My gown looks extra lonely without you.

I'm attending another wedding later…alone as usual. No stand-in guy nor girl nor gay friend as my plus one. Just me.

When my friend was still in the planning stage of building her guestlist, I asked her if I could have a stand-in plus one. But, of course, due to tight budgets, it wasn't possible. And I completely understand.

Yesterday, I was feeling another bout of loneliness because I would be going on my own, while my friends would be with their significant others. Why do I think weddings are meant for two-somes?

I want somebody to help me zip up my gown.

It's hard to zip up my down. Really. It's the kind of zipper that goes up to the side of the torso so you do need an assistant to get it up. Oh and yeah, the gown has a hook, so I do need help with that too

My little sister is helping zip me up later. But it's not the same because it's not YOU.

I want somebody to bring me there AND bring me home too.

The travails of not choosing to drive a car (out of laziness and love for Mother Earth – one less carbon imprint ok?) include commuting to a wedding in a long gown without looking stupid. Imagine me hailing a tricycle / FX / Jeep in full formal regalia. Ayayay!

If Dodong were here and was my wedding date, we'd be cruising along EDSA or C5 in trusty and handsome Sharkface. But thank God, I have my mom who will bring me there. Gas c/o yours truly. But still better that commuting right?

And yeah, I do miss the goodnight kiss post wedding date. Tonight there will be no goodnight kisses only goodnight waves and besos from friends.

I want somebody to snicker with me in the absurdly cheesy moments.

Dodong and I have attended weddings in the past. For me, one of the highlights would be snickering and chuckling in the cheesiest of moments during the wedding. Yes, we like to poke fun at weddings sometimes. Hehehe! It's just such a relief to know that somebody else can't take too much cheese either.

Later I do not have Dodong with me to do that. Perhaps I would end up texting him cheesy lowlights if any. But knowing my friend, I think there hardly be any. I hope.

But anyways, I am still happy to be attending this evening's wedding even if I am all alone with my lonesome self. I am glad to know that my friend has found her prince charming Best wishes my dear Anna!

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

P.S. I'd like to get to know you better so hope you could answer a quick survey here.

P.P.S. A bit of trivia: I've known Anna since our kindergarten days. She was actually my mother in a play we did then.

Weddings, weddings and MORE weddings!

I read this status on Dodong's sister's FB page. When you are in your late 20's (of maybe when you hit your 20's), this is the question (well, one of the many questions) that bugs you. All of a sudden, you see relationship changes on Facebook: from in a relationship to engaged and from engaged to married, pre-nup pics shared, same-day edit videos shared, photobooth photos tagged.

But still, I would like to reiterate NOT EVERYBODY IS GETTING MARRIED. Because I ain't married yet. And lots of my late 20-something friends are not married as well. Therefore, everybody is NOT getting married…

WHEN WILL YOU GET MARRIED?

So I am sure that is the follow up question. Ohhhh the dreaded, dreaded question.

My answer: SOON.

There are times (a LOT of times), I must admit, I feel so left behind. How come I'm not getting married yet? How come she's getting married and I'm not? We have a "better" relationship than them right? I guess every girl still has her white lace and fluffy chiffon gown, sparkling champagne, and fondant cake dreams. But Dodong and I do need our time to prepare.

AFTER ALMOST 8 YEARS, WON'T YOU GET MARRIED SOONER THAT LATER?

Syempre, the follow up questions will not stop: "But you've been together for almost 8 years now?!? Isn't that enough time already?"

We still have a lot to prepare for, especially on the financial end as we would want to take charge of our life together 100%. And I do mean, 100% because it will be about us 100%.

I've done some computations and a wedding alone would cost a couple hundreds of thousands of pesos. Darn. Why did getting married become such a big business all of a sudden? Yun ata dapat ang question. Raising funds for a wedding in itself is no joke. Especially if you'd be the ones to pay for the wedding, which I suppose should be the case, as persons who are already earning money and not dependent on the parentals.

Plus there's the life after the wedding right? Hay.

As I would always say: "Patience is a virtue". Kaya nga Inday I. Nagintay di ba? Marriage will soon fall into place in God's perfect time.

Don't worry my dear readers, Dodong and I will have our chance very soon. Just pray with us

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

2 out of my 3 weddings for JANUARY alone!

2010 is definitely a year peppered with WEDDINGS. Gosh. I'm not sure if weddings are a trend nowadays or if I am in that stage in life already. But this January alone, I will attend 3 weddings! (Well, I've attended one last night so 1 down) 3 weddings in a month! CRAZY! There are more lining up for later this year. So it's really just crazy, crazy, crazy wedding year.

At first, I did thought that attending weddings on my own was okay. I can survive. It's just like any other party I go to alone. BUT no, I must say it is different. It makes me feel more alone…lonely…sigh.

So how do I survive weddings without Dodong, my plus one??? I do try. So here goes…

Dress to the nines!

I must admit I am not much of a fashion person. So I hardly get to prettify, dress up and all. Weddings are the perfect opportunity to buy a new dress (which unfortunately I do not have the budget yet for) and be all girly

I know sayang Dodong would not be able to see me in a dress. But I can always take a solo pic and email it to him right? Oh, yea. I already did email him my look from last night's wedding

Check if you have at least one friend who is attending

I am not much of a friendly friend to all person. What i noticed is that i am really close to the bride. Obviously, the bride cannot entertain me on her wedding day right?

So I kind of ask my bride friends who amongst our friends are also invited. Hehehe. Then I do (I did yesterday) my texting rounds to check if they will be there.

Make sure you are seated in a table with your friend/s

Upon RSVPing for the wedding, I did ask again my bride friends, with whom am I seated with. I just wanted to double, triple, quadruple check that I had someone to talk to while at the reception.

Thank God (oh, the bride and her wedding planners) that I was seated with some familiar faces last night. I was about to go crazy with loneliness…almost.

Chitchat and reconnect with friend/s: old and new

Last night, my college blockmate came in late. But this was a blessing in disguise as I was able to reconnect with a college batchmate It was interesting to hear where people are, what they are doing and how they have changed through the years.

It was just a chance to spruce up my people skills as I am a bit of a hermit in terms of socializing, small talking. Hey, I was sincere in striking up my conversations. Hehehehe. Not just for the sake of talking to another warm human body.

Take LOTS of pictures

Unfortunately, since my camera is still not functioning as well as it could have, I was not able to do so. But taking photos would be a good way to just take note of details for future reference…Perhaps for my own wedding in the near future? I hope!

Drown yourself in good food and BOOZE!

Last night, the buffet spread was smorgasbord. But unfortunately, there was no booze. No mobile shooters bar, which is quite the trend nowadays, or even just the usual bar.

If there was just a mobile bar last night, I would have drowned in the shooters. FYI I prefer sweet cocktails (that don't have the alcohol taste) over bitter beer. Of course, I would not (hopefully) get myself drunk though. I'd drink responsibly

Okay this last tip is the telltale sign that I am lonely. Hehehe. Would it be bordering on pathetic? I hope not.

But this is the best tip I can give on how to survive a wedding without your plus one:

Ask the bride if you can have another plus one

Not a romantic plus one silly! Perhaps a gay friend or another girl friend, who would be willing to share a romantic wedding with you. At least you're sure to have someone. It wouldn't hurt to ask right?

Weddings are celebrations to be truly happy about. So despite the fact that Dodong is miles away from me, the show must go on and I must celebrate along with the newly weds! Weeee!

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

P.S. Pls do forgive the sucky photos as my camera is still…uhm, broken. Awaiting funding from the universe for my NEW LUMIX LX3 Watch out!

His homecoming is DEFINITELY a SPECIAL EVENT!

Dodong and I are already talking about his next homecoming. I know he is still here, yet it seems as if I am sending him off! Hehehehe

For now, he still can't pinpoint when exactly he will be coming home next year since there are a lot of factors that come into play with this decision. Aside from the fact that, of course, work load is a crucial factor, which includes asking permission from the powers that be at work.

Here are the non-work top factors for consideration in scheduling homecomings…

Special Occasions with "Normal people" (i.e. family, friends, colleagues)

One of the reasons Dodong came home is to attend his high school classmate's wedding, which we did go to last weekend in Tagaytay. If I remember correctly, the earlier homecoming this year was also scheduled (or maybe it was just a coincidence?) during another friend's wedding. The abundance of weddings of friends in 2010 is actually creating quite a dilemma. Tsk tsk tsk.

Of course, Christmas is the biggest homecoming occasion for OFWs like him. This is the biggest Pinoy gathering of family and friends. So he has to really fight with the hundreds (oh, okay maybe I'm exaggerting) of OFWs in his office to get a vacation leave. This month's homecoming is I guess also a Christmas one. Though he won't be here. Christmas is a few days away anyway.

Special Couple Occasions

Another special occasion we are looking at is our Anniversary. We haven't been able to spend 2 anniversaries together. So next year, our 8th year anniversary, I am hoping Dodong would be home.

Dentist – Doctor appointments

Though he is covered by health insurance in the desert, Dodong makes it a point to time homecomings when he is in need of dental-medical attention. For the past homecomings, he makes it a point to visit the dentist for the regular oral prophylaxis (is this the correct spelling?). Luckily, a very good friend of mine is his dentist. Hehehe! Friendly prices are an added bonus when undergoing procedures. Hihihi!

Travel documentation updates

Dodong also went home to renew his passport. A good thing for OFWs is that they have a special privilege when renewing passports. They don't have to go all the way to the DFA. Instead, they have a special queue in the POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) for faster processing since OFWs have limited time during vacations.

Investment documentation updates

Dodong recently took the plunge in investing his hard earned money in some . So he is taking the time to fix all his papers while he is here. Of course, so that the cash keeps on growing and growing Yey for him!

What other factors does your better half take into consideration when coming home?

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

One of the many things in line for Dodong's vacation here in Manila is the wedding of his high school buddy this coming Saturday. It is a formal affair and Dodong will be wearing a suit, which requires a tie. And I do want to be the sweet girlfriend who would tie his tie for him.

BUT I do not know how to tie a tie. Seriously! I am a bit panicky already because I need to learn how to in 2 days.

I SMSed my guy friends asking help for them to teach me. I'm more of a hands-on learning kind of person. But all they did was to direct me to sites which will show me how.

I had some time earlier and checked out one of the sites. There actually is a site dedicated to teaching people how to tie a tie! Oh wow! They even show the different tie knots. I never even thought there were knot varieties. Hehehe!

I am planning to follow the video (see above) and try it out myself tomorrow. Hehehe. Goodluck to me!

Any other simple techniques on how to tie a tie?

Love the distance,

Inday I. Nagintay

P.S. Fun fact: Dodong doesn't know how to tie a tie too. Ain't he cute?