Where were you when...

...Venus Raj plucked her answer from Neptune?

Photo Courtesy of cbsnews.com

 I was surfing the net looking for beautiful streamer designs at a classmate's boarding house. The wi-fi is free and the television is far away. The sounds are barely audible you'd think the Ms. Universe pageant was broadcast through radio (with matching ek-ek-ek-zzz). I actually went there just to check. ( It is indeed a TV, albeit the video quality was deplorable.) That moment the top ten was about to be announced and I was happy (honest!) that Venus was in the top 15. Then I got tired of the long commercial breaks, so I went back to my work. After a short while the spectators raced towards my spot (which is the common area, incidentally) in hysteria. Apparently voicing out their utter disappointment, shaking each other, pounding the table and yes, holding back tears. Feigning interest I asked what happened and confirming what they said, I opened my Facebook account and found it studded with status updates that were either announcing Venus' rank or simply stating the word "major, major." Now, it has become a very hackneyed expression. (More like over, over and  pagxur oi!). I reckon Venus tried to translate bonggang-bongga to English. That is, I bet she was trying to say Wala akong bonggang bonggang problema. 

And it has become so popular. I am a major, major fan.

... the SWAT was apparently swatted?

I was at school the whole day. When I went home I passed by the ATM booth adjacent to the guardhouse at the exit of the institute where the flat screen television (Ows?) was tuned to ABS-CBN News. People were glued to it, and I tried to absorb the spectacle before my eyes. What I was able to process was " Quirino Grandstand." Then the bus, then the reporters and then the police. (Corny joke: Why did they send a SWAT team, what, is the hostage taker a fly?) Then there was Rolando Mendoza, who was a former policeman. I heard myself go, "WHAAATTT??" Afterwards, I noticed the bus was painted with Chinese or so characters. I thought they're Korean. (Say goodbye to SuJu encore concert). Later on it became clear to me, they were Chinese from HongKong. I felt morbid-- morbidly disappointed. I thought of the consequent tension in the international arena. I even thought of Venus Raj redeeming some of our sweet perfume to the nations. Then I went home. I murmured "Goodluck" in my mind.