At a Standstill (well, not really)

Chapter 2 in The Little Red Dot. Bugis Junction, SG.

It is that part in every story when you're struggling to flip the pages to the next chapter because there are so many things going on. No matter how much we love the book, there's always that chapter that's "dragging"-- a long, semi-excruciating wait for the story to catch up with its pace. I'm there. I'm in that chapter right now. The flurry of events have been too overwhelming and too much that it feels like I'm running on an unending treadmill.

I'm almost about to end my term at work (my boss insists that I still have a uniform made, I vehemently protested) and my last hurrah (a big concert on March 10)  is so near yet so far. There is still much to do before Mr. P and I leave home and reunite with the spitting Merlion. 

While I feel like I'm trapped in a time-warp, I am trying to take in as much despite the limited time that we have left before our big move. I find myself going out on more spur-of-the-moment adventures with Mr. P-- something that hasn't been in our book for a bit because of my arch nemeses of the month: Naruto & One Piece. It's been amazing how he's been so patient accompanying me to and from UP (indulging my insatiable thirst for the Maginhawa F&B culture) and spend unusual afternoons playing non-stop Monopoly Deal or catching up with my college friends. We've also been enjoying weekly visits to new food haunts near The Fort (a recent trip to Army Navy convinced us that we still have more to explore this side of town).

We've also decided to do our own Lenten sacrifice this year-- extending our days of no pork/beef/chicken to the entire 40 days of Lent. We're on Day 6 and it has been a welcome challenge for us. Having given up rice since January, the Pescetarian diet is greatly helping with our New Year diet regimen. This discipline (and the diet itself) has made us feel lighter physically and emotionally.

The past weeks have also been good to us since we started a reading & watching spree. Our days are no longer consumed by idle hours online. Hooray! Most nights we find our noses stuck in books (I'm reading "The Persian Pickle Club" while Mr. P is leafing his way through "The Mysterious Benedict Society") and in-between we spend countless hours catching up on new flicks and sinking our teeth into the exhilarating adventures of Sherlock.

I'm milking my last days in the metro for what it's worth and on Wednesday I'll be watching UP Repertory Company's BAHAY-BA(HA)YAN: Tatlong Maiikling Dula featuring plays by Chris Martinez, Abet Cruz, and Nick Pichay where my sister will be performing! 

Definitely enjoying all the cheap thrills I can find this summer while waiting for Chapter 2!

Front-Row Seats!

We've been working with JMC ever since last summer and it has been an awesome experience. Some refresher classes and practice sessions have been conducted at the school and we've seen how these little ones made miracles happen in the kitchen. Not-too-long-ago the kiddie cooks also had the chance to whip up culinary masterpieces at Treston during an off-site location and I was even part of that! Sadly, my 5-seconds of fame didn't make the final cut for the show. haha. It was an exhilarating experience to culminate the project right where it all started.

I thought that before the show, the closest thing I'll get to TV exposure would be the certificates that Jazyon and I made for the awarding ceremony. So I grabbed the chance to have a photo with the big ass certificates beforehand:

Feeling Master Chef Finalist!

We spent the afternoon manning the registration where we got the chance to see the kids' supporters in full battle gear-- team shirts (Blue for Jobim, Red for Mika, Green for Kyle, and Yellow for Philip), balloons, posters, and cheers!

Now the best part! Front-Row seats! We were so close to the action that my friends and family were sending me "Are you wearing black?", "Hey you're on the freakin' TV!", "I saw you!" while the show was airing. Haha. The sights, sounds, and smells were absolutely amazing! Kudos to the kiddie cooks for a spectacular performance!

The Judges Chef Laudico, Chef JP, Ms. Judy Ann Santos, Chef Glenda Barreto, and Chef Fern

He may have landed the 4th spot, but he'll always be our best JUNIOR MASTER CHEF bet!

With Bianca, the fashionable kiddie cook

Congratulations to the First Pinoy Junior Master Chef Kyle and to Philip, Mika, and Jobim as well! 

Speed Dating! (Delayed Post)

I have to admit that I do get all warm and fuzzy during special occasions--especially on Valentine's day. Many might shrug it off and say that it's a freakin commercial holiday (an excuse to sell overpriced flowers and kill each other with diabetes-inducing sweets) but I really don't mind. It's the perfect excuse to smother people with love and happy thoughts!

Throwing surprises for people gives me a different kind of high. It's my own brand of heroine! Haha.

Because S has been so busy making other people happy and spreading smiles everywhere, it was my turn to shower her with love.

‎"Dates may come and go but I'll always be your valentine" 
A box of Cloud 9 in the morning  + happiness = an Instax-worthy moment. :)

I also put together a breakfast love package for Mr. P (photos have to be extracted from the sister's laptop) that consists of his favorite things: a box of blueberry Dutch Mill yogurt drink, a sinful sandwich with choco-banana spread, and an irresistible red velvet cupcake from Sonja's! I also popped in a little good morning note and a fuzzy Instax photo of my early-morning self. haha.

My teammate Tonie, who's been feeling blue lately for the lack of a proper Valentine to call her own-- was part of my "spread the love" project. I made her a sandwich much like what I made Mr. P and she was beaming from ear to ear, smothering me with hugs and squeals of excitement. Hooray!

Throughout the day, I also posted cheesy posts on my family's wall. I'm sure my teenage brothers cringed with embarrassment because of Ate's declaration of love-- but hey, one of them "liked" it anyway.

Before Valentines, my guy teammates have been so busy discussing "surprises" for their girls. I know the old adage "it is better to give than to receive" is always true-- but a sappy part of myself has also been yearning for that fuzzy v-day feeling (because I'm idealistic like that). Haha. I've been so bummed the past week thinking that Mr. P didn't have anything in store for me (he's not an avid fan of the commercial holiday nor is he one to give flowers). I was set on hating him that day but much to my surprise-- great things come to those who wait! Despite him having to work late that day, he surprised me with an early dinner invite and *drumroll* 3 long-stemmed roses. Haha.

Malt Milk Shake, Hungarians with shoestring onions, and Funny Bed Fellows: steak slivers on fries

First customers to write on their glass doodle wall! :)

I'm allergic to pollen but what the heck, flowers really make a girl feel special!

I ran off to another dinner date when Mr. P turned Cinderella on me-- except that his "curfew" wasn't at midnight but at 8:00 P.M. Had a few bites of mojos and pizza with my surrogate family and had a blast talking about how our days went.

Love is definitely sweeter when shared to others. <3

Of Taxis and Lines

I woke up today feeling lazy (as usual).. It was one of the usual Saturday mornings when I hear my alarm clock and grumble as I press the "snooze" button for another extended 5 minutes. It was that kind of day. With a heavy heart I jumped out of bed and took the long walk to the shower (S and I had slept over and I didn't bring any work clothes hence having to walk back to our house). In no time I was engulfed in perfume clouds, wearing a clean shirt, jeans that I can finally wear (thanks to my dieting), and my aqua sneaks. 

It was one of those nonchalant days.

Not So-Yellow Cab

The moment I hailed a cab I was already composing a tweet about how work on a weekend sucks. Haha. Typical C, I know. 

Then the driver spoke: "Kaliwa po tayo diha?" (Do we take a left there?)

My sleepy self was suddenly alive and kicking. Hala! Si Kuya Bisaya pud diay! (Oh! Kuya's Bisaya too!) The conversation was short but amusing. There is a different kind of high that I get when I discover that random strangers are Cebuano/Bisaya like myself. The vast expanse of the metro feels smaller and I feel like I'm chit-chatting with a long-time neighbor. In a nutshell, it always feels like home. 

I discovered that Kuya lived in the neighboring city of Butuan, East of Cagayan de Oro. He asked about my family in CDO and how badly affected the city was because of Sendong. I indulged and talked to him briefly about how my own neighborhood got flooded and how my family have been coping ever since. 

When the taxi parked in front of my office, I paid my fare and wished him well. "Amping kanunay, nong" (Take care always, Manong). From the Tagalog term "Kuya" I used earlier when I hailed the cab, our interaction was transformed to a deeper form of endearment and respect as I called him "Manong"-- a term that is more appropriate to Bisayas.

These small feelers of home make living away feel a bit bearable-- even for a short while.

When I thought the day wouldn't get better, I was greeted by our office maintenance personnel Kuya Roman, who like me, was also from Region X. 

"Maayong buntag Kuya!", (Good morning Kuya) I said half-stopping and half-rushing to beat the clock.

"Maayong buntag Ma'am Czar!", he greeted back with a warm smile.

Shake Break

Later in the day, I was off to Market! Market! for my waxing session when I stopped by a fruit shake stall for a smoothie. The attendant wasn't in his area so I had to wait a while alongside a rather groovy looking old man (his vintage Rayban aviators were like my dad's!) and his daughter who were deciding on where to eat. When his daughter left, he spoke to me and said, "I plan on leaving 50 bucks and get some of these mangoes if the guy doesn't come back". That made me chuckle. I said "yeah, or we could actually make the shakes ourselves sir". He had a huge smile on his face. He reminded me of Dustin Hoffman as Bernie Focker. Haha. 

Then the unexpected happened-- he asked me which province I came from. How he knew I was not from Manila, I couldn't really tell. I spoke to him in straight English and didn't talk to anyone in Bisaya on the phone prior to our conversation. Was it because my hair was in a messy ponytail? Did I look out of place in a sea of Metro Manila mall goers? 

Whatever it was, he was right. We had a healthy exchange of thoughts as we killed time. I was thirsty but I really didn't mind talking to someone who I discovered was from Cebu. When I told him where I was from, we immediately talked about Sendong and how unfortunate it was for so many lives to be lost. He asked me "Kanus-a man ka naka uli sa ato-a?" (When was the last time you went back home?). Home. Ato-a (our place). I love the collective feel of the term. 

When you speak with someone who speaks your language, he/she is considered a part of home. 

We talked a bit about family and more about Sendong. The closing line to his sentence before the shake guy arrived was, "It's really sad, but without death-- there is no life". I was left to nod my head and reflect. When our orders were up, we shook hands and he introduced himself as "Rod". We exchanged pleasant goodbyes and I swear he half-skipped off to Greenwich. 

It never fails to make me smile. Serendipitous meetings with strangers who come from home. I do believe that for some reason, no matter how distant you are to someone, no matter how much of an observer you are-- you would know when someone is from home. It has happened to me countless times and I was surprised that this time, I was on the other end-- being asked if I was from the province.

Its days like this that make me smile and say that I chose the right thesis topic during my college years. When everyone else was studying performance, I chose to study the correlation between speaking a common native language and the amount of disclosure that one makes. To summarize it, when language is used as a commonality, it increases trust between to people; thus allowing them to share deeper insights and increase the topics being shared. But this discussion is so lengthy, in-depth, and nerdy-- I shall save it for another post. :)

Thank god for the Bisaya "invasion"-- as how Mr. P calls it when he sees me so amused by the growing number of Bisayas in Manila. It never gets lonely in the big bad Metro. 

Peek-A-Boo(k)

After a surprisingly fun OT and a happy & healthy dinner date last night, sister S and I raided our favorite bargain haunts in Market!Market! for some "window shopping". After scouring shelves and racks, we chanced upon this cool gnorky item:

The perfect way to conceal that trashy romance novel you're reading (while in a public place) or protect your uncovered books/planners  inside your bag! S and I each got a book cover and grabbed some to give away. Heehee. The first thing I did at the office today was to try it out for myself!

Unfortunately, their standard size isn't that "standard" at all. The book cover cannot snugly wrap a regular sized novel (like the Happiness Project seen above) but is good for wider books/notebooks from 7 x 9" to 8 x 10". I also tried covering my 2011 Starbucks planner and it worked! I think this will be perfect the 2012 white Moonleaf planner that Tita T gave me for my birthday! I've been too careful to take it out of the house in fear of getting blotches on it, but thanks to this new discovery I can doodle and scribble anytime, anywhere!

Scribbles Are the Humble Beginnings of Great Events

The hiatus has come to a halt. My boss just finished her meeting with our EVP/CFO to discuss the proposals that we made for our Open House activity this March. After weeks of waiting and wasting time online (haha) my proposal finally got the green light! Hooray!

My notes and planners (yes plural, I have many of them) are packed with new scribbles and doodles for two events that we're organizing for February and March-- and I'm about to strap on my seat belt for another wild ride. 

I've been working professionally for events for two years now and I must say that the hustle and bustle of nerve-wracking preparations have become my daily dose of vitamin C. There's a different thrill that comes over me when I go obsessive compulsive over the tiniest details-- whether it be the font used for the invites or the schedules of ingress/egress for the event. There is much to do and much to visualize-- invites, ads, set-ups, letters, permits, marketing strategies, menu planning, etc. Despite the heart-attack inducing stress that comes from coordinating with suppliers and dealing with fickle-minded superiors, the end-product always becomes rewarding. 

Nothing beats seeing thoughts materialize before your very eyes. 

Teacher Time!

In preparation for our big move this June, Mr. P and I have been racking our brains thinking of ways to augment our humble "going away" fund. It's been years since I've been doing "Bring Czarinna to..." movements since I'm always moving from CDO to Manila and back again. But this one is more exciting I guess since I get to soar the skies farther to get to where I'm headed. One of the things I hope I'd be doing for this season's "Bring Czarinna To Singapura Fund" will be to venture back into the realm of teaching--but this time it'll be online. What's great about teaching online is that A) The lessons are a piece of cake, B) You can do it part time & earn more than your full time job, and C) Lessons can be conducted at the comfort of your own home,

I spent the whole morning reading through the recommended mock lesson materials armed with my sticky notes, highlighter, and pen! I'm getting more OC by the hour, re-reading and planning out topic notes for my session with the online trainer. If I get this right, I'll be well on my way to being Teacher Trinna (what my former students called me back in my 1st job) again. I'm so psyched! 

Preparing for a lesson is like a performance-- I always allow myself an ample amount of time to research my material, internalize it, give it a twist of my own, rehearse, anticipate scenarios, and then execute. It helps a lot that I'm really nitty-gritty when it comes to delivering my materials/spiels that's why when "dooms day" comes, it doesn't turn out so bad. 

EFL (English Flease Lang)

Teaching foreigners is no easy feat. Teaching Filipinos is more difficult. Haha. Well, teaching EFL (English as a foreign language) proves to be quite the challenge as one has to expand his/her imagination to convey cosmic concepts into the most basic of terms. English, albeit it being the universal language, still proves to be complex for many nationalities and individuals.

This is an example of HOW NOT TO SPEAK TO A NON-ENGLISH SPEAKER: 

During a recent trip to Beijing, the gang and I were a bit unsure of our way going to the Summer Palace so we asked a Chinese national in the area.

Me: "Ni hao! May I ask which way it is to the Summer Palace?"
Him: "Uhhh"
Me: "Where is Summer Palace?"
Him: ......
Me: Uhh. Thanks.
Friends: Anobayan! Na nose bleed tuloy! Sana tinanong mo lang "Suh-mer Pa-lace?". 

I swear, up to this day my friends still tease me about it. It gives me a different kind of thrill and terror imagining how my lessons would be like when I get the job. I'm sure it will be a blast exchanging cultural insights with students. On the down side, I think it'll be another test of my patience--especially because everything is online and it is much different than a real one-on-one session.

Oh well, it's about time I get back to work (and to my review in-between). I need all of your fingers crossed so I can pass the session tomorrow!

   

Just when I thought there wasn't anything I'd like to write about, I discover a wonderful surprise-- my first ever blog award! *virtual cartwheel* My heart is bursting with joy and I am truly flattered thanks to Chi of The Occassional Musings (one of my favorite fab reads) for the love! 

On the 7th of February I'd like to share 7 tidbits about me:

1. I only write with black ink and highlight with yellow/orange highlighter. Even during my school days, I prefer black over blue or other colored ink for writing.

2. I can fold my eyelashes--which freaks people out because it seems like I'm folding my lids inside-out but really, it's just the eyelashes people!

3. I only write in block capital letters... because I suck at writing in cursive! Haha.

4. I still sleep with a blankie. The latest one that I have is 7 years old!

5. I haven't been eating rice for 3 weeks and counting....

6. My first laptop's name is Lolita.:)

7. I'm in love with stars and starfishes!

I'm spreading the love and passing this on to 15 of my favorite stalkable blogs:

1. Nest & Fly
2. Life After Breakfast
3. The Happy Turtle
4. the occasional musings.
5. Out of Neverland
6. Fierce As the Vikings
7. Miss Adventure
7. nurturing thoughts
8. Happiness is a Warm Gum
9. pattylaurel
10. The Fat Kid Inside
11. The Fashionista Commuter
12. The Historian
13. The Zebra
14. fonziandfriends
15. Our Artful Life

This award has its rules, if you receive it you have to:

• Thank who send you the award and add a link to her/his blog;
• Write 7 random things about you;
• give the award to other 15 bloggers you love and tell them.

now it's your turn to pass this one. spread the loev to the whole wide world!

When in Doubt, Consult Dr. Seuss

"Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away! You have brains in you head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go."

Many thanks to Patty Laurel for posting this on her blog. This really made my day brighter. A reminder that no matter where you're going and whatever you're going through, there is a chance for you to make dreams come true! :) 

Musing the Mundane

I've been licking sticking stamps ever since yesterday afternoon. Haha. While my team mates were out, I thought it best to help the Admissions team in assembling letters for direct mailers. It was a humbling and enlightening experience.

The past months I've bean beating myself up and getting a beating because of the high demands of my current job, leaving me physically and mentally exhausted. The corporate world is a big bad black hole-- sucking out the life of individuals who persist to absorb the pressure and the cutthroat demands of the industry. 'Tis somewhat like a Dementor's kiss. Sadly, many of us are trapped in this vicious cycle whether it be to fulfill our economic needs or to fulfill that burning desire for accomplishment and recognition.

It's a common scenario with people in the corporate jungle to be irate about work, a their colleagues, being overworked and under paid, and the constant desire to jump ship. But more often than not, people don't really get out-- not because they want to, but because they have to. I find myself in that exact predicament as of this moment. YES, this choice to be a corporate slave is not a walk in the park but this rougher terrain is what is necessary to achieve my dreams of pursuing what I want to do in the long term. 

As I have decided to change my perspective about work and about life, I take more time to revel in the little things that are worth appreciating. I am thankful for having days when I don't feel like setting the school on fire. I am thankful for days when I have enough time to do tiny tasks instead of killing myself revising a propsal for the 100th time (which still gets corrections from fickle-minded big bosses). I am thankful for days when I don't feel like bursting into tears because the system is ill and I feel short-changed. 

I am thankful for peaceful days at work.

I find joy in simple tasks-- sticking stamps on envelopes, carefully folding letters, inserting them into folders, sealing the envelopes, counting the number of letters assembled, and handing them over to someone for delivery. The steps are easier, the expectations are lower, and there is minimal room for error.

When a good friend of mine (who's in the same industry as I am) visited last year, he asked me & my other friend: "What if you had to choose an easy job that didn't require you to think much but you'd be contented doing it? Disregard the thought of salary, social stigma, or accomplishment. What would it be?" 

 He said he had two things he wanted to do: 1) Be an LBC encoder, and 2) Be one of those airport staff with the light-saber things guiding airplanes (but that really doesn't count as not thinking too much because there's a lot of risks involed! Haha).

It took me quite a long time to rack my brain. There were so many things that I wanted to do! I thought of wanting to be an amusement park customer counter (the one who presses that thingamajig that counts the # of people), being a ticket lady for a cinema, or a grocery bagger! Diba? There are so many things that we can do that would bring us less stress but simple satisfaction for a job well done. 

Wouldn't life be much easier if we were more content with the work that we're doing? No pressure, no social stigma to worry about, no salary or poverty issues to think of?

Those were the thoughts running through my mind as I finished my last batch of letters earlier this morning. How I wish all days were easy breezy and happy.

Now, if I were to ask you the same question my friend asked. What would your ideal job be?

Head-Bobbing to the Beatles!

I have always believed that I'm an old soul. When most people feel like they were made for the glitz and glam of the 50's, I've always believed that my past life flourished some time between the 60's and 70's. 

The love for color, fun, and hip happenings has always been in my blood. My dad was the true-blue hippie of his day-- aviators, colorful bell-bottom pants, an enormous collection of LPs, and a once-upon-a-time fascination for Ananda Marga. This hippie of a dad also taught me the wonders of listening to the Beatles. 

When Mr. P's mom invited us to a Beatles set last night I was beaming from ear-to-ear. Despite the strain my 3.3k jog gave me, how could I resist a night of EPIC music? A quick shower and a short ride after, I find myself in a double date with Mr. P's mom and pop. Haha. 

Tita Cel's high school classmate was part of a quintet of talented musicians who really know how to make the crowd go wild! The band had a performance that night at Chrome in The Fort Strip. It was, as we expected, an OPP (old people party) but hey, nobody's too young or too old to have fun.

It was so much fun to see people head-bobbing and singing along to classics like "I Saw Her Standing There", "All My Loving", "Hard Day's Night", and the walang-kamatayang "Let It Be". What was more amazing and amusing to find myself giddily writing my song requests on tissue! Hah! My favorite Beatles song is "Here Comes The Sun" and it never fails to melt my heart each time I listen to it. Mr. Lead Guitarist was a bad ass guitarist and crooner as well! He seriously tugged at my heart strings. This song is close to my heart because it helped me get through the time when a dear friend of mine passed away in 2006. 

Mr. P found himself equally entertained as well, jotting down his own requests and grooving to the beats. The real show stoppers of the night were the grams who couldn't help but get up and do their signature 60s dance steps (hohoho) that I never thought I'd see anymore! Haha. The whole swaying from side-to-side with thrusting arm movements really cracked me up!

The whole act was absolutely enjoyable because the band really stepped up their game. Beatles na beatles talaga! They've perfected the blendings, the adlibs, and the amazing ability to keep a crowd entertained. Sulit na sulit ang pag crash sa OPP. Too bad they didn't sing another favorite, "Blackbird". Here are two clips: the original version and a sweet cover by The Glee Project's Cameron Mitchell. Enjoy!