Bloody Friday - Glorietta 2 Mall Explosion

It's been barely 22 hours since the Glorietta explosion and I'm still shaken from the incident.


You see, my friend invited me out for lunch yesterday, and since I was tired of eating bland cafeteria food every single day (well, except for weekends nga pala), I readily agreed. I even picked out the place, A Veneto at Glorietta 3. So, at around 12:20 in the afternoon, my friend and I were catching up on gossip over onion rings and great pasta. After having lunch, I told her I had to buy some stuff from The Face Shop. While inside, we even had to ask for directions because I forgot how to go there.

After buying my things, my friend then requested if we could go a sports store since she wanted to buy a basketball. I suggested Toby's. So, at 1:15 P.M., there we were at the ground floor of Glorietta 2 near the activity center, right where the bomb was about to explode, looking up at the establishments on the 3rd Floor, trying to locate Toby's. We couldn't find Toby's. I knew it had to be visible from the ground floor. I told my friend, maybe Toby's was directly above us, on the third floor of Glorietta 2 so we couldn't see it from where we were. So, we decided to go up.

True enough, when we were on the third floor of Glorietta 2, we were able to find Toby's. I told my friend to go there and make her purchase, while I would be browsing at the tiangge stores right outside. I was looking at the latest fashionable blouses, muttering to myself that I would never be able to pull them off. I still tried on one blouse, but to no avail. Hindi talaga bagay...shucks.

I received a text message from my friend at around 1:25 P.M., telling me that she was near Timezone waiting for me, but urging me to take my time. Immediately after I got her text, I tried to locate her. Not able to find her, I decided to call her up.

Just when the phone was ringing, I heard a very loud explosion nearby coupled with a very intense shake which felt like an Intensity 10 earthquake. I almost fell to the ground because of the impact! I felt like I was in twilight zone or something, as I watched debris falling everywhere and smoke billowing from behind. Suddenly, people were screaming and shouting and pushing me. I had no choice but to follow the crowd. I began to wonder whether my friend was safe and as I was about to call her up, I heard what seemed like another explosion. I froze for a second, terrified, not knowing where to go. At that very second, I felt terror grip my body, wondering if there were still several bombs about to go off, and wondering if we were running headlong into another bomb. I don't know how my legs were able to function but before I knew it, I was walking straight into Landmark.

Thankfully, the guards removed the table and opened the doors wide in order to receive the big crowd emanating from Glorietta 2. As I stepped into what felt like safe ground, I received a call from my friend asking me where I was. I was relieved upon hearing her voice knowing that at least she was OK. I told her I was at Landmark and not to worry about me. I called up my husband to tell him what happened. Fortunately he was just nearby and that he would pick me up immediately. I couldn't contact my friend anymore since the network (Globe) was already busy. Good thing there was no traffic in sending text messages. After texting her and knowing she was ok, and that her driver was about to pick her up, it was only at that moment that I suddenly felt relieved.

Whew! Close call indeed. Had the bomb gone off earlier or later than it did, I don't know what would have happened to us. I really thank the Lord and my Angel Raphael for bringing us back to safety. It is so sad that others were not as lucky.

My Most Expensive Pictures Ever

Caught your attention 'ei? Well, you have to read the rest of my post to understand.

18 July to 22 July 2007 saw the staging of the 2nd Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open Badminton Tournament at the Philsports Arena (formerly Ultra). My husband was able to watch it since Day 1. But since I couldn't get off work to watch the games with him, I had to content myself with watching the weekend games. The semi-finals was scheduled last Saturday, while the finals was scheduled last Sunday. I will be posting more pictures during the event in my succeeding posts.

Badminton fanatic that I am, I was able to convince my hubby to wait for the champion of the Men's Doubles event (Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia, now ranked #3 in the world) to emerge from the press conference room and have my picture taken with them. Here are the pics:

With Koo Kien Keat of Malaysia

With Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia

While my husband was busy taking these pictures, he felt someone's hand brush up his butt but took no notice of it since he wanted to appease my desire to have my picture taken with these world-class players. Immediately after taking these photos, his hand went to his pocket to check if his wallet was still there, but lo and behold...it was already gone!!! Some evil conscience-less person picked his pocket despite the presence of several police officers in the vicinity !!! Gggrrrr...I hope whoever did this rots in hell!!!!

Fortunately, my hubby was not yet able to withdraw so there was only a minimal amount of cash in his wallet. But it wasn't the money we were worried about but all the hassle of having to replace his ID, driver's license, ATM cards and credit card. Aside from anger at the person who did this, I also felt guilty because my hubby wanted to go home immediately but I convinced him to stay so that I could have pictures for posterity. Sheesh! If only we'd gone home immediately after the games. (Ang pagsisisi talagang laging nasa huli.) I should have listened to my "gut feel" telling me not to wait for these players and go home already. But I didn't listen. Instead, I persisted with the original plan. A lot of "if-only"s and "what-if"s.

So, yeah, these pictures truly are unforgettable and my most expensive pics ever. Lesson well learned indeed.

Remembering Raphael

When I got pregnant last year, I fully expected my birthday this year to be a very happy event -- I would either be holding a baby in my arms or just about to give birth.

Instead, this day proved to be one of my loneliest birthday ever because of the recent happenings in my life. I started it off by attending a mass in honor of my son Raphael. I know that my son is already an angel in heaven but I still like praying for him because it is one of the few things I can still do for him as a mother.

Hubby and I then went to Dangwa to buy flowers for him. After that, together with the rest of my family, we went to the cemetery to visit my Lola's grave where we kept the urn of Raphael. Lunch was a delicious affair by the bay as we bought various seafoods and had "paluto" in one of the restaurants nearby.

I received a lot of text messages greeting me a happy birthday but the ones which I appreciated the most were those which mentioned my son. For to remember my son is one of the greatest joys I will have as a mother.

Take a look at my yummy birthday cake which my husband ordered from Estrel's:

And of course, this is the portion I got:

"The mention of my child’s name may bring tears to my eyes,

But it never fails to bring music to my ears.

If you are really my friend, let me hear the beautiful music of his name.

It soothes my broken heart and sings to my soul.”

- Author unknown.

Road to Recovery

Last 17 November 2006, I underwent the operation to remove the cyst in my left ovary. It was successful and the baby and I are both fine. Since then, I've been slowly, but surely, recovering in the confines of our home. Rest assured that everything is OK. It was very painful during the first few days after the operation since I could not take pain-killers because of the bad effect it might have on the foetus. But I'm feeling a whole lot better now. Thank you very much for all of your prayers.

A reunion of sorts

What happens when you put together former classmates from law school together? Why, chaos, of course. Venue was Una Mas, Greenbelt 2. I even forgot to take some pictures of the food we ate because we were all so busy catching up on each other's lives. All in all, it was an evening of good food shared with good friends. Hope we can do it again soon.

Bon voyage Jeanne!

Finally!

Many of you might be wondering the reason behind my absence in the blogosphere. Don't you worry guys, I'm still alive and kicking! :-)

Let me start my post with what happened last Sunday. I accompanied by husband to the GO! Badminton Tournament held at Powersmash Makati where he paired off with Rocky Magnaye in the Open Category.

Rocky Magnaye and Jojo Mance

They both tried their best. Unfortunately, they did not win in their cateogry. Youth simply proved superior at this point. But to me guys, you're still the best!

After the tournament, I suddently realized that I was not feeling well. Aside from the hunger pangs I was experiencing, I also felt nauseated. We decided to eat at the food court in Glorietta. Suspecting something, I asked my husband to pass by the drugstore first before going home, to which he readily agreed.

So, after passing by Watson's drug store in Greenbelt 1, we immediately went home. Upon arriving home, I fell asleep from exhaustion. I woke up at 6 P.M., went to the bathroom to pee...and to administer the home pregnancy test kit that I bought at Watson's.

After performing this test for about a year, I was already used to seeing a single line in the test kit to signal that I was not yet with child. When I finally saw 2 red lines on the test strip, I cried like crazy and felt extremely happy that God has finally granted our wish -- to have a child. I immediately went to my husband and told him the good news. He was also very happy with the news and excited too.

So that's what's been happening to me guys. For the past four days, I have been swept in this wonderful feeling of euphoria. Unfortunately, it is not without its accompanying discomfort. I always feel nausea, my taste buds are askew and I've been feeling very sleepy lately. But believe me, these are sacrifices I'm willing to make for the realization of a dream. Finally!

Traffic condition last night

It was around 6:20 last night when I heard the sound of thunder. My room at the office had no windows so I had to go out of my room and peek at the next available window. Sure enough, it was raining hard. I had a hunch that if I stayed long in the office with this kind of rain, we would have difficulty going home since we live in a flood-prone area. I called up my husband to pick me up. By 7:00 P.M., we were already on our way home.

The rain suddenly stopped. So feeling confident that the water will subside, we plied the Espana route. Lo and behold, there was water everywhere and traffic stood still. Arrgghhh, we should have known. That area is really prone to flood at the first sign of rain.

See the water on the street and the
stream of people crossing the street

The people walking hurriedly by inspite of the flood,
probaly to catch the latest teleserye at home.

With the elections looming next year, I just hope that the politicians make good on their promise to improve the drainage and flood-control system, not just in Metro Manila, but nationwide. Santa, I hope you're reading this.

Oops, I almost forgot. What time did we get home? 10:20 P.M. I could hardly believe it myself. That's how bad the traffic situation was last night.