5th

The France-Italy finals fell on a day that was quite special for both of us, so Randy made reservations at Vivere Skyline (thanks Donna, for the recommendation! It was really romantic! Luckily, I wore a dress that day, just like you said I should if I went there). The view was fantastic from the top!.. Southsuper, Alabang-Zapote Rd., Metropolis, and ATC!) I absolutely loved the food, I even got a cute toy (Randy and I could not agree on what it is…) from ordering the drink of the day. The service was also very pleasant.

We went down to the lobby at around 930pm, and went up again at around 1230am to get good seats for the game. As other guests started arriving an hour later, we of course took more pix! Once again, I experienced the thrill amongst football fanatics, and I was happy to see that Randy was genuinely enjoying himself.

And then it happened.. the infamous headbutt. Italy fans rejoiced, France fans were dejected (Randy included), but the issue was far from over. However, we had to leave because it was already Monday 6am, and we both had to go to work, smelling of smoke and without proper sleep. I was asleep half the time in the office that day, but I was happy. We even saw each other again that night to continue our “celebration”...

I was grateful to Randy for making all the special arrangements that night at Vivere.. and for letting me into “his” world…I wanted to know more about his interests as I possibly could, and it surprised me that football was not so bad after all. He said that it was not as popular as basketball here in the Philippines because our influences were mostly American and not European, and that were used to the run-and-gun game of basketball, and not yet as patient as a long game like football. No matter, basketball and football are both sports that bring together fans young and old, male and female, Filipino and other nationalities.. that even if there were losers and winners, the experience of playing the game (and watching) would be worth more lessons than anything.

sports blog

I'm not exactly a sporty type of person. One can hardly get me into a regular exercise regimen (not even Randy!! ..probably owing to my thyroid problem), and the last time I remember was PE II in UP!! However, I enjoy almost all sports as a spectator.

Basketball
I was into PBA during the height of its popularity, and my team was… you guessed it…Ginebra! Although the last time I really watched it every night was circa Bal David-Marlou Aquino. I’m getting the hang of basketball again now, because of my students competing in the UAAP and WNCAA!! We were in Araneta during the Juniors’ championship last year, where DLSZ won for the first time ever! (But Atkins lost the MVP-ship to a UPIS guy…boo!) I also try my best to watch my students (boys and girls) playing in different events and in cheerdancing.

Imagine my former students now playing for my alma mater! One of my best-loved Jr.C advisory students is now part of the women’s team in UP! Since La Salle was banned from Season 69, three of the members of last year’s champion team are now playing for UP Seniors, too. I must say they are given the breaks they deserve. I have started to become their fans! Let’s all go to their games to show our support!

Football
Not the football played in America! (which Randy so disgustedly points out!) It was only this year that I had the chance to really appreciate soccer (as some people call it). It was Randy’s “fault” actually. He is such a huge fan, that he says if he were born in another country, he would’ve been a professional football player in Europe. When my 2nd cousin who was also my student was still in high school, he was also part of the soccer team, but I watched him sometimes only.

When my cousin and his family visited from the States a few weeks ago, his Puerto Rican wife asked about standings of the FIFA World Cup, and Randy updated her. I realized that it was such a fad in other countries! Besides, the World Cup was “the most coveted cup” that happened only every four years. She was rooting for Mexico then. (in the photo, she and my cousin are at the back of my pamangkins)

Randy took me to National Sports Grill on June 30 to see the Germany-Argentina game. I thought I would sleep through it (because it would be waaaay past my bedtime, hehe), but I was wrong! The crowd of football fans was so fired up, that I felt tired only after the game ended at past 3am.

Two days after, I watched the replay of the Brazil-France game (Randy loved both teams!), where I saw for myself how amazingly talented Zidane was (and verrrrry cute, too)! As is known by now, France beat Brazil and went on to the finals, which Randy made sure we were going to watch live! (the next part deserves another entry :-))...

in loving memory of ruff

Typhoon Florita will always be memorable to me, because just as most of our fellow Filipinos in Northern Luzon were losing their property, my family lost a dear loved one… our dog for 13 years, Ruff.

Ruff was no special breed; he was an askal with the features of a golden retriever. My soon-to-be brother-in-law gave him to us in the summer of 1993. My sisters and I were so fond of him that we even invented terms that referred to him:
Jelly-jelly: the soft part right under his nose
“Lap-lap” : the sound he makes when he drinks from his dish
“EB” : short for “et-baet” which is further short for “baet-baet” which is what he is when he does not struggle loose when we hold him

He used to stay inside the house, until my first nephew was born, afterwhich my parents constructed a small shed for him in our wash area. He can move freely around it, but my mom also took him for a walk every morning minus a leash, since she was sure that Ruff will never wander away. But when she lost sight of him one day, we were so depressed when he did not show up for 24 hours! The following morning though, my mom heard scratching on our gate, and there was Ruff! She let him in, and he headed straight to the room where my sisters and I slept, and announced his presence! When we saw cuts and bruises around his jaw, we deduced that he was caught and gagged to be sold (or maybe killed and cooked!), but he freed himself and found his way back home to us! He endeared himself to us even more after that!

Ruff’s morning walks became less regular after that, though he had the chance to go out across the street during the yearly inoculation sponsored by the barangay, where he met other dogs in the neighborhood. (He even had a “book,” just like babies for their monthly checkup!) We just contented ourselves with teaching him tricks at the back of our house. He learned to jump at pieces of bread thrown at him, stand on two legs when the bread was held too high, and put his paw onto our outstretched palm at the command “shake!” He also loved being tickled on his belly! But what he couldn’t stand was the sound of firecrackers on new year’s eve! Every year, my parents would give him a bath so he could be tied up in a cozy spot inside the house until the explosions faded.

My sisters married and moved out, but Ruff stayed with us. Every time they came over, he would bark excitedly. (Actually, he would do that every time my mom came home from work, which means he would be given his dinner after a whole day of being left alone in the house.) My nephews have grown fond of him as well and have even called him “Good friend Ruff.”

So, it was sort of far from my mind that Ruff should start manifesting signs of old age: he cannot jump for bread, or see or sniff his food in the dark anymore. Furthermore, I was not quite sure how it happened, but he developed a nasty wound in his groin area, which at that age, would hardly heal anymore. My parents took turns in giving him antibiotics and treating the wound, which luckily, dried up soon after. However, one night, Randy and I were the first to reach home, and found him immobile beside his shed. It turned out that his hind legs were trapped on his platform, and he got soaked in the rain that day! We immediately removed the entangled wood, but when he still didn’t get up, I was worried that he was going to die then.

I saw him walking the next morning, but my mom said his legs were getting weaker. A few weeks after, he was no longer walking and started losing his appetite. On hindsight, I heard him whimpering the past nights because he wanted to shift position or eat, but couldn’t. My parents had to move him and clean up after him because he pooped and peed where he actually lay down! Poor Ruff… my heart bleeds…

On Tuesday, July 11, 2006, when I called home before leaving the office, my mom broke to me the sad news… Ruff had died… my dad discovered when he was about to give him some bread. When Randy and I came home that night, we went to his spot at the back of the house, and true enough, he was no longer there… We sat on the stairs and I wept…. I sobbed and Randy comforted me…

That night I was in my room, which was above Ruff’s shed, but it was eerie knowing that he was not there anymore. It was raining, and before I knew it, I was crying again… that I would no longer see his face pop up on our kitchen screen door, that I would no longer hear his panting and “footsteps,” that I would no longer smell his “doggy smell” (which I like, by the way), I would no longer be able to stroke his brown fur or hold his paw… I was very sad… I was crying because he knew that it was best that he left before the typhoon came… because he would get wet, be more sick, and he would not want to cause more trouble for everybody… I was very sad because he was helpless when he died… not even on all four legs, but down… as though beaten hard by a long-fought battle… I was so sad… so, so sad… our doggy…our Ruff… gone…forever…
I have cried other times for Ruff since then. Now, I try to look at his demise as a wake up call to move on, a challenge to be strong… after all, he has lived a full life… most of all, I look at it as a reminder that everyone around us has a role to play in our lives, they are there for a reason… God sent them to us to tell us that He loves us… and that we should always seize the chance to tell them that we love them… and not just in words… but in genuine actions, too...