Torete

Torete! Torete Ako! Natotorete ako!

Words uttered when one is going crazy, bonkers, wildly toxic, agitated, anxious or whatever. Torete is I think one Filipino word that's quite hard to translate don't you think?

One of the things that my Mom taught us is not to panic. She always told me that it's what helped my sister top the chemical engineering board exam and that I should follow suit. I'm probably far off from my sister's intelligence (even my brother's), but I've managed not to panic about a lot of things, pero tao lang po, natotorete din ako.

5 Things that make me Torete

1. Meet the Parents - when Sweetie came over to meet my parents I absolutely went bonkers and bungled the spaghetti I was cooking. I just put on my corporate poker face when I met Sweetie's parents, but I was definitely quivering inside!

2. Losing Something - I absolutely hate looking for things and once I lost a parking ticket while I was spending time with my best friend, I almost bumped the car (I can just imagine myself getting hailed by a traffic policeman).

3. Snakes, Spiders, Rats and Cockroaches (and mumu!)- I came face to face with a cobra in our house when I was in high school. I don't know how I managed to get on top of our kitchen table in just a few seconds, but I definitely did not sleep for a couple of days. I also can't sleep when I know there's a spider/rat or roach lurking around my room.

4. Fire - I used to hang-out in our kitchen a lot when I was a kid and our stove would often give these sudden burst of flames while they were frying fish. I'd always go running to my Mom whenever that happened, so I've had pyro-phobia eversince. That's what I have to get over so I can start learning those 12 dishes I'm targeting for the year.

5. Sickness - not me, but that of my loved ones.

What about you? What makes you torete?

Here's Moonstar88 singing Torete, captured by Sweetie during Yehey.com's Christmas party -