A weekend in L.A.

I just got back from L.A. last night. Once in a while, when I need to unwind or if there's a party or an event, I pay my friends a visit.

The Ride

I went saturday morning. I woke up early (7:00am) for I want to catch the 9:15am Metrolink train. By 7:45am, I was all packed and ready to go. I debated whether to eat breakfast (giant pandesals bought from Valerio's. Yummy!) but decided to skip it. I have no time.

To get to the bus station, it usually takes 30 minutes of 'hiking' (Not walking. Walking is for flat lands. We live in the mountains. :P). As usual, I met some other 'hikers' (joggers, dog walkers) and exchanged hello, good morning and how are you's. That's one of the things that I like here. Strangers greeting each other. Do that in Manila (or even in Laguna, where i grew up) and you'll get a 'taray' look if not snobbed. They might even think that you're hitting them on. When i was new here, I don't know what to reply when someone greets me so i just smile and say 'hi.' My
boss told me that when someone asks "how do you do?" or "how are you?" just reply "I'm good" and ask them back. I followed my boss's advice except that I don't ask them back. Some of them, when asked back, complains about their ailments, or their personal problems that you don't really want to hear. It's hard to get out of the conversation for it would be rude. You have to wait for them to finish and say goodbye.

I reached the bus station by 8:19am. Great! I missed the 8:15am bus. Buses here need to follow a strict schedule. There's 20 mins interval before the next bus comes. I got on the bus by 8:38am. It takes 20 mins from the bus station to the train station. But I still need 5-10 mins to go to the actual platform and I still need to buy a ticket. I was already running on my way to the ticket booth. I was panting and all sweaty when I finally got on the train, 5 mins before it departs. From San Bernardino to L.A. Union Station takes 1 and 1/2 hour. After the very tiring run, I took a nap but was cut short because there were 6 Alicia Keys wannabee boarded the train and were singing (murdering) my idol's song and talking loud the entire trip. I arrived at Union Station by 10:30. I still need to take another train, The Redline and another 10-15 mins walk to get to my friends' apartment. Now you know my secret of loosing weight (from 180lbs to 145lbs).

No habla español II

On my way to the apartment, I dropped by at a thrift store called "Out of the Closet." Yes I'm cheap. I buy clothes on Ross, Walmart and the likes. I shop in signature stores only if there's a sale.

I found two nice shirts and is only 2$ each. I also got a book that still looks brand new. For a hardcover novel from a well known writer, $2.50 is worth it. When I went to the counter to pay them, the cashier, whom I thought was I chinese, asked me "Pinoy ka ba?" I replied "Opo." "Buti na lang tinanong kita. $4.50 na lang lahat. Wala naman yung mga baliw kong kasama kaya pwede makalusot." Wow! Nakalibre ako! Then I asked her "pwede bang kumuha pa ako ng isang item?" She thought that I was just joking so she just laughed. But I was serious. I really want to get another shirt. Maybe on my next trip to L.A., I'll drop by here again.

Etcetera...

We spent saturday afternoon watching the finals of Star Circle Quest. Erich of Davao won. I think this only the third time that I get to watch this show. Then we watched the primer [sic] of the Search for the Star in a Million. How I wish that we have TFC here in our house. I do have a subscription (Christmas gift from kuya RJ) in their online service called 'abs-cbn now'. But it's not as good as watching it on a TV.

We went clubbing and didn't come back until 4:00am. Obviously, we're in bed the whole sunday morning. We had a late lunch in the afternoon and did some groceries. By 4:00pm I was ready to go back to San Bernardino. Fortunately, our friend kuya Miguel is on his way to San Bernardino to visit her daughter so I was able to save 10$ of fare and several minutes of tiring walk.

I can't wait for 'til my next visit.

Links to visit when bored

Some not so interesting things that i learned this week:

1. My phone number can spell the word BEE or BED -
"*****71-BED, how do u like me as bed mate?" - Phone Spelling

2. Some anagrams for my pen name are -
- wreath me hang
- twang ham here
- when ham grate
but for my real name
- turf cute suitor
- four cut sit true
- future cut is rot

3. I've been dreaming that I'm back in highschool lately, and the dream analyzer said that it means "Changes in life. Family arguments. Approaching money." I'm praying for the money part.

4. That I'll die on "Sunday, September 21, 2053." That's pretty old. - Death Clock

5. My blog will be more appealing if it's written in redneck dialect.

6. My picture is not yet in the ugly people list.

7. Mouse Potato is the online generation’s answer to the couch potato. - Office Slang

8. My question "Can you fart and burp at the same time?" is in crazy thoughts list and i still left unaswered.

9. 43% of all statistics are useless - Strange Reports

10. I used to believe (in grade school) that Philippines is the entire world but I know now that it isn't.

Why Mathew Hanger?

Every name has its own story.

Back in highschool, we were asked by our English teacher "If you were to change your name, what would it be?" Two names came into my mind, first is Kurt and the other one is Matthew. I can't remember why I like those names that time but when it was time for me to recite, I said "Kurt". Few months after, in the same class, we were asked to come up with a pen name. It should be something memorable or something that describes your personality. My teacher's penname is Gel Heart. Gel because he likes to put gel, and the Heart part, i forgot (maybe he was a hearthrob, or claims to be one). Then he said that we should stick to our pen names and use it until we grow old.

I went home thinking hard what would be my pen name. Aha! "Hanger!," I said to myself. I was so skinny in highschool and my sister used to tease me that my body looks like a hanger. There, that will be my first name, what about the last name? Hmmmm... something that I like. Oh I like Math. Not that I'm really really good at it but it's my favourite subject. In math I don't have to review or memorize anything. So how will I insert Math in my penname?...oh reverse it, 'htam'. Oh it's perfect! Hanger Tam! I have a pen name!!!

That's what I submitted to my teacher. But later on, I decided to use Mathew as the first name and Hanger as the last name. I removed the 't' in Matthew to make it a little more hmmmm.... obvious? suggestive? Hehehehe!

By the way, I have a nephew whose name is Matthew . He's so adorable.

No habla español

I look like an average filipino guy. Medium height and dark skinned. But my nose is neither 'sarat' nor 'pango.' So when I went to work here in California, some people instantly recognize my ethnicity. Take the following true-to-life scenes for example:

Scene I.
Location: Inside Metrolink Train, San Bernardino, California
What am I doing?: Going to L.A. for the weekend.
Talking to: An african-american guy.

A-A Guy: Are you by chance a filipino?
Me: How'd you know?
A-A Guy: I have filipino friends in the hood when I was growing. And you look like one bro.
Me: *smiles*

Ending: He taught me some afrikan words and showed me some of his afrikan musical instruments which he brought out from his sack...i think it was a bag with colors on it.

Scene II.
Location: A candy store somewhere in Kansas City, Missouri
What am I doing?: We attended a court technology conference and setup a booth to demo our product. We ran out of candies (give-aways) so I went out to buy some.
Talking to: An arab guy, the owner of the store.

Arab Guy: From what country are you?
Me: *confused* Philippines.
Arab Guy: I knew it.
Me: How'd you know?
Arab Guy: I work with a lot of 'philippines' back in saudi arabia.
Me: *smiles*

Ending: He gave me some extra candies for free.

Scene III.
Location: San Francisco, California
What am I doing?: Testing our DMV connectivity module so our product can be certified
Talking to: A Caucasian woman

Caucasian Woman: You're a filipino right?
Me: Yes. You know a lot of filipinos?
Caucasian Woman: Raul, the one who assisted you this morning is a filipino. And I worked with some filipino programmers before.
Me: Yes, Raul is a filipino. We even talked in tagalog.
Caucasian Woman: I know three tagalog words. Wanna hear it?
Me: Sure.
Caucasian Woman: I-sah. Dah-lah-wah. Tatlow.
Me: *smiles*
Caucasian Woman: Tah-tay mowng Kahl-bow.
Me: *laughs hysterically*

Ending: She recited some of the cursing words that her filipino friends taught her.

But when I grow my hair long (The F4 look), it was a different story...

Scene IV:
Location: Auntie Anne's in Hollywood, California
What am I doing?: Buying pretzels
Talking to: A Korean woman.

Korean Woman: #*^&#_@^^@#)@#*_
Me: I'm sorry I don't understand.
Korean Woman: So-ri. I thought you korean. Where you kam from?
Me: *bewildered. I'm too dark to be a korean. Did I put face powder on my face? No, I don't even use powder.* From Philippines
Korean Woman: Oh pilipins. We have pilipins neybors. They always gib le-chon. It's good.
Me: *smiles*

Ending: She mentioned other filipino foods that she is fond of.

Scene V:
Location: San Bernardino, California
What am I doing?: Hailing a cab
Talking to: A Filipino guy

Filipino Guy: Where are you heading sir?
Me: *wonders. he looks and speaks like a pinoy.* Pinoy po kayo?
Filipino Guy: Oo. Pinoy ka pala ka. Kala ko japanese or koreano ka.
Me: *smiles*

Ending: We talked about the usual stuff that filipinos talk about during gatherings like politics, how indemand nurses are, how hard to get a visa, etc....

But when I shaved my hair and grow some moustache, people mistaken me for a mexican. Native mexican and not the mestizo hispanic type. Native mexican are dark skinned too, a little short but they do have nice noses. So I get to experience scenes like these:

Scene VI:
Location: Walmart / Ross / Factory 2 U stores
What am I doing?: Shopping ofcourse.
Talking to: Cashiers

Cashier: Como es usted. es todo blah blah (something like that)
Me: I don't speak spanish
Cashier: Where you from?
Me: *smiles* Philippines
Cashier: Ohhh. Next time you say "No habla español"
Me: No habla español
Cashier: Very Good!

Scene VII:
Location: Bus and Train stations
What am I doing?: Travelling I guess.
Talking to: Commuters

Commuter: Blah blah blah
Me: No habla español! (wow! I'm good!)
Commuter: No? Blah blah blah blah
Me: *wiggles head* I don't understand, sorry.
Commuter: *Grins* Blah blah blah blah blah. Si?
Me: *whatever* *smiles* I don't understand.
Commuter: *Gets paper.. points here and there... do some dance movements...*
Me: Sorry, I don't know.
Commuter: Gracias!
Me: *smiles*

I am a full blooded pinoy... not Filipino-Chinese-Spanish... and definitely not Irish.

There's always a first time

Yipeeee! I just created my first ever public blog. I do have my own personal journal but it's too [insert word here] for everyone to read.

Why try blogging? I don't know. I guess I want to be a part of the exponentially growing blog community. Every day I spent my freetime bloghopping and some of the blogs really amaze me. I laugh and cry with them as if I know them personally.

I'm not a writer nor have the skills in writing. I used to ask my classmates to do my papers for me or at least proofread my work in exchange of sexual small favors like treating them out or tutoring them in our other subjects. *Thank God for janice!* But here I am, trying to do what I hate most.

But what the heck... As long as I can express myself and update my friends of what's going on with my boring life, that's enough I guess.