Dancer

She braced herself for another pirouette, raising her arms and positioning them in front of her chest. As the music hits crescendo, she willed her body into a twirling motion. For a moment, she let herself get lost in the music. She wished she could pirouette her way out of this misery or shake off all of her misgivings and missteps.

And when the music ends, she found herself standing with her back erect and her feet in that dainty fourth position. For a while, she was disoriented as she eyed the dancers around her, seemingly mimicking her stance. Then it struck her, she was just another dancer... and everything is still the same. Misery, misgivings, missteps...they are still there. 

Thanks to http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/11/it-is-woman-who-pays.html and Florence and the Machine as well as to the lazy Friday afternoon.

Day two of my vacation in Iloilo was a Sunday. When I arrived in Iloilo, another cousin of mine, Ng Charina, sent me a text message to invite me to the christening of her second child, Raissa, on Sunday. So Sunday was another day spent with cousins from my mother's side.

Auntie Tel, Vinnyce, and I were supposed to go with my brother, but Gene Paolo had to go to Banate, a town north of Iloilo, for work. We didn't make it to the christening ceremony at Jaro Cathedral and just headed straight to Al Dente, where the reception was held.

Uncle Ernie (Ng Charina's father) and his family were all present, even Ernest Joe and his daughter Bea, and Erik Paul and his wife. Manang Che-che arrived late but we still had a good, long talk. Auntie Tel and I had second servings of desserts, which weren't too sweet.

After the reception, everyone was heading to SM City. I decided to just go back to Ledesco and get some sleep. I had a long nap and woke up just in time to catch the mass at St. Clement's, which wasn't that far from Gaisano City. Hehe, I wanted to see if Gaisano City is still like it was when I last went there (which was when in 2004 -- we used to frequent the place because it was the mall nearest to WVSU and the goods are cheaper there). Many of the shops that used to be at Gaisano City had already closed, I found out. Even Mister Donut. :(

Again, Manang Rhea texted and told me to join her at Smallville. I ended up standing in as one of the judges for a presentation contest in a Christmas party she was attending that night. By and by, Sis also came and so we left to wait for Manang Rhea elsewhere. There was an Afrique's branch nearby, so I finally had a chance to taste food at Afrique's (which I heard served good food).

The night ended with me, Manang Rhea, sis, and Ng Rhea's two friends at Go Mart in Smallville. We couldn't stop laughing at all the anecdotes that Manang Rhea shared.. that I didn't realize it was so late already. By the time, they took me back to Ledesco, my aunt and my cousins were all sound asleep. Hay nakakahiya, and I decided to just sleep over at Manang Rhea's.

There were a lot of things that didn't go my way on my last visit to Iloilo City in December. Nevertheless, I still had fun because I ended up having more time to hang out and catch up on with my brother and his family, my cousins, and my friends.
We were supposed to go to Nogas island as soon as I arrived in Iloilo. However, the rain wouldn't let up because of a typhoon that we decided to cancel the trip. The rest of the day was spent with my brother and his family, my cousins, and my Auntie Tel. Biboy, Melet and her kids, and Auntie Tel gave in to my request to have lunch at Tatoy's in Arevalo. I so miss Tatoy's. Everytime I go home in Iloilo City, I list Tatoy's in my itinerary but I always end up crossing off Tatoy's due to time constraints or the fact that it is closed during Holy Week. The last time I ate at Tatoys (which is famous for its roasted chicken and grilled seafoods) was during my cousin Manang Rosemarie's wedding in 1999 (?) or was it 2000. Their chicken still tasted as delicious as the last time I ate there that I ate a lot that lunch.

After lunch, we headed to SM City to meet up with Melet's sister Cherie and her son. Cherie and I always stick together when we were still living in Iloilo City. And I am glad that whenever I am in Iloilo, she always makes time to see me. We didn't stay long in the mall though as we couldn't stand the crowd. Everyone in the city seemed to be doing their Christmas shopping that day. We decided to go back to Ledesco and spend the rest of the day at home.

That night, my cousins were able to persuade their father, Uncle Boy, to drive us to Jaro to see the lights at Angelicum School. Tough luck though as the lights at Angelicum School were turned off early (I think it is only on until 730pm). My cousins remembered that Central Philippine University also has their Festival of Lights; so, we headed to CPU. The kids (Melet's Vinnyce and Vinz, and Cherie's Adi) had a lot of fun, running across the football field and ogling at the lights.

Later that night, I met up with Manang Rhea at Plazuela de Iloilo. Manang Carol, my former EIC at Forum-Dimensions, was also at Plazuela so we were able to share stories about Manong Efren (who was our layout artist then) and other things happening at WVSU. Too bad though, we didn't talk too long as Manang Rhea "dragged" me to Amular to watch her friend who will take the stage that night. Minutes later, Sis joined us and then my cousin Manong Boyet also came. I sometimes wonder what we did all those hours together, we just sat there and talked about whatever that popped into our heads and yet we ended up staying up until past 1am.