UP Saga 5-1: Genki Friday

What else do you do at UP when you’re done with pre-enlistment and you’re waiting for Ate Cris to finish her meeting with UP-AME? Sit at the Sunken Garden, of course.

The day started out genki enough. Cris was in one of her super rare good moods. In fact, I don’t think I remember seeing her that genki, especially when she was my student. She had always been so seriously…geeky. Must have been something Caloy (Carlo Cruz), her long-time crush in ABMA43, said the night before. Hahaha!

She dropped me off at the Sunken Garden and off she went to the AS building for her meeting. The last time I was at the Sunken Garden, I was 18, lolling in the grass and bumping into a guy who mischievously smiled and said, “Hi, miss!” That seriously creeped me out then.

The Heavenly Mother
Well, the first person who approached me was an outsider, who asked about the main library. She sat in front of me for a while but hurriedly left when I was approached by a religious Korean girl. Barely speaking English, she was assisted by an older Filipino lady. They asked me if I were Christian and if I knew about the “Heavenly Mother.” Of course, I let them discuss the Bible with me (told them I own and have read 6 versions of it), biting my lips when I felt like a counter argument would come out of them. Like when I was told not to intellectualize like a human being and just listen to the Word of God, to which I nearly replied that it was actually written and interpreted by human beings. I mean, you couldn’t have come up with the idea of a “Heavenly Mother” if you hadn’t done your own interpretation, right?

Or when I said that it’s very logical to believe more in a “Heavenly Mother” because women are the ones that give birth to life and they said that I shouldn’t think that way because it can’t be possible without the men. Oho! I had to really bite my tongue hard for that one. I find the discussion interesting, though. Beats replaying Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 on the DS. When the Korean girl — I believe her name was Jane — told me that most Filipinos don’t push through going to their church, I merely smiled and said, “It wasn’t time. Spirituality is a process, a journey. It cannot be forced or achieved through preaching alone.”

Too bad, Ate Cris didn’t see me with the religious people. I would like to know how she’d react seeing me flanked by them. Hahaha!

The Peddlers
Two kids divided and conquered. The older brother went up to me and offered me his wares. I told him that I didn’t bring money with me. The younger brother then went up to me and I said (in Tagalog), “My money’s not with me.”

With all innocence, he asked (in Tagalog), “Where is it?” His older brother laughed.

“Second floor, AS Building.”

“Ok, we’ll go there.”

I chuckled as they walked towards AS Building. Of course, they wouldn’t know who to look for. Hahahahaha! Gosh, now I regret not having taken their picture. -_-

Dingdong Dantes and My Sister
While all these were going on, my sister was texting me about an encounter with Dingdong Dantes (and foot-in-mouth). First, she joked, “Dingdong Dantes is here, would you like me to tear his hair off?” People who know me would know the answer to that. I mean, I’m the only person who writes in her grocery list:

Tissue
Alcohol, preferably ethyl, Large
Powdered milk, preferably non-fat and NOT ENDORSED BY MARIAN RIVERA
Hot chocolate
Anything else you need that’s NOT ENDORSED BY MARIAN RIVERA.

You have no idea how frustrating it is for me to see at least 3 Marian Rivera billboards on my way to work and back. I’ve religiously avoided anything she endorses, even the products that I used to love, like Jag and Nesvita. When I’m zealous, I am very very zealous.

Apparently, while my sis and officemate Ego were making fun of the Third Sexiest Man Alive (tagged so by E!), the dude was already watching them. Ok, so that was foot-in-mouth. My sister was so embarrassed, especially when he was actually brought over to the design team for introductions. She literally squirmed. Hahahaha! Here’s something even funnier…there are times when my sister looks like Karylle (blame it on the hair and face shape), who happens to be the dude’s ex girlfriend.

Needless to say, I had a hoot reading her texts.

(For the record though, there was a time when I liked DDD because I thought he was smart. I mean, he was dating a classy woman at that time. There was also a time when I liked MR because she was so pretty and good lord, could she gyrate! But the moment she opened her fishwife’s mouth in overreaction to a silent smile, my first thought was…”This is what will happen to us if we continue to promote beauty without substance.”)

ChocoKiss
Ate Cris arrived, bearing pasta and iced tea that the AME peeps had given her. We chilled out for a while, as I recounted the genki tales of the afternoon. After that, we went to Chocolate Kiss as originally planned.

Chocolate Kiss is always my reward for a day’s work. Gotta love UP for having it. The pasta, however, ruined any appetite I might have for heavier ChocoKiss. We had cakes and laughs. Unfortunately, they didn’t have Dayap so we settled for Kahlua and Quezon Chiffon.

All in all, a really genki day at my beloved Alma Mater.