happy birthday to me!

i’m a sucker for celebrating special occasions in grandiose ways – be it christmas, new year, birthday, anniversary, valentine, and all other possible events that are somehow commercially manufactured by the overly enterprising society – call me stupid, but i am a willing victim.  this thesis statement is clearly magnified last 21 march 2009.  

it would be the first time for me to celebrate my birthday away from home.  annually, this momentous occasion has been a huge deal for me – i guess, after i celebrated my 7^th birthday, i did not stop commemorating the commencement of my existence thru parties with family and friends.  so as not to break the tradition, or should i say, to not feel pathetic and depressed for being in a place where the people that you would want to be with are not with you, i planned a party to start having a blast on my last year in the 20s bracket.  thanks to my ever supportive staff who have helped me in finding the best place to have dinner and drinks.  so, 3 days before the eve of the big day, i sent this “trying to be creative” casual invite to 27 agency people:

instead of partying on the day itself, i decided to hold it on the eve of my birthday so that when the clock strikes 12 midnight, i would not find myself in my quiet apartment wrapped by the cold comforter that i’m now accustomed to snuggling into.  the celebration started in a casual dining resto in senayan called “penang bistro” where we feasted over malaysian food (the roti and mango chicken were great!).  after a couple of hours, we headed to a comfy club by the lake (artificially made) named “public” where various drinks flowed – jack daniels, jose cuervo tequila, absolut raspberry, carlsberg and a whole lot more.  

then the moment came!  at exactly 12 midnight, my lovely team handed me a gift that they forced me to open and eventually wear – it was a set of indonesian national costume accompanied by a shirt which has “kutu kupret” embroidered on it – this was one of the first few bahasa indonesia terms that i learned, which apparently is a bad term (not really a curse, but more like a condescending term).  after all the laughter, the cake with candles came in and the customary “happy birthday” song was sung in unison.  yeah, it was indeed touching (for a cheesy person that i am, yes it is) – the efforts of these people to please a stranger (who sometimes makes their lives miserable at work) would really be unforgettable.  the gesture showed that i may be a filipino, but i was made to feel very welcome to embrace the culture of the country that has been a temporary home for the last 8 months (by the way, on the exact day, it was also my 8^th month in the stint that i’m currently fulfilling).  drinking, posing for photos, dancing and everything else in between ended at 3:30 in the morning.  i then found myself in bed at four in the morning.  some preliminary pics below – more to come within the week (hopefully if i’d get hold of all the photos in various cams used that night!):

 

dinner time... kailangan parang class picture!

 

kailangan tabihan ang mahihina kumain para maraming matira para sa kin! wahahaha!

 

with my very efficient dinner planner

 

chillout by the club's artificial lake

 

chatting with ton & dil

 

while being forced to open the gift!

 

while being forced to change from my usual to the indonesian costume - great idea party planner, cara!

 

in the costume with adwin & kabayan maira

 

thanks guys!

lo and behold – after only three and a half hours of sleep, i was awaken by a call from a client who wanted to arrange a meeting with the agency team at 10 in the morning – that same day which was my goddam birthday!  arggghhh!  so obviously, i had no choice but to abide by the code of client servicing.  after dragging myself to the shower, while still having a terribly heavy head – i found myself in cibubur (east jakarta which is kinda far already) to discuss with the client team.  moments passed and i have just  realized that there goes half of my birthday!  after the dreadful meeting, i decided to call home – while talking to my mom, dad, bro and sis-in-law, i suddenly felt the blues.  that was a defining moment for me – i.e. in the context of knowing what “homesick” really means.

to further heighten the melodramatic mode, i decided to pay homage to god for giving me the opportunity to wake up that morning and start another year in this so-called life.  as usual, the mass was celebrated by the local priest that i don’t really like (reason being, his sermon lacks depth, meaning and applicability).  while the greetings from family and friends back home and here flooded my mobile phone inbox and facebook wall, i can’t help but still feel a little depressed, so i ended up indulging into a retail therapy that led me to buying myself a well-deserved (yeah, a bit rationalizing now) birthday gift made by steve jobs – which i am using right at this moment (if you don’t know what it is, then go figure) – it’s one of those things that i’ve been dying to have to complete my apple collection.  did it ease my discomfort?  well, in a way yes as i found myself so damn busy playing with it the night of my birthday – such a good toy that allowed me to have some sort of a diversion.  hahahaha!

bottomline lesson learned from this experience – since i intend to retain my expat way of life, perhaps in the next 5 years still, i should mandate myself to go home on my succeeding birthdays, or at the very least, spend it with loved-ones that will make the day happier and much more meaningful – unless i want to get into grand purchases that may again be heavy in the pocket.  i’d definitely choose the former next year!  

semblance to grey’s anatomy’s usual closing scene

nasabi ko sa nakaraang entry na nakalabas ulit ako kasama ng mga batang ka-opisina para mag-clubbing noong nakaraang biyernes ng gabi. needless to say, nag-enjoy naman ako kasama silang uminom at sumayaw sa lugar na kung tawagin ay x2. kung ikukumpara ko ito sa unang club na napuntahan ko dito (embassy), mas nagustuhan ko ang x2. although pareho ang konsepto nila – very much like manila’s embassy and singapore’s ministry of sound, mas spacious ang lugar, mas maganda ang interiors at pati na rin ang composition ng crowd – mas nakakatanda ang mga nandito (mga yuppies kumbaga) at halo ang locals at foreigners.

mahigit sampu kami sa grupo at nakaktawang makitang mahilig uminom ang mga kasama ko, pero sa huli, maraming nalasing – nakatulog ang isa sa lounge sofa, ang isa naman ay kailangang yakapin ang toilet bowl para sumuka! bwahahaha! naalala ko tuloy ang mga taon nung college pa ako na na-experience ko rin ang mga ganoong sitwasyon. pero ngayon since marunong na ko uminom, lalu na sa publikong lugar, hanggang “tipsy feeling” na lang ang limitasyon ko – just had my usual glasses of double vodka tonic and bottles of any beer (heineken during that night) pampahulas.

but, the highlight of the night for me is my realization na parang nasa gitna ako ng usual huling eksena sa mga episodes ng grey’s anatomy kung saan ang mga doktor ng seattle grace hospital ay tumatambay at gumagawa ng kung anu-anong kabalbalan sa joe’s (pangalan ng bar sa show). i don’t intend to get into details (hehehe), but bottomline, it turned out to be a fun experience – i would have to say na sa sitwasyon kung nasaan ako ngayon (dayuhan sa ibang bansa), inhibitions are less and the people that you are with tend to be more accepting, welcoming and tolerant. basta, bottomline, masasabi kong i’m now “working to live and not living to work” at sa gabing yon, i was able to “work hard but party harder”, na di ko masyadong nagawa sa pinas!

ilan sa mga litratong for public viewing ay nasa ibaba, yung iba e sa akin na lang. hehehe!

blog-worthy-clubbing-story

after one month, i finally got the chance to enjoy the other side of life here in jakarta that is not work-related at all. after a busy whole day fieldwork devoted into checking out the implementation of client’s activation programs and settling some executional issues, two of my AEs (that i now refer to as friends as well), invited me to spend the night with them – clubbing.

around past eleven, we found ourselves queuing at the entrance of this place called “embassy”. yup, its name is exactly the same as that club in manila. upon entry though, i figured that it isn’t exactly the same club that is situated in the fort. the similarities – same type of music on friday nights, same set-up of having a couple of halls playing different tracks and same type of crowd (more youngish and kinda ostentatious in a way). the difference – after a couple of hours, a few grooving on the floor and two drinks (corona and tom collins), several policemen came. they practically surveyed the entire floor and brought out with them some suspicious looking party people that may possibly have with them or have taken some “you know what”. it’s not that i am guilty or i look guilty, but it was a pretty uncomfortable scene to be in, considering the fact that the basis of picking up people may be merely how they look – fortunately, my group managed to consistently project that wholesome party fun look, so we were not called upon by these men – combination of those in uniform and undercover police.

after another hour, we eventually decided to leave the place and just grab some after-party junk food over at the 24-hour burger king outlet. upon exit, another appalling scene – 3 big police trucks were outside and they were actually filled with people – the suspicious looking people that were taken out of the club. most likely, they’d be taken to the station for an interrogation and possibly a substance test. if deemed positive, we do not know then what will happen next. i asked my friends if this is a common thing and they mentioned that it was also their first time to experience such a thing! hence, it wasn’t pretty ordinary – destiny may just have brought me in the situation, probably to show me the worst case scenario of how its gonna be like if you “party” in a party.

we ended the night in this simple place for junk food where I got my usual whopper meal – dancing again after months did increase my appetite and pushed my hunger trigger to the maximum level. so the first night of my clubbing experience here ended in a fun exchange over burgers and fries while stories and thoughts were exchanged. asked my buddies if we’re doing the same thing again next week, unfortunately, it’s the start of fasting season on the first of september and such occasion isn’t actually aligned with clubbing – hence, we might possibly get into it again after lebaran – but if there are people that I’ll get the chance to hang out with again (that may not be fasting), i guess I’d be out again this weekend. hope so!

three thirty in the morning, after devouring the sandwiched beef patties and oily fries while having laughs on the side, we decided to split up and get some rest. making me realize another similarity – same pack-up time and same after-party venue – with this, it’s another reason not to greatly miss home, instead, just have a great time living “life” in this other side of the world.