Gracias, Companeros!

thanks to finn for the pic in the previous blog... and for following this blog.

thanks to norie and chito for always checking what's new here and for providing me with the latest jolog news..

thanks to terence for opening this blog (at last!!!) and saying it is "good"...

gracias mi amigos!

Weddings:Wonder or Woes?

i am attending my fourth wedding invitation here in manipur. i have been to different kinds of weddings all over the world - from the festive island wedding in vanuatu, to the orthodox christian ceremony in ethiopia, the quiet tribal/christian weddings in ccpur and recently the glamorous wedding in imphal. the recent one in imphal was nice and colorful, though we didn't stay for a long time.

i love weddings. it is a good time to see people in different states of emotions: happiness, especially the parents who'd probably thought "i finally got rid of this person after 30 years"; anxiety ("does this man snore when he sleeps?"); hope ("I finally snagged a man after a long wait"); anger ("why can't i marry sally?") and more anxiety ("how am i going to pay for all these?"). it is also a nice time to see all the glitters (bought, borrowed), the clothes (renovated, re-covered, re-layered and received) and the make -up (minimal, natural and over the top).

all in all, the ceremonyand the formalization is a wonderful event. i think it is nice to say vows and pledge that for the next 6 months i will not sleep with anyone else... or promise that i shall never leave you until the next one comes along.

in the philippines, which has been very americanized in terms of the whole sheebang, a bride MUST wear white. and have a blue garter (no less!) to throw it to the expecting bachelors (or ex-married guys) for the fun of finding his future bride. the event has become a pre-dating bonanza and a matching ceremony for those who are : (1) over 25 years old and not yet married (2) 20 years old and never had a relatioship (3) successful men/women who have the face of a horse (4) mommy's boy/daddy's girl (5) stuck to internet porn (6) masculine women/feminine men (7) was in previously bad relationship and (8) just about for anybody who plays the game.

i know you sense some bitterness in my tone. hehehe. so i have to stop here before i destroy the romantics in you. but should the day come for me to get married, you can rub this blog on my face and say: "that's what you get!".

if there is one thing i love about weddings and you really have to press me on this, i would answer: free food and booze. tough choice, but hey, one's gotta live!

The Ultimate Crisis

i had my first three gray hairs yesterday pulled out. i thought i am invincible, eternally young, pure but seeing those three measly gray hairs made me realized how mortal i could be!

at the end of my 30's i proudly say that despite the thining hairline (which could be remedied by sporting a short hair cut and wearing caps), i never have had gray hairs. despite my pun of my every growing belly, i have always maintained a size 31-32 waist line. and despite of my little fuck ups here and there, i boast of my very sharp memory, and an occasionally acidic wit.

anyways, there we were in the clinic, on a sunny but dusty manipuri afternoon that while bending over some charts that needed reviewing, someone noticed that i have gray hairs. and like a scene in a movie, i dropped the files and asked for a mirror. khaipu who was there en route to shalom hospice, volunteered to pull them out. sad, but that is minus three out of my 120, 459 head hairs left.

after clinic, i headed to the array of pharmacies outside of the district hospital to look for a hair dye. as i was about to purchase one, i remembered how vain it would be for me to jump at this sad thought! i smiled at the sales person and asked for alprazolam instead. i may have gray hairs, but tonight, i shall be sleeping fine.

and looking closely at it, i may look nice with gray hairs. wisdom personified. watch out george clooney.

Midnight Ramblings

it's 12:52 am and i can't sleep. i seemed to have slept too much this afternoon, trying to nurse my hang over. now, my adrenaline is way beyond the meter and i have no means of stopping it. let me look again as to what i took for my freaking head ache: 2 cups of double esspreso, a mug of brewed coffee, several mugs of tea, 3 bottles of yakult (yes... there is yakult in defence colony market in delhi), 2 grams of paracetamol (i have allergies to ibuprofen) and a liter of coke.

oddly, with the serene surroundings (odd for defence colony) and with a tolerable internet speed, i have browsed, chatted, uploaded pics and read "histories" from philippine dailies. and yes, my dear... i did not browse porn pages. and oddly too, that i seemed to have lost interest looking at these (porn) pages. i must be really getting old... but certainly not religious.

going back to the philippine news, i just learned that: a) francis magalona died of leukemia b) jolina separated from her boyfriend (did you know about this chito???) and c) i missed a lot of showbiz scandals! it seems like this is not THE me telling you this but then i was away for almost a year now and hadn't had the opportunity to look at local showbiz news. anyways, nothing's lost -- i am going home this july.

so here i am typing the hours away hoping for the sand fairy to come and bring me to Noddywinks. good this is sunday...

okay bring in the news boy (abunda)....

Some Action Pics....

Some of my recent favorite pics... of me! Hope you like them too! These were taken in various clinics in Manipur.

March Miscellaneous

Oh my God!

It's been almost a month since I have blogged. I have been insanely busy with work and sleep was the only vice (aside from an occasional round of rum and coke) I could ever wish for. The good news is that I have finished at least half of the tasks; the bad news is that, another half ton of work fills it up. Life in fast laned Manipur...

I am asking permission from a friend (a photographer) to allow me to use some of his pics (which he took of me) for this blog.... no repsonse yet.. But this pics are amazing! He knows I love black and white pics and he is a master of his trade, definitely! So until then, I'll let you all salivate on the thought of his art.

Officially, I have extended my agreement for a few months more. That makes me leave India on July 10, then proceed to Amsterdam for de-briefing and then, hopefully to Hong Kong for another de-briefing. By the time this finishes, I have to buy a new set of underwear. Too much de-briefing makes my Jack a cold boy!

I am very interested to volunteer to the MSF acrivities currently being done in Mindanao. Recently, the insurgency activities have gone sky high - topping with the kidnapping of three ICRC personnel. I have read reports that there are so many IDPs (internally displaced people) scattered in various areas of Mindanao.... Sad that something like this is happening in our own backyard...

Well... that's it for now.. I am going back to my nap and to nurse this nagging hang over!