3 years and counting...

Parang ang bilis naman yatang lumipas ng panahon..while feeling ko highschool pa rin ako when I chat with my highschool friends, my white hairs cannot deny the fact na, yep, indeed, ang bilis ngang lumipas ng panahon..

3 years na since I signed the PACS with frenchguy, yep, it's official, we're legal partners! 12th of June, Independence Day sa Pinas nun, but for me, it marks another milestone in my life. Of course maraming nagtatanong kung bakit di na lang kami nagpakasal? Oo nga naman, bonne question! E kasi naman po, dami kayang papeles that I have to provide from the Philippines, wala akong time, and besides, it's not your business anymore di ba, so leave me with my decision alone hehe.

Since anniversary daw namin this weekend, at sa panahong ganito masarap balikan ang nakaraan, eto na ang aking top favorites sa aking memory disk..

Year-end 1999, First contact: Set-up ng buong department namin. 4 pa lang kaming pinoy employees nun. Sa lahat ng nakatrabaho kong Pranses, sya lang ang di formally inintroduce sa kin, don't know why, probably because we didn't work together directly. Anyways, he introduced himself directly to me minsang nagkabanggaan kami sa stairs, and called me Monalisa from then on. But not because of my mysterious smile..but of my rare smile..

First date???: He was constantly inviting us out (me and my colleagues) every weekend he spent in the Philippines. And me, doing the same route (Manila - Laguna and vice-versa) on a Sunday was the last thing I would certainly do. I said yes to his invitation once, obvious kasi na nagtatampo na sya, but as usual, I never showed up hehe. Bastos ba? Then came my french counterpart, panahon na kasi para i-train ako. There, he hit the joker! Come weekend and I finally went out with them, user kasi ako, I wanted to extract more technical informations from my counterpart. Ayun, I discovered that he was a funny guy, that I wouldn't mind going out for another gimik...

Job assignments: Do I have to explain why he monopolized all Philippine projects at that time? ... Well, after he kidnapped the charming Chemist, he was never again seen in that Phil production site. Wanted!

What's with french kiss?: Wala lang, curious lang, sawa na kasi ako sa pinoy imitations e nyehaha..and it was before he left Pinas for his last project..when he came back to his native land, it was funny to know that he was projecting a future na with me, now, what's with pinoy kiss?

Filipino hospitality at its best: He came back to Phils after months of LDR and went direcho to our Manila appartment but nobody was home (my sis are still at school and I was caught in the congested roads of Manila), he thought, 'Everybody's really excited to see me.' After minutes of waiting outside, he decided to play basketball with the street tambays hehe. That's my guy! Mapasensya!

A funny night de fiançialles (engagement): After an exhausting travel from work, I finally met frenchguy somewhere in Greenbelt. He was on vacation at that time, but since I cannot get some vacation, we contented ourselves with night and weekend gimiks. It was in a cozy restaurant in Makati, exactly the same restaurant which ex and I frequented. I thought, what the fuss, past is past, right. And so we went, and then frenchguy was directing me in ex and I's favorite table, oh wow, was I hallucinating, did I actually see ex ressurecting in frenchguy's body?? Oppps. Ok, let me proceed with the engagement process. Conversation was of course concentrated on ex hehe. Then came the menu list. When I've finally taken my order, I was surprised by a nicely wrapped little box on my plate which I didn't notice when we arrived. I started to explain to frenchguy that some restaurants have this culture of making their lady client extra special by offering her roses or chocolates especially on special occasions like Valentine's Day etc. But since it wasn't Valentine's Day at that time, I told him that there must be some festivities in Thailand on that day (we were in a Thai restaurant). Frenchguy was attentively looking at me, patiently listening to all my explainations, probably thinking, 'Ang kulit naman nitong batang to. Kelan ba to titigil sa kadadaldal?' I opened the 'gift' with no finesse nor romanticism...oh wow, I was teary eyed, it was the engagement ring! CUT! Censored na kasi...

He should have told me the objective of the dinner beforehand...I could have tamed myself...but until now, that night remains special for us..even if it turned out to be more comedy than romantic..

1st Vacation destination: Dos Palmas, Puerto Princesa. A month later, Abu Sayyaf took the American hostage from the same room where we stayed...imagine if we pushed our vacation a month later...

Age gap: You wouldn't believe this, from being colleagues to barkada to bf-gf, napag-usapan na yata namin lahat except one - AGE! 10 years po ang gap namin. I thought he was younger, he thought I was older, bait nya no. Sabi naman nya, it was the responsibility I was handling in the company before, yung 23 yo kasi sa kanila, baby pa hehehe.

Accelerated 7 day visit: Ok, time for me to meet the parents, see Dijon, interview with the university for my postgrad studies, interview with the company where I did my OJT, see the snow and finally visit Paris. All that in 7 days at freezing point!

Almost 6 years na rin pala kaming nagkukulitan, and yet, we still enjoy each others company. And when we look back, natatawa na lang kami sa pinagdaanan namin. Thinking kung gaano sya kapursigido, naiisip ko, siguro nga tama ang nanay ko, na maganda daw ako hehe (just wondering kung bakit sya laging nasa church??? malamang nagsosorry sya kay Lord hehe).

We just took another BIG step in our life together, last May 29 was my first Mother's Day. Di pa sya lumalabas pero feel ko ng maging nanay hehe. I had my duyan as a gift, saka na lang daw yung coconut trees, the sea and the tropical weather...