Taking Off

so finally, the day that we have been waiting for has arrived. May 27, 2008 at 8pm we will be taking off for calgary, alberta, canada.
pero syempre may stop over sa hong-kong. 2 hours.

anyway, we brought 8 balikbayan boxes, 1 smaller box for the guitar and 1 big suitcase. syempre, plus pa dun ang 5 carry-on baggage (tigi-tig-isa kami) 3 vans ata yung naghatid sa kanila sa airport. ako, hinatid ako ni eeza. (she took a leave to "take a relative to the airport." ang taray!) anyway, sa sobrang dami naming dala, parang nag-cause kami ng slight commotion sa airport. but my dad knows someone from cathay, she was off duty already so she guided us in everystep-pati kung san kakain ng dinner na mura. at ang ibang bagahe nga namin, may tatak na BUSINESS CLASS, PRIORITY BAGGAGE. Buti pa yung bagahe, business class...

Since momsy brought id's for our friends, nakapasok si eeza and joel with me sa airport. after a while, sumunod si momsy at si bunny. nagkakalokohan pa nga kasi, si eeza, vip pass lang. silang lahat may staff id.

before the teardrops fell

actually, si eeza yung unang naiyak. and since di nga sya makasama hanggang tunnel, si joel nalang ang sumama sakin at nagpaiwan narin si bunny and momsy. at dahil may umikay, pati tuloy ako kamuntik naring umiyak. super hirap pigilin ha! anyway, sabi nalang sakin ni joel, kaya umiiyak si eeza kasi maiiwan sya sa entrance... hehehe...

gala family, taking-off

wala pa atang two hours yun eh nasa hongkong airport na kami. two hours wait, then sakay na naman ng plane. eto mejo matagal na. 12hours.

mt. fuji i think. my brother took this when we were flying over japan

anyway, sa tagal ng byahe, sumakit talaga ang mga joints ko. there were times na sobrang lamig. sa labas, according to the flight update sa channel 52, is -65. kaya pala may mga snowflakes na sa bintana.
i spent most of the flight sleeping. i was also able to watch disney's Atlantis, 1 episode of sex and the city, 1 episode of house, and 1 episode of CSI. yun lang ata ang available. dahil mga 3 beses ko nakita ipalabas on different times.
it was 9pm in vancouver when we arrived.

view of vancouver from the plane
kita mo naman, 9pm, pero may araw pa.

sa vancouver, almost empty ang airport. siguro kasi gabi na.
our travel documents were checked sa customs. we filled up forms etc. tas winelcome kami to canada. sabi nga lang nya, wait for our permanent residency card before going out of the country. Anyway,it was almost 10pm when we finished. wala kasing pila.
but our flight to calgary was 7am pa the next day. so nag-ala-amazing race kami at tumamabay sa airport.

eto ang regular coke. laki no?

hello joel? andito na ko sa canada.

tas lumabas din kami ng airport at naglakad lakad ng onti. para naman masabing nakarating kami sa vancouver. (airports don't count eh)

just outside the airport

eto yung mga napansin ko sa vancouver airport.
first: pag nagwash ka ng hands, mainit sobra yung water, pero malamig ang hand dryer.
second: may pinoy in every corner: burger king, subway, floor mopper...
third: walang uniformed security guard anywhere.

anyway, after a long time of waiting, finally, we were off to calgary. westjet yung sinakyan namin and mejo lang ha, nakakapanibago ang mga flight attendants. may nosering yung isang girl, may earing yung isang guy, at tumatawa yung isa habang nagaannounce. weird...

view of the rocky mountain ranges

view of southwest calgary

yihee... welcome to calgary...

sinundo kami ng ka-couples for christ nina mommy. dun lang actually namin sila na-meet, but my parents have been e-mailing them na naman before we left manila.

we went muna sa house ni ate josie to have lunch. friend sya ni mommy sa ucpb before. they migrated sa canada 3yrs ago and sila yung tumulong samin makahanap ng house. anyway, ang sarap nya magluto. at super na-appreciate ko ang real food after ilang meals sa airplane.
after nun, we went na sa house namin. nag unload lang ng onti to find the blankets and then natulog na.

eto talaga yung pinaka-ma-mi-miss ko sa pinas:

San Juan Batangas

the cast from left to right: Siela, Mario, Simon, Monica, Dev, Eeza, Joel, Micoy and Bunny

finally! the beach!
about 5 days before i left for canada, my 4d friends decided to organize a beach despedida for me.
we went sa san juan batangas!


this is where mario stays when he studies for the bar. astig nga eh. sa beach.
yung beach, white pebbles sya. so mejo you have to wear slippers kung sensitive ang feet mo. tas yung waters, ang clear and calm. sabi ni mario, you can go snorkling pa dun sa mejo malayo.
but i don't think ok sya if you have kids with you. biglang lalim kasi yung beach so mejo scary. but if you're already grown-up, or magaling ka maglangoy, ok na.

outside the resthouse

inside the resthouse

ang ganda! its a kubo diba? pero kumpleto sa gamit. (except nalang tv at computer diba.) pero may lutuan, may sink and may dining table.... as in pwede ka talaga mabuhay dun. super conducive for studying... or relaxing... hmm... parang di pwede pagsabayin yun ah.
ANYWAY, its super hot outside diba? pero pag-pasok mo, super presko. and aliwalas ng feeling. sana nga ganun nalang ang mga bahay sa manila, para di mainit kahit walang aircon.

WHAKHE!

Fort Santiago, Intramuros

Starring: Siela Gala and Joel Pagkatipunan

Second part of our Manila fieldtrip was in Fort Santiago in Intramuros.
It's near lang sa Manila Cathedral area. If you go in sa entrance before the cathedral, sa yung unang kanto sa left. 50 pesos yung entrance.

outside the gate

inside the gate

cell of Jose Rizal, where the footsteps start

joel following Jose Rizal's footsteps

me and manong gwardya sibil waiting for them

entrance to another Rizal museum

mi ultimo adios

one of the first copies of Noli Me Tangere

creepier cell of Rizal, notice him writing/reading something

Baluartillo And Reducto De San Francisco Javier

Manila Ocean Park

starring: Siela Gala and Joel Pagkatipunan

Before I set off to Canada, me and joel decided to go on a little fieldtrip.
First stop: The Manila Ocean Park

It's behind the Quirino Grand Stand, so coming from the south, take Roxas blvd. then left on Kalaw or Burgos (depending on the one way routes)
The admission fee is 400 pesos for adults, a little cheaper for the kids.
The lines can get really long so we suggest to get there before lunch.

From the outside, it was obvious that the establishment isn't really finished yet. But when you go inside the oceanarium, you won't be able to see the construction anymore. So mukang tapos na sya.

(click on picture to enlarge)

Nice naman yung place. Fascinating yung mga fishes. Yun nga lang, mejo bitin. I thought kasi it was a super big museum. Pero ok narin. Worth it naman for P400. It looked expensive to build eh. Tas mukang mahal din yung mga fishes

oh yung overhead aquarium pala, nakakatuwa, pero sobrang liit lang! super dun ako nabitin. kasi naman parang mga 5 meters lang yun lalakaran underneath. tas pagnakalabas ka na, bawal bumalik.
But in all fairness, since ngayon lang ako nakakita ng ganon, natuwa parin ako.

But what I really really enjoyed was the fish spa. Additional 100 pesos lang. It's not super ganda yung place. At kung maarte ka, di mo siguro susubukan.
Anyway, you'll dip your feet sa wading pool tas yung mga fishes na maliliit kakagatin yung paa mo. kakatakot at first. kakakiliti. pero after a while, ok na naman.

Left: my feet. Right: joel's feet.

Ang daya. Mas maraming fish dun sa kanya.

Cosme and Potipot Island

Because I was leaving, we planned to go to galera.
Kaso sabi sa weather forecast, may low pressure area somewhere near mindoro.
So naisip namin, sa north nalang pumunta.

Potipot Island

(photo from clickthecity.com)

We discovered this island called Potipot (or Putipot) somewhere off the coast of Uacon in Zambales.
We planned everything 1 day lang, lahat ng sources namin sa internet ko lang nakuha.
(thanks to travel bloggers)
Hinanap namin kung san yun, we planned the bus ride, reserved rooms...
Fully booked pa nga yung resort na gusto namin at first, yung Dawal Resort.
So dun kami sa Sunbloom nagpa-book.

We were leaving the next day na.
At naka-pag empake na ko.

But on that same night, sabi ng PAGASA, may low pressure area sa Zambales.
Ayos ah. Exactly 24 hours ago, nasa mindoro yun eh.
Sinundan talaga kami. Bwisit.

So we didn't go.
Buti nalang.
Kasi naging full-blown bagyong Cosme na sya,
at namamahagi na ngayon ng relief goods sa mga tao dun .

Pero pramis.
Pagbalik ko dito sa Pilipinas, pupuntahan ko yan.

Solving the Cube

So daddy brought home a rubix cube.
Feeling ko sa tiangge nya nabili yun eh.
Yung tig-forty pesos...
Anyway, na-challenge ako. So I tried it myself.
Pucha, ang hirap pala.

So since everything is 0n the net, I tried to look for tips.
Sabi kasi nila, once alam mo na kung pano, madali nalang.

There are other sites and tips but this one is the easiest to understand.

Tada! I did it!

O ikaw naman! :)

12 Days Before Take-Off

I woke up from my mid-morning nap and realized that there are only 12 days till we leave.
And I have so much stuff to do.
For starters, mom told us to sort our stuff:
those that we'll take to Canada and those that we'll give away.
Knowing me, that will take me days to do.
so I decided to get on with it.


I decided to make 2 piles:
the stuff I'm sure to take, I place in my bed
the stuff I'll give away, I hang in the closet handle.

But I wasn't just leaving for a vacation.
I'll be migrating to another country,
and we are selling the house.
By the time I get back, this house might not be our's anymore, so I can't just leave things and expect to come back for it in two months.

So it won't be just clothes and toiletries that I'll be sorting and packing. I'll have to take anything and everything that I intend to keep owning.

Because whatever stuff that I'll be leave behind, I might not see again.
As a person, I have trouble letting go of anything.

I've held on to diaries, letters and even movie tickets for years.

So this made me panic a little bit.


What about my books? I can't bring them all.

And my picture collection?
How about my little figurines, old cassette tapes, cd's...
the scraps of jeans that I intended to sew into a skirt...
And my tissue collection?
no one would take them for sure.
My personal treasures would end up as someone else's trash.

The fact of me leaving, is finally sinking in. I actually felt sad.
We'll be leaving the house that I've lived in for 20 something years.
But my mom's friend said:
Don't look at the sadness in the things you'll leave behind,
look for the joy in the things that you will find.

Sold our Car

As part of our migration, we sold our beloved innova.

Pero we sold it naman to a close friend so I know she'll be in good hands.

Nung kinuha nga sya ni Paul sa amin, di ko na sya tiningnan. Haay...

ehehehe...

Anyway, we are selling our house too. As well as almost all the stuff in it.

Migration Seminars

Since we were migrating to Canada, we were asked to attend 3 seminars

First was with Canadian Immigration Integration Project (CIIP)

It was a 2-day seminar,
funded by the Canadian Government.


As such, we didn't have to pay anything, and libre yung merienda.
We were grouped according to the province of destination. Our's was Alberta.
So everyone in that session was going to Alberta.

The seminar talked about what you can expect there, tips on finding a job, climate etc...
It was very informative, in fairness.
Probably the most informative of the 3 seminars since it was focused on our destination.
And they have one on one career counselling too.

But I only have 2 comments:

First, they made me feel that they were selling something I already bought.
The trainors are all Filipino-Canadians.
And since they are Filipinos, they sort-off have a license to diss the Philippines.
(I mean, if a Caucasian disses our country, we'd be pissed right?
But if a fellow Filipino does it, it's kind of all right.)
So when they compared the Philippines to Canada,
they can't help but be truthfully nasty, over-selling Canada.
Canada might be a really nice country, but the Philippines ain't that bad.
We have beautiful beaches. And really interesting political system..

Second, they want us to call Canada "home" and the Philippines "our country of origin"
Although I have hesitations, it's a good way to give new immigrants the right way of thinking.
But the downside is that since they are Filipinos themselves,
sometimes they get confused too, and call Philippines "home"
I mean, if you are to convince me to renounce the "home" I've lived in for the past 27 years,
You will have to have more conviction than that.

The second seminar is with the International Organization for Migration (IOM)

In CIIP, you don't need your visa released to attend. For as long as you've applied for a permanent resident visa, you're welcome to attend.
But with IOM, they check your visa prior attending.
And unlike CIIP, it was only for an entire day.
But like CIIP, it was also funded by the Canadian Government.
Hence, there was no fee to pay and merienda was free.

Here, the focus was the entire Canada.
There were people going to different provinces.
So when our trainor asked us to group ourselves according to province of destination,
The five of us (mommy, daddy, brother, sister and me) got stuck in one group.
And it was just us.
So when she asked us to discuss on the stuff to bring, share our concerns and tips etc.
It was pointless. We discuss that everyday here at home.

With respect to informative-ness, CIIP was better.
They were more convincing.
Although our trainor was half caucasian, half Indian (hindu) she wasn't that convincing when she speaks. It was as if she wasn't sure of what she was saying.
But in all fairness to her, she was very pretty and pleasing to listen to.
And she gave as a long list of very useful websites which I really really appreciated.

Third seminar is with the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO)

As you can see, this is a branch of OUR government.
Therefore it was required.
You can't leave the country without the CFO stamp in your passport.


You have to pay a fee. 400 pesos for each person. And there was no free merienda.
And the hand-out they gave was one per family.
Kamusta naman yun, tinipid...

Redeeming factor lang is that the speaker was really good.
And she was very entertaining. So nag enjoy naman ako sa pakikinig.

Ang funny lang is dun sa lobby.
May TV and they were showing stories about the problems of immigrants abroad.
Sort of panakot sa mga nagtatangkang umalis ng bansa.
For me it wasn't effective.
Come on... if you've lived here for 27 years, you know that ain't true.
Sana Titanic nalang or Final Destination yung pinalabas nila.
Dun siguro matatakot pa ko sumakay ng barko o eroplano to leave the country.

Saved by Google

I never thought how useful Google was till a few weeks ago.
I mean, I use it for research and all,
but this time I discovered another very practical use for it.

One afternoon, I was working on an order when the phone rang.
It was for me.
She said she got my name and number from the DLSU data base.
She belongs with a company looking for people with business related experience,
and since I graduated with a degree on business management,
she said I'd be a qualified candidate for their project.

She said they were looking for people who could do part time work on their project,
What exactly that project was, she'll discuss on our meeting.
But I could earn 20-30 thousand per month.
I asked how long would that project be, for I would be leaving the country soon.
She said they have an office in Canada, that I could take it there.

Hmm... That got me worried. And her office was in Ortigas, so that added to my hesitation.
But I agreed to meet with her nevertheless.
She gave me her name and number.
She was Pauline Tating.

After that, I continued on working with my paper.
But after a few minutes, I just got this crazy idea to google her name.
To my surprise, there was a number of blogs about her!

Turns out, she has been calling many people already with the same spiel.
And the project was a marketing strategy involving direct selling and networking!
Some of the blogs called her a scammer.
But I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt.
It may be a legit selling and networking company.

But the thing is, I was never big on selling.
Whether it was legit or not. I do not want to be involved in selling and networking.
So I cancelled my appointment. I would have just waisted my time.

Thanks to Google and my fellow bloggers,
I saved time, money and effort.

Promoted

In my writing job, the process is:
you request for an order, admin approves, and thats the only time you should work on it.
So there are quite a few of my request that have been denied for various reasons.
Ane reason is that someone else requested it who is better qualified,
another reason is that it has been picked by a premium writer.

A premium writer can pick an order without admin approval.
I guess they have already proved their capability and responsibility, so admin trusts them.

I hate it when a premium writer picks an order that I requested.
I feel that he/she just pulled the seniority card on me,
and it has nothing to do with my capacity as a writer.

So since then, I aimed to be a premium writer.
I met deadlines, replied to customers, etc... etc...
Until I came across a difficult client who gave me a really really bad review,
and caused my Reward:-1

After that, I kissed premium writer status goodbye.
I just concentrated on my reward points.

But on April 21, I received a notification,
stating I have been promoted to Premium Status!
Surely, my hard work and patience paid off!
I didn't get a raise or anything monetary,
I just got the privilege of taking orders without admin approval.
And that's really cool...

Signing of the Roll

I almost forgot that I was supposed to sign the Attorney's Roll on May 2.
I woke up really late so I was super in a hurry.

I got up, put on a dress and left the house.
Nag-commute pa nga ko eh.
Well, saka nag-make up din pala ng onti.

Basta, the point is, I didn't make a bid deal out of it. Parang errand lang for me.

Pag dating ko dun, and daming tao!
May mga nag-pipicturan, at may pamilyang mga kasama.
Wala pang 2 minutes ako naka-pila, I already felt lonely.

And because I was late, last ako sa line.
nasa labas na nga ko ng gate ng bagong SC bldg eh.
Buti nalang nakita ko si Caloy. Pinasingit ako.

Oh. And may dala rin syang camera.
Di ko naisip yun eh.
Malay ko ba na "event" to.
Anyway, since wala rin sya kasama, we agreed na I'll take his picture, and he'll take mine.

Unlike the oath taking, mejo maluwag sila this time.
Pwede magdala ng cellphone, camera pati pamilya sa loob.
Sayang nga eh, dami sanang photo-op.
Sabi pa ng katabi ko, sana sa signing nalang nya sinama yung family nya instead na sa oath.
I totally agree.
Dito kasi, kahit lima yung isama mo, ok lang.

Anyway, I got my Roll No.
Its 55554
Sayang nga eh. di pa lahat 5.

Signing

Thumbmarking

Showing Off (hihi)