Bisdak Babbles

It wouldn’t be hard to find a gift if Shaynna were to tell me what she really wants. But she won’t. When I ask her, she would just tell me that anything would be fine. If I make suggestions, then she would tell me that she doesn’t want me to spend on gifts! Unusual for a 7-year old girl, right? But I’m happy she is as considerate as she is now. When I take her to the mall, she is just contented in trying out shoes and clothes. When she likes something, it is written all over her face but tries to hide her disappointment when I don’t buy it for her. All the more I want to find a good gift for her.

Every Christmas, I seldom receive a gift. I prefer to be the one giving gifts. Although I can’t deny wishing for some things, like a North Face jacket or backpack. But I was very delighted when I received flip flops and a Christmas card made by Shaynna! But the most wonderful gift of all was this chance being home this Christmas.

This is just a short post. I am actually Changi Airport’s free internet terminals. I am finally going home! A few hours from now, I will be with my little girl again. But I had to give up 3 huge bottles of sandwich spread. I didn’t have enough baggage allowance and checking those bottles in would cost me a lot more. I’ll just charge it to experience

I just want to greet everyone a Merry Christmas!

To all the Sendong typhoon victims, I pray that they will find healing and may the grace of God embrace them.

It was around 2:00AM when I noticed some posts in Facebook about the floods in Iligan City, Cagayan de Oro and other parts of Mindanao. I grew up in Linamon (town closest to Iligan City) where my family still lives and I couldn’t recount having experienced typhoon. I hoped that the situation wouldn’t get worse but I was wrong.

When I woke up 6 hours later, my heart got crushed by the photos of the aftermath of typhoon Sendong. Many people died, many are still unaccounted for, and hundreds of families lost their homes. My family is safe but my heart bleeds for the victims.

Photo Credit: Lacastesantos Bong

If you want to help but you are far from Iligan City, you can still send your cash donations to:

1. The City Treasurer’s Office Deposit Trust Fund
# 0820-016201-030 DBP / City Treasurer’s Office Iligan City

2. c/o Iligan Blogger’s Society :
Paypal ID: singcol.inquisitor@gmail.com
BDO Account: Revilla N. Carbonell-Noel – 109451077611

3. Donations in kind from other parts of the Philippines
You may drop off your donations at any LBC branch. LBC will deliver these for free to the hardest hit areas.

ONE FOR ILIGAN (Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc.)
c/o CALDA Pizza, The Strip
Quezon Ave, Pala-o,
Iligan City, 9200

Above all, please continue to pray for the victims so that they will have the strength to get through this disaster.

Three more days and I’ll be on a plane home. But since a few weeks ago, I’ve been forcing myself to wake up early but failed. I’m in vacation mode already! But, this means frequent cab ride to the office every morning. Anyway, I’ve encountered two types of drivers: silent and chatty.

One time, the driver couldn’t find our block number because the address signs were blocked by trees. Because of this, he complained about these “hard-to-find” address signs until I reached the office! Anyway, that was one of those times when I wish the driver weren’t chatty~

I couldn’t find a photo of my bicycle here in Singapore. Even if I want to take one, I can no longer do that… because my beloved yet seldom used bicycle got stolen a few days ago!

I had to place it in one of the bicycle racks in the ground level of our apartment building. My bicycle was huge that I find it difficult taking it up to our level (7th floor). I thought that putting in two chains was safe enough but I was wrong. I often check my bicycle every time I go home but one night, it’s no longer there. Even the chains were not there so at first I thought my housemate borrowed it. I should have not taken for granted all those stories of stolen bicycles.

I lived in Japan for more than 3 years, yet this never happened to me. There was even one time when I forgot to lock my bicycle but it didn’t move an inch.

Because of this, I don’t think I’ll buy another bicycle here. Maybe until they install surveillance cams…

Shaynna was barely two months old when I entrusted her under the care of my mother and cousin. I was hoping that after a few months, I would be able to take her with me. Financially, it was impossible. Now, it still is. I am a struggling single mom, and at the same time supporting my family. It hurts a lot that my dream of taking Shaynna with me is still a dream.

Shaynna turned 7 two months ago, but it was only her 5th birthday that I got to spend with her. I hope that starting next year, I will be there to spend it with her. I dream of personally organizing her parties. Well, I’ve been organizing her party through other people so during her birthday month, my phone bill shoots up. I dream of designing Sweet 16 Invitations with her. I dream of spending more time with her. I hope that by the grace of God, I will be capable of taking her with me, soon.

Before that, I am now looking forward to my Christmas vacation! 14 more working days and I’ll be on a plane bound to the best place to spend Christmas and New Year’s day: home.

29 days to Christmas! 29 days more then I’ll be on a plane home! I’m so excited already. I look forward to seeing my little girl again. I already have lots of things in mind that we’ll do together, one of them is of course, photo-shoots! I don’t have an SLR but I just love taking photos of my favorite models.

Photos taken during my Christmas vacation last year @ the Gaisano mall in Iligan City

Ever since I was a child, I always avoid participating in group games that I’m not good at (all games, in fact). Also, I feel that I bring bad luck to my group. In physical or mind games, all the teams that I belonged to, always lose. And I still feel the same way! That’s why in team building activities, I always find an excuse to be absent.

A few days ago, I decided to participate in our next activity: Archery trial lesson! I never tried it and I thought this was supposed to be done individually but I was wrong! Later did I know that we are to group ourselves and compete with other groups!

Anyway, I hope that on Saturday, I will run out of excuses and decide to show up at the venue. Most of all, I do hope that the next activity would be horseback riding! I’ve always wanted to try one of those horse riding helmets. Also, I want to find out if I’ve finally gotten over my fear of animals.

Iligan City is blessed with majestic waterfalls and cold springs. So, there’s a number of spring pools and resorts in the city. One of them is the Maze Park and Resort which is locally known as “Maze”. Maze is not as accessible as the Timoga spring Pools but paying the extra fare or renting a jeepney to go there is worth it. Two years after my last visit, I was able to have a fun day at Maze with family and relatives last April.

Here’s the spacious entrance to Maze, so you won’t have a problem looking for a parking space.

The entrance fee is only Php25.00 per adult and Php12.50 per child. It’s 50% cheaper than in Timoga spring pools. The cottage is surprisingly a lot cheaper as well. I only had to pay Php250.00 for this huge cottage!

There are two kiddie pools:

One junior-size pool (I think it was 4 feet deep) and an Olympic-size pool.

If you want to take a break from swimming, you may listen to the child in you or pay the animals a visit.

If you choose to go to this place, make sure that you have enough food because there’s no nearby lechon stand. I think the place has a restaurant but I don’t know what the kind of food they serve. Although you can find a small sari-sari store with reasonable prices.

I have no idea why this place is called “Maze Park and Resort” when there is not a single maze in it. Maybe because getting there is just like a maze?

Shaynna is already asking me to go back there when I get home in December.

Shaynna’s school is having an activity where they would portray what they want to become when they grow up. They have to dress up for that profession and memorize a short speech on why they chose it. Her first choice was to become a teacher. But as the presentation date draws near, she changed her mind and decided she wants to become like me! Now I’m in trouble.

First, how to dress up as a Computer Engineer and be easily identified as one? When she asked me why did I choose to become a Computer Engineer, I couldn’t give her a good answer! She couldn’t understand “Software Engineer” so I couldn’t get too specific with her, right?

To be honest, I didn’t plan on pursuing this profession. I wanted to take up Mechanical Engineering because I wanted to become like my father. But my father told me it is not good for a female to become one. Still, I wanted to pursue a degree in Engineering to be at least a bit like him. I had no interest in chemicals, so ChE was out of question. I thought EE, ECE, and CE are for guys as well. I had no idea what IE students do after graduation, so that left me with Computer Engineering! I cannot tell my daughter that, right?

For the getup, I told my mother to just let her wear jeans, blouse, and blazer, then have her carry her toy laptop. I am almost done with this post but I still have to prepare her speech, make it short, simple, and in a way she and her classmates could understand. Also, how do I make it sound like it is as noble as being a teacher? You know, something like how do I exactly contribute to mankind and stuff like world peace?

The photo above was taken during Shaynna’s 7th birthday party.

Last Monday, I entered the office and noticed some people talking in low voices. It was pretty unusual because it is either no one is having a conversation or some are discussing something with distinct if not loud voices. Then a colleague told me that someone from our team died. The saddest part was that person took his own life. I later knew that he was suffering from a major depressive disorder and one of the triggers for this tragic event was the piled up stress he experienced from work. It was really shocking because he always wore a smile on his face. He was one of the few people who would smile back at you when you meet him in the hallway. May he rest in peace.

This made me evaluate once again how I cope with stress:

• overeating or eating not so healthy food such as ice cream and cakes
• zoning out for hours in front of my computer
• withdrawing from friends, family, and activities
• sleeping too much

These temporarily reduce stress but based on an article at HelpGuide.org, may cause more damage in the long run.

I think I should discard my usual approach and follow what’s on that article. I should practice the following stress management strategies:

1. Avoid unnecessary stress
2. Alter the situation
3. Adapt to the stressor
4. Accept the things you can’t change
5. Make time for fun and relaxation

How about you? What do you usually do you battle against stress?

The photo of me and a friend above was taken in 2001 in Japan, when I was still a trainee.

I was very contented with my non-smart (thus, wifi incapable) phone for a few months, until I went to Kuala Lumpur with friends. One friend has an iPhone and the other one has a Samsung Galaxy Tab. Every time we got into a place with wifi, we stop talking to each other because both of my companions were so busy checking-in and updating their Facebook status! While I had nothing else to do but observe the people around me. Fortunately, I do take a couple of books with me when I travel. That experience made me decide to get myself a phone that is at least wifi-capable.

Almost everyone is holding an iPhone, and I didn’t want to jump on the bandwagon. Also, I wanted a phone that has a keypad. Old-fashioned I may sound but I’m not comfortable tapping on the screen all the time. Thus, I got myself a Samsung Galaxy Pro. The price is fair and performance-wise, I’m very satisfied with it. I agree that the good thing about iPhone is the thousands of apps out there, and I have to admit that I do love the instagram. Fortunately, I was able to find something similar in Android. From then on, I was like a mad lady taking and uploading photos, especially of food!

McFlurry Oreo

Yakisoba, hot & spicy pork, miso soup

With less color, it no longer looks delicious anymore. I hope Sony will sell cameras that are wifi-capable. Samsung already released a camera with wifi but I love Sony. Maybe their Sony Ericsson phones have great phone cameras?