Before anything else, I’d like to extend my warmest sympathy to those deeply affected by the successive tragedies that have engulfed our country in the last few weeks.

Our prayers go out to you and your respective families.

On a lighter note, I am home. Yes, people, I’ve been home since Wednesday morning and been sick, as well. Actually, I was already feeling a bit sick two weeks ago but since a lot of people wanted to take me out (haha feeling!), I still took off every single day (and night) despite my ill condition. Yep, because I couldn’t afford to disappoint anyone of them.

See? That’s how I am with people I love -- even if I’m sick, I’ll still walk out in the rain with you. If you ask me to. Hah.

Yeah so on my last day in the Bay, Heids and I went to the mall. Heh. Would you believe we were still purchasing stuff by 4:45pm when we’re already supposed to be leaving for the airport by 6pm?!? Goodness, by the time we reached Aunt Emily’s, I was already panicking because I hadn’t finished packing yet. Argh. Due to my carelessness, I wasn’t able to fully indulge in my favorite Kare-Kare as I only finished packing by 6:30pm and we still had to travel for another 45-minutes-to-an-hour to get to the airport. And did I mention that my flight was at 8:45pm? Tsk, tsk. There goes my sense of time. Heh.

So anyway, Ate Cris, Gary, Heids and Cassie brought me to the airport and waited with me until it was time to board. This departure wasn’t as hard as we imagined it to be because we all knew we were going to see each other again soon. There were no “goodbyes” uttered. What filled the air, instead, was a bunch of “see you again real soon!” statements. It was cool because we were even pretending to cry right before we parted ways.

But honestly, even if I didn’t cry, I still felt extremely sad deep inside. Aww.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Oh okay, so as I was about to enter the plane I suddenly heard someone yell “Candiiiiice, Candiiiiice!!!” frantically. Seriously. I got surprised because I didn’t know anyone who was also flying back to Manila that night and it couldn’t possibly be any of my relatives as I was already inside the boarding area where only passengers were admitted. How strange is that? So when I finally turned towards the voice, I was shocked to discover it was Miel Yap’s! Hah. Who would’ve thought I’d have a high school classmate working for PAL San Francisco?

Coolness.

So what have I been up to ever since I got back from the States?

Let's see... Well, I’ve only gone to an Ateneo Christmas Party with my parents and been attending Simbang Gabi at different Churches (Gesú, Mt. Carmel and our Parish Church). That's about it, I think. No par-tays whatsoever... yet.

I haven’t really gone out-out coz I’ve been sick. Would you believe I actually lost my voice for a couple of days?

Sadness.

At any rate, I’m glad I have Fantone to keep me company. Woot. He’s my new best friend.