My Kitty Half

It was before  year 2000 maybe when we were doing  loose pages by the window on one of the Humanitites project. Suddenly there was a strong wind and our papers flew out to the yard. She told me to go and get them and I did, without hesitation. As I bent down your pet monkey bit me on the nape.

I have that scar on my nape still.

This is not at all a sad memory for me. It makes me happy, actually, to know that, way back when I was still a little girl, I was already some kind of a hero. And I wear my little badge of courage on my nape to this day. Haha.

Sometimes it's hard for me to believe we're even friends. She used to be starstruck with Ricky Martin, back when he was still with Menudo and, er, straight. I couldn't stand pop even then. She spends HOURS on her hair. Me, I could never care less. If I so much as blow dry my hair before I meet someone, you can bet that someone is pretty special. Haha.  She's generous to everyone to a fault. No one will ever fault me for being too generous. She can get anal about even the littlest things like her handwriting. I've always been anything-goes, even with big-ticket items like my career. She makes a mean pinakbet, kaldereta, chicken pastel, buko pandan. I, uh, don't cook.

Oh, but we're also almost like twins in many ways. We are whom Yoshi calls Combined Maldita Powers. We're both feisty and cannot stand push-overs. We're both drama queens and crybabies. We both love to shop, travel, and eat bad, bad food. We're both obsessed with Hello Kitty and are the only two persons I know with Puroland (that's Hello Kitty land in Japan for you poor, benighted souls) in their travel bucket list. She's crazy over Rondo and the Celtics. I'm crazy, too, period.

She has always shared my joys about my family and friends and job. She knows my passions as well as her own - I never needed to tell her. She's my favorite person to be tragic with about family issues - she understands me best and knows exactly the perfect thing to say when we wallow in our pity parties. After Ches, she's the third person in the whole universe who loves me  the most. My family and all my friends who know her just absolutely love her.

Happy birthday, Atty. Hazel Ann "Jewel" Annonuevo! I may roll my eyes at you and call you The  Nazi Lawyer and tell everyone about how you murdered a Chowking manager - but the fact is, I'd still bend down and get bitten by a monkey for you, any given day.

You don't even have to say the word.