chicken wings!

last night, clarisse, her husband dennis and i went to hooters not for the cleavages which were all around the place but for their famous chicken. i wasn't in the mood to go out that time because i still haven't caught up with my normal sleep (as if i have a normal sleeping pattern to begin with!), but since we badly needed to stock our fridge and kitchen cabinets with something that isn't canned and/or instant and because a free ride isn't something i would refuse, i went along with them.

we did our groceries first and it was like we were in a race because it was almost 8 pm and the food store employees were literally shooing us out of the store by turning most of the lights out. a couple of stops more, one at an electronic shop where dennis bought a blue tooth watchamacallit thingy and at another grocery store and we were off to hooters.

we feasted on their sample platter and an order of what they call their nearly world famous chicken wings. now it's official. their chicken has taken a spot on my list of favorites. while we were nibbling on the chicken bones, the miami heat was doing a massacre on the new jersey nets on their very own homecourt. despite the double overtime, it was clear on the giant screen tv in front of us that miami is gonna win the playoffs. theres no use in denying that.

it was a bummer they had to lose... the chicken was so great that night!

it was good to be home

and so the three weeks of sheer escapism came and went. i've been really bad with blogger lately. i know it's a sin if you've got thousands of things to blog about but you don't find the time to sit down and put all those fun and memorable times into written words. but nobody can blame me. it's been more than a year since i left the philippines and to have only three weeks to spare to be home again, that is pure torture.

anyways, i'm blogging now. so enough of the explanations. here's where i tell you how my three week vacation is not enough. it was not enough for me to fully enjoy everything that i've missed in the philippines. i was always in a hurry to accomplish my to do list. it felt like i would always run out of time. every day for the whole three weeks, there would always be old friends to meet, relatives to see, "padalas" to distribute, new eating places to try out, beaches to go to, hot weather to deal with (although i'm not sure if i missed that), foods that i truly missed to feast on, malls to wander in, pinoy dvds and other pasalubongs to hunt for and finally siblings, nephews and cousins to once again bond with. it was satisfyingly exhausting and i'm willing to go through it all again if given the chance.

however as with any other things, this too must come to an end, and it ended with me hastily packing my luggage at 3 in the morning right after my cousins, aunt and uncles went home after a videoke gathering at the house. it ended with me leaving behind my mom, sister and my nephew at the Davao City International Airport. it ended with my tatay and kuya sending me off to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. it ended with me fighting back tears while Joyce and I were wheeling our luggages inside the pre-departure area. it ended with a promise to myself that no matter how great these united states is luring me to their green pastures, i shall always come back to where i am truly home, heat wave and all.