Christmas is just around the corner and I’m still trying to accept the bitter truth that I’ll not be home for Christmas AGAIN. There’s nothing like spending Christmas with my dear family. Nothing beats Paskong Pinoy. I’ll definitely miss…

1. The colorful parol hung at some of the neighbors’ houses. These definitely add to the Christmas cheers.

2. The constant urging I throw at my parents to put up the Christmas decors at home. I’ve been deligently putting up the decorations but everything changed when I started working. I usually arrive at the 23rd or 24th and it’s already late to put the decorations up.

3. If my folks ever manage to put up the decors, I constantly remind them to store away the decors before February. My vacations were usually short so there’s not enough time to do this my self.

4. The children carollers who drop by all of houses in the neighborhood, bearing their homemade tamborines, or a pair of spoons to accompany their jumbled Christmas songs.

5. Seeing the children’s faces when I hand them some candies or chocolates instead of money. Many of them gamble away what little money they get from carolling, so I prefer to give them something other than money.

6. Walking to church at around 3:30 in the morning to attend the Misa de Gallo – one of the rare opportunities to wear my favorite jacket.

7. Hearing the church choir sing Christmas carols.

8. Dropping by that place where puto bumbong is sold and having puto bumbong and a mug of hot cocoa for breakfast.

9. A string of small but very lively Christmas parties held almost everywhere!

10. The gift-wrapping “orders” we get at our sari-sari store. I immensely enjoy gift-wrapping, so in this task, I am a glad volunteer.

11. The food! My mother, Mama Conching, always prepares our favorites – Conching’s spaghetti, Conching’s macaroni salad, Conching’s adobo and Conching’s afritada. (I think and I believe that my mother’s spaghetti, macaroni salad, adobo, and afritada are the best in the whole world!)

12. Handing out presents to my little cousins, nieces, and nephews. My mother used to prepare gifts for the little ones but since I started earning, this special task was passed on to me. May it be a bar of local chocolate or an inexpensive toy – this doesn’t lessen their joy. Their innocence and sincerity is always heart-warming and humbling.

13. Noche Buena with my family. For more than 10 years, we’ve been having Christmas dinner with at least one family member missing – my father when he was still working in Saudi Arabia, and now, me.

Aside from web mails and blogs, here’s a list of other websites that I often visit:

1.) Like many of the internet surfers, I am very dependent on Google. I have even set it as my homepage, both at home and in the office.

2.) If I’m sure that Google would just give me a link to Wikipedia, I immediately go to this wonderful online information bank.

3.) To keep me updated on what’s happening in our dear country, I read the Philippine Daily Inquirer everyday. This website has the capacity of raising my blood pressure and ruining my day, especially those politics-related articles.

4.) For entertainment updates, I always visit the Philippine Entertainment Portal. Have I mentioned before that I dreamed of becoming an Interior Designer? So, in PEP, my favorite section is the Celeb Life/Homes.

I simultaneously access these weather websites and these often give different information. If there’s a big difference between the forecasts, I’d end up checking the forecast from my cellphone, the most accurate of all.
5.) Yahoo News – Weather
6.) Weather City
7.) BBC Weather Centre

8.) Kansai Scene Magazine orients me more on Kansai (Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area). This cool website often features beautiful places and interesting events around Kansai. Its Classifieds section is the best place to buy and sell stuffs. I also often check out the Friendship section. The ads there always crack me up. Wanna know why? Go check it out.

9.) Hyperdia-Timetable is the best website to gather information on train schedule and fare. All you have to do is input the origin and destination names of the station and you’d get at most five route suggestions, including the train fare! But inputting the station names could be tricky at times. (e.g., “Seishin-Chuo” should be inputted as “seishinchuo”)

For spiritual and inspirational nourishments, I seek refuge in:
10.) BoSanchez.ph
11.) Kerygma Family
Bo Sanchez is one of my favorite evangelists so I always listen to his audio teachings.

Since I still need to hone my Nihongo skills, I couldn’t just watch TV news. The following English websites keep me aware of what’s happening in Japan:
12.) Mainichi Daily News

13.) Last but not the least – Youtube! I’m a subscriber of HappySlip, David Choi Music and byronfgarcia Channel.

So there you go… I’m really pretty busy online. ^-^

After a week at the new office, I…
1.) finally saw a few people eating during work hours.
2.) saw someone napping at lunch break and he’s got a pillow
3.)it feels good when some greet me back when I say “ohayou gozaimasu” (good morning)
4.) it feels good each time I hear some officemates say “otsukaresama desu” (Thanks for your effort) when I leave the office.
5.) learned more Japanese terms in one week than the last year
6.) only accessed news sites at lunch time: Philippine Daily Inquirer, Mainichi Daily, and Japan Times
7.) accessed a single blog but it was a technical blog – totally work-related ^-^
8.) often stay long at the ladies’ toilet and bask at the magnificent Osaka castle and its park
9.) could now sleep earlier at 12:00-1:00AM. Before, it was impossible to sleep earlier than 2:00AM
10.) finally appreciated the trains’ women-only car
11.) got used to wearing my 2-inch high-heeled shoes
12.) been using the “wash-you-know-what” feature of the toilet seat. Before, I only tried using it once because it felt really weird
13.) devised another blogging technique – write at the office, type at home

Today’s my last day in this company and having been here for more than a year is surely making me a bit nostalgic, that I was able to compile 13 things that I’m gonna miss here:

1. My Train Pass! This entitled me to an unlimited train ride from Osaka to Kobe!

2. The not-so-congested trains bound for Kobe. Often, I’ve been able to secure a seat for the 35-minute first leg of my travel.

3. The unlimited supply of black coffe, two kinds of tea, and hot/cold drinking water. Other companies don’t even have a water dispenser!

4. The small convenient store in the ground floor. Surprisingly, many of the stuffs there are cheaper than in the supermarket where I usually do my groceries. They even occasionally have a Hello Kitty novelty items sale!

5. The not-so-limited internet access. For more than a year, I was able to write and read blogs here. Starting tomorrow, I could only visit my friends’ blogs when I get home.

6. Since the office is located somewhere in the mountains of Kobe, the sceneries here are really very beautiful! I’ll post more on this later.

7. I could wear anything I want – jeans and t-shirt is the “in thing” here, since most of my officemates are men. Some ladies even dared wearing shorts!

8. I could eat anything, anytime in my desk. Some guys even eat food that’s a bit smelly, like dried anchovies mixed with nuts. A few times, I brought squid crackers as a form of revenge. hehe…

9. I could send out emails through my cellphone in my desk, I think. Well, nobody told us that it’s not allowed. hehe

10. Kind teammates and really kind leaders. I’ve heard of some “team-lead-horror” stories from friends so I guess I should watch out for that in the next company. But it would be really nice if my next leader won’t give me nightmares.

11. The shopping mall, 10 minutes walk from the office. It’s almost deserted compared to the human-flooded malls in Osaka. Then they occassionally have this “real sale”!

12. Bakery with the most delicious bread selections ever! Or should I say, the best cream-filled bread I’ve ever tasted.

13. The very accessible Saizeriya Family Restaurant. 300-500 yen meal and it’d seem that my stomach’s gonna explode. I haven’t found Saizeriya near my place…

As I scanned through the office when I arrived this morning, I realized I’m gonna miss these familiar faces, though I haven’t interacted with most of them. Well, familiarity is really comforting!