Sunburned

So proud of my little angel CAS because of his milestones that are advanced for his age (in terms of months). At 2 years old, CAS:

1. Knows the 23 letters of the alphabets. He still forgets the letters S, U, and N.

2. Can count 1-10 in English and tagalog. He can recognize the numbers 1-5.

3. Recognizes shapes of objects ;circle,square,triangle,star

4. Mommy: What is your name? CAS: CAS

   Mommy: How old are you? CAS: 2

   Mommy: Where will you go to school? CAS: HARVARD!

5. Bilingual toddler and has no problem understanding and talking in english and tagalog

6. Verbs he likes to use: Eat, biking, running, play outside, singing, dancing, jumping.His new verb “parking” which he means going to the park.hehehe..

7. Can easily follow the tune of a song he hears and hums it or tries to follow the lyrics.

8. Favorite TV show and song: Wowowee! Jologs na jologs like Mommy. lolz.

9. I think he knows more than 20 nursery rhymes already and he can sing it with the right tune with lyrics (bulol nga lang minsan). His favorite, Barney’s I love you song.

10. One time I scolded him and told him not to do something anymore. He got so angry and he shouted: Why???? (My son is already questioning my wisdom at age 2)

11. Likes reading storybooks with Mommy and Daddy and can memorize the characters of each of his book, scribbles circles and straight lines, pwedeng pwede na ipasok sa school.

12. Knows how to pray before meals and before going to bed.

I think my CAS has the capability to learn how to read before reaching 3 years old but we are just taking it slow. We need to give him the right balance of emotional and mental IQ. I want him to grow up to be a kind, loving, spiritual person more than to be the next bar topnotcher.

I love you my baby. He just turned 2 last July 9.

Thursday 11:00pm: I slowly opened the door to our apartment as I got home from a long day in the lab. My son was still awake, his Dad reading him his 3rd bedtime story already. He realized that the door made a sound and he hurriedly got up to his feet. I hid from the side of the door going to our bedroom and when he was about to open the door, I surprised him and we all had a good laugh with his reaction.

But what if I was all alone here in this foreign place? Probably I would be driven to depression coming home late at night with no one to talk to, no one to laugh out all the troubles of the day.

These couple of days I have been quite pissed off with people telling us that my husband’s decision to resign from his 11,000 per month job in the Philippines to accompany me here was a bad decision , sighting that he should have not resigned since it was an oh so stable job. To these people, mind your own businesses since we don’t care what you do with your lives, might as well leave us alone too. We don’t beg from you for our day to day existence so what we decide as a family, it’s none of your business.

People just don’t get it that there are some things far more important than an 11,000 pesos paycheck like happiness and the joy of a family. And to be happy sometimes we need to sacrifice a little. For us to be together, my husband needs to resign from his work, for us to get through with our expenses, I need  to work as a part-time English teacher to Japanese.  And at the end of the day, we have made our own little sacrifices and we are happy as a family. I just can’t believe that people can be so shallow thinking that the only things that matters in this world are a stable career and the money that you have in the bank. Bless your poor souls.

Saturday 1:00pm. I was watching my son as he climbs up the slide in the park. Today is family day for most Japanese and I sat there in the bench with other parents watching their children. This is our happiness, a fine sunny Saturday at the park, and no one can ever take this away from us.

This is a nice song from Alicia Keys, for my dear husband and my baby

“No One” by Alicia Keys

I just want you close
Where you can stay forever
You can be sure
That it will only get better

You and me together
Through the days and nights
I don’t worry ’cause
Everything’s going to be alright
People keep talking they can say what they like
But all i know is everything’s going to be alright

No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I’m feeling
No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I feel for you, you, you
Can get in the way of what I feel for you

When the rain is pouring down
And my heart is hurting
You will always be around
This I know for certain

You and me together
Through the days and nights
I don’t worry ’cause
Everything’s going to be alright
People keep talking they can say what they like
But all i know is everything’s going to be alright

No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I’m feeling
No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I feel for you, you, you
Can get in the way of what I feel

I know some people search the world
To find something like what we have
I know people will try try to divide something so real
So till the end of time I’m telling you there ain’t no one

No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I’m feeling
No one, no one, no one
Can get in the way of what I feel for you, you, you
Can get in the way of what I feel for you

I was hurrying to go to the lab this morning when I saw the Sakura (cherry trees) have their flower buds out already. Spring is coming at last. Such a nice and happy feeling to anticipate spring..In about 2 weeks or so the flower buds will be in full bloom.  Stand by for the beautiful spring pictures. I just love Spring!!!

1.the greatest fear of my life right now is to lose my husband’s love. losing his love would be like losing my life.

2. in japan, male and female can both have “fuke”. you can even buy “fuke shampoo”.hehehe..  fuke=dandruff

3. i have this realization that being in the “research” field de-glamorizes you and i don’t like it. i want to be all “glamour”! but if you work in the lab, you can’t be all glamour since its impossible to do an experiment with all your bling-blings. someday i am going to work in a company where i can  work in research and still look glamorous. maybe working in the research lab of Lancome Paris or Chanel cosmetics.

4. You don’t appreciate the finer things in life until you lose them. — referring to the camote. ang sarap pala ng camote…

5. marriage is a commitment, a commitment you make every day. There may be good days or bad days but you should always commit to be a better wife everyday.

6. when i wake up in the middle of the night and its hard for me to get back to sleep, instead of counting kambings (or sheep kung sosyal ka) i think of this: Imagine that you won 50-100 million pesos in the lotto, what will you do of the money? And i fall asleep  thinking of how i will spend it. it works for me always.

7. i love friendster more than facebook. friendster is just like a good old friend.

It’s been a while since I last wrote in this blog. I have been busy, no busy is an understatement, super busy lately. What’s keeping me busy?

1. Being a wife and a mom of course. Sometimes I sleep late in the night for a report then I need to wake up early the next morning to cook breakfast for my 2 boys. It’s not easy waking up in the morning these days that the temperature is 0-5 degrees. Even if its 9AM already, its still damn fucking cold. So I try my best to wake up,cook breakfast then prepare myself to go to the lab. Normally I’m in the lab at 9:45 to 10AM. At around 12:30 -1PM, I am back at our house to cook lunch. My house is just a 10- minute walk from my lab so I’m “uwian” for lunchtime. Usually the food I cook for lunchtime is good until dinner so that I won’t have to run again to our house to cook dinner.

2. Being a student. Of course I am here to study so I need to be busy with studies. Although my Sensei is the kindest Sensei, he doesn’t put pressure on what you need to accomplish, but according to him, “what you accomplish is up to you, if you work or not…”, e I want to accomplish many things and I have set goals for myself so Gambate Val!

3. With the weekly seminar. I hate this weekly seminar where we take turns presenting a particular chapter in a book we are reading. Now its X-ray Diffraction by B.E.Warren. I just hate it that you need to comprehend everything then try to summarize it in powerpoint presentations when the equations are longer than a mile. Sometimes I just want to throw this book.

4. Being an English tutor. Yeah, I am an English tutor to 2 Japanese researchers, one already has a PhD.  One tutee is once a week for 2 hours then the other one is twice a week, 1hour/meeting. The pay I get for teaching a total of 16 hours in a month is the same as my pay in PNRI working for 160 hours a month. Big diff. Anyway, since I teach, I need to prepare our lesson for the day. I usually do it an hour before I teach.

5. Busy honing my cooking skills. As of now I have already cooked kare-kare, chopsuey, pancit, to name a few dishes that I haven’t cooked my entire life. And I am quite proud of my cooking cause my husband is always satisfied with my dishes and he says its always worth the wait. 

6. My husband’s palette is one story but CAS’ moods are another. Toddlers have this love-hate relationship with food, one moment they like spaghetti and tomorrow they won’t eat it anymore. So I am always planning, thinking what to cook and prepare that CAS would delighfully eat. REcently I bought pancake molders just so he would eat pancakes at breakfast but the star pancakes still didn’t do the trick. So much with star and flower shaped pancakes. Paksiw na isda and spinach, he will eat it with gusto.

7. Watching TFCkonnect. Why is it that when you leave the Philippines, you instantly have a liking of watching Filipino news, soaps and shows? Or its just me? Maybe its just my way of being closer to home. Love ko ang TFCkonnect. 

Well..that’s about it for now..because it is my turn again on Tuesday for the seminar and I need to finish writing the ppt presentation.

Kagabi merong isang kaibigang dumalaw sa akin. Matagal na kaming di nagkikita kaya hiniling nya na mag-”date” kami na kaming dalawa lang. Sa taxi pa lang ay talaga namang grabeng kamustahan na. Tinanong ko sya, “Uy ang balita e patay ka na.Grabe namang balita yun e samantalang eto buhay na buhay ka. Kumusta ka naman, magaling na ba ang sakit mo?”. Sinagot nya ako na, “Mabuting mabuti na ang pakiramdaman ko”. Nagkwentuhan kami ng nagkuwentuhan habang kami ay namamasyal. Pagkatapos nun di ko na namalayan kung pano sya nagpaalam sa akin dahil ako ay nagising na.

Yun na malamang ang paraan ng aking kaibigang si Mark Lexter para mamaalam sa akin sapagkat sya ay pumanaw na mula pa nung Agosto. Di na kami nakapagkita bago ako lumisan papunta dito sa Japan at di ko na rin sya nadalaw para mamaalam sa kanya sa huling sandali.

Sa aking kaibigan, nasaan ka man ngayon alam ko ikaw ay nasa mas mabuti ng lugar kung saan di mo na kailangan maramdaman ang sakit at hirap. Salamat at kahit sa kabilang buhay ay pinapahalagahan mo pa rin ang ating pagkakaibigan.

Last year was definitely a roller coaster ride for me, Life in full circle and hoops. I became a wife, a mother, a sister-in-law, orphaned with a father and facing my greatest fear, the death of my beloved Lola, all in one year. Life did give it to me in one blow.

After a year, there are many realizations…

1.) Before I came to Japan, a friend asked me if I am not afraid of leaving my son for a few months, or if I am not afraid of the new world which I am about to conquer. My answer, if you have already encountered the greatest fear of your life, there is nothing to be afraid of anymore.

2.) The classic..’What will not kill you will make you stronger’.

3.) If life throws you a lot of crap, there are also bag of goodies in the end.

4.) Our God is a just God. Whatever He puts you through, surely He will pull you through it. You just need to ask for His help.

5.) There is a reason for everything. I realized that God has taken away my father and my Lola for a special reason. Maybe He wants me and my sister to raise our own families already. But once in a while, I still feel that it could have been better with my Lola and my Papa around and how they would love my dear CAS.

6.) God always has a bigger and better plan for us. We may not be able to understand it in the beginning, but He will reveal His plan in His perfect time.

7.) If God has taken away someone, He will give you someone in return to fill the void inside you. The Lord has given me my wonderful husband and my cute CAS, who started walking on his own at 11 months 3 weeks and loves to listen to his Dad’s singing. How I love them so much.

8.) As my friend Mike would put it, I was thrown the whole kitchen sink but I refused to float with the garbage.

After a year there are many things to be thankful for..The gift of life, the gift of family, the gift of friends, the gift of faith, the gift of fulfilling one’s dream…

Another year lies ahead of me, another wonderful journey…

1.) I could have been so excited and could not sleep well with excitement because in the morning would be my first born`s birthday

2.) I could have been busy the night before his birthday preparing those ballooons

3.) I could have sung him his first birthday song when he woke up

4.) I could have cooked some pasta and chose the best cake for him

5.) Me and his Daddy could have taken him to the rides in Trinoma for his big day.

6.) I could have seen his face light up with amazement at how big Trinoma is compared with our cute apartment.

7.) I could have strapped him to his first Merry-go-round ride.

8.) I could have laughed and smiled and laughed

9.) Then when he was tired with all the rides, I could have been there to carry him.

10.) And when we were home,CAS,Dad and me could have whispered a simple prayer of thanks for that very special day of his.

But..

1.) I just cried myself to sleep

2.) Felt bad that I am stuck in this dormitory and can not even talk to someone to share the longing and pain that I felt

3.) For once I resented that I ever came to this far away place

4.) I was too sad to go to the lab that  just stayed in the dorm whole day.

5.) Ate leftover food.hay…

I promised myself that this is the only birthday that I am going to miss in my son`s life. I still have his whole lifetime and every single birthday that he will have in the future, he will have his Mommy with him.

happy happy birthday to the angel of my life. Mommy loves you so much.

This was my short speech for the culmination of my Japanese 100 course . The theme was to write a speech describing your favorite place. I talked about Panglao beach. Rona paki-translate na lang.jejeje…

Watashi no sukina tokoro wa Firipin no kaigan desu. Douzo mitte kudasai.

Firipin wa takusan shima ga arimasu. Taiheyou no chikaku ni arimasu.

Korewa, Pangurao kaigan (Panglao beach) desu. Totemo kirei desu. Totemo shiroi suna to totemo aioi mizu ga arimasu. Minasan, fureshu na sakana o tabemasu. Sorekara coconutsu jyusu o nomimasu. Kirei  na mizu no kaigan de oyogimasu. San nen mae ni, watashi wa Pangurao kaigan e ikimashita. Tomodachi to isshiyoni oyogimashita.

Pangurao kaigan dewa iroiro na kotou o shimasu. Sunorkeringu (Snorkelling) ya iruka watchingu (dolphin watching) o shimasu. Fune ni notte, iruka o mimasu. Sunorkeringu o shitara, sakana mo mimasu. Totemo kireina sakana desu. Korewa, sakana no shyashin desu. Kaigan no shita ni sakana ga imasu. Sorekara, sango ga imasu.

Firipin wa takusan kaigan ga arimasu. Minasan mo Firipin no kaigan e zehi itte kudasai. Totemo omoshiroi desu yo.

Supichi o owarimasu. Arigatou gozaimashita.

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Hay ganda ng beach…gusto ko na tuloy umuwi.

Ours was a whirlwind romance which started with that starry night by the beach. I can still vividly remember how you were so unsure of me then..

Two years has passed, and together we have braved every trial that life has given us. In the griefs that I have went through, you held my hand. In the joy with our son’s arrival in the world, you were there to share it with me. In the little triumphs that God has given me, it came true because of your prayers. The everyday happiness and joy that CAS and I feels is because we have someone like you who loves and cares for us more than anyone else in the world.

I thank God that it is YOU whom He has chosen for me. And on this very special day of yours, allow me to show the whole world that I love you so much more than you love me.

I love you my heaven. Happy, happy birthday!!!!