Ang Buhay Ni Ela

Efficiency

2010-09-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

Our firm just recently moved to a new building.
New furniture, new offices, new work areas...
It was cool, really.
We can even electronically adjust the height of our desk.

So one time, the office manager gave the landlords a tour of the office.

She goes, "These desks are really nice. You can adjust it really high that you can work while standing up."

Now who would want to do that?

Death and Movies

2010-09-10T17:58:00.000-07:00

While watching TV...

Joel: Hey look! Steve Irwin has a movie!

Siela: Aww... That's so nice! Was that before or after he died?

Interesting question. Let me guess...

Timezones

2010-09-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

At 7pm, a lawyer, also in our Calgary office, sent me an email for something he needs to be done for his 8am closing the next day.

Since I work from 8:30 am to 4:30pm, I didn't get that email till the next morning, 30 minutes past the deadline.
I assumed that he already had someone else to do it. I mean if you need it by 8 and you can't get a hold of me, the smart thing is to get a hold of someone else right?

Anyway, at 8:45am he calls me up, all upset, asking me for the documents.
He tells me the closing was 8am, Vancouver time (9am in Calgary)
And that I should start hurrying because I only have 15 minutes.

How the hell would I know that?
He is in Calgary.
I am in Calgary.
The document did not mention Vancouver.
And I'm not a psychic.

All I could tell him was...
WHAT???

Well, since we're picking timezone,
I pick Nome, Alaska.
I still have an hour left to do it.
So relax!

Early Education

2010-09-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

I heard a woman tell her friend about a conversation she had with her two boys earlier that morning. The boys were six and eight.

It went a little something like this:

Boys giggling at the backseat
Mom: "What's so funny boys?"
Boys: "Mom, what's a blow job?"
Mom: "It's when a girl puts a guy's penis in her mouth."
Boys: "Eewww..."

I predict that in ten years,
the boys will have a different opinion on the topic.

Scared

2010-09-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

So this female lawyer really scares the hell out of me.
She is 'fierce' personified. Horns would look good on her.

Don't get me wrong, she's not a horrible person.
I don't know her very well, but from our encounters, she is actually kind, sweet and is very funny.
Contrary to what I thought, she won't bite.

She just looks really...
Intimidating.
The complete opposite of 'approachable.'

She exudes strength and power.
I find her really pretty.
Although I would suggest less eye makeup to soften her look.
But then again, as a female lawyer, do really want to look SOFTER?

Anyway, one time, she approached me and said,
"Why do you look so scared all the time?"

To which I replied almost automatically,
"Because you scare me."

She laughed.
I guess I wasn't THAT scared of her after all.

Alms

2010-09-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

I hate street children.

That sounded horrible, I know. But it's true.
But before you make you judgments, I'd like to clarify a couple of points:
I don't hate the individual child.
I feel sorry for the fact that for some twist of fate they ended as such and truly believe that they don't deserve or should be where they are now.
I am aware and I do strongly agree that they should be afforded help or even salvation.
I know poverty is a serious problem which should be dealt with A.S.A.P.

I guess what I really hate is concept of children begging in the streets.
Now if they were PLAYING on the streets instead, I'd love them dearly.

It's all because of this question:
TO GIVE OR NOT TO GIVE ALMS?

If you give alms, you've given them their next meal thus saving them from starvation.
But then you encourage the begging.
They will never leave the streets.

However, If you don't, they will never leave you alone.
(They are more stubborn than the most persevering marketing person ever.)

I'm still on the fence on how I should deal with street children.
But mostly, I give them change just so they will go and leave me alone.
(Now you can judge me.)

Here in Calgary, it's such a relief that I don't see any street children at all.
But I'm not saying this city is completely free of people begging for money.
Everyday I see this man asking if people can spare him change for COFFEE.
Some ask change to buy CIGARETTES.
Oh. Yesterday, someone asked me for change to buy BEER.

WTF?
In the Philippines, if you don't have money for coffee, cigarettes or beer,
then don't have it!

(I did give him a bunch of pennies and a couple of dimes only because he was already drunk and he was bigger than me. I could have just ran away but prior experiences taught me that drunk people at train/bus stations are like bears - you shouldn't run when you see them.)

Now I miss the street children in Manila. I don't hate them anymore.

Bigger

2010-08-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks, I've been watching 'Magkaribal', featuring, who I think is, the hottest and yummiest Filipino actor EVER: Derek Ramsay

One night, after watching an episode wherein Derek took his shirt off, I told my husband, "Jo, why don't you try going to the gym? A buff body might suit you."

He replied, "Sure. I'll work on getting a bigger body. How about you work on getting bigger boobs?"

Life is so unfair.

Chores

2010-08-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday again and since I've been out and about for the past few weekends, it's time to catch up on my chores.

Which reminded me, my sister's friend once asked her:

"Are chores easier there in Canada?" I knew at once that the answer was not as simple as it seems.

True that dish washing is so much easier here with a dishwasher: you put everything in, add the soap pack, close the door and push some buttons. They then come out dry and all you have to do is put them in the cupboard.

Laundry is way easier too. Put it in, add soap and stuff (if dryer is separate, you might have to transfer) and it comes out dry. All you need to do is fold or hang.

Cleaning the house is not a big task either as things don't get as dusty as they could in the Philippines.

I guess, yes, it is easier here. But come to think of it, in the Philippines, I didn't have chores to do thanks to Ate Lea who cleans, cooks and does the laundry.

So here is my answer to her question: In Canada, chores are easier. In the Philippines, chores are not something I do at all.

Bears

2010-08-16T14:10:00.000-07:00

When we went to Lake Johnson in Banff National Park, my brother and I decided to go on a hike. The trail was approximately three kilometers, probably an hour walk (on a leisurely pace) around the lake.

About 15 minutes in the trail, I asked:

"What if we see a bear?"

There was silence for a few seconds. Then this conversation:

"Umm... All I know is that we shouldn't run." my brother said.
"Should we play dead?" I asked.
"I don't think that's a good idea." He replied.

Good thing we didn't run into one.

An almost adventure in the Canadian Rockies

2010-08-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

As early as February, my mom already had us booked on our Radium Hot Springs, BC trip. She had googled it and she even asked around for the possible activities and other worthy sites around that area - one of which was Lussier Hot Springs.

From the village center of Radium, we drove for about an hour to get to the Lussier Hot Springs - which, according to reports, was an undeveloped pool of hot water. It was so undeveloped that the road that leads to it was called "unknown" by the GPS.

So from the highway we drove into the unknown: a seven kilometer stretch of two way rough road. From the unknown, we turned right to what I would call "nowhere": a single lane of even rougher road that leads to somewhere I'm sure. It was safe to say that at that point, we had no idea where we are and where we are going.

A few hundred meters into "nowhere", surrounded by trees and the fear of possible wild-life encounter, we decided to turn back. This family, so used to the concrete jungle was definitely not ready for the deep woods.

Pointless Loves

2010-07-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

“But there are the small pointless loves, too, which the poets and the playwrights never really talk about. You don’t have to save the word 'love' for the special occasions.” – Backwards in High Heels, Tania Kindersley & Sara Vine

Here are my ten pointless loves. I must admit, it wasn’t easy coming up with ten. Halfway on the list, I had to pace back and forth to think of the next. Surprisingly, it took a lot of thought and big part of it is because it’s hard to find the thing worthy of that word ‘love’. I had to distinguish between ‘like’ and ‘prefer’. For example: I like to bake. I don’t think I know it well enough to say ‘I love baking’. I did enjoy baking chocolate cookies, but that’s all I know. Who knows if I’ll still like baking muffins or cakes… I think before you say “I love…” it has to be known very well and time tested. Another example is: I prefer to go shopping alone. I do not love it. If I’m sad, shopping alone would not make me instantaneously happy. Shopping per se would. But it does not have to be done alone.

So here they are in no particular order:

1. I love talking walks. In fact when I need to think, I walk, pace around the room back and forth. I used to work for someone who has a treadmill instead of a chair behind his desk. This, I think, is pretty stupid. It may be a good cardio and it helps you think but what if you want to just sit down and type or read or think or sign papers? Plus it’s really annoying to those working around you. I say treadmill in the office is only good only if have it inside your own office, and it’s on your spare desk. Anyway, some of my favorite locations are: Stephen Avenue, the Plus 15, the Makati Business District on Sundays and of course anywhere with Joel.

2. I love silly AND witty sitcoms. It has to be both. My favorites: Friends, How I Met Your Mother and The Nanny. Now the last one poses a bit of an issue because while I love watching The Nanny over and over, Joel is allergic to Fran Drescher’s voice.

3. I love taking pictures. I remember on the sixth grade, I was allowed to bring a camera for the first time. When we got them developed and my mom was so mad because I wasn’t in any one of them.

4. I love libraries. There’s this soothing feeling about being around so many books. Whenever I’m waiting for someone, I’d prefer to meet and wait for them in bookstores. Because I wouldn’t mind spending time and waiting there. I can spend hours browsing through the shelves. Now in libraries, not only are there a lot of books but you don’t actually have to buy any it (obviously, they are not normally on sale). And now they have DVD’s, CD’s and I heard that you can actually play guitar hero in the downtown Calgary Public Library. (The last one I haven’t verified, so don’t take my word for it.

5. I love bags. In college, when I get a bad test result, I buy a bag. I think I hit my lowest point when I walked in a Liz Claiborne closing shop sale. I was actually going to the ALDO shop next door because I needed new shoes. (Yes. ‘Needed.’ When you’re a size 4, shoe shopping is a task) I never got to go to ALDO that day. But I walked out of Liz Claiborne with 5 bags. (What can I say? Everything is 70% off!)

6. I love Starbucks - the concept, the over-priced coffee, the ambiance, the merchandise…

7. I love my IPhone. I know there’s a lot of smartphones out there that have way better features, and querty typing on a small touchpad screen is a bitch but I’m really happy with the fact that I can check my email, get on YahooMessenger, go on Facebook, surf the web, listen to music, read ebooks, play games, do my banking, check transit schedule, get directions and a million other things with interesting yet sometimes useless array of applications. The thing is, I’m not a really techie person. So I don’t need and even understand many of the technical features that other smartphones have. I don’t need better. I just need something pretty, easy to use and enjoyable. Although... I am tempted to get a Blackberry just because...

8. I love malls. Money or no money to spend. I love everything about it - walking around aimlessly, window shopping, actually shopping, eating at food courts… I just love being in it. I spent 2 months working in one and I just loved it! My notable favorites are SM Southmall and the Glorietta-Landmark-Greenbelt chain in Makati. Southmall because I grew up there and basically you can find everything and anything that you will need there. There are merchandises both expensive and cheap. And of course there’s the grocery, the department store, the food court, the skating rink and the theme park. Also they have the hardware, the appliance center, the car shop, barber shop, parlor, spa, dermatology clinic, eye clinic, medical testing clinic, banks, computer school, driving school… you name it. They have it.

9. I love to pack. For trips, for moving or even just the groceries. But I hate unpacking in all it’s forms and for any of it's reasons.

10. I love writing. Obviously.

Sonya’s Garden – Tagaytay City

2010-07-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

More accurately, it’s in the “vicinity of Tagaytay City” as per its website. I guess ‘Alfonso, Cavite’ doesn’t have that same tourism appeal as ‘Tagaytay City.’

So we went there for our honeymoon. On the way there, we almost got lost.
It wasn’t actually hard to go there. From the main road, you turn right at Buck Estate and that road will lead you straight to Sonya’s Garden. Incidentally, there are also a big Sonya’s Garden sign on the main road so you’d know when to turn right. You won’t get lost.
But we almost did. You see, we had no idea where Alfonso, Cavite was. So when we went past Tagaytay, and past Nasugbu, I was worried. Maybe we missed the turn. Maybe we didn’t see the sign. Maybe it was hidden. It was Sonya’s Secret Garden…
So we made a panic right turn. Fortunately, after a few minutes, Joel figured it wasn’t the right, right turn. So we headed back to the main road and waited for the big sign to show up. And it finally did. It was definitely NOT in Tagaytay.

We finally got there and as we were waiting for the person in reception, we noticed that a wedding reception will be held that afternoon. When the receptionist arrived, I guess she noticed the white dress and the barong so she asked us “Are you the newlyweds?”
I had to think before I could answer. We were in fact newlyweds, but I don’t think we were THE newlyweds she was waiting for. And I don’t remember booking the room and telling them that it was for our honeymoon. So I said “no” and wished that it will not be construed as fraud.

So we were led inside. It was amazing.

It felt so natural, as if God merely sprinkled flower seeds and left it to grow. It didn’t feel like a professional landscape architect had a hand on it at all. There was no structure. It was a beautiful and cozy kind of mess. Makes you feel like home, actually.

When we went to our room, I kind of thought that we should have told them we were on our honeymoon because it wasn’t a room, it was a house. While technically it might have been a room, it had 3 king size beds, 2 couches and 2 bathrooms. We weren’t used to all that space. We actually thought of inviting the whole gang to join us.

It was really lovely though – not your typical commercial and impersonal hotel room. On the contrary, it had personality. As if someone actually lives there, like it was someone’s home: some rich Filipino’s ancestral home away from the city. It can even be my home. I could easily imagine my grandma coming out of one of the rooms telling us it's time for dinner. It was that cozy.

And the food was amazing - all grown in their garden. And the china... my dad will go insane as none of them matched. But each piece was exquisite.

While it was a bit expensive, it was truly worth it. One day, I’ll bring my Canadian friends there.

Salsa Don't

2010-07-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

I love to dance.
I did ballet when I was nine, pep squad when I was twelve and thirteen, dance group till I was sixteen and clubbing with lots of alcohol until now.
My ballet teacher even told me that I have the ballerina feet. I just don’t have the heart… and the guts to wear a tutu past puberty.

I’m not great. I don’t even think I’m good. It’s just something that I can and love to do. So when my new friends invited me to a Latin Night to dance Salsa, I was more than willing to go – despite the fact I’ve never ever danced Salsa in my life.

Lesson number one: there are basic steps to learn. Unlike clubbing, you can’t just have a bottle or two and feel real good. It needs classes, lots of practice and less alcohol. Needless to say, at my first night to salsa, I felt like an idiot.

So I went to a Salsa class. My friends said I can probably get in to the advance class since I was a fast learner. They taught me a couple of steps to get me through the screening and I actually got in. And here is how the class works: they make you form a circle and partner up; they show everyone the routine; then make you try it; and then again with the next guy. It was supposed to make you be adaptable to different partners which make you learn better, if not faster.

I had varied experience. Some were really nice and gave me tips. Some were less experienced or as clueless as I was so any progress was sheer luck. Some were really old and some even smelled funny. But one person really left an impression. He told me: “You should already know this because you’re in the ADVANCED class”.

So I tried the beginner’s class and that didn’t go very well either.

Lesson number two: it takes two to tango. Apparently, it takes two to Salsa as well. No matter how many times they show you the steps that you can do ‘on your own.’ Because unless you’re with a partner, that’s all the Salsa that you can do. And it’s not a lot of fun.

Lesson number three: the guy leads.

So there I was, at beginner’s class, my partner can barely follow the beat and I’m supposed to let him lead. It’s like the blind leading the deaf. It was painful.

I strongly believe that I am the master of my destiny. I let go of things I can’t control. That's why I feel so frustrated and powerless because my enjoyment is made to depend on the skill of someone else.

That is when I raised the red flag. Salsa is not for me.
I am an independent woman and I don’t need a guy.
I will try belly dancing instead.

Heritage Park, Calgary

2010-07-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

To Celebrate Canada Day, we decided to explore Heritage Park - Canada's Largest Living History Museum.

It was lovely. I've always enjoyed museums so I really enjoyed this one. There are lots of exhibits to see and many activities to do.

We rode the SS Moyie...
And the Canada Pacific Steam Train...
Unfortunately we were only there for 3 hours and it wasn't enough. While we went around the park during the train-ride, we weren't able to go inside all the historic buildings, weren't able to go on all the rides, weren't able to shop in the novelty stores... although I think my husband will appreciate that last part.

For sure, we will go back. And you will see more pictures.
And I will shop... for hubby's presents... and a little for me too, of course.

Potipot Island, Zambales

2010-06-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to go to Potipot Island for years now. So when my friends found out that I'm going to Manila, they organized a group outing. But the night before the outing, only 4 of us can go. The group outing became a double date.

And that wasn't the only surprise of the trip. Turns out, they don't cook food for the guests anymore so we had to go panic shopping at the marketplace. Good thing we found where the market was.

So the next morning, we got up really early to go to the island. It was lovely. It was super worth it.

But I don’t think everyone will appreciate the Potipot experience.

First, it’s an undeveloped island. No electricity, no running water, no restaurants and no amenities. It’s like camping – without the RV. So you bring everything with you: gas tank, gas range, cooler filled with ice, cooler filled with food, cooler filled with drinks. I don’t think my mom will enjoy it, unless she brings a maid or a cook with her. Her vacation must be housework free. As for us semi-domesticated yuppies, we did have fun cooking fried chicken by the beach.

And second, maybe it’s the timing, but it tends to get crowded there too. Remember: it’s a small island. Unless you’re spot is too hot, too rocky or is infested by insect, don’t expect seclusion. But for us, we enjoyed the crowd. We watched this dad make a fool out of himself, drunken silly. We saw him fall out of a chair, stumble over his 5-7 year old daughter, throw up on the ocean and pass out at the sunny part of the beach.

Some have called the island “the hidden paradise”. The 7 hour drive from Manila might give you the feeling that it’s hidden, but once your there, seeing all the people there with you. You’d think their giving away the map for free.

As for the paradise part, well I can’t argue with that. The place is beautiful.

On status updates...

2010-06-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

"It's not official if it's not on Facebook" - anonymous

Barrio Fiesta, Calgary

2010-06-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

So my Canadian friends and I thought about checking out this Filipino restaurant that allegedly played Latin music. They were all into salsa and I was just craving sisig. As we entered the restaurant I was appalled. They had red lights. The fear that a stripper will go out on stage started to creep in.

“So you feel at home?” one of my friends asked.
“Hell no.” was what I wanted to say. But I just laughed in an ‘are-you-kidding-me’ sort of way.

Seriously, if I was in the Philippines I would never in a million years go to a place like that. It’s putting all restaurants in the Philippines in a bad light – red, in particular. Considering the vast diversity in the Filipino art and culture, I feel sad that this restaurant had to choose ‘modern-day-strip-club-near-the-airport’ as its inspiration.

On the upside, the band was fantastic, the staff was super friendly and the food was great. The best part for me was the fact that they serve Red Horse Beer. After 3 bottles, I didn’t mind the red lights.

Weddings and Nike Outlet Stores

2010-05-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

In keeping with our true style, our wedding was filled with laughter but completely devoid of public display of affection. Even the ‘you-may-kiss-the-bride’ portion was awkward.

But the whole thing was really funny. Even the judge was trying so hard not to laugh. And while everyone was fighting back laughter, our friend bunny was fighting back her tears.

And speaking of funny, when the judge asked the question about talking the other as husband or wife we answered “Yes Ma’am.”

On the way to our honeymoon, in my white dress and his barong, we stopped by a Nike outlet store and bought running shoes. At least we prepared to run after the wedding, not before and preferably together.

Resurrections and Two-week Wedding Preps

2010-05-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

So after more than a year of blogging silence…

Here is what’s up with me:
1.) I’ve spent the last 10 months here in Canada;
2.) Joel and I got married.

Here’s how it happened:

There was no romantic dinner, no serenade, no kneeling and no diamond ring. But there was the ‘we-cannot-do-this-long-distance-relationship-forever-so-let’s-get-married-so-you-can-move-here’ conversation. You may think it’s a marriage for convenience. But let me tell you, it was anything BUT convenient - the 2 hours standing up in line to check-in on the airline; the 15 hour flight; the two-week wedding plan. Yup, there wasn’t anything convenient about it at all. But it was hell of a lot of fun.

So this was how I organized my wedding in a little over 14 days:

Day 1 – Applied for our marriage license. We knew the right people so we got priority on the required seminars and we were able to complete the application process in a day – which may actually take 3 days to a week. Now we have to wait 10 business days for it to be released. There goes your 14 days.

Day 10 – Went and visited the Judge and set the date – although a month ago, we already informed her that we want her to officiate the wedding. Bought the wedding rings – depending on the supply, this step can actually take from 30 minutes to 3 months.

Day 11 – Informed and invited 4 (out of six) of our witnesses to attend the wedding - in four days. (It was the shortest wedding notice ever.) And I was informed that I’d need a wedding dress, a reception venue and a honeymoon venue. Shoot. I haven't thought about that.

Day 12 – Went to the beach and got a tan. (Now I think back, we should have gone to the beach after the wedding. I look so dark on the wedding pictures.) Oh. And booked a room for our honeymoon while on the way to the beach.

Day 13 – Met his grandparents and got a pedicure.

Day 14 – Claimed our marriage license. Drove an hour to go to the court to submit it. Made reservation for 20 people for the reception. Spent a mere two hours shopping for my wedding dress and shoes. And thanks to my wonderful witnesses: got a body scrub, a full-body massage, a sumptuous dinner, a Brazilian wax, chocolate body paint and edible panties. Also, informed our remaining 2 witness about the wedding the next day. (I correct myself. This was the shortest wedding notice.)

An hour before the wedding, while on our way to the court house: put on make-up and confirmed booking/reservation for both reception and honeymoon.

Looking back, it was a miracle we actually got through it. Really, this wedding would not have been possible without faith, family, friends and a lot of luck.

Directions to Valenzuela RTC

2009-02-03T22:09:00.000-08:00

I was to attend a hearing in Valenzuela RTC.
The day before, I asked around for directions.

Atty Jun: Alam mo yung dulo ng EDSA?
Siela: Yung SM North?
Atty Jun: Hindi... magleleft ka pa.
Siela: Ah... yung papuntang NLEX...
Atty Jun: Hmmm... mejo... Alam mo yung munumento?
Siela: ah OO!
Atty Jun: Yung dulo ng EDSA, munumento yun. Tas mag left ka sa McArthur Highway. Derecho ka lang until SM Valenzuela. Before SM may maliit na street. Dun yung RTC.
Siela: ah ok. Cge, alam ko na.
Atty Jun: Dun ka nalang sa SM mag-park kasi onti lang ang parking sa RTC.
Siela: ok. Sige, I know na. Thanks po. (left his office)

Yun lang. Wala akong kotse.Pano kaya yun pag-commute?

Siela: Hi mario, pano mag-commute papuntang SM Valenzuela?
Mario: Sakay ka ng any bus na papuntang Malinta, baba ka sa royal mall, then jeep papuntang McArthur Highway.

Patay. I had no idea what he's talking about.

I ended up taking the LRT til munumento and then I took a cab.

January Summary

2009-01-31T08:40:00.000-08:00

Jan 1:
Watched School Bukol at Sta. Lucia East

Jan 2:
Had a mani-pedi
Head back to Makati

Jan 3:
FF’s New Year’s Party at Mari’s
The boys played poker, the girls chat up with tyns via YM

Also...
It was the last annual meeting of LC at Devanadera residence.
Wine, Cheese, Pizza
And lots of dogs.

Jan 10:
Went out drinking at Attica in A-venue, Makati Ave with 4D friends.
Went to a girlie bar after,
saw half-naked ladies dancing.
Very interesting night indeed.

Jan 14:
Had dinner in Masas for momsy's despedida
Was glad to catch up with some 4D people we haven’t seen in a while.
Drank at Crocodile Grill after.
Same old, same old kulitan.

Jan 17:
Had dinner at momsy’s house before she heads off to the airport
Drank at Good Earth at Rockwell after to celebrate.
Just kidding momsy. We will miss you.
It will be noticeably quiet without you .

Jan 18:
Sunday lunch at the pots house.
Had a bowling tournament via wii.
Boys drank alfonso after.

Jan 24:
Tambay at Mari’s house.
Ate hotdogs and maling with rice.
And menudo...
Gavin finally talked to us.
Slept at Pots’ house.

Jan 28:
Had dinner with a couple of 4D peeps.
Wala lang...

Jan 29:
Ate at Rap near DLSU Taft.
Super sulit steak.Solve at 125pesos

December Summary

2008-12-31T07:32:00.000-08:00

Dec 7:
Pacquiao-dela Hoya fight.
Got to greenbelt at 8am, but NSG was already full so went to Capricciosa
So early... the fight started at past 12 noon.
But it was fun. We had great seats. Pizza was good, too.
And most importantly, Manny won.

Dec 12:
Went to a hearing,
Got a scolding from the judge.
It was totally not my fault.

Dec 14:
Went to Tarlac at Papa Jay's Pad.
Rockband to sawa.
Amazing view.
Lotsa food.

Dec 15:
Western theme OSG Christmas Party
images of Calgary stampede flashing in my head)
The team presented a dance routine, ASG included.
And so did every other teams.

click here for more pictures.

Dec 19:
Our division’s Christmas party.
Singing, games and a whole lot of prizes.
Did not recognize my boss as he was really “shaking” it.

click here for more pictures.

Dec 20:
Attended RJ and Dianne’s wedding (Joel’s HS friends from La Salle Antipolo)
The church and the reception venue was amazing.
Loved the photo-booth.
Was not prepared for the unbelievably cold weather.
Got sick afterwards.

click here for more pictures.

Dec 24:
Travelled to Candelaria Quezon.
Alone.
Joel took me to the bus station, though.
Had a window seat and a decent, thin guy sat beside me.
So it was a pretty comfy ride.
Still had sore throat so I had lots of water,
Lots of medicines, and lots of candy.

The church was ridiculously crowded during the mass
Slept thru Christmas eve coz I wasn’t really feeling well

Dec 25:
Read the 3rd book of the twilight series.
Went to my other grandmother in the afternoon
Spent time with my really cute 2-year old inaanak.

I don’t have pictures.
I have Christmas issues this year.

Dec 26:
FF Christmas party at the Pots House
Sara looked really really pregnant.

click here for more pictures.

Dec 29:
Went to Tagaytay with 4D friends.
At bulalo in lightning speed.
Drank coffee before beer.
Pretended we were in another country
Because it was just so friggin cold to be in the Philippines
For more pictures visit Eeza’s multiply site.

click here for more pictures.

Dec 30:
Went to Cainta to spend the New Year with Joel’s family

Dec 31:
New Year’s Eve at the Pagkatipunans.
I still refuse to touch any form of firecracker or sparkler.

November Summary

2008-11-30T06:56:00.000-08:00

Nov 1:
Spent it with Joel’s family, went to South Cemetery to visit his dearly departed relatives.
Said a prayer for my dearly departed relatives
And considering my failure to visit them, I made a sincere wish that they don’t visit me instead.

Nov 7:
Attended Bunny and Jew’s joint birthday celebrations.
Pretended to be civilized and limited myself to drinking red wine.
Did not get drunk though.

For more pictures, click here.

Nov 8:
Attended Chi’s wedding at Folk Arts Theatre. (Yes. The whole theatre was devoted to her wedding.)
Felt like I was attending an awards night instead.
Tambay at the Pots house afterwards, drinking, talking, eating...
Went home at 6am.

For pictures, click here.

Nov 10:
Was the oath-taking in the OSG.
Parents were invited for the pining ceremony but since mine are a thousand miles away,
Momsy Dev and Joel went on their behalf.

For more pictures, click here.

Nov 16:
Went to the Rihanna and Chris Brown concert
Lots of people, heavy traffic,
and really cool music.

Nov 22:
Verdict – the first Med-Law Party!
Congratulations sisses!

Nov 26:
Watched Twilight.
Nice naman.
I wasn't that disappointed.

Moving Out

2008-10-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

I can’t deny it. Moving out of this house was extremely sad.
It’s been my home for more than 20 years.
And the idea that this will be someone else’s home, pains me.

However, when I think about it, this house hadn’t been my home ever since we left for Canada. Even if it was the same exact house, it wasn’t my home anymore. I didn’t have my room (I slept at my parent’s) Mom won’t come out of their room to ask who wants to come with her to the grocery. Dad won’t be walking around shirtless looking for the most recent thing he has lost. Glenn won’t be sitting next to me at the dinner table. And Faye’s heavy steps would not come down the stairs anymore.

So even if I stayed there from August to October, in those three months, I still felt homesick.

But nevertheless, the idea of moving out was sad.
This house has been filled with our childhood memories. I’ve seen it evolve from being a 2-bedroom bungalow, to a 5-bedroom two-storey house. It’s been a home for a number of titos and titas, lolos and lolas, and few extended family. And now we are letting it go.

Moving on is good, I’d tell myself.
My family’s happy in Canada.
I’ll be happy in Makati.
I’m growing up and letting go is a part of it.

FF's BBQ

2008-10-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

In celebration of Sara’s first ultrasound and the return of Via (Paul’s almost totally wrecked car) we decided to have a barbeque party.

Nope. Scrap that.

Paul wanted to showcase his barbeque skills so we planned to have a barbeque party. Between the planning and the date of the barbeque, Paul and Sara discovered they’re having a baby. One or two days before the party, Via was released from the talyer. And a couple of hours before the barbeque, Sara had her first ultrasound.

Now that sounds more accurate.

mommy sa and mari at the kitchen

yummy...

Oh! And Shel was bringing her new/first boyfriend, Luis, to meet us.
It was certainly a day of celebration.
Our FF family has grown. With Joel and Luis, Paul is no longer the only thorn among the roses. (In the days when Paul was the only guy, PSP was his reliable companion. We would girl talk and he would fidget and play with his PSP.)And with the frequent presence of Patrick his brother and Patrick his best friend, the girls no longer outnumber the guys.
Anyway, food was great.
Luis was really nice... and polite. ;)

yihee...

Poker was fun.
And Sara’s asleep by 12 o’clock,
Paul by 3am. (Sara was awake by then. Made us think they took shifts on us)
Everyone else stayed for breakfast.

Zoobic Safari

2008-10-05T06:26:00.000-07:00

4D strikes again. They're out on another adventure. Today's conquest: Subic.
At dahil si Pau ay hindi pa nakakakita ng tigers, we went to Zoobic Safari.

hmmm... bakit di sya masyadong mukang masaya....

And because Pau wants to see tigers, we went to the tigers first. It was interesting. Kinda cool actually. If I weren't scared of big animals, I would want a tiger for myself. The first ones we saw were caged. And then we tried the one where we ride the caged jeep. Astig. The tigers jump on the jeep. Mejo scary lng ng onti.

in front of the caged jeep

view from the inside of the jeep

after the tigers, ostrich naman daw. we rode the pick up nalang kasi pwede naman daw yun. Again, Pau hasn't seen an ostrich.

So ang saya namin diba? lahat nasa likod. So fun!
Except when we actually drove thru the ostrich farm. My goodness, nilapitan kami ng ostrich. Nagpanic lahat ng nasa likod. Imagine naman... kung ganon kalaki yung ibong tutuka sayo... Mejo lang ha.

before the attack

After that we went to the crocodile farm. Cool din coz we get to see them attack the dressed chicken. (You buy the chicken, its attached to a pole and you lower it to the crocs)

croc in action

Overall, it was an interesting experience. In fairness, worth the money naman. Sayang lang coz I think we missed yung pwede hawakan na tiger cub.

OSG Celebrates with the President

2008-10-02T05:39:00.000-07:00

As part of its 107th year anniversary, OSG celebrates in a formal dinner party at the Officer’s Club in Fort Bonifacio. Former Solicitors General were invited as well as other OSG alumna. As its guest of honor, the President of the Philippines herself attended the event. I must admit, I was excited. I’ve never seen PGMA – not up close in person anyway. Will I be awed by her presence?

Unfortunately, if one is a common person, the presence of a very important person like The President is not quite that delighting. On the contrary, super hassle sya.

Everyone must arrive before her but no one can eat before her.
All cameras are inspected and marked.
When she arrives, no one else can enter the venue after her. No one can leave either.
Her food is different, more special and pre-tasted.
She has a huge entourage who must be fed, too.

I know it’s not her fault that these things happen. I’m not complaining either. I’m just amused to see how much complexity is involved just for/in her presence.

Anyway, I wasn’t able to see her up close. I would’ve wanted to shake her hand and maybe take a picture with her. That would’ve been something. When she arrived, people just crowded at her. I didn’t get a chance to squeeze myself nearer.

I was able to see her about 5 meters away. She was really small. While she exudes power, I wasn’t awed. She didn’t really glow. But then again, she’s not Heart Evangelista or Katrina Halili. She’s not a movie star. She’s not required to glow and be radiant.

But even if I wasn’t awed, I was impressed. While I don’t exactly want a high-profile life, I find it very interesting.

First Appearance

2008-09-26T02:46:00.000-07:00

How many young lawyers can say that their first appearance in court was before the Highest Tribunal in the land? Not many. I feel lucky to be one of them.

Of course my participation was negligible. I was one out of the twenty lawyers (more or less) that appeared for the State. I did not even speak. But despite the fact that my contribution was limited to helping the team carry voluminous files, I was ecstatic. I was in awe just to be there. I was fascinated by everything; the walls, the ceilings, the benches and the fact that those who sat in front had to wear togas. I tried to observe all the justices, the opposing counsels and all the other people watching. I was able to spot important government officials in the audience too. Honestly, I felt more like a kid out on a fieldtrip.

Anyway, the order of the Supreme Court stated the appearances made, what transpired during that session and required all the parties to file their respective manifestations. When a copy of that order arrived in my desk, I automatically highlighted my name, for I don’t know when a thing like this will happen again.

Finally, a Legal Career

2008-09-08T02:38:00.000-07:00

Within only 10 weeks, the Sales Associate of Payless Shoe Source became an Associate Solicitor in the Office of the Solicitor General of the Republic of the Philippines. From working the cash register, I was now drafting pleadings. From selling shoes, I was now attending hearings.

It wasn’t easy. In my first week of work, I had a lot of practical realizations:

· For the first few days in the office, my secretary is my boss. She told me what to do.
· If you wanted to be treated as a lawyer, dress like one.
· A lawyer must have at least 1 black corporate suit.
· Office slippers are a necessity.
· Announcements are best posted in the elevator.
· One must ride the elevator once in a while so as not to miss out on anything.
· You can buy everything in the office: lunch, snacks, fruits, coffee, underwear.

Unveiled: Regina Iustitiae Anniversary Party

2008-08-28T22:29:00.000-07:00

Regina Iustitiae have come a long way since Anna, Dev and Pat started it in 2005.
I was part of it's second batch so I pretty much saw how it came to be.
And despite of all the issues within and outside the sorority,
we pulled through.

at one point in time, i almost gave up on the sisterhood.
but i'm so glad i didn't.
coz now i'm super proud to be part of it.
so i guess ganun lang talaga.
there will always be tough times, clashing personalities, and harsh critics.
what matters is how we stick together.
we fight, we forgive, we forget, we even sometimes ignore.
but we never quit on being a sis.

To all the sisses who worked hard to make the party a success, i'm so proud of you!

To my sisses who are taking the bar, especially my batchmates,
goodluck and god bless.
kayang kaya nyo yan!

mike, me, dev and gelo below the sorority logo

me and momsy with batchies maj(top) and ria (bottom)

left to right: pat, nad, me, jelo, mon and ace

mon, gelo, mike and ace

me, papa jay, buns and dev

Mari's Poker Party

2008-08-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

for the past 10 years,
there has been one event that we,
both my bff's and college friends,
all look forward to:
Mari's birthday party

Any party hosted in the Castillo's residence is famous for two things:
food and booze

i took joel with me for the first time at mari's
i told him, masarap ang food dun.
sabi nya, siguraduhin ko lang daw.

haha. saying 'masarap ang pagkain kina mari' is actually an understatement.
back in college, gusto ko na magpa-ampon sa bahay nila,
para tumaba naman ako.
you see, mari's family is involved in the restaurant/catering business.
and mari's passion is cooking.

so during the party,
simple buffet lang on one corner, mga 4-5 dishes,
pero si joel, amazed.
lahat daw kasi masarap.

true true.
i don't know what's with that house that makes every meal masarap.
swear, kahit lucky-me pancit canton, matatakam ka pag si mari ang nag-serve.

ff family
clockwise: me, sara, mari, paul, miguel, joel, lik and shel
(tyns, we miss you)

with regard to the drinking naman,
kahit anong trip mo,
if you want steady lang or drunk till you drop,
pwede. just remember to take the puke outside.

i remember in college,
hard drinks ang trip ng tao back then.
so ang line up ng drinks: tequila, ginpom...
gagapang ka talaga.

now, nag-mature na kami. beer nalang.
may redhorse or sanmig light depende sa trip mo.

dlsu friends
from left to right: pie, johnsy, me, zette, johnny, tina, joey and mari

oh. and may bagong trip sa castillo household:
poker.
complete with the velvet-y round table with cushioned ends.
you'll really get that casino vibe.

paul and sara's wedding

2008-08-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

finally!
the moment we've all been waiting for...
the biggest event of the year...
Paul and Sara's wedding day!!!

the wedding mass was at Nuestra Senora de Gracia Parish.
that's the church in Guadalupe, near Loyola Memorial.
uber nice.

it was really old looking so i love it.
and there were only 2 columns
so although the church wasn't that big,
the aisle was relatively long.
it was the perfect church.
and if sara and paul hadn't gotten married there, i would have.

the bride and groom with their parents.

the reception naman was at The Loft.
It was on the 38th floor of the Manansala in Rockwell.
Mejo na-confused lang ako kasi sabi ng driver "sa ter-ti-et"
So hindi ko lam kung 30th or 38...

the bride and her maids

sara! kami rin penge!

second dance nalang to.
first kasi yung footloose nung gradeschool sila

ready... set...

go!

oh no!

after the reception, we - mari, shel, joel and i
went to the hotel suite with the newlyweds.
ang epal namin no?
well... ganun talaga... we're that close.

so na-postpone ang honeymoon till we had mcdonald's dinner,
and until matapos ang bubble gang on tv.

oh! the suite in makati-shang was really nice.
it even had an office.
it was so nice, we couldn't help it...

congressman pagkatipunan

congressman pagkatipunan at work

congressman pagkatipunan on the phone with the president

congressman and his 'sexy'tary

but my favorite part is the photo booth.
coz i'm really annoyed with photographers who force you to buy your pictures.
so here, they have this booth na mag-pose ka lang 4 times tas they'll print it instantly.
astig!
tas ok pa kasi unlimited pictures.
so pila ka lang ng pila for the pictures!

Solo Flight

2008-08-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

This was my first time ever to fly alone. Naturally, i was scared.
So I took every precaution to make the flight bearable, if not comfortable.
First, I made it a point that my flight schedule did not involve 5 hours waiting time in any airport.
Second, I brought books, magazines and sudoku puzzles.
And third, I only have a handbag as my carry-on.

But no amount of precaution could prepare me for this trip.

The day before I left, my travel agent informed me that flight was moved.
I had to leave 5 hours earlier than scheduled.
This meant that I have to wait for 8 hours in Vancouver airport for my connecting flight.

When I got to Calgary Airport, I found out that I have excess baggage.
The lady at the check-in counter was nice enought to allow me to put away some of my stuff and carry it with me.
So now, I have my handbag and a relatively heavy paper bag.

But all that did not break my spirit. I have my books to keep me entertained.
And my carry-on isn't that much still. I just looked like I went shopping.

But I was sad. I was leaving my family and the city I've fallen in love with.
To keep my emotions intact, I went to the bathroom.
I planned to cry a little there - atleast no one would see me.
While I was inside the cubicle, and tears where ready to fall,
the lady in the next cubicle gave out a nasty fart.
It completely broke my 'emo' moment.
And I had to run out of the bathroom (just in case it's smell is as nasty as it sounded)

I had the most comfortable seat in the plane.
It was on an aisle seat just after the bathroom so I had plenty of legroom.
I love it!

When I arrived in Vancouver, I met a Filipina.
It was her first time in 10 years to go back to the Philippines.
2 minutes after that, we found out that our flight's delayed.
our wait will extend to 9 hours.

We couldn't sleep for the fear of losing our things.
And we couldn't find coffee coz it's midnight and everything is closed.
Good thing that the Twilight book is so entertaining. (yes... plugging...)

with my new friend Wenny

the flight to hongkong was the worst.
it was a 13 hour flight and i sat between a fat smelly caucasian guy
and a really tall asian guy who was blocking the aisle.
intense personal space violation. i barely slept.

The last leg of my trip, in fairness, was better.
Although I had to walk a mile in the hongkong airport (i went out in gate 72 and my connecting flight is at gate3)
I barely felt the wait. (2 hours max)
And i finished Twilight.
In the plane i had legroom again. Plus, the seat beside me was empty.

The flight to Manila was turbulent though.
I had to let out a scream once. Super humiliating!

Anyway, I got through the baggage claiming conveyor and through the immigration unscathe,
It was nice to hear everyone speak in tagalog. Astig!

payless last day

2008-08-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

since i'm coming back to the Philippines,
i had to say goodbye to my second home here in canada:
the Payless ShoeSource store at Southcentre mall.

the people there have been great to me.
as a retail newbie, they were very patient,
teaching me all there is to know working in a store,
making my first few weeks in a foreign country as bearable as possible.
and though most of them are way younger than me,
they made me, the foreign girl, feel like she belonged.

the store

lauren, jenn, mike

with kris and steph

with amber

closing time

The Canadian Hottie

2008-07-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

It is summer here in calgary so it can be really warm sometimes.
(though not as warm as the in the Philippines, and not as humid...)
When temperature reaches 28celsius you can expect to see a lot of meat outside.
Particularly white meat, coz they LOVE to bathe in the sun.

We don't have beaches here, so people sunbathe wherever.
You'll see half-naked people everywhere. Even downtown!
I remember seeing 2 blondes walking down the street in bikini tops and pek-pek shorts.

But it is not always a pretty sight.
One time, our neighor, an old lady, was watering her plants in a t-shirt and a bikini bottom.
Susmaryosep.

ANYWAY, come to think of it, it has never been a pretty sight for me.
(I did not consider the bikini blondes sight mainly because i'm a girl.)

Until this one:

He is cute. He is lean. He has nice abs...

And he reads! Awww...

(no. i did not talk to him. i just sat across him and stalker-ishly took his picture. sorry girls. i don't know his name, nor will i recognize him next time i see him with his shirt on.)

The C-Train

2008-07-23T19:52:00.000-07:00

i don't know why, but my sister and i always enjoyed riding trains. in the philippines, we rode the new mrt from quiapo to cubao and then the old mrt from cubao to ayala, just for fun. and we even planned to ride the really old north rail transit from tutuban to... ummm... wherever it leads.

but then, we're in canada now. (plus the fact that i'm not really sure if the north rail transit actually operates for real live passengers) so our new dream is to ride it's transcontinental railway, the Canadian Pacific Railway.

some say that it's expensive. i visited it's site and i think they're mainly for freight now. so since we can't do that in the near future, we decided to ride the C-Train instead.

the C-train is the local LRT here in calgary. it's the train i ride everyday to work. anyway, since we've only rode it from our place to downtown, we decided to ride it from end to end: somerset to dalhousie, city center to mcknight.

the ride to dalhousie took about 1 hour and 21 stops. we got off and walked a little bit. mejo nahilo ako dun eh. we were supposed to wait for another train, para maiba naman, but the train we rode took so much time to leave, so dun nalang din kami sumakay, we just got in another car.

anyway, for the trip to mcknight, we had to transfer to another train. kaso, halfway along, we felt tired na. faye was hungry, i was dizzy and i needed to pee. so we decided to head back. next time nalang.

total: we rode the train for about 2 hours and went through 53 stops. nakakapagod din pala.

however, tiring it may be, the sites we saw were amazing! we took as much pictures as we could, but no amount of pictures can give justice to all the places and things that we've seen.

tracks of the canadian pacific railway

the mall where i work
i just walk from the train station, towards that mall

39th ave. station

erlton stampede station

on cemetery tunnel
creepy coz yung taas ng tunnel is an actual cemetery

downtown

view from the dalhousie station

the calgary tower

notice the mountains
sayang, snowcapped dapat sila eh. it must be the lighting, or cloudy lang siguro.

Not Destined for Stampede Yet

2008-07-13T18:12:00.000-07:00

on thursday, July 10, it was my day off so i decided to go to the stampede park. it'll be over on monday and i won't have any more day off till then. so that will probably be my only time to go to the ever-famous stampede.

but then it was cloudy all day.
and it rained.
nevertheless, i met up with my sister in DQ (where she worked) as planned.

before leaving the house, i was seriously contemplating about whether or not to bring the cowboy hats. this almost made me late for the bus.
so i was hurrying to get to the stop on time, then i realized i forgot to bring the camera. (but i did bring my cellphone and it has a camera so i thought: ayos lang no need to go back for it...)

anyway, the driver forgot my stop so i got off a little farther than i was supposed to. it was there when i realized i might be having a bad day..
but i shrugged it off so i would not further attract any negativities. (as i have learned by watching "the secret")

so i finally met my sister, we rode the train and headed to the stampede.
by the way, rain has started to pour. and we were really hungry.
so the thought of going to the mall instead, has occurred to us.

but i wansn't losing hope. this might be the only chance i have to go this year.
so when we got to the erlton stampede, we got out.
we were standing on the entrance, it was raining, we were so cold...
and paying $13 for something we wouldn't enjoy anyway didn't sound good to me at all.
so we turned back and headed to the nearest mall.

my parents were lucky enough to go to the stampede, on a sunny day, free of charge.
here are some of their pictures to show you what it's like:

there are rides, which of course, they didn't try.

my folks in cowboy hats

a rodeo show

ps: i asked one of my co-workers why the horses and bulls on rodeos go berserk. and she said that: "their testicles are tied, plus they have someone riding their back. so basically it's just an animal having a bad day."

Close encounter with a shoplifter

2008-07-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

so i was working at the till (aka cash register. i only discovered that after 2 weeks of working here in canada...) and this tall gangsta' looking guy comes up and asks how much these (he was holding a pair of black airwalk dots) shoes are. i did a price lookup in the register/till and told him it was $49.99. he asked me if they were on sale and i said no. then his wife, who was beside him, gave him the 'no-it's-too-expensive-we're-not-getting-that' kind of look (apparently she wears the pants in the relationship) and handed me a dora-the-explorer flip-flops (presumably for their kid) i rung it in, and told her that it was $12.99. and then she goes: "but there's a sale tag on it for $3.00". the sale tag was kinda loose so i kinda was doubting it. but then again, tagging has been a mess lately so what the heck, i decided to change the price.and then i asked if that was all they were buying. she said yes while giving her husband an annoyed look.

so she paid for it with a credit card, i had her sign the receipt, put the dora flipflops in a bag, put her copy with it and put the store copy in the drawer.

when i looked up. the husband was 10 feet away from the store holding the airwalks.
i was stunned and confused. is he taking those shoes away?
he looked back at me and we stared at each other for like 2 seconds and he walked away.

he was already gone when i realized what actually happened.
i didn't even considered running after him. (well he was 2x my size so i guess deep down inside i knew that running after him by myself wouldn't do me any good.)

but, anyways, i did tell the manager what happened. and he didn't suggest that we run after him either. (though i think we should have. the manager was a tall guy and he could probably take that moth@$f#$k@r down.)

i couldn't believe what happened. minutes after, i still feel so bad. maybe i should've said something instead of staring at him. or maybe i should've chased him (but keeping a good distance...) but the manager told me not to worry much about it.

hope kharma will get to that a#@h$#e

Calgary Stampede Parade

2008-07-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

it's time to get all westerned up! calgary stampede is here!
unlike the "ultra stampede", nobody dies in this one.
and it's actually a happy occasion!
they call it the greatest outdoor show on earth.
with the rodeo, carnivals, concerts etc.

so on the start of the stampede: july 4th,
there's a parade downtown.
it's a good thing it was my scheduled off day.
si faye naman, nag-absent talaga.

so we took a train, and dun palang, dami ng tao.
they were all in their cowboy hats and western attire.
i know, we might consider it baduy,
but they all look so happy getting "westerned up" na parang nakakahawa ang energy nila. gusto ko na tuloy mag cowboy boots.

syempre we saw a number of marching bands:

cute vintage cars and weird vehicles:

first nations people (what we know as native indians like pocahontas):

and of course: lots of horses and cowboys:

because there's a lot of horses participating in the parade, we can't avoid the presence of horse poop in the streets.
in fact, isa sa mga inaabangan namin ay kung sino sa mga marching band ang mamalasin na makaapak ng tae.
kasi diba, their in a line so parang ang hirap umiwas. plus, if they're playing an instrument, mas mahirap mag pay attention sa nilalakaran.
but in fairness, onti lang sa kanila ang minalas.
hmmm... mukang alert ang karamihan sa kanila.

here's the sweepers cleaning up the poop

but ang pinakanabilib ako is with the army as seen in this video:

ang galing no?

anyway, the parade lasted for almost 4 hours.
well, di naman sila as in sunod sunod like the parades in the philippines.
may mga interval between entries and floats so you appreciate each of them.

and it wasn't that crowded.
not like in manila na nararamdaman mo na yung hininga ng nasa likod mo sa sobrang siksikan. here, everyone maintains a reasonable distance. plus it wasn't that warm, kaya presko parin. walang bumaho sa crowd. ehehehe...

Filipino Store

2008-07-02T19:14:00.001-07:00

maraming pinoy dito sa calgary. AS IN.
everywhere you go, may pinoy.
di pa ko nakakasakay ng bus na wala akong nakakasabay na pinoy.
and sa foodcourt, sa department store, sa grocery...
well, nagkalat tayo.

and as expected, meron din ditong filipino store.
actually, dalawa pa nga eh, one sa south and another sa north.
yung pinuntahan namin is sa south, mas malapit eh.

anyway, you have everything filipino there:
knorr chicken sopas,
lucky me pancit canton,
mang tomas,
bagoong balayan,
sunsilk,
eskinol,
curly tops,
flat tops,
chocolate mallows,
chocnut,
chippy,
clover chips,
turones, etc...
oh! and goldilocks cakes and mamon!

and may mga posters and ad na everything pinoy.
it's like a pinoy headquarters.
they have ads for homes for sale and for rent na filipino yung landlord.
tas may mga job ads din.
may mga announcement ng pinoy radio and tv. (yes merong pinoy radio station pero weekends lang.)
and mga concerts ni basil valdez, zsa zsa padilla, gary v... atbp.

eto sample: parokya in calgary

at saka pala pwede ka rin magpadala ng package to the philippines.
pati narin pera.
ehehehe....

so mejo natuwa talaga kami sa place na yun.
we bought mang tomas, sangkatutak na lucky-me instant noodles, chippy at v-cut.
at si mommy, di pinalagpas ang eskinol.

right:Philippines, left: Calgary

First Canadian Job: Sales Associate at Payless

2008-06-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

oh yes indeed!
hehehe...

that's my pin for work. we don't have uniforms. just a dress code and a declaration of love for shoes. well, i'd probably wear that pin even if i didn't work at payless.

yes. that's my first job here in canada. i'm a sales associate (aka: saleslady) sa Payless Shoe Source. our store is located in a mall here in Calgary, so mas fun unlike in a detached store in the middle of nowhere. before i time-in for work, i go window shopping. and minsan after work din. hihi...

you read that right. i am having fun!
it's a no-brainer work. once you've memorized the rack plan (yun yung arrangement ng shoes sa store) and some customer service protocols, you're good to go. i've been to law school so memorization is a piece-a-cake.

so what do i do there? syempre sell shoes. ehehehe. which is easy coz it's a payless store. the concept behind it is, it's a selfservice shoe store. the shoes are displayed according to size and if you want to buy a pair, you just take it from the shelf and bring it to the counter. so mas madali dito. you can just leave everyone there to find everything for themselves. unlike in the philippines na nakatago lahat ng left shoe so you have no choice but to call a saleslady.

anyway, for the past few days, i've been memorizing the rack plan. (kids, womens, men... dress, sandals, casuals, sandals, athletics... dexter, predictions, fioni, airwalk...) so incidentally, i do stocks narin, which i like to do. i clean the shoes up, meaning, take the unnecessary pieces of paper sa box (yung mga nakasuksok sa sapatos na bago...) and then i put them in their proper places in the rack. simple! you don't need a law degree to do that. ehehehe...

and just recently i've been taught how to till (aka work the cash register) i like this one too except when they pay for cash. kasi naman up to now, nalilito parin ako sa mga coins. at suklian. (dahil nabobobo ka sa math sa law school... bigla tuloy ako na-bilib sa mga jeepney drivers ah...) so fave ko when they use their debit or credit card, which is a lot more often naman than cash payments. so ok narin.

nga lang, when i do the till, i hate doing returns. dun din kasi yun tas it is a more complicated transaction. (eh diba nga ang goal nga is minimal mental activity?) and they have such a lenient return policy so sa isang araw, you can't help but do 5 returns sa 2 hours mo sa register.

anyway, what i love the most is breaking down shipments. so may dadating na boxes from the supplier, i'll open them up and arrange the shoes according to gender and size. i like it coz sa backroom ginagawa yun. it's quiet and you get a break from the customers. plus nakikita ko yung bagong dating na shoes so nagsusukat narin ako. ehehehe...

so aside from it being a no brainer job, it pays me a decent wage. interestingly, mas malaki ang sweldo ko dito sa payless kesa sa mga lawyers sa pilipinas. but syempre naman, mas malaki naman ang gastos dito. a friend in the states once said, we earn in dollars but we spend in dollars too.

so what happens to my legal profession? honestly, i don't know...
for more than four years i've been trying to become a lawyer in the Philippines. i don't want to spend another couple of years trying to become a lawyer in Canada.
parang i'm just tired of studying and trying to become...
for a change, i just want to BE someone.
right now: a sales associate in Payless.
and soon: a lawyer in the Philippines.

Our New Home

2008-06-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

well, it's already been a month since we moved here.
and now, i'd like you to see our new home.

the house is owned by a filipino rin and we are just renting it for a year, or till we can afford to buy our own. anyway, when we got here, it was empty except for the stove and oven, the microwave, the fridge and the dishwasher (which we haven't used until now coz the plates we brought are not dishwasher safe.)
but as days pass by, we are able to slowly fill it up.

the kitchen.
ay ang gulo pala.

the first furniture to arrive was the dining table. the first weekend here, we went out to a potluck party and when we got home, ayun, asa front door namin. astig...
anyway, it was lent to us nung ca-couples for christ ni mommy. they've just met when we arrived nga eh. tas yun, willing na sila magpahiram ng mga furnitures. well, they're not using it naman daw.

the dining table.
syempre ang daming nakapatong. bahay na bahay

next was the coffee tables. anthony, our landlord, visited us the day after the party. nakita nya yung dining table. so sabi nya, he has center tables and side tables na super pareho ng color ng dining table. he'll bring them over daw. so he left, and in 10 minutes, ayan na sya with all the little coffee tables. ang galing. as usual, nakatambak lang naman daw yun sa garage nya. so we might as well use it.

and then came the sofa. kakatawa pa nga eh. it was the same day the coffee tables arrived, someone went here para sunduin si daddy and glen para magbuhat ng sofa. tas napansin nya na may dining table na and coffee tables sa living room. sabi pa nga nya, terno-terno yung mga tables. so sabi ni mommy, wish nya, na yung sofa eh terno rin. sabi naman nya: sige, kung di terno yung sofa, wag na natin kunin. ehehehe...
but syempre, ang lakas magdasal ni mommy. terno sya sa lahat!

anyway, since wala kaming tv, we were bored out of our mind. Bong and Josie lent us a cd player with a radio para naman di masyado tahimik sa house. but a week after, nag garage sale nearby and they found us a 14or17-inch television for $25! astig! oh and anthony found bed frames for us $25 din.

the living room.
see... kumpleto na!

well the mattresses for the bed frames came a week after. there was this agency for new immigrants and they give out mattresses for free! and it's not just the foam manipis na matresses ha. it's the bouncy mattresses. yung two-piece na ang isa eh puro spring and yung isa eh foam. mga less than 2 feet na nga sya pagmagkapatong eh. and with the bed frame, super taas na ng kama namin!

our room.
take note of the bed. yan yung libre. yung gulong sa ilalim, yun lang yung bedframe!

so parang ang gulo ng room namin. ehehehe... faye and i share a queen size bed. tas basically, yun pa lang ang laman ng kwarto namin. but we love the walk in closet. ang saya pala. ehehehe...

anyway, last na dumating yun computer table. nung una, nakapatong yun sa isang side table lang. ok na sya naman dun, pero syempre, any act of kindness is welcome. ehehehe...

the basement.

it's so cold nga lang sa basement kaya wala masyadong tumatambay dun. (btw, our room is sa basement din... so super cold...) but it's super maluwag. so dun nalang sinasampay ang mga nilabhan. (spin dry palang kasi yung washer namin which is kasama rin sa bahay pala.)

so that's our new home. at first syempre we don't feel cozy kasi sobrang luwag ang walang gamit. now, ok na. makalat na nga eh. ehehehe...

mga kapitbahay sa tapat.

mga kapit bahay sa likod

Downtown (Mis)Adventure

2008-06-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

On our second day, we went to downtown right? Took a bus, then a train...

Downtown was like Calgary's Makati Business District. And 7th Avenue was it's Ayala Avenue. Yun nga lang, instead na walkway, may free train ride all along the 7th Ave.

Anyway, maganda naman.

We got our Social Security First. It was fairly easy. As usual, maraming pinoy. Parang isang group ata ng mga OFW yun.

We finished mga 11 na. at nahihilo na kami sa gutom dahil maaga kami nagbreakfast. So we walked to find a nice fast food resto. siguro naka 3 blocks na kami pero wala parin kaming nakikita. puro fine dining. and since 2nd day palang kami sa canada, we didn't want to splurge. so tipid muna.

We entered Chinatown mall. hmmm... icky sya. as in parang lumang viramall. di ko inexpect...

the chinatown mall at a distance

So lakad na naman... We were getting bugnutin na, tas si mommy ang bilis pang maglakad. Para syang energyzer bunny. lakad lang ng lakad...

Then we saw this diner. mejo shabby looking. pero sige na nga. mahihimatay na ko sa gutom eh. So nagorder na si mommy. mukang mura lang eh. less than $4 a meal. So we looked for a spot and there i realized, shet, nakakatakot sya ha. it was poorly lit and the walls are stained with i don't know what. imagine, the first stage of diner-dash, in real life. and though i didn't see any people, feeling ko somewhere behind it, may naka-higa na homeless person. and si mommy na CR person, di man lang nagattempt maghanap ng CR.
as in seryoso, mas malinis pa kumain sa mga karinderya along kalayaan. at least dun alam mo na kahit papano, winawalisan yun araw-araw. eh ito, mukang may areas na di na napupuntahan ng tao.

it was too late to backout now. so we settled by the door kung saan naiilawan ng natural daylight. and hope na walang riot na mangyari sa loob.
we totally stood out sa place na yun. family, tas ang ayos ng suot, malinis... buti nalang 2 aussies na mukang turista also walked in. so di kami totally alone sa loob.

Anyway, dumating yung food and it looked good. super laki ng burger. and ang daming fries on the side. but syempre, yung fries lasang pinirito sa lumang oil. tipong yung oil na bago 3 days ago. actually, kung sa malinis na restaurant yun, pwede pa sya. kaso, sobrang dumi dun who knows kung anong nangyayari sa oil during the night.
But the burger was pwede na. i was super gutom na di ko nalang inisip kung san galing yun at kung anong processo sya nanggaling before. i imagined burgoo...

The day after, we shared our adventure kina ate josie and kuya bong. Sabi nya, tambayan daw yun ng mga homeless and don't we dare go into that place again.

daddy enjoying downtown

First Week in Calgary

2008-06-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

DAY 1:
Upon landing in Calgary at around 9am, I noticed how sunny it was. Nagpustahan pa nga kami ni Faye kung gaano kalamig sa labas eh. I mean, the coldest that we can think of is parang Tagaytay or Baguio. But no... para kang tumambay sa frozen section sa SouthSupermarket sa Alabang. As in 2x ng gabi sa tagaytay. Na-shock nga yung utak ko at hindi nya matanggap na this sunny can be so cold.

Sinundo kami ng new found friends ni Mommy (via connections sa CFC). We had lunch sa house ni Ate Josie (dating officemate ni mommy) and natuwa kami sa real food. kakasawa na kasi yung pagkain sa airplane eh.

Then we went to our house na. We made arrangements na to rent a house even before we left Manila. Pinoy yung landlord so pumayag sya na upon arrival nalang lahat ng formalities (contract signing, payments...) Anyway, when we got home, nag-unpack lang kami to find the blankets tas ayun, naghigaan na kami sa sahig (carpet naman so ok lang) and then tulog na. that was like 1 palang ng hapon pero antok na antok na kami.

anyway, we woke up around 7 or 8, maliwanag pa. as in parang 4pm sa manila. and they picked us up to go to the superstore para may pagkain naman kami for the night. syempre, sa grocery, in awe kami at first. almost everything was below $5. parang ang mura. eh well hindi pala. kasi magkaiba ang $5 sa P5.

so we got home from the grocery at around 10pm. shortly after, tulog na naman.

DAY 2:
we all woke up at around 3am. grabe. so since gising na lahat, we decided to go downtown.

we went to the nearest bus station which is a block from here lang and waited for like 20 minutes. may sched pa naman. but syempre, super excited, we left mga 20 minutes before the sched. ganda ng bus. we bought bus tickets before hand coz it's cheaper daw. a ride cost $2.50 (so mga 100pesos yun...) tas kasama na dun yung train.

Fish Creek-Lacombe Station, C-Train

i like riding the train. and ganda kasi ng sights. well i liked riding mrt in manila but mejo nakakadepress yung mga makikita mo especially in the guadalupe area.

anyway, sa downtown, we got our social identification number and our health insurance.

we got home ng mga 2pm. lahat kami groggy na sa antok.

woke up at 8pm to have dinner. well i did eat dinner pero di mo ko makakausap ng matino. i was half awake the whole time and very bugnutin.

DAY 3:
again we woke up early in the morning... for oversleeping nagka migraine na ko. so we decided not to sleep in the afternoon. naglakad nalang kami sa neighborhood ni faye. we walked at our back alley tas inikot lang namin yung side namin of the block. pagdating namin, syempre nawala ang antok, but after dinner, mga 730 ng gabi, tulog na agad kami.

DAY 4:
it was a saturday so we went to church nung hapon. then we were invited to a potluck party na puro pinoy family. okay naman. i just felt out of place, kasi kung hindi mga mommies and daddies, kids naman aged 7-12 ang mga bisita. tas lahat sila laking canada na so mejo nose bleed.

hinatid kami pauwi and pagdating namin dito sa bahay, may dining table sa harap with a note. whoa... pinahiram ng another pinoy new found friend ni mommy. ayos.

DAY 5:
the next day, mommy decided to do the laundry. natuwa sya kasi yung labada, paglumabas, semi tuyo na. ako, natutuwa maghugas ng plato kasi warm water ang gamit.

tas late in the afternoon, may dumating na sofa and side table. kamusta naman yun? dumadating nalang bigla ang mga furnitures!

Oh! and pinahiram din pala kami ng radio w/ cd player. Para di naman daw kami ma-bore since wala kaming TV.

DAY 6:
we went to the public library at natuwa ako ng sobra. para kang pumasok sa fully-booked tas pwede ka manghiram. you can even borrow cd's and dvd's eh. and infairness, mejo decent naman ang collection nila. may timbaland, jt... tapos 3 weeks yung due date. saya! went home with 2 books and 2 cd's

DAY 7:
people lent us airbeds on our first night. but by now, slightly deflated na sya so nakakahilo na gamitin. and we were sleeping in the floor again.

we decided to go back to the library kasi wala kaming magawa. returned some of what i borrowed and took home some more. grabe, tuwang tuwa talaga ko sa library.

anyway, by this time mejo nakaka-adjust na kami ng tulog. we were sleeping at around 8pm and we wake up at around 7am. so pwede na. in fact, di ko na nga nakikita yung gabi eh. as it turns out, mga 1030 ng gabi lumulubog ang araw dito. bibo masyado.

STUFF I NOTICED:
Ang daming pinoy. As in never pa ko nagpunta sa isang lugar na walang pinoy. Sa bus, sa train, sa mall... we are everywhere.

Hindi ka ma-O-OP dito, kasi sa labas, mixed-races talaga. as in walang dominant race. you see white people, asians, africans, indians... you name it. as in multi colored ang world dito. anyone would fit-in perfectly.

Taking Off

2008-05-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-15T23:40:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-12T19:19:00.001-07:00

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

2008-05-06T20:42:00.001-07:00

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

2008-05-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-06T01:49:00.000-07:00

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)

Oath Taking

2008-04-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

2 pm ang schedule ng oath.

But we have to be there 2 hours before daw for registration.

Ano to airport?

But anyways, i was there at 12:30.

Sobrang init! Tas kelangan pumila ang guests sa arawan.

Buti nalang yung mommy ko may dalang payong.

Girl Scout talaga sya.

So we were waiting there outside.

Mejo nasigawan pa nga kami ng usher.

2pm na daw, so kelangan na pumasok.

Tama na ang picture.

Anyway, mabilis lang sya natapos.

May mga speeches tas singing of Supreme Court Hymn.

Yes. Meron pala nun. Ngayon ko lang nalaman.

Ang importante dun eh accepted na kami to be members of the Philippine Bar.

Nung tinanong nga if there's any objections, natahimik lahat eh.

Pero buti naman, wala na nag-object. Mejo lang ah.

Anyway, the order accepting us, is immediately executory.

Meaning. Wala nang bawian. Woohoo!

Around 3 or 4 tapos na yung ceremony.

Ang matagal is yung paghahanap ng parents.

Pinaiwan kasi yung cellphones and camera.

Pero grabe ha.

I was wearing high-heals and more than 4 hours na ko nakatayo.

Intense ang sakit ng paa ko.

Whenever I sit down, I get this nangimay feeling in my feet. Yung prickly feeling habang bumabalik ang dugo sa toes ko.

Tas kelangan ko pa maglakad ng 2 blocks papuntang Harbor Square kasi coding kami.

Iniisip ko palang, naiiyak na ko.

Pramis, onti nalang, my feet will bleed.

Buti nalang, my mom has driving sandals.

di na nga ko umabot hanggang car namin, pinakuha ko nalang kay daddy.

syempre, di masyadong bagay sa cute dress ko, pero I DON'T CARE.

Anyway, napagsabihan tuloy ako ni daddy about wearing those kind of shoes.

It's unsafe daw.

Hmmm... I never saw it that way.

Parang hinalintulad nya ang pagsuot ng high heels sa pagsakay sa motorsiklong walang helmet.

Pero may point sya.

Dahil paglabas ko ng PICC, gusto ko nang maghanap ng wheelchair.

Unsafe talaga sya.

First encounter with a potato

2008-04-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

I woke up one morning and was really really hungry.
Kaso, ang breakfast namin ay sardinas.
Eversince my immersion with the mangyans in mindoro,
(where we had to eat sardines everyday for less than a week)
I swore never to eat sardines again.

I didn't actually swear.
I just feel like gagging whenever I smell it, let along taste it.

But since it has been years,
and the fact that I was really really hungry,
I considered eating it that morning.

Kaso sabi ni mommy, pwede daw ako magluto ng corned beef.
Ayos yon.
Lalagyan ko ng maraming patatas so I won't eat rice anymore.

So naghiwa ako ng patatas. Mejo nilakihan ko yung hiwa para mas masaya.
Tapos sabi ni mommy, lagyan ko ng onting water yung pan para maluto muna yung patatas.
(alam nya kasi na ang experience ko sa kusina involves fried hotdogs and lucky-me pancit canton)

Ok... done.
Nung magevaporate yung lahat ng water, mejo mabilis lang naman pala,
nilagay ko na yung corned beef.
Since mejo luto na yung corned beef from the can, mabilis nalang from there.

Ang saya ko.
Nahihilo na kasi ako sa gutom so super excited talaga ko kumain.

Until I chewed on a piece of potato.
Paksyet di pa luto.

Apparently, nung sinabi ni mommy na lagyan ng 'konting tubig,'
she had no idea on how big the potato slices are.
Dapat pala mejo above the potato ang dami ng tubig para maluto.
Shooot...

Moral lesson:
may rason kung bakit hindi magkasing laki ang patatas sa nilaga at ang patatas sa corned beef.

Getting our Visa

2008-04-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

Our long wait is finally over.
Grabe, five years in the making yun.

It was the day before my mom's birthday and she was on her way to makati kasi mag-de-date sila ng dad ko.
Tumawag yung agent namin telling na dumating na yung visa.
So I had my sister text her the good news. Tas yun, dumeretso na sya sa agent.
Sabi ng tita ko who was with her when she received the text message, di daw makapaniwala si mommy.
mga 3 times pa daw pinabasa sa kanya yung message just to make sure she wasn't imagining it.

Anyway, super saya nya to the point na hindi na nga nya napansin yung surprise na hinanda ng mga friends nya for her.
Pagdating nya kasi, binuksan at ininspect na namin lahat yung mga passport with visa's and all the other documents.
After nalang nun nya napansin na may poster na nakadikit sa wall behind her with all the birthday greetings.

The next day, it was her birthday.
Nag-confirm na sya ng bookings.
Nag-pa-sched sa mga seminars na kelangan before leaving...
Tas the day after that, bumili na sya ng plane ticket.
Talk about excited!
hehe.

First Sunday of April

2008-04-15T05:22:00.001-07:00

It was the First Sunday of April, my parents went to a Christian gathering.
Me, I went out to drink.

Actually, we didn't really plan on drinking.
Kaso, mas masarap ang kwentuhan pag nakainom na sina Mari at Paul.
So bumili si Paul ng drinks and chips, tas nag labas si Mari ng popcorn

From left to right: Mari, Shel, Siela and Sara

At the bottom: Red Horse, Microwave Popcorn, V-Cut Potato Chips, red ice tea.

the only thorn among the roses

We called tyns via YM. Bagong gising pa nga sya eh.
Haay… miss her na. Sarap nya kasi i-grill for chismis now-a-days eh.

After a while, Paul invited his friends Patrick and Joms (hope I got the spelling right) over.
We’ve known Patrick for years pero si Joms, nun ko lang nakita.

From left to right: Patrick, Joms and Paul

After ilang bote at ilang games pumasok si Mari sa loob to get something, leaving half a glass of beer.
Etong si Patrick, kinuha yung beer at nilipat sa baso nya.
We warned him. Told him na knowing Mari, kahit na she’s really drunk, she’d notice the beer gone.

Si Mari kasi, she knows her alcohol – what’s in it, and where it went.
Isa sa mga hobby nya eh mag mix ng drinks. As in kina-career nya talaga.
She’s my favorite bartender nga eh, kasi tama lang sa taste mo sya magtimpla. Kung trip mo mejo matapang, yun gagawin nya.
Eh ako, ayoko ng nalalasahan yung alcohol so pag ako yung iinom, lasang candy na.

Anyway, when she came out, the first words that came out of her mouth is: “o asan na yung beer ko?”
And we broke out in laughter. Syet dapat nakipagpustahan ako kay Patrick, baka kumita pa ko.

Well the night ended very well. I was kinda drunk and was laughing at the silliest things.

Sara: First time mo ba uminom since the results came out?
Siela: Yup. (giggles)
Shel: Ahh…

The morning after, I had tons of work and a queasy stomach.
Parusa yun for not going to church on a Sunday, let alone a first Sunday.
Oh my... plus chances of going to hell. hehe.

Destitute no more.

2008-04-03T03:31:00.000-07:00

For the past three months I have been living in extreme poverty.
I swear, pag aalis ako, kelangan ko pang humingi sa mommy ko.
Super nakakahiya talaga.

Buti na nga lang, andyan si Joel. He pays for ALL of our dates. He even took me shopping last Christmas.
My sugar daddy. J

Anyway, a few days ago, I got paid!

Of course I had to wait for like a million years for it. May technical difficulties daw kasi. Sabi naman ni mommy, baka daw na-scam na ko. Syet. Wag naman sana. Promise, a little part of me ay natakot.
But then again, it wasn’t a scam. I got paid. It’s not much though, tas andami pang bawas for bank charges.

It’s barya if you compare it to the salary I can get in a law firm.
Pero naman, I don’t have to leave the house. I don’t have to pay for lunch or transpo.

Anyway, the point is, di na ko ma-guiguilty umalis. Coz I don’t have to ask my mommy for money anymore. YEHEY TALAGA!

Oh! The first time na I knew na I had money na, nag flash sa utak ko ang aking shopping list: bikini, shades, eyeliner, bag, wallet, flip-flops…

Whoa. Sa Shopping list ko palang, kulang na yun.

Breathe…

I reminded myself that I don’t need all these stuff.

Haay… swear… I have shopaholic tendencies.

Nathan's First

2008-03-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

Mari, Paul, Sara and I went to Nathan's birthday yesterday (Sunday. March 30, 2007)

The Mommy and The Birthday boy. So cute!

From Left to Right: Sara, Paul, Mari, Gloria, Siela

getting into the party vibe.

Anyway, as any children's party syempre may games. And I have parlor games talaga. Suki kasi ako dun. For some strange reason, the host tends to pick me talaga pag turn na ng adults na mag-games.

And that day, I was sooo not in the mood for parlor games. Pag tinawag ako ng host, upakan ko talaga sya.

Buti nalang, si Glo, she warned the host. Sabi nya, wag na wag daw sila pagsasalitain sa harap. (Public speaking is obviously not her forte) So i took the chance. Sabi ko "Glo, sabihin mo rin wag kami tawagin sa games."

Sumunod naman yung host.So kids lang yung nag-games.

Anyway, yung isang game ng kids involves them removing their right shoe, walking towards the end of the room and walking back to search for their shoes.

Si Nicole, naka slip-on sandals. (which is very cute by the way) I can sense nag hesitate sya tanggalin. Tas nung pinag lakad na sila (barefoot na on the right) she didn't budge.

Tas umiyak.

My goodness. I totally understand how she felt. No way will I walk barefoot on McDonalds floor.

Nicole, pansinin mo na ko.

Wag ka na ma-bad trip. Okay lang yun.

mommy looking at Nicole from a distance

Yehey! After two thousand years, masaya na sya!

Towards the end of the party, sumayaw ang mascot. Don't know who he is. Kid Ronald daw...

Tapos namigay ng loot bag. Si Nicole was shy to get one herself so we asked Kuya Izac to get one for her. He tried naman kaso kelangan daw bumati ng Happy Birthday kay Nathan. So sasamahan nalang daw nya si Nicole.

Eh ayaw talaga.

So sabi ni Izac "Takot ka kay Mcdo?!!"

Natawa talaga kami. Kulang nalang sabihin nya 'Hello! okay ka lang?!'

All smiles si Kuya Izac.

Okay. Matt, ang laki mo na.

Bittersweet Victory

2008-03-29T17:43:00.000-07:00

2007 Bar results came out yesterday.

556. GADRINAB, Fermin Nestor A.

557. GADUANG-ROJALES, Anita A.

558. GALA, Ana Siela M.

559. GALAURAN, John Michael S.

560. GALAY, Lani S.

(see complete list)

And this was from the Inquirer

Whoa. I made it.

Ancestry Facts

2008-03-25T02:33:00.000-07:00

I went to clan reunion a couple of months ago.
Take note: CLAN REUNION.
Hindi lang ito simpleng family reunion. Clan reunion ito.
Meaning: mas marami kang hindi kilala.

We got there and whoa! Isang barangay ang nag-attend. No, not even. Its more like half of the people in the municipality went. Ibang level sa kadamihan.
At nag motorcade sila ha. As in. Ganon ka dami. Enough mag cause ng traffic sa national highway ng Quezon.

Anyway, what’s interesting are the giveaways. They gave out the blue print of the clan. As in it goes way-way back, mga 10 levels up my grandpa.
Grabe. This is my ancestry. Whoa.

So I discovered:

First, we came from the San Miguel clan pala.
But by some Spanish decree, “natives are prohibited to use the names of saints as their surname” San Miguel became de Gala.
Hamak na INDIO lang pala kami.

Second, the de Gala clan used to (not really sure if they still are) one of the prominent clans in the province. Ergo, the street named after them.
AND there was an exclusive room inside the venue which housed only the richest and elite in the clan. Syempre, kami nasa labas.
Indio na nga, commoner pa. Susmaryosep.

Third, I finally learned the real reason why Gala kami and not de Gala. There were two Marcelino (or it could have been Marcelo, I can’t remember for sure) de Gala in the clan. This caused confusion in the postal service. So because of lost mail matter, one of the Marcelo (or Marcelino) who happens to by my grandpa’s grandpa, took the ‘de’ out. So yun. Kaya kami, ‘Gala’ na lang. Which I think, sounds better.
Syempre, love your own.

Our little Embassy Adventure

2008-03-20T21:49:00.000-07:00

Starring: Siela Gala, Eeza Ramos

Three years ago in Tagaytay:
Marl: Pare nagtampo nga si Pao nung isang araw eh.
Joel: Bakit naman?
Marl: Di daw namin sinama sa Embassy.
Siela: Bakit nyo kelangan pumunta sa Embassy?
And everyone within earshot broke into laughter.

Apparently then, Embassy was the newest gimmick spot.
And I was clueless.

ANYWAY, a couple of days ago, Monica invited me to her brother’s birthday party at Embassy.
Hmm… Why not? I haven’t been there still. (Surprise, surprise.)

So Eeza and I arrived at around 12 midnight. We texted Monica to meet us outside but no reply.
30 minutes, a million missed calls later, no Monica in sight and Nicky was still on her way.
Shoot, we might have to go inside on our own.

So we gathered our confidence and walked thru the velvet ropes.
We announced our names to the lady who looked at the guest list. Eeza got her stamp, but...

Receptionist #1 (to Siela): Miss wala ka sa guestlist.
Oh no... Syet pano yan?

Called Monica, no answer.
Syet, syet, syet. This is beginning to be embarrassing.

So I looked at my id and got a brilliant idea.

Siela (to Receptionists#1): Miss, Marasigan is not my last name, it’s Gala. Nakita ko kasi sa "M" ka naghahap kanina.
Receptionist#1: Ma’m importante kasi yung last name para malaman naming kung ikaw nga yung nasa guest list.
Siela:I know. Kaya nga, Gala is my last name so can you check again? Ang kulet ha.

Confusing kasi yung id ko. Buo yung middle name. Tas yung Gala nasa baba. (di na kasi kasya sa line) So siguro di nya nakita.

Eventually, she did find my name.

And now that we have our stamps, we got in.
Headed to the VIP lounge, Eeza got in and...

Big Bouncer (to Siela): “miss, di ka pwede dito”
what the F? Not anymore...

So Eeza went out, both of us baffled. We compared our stamps.
Sa kanya VIP, sakin tribal something. Kaya naman pala…
But aren’t we on the same guest list?

We decided to go back to the reception. Syet. Sooo kakahiya na ha.

Siela: Miss, can you check, we’re in the same guest list but we have different stamps. There must be a mistake.
Receptionist#2: (checked the list, got a stamped) ay sori miss ah. (stamped me VIP)

Good Lord! This must be punishment for going out on a holy Wednesday.

SO we finally got in the VIP Lounge. Hmm… Nice naman. But we can’t go past the crowd. Syet.
How on earth will we find Mon?
And my feet's killing me...

Rang Monica, no answer.
Shoot.

We find Nicky with a girl friend. After the introductions:
Nicky: O, where’s mon?
Eeza: can’t find her. Too many people.
Nicky’s friend: You guys want to transfer nalang? Mahal inom dito eh.

Everyone agreed. We head to Piedra.
There goes my first night at emba, I thought.
But I was just so RELIEVED to be out of there to even feel disappointed.

Minutes later, we find ourselves sitting comfortably on the couch, sipping our drinks, bobbing our heads with the music.
Haay… this is better.

We actually had fun that night, Eeza and I.
We met new friends. (Nicky’s friend, Nicky’s other friend, Nicky’s other other friend. Oh and Gino’s friend too. Don’t worry, at the end of the night, I did get to remember their names.)
I drank just enough to get tipsy.
And we danced ourselves silly.

Despite everything that happened earlier, the night turned out to ba a happy night indeed.

Oh! About Monica, she’s fine now. She just got a little drunk that night. Hihi.

Weekdays of March

2008-03-18T01:40:00.000-07:00

so this is how it goes. every single day:

9am - breakfast while watching 10 year old cheesy cartoons at abs-cbn or Q-tv. I swear, I think abs believes that no one watch them during those hours. They just do whatever they want: repeat the same episode as yesterday, put a different show in the middle of the series... and feel that no one would notice. From Sarah, Cedie, Remi... walang natapos. So I switched to GMA. Doraemon. Kagaguhan in the morning. Sarap. (No, we do not have cable. We have something better: DSL and Utorrent.)

10-ish - mom finishes her daily e-mailing so it's my turn. will be working on orders

1030 to 11 - joel will be online so we will chat a little. lie-low muna on the orders. haven't perfected the art of multi-tasking yet.

1230 - game-ka-na-ba finishes so it's time for lunch.

2pm - work on orders again. joel would probably be in a meeting or will be working too, so I get more things done.

6pm - will either be finished or too tired to work. will chat with joel, shel or mon (depending on their availability) or will surf the net, or write blog entries such as this.

730 - dinner time.

after dinner - hate this time of the day. Faye's turn in the PC so I have NOTHING to do. I'd probably read, watch dvd... but definitely will not do anything useful. my responsible mode only lasts from 10 to 6. no overtime.

it's not much, i know. but i love it. extremely routinary with minimal if not inexistent pressure.

Reward Zero

2008-03-11T03:23:00.000-07:00

So I was assigned a paper on animal sociology. I thought: kaya ko to. I’m from law school, studied gender, minorities… Di naman masyadong scientific. And true enough, with a little nose bleed, natapos ko sya.

Then 3 days after nag reklamo yung customer, it was unacceptable daw. I didn’t gave enough analysis, just quoted… blah… blah… Syempre na hurt ako. I’m like miss analyzer kaya! Analyzing is my past time!

So I had to let the order go. I did the best I could in that paper. I didn’t know what else to do. And I’m sorry, hindi ako pupunta sa Manila Zoo para mag observe ng mga unggoy.

Then I was notified that a ‘reward’ was taken from me.

Ganto kasi yun, in the site where I write, may point system in which they’ll base the upgrade of your status as a writer. A point is taken for severe negative feedback and a point given for positive. Since I was new, wala pa kong points. So because of this order, from ‘Reward : 0’ naging ‘Reward : -1’ Ang saklap no?

I got so upset over it that for the next 3 days, di ako makakuha ng bagong order. Feeling ko, I’m incapable of doing anything. So I just put all my energies to the other paper I was working on. Inisip ko nalang na babangon ako at dudurugin kita. Hayup ka, may araw ka rin.

A few days later, I saw the same order. Available na naman sya. Turns out, nag give up yung next writer. Masyado daw picky yung customer. Di maintindihan yung gusto. See! It’s not my fault! So I felt so much better.

Anyway, I got positive feedback from the paper I made while I was upset. Super natuwa sya and I’m his/her favorite writer daw. Whoopee!

So from ‘Reward : -1’ naging ‘Reward : 0’ na ulit. And kanina, naging ‘Reward : 1’ na! yehey!

Manaoag Adventure

2008-03-10T20:15:00.000-07:00

Cast: Ace Bautista, Jay Castro, Marlon Castillo, Tin Delos Reyes, Anna Devanadera, Siela Gala, Joel Pagkatipunan, RC Posadas, Eeza Ramos, Jun Sanosa

Road trip soundtrack
Joel: “Ayos sounds mo p’re ah”
RC: “Embassy mix pare. Eto favorite ko” And changed the song to track 6.
‘Because of you’ by Neyo plays. And then the next track, and the next, and the next…
By track 9, RC goes “Pare, number 6 ulit ha. Ok lang?”
Hmmm… Popsy, favorite?

So 3 times naming napakinggan yung tracks 5-8 bago palang dumating ng NLEX. But in fairness, after nun, buong CD na yung pinapakinggan namin. From track 1 to 25 na. But since yun lang ang dalang CD ni RC, mga 6 times naming sya napakinggan.

Actually, may isa pang CD. MP3 ng mga love songs. As in oldies love songs ha. Parang pang prom nung 1980’s. Not that I know. 1997 ako nag prom. ANYWAY, thankful narin ako sa Embassy mix ni Pops.

Invading Tarlac
So we arrived in Tarlac. We went to Papa Jay’s head quarters first. We saw his office. Whoa. Kakabilib.

After that, we went to the house where we will stay. It was a 1 bedroom house. Super cute and cozy. Mukang vacation house nge eh. Coz though completely furnished, it even had utensils and plates, it didn’t have a gas range. So who ever lives there, laging kumakain sa labas. And mejo religious yung owner ng house ah. Maraming figure ni Mama Mary everywhere. Except sa bathroom. Doon, may wine and 2 glasses beside the bathtub.

Syempre, nag inuman sa house. We brought 1 box of canned beer (left over nung bridal shower ni fritz). But Papa Jay had his alalays buy more pa. And syempre they brought super dami food din. And di parin pala alam ni Papa Jay ang first name ko. So forever na Ms. Gala ang tawag nya sakin pag tatagayan nya ko. Yes. Sya ang nagtatagay. Sabi nga ni Marlon, kung boss si Papa Jay sa Tarlac, pag dating sa 4D, alipin na naman sya. Hehe.

After an hour or two, the girls called it a night. And we took it upon ourselves to fix the sleeping arrangements. Kasi, pag lasing na yung boys, kung saan saan nalang yun mahihiga. Baka mag-tetris nanaman sila sa higaan. Isang trait nga pala ng 4D eh magkasya matulog sa masisikip na lugar. There was only one bed but Papa Jay had some mattresses brought over so kung tutuusin maraming matutulugan.

And para dumami yung pwedeng higaan, we got the cushions from the sofa. Makapal, pero hiwahiwalay. At first, we thought na si RC and i-assign dun since ganun yun tinutulugan nya minsan sa Manansala. But no, di sya pumayag. Naghihiwalay hiwalay daw kasi yun. Shoot. Crucial pa naman na may humiga dun. So I told Dev, “Momsy, lagyan kaya natin ng blanket over. Para di obvious na hiwahiwalay.” Hmm… in fairness, it worked. Dun humiga si Papa Jay. But don’t worry, since hindi sya malikot matulog, di naghiwahiwalay yung higaan. In fact, ang sarap nga ng tulog nya eh. Sure ako dun dahil mejo lang, ang lakas nya mag-snore. But you know what? Ang astig ng hilik nya. Parang galing sa maraming tao. Actually, yung ibang sounds nga parang hindi galing sa tao. Tapos nagiiba-iba pa ng tempo and melody. Astig. Sa totoo lang, ang bilis ko nakatulog dahil dun. Promise! Tas hindi pa ko nagising during the night.

Dahil ang dami namin, and 1 lang yung bathroom, we had to make a schedule. Ang matagal maligo, mauuna. So kami nang girls yun diba? Sabi ni Dev, si Eeza daw dapat mauna. Sabi naman ni Eeza, mas matagal daw si Tin. Sige girls, magturuan pa kayo. ANYWAY, so si Tin na nga ang pumayag mauna, si Eeza, ako, then si Dev.

The following morning, I heard Tin get up to take a bath. I heard her finished and I also heard her wake up Eeza. So mukang gising na ko ng mga panahon na yun. Si Eeza naman, tumatawad pa. I thought na ako na mag-offer na mauna, pero syempre, kakagising ko lang, wala pa akong brain and mouth coordination. So naunahan ako ni Eeza. Sabi nya, I could go ahead.

So natapos na ang mga girls, so boys naman. Si Jun, ang nauna sa kanila since he was fully awake already. Yung iba kasi, totally asleep pa. Eventually, isa isa narin sila bumangon at kumilos. And may I just say, si Ace at si RC parang babae sa tagal maligo. Ang dami na naming na-okray, di parin sila tapos.

Since ang tagal ng liguan process, 1030 na kami nakaalis ng Tarlac. Di na kami aabot sa mass so we decided to have lunch nalang. We went to Isdaan. Sa entrance, may guard. Syempre, di namin pinalampas ang gaguhan opportunity:

And ang ganda pala dun ah. Parang theme park. So while we were waiting for the food to arrive, some of us went around to check-out the sites.

And because we are all waiting for the bar results, hindi rin namin pinalampas si Buddha.

You have to touch Buddha, make a wish then ring the bell.

Si Momsy, tuwang tuwa mag ring ng bell.

Ang saya no? Anyway, we went back to our kubo to eat. Mejo nakakahilo pala kumain sa floating balsa.

Manaoag

After eating, kahit anong saya ng Embassy mix ni RC, hindi nya kinaya ang halong puyat at kabusugan. I woke up nasa parking na kami ng Manaoag. Wala pa nga ko sa tamang huwisho nung bumaba ako. But anyway, nagising naman ako nung naglakad kami papunta sa Church. We got there 30 minutes before the mass. So we bought candles muna.

Ang dami ngang theories kung ilan kelangan bilin eh. Most of us bought 10 candles, one for each bar subject tas plus two para siguro sakto na sa suklian. Pero pwede rin 1 for happiness and 1 for world peace. Ako, 10 candles din, 1 for each bar Sunday, the rest para sa ibang intentions.
Marami kasi akong hinihiling. The best yung kay Marlon. Dalawa lang. One for him to pass the Bar and the other, for safety. Baka nga naman maka pasa sya tas masagasaan sya after. Hmm… May point sya. So yung isa kong candle, for safety narin.

We had mass first before we lit the candles. May blessing daw after the mass so we were thinking, we should have the candles blessed first before lighting it. Anyway, after the communion, dumadami ang mga tao na pumapasok at unti unting lumalapit sa altar. Sabi ni Jo, kelangan daw pumunta narin kami sa front kasi sobrang dami ng tao. We don’t want to end up sa likod na likod coz di na daw yun inaabot ng holy water.

So after ng final blessing, nakipag amazing race kami sa san damak-mak na tao na pasimpleng tumatakbo papunta sa unahan. Maganda yung spot namin. Di masyadong front, pero abot parin ng holy water. Sina Eeza, din a nabasa. Pero buti nalang, mag round 2 si father. Syempre, nagtakbuhan ulit kami dun. This time, para na kaming naligo sa ulan. Basang basa. O yan, Lord, pag di pa naman kami pumasa nyan ha…

We went to the lighting area. Daming tao ha. Yung spot nga na napili ko, halos puno na ng candles. At pati yung candle stand, nagliliyab na. Pero hala sige, light parin ng light. Mejo natakot nga ko ng onti. Mainit at mausok. Nun ko naalala na ayoko talagang mapunta sa hell.

After church, we went to Razon’s for merienda c/o Eeza.

We ordered the bilao for 16 people, halo-halo and some puto. 10 lang kami so baka nga sobra pa yun eh at may take home pa. But no. First round palang mejo paubos na. 4 nga lang ang naka second. Hanep.

Nang mabusog, at magamoy kornik, we went home. Balik sa pag aantay ng result.

Burning Down Memory Lane

2008-02-26T01:50:00.000-08:00

Since I’ve been writing since I was ten, I’ve collected a lot of journals. One sunny day, I thought: I’m letting go. I’m moving on. I’m starting a new life. I should burn my journals… pati narin ang mga letters...

So I got them out of my box (which is pretty big already) and took them out. And my mom was super happy about it. Finally, malilinis na ang kwarto ko. Nagkaka-allergy na kasi ako sa alikabok ng mga lumang papel.

Anyway, my plan was to burn them. I’ll slowly let them go, while the flame eats each and every page of my life… Para dramatic ang dating. At first I got a white ceramic vase. Sabi ni ate leah, masisira daw yun, saying. Ok fine. Minus dramatic points naman yun. Sige na nga lata ng Selecta nalang.

So I went to the back of our house.

As you can see, it’s slightly open so I figured dun nalang gawin ang aking letting-go-ritual. Tinatamad na kasi akong lumabas. Baka makita pa ko ng kapitbahay at magtanong kung anong ginagawa ko.

So I brought a candle and a stick. I started tearing each page to burn them one by one. Di ko kasi isasama yung cover kasi may plastic. Bad for the environment. Anyway, the first page I burned, nagulat ako. Ang bilis pala nya magliyab ah. At ang laki ng flame. So I waited till the flame died.

Syet. Ang usok naman. Hmmm… better keep the flame going.

So I went on and on. Tearing and burning.

Langya. Ang tagal nito ah. 30 minutes na at di pa ko tapos sa isang notebook. Mejo lang 10 pa ata yung susunod. At mejo humahangin at kumakalat ang ashes. Haay…

So I went inside muna to get some fresh air. But no. Walang fresh air sa loob. Mausok narin. Even if I closed the sliding doors, pumapasok parin sa loob ng bahay yung usok. Syet patay.

Dapat pala talaga sa labas. Kaya pala nung sinunog ni Kris si Chelsea, sa basurahan sa labas nya yun ginawa.

Anak ng… Ayoko na nga.

I got a black garbage bag and placed my journals and letters there. Isinama ko pa yung mga ashes. I tied it up and left it outside.

Ayan. Eh di wala na.

Ryan and Fritzie's Wedding

2008-02-24T06:54:00.000-08:00

A woman is most beautiful while she walks down the aisle. It’s like the whole world stops to watch her take those steps.

For Fritzie, she started from Paco Park’s entrance, around the fountain, towards the chapel and inside. So kahit maliit lang yung chapel, bumawi naman sya sa pamamasyal sa park.

Since the chapel was really small, there were a lot of guests spilled over the sides of the chapel. Syempre, kasama kami dun. So tambay lang sa labas, yosi, kwentuhan…

Watch Out For Falling Dried Branches
Clockwise from upper left: Paul, Joel and RC, Joel and I, Micoy

The reception was in a garden somewhere in Intramuros. They served sushi, sashimi, maki, nachos and cheese(on a fountain) for cocktails. Located just near the entrance, of course, pag pasok, deretso pila na kami. Since the wedding was at 3pm, by the time it was over, the guests were a little hungry. Serving cocktails was a good move so that the guests won’t be too eager to go to the buffet table. They can take their time, mingle and take pictures, or the couple can do a dance number.

Yes. Fritzie and Ryan danced to the tune of Accidentally in Love. Whoa. Naalala ko si Shrek and Fiona. It was so funny. Sobrang aliw talaga.

During dinner, trivia game. The host went around and asked the guest trivia questions about the couple. If they got it right, may price. Ok that the host, Franco aka Frankybebe, went around. Kakahiya naman for the guest to go up the stage eh. In a way, may audience participation and hindi boring yung dinner na puro song number nalang.

Top, left to right: Me and Joel, Bunny and Micoy, Me and Tin
Bottom, left to right: Mon and Joel, RC and Eeza, Eeza and Mike

For the traditional bouquet and garter toss, they had parlor games instead. Which is normal, considering that no one wants to catch them now a days.

And isn't this the cutest cake ever?

Ay. Perfect na sana. Let's take a closer look...

Hmmm... May nalito. Kasi yung subject na yan, Legal Forms and ETHICS. hehe...

Overall, it was the best wedding I’ve attended so far. The garden setting was just lovely. It was organized but it wasn’t imposing and rigid. And of course, the dance number was unforgettable. It will haunt me for the rest of my life. Hehe. Just kidding.

Fictionally Working as a Freelance Writer

2008-02-20T23:07:00.000-08:00

I got it! I got the job that I applied for. Well, it's not really that glamorous. I just get out of my bed and open the computer. No fancy office attire, no lunch outs. But the good thing is: I can do it in my own time. I can choose my possible tasks. I can even choose not to get tasks.

Oh. I don't earn that much yet. The pay's on result basis so until I get the hang of it, I won't be assigned to write on big works. I have to be patient, diligent, hardworking and all that BS. Hehe. I don’t really mind. I know we have to start somewhere.

Actually, all this is new to me. I’m used to the office setting: aching feet, annoying boss, lengthy travel time. So working thru the net seemed so… fictional? I mean I researched, wrote an essay, someone commented, I edited it for approval and passed it. I did my work, I see my earnings (which are meager still) But it still doesn’t feel real. Until those numbers transform to paper bills in my hand, I’d still feel like a bum.

But overall, despite everything, I am not disappointed. I’m extremely happy, and hopeful. This is what I’ve wished for.

Coming Out of My Shell

2008-02-18T23:31:00.000-08:00

I’ve been writing since I was 10 – but only in private. For young people, we call it a Diary. For the older ones, we call it a Journal. I stopped keeping a journal when I was in college. I realized that if you don’t want anyone reading your thoughts, don’t write it. But I can’t help it. I must write and for that purpose, the back of any notebook came in handy. I can write, rip it, and throw it away.

I’m OC so in law school I had a to-do notebook. It’s my version of Dumbledore’s Pensieve. There I put the web of ideas from my head and organize. And since I take it everywhere I go, there’s no risk of anybody else reading it. So I put my secret thoughts at the back. Well, it’s not actually secret. It’s just that, I don’t want other people knowing what I think, my fears, disappointments etc. Plus I’m ‘emo’ sometimes, and I’m not proud of that.

One day, a classmate saw my notebook. Amazed by how organized my To Do list is, he starts flipping the pages. Since my secret writings were in the back, there was a big chance he might not see it. So I didn’t panic. But I was wrong, he saw it and read it out loud. I was so shocked! I walked out and cried. I know, so juvenile. But I felt exposed and vulnerable. From then on, thoughts when written, goes straight to the bin.

When blogging became popular, I was amazed on how these people can just write personal stuff for everyone to see. I admired them for their courage and openness. So I tried it too. At first it was just my favorite quotes, song lyrics… Like I was saying what I want to say through someone else’s words. Eventually, it felt comfortable, so I put my own writings: rantings and random thoughts.

From friendster to multiply, now it’s time to take the next step: blogspot. I’ve always wanted to write my life bio. And this seemed like the next best thing.

I know. I’m not somebody yet. But one day I will be.