A niece from California arrived last night. She and her friend will be spending three weeks vacationing here in Manila. She called me a few minutes earlier and asked if I would like to take a break from my life's mundaneness, throw everything to the wind and play truant with her in Hong Kong next week. Hmm... very tempting. I told her to give me a couple of days to decide as I am in the middle of organizing and coordinating my mother-in-law's 80th birthday bash.

Anyway, she said her flight to Manila was uneventful as she slept most of the way. She was planning to go light on her luggage but that did not happen. You know how Filipinos are when it comes to sending something for the folks back home. My niece said she had to buy extra shipping boxes to accommodate all the "little something for the folks back home". Speaking of packaging and boxes and all related paraphernalia, I actually found a site that is a one stop online shop for packaging and shipping supplies. The site is www.packnbox now.com. Bubbles wrap, bubble pouches, packaging peanuts, labels, etc...I.Love.These.Stuff! They make my "packing" life easier.

Back to the question of the day. Should I go with my niece to Hong Kong?

Read More

Daughter # 2 commented over dinner tonight that there are a bunch of teachers in the school where she teaches who are applying or have applied for positions abroad. One lucky IB teacher had been contacted by an international school in Boston for the position of a Chemistry teacher. Well and good. Daughter # 2 still has no immediate plans of applying for a teaching position abroad because she wants to pursue her Masterals in Early Childhood Education first.

Daughter # 1 said a lot of nurses in the hospital where she is a resident are glued to the net searching for jobs in health care - any related job, that is. Nurses' wage here in Manila are way too low that more and more nurses are looking for greater opportunities abroad. First class tertiary hospitals here in Manila charge their patients outrageously high! Why can't they pay their nurses a fair share? Ditto for schools! There's tuition hike every year yet private teachers' salaries stay the same. No wonder more Filipino teachers and nurses are going abroad to work.

Read More

I am so freaking mad my jaw is clicking again - that means my muscles are all so tight from the tension. That means my jawline, neck and shoulder muscles are stretched like a fully-stretched guitar string about to snap. I am in freaking radiating pain! My muscle relaxant medication seems to be not working. What to do? I can only pray and remember Proverbs 14:29

A patient man has great
understanding, but a quick-
tempered man displays folly.

Read More

AT 5:45 A.M. today, I was awakened by the insistent ringing of my mobile phone. As I groped for my phone I was groggily thinking "who could be calling me at this ungodly hour in the morning?" I could not see the number or name of the person calling as I did not have my eyeglasses on. As my mind came into a clearer state, I bolted up thinking it could be my son calling in distress!

"Hello?!" I said, my usually soprano voice was still in its alto mode.

"Lena, this is Ninong Watts, I'd like to borrow the red pick-up truck tomorrow for I have some things to pack from the office and take home" he said.

Ninong Watts is Eduardo T. Malinis, the Insurance Commissioner of the Philippines. He is actually hubby's first cousin and one of our wedding sponsors eons ago.It seemed he was not able to find a transport for the moving job.Too bad, If he was anywhere in the U.S.A. then he could have gotten the services of an honest-to-goodness long distance moving companies whose services includes: packing, pickup, delivery and storage (if need be) at highly agreeable price quotes. East to West. West to East. No problem with the moving company. The only problem now is, what the heck will Ninong Watts load in the pick-up truck?

Read More

It is July already and in less than three weeks, the much-awaited, much-labored-for grand birthday celebration of my mother-in-law will smack me right in the face. I am so frazzled by all the preparations for I am the dupe coordinating the event. I was not planning to lift a finger to help the in-laws. I was just too tired and not really cart-wheeling happy to help. When one is tired and unhappy, the creative juices will not flow. So, why did I eventually take the responsibility? One of my sis-in-law called and asked to "please, pretty please help us". I finally said okay and now I am just drowning with work. I am actually losing weight (and sleep) without actually taking my dietpills regularly. The "losing weight" part is one perk for all the work I am doing. I guess you are all wondering what kind of party I am coordintating for me to lose weight and sleep. Now. Now. You just have to be patient for I will definitely tell you and show you when the time is right. Meantime, if you're not happy with the extra love handle you see each day as you look at yourself in the mirror, try exercising. If you care to take dietpills to hasten up the slimming process, ask your doctor first if you are taking any medications.

Read More

A favorite nephew recently migrated to Australia. He is a chemical engineer by profession, in his mid 30's and still single. He decided to try his luck abroad not for the lack of a fulfilling job here but for a more passionate reason: to spread his wings, so to speak. Before leaving for Sydney, he already had a string of potential employers in his field of work. However, he is not limiting himself to a specific job genre because he is also looking into the possible IT jobs and other fields directly or indirectly connected to his expertise. Nephew said he used www.techcareers.com to look for potential employers. The site is free to join and you can post your resume for employers to find. A registered member can set job alert when a matching job i posted. Well, it's a whole new world downunder for nephew. I wonder when I could visit - all expenses paid.

Read More

Daughter # 1 and 3, on occasions, come home after each duty with horror stories to tell. Both are in the medical and dental professions and "errors" are inevitable in some cases. I was really bothered by the case of a young man who had appendectomy and died hours after the supposedly successful operation. What happened? No one knows yet as an autopsy had to be performed. Daughter # 3 said that a colleague of hers performed dental surgery and the patient just died after the anesthesiologist gave the patient some medications to sleep. Horror stories! We should all take extra precautions concerning our health.

Daughter # 1 is now serious about getting our own Automated External Defibrillator as both my mother-in-law and husband are cardiac patients. She said that she has been telling my sister-in-law to get one for the longest time. I think she already called her uncle, his dad's brother who lives in Texas, to buy an America AED before coming home to Manila in two weeks time. She said the offered packages on sale at the site are worth the price. The site offers free medical prescriptions and medical authorization on all AEDs. I asked daughter # 1 if the AED would be easy to operate. Daughter #1 said that any idiot could be taught how to use it. Well now, I could actually learn to operate it!

Read More

Michael Jackson's death brought on tributes from his millions of fans from around the world. Excerpts of his life, his music, his eccentricities, his childhood, and what-have-you is being shown on television non-stop. I've been glued to the television the whole day yesterday looking and searching for anything "Michael Jackson". I even received an email from Unang Hirit asking if I have any MJ memorabilia. I have a couple of tickets from the HIStory Concert he did here in 1996 but I don't think that counted. My family is a big fan of Michael Jackson, even little Ethan. When daughter #4 got home the other night, she was teary-eyed as she said "But Michael Jackson is immortal. He cannot die!" Michael Jackson will indeed be immortalized as his music will forever remind us of his genius. One of my favorites is Billie Jean. Enjoy. Moonwalk if you please.

Read More