Registration started at 7:30 am and a lot of attendees came at 7 am. Me? I couldn’t leave the house yet because I was preparing for the dinner for lawyers. I was wrapping gifts. I was also double checking if the living room, dining area and powder room were doubly clean but to my dismay, gitna lang ang malinis. We have one maid that shows-up in the morning while I am going down the stairs. She wipes something in slow-motion. Obviously she’s not cleaning but the intention is to make it appear that she’s cleaning, in front of me. I told her she doesn’t have to clean in front of me. I would know if they are doing their jobs even if I don’t see them do it. The real test is when I run my fingers thru, nakaw kung puno ng alikabok, gets na gets ko na nagte text lang sila maghapon.
Instead of me going to the market to buy fresh flowers, I gave Antonia money and a list. Three dozens of white roses and three dozens of white Malaysian mums, double petals. I spent some 10 minutes describing to her the flowers, how to check the freshness, the price range, how much she should just pay for each dozen, how to bargain, etc. Ang higpit-higpit ng bilin ko na yung roses dapat buds pa lang. Sarado pa, hindi naka buka.
She said yes many times.
By 12 noon, she was not home yet. It’s been three hours. I called her cellphone and she said they were on their way home. When I rephrased my sentence she said she was still there at the flower market.
I already knew I made the mistake of asking her to buy flowers because when I asked her how much she paid for them, she paid double for the Malaysian mums. I already knew that the roses were no longer fresh when she told me she paid P180 / dozen. The newly delivered ones that are bigger in size are usually 250 a dozen.
When I saw the flowers, I got so mad. Some of the petals were already falling off. She was arguing with me that the roses were newly delivered.
Antonia—“Mam, pris yan, kakadiliber lang”.
A———“Pa’no mo naman nalaman? Nadun kaba nung dumating yung delivery truck?”
Antonia—-“Naka-box pa yan mam”.
A———-“Naka-box? Hindi ibig sabihin kanina lang dumating yung box”.
Antonia—-“Nakita ko mam yung mga kahon sa loob ng kwarto nila”.
I didn’t want to look at her sa inis ko. I went up to my room and got ready for the forum. It was almost 12:30 pm.
I was too lazy to go out of our bedroom. It was humid and I just felt drained. I thought of not going to the forum anymore but nakakahiya dahil I registered and confirmed my attendance.
It helped that the venue was at the Edsa Shangrila, malapit lang sa akin. If it was in Makati, bigger chance that I would not go anymore.
I arrived in Edsa Shangrila Hotel at 2:15 pm. I got my ID. Perfect timing because the working sessions were on coffee break. The bad thing about coming in late was the premium seats were already occupied. When I walked in, a top officer of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry spotted me right away and brought me to my seat near the stage.
Where is everyone?
I joined old friends and new acquaintances at the table.
My friends forever, Anton Sayo, Bobby Amores, and Dick Penson.
Dick demonstrated to me in front of eight hundred businessmen how he massages his face to prevent wrinkles. Ganun daw ang gawin ko. He also updated me about his love life. He’s been single daw for 6 months.
A—“Naku Dick, kaya ka nga walang wrinkles dahil wala kang asawa”.
he also taught me the best way to hold a camera so it doesn’t fall while doing selfie.
Dick—-“Maliit ang kamay mo, dapat maliit lang ang camera”.
We rarely see each other now unlike before when we were always traveling together with FVR on presidential state visits. Grupo kami, masaya.
To be continued
