I have a cousin who is more like a sister/lover to me. That probably doesn’t make sense to most of you but we get it. Her name is Erika and she was born a few months before me. To many, she is Riki. (Which, I, personally, I don’t get at all.) She’s sort of a mini-celebrity here in the Metro Manila scene, being the courtside reporter of the University of the Philippines and all. She is also a DJ for 107.5 but her contract with them ended just recently. She sings and acts and dances and models and loves the beach and is the absolute antithesis of me - but maybe that is why we get along so well. To many, she is Riki but to me, she is Bilbs.

Short (no pun intended) background: she’s about 4’12 so we call her Bilba. You know. The female version of Bilbo (of The Lord of the Rings). And her home is The Shire. So when she tells us that she’s going home, we all say: “Oh, back to The Shire?” like it’s the most normal thing in the world. I love that. On most days, though, I call her Loob. (Don’t ask.)

Even though she is famous in these circles of the metro, to me she is just Loob. Weird and wacky with her little hobbit dance. Sometimes she just pops out of dark corners and scares us (my cousins & I). Other times, she’ll text us after church telling us how much she loves us. She’s sweet but sometimes a little bit grumpy too but we like her that way.

Anyway, she visited me awhile ago because my dad wants to get her for a certain commercial and we were sorting out her schedule. She left because her dog, Kally, was waiting outside my door, crying for her to come get him. And our Siamese cat, Sonny, was peering out the window, just waiting to attack. It was amusing.