental health. Hehe.).

It was great to be back. I didn’t feel like leaving at all. I felt very much at home, and the thought of leaving made me really sad. We planned to leave at sun rise, but we extended our stay until lunch time.

Some of the LB establishments I used to frequent were relocated; some were renamed; and there are a few new ones. Still, for me, LB hasn’t changed much—my friends and I still go back to it, and when we’re there, it’s still the same old, happy place we used to share when we were college students. Steady lang s’ya sa tabi ni Makiling.

Nonette had a post-birthday celebration, which is actually an aftermath of her coffee date with Abee. Abee, Aix, Nette and I had a get-together at Nette’s house in Laguna.

 

Sharing a common predicament, we reached conclusions and formulated resolutions. We hope that the needle (also dubbed as “exemption to the rule”) we are looking for will stand out from the haystack.

“Trace, patulog ka na?” Arbs asked through text at around 10:30PM last night.

“Yup, pero oks lang. May kwento ka?” I replied. I didn't mind staying up and texting her--I was subscribed to the unlimited text service of Globe, anyway.

“Wala naman,” she said.

It didn't find it surprising that she didn't have a tale to tell from the ongoing enrollment for the second sem. She just graduated from college and has been looking for a job since then. Based on my observation, she seems to be having the post-graduation and first-job hunting jitters.

“Sana makahanap na ko ng work,” she said.

I knew it. After several clicks of “Apply” and no calls from a company yet, fresh graduates itch to make bold moves to jumpstart their careers. I advised her to relax, and pointed out that she just graduated.

Because I wanted her to get rid of the anxiety that I believe affects her moods, I told her: “Mas mahirap pa maghanap ng bf kesa maghanap ng trabaho. Ikaw pa.”

it's dawning on me and my college friends that we are growing up and getting older. yesterday, i invited abee and nonette to judge the RC's annual inter-highschool impromptu and oratorical speaking contests.

 

a couple of years ago, i used to belong tothe nervous group of high school student contestants for such competitions. last year, however, i was part of the board of judges. and this year, i hosted the event, reminding the audience to observe silence and sympathizing with the nervous high school kids.

24 hours

after the contest, the three of the spent a few hours apart. and in the afternoon, we all met up again to spend time with aika, jappy, mikay and tet. we had dinner. abee and i had some pseudo-counselling sessions with tet's friend. as jappy suggested, we went to eastwood for the oktoberfest.

the song batang-bata ka pa greeted us when we arrived. i called up rhea, who also had the song ringing in her head often. the dawn also performed, and topped off their number with their classic but all-time favorite salamat. i really love the timbre of jett pangan's voice, and i'd love to see him in a musical.

we went to the basement for more fun and dancing until the wee hours of the morning. in between quiet times, we talked about our career paths and our common predicament, which is too pathetic to mention here.

batteries

 

it's nice to spend such a week end once in a while. we're quite burned out at our jobs, which belong to the different fields of automotives, grade school education, management education, broadcasting, b2b publication, and customer service (i find it quite funny that we all took up the same course in college, but we landed on totally different jobs from different fields). such a night of fun, free from worries and detachment from the reality of work makes you feel recharged.

 

thank you very much, friends! good luck and God bless! til next SNO. :-)