Feels like

IT IS THURSDAY in mid-July as I write this. 11:11 am.

It is cloudy again.

I woke up at the penthouse of our ancestral home this morning.

I was a little disoriented because I was sleeping on a different bed (two beds at the penthouse), and I have been sleeping at my Casa Dom Pedro for about a week now.

When I woke up, the terrazzo was pretty wet.

There must have been a soft drizzle because I didn’t feel any rain last night.

***

Of course, I went to bed a little drunk last night.

I went to a wake of a favorite “auntie”.

But it was also the birthday of her son.

I was asked to join the birthday party, but I ended up in the kitchen with the volunteer cooks, who were all happy to have me drinking dark rum with them.

Stories, gossips, laugher, jokes, and schemes to set me up with suitable young men.

Ah, the rural folks love these talks!

***

I had six or seven shots of rum, straight, no chasers. 

Of course, the men were trying to arrange my ride home.

Like a motorcycle ride with the handsomest, and most available, of them.

Tempting offer.

But I’d rather ride my Japanese bike.

And so, I bike my way home.

All five kilometers of it.

***

Arriving at our ancestral house, I could still feel the alcoholic buzz.

So I went to a nearby convenient store, and ordered ice cream on a cone.

Ate it walking down the street.

Climbed up my penthouse.

Took a shower, brushed my teeth, and slept naked.

I didn’t get up until 4:30 to pee.

Went back to sleep, and didn’t get up again until 7:30 for coffee.

***

Wet ground at 7:30, gloomy sky.

I was feeling hungry so I drove up to a neighborhood carinderia for some fish soup.

Tinolang bangus with radish and string beans.

They already had my favorite ampalaya dish (sautéed with tomatoes and eggs), so I ordered it with rice.

Breakfast!

***

Then, off to the coffee shop.

I’m a barako coffee guy; but today, I ordered arabica coffee to jazz things up.

I already decided that it was a lazy, gloomy day.

Another regular patron of the coffee shop came in to share my table.

He ordered two servings of robusta coffee.

I ended up finishing two cups of it since he had an emergency, and had to leave sooner.

***

I went back to my penthouse, and decided to open a few balikbayan boxes. 

These are the balikbayan boxes I have sent from the US 12-18 months ago.

I have not opened them yet because I really don’t know how to deal with them.

This is my life in the US, as I call it.

But for now, I can only deal with those boxes containing the consumables.

***

I opened one box. 

It had boxes of raisins.

How did I miss them?

I am washed over, flooded with memories of my mornings with oatmeal and raisins.

Or munching raisins while watching Netflix.

Those raisin days! Haha.

***

The sky is still gray.

But it feels hot. 

There’s breeze on our second floor verandah.

I am half naked writing this.

Thinking of Australia and New Zealand next month.

Do I want to write columns while on travel?

What materials can I reuse to keep my column, and still enjoy my trip in the Down Under?

***

It is easier to just take a break, and announce that the columnist is on vacation.

But do I really want that?

Right now, I look at my fingers.

I have trimmed my nails the other day.

I think I’ve trimmed them too short to be fancy.

***

I look at my toenails.

I don’t want a pedicure.

But I want a foot spa.

I want my foot brushed and scrubbed.

The sky is darker now. 

Some wind, and rain begins to fall.

If the nearby salon will take me, if there isn’t a line, maybe it’s time for a foot spa./PN