Books, Treats, and a Rat

One boring day in Baldwin Park about two weeks ago, I got so... bored in my lola's house so I decided to take a walk. As usual, I didn't have any clue on where to go so the first thing that came to my mind was the nearby Morgan Park. I'd planned on just walking over there and stay put for a while in one of the benches and just go people-watching. But when I rounded the corner to the park, I saw the library across the street and, ding! I decided to go there instead in the hopes of being able to go online and check my email.

When I arrived at the library, I found out there was something better--a bake and book sale! Now, where else can I find an event such as this? The prospect of buying a good book (the older, the better) that's cheap as well as yummy, gooey treats beckoned more than getting my hands on a keyboard. Baldwin Park's Friends of the Library organized this event for the benefit of the... well, the library, of course. =) As I entered the door, the baked goodies on the table greeted me first. I chatted a bit with the woman on the table and bought a brownie before entering the book sale.

Oh, there were lots of books to choose from--paperbacks, hardcovers, novels, self-help, romance, religious, children's books, and so on. It took me quite some time to choose a book, though the promo was 10 paperbacks for $1 or 15 cents if you buy just one; for hardcovers, it's only 5o cents per book or $1 for 4 unless it's individually priced. I finally chose one paperback (religious) that came from the library of a certain Mr. Charles ... (I forgot his surname but it's on the seal on the book's cover). As of now I haven't finished reading the book but it's a really good one.

Anyway, I came out with my purchase and chatted for a bit more with the baked goodies lady before finally heading for home, but not until after I bought a homemade chocolate cupcake topped with chocolate frosting and tiny sugar flowers.

You might think it weird, but as I walked home, I saw some kids going home from school and for some reason I didn't want to walk past them so I crossed the street to avoid them. *sigh of relief*

It seems that my sigh of relief was too soon, because by then there were two new kids walking towards me. It'll be too much if I cross the street again to avoid them so I walked on. I haven't so much as walked past the two guys when one of them asked me the strangest thing I've ever heard, that I didn't have the time to react:

"You want a rat?"

A Strange Dialogue

i spent the past weekend at my friend k's house in van nuys. she's one of my oldest friends--we go way back in elementary, and we attended the same schools up until college. we were also neighbors until she moved here to the US three years ago.

by the time she picked me up at the metrolink van nuys station last friday, our conversation was peppered with lots of do-you-remembers as well as newsbits about our other high school classmates. this was how it went (not verbatim, though):

k: alam mo ba na si j me asawa na't anak?
me: hindi. talaga? ilang taon na?
k: one month old pa lang. sila a, jo at m me mga anak narin. nagkikita kami palagi nga nung mga wala pa silang anak.
me: hah? grabe naman!
k: eh mga tpg boys? naalala mo me mga bansag sila sa isa't isa?
me: oo naman noh. eh kamusta nman sila?
k: kasama sila sa liga ng basketball. nagkikita-kita parin silang lahat, pero si jo wala na.
me: eh nasan na sya?
k: nasa canada na, me asawa narin. ang taba!
me: talaga? ok ah! hindi ko alam yun. dami narin pala me mga pamilya sa batch natin no?
k: oo nga! eh ikaw, me alam ka pa ba sa mga ibang classmates natin?
me: wala eh. kaw na lang magkwento.
k: wala kang alam?! eh kaw yung nasa pinas! ano na lang alam mo?
me: sorry wala talaga eh.

yeah, i really didn't know what was happening with a lot of my batchmates in high school. strange? i think not. but maybe.

=p

miss lamon goes to...

all my bags are packed
and i'm ready to go...
not yet!

coz i'm leavin' on a jet plane...
hopefully this wednesday

i don't know when i'll be back again...
maybe mid or end of may.

yeah, i'm a-leaving this wednesday (hopefully), as soon as my bags are all packed. (which i still haven't started yet)

i'll miss the sun
the cloudless sky
the beach
watering the plants
the heat... a little
walking in manila
hanging out with friends
bloghopping
online 9/5 ('',)

and among other things.

but i'll be back.

oh, yeah, i'll come back.