OUR 28th YEAR

First there was Anne, mother of Mary.

Then there was Mary , wife of Joseph, who "was free of original sin from the moment of her conception".

Her "Immaculate Conception", misconstrued as a "virginal conception",  actually refers to her own conception by her parents.

And there was Jesus, son of God the Father, God the Son himself, who is celebrated as Christ the Worker in Hogwarts where 28 years ago, on the feast day of St. John of the Cross, the progenitors of Pugad Baboy of Bakal 2 were espoused in his church.   

That was the story gathered, branded, but not told at a pre-Christmas celebration of pork, the King of Meats, as manifested in the pinangat, baked ribs, kaldereta with gata, dark tinumis, and a sinigang too sour. 

28 rice planters sent off the Phantom Biker as he raced his own 5-day tour where 28 dormitory residents cheered him on Tuesday, 28 college students saluted him on Wednesday, 28 fraternity paddles wlecomed him on Thursday, 28 clacking typewriter keys serenaded him on Friday, and 28 angels joined him in the podium on Saturday.

In Phnom Penh, the amendments segued to the initiation of an interim report and disbursements.

Melbourne got noticed with a survey and the confirmation of a risk assessment, 

The Manila Meeting and Field Visit entered into its procurement and digital phase. 

A catch-up preceded a conspicuous absence in Kuala Lumpur's network conversation. 

Oplan Malunggay netted peanuts, banana chips, fried catfish, a currency exchange, enveloped alms, and a suitcase of emails.

God's blessing was invoked in Hogwarts for what lies ahead after the past 28 years.

Lunch was served afterwards with the prayer that in the future, Pugad Baboy will also celebrate a couple of 75th birthday celebrations in Bakal 2 ala Kuya Romy.

THE [not so] INNOCENT AGE

The leader of the band is not yet tired but his eyes are growing old 

[onset of glaucoma]

Blood is absent in the band's instruments but beer is in their souls

[whiskey and brandy too]

My life is not a poor attempt, I imitate no one

[going Joaquinesque maybe?]

I am my own legacy of being the leader of  bands

(PM, PGLI, PDGL, PJGL)

That Saturday morning, only one suspension was gaveled and it's not Dan Fogelberg whose omnibus nomination was duly seconded and elected through a single vote cast as paper money into a poor box to effectively suspend a self-imposed rule on moderation.

That week, Bozo and Coco were reincarnated as pancakes and sausages to commemorate the Phantom Biker's capture of the year's last edition of "The Quarterlies" before he got stapled by Ronald McDonald's absence in Munoz...

 ...all in the name of four combo-meals-with-beer options: adobong guya and ensaladang pako, lumpiang shanghai and kalderetang baka, Christmas dinakdakan and adobong bibe, and sinampalukang ulo ng kambing and chicken nuggets. 

Definitely not for the innocents.

And just like that, a session with the Applanation Tonometer at a polyclinic got the Manila Meeting and Field Visit signed off with a date stamped upon a Regional Convening on the day the 5th amendment to an agreeent was initiated. 

Viva Engage tripped over Tuesday's trash.

A partnership pltaform was updated and a regional operations plan budgetted.

Cigna acknowledged, emails too, and a catch up.

One final look at the details then a submission before power went down...

HAI[na]KU 74-78

-74-

Peter and Paul, us

a prayer through the martyrs

saints of Calasiao

***

A delay in Wattay held-up Noi Bai, the bus driver in Manila showed up in an Ao Dai.

The Manila Meeting dodged confirmations to book the Bali Workshop and got rain checked on the field visit.

***

-75-

Ramon's church, refuge

a blessed kaleskesan

soup for the mortals

***

Phnom Penh convened to draft a survival plan for Asia before catching up with Australia.

A Code of Conduct refreshed Year 4's budget re-submission to update the monthly burn rate.

***

-76-

Kapampangan lunch

kuhol, sisig, and pindang

food for the non-Gods

***

Finance and energy were responsible for the eye doctor's transition into bloodletting. 

A pass-down exorcised from the inbox of credit card liquidations nudged a regional convening. 

***

-77-

St. James beheaded

ceiling painted, the choir sang

pilgrims in Betis

***

A lotto bet was placed in a forex transaction when the Phatom Biker changed tires while settling power in the market.

The Engineer from Singapore celebrated in Bakal 2 with a birthday cake of kilaweng kambing. 

***

-78-

47 years

hail to Lam-ang, to Hogwarts!

47 years

A PRAYER FROM THE VIENTIANE CONFERENCE

"May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses. 

May those frightened cease to be afraid, and may those bound be free. 

May the powerless find power and may people think of befriending one another. 

May those who find themselves in trackless, fearful wildernesses - the children, the aged, the unprotected - be guarded by beneficent celestials, and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood."

It was Sunday in Vientiane.

A prayer was was offered to a thousand Buddhas with the hope that one of them will convey it to the heavens above Wat Si Saket, or to the 7-headed naga of That Dam, or to the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok that once resided at Ho Phra Keo. 

Burning meat is conspicously absent at the Khua Din Market. 

It was Friday in Vientiane.

Feminists broke their fast to predicate a recruitment into the drafting group of the "ASEAN Civil Society and Partners Exchange on Gender and Climate Change" (aka the Vientiane Conference).

An 800,00-kip taxi fare paid for a free dinner of Beer Lao, duck stew, fried pork intestines, and grilled catfish.

It was Wednesday in Bakal 2.

The Phatom Biker, riding on a flat tire, chased a budget revision, the Vientiane Conference, and the Manila Meeting (with an embedded Field Visit) and Regional Convening.

The Itron Man emptied the trash bin and decluttered an inbox while engaged in a couple of virtual meetings. 

A public hearing was documented as a closure report for a convenience store project.

Kuro Ramen was garnished with adobong kambing, litsong manok, and balot.

It was Thursday in Hanoi

A rude passenger, presumably Korean, should have been offloaded from VN 0921 to counter a first quarter report feedback.

Lunch was paid through a foreign exchange and Friday's recruitment into the drafting group.

It was Saturday in Vientiane.

For women with disability, zero waste is equivalent to zero Marlboro.

Lunch was grilled fish that is as huge as the Mekong River, roasted chicken that has the flavor of a papaya salad, and a do-it-yourself local rice noodle soup. 

Variations of the Xout Lao competed in the shadows of the Vientiane Museum of Contemporary Art's massive gold-gilded pillars --- custodians of the Buddha whose likeness were etched in salvaged wood --- a premonition for the Sunday vespers.  

Sleek, like an inverted durian-flavored ice cream bar...

"The centuries old That Luang stupa stands tall as a national symbol and keeper of the Buddha's sacred breastbone."

...regal, like the colors of a Johnny Walker Gold Reserve and the cab driver who got paid in US dollars after a culinary encounter with braised duck, stewed eel, and spicy pork salad.

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 apologies 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.