I dreamed that Dad had built a house on top of a hill. It's a grassy hill, cris-crossed by two-lane streets. Electric poles march on the ridge of the hill. At the base, to the west, is a beach, and the sea. It felt like the world was in a perpetual sunset.

It's a simple wooden house, but sturdy. There were four interconnected bedrooms, one for him ( Read more... )

I remember a better time, a happier time. A promise of a house on top of a hill. The city laid out in front of you. Dad picks us up from school and drives us to the empty lot. He walks around it, pointing at imaginary walls- this is where we'll put the garage; you'll each have your own rooms here, here and here ( Read more... )

"Bakit ka ba late ulit umuwi? Wala ka na bang respeto sakin?"

"Sorry Dad. Sinusulit ko lang ang stay ko dito."

"Ano ka ba naman kuya. Pagdating mo dun, tama na yang pinaggagawa mo. At yung savings mo, wag mo ibigay kay Mom."

"Ingatan mo si Aldrich, ha Dad. Pagpasensyahan mo na."

"Putek. Di ko maintindihan ang kapatid mong yan. Nakakasakit ng ulo. Ayaw ( Read more... )

I woke up kind of disoriented. It took me some time for me to realize that I was in Leyte, not Cebu, or Manila. Dad was already awake. He had collected Tuba from our hosts. After a light breakfast, we went on our way. We went tourist-y first, and went to the McArthur Landing, which was been turned into a beautiful, manicured park overlooking an ( Read more... )

Dad and I have never had a major Father-son bonding moment, not even during our Kab Scout camping trip back in grade school, when Dad did all the work and I played with my friends. Our relationship has been awkward at best and strained at worst. After coming out though, for some reason I began to grow more comfortable around him, and living away ( Read more... )

It's easy to earn money here, but it's also equally easy to spend it. I think I have saved up enough to hopefully buy a digital camera soon. Otherwise, I'm trying to spend as little and save enough so I can go back home. Everyone calls me Adrian here. Not AD. Because AD is not here. AD was left behind in Kalayaan.

Mom confided to me that she left ( Read more... )

Our cousins dropped by to give a small despedida while I was still packing. I don't know If I overpacked; maybe I did bring a lot of unnecessary stuff, such as my books. They brought pizza and we talked a little, and hugged and exchanged goodbyes. At midnight on March 15, I took a quite 1-hour nap before preparing for the flight.

I could not ( Read more... )

I forgot to mention that ever since a couple of years ago, our Mom has been petitioning us to join her in the US. Of course, up until this time I've considered it as one of her many empty promises. She has been telling us about her taking us to the States since we were little, since she left.

The US (and any other foreign country, for that matter) ( Read more... )