of reasons and rainbows

sa panahon ngayon, bawal magkasakit.

3 weeks na ko tahol ng tahol. naiingayan na ko sa sarili ko.

3 times na ko nagkonsulta sa clinic, isang dosenang ibat ibang gamot na ang nainom ko.

walang epek…

(after 5 years and 6 months) what makes him different?

1. he tells me everything on his mind.from the trivial (like the new dota heroes added on the latest map od his games which i never really understand) to the insanely outrageous (like the hotdog eating contest that 7-11 is now having in manila and the current record high time for eating 10 hotdogs with buns).

2. He encourages me to shop. He comes with me in the mall, takes me to boutiques which he thinks i might like and buy me stuffs that i would otherwise think to be too expensive.

3. He brought me a ref after 3 months of being together.

4. He spends time with me and i never hear him complain even after long graveyard shifts.

5. He introduced me to his barkada, invites me to their get togethers and never leaves my side when we are with the guys.

6. He always holds my hand everywhere for 5 years now.

7. When walking along the streets, he never lets me walk at the danger side.

8. He always tell me that he loves me.

9. We share imaginary friends and jokes about them all the time.

10. He laughs at my silly jokes.

11. We can watch friends re run over and over again. and we still manage to laugh together even after seeing it hundreds of time and memorizing all the lines.

12. We can watch jlc-bea movies. I get teased about it.but he will still watch the next cheesy one with me. No questions asked.

13. He buys me popcorn with melted butter at the movies no matter how long the line is and even if it means he’d miss the trailers.

14. He calls me on the fon all the time.. just because.

15. He never give me gifts on xmas or my birthday or our anniversaries but showers me with toughtful little somethings all year long.

16. He hugs me as if he never wants to let go whenever we walk our separate ways in the airports.

17. His eyes tells me that he really cares.

18. He calls me Miss Maganda and Cute, cute.

19. I asked him to buy the latest Pugad Baboy book for me and he got me the whole set, from book 1 to21.

20. He brought me a team manila shirt that has the cheesiest line printed: “lab u, miss u”.

it had been long since my last post. and so many things had happened in the last 3 months. Here, catch a glimpse of where i had been, what i was doing and who i was with:

* i went for a 3 week-long business trip to work and meet with our team in San Francisco.

* Took a walk with my friend and teammate to Golden Gate Park and Fisherman’s Wharf one weekend.

* Went shopping in Old Navy , Marshall’s and Ross in Union Square, San Francisco.

* Went to Chinatown, San Francisco.

* Tried local Frisco food for lunch and dinner. Gained weight in the process. The city is a foodie’s heaven.

* Went to New York for a weekend via Delta airlines.

* Experienced autumn in New York.

* Met my neighbor and cousin, Ate Lennie and her boyfriend, Jasper.

* Went to Liberty and Ellis Island. Met lady liberty and visited a migrant’s museum.

* Toured around Manhattan in New York’s subway train.

* Went to Wall Street, Time Square and Rockefeller center.

* Wandered around Central Park.

* Got mesmerized with the Empire State Building in night view.

* Saw the wonderful Time Square my most favorite place in New York.

* Looked for the Serendipity Cafe (yep, the one in the movie).

* Missed my flight from New York back to San Francisco. (cost me 200 bucks and big time panic)

* At work, Met a lot of business folks using our app. It was amazing how much things i learned during this trip.

* Went to Las Vegas for a long weekend to visit my friend, Max and her hubby. Flew US Airways and United.

* Went to Lake Las Vegas and Hoover Dam under the hot, glaring sun.

* Climbed the most beautiful mountain trail Ive seen in my life : Mt Charleston.

* Learned that Mary Jane Falls is just pretending to be fall during that hot summer day, it looks more like a spring.

* Hit the Primm outlet store in Nevada and the Galeria mall and busted my credit card.

* Went to “the Strip”, Las Vegas’s chain of hotels and casinos at the center of the city.

* Toured the old Las Vegas street.

* Visit the Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace, Palms and the Venetian.

* Got drunk and wasted in ph bar in Planet Hollywood.

* Went home to Singapore after 8 flights, and a totAl of 46 plane hours in 3 weeks. wheeehw!

* Spent 3 weeks in Singapore. Went back to my normal routines. My mom came to visit for 17 days. Then my sister came. ready for our Australia trip.

* Went to Sydney via Singapore Airlines with 4 of my closest friends in SG and my sister, She.

* Roamed around Sydney night in the cold weather.It was spring.

* Went to Sydney Tower and trekked around the tower in a guided tour.

* Visited the Sydney Opera House and took a lot of pictures.

* Went to King’s Wharf and Circular Quay.

* Went to Bondi Beach.

* Climbed the Harbour Bridge in a very fashionable and very complicated climbing gears.

* Joined a bus tour to and from Blue Mountain. Saw kangaroos and saw the 3 Sisters (mountain rocks).

* Walked around Sydney’s Royal Botanical Garden. Searched for Mrs Macquarie’s chair.

* Flew to Brisbane, AU via Jetstar.

* Met my uncle and his family who had been based in AU for almost 5 years now.

* Went to Surfer’s Paradise.It was breath taking.

* Experienced Movie World and rode Scooby Doos best-ever-coaster ride. hunted for bugs bunny.

* Gazed down Brisbane’s view from Mt Coot-ha.

* Rode the giant ferris wheel in Southbank.

* Went to Brisbane’s Botanical Garden and Planetarium.

* Lost my wallet, all of my credit cards, and 250 aud in the Planetarium.

* Went to Sea World.The Volcanic Bermuda Triangle was awesome and the JetRider is so worth the bone tingling experience.

* Went to the Kangaroo Kingdom and fed a lot of Kangaroos and took pictures of a lot of koala bears.

* Bought 5 bottles of mini liquors back to Singapore from australia.

— after all these, Im back home, back at work and now looking forward to Christmas in Batangas. The last 3 months had been wonderful and I am very thankful to God for the priceless experience. In case you are overwhelmed with the amount of travel I conquered and the places I had been to.. You’re not alone. So am I. Until now, when I think about all these experiences, I still have to pinch myself incase im just dreaming. I haven’t whispered enough thanks to God.

P.s. Visit my friendster page for pictures and proofs! (winks)

Honestly, what do I know about New York before I went for the weekend getaway?

1. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. my absolute favorite TV show is set there. Joey always refer to the NY Knicks and Central Perk is derived from Central Park. Phoebe lives in a house near Central Park.
2. A lot of my favorite movies are shot in NY : You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless In Seattle (Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks met at the top of the Empire State Bldg at the end of the movie.
3. New York Pizza is really famous.
4. The Statue Of Liberty is in an island in New York and always gets down first in catastrophic movies.
5. Jennifer Lopez came from the Bronx according to her song.
6. Sex and The City is all about New York and New York fashion.
7. Time Square is where the big ball drops during the New Year countdown every year.

tsk, tsk… hindi ako makapaniwala na at this time, meron pa rin akong mga episodes na nakakatanga talaga…. kumusta naman yun. parati na lang akong mali mali pagtungtong sa ibang lugar. dakilang probinsyana talaga.pagkatapos kong mag plantsa ng damit na isusuot sa office kaninang umaga, eto hindi ko maintindihan kung paano ko ngayon titiklupin ang kabayo ng plantsa. kelangan ko bang ipress yung kawad na nasa gilid? o hilahin paatras yung banda likuran ng kabayo? di ko talaga alam…eto tinititigan ko ngayon at baka sakaling mafigure out ko kung paano ko sya itutumba habang nakatitig. hirap.

naalala ko tuloy ang mga previous katawa tawa modes ko sa US at Singapore.

1. Hindi ako marunong gumamit ng dishwasher! pasensya na po pero wala talaga nyan sa bundok, di hose pa nga ang gripo namin eh. unang linggo ko sa St. Paul nang mabagabag ako ng dishwasher. Ipinatas ko ang mga plato, baso at kutsara.. pero pagkatapos nun, hindi ko na alam. wala namang manual na nagtuturo kung paano maghugas ng plato. pero sa totoo lang, medyo obvious naman sya nung natutunan ko na. Kelangan lang pihitin yung knob at ayun, maghuhugas na ng kusa ang mga pinggan. parang washing machine lang. Yun nga lang, nung first time kong gamitin, hindi ko alam na kelangan pala gamitan ng sabon! kumusta naman yun?
2. Isang umaga sa gitna ng jetlag, nagising ako ng alas tres at naisipan kong mag prito ng bacon. Sa mga oras din na yun, kachat ko sa jun sa YM. So ayun, usap usap kami, miss ko sya, miss nya ko…etc. So to make the long story short, nasunog ang bacon. Umusok ang kawali. At… tantararan… nag alarm ang fire alarm sa kusina. Susme, nataranta talaga ako. Natakot ako kasi pakiramdam ko at any time eh kakatukin ako either ng mga pulis at bumbero. At ang pasaway na fire alarm, hindi ko mapatigil. Wala na nga ang usok sa kawali sige pa rin ang usok. Grabe, natakot talaga ako at tuluyan ng di nakatulog.
3. Pagkatapos kong matutunan ang dish washer, ang susunod ko namang challenge ay kung paano gamitin ang washer / dryer na hindi tumatanggap ng cash. kelangan may laundry card para magamit. Sa San Francisco ko na ito naranasan. Nakakatawa kasi, sa mga apartment units namin dati, walang washing machine. Meron lang common laundry area sa basement at duon kami naglalaba. Nung first time kong naglaba, wala akong kamukat mukat kung paano ioperate ang washing machine na yun. Yun pala, merong parang phone booth na naka install sa may entrance ng laundry room at duon pwede kang bumili ng laundry card sa halagang 10 – 20 dollars na pwede mong gamitin 4-5 times.
4. Pagdating ko sa Singapore, hindi ko rin alam kung paano tupiin ang plantsahan. iba sya kesa sa plantsahan ko ngayon pramis. Kaya bumili ako ng mumurahing plantsahan na alam kong tiklupin.
5. Sa Singapore, sa labas ng bahay namin, may sign “Raised Zebra Crossing”. Eto katangahan lang talaga. Hindi ko maisip na pumasok sa isip ko to pero to be honest, ang naisip ko nung unang nakikita ko ang sign na to bago ko tumawid sa daan pagpasok sa office… “what they raise zebras here? and what they let them cross the streets?!!”. oo na… stupid of me. pero nakakatawa di ba?

Sa pagbalik ko dito sa SF, unti unti na namang bumabalik ang mga nakakatangang bagay. pero hindi na kagaya dati. in fact, parang deja vu na nga ngayon eh. parang nangyari na ang mga bagay… at nauulit lang. gaya ng plantsa.

Today, aiming to tire ourselves out so that we can get some good night sleep before our first day in the office, we went roaming around SF’s popular tourist spots:

Roadside of Central Business District

Golden Gate Park

California Science Academy

Rose Garden

Golden Gate Bridge

Ghirardeli Square

* seema taking the pics. she said she had become a fan of my signature smile…. hahaha.

First stop : Union Square (naturally!)

hitting the shops @ Union Square with my team mate

I enjoy traveling. Unlike one of my team mates who said she hates the part where you get to travel all weekend long and be stuck in a long flight just to reach your destination, I especially like this part of the trip. Waking up early and discovering the airports. Waiting anxiously for boarding time.

At 5AM today, my alarm clock buzzed off and signaled the time that I had been waiting for what seemed like years. I usually bargain a few more minutes with my alarm clock before finally convincing myself that it is indeed time to wake up, but today I am up at full gear in no time. I checked and double checked my luggages, switched off all the electronic plugs that I am leaving behind, tidy up my bed and cleaned my room a bit and prepared myself for the flights ahead. I locked my room and said goodbye to my bed. I called for a cab to pick me up and bring me to the airport and hence, my journey begins.

The first leg of my flight leaves at 8:30 AM Singapore time. This is our connecting flight with a stopover at HK International Airport. I was at the airport at exactly 6:15 AM (yes, I am very excited, I must admit) and was really glad that there are no long queues at the check in counter yet. I looked at the flight monitor screen and searched for my check in counter number. There are 2 Cathay Pacific flight leaving for HK this morning and the first one was tagged as cancelled. Being the nervous freak that I am, I panicked and thought about the possibility that I got the wrong flight number or worst, the wrong flight date! (Yeah, these things make me crazy). I scanned again and again and finally I saw my flight and it appeared that I am not lost after all. There is a flight taking me to the HK Airport and then to the land of milk and honey. Awesome! With a big smile I approached the check in counter # 8 and give the friendly Cathay staff 2 of my luggages checked in. The weights : 1 for 22.3 kls and the other locked in at 8 kls. Long flights like ours allow 2 luggages to be checked in at 23 kls max. This used to be capped at 33 kls but last year during recession and fuel price hike, the airlines decided to cut off 10 kls. So I got my bags in and sent an sms to my team mate that I had already checked in and I’ll wait for her at the nearby coffee shop.

One good thing that I like about Changi Airport is Wireless@SG connection. In every terminal, anyone can log in to the free wireless internet access. So I decided to check my office mailbox and see if I received any last minute questions from our team in SF. I also checked the necessities : Twitter, Facebook, Friendster, Y! mail, Gmail. All accounts look good and I did some updates, I put macoy jr. to sleep and put it back in my bag. I saw my team mate checking in with her hubby and said hi. I continued with my boredom and long wait until its time to board. Went through the next gate, passed by immigration and looked for the boarding gate indicated in my pass. I did not have trouble finding it because it is sitting near the entrance.  And before I know it, the flight crew are announcing that we are ready to board.

Thus began my 3-week dream adventure. Only God knows how excited I am to what lies ahead. Frisco, here I come!

Three years ago, if you asked me what are the necessary things to bring when going to a trip, I would have answered with a blank stare. I am not the adventurous type. I didn’t even have a passport (I got my first passport in 1997 when I was sent for a business trip in St. Paul, MN). And that was also the first time that I went out of Luzon and rode a real plane – before that the closest I had been to a plane were theme park rides. So what would I know about the stuffs to bring when you travel?

The year 2009 marks a milestone in my life. For the first time, I am capable of going to places I never even imagined I would be able to reach. Sometimes, when I’m bored and think about it, I always have this feeling that everything about these trips are too good to be true. And when I am planning for a visit to a certain place, I always have this guilty feeling – should I rather save the  money I am spending in all these trips? In the end, I’ll try to convince myself that nothing beats the experience and learnings and adventures and memories shared with the people I love. What the heck, I may have to go home next year and get a job back in Manila again and never get to see all these beautiful cities and take these wonderful pictures. Right?

This weekend, I’m packing for yet another destination. And I’d like to share with you my travel pack. I’m the kind of person who has the tendency to forget the simplest and most essential thing behind … and panic! So I created a list of the things to put in my luggage everytime I’m going somewhere – be it home during a vacation or somewhere I had never been too. This list had always been handy and essential:

*picture taken from Narita Airport on my first ever internation trip en route to St. Paul, MN. It was a 17 hour flight.

1. Airline Tickets – The first thing I need to bring out at the airport during check in.I always keep 2 copies after booking a ticket that way if I lost one, I have an extra copy. Before leaving the house, I make it a point to check if my tickets are with me.

2. Passport – I do a check, a double check and a triple check of my passport before going. I know that I would be in great trouble without my passport anywhere I go, being a foreigner in this country, I always remind myself never to ever take this document for granted. When I travel, I make it to a point that I have a photocopy of my passport in one of my luggage just in case I lose the original somewhere along the way.

3. OEC – OWWA Exit Certificate. I need to bring this each time I go home to Manila because this means that I don’t have to pay for Travel Tax (Php 750) and Airport Tax (ranging from Php 1600-2500 depending on the airline). If you travel back home as much as I do, this is a rather important paper budget-wise.In Singapore, we have to pay 6sgd for every OEC issued. I got multiple passes last year but they are now all expired. Last time, I discovered that it’s cheaper to get it in Manila where you only pay (Php 100) for the exit pass.

4. Laptop + laptop’s charger. This is not always required. When I go home to Manila, I always bring my laptop since I always share my videos (read tv series and movies i downloaded) and pics with my sibs. And sometimes during long vacation, I have this separation anxiety from internet and emails and office desktops that I just have to open macoy and do something.
5. Cellphones. I am always saying that I have 3 phones now. So this is a must. The chargers should always be in the bag too.
Back home i switch to my most basic most handy phone with my globe prepaid line and never bring the iphone and the other one out. i don’t know, I guess the ghost of the theives of two of my mobile phones way way back are still hunting me.
6. Security Tokens. I have a total of 4 security tokens in my bag. One for BGI, 1 for the bank and 2 for the credit cards. These tokens allow me to access my online banking accounts and my office PC from any computer with an internet connection. When going on holiday breaks, I need to take them just in case there are emergency calls from work or if I need access to my bank / credit card accounts.

7. Wallet. Must have my ePass, credit cards, atm cards, SSS ID and some money for the cab to the airport.

8. Katinko. If you don’t know what katinko is, think Vicks vaporub. This is a chinese ointment rub that I got addicted to and a must have for me especially on plane rides. I have frequent migraines and katinko almost always help ease the pain. During long travel hours in the plane, I often get dizzy and feel uncomfortable due to high pressure and enclosed space for long hours. Katinko is always there to save the day a thousand miles above the ground. When I moved to SG, I brought 6 pieces with me and until now I have them scattered all around my room and office desks and in my bags.

8. Ballpen. For the embarkation / disembarkation cards. I find it hard to ask for a pen from a fellow passenger. I don’t know why, probably because I don’t think I should bother strangers on their sleep or reading or movie watching. Or probably because I have encountered some airplane seatmates who are not very nice or worst who have some sort of irritating habit or smell. It’s traumatic being stuck in a seat next to them.

9. Jacket. We dont wear jackets in SG simple because there is no need to. It’s always humid and hot around here. So I always tend to forget to bring a jacket to the airport which always ends up being a big mistake since the changi airport had a very good centralized airconditioning system. It’s too cold for me. And the planes themselves are rather cold that it’s uncomfortable not to have a jacket.
10. Apartment keys – I take midnight flights. I dont want to end up waking up my housemates (whom I am not friends with) in the middle of the night when I return home because I forgot my keys.

11. Clothes and toiletries.

The best part about presents is when you are caught off guard because your are expecting none. This year, my family gave me something that is far beyond my tear gland can control. They sent me a bunch of birthday cards through Jun. And, boy, I was moved to tears reading each one of them. I decided to quote them to safely archive my favorite lines. Enjoy reading:

(-@-)

“Happy, happy birthday. We love you and we miss you. God give opportunity only once, enjoy what you experience in your life. have a blessed birthday this coming August 10, year of our lord.” – Inay

I can almost hear her speaking on her funny english at nagtatawanan kami ng mga kapatid ko hehehe. It’s an inside joke in our family. Inay loves it when we laugh at her speeches.

“Happy 27th birthday sa panganay ko. Greeting to you from a far away Er..part. Dito lang sa Pasig – Quiapo. You’re an inspiration, an idol, etc.” – tatay

Si tatay walang kakupas kupas. Funny and smartly said.

“Sobrang thankfl ako na ikaw ang kapatid ko. Hindi ka maikukumpara sa kahit sino pang ate. Sana lagi kang masaya dyan sa Singapore. Kahit wala kami sa tabi mo. Kahit kailan naman ay hindi ka nawala sa isip namin. Miss na miss ko na nga ikaw. Sana rin wag ka masyado ma-homesick dyan. Ingat ka lagi at wag mo pababayaan ang sarili mo.” – allan

haaaay. miss na miss ko na rin kayo.

“100,000 thank you’s will never be enough to express how thankful and grateful we are for everything you’ve shared with us. 1 million I love yous are not even close and nothing and no one will ever ever replace you as my # 1. I love you Ate. Happy, happy birthday.” -owie

eto ang paborito kong card/greetings sa lahat. ang haba, ang laman, ang drama!And brought back a lot of memories and I realized na ang laki pala ng impact ko sa paglaki ng bunso namin.”

“Happy birthday nga pala sa yo. Sana hindi ka magbago at sana maging maligaya ka sa lovelife mo.” – lanlan, my cousin

sana nga…
“Surprise, surprise! sa modernong panahong ito ng text tawag at email naisipan naming bumalik sa makaluma at mag padala ng pagbati sa koreo. Ate, ang layo na ng narating mo. Natututpad mo na ang mga pangarap natin na dati parang imposible. parang sa panaginip lang. Ate, proud na proud kami sa yo… si Mother whos is you know always thankful for everything. si tatay na kahit di naimik pero tuwang tuwa sa lahat ng na accomplish mo, si owie na laging toxic sa pag aaral alam mo namang ikaw ang unang nanay nyan kaya extra extra love ka nya, si allan na topper sa halos lahat ng subjects nya (oha!), si she na sobrang guilty nyan nung nagtampo ka sorry daw ulit… you deserve all the blessings that He has been bestowing upon you kasi ambait bait mo, sana makagaya kami kahit kalahati lang nun para umunlad din kami hehehe.” – she

huhuhu, here comes the waterworks.

“Grace kumusta ka naman dyan. Sana lagi kang masaya lalo na sa birthday mo. Happy happy birthday. Lagi ka naming naaalala.” – kakang alod (kapitbahay sa batangas)

“Ate, alam kong unti unti ng natutupad ang mga pangarap mo sa buhay, sana mas maging successful ka pa sa trabaho at syempre sa lovelife.Alam ko happy ka with kuya gerry at masaya kami para sa yo. basta kung anut ano man ang maging desisyon mo sa buhay, asahan mong parati kaming nasa likod mo. hindi ka namin pababayaan.” – malen (cousin)

very well said, neng. salamat sa suporta! hehehe.

“maligayang kaarawan sa iyo. sana masaya ka sa iyong kaarawan. maraming salamat po sa lahat. inaanak, lian” – lian (cousin)

natawa ko sa inaanak, lian. isa si lian sa 5 kong pekeng inaanak.

“sanay ay masaya ka sa iyong birthday. bigyan ka pa ng madami pang birthday taon taon. bigyan ka pa ng maraming biyaya at pagpapala at marami ka pang matulungan. salamat sa biyaya mo sa amin parati. pasensya ka na at pangit ang aking sulat.” – inay angge (lola)

hay, mahal na mahal ko talaga ang lola ko. lola ko na at isa pa sa mga pinaka bestfriend ko sa buong mundo. wow di ba.

“grace, kumusta ka na. happy birthday. pasensya ka na sa akin.” kuya bito (tito)

simple pero tagos sa laman. nagkasamaan kami ng loob ni kuya bitoy kasi tinawag nyang something si gerry na di ko nagustuhan. mahabang istorya.

“kumusta ka na dyan, alam mong hindi ako marunong magsulat pero pinilit pa rin kitang batiin kaya nagpasulat na lang ako kay vanjoe. awa ng Dyos ay narating mo na ang mga pangarap mo sa buhay. binabati kita sa iyong kaarawan. ingatan mo lagi ang sarili mo. signed by mamay oring” – mamay (lolo)

ito ang pinakawinner sa lahat! kasi ang lolo ko, nag susulat lang every 4 years. kapag eleksyon. may kopyahan pa.

(-@-)

you can only imagine kung gaano ko naappreciate ang mga cards na to. walang katumbas at walang makapapantay sa naramdaman ko habang binabasa lahat. bigla akong na homesick. bigla akong natagalan sa December kung kelan makikita at mayayakap ko na ulit silang lahat. bigla akong nalungkot. pero in the end, naramdaman ko na madaming nagmamahal sa kin. milya milya nga lang ang layo nila…