INSIDE OF ME

Oi Oi Whale Beach and Palm Beach

2012-05-29T13:48:00.000+08:00

Hello...miss me? I'm just soooo thrilled to write even with being busy from household chores(now that's an understatement?!) I mean how many dishes and foods had I cooked and cleaned up and how many loads of laundry had I completed...toys to fix, books to read, dirt to dust...waaaaaaaaah and I mean just waaaaaaaaaah.

Heheh and internet also sucks... we got the rebate for 3 months but the slowness is just unacceptable! We'll just wait and see till June if it will be fixed before we switched to another provider. So yeahhh too many pictures and stories to tell but the network just isn't cooperating so bear with me if I failed to post after weeks and weeks...

Just wanted to say again and again though that God has never failed to provide for our needs here in Australia and even gave us a lot of extras along the way. I even got my driver's license already when everyone thought I'd fail(it seems nobody we know here got the license at first try until me so I just feel even more blessed because God made the clouds clear when forecast predicted rain after Yonky and I prayed and prayed so I will not have to practice and retake all over again).

Whale Beach
www.whalebeach.com.au

For our first ever black Saturday in Australia...our cousin brought us to not one but TWO beaches... how cool is that?! And what more...it is near to us 1.5hrs drive ONLY... not even a trafficless Metro Manila to Batangas can beat that.

What I've noticed and envied in the beaches here is they are preserved. Not the preserved "virgin" beaches back home where virtually a preserved beach means it is almost near to impossible to reach or near some wild forrest and untamed surroundings. Here beaches are preserved because no one dared to make profit out of the pureness of the beach and it is just left as is but with the surroundings cleaned and landscaped for visitors' convenience. Whereas in the Philippines, hordes of people wanted to make profit out of the environment in whatever ways they could think of when they don't even own it, here surroundings are well-cared and people are disciplined to "clean as they go".

I'm pretty sure Philippine beaches are more beautiful... the entire country is in a tropical paradise(!) whereas majority of Australia is a desert except on the areas near the water. I just wish beaches there are as clean as the beaches here.

Much like in the US, shorelines here are for the people to enjoy and relax in. Tourists and locals could go and bring picnic foods since there are no sari-sari stores to buy whatever you like, no restaurants or cafe nearby...just plain surroundings, beaches, and shower areas.. and note NO ENTRANCE FEES! A park was also erected nearby targeting families with children. An additional amazing feature indicating their pro-kids culture is the pool at the side of the shore covered by big rocks and rock formations and situated to look as if it is really a part of the hills and environment.... and unlike in the resorts back home, this pool still has ocean water and not chlorinated but shallow enough for kids to be safe.

Palm Beach
www.palmbeach.com.au

After the children finished swimming, we went to our second destination(Palm Beach) and have a picnic.

By that time even if it is high noon, it was just too windy to dip in the icy water. We initially thought of visiting the lighthouse at the tip by walking but everybody just felt too cold after that it didn't push through. The view was breathtaking to say the least (I just love the beach). Same with Whale Beach... this one has stretch and stretch of sand, waves and clean surroundings. I can spend the entire summer here come December.... coz right now the weather is just getting colder each day for me to enjoy the breeze.

TO MY GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS.. OUR PROVIDER AND REDEEMER! THANK YOU for these precious moments!!!

Go Blue at Blue Mountains

2012-04-26T19:06:00.002+08:00

Blue Mountains

Sydney, Australia

www.bluemts.com.au

I'm staying away from Facebook for a week now so I thought why not just write again while I'm not so busy from corporate yet... :p

So we'd been lucky... I mean we're not suppose to travel/see/explore yet at this stage of our migration right?! First year should be all about adjustment, work, studies, integrating with the community and all that... but we're just too happy to tag along with our parents who were here for the Holy Week. Our cousin Kuya Bobby decided to show them Blue Mountains and I didn't even know that that's a tourist spot until he told me :$

According to ate Diane, the reason it is called "blue" mountains is that some trees(sorry I forgot the name) reflect blue color when hit by sunlight making the entire mountain appear blue from the distance. There are some trekking, cable cars, sight seeing, falls and other activities on this town but for us, my parents decided to just sightsee for now because my husband still has work in the evening. It took us around 1.5hrs to get to the place...then we sightsee, had some snacks and head back home even if Kuya Bobby wanted my parents to try the glass-bottom cable car .

Yonky gamely posed for me even when the sun rays blinded him at times and even if dada started getting cranky from carrying him (dada is super extra sensitive to sun due to his brown eyes...or probably due to lack of sleep from his night shift)

It is a good thing we didn't have that much time to explore... there are just a lot of things to do there now that I've browsed on their website and hence it only means one thing...more future visits to this place.... =)

Happy ANZAC day!

Yonky's New Life in Australia

2012-04-16T22:09:00.000+08:00

If moving is stressful for adults... I would think it is the same for children even if other people tell me that kids adjust and adapt faster in their new surroundings. Yonky's pedia Dra. Iris Tranchuling from St. Lukes mentioned that Yonky would even lose some weight because of the adjustment (which I feared considering that his weight hadn't increase for quite some time)...so I packed vitamins that would increase his appetite.

During the long haul to Australia, my Yonky had been a great great kid traveling. Even if I have so many bags carrying things that I anticipated he would need traveling from Manila to Sydney, I felt at ease having him with me because he loved to pull his Spiderman bag (I did tell him though that his toys are in there and he wouldn't have any if that bag was left behind hehehe) and didn't give me trouble for the entire almost 12-hr trip.

So I didn't anticipate that he would be... (how should I put this..) "touchy" during our first week crying over the littlest things and demanding attention all the time. I don't really know if it was because my parents were with us since they're spoiling him or maybe because he can sense the sadness in my parents who'll miss him so much. He has been awarded People Smart in his nursery class last moving up ceremony and as per teachers, that award means the student is attuned and empathic to the feelings of others (which I couldn't disagree...just the other day when my face pouted when he didn't do what I told him during bath time.. he immediately told me in an about-to-cry-face to "please be happy again mommy... I'll obey now).

The crash self-help skills I thought him for a month back in Philippines are starting to pay off now... He can already take a bath and brush on his own after my parents returned to the Philippines. I bought him a stepper at an asian store on my first trip here so he can reach the sink by himself... and he already loves the challenge in wearing his clothes without help =).

I didn't want not having toys to be one of his worries in adjusting and I don't want him to feel sad so early on I opted to bring most of his favorites toy cars, balls, books and art materials even if that would mean we'll have more bags to pack. It had been a wise decision because he doesn't feel bored at the house now and he can even play bubbles on our balcony. Also another thing that keeps him occupied is the park two-blocks away from our apartment.

Back in the Philippines, he can only play in a park and slides if dada would bring him to Makati when he would fetch me from work... we'll then do a picnic at Salcedo even if it was already past 7 or 8pm... or when we would pay at Gymboree or similar kid's play place at malls just so he can have a great time practising his motor skills.

But now we have this park for his pleasure and I mostly bring him there when he finishes his breakfast fast while dada is sleeping in the morning...

This park is very relaxing even for me. I read my Bible and go on facebook through my mobile while he plays and climbs and slides or kick some balls.

After my parents left, I could see Yonky adjusting more cooperatively to his new surroundings. He finally understood that Mommy and Daddy need his help by being an obedient and independent boy because it is just us three and that would help us to get things done efficiently. He is more than pleased when we bought him his very own bed and some toy storage. Even if he was at first scared sleeping separately from us, he got the sense that he has his own space now. He couldn't stop telling to us repeatedly that dada told him he was a good helper when he helped dada assemble his very own bed which we bought from IKEA =).

He can now navigate confidently in his room and I like it that it is carpeted so his feet wouldn't get cold running and playing barefoot. I taught him where his toys need to be stored into after he is done playing and exactly what type of toys goes to what storage location (I know I am an OC mom =p). It is really a blessing that he learned to pack up his toys at an early age thanks to an early training in Kindermusik so he easily pick up our lesson on organizing his stuffs.

Since we're only renting the place, we couldn't do much on the wall except put 3M hooks that I brought from the Philippines because if we decide to move out in the future, the apartment should be as spotless and has no change as when we moved in if we want to get all our AUD$1520 rental bond back.

Our Pogi's Aussie Room

He might not have all the luxuries he used to have but it gave me a sense of rightness that this experience would make him a better man someday... that he wouldn't take things for granted because he worked hard for it... that he wouldn't be a spoiled brat demanding things be given to him without putting in work and saving for the future.

Right now we're still busy canvassing and inspecting several preschools for him. So most part of the day it is just me and him hehehe. We used to fight a lot when my parents are still here because he has allies in the person of my parents and would seek comfort from them when I'm trying to discipline him but thank God it was only a phase and we're able to get to our rhythm now.

Most of the kid centres that are available close by are just long day cares but I wanted something more structural and has educational curriculum incorporated in the day-to-day activities so we're still looking for something better and convenient. I want him to go to The King's School when he starts his primary next year so it would entail a lot of savings and prayers for us to get a good education for him. I also already have a plan B via public school which also has a good rating and just close to us.

Please help us pray that we might continue to guide and provide for our son good life in this new country!

Royal Botanical Gardens

2012-04-12T06:58:00.002+08:00

Royal Botanical Gardens
Mrs. Macquaries Road, Sydney, NSW
www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au

There are still a lot of places to visit in the city... like Sydney Aquarium and the Taronga Zoo among others... but the nearest to the famous opera house is the Royal Botanical Gardens. It is just adjacent to the opera requiring only a little bit of walking.

The garden has a collection of indigenous and rare plants, herbs, trees, insects, etc. and the lawns are well kept. There's also a jogging area very much like in Philippine MOA's seaside but in here it is more scenic and preserved and the water is clean with no garbage smells. Most of the people are either trekking or just lounging on the green grass having a picnic, doing some exercises or plainly resting on the shades.

My parents however were too tired to walk so we tried the $10/ea Choo Choo Express ride.

There were several stops(if I'm not mistaken around four) offered to us where we can hop down the train, explore the garden on our own and hop up on the next available train but my parents passed except on the last stop where the driver mentioned that it is the most photograph view in Australia - the Harbour Bridge and Opera together=)

The train just made a one circle tour so we stopped at the same spot we started at the side of the opera. We walked some more before having our lunch.

We offered to book our parents to one show at the opera but they said they'll do it on their next visit instead (yey! they're coming back).

Now to give you a quick overview of what else can be seen had we decided to explore... here are some pictures from our previous trip to Royal Botanical Gardens (no choo choo train just plainly hiking...). I think you can guess why I love this tourist place so much because unlike in others... you can go here and unwind for free! (except if you want to try the Choo Choo Express train).

Royal Botanical Gardens is really and truly an oasis in the Sydney CBD.

Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge

2012-04-08T22:44:00.004+08:00

Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point, Sydney, NSW
www.sydneyoperahouse.com

We arrived in Sydney on a Saturday with my parents. My parents wanted to ride a ferry and go to the Opera House because you can't be in Sydney without seeing it right?! But since at that time we still didn't own a car, I'd let them try Sydney's public transportation =)... and off we go...

Luckily the next day was Sunday so we were able to maximize Family Funday Sunday's very affordable fares hohoho feels like Christmas! There are more scenic ferry rides as per some friends but Ryan and I opted to just use the old route we followed going to the opera via ferry last time we'd been there for convenience sake plus dada mastered the route of the free shuttle bus courtesy of Parramatta's local goverment so more or less the initial walk to the bus was the only long one (which was good considering that both my parents are about to cross the senior citizen mark=p ).

My mom surprisingly cooked breakfast so fast that we were able to leave precisely at 7:30am and I packed us some ham sandwiches that they liked thanks to some salad greens that dada bought from the market. Sydney's RiverCat left the port at 8:30am. We arrived about an hour later in Circular Quay in a sunny but cold morning breeze... a perfect day for a stroll.

I am already familiar on where the beautiful views are at during a parramatta to circular quay ferry ride so I gladly volunteered to take my parents' souvenir photos with my son. As I've always said, my parents are so picture addicts that they would exhaust all possible angles to get as much good pictures as they can on every place they visit.Thankfully, we got some beautiful ones...

The walk from the port to the opera (the rocks as they would call it here) was very relaxing... There are assortment of shops, restaurants, views and cafes. Yonky had fun with the birds and my parents had fun with the views. The Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge are as mesmerizing as ever even if it was already my third time to go there... there were still some more angles to shoot =).

We were also able to try eating at City Extra and my parents' were able to buy a few souvenir items on their first day out while doing our stroll! We'd probably took pictures at all the sides of the Opera House before my parents' decided to call it a day.

It's almost the end of the Lenten Season this year and therefore my parent's will also need to return to the Philippines... I am just so blessed to have parents who adore their grandson so much... enough to accompany us to Australia and spend a few days with us doing household chores(even if they're not used to it), visiting relatives, and exploring the city.

Thank you God for my parents and sister who made this trip possible. Please keep them safe as they return to the Philippines this coming week.

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

First Apartment in Sydney

2012-02-25T11:52:00.003+08:00

"to stop and wonder at the awesome beauty of creation....God I thank thee"

Some of the most notable things here in Sydney compared to the Philippines are:
a. right-hand driving (always keep left on the road)
b. they have "roundabout" concept in what we usually call rotonda
c. internet connection are charged by data limit not speed (personally I like Philippines' billing process as it allows us to connect to the internet 24/7 with just the same price unlike here :$)
d. most payments like apartment rentals and salary are on a per week basis (so mabilis ikot pera hehe)
e. furnitures are usually delivered unassembled (and you'll be the one to assemble it!)

Before I bid farewell to Sydney for a month... I'd like to share God's blessing to us by giving us a home. We were approved to rent our apartment about 2+ weeks before we flew to Sydney. It is a 20-min bus ride to Parramatta CBD which can probably be compared to Ortigas in the Philippines... Parramatta has big buildings and establishments but still not as "city" as Sydney CBD which can be Makati for us Filipinos.

Our apartment is on a 3rd floor of a road junction so it's pretty much near to commute to the city. It has two bedrooms with 1 full bath and it is modernly styled(which is my cup of tea). We have a balcony where we can save tons of dollars because I can hang our clothes there instead of using the dryer=). We also have one secure car parking and storage area on the basement of the complex.

On our first day of moving I only got to purchase two black high chairs so that's pretty much the only seats we have in the house. A few days later we got the dining set (yipee! for me because I'm starting to have backaches as my only other option previously was to lie on the floor).

A day after moving, we received the appliances thanks to my parents(just the major ones), relatives and church mates from Christian Filipino Fellowship.

We could pretty much live with just airbeds and no living area but we also have to prepare for Yonky and my parent's coming over with me end of March so we also had to purchase a little more furnitures like sofabed and beds which thankfully got delivered to us just Thursday this week and Dada was able to assemble everything before I left(right on queue! I'm so happy).

sofabed now ready for guests =)

BEWARE: looks can be deceiving(we still don't have a mattress as ortho mattresses here are expensive... that's just the airbed on top of the bedframe hehehe)... it was a first for me to shop for furnitures only to find out prior to paying that we have to get all the parts ourselves in a warehouse! And what more...we have to assemble everything ourselves... (so lesson learned, don't buy anything with a lot of shelves and screws!). Good thing Dada was here as we need muscles to accomplish the job.

We're now ready for relatives to visit!!! Yonky the house is ready for you my baby!

We still don't have TV and TV stand so in the meantime, the computer/study table is in the living room.

Some items in lower priority and wish list:
1. printer
2. TV
3. desktop PC (touchscreen)

Some items like bedsheets, plates, frying pan, utensils, etc. we brought to Aussie straight from the Philippines(and frankly it's really way 5 times cheaper and more beautiful) so we were charged with over baggage fees(buti konti lang:)).

The rest of the items especially the big ones seen here were bought from these stores:
Appliances from the good guys
Dining and chairs from harvey norman
Sofa, Bed frame and study table from ikea.

OFFERING BACK ALL THE BLESSINGS to GOD!

Welcome to Sydney!

2012-02-20T18:29:00.004+08:00

The first text we received upon touchdown to Sydney's airport via PAL's PR209 was "Welcome to Sydney" from our cousins here =).

My first impression was it is a lot like in the US....streets are almost empty of pedestrians and almost everybody are disciplined drivers. Streets and residential areas are neat and clean.

The Move

In our family (even at my previous job)... I was always "the planner". So I did my part well and outlined everything we need to do and accomplish before we move here in Australia and how to survive on our first few weeks. Even went as far as printing train route maps and studying directions to the necessary places like bus, train, market, school, clinic and of course church.

So far so good. My mom thought my husband and I were doing nothing here and acting like honeymooners(probably because of our pictures in fb) but on the contrary we were so busy on our first week. The only reason I felt relaxed now is because my husband just started his first job here in Aussie today... (night shift AUD$22/hr they said) and I thank God at least for now, I don't have to worry about how we're going to pay the rent =p.

I have to thank Zherwin who reminded me that he's waiting for this post hehe. Writing has always been my outlet and what better time to write than now when God has always confirmed and answered our prayers... one prayer at a time.

We got a checklist from immi.gov.au on the urgent items that we need to take care of as soon as we arrive. Three of the seven items, we haven't completed yet(Enroll to free English Classes, Enroll Child to School, and Get a Driver's License) and one, the Centrelink, is put on hold until Yonky is here. As per Centrelink, our son is the key to some of the support we can get from the government so we need to update our records after I get my son from the Philippines.

Here's the seven items:
1. Get a Tax File Number
2. Enroll Medicare
3. Open Bank Account
4. Register to Centrelink
5. Register for English Classes
6. Enrol Children to School (it is against the law here when children 6 years old and above are not sent by parents to school)
7. Get a Driver's License

Items look easy to do but because we're new here and we don't have a car yet, plus our apartment is almost empty, there's quite a challenge getting things done. Our first week had been toxic as seen by our schedule below...

(most taken from my fb album):
1st day at Sydney - apartment contract signing, appliances shopping
2nd day - apply TFN online. plastic/bathroom/kitchen wares shopping, church, city(Circular Quay)
3rd day - Centrelink, Medicare, Bank, Grocery
4th day - dining shopping, moved-in the apt, clean house, 1st Bible study
5th day - check neighborhood, walk, bus, trains
6th day - go to Hyundai for test drive and canvass car
7th day - go to IKEA(big big furniture shop)
8th day - Ryan went to Honda/Toyota to look at some cars (we're supposed to received delivery of the furnitures as well but we didn't)
9th day - apply for jobs, church
10th day - Ryan already started job

I had backache on my lower back which started on our 2nd day to fourth day of moving in our apartment because of carrying/lifting stuffs and walking a lot. We barely had time to rest except this weekend because the furniture delivery of the furnitures from IKEA was unfortunately delayed. I was hoping I could get the apartment setup before I leave my husband here so that when Yonky and I arrive, everything is already comfortable for all of us.

The Apartment
(I'll just probably post a picture in fb once the furnitures are in... so far we're still sleeping in airbeds and only have dining table(it is cute though=)) and we have the basics like fridge, washing machine, stove, microwave, rice-cooker and juicers).

On our first day in Sydney, we had to take care of legalizing our right to stay at the apartment and oh boy we had to sign a lot of papers and received 15 keys and 2 remote controls from the agent. Plus, the gas and electricity wasn't in our name yet so we only moved in Tuesday. God has brought to us in this ordeal, our cousins Kuya Bobby, Ate Diane, Ate Maila and Kuya Jes. We stayed at Kuya Bobby/Diane's house for 3 days and only went to the apartment when at least the fridge was delivered so we can cook our own food.

This apartment in itself is a blessing... (super expensive @ around AUD$380pw rate yes but) super accessible to all the things that I think are essential... market, bus stop, clinic, day care and of course restaurants. At that rate in a more western side, we can already have a full 3BR house. But since we don't have a car yet, access to shops are important to me as a mom. I don't have to worry that we'll go hungry here because across the street we have bakery and convenience store with fresh fruits and some veggies(if I ran out of ingredients), a chinese restaurant(Chinese cuisine is my favorite of all ;0), 10-minute walk to the market/pharmacy/7-11/gas station, 20mins to Parramatta station(walking time included) which can lead us to practically anywhere including Sydney Central Business District(CBD), 20min-walk to a Christian church, and on the ground floor of our unit, we have Dominos Pizza:)

At least I will not be scared walking here in our area because it is a busy junction unlike in single-standing house(which they call villa) in residential areas where the only mode of transportation is by car. We got rice-cooker, sack of rice and canned foods from Ate Maila/Kuya Jes and microwave, some bowls and ready-to-eat food from Kuya Bobby/Diane to help us on our first few days. After we tried the bus and went to the market on our own, we were able to buy some of our supplies. Our two set of cousins have been alternately driving us to and fro to anywhere we want to go even making helpful suggestions on what we need to have so we were able to adjust pretty well.

Plus thanks to the church CFF (Christian Filipino Fellowship), we already have support group and they're so welcoming and loving. They gave us airbeds, some sheets, glasswares, juicers, etc. One thing I know God is moving is because of some funny moments we had this week. My husband and I thought we bought mugs from BigW when I was craving for tea but after checking the receipt, we found out that we didn't bought one and on that same day and Bible study session, Jane from the church gave us exactly mugs + saucers! And just this saturday, when we went to K-Mart to buy some affordable stuffs for the house and forgot to buy glass because we only have plastic cups, somebody from the church gave us a set. How cool?! It is like God is saying... "do you need something, here it is" in a snap!

A lot of people asked why we wanted to move right away when we could have save a lot of money if we just stayed with our relatives for at least 3 more months until our jobs are stable enough. Not that I wanted to brag that we can pay the rent or anything...it's not even that... my reason is we couldn't adjust and get in our own Sydney rhythm right away if we'll tip-toe in our relatives' schedule. Not that they're not accommodating or anything, in fact they're so loving(even bringing us foods to heat so we don't have to cook if we're tired)... it is just that I wanted my son to be comfortable to move, to play, to shout... and we'll be comfortable to cook, to clean, to arrange stuffs on our own if we have our own place. It's the privacy that we want and the commitment we made in moving here in Aussie that we'll stand on our own two feet. It is in fact a lot of pressure and responsibility as everyday without work for both my husband and me means our savings are slowly dwindling.

God made a promise...and it is something I hold on to

"³¹ For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath." - Deut 4:31

^"8 Taste and see that the LORD is good.
      Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
⁹ Fear the LORD, you his godly people,
      for those who fear him will have all they need.
¹⁰ Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,
      but those who trust in the LORD will lack no good thing." - Psalm 34:8-10

Weather

As luck would have it, their summer is pretty cold for me. According to Kuya Jes, it is the coldest summer recorded so far. When he arrived summer of last year, he said weather was scorching. It mostly always rain in the afternoon even having thunderstorms but another blessing that we received was the fact that it didn't rain for the times that we went commuting to the city on our own with no umbrellas and all to protect us.

Transportation

Their transportation is pretty neat, I like it. Buses are cold and smells nice...and most of the trains are clean and new and has 3 layers. It's very easy not to get lost riding in their trains as there are screens narrating the stops that the coming train has.

There are a lot of waiting involved in public transportation and one would feel time is wasted but so far for us we can live with just commuting for now until we can get stable jobs and driver's license. We are allowed to drive here for 3 months using our Philippine license and this 2nd week we're trying to study their road rules before we apply for license because there's exam and practical driving tests when getting one and they can confiscate our license if we fail the tests plus the computer exam and practical exam aren't free so we want to come prepared. Most of the rules are the same with the US except that AUS is right-hand drive and they have roundabout concept which is challenging. According to some people we talked to, it is easier for new drivers to learn driving here than for old ones already driving in the Philippines because we have to unlearn some bad practices/habits.

Our cousins suggested we take even just 2hours of lessons with some Filipino instructors (AUD$45-$50/hr). Hopefully my husband and I can already share in that amount to not spend a lot.

What's Next?

Hopefully, with God's help... this week which is my final week before I return and pick up Yonky in the Philippines, we can at least visit RTA which is their version of LTO, scout some preschools/daycares, visit GP(family doctor) to let him/her be briefed about our medical history especially my son's atopic dermatitis... And if dada isn't so tired from his first day... to assemble furnitures. I also plan to buy desktop computer and printer just in case I find a work-from-home job but that's after Yonky has settled in here.

I just feel so blessed. I know some families weren't as fortunate as us... we worry about paying the rent and the bills like them but some when they first got here worry even if it is legal for them to work and where they will live... some even spent days doing nothing and waiting for someone to drive them because they don't have the means to accomplish anything... at least in our case, we are accomplishing one item at a time and we're just a phone call away from my mom who practically can resolve anything.

Very very special thanks to our cousins Kuya Bobby/Ate Diane for helping with the apartment and accompanying us and bargaining for us when we're buying appliances and furnitures and for linking us to the church and Kuya Jes/Ate Maila for the buffet treat, helping us bargain for the car that we liked and for finding Ryan his first job. May God continue to bless your good hearts and protect your family.

Please continue to pray for our safety and protection and that my husband will not get sick as he'll be all alone here for a month...and that we'll be witnesses on how God will move and grow the church here.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

A Letter from Papa

2012-02-09T19:56:00.000+08:00

:_(

These are the things I needed the most... the encouragement, support and prayers from my parents and family.

Letter from my Papa...

EVERDEAREST ANAK,

I'll not be able to go with you @ the airport on Friday ha? I guess i'm not that courageous to see my child go in the foreign land. I'll just give a piece of advise which you can read and get some worthwhile things from it. As you travel and migrate in that faraway place for more greener pasture, Always remember that God Loves you since from the beginning and still loves you to the end. Bear in mind that we also love you more than our life because you are the fruit of our flesh and blood.

Don't just look at the circumstances but look above and beyond. May our great master mold you firmly with integrity and dignity and continue to bless you, Kaan and Yonky anywhere you should go or anyplace you should stay.

Look at the flowers in the field, the butterflies in the garden, the birds in the sky, If God cared enough to perfect each features and character of these creations of His, surely and gracefully, He also cares for all of us (Matthew 6:26,30)

So anak ko, Let us be Children in Faith, in Love, and in Happiness. Let's be adult in our experience, in compassion, and Wisdom facing life with Courage, Patience and Faithfulness. Do not forget that the resources of Heaven are equal and congruent to any problem you ever have to encounter. Sometimes God will test us, Just praise Him and think always positive, encouraging, uplifting thoughts, while the negative will soon disappear. Every disappointments in life can be a stepping stone to greater things (1Peter 1:7) May God's everlasting promises be upon you, Yonky and Ryan.

May Everything that you've ever wanted, dreamed of, or hoped for will be attained with the help of our God Almighty. May the Holy Spirit of God remain on you, sustain you, teach you, guide you, and assure you that you are not alone in that place. Amen and Amen

We Love you and will be missing you always.

PAPA AND MA

***

Thank you papa and mama and thank you God. God, please protect my loved ones and bring comfort, love and joy to all of us despite the pressures, the challenges and the bleakness and mystery everyday life brings. AMEN

It was a Nice Ride... THANK YOU

2012-01-31T23:40:00.000+08:00

As I always say... I don't like goodbyes...
I would have wanted to say a lot of things... especially to my mentees... I wanted to apologize for the times I snapped or made crude remarks... or approached them the wrong way. I am not really a people-person and oftentimes I just wanted things done they way I envisioned things done but I knew it's not an excuse to be rude to people... I know I have a lot to improve in this area and I've been praying about this for the longest time.

In the end... I've come up with this letter of thanks to the people that had been part of my 5 year corporate journey... what else can you say but thank you right?! from the bottom of my heart... a BIG BIG BIG THANKS to all my colleagues.

*****

“¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens” Ecclesiastes 3:1

As for me, this is my time to pursue a blessing and a dream…

I know there can be thousands of reasons to stay and thousands of reason to move on but it gave me peace and assurance that I got confirmation of my decision from our Lord God. It is a tough and huge decision to make… after all, Navitaire is indeed an awesome place to work and the people are just the best! Plus I love the dynamics in the CM world.

To my CM babies – you can do it, hope you will all learn to enjoy lunch breaks hehe. Practice grace under pressure AjaJ There will be some rough times, downtimes and hell days but keep the fire burning! Tech Rod and Organize Zherwin – I’ve already told you what I had to say for the team…Kudos to you both, you guys are the best! Your dedication to this team and overtimes just to deliver and resolve issues are just over the roof. Alagaan niyo mabuti reputation ng CM ha and sina dependable Marvin and expressive Jhobz! J Marvin and Jhobz, it was short but you both are great additions, the team needs your skills and you’ll give the necessary shake for the better…

To Joie – my first ever apprentice in Navi, sorry your first initiation had to be me but I sure hope you learned a lot. I’m not the perfect lead but you’re such a good, jolly and understanding friend…alaga niyo ‘ko ni jeffJ Thank you. To Je – my first ever teammate and navi confidante, keep writing, you’re soo good! To my PRA(cherrie, me-anne, chod, kriska, zel, mommy cric, jeff, joie, je) and SS family – thank you for the chats, advices, lunch outs, food trips, tsismis, pictorials and bonding times… I’ll miss all of you. Thank you for sharing me your lives, talents and dreams.

To the best US counterparts and teachers in Navi – Z, Travis, Chris, Eric – I all look up to you. I so admire your skills and way of communicating to us (BOW)

To all the teams that we support – thank you for giving me work. Your issues made my stay in Navitaire fun and exciting(super stressful but fulfilling ;)). Please start helping CM by providing complete details in the issue and kindly also ask nicely if you have requests:P

To the very accommodating developers (like boss Emil, Aia, JV, Kesh and many many more) that always assist and give quality inputs to our investigation… A BIG THANK YOU!

To all the bosses that I had the pleasure to work with and my mentors – you each have different skills, oftentimes I had difficult time adjusting from org changes but thank you so much for all the guidance and the patience… I admit I’m a tough nut to crack but I’ll always be grateful for the opportunities and challenges and most especially for your listening ears and understanding. I do understand why you had to do what you had to do…

I’ll definitely miss the trainings, discussions, laughs, meetings, birthday months, treats.. and everything about Navitaire… (yup even the disagreements and unlimited issues hehehe.. at the end of the day, I’ll treasure the lessons I got from each of them)… still I look forward to where God will lead me. Wish me luck!

Wishing Navitaire all the success and growth that it deserves!

Till our paths cross again…

GOD BLESSJJJ

Please keep in touch

http://honeyloumay.blogspot.com

| |

over and out,

Honeylou May de Guia-Cabauatan

"¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

⁸ Taste and see that the LORD is good;
   blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
⁹ Fear the LORD, you his holy people,
   for those who fear him lack nothing.
¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry,
   but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. – Psalm 34:8-10

PS: sorry it was long, I got carried away J

*****

On our Aussie journey... please pray for safe travel, health, wisdom and protection for our entire family... and spiritual growth, maturity and total dependence on God's leading.

Apple's Wedding at Canyon Cove

2012-01-25T00:29:00.088+08:00

Apple's wedding to Salah last December 21, 2011 was the first beach wedding I attended as a guest.

Apple, known to us as Futsa is Gretel's younger sister and very close to my family like a sister. She had been working and living in UAE, where she met Salah, for a few years before she decided to tie the knot with him. Now, Futsa decided to be a full time homemaker based in Qatar.

This is their third wedding ceremony after having one in an Embassy in UAE(or probably Qatar) and another one in Egypt - Salah's home country. But it is their first Christian wedding ceremony. The bride's family are Christians so Tita Nita, the mom, is very adamant that a Christian wedding be held for her daughter as well... even going as far as planning the entire wedding herself :)

Canyon Cove

Nasugbu, Batangas

www.canyoncove.com.ph

I was again acting in a supporting role for my son for this wedding because he was the Bible bearer.

The Venue

The ceremony was held on the shore of Canyon Cove at dusk in a nice calm ocean with drizzles before and after the event. The reception was supposed to be on the poolside but when it rained after the ceremony, we had to move to one of the pavilions. Canyon Cove is owned by the bride's relative so as a gift to the newly-weds... they gave a surprise fireworks and float paper-lanterns to the sky after the program.

What's unique in the wedding was they didn't use table numbers in the reception's table arrangements. Instead, as a nice twist... the table identifications have been all the places and milestones in Apple and Salah's relationship...And while the host was calling each table for picture taking with the couple, she's narrating the love story of the newlyweds..how romantic =).

During the festivities, Yonky enjoyed the photobooth provided by Prolens. He had 8 sessions there most of it was alone because according to Yaya Juvy, Yonky lined up on his own hehehe (mana sa lola and mommy... mahilig sa pictures). Photos soon!

Family Bonding

Since this was an out of town wedding, most guests decided to spend the night and checked-in so the day after was family bonding for most of us.

Canyon Cove's beach was sooo good(better than the last time I remembered it) and the pool was even better! Their pool has three levels of depth. Yonky enjoyed wading and jumping on the 1st level(kiddie) pool so much he slipped and gulped some water... Despite throwing up due to excessive coughing, afterwards he acted as if nothing happened like the big boy that he already is... he just laughed and continued to play and swim again.

I was planning for an out of town trip ever since our visa got approved but never got around to finalizing anything despite the good deals at metrodeal Php5500 for a 3D/2N in Boracay or Php16000 in Shanghai, HK or Singapore. After stressing out too much, I just then and there decided I would prefer a delayed gratification this time around. I also admitted I couldn't do everything so I'll just let the wind take me for a change. No use rushing anything and was glad we got to spend 2 days out of town for Apple's Wedding and visiting Papa's relatives in Bauan for free! Too bad Dada wasn't able to join us because of work but nevertheless... my parents, Yonky and I had a wonderful time together. I was even able to activate Papa's talking GPS on his Nokia cellphone while on the road which he enjoyed very much =).

And also during this particular vacation, I got to practice Yonky to do his jumping shots hehehe... (oh sooooooo cute!!!!).. so our trip had been worth it.

Thanks Apple and Salah for a wonderful wedding and a wonderful time with you guys. God bless on your new life in Qatar and hope you'll continue your plans in migrating to Australia!

A Touching Letter from my Mentor

2012-01-22T22:10:00.000+08:00

I couldn't help but cry when I read this one day I was soo tired from work. It's only barely a week now and I do understand why my teammates would want to take VLs at this time... I anticipate some very rough days ahead of them while they adjust to my absence... They had become so dependent on my guidance and decisions.. I do really feel for them..

here's the letter I got from my boss in Salt Lake... my professional and personal mentor

Mei –

You are an Angel!

Thank you for your kind comments. I REALLY hope that something works out for you in the SYD office. If I can be of any help in that area, please let me know. I would be glad to put forth the highest recommendation possible for you. I think you have the best balance & experience in so many areas (functional, technical, social, etc…) on our team. You really are irreplaceable.

A good analogy of how I feel is: If you take a cup of water & put your finger in it then pull your finger out, the water instantly backfills the gap, but your leaving CM will be a very noticeable gap, that will always have a void.

I’m very happy for you & your family & for the new adventure that awaits you. From the bottom of MY heart, I sincerely wish you & your family all the success, joy and happiness in the world. You deserve it Mei & I hope you’ll always know that you’ve really been an outstanding employee & friend. You should be proud of all you accomplished during your time at Navitaire and the positive impact you had on our company. I will greatly miss you Mei – and … the scriptures you put at the end of your e-mails!! J

I hope you’ll keep in touch and if by chance you do end up working for SUS DBA’s that you’ll continue to help CM out! J

YOU’RE THE BEST!

-Z

I'd like to save this and post it because I know I'll need this inspiration one way or the other when I do face the new challenges ahead of me...

My only armor is my faith and my action is prayer...and I kept praying and praying and praying...

May I honor God in my decisions and actions all the days of my life.

Our Prince's Shining Christmas

2012-01-14T00:22:00.002+08:00

I guess you can't blame me when I go gaga every time my son poses like that. He's just so adorable don't you agree? Perfectionist too! At such a young age of three he no longer can't accept defeat... my my it's very tough to be parents but as I always say.. I wouldn't trade my life for anything else... and all because my darling Yonky just keeps my day oh so bright.

Right now he is already an expert "bolero"... always saying "mommy you're soo beautiful".. or "mommy you're so sexy" which of course I know isn't true but nevertheless the words... because it came from him give me so much joy (I know ang babaw ko hehe). You can't also just say no to him now... he would demand an explanation so there are times that I would suddenly stop and say "are you really just 3 years old?!... sounds a lot older to me".. and if I may quote an old TV show I used to watch "Kids indeed say the darnest things".

His love for books and new information is becoming more and more apparent also as he constantly request for me to read him books... which unfortunately sometimes I wasn't able to grant because I'm doing some preparation for our move which would make me feel guilty but what can I do, I'm not a superwoman... but when I explained to him why I can not, he is always so forgiving by saying "it's okay mommy.. tomorrow na lang?.. i love you"... which again would make me stop and thank God that my heart's longings can now be pampered by just having my son around.

For his first school Christmas celebration last December 2011... I was once again a proud mommy because Yonky was such a good performer. He shines on stage... so very unlike me. He has no fear performing on stage and of the crowd and he's even the one requesting for replay of the songs that he's going to perform at school when we're in the house and loved to practice all the time which he enjoyed so much like he's just playing.

When his school launched their online system for parents where we can watch our children's activities real-time at school... I was amazed to watch that Yonky was really the only one paying attention to what the teacher was saying unlike his classmates who were just running around the classroom.

This Christmas season was also the first time Yonky was able to participate in the children's games on his own.. enjoying doing so as well. In fact, we even brought him to Jollibee's Christmas party and he was still able to participate on the games with different kids who were strangers to him:) Dada was so proud of him and said he truly shined.

I was very thankful to God... Yonky was able to experience different Christmas celebrations this year. I'm getting sentimental on our move and very touch that Yonky had such a fantastic time bonding with his cousins, family and friends this Christmas.

Thank you Papa Jesus! Please continue to guide and protect him all the days of his life. AMEN

Christmas Season 2011

2011-12-28T23:00:00.001+08:00

I guess I spoke too soon when I said Foodie 2011 would be my last entry about foods this year:$ I underestimated that Christmas is also a season for eating!!!

I'm quite guilty I have been neglecting writing lately... it's just that I got preoccupied with my two other loves... movie marathon and reading ;) I'm the type that would like to do things at my own schedule and oftentimes on whim... might call me a loner but I'm not your typical girl who likes going to the bathrooms, shopping or salons with girlfriends... maybe because I have a distorted view and poor patience but that's me.

Come to think of it, I don't have many close friends that I still keep in touch of upto now... In fact, I could count my friends in my fingers at different stages of my life... they're really so few (oh noh!)

Childhood - Gretel and her siblings
Elementary - Vivian
High School - Sherryl
College - Ten and Jt and Prince David housemates
Launch-Now - Mano, Madz, Tin, Jeff and Diane
Navi - I love my team and have some good friends but I don't know for sure if we'll keep in touch after I move to Aussie.

As I grow old though, I crave to have more friends like my mom. Having many friends is really a gift... when we're in need and grieving this past few months, my mom's friends just gave us comfort and so much assistance we felt like family... it helps of course that my mom is really very good with people and has a lot of PR as she says... something that I unfortunately didn't inherit :$

Marciano's

Greenbelt 3

marcianos.com

So anyways it's about time for some girl time... Jannel organized some chit-chat for us and Ajay after we meet for lunch one day. This was not planned ahead and was just one of those spur of the moment thing decided over the weekend. Jannel and Ajay are two of my Prince David housemates and among the ones who introduced me to girly fashion and flared pants as I was super boyish in college hehe =)

We don't have a place in mind when we got to GB3 but eventually ended up eating at one of Marvin Augustin's restaurants - Marciano's.

Jannel placed the order and paid most of the bill.. I believe it's one of the package ones. I loved their shrimp dish and the caramelized apple dressing on the salad! Yum! The package also included pizza which I wasn't able to capture with a shot... We didn't get to finish all the foods because they're so plenty plus we're all so conscious of our weights, especially me as they noticed I'm F-A-T-T-E-R than when they last saw me huhuhu.

Still we had a nice time catching up on each other... wedding bells soon for Ajay!

Gumbo

The Gateway

gumbo.com

On December 24, Dada was in the mood to treat us for a nice different restaurant and since I wasn't done with my Christmas shopping yet, we decided to go to Gateway which is a very convenient mall for us to go to aside from SM.

They have one of those color-it plate mat which became a nice diversion to Yonky who's turning into a super kulit little boy... The waitresses also wear unique and interesting headdresses and dada didn't pass the chance to have one picture taken with Yonky.

We super love their Family platter which is just less than Php700... and consists of some seafoods, chicken and mushrooms. I'm so satisfied with it. It is good for sharing for upto 4pax but the rice that's included in it is estimated for two only.. so just order additional rice like we did. Dada didn't like their buffalo wings though but love their Peach pitcher ...first time that I've seen canned peaches used as drinks... (dada even thought it's mango ehehe).

Then Christmas night we spent with family.... Since we're the 2nd generation, we're not the ones receiving the gifts anymore but the grandparents were given the honor to spoil and pamper their grandchildren. Mawi, I and Ate Rhoda became game masters but mommy financed the cash prizes - Php5000 divided into the new Php20 bills. The money got a long way because we were able to conduct several games. The children had a blast competing with each other for the money and I can't blame them.. I used to be the same a long long time ago :p

I swear I took pictures of the food courtesy of our very own cousin che-che Cindy who's the chef at Selah but didn't get to upload them from my parent's camera :$ Her baked salmon with wasabe coating is to die for, you gotta order this!

And since ate's world became just her condo... for 3 more weeks at least until the baby became full term and it will be safe for her to walk outside at her heart's content, we visited her as well as Gretel who just gave birth to a boy. Lucky for baby Ethan he has a lot of batchmates among our family friends.. baby boom season indeed.

With that.. A blessed, bountiful and spicy year ahead. There are a lot of scary 2012 prophesies according to some calendar featured in National Geographic but have faith!!! The only thing to look forward to and put into action next year is a closer relationship to our one and only Lord and Savior Jesus Christ... everything will just follow after.

GOD BLESS and a HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Family Foodie Foodie 2011

2011-12-18T19:12:00.001+08:00

This year has been a roller coaster ride in every sense of the word. Whew! I've never cried as much as I did in this past few months to the point that I sometimes had a severe headache the next morning but still I had to work.

So for me to change the mood a bit and since it's Christmas season after all... I'd like to create my last food entry for the year =) Yey!... not that I'm consciously taking pictures of our family food dates but as I browse through them, I'm amazed that I still have quite a lot of photos and it did make me feel happy... Hope they made your mouths water as well =p

Fish & Co.
Greenbelt 3, Makati

www.fish-co.com

The three of us had a nice bonding time at Fish & Co. in Greenbelt 3 on the day of our Happy Feet 2 movie date with Yonky Bonky =).

I was a bit hesitant at first because the foods were truly on the pricey side but as soon as I'd tasted their Seafood Platter and pasta... I couldn't help but be satisfied plus Yonky soo enjoyed the Fish & Chips!

Shi Lin
The Podium, Mandaluyong
www.shilin.com

We enjoyed watching them prepare the noodles and dimsums...very classy and it gave us satisfaction that everything was fresh and cooked on the spot =).

Mexicali

Megamall A, Mandaluyong

www.mexicali.com

I missed my Mexican lunch outs at SLC one day after church and we wanted to try something new as well so when we spotted Mexicali at the ground floor of Mega A, we just knew we had to try it and we were not disappointed.

I didn't particularly like their plates because they had some dents but the foods are quite good... it would definitely be a good hang-out foe us when we were in need of some dose of Mexican dishes.

Cafe Mediterranean

The Podium, Mandaluyong

www.thecafemediterranean.com

We celebrated Father's Day for dada on Cafe Mediterranean because that's his request. It is one of our favorite restaurants here in the metro and it is because of their affordable Kebab Platter which is just around Php700+. The platter is good for four persons but if it is my husband and me who would be eating, we could finish the entire plate =p! That day we decided to order two more dishes instead of our regular but all-in-all we could be good on just the platter.

*****

Plus plus we also tried the Racks @ El Pueblo, Pepper Steak in MOA and Orchard Road in Megamall... =)

The Racks' Baby Back Ribs never failed to gratify my husband and me and Yonky had fun coloring in their plate mat. Orchard Road looks expensive in the outside but food is surprisingly very cheap... small, simple servings but very tasty. And whose mouth doesn't water in the aroma and succulent meat of Pepper Steak?!

Then on some days... when I am in the mood to just chill at home and cook, we just stayed home... have some sweets which we partner with either herbal or loose teas. I am also very proud of my new mastered dishes this year... Baked Fish with peaches + my version of the Java Man's Crispy Sardines Pasta (no picture yet)...

To be honest we still had no plans for Christmas because papa is still recovering from his Angioplasty and I still can't find the time to do my Christmas shopping... I will probably just waive gifts this year :$ Still.. wishing everyone a very very Merry Christmas!!!

Let's not forget that Christmas is God's expression of His love... it is in this season that I feel closest to our Savior because everybody is celebrating big time!!! More than the gifts, the laughter, the parties... first and foremost it is God's gift of eternal life if we could just be willing to receive this gift...

Tita Dora...You're Finally Happy Now, See You Soon

2011-11-29T23:41:00.003+08:00

We just accompanied Papa at Cardinal as he was admitted and began waiting for his angioplasty procedure today. Also had a relaxing, happy and very tasty dinner with Aunt Venus at Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao in Greenhills. As we drove home, mom got a call... all I heard was the sound of crying at the other end of the line and I already knew something was never going to be the same again =_(

Tita Dora died today November 29, 2011... reason or complication still unknown as of writing but she had been battling against her stage4 bone cancer as early as June this year. I was sooo surprised my first impulse was to cry but held on because I know my mom needed to feel strong as Tita Dora's family would depend on her. Mom is soo torn she couldn't leave papa here in Manila and at the same time fix tita's funeral in Isabela. She became superhuman again arranging everything long distance when I knew all she wanted was to cry as well.

For as long as I live, our house and tita's house in Isabela are literally just a spit away. And I had fond memories of her...

- As I was growing up in the province, I would sometimes wake up with my mom shouting "Manang Dura" in her hardest Ilokana accent because they love to catch up and share stories with each other.

- My siblings and I would vie for the best spot near our tita in the car or buses during long drives to Manila because we loved to sleep on her lap and knew she always packed meriendas and would know exactly when we would be feeling nauseated.

- When we were kids we love playing at their house and I remember when we would eat with gusto at their house, she would always say that "Ito ang pagkain ng mahirap, mas masarap ang pagkain ng mahirap kesa sa mayaman ano?!".

- Being a professor at Philippine Normal University (Isabela Campus), I was always looking forward for her to bring us to her out of town trips with her co-teachers as sometimes she would bring us and take us sightseeing and swimming.

- I also remember loving hanging-out at the dormitory that she owns for teacher students and at her Home Economics quarters. She has one whole building on her own and students would just go there for her lectures. They had pretty cool projects and tita would always lend me some or help me do it for my own HE projects at school.

- I was also especially amazed with her ghost stories. Tita believed and experienced first hand the workings of the supernatural and unseen elements and spirits most especially as her students were involved and got possessed with what she called dwarves and other unseen creatures in the trees. She also witnessed how the tribe people cured the possessed individual with salt.

- I will always treasure her. She was really very-mommy-like. She would always prepare our foods whether for under the bridge stop-over picnics, black saturday swimmings, night swimmings and travels to Manila.

- Tita introduced us to jeepney and LRT riding during our vacations at our aunt's house in Caloocan.

- My aunt backed me up and helped me get out of the mess as I was being grilled by my other late Aunt Emy who was suffering from lung cancer that time because I lost the one thousand she asked me to keep while on vacation in Baguio.

- It was my tita Dora who accompanied me during my entrance exams to different universities and I passed all four of them.

- Tita fixed my dorm during my summer class pre-freshman year at Ateneo and patiently waited for me to get home and taught me what tricycle to ride and the route to take from the dorm going to school.

- Tita with my mom accompanied me during my graduation at Ateneo.

- I once dream of having the same life as my tita - simple yet I felt she was happy. She travelled a lot and I liked hearing her stories and adventures.

- Tita supported my decision for a beach wedding and said it would be different and worth the experience.

- When I gave birth, Tita took care of me at the hospital... helping me to pee in the bed pan, assisting me to walk, recognized the pain I was going through after the catheter was pulled out and suggested I should pee to relieve the pain as she said I got used to the catheter so I wasn't used to the feeling of wanting to pee anymore.

- Tita accompanied and assisted us as we brought home Yonky on his first trip to Isabela prior to his 2nd month birthday.

- Tita prepared the foods, party and bought the cake for Yonky's 2nd month birthday because my parents were in the US at that time and my in-laws were visiting.

- Tita told me not to worry and assured me "ako bahala kay Yonky, wag ka mag-alala" as they took him home to the province and I was on my way to the airport for my very first and only onshore assignment.

Just on my birthday this year, Tita was regretful she wasn't able to join us because she already made plans ahead of our decision to go to Sta. Ana that she will go to Davao with two of his co-teachers and friends. She wasn't planning on retiring yet and still would love to teach this year... She had plans of using her pension which she already computed that time to travel to other countries. I am really so sad she wasn't able to accomplish this last wish...

Then I heard she wasn't going back to Manila anymore for her bone treatments and was consulting hilots and albularyos instead to ease the pain on her hips. According to her she was not sick except for that pain which she attributed to being slipped previously which might probably dislocated her pelvic bone. Then lately she took chemo tablets and morphines for the pain but still the pain won't go away...

Last time I saw tita was during the loong break in November 2011. She already couldn't walk at that time and I had a difficult time looking at her and talking to her because I would get teary-eyed and don't want her to see my weakness... because according to her daughter my ate Rhoda, tita doesn't like to be pitied on. I mentioned to mom that tita already looked different and had some swelling in the face ("manas") and mama said tita's condition isn't good anymore which would confuse me because Ate Rhoda and Ate Osel would be very positive sometimes texting me that tita tried to walk and we would be happy and other days that tita wanted to give up =(.

During the All Saint's day, mom did her best ordering catered foods for all of us but eventhough food was delicious and satisfying, it was never the same because Tita Dora was usually the one who arranged for the cleaning, set-up, flowers and other necessities in our Pua-Camungao mausoleum. We forgot the candles, the chinese incense and our store boys did the folding of the chinese monies for the ancestors. So my most favorite holiday of the year was also sadly different because Tita's spirits and stories were missing.

After papa's family devotion at their house November 5, I kissed tita goodbye because we would be leaving for Manila the next day.... and that's the last time I saw her =_( I sent her 5 boxes of Sante Barley which was delivered to her Friday but that too was already too late and will not be going to be consumed by her anymore. It's her time to go and the sad part is she didn't even wait for Christmas. She was able to wait for the birth of her apo to Kuya Rommel named Vincent but was not able to take care of him anymore...

I had dreams of taking tita to my travels... of her seeing the US and Australia with us but God had other plans and Heaven is definitely better but still I grieved.

As I was crying silently as I reached Yonky's room to get him and transfer him to our room to sleep after we arrived home today, I just lost it and just cried and cried and cried. Yonky kept hugging and kissing me and told me "it's going to be okay, Mommy" and I said yes but I could see he didn't believe me because I still kept on crying so I told him "Owa Dora is already gone" because we included Owa Dora to feel better in his prayers.... As I was explaining to him what heaven is and that we will see Owa Dora again in heaven, I was able to ask him if he wanted Jesus to be his Lord and Savior and he said yes!... I led him to a prayer of acceptance and at that moment, God made me aware that something good could come out of Tita's passing away...

I would definitely miss Tita Dora, my second mom... so allow me this moment to cope, to write, and to reflect on all her goodness and love to the family. She's happy now I know... no more pains... no more sadness... it would take a while for us to see her again in heaven but we will see her =_( soon tita... I love you!!!

Life and Death: Who Am I

2011-11-13T19:18:00.002+08:00

I haven't gone through a phase where everything goes slow motion for a looong time... I used to have this melancholic feeling back in 2005 but during the long break, I was again faced with the mortality of my loved ones...

my tita Dora, whom I loved so dearly and always regard as my second mom since she's the one who always accompanied me to my entrance exams, prepared our packed foods whenever we travel to Manila...and always assisted my mom in every gathering and hospitalizations... is now facing a stage 4 bone cancer. It's very difficult for me to watch her unable to walk =_(

my dear tito Mar suddenly got a brain tumor and their family albeit their wealth was put through trying times as well. He was now recovering after the procedure and an agonizing decision which my Aunt Venus had to go through with him over the long break.

my beloved Papa... albeit being physically active (daily walks and tennis in the mornings and sometimes even in the afternoon...) without feeling the least bit pain in his chest, was suddenly ordered by the head of cardio to not exhaust himself and to make a decision whether to undergo a heart bypass or angioplasty.. both dangerous and both don't have 100% success rate which therefore put our entire family... (including my brother who rarely calls from the US) on edge

As I reflect on what's happening to our clan, I was constantly being reminded of my very first Biblical Foundation 1 Class on Heaven and Hell through the example of Lazarus and the Rich Man and was comforted today by this song from Casting Crowns..

What do all of these mean God?

Who Am I

by Casting Crowns

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours

I am Yours
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
'Cause I am Yours
I am Yours

lyrics taken from lyricsbox.com

All Out at Wensha Spa

2011-10-23T18:24:00.002+08:00

Wensha Spa

Pasay City

wenshaspa.com

I have a little risky side... When I was assessed on why type of investor I am, it showed that I am a medium-risk investor. I got a Rudy Project watch when I signed up which I gave to my husband. But that's just me, my husband on the other-hand is a little wary on those stuffs(he's a low-risk investor) so I had to convince him to invest too for our son's sake... which he eventually did a year after I did. In return for convincing my husband to invest in Sunlife's flexilink, our request for freebie perks (spa) was granted in the form of 2 GCs at Wensha Spa.

I was so excited as we haven't been to a spa together for a while so I brought my camera,

but to my disappointment, cameras are prohibited as posted in the reception area upon entering the spa.

I understood full well why when I entered the girl's locker room...(silent gasp)

I've already given up wearing my fabulous collection of two-piece swimsuits at beaches after I've given birth so I only wore them at spas... but to my shock, even my favorite sunny two piece wasn't allowed inside!

THE GOODS

- worth for your money

And not just because we went there on free GCs but because I saw the basic massage price which is Php680... and with that you already have access to hot and cold jacuzzi, sauna and steam rooms, basic massage and dada's favorite - buffet (shabu-shabu at that!).

- relaxing buffet/movie area

There's a projector screen at the jacuzzi area as well but what I love the most is that there are several flat screen TVs in the buffet area... cooking shabu-shabu, eating other entrees and drinking unlimited juices are really more enjoyable with movies and comfy chairs =) I can even raised my feet... so nice hihihi

- love the bathrobes

Upon entry to the spa, we deposited our shoes and switched to rubber slippers. I was then provided with magnetic key bracelet, two towels and silk bathrobes =) Dada and I wore the bathrobes in the buffet area before going to our massage/body scrub and it truly added to our enjoyment as we watched and ate our shabu-shabu noodles and soup.

THE BADS

- no room for inhibitions

One should really need to go all-out... I thought I could at least wear swimsuits but was told I need to remove everything. I'm married but I'm still modest. I'm even shy showing everything to my husband after 5 years of marriage yet I was ask to remove everything...uh-oh

It took me a while to get comfortable which fortunately I did after being relaxed in the soothing warm water and sauna.

- noisy attendants

This is a spa after all so I was expecting it to exude a solemn and relaxing mood... Since I have very sensitive body which doesn't allow me to enjoy massages, I opted to upgrade to Papaya Body Scrub with Whitening Mask and this was applied to me in a separate room where the attendants were unfortunately very noisy and kept on gossiping with one another about their personal and vulgar topics that guests couldn't care less about.

This wasn't true however in the massage area because as per dada he was able to sleep and was completely relaxed after his massage... I also saw that they have nicer ambience in the massage rooms. I honestly felt more relaxed in the jacuzzi area though than when they're doing my body scrub... and if not for the smoother skin result, I wouldn't try doing a body scrub there again.... I'll just try ventusa next time (or not... dada said you couldn't take a bath for 3 days after the massage if you avail of the body massage with ventusa)... I'll bet that would be relaxing.

Korean/Taiwanese Drama Addiction

2011-10-06T08:30:00.002+08:00

A lot has happened lately... I even found out (albeit late) that friendster is no longer the friendster social network that I used to blog on, get testimonials from, upload photos to and connect friends with. I was sad all my previous memories, comments and testimonials are now gone... but at least I was able to save a backup of my blog and now able to transfer it to wordpress but without the pictures though as I can no longer retrieve my albums.

I guess... you really can't rely even on technology and internet nowadays to store memories...

So with that, and with all the stress of preparing for the "move" of our lives, I find myself wanting to zone out lately and just get inspired... I couldn't bring myself to read Harlequin love stories though so I turned to Korean/Taiwanese drama.

I haven't been watching marathon dramas anymore since Boys Over Flowers. But as I saw ABS-CBN's Pure Love commercials, my interest got picked again =) Good thing, there are so many free online streaming nowadays... even I got amazed I'm not getting any lags when watching them with our home internet connection via my laptop and Sony Bravia TV.

I've watched several dramas since then but was not able to continue with some when it failed to capture giddiness in me...

So here are some of my favorites (will continue to update as I finish more) with their awesome online HD clips...

They made me laugh, cry, "kilig" and just plainly relaxed and left me in me warm feelings which is my goal when I'm zoning out of the stress of the world.

1. Lie To Me by Goldenbot - SBS (16 episodes)

2. My Princess by JhayKDrama- MBC (16 episodes)
3. Autumn's Concerto (I Love You So) - watched this in a DVD from my mom(hehehe I know where I inherited my love for asian dramas)

Thanks to these sites for their wonderful reviews and synopsis and of course to Youtube

http://www.koreandrama.org/

http://www.dramafever.com

http://www.mysoju.com/
http://www.dramastyle.com/taiwanese/drama/

Enjoy watching!!!!

Yonky's Reward: Malabon Zoo

2011-09-26T23:48:00.002+08:00

Malabon Zoo

www.malabonzoo.com

Yonky has been requesting to go to a zoo whenever we ask him where he wanted to go on weekends. Unfortunately, during the week of his birthday, it had been really really rainy so we brought him to Cosmic Kidz @ MOA instead but it's not his cup of tea. He didn't even want to go inside because he didn't like the noise and he got soo overwhelmed with too many kids. Also, I've read so many bad comments on the stinky smell at Manila Zoo and our friend had a not so nice impression on Avalon Zoo so even if we want to bring him to a zoo, we don't know where to go :$

When I got his report card, I immediately texted Dada who was at a team building in Subic that time and he said we will reward Yonky and bring him to a zoo. I mentioned this to Yonky and explained to him that we will go to the zoo because that is his reward for being the top in his class. My son is very curious and smart and he always ask both the negatives and positives of a situation. This scenario was not an exception...

Yonky: "Zoo, wow!"
Mei: "Yes that is your reward because you're #1 in school! Yey"
Yonky: "How about not #1?"
Mei: "then no reward... no zoo"

I was not sure I answered that correctly because I didn't explain that a reward is like a gift which is a word he knew but sometimes because my son asks too many questions I become careless and just respond on the fly instead of seizing the moment and giving him words of wisdom. He didn't even understand what a reward is but I hope this is the start that he'll be introduce to the word...

Malabon Zoo...

Dada did all the planning for this trip so what I knew of this zoo only comes from him prior to going there. It was recommended by his teammates and what attracted us to it initially was the comment that the place was cleaner than Manila Zoo. Dada also mentioned that the zoo was previously a collection of somebody and he donated it to the municipality of Malabon when his collection grew big.

Entrance is Php120 each. I don't have SLR camera so I started getting frustrated when I couldn't get a decent picture of the animals because of the several lines of fences where the animals were in. I thought the place was small but after going around, I've noticed that it has several labyrinth cages and picnic area too. Yonky was immensely overjoyed and good thing we stayed a while after finishing the rounds because they have a program where they put some children of the animals for a little show and tell and picture taking (Php50 photo opportunity) to the visitors. I thought we just arrived on time in the zoo at around 9:45am but felt bad for Yonky when Dada was informed that we already missed the baby tigers photo op:( So instead of the planned tiger, Yonky turned to Marimar - the baby orangutan in a diaper!

The trip is worth it for me - giant fishes, sleepy tigers, orangutans, and dancing bear are just some of the highlights. I even enjoyed it better than the animal farm in malagos garden during our trip to Davao. We end the zoo trip by watching a 20-ft crocodile jumped into the air to get his meal...

Yonky had it in him to finish all the university floats in Jollibee (I think he's turning into a mini me because he keep tabs on what he already tasted when he said, "Red check... Blue check"... so he requested for us to taste green(Green Apple flavor) for our lunch that day:)

Looking forward for Yonky to see Koalas and Kangaroos next year!!!

Pahiyas

2011-09-20T19:34:00.000+08:00

Due to a lot of suspended classes for preschool because of the recent typhoons, STI's celebration of Linggo ng Wika with theme "Pahiyas" was delayed by a week. It was the first school event for the school year that parents and families were allowed to watch inside the social hall.

Because I am a stage mom, I always file a leave from work when there's a school event coming because I wanted to give my full support to Yonky. However, I was made aware of the student-only affairs during the Nutrition Month celebration because I thought we can freely take pictures and go inside the classrooms but much to my dismay... we were blocked. I was glad I wasn't the only mom trying to get in though =p (most of the parents even blatantly disregarded the school rules and still went inside until they were forced out by the school's founder and the doors were locked like we were some kind of undisciplined outsiders hehehe.

So I was glad that finally for this celebration, we were able to watch our little bulilits perform on stage! I was so impressed by the STI Preschool's arrangement, knowing full well that parents would be clamoring for a chance to take precious videos and pictures of their little ones, they'd freed up the first four lines of chairs in the social hall so that the parents of kids who will be performing can go there when it's their child's turn to perform... "everybody happy".

There was even a contest for best decoration of the classrooms wherein parents and guardians were asked to help decorate two weeks before the event. Yonky and I enjoyed going through each and every classrooms to take some pictures before the Pahiyas celebration started.

During the Pahiyas, I was finally able to put faces on some of Yonky's classmates that I knew only by name because Yonky would recite their names when I asked who his new friends are and because of the list that the school provided in the circular...

His favorite berks are Scott, Charles and Kaleb while his favorite girls are the twins Monique and Valeen. Here are the complete list of the morning nursery class.... (really wanted to get their full names so I could search them in fb and tell Yonky about them even if we move to Australia).

a. Aba, Charles Adrianne
b. Ablaza, Ryan Vincent
c. Cabauatan, Ryhon Klarenz
d. Jalgalado, Kaleb Lucian
e. Misoles, Victoria Monica
f. Misoles, Valeen Manuela
g. Wong, Scott Jacob
h. Engaling, Charmine Ann

***

Hope you guys would cross paths again someday!!! God bless!

When I got Yonky's report card and evaluation sheets recently showing that his rank#1, I was asked if I wanted to move Yonky to the more advanced afternoon class but my husband, me and my mom decided not to since we don't want to stress Yonky out and besides he has already made some good friends in his class and I don't want him to re-adjust himself again when we only intend for him to finish the school year here.

Also we were already so grateful that he's learning so much at school... so amazing, his focus and skills in writing and coloring has definitely improve in the last 3 months..hurrah!

More Power STI!

Our Journey to Australia: God's Perfect Timing!

2011-09-13T23:11:00.003+08:00

I always hear that GOD is seldom early but is never late!!!

My walk towards achieving this answered prayer sure wasn't easy. God closed the door for me in the US then in Singapore... until finally last September 9, 2011, He opened the opportunity for Australia =). Why Australia? Up to now all I can answer is that it's nearer to the Philippines than Canada, UK or US... so nearer to my parents as well which is one of my wishes too.

Also, as I was writing this I was convinced that because I haven't been and therefore wasn't used to life in Australia, we will be in total dependence upon God on this journey. I'm excited (and yes a little bit scared) to see where God will bring us.

Let me share with you my walk with God throughout this whole process of waiting for God's answer.

~@~@~@~

Early this year, we were busy looking for a house because we wanted to cleave and stand on our own two feet. When I finally found my perfect dream lot, I consulted God if we already should make a downpayment and He impressed upon me that I should let my husband decide. So my husband prayed about it and the answer to him was "NO"... I forgot the exact verse but I'll post it here once I recall it. The answer was puzzling to me because I knew God's heart would be for married couple to leave their father and mother and unite as it is stated in Genesis but nevertheless we obeyed... soon enough we received from our agent that we need to process our medical for our Australia immigration petition and the answer not to buy a house made sense. By April, our distant cousin ate Maila and her family migrated to Australia at about the same time that we completed our medical. We were told both by them and by the agent that after medical, it usually would just need two months before the final visa verdict would be released.

I admit I panicked at that time and admitted to God, our dgroup and to myself that we were not ready to leave yet... I got so stressed out researching and bugging friends who lived in Australia trying to find a house and a job, then a car, a school and childcare for Yonky and so so much more... then two months had passed and there was no update... and so I sought God once more.

My Walk with God:

These are my notes in sequential order as I sought, prayed, complained and begged God for answers regarding our migration to Australia. Often times, I would asked Him to just please make it clear and as plain as "Yes" or "No" but as you'll see below, God gave me comfort and assurance which I presumed as "Wait" ... (not my forte)

Bus MMC - showing signs of Jobs to Australia
June 3, 2011 - I saw Australia Harvest poster
June 10, 2011 - IELTS results of Ryan didn't meet 7 and I started to question God why? He can still work in Australia but we're hoping he get 7 on all 4 areas of IELTS so he can already start processing registration in Australia Nursing Board. At this time I also asked God if I was not understanding His will right, if this desire is just my personal wish. Hence, I requested for Him to please remove the desire to migrate in my heart if it is not His will. Both my husband and I received peace all through this time and felt that it was God's will for us to migrate. We would often asked each other and we agreed that we both felt light... anxious but we don't feel rejected.
June 29, 2011 - I heard in DZAS a testimony of Pastor Abdul when he migrated to Canada. He said it was a humbling experience working blue collar jobs as he was so used to having somebody do things for him here because he was already a boss here before he left and migrated with his family. I felt God telling me, are you ready to humble yourself and start at the bottom? I said if we continue to trust God, we can make it..."kaya namin God basta diyan Ka lang"
July 3, 2011 - Psalm 81:7 "I answered You"

"⁷ In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud..."

July 4, 2011 - Psalm 84:11 "no good thing does He withhold"

"¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless"

July 10, 2011 - Philippians 1:6 "God will carry it to completion"

"⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

August 11, 2011 - Psalm 111, Psalm 115:12. At this time I was also praying Jabez's Prayer

¹² The LORD remembers us and will bless us..." -Psalm 115:12

August 12, 2011 - Psalm 116:1, Genesis 18:14 "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"

"¹ I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy." - Psalm 116:1

"¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year..." - Genesis 18:14

August 22, 2011 - dream 1year. I forgot the exact dream but I got one year in my notes
August 23, 2011 - Psalm 112 "no fear of bad news"

"⁶ Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. ⁷ They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. ⁸ Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. "

August 26, 2011 - Psalm 145:16 "satisfy". By this time our GH(Glorious Hope) series was also completed. We didn't get to finish all of the modules but God has started in me a way to understand where my anger and temper are coming from and how I could be responsible for my own actions and response to situations. I believe this would be vital as we face new challenges in a foreign land.

"¹⁶ You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing."

September 10, 2011 - We finally opened the house for housewarming and had our 1st dgroup session in the house that God Himself provided. At this point I asked for a prayer from our group on what else God wanted us to learn before we migrate to Australia.
September 11, 2011 - Numbers 11:23 "Now you shall see if My word will come true to you or not". This popped to me at the Sunday service. At this time I was petitioning God to speed up the 2006 bank statement requests that I made to two banks which would prove that payroll deposits had been made as this was requested to me by our agent. As per the bank it would take upto 3 weeks before I can get the printout and at this point I feared we wouldn't meet the September 20 deadline. Nevertheless, I lifted that concern to God. I was also surprised by my response this time that I'm not getting OC on completing items by myself but rather letting God control the situation.

"²³ The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”

September 12, 2011 - I got a call that our VISA has been approved!!! - exactly 1 year and 13 days after the application was lodged by the agent. The agent said they have argued with the case officer regarding my payroll and finally it was ruled that the bank statements wasn't needed because they already have my salary deductions record on file. Indeed God's reach is not limited to protocol and deadlines precisely what was said in the verse above! Then I started thinking about Yonky and on how he will adjust and cope to the new environment but since worrying is a sin, I threw that concern to God as well saying "since bigay Mo to God, Ikaw bahala sa amin dun. Ikaw magbibigay ng work, Ikaw magbibigay ng house and most importantly Ikaw bahala kay Yonky!" Then shortly before leaving the office I was able to read this... Proverbs 14:26

"²⁶ Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge."

And I was like... really God's timing and answers are sooo amazing! After receiving a good rating, being okay with my former boss and understanding how I've learned a lot from him from all we went through together and how I'm missing his guidance and pushes to perform at my very best, I was soo blessed to just be able to share the blessing of obeying authorities because everything fell at God's perfect timing. I've proven my worth at work, I've humbled myself to authorities, I let go of all the pains and bad feelings... and yes now I'm ready for our next adventure and more awesome journal of my walk with God... day by day and moment by moment.

TO GOD, the ONLY LIVING GOD who ANSWERS PRAYERS and the GIVER of BOUNTEOUS OPPORTUNITIES... I WORSHIP YOU! THANK YOU... YOUR GRACE has cause me to cry with tears of PURE JOY.

~@~@~@

All verses are quoted from BibleGateway NIV version

Celebrating Performance

2011-09-07T23:21:00.000+08:00

I sure grumble a lot most especially at work... Just when I felt I'm just sooo tired and couldn't push through anymore... I'll receive these wonderful messages and points from our company's rewards program which surely lifted my spirits =) very humbling and very very thankful....(awww they noticed my efforts).

From my boss in SLC:

"Everything Mei touches ends up working. She never seems to give up, and has a great reputation within the company as someone who's very knowledgeable & very very good to work with. She's very positive & uplifts those she works with. She has done a tremendous job supporting, designing & implementing the SkyPrice lab and worked through the many issues encountered to ultimately come up with a great long term solution for that team/product.
You're incredible Mei - I sure am impressed with your skills & abilities. Thanks for all you do and for the example & mentor that you are to those on our team."

From my bosses in MNL:

"Mei was able to take on monitoring items for CM yesterday, jump in on some of the items left off by a colleague on leave, and still continued pushing/moving forward with the Geneva efforts. Keep up the great work Mei! Thanks."

"Mei continued to show her excellent research and troubleshooting skills with the resolution of the recent issue on the MQSeries. Zerin was very much impressed with Mei's work on this. As always, keep up the great work Mei!"

"Mei spearheaded the initiative to create a CM and QA FAQ page. Mei worked closely with QA resources to get information on different functional setups and organized the data to easily understand the setups.

Thanks Mei for pushing the FAQ page in the CM portal to completion. This provides a big lift in the team's operation as QA resources will now have a venue to search for functional setups and common environment issues."

"Quick turnaround of issues logged by reporting QA. Efficient deployment of build despite issues.

Thanks Mei for your commitment in making sure that CM clients are happy with our service and deliverables are met on time."

Thank you GOD for your gifts - my skills and capabilities. I offer these back to Thee=)

On Giving

2011-08-29T20:00:00.004+08:00

Giving(aka tithing in the Christian world) has been part of my life ever since my parents enrolled me to Daily Vacation Bible School(DVBS) when I was in grade 5. At that short class, it was already impressed in my heart the reverence to God and His sovereignty and our role to give 10% of our earnings back to God (yup, even if I was already soooo kuripot then).

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. - Malachi 3:10(NIV)

Two of my inspirations that exhibited this Bible principle are:
1. William Colgate of the famous Colgate toothpaste
2. and Quaker Oats founder Henry Crowell

...both gave a huge percentage of their income to Church... even more than the percentage that they actually kept(see links to their names above for their testimonies)... yet both their companies are still surviving and if not two of the most successful companies for the last century.

For me, I was Catholic before and I was already giving Php20/week to church after DVBS which when I think about it now, it was more than 10% of my weekly allowance. I had my slips but I always bounced back because God will convict me. And I'd like to think I was a blessed individual because of this, I would pray for my exams religiously then and did my best, so even if sometimes I had no idea how I passed because I was not the smartest in class... I still managed to graduate Valedictorian. I also didn't find myself lacking anything both materially and in other things that matters. I feel kinda spoiled to God in this way like God is saying "Don't worry, I will take care of you and your family". My tithing continues from whatever I received for my allowance until my college days. There are times that I would struggle on tithing and saving personally because I truly love to save as well, but most of the time God finds a way to convict me and put me back on track. Imagine being able to graduate BS Physics when I didn't even understand the abstractness of Quantum Physics...Only God made me pass that subject...and that in itself is a huge blessing for me.

As I started working, my tithing would also increase because naturally my salary increases as time passes... You see I have this kind of relationship with God wherein I can talk to Him anytime anywhere and sometimes I dialogue with Him on my mind even if there are other people around, making sumbong, saying sorry when I snapped at my officemates or got irritated by someone, seeking help, and just plainly updating Him about my day and wanting to hear His voice and get direction on my decisions...

So for all these times, I thought I was doing well in this area of giving. I only struggle most of the time with sacrificial giving which is giving in addition to tithing like a year or so ago but not so much in tithing... In fact, I could testify to blessings brought about by obedience to tithing and cheerful giving because remember my worry that time was not being able to earn dollar again, but God was just able to send me back to the US without hassle and more than the dollars, I had an experience of a lifetime.

So yeah, I was confident I didn't have problem on this area... so I thought... until one morning while I was showering, God convicted me in terms of not including my extra incomes to the tithe. I was only tithing 10% of my regular net salary, making the extra incomes bonuses but looks like God is not happy with that and He made me feel as if I was robbing Him of what I should be giving Him. So I said my sorry and rectified it immediately after a minor struggle. I also prayed that God will open my heart willingly every month to do this as I want to be a cheerful giver.

And last last Sunday, this popped up to me in the Sunday service:

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless. - Psalm 84:11(NIV)

Pastor Bong without knowing what's going on in my head and also with a different topic being discussed altogether(about Jealousy and Envy) also mentioned that "God gives the work and the ability to work" and "God's blessing is not limited to material blessing". I felt this is God's way of communicating to me. He could as easily give work and remove it depending on His purpose and all my resources are from Him, so why oh why would I struggle giving? (tsk tsk... Human Nature)

Now the answer and if I may say one of the blessings for obeying proper tithing came just before the long weekend... I lost my focus at work ever since I gave birth, my friends knew that, my bosses mentioned it... yeah yeah I finished my work and all my tasks but my heart was not in the work at all and I would rather stay with Yonky at home and I said to God, "don't let me leave this place until I have justified myself, prove my capabilities and bring back the glory to You".... and finally after almost 3 years and so much suspense and anxiety, I finally did that based on my performance last year. My bosses told me to keep it up =)

Hence, I was so in the groove to sing this to God now(I truly love singing and dancing to Him as music is my most favorite form of worship)... Enjoy!

YOUR GRACE IS ENOUGH

Chris Tomlin

A blessed blessed FY12 to all of us! I worship thee God for Your faithfulness!

Globe's Amazing Blackberry Service

2011-08-27T16:12:00.000+08:00

After 3 months of dissatisfaction with Smart's service without resolution at all to my complaint, I already started contemplating moving to Globe even if that would mean I have to update all my records and lose possible important calls/texts. When Smart made a wrong move of cutting my line all together even after settling my valid June, July and August bills without so much as "abiso" and even after trying to reach out to them through their hotline, webconnect and even email, and receiving no return call at all after their several promises... I just step out of the office and buy my first Globe sim in a long long time(last one was college days pa).

To my amazement... and as in AMAZEMENT, I was so impressed with Globe's response to my query. I only bought my sim a day before before I tried their Blackberry service. On that first try I wasn't able to register my account to their BIS site. After researching through forums, it pointed me to the fact that it is because I've already registered my BB PIN to Smart BIS and this is Blackberry's ant-theft feature wherein it will be impossible to use the BB features if PIN was previously registered already to other network unless previous registration was drop. I called the Globe hotline which was immediately picked up, stated my problem and where I was coming from and I was satisfied that the agent didn't need for me to repeat what I said unlike in Smart and when he gave me a timeline of 3 days, I readily accepted it as I was so used of waiting for the past 3 months anyways.

To my awe, a technical agent named Caitlin called me up barely an hour after the first call and told me to try again... she's so patient and waited for me as I try to log-in to my laptop and walked me through the steps very patiently. I also got the sense that she has that urgency in her to resolve my issue ASAP. When she walked me through registering to BBMAX50, I was again in amazement that I was able to get through the BB service in a snap without having to restart my phone, remove my sim and do all sorts of stuffs that Smart agents made me do. When the BIS registration still failed, Caitlin said she'll look into it and will update me as soon as possible. Again to my wonder after I reached the office, I received the second call and my issue with Globe BIS was fixed just like that... a little over 2 hours after I made the first call to their hotline. WOW... Very very impressed with their service. I didn't even need to follow-up!

Kudos to Amazing GLOBE's excellent customer service. It shows to me that they're way ahead as a network phone provider for Blackberry phones here in the Philippines most especially with Torch. Keep it up, I'm one happy customer! =)

Our Prince's 3rd Birthday

2011-08-19T14:25:00.003+08:00

"... But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD" - Joshua 24:15 (NIV)

Our son Yonky is our greatest testimony of God's tremendous grace and awesome blessings. Even from the time of his conception, wherein nobody in the family could feel excited because they knew I just had general anesthesia for my tonsillectomy barely 2 weeks before I found out I was 7 weeks pregnant, God already put a loud and clear message... "He is more powerful than any scientific explanations". From all the possible complications the anesthesia could have caused the developing fetus, Yonky came out not only healthy and bubbly...but also gifted - more than we have prayed for.

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible - Matthew 19:26 (NIV)

Blessings kept pouring in as he grew older and for his third birthday last August 18, 2011, he is still super healthy and received so much love, well wishes and gifts - his favorite Lightning McQueen RC car and other Cars characters and also a bonus Sony Bravia Internet TV from his generous grandparents Oh Manny and Owa Letty =). Now our house's living room is no longer bare.

At the end of the day, the material blessings are just bonuses... so for me, I gave to him what any growing kid wants... his parents' presence. For four whole days... I'm all his and he even said thank you to me awwwww =_(. You're truly so loving my bonky.

We had a simple celebration at home with the family and Yonky is super duper happy dancing and singing to his birthday song, skyping with loved ones that are in Isabela and playing with his now growing CARS characters collection.

GOD, we might not know Your ways all the time... but we trust that You'll be guiding Yonky's every step. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts. - Isaiah 55:8-9(NIV)

Happy Happy Birthday Yonky Bonky.... Have a blast @ 3 years old!!! WE LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH.