I'm In Culture Shock

Expensive Kalamungay

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:01:00 +0000

I went to the Asian Store last week and found Kalamunggay. It's my favorite but the price for a few pieces of it is $5. In Manila it would cost 5 pesos which is maybe 10 or 5 cents here. I can get it for free at my parent's or brother's house. Here the kalamunggay is so precious. If only I could plant it I would. Yes, I posted it because the price shocked me.

Watery Wednesday

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:55:00 +0000

My watery Wednesday post. It's from Mt. Pisgah here in Eugene. I went hiking with an old lady who is really super nice. :) She's awesome!

Hiking

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:58:00 +0000

I went hiking with friends last Wednesday to this place called Spencer's Butte. It was beautiful and the hike wasn't that tiring. It amazes me how people who pass by us would say hi. It's nice! Also, I wasn't prepared so I didn't bring any food and my friend shared her food to me. It was an apple, nuts, energy bar, and cheese. It was so good because I was hungry. The cheese was really good and I never like that kind of cheese. My husband always tell me now that my taste have changed. I don't think so. :)

In the Philippines, if we go hiking we would bring tons of food. Here they just bring small amount of food. I think it's better but I still love bringing tons of food.

Doctor Shock

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:07:00 +0000

I went to the doctor here last week because I had a terrible flu. The flu shot I got a couple of months ago didn't help. Many people in church were sick too. My chest was really heavy. It was hard to breathe and I cough a lot at night. It was hard for Steven who had to work, take care of me, cook, and couldn't sleep at night. He did a wonderful job taking care of me. If I try to do some chores, it would make me dizzy and tired easily.

Anyway, the doctor trip. I waited so long just to talk to him for 1-2 minutes. I freaked out when I saw blood on my phlegm but he said it's just a virus and no antibiotics can cure it. I was relieved to know that I'm fine but that was expensive. We don't know how much it cost yet but Steven says we may need to pay $200+ just to see the doctor. The medicine he recommended didn't help at first. Steven's mom called them and asked for a cough medicine. I didn't know that vicodine tablets also works as a cough medicine not just for pain. I took 2 tabs with robitussin cough syrup. It finally worked.

A dear friend, Nettie also helped me a lot! I know my title is too much but I like it! LOL!

Stylish Clothes

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Since I didn't get to bring a lot of my clothes when I moved here in the US, I had to go buy clothes in different stores here in Eugene and online. The uk clothes shop is one of those that I really like to just browse. I love their jackets and if it is not that expensive. Spring time is still cold so it's a good time to buy this type of jackets.

Also found in their site is the Fly53 Clothing and Jack and Jones clothing for men. Shopping for my husband clothes is also fun for me. You'll find in these sites very stylish clothes for me. They're on sale right now so it's good especially at this time where people are trying to save their money.

I'm glad I found this site. It's really convenient and not that expensive. I love it!

I Was Wrong

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:49:00 +0000

I stand corrected with my last post about culture of women here. I finally got to get to know these ladies more and they are just awesome. It does take time to know people. God is so good! He always answer prayers. I met two Filipinas last week, Hazel and Maria and they're just awesome!

I told Hazel about Filipinas have their own group and she said you and I can form a group. We laugh about it and we plan to get together this Friday and have Filipino food. She misses our food so it would be nice to have her over.

I am getting comfortable being here now that I have friends. I was impatient and a little selfish for just thinking for myself. All I can say is that, thank you, God for bringing friends into my life.

Different Culture of Women

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:37:00 +0000

I finally got to observe the group of people Steven and I got to hang out with. One of the ladies who is an American but married to a Filipino told me what her female relatives are like. She said that the Filipina women like to gather together and talk a lot. She felt like she was an outsider because even her husband's female siblings would just talk on their own. It reminds me so much about doing research and studying culture. This is really a good to start doing ethnographic research.

For me, American women guard themselves. It's like they have shields that you can't go in unless they will let you. With my experience in being with asian women and also as an asian, we tend to be more open. I know there were a few asians who weren't but mostly we are like long-time friends. Filipinas are like that most especially. We just talk and laugh a lot. It's just different and yes, I'm in culture shock. I have been praying for God to change my heart. It takes time... I must wait patiently and someday, I will have good friends. However, there are also Filipinas here that don't want to make friends. Some just ignore you but I think when Filipinos meet in one place, the atmosphere will change. Just prepare food and karaoke and it will be fun!

Another thing also I forgot to write is that this American lady said when you offer something to a Filipino like food or drink, at first they will say no and then you just have to insist again. A Filipina told her that when a Filipina says no, it means yes, she wants to have it.

iHeart Faces - Silly

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:23:00 +0000

Here is Alex being silly. He was eating watermelon. I am joining this week's iHeartFaces photo contest.

Contemporary Portrait

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:06:00 +0000

Winner of Anti Aging Ebook

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:47:00 +0000

The winner of Leon's Anti Aging Ebook is Live42day. I have sent the ebook to the winner! Thank you to those who also joined.

Top Entrecard Droppers for Culture Shock

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 19:11:00 +0000

I would like to thank my Top Entrecard Droppers for this month:

C'est La Vie 17
sudhersana 15
Harvesting Dollars 12
The Matthias Chronicles 11
The Main Ingredient 11
Mariuca's Perfume Gallery 11
Tech Spotlight 11
BuildingBiggerBarns 10
60 Were Enough 10
Search Engine Panel 10

Thank you! Hope you'll keep dropping your cards next month.

Contemporary Portrait - Love's Haven

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:09:00 +0000

Sorry for the late post. Here's a photo of Phebie's daughter from Love's Haven. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

iHeartFaces - Joy

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:08:00 +0000

This is my first time to join iHeartFaces. This is a photo of my niece, Thea Cameron. She looked really joyful in this photo so I thought I would post it for this week's contest.

Victoria's Secret Giveaway

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:02:00 +0000

A Family Completed is giving away a $50 Victoria's Secret gift card! Who doesn't want Victoria's Secret?! :) I love Victoria's Secret products that's why I'm blogging about it. If you want to check this giveaway out, just click on this link. She has more great giveaways too.

$200 Cash Giveaway

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:40:00 +0000

Choyster Cash is giving away $200 in cash or check. That's a lot of money, folks! If you're interested in joining, just visit Choyster Cash. It's such a great blog for those who want to save money by getting good deals on products in different stores.

Bloggy Giveaways - Anti Aging Ebook

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:24:00 +0000

I am joining the Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival!

I am going to be giving away an Anti-Aging Ebook which was given to me as a gift by the author herself, Leon from Beauty Secrets Revealed. This cost $30 if you buy it. She has a lot of tips and recipes on how to take care of your skin.

To join:

Please visit her website and let me know by commenting what you like about it.

For extra entries:

Post it on your blog.

Update to Twitter and leave me a link to check.

follow this blog.

There will be one winner. Contest will end on February 1, 2009 @ 11:59 PM (PST).

I will announce the winner on the February 2nd. Please be sure I have a way of emailing you to send the ebook to you.

Kitchen Wares

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:29:00 +0000

I love cooking and baking and so it is very important that my kitchen is equipped with what I need. When I finally got reunited with my husband, he didn't have a lot of utensils in the kitchen. I do not know much about shopping here in his place then so I went to and search about kitchen and dining utensils online. It wasn't that hard because it is just for me and my husband.

Breakfast meal is really important for my husband so I made sure we have a good toaster for bread. I found some affordable toasters online too. We also needed more flatware like spoon and fork. We want to be able to invite people some time too. I do not want to buy at the last minute and they are in good deal.

From where I came from, we can never shop online. I'm glad I get to do that here. It is one of those nice things about living here.

Camera Critters - Squirrel

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:19:00 +0000

I was walking yesterday and saw this really cute squirrel. I quickly grabbed my camera and got a good shot of it. I didn't know it was staring back at me. Love animal shots, check Camera Critters.

Contemporary Portrait - Maria's Space

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 01:16:00 +0000

This week's featured portrait is from Maria's Space. I love how she captured this photo. Have a nice weekend everyone.

Poor In Eugene & Philippines

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Last night when I was helping with the feeding ministry of homeless people in the church, I was surprised to see that some are dressed so well. They still came to eat. My husband told me that maybe they are not homeless but they just can't afford to buy food. I like it when some of the people say they just want enough bread because they can't finish all. They're not wasteful. The food is also really good. There were soup, bread, salad, all kinds of dessert, canned fruit, and juice or chocolate milk. I think our feeding in the Philippines won't be this good. Also in the Philippines, there are more poor people so it can get really expensive. Also we'll be using rice. It's nice to see the difference between here and the Philippines.

I never thought I would be able to do this in America. I have done it before in Malaysia but only one time. This time I got to help in the kitchen which is really cool.

Watery Wednesday -Songkhla Beach

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:06:00 +0000

This is an old photo of me and my friends swimming in Songkhla Beach in Thailand. It was just scanned so it's not a really good one.

You can check more Watery Wednesday pst in here.

Facebook Fan

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:40:00 +0000

Facebook is one of the networking sites that I love the most. Myspace and Friendster come in second. It's clean and I like the way it looks. I found a lot of my friends in high school in Facebook and I could talk to them whenever I see them online in Facebook too. I am really enjoy using it and would recommend it to people.

Contemporary Portrait - Unbiased Exposure

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 04:00:00 +0000

I just love facial shots of people and this is one of my favorite by Bintang who owns the blog called Unbiased Exposure. To join, just post your portrait shots on your blog and link to us.

Contemporary Portrait

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 04:00:00 +0000

This photo is from Will Yother at Father and Sons.

There has been a confusion here that's started by me. I made a mistake on linking my Contemporary post at The Holley Herald on Scenic Sunday which is also a photo meme for scenery. Contemporary Portrait is only for people's portrait. I'm sorry I have to delete those who have posted Scenic Sunday links here to prevent confusion. Your links are all in Scenic Sunday site. My mistake, sorry everyone!

Nutty Experience

aisha@theholleyherald.com (The Holleys) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:31:00 +0000

I was sitting at the bus station waiting for my bus to come when a lady came and was dancing to the music she's listening. She was holding a tape recorder with a headphone and was just dancing. I knew then that there's something wrong with her. I tried my best not to look at her and not to freak out but deep inside I kept praying to God to protect me and for my bus to come. Twenty minutes pass, the bus didn't come yet. Suddenly, she threw her tape recorder on the ground and it smashed. It made her happy. She picked the pieces up and happily threw it in the trash. I stood up because I got tired sitting. Finally, the bus came and we were on the same bus. She was talking to herself like she's talking to many people. It's sad seeing people like that. I wish there's something I can do. I feel sorry for her.