Hi's and Lo's in Bacolod

Beguiled in Bacolod
*10pm, December 28, 2007

I feel like blogging tonight…too bad wifi is not available in the pension house that I am staying in here in Bacolod, and for those who know me, being off line for two straight days is a big deal! Surprisingly, I’m not too bothered about it, because there were three things that set me in a great mood:

1. Being treated with big, oh-so-fresh, melts in the mouth oysters (along with barbequed chicken) for lunch and dinner. And I am hopping for the whole seafood galore tomorrow!

2. Enjoying the light drizzle for the past two days while walking to the conference site. Haven’t done that in a long time so that was great, especially coming from oppressively hot Davao.

3. Last but not the least, the disarming Bacolodnons! From they’re cute, lilting accents that convey a sense of fondness for anyone they talk to, even strangers, and I get the feeling that for most of the time, its real and not put on. They have one of the rarest species known to man: the nice and courteous taxi driver.

Definitely a place worth coming back to.

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Tortured in Transit
*8am, December 30, 2007

I was supposed to wake up all set to leave Bacolod this morning. I was—but not with a full-blown fever! My companion who came with me at this conference in Bacolod is not in her best condition herself—tummy problems and she suspects Amoebeasis.

I seldom get sick so I wondered if it was the 1 1/2 heaping servings of oysters I finished off the night before, or the fact that I gallivanted around rainy Bacolod in true Davaoeño fashion, (ie. sans umbrella) thereby finding myself soaking wet half the time.

So there I was with my friend, Loida, experiencing agony with a capital “A” as we waited for the lady in the Cebu Pacific counter to issue our boarding passes. And for the life of me, I had no idea took her soooo excruciatingly long to issue them, did she have to compose an essay of how we should get from Bacolod to Davao via Cebu? Or was she using old-fashioned Morse code to transmit to Cebu our names for the transfer?! Aaargh!!!! There were a couple of reasons that kept me from being downright nasty: the fact that I was too weak, and the fact that Bacolodnons have a sweet way of talking to you that keeps you from being rude to them, no matter how agonizingly amoeba-paced their service was.

As if that wasn’t enough, the flight from Cebu to Davao was delayed as well, and there we were in the departure lounge, Loida and I, she doubled over because of stomach pains while I was almost flat on my back on the lounge chair, finding some comfortable position to support my stuffy head. I am sure people are walking around were clucking their tongues and wondering what these two silly girls were up to the night before..oh well, at that point, I didn’t care what people were thinking, I just wanted to get home!

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Oh, well, life and its hi’s and lows.

Thanks, all for dropping by my blog. May you embrace both the high’s and the low’s of the coming year and allow them to enrich your life!