Moving Out

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.

Filipino Store

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

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

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

First Week in Calgary

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

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:

12 Days Before Take-Off

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


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

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

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

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

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

So this made me panic a little bit.


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

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

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

Sold our Car

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

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

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

ehehehe...

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

Migration Seminars

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

First was with Canadian Immigration Integration Project (CIIP)

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


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

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

But I only have 2 comments:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

Getting our Visa

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.