graduation party

mood:

I went to New Jersey for the weekend. I haven’t visited Tita Gie since the New Year. It was the graduation party of Viviene and Vaughn. I got there around 1pm. And as usual, Tita Gie was busy in the kitchen. I just had some ziti and hotdog on a bun then I helped her with the cooking. There was so much food…good tasting food like lechon, bistek, sotanghon, pininyahang manok, menudo, lumpia shanghai, ginataang langka, chicken lollipops, palabok, and desserts like ube and cassava. There was also green salad with ranch and thousand island dressings.

The people who came weren’t as many as before though. And… my cousins made fun of me…well kind of, by letting me drink Smirnoff. I don’t really drink but I got to like this beer since it is flavored. And believe it or not, I had 4 bottles for the night. I had the apple and cranberry-flavored. The bad thing is I had map-like marks (reddish) in my body. I don’t have history of any allergy…not even from food. So I really suspected there was an ingredient of that beer that’s not for me.

I went to pick up Tita Inday and KC at the Journal Square Station. Benny who was with me served as my navigator since I’m not familiar with the area. I haven’t driven in a long time. I’m just very happy and excited when I got to drive again. It wasn’t bad at all though I must say the steering wheel was kind of shaky at times. Well maybe because I’m not yet used to driving. I was glad that Tita Inday came. At least I had company for the night. We talked until the wee hours of the morning and decided to go to sleep at around 5am. I woke up at 11am, had lunch and Tito Freddie took us to Manhattan by 3pm.

As soon as I got home, I just fixed my clothes and went to the Laundromat. I made some phone calls last night and finally went to sleep at 10:45pm. Now, I’m back to work.

death

mood:

A lot of us are afraid of death, aren't we? But whether we like it or not, it's a stage of life that everyone has to face. Some may be sudden due to an accident or sickness and some will be normal because of old age. I've come accross this topic on another blog and found the websites supporting this... Death Clock and Bella Online.

Death Clock:
Your personal day of death is... Tuesday, September 16, 2053
Seconds left to live... 1,521,969,230 as of 2:58pm

Bella Online:
YOUR LIFECLOCK RESULTS

You are born on: 05-07-1974


Given your current habits, you are likely to die on: 2/7/2062

That is in:
57 Years
680 Months
20683 Days
496378 Hours
29782630 Minutes
1786957741 Seconds

You will be 88 Years Old.

The thing is I got different results on each. Now which one is correct?! Hmmm...

Father's Day

mood:

As usual, I’m making my post a belated one. I called him on Saturday anyway. I didn’t stay that long on the phone though. I spoke with Mama for like an hour already before I got hold of my Papa. Anyway, Happy Father's to my Papa!

Over here, we went to a Malaysian Restaurant named Satay to celebrate Father’s Day for Kuya Nel (my landlady’s son). That was our 2nd time to dine in there. They have good food I should say. And the price is very reasonable too. I love the Roti Canai. The spicy curry chicken dipping sauce is really good. Hmmm… yummy! Their chicken and beef satay with the peanut dipping sauce also taste great.

That's about it!

summary of past events

mood:

It’s been a long time since I last posted. There have been a lot of things that had happened in the past days but I was just too busy at work making me tired when I get home.

It was my first time to visit the Philippine Consulate of NY on June 3rd. I have nothing much to say. Well it’s still the same system that we have back home…manual. I had to go back the following business day just to pick up the docs that I had them processed.

My Uncle Dennis came for a visit on June 2nd. But I went to see him in NJ at their friend’s apartment on Saturday. He’s now based in Singapore. He teaches ballroom dancing and he attended the Salsa Congress in LA so he decided to go east. We basically just stayed there the whole day, cooked some food, catching up for the years we have not seen each other. You can see the picture here.

There was a sudden change of the weather this past week. It’s freaking hot! You feel tired…you feel sticky…you have headache... name it! The only good side of it… you’re wearing light clothes. I’ve had enough of sweaters and jackets. And… we’re still getting too much rain.

Yesterday, I had a general cleaning of my room. I washed all my sheets, vacuumed, dusting, threw out stuffs that I don’t need/use, and basically organized my things. I did my laundry already late about past 4pm. Today, I feel so lazy. I woke up almost 11am so I missed the 10:30am mass. I had brunch and literally just stayed in my room until 4:30pm. I went out to do some grocery shopping. Exciting huh! Oh and before I forget… it was my landlady’s granddaughter’s birthday today. We had good food…grilled pork belly, shrimps, ‘pansit’ (noodles), ‘lumpia shanghai’ (meat rolls), baked salmon, green salad, and the yummiest of all…ice cream cake. Hmmm…

I better go to bed now! It’s getting late and I have work tomorrow.

Note: I did this originally last night but I had to delete it and post it again. It changed the look of my blog when I published it.

shopping at tanger

mood:

May 29th – Shopping at Tanger / Adoy’s birthday on May 30th and also Malu’s

Memorial Day is a national holiday in the US. This is being observed every last Monday of May. I would say it’s one of the big holidays wherein you could also get good buys from the stores.

Tanger is an hour drive from home. It’s kind of worth it since there were really a lot of items on sale. I got some good deals. At least I have already started buying stuff for my siblings in preparation for my trip to the Philippines on September.



Happy Birthday, Adoy!

It was around noon when I sent a text message to my brother. His birthday is May 30th but since they are 13 hours in advance, I greeted him in time that they changed date. I didn’t get a reply from him though. Hmmm…

Happy Birthday, Malu!

I called and greeted Malu at 10pm. I also learned that they went to Seattle to take advantage of the holiday sale too. She said she had fun and she got stuff for their new house. We didn’t talk much as she will still go to church.

Roy's visit

mood:

May 28th – NYC Tour with Roy

Roy used to be an officemate in the Philippines. I haven’t since him in more than 5 years I guess. He went to Canada when he left the company and not long enough, he moved to California. He came to the US on November 2001 which was just 5 months before I got here. Anyway, he called me around 2 weeks ago to let me know he’s coming to NY for a family reunion. We agreed to meet and I made a promise to take him for a tour in the city.

I met him in Grand Central Terminal at around past 8AM. We took the No. 4 train to go to Battery Park. This is where we took the South Ferry to go to the Statue of Liberty. There were so many people in line wanting to see Liberty. While we were at the Ferry, Roy was busy talking to 2 Japanese ladies. I, on the other hand, was busy taking pictures of the view. We didn’t get the chance to go inside though. We didn’t know there are 2 kinds of tickets. The ticket which will allow you to go in will have to be purchased at least a day before the visit. We enjoyed the view anyway. It was also a good thing Roy brought a tripod for the camera. At least we didn’t really have to bother someone else to take a picture of us.




Then, we went to Chinatown. We took the same train going there. This is the place for cheap stuffs and oh well…imitations. It felt like I was in Divisoria. Too many vendors on the sidewalks…too crowded…people were loud…so many bargains. We headed next to Little Italy which is just 2 blocks away. There you can see a lot of people eating outside the restaurants enjoying the nice weather. We had lunch at Benito One. Roy was craving for the traditional spaghetti with meatballs. It was good though. I made the wrong choice though. I was looking for the Seafood Linquini in their menu but I couldn’t find it. I ordered something with seafood then not realizing it doesn’t come with pasta. It tasted good in fairness. We had Starbucks coffee before we headed to Times Square. Roy accompanied me to scout for fabric swatches. We had a hard time locating those stores considering I didn’t find the exact fabric shade that I was looking for.

Our day together ended at 4:30pm. It was nice to have been with a former colleague…that I haven’t seen in a long time. He’s scheduled to go back to CA on Sunday.

the house where i grew up...

mood:

I was on the phone last night talking to my grandmother. I really feel bad for her. She’s currently living with my father’s youngest brother, his wife and kids. My uncle’s family made a big decision however to move out of town which is 3-4 hours away from where they’re at right now. I haven’t actually talked to my uncle but whatever reasons they have, let’s just leave it as it’s what they think is best for the family. They will now leave the rented apartment for good. With this, my grandma has no choice but to move to Manila. She can’t definitely stay alone in our house in another town 45 minutes away from the apartment. They have lived in that apartment for a very long time now. They’ve been there even before I was born. My grandma was expressing her sadness to leave that house full of memories especially that of my grandpa who passed away in 1997. I can feel her pain. And like her, I was also saddened with the news. I was really surprised. I’m just worried that she’ll be stuck at home in Manila since she’s not familiar with the place. She couldn’t go anywhere else. In the province, she goes to the cemetery to visit my grandpa at least every week. She can go to the church alone. She can do grocery shopping alone too. More importantly, she knows the people around her…the neighbors. Now none of these will be possible for her anymore. Our province is 3-4 hours away from Manila. She could only get there if someone will actually take her. I just told her to try to keep herself busy. Do some chores if she can so she won’t get bored. Maybe go out at times and walk around the block. I made a promise that I’ll just call her often. If I’m only staying there right now, I’ll definitely ask her to live with me. It’ll be my pleasure to take care of her just like how she took care of me when I was little.

Also, I mentioned this to my childhood friend Aileen and she herself was surprised. She even asked if we had considered getting someone who can accompany my grandma in the apartment. That’s possible but I don’t think they will even entertain that idea. I was in that house from four months old till the age of 12. And even I moved to Manila after graduating elementary, I still go there for a visit at least twice a year until I left for the States.

Again, this is one change in our lives that we have to accept.

be happy, Malu!

mood:

I’ve posted something for Malu when she had her operation earlier this month. She’s now in Canada for good unless she’ll have a really bad homesickness. Her husband is still in the Philippines and no certainty yet when he will come to join her. I phoned her last Saturday at past 12am. Malu hasn’t changed. She’s still the soft spoken person that I’ve always known. I can recall when I used to work with her how good a mentor she has always been. And for the many years that I have not had the chance to talk to her, she’s still that person who’s full of advises and encouraging words. I had fun especially when we were talking about the memories of the past and the people we both know. We didn’t talk that much as her husband was on the other line. It was only about 45 minutes I guess. Well, not long enough. I’ll call her again anyway.

Malu sent me this email through the bpocp yahoogroup:

Thanks for your call Faye. You just don't know how
much it meant to me. Being so far away from family and
friends is indeed lonely and we do need a good support
group to keep our sanity.

Thanks for sharing your wedding plans. All the very
best to you and Irvin as you embark on this marital
journey. Just remember to always put the Lord as the
ONLY 3rd party in your marriage. He should be the
Center of your lives.

Tita Malu

how am i feeling today?

mood:

In simple terms...

- Cranky
- Anxious
- Despondent
- Droopy
- Bored

AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaHhHhHhHhHhHhHhHhHh!!!!!!!!!!!!

what's new?

mood:

Nothing special happened on the weekend. I just met a friend on Saturday and practically just stayed home on Sunday.

It’s been busy these days at work especially that an officemate was off yesterday and today. I have been doing some of his job. It was hard at first and I had to check the previous ones he made just to make sure what I'm doing is correct. Then, it was alright.

Also, I have started the exercise program again. It’s only been 2 days though. I just hope I could stay or should I say I could finish the program. I want to have significant results. I’m going home for a visit in a few months.

Happy Birthday Marivel & Rhiza!

mood:

It’s my college friend Rhiza’s birthday! I haven’t talked to her in a long time now. But I’m sure she’s happy with her family. The last time I heard about her was when she gave birth to her second child.

Happy Birthday, Rhiz! All the best!

Also, it was Marivel’s birthday last May 7th. I didn’t forget to greet her but I did forget to post in my blog. Anyway, I know she had a happy one.

Belated Happy Birthday, Vel! Wishing you more healthy years to come!

confusion

mood:

What will you do if you know someone needs help and you can’t do anything? Doesn’t it break your heart? Aren’t you confused? What if you feel that the person whom you know you can count on can’t really understand you? Do you have any idea how you will react if you’re caught in between? What if someone who already expressed his intent to help you has suddenly changed his mind? Do you even know who to turn to?

These are the many questions running through my mind right now. I need answers but I don’t know where to find them. I don’t know…

change?!

mood:

I feel so restless considering that I didn’t do much over the weekend. I just did my laundry on Saturday and went to church on Sunday! Sometimes I’m thinking maybe I need a diversion. It’s always the same routine everyday and I’m getting sick and tired of it. And I have cancelled the only outlet that I have…my gym membership. Now what?! I told myself I have to discipline myself by exercising at home. But am I doing it? No! I also promised myself to eat less so I won’t gain weight. Am I doing it? No! Oh my!

prayers for Malu

mood:

Malu used to be the HR Manager of Castrol a few years back. She’s a great person…very friendly…professional…God-fearing. It’s been a week since she had her 3rd surgery for Myomectomy. She is now recovering. I hope she will be healed permanently.

Get well soon, Malu! I’ll keep you in my prayers. God be with you!

nothing much

mood:

I know summer doesn’t begin till June 21st but it’s just that this cold weather has been here too much already. Well it’s not as freezing as winter but you still need a light jacket. Last week was nice that I managed to wear open toe shoes.

I’ve been busy with work lately. I’m always tired but couldn’t sleep well at night.

I called the travel agent referred by Tita Laling yesterday. She said she doesn’t have pricing yet for September. I’m just happy to know that a roundtrip ticket costs $850 at an average. I was also told that she will call me should they have promos or really good prices.

oh my...laundry!

mood:

It didn’t become a habit for me to check the dryer before putting in my clothes. I’ve been doing that for 3 years now and nothing had happened until this Saturday. There was a red crayon inside the dryer that I didn’t even know. I took out my clothes after 30 minutes and to my surprise, there were red spots all over my pants and my nice Gap beige jacket. Aargh! I didn’t know what else to do. The only good thing is I always dry the wrong side of the clothes. The lady who owns the Laundromat suggested that I wash it again in hot water which I did. Most of it came off but there are stains already in my jacket. I think it's still usable though. Also, there’s this one grey slacks that I can no longer use. It looks like it was bleached. Moral lesson… always check the machine before using it.

life in this world

mood:

Why unexpected things happen? Life seems so unfair sometimes. It’s hard to understand the way other people think. Why can he do it but why can’t I? They say change is the only thing that’s permanent. Don’t you find it hard accepting the things that you weren’t used to? What if you believe that these changes are not for any good? The more it’s harder, right? If you come from a conservative family and things are just happening not in accordance to what you think is right, will you find it easy to cope? Why can your family be nice to other people not related to them but can’t be nice to you sometimes? Doesn’t that hurt? Reasons… there are so many reasons for things that are hard to explain. That is the so called life.

T.G.I.F.

mood:

I am just so exhausted. I can’t wait till I go home. This is also how I felt yesterday. I did the bank reconciliation for a little more than 3 hours (so many transactions occurred during the month) and yet it’s not balanced! Oh my! I had to redo the whole thing today and guess what? The deposits I overlooked were from 3/28. I could have just done it backwards had I known the discrepancies are there. I finished it anyway. Now, I’m just so ready to go home and take a rest. Thank God It’s Friday!

Happy Birthday, Mickey!

mood:

Despite our age gap (10 years), I have always been close to my brother. Mickey is sweet but can sometimes be naughty. I remember how he always kisses me on the forehead. He just graduated from San Beda last month. You couldn’t just imagine how worried already he is at this time. He’s so apprehensive of not having a job up to now. Duh! I already told him it’s only been a month since his graduation. On the other hand, I’m glad he has that kind of attitude. At least I know he won’t just sit there and do nothing. I’m sure he will become a responsible and matured man.

Happy Birthday, Brother!

chitchat with Ai-Ai

mood:

I was on the phone with Aileen (whom I used to call by her nickname Ai-Ai) last night for almost 2 hours. It’s been a while since I last spoke to her. Oh let me stand corrected! I spoke with her on April 2nd but that was very brief. It was so nice to have talked to her. There were a lot of things that we wanted to catch up on which made us forget some at times. We reminisced our childhood years. It’s funny how she thinks San Roque has gotten really small. She was saying how biking used to be so much fun unlike now, it seems like walking from San Roque to the church will only take 5 minutes. She has always remained a sweet friend. You can really feel the closeness when you talk to her…how comfortable she is with you…how open she is with anything.

She might go to the Philippines for a vacation this May or June. Well, those are the times that she’s really off from school. Too bad she couldn’t even attend the wedding!

And... I was very ecstatic upon learning that she now has a bf (Oops! Forgive me, Aileen if I have to announce it here.). I think she is really happy now and I just hope it'll stay that way.

Good luck on your final exams, Ai! Mwah!