New Year 2004

Happy new year! it's the first day of the year 2004. i found myself driving to san pablo, laguna with george very early today. the roads were empty. i could count the cars that were cruising along the south luzon expressway with my ten fingers.

as george and i were talking about the hassles brought about by having a busted tire, i felt the steering wheel got kind heavy and leaning to the left, as we approach the end of the SLEX. we decided to check the tire and - chances of all chances - we got a busted tire. george said the the tire wasn't repairable anymore. i was lucky i brought extra cash. we replaced the tire with the spare and continued with our travel, bearing in mind that we need to purchase new set of tires for the front wheels.

we decided to turn off the aircon and open the windows as we approach the road leading to san pablo. the cold, new year's air wash gushing on my forehead as we drive fast on the countryside. from time to time we stopped to ask for directions. we passed by towns from laguna, batangas and then back to laguna. finally, we saw an arch with the words "san pablo". what a great sigh of relief and mixed emotions as we saw this arch. we're not lost after all. it only took as more than an hour to reach the capital. after a few minutes and several stops to ask for directions, we finally saw the "kapitolyo". the kapitolyo is a big whilte building located at the heart of san pablo. there was no work today that's why it was so quiet and deserted.

as we drive down heading for barangay malinaw uno (voltaire's place), the scenery literally took our breath away. the lake was so serene and calm - welcome to sampaloc lake!. friendly people are doing their daily morning routine with smile on their faces. some cleaning the frontyard, others having a chat with their neighbors and some, just simply sitting the morning away, enjoying the cool breeze that lake provides. a big contrast to the people of manila who are always rushing and looking pressured. we chanced upon a man sitting on a makeshift wooden chair beside the lake. when we asked him if he knew anybody by the name of voltaire, he pointed to the house next to him.

i honked my car as george and i shouted voltaire's name. the man was so surprised to see us. maybe he thought we were only joking when we told him we're gonna pay him a visit. he welcomed us to his apartment, which looked like a typical apartment in the province. dahlia, his wife and their beautiful daughter were there.

we were served breakfast consisting of pancit, spaghetti and pan de sal. we ate like there was no tomorrow because the trip really made us hungry. not to mention that we had to change a flat tire. we proceeded to batangas to fetch rey. he wasn't around when we got to his house. his wife accompanied us to the river where he was cleaning his jeepney. george and i stayed inside the car while voltaire talked to rey, telling him that somebody from the military was looking for him. the guy took a peek inside our tinted car and looked worried. we rolled down the window after a while and that's when he shouted "mga gaga!". it felt great to see an old barkada!

we went back to voltaire's place to eat lunch. we had andok's litson manok which to me, that time, was sooo delicious (maybe i was so hungry again). we also had the tires replaced already. around 2 pm we started drinking. voltaire gave his all - 5 loud speakers. as if we're going to have a concert. we asked somebody to harvest tilapia for us and after a few minutes, they were back with a batya full of tilapia. grabe! ang sarap tumira dito. simple lang ang buhay. we grilled the tilapia for pulutan. hmm. it was really delicious. i normally don't like fish but this one i couldn't resist.
the whole gang got really drunk - me, george, rey, voltaire, boggs and voltaire's neighbors. we were having the times of our lives eating tilapia when our music suddenly stopped. voltaire's amplifier overheated. we were teasing him when he excused himself for a while to get something from the house. after that was silence. we were all looking at the direction of the house waiting for him to emerge. suddenly, there he was with a new set of amplifier! talk about hospitality par excellance!. tuloy ang ligaya!. we drank, ate, cracked jokes, reminisced the old times and went around the place.

soon it was already dark. how time flies so fast especially when you're having the time of your life. it was sad but every beginning has to end. what comes up must come down. my heart felt heavy as i leave sampaloc lake. but i promised to be back... soon!