merry christmas cuervo!

cuervo got into an accident again. yes, second time, same situation. i was driving back to somerville after having picked dichi up from her apartment and was taking the backroads of summit because i figured it's the shortest way back. like any obedient driver i stopped at a red light not knowing that an idiot behind me is gonna slam her beat up toyota highlander into cuervo's rear.


now it doesn't take a genius to know that it was the toyota highlander's fault. there's no way the driver could argue her way out of this. i felt sorry for her though, because she looked frazzled and told me she just got her driver's license. tough luck. she oughtta be more careful next time, not all drivers that she would slam from behind their cars are as nice as me.

so she wanted everything settled without involving the cops and her insurance company and i told her as long as she would pay for the damages, i don't really care and she was ok with it.

so for christmas, cuervo is gonna get a brand new hard spare tire cover. he's been a good car this year. always bringing me places, keeping me close with friends, helping me do friends a favor and always bringing me home safe and sound although sometimes a little bit frazzled.

exit 0

i just remembered that even before i went with friends to nantucket, there was this long weekend that i went to cape may with joyce and iris. see, i told you i couldn't remember what i did this summer chronologically.

it was at the end of spring, early summer that we drove to the southernmost part of jersey. we had high hopes for this trip, this being the first time we are going for a longish drive. 3 hours by garden state parkway down south to exit 0. we had a nice sunny weather on our drive going there, but it was as if the weather had this devious plan to ruin our cape may weekend by sending his gloomy dark clouds and rain showers by the time we got there.


the rainy weather did not stop us from making the most of our weekend there. when the rain was pouring outside for instance, we made use of the time to swim around the heated indoor pool of the hotel which we had all to ourselves. when the sun would come up even for just a little bit, we strolled around washington street mall, looking at shops, antique stores and buying souvenir stuffs. when we got a little bit of a rain shower, we hopped on a trolley tour which took us to the usual cape may attractions or we would drive around ogling the historical bed and breakfasts which litter the whole of cape may. we also drove to sunset beach and armed with our umbrellas went to the shoreline looking for cape may diamonds.


on the second day, we headed off to the boat that would take us for our second whale watching experience. it was a nice enough deal because along with the 2 hour boat ride and whale watching tour they served us free pizza and hotdogs. the boat took us around cape may but because it wasn't the season for whales it turned out to be a dolphin watching tour. since i was on this trip with iris, it only means one thing... that this is going to turn out as a photo shoot of sorts. so while the rest of the group were inside the boat stuffing on pizza and hotdogs, we were on the top deck taking pictures like mad.






on our last day, the rain was really pouring hard, but it didn't stop us from driving over to the cape may light house and taking pictures on the top amid the whipping winds and rain. the light house is a 157 foot tower that served to guide ships along the coast and into the delaware bay since 1859. it took us 199 steps and a thousand huffs and puffs before we got to the top just to take pictures and marvel at how beautiful cape may is from a bird's eyeview and how (because of the chilling winds) were my knees shaking even if i wasn't afraid of heights.

it was a really cold, we got wet, nobody had any idea where to go next, nobody had any suggestions where they wanted to go and that is usually a surefire way to irk me. but knowing me i easily get over things like that and i am back to my usual self by the time we got to morey's piers and we were walking the boardwalk and people watching before we headed for home.

hook, line and sinker

so i agreed to go with dichi and rheza to a fishing trip that was organized by aya and her friend. i've never gone fishing in the middle of the sea before so this is gonna be a fun first for me. with only 3 hours of sleep, i drove to pick dichi up from her apartment and we drove to atlantic highlands pier really early because i was scared we wouldn't be able to locate it and i'm certain we would get lost on our way there. i was wrong. the gods of traffic and the gods of map directions joined forces that day and helped us reach the pier 2 hours early. but those two hours weren't wasted for nothing. we used it to shop and look for shorts and other stuff.

with our thirst for bargain shorts quenched, we headed off to the pier where the rest of the fisherman wannabes were waiting. soon our boat was cruising the bay heading off to where the captain thinks is a good spot for catching fish. it was a bumpy ride. we encountered big waves that created big splashes of water against the boat. dichi and i had to hie off inside the closed area where the captain drives the boat (hey, i'm not a fisherman so sue me if i don't know what that area is called!) to prevent us from getting more soaked. one of the two anchors of the boat fell off and that was a signal for the captain to stay put. in short hindi na nag-ambisyon pa ang kapitan na pumunta pa sa kalagitnaan ng laot. according to him, he isn't gonna risk it because he's got women and kids on board his ship. what a wuss! he he...


when the boat stopped everybody grabbed a fishing rod and started fishing like they do it everyday. dichi and i grabbed the ones near us pretending like we know what to do with it. the guy with a really nice body who is by the way a crew of the fishing boat probably sensed the lack of my skills and knowledge when it comes to this activity came over and taught me how to hook bait, handle the rod, cast the line and how to reel it in. he even attached the sinker himself. he could do the entire fishing gig with me just looking at him for all i care and i would be happy. but i gladly did everything he told me to do and in a few minutes i was bored to death waiting for any fish to bite. an hour later nobody on our boat caught any fish except for a few stingrays and baby sharks which the hot fishing boat guy sent flying back to sea. i got quite a scare when i felt a tug on my rod and it felt really heavy while i was reeling it in. it felt like it was giving a good fight. i was like "this is it! i'm gonna be the first one to catch a fish today." somebody had to help me maneuver the reel because it was heavy, but then the line broke and there goes my story of the one that got away.


tito leo put it in this perspective. "isipin mo kung dito nakasalalay ang pagkain ng pamilya ko, tiyak diet kami lahat." a few more hours went by with no fish in sight. we got tired of reeling in stingrays and baby sharks which we had to let go back into the water. a lot of people were feeling seasick. i felt really seasick at one point and made an ass of myself by throwing up on the boat which was witnessed by the hot fishing boat guy. just my luck huh? he was really nice by the way because he brought a bucket of water to wash off the vomit from the floor of the boat while dichi was handing me paper towels. pakauwaw lang jud ko.

i was in high spirits again at the end of the day. a nine year old kid who threw up with me on the boat saved the day for us by catching an 11 pound blue fish. they were kidding me that i would be the next one to catch a fish since me and the kid got seasick at the same time. that was the catch of the day though. when the captain called it a day, the hot fishing boat guy came over to me to help me reel the line back so he can put the rods away. i learned he is just 19 years old. he's just a baby shark.... i had to let him swim back to the ocean.