Today is the birthday of my younger brother, Richard Powell Tirol Dumagan. We call him Kuya P.R. (because R.P. are obviously the famous initials of Rebublic of the Philippines). To his friends and some relatives, he is Richard. I guess, for him, it doesn’t matter — on how people call him, as long as you don’t bluff about it.

He is biologically turning 20 today. And while there are conventional birthday celebrations, P.R. does not have any celebration today, with his family. He is attending to his SBMA Duty, in Clark, Subic. There is even no way we could contact him since cellular phones (the very least) are not allowed while they are inside the Philippines Merchant Marine Academy. Well, at least when he is aboard. We’ve tried to call him but apparently his cellular phone isn’t turned on. Instead, we left birthday greetings via sms hoping that by May 11, Monday (during his liberty), he can still receive our messages.

To my brother, Kuya P.R., Ate (and the rest of the family) is so PROUD of you! You have achieved so much already and I know you will still have much more to come. I know it. Your dedication and perseverance to survive is much more enough for you to surpass the 4-year really tough challenge in the academy. And as my birthday wish for you, I’d like to say:

I wish that your wish will come true and that you will have many candles to blow. (Yes you will have many candles to blow!)

Happy Birthday Kuya!

Yesterday, my Manigo group of friends went out for Kris Lazaro’s post-birthday and Kuya James Jimenez’s pre-birthday celebration. We were a group of six. Aside from the birthday celebrants, our younger brothers Ronald, John Glenn and Albert graced the occasion. I followed them in Barko, a videoke slash comedy slash dance bar located in the heart of Kalayaan Avenue, Quezon City. After drinking two buckets of beer, Kuya James suggested that we move to a real dance bar. He suggested that we went to Libis. I knew what he was thinking. And yes I was right. We went to Bed Room and ordered one more draft of beer. After a few minutes, another Manigoer, Rech, arrived to celebrate with us. We were all dancing in RnB and Pop grooves. We were all in our selves, grooving, unconsciously, carelessly.
By 1am, the bar closed so we had to move somewhere else. The birthday celebrants thought that the night was still young and we had to do something more. We make ‘tambay’ in the bleachers of the Eastood City, catching up with each other, sharing stories and experiences, doing the things we used to do while we were still under one roof, a year ago. There’s one thing we all shared, we missed each other’s company. We missed each other. After the storytelling lies (kidding), we went o McCafe because we had to retrieve our sanities back. We drank coffee and tasted Ronald’s order of Blueberry Cheesecake.
By 3am, we went home, the six of us, in one taxi-ride.
Until next time, Manigoers.