legal na!

      hpe! yan ang theme ng birthday ko this year. bakit? kasi halos lahat ng bumati sa akin, yun ang sinabi. so ayan, birthday ko ngayon! 18 na ako, legal na, sabi nga nila!
salamat sa lahat ng bumati, it really meant alot, that you remembered me for even a few seconds. thanks
so ayan 18...debut? asa! hindi no! ayaw ko mgadebut!
1. wala akong pera
2. ayaw ko ng engrandeng celebration
3. ayaw ko magsuot ng gown
4. pwedeng pwede ipagpalit ang debut sa kotse o laptop any day. (asa pa ako e!)
5. di ko na kailangan magpafeel sa ibang tao na special ako
6. ayaw ko na guluhin ang mga kaibaigan ko magsuot ng gown
7. busy month/ week ng mga tao ngayon
8. from the start, ayaw ko talaga
bakit? dahil mas gugustuhin ko na lang ang manlibre ng simpleng cendy o sulat para malaman ng mga tao na naging mahalaga sila sa buhay ko.

ang debut ko kunno
      actually di naman debut, celebration of some sort na lang ang mas tamang term. di kasi uso dito sa bundok namin ang mga debut debut.
ang ginawa ko sa birthday ko:

nagpagupit ako. babaw, pero ito ang treat ko sa sarili ko. matagal ko na sinasabi na habang ang ibang tao magpapaparty, ako magpapgupit! haba na kasi ng hair ko! di na mamannage. parang may ibig sabihin ng pagpapagupit ko: pagbabago, pagsalubong sa bagong taon ng buhay ko. sabi nga ni sir arellano, rerum novarum. (alala ko pa iyon)
nanlibre ako ng goodies. imbis na mga close friends dito ang ililibre ng lunch or dinner, cendy na lang. para marami ang malibre, matuwa at masiyahan sa araw na iyon. so, para akong santa clause sa CDC (naka red pa ako). ang sarap ng feeling ng may napapasaya ka, kahit sa simpleng cendy lang.
nagpakain ako ng KFC. sa dorm naman ito. dito kasi sa LB 'alang KFC, sa Calamba ang pinaka malapit na KFC. kaya ang layo na maaabot, paguwi na lang sa kanikanila nakakatikim ng KFC. minsan, di pa nga. so ayun, dinayo ko ang KFC sa Calamba para bumili lang ng manok. sarap e! the king of fried chicken sa buhay ko. masaya ako na nakatikim sila uli ng KFC, ako rin e. at nabusog sa ice cream at pansit na may panulak na fior-friendly drinks. busog na rin ako na nabusog ko sila!
susulatan ko ang mga ibang kaibigan ko. di pa kasi tapos, dami e. kasi nga malayo na ako, hermitanyo na ako dito sa bundok namin, di ko na sila mareach. at since narealize ko, para maabot ko sila ng tulad ng gusto ko, buti pa gawin kong personal, delivered to their dorstep. at imbis na sila ang magspeech ng magaganda tunkol sa akin, ay ako na lang ang hihirt ng THANK YOU, at naging bahagi sila ng buhay ko. sabi nga ni tom cruz, "you complete me."

      so, ayun, simple lang.
      ang mahalaga madami akong napasaya, kahit pansamanatala lang. masaya na rin ako.
     kaya nga happy birthday
      happy nga e!

happy birthday to me! happy birthday to me! happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to me!
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added 5/30/2005
in English (para dapat ito sa narrative essay ko sa ENG 2 na tinangihan ng aking instructor dahil hindi siya narrative, but what the hell, post ko na rin.)
      I didn’t want to have a debut.
      In our society it’s a big thing to be turning 18. Its legal age: You can get your driver’s license, be able to vote, watch R-18 movies in the theaters, be able to drink, sign legal documents, etc. as much as you can get into jail. It’s fun if you take a look at it, but it also comes with the responsibility of being a full-fledged adult.
      Now, for the girls, it’s an old-time tradition of rich families introducing the baby-who-is-now-a-lady to the society. But times have changed, and the debut has taken new steps to keep up. From parties with what I call the "18 tradition" (18 treasures, candles and roses) which varies per debutant or the exchange of that for a car, cellular phone, fancy laptop, or a US tour, to simply eating out with family and treating friends.
      I wanted the latter. Besides the fact I didn’t have the money to spend, August is a busy month for everybody - midterms, papers, projects and exams. This explains why most of the birthday surprises prepared for me were, well late. It was my first time to spend my birthday in Los Baños. I wanted my 18th birthday to be memorable, fun, and thankful.
As a joke I told my friends that as other debutants threw parties, on my 18th birthday the only thing I would do to celebrate was to have a hair cut. But since jokes are half meant, it wasn’t the only thing I did that day. But yes, I did have my hair cut. I guess this has a meaning in itself: new haircut, New Year, better life.
      I wanted to make a lot of people happy on my birthday, even if it was only so trivial. So instead of just treating a few friends for lunch or dinner, I decided to buy candies to fill up a paper bag and offer some to anyone I would encounter on that day. Now this was fun, I looked like Santa Clause in August; distributing candies to people I passed by. I was wearing red that day. I gave some candy to my classmates, to other people who weren’t my classmates that day, to my officemates - I was a student assistant at the OVCRE that semester, and even to people I wasn’t that close to. It was fun to get simple and random greetings: "Ba’t namimigay ka ng kendi? Ah! Birthday mo. Happy Birthday. Salamt sa kendi a."
      Among my friends in UPLB are my former dorm mates who I’m closest to. And since our all-time favorite KFC isn’t franchised in LB, I decided to give them the treat of going to Calamba to get it. A whole bucket of KFC chicken, La Ville’s pansit bihon, cookies and cream flavored Milko ice cream and juice in tetra packs was my treat to them - and to myself of course, I love KFC too. Funny thing was they were sooo thankful. "Wow! KFC! Totoo ba ‘yan?"
      Instead of asking people to make a speech about me, and hear manufactured praises of how nice I am, I wanted to be the one to say the "Thank You." Through text, email, Friendster, or the obsolete snail mail I wrote my friends in Manila and others further away a simple thank you note telling them how much they made a difference in my life, or even a small dent in it. I wanted them to feel good about themselves, as well. It was nice to receive thank yous in return.
      I had my hair cut, I gave away candies, I treated my dorm mates to KFC, and I wrote a lot of thank you notes. That was my debut. No grand celebration, no roses, candles or treasures, no car, or driver’s license, no laptop or trip to the US. But heck, I sure had a great birthday.