My CX friends and I have been feeling the stress of work lately. It was
a Saturday afternoon when my playmates decided to do beaching in
Batangas the following week instead of a steady chill-out tambay
session to celebrate Jerome's freedom from the hell that is Group Desk.
But considering the other trips lined up for this year, I decided not
to go; despite the pain I know I'd feel if I wasn't in the pictures.
Then again, after papilit moments, and after my playmates got almost
all of our workmates to join that summer getaway, I felt the need of
joining the trip. More importantly, Kriska and Grace were mixing again.
So, March 14 it was -- Project 151 as KR/GM call it. Kinikilig na kaming lahat sa excitement. Kasi summer,
at halos lahat kami kasama. The "DRS" had been sent out and we were all
set to hit the beach. Biggest summer getaway to date; there were 19 of
us. It was the same weekend last year when we had our Tagaytay trip.
There were 15 of us, and Robee and Yvette were still there. Yea, too
early for the drama in this entry, pero every single time, we had a "sana nandito si Robee" moment.
After work that Saturday, four cars after, one stopover for lunch
later, and lotsa opinions on the road, we finally got to Laiya. Caught
the sunset, may kinakasal pa. Na siyempre hindi namin pinalagpas. And
like I said, "If you can't pull off a grand beach wedding, better not do it on the beach." Because observant people will always be there.
Batch by batch, we caught up with each other, at yun na, hindi na
nawalan ng alkohol sa kamay tong sina Kriska at Grace. And yeah, true
enough, no one touched the alcoholic drinks except for them. And we had
no choice but to succumb to every tagay.
We had dinner after the first round, after Coy went all red. Liempo,
chicken, and adobo love it was. Thanks to Doña Cruz. After dinner, we
playmates had our Anabelle Rama talk, na napakasakit na sa panga, then
we realized that people started going back to their rooms to freshen
up. This was when Maddie got imbyerns, but KR, VR, LM, and I stayed
behind. "Kaya walang nababasag kasi puro sila break!" GM declared with all frustration. hahaha. Pero cool lang, they were
able to successfully pull off Project 151 naman after everybody got
back. And Lea and Arvin were there to get wasted na rin. Lea and Arvin
who had a VERY hectic Saturday, with lotsa events to attend.
And we were up til 5am.
Aside from Kris, Punky, Lea, Arvin... and Jer, and Apol, and Coy. The
latter three na talagang tumatakbo at nagtatago, makapunta lang sa mga
kwarto nila. Si Jer na tumatakas na naman, dahil na-trauma nung
bumagsak siya nung Tagaytay trip last year. Nung dumaldal sya nang
bongga. "Dizzetch na aketch!" Pero ok lang. We had fun. It was Jayson's turn to get madaldal this
time. And as for Vin, Vino, and Buddy... sila pala ang undisclosed
trainors sa Mr. Valentine. Apologize and Breakdown, in dim lighting... you get the picture. hahaha.
The next morning, the beach freaks Kriska, Rozz, Vino, Grace, Jer, and
Apol got up at 7am. They woke me up, and for some reason, gumising
naman talaga ako at bumangon agad. The bitches finally hit the beach.
Krispy-ng krispy. Konting beach hours lang yun. Most of us stayed in
our rooms to take short naps.
It was almost noon when that summer getaway officially ended. That was
a Sunday, and we'll have to face the reality of work the following day.
Well at least, Jer's back on the TS floor again, entertaining
passengers with his plasticity. We were looking forward to having
Jerome back, because we lost him for a while there when he went through
that tormenting inferno at the back office.
One week of planning, and the summer getaway materialized. Love. Thanks
to Kriska and Grace. We owe you a lot. You made that trip happen eh.
And we'll have more, ok? =P
(So can I work the drama now?)
True, this year's Laiya trip was the biggest getaway to date, but the
void that Kat, Yvette, and Robee left can never be filled. Rozz wasn't
exaggerating when she said na lagi naming sinasabi na "Sana andito si Robee." If we were to tally how many times we've said those words, daig na daig pa ang TA Summary of Calls na nila-log ko. (Mind you, nakaka-2 pages ako pag nagla-log!) We've always had those moments since you left; since you guys left; and we just felt it more last weekend. (Thanks sa phone patch btw.)
Kat was our favorite impersonation subject. We lost a mascot when
MNLKUM left. We miss her mannerisms. We miss her grammatical errors. We
were supposed to do "sand vandals" as a reply to her "snow vandals" in
YVR. Didn't get to do it though, pero gets? We were thinking about her
all the time.
And when there's Kat, there's Robee. That Jinky and Manny video at the Thunderbird Resorts was classic. There was this certain set of songs that reminded us of Robee. When we shot Goodbye before he left, we got inspired to make music videos every month. (Inspired lang, hindi nag-materialize. But still!) So we were supposed to do All Saints' Pure Shores as our "summer vid" and Heart's These Dreams for
Kuya. We were too tired to shoot that weekend, pero dibale, in time,
magagawa din namin yan! At basta, it's just that Robee not being with
us is simply not the same.
And Yvette, of course. Coy reminded us of Yvette, pero siyempre, Yvette
is Yvette. And that space that she left will always be hers. Isa pa
yang si Yvette na sobrang game sa kahit anong bagay. Kahit inaantok na.
Kahit masakit na ang paa kakalakad! That Batangas weekend was the
weekend before her regularization in EY. Of course, we couldn't have
known, alangan namang pangunahan namin ang Mar16. But anyway, Yvette,
just take it as your pre-reg party. =)
So before this entry gets all incoherent again, let me end it na.
