Free WiFi at the Siaton Plaza...
My stay in Siaton (my hometown) was quite short but it was relaxing and it gave me an insight on my priorities in life.
My admiration for my brother is beyond compare. He is the most determined and most understanding person I know.
The moment I arrived home it was my brother who picked me up at the bus terminal. The last time I went home (2 years ago), it was not one of his skills. I felt proud but a bit guilty because at some point I told my mom not to let my brother drive because he was too young. When they bought his ride, Mom and Pop did not tell me.
That same night, I asked my brother to drive me around town because I wanted to visit some of my friends. But I forgot that in my hometown, everybody sleeps as early as 9 o'clock in the evening. So my brother and I just did an OBT (One Big Tuyok) around town and checked-out the new must-see drinking and hang out places.
The next day, Mom, Pop, and I had a little catch-up session before Uncle Melvie came asking us to have lunch at Lola Inday's place. As usual, my Pop stayed at home while Mom and I went to Lola Inday's place to have a little tete-a-tete with family and friends.
This kind of gatherings remind me of Sunday lunches and the games I play with my cousins. Most of the kids are no longer kids but we still bully them.
Among my cousins, I'm closest to Dovie because we were batch mates in elementary and we kinda grew up together. Even when we were in high school wherein we went to different schools in Dumaguete, we still wait for each other at the bus terminal so we can go home together. She wears her Silliman University High School uniform while I wear Saint Louis School - Don Bosco. The one-hour trip wasn't enough for our catch-up chika.
Dovie and ViVi in front of the old tambayan where endless chikka happened...
Dovie lives in Lola Inday's house which is a stone-throw away from my house. And seeing her again made me reminisce at how our childhood was. Dodong Rey was also at the gathering flirting with Ginoben, which I expected to see given that Ginoben was his first kiss. Eeeeeehhh! (Kilig!) I was also surprised that Ginoben was present. I thought he's in Guam.
To complete the family lunch, I had to take the blood pressure of every single person in the family. Even the kids asked me to get their BP! But I obliged myself to do it since these gatherings don't happen everyday. It got me drained, so I slept the whole afternoon. Pop did the same thing.
Johane on her wedding day... =)
Later that night, Gj dropped by at my place to get her accessories. She left it in Manila so I had to bring it with me. Even when I was younger, my parent were a bit overprotective. They abhor my night-outs! They don't get the point why young people do it. But this time, they did not react too much. My mom simply wanted to confirm that we're going home before 12 o'clock midnight. Nobody goes home like Cinderella. I'm not going to do something stupid that will destroy the family's reputation anyway.
Gj, Dovie, and I went to our friend, Johane's place to invite her for some drinks. BUT!!! She has a baby already and her baby was quite sick that night so she was not able to join us. We were left with no choice but to take care of the booze on our own. Good thing, Ruel was there and he invited Norberto and Julius to join us. Both are cute guys and so I just flirted with them the whole night! (KILIG!!!) Norberto drove me home and the most embarassing part was an image of myself puking near a burger stand in what was considered the Time Street of my hometown. I guess I just ruined the untarnished reputation of my family.
The culprit!!!
The next day, I received a sermon from my mom. She was quite effective when she told me the story about Uncle Timmy and how he is at the moment. According to my mom, when Uncle Timmy was younger and richer he had so many friends. He partied a lot and he had boys - a lot of them! But now that he is old and poor, nobody notices Uncle Timmy. My mom described Uncle Timmy as thin and "gusgusin". She pities him so much and my Mom doesnt want that to happen to me. What a very nice story. It touched me.
But of course, I had to clarify with my mom that I don't spend money on my boys! They spend it on me. But it still got me thinking of how I should lead my life. It made me realize that maybe I should take care more of my body and of course my family. As the Spanish proverb goes, an ounce of blood is worth more than a pound of friendship. I just thought that my Mom is tired of competing with my friends.
Actually, she doesn't need to. I just need to reassure her that I value my family as much as my friends. And it made me feel so guilty and so to make up for it, I must do something to prove that they really are important to me.
ViVi with Joanne and Baby David and Gj...
Such a candid moment... Please picture out the chaos... 
