Yesterday, we celebrated my twin nephews' birthdays. Hard to believe that, 3 years ago, my husband and I were carrying these 2 fragile baby boys. Helping my sister in-law change their diapers, feed them, burp them and put them to bed. I remember the first time they called my name. Instead of Joan, they called me Goan. I remember the first time I saw them walk, fell, cry and ate. I remember them looking for me (while I was in the bathroom) and asking "Nana, where is Goan?" and most of all I remember the first kisses and how they say "I love you Goan"
J&J at 3 months
Now, they are 3 years old. They can finally say my name correctly. They are now becoming little men. They are growing fast right before my eyes.
To J&J, happy birthday my loves! I'm sure you are going to out grow me really soon, but you will forever be my little nephews. I love you both!
On April 12, I received the green light to go on vacation back to my homeland with my mom. Without hesitation, I booked the same flight as her. Even though I would be returning on a different day as my mom and the flight would be very long in cramped seats, that didn't stop my excitement about going home - especially since I haven't been home in 8 years.
Having a newly adopted dog that has become very attached to and dependant on me, I was worried about leaving him alone with my husband. As I have mentioned before, Lenny (my dog) is a little afraid of my husband. I knew that Lenny would be very sad when I left. As a matter of fact, the night before I left, while packing, Lenny could sense that I was leaving. He followed me around and started chewing the luggage. But the most painful part was when he went inside the luggage while I was organizing my clothes. Two things came to mind as what would happen - either Lenny would get closer to and bond with my husband or he would fall into a deep depression, stop eating and get sick. With my husband's assurance that everything would be ok, on April 19, I left home and headed to the Philippines.
On April 21 (local date), we arrived in Manila after a 23 hour long flight. We stayed in the city for two days to take care of some errands, but that was not to be our main destination. On April 25th, after 45 minutes flight from Manila, we arrived in Tacloban City. In 8 years the city had changed a lot. There were a lot more people that I remember. There were also lot more stores to shop in and roads that used to be packed with bicycles were now packed with different kinds of motorized vehicles. Eight years ago, if you looked for hamburger, it would take you hours to find. Now, the city has many different kinds of fast food joints to choose from. Before, they used to have 1 shopping mall - Gaisano, now there is a second, even bigger Gaisano, as well as the Robinson Mall to compete with them. But Gaisano is still my favorite shopping mall in Tacloban. I have visited that mall so many times in my life, that I still remembered the ins and outs of the mall.
Chowking is my favorite fast food in Tacloban city because of the Halo-Halo they sell. After going there for the third time (they always run out of ice) we finally got to enjoy this delicious concoction.
However, not everything changed in Tacloban -- the constant nose picking, spitting, men walking half naked, smoking inside the jeepneys, the honking of cars trying to turn one way roads into two way, the smell of diesel motor-vehicles and the unbelievably pungent smell of the supermarket. These are the things I could NEVER get used to. But, I love the hospitality of Tacloban city -- the friendly people, their (missing teeth) smiles and most importantly the respectfulness of the workers. I love the way they call me "ma'am" even in McDonalds.
Balangiga was our next stop. This historic town in Eastern Samar is mom's birthplace. Visiting this place was the main reason that I decided to go home. Most of my family still lives here and I missed them very much. After my mom and I settled in, we were served a very familiar dish of grilled blue marlin, commonly known as Sulusugi. My cousin also brought us caimito (star-apple) in exchange for a real apple.
While enjoying our feast, a combination of mosquitoes and flies were enjoying my body. The dining table was always full of fun and laughter. I love the way my uncle teased my aunt and my aunt responded back annoyed and irritated. I love the way my cousin would say something stupid and everyone would laugh at him. I also enjoy listening to them gossiping about other people or complaining about family members. It's the typical family drama - something I missed very much.
Speaking of family drama, I was surprised to find out that most of my cousins now have their own babies. Either they impregnated someone or they got pregnant. Some were forced to marry someone because they impregnated someone. It's sad story but it's also reality. Being the very first one in the family who actually got married without getting knocked up, I became the hot topic of the subject. I got constant questions about "when are you having babies" or comments that "you should have a baby now because you're getting old". I tried to answer them politely or have a laugh at it but the questioning never seemed to stop. One time, I got so fed of that I bluntly answered them: "I don't want to be a statistic of one of the irresponsible parents who have the nerve to make babies, knowing that they can't afford them. I don't want to have a baby and still rely on parent's help". That answer shut them up for sure.
Overall my stay in Balangiga ang Tacloban was fun especially with the help of my favorite cousin Nildz, who took me to different places. He really made my trip more memorable. I will surely come back soon and stay a lot longer.
As for Lenny, it turns out that he was ok. According to my husband and our dog walker Roz, the first 2 days was a bit difficult. He didn't ear or drink and he hid under the bed. After that, he started to warm up to my husband. As a matter of fact, he has now stopped barking at my husband. Two nights ago, when my husband got home and sat down on the couch, I gave him a kiss and Lenny came near him, looked at him, jumped on his belly and slept there. Although he doesn't wiggle his tail when my husband gets home, Lenny now greets my husband on the door. I guess good things happened while I was away. Perhaps I should go away alone often. :-)
As you may recall, I was ticketed by park police for allegedly walking Lenny without his leash. As unanimously suggested by you guys, I went to the court and fight it. I was scheduled for an 8:30AM hearing (or so I thought). Now, I am not a morning person but to prove that I am not guilty (and to save $100), I dragged my ass out of bed and went to court earlier than scheduled.
As usual, most government bureaucracies are slow to move, I sat there waiting patiently for more than an hour until they called my name. Finally at 9:35 AM the administrative clerk judge called me. We sat in his office and he turned on his recorder and started writing jibberish (it looked like my hubby's writing)
Now, this is not really my first time at this sort of hearing. I once complained about a taxi not driving me home because I live in different borough (it's a typical stereotype that if you live outside of Manhattan, you pretty much live in the ghetto - little they know, we live in prime Parkslope) and btought the driver to a hearing. I knew I was going to win my case based on the law in NYC that no taxi can refuse a fare because the destination is in the different borough. Also, they stupid taxi driver brought his meter record which actually proved my case. Long story short, I won and the driver got penalized.
Having watched my favorite show Judge Judy thousands of times, I pretty much knew how to act in with the clerk judge: Never say anything until you are asked a question. Answer only Yes or No questions and bring proof/evidence.
So finally the clerk judge spoke;
CJ: Do you want this case to be adjourned and for me to give you a lower fine or do you want a hearing?
JB: I would like my ticket fine to be lowered if possible.
CJ: I can't do that; you need to pay $100.
JB: I guess your honor; I have no choice but to do a hearing.
CJ: Do you want the officer to be present during the hearing?
JB: (If I'm wasting my time here I think it's fair if the officer should waste his time too) Yes, your honor.
CJ: Are you going to have a lawyer represent you?
JB: (I think my husband can represent me but I don't want to look cocky in the eye of the "real" judge and end up losing the case and his sympathy) No, your honor. I will represent myself
CJ: Very well, we will send you a letter for your next hearing. You can go now.
That's it? I wasted 1 1/2 hours just to answer this stupid questions? They should have just send me the questionnaire and I would have mailed it back to them via Fed-ex!
I will be waitng for the next hearing. Hopefully it doesn't come anytime soon while I'm half a world away for the next 2 weeks.
Today is my mom's 61st birthday. Because her birthday fell on Good Friday this year, we celebrated with the family last week. Believe me, it is not always an easy feat scheduling a get together with all of my family, which includes my uncle, Ivan (my uncles BFF) and my two brothers. My older brother often works weekends and my younger brother's schedule is just ever unpredictable because he is in the army. In fact, last weekend was the last weekend he was around before going out of state for three weeks for training. We all had an intimate dinner at Mulino Ristorante (formerly Trattoria Mulino - they moved up in the world!), one of our favorite restuarants in the neighborhood. Afterwards we went back to my house for ice crean and this ridiculously cheezy Filipino movie called "Dubai."
On her actual birthday, I met my mom for lunch. Since she was in a hurry to get bact to church, we net and had a wonderful pizza lunch at Sbarro in mid-town, (truth to be told, Sbarro's is a tourist trap - most New Yorkers wouldn't be caught dead there.) As usual, my mom was a bit slow to order so the guy thought that she was a tourist also. He started screaming at her that there is a long line and if she is not sure what to order, she needs to get off the line (ah that New York hospitality!) I thought it was pretty funny that my mom has lived in New York for a quarter of century and she still hasn't adopted the New York life.
On the left is a picture of my mom eating a slice of pizza along her favorite drink - cranberry juice.
To my mom, happy birthday! Without you I'd never have gotten to experience the New York life. And although our mother/daughter relationship went through some though times the past few years, I'm happy that we were able to start over. On your 61st birthday, I wish you a wonderful year, good health and many more birthdays for us to celebrate together. I also hope I can join you on your vacation back home next week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that time will permit me.
As I'm sure you guys already know, about two months ago we adopted little Lenny the bichon. He's starting to come along really well at this point. He seems pretty well house trained, he is starting to get more and more playful, and he has really gotten so close to me that we've nicknamed him The White Shadow because, wherever I go, he goes (and my husband has a thing for cheesy 70s tv show reference, half of which I never get.) TWS follows me around so consistently that I don't even really need to keep him on a leash. Note I said "don't need to" not "don't have to" -- two different things, as I have learned.
Yesterday, I took Lenny out for late morning walk in the park. The weather was not so bad -- a little chilly but sunny -- so it felt nice to go for a nice long walk in the loveliest park in the city. As I said, I am confident that Lenny will follow me, so I don't need to keep his leash on him. However, for this walk, I did have his leash on.
It must have been the glint in his eys or the way he cocked his head or maybe the way the sunlight tinged his curly hair, but Lenny just looked adorable and I knew I had to take a picture of him. Now when taking a picture of God's most adorable creatures, it simple will not do to have him tethered to an ugly old leash in the photo. So I took it off. Just for the picture. I wasn't planning on walking him off-leash. I was going to take the picture and put the leash back on. Honest....
Well, I click the photo (or whatever sound it is that the iPhone makes when taking a picture), and all of a sudden I hear a police siren. (Parks department police, but whatever.) I turned around, and Park cop was looking right at me. I was caught red-handed and unleashed. As he was writing the citation, he told me the whole shpiel about dogs not being allowed off-leash anywhere in the park except during certain off-leash hours. The best I could think was to ask if I could be let off with just warning. He looked at me, my ring finger, and my address and told me, "We have a zero tolerance policy! We want eveyone to be safe and to make sure that the park is clean." Whatever! I see poop all over the place, so much for cleanliness. And safety? Does my 16 pounds ball of white fluff look viscious? Heck, he tucks his tail in and runs away whenever he sees another dog on the horizon! Who is he going to hurt? You wrote me a $100 ticket because you profiled me as a well-to-do (possible a domestic servant of a well-to-do :-) ). What am I stupid? But, he was a cop (sort of) so I remained quite.
So here it is...my very first ticket! (Lucky I wasn't in a costruction zone, I guess. They double the fines.) I should frame this!
I showed the ticket to my husband and he notices that the police got my information incorrect. I hyphenate my maiden name with his, but the officer only put my maiden name as last name. He put the second part of my last name as my first name (along with my real first name, which is just plain odd.) My husband said it's technical defect, but it's a defect nonetheless and I could probably fight the ticket in court (I wonder if its Judge Wapne's Animal Court.)
So what do you thing? Do you think I should try to fight the ticket or should not bother going to court and just pay the 100 bucks?
I was cleaning my mailbox and saw an I email I sent to my coworkers when I quit a previous job (7 years ago). Oh I wish I could send this again but given the economic situation, we are forced to hold tight to jobs that keep us miserable
Goodbye Everyone
Now's the time to say goodbye I bet you know the reason why It's best for me to be moving on, So, I'll pack my desk and say "so long"
Yes, I'm resigning, I just hate this place I can't stay here anymore; I need a change of pace But, to be honest it's not really the job that I hate It's the boss that bitches for being five minutes late
So many people have left before me You know I'm not alone, and there'll be more just you see And with all the unspeakable anger and innumerable tears I still can't fathom why I stayed for two years
So, now is the time to gladly say goodbye But I'll thank some of you for many good times It wasn't all bad, there was certainly some fun But I still hope it'll be better at the new one
