When You Live In A Haunted House…

In the spirit of Halloween, kwentuhang nakakatakot muna tayo.

Have you ever had any ghostly experiences? Like have you ever seen one? Feel one perhaps? I’m not afraid to admit that I am a big scaredy cat myself. When I was a kid (sometimes until now), the dark always frightens me. Whenever we have to pass through a dark street or go inside a dim-lit room, I walk as fast as I could or close eyes so tight as if their sealed with epoxy, afraid of whatever I might see – or what might see me – in the absence of light. Ironically, I love everything that is terrifying. I love listening to scary tales, watching horror films, reading ghost stories. I live for those things.

Luckily, I’ve never seen a ghost face to face. But I had a lot of close encounters, if you may call it. And it all happened here, right inside the walls of our house.

I cannot say that our dwelling is truly ‘haunted’. For one thing, it’s relatively new (only a few years older than me) to be one. However, it’s dead quiet most of the time. And as paranormal experts assert, hushed spots are favorite thriving spots of these eerie entities.

One afternoon, I was watching TV in my room with the doors left open. My grandmother, whose room stands adjacent to mine, went out to go to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. After a few minutes, I heard her bedroom door opened once more, and there she was again, walking in the hallway, heading towards the bathroom…

There was also one time when my cousins, my sister and I were sharing ghost stories in my room. I was about to tell a story about my aunt’s room when my sister suddenly butt in and exclaimed, “Ay oo sa kwarto ni Tita! Dati nasa kwarto ako ni kuya, ako lang mag-isa dito sa taas, tapos narinig ko yung monoblock na upuan ni Tita na gumagalaw, parang may humihila!”. That creeped me out big time. It was exactly the same story I’m about to tell them…

And just recently, we celebrated my grandmother’s brother’s 40^th day of departure to the living world. A short ‘padasal’ was held in our house but I did not even bother. That very night, I had a terrifying yet sad dream about my dead relatives (at least those whom I know). They were in a hospital, all in their deathbeds, crying, begging me for help…

In between are stories of my dead grandfather turning off the TV that was left turned on, of one of our dead relatives sitting comfortably on the sofa at midnight, of feeling a heavy weight pressed on my shoulders while sleeping, and of the infamous moth flying around our heads every November 1 and 19 (my grandfather’s death anniversary).

The weird thing is, during those moments that I experienced them, I didn’t feel scared like I thought I would be. Maybe because it really takes a while before something sinks in to me. Like my mind is just too slow or too tired to react and tell me, “Hey stupid, that’s a ghost!”

Forgive me guys for sharing this generic topic. You see, I grew up watching Are You Afraid of the Dark? and had always fancied the idea of a group of friends surrounding a bonfire, telling frightening tales to each other.

This is the new Midnight Society. Do you have any tale to share?

Extra Challenge

Busyness is next to haggardness, sabi nga ng kaibigan ko noong high school. Makailang ulit ko na ring nasabi dito sa blog na binabasa mo na sa loob ng ilang buwan ay mamartsa na sa entablado para kunin ang pinaka-mi-mithing diploma ang inyong abang lingkod. Sana lang po. Tiwala naman ako sa sarili ko na makakatapos ako, pero hindi ko lang talaga maiwasang mapraning, mangarag at magpaka-hilong talilong sa mga pinag-ga-gagawa (sana tama ang spelling) ko. Partikular na itong linggong ito. Halos hindi na naramdaman ang presensya ko sa blogosperyo dahil mismong pagtulog na ang isinisingit ko sa iskeydyul ko. Pero hindi naman lahat e paghihirap. Marami-rami rin akong natutunan sa mga nangyari sa akin nitong mga nakaraang araw. Sana lang ay tumimo at kumintal sila sa isipan ko ng mas matagal.

Enrolment

Puro pila, puro pila. Apat ang pila sa cashier. Dun ako humanay sa unang window. Nang mapansin kong mas mabilis ang pag-usad sa katabi kong pila, lakas-looob at garapalan akong umalis at nakisingit sa kaklase ko. Ang problema, ganun din ang ginawa ng iba. Oo nga’t mas mabilis ang kahera namin. Pero mas mabilis ang karma. Dahil pasimple ring nag-lipatan ang mga tao sa linyang siningitan ko, ayun, natubunan din ako. Naunahan pa akong magbayad ng kaklase kong nasa likuran ko sa unang linya.

Moral of the story: Always be faithful.

OJT

Huwebes ang itinakda kong araw ng pagha-hunting ng kumpanyang maaari akong mag-OJT. Miyerkules, iginugol ko ang buong gabi para sa paghahanda sa mga maaaring mangyari kinabukasan. Taimtim kong inaral at isinapuso ang mga dapat at hindi dapat gawin sa interbyu, pati na rin ang mga tanong na posibleng ibato sa akin. Binalak ko ring mag-review kung saka-sakaling biglang may itanong tungkol sa mga napag-aralan ko, pero tinamad ako. Sa kaba at pagod ko ay baka wala ring pumasok sa aking mumunting utak. “I can feel the pressure, it’s getting closer now…” sabi ng Paramore sa isip ko.

Kasama ang dalawa pang kaibigan, una naming pinuntahan kinaumagahan ang isang malaking ospital sa Quezon City (dahil sabi ni Jobstreet). Nangingig na inabot naming ang aming mga resume kay kuyang naka-blue at may braces at saka naghintay na tawagin para sa interbyu. Pero naghintay kami sa wala. Makalipas lang ang ilang minuto ay lumapit siya sa amin sabay sabing, “Kelan niyo pwedeng i-submit yung dalawang 1x1 picture, letter sa school na may pirma ng practicum adviser at X-ray?”

Nagtinginan kaming tatlo. Pasok na tayo? sabi ko sa isip ko. Walang effort.

Moral of the story: Believe in yourself. Wala lang.

Sa darating na Martes ay simula na ng bago kong pakikipag-sapalaran sa magulong mundo ng HR.

Badong Updated

The past two weeks have been totally different for me. And with the current flow of events, it seems that this divergence will continue on for a little while. For instance, I’ve been on idle mode doing blog-hopping or even logging in on Facebook (since some of my close friends are still gravely affected by the flooding that they have no time to go online at all). And add the case of the rotating blackouts in Metro Manila that causes me even more sleepless nights. But apparently, it’s just a phase, so they say. I’m slowly returning to my usual self again. For now, here are some quick updates sa buhay ni Badong:

Blackouts

Yes, not brownouts. One thing that I’ve learned finally is the difference between black out and brownout. I know for a fact that the former refers to total electricity outage (the one Filipinos fondly call ‘brownout’), but I never seem to know the latter’s exact definition. The case is it completely slips out of my mind once electricity recommences and I only remember it once there’s another case of brown, err, blackout. And two straight nights of complete darkness seemed to engrave the task of researching in my cranial region so now I am proud to announce that ignorance is not my best friend.

New Header

I’ve been thinking of changing my header for so long now but my friend Procrastination tells me to do it some other time. And so I didn’t object. So for a while, I let other bloggers think that my blog’s name is Sino Si Badong? rather than Bahay Ni Badong. And I actually received two awards and one nomination under that mistaken blog name. Shame. At least it didn’t make the recognitions invalid.

PBA 3

I shamelessly nominated some of my entries in the Top Ten Posts of the Year category of the third Philippine Blog Awards. Luckily, two of them qualified as finalists.

“To see my name in the lists of nominees alone is a great honor already.” – [put actor’s/actress’ name here.]

It’s actually true, those things you see and hear on TV. Before, I thought it was a tad hypocritical of those people to say that they are totally happy to not win an award. That being nominated alone is a feat to cherish already. Of course, who wouldn’t want some recognition? Who wouldn’t want to bag those trophies, those medals home with them? Are they serious?

And then being put in their own shoes makes me realize that yes, they are serious.

When I saw my posts in the list of finalists I felt sudden surge of euphoria ran thru my spine. My initial reaction was, ‘SERIOUSLY?!’ And it’s also somewhat true that once you see who you’re competing with, you wouldn’t really expect that you could win. Nakakatakot, I said to myself when I read some of the entries. All of them are so well written and some are in fact done by pro-bloggers. But, it would also make me a big hypocrite if I say that I did not hope that I could win. Optimism doesn’t hurt, you know. It attracts positive vibes, too, hehe.

But I did not win. But it’s totally OK. I admit it’s heart-breaking, as I said who wouldn’t want some recognition? But then again, it’s a start. A sign for me to do well, to do better. And it’s not about the recognitions anymore, but a task for self improvement.

By the way, another loads of thanks to Kuya Nebz of Isla de Nebz and Mar of Taympers for telling me that I am one of the finalists. I don’t visit the PBA site that often, you see.

CTRL + S

Amidst the blackouts and the awards, I learned one valuable thing: Always remember to save your work every minute. You’ll never know when MERALCO will cut your electricity.