Twelve

It was already lunchtime yesterday, October 25, 2010, when I got to send a message to one my best buddies in town before I hit my way going to the precincts to vote on the Barangay Elections. 

Me: Heypi birthday papi jake!:) wishin u m0re blesings 2 c0me.. And all the best f0r u bestfriend! Hugs and kisses 2 u, r0ch, will0w and baby willa! Mwah! :)

Jake: Thank u bestfriend. labyu

Yes, we're talking about my forever "bestfriend ko duon" Jake. It's his birthday and the least that I can do is to greet him. Well, technically he's older by 6 days (Hey Jake! 6 days is still 6 days and whatever you say, you're older than me! Hehehehe!) Anyways, it made me think that we are 20 something years now and we have known each other for 12 years already - 5 of these were spent during our entire college days and the rest of the 7 years we have been living on our own ways. We met a couple of times in the last seven years and it seems like we only have seen each other yesterday. Since I have already given my buddy Emme the "29" treatment, I decided to give my other bestfriend Jake the "Twelve" which symbolizes the 12 years of friendship that we had. 

This is the photo that we had during our Baguio Trip. I only had two photos of me and Jake together but I looked kind of haggard on the other pic, so I chose this one. Hehehe..  It made me reminisce all those pasaway days that we had in college. PLUS this pic reminds me of the normal "Me" and "Jake". Me always nagging him and he as in shown in pic, always listening... oh well, I guess he doesn't have much of a choice. Heheehe.. Here goes my Top 12 Memorable Moments with Jake.

1. We (Badette, Janis, Cel, Kathy M., and me) used to call him Papi. Why? Because Badette noticed that he looked like Willie Revillame who was known to be called Papi during that time. I remember Jake asking us why and we told him he looked like Willie, he started complaining and Badette just said "Okay, cge.. kung ayaw mo kay Willie.. Kay William Martinez na lang.." And Jake just shook his head. I guess there's no point arguing with the Amazonas at all. Hehehehe..

2. I used to beg him to date one of seatmates who had a huge crush on him during that time. I always tell him.. "Cge na.. Kamukha naman nya si Danica di ba?".. Oh well, he didn't date her.

3. We had a classmate in a class, the guys has a new Nokia phone with camera (I forgot the model). Jake, being the ultimate usisero and tekky that he was, went to the guy and make usisa about the phone. When he came back from his seat,
     Jake: Mel, pucha, may crush sa iyo ung guy na un.. Astig!" 
     Mel: Huh?
    Jake: Ung lalaking mataba dun na may bagong Nokia na phone na may camera.. may picture mo... kinunan ka gamit ung bagong phone nya.. Sagutin mo na mukhang mayaman..
     Melai: (@_@)

4. We need to cross the street during our visit to Macky's house. Jake said "Mel, dito ka?". And I looked at him, only to find out that he wanted me to stay beside him while crossing the street, and he positioned me on the side where the cars pass by. Uber di ba?

5. On our Baguio Trip, I was already seated on our tourist bus, Jake climb inside the bus and saw me.
     Jake: Mel, tabi tayo!
     Mel: Okay. (I moved over near the window to give him space so he can sit beside me)
     Jake: Ehh.. (with a bothered look)
     Mel: Ano? (looking furious)
     Jake: Ako dyan sa may bintana?
     Mel: Ayoko nga! Dito ako eh! (With raised eyebrows) Bakit ba gusto mo sa may bintana?
     Jake: Ayoko sa may tabi ng aisle! Nahihilo ako eh! 
Evident in the picture above, you can see that JAKE won. That is because I'm mapagbigay and I'm kind to people. Hehehehe.. I guess that's why I'm talking in the picture is that I'm "lecturing" Jake on his very gentleman act, and he was actually "listening to my lecturing" unto which I think he has no other choice. Hehehe.. 
6. I remember there was one time during college that he accompanied me to the FX Terminal going to Cavite. And it was near Metropolitan Theater. It was kind of dark already and he was furious that he has to wait for a jeep in front of Metropolitan Theater to go home. He thinks its kind of spooky! 
7. Kadiri moments. During one of our overnight sessions in Macky's house in QC, we checked out a kadiri site >> www.rotten.com - which was all about corpses of famous people. I remember we checked out JFK during that time. It is also Jake and I who insists on including kadiri pics on our reports related to hypothermia and frostbites. A definite eeeewww! 
8. I introduced hit to Burger Steak with Ketchup - which I learned during my stint in Jollibee at a service crew one summer sembreak.
9. One for all! All for one! Walang iwanan! - Jake, Muymuy and I, together with Herbibay and Yeli took the risk and presented an "unusual" presentation to report SUPPLY CHAIN. Hitting the front of the room with powerpoint presentation mixing Epol Apol, Math-tinik and Bitoy's World. It's definitely one hilarious act. Jake, Muymuy and I acting as Etoy, Betong and Bebang. Herbs and I did the script and related supply chain in PATIS! Hehehe... A very memorable and so far my last acting stint... Hehehehe... 
10. We had a time after college when he had a deep problem. I called him and I had no other choice but to scream at him to make him see my point in the whole scenerio. I will not elaborate anymore but when he reads this he will know what exactly I am talking about. I am glad you are more that okay now, Jake. You deserve to be happy. 
11. It was during college days and I feel so down. 
     Jake: Mel, wag kang mag-alala! Tanungin ko ung mga groupmates ko if pede ka nila absorb?
     Mel: Pa'no pag di sila pumayag?
     Jake: Okay lng. Eh di tayo na lng magkasama. May isa pa pedeng tumulong sa tin sa project. So tatlo tayo! Kaya natin yan!
Maybe, Jake didn't know how much this means to me or maybe I wasn't able to show him how much I'm touched by that words during that time. I guess the strong bond between us is that we are willing to stick to each other not just with the good times but most of all.. those bad, bad times. 
12. He is my love guru. Most of you might think it's crazy but I tell you, he's a serious guy when we talk about "love" stuff. He gives sensible advise and is always there when I need to get a guy opinion over something (aside from Baje). He knows my lovelife pretty well (the ups and downs of it). He's the guy who I can tell everything. A very open-minded guy. As much as I make "sigaw" to him to wake him up when he's doing crazy things, he on the otherhand would like to "make my head umpog on pader", that when I do crazy, crazy things (which I do on love related issues only).




I guess 12 is just not enough since I want to share more. However, I am going to tell myself that 12 is enough for now. Most people say that it's impossible to have a pure friendship thing between a girl and a boy, a man and a woman, but whatever they say, in Jake and mine's case it is possible! He's like a brother to me, and I his long lost sister. I remember in college, we use to have same hair (as like in the picture. We almost have the same hairstyle). We were like Julio at Julio, kambal ng tadhana... and Mara Clara... hahahahaha! There was some point in time where I was afraid that Jake might not have a family (maybe not until he's 50 or mature enough.. say 49? Hehehe) but I guess he beated me to family criteria. He now has his wifey Roch (who I want to thank for loving my bestfriend unconditionally and for staying beside him through tough times and for not giving up on him... He deserves to be happy.. and thank you for making him happy! Thanks Roch! Mwah!) and his son Willow and his lovely daughter Willa! 


To you Jake, I wish you all the best! Stay happy and healthy always! Thank you for always being there for me. And you know I'll always be here for you! Happy Happy Birthday Jake! Mwah! ;)