I'm a Baby!

Last December 21, 2005, my Powerbarkada celebrated our tenth Christmas get-together. May mga nagwo-work sa QC, merong manggagaling ng Makati. So sa Greenhills kami nag-dinner para gitna. (Spanish Buffet sa Una Mas, sa bagong Greenhills Carpark)

At ang gifts namin dapat may kinalaman sa ten. Ang tipid-tipirang ako ay nag-burn ng 10 songs na may significance sa aming friendship at may individualized bonus track pa na kahit anong special request nilang song. Limewire lang ang katapat niyan!

Galing kay Thea ang white t-shirt na may imprentang “Powerful.” Siya mismo ang nag-silkscreen, ha! Para naman sa’ming SO’s (aka Significant Other), namigay siya ng “Very Powerful” t-shirt na may nakaturo pang arrow sa gilid para kung magkasama raw kaming maglakad sa mall. (Hindi pa namin napag-uusapan ni Wally kung kelan namin ‘to susuutin nang sabay. Basta ako excited na’ng suutin ang shirt na’to kapag magkakaroon ng meeting na alam kong magiging madugo.)

Ang multi-tasking queen na si Cindy ay nag-prepare ng goodie bags with ten items inside. Each goodie bag is more or less unique. Mine includes a couple of Starbucks Christmas CD’s, a Parker pen, and a condom. The card even listed ten adjectives to describe me. Ang galeng talaga! To think humabol lang si Cindy sa dessert kasi she had so many things to finish at work. That day nga lang daw niya pinut together ang goodie bags na’yon.

Si Carlo, na nahirapan daw mag-isip ng “10-themed gifts” ay ‘di na nakarir ang idea niyang dinner consisting of the specialities from the Powerbarkada’s favorite eating places (from Italianni’s cheesecake to Mang Jimmy’s tapa mix). So nilibre na lang niya ang lahat ng kinain namin sa Bizu. Puwede na!

Si Celery naman nagpabukas ng red wine at nag-require na lahat kami mag-toast to our favorite Powerbarkada memory. Na-tense kaming lahat dito kasi sa dami ng pinagdaanan namin, ang hirap pumili lang ng isa. Val, ever the Quotable Queen, got the ball rolling with “To the ten years!” Sakupin ba ang lahat?!?

Napakaganda ng exercise na’to lalo na nu’ng nagsunud-sunod nang nagmoment ang bawat isa.

THEA: “To the brat days and all the brats!”
Lagi kasi naming pinag-aawayan kung sa’n kakain so ininstitute namin sometime in college ang “Brat Day” kung saan “The Brat For The Day” dictates where we eat.

The quintessential brat, CINDY said: “To Red Ribbon!”
Referring to a Christmas get-together wherein she refused to eat the Red Ribbon Chocolate Mousse I bought for the group dahil napikon siya sa mga hirit ko sa kanya. Siyempre ngayon hindi na namin maalala kung ano exactly pinag-awayan namin. Natatawa na lang kami (ako especially dahil naalala kong favorite ni Cindy ang chocolate mousse pero nagmatigas talaga siyang ‘wag kumain bwahahaha).

SHEILA: “To longer road trips!”
Which brought back out-of-town trips to Pangasinan, Calatagan, Zambales, Lucban, etc.

CARLO: “To Live AIDS at lahat ng palabas na pinanood natin!”
Live AIDS 13 pa nu’ng freshmen kami sa UP. Live AIDS 21 na, nanonood pa rin kami taun-taon. Bukod pa siyempre ang mga pelikula at plays na minahal at tsinugi namin.

Then I proposed a toast “Sa kahoy, marmol, scaffolding at anumang yari ng pedestal.”
This is an inside joke wherein one of Roy’s admirers complained to him that he takes her for granted while he puts us – his friends – on a pedestal. At sa isang gawa-gawa lang naming trivia questionnaire about our Powerbarkada, bonus question ang “Saan yari ang pedestal?”

Then CELERY ended the ceremony with: “To TT Jokes.”
During a long road trip, we were stuck in horrible traffic so para maaliw kami, nag-word game kami. Seeing that the car’s plate number infront of us begins with TTP, we made up what it stands for. Lumabas na ang mga sagot na “titing pink,” “titing pretty,” “titing pa-cute…” Basta kabastusan, makakalimutan mo’ng trapik.

From Bizu, we drove to UP because Sheila’s surprise demanded “a wide, open space.” So what better place to go to than where it all started?

Du’n kami sa lawn ng UP College of Music (kasi may harang ang Mass Comm Parking Lot). Pinag-form kami ni Sheila ng circle tapos pina-close ang eyes. May pinahawak siya sa’min then nag-speech na ang Aligora: “This is to celebrate a friendship that is as loud as it is soft, spectacular as it is silent, raging memories in the sky as it is a simple remembrance in one’s hand. Salamat sa sampung taon, Powerbarkada.”

Tapos nang pinadilat niya kami, may hawak kaming flowers tapos pagtingala namin, merong fireworks display! O, ‘di ba? Spectacular!