I suppose to write this note in Bahasa. In fact, I’ve already written three paragraphs before I changed my mind. If there’s person who has to read this note, it should be my Filipino friend. I don’t want them just stare at my note to look at the pictures, while I’m trying to say to the world that I have wonderful time there. So, I write this in English. It’s fine though it means I’ll write three times slower. It’s okay though it means dictionaries (yes, for Indonesia-English and English-Indonesia, and English-English) will be my best friends during the night. It doesn’t matter though it means I’ll need more coffee to keep me stay awake. Ahemm...
If you read the first note of my trip to Philippines, you’d know that I have friends there. My virtual friends; since we are connected through social networks. Thank you to Mark Zuckerberg and whoever-the-founder-of-Twitter-is to let us know each other. I don’t want to tell you how and why I met my awesome friends. It will need another note to explain it.
Anyway, what I want to tell you is the moment when I met them in person. It somehow made me excited. I would meet people that along this time just only appeared in my timeline and wall. I couldn’t wait!
Me Meets Chloe
The first friend I met was Chloe. We met in Fully Booked Gateway on Saturday at about 5 pm. She wore all black. She was there when I came to Fully Booked. I smiled when I recognized her looking at books.
“Chloe?”, I asked her.
I don’t know why I didn’t say something like ‘halo’ or ‘bonjour’ or something Filipino like ‘mabuhay’.
She turned to me, “Yeah. And you?”
I ran to airport and took the first flight to Indonesia.
That dialogue’s only written in my drama queen script. I know you know. First of all, I would never ever run to airport. I hate running. It’d make sense if I took a cab to go there. And, on that Saturday, I didn’t have more Pesos to buy ticket. I probably went to Embassy of The Republic of Indonesia in Manila and pretended to get lost, and asked them to take me home on behalf of me as Indonesian citizen. Moreover, Chloe recognized me, too =’)
And that was the beginning of the awkward moment. I wanted to shake her hand when I noticed that her right arm was bandaged. It looked hurt. So I reached her left hand, and I almost shake her left hand with my left hand. Thank you, Brain! Thank you for being so creative when I needed it the most.
I introduced her to my friend Tina. We didn’t talk much. She’s quite quiet. I asked her to join Angel, Tina, and I to have dinner, but she couldn’t. She got accident in the morning that day that made her arm bandaged. She couldn’t stay longer then.
Before leaving, she gave me gifts in pink and green bags, her favorite colours. As she walked to exit door, I realized that it was meet with Chloe herself – not the gifts – that made me happy.
Fully Booked Gateway where I met Chloe
One mission accomplished. I couldn’t wait to have dinner with Angel!
Dinner with Angel
Saturday night. It was almost 7 pm when Angel texted me. She was there in food court in Gateway. She came in time. Oh no. I always had this guilty feeling every time I came late. Or later – in this case.
Dinner with Angel was definitely different with meeting Chloe. I mean, I knew my time with Angel would be longer. We would have more conversations. That was the time when my English speaking skill’s challenged. It would be the success parameter of my English exercise every single night before I went to Philippines.
I taught myself to nod confidently or smile whenever I don’t know what to respond. Oh. At least, I had Tina with me. I could use ‘ask a friend’ option when I was clueless.
Angel wore blue t-shirt. I guess it’s her favorite colour. We met in front of KFC corner, in the middle of crowded people. Did I say something about Saturday night? No wonder this place was full of couple people.
She smiled when we met. I smiled. I shaked her hand and introduced Tina to her. Angel asked me where to eat. Burgoo. I wanted to eat there, just because my friend said that we could draw on its dining table while waiting for our meal. I thought the idea was cute.
Tina and I ordered chicken steak while Angel had Jambalaya for herself. The last time she went to Burgoo, she ordered the same menu. It must be delish! I might try that too once I come back to Philippines (- don’t ask me when). And, I liked the steak though the portion was too big to me.
Angel talked a lot. I liked it. She was nice that I felt comfortable talking to her. I made mistakes, I made her repeat the questions, I was speechless sometimes, but I enjoyed our conversation very mucho. We talked for about two hours, but I still felt like want to talk to her again. Angel gave me books and I thanked her for that =)
Before we finish our dinner, I asked Angel to say something in Tagalog. She giggled and thought it was silly, but she did it too. Months ago, I had to search through Youtube just to hear people speaking Tagalog. I was so curious with that language. During my trip in Philippines, I heard lots of people talking in Tagalog, but it must be different to hear it from a friend-that-speaks-English-to-me-all-the-time.
That was why I was excited to listen to every word she said though I didn’t understand about any single word. She explained the meaning, though. Super thanks, Angel! ;) From Burgoo, we went to giant Christmas tree in Gateway area. We took pictures there. We watched choir performance, too.
I had a great time that Saturday!
Two missions accomplished. I couldn’t wait to sing with Shiela and HardCorr Fans (HCF) friends!
Jamming with Shiela and Filipino HCF Friends
Paco Park is so Irish. Seriously. It’s green, vintage, and beautiful. I want to get married there.
.....
Skip ‘the get-married’ part. I have something more interesting to tell.
I met Shiela and Filipino HCF friends in Paco Park on Sunday afternoon. Few hours before, Tina and I were too tired that we cancelled our plan to Greenhills. After packed our bags and checked out from Eurotel Cubao, we went to Paco Park.
We came in time. Not much people there. Tina was amazed with white doves while I was amazed with the old church.
“I can stay here all day long reading a book,” I said it to Tina.
“Well... I prefer beach, actually,” She said it while busy taking pictures of the doves.
Then I saw them. Two girls with guitars. Not long after that, I saw more people with violins. Then I saw Shiela in grey shirt. I came closer to them. I felt like Indonesian HCF Ambassador that came to Filipino HCF meeting. It was official.
I know Shiela when she won HCF logo competition held by our Sharon Corr. Yep, she’s so talented. I adore her drawings. She’s one of my Facebook friends then.
When I told her about my trip to Philippines, she said Filipino HCF would gather on November 20th, when I was still there. She asked me whether I could join them.
The old me would say ‘no’.
I mean, talk to a new person could make me nervous, and now I have to talk with more people. In English. But since I learn about trying new things and meeting new people, I said ‘yes’. In fact, I was sooo excited to meet them!
There were nine Filipino HCF that I met: Lowell, Tian, AJ, Christine, Ai, Shel Beeh, Jane Sano, Patricia, and Shiela herself. They had a plan to record a video to Xmas present for The Corrs. They asked me to join =’) They had medley songs to sing: one Andrea’s song, two Sharon’s songs, and the rest was The Corrs’. The Corrs unite us all!
We started practising. I was in heaven. The Corrs Heaven Fandom. They played guitars, tin whistles, violins – playing The Corrs’ songs. They were so talented that I was glad I didn’t show them my tin whistle. Yeah, it was more than a year I had that gold-green tin whistle but I still couldn’t play it well T_T The only song I guess I could play is Lough Erin Shore. I wish I could join every gathering they held so I could learn from them.
I always dream this day. The day that I meet another HCF and sing and talk like no other band exists. Sure Indonesia has Indonesian HCF, but we never meet in person. We just share our interest in Facebook fan page. We never gather like Filipino HCF did. We never have a real project to give something for The Corrs. Or it’s just me that don’t know about our gathering?
My Filipino HCF friends were not only musically talented, but also great to befriend with. They were nice and.... nice. I felt like home when I was with them. I enjoyed my time so much that 2 hours with them was not enough.
It was 4 pm when I had to go to airport. Shiela gave me a hug. And oh, Shiela gave me her drawing! I love it!
I said goodbye to my Filipino HCF friends. They accompanied Tina and I outside Paco Park to look for a cab. When we got a cab, they told the cab driver to take us to Terminal 3 NAIA.
They waved hands. The cab ran slowly.
“Stop!”, I told the cab driver.
I jumped out of the cab.
“Tina, this is the time when you have to continue the journey without me. I stay here in Philippines. Send my best regards to Mr. Minister,” I said it with deep voice.
My wish.
All I could do was waving back at my friends.
Three missions accomplished. Time to go home.
Epilogue
Journey to airport was never this hard. Moreover, the flight destination was Indonesia, my beloved country. It shouldn’t be difficult. I looked at Manila buildings and streets and vehicles through the window cab. I wish I could stay longer.
Then a song was played in cab radio. Tina sang along with the song; ‘American Pie’ by Don McLean.
Bye-bye Miss American Pie...
Oh no, in a time like that, I didn’t need any song with ‘bye-bye’ word in it. It made me sadder =(
I wondered why it was hard to leave Philippines. I mean, I had a great time too when I was in the other countries I visited. Then I knew the answer.
I have nice friends there.
When you are in foreign country, a text from native friends asking about your day can make your day. Then they ask you about the trip, they recommend you places to visit, they offer to tour you around, they wish you good times, they want to meet you too! And simple thing like ‘Hey... I just walk passed your hotel, I’m on my way to work.’ can make you happy. Because it means that somebody knows you are there. Somebody remembers you.
I had a great time in Philippines.
Philippines treated me good.
Thank you =’)
