Have You Forgotten About Your Real Life?

I was dreaming today that I was talking to myself and that was one of the questions I asked myself. The answer? Damn, it seems I have.

It's only been a couple of days since I've last posted, but it seems like so many things have happened. Let's see if I can remember:

Friday: -spent the day with the California cousins and Rocky mall hopping. We ate at Tony Romas because according to my cousins who had at that point only been in the Philippines for two days, "we miss American Food." Right. They ordered so much and then only ate half. I think sometimes they are so OA, but I'm not complaining since I got to eat baby back ribs for free.

Saturday: -spent the day visiting family in Cavite with Nina and family. For some reason I always thought I didn't have a lot of relatives on my Dad's side. I was wrong. My Dad's Dad (my Lolo) had a lot of brothers and sisters, and there are some of them still alive. Oh, and I also thought my Dad lived in Caloocan his whole life and that's where he met my Mom at a young age. Wrong about that too, as I went to the neighbourhood my Dad grew up in when he was a young boy. And all the metal gates were personalized with the name "Marquez." I really seemed to have been in a Marquez neighbourhood. It was really quite interesting to me.
-while there, the one thing I can say was it was HOT. We went to all the homes in the neighbourhood we had to, and not any of them had A/C. Sauna like, and the electric fan just made it seem like a convection oven. But whatever, it was nice to meet people on my Dad's side, like my Dad's aunt who he jokes with like how I joke with some of my aunts (like my Dad reminding her to put his name in her will).
-we then went to Duty Free Mall and bought, well, nothing. But we did eat at Luk Foo Cantonese Restaurant for dinner with Tita Mila, Lola, Tito Manny, Tita Carmen, Noe and of course, my shadow Nina. We also apparently sat at the table next to ex-Philippines President Ramos, who was entertaining some international guests. My family was so awestruck, and if anyone from that party looked at our table they would have seen (with the exception of Canadian boy over here) a bunch of Filipinos "trying" not to look that interested but with their mouths open. On top of that, apparently, the last time my Mom went to the Philippines in 1997, she went to a place where he was as well. So she pretended like it was no big deal. Funny stuff.
-according to my funny girlfriend, she also "won" that day, as I finally called her using a phone card. She said that I couldn't go three weeks without talking to her. I guess so, but she is so physically sick I don't really think she could say she completely won. It was nice talking to someone who wasn't family (at least, not yet. Holy gay)

Sunday: -went to Church in the morning. Church here is like Church at home, except in a diffrent language and longer. My Tito Manny was funny; in the middle of the homily he said to me out loud in Church, "the Priest is really taking a long time." Out loud.
-Tita Dulce, (the other) Tito Manny and my cousin Karen who I met for the first time picked us up on Father's Day. I haven't met Karen because she was just born after the first time I came here. We ended up going to a waste disposal plant my Tito Manny runs that is apparently the biggest and most extensive for private industries. It had wastewater treatment equipment, so that really interested my Dad (who also was so engrossed at looking at the machines that he somehow didn't see a shallow ditch on the plant floor and ended up taking a spill. Great, looks like my clumsiness now doesn't seem to be going to leave in the future). The place reminded me very much of North America.
-we then went back to Tagatay, where we ate at a restaurant where the table we sat at was like a clubhouse that extended over a cliff. It was an amazing view, although my Mom's heart I don't think fared well. From there, we went to a nice little Church and other places to eat. Oh, and the whole ride I was cramped in the back of an SUV that only little kids could find comfortable. My knees were so scrunched up and my back was so sore I felt like an old man.
-we went to Eastwood with Tita Dulce, Karen and Marco (who I haven't seen or talked to in 18 years). Nice place; if you out with your friends. I think even my cousins were kinda feeling gay, as Tita Dulce insisted all went out together. It was like, "your family, your young, I will force you to have fun." But whatever, they were all very nice. We then slept in Malabon, where Tita Dulce lives in an exclusive neighbourhood. They truly are the richest of my family here, where the showerhead pressure and warm water really reminded me of home.

Monday: -went to 168 Visoryo Mall with Tita Dulce and her driver in Karen's Ford F150 Pickup Truck. (Man I want a pickup again. In the future, hopefully). At that point I was starting to get "enit oolo" (frustrated) with my parents and I just wanted to go somewhere by myself. I mean, 21 days straight with your parents 24 hours can get frustrating, as patient as I try to be. I just wanted to do my own shopping without waiting around waiting for them.
-they dropped us off to Sangandaan at Tita Nory's house, where I finally blew up and said I wanted to go to the mall without my parents (although I think at that point I meant without my Mom). One problem: no ride. So my cousin Michelle, Tito Bobot (Mom's youngest brother) and my Dad and I took the Jeepney and a bus to get to the SM. I ordered 5 Personalized T-Shirts that read, "I (heart) Ninong Jason!" and one shirt that read, "Ninong Jason". See, if it seems like I'm giving them extra attention, then it wouldn't be so bad actually being cheap. But dammit, FIVE GODCHILDREN? wtf? It would take one night to complete it, so I would have to pick it up the next day.
-bought gifts for not only my Godchildren (with the exception of Kiah) but for all my cousin's children as well. At about $3Can each, I don't think it was that bad. The Godchildren of course I spent more money on, but dammit they really need birth control around here. (Aside: I bought "extra expensive" stuff for Michelle's kids since she helped me pick out gifts, although she is the one who requested the stuff knowing none of her children are any of my Godchildren. She is, however, most likely the cousin I would get really angry with if I actually lived near her or was exposed to her a lot. She talks so much and is one of those cousins that I think expect handouts from us because apparently we're rich. Whatever, if you know me I absolutely hate those kind of people; the ones that expect something of/from you and almost try to scheme it out of you. I'm so bad talking about my family like this, but dammit she annoys me. Maybe it's the talking a lot thing that really annoys me, or how her children are wild or I don't know. Bleh. Enough of that.)
-gave all the children gifts and I felt like Santa Claus. A Santa Claus without money for more gifts.
-went out with all the cousins in Eastwood to a place called Blue Oyster. My guy cousins were hilarious because Freddie (a Californian) was treating. They kept on saying, "yehey! skies the limit!" Heck, I felt good because I wasn't paying for once. Although the next place we went to, Punchline, I did end up paying for. By the end of the night all the Philippines cousins were saying "Freddie's da man! Jason's da man!"
-Oh and that Punchline place I went to was interesting. It's one of those comedy clubs that has a lot of interaction. Although the "hosts" are gay guys in drag and one straight girl (who I swore was staring at me the whole night). They usually sing a song for you or you could sing a song too. My crazy Tito Bobot, the only elder that came, went on stage and sang a song, although the whole time I had mixed emotions because the hosts were making fun of him the whole time. I mean, there are jokes and you can make fun of yourself and all, but it just kept going on and on. It was actually quite annoying by the end of the night, so we left early. Besides, we had to wake up early the next morning to go swimming. I slept in Las Pinas at Ate Carol's, for about 3 hours.

Tuesday: -woke up with a very stiff neck. Luckily Tita Nory was there and she massaged it. The plan was to go to a place called Laguna where there are hot springs due to the volcano nearby. This place has a bunch of little hotel/resorts with pools that you can rent out for the day, which we did. The place we stayed at had a big pool and kiddie pool with slides, billiards table and karoke machine. It was a fun day with my parents, Nina (couldn't forget her especially since I promised her she would go swimming with me and I made her cry last time...lol), Ate Carol, Ate Mye, Kuya Rock, Tito Bobot, Tita Nory, Ate Carol's Mother in Law, Kiah, Towee, Kuya Paul, Ate Michelle (grrr...), First, Miguel, Gel, Yumi and the very adorable Sophie (who did not stop the whole day saying, "Oh Ninong Jason!") and Annjosh (and their Nanny).
-speaking of Nina, I felt like a Father or Big Brother, making sure she ate and that she was alright. I had a blast with her though; she is a very good girl and quiet and doesn't ask for much. I did feel like a "bad Father" though in that I forgot she didn't eat a big lunch and at the end of the day with her in the pool all day she felt dizzy (at that point I remembered that she really doesn't ask for anything, including food). Must keep in mind in the future: kids need to eat in order not to feel dizzy. I think she's happier now, although according to her she wants to drop out of school and come to Canada with us. Again, the kids here are really cute.
-rushed back to Caloocan to get the personalized shirts, which came out great. I had to get one to First, who is leaving for Japan tomorrow morning and I wouldn't be seeing for the rest of the trip. Also gave one to Kiah and Joshua; only Sophie and Jazmine are left. If anything, my family will remember me here as "baaet" (nice), which I learned from Lola and which I would like to think that I did and not cheap.
-finally came back here, to which I can't believe I just spent the better part of an hour typing up this post. I swear if this post doesn't actually post, I'm gonna hit this computer with a post. Not really, although it would be very annoying.

Whew. Time to sleep so I can wake up early tomorrow morning to do it all again. Gonna go to 168 again then to Caloocan to try on my barong. I also need to borrow money from my Tita Mila which I will pay her back. While everything here is relatively cheap, it doesn't help having to have to pay for a lot of stuff. Especially if you have a cousin who tells you to buy a KFC toy because money is nothing for us "rich folk." Argh, gotta stop getting mad over stupid stuff, and can't let it ruin my vacation.

So much more has happened, but I can't remember it right now and dammit if I'm going to type it up. I'll just make up a story to tell if I can't remember it properly. Sounds like something I'd do.