Umang

I am proud to say that I have great friends (as many as the adversaries that I have collected through the years) and my 'Umang' friends are one of them. I am contented in saying that they will always be there when I cry for help (which is more often than never) and vice versa.

We have been friends since we were freshmen in high school and although that may not be long enough for some people (since others may probably brag about still remaining friends with their sand-box playmates up until now), in my standards however, what I have with my Umang friends is long and strong enough to withstand the blows of time. Trust me, we have been through everything --- change of jobs, losing jobs, migrating to new places, adopting new boyfriends or discarding the old ones, weddings, sexcapades (not applicable to everyone...I had to add this comment because some of the members are claiming to be virgins), frustrations...endless frustrations, hate mails, secrets, etc. Yes, we have been there. Even though we hate each other in some instances, we love each other just as much.

Why Umang? Well, it was originally 'Unicorns' (I know, I know --- sounds yucky...please point your fingers to the culprit who goes by the name of Ghedi) but we changed it to Umang after hearing a classmate mentioned the word jokingly. Umang is a Visayan term referring to tiny crabs (No, I am not referring to the vaginal disease)...literally crabs or at least tiny 'whatchamacallits' belonging to a family of crustacean which were rumored to eat shit. I don't know if this is true but it didn't really matter because it sounded better than the 'Unicorns'. (Dear friends, please do not deny that you were former members of the Unicorns club as I have proof ---- the Christmas card created by RJ before, the same one with our signatures on it).

With no further adieu, let me introduce you to the Umangs! I am quite sure you will like them. Note: I wanted to upload the funniest photos but unfortunately, the ones below are the funniest I can find that are stored in my lappy. I will try rummaging through some old pictures on December and update the photos then. I am positive that I am bound to find some interesting, candid shots hidden away in that good-old-trunk of memoires.

April. Location: Cebu City, Philippines. This girl is my best friend and she never really thought of making me hers. I just decided one day when we were Sophomores in highschool that she will officially be my bestfriend and there's nothing she can do about it. A lot of people thought that it was odd. Why? Pring (as we fondly call her) was more like an introvert in high school. She preferred quiet, little nooks where she can read books and contemplate (don't ask me, what about but I am quite certain they were important). And like her nooks, she was also well-behaved, quiet (too quiet in most times) and was someone who played by the rules. We were complete opposites. But that was then, I think our roles have shifted now. While I have mellowed to the point of becoming an old maid, she is now learning to test waters and play with fire. I need not to say more for fear of having to deal with the fury of the chinese cat lady or worst, get my throat slashed.

Ceangy. Location: Davao City, Philippines. Tall. Dark. Hands...errr...beautiful. If there was anyone in the 'kada who you can always count on for a good-old-fashioned night(day) out, it will be Ceangy. Trust me, she will be there 24/7 like a customer-service hotline, only much better. You can drag her just about anywhere in the archipelago (and hopefully abroad this June) without a single complaint as she is the type of person who goes anywhere...just as long as it's fun, fun, fun!!! She has the sunniest disposition in our group and we just hate it when she is depressed. So snap out of it already.

Icholle. Location: Davao City, Philippines. When we were in high school, she was our baby. She was not the youngest in the group (because the youngest in truth was actually Ceangy) but we thought of her as the most delicate and the most naive especially when she started flashing those dimples coupled with unguarded, supposedly innocent eyes. We thought that we needed to protect her. Now, I suppose, she is the most mature. Happily married with her own mini-me at hand, she is the perfect picture of marriage bliss. Count on her to give you the most logical advices in terms of love, life and money. Our sweet Icholle, the baby is now the mommy. Hehe.

RJ. Location: Cayman Islands. Pastels. Flowers. Candies. Skirts and dresses. Headbands. Giggles. Tote bags. Fairytales. Everything girly and cute is equivalent to RJ. If God played a prank by showering most girls with male hormones, this girl knew about it and decided to ward them off by brandishing a pink (with a shade of purple) umbrella whilst softly broadcasting "Ghedi!Ghedi!Ghedi!" She outsmarted God that day. She is also the neutral zone of the kada, likened to sugar when the coffee was too bitter or the wall between the two Germanys in the past. By not taking sides, she can provide two perspectives without even knowing it.

Rhodo. Location: St. Kitts. She is probably the only person in the group who still belong to the category: Normal. Everything about her spells sanity and while the rest of us, crawled our way into our shells to bawl over childish defeats, Rhodo is our grace under pressure. She is as stable as Mt. Everest and will not budge when she has set her mind on something. Her principle is as simple as black and white, there are no gray areas. A no is a no and if she agrees with you, you could never ask for a better ally. Watch out or she'll give you the 'pinkie'.

Patty. Location: Metro Manila, Philippines. Patty was the big sister, the 'ate' in the group. Do you hear that tiny voice in your head that gets louder when you are about to do something naughty or stupid? In simpler terms, we refer to it as our conscience. That is Pat-Pat. She ensures that we are in line and if we go beyond the boundaries, she'll be right there to set us straight. She doesn't nag or bombard you with ideologies, she just has this subtle technique of making you realize your mistakes without making you look like a fool. She, like Icholle and JenJen (who I will introduce next) will also be catching the next flight to "mmirage-land" before the year ends and there is no one else in our group who was more than ready. It's about time.

Jen-Jen. Location: Idaho, USA. This girl is the most well-traveled in the group. She has toured the continents of Europe, South/North/Central America and a bit of Africa before settling to become a full-time wife to her beloved hubby. Jen-Jen was known for her laugh. When she laughs, everyone else in the room just laughs with her. It was the kind of laugh that can be considered as a temporary respite from everything else. I like to compare her to chocolate, she can be sweet if she wants to but she can also be bitter if she needs to be. Either way, she will never fail you when you ask her for support.

Tutet. Location: Dubai, UAE. She is the perfect epithamy of a 'to-do' list. She is like a long list of things to accomplish but mind you, that list has a lot of check marks now which meant that she has fulfilled some of the items she has listed down (not everyone can do that). She has been able to accomplish most of those things without asking for our help and with nothing on her back but sheer hard work and determination. The only downside is, we have not heard from her for a long time.

Kakay. Location: Cebu City, Philippines. Do not let her skinny body mislead you into thinking that she is the weakest link in the group. She is tougher than you think and the obstacles she has gone through can attest to that. She was and will always be the wild child in the group. Further, she is not just one tough cookie but also one cool momma.