Monday, March 25, 2024

THE LAST MEETINGS

The pigs have spoken: get roasted or die!

They did both anyway by being skewered on steel pipes then grilled along the sidewalks of La Loma, their tender meat and crispy skin hewn for breakfast at Ping Ping's Restaurant while miles of chitlins were deep fried as deadly snacks of Ryan's Chicharon Bituka and Bulaklak for the last weekly team meetings.    



I shared what could be my last reports.

"A draft declaration on promoting a care economy was submitted to the ASEAN Secretariat in the form of a concept note for the 7th ASEAN IB Forum with final recommendations for the CSO regional forum on JET just before an ambulant feast of tinumis, kalderetang kambing, adobong bibe and tasteless catered food was unleashed by the jueteng lady on St. Joseph's day."


I did what I was requested to do.

"A virtual panel on building spaces for social dialogue on the rights of informal workers in ASEAN discussed an invitation to moderate the ASEAN advocacy training in Bangkok in my personal capacity before undergoing oral prophylaxis for the secret college crush I met at Jollibee where the lead singer of "Luha" watched me sip Australian wine."  


A post-April ToR was also emailed to me after settling St. Joseph's liquor debts with the remaining pieces of broken krupok from Brunei, as crisp as the $100 bill for an upcoming trip to Phetchaburi that was tucked in a 10-kilogram rice pack for Bulan, proceedings that preceded a grave tour of dead presidents+ to atone for snubbing my new Scottish Rites barong tagalog. 


Banawe's Tzu Chi Temple and Wow Toy Museum don't exist on weekends but Ma Mon Luk's original mami and siopao as well as the Maki House's maki-mi are on sale, enough to expose Mario's Caesar salad as an overhyped pile of dressed romaine lettuce and croutuns that is thankfully not included in the outdoor menu of The Village Bar in Phetchaburi.



It will be our first post-pandemic Advocacy and Campaigns Team meeting and my last but it seems that I've got to keep my company email and computer for the monent because I am the Lord of the Trails who disposed Amaranth shirts at hotels and airports... 

Monday, March 18, 2024

THE FIRST INTERVIEW

"What's up?" I was asked.

"A monumental ASEAN declaration will liberate the slaves of unpaid care and domestic work, a breakthrough MOU will propel a just energy transition, and economic justice will be evaluated and shall prevail" I courageously responded.

"So what's going on?" was the follow up question.

"I was examined and interviewed virtually but an unexpected call from Islamabad told me that a waiver from New Delhi will ensure support for Vientiane in lieu of the Climate Justice Manager in Manila" I explained pessimistically.

I was next quizzed why the Thursday Group have to convene on Wednesday and Saturday, how a platter of tokwa't baboy turned out to be more tofu that was reheated as pork adobo for bingo night, and my intention on taking the bus via Aliaga instead of attending NS4's mini-reunion in Cabanatuan. 

That's because there were no meetings on Thursday is what I told them, which is market day for an empty icebox that finally got my dirty motorbike washed while updating three nearly dormant bank acounts and securing an appointment for a dental prophylaxis.

Furthermore, I don't like crowds so we moved to a table where the MILF of Bakal 2 left her scent and had our own Barangay Night with a can of luncheon meat that tasted like red onions because four biking days is almost good as a week of exploring a brand new trail... 

Monday, March 11, 2024

JALAN SABANG

The reasons why I lobbied to stay at Mercure Jakarta Sabang are to:
  • claim a repaired watch and trade a bag of oversized red onions for a TV remote control in Ortigas;
  • soothe a loose bowel with a Nagi Izakaya ramen brunch and high ball, a dose of Mabuhay Lounge wine and a measure of PAGGS Premium Lounge beer;
  • dispose two oversized underwears and four unwanted shirts;
  • splurge on Lamongan's sate kambing and Restoran Garuda's padang spread.

Such are the perks of my impending departure --- to be feted by an all-women plane crew to a first ride in an electric taxi and not lose a phone, to be able to meet with Melbourne from the backseat of a Bluebird, ACE a lunch of ayam bakar and convene the PMT at a hidden sanctuary for Italian junk food.    


But there's a short list so I wonder if the durian at Jalan Sabang will taste the same in Bangkok after the Ides of March, or if the feeler for a possible role as the 4th Beatle will pay for the beer tower at Penny Lane.


It will be open season once St. Benjamin passes through with nothing confirmed by the ASEAN Secretariat until the last day so in the last hour, we crawled through Jalan Sabang then swam in a savory bowl of hot noodle-less bakso from East Java, gorged on three shapes of tasteless pempek from Sumatra, and had a mini PMU meeting over 10 skewers of delectable sate kambing from the only street stall that serves cold Bintang beer.

Maybe that's why I forgot that there's a TV remote in the hotel safety deposit box that I was suppose to bring home to Bakal 2 and perhaps the reason why the beer got warm at Garuda Lounge and the wine from PR 536 tasted like vinegar, not enough to fuel my daily grind of at least 20 kilometers for the last two days of the week...

Monday, March 04, 2024

THE WISDOM OF A SECOND SUBMISSION

In the East hangs "G", the wisdom behind the first Saturday meetings that led to Morocco's proclamation of its 3rd installation rites in San Nicolas a month after the 17th of such ceremony was held for the opening of Maria Montessori's first school in Baloc.

Those were my two submissions to 8 episodes on the reception of dignitaries, a farce show of pomp and ceremony for those who pretend to be very reverent like Benedict XVI's resigned crossed keys that unlocked a second submission on St. Hilary's feast day. 

Preceding these are the stories from Kathmandu that were narrated as a delayed flight booking in Phnom Penh and the complexity of reserving rooms at Mercure Sabang in Jakarta, the chase for a travel insurance in Manila while closing a BDO Visa card, a derby of kalderetang bibe with beef pares over off-loaded Boy Bawang packs and a possible post-March consultancy arrangement, and the month's Masonic Education about the proposed retreat in Rayong.  

There were no meetings on Friday as "Oplan Walang Hanggang Pangalan" was initiated by the wizards of Hogwarts in a dismantled train track to celebrate birthdays and got drunk on purloined whiskey, coagulating kinilaw na bangus, fibrous lumpiang shanghai and slushy tiim na manok.

And soon, the eco-farm will rise in Korokan that will be linked by an electric jeepney to the upscale commecial complex in Bakal 3 which will be fronted by a real estate development company that will build cute sustainable houses for those who were liberated from the jaws of death.

At least that is the Phantom Biker's daydream...