15 THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I REACH 60

In a few hours, I will be celebrating my 45th birthday. And as usual, no fanfare nor celebration is in the offing. I don't feel like preparing big banquets to celebrate my natal day. Especially if I've been doing it for the past 44 years. A simple visit to the church to thank God for another year and ask for another year of lease will do. Plus, perhaps, one special meal for me. I was thinking of chami, but I just can't get the right concoction. So 1 whole pizza will do, preferably Shakey's Garlic and Cheese and perhaps a spaghetti platter and chicken. But before I lose my track, this blog is about my earnest desire of things I want to do before I reach 60. So roughly, I have fifteen years to do all of these stuff but I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I can hit it all before d-day.


1. A VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND. I wasn't formally introduced to my religion in my younger life. All I remember is the mandatory Angelus at 6:00 pm. I wasn't educated in a Catholic school from Grade 3 to high school, so Religion is not really a required subject back then. When I entered Sacred Heart for college, I was re-introduced to my religion. I have seen various episodes of the Holy Land tour, including pictures from friends. And this gave me all the desire to visit the land where Jesus walked, lived, breathed, preached, and offered His life for our Salvation. I have always thought that when I reached the Holy Land, I am ready to die.


2. MAKE A PIZZA FROM SCRATCH. I have always loved pizza. Be it from the greasy kind toasted on makeshift oven at some corner to the authentic Italian kind. There was a time when Shakey's pantry is made of glass and you can see the chef tossing and throwing the dough up in the air. That, I want to do. But they've enclosed that part of their resto, perhaps they are hiding something now. Or their commissary is where it is all prepared. But nonetheless, I want to build my own brick oven, with real firewood for that different taste and feel. and dump all my fave toppings on my pizza. I want it topped with Chami, Kwekwek, talabing, crispy pata, andoks chicken, arroz valenciana, macaroni salad, J&J V-Cut, McDo Twister fries and a lot more. But before this blog turns into an Epic Meal episode, I have to move on.


3. WORK AT GIFT WRAPPING SECTION OF STORES. I never marvel at gifts daintily wrapped in a whole cornucopia of colors, designs and ribbons. I admire people who give extra effort in wrapping their gifts. But what delights me is to see what kind of gift is hidden inside. By being a gift wrapping personnel (or whatever they call that position), I will know its content before the gift recipient even set his hands on those gifts. I will also know who spend so much on gifts, and who is kuripot. 


4. WATCH ALL THE CLASSIC PINOY FILM. Back then when the Philippine movie industry is young, it churned out all the best movies, some of which I haven't seen. Back then movies  were raw, no special effects, superb story line and great acting. These are the movies I want to watch: Anak-Dalita, 48 Oras, Agila, Biyaya ng Lupa, Ibulong mo sa Hangin, Itim, Kundiman ng Lahi, Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag, Pagdating sa Dulo, Sawa sa Lumang Simboryo, Tinimbang ka Ngunit Kulang, Tubog sa Ginto. Most of these films are lost into oblivion, but I hope that in fifteen years, a copy will surface maybe in cyberspace.


5. A HOLIDAY FOR MY ENTIRE FAMILY. I have often dreamed of this, where the whole family up to third degree of consanguinity will tour the whole world together. It will be blast discovering new things and places with your family. It will be an event of a lifetime. And I want to change the family tradition where we only become whole when someone passes away. This time I want the reunion to be fun, fun, fun.


6-11. KNOW AND PERFECT THESE RECIPES. Some of my favorite food are those found in fast food joints. I know those of you who are health conscious will frown at me but their taste is just heavenly and "to die for" literally. However, if I have my way, I want to prepare the following food healthily: Twister Fries ( I want to know what secret is hidden behind these fries), McDo Crispy Chicken (I always wanted to know where they dredge their chicken, I tried those prepared breading and I just can't get that taste), Plaza Food Chami (this is my ultimate fave of all time, sometimes when I eat there, I get this plan to barge into their kitchen and demand for the recipe), Mang Bert's Crispy Pata (this to die for food is not only delicious but the meat is so tender you will not notice it's pork hind), Papa's Arroz Valenciana (I really miss this one, often prepared during Christmas and New Year only, I want to someday perfect this one so I can continue the tradition), Mama's Chicken Macaroni Salad (This is the only memory of how delicious my mother cooks, to this day, I am yearning for that taste. I've tasted all available macaroni salad I can get my hands and tummy on but none comes close to my mother's macaroni salad. Rumor has it that she uses her bare hands in mixing it up, owing to that distinct taste).


12. REUNITE WITH LONG LOST FRIENDS. Although Facebook already has done it in parts, what I want to do is to be physically reunited to my long lost friends. My life has been in chapters and in every chapter, I met and became close with so many people. But because of events that separated us, we never got a chance to be physically together and reminisce those bygone days. So paging all my classmate buddies in elementary, high school, college, at PCIBank, at Caltex, let's get together some time.


13. VISIT ALL THE 70+ PHILIPPINE PROVINCES. I don't want to be a stranger in my own land. Thus this is one of my obsessions. Out of the 70+ provinces, I think I have only been to less than 10. The Philippines is such a beautiful country and it pains me to only see its beauty through pictures and videos.


14.  LEARN TO PLAY AT LEAST ONE INSTRUMENT. I have always been a music lover. I cannot work well without a background music. I know I sing well (at least to my knowledge, especially when the spirit of the alcohol is hounding me), but what I want to do is play the music I want to sing. Thus, this obsession to learn to play at least one instrument has been hounding me ever since. There was a period when I want to learn to play the sax, because it sexy. Then came the guitar, but I can't memorize the keys. Then the keyboard, but I think I am tone deaf that I just cannot hit the right tune. Maybe I can just concentrate on cymbals, triangle or if I can hit the beat, the drums.


15. FIND MY OWN "HAPPY PLACE". I am always on the move, I move from place to place (courtesy of Joe Mari Chan), but I believe everyone deserves to have his own "happy place". A place where you are who you are. You can forget all the drudgery and topsy turvy that we call life. If I can only see that place, maybe I can retire there and be free of all the hustles and bustles of daily living. I was thinking of going to the Trappist Monks, once when I was 27 years old. But work again took away that interest. Perhaps that's not my happy place. But I hope that before I hit 60, that happy place is waiting for me and be treated as my permanent home and reverse the nomadic life I am enduring.