Love Note =) December 21, 2007

This week I got this surprising early-morning note from hubby when I opened the laptop:

(notice the colors? it’s our wedding motif =D)

It soooo simple but it surely made my day! My heart melted. Simple and little surprises do keep the flames within. Keep it up D! It works wonders. Thank you for everything. I LOVE YOU TOO!

WANTED: Wife or Husband December 21, 2007

Marriage – a word that encompasses countless issues. Perhaps this is a universal topic that would exude endless conversations, reactions, emotions, beliefs and what have you. Well, who I am to talk about this? Just a novice I may seem but being married for 50 years doesn’t make one an expert either – don’t you think so? Not even Oprah, the queen of talk, can use all her fame and influence on this topic because she isn’t a member of the club herself. Is she skeptical about it? Maybe.

Indeed, it is a blunt fact that broken vows increased over the years and many became cynical about it. The most common reason of break-up is the notorious 3^rd party syndrome or falling-out-of-love – whichever comes first?! I am not really sure. From that, problems spring out and the reasons to untie the knot just go on and on and on…

So the question is – why and when did the love start to dwindle? Or is love enough? Again, stories may begin to unfold and some will choose it to remain untold. Daunting matters of marriage isn’t that easy to tackle after all. Worst of it all, when the growing children are involved and they feel rejected and unloved too. Sad but true.

Marriage is a tough decision. When it fails, it will surely take a harsh toll. Therefore, before you enter, think that it’s like the toughest JOB you’ll ever apply for. See if you fit the following TOP 5 requirements:

Warning: MUST meet the aforementioned requirements or it may result to psychological and emotional disturbance/dysfunction.

Hopelessly Craving December 21, 2007

 

Nostalgia struck me today. Aside from good friends back home, I truly long for my favourite/comfort foods that I can’t seem to find here:

1. Crabs (haven’t found a well-known and reputable fishmonger who sells good crab; the ones in the supermarket look ‘unhealthy’ and they’re expensive!)

2. Talangka

3. Bangus especially the one from Dagupan

4. Cakes from Red Ribbon especially Ube cake

5. Fresh buko juice

6. Doughnuts from KrispyKreme or GoNuts

7. Sr. Pedro / Andok’s lechon manok

—Only in Cebu—

8. CnT lechon

9. Guadalupe’s sweet mangoes

10. Ice Castle’s halo-halo

11. STK in Capitol especially their tuna panga

12. Crispy pata of Café Laguna (unbeatable)

 

Huh?! It just occurred to me that I’m actually craving for 12 items and I can’t think of anything more…gosh, may I sing the “12 Days of Christmas” and hope that D will read this hehe

 

Really, if I could just have any of the aforementioned, my Christmas would be extraordinary! But then again…I guess it will only remain in my dreams…my, oh my! why can’t I have the best of both worlds?!!

My 2nd month in NZ: an update December 6, 2007

Hello to you all! Long time, no hear hehehe

 

I’m here in Auckland for 2 months now and I love it here so far. The Kiwis (the people here) are really friendly and polite and the place is breathtaking. If you love nature then you will surely marvel over the picture-perfect scenery here – green surroundings and clean air.

When I arrived, I was greatly adjusting to the weather. Eventhough it was spring here, I was in a “winter” ensemble hahaha – gloves, thermal socks, thick clothing and all. Yes, you can feel the scorching heat of the sun (they say that the ozone layer is thin or non-existent) but the wind is freezing…Well, enough of that now because it’s summer here already. The weather is perfect – hot but not humid…yippee!

 

Aside from the weather, they talk different English here too – British terms and all which I am not used to:

• college means “high school”; so don’t say you’re a college grad hehe; say, “university” grad instead
• they don’t understand CR, they use “toilet” and “loo”; “rubbish” instead of trash/garbage
• the letter z is pronounced as /zed/ so NZ is /NZed/
• “have here” instead of dine-in; “take-away” rather than take-out
• strange words like “a box of birds” that you say when you’re feeling great; smoko=short break, etc…you can check out more kiwi words here
• their short e sounds like long e as in /tist/ for test; also, head=/hid/,heavy=/hivy/…waaaahhhh say what???? I surely get confused!…context clues truly come in handy =D
• when asked how you are, use superlatives because “good” is just mediocre (they may think something’s wrong); say “I feel (great, fantastic, marvellous, lovely, awesome, etc.)” hehe

Working here as a teacher is different too. As an Early Childhood teacher, your job entails all-around tasks: feeding, cleaning, changing nappies/wipe bottoms and everything else that in the Philippines, you expect a nanny/janitor will do. It is not a glamorous job but it is fulfilling in one way or another especially if you love kids! As my friend who works as EC teacher in Czech Republic say, she feels like a “glorified nanny” hahaha!!! Doing all the aforementioned, it is quite disheartening that our education is considered not comparable here – meaning, I have to go back to school for further training in order to become a “qualified” teacher. This is a must for me or else I’ll be paid much lower doing the same job as the “qualified” teacher huhu. As of the moment, I need to bear all that. In fact, I’m just lucky enough to have a teaching job even if I’m not trained here.

 

Despite the adjustments and all, I find NZ as a great place if you’re family oriented and you don’t like the hustle-bustle of the city. It’s laid back here and children are still “tamed”. You can’t hear morbid news like shooting in schools or mall (God forbid). For me, life here is comparable to being in a province in the Philippines – with a better government that is! hehe =D

 

That’s all for now! Will write more about my journey here later =D