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| Me on the 500 Days of Summer bench in LA |
Another trip around the sun. I’ve been writing these
birthday essays for a few years now, but this one is extra special because,
well, people say it’s a milestone. I’m not going to deny that it stings a
little now that I might have to check a different box on forms, but I guess
I’ve had years to prep for it, so it’s not like I didn’t know what was coming.
I’m not going to extol the supposed virtues of aging (especially
in a society that values youth as much ours does), but I am celebrating having
reached an age in relative good health, with family and a small group of
friends that I love dearly, and doing something I love as a profession. That
might be insignificant for some people, but to me, those are pretty huge wins.
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| Candy store in Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf |
They say that at this age, you’ve already become the person
that you’re supposed to be. In that spirit, I’ve decided to list down some
things about me to try and figure out if this person is somebody I like.
Not to be a complete narcissist, but I think I turned out
okay.
1. I like the window seat not just because I get the view,
but because I get to have a headrest when I inevitably drift off during the
flight. (Plus, I rarely ever need to go to the bathroom anyway, except when
it’s a long-haul, of course).
2. My favorite time of of the week is Sunday afternoons,
specifically at 2:30pm. I don’t know why exactly, but maybe it’s because I like
the idea of having a whole stretch of day left to do stuff and not worry so
much about the horrors that await come Monday. (That said, I don’t dislike
Mondays).
3. I like eating dark chocolate (60% to 70% is ideal) with
cold water.
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| Somewhere along the Pacific Coast Highway |
4. I’m not very adventurous when it comes to food and will
typically order the same thing on the menu every time. I’m very impressionable
though, and will usually cave given the right amount of cajoling.
5. I generally dislike confrontation and will often back
down from any sort of argument. Often I feel that expending energy over a
dispute just isn’t worth it, but that doesn’t mean I won’t stand up and fight
if I feel strongly enough about something.
6. Nothing calms me down and puts a smile on my face faster
than seeing my dogs eating and stretching.
7. I can watch Dead
Poets Society, Reality Bites, and the Before
trilogy (Sunrise, Sunset, Midnight)
over and over and over again. That all of these films star Ethan Hawke naturally
means he’s my favorite actor. Throw Gattaca
and Boyhood in there, why not?
8. I would often lurk on social media and find myself
silently passing judgment on people, but I quickly stop myself because, well,
it’s other people. If we all liked the same things and agree and disagree about
the same things, the world would be boring AF. So I just let it go and scroll
right on by. The way I see it is, I get to know a bit more about the person,
and I don’t have to engage, which is a complete waste of time anyway. (Some
would argue that social media itself is a waste of time, but that’s another
story).
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| Santa Monica Pier |
9. On long road trips, I will always volunteer to drive.
10. French fries and chips aside, I can’t eat with my hands.
I mean, I probably could, but if I can help it, I’d rather not. I dislike the
feeling of greasy and smelly hands.
11. When attending events and other social functions, I’d
like to think I’m friendly and outgoing and have no problem talking to people.
If I clam up and seem distant or aloof, it’s probably because I’m intimidated
and I’m afraid I’ll say the wrong thing and have the other person think I’m an
idiot.
12. I like nature but have trouble with creepy, crawly
insects and sea creatures. I am deathly afraid of spiders.
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| Posing in LACMA |
13. I cry at movies, TV shows, songs, and books. Sometimes
pretty easily. A sampling: when Ross and Rachel break-up (the first time), when Monica
proposes to Chandler, and when Phoebe gets married on FRIENDS; when the kid runs through the airport to see his classmate
before she flies off in Love Actually; when Aragorn tells Frodo and the other hobbits, "My friends, you bow to no one" in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; listening to “It Means Nothing” by Stereophonics, “World Spins Madly On” by The
Weepies, and “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys; when the two main characters
finally meet and share a tin can of peaches in the novel All The Light We Cannot See.
14. I like rockeoke more than videoke.
15. I think issues like global warming and climate change
are scary, and feel that powerful people and institutions—those that can
actually make a difference—aren’t doing enough about them.
16. I like reading the Wikipedia pages about World War 2,
specifically the European theater, and how and why some countries chose and
were allowed to remain neutral.
17. I don’t think I can ever be friends with anyone who
chooses Leno over Letterman. But Conan will always be god to me.
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| LA sunset |
18. I like plays more than musicals but like listening to
music more than listening to podcasts.
19. I graduated college when I was 19. That was also the
year I found the first white hair on my head. I’ve been on my own since I was
21.
20. Not being politically engaged online doesn’t mean I’m
apolitical. It just means I’d rather not engage with others online about
politics.
21. My favorite cartoon TV series growing up was Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light.
And my favorite character was Witterquick.
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| Singing while driving through the desert from LA to Las Vegas |
22. I’ve won a FRIENDS-themed
bar trivia night. Okay, I was with two other people in the team, but you get
what I’m trying to say. That’s how much I love the show.
23. Once I traveled alone by train from Singapore to
Bangkok. It took almost two days. It was fun, looking back at it now. But I
probably won’t do it again.
24. My favorite
modern author is David Mitchell, and his Cloud
Atlas is one of my favorite books.
25. The oldest thing in my room is a wooden wall sign with
my name on it that I got from Tokyo Disneyland when I was 12 years old.
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| Walking along the Las Vegas strip |
26. I used to commute from our old house in Pasay to UP
Diliman every day. The longest it took me to get home was five hours. It was
right around the time the MRT was being built.
27. As a kid, I read this book about real life mysteries and
there was an entry about Thuggee, or the acts of gangs of thieves and murderers
who lived in India. They supposedly targeted travelers and killed them by
strangling them with rope or handkerchiefs. I remember there was an
illustration in the book of one of the “thugs” strangling his victim. That
terrified me for years. I still think about it today and is one of the reasons
why I have reservations about traveling to India.
28. One of my useless talents is that I can recite the alphabet
backwards.
29. My most memorable interviews would have to be Liam
Gallagher, former Batangas Governor Tony Leviste, Injap Sia, former Senator
Gringo Honasan, and Eric Bana.
30. I took French classes at Alliance Française de Manille
in addition to nine units of it in college as an elective. I can still only
say, “Yes, I can speak a little French because the language is very hard.”
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| No filter shot of an American highway |
31. I believe what Metro Manila needs (besides an effective
plan to address traffic) is more parks and green spaces.
32. I once learned how to play Gin Blossoms’ “As Long As It
Matters” on the guitar. I can’t play it anymore.
33. I’ve seen John Mayer live three times, Damien Rice
twice, Jason Mraz seven times, and U2 twice. The only major acts on my concert
bucket list are Dave Matthews Band, Pete Yorn, and Arctic Monkeys.
34. My favorite reality TV show is The Amazing Race. I will be extremely sad if it ever gets
cancelled.
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| Bucket list check: the Grand Canyon |
35. The scariest book I’ve ever read as a kid was Agatha
Christie’s And Then There Were None (which
is also known as Ten Little Indians).
I read it in high school and got so terrified I couldn’t sleep that night and needed
my mom to comfort me.
36. I like buying souvenirs when I travel for the people I
care about.
37. I once spent the night at the Shangri-La Hotel in Paris
and drove a Ferrari in its birthplace of Maranello (at two different times, of
course). Those were the best night and day of my life.
38. One of my favorite memories growing up is my aunt taking
me and my siblings to eat at Jollibee every Sunday for lunch and then buying us
books at National Book Store.
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| Dali's The Persistence of Memory at MOMA New York |
39. I can’t wear flip-flops with jeans. I mean I probably
could, but I’d rather not.
40. It’s not perfect, but, just between you and me, I think
I’ve lived a pretty awesome life. If everything ended tomorrow, I’d be pretty
okay with where life has taken me. I think I’m right where I’m supposed to be.
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| Just me resting after a nine-hour drive |
Here's the one from 2015
The one from 2016
From 2017
And from 2018
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