4.25.2014

BALDE LIST

Today marks exactly one year left in my foreign posting.  Rather than look back at the past five years, I chose to look forward to some of the things I still have left for me in my final twelve months in the UK:
  • 2049 Nectar rewards points as of today I can still redeem 
  • 1825 portions of fruit and veg the NHS says I have to eat under its "5 a day" campaign
  • 1600 portions of chips and cider that I will consume and count towards my 5 a day
  • 1460 seasons (because London has four seasons in a day, get it?)



pictured: Tuesday
  • 700 LLDD-Baby viewings of Frozen  (take the "over")
  • 470 tube rides to/from work (should be closer to 480 but yet another series of tube strikes was announced today)
  • 150 trips to the grocery (including redeeming the two packs of gum my 2049 Nectar points are worth) 
  • 104 Euromillions jackpots to be won (all I need is one, baby!)
  • 60 consecutive quarters and counting of Philippine GDP growth
  • 52 rubbish collection days/discreet inspections of neighbours' porches to see whether paper or plastic will be collected that week
  • 38 Saturday nights spent on the couch watching "Match of the Day" (I regret nothing!)
  • 25 or so "Inspirational Messages" to be delivered at various Fil-Com events
  • 12 more haircuts (six if they raise prices again and/or '80s big-hair comes back like I know it will/should)
thank you, anak
  • 10 more times the Brita water filter at home needs to be changed
  • 7 days of British summer that are actually "hot" or have "sun"  
  • 6 Consular Outreach Missions and corresponding games of "Interesting Venue Roulette" 
the pub at the Isle of Man outreach is currently atop the leaderboard
  • 5 times I'll remember to change the Brita water filter (TBC) 
  • 4 Quarterly Report of Operations due for submission (eight, if you include those still pending from last year)
  • 3 people actually inspired by my messages
  • 2 more month-long "Sale" seasons
  • 0 Eurovision contests seen 
perhaps my one regret

4.20.2014

PA-FANTASY FANTASY, PAG MAY TIME...


The Good Fantasy News: I won not one but TWO public basketball leagues!!  The first one I led practically wire-to-wire.  The second one was a nail-biter that went down to the very last day and game.



 See LLDD-Baby?  Daddy was doing something important when he skipped your parent-teacher conference and ballet recitals!


The Bad Fantasy News: my flagship MetroManilaBalls league appears to be going the way of the ABA. Only five managers (and one batchmate) signed up this year, and I became the first manager in fantasy basketball history to draft Lebron with the number one pick and still manage to finish in last place.

See LLDD-Hyphen-L?  This is what happens when you schedule things like Valentine's day and Wedding Anniversaries during All-Star Weekend!


4.12.2014

ADVENTURES IN INVIOLABILITY


Well, I'm too cheap to ever turn up my home's heating, so I'm safe in that regard . . .


. . .on the other hand, my boss has already called me out once before for submitting photos of my house to our Home Office (an administrative requirement to keep track of housing allowance usage) that showed the place in a right shambles.

"Hindi mo man lang inayos ng konti bago kinunan!", said he.

Hey, if my house is ever raided, it's that same mess/pile/barricade of LLDD-Baby toys, LLDD-Hyphen-L clothes and LLDD beer cans that will buy us all time to jump out of the window and escape, so a little credit for my forward thinking please.

4.11.2014

LOOK, I LOVE A GOOD ALLITERATION AS MUCH AS THE NEXT DORKY DIPLOMAT. . .



. . . but "sizzling" for a trade and investment forum sounds a bit, shall we say, sagwa.  Among other things, the people here pronounce ASEAN "A-shan" rather than "a-SEE-an"  (plus, we associate "sizzle" with our sisig, not our surpluses).  The organizers apparently did ask my colleagues for a better title, but no one could come up with anything that captured both the "shh" and the region's successful business climate.    

Their mistake: they didn't come to me first.

"ASEAN: Fo' Shizzle"

Boom.

4.07.2014

BRITISH TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO OUR PPP RAIL PROJECTS WAS ON A SMALLER SCALE THAN ANTICIPATED . . .






 . . .but, dammit, it was FUN!!!

(I'm thoroughly enjoying the LLDD-Baby's kiddie birthday party circuit.  The parents of each new celebrant seem to be upping their game.  I fully expect to be riding a Shetland pony by June)


4.06.2014

SHEER LIGAYA


(this next post is all about a PHL-UK Rock Fauxpera)

(and I wrote it all by myself)

(no, of course not)


Sagutin mo lang ako, aking sinta'y walang humpay na ligaya,
At asahang iibigin ka, sa tanghali sa gabi at umaga

My office PC still bears the stains of the coffee I spewed out after I opened the Embassy facebook page and found this staring back at me




Holy ultramagnetic!  The Fil-Fab Four are flying to Flondon?!!! This is great!!  I didn't even know they were still together!!!  Man, I can't begin to tell you how many lonely QC-Makati commutes I had back in my Lame Lawyer days that had their infectious beats and U.P. references blaring in the background. (and "Shake Yer Head", of course, went on to become one of this blog's official anthems)  But I never got to see them live back then because I'd always have no date on a Saturday night to work on a weekend.  But now they'd be coming here, coordinating with the Embassy, and performing at a venue just  five minutes away from where I live! As the LLDD-Hyphen-L said, "imbetahan mo sila mag-merienda muna sa bahay." 


Pinaasa lang niya ako, lecheng pag-ibig 'to

All I need now is a Concert Pass and/or occasion to serve as their official Protoupie (protocol-groupie; that's an actual thing) and I'm in with the band, and they'll be, like, "wow, you're so cool pare", and I'll be all "pshh just a chill Protoupie, mate"

But no.  The weeks quickly sped by, and no instructions for me to help them ever came.  I wasn't even asked to direct traffic and deal with the angry motorists at the inevitable Abbey Road photo-op

        
Even worse, no pass to the concert was presenting itself.  Several officemates mentioned that they had or could get passes, but they all would also later tell me that they gave it to someone else or would be using it themselves.  The ONE time being the Office Concierge would have served me well, dammit!  It's the night before the concert and I still didn't have a pass -- or even the slightest glimpse of the band.  Perhaps as a sign that it just wasn't meant to be, when I head home that night, I run into these gentlemen right outside the Embassy in full force.

Their rivalry with the E-heads was Oasis/Blur-esque


'Cause I don't want to die in a poor man's, poor man's grave

"Can't you just buy a ticket, you cheapskate?" you rightfully ask.  I could but, man, those things were running at around £100 a pop.   For reference, that same amount could get you four Disney-on-Ice tickets, three London Eye rides, or two Book of Mormons.



Anak niya'y aalis na, papuntang Canada

Friday, day of the concert, still nothing.  By this point, I've resigned myself to the band leaving the UK without me ever seeing them in person, and I begin searching online for that evening's "Capt. America: Winter Soldier" screening times.


Lift your head, baby don't be scared

But wait!  I hear from an old family friend - whom I shall call "The Matrix."  And just like the movie, The Matrix's messianic message comes via a totally out-of-nowhere phone call:  I have The One (pass)!  My faith in humanity is restored!   


Rumarampa sa entablado, damit na gawa ni Sotto

Although, since the Matrix's call came late morning of a workday, I was already in office clothes/wasn't dressed in a cool leather trench coat or anything else concert-appropriate.  On the other hand, I would be very easy to spot on Bianca Gonzalez's or Rachel Anne Go's instagram pics of the event.     



Who has two thumbs and wears a machine washable M&S suit and sweater vest to a rock concert? This guy!


Hangin' with the E-heads and I'm just plain having FUN

Yes.






 ...at sila'y nag-break

Well. A 20-minute intermission was...unexpected.  House rules, says a lady who goes up to the mic.   A chance to sit down and rest, says the guy wearing a machine washable M&S suit and sweater vest who got winded and cramps jumping around like a twenty year-old fool. 


...at sila'y mag-on na uli

And they're back!  And so many hits still to go through!


Ako ngayo'y lumilipad at nasa langit na

YES




Lahat ng pangarap ko bigla lang natunaw,
Sa panaginip na lang pala kita maisasayaw

$%*!  Of all times for my camera-phone to go memory full and dead-batt, it's during the finale and singing of probably the greatest Pinoy rock ballad of all time.  Just as well, I suppose, because I can't ever get through the song's final chorus without giggling and thinking of Bubble Gang's "English Translation" of it. Everybody now: "It will get worse, get worse, get worse, get worrrrsssseeeee....." 


Umuwi na tayo, hey hey hey

Yes, but not before the Matrix helps me score some sweet souvenirs for the LLDD-Hyphen-L.   Many thanks for everyone and everything in the whole wide universe that made this all happen!



A place of wishing wells and magic spells
Where everything starts out once upon a time
Long, long ago and ends happily ever after