Na lo lonely ako

I want to throw a party at home because I am feeling lonely. I’ve been isolated for two weeks and I need real human interaction. I am tired of watching CNN. It throws me into panic thinking of deaths and murders. Local news offer little good news for the population with government mismanagement, politics, riding in tandem, gun for hires, more deaths and murder. My nights are made exciting only by Pangako Sa’yo the love story of Amor Powers and Governor Eduardo Buenavista.

Who wants to come over for dinner? Bring alcohol, bactidol, betadine, and face mask. Take 3,000 mg vitamin C for protection.

Today I am still coughing intermittently from throat itchiness.
Edmund advised me to go out, and go about my usual routine.

He came home around lunch time and was surprised to see me in casual clothes. “San ka pupunta?” “Matulog ka”.
Tingnan mo itong si Mister Sweetheart, he told me to go out kasi daw pag nadito ako sa bahay, papakiramdaman ko lang ang katawan ko. Lumabas daw ako, ngayon naman na lalabas ako, matulog daw ako, wag daw akong lumabas. Parang ulyanin.

A——–“Tart, do you want kare-kare?”
E——–“Sige”.

I bought the kare-kare for my daughter but she and her friend Genevieve left at 6 am this morning to visit their childhood friends who are based in Singapore. Inulam na lang namin yung kare-kare.

Yen and Genevieve, lost in Singapore

After lunch, I showed my husband what I wanted to do with our Silik dining set. I am hoping to extend the number of seats from the current 6 to 10. I am thinking of putting a bigger glass top to accommodate the additional 4 people. Edmund said that won’t work because the overhang would be too long (1 meter on each side).

He suggested to slice the table right on center and add a span. My table is orig and I don’t want to touch it. Although it’s full of scratches and cracks from the shipment, I didn’t want to send it to a furniture shop. I didn’t even want it touched for fear that they would even make the condition worse.

It’s easier to buy a new one but where would I keep this orig set?
I have no storage place to keep it safe. I don’t want it to leave my house.

It only has 6 chairs. I’ve shown the chairs to other furniture manufacturers here in Manila/ Pampanga and they said they wouldn’t be able to copy it, eksakto. Hawig lang daw pero hindi parehong-pareho.
Plus one more problem, I refuse to lend one chair. Kasi it happended before. I had an accent chair which I sent to a repair shop, ilang buwan na hindi ibinalik, palagay ko ibinenta.

Or maybe I’ll have this old dining chair repaired na lang and order 5 more. I used to have 6 pero my dear husband threw away one, sira na daw kasi.

This is the matching table pedestal. Maybe I’ll repaint this na lang and put a bigger glass on top. Parang hindi na uso.

I left after Edmund left. Na lo-lonely na ako sa bahay, a new term that came to mind when I sent Edmund a text message that I would be going out. I needed to go out even for a while although I was still slow and feeling a little weak. I covered my mouth with tissue paper.

There was a minor vehicle collision at the U-turn section under the Santolan flyover, one brand new SUV with Ford EDSA plate and the other one is a Toyota, also new. Nagkasiksikan yan.

I found a furniture shop in Greenhills that does repair and re-upholstery. They showed me some fabric swatches. I am partial to light colored ones although they are easyto get dirty. They offered to come here to look at my old pieces. If I order a brand new set for 12 people, locally made in Pampanga, P140,000 daw. After I wrote down my address, the gay guy said “Mam ang sosyal mo pala, yung for 12 ay P160,000”. Biglang tumaas ang presyo in 2 minutes. I should have given my address in Binangonan, baka bigyan pa ako ng discount.

An art dealer died of cancer a few years ago. Her store manager had moved to another furniture store nearby but she was able to keep a few pieces which she salvaged from a sick artist. She’s been keeping this for me. Must have been a year. She didn’t want to show it to anyone. She has brought it to my house to show to me but she didn’t want to leave it with my maids. I have actually totally forgotten about it and felt no interest in going to Greenhills just for that. Today natyempo. Bigla na lang nila ako itinext. Since I was already in the area, as a courtesy, I took a look at the painting. I got it na rin. The subject is harvest, dami ko na same subject. The artist passed away sometime ago. The value of his paintings dropped by 50% because when he got sick of cancer, he flooded the market with all of his inventory to raise money for his treatments. Kawawa naman. Instead of a gallery price of P25,000, I got the painting for P7,000 bargain price which is just to cover for the new gilded frames. Halos libre na daw yung painting.

While the driver was loading the painting at the back of the van, I excused myself and told him to make one round, around the commercial area. I am already here, I might as well go shopping.

I bought a blue British India short sleeved cotton blouse.
(Left to right) Ericka Carino, Manelin Verona, Catherine Coles, Jecebel Andales Baluyo, and Janice B. Manuel.

I’ll wear this soon.

I also bought siomai and fish ball for my son.

Naka labas na ako ng hawla, although I was kind of feeling tired and coughing still. I covered my mouth and nose the whole time.

I am not going out tomorrow. Daughter is away, my son would go out too I am sure, husband will be indulging in his favorite activity, I would be alone here again, in isolation. Ma lo lonely na naman ako.