I Wish For 27-Hour Saturdays

Saturday came and saw us--- me and Dan--- sitting on the couch, discussing about life and everything that it has thrown on us in the past couple of weeks. For almost six hours, we just sat there reminiscing, smiling, laughing at ourselves, hoping. It had been too long since we last did this. Hours passed, and as they did, our eyes became heavier and our bodies grew tired, but we fought sleep. The spirit was very willing, and so we forced the body to cooperate.

At some point, we looked out the window. Saturday has already settled in and another visitor was coming: aurora. Finally, and unwillingly, we relented to the call of slumber.

Lunchtime. I heard a knock at the door and after quickly inspecting my phone to check the time, I opened up. It was my foster son, Jethro. He came by to pay his foster mom and foster aunt a visit before flying to Manila for his birthday. And as if that wasn't sweet enough, he brought us Korean takeout for lunch. After ringing us both at least four times each in the morning and being redirected to voicemail every single time, he figured Dan & I were gonna wake up late with no food on the table. He wanted us to start the day right, and took the initiative to start it right for us. Oh, bless! A little over half an hour later, he received a call from his biological sister. That was his cue to leave. We kissed him goodbye, wished him a happy birthday, and watched him trail off like moms sending their kid off to school.

By mid-afternoon, I was in Central with my Pink Becky and a 7-kg weekend bag. I was gonna meet up with T at Mix on Hollywood Road. That plan instantly changed when I called Enan, who was on his way out but had nowhere to go. He originally had plans for the afternoon but they were cancelled just right before I called him. I urged him to come with me to my ocular instead. "We'll go on a filed trip!," I told him excitedly. An hour and a venti serving of Caramel Macchiato later, our Saturday troop was complete and ready to go: me, T, and Enan (E to some people, actually, to one person).

As we were getting ready to face the task at hand, I received news that the upcoming photoshoot had already been called off, so there was no more need to do an ocular. We were in such a field trip mode and we didn't want to waste that. We decided to explore the Sun Yat-Sen Museum in T's neighborhood.

the wax display that scared me

Enan and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen

then it was my turn

post-its as guestbook

After accomplishing the educational pamphlet that they gave us at the museum, we decided to cap the field trip with a round of happy hour drinks at Volume. But of course, a round of drinks at happy hour means two rounds of drinks. Later on, we settled the bill and found out it was happiER hour. Joseph, the owner of Volume and a good friend of ours, gave us an even bigger discount on top of the 2-4-1 deal. Such an angel!

E & T while waiting for drinks

From V0lume, we--- all three of us--- headed to the grocery store o pick up stuff for dinner. I had brought Cabanatuan longganiza over to T's earlier in the afternoon, but I thought I needed another dish to go with it. Besides the fact that there were only 5 pieces and there were 3 of us, T wasn't really fond of pork. The second dish would be my back-up. Tinola. Chicken simmered and tenderized in garlic and ginger broth, seasoned with fish sauce, pepper and, to give it a western feel, served with broccoli. T liked them, thank God, so did E.

It was almost midnight when we finished eating.

I was pouring chardonnay into my glass when we received a call from Corky. He wanted to go out and see us, and we delightfully said yes.

By midnight, T, E, Corky and I were walking down the hill from Caine to Hollywood, excited of the night ahead, while sadly waving Saturday goodbye.

Sunday was coming, and there was no stopping her. In a few hours, I would have to detach myself from the weekend that just went by so swiftly, and prepare myself for the coming of Monday. I paused for a while and wished to the stars that Saturdays were a little longer than all other other days of the week.