Tha Christmas Gift
Som’ time in November, I dream’d up this plan of gettin’ a gift that can’t be bought in stores fo’ ma clan. [bratty bro included] I wanted som’thin’ solitary yet grand for all of us to share. But I ain’t buyin’ em no appliance no more for ma bro’s gift of hot grillin’ device last year is still collectin’ dust while ma gift of two years ago [cordless phone] had barely reach’d a year of use before they banished it to a cabinet where it is now gatherin’ its own dust. And so I came up wit tha idea of an overnight for four in a hotel. Cute. But where? Wit it bein’ a holiday and all, I started ma yellow pages-thumbin’ wit …
Holiday Inn: P3,000 for 3 persons
Ma friend liked it here…
Dusit Nikko: P3,000+ [diden quite catch it] for two kids and two adults
I remembere’d likin it here so…
Oakwood: P8,000 [Huwhaaat??] I stopp’d listenin to tha details until I heard P10,000 [double Huwhaaat??!!]
Other hotels I found…
Hyatt: P3,000 on weekends and P3,500 on weekdays [or I think tha other way around]
Mandarin Oriental: P2,900[Christmas Special]
Century Park: ? [Never got through tha 2nd operator, 1st operator transferr’d me to an endless ringing line]
Bayview: P2,460 wit buffet for two
And tha winner is… Mandarin Oriental. Tha “Christmas Special” phrase caught ma attention, plus tha operator wuz nicer to me. Tha “same price on weekends and weekdays” bit also got to me. I call’d again today & found out that tha whole thang actually costs P3,450. And so I have a date wit ma clan on tha 29th. I’m forcibly volunteerin’ brover as tha official driver. Hope I could pull it out. Hope tha ‘rents won’t protest if I start depositing em on tha car. Yeah..and I hope I could survive wit bread and water fo’ tha rest of ma days. Unless some hotel manager or any of that sort read this, take pity, and decides to gimme a discount on his hotel on tha same date.
***
After days of stalking, I fin’lly got to talk to ma thesis adviser. Probably fed up of ma harassment two days ago, he promis’d to call today. I also sent him a text message {Sir, tawag na kayo!} just to be sure. Here are bits of our conversation:
me: “Hello?”
thesis adviser: “Good afternoon, pwede po bang makausap…?” [May I speak with…]
me {interrupting}: “Hi, sir!”
thesis adviser: “O, si Sunshine na ba’to?” [Is this Sunshine?]
me: “Opo.”
thesis adviser: “O, kamusta na thesis mo? [How’s your thesis?] Merry Christmas.”
me: “Merry Christmas. Sir, kailangan po kasi may hypothesis ang thesis. Eh may naisip po sana ako...Yadda yadda yadda [I then proceeded explainin’ wut I plann’d to do wit ma thesis witout pausin’ to catch ma breath]
thesis adviser: “Ganito na lang, maghanap ka muna ng mga similar thesis ng journ tapos tingnan mo yung hypothesis nila and yung methods na ginamit tapos tsaka mo na lang ulit ako i-text. Kasi baka mabaril tayo sa defense pag hindi pala pede ang ginamit mong method.”
He actually said “tayo” as in “us”. Diden realize we’re on tha same side…that he’s on my side. All right! We’re a team!