Driving with Miss Selly (part 2)

Had my first driving lesson today, courtesy of Dihya (my 2nd brother, who obviously does not value his life, else he wouldn't have agreed to teach me -_-'). We parked inside a Greenhills village (East, I think), so it would be relatively empty roads...

Dihya: Okay, so to make the car go, you step on the brakes, put the handbrake down, step on the clutch, shift to first gear, slowly step on ---

Me: Teka, teka! Step on the brakes, put the handbr --- ano ulit?!

Dihya: Brakes, handbrake, clutch, first gear...o, yun na muna! Ano ulit sinabi ko?

Me: Brakes, handbrake...uhm...uhm...*blinkblink* Ano ulit?

Dihya: I think I'll put on my seatbelt.

* * *

Dihya: Now try stepping on the clutch. Kelangan all the way to the floor yung pagtapak, ha.

Me: *stepping gingerly on it* It feels like I might break it...

Dihya: Hindi yan. Okay, can you press it all the way?

Me: I think I should move the seat closer to the wheel.

Dihya: Oh, okay, here. *helps me adjust seat* Is that better?

Me: Now I can't see the pedals!

* * *

Me: So while I'm stepping on the clutch, I slowly step on the gas to make the car move, right?

Dihya: Yes! But you have to slowly step on the gas AND gradually step off the clutch at the same time.

Me: Why, what's gonna happen if I press hard on both at the same time?

Dihya: Then the car explodes.

* * *

Me: Okay, let's try it na. *accompany words with actions* Step on the brake, put the handbrake up, step on the clutch, shift to first gear, step off the brakes and step lightly on the gas...and away we go!

*car makes revving sound, and gives a sudden jerk forward*

Me: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Dihya: Step on the brakes! Brake! Brake!

Me: Ahhh!!! Okay, okay, step on brakes and ---

*car starts bouncing*

Me: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! *steps on brakes harder*

Dihya: Step on the clutch! You're not stepping on the clutch hard enough!

Me: *stomps on clutch, car finally comes to halt* Oh, God, whew!

Dihya: You're supposed to step on the clutch all the way when you brake!

Me: Oh, really?! *lifts foot off brake* How was I supposed to --- *car starts moving forward* AHHHHHH!!!

Dihya: BRAKE! BRAKE!!!

* * *

Dihya: Alright, let's try it one more time!

Me: *grumblegrumble* Fine, fine. *does preliminaries, then steps on gas*

*car makes loud revving sound, and takes of like a shot*

Me and Dihya: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Dihya: BRAKE! BRAKE!

*car comes to a halt*

*stunned silence*

Me: At least I can brake now!

* * *

This does not bode well. -_-'

Driving with Miss Selly

A few occurences while getting my student's license at the Mandaluyong LTO today:

Girl Behind the Counter: Miss, pahingi po ng ID picture.

Me: Ah, sige. *search through wallet and hand over one*

Girl: *looking closely at it* Ikaw ba ito? Bakit ang iba ng buhok?

Me: Ah, eh...nakatali kasi buhok ko dyan eh!

Me: *thinking* Grade 5 pa kasi ako dyan eh! (this is TRUE :o )

Then...

Guy: Miss, pasok kayo para magpa-picture.

Later...

Queta: (our master chef who accompanied me) *looking at printed picture* Shobe, ikaw ba ito?

Me: Ha?! Oo naman, bakit?

Queta: Ang pangit eh, mukha kang kirat!

Me: Aaaaaahhhhhhh! -_-'

Well, I finally got a student's license. Next step is to improve brain-hand-and-foot coordination. Free rides for everybody pag marunong na ako! (well, those who have a death wish, at least :p)

Attack of the Emo's

Emo - short for "emotional"; current terminology for excessively feeling anything, but mostly that of sadness, depression or heartbreak; turns people into poets, composers or artists; extremely contagious; may also account for moodiness, violence or pessimism
*WARNING: In case you spot someone with a serious case of emo coming towards you, move away quickly. Very, very, quickly.

And I tried anyway. To get away, that is.
I honestly never liked the word "emo" because it sounds like something a drunk hippie would say. The vowel at its end always seemed in a 'hung' state. And why bother making up a new word when you could easily use "down", "feeling blue", or "wanna-rip-my-heart-out-painful" to describe your emotions? It just didn't make sense.

But lately, everyone's being feeling emo. On days when the sun's bright and shiny, but you feel like just curling up in a corner till the world disappears? On days when you long to express your mangled emotions in the form of a poem or song (no doubt filled with secret allusions to your loves, dreams and hidden desires)? On days when everything seems pointless, when you question your very purpose of existence?

If chocolate can't make a girl fall in love with it...
If we're reduced to making animal noises as expressions of love, lust and HD's...
If we talk about requirements and ideals about the One, only to make exceptions when we see a perfectly polished lata... I mean, someone we like...

It's called being emo.

*As you can see, I'm bordering once again on the topic of love. But of course, that's good for another blog entry... :P

Wanted: Grammar Lessons

Hi, viewers, need your sincere opinions, comments and suggestions on this. Really wished I was better at Filipino. -_-' Anyhoo, feel free to speak your piece (through YM, please---or leave a comment kung good! Hehe :) about anything under the sun, especially grammar in Filipino. Hehe. Here you go, enjoy. :)

Tsk. Malas.

Maaraw ang simula, maulap ang wakas. Sandali lamang, tila isang alaala na ngayon ang init ng sikat ng araw. Dumapo ito sa aking balat, malambing, mahaplos, walng katapusan.

At nakatingala ako ngayon sa langit, nagdurusa’t naghihinaing. Ito ang katotohanan ng isang kapus-palad. Habambuhay nababalot sa itim, ang kulay ng kamalasan. Habambuhay nabubulag, pisak ang isang mata.

Madalas sabihin na ang ulan ay isang pagbabago. Naglilinis, nagpupuro. Ngunit mga punyal ang bawa’t patak nito na pumapasok sa aking balat, nananaksak, walang kaawa-awa.

Maginaw, tila nilunok na ng mga hangin ang sinag ng araw. Walang dugong umaagos subalit lamig ang pumapasok. Lamig na kumakalat sa buong katawan, nadarama hanggang sa mga buto, halos magpatigil sa mahinang puso, nagpapalumpo sa kaluluwa.

Lakad lang. Tiisin ang ginaw. Ito ang katotohanan.

At dito na muna ako maghihintay. Hihiga’t susubukang kalimutan ang lamig. Titingin sa madilim na kalawakan, mamasdan ang pagtutulo, magdarasal na sumikat muli ang araw.

“Kuting, kuting.”

Ha?

“Halika. Malamig ang araw, at mahaba pa ang gabi.”

Dahan-dahan akong ibinuhat. Patuloy pa rin ang agos ng ulan, ngunit ang mga bisig na nakayakap sa akin ay umaapaw ng init. Malambing, mahaplos, walang katapusan. Isang araw sa tag-init, hitik sa pamumulaklak at kabuhayan.

“Huwag kang mag-alala, magiging mabuti ka rin.”

At sa gitna ng mga patak, sa halip ng karimlan, nakita ko ang mukha ng isang bata. Maamo ang mukha. Basa ang buhok. Pisak ang isang mata.

“Tara. Uwi na tayo.”

Itim na pusa. Sa kahit anumang sukatan, malas nga iyon. Pisak na mata. Kumpara sa karamihan, kami’y mga bulag. Iyon ang katotohanan.

Ngunit sa saglit na ito, sa pagitan ng malalakas na mga bisig, ang lamig ay nawawala’t napaplitan ng mahimbing na init. Na habang ang isa’y naiinis, umiiyak o nagtitiis, mayroon pang matatagpuang katotohanan na nasa kamay lamang ng mga nararapat. Ito’y kaakit-akit, ito’y kagiliw-giliwat kailanman ito’y walang pagmamaliw.

At sa munting sandaling ito, iyong katotohanan lamang ang tanging may kadahilanan.

Meow.