Nhemskie's Haven

Inspired from Belle Saerae Kim-Moon segment at IOB. 1985 : Ate Nikki Daedrian Darwin and I had a Hello Kitty cake on our birthday party. That was the first birthday party that I could remember since Nanay was not really into parties. My Kuya Allen Alejandro was a photo bummer:) 1992 : Nanay generously sent me a-3.00 peso birthday allowance which I bought two rolls of bread spreaded with mayonnaise and Cheezwhiz at “ibaba.” The bread was so delicious that it was so impossible for me to resist eating them during Mommy Sylvia Cruz classes. I ended up eating them under my wooden desk during my class and left me with no snack at recess time. 1996 : It was intramurals at STC and I wore the coolest “HARD CLASS” shirt of my section, IV-St. Margarette ( Lizette Jasa , Raquel Gahol-Gregorio , Bernadette Dolor Anonuevo , Allan Abcede Alba , Moffet Alamag Sambo and so on). I woke up early, dressed up nicely (shirt tucked in my jeans) and left my Kaka’s home to wait for a ride to school...

A ring on the phone woke me up in the middle of my late sleeping. It was a call from the Philippines asking how we have been doing lately. It's a lazy Sunday morning in Bangkok- Cloudy skies, drizzling all morning, Tommy still on the bed and Chloe playing with her "Lucy" doll in the living room. The conversation was swift and brief. I thought of actually sleeping right after the call when suddenly thick raidrops fell outside. Below our condominium lies a university ground that is clearly visible from our condominium terrace. I felt as snug as a bug. It was like feeling home again, for the first time in years. I kept my eyes open, looking at the falling rain and seeing my little princess pretending to be a mom to her Lucy. It will be a great day, I believe.

When my sister-in-law and her family came from Thailand last month, they brought me the best gift that I could ask for --- MANGOES ! Before coming, she (my sis-in-law) asked me what gift would I like to have but of course as a humble wife of her brotherㅋㅋㅋㅋ, I said she didn't really need to bring anything. I just threw a joke that she might want to give me something that reminds me of my country (coz' Thailand is a bit similar with the Philippines because of its weather) but to my surprise she brought fresh mangoes for me and Chloe. I couldn't thank her enough for bringing them so I cut and served them like the ones in the pictures with my in-laws. They were so interested on how did I cut the mangoes into halves, complementing too that it was like eating mangoes in a tropical resort abroad. Tommy was also thrilled by the sweet taste of the fruit. For him, it reminded him of our second honeymoon trip in Bangkok last 2007. For me, their tastes brought me back to the days...

I remember my days when I was in college listening to Joe 'd Mango's Lovenotes. It was such a nice radio program which I'd almost always cried because it had mostly sad stories --- betrayal, love triangle, one-sided love, death and such and such... and really I always felt terribly bad for the letter sender. And I thought for some time that constant listening to sad lovesongs and watching soap operas may lead to serious melancholy and suicides.... Oh dear~ please spare me . Here is one of my favorites... ---------------------------------- Tragedy of Love by Joe D’Mango They say that only time can heal the wounds of a broken heart. That time makes it easier to accept the loss of the people we love. It is a chain that all of us go through, falling in love, getting hurt, getting hurt and vowing not to love again, promising not to love again and becoming miserable all our lives. It‘s not easy getting up on our feet after a crippling fall but there is no other way but to sta...