Level on the inside

I had my first (and probably last) taste of socialite partying last Friday, 24 June when Preview (magazine) celebrated its tenth year anniversary with a big MODI (modern indigenous) party in Embassy The Fort. My sister works for Summit Media as associate publisher of Cosmopolitan and Preview and she organized the event, which explains how we got into the guest list.

It felt really weird at first. Cameras were flashing left and right and celebrities and models can be seen being interviewed from one corner to the next. For half of the time I just tried to hide how my 3-inch heels were killing me while checking-out the many famous faces I see upclose and pretending not to mind them at all.

But it turned out to be a really great experience, not just for the excellent food and overflowing booze, cool music (percussionists were flown in from Cebu), a lot of dancing but more importantly, the sight and experience of my sister’s hardwork. Everything went perfectly that even her boss Liza Gokongwei was telling people that it was HER party.

You're the man

Everyday for the past week or so, my mom would ask how things are in Malacañang (this is where I work by the way) and if I have new i.e. insider news. Last weekend at the height of Sammy Ong’s 5 minutes of glory, she said she felt nervous. One night before sleeping I checked the news on TV. I was sleeping in her room at that time for the AC and I know she slept hours before. All of a sudden, she was up and asking me all kinds of questions.

Yesterday I was surprised to get a text from my father. He hasn’t texted in a long while and it’s not that I mind. His text went like this “How can I e-mail GMA? I want to share with her some words of encouragement”. I texted her PGMA’s two addresses and thought that will be the last of it. His next text was “Thanks babe. Can I cc you?”

Just about all my e-groups are swamped with stories about “the tape”. It’s everywhere – in the media, in mp3s, in conversations with cab drivers, in Quiapo, except where it should be in the first place. My classmate in Spanish, Señora Ambajadora, even asked me to relay to my boss what she thinks she should do.

Personally, I don’t think it will lead to anything. Primarily because the only real opposition left is Chiz Escudero and he’s not even ripe yet. I believe that the prime mover of the president’s ouster is no less than the opposition and with Edong, Pimental and Lacson at the helm, I can’t see a full-proof opposition gameplan at the offing. If I were Sammy Ong, I wouldn’t get Rez Cortez as escort, at least for the sake of credibility.

More than this I believe the people are too tired of a regime change, especially if it involves the name Kabayan as alternative. Even the media was surprised that despite the big number of slumdwellers behind the San Carlos seminary, nobody organized whatever form of picket along EDSA. Some people would say that although they despise the president, they see no one worthy of replacing her.

I don’t think we can afford another political disruption. It is just too costly. One of the reasons cited in a Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) study why poverty continues to plague this country is the lack of continuity of programs. We have enough credit downgrades and I don’t think we need one more. Regime change in whatever form, legal or extra-constitutional, will not be viable. We don’t even have any evidence admissible in court.

Whatever this is (politicking, mudslinging, conspiracy, circus) I hope it ends soon.

Backtrack

I think one measure of love that should be seriously looked into is the level of silliness two persons can do together. I think “intimacy and complete trust and understanding” is overrated. If your partner can do just about everything he dreams of and fantasizes about with you then he’ll probably think twice of straying.

Recently, my dates with Jerv are on the, you can say, silly side. Perhaps we’ve been catching up on stuff younger kids do when they’re in a relationship and we figured it’s not too late to feel teeny-bop and inane at times. It’s not something that we planned though. We just felt like doing those things at that time and later on realized that hey, this is so juvenile!

So what have we been up to lately. Around two Fridays ago, we went out for after dinner drinks with Jerv’s officemates at Eastwood. After bottles of cold beer, Jerv and I thought of going to Basement before going home. Basement is actually a club where my boyfriend used to go to score on willing chics (although he wouldn’t admit it). It’s a dark cramped place with loud house/techno music and young half-naked people and where finding a space in the dance floor can be quite a feat. And what do you know? I had a lot of fun! We just danced like there was nobody around us. It was quite liberating if you ask me. It’s just that when we look around, we felt like we’re the oldest people. That’s probably the reason why we danced like crazy and absolutely ignored everyone else. Our dancing had to make up for our office get-up.

The next Saturday we planned on watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Jerv suggested that we watch at Shang because I’ve been wanting to try Wham burger. I can’t remember now why we wanted to catch the 1pm screening so last Saturday he picked me up at around 11 in the morning. After finishing 1/3 pound burger each and sharing over one order of French fries, we had sundae cone (also at Wham) while walking towards the cinema. It was during this time that I realized that this was like a date taken-out of Archie comics - eating burgers and ice cream and watching a movie at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. It was like going out on a date in high school.

It was fun doing something different. We somehow got used to having dinners in nice restaurants and going out with my cousins or friends. We were preoccupied as well with a lot of work and other responsibilities which make these dates truly a breath of fresh air. It’s refreshing to know how much we enjoy doing things like dancing and eating ice cream even if it’s just the two of us.