Blessings

Have u thought about how blessed you are?

I did think about that last night as i watched another inspiring episode of Oprah. (Yeah, yeah, i love Oprah.) She had a guest, an investigative reporter from National Geogprahic Channel who also works in her show, who talked about a horrfying situation that is happening in India. It's called the Dowry Death. We all know the dowry tradition, right? The family of the bride has to give money, gold and any other expensive gifs to her husband and his family. Now this is the scary part. If the bride and her family had stopped giving supplements to her husband and his family, she will be burned to death. And when interrogated by the authorities, she has to give lame excuses for the reason of her burn so as not to harm the family of her husband. Imagine that.

Another touching story was the story of women in Ethiopia. They are betrothed at the age of 8 or 9 and their husbands have to wait unil they reach puberty to have sexual contact wih them for reproduction. And because their body is not yet prepared for such drastic experience, they labor for 6 days, alone, with no medical help whatsoever. And the reason why they can deliver the baby is because the baby is a stillborn. Worse, those women, because of that dreadul experience of labor and delivery, have developed holes in the organs of their body causing continuous leakage of urine and waste. Because of that, they are ostracized from their loved ones and the community. They have to live alone in a hut because no one would dare to live with them and their foul-stinking body. Thank God for a doctor who fell in love with the Ethiopians, decided to build up a community hospital offering free operational services for the women.

Now these two stories made me think how blessed i am to be born as a Filipino woman. I don't have to think about dowry and I can freely choose who i want to marry. I can decide when to marry and not be engaged in my childhood.

These made me aware of the wonderful gifs God has given - a beautiful family, wonderful homeland and the blessing to be born as Filipino.

Lastly, it made me realize the best gift God has given - the gift of being me.

Question

To blog or not to blog. That’s the question.

I was telling one friend of mine about my blog. How excited I am to place recent pictures and how happy I am to tell stories on what’s been happening in my life. My friend just plainly commented, “Limit the things and the pictures you are placing on your site. Give yourself some privacy.” That last sentence made me think.

At first, I was really hesitant with this blogging thing. You go on revealing stories about your life, even the things that are only needed to be kept within yourself or within your close circle of friends. Yeah, it’s fun to see someone posting comments on your articles, seeing the hits counter go up, and your tagboard full of messages. But what about privacy? Our blogs are available on the internet and anyone can just peep in our so called life. Why not just write in the traditional diary? Locked up and kept from everyone else but you.

As for me, I really enjoy blogging. Telling others, especially my friends who live far, about my escapades in life. But I’ll be honest. Sometimes, I’m wondering if some crazy person stumbled upon your blog and started keeping records of information about you then makes up silly things that can harm you. What will you do? What will I do? There’s that unsafely feeling.

These thoughts kept on lingering on my mind since I started blogging.

To blog or not to blog. That’s the question.

Heaven is in my heart

Good News
Wonderful Friday Service. Our guest speaker from Nigeria was very encouraging and inspiring. He was truly an anointed pastor. While preaching, he was full of anecdotes to tell us that’s why I didn’t feel sleepy at all during the sermon. Hehehe… Also, he would insert rhyming phrases that would make us laugh. He was really funny but at the same time full of wisdom. Here are some of the topics at his sermon earlier that touched me.
Angels – there are really angels that go before us to keep us safe. They are always with us as our guardian.
Blood of Jesus – When we are inside the blood of Jesus, there is no harm. But when we are outside the blood, there is no protection.
Tongue – What comes out of our mouth can bless or destroy a person. So be careful of what you speak, always speak encouragement.
Your attitude determines your altitude.
Confession without faith cannot make miracles happen.
Confession precedes possession.
Always take hold of the God’s promises as it says in the Bible.

My faith boosted up again. I was again reminded to just remain faithful to God and to his promises. He will never leave me nor forsake me. That he knows the plans He has for me, plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and future…. Amen.

Bad News
After the church service, we went to eat at a nearby diner. Again, I ate a lot of fried stuffs. Fried chicken, fried beef, fried rice and fried prawns. That’s bad news for my health and my ever enlarging fats in my body. I need to start working out if I don’t want to get big. Bad news….

Updates

At dahil Linggo ng Wika ngayon, ang gagamitin kong language is Tagalog. (Taglish din naman..hehehe). (I have to use Tagalog coz its our the week of our national language.. :o) )

Hay Naku!
Nakailang palit na ako ng lay-out..pasensya na sa mga bumibisita..hehehe..Nakapaglagay na rin ako ng comments, so i think anyone can post your opinions na...

Bata Bata...

Isang bata ang pinipilit akong banggitin ang pangalan nya sa journal kong ito. So babatiin na lang kita. Hi Tinne.. Hope you enjoy reading.. and dont hesitate to keep in touch! (i kept promise 'ayt?)

Ewan!
Bumalik na ako sa dati kong pwesto sa opisina pagkatapos ng isang buwang pagkakaupo sa ibang posisyon. Ngunit, aalis din naman yung isa naming amo kaya, next week balik na naman ako dun. Nung mga nakaraang araw, dun na ako gusto paupuin, pero sa tuwing uupo ako dun, wala lang. Kasi after 5mins e aalis na naman ako dahil uupo na uli yung papalitan ko. Ewan! Magulo sila. Hindi na lang ako paupuin dun kapag nakaalis na yung amo para tiyak na may bakanteng upuan diba. Balewala din naman yung pag-upo ko dun kung paaalisin din ako pagkatapos ng 5 minuto. Kaya inis talaga ako. E ano ba namang magagawa, kailangan lang sumunod. Pero nung mga nakaraang araw, kapag tinatanong ako kung kelan daw ako uupo dun, sinasabi ko talaga na pagkaalis na lang nung amo. Hehe. Tumatawa lang naman sila, kaya mukhang ok naman…

Busog na Naman
Nung Lunes, lumabas kami ng bessie ko para magdinner out. Actually, treat ko yun for her para sa birthday ko dahil isang buwan na nya ako hinihiritan. Hahaha! I decided na ilibre sya sa Applebees. We ordered yung promo nila na 59riyals lang, may full meal ka na, choice of dessert and drinks. The full meal includes breaded chiken, fettuccine and garlic bread. We also ordered extra basket of fries. So talagang pig out diba. Hindi nga namin naubos ang meal at dessert kaya pinabalot na lang naming. And after, Jeh decided na magpunta kami sa City Center kasi may bibilin daw sya sa grocery. I thought mga 1hour lang kami dun, but inabot kami ng 2hours. I got home 10:30 na. Inantay pa kasi naming ang papa nya to pick us up. Ayaw namin magtaxi dahil mahal na ang patak kapag after 9. Sakit ng mga paa ko that night kasi inikot naming buong mall habang nag-aantay ng sundo. Kakapagod pero ok lang kasi ngayon lang uli kami nagspent time ni Jeh after ilang months.

Sakit
Martes. Nagising ako ng nananakit ang balikat ko. Sobrang sakit na hindi ko maikiling ang ulo ko sa kanan. Sabi nila nalamigan daw o siguro nangalay lang sa pagkakahiga. Nawala din naman pagkatapos ng dalawang araw. Bigla din akong nagkasingaw, ang hapdi kapag natatamaan. Nakuha ko ata nung nabunggo ng toothbrush ang gum ko. Sana gumaling na…


Cookies!!
Thursday, half day na naman! I spent half of my afternoon baking cookies. Hehehe…
at first, akala ko papalpak dahil after ng 11mins sa oven, malambot pa ang taas...buti na lang naging ok nung nagcool down na...

at ayan ako, nagpapacute habang nagbebake.. hahaha!


ok! success! sarap...

Nakatamang mga kataga
Sa nagdaang linggo, may mga phrases akong narinig na nagstuck sa utak ko.

“Move more and eat less.” Napakinggan ko sa isang show ni Oprah galing sa kanyang personal fitness trainer.
“Kung nasan ka ngayon, nilagay ka dyan ng Panginoon para ihanda ka sa mga hinaharap na plano nya sa’yo.” Galing kay Ate Susan

At dyan nagtatapos ang aking kwento. Bow.

Fun...

Exhausting week. Not in work but in foods!! Grabe…. Saturday, had a KFC bucket meal, Sunday, chicken fillet with corn on cob, Monday, Beef, Tuesday, pansit, cassava cake (I ate a lot of this..tsk tsk..),and fried chicken, Wednesday, ate at Far East Restaurant, Thursday, was invited in a thanksgiving party (ate a lot of kaldereta… yum yum…) Now tell me, how will I get thinner with all these foods around me… huhuhu… I know it takes discipline but I can’t help it!! I love food..hehehe…

Okay, enough with foods…

An Overcomer
My work as a replacement for my officemate has ended… and I learned some few things…
a) I have a bad handwriting
- First, our travel agency complained about it. He can’t understand the names I wrote in the reservation slip… haha!
- Second, one of the hotels called me just to clarify the names of the guests I was booking… he said my handwriting looks like Japanese….
- Third, my officemate was always calling me on the intercom just to ask what’s written on the envelopes that I’m going to send on our site office.
Yeah yeah yeah…. I’ve been hearing that since I was in high school and college… that’s why my classmates never borrow my notes coz they will not understand anything… harharhar…
b) Patience is the key so as not to go crazy.
Overloaded with bookings… those were my experiences… too many waitlisted passengers that you have to follow-up… but I endured all of those. Congratulate me…hehehe…
c) Be friendly even if the one you’re speaking with isn’t.
You can never avoid this… I’m not being makulit. I’m just doing my job. And that is to follow-up those waitlisted passengers. Anyway, I remained cheerful. That’s one positive attitude.
d) Be organized.
Never throw out anything. You might need it someday.
e) Be alert.
I think, if I will grade myself on alertness, I will barely pass. I tend to forget easily…hahaha! During that period, my boss kept on asking me like “When did we book this?” “Have we done their exit passes?” “Have we returned the tickets for refund?” Did we extend their business visas already?” And I would just go, “ahhhh…errrrr…I’m not sure. Let me check first...” Me and my wonderful memory…hahaha!
Overall, I think I did well… I’m an overcomer!

Party! Party! Party!
This past week, there were two parties that happened. One is the birthday party of my officemate. Over… I was really bloated that day. I ate a lot of fried chicken and cassava cake…
The second one was at the Far East Restaurant. Because one the previous general manager of our company came from Yokohama so we decided to organize a dinner. It was my first time to meet him. First impression, cheerful. And my impression was true! On that evening, he was humoring us with his witty jokes… In short, he’s a joker. But they said he’s very strict when it comes to work, but what the heck! With that attitude, you will never be scared of him. He goes on telling jokes to everyone… Well, maybe he got a little drunk coz the wine and beer he was drinking. Hehehe…
I don’t know if it’s their custom, but I like what they did before dinner. So we had our orders and we we’re comfortably sitting. Their drinks were served first, coz they just ordered beer and we ordered orange juice. The foods were served. I was wondering why there are not yet starting… and Shimizu San (that’s him, the joker…hehehe) just told that they will wait for us ladies to get our drinks before they open their beers… Hmmmm….. I found that very….. courteous… respectful… I don’t know, somehow it made me feel like a lady. Hehehe…and so the evening went by, with all of us laughing and kidding around, eating those wonderful dishes (combination of Japanese, Chinese and Thailand cuisines) and taking pictures. Speaking of pictures, here’s some shots you may want to see


nazar(one of our drivers), me, Takahashi San (came with Shimizu San from Yokohama), Malaine


group picture! my officemates.. and of course the man sitting on the middle of two girls is Shimizu San (the oldest of the three gents with us) and sitting at the right side is Watanabe San, our Senior Commercial Manager

I very much enjoyed that party. Everyone was at ease. Seeing the smiles, and acquanting with other nationalites was fun and as well interesting. What a good night!

I miss...

I miss the freshness…. I miss the greenery… I miss the cold wind that kissed my cheek whenever it blows… I miss those places… I miss those moments….

I stayed there for four years to pursue my university degree. I miss Saint Louis University. I miss those hallways that are filled with the students’ voices. I miss talking with my classmates and friends about anything-projects, the latest chismis, our professors.

I miss the apartment where I stayed. It saw all my heartaches, my joy, my tantrums, my lowest moments and those times where I’m so hyper and happy. It can attest to some of my behaviors unknown to other people. I miss the balcony outside my room where I used to stay just feeling the cold wind and seeing the mountains full of houses that looks like stars because of their light.

I miss the busyness of Session Road, where I used to stroll whenever I just feel like walking. Sightseeing the wonderful stores at its side. Its full bloom whenever the Flower Festival is on. Flowers everywhere. Food stores that’s so cheap you can almost eat all the food they’re selling. I miss those jeepneys that are so hard to catch whenever there’s storm. I miss getting angry at those drivers when they don’t give you the exact change.

I miss the malls that are never out of shoppers. I miss the city market that irritates me whenever I go there because of its crowdedness. I miss the Burnham Park. I miss the Mines View.

Just thinking of those makes my heart wish to make time go fast so that it will be next year, so I can visit those places again.

I miss the freshness… I miss the greenery… I miss the cold wind that kissed my cheek whenever it blows… I miss those places... I miss those moments... I miss BAGUIO…