'Cause I'm Leaving on a Jetplane

Tomorrow will mark our second week here in the land of snow, polar bears, Tim Hortons and President's Choice. Although we've kept ourselves busy from the time that we arrived, I still get homesick whenever I think of my family and friends that I have left behind in Manila. I will never forget that day in the airport.

Despite the fact that A and I had only 30 minutes of sleep, my body was wide awake as if I've been injected with five Red Bulls as we left our house in LP. I'm also guessing that because a couple of our friends insisted that they have breakfast with us before going to the airport also added to the adrenaline rush.

As we were done with breakfast, we headed to the airport. A and I got separated when we were on our way to the airport as we had a lot of things so there were three cars used. The third was our friend's. So anyway, I rode with my dad going to the airport. The minute we reached the flyover leading to the departure area of the airport, I literally wanted to throw up. There were like fireworks in my belly. A similar feeling when I was about to take the Nursing local board exam but this was worse. My hands were all clammy and my head was spinning. No, this is not connected to the lack of sleep that we had but from the thought of leaving... leaving my home.

We found a spot and as my dad, A and my friends were busy unloading our bags, I was already psyching myself not to cry when the time comes to say our goodbyes. At that instant, my tummy was back to normal and my head was not spinning anymore. I was ok surprisingly like a reset button was turned on inside my head to command it to be normal again. I felt pleased and relaxed. But the next thing that happened, made all the normalcy in me disappear.

I was saying goodbye to friends. One by one they hugged and wished me good luck. I then approached my dad and said "goodbye". He gave me a hug and I hugged him back. I was still ok... no tears. I let go of him but he was still hugging me tighter and tighter. It was at that time that I caved. My eyes suddenly was filled with tears. My dad then let go of me and patted my arm and said "sige na, ingat kayo" (Go now and take care). (I then went to my mom, I probably looked hideous as I was already crying) I gave her a hug and my heart just stopped when I also saw tears in her eyes. Funny how she asked me why I was crying when clearly she was holding back her own tears. I couldn't speak anymore and I just gave in. It was probably because that was the only time that I realized that we are "really leaving" them behind. This isn't just a short trip or a vacation... Stupid as it may sound but it was only then that my very sleep-deprived brain comprehended that it would be a long time before I see my parents and friends again.

As mixed emotions were drowning my mind, I said my final goodbye to my family and friends then left and headed towards the entrance of the departure area.

*Image taken from Google images.

"Sir/Maam"

Food delivery scene:

CSR: Thank you for caling McDonald's delivery, can I get your phone number?

Me: #######

CSR: Ok, Ms. Bigeyedgal, do you still have the same address "SIR"?

Me: Yes.

CSR: Ok "SIR". Can I get your order?

Me: 1 blah blah blah, 1 large blah blah blah and 1 blah blah blah.

CSR: Ok "SIR". That would be Php 185. Do we need to bring change?

Me: Please bring change for Php 500.

CSR: Ok "SIR". Expected time of delivery is 30-45 minutes. Thank you.

END.

After checking my contact number and delivery address, the CSR still kept on calling me as "sir" instead of "maam". Guess that's how bad my voice sounded. Hahahaha!

Inday Badiday.. is that me??? LOL.

Under the Christmas Tree

This may be a bit late to post but I just wanted to share what I got for Christmas from A... hihi!

Gift # 1:



It has been a very long time since I wanted to have a tin lunchbox similar to what I had in the 80's. So when I saw this in Rustan's, I just flipped! And I just did a double back-flip when I opened A's gift and saw this. Inside the lunchbox was my second gift.

Gift # 2:



Lastly, gift # 3:



Let's do the dance of joy

09 to 10

It has been exactly six months since I've last posted an entry in this blog. A lot has happened and my new job and other "extra-curricular" activities have kept me busy and have prevented me from blogging. To make things simple, let me just make a list of what has happened for the past six months before I go talking about my plans for this new year.

1. I am now part of the workforce again. I am now working for an international organisation which I believe plays a great part in making the future of their clients a lot brighter, to say the least. :) I am quite enjoying myself in this new job even if it is totally different from my previous one. The people are great! I met new friends, a few them remind me of the friends I made in my previous job. Weird huh?! :) LOL.

2. A couple of days after working again, A and I were super duper uber to the nth level happy when we found out that we passed the June 2009 Nursing Licensure Exam. No words could explain the excitement and joy when we saw our names on the website of the Phil. Daily Inquirer. It was so funny because we were holding hands when we were scrolling down the page to check our names. I literally screamed at the top of my lungs (I never thought I would be able to produce such sound, a shriek only a hungry infant or a bruised toddler can make) and then the pipe works started working. I only realized that I was crying already when I tasted something salty while I was speaking with my mom-in-law. I also didn't feel that I cut myself (I have no idea where) on the side of my right thumb from all the excitement. LOL. After calling my parents, we went out to meet our other classmates and celebrated. Thank you Lord. :)

3. One of the letters that A and I are waiting for the longest time finally arrived.
This too also made me cry. Unfortunately, I cannot explain more on this as I don't want to jinx it. To my close friends, you know what this is... so thanks for your prayers.

4. I've watched two live concerts from two foreign artists. Something I haven't done in a long time. The first one is actually "A's concert" as he is a fan of the artist, Nine Inch Nails. And the second one was "my concert"... it was Katy Perry's!!!

5. Lastly, A and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary last month. We went to Tagaytay and stayed there for three days. We were able to spend quality time together and at the same time was able to eat at most of the excellent restaurants the city has to offer. I'll post another entry to show the photos of the food we ate. Yes, we had more photos of the food and the restaurants than us. LOL. Foodies indeed.

I may have forgotten other events that have happened over the past six months, I'll probably post them once I remember them. But for now, these five are at the top of my list.

Now that it is the new year... another clean slate presents itself. Another opportunity to renew ourselves (for the better I hope). I hope that for our sake, the people around us and the world we live in, let us always try to be considerate of one another. I hope and would definitely try to be optimistic. Will always look at things as being "half full" rather than "half empty". No new year's resolution as always only dreams becoming realities.

Happy 2010 everyone!

From Books, TV and Get Togethers

I thought I was back on track with my blogging but I was wrong. TOINK! Some "things" came up. I was busy catching up with my reading as I had to stop because I need to focus more on my school books rather than on my "R&R" books. Before the start of my review I just finished reading New Moon so after the exams last month, I continued reading Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I won't be making a review of the book because for sure most of you have finished all four books already. Hee hee!

Then, I finished watching Boys Over Flowers. LOL! For those who have no idea what Boys Over Flowers is, it's the Korean version of the hit Taiwan series, Meteor Garden. The moment I saw the commercial in ABS, I really got curious. The resemblance of one of the actors in the Korean F4 with Meteor Garden's Jerry Yan was super close. They would pass as brothers but I think the Korean actor is taller.



So anyway, I finished the whole season in youtube. Pinagtyagaan ko sa youtube despite the subtitles because I can't wait for another day just to see the next episode. LOL! Low EQ remember?

Another reason for my absence here is that I've been meeting up with college friends, previous officemates for parties and out-of-town trips. A and I missed a lot of the latter when we were still reviewing for the exams.

So there, after catching up on my reading, finished watching a Koreanovela (haha!) and almost done with the planning of our so-called college reunion, I think I can blog again. :)

Song of the Week # 6/2009

It's a Monday and I am back to posting the Song of the Week. This week, I chose a song from a band called Juan Pablo Dream. It's a local band and I just love them. The title of the song is A Nice Place. A very fitting title for where I want to go after a very stressful month.

Enjoy your Monday everyone!

Back to Normal Programming...

This has got to be the longest time that I have not blogged. I was shocked to see the date of my last post. It was last April! Sheeesh! My apologies to my avid readers (LOL! feeling!) and friends for not updating my blogs as I have been busy. Last month and a week back have been one of the most stressful days of my life. There were times when both A and I would be snapping at each other (well, it's more of me snapping at him...hehe!) but at the end we'd realize that it was just the stress and would apologize to each other. And of course when there's stress, there's always the possibility of breakouts. True enough, I have blemishes all over my face for the past few weeks. So I am off to the mall again in search of a top acne treatment. Sigh.. I wish it would not leave any dark spots.

Anyhoo, I just want to say that I'm back... for good! And hope to be able to blog hop ASAP.

Bulilit Commercial

The first time I saw this commercial, I was already humming the tune for days. Plus, the kid is soooo adorable. I'm glad someone posted this on youtube. Weee!

Ok, now ... Everybody sing... One...two...three.... Bulilit, bulilit ang liit-liit... Lol! Enjoy! :)



P.S. I'm not endorsing this real estate company. The kid reminds me of myself having that same haircut at that age. Haha!

PRC Filing

Last Tuesday was a very stressful day for me. My classmates and I went to PRC for the filing. This was my first time to set foot in PRC. Getting there was already stressful as the traffic was terrible. Jeepneys move like snakes as they slither their way in those side streets. Not to mention the pedicabs that just pop out of nowhere! Haay...

So we got there around 2:30 p.m. and as we successfully parked our car (somewhere safe..hehe!), we proceeded to walk to PRC. As we got there. We still needed to have our forms and other documents notarized as part of the requirements. We had to pay 150 pesos for the notarized school documents and application forms. This I find weird because all the documents that we will be submitting are all certified by the school. Hmm... Anyway, after having all our documents ready, we proceeded inside the building. I have three words to describe what I saw: Divisoria in December. There were a lot of people and this was just outside the building. When we went in to find a shorter queue, there were more upstairs. I was beginning to think if the building could bear the weight of all the people in it. As we searched and searched for the shortest queue to have our papers processed, we found this room at the second floor where they can process everything. This was good news for us because for some, they would have to go to different queues just to get their metered stamp, the blue and white forms and the one for the payment. In that office at the second floor, they accept payment, they have the metered stamp and give out the blue and white forms. In short, combo meal slash package deal. Kulang na lang eh foot spa. Lol! We were even saying that we got the best queue and we might even end up getting the "license" too. Hahaha! How I wish!

So there at around 4:45 p.m., we were done. It was good that there were eight of us because we would each fall in line in a different queues and would switch places once done. Hehe! It was also good that we were told to go there after lunch because there were "less" students that time. Sa lagay nung pumasok kami eh less pa pala yun! Kaloka! What more if we went there in the morning. I heard from some of our classmates, that they were already there at 4:30 a.m. and was able to finish around 2:00 p.m. Yikes! I would've gone crazy if that was me!

What only made things bearable was the staff in PRC. They were all very helpful and courteous when approached. The only real thing that I disliked was the lack of organization and signs inside the building. You wouldn't know where to go first. We were even joking around saying that PRC made it that way so that the students would make sure that they pass the board so that they wouldn't have to go through with that again. Hahahaha!

All in all, it was an adventure again. I'm beginning to think that every time I go to any government office, it would be an "adventure". LOL!

Visita Iglesia on Holy Thursday

My husband and I had our Visita Iglesia last Thursday night. This was my first time to do this outside the comforts of our village in LP. Hehe! I was used to doing Visita Iglesia just by going to the three nearby churches in LP. I know, some sacrifice right? But that's what we've been doing for the past... ummm... 10 years I think.

* The above photo was the shoes we wore that night. After reading this, you'll understand why I posted it. *

Last Thursday was different. This was our route:

1st and 2nd Station: UST Church
3rd and 4th Station: San Sebastian Church
5th and 6th Station: Shrine of the Holy Face of Jesus
7th and 8th Station: Quiapo Church
9th and 10th Station: San Beda Chapel
11th and 12th Station: San Miguel Church
and finally, the 13th and 14th Station: St. Jude Archdiocesan Church

It was a very humbling and eye-opening experience for me.

I felt ashamed (of the fact that when we haven't even started with our Visita Iglesia, I already kept asking A if we're going to walk far from the churches that we will be going to) when I saw something for the first time and made me realize how silly I sounded.

What I saw was probably something a lot of you who frequent the churches of Manila during this time have seen before. I am talking about those people who walk barefoot while doing their Visita Iglesia. At first, (when A pointed them out while we were inside Quiapo church)I thought they just remove their shoes while inside the church but they were also walking barefoot on the streets. I was quite shocked and a bit afraid for their sake (the nurse in me was panicking and I was already thinking of all the possible medical emergencies they could be in). There were even girls who were doing the same thing. Imagine walking the dirty streets of Manila without any shoes. The thought made me cringe and shudder at the same time. But it also made me realize that these people couldn't care less if they step on gum, poop or even something sharp. What's important to them is that it was something they "gave up". Something we should all consider doing to live a more content life.

It was so simple yet for me, it was very real. Compared to what I had in mind (a long list of what I plan to give up this holy week), not wearing any shoes beats the likes of "not eating any pork", "not smoking or drinking for the rest of the holy week", etc, etc...

I wish I could do that. But I don't think I can. That is why I admire those people.
I hope I (and the rest of the people) would realize that it doesn't have to be really complicated to make a sacrifice. It's as simple as removing ones shoes.

I hope everyone was safe this holy week. Happy Easter!