Monday, March 26, 2007

H and M (Reanimated Edition, First Part)

In Yahoo Messenger:

H: May ime-meet ako mamaya sa McDonalds. Kamukha niya si LRT guy.

Me: Talaga? Saan mo nakilala.

H: Basta biglang nagtext na lang sa akin. Nag exchange na nga kami ng pictures eh.

Me: Astig. Hehe, meet rin tayo after niyo mag-eyeball.

H: Sige ba.


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The moment he agreed to a meet-up, I already knew that it will become a milestone.

Before, we have been exchanging IM messages for several months already. Two months ago, we decided to exchange numbers so we could communicate to each other on our mobile phones. Our trust for each other have further increased, allowing us to exchange friendster accounts without any reservations, revealing our true selves to one another. With such level of friendship, it's just a matter of time and reason before our lives cross in the real world.

And it happened yesterday. What started as an unplanned meeting between two guys had given way to a much larger gathering with a common friend, which we will call M. The three of us have known each other through blogging.

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When I arrived at McDonald's, H was seated at a table near the washroom. He was wearing a "green dahon" t-shirt and faded blue jeans. Just like in his friendster pic, he was fair, his body, toned and he wore glasses. Since he was late for his first meeting, his "eyeball," had apparently left him, probably because of lack of communication.

I arrived at the meeting place 15 minutes after him. We did not stay long at McDo, since I told him that another friend was waiting for us at the Enterprise. The long walk from RCBC to our new location served as an ice-breaker. While walking along the tree-lined street behind Ayala, we talked about his failed eyeball and how it was doomed from the very start (his eb doesn't have a phone.) I also told him a brief history about how I stumbled at M's blog last year.

We proceeded at the foodcourt since H hasn't eaten lunch yet. While he ordered his sandwich, I texted M to inform him that we have arrived at the Enterprise. He told us to wait - just like he promised, he will excuse himself go down to see us.

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I knew M way before H created his own trippings blog. He was known to everyone as the "naughty kid on the block," for most of his entries were about his nasty adventures with other PLU guys. Last October, I caught him online at G4M and taking this opportunity to get to know M better, I gave my face-pic without asking anything for a trade. In response to my sudden discovery of his account, he gave his face-pic as a gesture of friendship between us. From that moment on, we became regular textmates and chatmates in YM.

Since M and H were already regular chatmates too, asking M to see us was not a difficult proposal at all. After all, I've always teased him that H was his "kid brother" and they have a lot of things in common. As we were eating our late-afternoon lunch, he appeared in front of us, pormang porma with his polo barong and black slacks outfit. His tall, dark and very maangas appearance impressed us both, that H took several empty gulps first before he could finally speak to M.

Of course, there was the initial awkwardness while M talked to us. The brief pauses between topics were a sign that we needed more ice-breakers to get the conversation going, or else our friend might get tempted to return to his station. After our meal had ended, I suggested that we go down at the lobby so that M and I could smoke. Since H wasn't a yosi boy, he watched us and waited to finish our stick. The conversation went on, and it was far better than our talk at the foodcourt. However M still had work, so he excused himself and went back to his office. As for H and I, our overwhelming positive impression of M and our pleasant meeting with him became our topic when he left.

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Our conversation went by without me and H ever noticing the time. We have covered almost all topics (after M) ranging from our call-center work, our PLU beginnings, our life when we were still straight, to our plans for the future. H revealed his plans to marry someday, while I contentedly told him that I plan to become a bachelor for life. He told me that he plans to have a career change in the near future due to burnout, while I told him that I'm not seeing myself in another company because I have found my happiness working in my present job.

In between topic shifts, M and I were still texting. I told him that we were so amazed to see him, that it prevented us from leaving the spot where he left us. Impressed by our resolve to continue chatting, thus prolonging our eyeball in the process, he told us to wait for him. He would return after his work had finished.

At around 6:30, we saw M coming down from the stairs.

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-tobecontinued-

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