two ateneo trysts in one week

despite the fact that i reside in the far flung hills of cavite, i found myself in ateneo twice this week. the first time was on thursday, the second time was today.

last thursday, i went on undertime. ako, nag-undertime?! hehe! it was actually supposed to be a half-day vacation leave, but things kept coming up, so i was able to log out only after three. i was going to meet candy & badz (my thesismates) in mcdo katipunan, a date that was organized by badz a week ago as a result of my incessant prodding (when i was still under the delusion that i will have my five-day mandatory vacation leave from nov. 20 to 24). paano ba naman, graduation pa kami huling nagkita-kita! it was definitely high time for a reunion.

but instead of walking to mcdo, i took a trike to ateneo. nabasa ko kasing may AMA mall na. pero as usual, traffic sa loob ng campus.



but before i could even find out where the AMA mall was, i saw the eagles of hope bazaar in front of cervini & eliazo.



there were so many cute stuff!




while checking out the merchandise, i called both candy & badz. after a couple of tries, i finally reached badz. as it turns out, both he & candy were already in mcdo. i told them that i wanted to shop for a while.

maybe 20 minutes later, i called badz again. sinabi kong hindi pa ako tapos mamili. buti na lang, siya na ang nag-volunteer ng option na sila na ni candy ang pupunta sa school.



obvious bang excited ako? i was walking towards them, & my arm was moving. nagmukha tuloy apparition sina candy at badz. hehe. shopping resumed.

i ended up buying two beaded ID laces, two beaded bookmarks, a pack of big paper clips, & a cloth doll. we were hungry, so we decided to eat in....(drumroll please).....the caf! grabe, graduate na kami at lahat, caf pa rin! at least, iba na ang color scheme. yellow na ang walls, unlike dati na plain white. at least, warm na ang ambiance ngayon.



pero in fairness, marami na akong miss na food sa caf. chicken strips, pasta with pesto, chicken wrap, meat sauce spaghetti, & green mint tea, to name a few. i settled on a tuna casserole from healthy kitchen & a glass of tang from beef teriyaki.



needless to say, even while eating, it didn't take much to get us to talk. mahigit 1 year ba naman kaming hindi magkita! nabulunan si candy sa isa sa mga balita ko.



si badz naman, dati pang alam, so wala lang.

after finishing my tuna casserole (na 50 pesos na ngayon, 40 lang ata dati), i decided to get a chicken wrap. nakakainggit kasi yung kinakain ni candy, e. unfortunately, ubos na. i ended up buying a tortilla wrap, which i asked badz to finish.



after eating, we went back to the bazaar to get the ID laces that i had ordered (it took a while because i asked for one to be customized). then, we walked to gate 3. on the way, guess who saw me? our former SOA president, ginger!



nakakatawa kasi nagmamaneho siya palabas ng parking ng xavier nung nakita niya ako. ako naman, talagang kumuha pa ng picture! imagine us in a flurry of hi's & goodbye's, right in the middle of a driveway. of course, ginj had to leave immediately. nagpromise ako na magkikita kami ulit. shocks, kailangan ko nang mag-organize ng lakad ng EB! good luck na lang sa akin.

tuloy ang paglalakad. at some point, badz gave this back to me:



si candy naman, binigay yung Christmas gifts niya sa amin last year. mine turned out to be a bottle of lacoste perfume - touch of pink. ayan, shining shimmering splendid pa.



while walking, nagbibiro si badz na kung hindi pa gawa yung overpass (sabi ko kasi, gawa na) sa tapat ng gate 3, bubuhatin ko raw sila ni candy papuntang katipunan. buti na lang, gawa na. wala pa yun nung nag-aaral pa kami! i tried to take pictures of it, but it was too dark to be visible in a picture.



we opted to go to cello's for dessert.



chika na naman, siyempre. ayan, nakikinig talaga ako kay badz.



at some point, i requested candy to take a pic of me when i'm not looking. para naman may kuha man lang ako, no!



well, masaya akong nakausap ko ulit sila. lalo akong masaya para kay candy. she's quite happy & contented now. also, she has healed already. ayun, naulanan tuloy ako ng mga payo. hehe! may matching reading list pa:

1. i kissed dating goodbye by joshua harris - done! 1st year pa.
2. boy meets girl by joshua harris - same as above.
3. when God writes your love story by eric lesley
4. passion & purity by elisabeth elliot
5. cure for the common life by max lucado

sige na po, counselor candy, susundin ko ang payo mo. :)

we had to leave at 8:30 to make it to the LRT stations in time. pagdating naman doon, nakababagot mag-antay. 7 minutes pa, e. bawal daw kumuha ng picture sa loob ng station, but who cares? wala namang nagbabantay. hehe...




later naman, sa loob ng LRT, picture ulit. wow badz, ang ganda ng kuha mo! kitang-kita tayong lahat, lalo ka na. harhar.



candy went ahead of us. badz & i were left, as we were both getting off at the recto station. buti na lang, sinamahan ako ni badz papunta sa kabilang LRT. after all, it's been a long time since sumakay ako dun. i mentioned to badz na college graduation pa ni bene yun.

naaliw ako kasi naaalala pa ni badz yung araw na yun. sobrang insistent ko raw na huwag muna kami mag-thesis meeting. sabi ko raw, any day but that day. tapos, nakabihis daw ako that day. rather, iba raw ang bihis ko. siyempre - gray skirt, yellow knitted blouse, stockings, black shoes with heels. grabe, parang ang tagal na nung araw na yun. bittersweet memories.

anyway, we went our separate ways. i found myself at the end of the last LRT car. even though my arm was still, sobrang shaky naman nung ride. as in bounce galore.



ayun, i got down at the buendia station & went home. nakakapagod, pero ang saya. nakakamiss talaga sila. ang sarap ng feeling kasi ang tagal naming magkasama nung college. yung tipong kilala na namin ang isa't isa, kaya hindi kami hirap magtrabaho nang magkakasama. tsaka ang daling mag-share.

ngayon naman, i went to a seminar with ate ava & mark. guess who i met in aurora boulevard? ivan reyes!

shocks, 2 years na kaming hindi nagkikita. nakakatawa kasi pareho kaming tumatawid to the opposite sides nung nagkita kami. ayun, nagchikahan muna kami sa island sa gitna ng aurora. i wanted to take him with me, but he had a date with kristine, his girlfriend. sayang. at least, we saw each other again.

ayun, i went to ateneo already. after the seminar, mark, liza, elmer & i walked to the direction of gate 3. nakailaw na yung lights sa bel field! sayang, wala nang batt yung digicam na hiniram ko kay sarah. anyway, here's how it looked like last year (or was this two years ago?), in a pic taken by badz:



ang ganda, promise. though parang konti lang yung lights this year...siguro, sa december pa nila sisindihan lahat. i'll be back for the simbang gabi then. : )

the 3 of them went ahead. ako naman, i passed by the eagles of hope bazaar again, as pinky wanted me to buy her a doll, too. i also bought two ID laces, one each for ma'am jo & ma'am ting (nagandahan kasi sila sa ID lace ko, hehe).

i had to wait for the doll i wanted to be delivered at 8 o'clock. it was only seven, so i decided to watch the ongoing ateneo idol competition. jay-r, ekai & kuya rolls, fellow gabayanos, were also there. so was boy abunda! he was a judge in the competition. atenista rin siya, e. some even say na gabayano rin. panalo yung ibang comments niya:

"in your youth, you're not just bold, you're hot."
"mas magaling kang kumanta kay pacquiao."

haha! anyway, i left as soon as the competition was over. jay-r, ekai & i walked to gate 3. they invited me to the Christmas party. tapos sabi ni ekai, parang hindi raw ako tumatanda. sabi ko, tumataba naman. jay-r agreed, saying na mukhang hiyang ako sa work kasi nga tumataba ako. sabi ko, stress eater kasi ako, e. oh, well.

naghiwalay na kami sa aurora. i went to cubao, they went to marikina.

the day ended very well for me. i was tired, but i felt very peaceful inside. basta, ang sarap ng feeling. thank you for such a great day, Lord.