What a great year. If I had to rate 2012, it’d be in the top
three years of my existence. Hello. Yes, the world did not end. And we all feel
pretty shtoopid for even considering that the Mayans were accurate. Lying
bastards. Anyway, I usually start off my yearend review with the one word that
will encapsulate the whole year. This year, however, was so special and full of
randomness that it’s not right to just use one adjective to describe it. So let
me just say that 2012 was awesome and let’s all be at peace with it.
If you follow and keep waiting for fresh stories from moi, there
is something seriously wrong with you. I don’t write anymore. Last entry I did
was the 2011 review, and it’s already 2013. So let us all pretend that 2012 was
that awesome that I did not find time to document every damn thing that made it
all very memorable. Yes, I’m going to go with that.
The first half of the year was pretty steady. It was more of a
build-up to what will be the best second half of a year ever. One thing worth
mentioning is my quitting of smoking. YES, kids. I have been cigarette sober
since the last days of 2011. It was a cliché resolution for 2012, but I
freaking accomplished it. I said I was going to try to live all healthy and technically
I did. Because I stopped abruptly, without even thinking about it, people ask
how. Well, I am not ashamed to say that my intention at first was not for my
own good, but to possibly impress. But after a few weeks, which turned into
months, I was already doing it for myself. And it has been one of the things
I’ve been proud of. Now I can run, climb stairs, taste flavors better and hug
people.
Cannot really remember anything spectacular from February, but
March had a moment. It was one of those moves that I was hoping to be a
“game-changer.” First of all, it was never a game, and nothing changed. I
invested a lot. Something I never do. But I figured, what the hell, right?
Ridiculously cheesy greetings and sweet goods: Nothing. For every good intention,
there is always an equally harsh frustration. Upside: I made a friend.
Months passed and it was still pretty steady. A friend went home
from the states and slapped me with the cruel truth. TFTFZ mode. YES, kids. I laughed after knowing. A weird
reaction, they say. But somehow I already knew but you know the power of
wanting something so bad that everything else is irrelevant. What surprised me
is I didn’t even know we were friends, or at least she thought of me as one.
Whatevs. Granted I kind of lost a friend before we entered the BER months,
everything made sense after that.
I am okay. I cannot say that enough. I am okay. September came
and it was the best September ever. This one I’m sure of. Mom turned golden and
instead of a party, we decided to take a trip. I’m no traveler. I like going
places but I don’t enjoy trips. When will teleportation be available, nerds?
Hong Kong is the best country ever. Okay, that sounded biased. It’s the only
other country I’ve been to, but I had the time of my life there. Again, not
going to go into details but I have decided I want to live there. I’d fit in
perfectly. I had so much fun there that up to now I find myself daydreaming I
was walking down the streets of Nathan and eating different kinds of strange
yet heavenly dimsums. I’m no traveler but I think this trip lit up something
inside me that this year I plan to visit friends across Asia. I said plan.
The Year of the Dragon
September always takes the cake and last year’s was no
different. However, a close relative lost her battle with cancer by the end of
the month. You can call my Tita the glue that holds the Ventura clan together.
She’s also one of the best people I have ever known. And you know what they say
about genuinely good people, they go ahead of everyone. The fam is still experiencing
some grief until now but we’re making progress.
After Hong Kong, I don’t think I’ve ever had a boring weekend
since. October ain’t different. Three-peat championship for my San Beda Red
Lions. This championship may be the second sweetest in the last seven years.
Don’t ask me why, it just is. More parties and events here and there all the
way to November, where it held a party that was years in the making: the debut
of my cousin Camille. It was a night of glamour, awesomeness and loads of Camille.
December ended just a couple of days ago but it had to be the
longest, busiest but definitely fun December ever. Never-ending Christmas
parties which was kicked off the company yearend party that seriously sucked.
Sans for the hot DJ, that was a terrible party. Then there was the wedding of
my good buddy Van and his lovely wife Choy. I swear, I have never seen a couple
so happy to be married. You two should be role models for our other friends
that are already hitched and those that are planning to. It was also in their
pre-wedding party a couple of months ago that I started reinventing myself.
Well, not so much reinventing but more like reverting back to my “real self. “
Of course, next to Hong Kong, the best part of 2012 was the
homecoming of Ninang Cathy and her sons, Nicolo and Angelo, and The Return of
Iya. It’s been seven years since their last trip to our islands and 10 years
since Ninang and Nicolo’s last spent Christmas with the fam. A Very Bernabe
Holiday is what I called the last three weeks of December. Saying goodbye to
them was hard. I’m usually good with goodbyes. I always think, bah, I’ll see
you later anyways. But this time was different. I have never felt the fam this
close in years, possibly decades. It’s amazing how three short weeks defined a
lifetime of happiness for the Bernabes. I mean that. Also, I miss Angelo very
much.
A Very Bernabe Holiday
I did not get what I want last year. I got something much
better: a new lease on life. Another cliché, really? It’s 3:00 am in the
morning, what do you expect? I’m hardly coherent anymore. But it’s the truth.
The frustrations and sighs will always be there, that I’m sure of. But I will
not let it affect me anymore. I call it heart lobotomy. I’ve also taken several
risks, especially with how I look. Fam and friends may not agree with my
couture choices but, hey, let’s keep an open mind, shall we? For 2013, fucks
will only be given to those who/that are worthy. I might sound and come off as
a jerk, but what’s wrong with being one? They always get the girl and they’re rich.
For 2013, I am looking out for number one and number one alone. Lowered
expectations, less frustrations.
So far the joys and awesomeness of 2012 was carried over to the
first few weeks of 2013. I feel significantly good and I know everything is
okay. We’ll see if it will hold in the coming months as a major life-changing change is definitely
coming.
Ten hashtags of 2012: #FAMILY, #FASHION, #HEALTHY, #INVESTMENT,
#ITSOVER, #LOBOTOMY, #LOSINGONESFAITH, #MAJORBREAKUPS, #PARTYGOD, #TRAVEL.
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