I have been feeling crappy this whole week. My week started with a wonderful afternoon spent at the beach on Sunday with Earth, Phil, Liam, Sen and Tom. After about an hour of riding bikes (we rode tandems, Tom and Sen together, Phil and Liam together, and Earth and I together), we drove from Santa Monica to Alhambra for JJ Café. It was time well-spent with some good friends. And no matter what the activity is, for as long as we all are together is the most beautiful part. Earth dropped me off at around 10:30pm at home, after having a little engaging talk we finally hugged each other see you later. I went to bed an hour later knowing I need to wake up extra early for holiday flow (meaning, we were to get holiday clothing shipment for our store) on Monday. I was in bed, but I swear I didn’t get to sleep until about 2:00am. How sad. And I had to wake up at 4:00am. Imagine that, two hours of sleep! I had to force myself out of bed, I didn’t want to be late for the flow, and I didn’t want to lose my hours for losing my hours would mean losing money that I would be earning.

So I survived the full shift I worked on Monday, I went home feeling exhausted, but still managed to stay up a little late as always. I woke up the next day with a very painful sore throat. Uh-oh, could this mean I’m at the onset of the flu? I started taking Tylenol, doing water therapy and taking as much orange juice as I can, hoping it’d forestall the flu to get to me. Wednesday, I came to work still feeling a bit crappy, I was sluggish for the most part, and all I wanted was for my seven-hour shift to end right away. I had din-din with Bonnie, and then as I got home, I took as much rest as possible, but I wasn’t so keen about taking Tylenol, believing orange juice and water therapy would be enough.

So on Thursday, I woke up chilling, I felt like there was heat trapped inside my body, I wanted to call out from work, but I can’t afford to lose eight hours. I dragged myself out of bed, and still went to work. And that was it, the whole time, I was chilling, and my throat hurt so bad I didn’t even want to talk. Bonnie kept telling me I was overplaying it, but I really was terrible that day. I got home and good riddance, there was no food at home! The nilagang baka my mom cooked, ALL GONE. And my mom went out to go dancing. Sigh. I wanted to cry, because I was starving like crazy, and I was sick, I totally felt like I was going to die. I was even too weak to walk to Taco Bell or McDonald’s to grab something to bite. I was too enervated to even move a muscle. And then when I got online, Tom asked me about how my day went by. And being very open to him, I told him I wasn’t doing well, and that there was nothing for me to eat at home and I was in poor condition to be walking down the block to get something to bite. My stomach was crumbling, and then like what a friend would normally do, he asked me if I wanted him to get me something. I said no, and that I will be fine. I told him I would find something to bite from around here. But he insisted, he told me not to be stubborn. Before I knew it, he was already asking Phil to come see me and bring to me some miso soup that he’s got.

I didn’t really want to bother anyone at that moment, but, who am I to refuse such act of kindness? Especially at a time I was in need. Phil then drove from El Monte to Los Angeles to deliver to me the miso soup that Tom wanted me to consume since I told him it turned out I have tonsillitis (not the flu) and it was best if I had something warm to soothe my tonsils. I was truly touched with Tom and Phil’s joint efforts. I keep telling them that I do not know how to repay them for such benevolence and compassion they show for a friend. Hiyang-hiya talaga ako, gusto ko mang tumanggi, e gutom din talaga ako ‘no. Ayoko naman na lumabas na parang oportunista ako, pero sabi nga ‘di ba, friends are angels that God sends you.

Wow, the last time I had tonsillitis was when I was 11 years old, I haven’t had it since. Friday, I woke up feeling much better, I got ample rest and I was able to sweat the night through, releasing all the heat that has been trapped inside my body. I was thinking of resting and taking the day off, but I just couldn’t afford to do that. I was feeling way much better the whole Friday, I survived a seven-hour shift, but still, I was longing for some ramen, I wanted to go to either Daikokuya (in Little Tokyo) or Ajisen Ramen in San Gabriel so bad. I was wanting warm ramen broth soothing my throat, but guess where I ended up at? I ended up having sushi with Jonathan. Oh well.

I couldn’t thank Tom and Phil enough, thank you for coming to my aid. A friend in need is a friend indeed.