Night Out with Narra

Writing this few minutes before the class starts. It’s only 1:35 and my class would be on 2:30pm, a little later. Ang aga ko, ano? It’s not because I’m that punctual. But because TINATAMAD AKO UMUWI SA DORM DAHIL MAINIT.  Iba na talaga yung hotness ko, intense! HAHAHAHA. Seriously, it’s sizzling hot and I’m kinda craving for swimming.

Speaking of swimming, this is one thing I want to share how a weekend of mine went. This was about two weeks ago. But I am kinda busy these days and I am writing this just now. But yeah, I spent it so nicely. I was with some of my high school classmates/friends and we went swimming on a resort nearby. This was our fifth swimming since we started on our third year high school. It was really fun and I enjoyed every moment of it.

It was out of the unplanned. Well, we have talked about it the last time we had a get-together on Jushtine’s graduation party. Thought it’s never gonna happen since most all of us aren’t serious about it. Nobody’s organizing for this and I wouldn’t volunteer myself to be the main organizer. Some of my classmates were texting me the past days and weeks to plan for a swimming. Their text messages would include:

“Good day Madam President, swimming naman tayo.”  – Danroe

“Mhae, walang swimming? Tara.”  –Rachel

“Tara mag-swimming. It’s hot na.”  –Jessel

…and many more. (Some were verbatim).

I didn’t reply to any of those. Patawarin niyo ako, hindi ko kaya mag-organize nyan this time. It’s nearing finals and I’m having much difficulty balancing my time and accomplishing my tasks and works. (Kaya hindi na ako magka-lovelife e. hahaha) I need to organize and fix my life first before doing stuffs like such. But we were planning verbally. We were all writing the plans in the air, literally. Tentative date, hilarious people whom you cannot talk to seriously. Everything like that.

Jushtine (the now-pronounced main organizer) along with Bryan, Romar, Paul, and Marjun went to our house surprisingly on Friday night (April 29), the night before the swimming. I was not informed beforehand that they’re coming over and I did not had the chance to hide. Hahaha. Kidding, I did not had the time to take a long rest after getting home from Los Baños first before coming with them. They invited me to go with them at the actual resort so we could have checked the place before venturing into swimming the next day. And so, I joined ‘em. We rode at Marjun’s jeepney and travelled south at around 8:30-ish. But that was okay with me, I mean, going somewhere’s kinda relaxing too. We landed early and we checked the accommodating staff immediately. Luckily, the night of April 30 was still vacant and it’s only us to (supposedly) use the resort. We were okay at a 500-peso mini nipa hut since there were only few whom we know will join us the next day. Going back home a little late, we still talked about some stuffs so we could have this thing planned prior to the event. The ‘meeting’ finished at around 10pm. Yes, midnight appointment. (Familiar, lol)

So, everything’s all set.

It was nearing 8pm on April 30^th when we landed formally at the resort. This was probably because of the procrastination (again) of my friends. Yes, I am very used to it. But I understand this because they might be preparing VERY WELL for the foods. Haha. Uh, I don’t know how they spent and budgeted the money allotted for foods which was only one thousand. But to my surprise, no, crap, I am used to it also—we were short on the entrance fee. This happens to us most of the time. Almost everytime. Dati, lagi kami nagbibilangan ng ambag. Pahirapan nga maglabas ng dos e. But not now, since they are already employed. Luckily, we have these people who contributed more to cover the shortage (credits to you, friends!)  So there! We can already enter. Legit na this time!

Paul-Maningning-Fatty-Liane-Sharlene-ME-Jushtine-Bryan-Romar-Grace-Chissy Kaye-Kevin-Marjun  (Insert Thomo who took the photo)

I felt so bad that I cannot enjoy the pool so much because I have this reddish hella monthly visitor and it was my first day. Too LUCKY I was! Of all days! Brrrr! I’ll share a secret to you, I am only having my monthly period very irregularly. Every two months or three months. I cannot even predict what day it will be coming. And it happened that night! The night I looked forward to for about a month. Hindi nakisama ang katawan ko, badtrip! I got dysmenorrhea too and my abdomen sucked! I just wanted to lay down in bed and get some sort of rest. But since I chose happiness, I still enjoyed the outing though. And isa pa, sayang naman binayad ko nuh? Haha.

I was contemplating if I was going to swim or just stay by the pool. But I cannot afford to only watch them swim, take photos of them while me? Sitting and suffering from pain. No! I’ve had enough pain in my life! JK. I chose to swim and mingle with them since they are forcing me too. I had the random kulitan and asaran which made the night more chucklesome!

We ate our dinner after few moments after being at the pool. Nilagang baboy and itlog na maalat with mangga and kamatis. Very compatible nuh? Ang galing talaga mag-combine ng pagkain ng mga kaibigan ko. Suitable na suitable eh. *note sarcasm*. I don’t know what kind of food combination that was, but one thing is for sure—I enjoyed the foods, especially when eating these with my barkada. Thank you to Paul and his Dad for preparing the foods.

Back to the pool. Pictures.

 

I was standing on Paul’s shoulder. Bad, Marjun did not take a good shot of it

We played so much. As in, so much! We saw ourselves as people away from the stress of our current lives—whatever they were that we are individually going through nowadays. We’re more of kids, freely playing outside, giggling, chuckling and teasing each other. This is something I am looking forward to when I join events/gatherings like this. I am able to escape from the cruel world I have now. If you happened to have read all my tweets and posts I have recently, you’ll see how stressful my life goes lately. And I need this! I need some sort of little relaxation.

We went straight to the nipa hut we rented and started the ‘drinking session’. We just realized that the hut was a bit small for fourteen persons and we found it real hard to all get in. We did not anticipate this, honestly. We even arranged ourselves accordingly so we can start making it to the round table. Given that the hut was sorta small, it was a struggle to be inside. Romar, who was the last person trying to get in, found it somehow challenging. He just stayed outside, but at the façade door near us. Jushtine told him, “Romar, tatahol ka pag may tao ha?” At tumahol nga si Romar. I almost died laughing! These two never fail to make me/us laugh.

We talked about so many random things. So many that we cannot see its connection to the other. But my favourite part was the effin’ high school days years we all had—the bittersweet memories, the epic moments, the failures, the success, former advisers and teachers, EVERYTHING! High lights would be ‘freshmen moments’; stupidity that some of us had made. Irish was my favorite character in the imaginative comics we made that night as we kept throwing back golden memoirs. *Flash back*  Irish was a classmate of mine from elementary up to early high school. She had lots of many epic moments during high school. Siya yung friend ko na nasuntok ng isa naming classmate na guy kasi inaasar sya ni Irish na may kanin sa labi. She was referring to the kuntil our classmate has near his upper lip. On the next day, the guy has cut his kuntil off and Irish was the one so proud of it! (Oh my God, I can’t type properly, laughing at the very moment.) These laughs are still the same whenever I hear the same old stories. She was not present that night however promised to do her best to come over.

We also reminisced our first JS Promenade experience in the campus. Surely, you might expect this as an epic event. Yeah, you’re right. Jamaica was the center of the story. She’s currently based in Dubai for couple of months now but our connections are still there. Any way, this is the gist: she was mainly involved in our “the bar scandal” way back in high school. If you happened to be at the same age range like us, you would probably know what THE BAR is, ayt? This is the brand of alcohol we loved during those years, most prevalent among youth like us. Foolishly, one of us brought the alcohol in the campus on the prom night. Jamaica was one of those who was ‘drunk’ during those times. She held tight around a calamias tree near our classroom talking about SO MANY stuffs. Everybody knows how hard Jam can drink, plus, she was heartbroken during those times and the spirit of alcohol was her main outlet for bursting her emotions off. Any way, we missed Jam during the swimming. She’s the class singer and we haven’t heard her singing voice in the videoke for quite a long time.

These were just very few of the things we had reminisced. And every event, every moment is still there, in the freshest of our minds. It seems like it just happened yesterday. There were so many unforgettable’s and looking back at it was very refreshing. We can just say: we’ve gone this far.

As we take a glance of the past, there are still many moments we see our self-realities embedded at the present. Some of us are now married and are parents already. Some are getting married yet this year. Three of Narra’s babies are my godchildren. Pambansang Ninang ang peg ko. Lol  It’s an honor, of course. Some of us are still students [including me]; some are paving their ways abroad and some had never shared how their lives are going through these days. We do not know.. Hindi na nagparamdam.

If you are one of us and you were not present during the event, and if you’re reading this right now, we probably talked about you that night. *evil laugh* So you better join the upcoming getaways so you wouldn’t be the center of the topic. Hahaha.

Time came rushing and we didn’t even noticed it was already 4am. We decided to get home so we can have our bodies asleep. But, the hell! Marjun, who owns the jeepney we used to get into the resort was badly falling asleep and so [of course] we cannot go home yet. He was so damn drunk and he kept telling non-sense, never-ending, repeated stories about his life, his lovelife (oo, meron!), INC, politics and anything that he wanted to share when we were still having the alcohol session. He was under the spirit of alcohol all throughout. And hindi sya naglangoy even once. Kaya siguro sya nalasing nang ganun! Even a single drop of water from the pool did not touch his skin. Because according to Marjun, “Hindi kasi ako marunong maligo.” We’re so proud of you, Marjun! Cheers to this reality, dearest friend! Hahaha. And we be like: “Yes, obviously. Sanay na kami sayo”.

But OMYGOD!? Papano na kami makakauwi? Are we gonna wait for him to wake up? Naaah!! I was contemplating if I was going to drive the jeepney.. and some of us, especially Sharlene was pushing me to. Yes, I can handle the curves, run all the lights. “I can, baby boy, then we can go all night. Cause I’m zero to sixty in 3.5, baby you got the keys, shut up and drive!” Haha LSS pa more! But HELL NO! I can only just drive for my own self and I would not take the risk of my friends’ lives, whatever might happen along the road for they might spit fire on me if ever *knock on wood* troubles come. And it was in the darkest of 4am. Plus, I do not know how to drive Marjun’s jeep. Good thing, Bryan can also drive and we let him do the work for us to get home individually. I just didn’t know how did Marjun get home.

It was a dawn, around 4:30am and no public transportation is already available yet. I suggested to Ate Cheska (Chissy Kaye) to just stay in our home while waiting for the sun to rise. She was with us, Sharlene, whom is very used to sleeping in my bed for so many years.

The sun have risen and yet the two decided to still stay. According to them, they have no stuffs to do and staying would be a good idea. And it’s been so long we haven’t had a night out like this. Foods, internet, chikahan. Everything! We do not get tired of telling and restorying same old stories. Ewan ko, pero hindi talaga nakakasawang balik-balikan. Until we saw Jamaica who was on line during that time. We chatted via Skype. And we kept sharing the moments we’ve had hours ago. She was VERY VERY JEALOUS of us. Tee hee! She’s one of the most active people when it comes to gathering like this. Walwal Queen din yan eh! She would even go home at 3am passing through their window instead of their locked door. That’s why we missed her so much!

Right after getting home, I turned my laptop on because I have to submit my output on line early that day so our group can start working at our papers. I was not yet done with encoding and analysing the data statistically. Inuna ko muna kasi gumimik. Yan tuloy, nangarag ako. Ate Cheska and Sharlene were laughing at me, maybe they see me this nerd that I do academic workloads right after I had the unusual fun. Ganyan ka-judgmental ang mga yan e. Haha. I was 35 hours awake. And I survived. Well I’m being used to this kind of life already nowadays. Actually, Pangarap ko talaga maging zobie eh, bata pa lang ako. Ganito pala yun!

 

The girls left home at around 3pm. Maybe they felt the tiresome and grogginess so it’s a must for them to sleep and have some rest. The same thing went for me. Few more minutes after they left, I didn’t notice, I felt asleep on the sofa. I haven’t taken my dinner. I woke up at around 6pm. Then felt asleep at 1am; woke up at 8am the following day. Sobrang sirang sira yung tulog ko. Wala na akong biological clock. I was completely deprived.

The night of extreme fun was over and I am now going back to my cruel reality. I have already escaped from the harshness of my life and now I need to go back to my real sphere. There’s no use turning away. But I am still looking forward for more getaways like this whenever possible! In the months or years (or maybe weeks, we do not know) to come.. in some other random times

To the rest of my dearest high school classmates/friends who haven’t join us that time, it’s okay. Ang sarap niyo pag chismisan. Hahaha. Kidding, we’re hoping to be with you, guys, the next time we set special things like this. Join these seldom moments, Narra. It’s really a pleasure to be with you and create much more stories again. There is always a next time naman and we hope for an affirmative responses from you. We missed you so much! (walang halong echoss)

Insert Thomo again. Di daw pwede makita ni gerpren

Very cool it was to have a glimpse of your old world again– a world that did not actually close as we open another. It’s been a while and time flies so fast. It’s just very overwhelming to know that most of us are now facing a new different kinds of world yet we are still bounded by the strongest tie we call … F R I E N D S H I P.

I really had a great night out. Until next time, IV-Narra 1011.