On Friendships Virtual to Real
Having my best friend, Dragan, stay with us at home will easily be one of the fondest memories of this lifetime. Dragan and I have spent hours getting to know each other in the chatrooms, but it is only when he came to the Philippines from the UK that we’ve finally gotten to know each other well. There really is world of difference between an online chat and a real conversation. I think there are not enough emoticons to convey the complexities of feeling or mood – little, powerful things like gestures or innuendoes or things-left-unsaid can change a story, but are so haphazardly lost in the limits of the keyboard. The smile emoticon, for example, makes everyone’s smile standard. A smile is unique to every person. There is a Dragan kind of smile, and an Uno kind of smile, and varying degrees of smiles than no X or D or : or ) put together could ever properly express. And what about the small nuances like scent or texture or sound or warmth that enriches the experience? Is it ever possible to put such details down into text and emoticons? I think if there is one thing technology cannot replicate, it is life, and each unique moment that creates it. Here and now, with this particular breeze playing on the curtains, this momentary smell of coffee, the unrepeatable echo of laughter from friends close by is just too profound to be decoded into binary symbols. So I am thankful that Dragan and I were given the chance to be more than virtual friends. The internet brings us together, that is true, but it’s always the old-fashioned friendships that bring us closer.
Dragan’s Welcome Dinner Party
The welcome party for Dragan was held at Good Earth, a posh (and expensive, Bernadette complained) Chinese restaurant at The Fort in Makati. Here, Dragan, Ceras and Manx mingled with the local resinfolk Shuri and Verchiel, who came with their guardians Bernadette and Lilith.
Good Earth’s mood lighting made for an elegant ambience and very ghastly photos. The photographer apologizes for giving everybody an unsightly hepatitis skin tone.
They Who Never Have To Worry About Their Diet, from left: Ceras (CP DELF El), Verchiel (CP DELF Woosoo), Dragan (Volks SD13 F-28), Manx Minuet (CP DELF LE Sweet Lingerie Lishe) and Shuri (DoD U[F]).
Dinner is served.
Druid’s Keep
Druid’s Keep is the secret hideout of the card-playing, comic-collecting nerds of the Philippines, and Joey and Rey both agreed that it should be part of Dragan’s city tour. Felix, the owner, has an extensive display of artist-signed comic books and rare action figures which, without dispute, made the place an important landmark.
Manx Minuet instantly charmed the Druid’s Keep crowd (which is not surprising, because it is almost entirely made up of men). Here, she flirts with Felix, gracious shopowner.
Don’t be shy, boys. You can touch the items on display.
Teardrop on Black Petals
Our tiny gift for Djinn, literary prodigy, bashful artiste, Mistula devotee, dear friend and birthday girl. The world is honoured to have you.
Teardrop on Black Petals is a single crystal bead falling on a silver rose pendant. It hangs from a lace choker that is tied around the neck. It is designed for Djinn’s Tsukisou by Leigh of Wearwish Jewelry and Joey.
Note: There is also a little post for the birthday girl at Mistula: Revelations.
Libingan ng mga Bayani
Taking Dragan to a place that reeks goth seems to be a Lugosi kind of idea, but it was – surprise, surprise – Ceras, Yapi’s dependent, who thought of it. (Mistula has a fetish for crosses, right, and that place has a whole damn lot, he said.) Ceras even volunteered to be Dragan’s tour guide as long as he can have his sister, Manx Minuet, as his own guide.
And so brother and sister braved the gloomy weather to take Dragan around some of the Philippines’ interesting sites. Their first stop is the gothic-historic Libingan ng mga Bayani.
Polls
Loading ...Chapters
- 1. Uno
- 2. More Than One
- 3. Mistula
- 4. Out of the Box
- 5. V for Violence
- 6. Social Life
- 7. Entangled
- 8. Shop
- 9. FAves
Get email updates!
Blogroll
- Joey's Livejournal
- Mistula on Facebook
- Mistula's Wikipedia
- MISTULA.COM
- Mistula: Revelations
- Uno's Phlog