October 30, 2005

Girlfriends

We've been friends for more than ten years now. All girls who started out as lunch mates in highschoool. Then came college. Most of us went to the same university. Some went to neighboring universities and yet, we still found ourselves entwined in one way or another. Now we are scattered all over the globe. Some are climbing the corporate ladder. Others like me chose to be with the one we love and some managed to do and balance both poles. We've also gone through many birthday surprises, debuts, sleepovers, past boyfriends, petty and big fights.

Thanks to technology, I get to chat with some of them every now and then. These are my long lost girlfriends. I would never exchange all those years full of adventures, fun, and sometimes bland moments.

Recently, Pia got married in Manila to her long time boyfriend, Aldo. Since I am in Turkey, I only got to see the pictures of the wedding. Looking at it made me reminisce the good 'ol days. How we always tried to predict who was getting married first, who was to remain a "manang", and who will be the first to have a baby.I remember the days when J and Z would plan their guestlist for their future marriage to their prince charming (normally the current boytoy or crush) and their supposedly wedding gowns. There was also the time when the girls slept over my house and we decided to sneak out and take my dad's car with us only to go to a karaoke place in Timog and sing and dance the night away. We used to write small notes to each other all the time. Over here in Istanbul, I found this dark brown paper folded neatly and tucked in one of the pages of a dictionary. I opened it and realized it was a note written by C to me in college. The note was something about her asking if she could hitch a ride after class going to a retreat. Such a trivial note but it brought back lots of good memories.

Oh how time flies. We used to celebrate debuts and now it's all about weddings and baptism. Now, four of us are married. Two are planning their wedding this November and in January of 2006. One has a healthy baby boy. The rest are single but attached and some are single and looking. It will entail 4 airline tickets and quite a number of appointment cancellations to have a picture of us in complete attendance these days. No matter where we are though, how we have "tampuhans" and proud moments, I for one ,consider these girls as my girlfriends for keep.

Posted by duke at 10/30/2005 11:44:00 PM

20 Comments:

Anonymous said...: a reunion to look forward to, isn't it? in the future, you will be blogging... "now it's all about golden wedding anniversaries and grandchildren's birthdays". hehehe... life is fascinating!; 10/31/2005 03:03:00 AM
Unknown said...: It's always fun to look back to good old days,memories of our younger years, friends, happy moments. And when you look back,you would wonder where did time go. It's amazing and interesting when we trace people from our childhood and school days, they have gone different paths and places and accomplishments, of course marriage and kids and so much more.It's sometimes feel good to know we have come so far.; 10/31/2005 07:00:00 AM
Anonymous said...: "High School life
Oh my High School life
Every memory kay ganda..."

This one reminds me of the "class officers" days, batuhan ng gusot na papel, kinky betamax tape & islander chinelas - meaningly crazy stories from High School.

BULAGA! Sino ang gusto mong kamukha ngayong Halloween without the make-up & costumes?; 10/31/2005 01:35:00 PM
Analyse said...: good old memories, that's what i keep from my friends too..and the kulit pictures that we had which i even brought here with me...

just like you, modern technology still binds us together, yahoogroup, hmm, that's quite a bridge crossing all the borders..and yes, lately, marriages and babies are the common topics too..we evolve, we grow, but we're still the same kulit people, and that's what i miss the most!; 10/31/2005 02:13:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Real friendships are so hard to get by! That's really one thing that we (who chose the one we love ;-)) have sacrificed - our good pals! Anyway, distance really does make the heart fonder, the most important thing is staying in touch.

Er, do I sound like an advert for PLDT? hehehe.

-kala; 10/31/2005 07:04:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Hi, Duke! You're blessed to have good frienda. You guys should have a reunion in Manila someday.;-)

Where are you in the pic, if I may ask?

Have a nice week!; 10/31/2005 08:55:00 PM
Pia said...: hey that pic looks familiar (kaninong camera yan?)! nice and touching post duke.. nakaka-senti naman! hehe when i think of our barkada i always remember colemans and lunch baons! ngayon recipes na!; 10/31/2005 11:27:00 PM
chuching said...: wow, st. scho days... kakatuwa naman that we're still in touch with our friends after all these years. sev and pia are w@wies as well no? kakatuwa pag nakikita ko names nila sa w@w. i also see christine pantanilla and tanya zurbito, i wonder if you know them?

first year HS lang tayo classmates diba? kakatuwa, kasi i never saw you after HS pero now, i see you almost everyday through your blog :); 10/31/2005 11:40:00 PM
Gayzha said...: ... just one thing, we are all getting older, and it is so sad that for some people, they keep shutting people/friends from their life, and live a solitary lonely life when they really become old...what a waste (think), when we could really be happy and enjoying life with friends... just like the photo show ... genuine smiles of friendship !; 11/01/2005 02:23:00 AM
dreaming-neko said...: darn! their all taken!
any nice single ones in the mix? :(; 11/01/2005 07:43:00 AM
duke said...: evi - true! reunions will a reunion or get together is something I am loking forward too. Grandchildren? oh my! I still can't think about it :D

angelove- I always have a smile on my face whenever I remember my past.Sometimes I wish I was 15 again! lol

sha- wow! that is something. I'm sure your friend appreciated the gesture!

It's getting cold in here as well. The worst part of it is the rain. Cold weather accompanied by rain showers---> not a good combination! gloomy gloomy days ahead!; 11/01/2005 11:50:00 AM
duke said...: K- the ever infamous Sharon Cuneta song! together with Mr. Dj (lol)

Kinky betamax tapes? hahahah kami sharing of kinky stories from the more experienced ones!

I wanted to be Wednesday Addams the Halloween ;D Stoic look.. hehehe

Ana- we also have lots of "kulit" pictures. Some of them puedeng pang blackmail. When I look at it, I just can't help but smile :D
We also get in touch through Yahoogroups but my dear friends are sometimes too lazy to reply. The easiest way for us is YM. Puro chismisan! hehehe

Kala - I concur! Distance makes the heart grow fonder. Unfortunately, for some, Distance makes the heart forget :(; 11/01/2005 12:01:00 PM
duke said...: Jayred - hello! I'm not in the pic. This was taken last Sept and I was here in Turkey that time :(

We had a lunch get together when I was in Manila around May of this year but we were not complete!

pia - hehehehe I downloaded the pic from the photos section of our yahoogroup. I miss you guys and all our quirkiness!
Before we were all so young and naive!Now we are not so young and still feeling naive! lol

Jhaya - For me, life is meant to be shared with someone ( friend and loved one alike!). It creates better memories :D

Neko- es it's a mix. two of them are single! ;); 11/01/2005 12:11:00 PM
duke said...: gracita oo nga I remember we were classmates freshman year you were in front of me and seat mate mo si Sev Calado. Yeah I saw the W@W directoy and the ppl you mentioned are members. I know Tanya Z. she was my classmate fourth year. She's now Atty. Zurbito, right?

Isn't it nice that we get to know more about each other after all these years? :D; 11/01/2005 04:47:00 PM
Teacher Sol said...: Siguro head turners kayo ng mga friends mo pag gumigimmick kayo, haha...

I miss my highschool barkada, sigh!; 11/02/2005 01:13:00 AM
dreaming-neko said...: who? :P; 11/02/2005 03:26:00 AM
Abaniko said...: pretty faces. really pretty ones!; 11/02/2005 12:02:00 PM
nixda said...: hmmm... na-feel ko tuloy ang edad ko. miss my frens too.
schade (sayang)wala ka sa foto!
iba talaga ang meaning ng friendship sa mga pinoy.
Here? aus dem auge, aus dem sinn (out of sight , out of mind).; 11/02/2005 01:23:00 PM
grace said...: photos truly aid us in surviving lonely days :) brings back fun memories that brighten our day ... kaya nga ba super click away ako whenever there's opportunity ... kasi i know i'd one day look at them and remember how good life is!; 11/04/2005 06:10:00 PM
JoobJoo said...: Sino yung apat na kasal? Sorry gusto ko lang magchismis. Si Jenyak parang timang eh hindi tumawag sa kasal niya.; 11/23/2005 07:42:00 PM

Confessions of an Expat's Wife

October 30, 2005

Girlfriends

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