Parchment and Quill is a blog of a young lass who wishes to share her thoughts and experiences to those who may take interest in her day-to-day living.
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I woke up at 3:00 in the morning when I heard three clicking sounds coming from my iPhone. Yeah, I'm a light sleeper these days. Those three clicks actually meant that someone was sending me a message via my Yahoo! Messenger. Somebody was "kind" enough to wake me up so early in the morning. Hahahaha! You're such a good friend. Hehe. Going back to sleep was hard. And so, after 30 minutes of unsuccessful tries, I have decided to turn on my laptop and do some research for work. And now, I am blogging.
Yesterday has been pretty eventful. Tons of work, as usual, but I could still manage. I was prepping up for an interview I had to do for the magazine. Truth be told, I was fidgety for fear that I might be a loss for words -- considering my interviewee for the day was Borgy Manotoc. I had that anxiety that I might run out of English words while talking to him. Hahaha! Fortunately, the interview went really well.
It was actually fun interviewing Borgy. There were interviews I did before that just felt like it was an interview. My encounter with Borgy was like a casual conversation. It helps when the topic you're talking about is something you're also pretty much familiar with. It would have been hard to interview him if all I had about the topic of our interview was research-based.
Hmm... I should really get some rest. I've been experiencing headaches since two days ago, which won't seem to go away despite drinking mefenamic acid. Maybe it's because I've been waking up so early in the morning. Oh well...
It's past 7 o'clock in the morning and I am on standby for my editor's email. Just last night, I have been told to do an interview with Victor Consunji for our InPerson department. It's one of the departments I don't handle. Interviews are usually done by my editor. But due to some conflict in schedule, she has passed on the responsibility to me.
I was surprised, honestly. Surprised because I didn't feel like I could really do so well interviewing for the InPerson. But my editor's vote of confidence really gave me the boost I need: "Peanuts lang yan sayo."
So right now, I'm prepping myself for the stuff I'll be doing for the day. Interview, transcribe, write, write, write. Hehehe. In general, that's what I'll be doing.
I was down. And then I was happy. And then I was down again.
I'm sorry -- I just can't seem to keep smiling the whole day through. If anything, I can only smile for a few hours. And I'm sorry if I could only put on a fake smile.
It's just not the same anymore. I've lost the will to smile. I don't exactly know how it happened -- I just did. I have succeeded in putting on the mask to hide from everyone how I really feel. But it's starting to hurt me inside. It's starting to make me want to break down and cry it all out.
For the past week, I have been feeling depressed. I have shared with you the reason why. So when my officemates from LEP said that there's a Halloween costume party scheduled on Friday, I decided to go. I wasn't really planning to, but what the heck, right? Let's face it, I needed to have fun, and spending time with my officemates is a sure way to make me laugh.
So I went. I dressed up as a little pink fairy -- complete with fairy wings and fairy tiara. I called myself "Pink Tinkerbell." It worked. I was partying with my officemates, eating food with them, taking pictures with them -- I was having fun.
And then I had to go home. As soon as I changed back to my regular clothes, I suddenly lost the smile.
Let me just end this post with one thought. Because right now, I just want to lie in my bed and stare into nothingness. If lucky, I may even cry.
It's weird... when you go from being strangers to being friends. Then suddenly... back to being practically strangers again.
It's clear to me now why I'm feeling this way. I just hope -- I can get back up soon.
It was definitely a fun day for me today! Tiring, definitely, but absolutely worth it.
I had two interviews scheduled today. One with Pepper Lunch owner, Jeroen van Straten and the other with Juan Carlos de Terry who owns Terry Selections. As always, I was anxious and excited for these interviews. There's something about talking to chefs and restauranteurs that definitely makes me ask a lot of questions. Maybe it's because I cook and I love to eat. Haha! Yes, I'm a self-professed food junkie. Like I told Jeroen, "I always have to have food within my reach."
When the topic is food, I can go on and on about it. What I cook, what ingredients I buy, how I cook it -- everything! I swear, food lets me talk non-stop about it. Talking to Jeroen was like talking to fellow food junkie I've known for a very long time. It didn't seem like I was interviewing him -- it felt more like it was a casual talk. I had a real great time talking about food with Jeroen. Hehehe...
To interview Señor Juan Carlos was absolutely divine! He's probably one of the most intriguing persons I've met. When he talks about food and about wine, you just know that he's absolutely passionate about food and wine. It was an absolute thrill to meet him.
In a day, the month of June ends. And if you haven’t noticed it yet, I had no blog entries for the month of June...until now.
Sorry -- I’ve just been too busy the whole month, I barely had time to really sleep. But today, I am making an effort to post an entry. Yes, even as I am working in the office at this very moment, I am really trying to compose an entry in between my mental blocks with writing articles for the magazine.
It is now 4:00 in the afternoon. I’ve basically finished all tasks for the day. But my mind keeps wandering back to the articles I’ve submitted to my editor. At the back of my mind, I can’t help but think if what I’ve written is good enough. Great, after a year of working in the magazine, I still have doubts on my capabilities as a writer. But I think that’s just normal. Then again, maybe I’m just being too hard on myself.
This is bad. I’m just beginning my blog entry and I’m finally sending off negative vibes to people reading my blog. Tsk tsk tsk. I should really stop doing that. So ok. Let me go to the great things that happened this month.
June 6: Mama and Papa celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary As a married couple, my parents have been together for 33 long years. But what’s more impressive is that they have been each other’s sweethearts for 43 years. Yes, they became a couple when they were still in second year college and have never separated since. Ah yes, now you know why I’m such a hopeless romantic. I love my parents’ love story.
For the first time, Kuya Rom, Kuya Miguel and I went all out for our parents to give them the wedding anniversary of their dreams.
We arranged everything for them. With my Kuya Rom in Los Angeles, it’s up to Kuya Miguel and me to take care of things to be done here. We reserved a hotel room for Mama and Papa at Hotel Celeste in Makati. We gave them pocket money to spend on their date. Kuya Miguel and I met up with Mama and Papa the next day where we ate lunch at Amici and then went to Starbucks for another hour of bonding session.
June 14-21: Tita Connie, Tito Monching and Tina visit Every time we have a balikbayan, the Franciscos can’t help but go out and eat. It was like a fiesta in my Lola’s house when we ate there for lunch. My Lola can still cook, I tell you! She can still whip up delicious food in the kitchen. At 90, she’ll stop at nothing to prepare a full meal for her balikbayan daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter.
That night, we all went to Julie’s Ihaw-Ihaw at By the Bay. Mmmmm…seafood galore! Oh yes, I’ve definitely gained back the weight I lost when I was confined in the hospital the month before.
The next weekend, Fathers’ Day, we all went out and ate at Luk Foo in Sucat. Definitely ate a lot! Good thing I wasn’t wearing a belt. Hahaha!
Tuesday came...the day before my brother’s birthday. Once again, the Francisco family had a dinner gathering at Dad’s in Glorietta 3. Who wouldn’t be full? It’s eat-all-you-can! Haha!
o O o
Written on June 30, 2009
June 24: Kuya Miguel's birthday It’s another family day for us as we celebrated Kuya Miguel’s 28th birthday. Just a little birthday celebration for our birthday boy. We ate dinner, courtesy of Kuya Miguel, of course. As usual, we talked about random things. We even talked about who among us siblings would get married first, who would give our parents their first grandchild. Nice!
I bought my brother his favorite cake, Brazo de Mercedes, and gave him t-shirts he liked as my birthday gift. Yes, simple shirts make my brother happy. Of course, his original birthday wish that he wanted me to give him were Playstation 3 and a 32-inch LCD. Ouch! As if I could actually afford that. Oh well, Kuya’s happy with my gift. That’s what matters.
June 27: Alla's post-birthday celebration Alla celebrated her birthday last June 22. As a celebration with her barkada, Alla met up with me, Euki and Janchang at Powerplant Mall in Rockwell, Makati where we ate dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Yummy! From starters to the main course, all I can say is, “Sarap!”
After eating dinner at CPK, we decided to stroll around until we ended up eating desserts at Crepes & Cream. Oh yes! My craving for crepes have been satisfied, all thanks to the birthday girl. I distinctly remember that the last time we went out was a post-celebration of my birthday. That was two months ago. I swear, I am not used to going out wearing pants anymore if my company is my barkada. Hahaha! More often than not, I am wearing shorts or miniskirts than pants or pedal pushers. But I love it! I really do.
Yey to Alla for turning another year older!
Yey to great food!
June 28: Till next time It was the last day of vacation for Tita Connie, Tito Monching and Tina. Once again, it was foodie galore at the House of Lola. From breakfast until dinner, we ate and took pictures and ate and talked about anything and everything.
Unfortunately, that “anything” got me worried. It was absolutely no holds barred for my relatives to ask me. And ask, they did. It’s not as if I didn’t know what they were going to ask me. It’s just that...more often than not, I find myself being unprepared for the predictable question. That time was no excuse. I was still caught off guard when I was asked, “May boyfriend ka na ba?”
Hooboy! And I don’t know if you noticed but that particular Sunday was absolutely dehydrating! It was such a hot day, I went to Lola’s house wearing shorts. Note: I never wear shorts when going to my grandmother’s house. But I had to make an exception. It really was a very hot day. I wasn’t alone -- my cousin, Ate Kriselle, came to the house wearing shorts.
Their flight was scheduled at 10:00 in the evening. Since my relatives checked in early, they didn’t have to go to the airport three hours before their scheduled flight. *Sigh* It’s really heartbreaking to see them leave. It will be a couple of years before I get to see them again.
o O o
11 o’clock in the evening. Well, I guess I should be wrapping things up now.
All in all, those were the highlights of the month. Though I didn’t include the memorable events at work, let me just say that work has been very tough, but still very much enjoyable!
Oh yeah…
Happy anniversary to me!
I’ve been working as editorial assistant at SEAIR InFlight magazine for one year already!
That’s it!
Till next month. I swear, I will be updating my blog as frequently as possible.
Let me just start this blog entry by thanking everyone for making this year the BEST birthday I have ever celebrated. It was certainly a day to remember. For those of you who don't know, let me just give you a rundown of what transpired during my 23rd birthday...
I prepared a mini-handaan for my officemates from the LEP and InFlight departments. Pancit bihon, fried chicken, mechado and blueberry cheesecake. I made sure that everything was good for 25 people (although we're less than 20 in the department). I was very happy to hear that everyone enjoyed the food and even had enough to let other people get a taste. I distinctly remember people from other departments giving me a praises for the great food. Apparently, because of this I was told by everyone that I'm so ready to be married. Hahaha! As if I've never heard that before. Cooking is, and will always be, a passion of mine. Fret not, this is not the end of home-cooked meals from yours truly.
Although my birthday was a very busy day for me as I had to pull out clothes from Nullah and make sure everything's been handed over to Sir Jocas for their Batanes flight the day after, April 13 was a very eventful day. To my officemates, I love you all to pieces but let me just say, you certainly are a crazy bunch of people! How do I put this in a way where people can clearly visualize? Haha! What you made us do (and by "us," I mean me and Van) is by far the most insane thing ever! The commotion you've caused by your paparazzi moments! Hahahaha! You just wouldn't let up...not give up at all! Hehehe...
Hahaha! I admire your tenacity, LEP people! No, I'm not mad. For sure, it was one of the "highlights" of my birthday celebration. But you've managed to make me blush until the time I went to meet my family to celebrate my birthday with them. Kudos to Van for being a sport at a time when they were ganging up on us.
Here's the real deal...it really was the best birthday ever! Everything was beyond my expectations. Not in a million years did I imagine to have a birthday celebration like this.
So to everyone, thank you all so much for giving me a birthday that's so much more than what I bargained for. I only asked that my special day will be filled with lots of laughter and lots of love. What happened was so much more than I could have ever expected.
