Summer!

After five days if staying at home, we decided it's about time we get some sun lovin'.  The past few weeks were all about rain and clouds and dark days.  This time, summer says hello and we hope it's here to stay.

We went to nearby beaches for a good dose of fresh air, golden sun, and warm sand.  Don't be fooled!  The water is still too cold!!!

We just had to do the japan japan thing...

Sun bathers and the hungry birdies

Low tide.  Parang ang sarap ng talaba!

Pohutakawa or the summer tree in full bloom - a sign that summer is here!

Tall ones

I am reminded of totem poles.

Peeping...

Happy summer!

Go, Love!

Flashback to June 8, 2014...

I have been blessed with a passionate husband.  His passion in basketball is not to be questioned or belittled, and it is very evident with his gusto for NBA, UAAP, and the liga back home at their dear Baranggay Espeleta.

I was so happy to see him at his best, playing enthusiastically for his team during the finals.  He ran, played hoops, shouted, defended, rebounded with all his might.  And I, the stage wife, cheered and clapped happily for their team.  

Did they win?  No, but was I happy?  Definitely!  It was an honor and pleasure to see you play happily, my love!

My Girls

Flashback to June 7, 2014...

Had lunch with my beautiful ladies when I went home last June.  It was a good meal at Riche's home.  I finally met Riche's 2 lovely daughters, y and z, and I finally set foot on Riche's lovely abode.

After lunch, we headed to a nearby cafe and had a blast reminiscing and making chika :)

Thankful for friends who defy distance and time.  I've been through a lot with these girls - good, bad, and everything in between.  After college, meet-ups became less frequent as I've also been away from home since 2007.

Every meeting is great with you girls!  Thanks for a lasting friendship!

One Shade of Grey

After our Boxing Day date yesterday, I had a glimpse of my first gray hair.  I was waiting for this day to come!  A grand announcement of my old age!

Thoughts?  Growing old... Maturing... Getting wiser, hopefully!  I've been alive for a third of a century or a little more than three decades, and I've been tremendously blessed all throughout.

What's next?  Well, more gray hair, of course!  And more fun in the midst of the wonderful signs of aging process!  Happy aging!

Random

We've been briefed (or warned for the pessimists) that life in New Zealand could be pretty relaxed (or boring for the pessimists).  Malls close at 5PM on most days of the week, as if telling people to just stay at home with your family.  The other day, I asked Mike if he is starting to feel bored here.  He said no.  I feel the same way.  Hehehe.  Life has been good so far!

Here are some random beautiful things that I've witnessed for the past month:

One of the many full rainbows I've seen from our window and elsewhere.  The picture doesn't give justice to the beauty of the rainbow, sorry!

Wednesday is garbage collection day.  Isn't it so organised?

An abundance of lemons from our neighbour's backyard.  If only we could pick some so they won't go to waste! :p

One of those gloomy days.  Rain for me is bad news.  And so is howling wind.  In my opinion, nobody should be outdoors when the weather gets this crazy.

The local bus!  It's pretty much the same with SG buses but the timings could make commute time really complicated.  Fares are rather expensive here too when compared to SG fares.  I guess it's because cars are really affordable so not a lot of people rely on public transport.  If you don't have a hop card (like the SG Ezlink), you could always pay in cash and the driver will be more than happy to give you change.  Unlike in SG where you have to pay the exact fare.  I love how people are very courteous and appreciative to the driver.  On hopping into and off the bus, people greet and say thank you to the driver.  Very nice :)

The train platform at Panmure Station - again I am reminded of Zurich train stations.  The platforms look similar but the trains (and timings) are very different.

The train ride will show you scenes like the following, all from the Meadowbank Basin:

On a sunny day, a walk at the Auckland Ferry Station seems so right.  We saw a lot of people sunbathing here on a sunny Sunday :)

Sunny days are just divine!

A tree in full bloom.

A laundry perfect weather makes me happy.  

This is my jogging route on one of the clear days.

And dusk isn't that bad - taken at north western motorway on our way to church.

On to more beautiful random things!

One Month, Five Days

This is how long Mike and I have been here in freaking cold Auckland.  Freaking cold for people like us who hail from the tropical islands of the Philippines, and Singapore - which is just as warm.  It's freaking cold here because we arrived during winter, but it's not that bad.  I'm actually starting to like it!

I feel bad for not posting for the last 3 months.  A lot of things happened, each month worth remembering.

On June, I went home to the Philippines for a three-week vacation.  The highlight of which was the road trip to Pagudpod with Mike, Mami, and Kuya Panoy.  Although the rainy season beat us in getting to Pagudpod, it was a particularly memorable trip because I got to spend it with Mami.  Might take a while before we bond again.

On July, Mike and I went back to Singapore to spend time with family and friends.  It was a good month mostly because I got to attend to my auntie duties to my dear Keyla.  For a month, I got to be her yaya.  Every moment was sweet and I wouldn't mind doing it again and again.  For the last two weeks, Mami and Wawin also went to Singapore so we could be complete prior to our departure for New Zealand.

You probably couldn't imagine the agony of the day we had to part.  Everybody was in tears, as if we won't see each other again.  Partly it's true because we don't know yet when we could be complete again.  It sounds really dramatic but it's true: every single day, I dreaded for the day we'll say "see you again"... and it came.  But hey, everybody survived :).  Nobody had a heart attack and we are all fine as I speak.

A special shout out for our Singapore friends: Jan, Marco (and Marco's mom), Ann, Raffa, and Gina for being with us at the airport on our last day.  They became our family in the absence of our "real" family.  Somehow the "real" family disappeared and nobody was there to send us off.  Unbelievable :p

And now I sit here, smiling, being very thankful for how "easy" the first month has been.  Fairly easy.  God is good!

On the 21st of July, we landed safely in Auckland.  I am the queen of paranoia.  I imagined that the customs officers would ask us to open all our luggages while they scan every item.  I imagined I would stammer trying to defend that we don't have any suspicious article in our bags.  Capital P for praning.  Getting out of the airport was really a breeze.  I felt that the officers were all very friendly. Even the security dogs were friendly!  There was really nothing to be scared of :)

Philip, Mike's best bud, gave us a quick tour of the city.  The city was a melting pot of people of different races.  Loved how I was reminded of Zurich.  It must be the weather. :)

On the 2nd day, I was down with flu and a very bad cough.  Hanep!  Great timing :p So I was pretty much helpless and boring for our six-day stay in the city.  The blessing here is that Mike didn't catch the terrible virus.

On the 7th day, we found an apartment in a suburb (Mount Wellington) that we now share with flatmates.

And the  best news is that Mike and I found ourselves magically employed :) Mike is working part-time and I will start working on the 1st of September.  Somebody received very special birthday presents, right? :)

Everything else that happened in between is just so sweet.  Grocery shopping using carry-on luggage (we don't have a car :p), cooking meals, going to nearby parks, walking under the sun (and having migraines afterwards), shopping for essentials, going to the not-so-nearby mall, jogging... all sweet.

We now look forward to spring.  I now declare: good things happen on spring :) and also on summer, fall, and winter!  Love love love!

The Bum Gets a Day-Off

Friday! It's my farewell lunch with my Moody's friends. 

Incidentally, it's also my first time riding the new Downtown Line MRT - from

Bugis to Downtown station.

I love the theme: baby colors! I've seen baby blue, baby yellow, baby green. So nursery-ish!

Notice how clean the train is? It smells so new (except the walk from bugis to downtown because it smells foot-ish). The handles match the seat color. How dandy!

There are also... hmmm, are these butt rests? Hahaha! 

And look at those colorful priority seats! Nice! 

Wow! I've witnessed the opening of 2 MRT lines during my stay here: circle and downtown! I've been here for too long.

Undeniably, SG transport system is very efficient. I wonder how the NZ transport system will be? I've heard a lot of stories but we'll find out soon :)

Farewell, Moody's!

The final day ended fairly fast. I just sent my farewell email, shook hands with some members of the team, surrendered my laptop. I went out at 12 noon and have never felt so liberated! I'm sure a smile was permanently pasted on my face and I could understand why.

After graduating from college on October 2001 (I feel so old saying this), I had a good rest for two months before I got my very first shining shimmering splendid job offer. Don't get me wrong, the pay was not high, but that was how I perceived my very first job :)

After more than 13 years, this is the first time I'm taking a two-month break from work. Oh, the things I could do and the things I will not do for 2 months!

I started my freedom day by having lunch with my good friend, Len.

Pedi was next! 

And finally capped the day with McDo date with Jan. 

Vacation looks promising! 

Satsatan

                      

One of the most amazing benefits of mobile technology is the fact that your loved ones are just a few finger strokes away. I particularly like WhatsApp, Viber, iMessage. 

I have group chats with my family, St. Paul, SPI, UBS, Moody's. Everybody is so reachable and I love it! 

The most active channels are family and St. Paul. Family discussions include weekend activities, work rants, kumustahan, what's-for-lunch/dinner, inspirational quotes, general kulitan. Members hail from the Philippines, Singapore, Saudi Arabia.

St. Paul chat - dear St. Paul, where do I start? Paulinians are known for being talkative. That channel with 8 members is like an armamouth that's almost always active. Can you believe, we even had a discussion about our job descriptions because we were HS classmates but realized we didn't know what everybody does for a living. Isn't it the coolest channel? Crazy! Members hail from the Philippines, Singapore, USA.

And there is also a number of individual iMessage chats with Jan, Mike, and NZ advisers that are hyper active! 

To keep track if the members are alive or dead to the world, I keyed in everybody's time zone. I wouldn't want to miss chika time, would I?

Dear technology, thank you for keeping everybody nearby! You are awesome!

Dark Clouds

My view this morning from the office...

Ominous! Exactly the opposite of what I feel leaving these halls. Today is my last working day. I'll still go to the office on Monday morning but only to surrender my office stuff.

I get overly dramatic when leaving a work. This time though, I am more of excited to leave the chaotic work behind. I will miss the pinoy barkada I've gained here. I will miss the umay factor if there's no work to be done. Likewise, the umay factor when there's too much work to do.   I will miss Tanjong Pagar! 

Another chapter ends... On to the next! 

Take it away, Leann!

"Oooh, life goes on, and it's only gonna make me strong

It's a fact, once you get on board say goodbye 'cause you can't go back"

Pests

It's been a known fact that mosquitoes find my scent yummy. My cousin doctor said my body is warmer than usual that's why these pests choose to attack me more than the others.  I haven't been bitten for a long time. But lately, there seems to be a mosquito nest somewhere in our house. Let me sit for a few minutes and they come swarming towards me. The most that i've had is around 15 bites in a span of 3 minutes. I have no idea how they do it but they sure are good at what they do!

The bites are extra big this time. I've had 3 bites having this scary appearance:

I've read a bit. Research says some people are allergic to mosquito saliva. When a person gets the bite, the body produces histamines. This causes the itch and the swelling, thus the need for anti-histamine.

I am very "visible" to mosquitoes. That's why we need patches, mosquito lotions - to hide our scent from these pests. Could you believe that even if I wear pajamas they could still bite through the fabric? If you think that's scary, watch this. Gross!

http://youtu.be/49dQtrLxkYo

Ho Chi Minh City - Day 3

last day! we went to the kuchi tunnel since we had an evening flight to singapore. jake's flight was at noon so we bid our farewells at the hotel.

 

it took us around 2 hours to get to the kuchi tunnel.

 

but before that, we were dropped off at the souvenirs shops in kuchi village. the crafts are made by 3rd gen survivors who were left with disabilities after the war.

 

our guide was a war soldier. i felt the pain in his voice. there was something in his eyes that said, "i've seen it all." on second thought, i think he hasn't seen it all. he hasn't heard my deaf-girl-hirits yet.

 

sir: are you sing-gel?

(how intrusive, i thought. i thought i heard him ask if i was single, maybe i remind him of his daughter. i showed him my wedding ring and answered.)

me: no, i am married.

i don't know if he looked confused or annoyed. then he pointed at the microphone.

sir: no, no. sing-gel sing-gel!

aah, as in singer pala! hahahaha. sorry naman, ama!

 

pics at the kuchi tunnel:

 

in the end, jan and i went inside the tunnel. it was enlarged by 10% so i thought that it wouldn't be that difficult, plus there were 4 exit points inside the tunnel so you could opt to go out at any time. at some point inside the tunnel, i got claustrophobic, felt my heart pounding, felt myself running out of breath. we gave up on the 3rd exit and quit. it was a good experience :)

 

when we went back to our hotel, we asked if we could use the bathroom because we were so filthy. they said they will allow us to use a bathroom in one of the rooms, but they will charge us. neknek nyo. filthy it is! hahaha. the theme of this trip is "i'm so duuurrrrrrtyyyy!"

 

we went to the basilica to hear the sunday mass in their local language.

 

finally, we headed to the airport and had a good flight. except for that bad mistake the attendants made. they accidentally pressed the voice-over that the oxygen masks will be released. bad, bad timing to make a mistake like this.

 

overall, it was a good trip. it's a reunion with jake and janise. our first memorable trip being that gandria day tour in switzerland. surprisingly, we didn't sing our theme song, "for just a moment". we had the same boat ride, same walks, more juicy talks, but less of the funicular lectures by jake :p on to 2015 for our new zealand reunion!

Ho Chi Minh City - Day 2

day 2 was mekong river day. we started off early by taking a bus ride from the city center to the mekong river.

 

the trio at the boat. jake in his japan japan pose.

 

the river bank

 

and then we started sailing through narrow canals reminiscent of the pantanals in corumba, brazil. wow! i haven't been to brazil. i only read about in in grisham's 'the testament'. bwahaha!

 

this is our happy tour guide. i unfortunately forgot his name. he shared that marian rivera is a big star in vietnam, and that his mom has seen all her movies and teleseryes dubbed in their native language.

 

after the boat ride, we found ourselves semi-immersed in this little village. this is our group on our way to the 2nd boat ride that will take us to our lunch place. like a philippine procession, isn't it?

 

we boarded horse kalesas. some of the german tourists had issues riding the horse carriages because they said that they find it cruel. our guide debated that it's the culture and that they should adjust to the culture of the foreign land they are visiting. left with no choice, they boarded the kalesa with sour faces and reached the destination after all. cheers to them for standing by their principles. cheers to our guide for keeping calm and having the power to persuade people.

 

and finally the boat ride and our cool hats!

 

 

we had our lunch and visited some of the local merchandise spots.

 

after the tour, we had our dinner in the night market then did some more pasalubong shopping. we capped the night with a heart-to-heart talk and heart-palpitating coffee.