Adios, February...

One day more and February is over. Just like that.

Whoa, whoa! What's the rush, 2015? Unless everything you have in store for me this year is awesome or much more awesome, slow down a bit. Haha!

I had to go to the office today. We had a department Chinese New Year lunch along with the lo hei (prosperity toss). On the way to work I realised what day it was and I couldn't help but think, "Farck, it's already March!"

The year started on a good note, I must say. It's a little too early to have a "looking back" reflection. A quick review though and yeah, it has been a good start - started docent training for another museum; taking up another class just for enrichment; booked cheapo flights flights to Cambodia (somewhat surprise gift for Mom), Kuala Lumpur (to finally visit I-van since he moved there); Manila (in November), and Japan (the major trip for the year; US will have to wait again!)

There is not much news regarding work. Things at work are, as a local saying goes, "Steady lah!" I do have some career-related plans in my head. I will need to revisit those plans come middle of the year.

In the relationship department, hmm, it didn't start right this year with the disappearance of HB Boy. There is an ongoing like-hate relationship with a few phone apps. A tiny part of me is consciously struggling to avoid entering a drastic change of view on dating and relationships. Haha!

Last night, I made a note about "change" and wanting some change. I can hear myself (or is it the Big Guy up there?) saying, "You want change, but what have you been doing?" I did start taking some steps to create change, but I guess they're not enough to create the kind of change that I want. Patience. More than change, what I need now it patience. Add to that a generous amount of faith. Haha!

If I were to crudely summarise my thoughts at the moment, I would say I'm going through some kind of Dom phase. By Dom, I mean Dom the character in HBO Series Looking. I'm looking for something more permanent. I want something more permanent.

How many more Hail Marys does this Mary have to do before prayers are answered? Just kidding.

Random thought....

I'm getting a somewhat restless lately. I feel like I need some change to happen once again.

Closest to a closure...

Some details about HB Boy surfaced last night.

The funny thing is that the source of information was the last person I expected to tell me anything about HB Boy. Haha!

When I got back from Mass last night, I was just in my room resting for a bit before going to shower. I received a Whatsapp message from an acquaintance who wanted to talk to me about something else.

When we were done talking about the subject which was the reason he messaged, he then asked me if I was still seeing HB Boy. It was an amusing moment for me because I didn't expect this person to know much about HB Boy. I just laughed out loud and sent the reply above.

He then replied with the message in the photo above.

The exchange of messages continued a bit more and ended with him giving some advice and pulling my leg. Lol! It was really kind of him though to tell me about HB Boy. While I should've probed him more to really confirm that he was sure it was HB Boy, I didn't do so anymore because this person has nothing to gain from crafting any stories. Also, the area where he saw HB Boy adds credibility to his story.

Hmm, I will confess that I did feel sad for awhile. The whole "Why do bad things happen to good people?" thought came to mind. Thankfully, I didn't dwell on it too much. Thank as well to the two people who gave more words to knock some sense into me after I told them about the info shared with me.

In a perfect world, I would still want to see HB Boy face-to-face and just hear from him what happened. I guess that will never happen or is far from happening. The above is probably the closest I can get to a proper closure. Oh well...

Could there be a more appropriate time to be told about HB Boy? It's the start of another year (that is, the Year of the Goat). The moment is a good time to really start moving on...

Saturday and Sunday report...

And just like that, the long weekend is over. And in a few more days, February is over.

Whoa, whoa! Time is flying by so fast. What's the rush? Haha!

Saturday and Sunday were just like my usual normal weekend - meaning packed with this and that.

Yesterday, I woke up at 7AM so that I can accompany Richie to breakkie at 730. He already had work, while I had a museum duty at 1130. I figured I'd be up early so I could definitely accompany him. Mon and Ian, on the other hand, didn't have any plans for the morning so they decided they'll go for breakkie at 9.

By the time Mon and Ian were done with breakfast, I was already packed and ready to head to the museum. It's a very short cab ride to the museum but I wanted to be early so I can do a walkthrough of the exhibit before 1130.

I'm so grateful that we had a staycation for CNY. The past three days definitely felt like a vacay. It must be the activities we had. It was definitely the company of Mon, Rich, Ian and Ann Marie. I won't be surprised if we'll have another staycation next CNY.

Meanwhile, I was pleasantly surprised to have a really huge group for the 1130 tour. It's my first time to have a group of more than 20 people for a morning guided tour. Hmm, I could've done better with my tour but I guess it was still okay because the group applauded at the end of the tour.... or they were just being polite. Lol!

Done with my museum duty, I initially planned to hit the gym for Combat at Cathay. However, I decided I'll just head home first to take a nap. Hmm, I was still feeling tired. Around 5PM, I got up from my nap and dragged myself out of bed. I skipped Combat at Cathay but I did manage to go to Westgate where I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill. That felt really good!

The other plan was to catch a movie. Since there were no good movies, I decided to just head back. Tipz and I FT'd for about an hour or so. It was a good catchup, as always. Thanks to technology, there's the illusion that he's just several train stations away. Lol!

I didn't stay up too late last night (though I was tempted to go clubbing!). The reason for this was I wanted to go to the gym again this morning.

There was a 9AM Pump class, which I managed to join. I also went for the 1120AM Combat class, which was packed! Yup, the holidays are definitely over. Hehe!

The gym session ended around 1PM. By then, I was famished! Din Tai Fung would've been awesome but as expected, there was a queue! I ended up going to eggs & berries. Lol! The last time I was there, it was with Tipz, Mon and HB Boy. Haha!

Done with lunch, I then went to Clementi where I spent the next few hours studying at the library. Another reason why I had to go to Clementi was because I needed to meet up with Tokyo-based Singaporean friend Alvin. I asked him to get a Japan-made brolly for me. Lol!

The last agenda for today was church. Thankfully, there's a 715PM Mass at Church of St. Mary of the Angels. It's been awhile since I went for Mass at that church. I'm glad that I was able to attend Mass there again.

What a nice long weekend! Let's start with the Year of the Goat now! :D

Day 1 (and 2) of Year of the Goat...

Hello, Year of the Goat!

The first day of the New Year is usually spent visiting families and relatives. So while most of Singapore did that, I did something similar as well.

After checking in at one of the hotels along Singapore River, the gang and I walked over to Esplanade to check out the River Hongbao. It was a nice walk from Clarke Quay to Esplanade as it was a cool evening. The River Hongbao was parked but it was a good experience since I was with friends. It's also my first time to visit the event on an evening. The previous years, Richie and I would go in the afternoon. Hehe! The evening, naturally, was really crowded but it was still just as fun. I particularly enjoyed seeing the lanterns all lit up.

We got home quite late but, still woke up early as usual. Started the day with a nice breakkie with Ian, Richie and Mon. We then planned to hang by the pool and just chillax the entire day. However, the pool hangout was delayed because Frozen Sing Along version is on cable. Hahaha!

It's been enjoyable so far. I'm really liking this whole "staycation" concept. I like that I'm still on a holiday even if I'm in the country. I do agree with Mon though that we kinda miss going for a road trip to a nearby province to hit the beach or just eat out. That's something that was so easy to do back in Manila.

Oh well, I'm not complaining. Loving where I am right now. Haha!

Alright, Frozen is over. Heading to the pool now.

Off the market...

Not me, but one of my friends recently changed his status from Single to In A Relationship.

I was having dinner over the weekend when I received a text message that said something like, "It's official. We're together."

Seeing the message, I quickly replied, "Woohoo! OMG! Congrats and super happy for you guys!" Indeed, I was genuinely happy for this friend who is now officially off the market.

In a way, I am familiar with their love story as this friend and I talked about the guy, the dating stage, and so on soon after they started dating. Hehe!

My friend would sometimes message random things about the guy and I would be very excited and keen to listen to how the seeds of the relationship were planted and nurtured until it blossomed to a relationship.

At least, there were two less lonely people in the world (said the Air Supply song) during the recent Valentine's Day. Haha! Congrats, congrats again, you and you! You guys have my support! ;)

Staycation coming soon...

Image from here

I'm looking forward to Wednesday. It'll be a half day at the office. And after that, the next two days shall be a holiday because of the Chinese New Year.

Previously, I don't really look forward to it as the entire city shuts down. I don't get to see my Singaporean friends because they're all in their own homes. My Filipino and non-Chinese friends, on the other hand, were either traveling or preoccupied with something else. Thus, it becomes quite a lonely two days. hehe!

Thankfully, this year would be different as I will be going on a staycation with Mon, Rich and Ian. While we're here in Singapore, Chris, @MkSurf8 and @RKGreg will be in Tokyo. It would have been awesome to be able to join them but alas, my resources are already being allotted for Cambodia and two other trips towards the end of the year. Hehe!

In any case, I'm just glad that I would be spending the few days with good friends.

Looking forward to the Lunar New Year as it is my year! It better be goooood! Hehe!

Happy V Day...

What an unproductive day! Haha!

I just spent the last two hours taking a nap. Originally, I planned to go to the library to do some studying. Instead, I decided to head home and get some sleep.

The only things I have accomplished for the day so far - finish two more chapters of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird (which is turning out to be such an easy read! Dunno why I delayed reading the book) and have a good workout with Jon at Bertram's Pump class.

The lethargic feeling was maybe because I didn't have enough sleep. After work yesterday, I headed to the gym for Combat and then took the train to the city for hohol time at MkSurf8's place with the usual suspects. As usual, I went back before midnight.

And as usual, I woke up at 6 this morning. What the?! The good thing about waking up at that time is I have two people I can chat with - ex-colleague Pau, who is now in the US, and of course, Tipz, who is now three hours ahead of my time.

I tried to go back to sleep and I was successful at getting forty more minutes of zzz. After that, it was, "Screw this. I'll just get up, get ready for gym, have coffee while waiting for Jon." Hehe!

Since it's V Day and I'm dateless, I decided to wear the wonderful HRC shirt that Tey got for me from one of her US trips. Hehe! Dateless yes so let me just remind everyone that... refer to photo above. ;)

Hmm, tonight will go on a movie date with friends. Hi, my name is Third Wheel Angelo. Lol! Kidding lah. I'm perfectly fine being the third wheel, the fifth wheel, haha. Most of the time, I'm also fine doing things on my own. Some people have issues about eating alone, watching a movie alone. Thankfully, I don't. I wonder what that means?

Anyway, since there's nothing to share about love & dating in the present tense, let's just talk about love & dating from the past tense. On a recent dinner and coffee hohol with PG Boy, Richie asked him what his plan is - whether he planned to stay in Singapore or move somewhere else. He replied - stay in Singapore.

Hearing that, the first thought that came to mind was, "Yeah, I did the right thing." And I don't know if it'll will make me look bad because of what I'm about to write, I actually felt relieved, I got closure (I'm not sure if that's the right word). Let's just say that whatever doubts I may have had about parting ways with PG Boy vanished after hearing those words come out of his mouth. Post-dinner/coffee hohol, I shared my thoughts with Richie and his reply was, "Those were my thoughts, too."

Alightey, that's it for today. Gotta get ready for movie night. :) Happy Hearts Day!

Kohi to Nihonjin...

Image from here

My appointment last night ended close to 10PM. Usually, I would rush back so I can get to bed asap to be able to wake up early the following day.

Thanks to working from home, there is no need to rush to the train station. I can stay out a little bit late and just ensure that I catch the last train heading to the West.

That's exactly what I did last night. Earlier in the evening, I arranged to meet up with a guy I recently chatted with. (Talk about creating new memories that fast. Lol! Kidding!)

Hmm, to be honest, I'm not too keen in meeting up with new people lately. As another friend said, it can be quite tiring. I agree. This guy I met up with has previously hinted that he was keen to meet up. I was just being lazy and came up with excuses to skip meeting up.

Monday night, I thought of asking him out to coffee. In the end, I decided I'll stay in my side of the island and just go to the library and study. Haha!

However, I did tell him that I will be in the city Tuesday nigt. I asked that if he was free, we can meet up though it'll be quite late.

Fast forward to last night, we met up at Raffles Place MRT station. Since it was late, there were hardly any people at the station. In fact, he was the only person standing outside the 7-11. Hmm, this was good because I don't remember how he looks like. I may have deleted the photo and I dun have the app anymore. I dun even remember which app we met in. Yikes.

Anyway, so I saw him, said hi and we agreed to go to the Starbucks at One Fullerton. He was a nice guy. Japanese. He's been around Singapore for just 7 months. He's struggling with his English, although he can converse. I was testing with him the little Japanese that I know. Haha! I remarked how we were in the same boat somehow. There he was finding his English words and I, finding my Japanese words. Lol.

It was a nice meetup though. We managed to talk about work, Japan, holidays, weekends, living in Singapore, friends living in Japan. He has been to Cebu and Bohol! He mentioned that he visited those beautiful islands with his partner. Okay, I didn't know that part about him. Lol! I'm going to write another post about that topic.

We decided to call it a night close to 11PM. I was getting sleepy and I needed to catch the train. Hehe! Nice Tuesday night though. Patting myself on the back for putting myself out there. Lol!

People you may know...

On my way to the city earlier this evening, I was going through Facebook on my phone to see what friends are up to. As I was going through the app, I scrolled through the section that suggests people you may know. What a surprise to see who the first “People You May Know” tile was – HB Boy.

I knew I should’ve kept my phone in the bag and just went with the plan to continue reading Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird on my Kindle. Haha!

Seriously, Facebook? Seriously?

It was rather surprising to see HB Boy on Facebook since a) he didn’t really use it as it was banned in China and b.) well, he’s still around.

A lot of people say that Singapore is a very tiny island. I guess it is. But when you live in the heartlands and your one-way commute to the city takes close to an hour (to the airport, close to an hour and 45 minutes), it’s a bit of a challenge to think that I’m living on a little island. Hehe!

Just after HB Boy went Gone Girl on me though, that was a time when I saw that Singapore is indeed a tiny island. Almost everywhere I went, it brought back happy memories with HB Boy – the train station where we would meet up after gym on a Monday night, the gym where I brought him so he can swim, a particular Chinese restaurant, the Singapore River, to name a few.

Who knew so many memories can be built in a short, short span of time?

Recently, I had lunch with another friend and he was telling me how he had a somewhat similar experience. The guy just went Gone Girl on him, too. When he told me that he would still sometimes stand at a particular door at the train station with the faintest hope that he would catch a glimpse of the guy, I told him I knew how that felt.

Yeah, I know it’s rather stupid that there’s still a tiny part of me that hangs on to memories of HB Boy. He was a good guy (or so I thought, and so did my friends). Maybe I almost loved him? Maybe deep inside, I still believe he’s a good guy. Maybe I am wanting some sort of closure (though I know I may never get the kind of closure I want.)

Tipz, thousands of miles away that he is, said something rather interesting about this whole thing. “…you have closure because then you saw what kind of with how he ended it and you saved yourself from any more hurt…”

Thank goodness for friends like Tipz. Hehe.

I know that the island will remain to be the small island that it is. Maybe the trick now is to create new memories in all those places that brings back memories of HB Boy.