Today, I spent the day with my love.
Walking through the streets of Chinatown, we looked for Chinese food in places to which we have never been. We tried to find restaurants, from a list that I made the night before, only to discover sadly that some were no longer open for business. The trip started off at Benavidez, thru Salazar, then Ongpin and Quintin Paredes, then thru Gandara and back to Ongpin again and ended at where it intersects Raon. At Kim Hiong, we ordered soup no. 5, cooked in sibut herbs. For him, it tasted a bit like the sibut he remembers, that his Mom cooks, than the duck in sibut we ate at a restaurant along Gandara. He really wanted me to taste authentic sibut. Maybe in our next quest, I will. Chili garlic oil brought out the taste of Yang-zhou Chao Fan rice. We had fun eating toast tendon noodles afterwards mainly because we didn't really know how to eat them(at least in the way they were meant to be eaten by the restaurants usual patrons). The tendons were succulent. The house tea, even though, not as strong as it should be and soup from the noodle dish, made me forget that it was raining outside (but not like it was on Tuesday of this week.)
Last Tuesday seemed like all hell broke loose. Winds and rain poured all over the Metro. Just getting to the office was harrowing and life-threatening for me. It was not my usual walk to EDSA from the sidestreet entrance to Araneta. That morning, I clung to the wires of a gate as the Signal No. 2 wind tried to carry me. I struggled to hold on to my umbrella as it was being blown off by the wind. At the office, Management allowed all of us to go home before ten a.m. I was in a hurry to get home that I forgot my wallets in my office drawer, resulting in further delay to my going home. My love agreed to meet me to give me money but he had to go through the winds and rain himself just to be able to help me. After some minor battle with the winds and rain, we finally met. It was supposed to feel like some scene from a romantic movie except that I kept on fussing about the fact that he got himself wet and cold because of me and he had not recovered from a lingering cough at that. At Trinoma, we got ourselves some snacks. Talked about the weather, our relationship, about some heavy stuff and the things that prevent us from making any sort of commitment. He saw me to my bus ride to Cubao after threats that he would make me pay for the hundred bucks he gave me for my taxi fare if I didn't get a taxi in Cubao. We didn't get to communicate the rest of the day except thru SMS. The typhoon shut down power in the part of Quezon City where he lives and it made my internet service provider play a voice recording announcing all day long to all subscriber callers that it was doing technical enhancements.
My love surprised me with a visit on Thursday morning and maki with black vinegar from Mañosa. I was so happy to see him and told him so but he said it was really no trouble at all. The office was near his way to MRT Ayala so he thought he might as well drop by and give me the maki he had meant to bring home and eat later. That night, I taught him to make little hearts on his keyboard. After some trial and error, I saw a line of little hearts appearing on the chat window.
On the way home after our Chinatown food trip, I looked for that little pizza stand for some P10 street pizza but the stand was not there. I hope to find it next time. We decided to go to a quiet place where we can discuss Romans. I've been reading the Epistles upon his suggestion. He says Romans was like a nutshell of all the important doctrines we would be discussing. I read Chapter 1 aloud as he requested and we discussed religion in between sips of brewed coffee, that he found too concentrated for his liking, yogurt cake and the place's Signature Hot Choco. He kept on standing to refill a little cup with milk that he would then add to his coffee. How he loves milk even though a lot of it affects his stomach afterwards.
After faith talks, he went home to his weekend favorite, Avengers, while I bought some roast beef pizza and baked macaroni so I can load carbo for my 10k run the next day. When I checked the Run's website, I read the announcement that the Run was cancelled due to bad weather and moved to Oct 9 2011. I sent SMS's to inform those who will be joining the Run with me. It was welcome news since my love was more worried for me running unprepared than I had been for myself.
Conversation flows between my love and me like water flowing on a mountain stream. It meanders and creates its own direction but it always refreshes our relationship. More and more, he reveals himself to me a day at a time. When he discloses himself, I feel like someone in a long journey who has discovered something of great value and though it does not make me materially wealthy, I feel rich nevertheless and I start feeling that the journey has been well worth it.
I am so forgetful and I should be punished for not remembering but what can I do? My memory does not want to cooperate with my desire to remember and so I write things down.
(Oct. 1 2011)
