Tonyo is Tagged!

There’s no use running away by being tagged by Mong.

INSTRUCTIONS: A person who gets tagged must write in his or her blog ten weird things or habits or little known facts about himself or herself. He or she should also state this rule clearly. At the end, he or she should tag six other people, except the one who tagged him or her.

Here’s my take on being tagged:

1. I was a very active catechist as a kid. Every month of May, I’d be in church (Perpetual Help along Calamba Street, Manila) to participate in the daily flower offering. Teaching other kids how to pray the Rosary, the sacraments, and other religious stuff was a standard fare before we have this ritual of venerating Mama Mary.

2. I was a member (in fact, a secretary) of the Legion of Mary under praesiduum Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

3. I stopped school for a year. I was in Grade Three (or Four) at Notre Dame of Greater Manila in Caloocan City when I learned how to skip classes and take endless LRT rides from Monumento to Baclaran where an aunt works. I regretted it when I was caught and had lost contact with my chums there, including Domingo, Fatagani, Aves and Coronado.

4. My dad and I had a long, terrible rift when I was in second year high school. Hindi talaga kami nagpansinan ng dalawang taon. Come to think of it, it was because of a petty issue — curfews at home.

5. In 2003-2005, I worked part-time/full-time as a public relations writer. Our clients included Converse, Avia, Resensa Green Iced Tea, Fiesta Mundo, ACNielsen industry presentations, Close Up Wow! Whattamouth! , UNICEF, Chamber of Furniture Industries of the Philippines and several others.

6. I’ve had more than two dozen cellphones since my first one: a Philips Diga. I was a victim of a cellphone snatcher in Quiapo in March 2000 — the thief stole my Nokia 5110 which was quite expensive at the time.

7. I was a writer for Bro. Eddie Villanueva in the 2004 elections.

8. I hate repetitions! I hate repetitions! I hate repetitions!

9. Several times in my college years, I returned from UPLB just to find deserted “homes” because my family always moved at the time. One time, hours after I arrived from far-away Belgium, my friends and I were shocked to find our Sta. Mesa apartment deserted. They moved somewhere in Bulacan and I only knew about it days later.

10. Nahulog ako sa isang malalim na kanal noong bata pa ako. I almost lost my smallest toe on my right foot.

Next to be tagged are my friends: Teng, Ninotchka, Bryant, Loi, Andrea and Kalovski.