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Little known fact about me: I’m the first blogger in the Philippines. Well, to the people who have been visiting this site since God-knows-when, I suppose it isn’t such a little known fact. Not all of my friends know that, though. Anyway, my blog got featured in the Manila Bulletin today and needless to say, that will probably be the last interview about my blog that I will grant.

When I first heard that someone wants to do an article on me, instead of the other way around as it normally is, my first reaction was, “OMG yay!” I mean, come on. It’s an article about me. I like talking about me. Then I learned what the article would be about, and my ego was deflated a little. It’s anti-climactic to hear that the article will be about your blog and not some other achievement that you’ve accomplished. Not that I have made any noteworthy achievements in my life. But really, my being the first blogger isn’t something I count as an achievement, or something I can really brag about. It’s about as cool as being caught in one of those gag reality shows. Not everyone can get into those, but it’d be kind of pathetic if you considered that a major milestone in your life. Same thing with my being the first blogger. It’s not the same as saying, “Look at me, I won a Palanca! I kick your writer’s ass.”

I’m not sure how effective the analogy is, but I hope you get what I mean. Being the first at doing something doesn’t necessarily require skill or talent. In my case, I just happened to be there at the right time and place: the Internet was just new and I had access to it. So there. I made a blog. The first entry I wrote was so hideous, I feel the urge to hurl my body against a wall repeatedly every time I think about it. And everybody thought it was cute. Pfft. (Oh wow. I really do hate kids. I even hate me when I was ten years old.)

Don’t get me wrong; I am glad I got the chance to be interviewed again. In the first place, it was a good chance for me to pimp KATIPUNAN to the public. Most importantly, however, it sets the record straight about an ex-boyfriend of mine. It’s no news flash that many women out there take advantage of men or ex-boyfriends who think that the way to win a girl’s heart is to keep buying her stuff. But I’m not that kind of girl (well, not anymore). Girls who are like that are no better off than whores. Think about it. You’re sticking around some guy you don’t even like because he wants to get you free shit. Mahiya ka naman sa sarili mo. Every time I remember that, I feel like throwing up; it’s such a fucking disgusting thing to do. I feel so horrible about it that sometimes I even feel guilty when Pat gets me stuff. But yeah, that’s all water under the bridge. I hate having to bring that up and telling the whole world about what I did, but you gotta do what you gotta do. At the very least, I can forgive myself for my honesty.

My only complaint about the article itself is this. I just gave my website a makeover yesterday. Why couldn’t they have taken a screen shot of that? I thought the news was supposed to be current. ;p

Technorati Tags: blogger in the Philippines, KATIPUNAN

Pat and I are the kind of people who get a huge kick out of eating at hole-in-the-wall carinderias and hanging out at Starbucks without purchasing a single coffee bean. To celebrate our two-year anniversary, we decided to take a break from our simple lifestyle and go all-out on a buffet dinner at the Paseo Uno restaurant in the Mandarin Hotel.

Despite the fact that we were eating at a fancy-schmancy place, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to act like bored, snobby socialites. Then again, just because poeple are in someplace new, that doesn’t mean they can’t act as themselves. So although we were more or less messing around with each other like we normally do, we had to restrain ourselves from cracking jokes at the expense of the foreigners eating at the restaurant. They probably have all the money in the world to sue our asses if we offend them.

The food was just as fantastic as we remembered it. However, the second highlight of the evening (the first is being with Pat, of course) was not the food (orgasmic as it was), but seeing a mama-san in action at the lobby of the hotel. For those who don’t know, a mama-san is a female pimp. I think. Anyway, the mama-san we saw was this plump, middle-aged woman dressed really casually. We figured that she was one because every time we went out to go to the bathroom, she’d be talking to different girls who looked like they were prostitutes. Once, we rode with the mama-san and two prostitutes in the elevator, and we overheard the mama-san interviewing the girls, asking for their names and so on. We couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation because the restroom was on the second floor and they were going to the 17th–which is where the hotel rooms are.

In spite of the fact that I despise whores and women who sleep around, they really, really fascinate me. Prostitutes, especially. I was half-tempted to strike up a conversation with the mama-san, but I’m not the kind of person who can chat up random strangers. So I didn’t. I really want to learn the workings of the sex trade industry in the Philippines though, just out of sheer curiousity. Perhaps I’ll do a qualitative study on that someday.

We planned on eating at the buffet until it closed at 11 but by 9 we were so full, we didn’t even have any room left for coffee. Paseo Uno was starting to empty out; the diners were leaving, and even mama-san was nowhere to be found. Full from hotel food and defeated by the buffet, we decided it was time to head home. So the night was definitely over, but I think Pat and I still have a long way to go.

Technorati Tags: Mandarin Hotel, restaurant