...on my dad's birthday celeb and pacman...

My dad's birthday is today (March 19) but issues abound, we ate out last night. And you know when people don't want to take charge whenever there's an event like eating out? Well:

Me: so san tayo kain?
Ma: Kayo.
Me: Kahit san.
(Dumating si Pa)
Me: San tayo?
Pa: Kayo.
Me: Kayo. Kami kahit ano naman kinakain eh.
Pa: Kayo, ako kahit saan naman ako eh.

FYI, my dad watches his diet, and I don't know what he can or cannot eat. For the longest time I thought he can't drink alcohol, but occasionally, he grabs a bottle or two. Sometimes I thought he wouldn't eat rice, then if there's no more rice on the table, he'd ask us about it. Hence, I ask where he wanted to eat. It is HIS birthday, after all. Kun ako tanungin, ba, Don Hen, Sbarro, Friday's, Racks, Shakey's.... Dami ko masasabi. Pero ndi xa kumakain ng pasta eh. That much I know.

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Making Fun of/with the Old Man

My dad has an office sportsfest going on, that's why he's in Mandaluyong. So we go there, and my mom was asking how long it would take for them to play.

A basketball game, on TV, would normally go around 1 and a half hours. That's 12 minutes per quarter, a 2-5 minute break in between quarters, except for the halftime break which is about 20 minutes I think, and a stoppage of the clock every dead ball. But a regular tournament game would go around an hour (in the case when I headed the sportsfest, even less than an hour) because it would be running time (clock goes on except on free throws, and would stop at every dead ball only during the last 2mins of the game), and only 10 minutes for every quarter.

Ma: Ndi naman siguro abutin isang oras un laro nila no?
Me: Di yan. Ay, teka, pde pala.
Ma: Bakit?
Me: Eh, nakita ko na sila eh. Malamang un pag-time out nila hihingi pa tawad sa ref un para makapahinga pa ng onti. Tipong "Prrrt! Game!" tpos sasabihin nila "ref, teka lang, inom lang gamot tong isa namin, un isa kasi kinuha pa un dextrose nya sa kotse eh"

Kumbaga sa senior citizen eh dumidiscount pa.

We retold the story when my dad came, and he just smiled because it's almost the same thing that happened: not the meds part, but the "tawad sa ref" part after timeouts.

Then he goes on to tell us that everytime he went out of the game, this guy who wore #4 on the team kept on scoring. When he went in, he shut the guy down. And by shutting him down, that means holding on to the guy's waist as he went up for a lay-in.

Yes boys, I may not have known Rudy Distrito, but the "Destroyer" defense seems to run in the blood.

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Senior Mushiness

I'm a mushy guy. I can throw you the corniest, mushiest, cheesiest lines, which you may or may not take seriously, and it may or may not be for fun (but most of the time, it is). Anyway, this was just something I couldn't bear:

Me: Kami naman kahit san pde kumain. Eh ikaw tong magpapakain eh, dapat ikaw na pumili.
Ma: Ikaw ba papakain? Ako na...
Pa: Ndi na, ako na, binilhan mo na ko ng t-shirt eh.
Ma: Ang mahal nga ng t-shirt na un eh, Arrow pa.
Pa: Sabi naman kasi seio wag ka na bumili ng mahal eh.
Ma: Eh xempre dapat mahal, para sa mahal eh..

Punyeta. Fine, I think I used/could use that line at one point in my life. But coming from them, and knowing them the way I do, it was....Ugh.
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Aftermath

It was actually a fun night, more or less. We spent time together, anyone who talked was given the chance to share his/her complete thought, and was given a substantial reply. That rarely happens with my dad around. Him actually listening was the best part of it probably. He NEVER listens. To actually have meaningful exchanges last night made it a good night. AND I got to drive the Mazda home, despite the crappy FM transmitter that's messing up my mp3 tunes.

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Pacman

Off topic. Reading about Pacman's issues, I learned from the Inquirer that Pacman is getting into serious discussions with a "major TV network". Now with GMA and Solar tied up for Pacman's rights, it's a no-brainer that the "major TV network" in the case is ABS-CBN. On Tuesday, Inquirer came up with the story. Yesterday, Solar accuses Inquirer of defamation because they know that on their end, Pacman is "locked til 2012" and that they don't have financial issues. Then, today, it blows up that Pacman actually signed with ABS-CBN.

It seems Pacman is in the middle of another contract controversy (the other time being the Golden Boy vs Top Rank). What's up with this guy? He thinks he's too big of a star that he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants? Didn't the loss for the congressional seat enough for him to get the picture that things don't always have to go HIS way?