girls against boys ;)

21 August 2006


I had really hoped that I would get to laze around in bed the whole day - today being a holiday and all, not to mention the fact I got home from Tagaytay at around 3:30am. But force of habit woke me up early. Despite being tired, I haven't felt this quite relaxed and refreshed in a looooong time.

Tagaytay had been my first "vacation" in almost a year.

Yep. Chiko-with-a-million-things-on-her-mind finally got to take a break! You'll never believe just how AWESOME it was.

Sunday started normal enough: woke up around 5:00, showered, dressed and headed to church.

Choir robe, check. Undershirt, check. Gown for the masquerade, check. Change of shoes, check. Change of clothes, check. Jacket, check. Cranium Turbo Edition, check.

Resisiting the desperate urge to pack a 'maleta,' I decided to stuff my clothes in a big paper bag instead because I knew, I REALLY KNEW, the boys (whoever ended up going) would get on my case if I brought a suitcase, no matter how tiny, to Tagaytay. Girls understand these things but men.. ;)

Marj had this brilliant idea - dinner in Tagaytay following the 5pm service as an outreach to people who were relatively new to church, in particular, a 'heartbroken' friend who needed to be surrounded by men of 'solid spiritual integrity.' :) After all, really, who wouldn't want to go to Tagaytay? Long weekend, hello!

The drive to Cliff House was freaky.. Marj saw a jeep fall into a ditch(?). When we slowed down and opened the window to see if they needed help, a loud and agry voice said "BUMALIK KAYO DITO!" Needless to say everyone was sufficiently freaked enough to drive away. In fairness, the boys were going to go down and help but there was something not quite right about the whole setup. Preaching pa talaga yesterday was on kindess, diba? Still, they were convinced something was fishy and you have to commend them for their insight and sense of safety. You gotta love these heroes. :)

What a interesting mix we were - Marj ('frustrated photographer'), Paul who really knows how to get around, Don (the newly hired strategic planner, naks), Jose (who listens to his iPod full blast for 8 hours a day.. tsk, tsk), JayBee - magician extraordinaire, Mayi the basketball-planning HR expert, Joey the 'celebrity' whom everyone seems to know, super tall and dainty Jas, we-thought-she-was-quiet-pero-di-pala Chinkee, and myself ('kikay for others', as Paul would say.. kainis! :P). Everyone was relatively a stranger to one another, save for the occasional fleeting introduction, and but we all left Tagaytay tired, sleepy and with new friendships built (as well as formidable gaming adversaries, ha!). Then again, if you don't become friends after 4 rounds of table-switching, endless rounds of the corniest knock-knock jokes, 80's music reminiscing and omigosh-I-can't-believe-you-did-that sleight of hand feats from JayBee.. ewan ko na!!

It's interesting to observe group dynamics in action, especially when it involves a highly-charged game such as Cranium. Yes. Boys versus girls. Can you feel the tension already!?

Sidenote: Now, there's nothing more I like refuting than a "ditzy" image. For example, people automatically assume there's little substance beneath my "kikay" exterior, so a game like Cranium is a great way to kill that stereotype. Those Data Head and Word Worm questions tend to get tricky after all. :)

It's funny because when I "challenged" Paul earlier in the car, I was kinda joking but sheer competitiveness won out eventually. What was frustrating for the boys, I think, was the fact they got stuck with all these girlie-girl questions which they couldn't answer while the girls got the more boy-oriented ones. You should have seen the smug looks on their faces when we got that Polygraph question on Michael Jordan! Or the question on original Batman TV villains. Or the one on LA Confidential. WOOHOO!! WOMEN ROCK!!

Oh, we TRIED to be nice.. and THAT effort failed. Miserably. :P No wonder the boys were getting frustrated!

It was really cute to see the boys' team sweat, squirm, and stress. Highlights were the Team Gnilleps where they had to spell 'sequin,' 'tiara' and 'rhinestone' backwards (hahaha), the Cameo where Jose had to be Little Red Riding Hood ("Headless Horseman!") and when Joey had to act out, during Club Cranium Cameo, the expression 'sitting pretty.' Hahahaha! They all were just so ADORABLE! In truth, they may have lost the game to us women but they won over our hearts. :)

Re-match, anyone?