Friday the 13th: A "Lucky" Day

- April 13, 2012, Friday.

- I was looking forward to today, other than being my second favorite day of the week, because I knew my day was going to be packed with a lot of awesomeness despite today being a "normal" work day. I knew that despite being a Friday-the-13th, I would have an awesome day.

- Ateneo was moth-and-butterfly infested, and many cocoons have stuck themselves to anything they can stick to - lamp posts, trees, walls, stairs, ceilings - as if they don't really care about camouflaging themselves. I took a photo of some interesting ones, and I really hope I'd be able to take a picture of an emerging butterfly one of these days. What I didn't like about this "infestation" is that the walls outside the Department of Communication, where I work, became a hub for small brown moths. I'm not really fond of flying things, big or small.

- Despite the insect invasion of the school, as well as the power outrage during the early afternoon, I looked forward to meeting my Nepalese friend Dinesh, a journalist based in Kathmandu, and an MA Journalism student in our institution. I accidentally stumbled upon his blog last November while trying to look for Nepalese restaurants in Manila. While the blog did not show me what I searched for, I felt it was interesting to read about a Nepalese's experience in Manila. What surprised me was his picture with some classmates in the Ateneo cafeteria, and so I messaged him, asking of his whereabouts. He later told me that he was a student of the Asian Center for Journalism, and I told him that I worked there. We exchanged messages occasionally, until he told me that he'd be back in the country this April for his on-campus sessions; most of the classes are conducted online.

- I met Dinesh brieftly, code-shifting between Nepali and Hindi, and I knew I could've said more if he wasn't in a hurry to attend his class; he had already missed half of his class because of his arrival from the airport. I hope to see him around more while he's in the Philippines.

- I also met Kyra today; she dropped by the office again. Kyra is a batchmate and coursemate during college. She's the only coursemate-and-batchmate I sort-of-regularly see.

- After work I rushed off to Lucky Chinatown Mall (LCM) (wow, talk about "Lucky" for Friday the 13th.) I was just in time to catch Singson and Nicole as I entered the mall, and they were on their way home. We talked for a few minutes, and told me that Camille and the others were still near the cinema.

- My friend Camille will be migrating/going back to Singapore next week, and I knew I had to make it today since it may be the last time I'd see her in a long while. The rest of them had been in LCM since 1pm, and I just rushed to look for them after work. They had just finished watching a movie when I got there.
I was able to meet Camille, Thomas, Charmaine, and Julienne at the cinema, and we proceeded to Bon Chon to eat and talk.

- We went to Bon Chon after meeting up, settled down, ate, and talked. Camille gave us letters and souvenirs from her recent sidetrip to Vietnam. Funny, she was in Vietnam the same time I was. It's just that she was in Hanoi far up North, and I was in Ho Chi Minh City/ Saigon far down South.

- After Camille and Charmaine left, Thomas, Julienne, and I talked some more until around 6, when we all decided to go home. I had a lucky Friday the thirteenth, and hopefully, my luck will continue for the rest of the long weekend.