Pancake House was our first meal in Manila

When she looked down from the plane,

she saw and felt home.

But when she looked up and ahead,

she saw what could be the power
to conquer anything ,anywhere.

--

This morning, I told my older sister that we should order from Pancake House. She agreed and didn't question it. She knew why.

Today marks our five years of starting a life in Metro Manila. A week before taking the evening flight here, our parents gave us an allowance to start, our aunt gave us a place to stay where we only had to pay for electricity and WiFi bills, and the both of us had ourselves, and each other, to rely on.

We had our first Manila-girl meal in Pancake House; at a branch near where I'd be having having my first-EVER job interview happening the next day. I think I ordered spaghetti and she ordered a chicken meal? Today we both ordered chicken and pork tocino meals for ourselves; clearly, we've grown up. LOL

It was nerve-wracking. We carried printed out or hand-written copies of directions and followed them to get to where we needed to be. I also accompanied her to where she'd also have her first interview.

We both landed the jobs we had those respective interviews for. Yey? Nope. Dead wrong.

Living in the metro demanded so much from us. Our time, our effort, our tolerance for each other, our patience in the office, etc.

We'd always be thankful whenever our dad visited us in between his work trips. His biggest concern was whether we've been able to go shopping for ourselves because, when I look back at it, we were still wearing the clothes we brought from Zamboanga City for a good 6 months.*

When I look at me and my sister now, I'm amazed by how much me and my sister have grown in just five years. You'd think that we've gone back as babies once we took our first steps into a career-driven path. And here we are, five years into the future.

In five years, I learned to commute, find my way around different cities, and not gasp at the price difference, especially when it came to seafood.

In five years, I was laid off once, resigned twice, fired thrice, and am currently on my sixth job. I also nabbed a few rackets here and there.

In five years, I experienced the most emotional plane rides. I think it was in January 2018 that I finally stopped tearing up whenever the plane took off for Manila.

In five years, I learned how to shop for my own groceries, clean EVERYTHING, budget, screw a light bulb, do my own laundry, manage my time, and more.

In five years, I met the most awesome people who I'm lucky to call my friends; even better that they call me  friend, too.

In five years, I've become more confident, open-minded, and aware of who I am, what type of person I've become, and what my faults are (which I don't mind having others point out in case I'm unaware of them).

In five years, I learned to be selfish, stubborn, and sassy for moral reasons.

In five years, I've grown, fought, and held my ground in some of the most challenging experiences I've ever been through. PS: My haircuts helped me out a lot. I'm hoping that I don't get any more though since they were more of a defense mechanism.

One time, while chatting with my guy best friend, Renzo, I told him that my dad raised fighters and not mothers in reference to his sideline as a breeder for fighting cocks. I'd like to believe that that's also how he and my mother raised us. If it weren't for that night that they gave us our one-month allowances, my sister and I would never be able to step out of our comfort zones.

Cheers to more years in the Metro! Here's to hoping that the pandemic leaves us alone soon and that I don't have to worry about not being able to go back home this year.**

I'm getting my job evaluation on the 15th of July so that's another thing to help commemorate my 5-year-old Manila girl self!

--
* He handed us 500 pesos each just so we can buy ourselves new clothes. HAHAHAHAHAHA
** silent sobbing