BREAKFAST OF SAINTS

Prologue 

Fung-wong was animated at Micronesia's Chuuk State. 

A frankenstein storm stitched with bits and pieces of warm sea surface, unstable air, wind shear, hot towers, and atmospheric convection; rapidly intensifying into a beast as it approached Dinalungan.

Power went down, the internet fled as Uwan passed through.

Two weekly meetings besieged but the spotty bandwidth, through the intercession of the saints, failed to hinder the Norwegian Initiative, and the initiation of the Vientiane Conference and Bali Workshop.

St. Joseph the Worker's Hotcakes and Sausage

A carpenter and the foster father of Christ, St. Joseph intercedes in behalf of all workers --- be it those that installed renewable energy models in Cambodia as cased, or a crew of McDonalds' Speedee Service System who prepared a hotcake-and-sausage breakfast offering in the absence of challah bread and kosher meat.  

The Phantom Biker indulged in behalf of the saint, deployimg invitations for the Vientiane Conference afterwards and finalizing a list of participants to the Bali Workshop as a Manila Meeting take shape, enough justification for three bottles of beer to close the day. 

"Forever Young!"

Mary, Help of Christians' Beef Mami  and Chunky Asado Siopao 

Mary is of course the wife of St. Joseph, the mother of Jesus, champion of Christians inlcuding those confronted with  top-up matters, an impending Regional Convening, and a field visit in the Philippines. 

Following a fast food format for a Filipino-Chinese menu, the Phantom Biker signed the Articles of  Incorporation, not for Chowking but for the Manila Meeting, not for invitees to the Vientiane Conference but a siopao dipped in a bowl of beef mami, and for Mary whose help will ensure an outstanding outcome. 

"Tikman ang Tagumpay!"

St. Jerome's Breakfast Hotdog

St. Jerome probably interceded in translating the Vientiane Conference as secured, the Manila Meeting as signed off, the Regional Convening as initiated, and perhaps the transformation of American fast food into Filipino casual fare.

This was revealed to the Phantom Biker's as he  broke through the uncertainty of a  heavy mist into the saint's unfinished sanctuary to patronize Jollibee's oily breakfast hotdog, a veneration that escalated into an unscheduled bout with estofado and beer.

"Bida ang Saya!"

San Sebastian Martyr's Palabok and Extra Creamy Halo-Halo

Arrowed then clubbed, San Sebastian, the patron saint of Munoz,  was martyred after confronting an inquitous Roman emperor.

 At nearby Mang Inasal, deserted tables betrayed the chicken inasal and unli-rice with palabok and extra creamy halo-halo, an odd  breakfast fare, almost strange like why the restoration of a bicycle and a motorbike also solved the riddle of the untransactionable ATM card during the last of Bulan's post-graduate comprehensive examination.  

"Solb sa Sarap, Solb sa Saya!" 

Epilogue

Typhoons are immortal with Fung-Wong/Uwan as the 26th reincaranation of the current year. 

We are mortals, vulnerable to calamities and afflictions, believers of the faith, devotees of  St. Rose of Lima, the designated patron of the Philippines whose intercession was sought to save the country from the faithful blind herded at the Luneta, and her protection implored to shield us from the vulnerabilities of humanity.

A Bosch Evolution Fanfaren Car was installed, gentle yet loud enough to trigger a jiggle for a shovelful of cajun-style mixed seafood lunch in Cabanatuan. 

A TAIL OF TWO CITIES (with aplogies to Charles Dickens)

"It was the best of times..." [Despite the PR 529 purser's best efforts to shut down an unconscious loud mouth, the call for transition from declaration to action was delivered in Kuala Lumpur].

 

"It was the age of wisdom..." [The current house was built on unreliable commitments so a smaller house by the beach in Rayong was reimagined for the tougher days ahead].

"It was the epoch of belief..." [A new frontier in the care economy unfolded like boxed roast lamb in a co-working space before the online check-in portal for TG 146 collapsed].

"It was the season of light..." [A horde of tourists chase the silhouettes of the Petronas Towers; Merdeka 118 pointed to the heavens from the 19th floor of the Grand Millenium].

"It was the spring of hope..."[Smuggled shawarma from the kitchen of Damascus were hauled as pilfered tote bags into a monorail that  passed undetected through the Habab Gate at the speed of KLIA Ekspres, then loaded into an elevator for two airport train transfers to the 5th floor of the Royal Princess where the pita wrap revealed pieces of crispy pork and an omelette].  

"We had everything before us..." [A squid infestation at the 3rd floor of the Kantary Bay Hotel in Rayong was overloaded with another omelette and cubes of a fried sea bass that got snared in the plastic chairs and tables littering Saeng Chan Beach].

"We were all going direct to Heaven..." [Fleets of krathongs from the Festival of Lights conveyed prayers to the Buddha of Wat Sunthon Thammathan and the statue of Phisuea Samut, an ogress that has been venerated as the patron and guardian of the sea]. 

ASEAN 2025 is at its tail end and in tribute, the Phantom Biker found a corner aboard PR 733 where he tapped a ballad about two cities:

"I see hibiscus blossoms all over Kuala Lumpur's trains

I see temples adorning the Bangkok landscape 

I see high team spirits despite an annual reaping..."

Back in Bakal 2, a boxed hooter from Baloc serenaded a 69th birthday that, in lieu of the anticipated onslaught of Fung-wong, intentionally under-salted the dinakdakan and tiim na pata. 

NIGHTS OF THE KAI JEOW

A monkey sleeps soundly by the Chatrium's pool. 

Inside the Autumn Room, chieftains debated on what they already knew but pretend not to. 

The time allocated for a private sector engagement to mobilize money for renewable energy solutions was not enough.

A fish bowl overflowed with denunciations of a sadomasochistic bureaucracy.

Reimagining a rainbow coalition will restore the normative framework in shifting a prevalent "no because" culture to a "yes if" approach.

In a penthouse bar somewhere, inequality was eclipsed by a billiard game between an erstwhile country director who stayed and the program manager who moved on. 

The frying pan hissed with flavors of Thai omelette.

Eggs vigorously beaten into a a quick PMU meeting, seasoned with nam pla to liberate an embargoed impact measurement, then toasted in boiling oil at a poolside caucus. 

The monkey woke up, asked that his kai jeow be stuffed with crab meat and ground pork instead of an over-sized pla pao, a shared pad kra pao, and chewy yum nua. 

An extended procurement for Kuala Lumpur required 4 days of working out to prep for a risk assessment of the Bangkok airport and Manila's harrowing halloween traffic.

Sign-off in the time of simulatenous birthday celebrations.

A bottle of gold-infused sparkling wine instigated a duel between a delicate kalderatang kambing and wind-burned dinakdakan for the dead of Bakal 2 and Almaguer. 

Matured in sherry casks, The Macallan M Single Malt evoked wood spices but it was reheated leftovers that carried the weekend's sign-off 

The Phantom Biker's siopao from San Jose is filled with Starbucks' cheesecake at the lounge of the Ramen Butcher in anticipation of PR 529 (not 509).