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Friday, July 30, 2010

The affair


"Peter Pauper."

What a funny name for a press…but that's what it says right there. "Peter Pauper Press, Fine gifts since 1928."

Peter Pauper press designed my new journal, with a design called "Sparkly Garden Journal", with its "fun, fresh, floral design and softly lined pages invite you to pen your wishes, whimsies, dreams and plans"… Aside from the cutesy floral cover with the gold and sparkles, I liked that it had "160 lined pages, an elastic band place holder, acid-free/archival paper, a binding that lies flat for ease of use and an inside back cover pocket"…which was my favorite shade of pink.

Je t'adore! J

I wanted to get a Moleskine, but it's price was a little steep for now, and I wanted to be "whimsy", and not at all like Poppa Hemingway (who, according to the jacket cover used Moleskines for his work). Anyway, I'm happy with what I bought…including the Psychiatry book which I read on the boat ride home (it was an overnight trip), for some parts of the ride anyway.

The other day, my cousin Chris told me that they'd be leaving for Cebu, to see a boat launch at my cousin Lemuel's shipyard in Cebu, as well as to visit my little cousin Nate, and see the Cascades and the Lettermen. I only had a day free before I was going on duty at the hospital, I figured, after a couple of minutes of thinking, that I need to go, 'cause I never seen a boat launch before.

So I went. And now, I'm here, riding a boat home, all by myself because I still had work tomorrow. J

Writing in my journal in the "tourist" cabin of the boat made me feel like blogging. I was sitting on the top bunk, sipping coffee from out of a paper cup, writing into the new journal. I had paused intermittently to get instant noodles ('cause I didn't get to buy any dinner), to make a few phone calls, read from the Psychiatry book, and just plain think. Also, I didn't want to seem too dorky, AND my leg kept falling asleep from being folded and put under my backpack so I could use it as a makeshift table.

Anyhow… it wasn't too full. Just a few families, some couples, some mommies with kids, and not many traveling singles.

There was a family of five, three siblings and their mother and father. They each had their own thing going. When they got settled, the dad took out papers and started checking them. The mom made sure everyone had their thing together and the siblings (they were my age) lined up along the walls (near the portholes, which probably had some cell signal) and promptly did their own thing.

The eldest girl took out her blackberry and was typing into it…(blogging, perhaps? :-p), the other girl took out a Max Lucado and started reading, and the older boy looked at the pictures in his SLR. They were nice, joked with each other occasionally. One of the girls asked me at the ticket place if this was where people bought tickets for the Dumaguete boat. I nodded my head, smiled, as if I was an old pro with the Cebu crossing. (It was my first time, of course, but it wasn't a big deal.) And the other girl watched my bag while I went upstairs to get noodles.

There was a guy (with his wife/girlfriend) who looked an awful lot like my ex, but taller-ish, skinnier, darker, chubby-ish with a half-baked goatee even. :-p Honestly speaking, had this happened a year ago, I would've turned my head to get a second look, but now, it really doesn't bother me anymore (and I say this without a trace of hurt or bitterness. Lol).

Anyway, after I bought the chicken noodle dinner, which cost about 3 times the amount it would usually cost on dry land, I had to look around for a place to eat it. The boat didn't have any tables or chairs, just bunk beds. I had to settle for a bunk bed near the window…where there was a bit of a sea breeze going. There was a crew member who was texting away, the only other soul I had for company. I had to eat the noodles standing up, with a flimsy little fork.

Never mind that it was a high-salt, high-calorie, preservative-laden meal, it was better than nothing… maybe better than eating piaya with water.

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Trip Pictures

Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino. Usually, a lot of people would be lining up to get to the image of the Sto. Nino of Cebu, but since we went to mass early in the morning, there wasn't that many people yet, and it was still pretty empty.





The Sto. Nino del Cebu. Many people make a pilgrimage, and this is a must-visit place, when you're in Cebu. Especially if you're Catholic.





The Intentional Tourist. Ok, even though I've been here many times before, this was the first time I've ever had my picture taken at the Basilica entrance. After-church pic, at the façade. :-p





The funny story in the morning paper. The taxi driver had a tabloid lying around, which I borrowed. Check this out….sometimes, I think they run out of things to talk about that they don't bother checking the info. Eclemsia. Bring it on. Lol.





Fog-driving. To get to the Tsuneishi shipyard where my cousin worked, we had to cross over a mountain to get to Balamban (the site of the boat launch). At some points, we passed through foggy areas…which were cold and chilly, and pretty cool. Our ears popped too, because of the high altitude.





View from the Bus taking us to the site. They normally didn't let outsiders into the shipyard, it was just on certain occasions that they let people into the grounds. There was a hodge-podge of people there…construction workers, engineers, Japanese bigwigs…and families all milling around to see the boat off.




Trust me, it was a huge boat.






I totally liked how everyone was all watching in seeming awe at the ship. The construction worker I asked said that this was one of the rare times they got to see the fruit of 2-3 month labor.






That's my littlest cousin Nate, with my cousin Lemuel. Engineers wear these orange hats, he said.





Tugboats ease it out, at first…





It was actually quite massive. The little tugboat looks so…little next to it.





It was quite cool actually. Three cheers for the dudes who built it!




5 comments:

  1. shoot...the pictures didnt come out.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like how you write. It reminds me of a friend.

    http://ficklecattle.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. that is a spectacular looking tanker. or am i wrong? that was a lovely church. seems like you did a lot of travelling with your folks. thats amazing. so where do you live actually? i know the beaches in Cebu are simply gorgeous. white sands and blue sea. so how far do you live from cebu?

    to answer your question. the music on my blog. most of it are soundtracks from Micheal Nyquist. from movies such as the pianist. then there are some from joe black. and then bach. I haven't updated that playlist in a while.

    The pianist is a beautiful movie. you should watch it if you ever get the chance.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Who says I have to be normal?
    Hehe

    Happy Sunday, doc!

    ReplyDelete
  5. the pianist...movie...was that based on the book?

    ReplyDelete

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