BECAUSE I am always ready for a new day, I have been ready for 2019 for a long time now.
I’ll be 50 in 2019.
On January 6th, to be exact.
But as early as July 1, 2018, I have set my eyes on turning gold.
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My most expensive gift to my 50-year old self is Casa Dom Pedro, a seven-unit apartment in my hometown of Dumangas.
It’s a multi-million peso investment.
A retirement plan.
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I figured, if I put my money on a building I can rent out, or a mini-hotel I can manage when I’m in my 50s, I can have a comfortable life in Iloilo.
It might even be an easy life just collecting rent.
But I also like the idea of managing a bed and breakfast.
Whatever.
I guess I can decide when the building construction is finally finished.
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Construction started in August, and my contractors gave me a six to eight months time frame.
Until I left Iloilo (for the US) in November, everything was smooth sailing.
Construction schedule was pretty much on target.
The typical Filipino August and September monsoon rains did not even bother us.
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My contractors, of course, are the brilliant Ilonggo Architects Lauro Deypalubos and Boniface Umadhay.
Lauro is a childhood acquaintance.
(I would like to say ‘friend’, but we were never really that close when we were kids.)
Boniface is Lauro’s college classmate in Architecture.
Both had stints working in the Middle East.
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Lauro and Boniface made it easy for me to decide on the building.
If they priced it too high, I would have had second thoughts.
As it was, they promised to make a great building for the cost that was affordable to me.
Actually, I was gunning for a cheaper building.
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My thinking was, Well, it’s going to be rented out to a population that probably couldn’t afford a P7,000 monthly rental.
But the good architects said they wouldn’t undertake the project if it’s going to be a cheap building.
I guess I was thrilled that they were going to make my Casa Dom Pedro some sort of their calling card.
I’m so excited to see what the finished building would look like!
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The last time I talked to Lauro, he said they were looking at a February completion.
And that, in most likelihood, everything will be ready by March.
I have great faith in those time estimates.
There is nothing that I value more than promptness and elegance.
So, yeah, the building completion will miss my 50th birthday by a few months, but it would still be on my 50th year.
So, I am okay with that.
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I originally wanted a weeklong 50th birthday debauchery with six boys and a girl on an island, or in a hidden resort somewhere.
I figured it was to be in the Philippines where everything is a little cheaper.
But then, because I stayed in the Philippines for 90 days from August to November, I really couldn’t afford to be away from the US for a while now.
Still, I wanted to do something special for my 50th.
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First, I thought of Los Angeles because I have tons of family and friends in California.
But I just spent three weeks of November in L.A.!
Then, I thought of Las Vegas, because it would be warmer than Baltimore in January.
But I don’t really want to be alone in Las Vegas on my 50th birthday.
It’s not like I haven’t been to Las Vegas so many times.
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I have considered just a birthday weekend in New York.
As a theatre and museum enthusiast, what would be better than spending the weekend visiting the art museums of New York, and attending a Broadway show or two?
Ah, but I remembered the crazy New Year’s Eve I spent in New York waiting for the traditional Times Square Ball Drop three years ago.
I don’t think a birthday celebration, not even my 50th, will beat that cold wintry experience.
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I have an open invitation to Anchorage, Alaska from one of my godchildren.
Of course, my godson is thinking of a summer visit.
But I’m thinking of a memorable 50th birthday celebration.
And what’s more unforgettable than Alaska in wintry January?
I’ve never been to Alaska, so why not see it when it is also snowing?
But I can’t believe the price of plane tickets to Alaska around my birthday!
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Then, somebody said, Puerto Rico.
And I thought, I’ve always wanted to go to Puerto Rico even as a child.
The costs of plane tickets were also high around my birthday weekend.
But when I moved around my flight dates, I found out I could fly cheapest if I depart on December 31, and return on January 10.
Now, ten days in Puerto Rico?
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Puerto Rico is just a small island.
If I could find a cheap place to stay, it’s a go.
And I found one!
Ten days! Now, with that, I can take my time “living and imbibing” the island culture.
I like that.
I mean, I liked the rush of my grand European tour last year—17 countries in 30 days, but it was a little exhausting.
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So, Puerto Rico it is for my 50th birthday.
I’m traveling solo.
And so again, I’m opening myself to possibilities.
No big plans for this trip.
Debauchery, if, and when, it happens.
But I won’t plan it.
I won’t force it.
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And that for me, is being ready for the new year 2019—
Just opening myself to the reality that I will be turning 50.
And opening myself to possibilities at age 50.
Because 50 is the new sexy!/PN
