NEW FELLOWSHIP (The out of nowhere version 2.0)

A world without friends to count on is like an isolated forest without wild animals. Yes, friends are like wild animals. They live by their own lives but they come to protect themselves from any harm or whatsoever. Whatever the type of flock they are into, they strive to survive by any means. Well anyways, I'm not going to tackle wild animals at this point, FOR REAL. I can only consider them such; a metaphor perhaps. Friends of the same feather, are the same people. We probably have different attitudes, virtues, point of views and even ambitions in life, thus; we create the same scenes.

(Photo taken during dance performance shoot last October 10, 2018)

The BEGINning

SAMALIAN REVIVAL GROUP - the name of a private FB group that gathers members only around Samal City. Though others are not literally living in the city at the current time; they are born Samaleños (people who lived in Samal.) This group has a lot to offer. There are games, competitions and even charities. There are several people who I already knew personally that are also members of the group. It is so fascinating that a group like this do exist. It is my first time to encounter an FB group which I consider, a one-of-a-kind.

This is where my journey with these people (see photo above) started. I actually knew them personally by name and by blood as well. My cousin, Clovel Joy Saga or should I say "KAKAY" (in which she is normally called by some), invited me to this group to like her son's entries on that contest I first witnessed upon joining. (A little trivia: Her mother and my father are siblings) From then on, I started to observe what it really feels like to be part of the said congregation. And then I started commenting and joining the attendance section. There, I found out that few of my relatives are in the same atmosphere.

To mention first, I noticed Princess Apul Ragudo (my second cousin.) What makes her my second cousin is my father and his mother are first cousins. Well, to be honest, we only knew "hi" and "hello" as a greeting by then. I didn't even know what was happening in her life. And slowly, it came to my knowledge that she is a kind of person that makes the "first impression lasts" thingy vanished. Here's the thing, I looked at her as a "maarte" kind of girl. Oops... Ahhmmm... Okay, that's true anyway. Not the maarte thing but the first impression that is. You know, we already had this stereotype of looking a girl by the appearance and how they act. But that didn't describe her that much. She's beautiful. Not just the outside but also in the inside. And yes, that's the truth. You can never tell what kind of a woman she is when you don't dig deeper.

And then, I noticed Mia Quidato. (She was Quidato and that's all I know. Please don't mess up with me. Lol) One of my beautiful and talented second cousins as well. (Second cousin? Am I not mistaken? Please comment down. We're relatives and that's the most important. Lol) And whoooaaa... Don't go wrong with this lady because in a little miscarriage of your words that might catch her attention, you'll be getting into her nerves. Practically speaking, Mia is a candid, straightforward and a woman of principle. She stands on what she believe is right. We didn't know that much of ourselves as well. And thanks to this group, I got to know her better.

Lastly, these two ladies who I already knew since elementary namely, Rhona Lafuente and Karen Joy Guiritan. We already had prior bonding even before we became members of this group. To mention a few is our first and last batch reunion. That seemed funny right? (Ammm.. who cares if that's funny or not? Lol) Others were those times we got invited by some of our batch mates to a "wal-wal" sessions. Thus, I barely knew who and what kind of people they are. Well, don't misinterpret the fact that those gatherings happens only "once-in-a-blue-moon" dude. Apparently, we cannot also deny the fact that we have the same feathers. Probably of different colors but of the same structures and textures. And that made us collide.

(Rhona's Birthday :))

MAGTABI NGA WALAY KAHUMANAN :)

And the real story begins here. (As I continue the story, please close your eyes. Open it again. Okay, that's a ritual. Lol.) The real story begun on the comment sections. That's when our founder produced games with certain prizes like a hundred peso load or a cash. In the announcement of winners, instead of commenting just the word "congrats," and when we found one of us commented other phrases like, "sayanga ui, hapit akoa" or "ayy, congrats uie, naunhan pajud ko," that's the start of unending conversations. Far from what you expected. It produced probably a more or less a thousand comments. Though others joined the conversations, it was only us who can sustain. Even the post was posted in the morning, comment section was still active during the night. Isn't it amazing? (Ammm, not really) And yes, it happened everyday during our early membership with the group.

One day, "Apul," "Apol," or "Princess Apul," "Princess Apol?" Whatever it is. Yeah, she decided to bring our nuisance to a group chat in the messenger application. (Obvious?) And she named it "MAGTABI NGA WALAY KAHUMANAN." That is a vernacular phrase that means "UNENDING CONVERSATION." 'Twas an advantage because we had a direct communication to each other since other comments on the comment section didn't notify sometimes. From then on, we started our impulsive but successful meet ups. We started to know each other deeper. Heard our stories. Shared our experiences. Threw jokes though corny at times. Uttered the most respected word of all time at each others faces, the "YAWA HA." Respected our differences. And even realized the beauty of friendship at its best. We started the wal-wal memories. And most especially the "FOOD MOMENTS." Like we should always meet with food. It is one thing that connects us. We can't live without food. Well, I can. They're the ones who can't.

GET TOGETHERS :)

First get together we had after putting up the group chat into reality was in Apul's house. So sad that it was only me and kakay were present that time. (Don't count Apul, it's pretty obvious dude) We enjoyed the scenario from the veranda with a little food. There were chocolates, fruits like jackfruit (nagnka) and banana (saging), and we had pancit canton and eggs for lunch. And in the afternoon, we showcased our power builter prowess in their videoke machine with a little liquor at the side.

Second was in Kakay's beach. (No it's not really theirs, just making the ambiance favored to her.) This time, we had already Mia in the house. We contributed a little cash for the food because honestly, it was unplanned. We had "sinugbang bangus," hotdogs for the kids, a little kinilaw and "uyap" for our lunch. We just had a lot of chatting and the kids played in the shore. In the afternoon, Rhona managed to show up and joined us bringing soft drinks. Hey Apul? Yeah while others were busy talking, Apul was at the shore. Guess what? Well, aside from baby sitting her lass, she was also doing seashells hunting. (In the local term, NANGINHAS ang yawa) And by 4PM, we separated ways.

Third was somewhere in Babak. We found a pastry eatery that caught our attention. This time it was only the four of us. Apul, Kakay, Mia and me. Thanks to Apul, we had a nonchalant experience of the place. (In short, she treated us. That made the experience cool. Lol) We ordered spaghetti, shakes, halo-halo, pizza on the other store and fries. After a short chatting and the food eating, we went home so full.

Next was the practice for the dance competition. (Not real time, but a recorded one.) It was a competition formed by our founder and we decided to join. This time with Paula, our choreographer who happened to be part of the dance as well. It was quiet an experience since we got to see each other every night for the practice. A little dancing, a little chatting and yes, we're hyped because we're vying for the three thousand pesos prize and other special awards. So we made it very interesting. With all the concepts in mind, the costumes, the choreography and all; we seriously did our best. Nonetheless, it was such a great experience since we're being glued to each other at some point. And during the judging of the performance, our endeavors had paid off. The sweats and burnt skins during the shooting were a story to tell. Though we experienced extraordinary catastrophe on the uploading process because of the copyrighted music, we managed to win. (Please simplify "extraordinary catastrophe.") JUST US as we named our group. Only JUST US.

(Screenshot of our performance)

Then we had kakay's birthday with all the epic "slightly fail" surprise that we never expect would be a good turned-out in the end. The ukay-ukay sessions at Apul's house. Rhona's birthday, Karen's ambush and hoping to have more to come. And that victory party for the JUST US winning momentous happened on the 11th of this month. It was just so amazing to be with these creatures and had fun. It was the first time we had a not-so-big celebration but enough to feed our hungry stomach with food and drinks. We unhesitatingly blared noises on the mic with our favorite songs. And of course feeding our hungry souls with two bottles of rum with lime. Though not all of us drunk, still, we enjoyed the joyous moment. Count on in the relaxing view of the sea and the stilled ambiance of the place. All in all, it was one great experience with them.

(Our little celebration of victory - JUST US)

(Kakay's back draft)

(Rhona's food during her birthday)

I just hope we could have more of it on the coming days and such. So, that's all for today. I hope you enjoy reading. And remember, "that whatever connects us today will always connects us tomorrow." :)

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