The One with the Top 5 List

Bago ko simulan ang entry na ito – may nais muna akong ikumpisal sa lahat. Ako, si RollyPollyPanini ay may facebook account. And surprisingly – may friends akong ka-facebook. O wag nang mag-comment pa. Ako man ay nagtataka at meron akong mga ka-facebook. Ilan? More than 1. And – hindi ko sila kamag-anak or binyaran. Wala din silang pagkakautang sa akin. Gusto lang talaga ako nilang maging ka-facebook. Friendly kasi ako e – well to a chosen few. To most — I usually channel my Oscar the Grouch persona.

Ok. Dahil sa tapos na ako sa aking earth-shattering confession – pwede ko nang ibahagi ang mga bagay-bagay na gusto kong ibahagi. Related pa rin sa Facebook — I am a fan of the 5 Things list. Yun mga kung ano-anong 5 things lang. Kunwari – 5 bagay na lagi mong dala pag-alis or 5 favorite na tsokolate etc.

The other night – I was answering the 5 things you would like to receive on your birthday. This is a no brainer isip ko lang :

First on my mind – a European tour. No brainer. I’ve been obssessing to go on a European tour since birth. I’ve been to a few cities in Europe few years ago – pero it’s a business trip so wala masyadong lakwatsa. I need to go back as a true blue tourist. Yung walang iniisip na mga business requirements or functional specification documents.

2nd – hmm… hmmm.. hmmm… 5 minutes later it dawned to me – wala na akong maisip pang bagay na gusto kong mareceive as a birthday gift. Wala. As in. And I find this odd and scary at the same time. Odd – kasi ang dami kong gusto e. Scary – kasi dalawang bagay lang naman kung bakit wala ka nang gusto pa. Una – you are contented with what you have which is excellent but is statistically impossible. Human nature na kasi yung magnais ng mga bagay na wala sa iyo. Ikalawang dahilan – you are settling. You’ve given up and settled for what you have right now. White flag waived. Tapos na ang laban. This is bad – really bad. Life is a continous struggle. The struggle ends only when you are six feet under. And I don’t plan on going that path for a long-long-long time. I still need to live life to the fullest. Lots of plans. Lots of things to do.

Katawa no? Isang napakasimpleng tanong — but it branched out to such complex self questioning. Parang sobrang layo ng nilakbay mo – e ang gusto mo lang naman ay bumili ng Coke. Quarterly-life crisis? Oprah moment? O kaartehan lang talaga? Whatever it is – paminsan-minsan mainam din ang mga serious na pag-iisip. Good for the mind – iwas Alzheimers.

Oppss.. muntik ko nang malimutan – I was able to finish my list. I was able to think of 5 things I want to receive on my birthday. A European tour, latest Blackberry phone, latest Lazy Boy chair, a private island home and syempre – World Peace.

The One with the Burger

I am starting this entry with a flashback. Couple of Fridays ago — Friday night to be exact – I’m at home… in front of the tube… having dinner while watching the 4th season of How I Met Your Mother. There’s this episode where Marshall is looking for the place where he had the best burger. For the whole episode – they did nothing but eat burger from one place to another. And every time they bite into that thick juicy burgers – I can’t help but crave… for a thick juicy burger. And you know me – once I crave for something — I gotta have it. There ain’t no mountain high enough. Ain’t no valley low enough. Ain’t no river wide enough. To keep me from getting a thick juicy burger. Singbilis ni Flash na ako ay gumayak — at tumalilis. Isa lang ang aking goal buy a burger. And the best fastfood burger there is – Carl’s Junior’s Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger. Yun nga lang – the nearest Carl’s Junior from my place is the newly opened outlet an MRT station away. Pero hindi ito naging sagabal sa aking misyon. Pushing and kicking all those in my way – I finall arrived. It took forever – nakarating din ako. Pumila ako in all excitement – thinking of all the langhap-sarap goodness that I am to eat. Nung ako na ang oorder – I excitedly said — 1 Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger – no pickles – no onions. The staff smiled at me and said – I’m sorry sir – we only serve chicken and fish today. @#*^$%^%$# naman o. Who the hell eats fish burger? Or Chicken burger? Ok fine — marami.. including me. Pero that time – I want a double western bacon cheeseburger… and I want it now. Pero bigo ako bigo. Umuwi akong bahag ang mundo dala dala ang aking Double Cheeseburger from Mc Donalds. And I am telling you…. It was not the same. It did not satisfy me at all…..

Which leads to today. I am watching – well – the 3rd season of How I Met Your Mother ( I know… I have no life) and there’s this episode again with Marshall about to eat a burger. Lo and behold — the craving returns. Muli – singbilis ni flash na ako a muling gumayak. In no time – nasa mall na ulit ako. I am so excited to eat the best (that I can afford) burger in town ng mapadaan ako sa isang bagong bukas na Sandwich shop. Hmmm… Grilled Ciabata bread – egg, cheese and corned beef. Hmmm…

P.S.

I never made it to Carl’s Jr…. I had the sandwich… and it was Legen —- wait for it — Dary! Man… I need to stop watching How I Met Your Mother – even if it’s Awesome!

In theaters – July 15. Can’t wait!

Vision 20/Astigmatism

Medyo long overdue na ang “news” na ito. Slightly bilasa na kung tutuusin. Pero sabi nga ng matatanda – na amerikano – better late than never. Kaya it’s better that I share this piece of stale news kaysa naman hindi ito malaman ng aking milyong-milyong fans (sa panaginip — actually bilyon pa nga e… ayawa ko lang mag-exaggerate). Naku – kung saan-saan na naman napunta ang usapan. Anyway – late last year – dahil sa financial crisis – I decided na ito na ang tamang panahon upang maging malinaw ang lahat. Kaya ayun – pikit mata (este dilat mata pala) akong nagpaschedule for Lasik surgery. I had my surgery a day after Christmas. Sobrang bilis – the actual surgery is over in 10 mins or so. I went home – pop a couple of sleeping pills and slept. Nung magising ako the next day – I can already see without the need for glasses. I returned to the doctor for check-up and he did some minor adjustment sa corneal flap (yun yata tawag dun) ng aking right eye. Medyo kailangan daw i-flat mabuti. Parang yung naglalagay ng protector sa cellphone. Kailangan walang bubbles. J 3rd day – I’m good to go. I need to lubricate my eyes every hour for a month – then afterwards as needed. Other than that — okay naman. It’s a small inconvenience —- considering I have been wearing glasses since I was in Grade 4. A 20/20 vision is not guaranteed. Sa simula pa lang ay sinabi na ito ng duktor. Dryness of the eyes is also a common occurrence after the surgery. Oks lang naman sa akin ito. Madali naman talagang mag-dry ang mata ko which is why I hate wearing contact lens. Fast forward — a couple of weeks ago – I returned for my 3rd check-up. Around 3 months kasi ay medyo nag-stabilize na ang grado ng mata. Nag-undergo ulit ako ng mga eye-test. Sinuri muli nang duktor ang aking mga mata . After all the reading and poking — the doctor confirmed that the surgery is a success. My eyes healed nicely. Vision? 20/Asigtmatism (L/R). Just a few grade shy of 20/20. Pero the doctor said that I should not worry since possible pa rin naman daw humabol ang aking right eye. I said I am not worried — 20/20 vision would be a treat… but 20/astigmatism is more that enough. I am just glad that after a long-long time — I can finally open my eyes in the morning, look at the wall clock and clearly see na late na naman ako.

Disclaimer: Naka-deferred payment ang aking surgery. 12 months to pay. Wag nang magtangka pang mangutang.

Bakit?

Sa mga nagdaang araw – isang katanungan ang lagi kong naririnig sa mga milyon-milyon kong tagasubaybay. Fine. Isang tagasubaybay. Nangangarap lang naman. Masama na bang mangarap ngayon? Hmp. Anyway – balik sa katanungan…. Bakit? Yup. Bakit? Bakit ko daw binago ang header ng aking blogsite. Where’s the ranting-raving-reviewing Panini? Bakit ito pinalitan ni wicked-superman-wannabe–gravity-defying-nobody.

Well unang-una… I’m not a total nobody. I’m somebody to some. Nobody to most — pero ang imporatante ay somebody to some. J Second – I’m still the same ranting, raving, reviewing lunatic na minamahal ng lahat. No amount of site header change can remove these qualities from me. I’m still the same old me — but with new a blogsite header. J Lastly — napapanahon lang talaga ang pagbago ng blog header. Isinasabay ko ito sa agos ng buhay… sa ihip ng hangin. Sa isang sudden realization na it’s time for a change — a new header to mirror what life is giving you at the moment. Lalim ba? Masyado bang pinag-isipan? Actually – pinag-isipan ko talaga yan. Stone na stone kasi ako ngayon dito sa kulungan este opis kaya nag-iisip-isip na lang ako.

Anyway next question na — bakit defying gravity? Sabihin na lang natin na for the past few years —- I have this feeling that gravity is doing its best to pull me down to the earth’s core. As in full blast gravitational pull. And for the past few years – well till now – I’ve been giving all might to defy gravity. I’ve been doing my darnedest to prevent this gravitational pull from burying me to the ground. Ganun naman talaga ang buhay di ba? You’ll get to encounter obstacles in your journey — and the only thing you can do is do your best to overcome all these obstacles. Do our best to defy gravity! Not let anyone or anything pull us down.

Naku – masyado nang seyoso ang entry na ito. Makakasira na ito sa aking image. Kailangan tigilan na ang pag-eemote. Sabagay – that’s life… minsan kailangan medyo serious. Pero wag dapat laging serious. Dadami lang ang frown lines. Yayaman na naman sina Belo at Calayan nyan.

Defying Gravity

“Ev’ryone deserves the chance to fly!”
And if I’m flying solo
At least I’m flying free
To those who’d ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am
Defying gravity
I’m flying high
Defying gravity
And soon I’ll match them in renown
And nobody in all of Oz
No Wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down!

- Defying Gravity, Wicked -