my mind wanders... on a thought of a green sunset

Sunday, February 19, 2006

The Prom

     This is all about the prom in my point of view. February 17, 2006.

     I woke up 8 in the morning to call on Philippe so that I could verify if we’ll stay at Manila in YMCA and swim the next day, and it wasn’t called upon, so we moved a lot of telephone sessions so that we could diversify communication.

     I thought of the date today, and remembered that it was Joshua’s (my nephew) second month here on Earth! He is currently celebrating his 2nd month in a size which he looked like an 8-month old, so his growth was rapid. ^ ^

     I got away from the house and looked for a coat rental It was useless for me to buy my own coat already because I was still growing and my body will just grown out of that coat in a year. We went to Ching’s Rentals and found a perfect fitting coat. It needed to be pressed and adjusted, so we need to return 3 in the afternoon. (The selection began on 2, so we have an hour to shop for shoes, and got my hair fixed.)

     We went to Metropolis and looked for the pair of shoes that I would use for the prom. We first got to see Gibi’s style for soft yet non-creasing leather. We looked at Otto’s and we then switched to St. James, where we bought my school shoes (if you ever saw my shoes the days beforehand, you’ll know why I buy new leather shoes when the school year nearly ends) which had a shoelace. I figured it would be better because it won’t jump off my feet when I kick. But that was not the best shoe for the prom. We went to Rusty Lopez and found some tight shoes (my mom favored theirs because it has a 20% discount) but I really liked the Gibi one. I turned out that it had a 10% discount, so it was somehow fair (oh really..).

     We rushed to Festival to get my chaotic hair a trim. I’m going to need it for the prom and the later school days because my hair has got long. Good thing they didn’t collect my ID. When we went up a floor and walked inside (go figure where I went) the stylist which my cousin and I liked because of his style vanished from there, I agreed on some other person. It took us about an hour there, before we hurried home my mom even got to buy some groceries. Oh no, the time! I was running late.

     When we reached home, my mom got my long sleeves and slacks pressed and I got to use the new shoes and black socks (this was a rare occurrence; I was used ever since I started school that I wear white). It was 5:30. And they all ate! It was no choice to grumble about, I ate too. Particularly, I didn’t eat too much, because I’d be eating there at the prom, so I just ate some bread and other stuff (I forgot.).

     We got out of the house about 6. The prom starts at 7, I thought. I live in Muntinlupa, way from the south of Manila. I am getting my coat. That would take about 15 minutes. It’s Friday! Traffic! That was my thoughts when I was it the car. We reached Ching’s and tried out the coat. Good thing it fits perfectly.

     The view of the traffic in the South Expressway was dense, and we had no choice but to go through it. Good thing it was still moving at a declarable speed. We reached the Sucat exit and towards Bicutan and we were going slower than usual, so we took the fast Skyway instead. It was 20 minutes before 7. We reached Buendia and waited for 2 long traffic lights. We turned left at Gil Puyat and encountered more traffic up to Taft. We still met more cars across Leveriza until we reached Harrison Avenue. When we reached a street whose name I forgot, we saw the entrance of the Century Park Hotel. It was nice, because I was not late even though it was already 7:20.

     I signed up when I saw Errol, Julius and Nick Paul. They were wearing ties, so I became a non-conformist. I found out that few didn’t wear ties, so I wasn’t the only one. A sigh of relief for me, I guess. I got my boutonnière fixed or corsage or some bunch of ferns and a white rose in pink ribbon, meaning I’m a junior. I entered the function room of the hotel. (Errol looked good that night. ^ ^)

     I went inside with Loraine Perez, by the way. We were talking (we became close because of the English class) and noted some people for some thing. I forgot again. Let’s skip. We found Hertz occupying three tables, 2 already full and the other one occupied by Therese (who looked very mature that night), Princess (in a tiara) and some other ghosts waiting to be replaced. Trixia came afterwards (one ghost was shooed away). The people gave the impression of being beautiful. Bea had her hair straightened, Jennifer was okay, Kamille looked much lighter and had curls, Mikhaila looked as mature as Therese and had a simpler approach on the gown. Lorraine and Leah all burst out in pink. Mark looked like a Chinese executive while Marc looked like a formal le personnel, with his hair combed backward. Russel and Roemel looked all the same. Niñowell looked awesome (a hyperbole?) and Nikolai became a star in a white coat. [All Hertz]

     The prom was first led by a prayer by Sally Gaspi, then the National Anthem and the Manila Science High School Hymn led by Kyle Ganancial and the opening remarks by Karen Perez. Then the dinner system was commenced.

     We sat at Table 18, and we were hungry, and they started with 1, 2 and so on. Imagine the time we sat. Our table is now fully occupied (one ghost was left behind) because it was occupied by the boys from Ptolemy and Emerson. Timmons looked like a rock star in a coat-jacket of light brown and black.

     After a long wait, we were called in to get up and get dinner. Loraine and I got some bread (we were on diet) and I got salad greens without the dressing, and we got some whipped cream and mango syrup which we mistaken for mango sundae, it was a setback. We got sliced meat and ham, and I got broccoli. We went to our table and laid our plates there and returned to get some egg drop soup.

     We went on to dinner. I talked to Philippe about our plan, and it was another setback, because the YMCA was fully booked and we could not continue the swimming plan. So my parents were going to wait for me there at the hotel’s lounge.

     Thea got some Padolina people for a picture in the prom. We were not that complete, but it was okay. At least we got some pictures. ^ ^ Royce sang while we were taking pictures and we passed Allan’s song. We reached Vanir and Iric’s song though. It had a problem; Karl’s accompaniment was not as loud as they planned. They just did the song.

     We also had an AVP. I was insisting its meaning as anti-viral protein, but it was an audiovisual presentation made by Kim Montejo. It flashed some videos about some questions. Most answers were scripted. Pictures were flashed later. For the Juniors, this was the alphabetical arrangement: Berzelius, Burbank, Calvin, Darwin Linnaeus, Hertz, Mendel. Ptolemy did not have pictures shown. The Seniors had few pics to flash.

     The rigodon de honor was dance composed by some juniors and seniors. It was a classic formal and almost Victorian dance. We were cheering for Roemel and Jennifer. It was a synchronized dance planned by Mrs. Carlos and Mrs. Okafor.

     After the rigodon de honor was the turn-over. I got the fortune plants from a table near Burbank. The turn-over ceremony smelled of burnt matches, you can’t blame that one, because the seniors were giving out candles. It was a short ceremony. Afterwards it was closed by Raymond Ampil. Then Matthew made us stand up.

     It’s party time!

     Now there was a stampede. The fourth years were dancing crazy, and they did not give some room for the juniors. We had to wait for the tables to be moved. Then, when the music stopped, the dancing froze, and when it was played again, they resumed dancing. It was an economic system to save energy.

     For the first hours of the party time they did happy music. Hertz was jumping all around, and Benjie and Niñowell had their dancing showdown. It was cruelty to our eyes, yet we enjoyed just the same. We did some trains and we got around all those tables (tables 19, 18, and 2). We got Mrs. Okafor to dance out with the boys of Hertz. We got a dancing adviser. ^ ^ Rutherford also had picture. I returned for the music. They did the slow music for later. I had few dances than what was compromised by other people. I got to dance with Michaelle, Angelica, Beatriz, Pia, Nica and Lorraine. I didn’t dance with Thea on the slow music, instead we did a varsovienne.

     The prince and princess were Kevin Quioge and Julie Ann Perez. It was a vote cast out by Linnaeus. ^ ^ The king’s name, I can’t remember. The queen was Jona of the Seniors. She was a known non-conformist, she wore a vampire slayer look, and she wore black. She even had dangling earrings of bats.

     For the record, the prom was becoming a Valentine’s romance central. As many realize love that night many things flew out as well. There was a presence of sadness, some weakness, anger, and tears. A lot may deal out friendship, a few may deal out love and warmth, but some had the emotions to fall back. Maybe we all need a night - just one night to realize everything we need to.

     We bought Angelica’s picture and gave it to Carlos. Philippe was trying to sell at 100 (even though it was only P60). The star of the night was Therese Aguinalde. ^ ^ It was 1 in the morning, and it was the time we need to stop and fall back through the twilight.

     It’s over. I’m hungry, and I slept through the travel. Ciao~

my mind fleeted at :12:56 pm ;