THE SHORT LONG-WEEKEND


The weekend that passed was a 3-day weekend here in Singapore, Friday being Hari Raya Qurban, a Muslim festival and a nationwide public holiday.

We spent this day, and I mean the whole day, in the company of the Bintan group at Christine's and Ronald's new condo. And like I said, it was going to be a Monopoly showdown day. Well, I never won, but still, it was a lot of fun.

Saturday was errand day at Orchard Road. Earlier on in the week, when I learned that we were going into town today, I sent an SMS message to Jenn asking her if she was free this day and if she would like to meet up. She didn't waste time in replying, 'Yes, of course!'

So Saturday afternoon, with our errands done, we went hunting for her flat. We thought nothing could be easier than to find a flat on top of a mall, but oh man, were we wrong. We got lost trying to get to the right escalator and kept ending up in the mall and not in the entrance to the apartments. In the end, she had to come down and pick us up.

Her apartment, which she shares with her housemate Amor, is so cool. Aside from the fact that it was located several floors above a Cold Storage store ('Hindi na nga kami nagbubukas ng ref namin e, bumababa na lang kami.'), there's a whole array of restaurants and foodshops to choose from right at their doorstep, a mini-garden on their floor, and a pool (which nobody ever uses except them). They have tastefully decorated their flat and it's so cozy and the lighting effects are both artistic and warm. It gives one a feeling of welcoming acceptance and it smelled of something quiet and something exotic and reverend, like it would sometimes smell in a Japanese restaurant.

Jet: Jenn, parang amoy Japanese restaurant ito'ng apartment nyo.

Jenn: Ano ibig mong sabihin, malansa kami?

Sometimes I have a feeling about places I go to and the long and short of it is I like being in their apartment so much.







Jenn, Amor, Papa and Me

It was all in total accordance with how I've felt about Jenn since I started corresponding with her through the internet. For me, she has always come off as a warm and compassionate person (it is so touching when your host would take the trouble to prepare the proper food for you because you're a diabetic), fun but not gibberish (no matter if she has named her site 'Gibberish Thoughts'). That afternoon, I found out things that were similar between us. Like how proud she was of her family and how much she adored them, how fond she was of her nephews and how involved she was in their lives, how much she likes visiting places, how much she liked books and surprise of all surprises, she even loves reading Diana Gabaldon and the travails of her time-traveling characters which she has written about in several of her books.

Thank you so much for a lovely afternoon, Jenn.

We parted ways to go to our respective dinner engagements. Ours was at Sammy's Curry House on Dempsey Street. Oh it was hot food alright and it always amazes me, this kind of Indian food. They only put one piece at a time, like one leg of chicken, one lobster, one squid, but when put all together and eaten with nassi briani (saffron rice), there's no way you could finish all of it without your trouser buttons popping out!

And then Sunday came and Papa and I was able to spend it at home, at last. It was a quiet Sunday and we had no particular place to go to, and no particular thing to do. It was an idle time, a perfect corker for a weekend bustling with activities. I spent most of it thinking just where those three days went. And then I remember that we spent it letting the good times roll.

Once again, I thank the friends we've made here. If not for them, it would have been a long, long-weekend.

And speaking of thanking people...

There are some more I'd like to thank for remembering me with little acts of kindness on my birthday.

Tanya, Toni, and Kengkeng for the e-cards they sent.

And a couple of people who dedicated a space in their websites for me...

Tito Rolly, who wrote me a very heartwarming tribute...

and Ca t, who did me a pretty little caricature.

Okay, that's the last you'll ever hear of my birthday... hehe.

As for this week... hmmmn. For some reason, I wish it would never end. Why? Because next week will start the end of my life as I've known it, with long, long weekends and long, long nights... alone.

Here's to life and taking chances!