9th January

9th January 2006 I met up w/ my trio in NUS. This was the 1st day of the 2nd semester. There, my good friend gave each of another friend and I a copy of "The Purpose-Driven Life".

"Pareho kayong nakadark ah. Pinag-usapan nyo ba yan?"

He said we are on the same boat. The other friend on the other hand was miserable, coming back from the holidays spent home in Manila.

9th January 2007 First day of Lola Gonda's wake.

9th January 2008 My proposed departure back to Singapore. I asked today from the Cebu Pacific office, booked na daw Jan 11/12 pohon so I cannot reschedule my flight anymore. Sila Susan and Carlo will be on the Jan 11th flight while Niña will be on the Jan 12th one.

I pray that my plans are in line with God's will. Amen.

I met Ms Faith Villacampa on that flight. She comes to Singapore every now and then to meet w/ clients. She said nainterested sad daw sya eskwela NUS w/my talk.

Most imptly, gichika pa ko sa Immigration Officer. The airline man gud gave us a copy of the Embarkation/Disembarkation Card. There were alrdy so many ones before me who filled up but we actually don't need it since we have a separate laminated card that the immig offcr would just put into the reader. Before we landed I was concerned that my student's pass would not be valid but ok pa man diay.

When I came home in June 2006, gichika sad ko sa General Manager sa Changi. I was watching reruns of the World Cup then when he joined me. Wow, this country is really something! And to think for my Singapore Economy module I did a paper on Changi Airport and Singapore Airlines! Big surprises come in small packages indeed. I'm eternally amused. :-)

Singlish

The Singaporeans have their own way of speaking English. It's kind of cute but totally nakakaloka! To answer a can/cannot question, they simply say "CAN!" if it's possible and "CANNOT" if it's not. I miss that! For example, you ask, "Can I pay w/ my card?" In response, they'd say "Can" or "Cannot" :-)

They also tend to add le (pronounced lah or le from the Mandarin character w/c means alrdy, as in Wo yau zou le) at the end of their English sentences. Like they say, "I don't like it lah" etc. They also follow the Chinese (Mandarin) way of sentence construction, like they say: Can, cannot bottle can? As in Mandarin ke yi, bu ke yi... or yau, bu yau... And best of all, can also can, cannot also can. Haha, what do those things mean?

Deepti

Today I received the card that Deepti sent for my bday. I am really happy to keep in touch w/ my former flatmates! Deepti is not anymore in NUS, she left in December 06. La sad siya kasabot sa iyang supervisor nga super demanding. In the card she said, "I need a treat when we meet". Sure, let's just pray for that to happen real soon.

Preeti on the other hand is not enjoying Sing and is just itching to leave as soon as possible. Poor Preeti. She's quite bratty. Sumantra once asked me, "Who told you to move in w/ Preeti?" But she's doing her PhD under a truly amazing supervisor. I hope to see her when I come back pohon.

Love...

Love is a gift, and I never really learned that. I'm so used to going after things, particularly excellence in school, I never realized that love is not something that you chase after, it's something that's given to you. You don't have to work for it, you don't earn it, it is freely given. And of course, life is not all about school and vice versa. Did I have to become thirty to realize these things? O life! 6/22/22 Mam Shirley Sisante, my former coordinator at Western International School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia once told me that love should not be an obligation but an outpouring. Kaya bang punuin ng isang balde gud ang lahat ng tubig sa dagat? I do miss you Mam She. All the best in the US always and aloha!

In the Belly of the Whale

This would have to be the loooooooooonggggggggest two months of my life! Para akong nasa tiyan ng balyena. Cf the story of Jonah, di sya pumunta sa Nineveh where God wanted him to go, he went somewhere else, so kinain sya ng balyena! Niluwa sya papunta dun sa Nineveh na mismo, when he realized what God wanted him to do and where He wanted him to go. This book, Everything Belongs, by Fr Richard Rohr says that these days we don't have to literally be in the belly of the whale but the times when we have to reflect, meditate, contemplate are like times spent in the belly of the whale. Haha, there's hope for me yet. I keep the faith!

Birthday!

Tomorrow, 22 Nov will be my 32nd birthday. I don't know how I'm going to celebrate that day, I am just looking forward to it! One year wiser, as they say...

Earlier today, I received advanced birthday wishes from Corrinne, one of our former alumnas who's now living it up in Tibet! It was very sweet of her to greet me in advance since she said she'll be on the road in the next few days and she didn't want to miss it! Enjoy Tibet and China as much as you can, girl!!!

The Dutch have a very interesting way to greet you on your birthday. 'Cause the wishes are not just for the celebrant (jarig/-e) but it extends to the family members as well. They say "Gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag!" (Congratulations on your birthday). I suddenly miss my very good Dutch friends. Hoe gaat het met jullie? Hehe..tot ziens! Soon it will be time for Sinterklaas, their version of Christmas. But they still do celebrate Christmas: in fact two days, on the 25th and the 26th of December. I miss the snow... :-)

Love...

Love is energy and is the greatest power, [the most powerful force] in the universe...

"When you love, do not say that 'God is in my heart' but rather 'I am in the heart of God'. And think not that you can direct the course of love; because love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course" --Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

Someone once sang "Somewhere Down the Road" and "You" to me...

But to someone, I'd sing "Only One"

And to the love of my life, I'd gladly sing to you, "Ikaw" and "Ngayon at Kailanman"

Q: Ano yung expat?
A: Expatriate.
Q: Ano yung expatriate?
A: Hmph! [ex-outside, patria-home country] so someone who is outside his home country!

"They say if you love someone, then set them free,
If they come back again, then in the end, it was meant to be"

Love will lead you back indeed!

Hobbies

I have this friend who likes photography and mountain climbing. Di ko yata masakyan! My other friend likes to run, on the other hand. He's gone to places just to run marathons. He also likes to go around w/ his motorbike. Once he had an accident w/ it, he broke some ribs, I think. The he sent me a Christmas greeting for 2005 featuring his motorbike by the roadside in winter. I think that was for the Sweden/Norway trip. Hahay, people and their hobbies! :-)

Once this friend in NUS was asked if he plays basketball. He said "I watch." Hahay, makabuang. Kalooy! I love guys who play basketball of course. I'm into sports: event watching, not necessarily playing those sports. Like basketball, tennis, badminton, billiards, you name it.

Accidents

I am quite accident-prone. Kadaghan na jud tawn ko naaksidente. Here in Cebu, nagisi ako kilay (right) on 4 Nov 2004 then in Sing, naigo pud ako left shin sa kanal didto sa Bedok on 9 Dec 05. When I was in elementary, kadaghan na pud ko naaksidente. Hahay, ingat lang jud!

My Health Challenge

I discovered that I had goiter when I was in the Netherlands. Si Madon who is a nurse pointed me to it. I think nitunga to siya tungod atong akong schedule lagi nga 130 to 23o pm sa AS building then 230 to 330 pm sa Science Building then 330 to 430 pm sa AS Building n pud. I would eventually request to transfer my 330 to 430 pm class sa Science Building n lng pud but I guess the damage has already been done. I even had a gorry thought of spending Christmas (in 2000) at a hospital in the Netherlands 'cause I was asked by our doctor, Dr Dikker to have an ultrasound of my thyroid. I went and I saw how good the Dutch medical system was. I had it done at the Westeinde Ziekenhuis (Westend Hospital). When the results were in, I went to him again and he said there's nothing to worry about it. So of course, naglamierda ako sa Europa! Then I came home to Philippines and went back teaching at USC. And this was when I encountered real problems with my thyroid. Di na man ko katingog! I was scheduled for surgery on February 24, 2003 but Mam Inday Yap, Nang Anel's former teacher in ChE introduced me to intra. So la na ko nadayon paopera. But I also made HUUUUGGGEEE mistakes out of this intra thing, the details of which are so embarrassing to even reveal here. Suffice it to say that I committed a CONSTELLATION of mistakes because of it! I guess life is like that, we all have challenges to face. Healthwise, this goiter and cancer runs in my father's side of the family. My mother's side sad kay high blood. Ingon lagi ako Nursing students sa Health Econ before, "Di ka mahadlok, Miss?" Well, Ginoo maoy nakahibaw sa tanan di ba? That's why He's giving us all these challenges so that we'd keep on holding on to Him. Sya guy nakahibaw sa tanan. Amen. All praise be to You, Lord! Please keep us healthy always.

Amassed

I have amassed so many students alrdy out of teaching for ten years here in USC. Kwenta2 nako mga 1,000 gud per semester ako tudluan so 10,000 na tanan in 10 yrs! Hasta gud ako student this sem lang sa Econ 1N, si Miss Alyssa Kaye Cabigas nakit-an na nako nilansar as SK Councilor sa Tabok. Then taga Tabok sad si Jun Alfon Tan, si Baguio Juanito IV, I forgot the name of the girl na, basta Lucero to iya family name; si Mary Ann Prosia nga taga-Palm Heights sad then three of my students last sem taga-Palmas Verdes pud. Grabe, halos asa ko moadto naa ko student! I feel that it is really time to move on. Please bless my plan, Lord. Amen.

HOME

There is a place that each one of us calls home. And in my case that is Tubigon, Bohol. Here I'm inserting a pic from our beloved port, and also where it is on the map, just for orientation.

I grew up in Cawayanan, my mother's hometown in Tubigon, about 11 kilometres from the town centre. We lived there till I went to high school. I had precious memories there, growing up. Then my parents decided to build a house in Tinangnan, my father's hometown and that's where we've been for almost 20 yrs now. Twenty years and I don't even feel it. Perhaps because I only stayed there for high school and during semestral breaks when I was in college. Then I worked in Cebu, at USC after graduation and I really just go home during semestral breaks and/or special occasions. It is home but it is biniyaan kanunay. Even our neighbours, we hardly know by heart but we know that almost all of them are relatives of my father.

I once told a friend in NUS that I live in a small town. But actually Tubigon is not a small town, I just feel that it is so. Because I do feel that whatever actions I do are monitored or magnified somehow. Kaila2 ra man gud mi tanan didto. Any tsismis and it sure will circulate around. Once our salutatorian in high school was said to have been pressured to graduate w/ honours b/c Hazel and I alrdy graduated w/ honours. It's all part of hometown life, if ever there's such a thing! :-)

NUS-Singapore

Does my NUS stay deserve a spot in this blog? Okay, albeit grudgingly. Here, immediately to the left, you'll see a pic of my former flatmates, Preeti and Deepti from India. This was taken by our friend Deepak at the NUS Comp Ctr bus stop on 28 August 2005. Only the other half of my face was taken. Hehe.. We went to Suntec after this where we bought tables and chairs for our individual rooms.

The picture on top is taken at Komala's during Preeti's birthday. With my Indian circle of friends! In NUS I had a Filipino and an Indian circle. I remember being the only Filipino when we went to meet Deepak's parents in Bedok on 9 December '05. I even sang "Give Love on Christmas Day" that evening as token of appreciation to Deepak's mom who painstakingly cooked that delicious dinner for us. Deepak's dad on the other hand is so cool. He was drumming when Preeti sang "Vooh Lamhe"