Playing Catch-Up (Part I)

It was Sunday morning down at Ella's room. Charissa and I have stayed here the last few days after a serious fever downed me.

Outside, the weather was sunny and the streets were quiet. Living near the campus became an unusual experience; one day you get to see the hustle and bustle of school life, then hours later your eyes perceive nothing but utter silence.

As I woke up, the first thing Charissa did was to check my body temperature. She placed a thermometer on my mouth and waited three minutes before checking on it.

"36.8," Charissa gleefully announced. "You're back to normal."

"That was pleasant to hear mother," I exclaimed delightedly. "Even my cough and colds are gone as well."

But as much as I naturally wanted to celebrate there is still a lot more work to do. After all I missed three class days this week because of my illness.

Luckily Michelle and Ella were still inside. They already have the week's lessons written on their notebooks.

"Christine, you can borrow our notebooks," Michelle suggested. "But we do have another assignment on video production with Jamie."

"That's all right," I told Michelle. "We can start that project immediately, after which I take notes from your notebook."

The assignment for the week was simple. It was a 15-minute video about a food trip at a Japanese-themed restaurant.

Just as preparations for the project commenced, somebody knocked on the door. Upon gently opening it, Jamie showed up to join in.

"Good morning groupmates," Jamie cordially greeted us. "Are we ready for a lovely day of gastronomical exploration?"

"We sure do," Ella happily obliged.

Before leaving Ella's room, I had given Charissa one last tip.

"Mother, take care of this room for us while we're away," I promptly said to her.

"No problem," Charissa responded affirmatively. "I'll wait for you here and protect this humble abode."

With that, Michelle, Ella, Jamie and I were off on a food trip. We promptly left Ella's room but not before waving our hands goodbye to Charissa.

It was naturally a short trip to Makati for the four of us. We spotted Little Tokyo down at the business district and saw the distinct torii from a distance.

Upon arriving, we couldn't help but feel like stepping on the land of the rising sun. The walkways were laid with stone tiles, pebble gardens lined up the walls, and the bamboo trees protrude all over.

But there is no time for relaxation and enjoyment. So we put our game faces on and went to work.

Ella, the assigned operator, turned on the camera and began shooting. Jamie, the most handsome member of the ensemble, opened the presentation.

Such a project needed more than just a video camera so I brought in a dolly while Ella mounted the camera above. As the dolly rolled, Jamie slowly walked along as he continued the presentation.

We taped a few shots of the pebbled garden, stone walkways and bamboo trees. As soon as the camera stopped rolling, it was off to a cozy restaurant in this nestled neighborhood.

Inside, the feeling of Japanese hospitality was undeniable. Lacquered plates and bowls, wooden chopsticks, bamboo place-mats, all of them giving this restaurant a distinct feel.

Even the cooks and waiters were dressed in traditional Japanese kimono. But the only difference was we were no longer required to take off our shoes just to sit in a futon.

Ella once again turned on the camera and began recording some new clips. Jamie, the host, carried on by presenting some typical Japanese cuisine.

On the table, bowls of piping hot ramen were served first. Jamie plucked the chopsticks and ate the strands of noodles.

"I can't wait to sample these," Michelle whispered to me.

After the ramen, Jamie tried some tempura and tonkatsu. Shortly after, a waiter gave him a bowl of beef gyudon.

"Mmmm..." Ella quietly reacted to Jamie's sampling.

Finally, a set of sushi was given to Jamie. Upon looking at the dish, I was a little appalled at the sight of raw fish wrapped alongside some sticky rice.

"I might get sick because of it," my nauseating voice commenting bitterly on the matter.

Nevertheless, Jamie sampled one bite of sushi and offered a very encouraging comment afterwards.

"Delicious," he said passionately.

After concluding with a few final words, Jamie concluded the presentation and Ella promptly stopped the camera. Upon packing up, the four us began to feast on the ensemble of Japanese cuisine.

But coming off a bout with fever, I decided not to devour pieces of sushi. As an alternative, I took some ramen, tempura and beef gyudon to whet my considerable appetite.

"So delicious," Michelle commented positively on the unique taste of the ramen. "I can go back here every other day."

"No doubt about it," Ella smilingly replied. "Japanese food is absolutely amazing. Let's do this again someday."

Returning to Ella's room with our stomachs full, we promptly took a brief nap before continuing with our errands. I borrowed my friends' notebooks and started copying whatever information they wrote during class.

Because time was scarce, I tried to write as fast as my hands could. But in doing so, cramps started setting in.

"This is not really easy at all," I remarked bitterly on the matter. "My hands are hurting bad."

I was forced to stop writing as my hands could not take any more punishment. Reluctantly, Charissa offered a better solution.

"I realized this wasn't practical for you," she admitted to me. "Well, I can type a few notes from Michelle's notebook and send it to you. What can you say?"

"That's a great idea," I promised my mother. "You can take care of it."

As a result, Charissa took care of my assignment while I attended to Ella's project. Fortunately we were able to visit a video production shop before returning home and faithfully rendered every clip to a compact disc.

All it needed now was to piece them all together into a 15-minute reel. Ella generously helped me familiarize with the video editing software and I went to work.

However, time was not on my side. A new week in class begins tomorrow, and I must step up my game.