INTO THE STORM, AGAIN (How We Scaled Senate Room 527)

Unfortunate maybe but not orphaned nor rejected. 

Thus was how a low pressure area morphed into Tropical Depression Isang as the prognosis of a recurrence marked "worrisome" was conveyed, bringing us back to Baguio during the time of of Typhoon Carina.

Just the same, we prayed for the intercession of Our Lady of the Abandoned (circa 1720), amplifying last year's pleadings to Our Lady of Atonement (circa 1920).

[This while a financing agreement and refund in Jakarta eased the slightly delayed subbmission of a narrative report to Melbourne that concluded the partnership agreement for Kuala Lumpur and resolved a foreign exchange loss in Manila because yogurt was served during a weekly catch up on images of a certain Diane from the past, a replacement for the dead motherboard and tired exhaust fan displayed at a bankteller's counter in Cabanatuan.]

Both baliwag Transit and Victory Liner skipped the mandatory checkpoint in Dau to call in an Admission Order after the last two remaining claims were settled to usher a new request for a Guarantee Letter.   

[The inbox was wiped clean despite a deluge of online correspondence on social protection under the sponsorship of Our Lady of the Orange Top, patron to those who partially pay credit card billing statements that were printed in a draft consultancy contract from Kathmandu, to them who initiated their first request for reimbursement, and to us who are required to aassess amd update the system.]

There were apples and popcorn, tokwa't baboy and fried tilapia, fake wine and beer, and the Phantom Buker's conquest of the Riverside in Bakal 2 via the Jose W. Diokno Bulevard in Pasay.

We got in through a portkey at the second floor security check of the GSIS Building, and were led from crowded elevators to Room 527 that is actually a cornucopia 6 huge ramen bowls of Tonkatsu, TanTanMen, Shio, Shoyu, Miso, and Soba that surprisingly tasted like grilled squid and tuna belly garnished with a selection of parfaits and sundaes.  

Despite an encounter with the wolf snake and a hurried funeral in Talavera, the impact of the impending second storm is somewhat subdued compared to last year's,  harsh still but subtle enough to justify a few sips of warm but real beer from a plastic cup in Bantug after the near beers were gone...  

SCARS

It's been 19 days since the 79th. 

In 7 days of that, I walked out of a virtual consultation on fundraising to meet with the Swedes in Bangkok who co-authored a mandate for Jakarta that will define the context of ASEAN 2026.  

My new friends, Oettinger and Warsteiner, cancelled their financial management support for a policy toolkit in lieu of a request for refund from Melbourne's impact measurement approach. 

On the 5th of the 7th, an active fibrotic NASH was ruled as a request for computer maintenance.

On the 6th, a worrisome possibility for recurrence was detected before 5 hours of a ureteroscopy.

The scars will linger like a YOSAS approval for 5 settlements. 

Recurring (an assessment report?), exasperating (a fiscal governance plan?), delayed (hosting arrangements?).  

The opthalmologist was absent during a payment to a locked investment.

The opthometrist held court in Phnom Penh for a headhunt in SM City.

And the Phantom Biker got lost in Bakal 2 while tending to The Trestleboard.

On the 7th of the 7th, the computer was revealed to be a washing machine laundering a weekend narrative report. 

The scars, they will come and go.

But if they remained, my prayer to the Immaculate Conception in Cubao is for them to stay just like that.

Scars that will mark our riumph over our afflictions...

DETOURS TO A REMINISCENCE

"Nasaksak, nawarak, dinugo..."

The triumphs of a Year 3 financial acquittal and requests for project change pushed forward a headhunt. 

"...ang tinusok ni Lupin sa San Miguel..."

Three weekly meetings passed down twice to a KL debrief and a second round on updating a policy toolkit.

"...na naihi ng sobra sa bus..."

No response from Jakarta but Cigna settled  for the submission of the Clark requital through a fair finance report. 

"...dahil malamig ang opisina sa Bantug."

The quarterlies exposed sweet blood and a fatty liver that were paired with a near beer thrice and dealcoholized wine once.  

The price of a quarterly SSS premium was converted into a weekend karaoke session in Baloc and a despedida to London as the season of non-alcoholic spirits commenced in Bakal 2. 

"Medyo antak pa ang mga sumunod pero mas malasa na".

These are the detours of life that the Phantom Biker embraced as he reacquinated with Culiat, Fronda, Saverona and even Mapak-ol before Bulan drove to Dalton Pass and back for the first time...

THE BLUE COMPASS (Almost an Epylion)

For the guardians of the Quad DisCon presentation to be allowed to cross Canili Dam from Castaneda into Maria Aurora, the Phantom Biker must first chase the Four Cardinal Directions as it metamorphosed from dawn in Casulucan into the  rising sun in Sto. Tomas --- a biker's epic about the eternal duel between the days in Buasao and evenings in Pandalla that stretched into 4 days in the trails of the Southwest Monsoon.  

Thus was how the mystery of the missing counterpart request was fnally unravelled as a policy toolkit on how to clean inboxes and catch up on unopened emails despite the continuing enigma of a project change request.

Yet, Kuala Lumpur as usual lagged behind behind Phnom Penh, Manila and Jakarta, outclassed even by Melbourne that recently fell from the sky and Brussels too whose settlement remains uncertain.

That's what the feather-pen inscribed in a timesheet as the Quad DisCon was called to order in Baler so those men wearing aprons can line up for Chef Gerry Yan's buffet lunch while their guardians explored Ermita Hill and the rock formations in Daguisit.

Then there were the Garage Nights in Bakal 2 to celebrate an enrollment and liberation from a massive credit debt that would have covered utilities, credit card and phone bills, and insurance premium even without an HMO settlement. 

An anticipated tryst turned out to be an optical coherence tomography, perimetry, and a full abdomen and prostate sonography. 

That was before a middle-old old kalderetang kambing was infused with non-alcoholic sweet wine to season a middle-aged adobong manok and 4 bottles of near beer.