Just to give you a feel of how crazy things can be between me and my mom.

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Her email, aptly titled "Kung Ano-ano Lang"

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My reply:

When we bought dollars last week (pambayad sa import), the exchange rate is P51.50. Ang isang sako ng bigas is anywhere from P1,500 to P2,000. Yung 2,000 per sack is Jasmine rice which is good quality rice.

Gasolina, P35.00 per liter yata (di ko alam kse diesel ang gamit namin). Ang diesel, P32.00 per liter.

Ang minimum fare sa jeep, P7.50. Ang pamasahe sa bus Pacita-Taft or Pacita-Ayala is P40.00. Sa LRT, P15.00 na ang Buendia-Carriedo (depende na sa distance, hindi na one fare for all). Ang pamasahe sa eroplano Manila-Davao, P4,890. Dahil sa VAT yun.

Ang isang kilo ng galunggong P70, ang manok P105 per kilo, baboy P150, Tilapia, P90. Yung bundles ng gulay ganun pa din ang presyo, pero kumonti ang laman. Ang pandesal sa mga bakery sa kanto, piso pa din, pero ang liit na. Ang spaghetti at drink sa McDo, P50.00 na.

Yung isang kilo ng Tide powder, 120 something na. P70.00 na ang pedicure or manicure. Wala pa ang tip sa manikurista.

Yung banana cue dito sa La Paz Batchoy, P8 na isang stick, P6.00 ang turon.
Wag mo kong tanungin tungkol sa presyo ng Coke dahil hindi na ako umiinom nu'n.

O ayan, ang dami na nyan ha. :)

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And then, another email:

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My reply:

Taray naman ni mother. :)

Sensya na, di kasi kita nakukuwentuhan ng sitwasyon ko dito kaya nakapagtataka kung bakit di ako nakakapag-email ng updates.

I'm working full time sa office and I'm there the whole day, tapos dahil walang internet connection pa dun (pending pa sa Smart), I don't get email access. Bukod doon my hands are tied sa admin work dahil ako nga lahat. Pag minamalas pati yun di nagagawa, especially kung may bisita kaming customer or kung may trabaho outside. When it's outside work I spend many hours traveling or waiting, na wala pa ding email access siempre (and sa banko, bawal mag-cellphone.) Example yung ilang oras ko nung Monday sa Metrobank, just to withdraw payment from a customer.

Kahapon naman nasa Chinese embassy ako from 10 am to almost 3, waiting for my turn to lodge our visa application. When I got there #479 na ako, and they were serving #255 pa lang! Halos araw-araw nasa banko ako, kasi kung may cheke dinedeposit na kaagad dahil bukod sa baka makalimutan (nangyari na yun, and we lost P12,000 in the process), daming bayaran ngayon dahil nagsimula na kaming mag-import ng engines at kami na ang bumubuo ng generators....

Saka exams week ni Jam ngayon, so pagdating ko ng bahay, review naman kami. And of course, trabaho pa din, blah-blah-blah...

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The rest of the email had me telling her about Erin's birthday party, and the answer to her question ("Kumusta ang check-up ni Minx...?")

Erin is my youngest niece, who just turned a year old. If you can "hear" the dripping sarcasm in mom's email, you won't wonder where I got my pagka-mataray... :P

Just the same, I miss mom, and if it were up to me she'd be here, I'd be supporting her, and she'd be the queen of retirement. But she being the hard-headed, insolent, things-my-way and "independence-is-king" woman that she is, she'd rather stay in Australia where she works three jobs.

And because of that, we're miles apart, and we never get to enjoy the things we used to do together -- shopping on weekends, purging the house for things we'd put on garage sale, gossiping while doing the dishes, keeping secrets from my brothers by talking in Oasnon, sharing a liter of Coke and a pack of Oishi while talking about anything under the sun...

Gosh, I miss mom. If I miraculously win the lotto (k'se di naman ako tumataya), I'd buy me a private jet, fetch mom, and go around the world with her.