Wednesday, January 25, 2006

I started to get ready earlier than usual this morning thinking we should be able to turn in the preliminary drawings to the Greenfields office. But once my cell started up, everything went downhill from there. Receiving and sending text messages slowed me down quite a bit. I finally left Guagua at around 10:00 am. We gassed up at a service station on the Olongapo/Gapan road Sta Rita and Guagua intersection. When we're about done, I got a call from Jack saying she's already in San Fernando and would I mind picking something up from the house that she's forgotten. I said sure and so we did. We turned around and picked it up. I sent her a text message asking where we could meet so she can get her stuff. She said meet her at SSS and Pap-pap, my driver should know where it is. Pap-pap, by the way is Carding's nephew and Ate Pie's grand nephew. We were on our way to SM to pick up Kong Naring and Pap-pap said it's actually out of the way. The good thing about it is we can drop by Francis' body shop and check up on the Tamaraw FX. When we got there, the FX is ready which is a good thing because it has room for more people 'cause I made a lunch date with some Class '70 friends at Myrna and Vir's place in San Felipe. We switched vehicles and Jack agreed to meet us at the body shop. Off we went to SM in the Tamaraw, picked up Kong Naring and we headed to Greenfields. When we got there, Armin was already waiting. I realized I was rushing, I suppose from the excitement in realizing that we've actually started the ball rolling. Lily took a look at the drawings and it seems like all's well except for the carport which sticks out a bit on the side and may be questionable for approval. She said she'll ask and I should be able to find out within the next day or so. Once we have the approval, we can finalize the drawings, resubmit for final approval, go ahead with the ground breaking and submit the drawings to the city for approval. Lily gave us additional information on the construction and then Armin and Kong Naring and I went our separate ways.

I went to Angeles to pick up Glo and Nestor. When I got there Nestor and I went to pick up Glo from the parlor having her hair straightened out which is 'misbehaving' due to the high humidity. Then we proceeded to Jolibee to pick up Mike and Emelita and we're finally on our way to San Felipe. This was already about 12 noon and I haven't had breakfast yet since I was rushing in the morning. We tried to get directions (I have a different driver this time than when we were here in October) over the phone but when Myrna noticed I was having a hard time, she just said she'll have someone pick us up from some hardware store in Mexico. I can feel my stomach rumbling while we were waiting. I tried to ignore it by listening to everyone talk about old high school days and stuff. Our guide finally came and when we got to the house, all kinds of dishes was waiting for us: pancit, pork chops, tinola, tilapia. After lunch, everyone got updated on what's what and who's who. By the way, it's been raining off and on since last night. Check out the picture above of Myrna's yard with the mango trees. The upside is that it's not too hot - the downside, it's wet and muddy. There hasn't been any flooding yet. I understand there's a storm and it should be over by tomorrow. We left around 4:30 and we went to SM. I needed a car cell phone charger but Pap-pap said not to get one yet because Jack may have one since they cost around Php 700. Lily from Greenfields needed a copy of my driver's license so I went and got one. Nestor needed some documents copied as well and I got a box of bottled water. We dropped off Mike and Emelita in Dolores and we went to Angeles to drop off Glo and Nestor. Close to their house, Glo was saying they had lagat ampalaya and ginisang langguk kulubasa and kamangyang the night before and I told her that was my favorite. So she said she'll find out if they enough left over and if so we could have dinner there. I figured I can use a break from chop suey and boneless bangus so I said sure. After dinner, we talked for a little bit and agreed to meet tomorrow afternoon so they can introduce me to Nestor's cousin who was also a Balikbayan and and had a house built at Hacienda Royal.