Bilateral

Netnet Camomot

IN case you were reading Asean Summit news the other week, you may have come across titles such as, “‘Bilats’ are where much of the talking happens.”

For those who speak Tagalog, “belat” is kind of the short term for “Beh, buti nga.” But to the Bisaya, if President Rody Duterte were to blurt it out in one of his press conferences, it’s as bad as his usual p***ng ina.

For women, though, it’s a part of their sexual anatomy where their most beautiful and at the same time most painful experiences may occur, especially with natural childbirth.

For the Asean Summit, however, the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Nov. 11, 2017, page A8) describes it as “the ‘bilateral,’ one-on-one meetings between ministers or leaders that take place on the sidelines of meetings like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)…”

The AP piece in PDI further explains: “Bilats on the sidelines of regional meetings are significant because they allow leaders, particularly those who might have some tension between them, to meet and talk in a place where they already are.”

If only the Asean kind of bilats can also be used to remove tension between so-called friends. But if one of those friends would rather gossip about her other friends, the tension will remain.

The Pinoy who watched the live coverage of the recent Asean Summit held in Manila didn’t listen in to its bilats. Instead, he watched its grand production numbers, er, opening and closing ceremonies which made him proud of Pinoy talent—goosebumps galore while listening to Hotdog’s “Manila.”

Hotdog’s Dennis Garcia posted the “Manila” rehearsal on Facebook, and that already evoked memories of college, work, and vacations in Pinas’ capital. I don’t know if the song will entice foreigners, who have never heard of Pinas nor know where our country is, to come here, but it will always be Hotdog’s greatest gift to Pinoys or at least to Manila.

Ordinary mortals like us can only wish for someone to give us some greatest gift, but it’s said that “it’s better to give than to receive” and the Christmas season must be the best time to ponder on that.

Talk of buying gifts, SM City Cagayan de Oro had another sale last weekend. I somehow forgot about it until I was there last Friday for lunch with a friend who was also unaware of the sale and surprised to see the many shoppers there. The uptown mall hasn’t exactly lost its customers to SM CDO Downtown Premier, but a big crowd on a Friday morning is still unusual.

There was a time when another friend, who lives downtown, told me that the best supermarket to shop in is the one at SM City CDO on a Monday morning—not much shoppers and window-shoppers, enabling one to focus on his grocery list while savoring the serenity of a supermarket on the first working day of the week.

SM City CDO is now the preferred malling and eating destination for those who live and/or work uptown if they want to avoid downtown traffic, and it’s good to know that the mall will soon undergo another round of renovations to be more welcoming to uptowners.

For me, any mall with a book store is welcoming. That’s all I ask for, and SM City CDO has two—National Book Store and Booksale.

Some Cagayanons have also discovered that watching movies at SM uptown can mean having a cinema as your own home theater with no strangers to share it with. Yay! Define bliss!

Last Thursday, though, we ignored low-pressure-area blues and flood possibilities, and watched “Justice League” at Centrio.

What did I say about watching a movie downtown on a rainy day? “The one who dares to go downtown on a rainy day in Cagayan de Oro is the bravest of all.” So, we were bravest that day. Haha. And it was worth it. If there’s only one movie you’re allowing yourself to watch this year, it should be “Justice League.” Or “Wonder Woman.” Choices—argh. Well, that may change once “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is shown next month.

There was a time when I stopped watching movies. I don’t remember anymore when that was and what movies I missed. Nowadays, I check out movie skeds every week, prompting a senior-citizen friend to tease me I now belong to the SC Club. I had to ask her what that means. She replied, “Senior Citizen.”

FYI: Senior citizens can watch movies at some cinemas for free. But I have only senior moments for now, with no dual citizenship yet. White hair may show up without a moment’s notice, though, prompting frantic calls to the hairstylist and colorist. Add to that the recovering knee, whining hips, reading glasses at the tip of the nose, and we remember again Ferris Bueller’s famous line: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

The Asean Summit’s “bilats” have come and gone, shifting back our focus to the Christmas countdown as we recall how our year went, with emphasis on the “went.” Spring cleaning is still ongoing in this room with a view—there are days when the only thing I could get rid of is a piece of sh*t. Hmmm.

Now is the time to start writing a Christmas list on what you truly need—like faith, food, and that four-letter word which also starts with F.

But my Christmas gift to myself is Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.” I’ve already been following her advice on touching each item to see if it “sparks joy.” And if it does, Wheeeee!