Desarapen Tales

Tribute to Kuya Toni

2010-09-02T21:31:00.006+01:00

My mother's youngest brother died yesterday. This is my way of saying goodbye to him. Why you might ask, is he close to you? In the last few decades of his life, not really, to be honest. But I do remember well growing up with him always around. He came to stay with us as soon as he started high school in Arellano High School in Pasay City. Even when he started working he stayed with us on weekdays and went home to my Lola Ebia on weekends. Most of neighbours thought he was our eldest sibling. It seems like it because he's always there especially in our younger days.

What he really imparted to me is appreciation of the contemporary music scenes during the early 70s. Firstly, me and my younger siblings would line up behind Kuya Toni and we would copy all the funky moves of the Jackson 5 whenever we see them on the telly.

The young teenage Kuya Toni was really cool in his choice of music. He definitely influenced me in my appreciation of folk and pop music. I believe the first album he bought is After The Gold Rush (Neil Young).

Then he bought more of Neil Young's - the Harvest album. At first I love it but after a while I was given to stuffing my fingers in my ears from constantly hearing the same voice singing the same songs over and over again. Arggghhh! I have to console myself that at least Neil sings in tune unlike Bob Dylan. Now that would have driven me over the edge.

Thankfully, he bought a more 'girly' album next that was as excellent as the two previous ones. I know this is not Carole's original but it is nonetheless my favourite in that album:

What's funny when I was assembling the above videos I was singing along to all of them even though I haven't heard them for decades. Funny what can be embedded in a 7-year-old's head with the constant repetition of Neil Young's music and the memorisation of all of Tapestry song's lyrics simply because they were at the back of the album cover!

There's also one other album I remember - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's Deja Vu album. That one I didn't appreciate it at the time. It was only later in my teenage years that I re-discovered it. This is only 1 of the songs that I like in it:

That was just the start of it. Did I tell you of his (and subsequently mine) Beatles phase? He pratically bought all of the Beatles albums and like before I was there to sample and adore them wholesale. The one track that gave me second thoughts in playing again was A Day In A Life in Sgt. Pepper's album. I decided to chill out after coming home from my 3rd year high school classes. So I put on that Beatle album and set the stereo volume to VERY LOUD. But when it came to the A Day In A Life song I became quite agitated. Towards the end of the track as the music became louder and louder and the pitch going higher and higher I was convinced that it was going to explode! So I turned off the stereo right there and then. Hahaha.

Thank you for the music, Kuya Toni. You will always be in our hearts. Bon voyage on your journey to the great beyond. We love you ...

Formula One Debacle

2010-07-28T17:11:00.003+01:00

I have to admit I have been watching Formula One racing only for the last 4 years. Actually only when Lewis Hamilton emerged in the series in 2007. During the mid-1990s I tried watching but was just bored to tears of the endless processions of cars and constantly hearing Michael Schumacher declared as the winner. I thought, screw that I'll just follow some other sports.

Now, especially the beginning of the 2010 season, F1 has become immensely exciting due to the emergence of three contending teams at the top (Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren) and most of all the unpredictability in the driver championships with a possibility of a five-way battle to the top (Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Vettel, Webber).

Normally I would get really excited and be trawling the F1 forums whenever my favourite driver (Hammy) is involved. Knowing how aggressive he is in the car controversy seems to always follow him. Surprisingly, the just concluded German Grand Prix in Hockenheim produced no less than a furore about the apparent team orders to Massa to let Alonso pass. The blatant way that this was executed really incensed a lot of the fans including myself.

I've read more than a dozen articles about this brouhaha but the best one that I believe analysed it well and most reflects my stand is Joe Saward's Blog.

Maybe I should start watching Moto GP or GP2 or Touring car races.

Jim Richardson on Landscape Photography -- National Geographic

2010-07-06T21:54:00.000+01:00

Jim Richardson on Landscape Photography -- National Geographic

So that's how they do it !
Boy, I didn't know these beautiful landscape photographs took A LOT of effort. But just look at it ... so so gorgeous.

MG Update - Oct 2009

2009-10-16T22:02:00.000+01:00

Had a consultation with Dr.W this time in Selly Oaks Hospital. Thank goodness I don’t have to wait for 6 months before I can see him. I told him of my problems early September where I had a virus infection or a flu. It made my myasthenia worse making my breathing laboured and feeling increasing weakness all around. My GP Dr. P increased the dosage of my Prednisolone from 10mg daily to alternate 15mg/10mg daily. Problem is, it makes it hard for me to sleep at night which in turn reduces my rest and makes me tired which then makes my MG worse. Catch 22.

So it’s timely that Dr.W saw me 2 days ago who told me to increase my Azathioprine to 50mg 3 times a day. Plus he gave me a logbook for my blood tests, which I should have prior to seeing him, in order to monitor it more closely. He also told me to avoid taking sleeping aids like Piriton if I can help it.

Here are my dosages as of 16/10/2009:

Prednisolone – alternate 10mg/15mg per day
Azathioprine – 50mg x 3 per day
Levothiroxine – 50mcg per day
Metformin – 500mg per day
Sodium Alendronate – 70 mg per week

FLashForward

2009-09-30T20:51:00.001+01:00

At last a sci-fi TV series that is only a few days late from the airing in the US. With FlashForward, we’re more or less in sync with the US. Fortunately, it is not the same as what happened to Heroes where we here in UK have to wait for months after the US airing. During which time I have to carefully avoid any websites that gives spoilers of episodes.

FlashForward is a story of a supposed worldwide occurrence where everyone blacked out (or sort of fell asleep) for precisely 2 min. and 17 secs. Everyone had a glimpse of what will happen to them 6 months in the future. For some what they saw was bad, while others were hopeful of a good future. The phenomenon is being investigated by an FBI team headed by Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) who himself is in personal turmoil over what he saw in his future.

I won’t give any spoilers here. I just want to say that this is a highly recommended sci-fi thriller TV show. Me and my family can’t wait for the next episode to roll in. Our Monday evenings definitely includes sitting in front of the telly and finding out what happened to Mark, his wife Olivia, his daughter Charlie, and what his FBI team uncovers about the mystery.

MG Update - Aug 2008

2009-08-17T21:23:00.000+01:00

Well it looks like my MG is getting pretty persistent. I'm having shortness of breath and limb weakness again despite having my steroids increased more than 3 weeks ago. So today I went back to my GP to aske for his help. This time he told me to increase my steroids to alternate 15mg/10mg per day while keeping the rest of my medications the same. I do hope it will stabilise my MG. The last thing I want is for it to flare up into a major episode.

My GP also assured me that he will contact my neurologist about my condition and told me to come back after two weeks. Here are my current dosages:

prednisolone - 15mg/10mg alternate daily
azathioprine - 50mg x2 daily
levothyroxine - 50 mcg daily
metformin - 100mg daily
alendronic acid - 70mg once a week

Three Years Too Late

2009-08-10T22:12:00.005+01:00

I'm sorry folks, I tried, God knows I tried. Middle-aged people are supposed to be listening to pop or reception-lounge-easy-listening music. Nothing to raise your high blood pressure and such. But I just can't help being a rocker and even I myself am surprised that I am capable of appreciating indie rock music. Imagine that!

I've chosen to ignore the Arctic Monkeys ever since all that hype came out three years ago. I was thinking - surely they're not as good as what the media make them out to be. Since then I've always dismissed them as all hype and no substance. You know how much the air the British tabloid media is capable of. Though I should not have been so flippant since I haven't really listened to them at length except from some snippets one hears from BBC Radio 1. As it turned out one night when I usually have an hour of quiet to myself, I chanced upon Channel 4 airing their Live at the Apollo concert (recorded more than a year ago) because there was nothing else to watch. I thought I'd grit my teeth and bear it out 'til I become sleepy.

Well whaddayaknow, listening to their high energy music I was mesmerised, sat up and took notice and the more I listened the more I like what I was hearing - you know their music. So this is the Arctic Monkey they were talking about. I trawled YouTube for more of their other songs and like some infatuated teenager they got me hooked. I was telling my husband if I were a teenager now I would be head over heels obsessed with them.

I love their catchy riffs, the punk rock -like energy, and the fact that their contemporary lyrics speak of their everyday experiences in their own words not some flowery poetic bland verses of abstract ideas. Love also the fact that they retained their Sheffield accent even in their songs. Just listen to their first hit "I Bet You Look Good In The Dance Floor". The Glastonbury Festival of 2007 almost turned into a giant karaoke session with everyone singing and dancing along.

Notable in the band is their songwriter and lead guitarist (usually) Alex Turner and Jamie Hedges who can spew out great beats in the drums. In terms of musicianship, the first things I noticed are those two - lead guitar and drums.

"When The Sun Goes Down" is their first song that I liked while my youngest, who's only 8 years old, loved Mardy Bum. Other songs of theirs I love are: "Flourescent Adolescent", "Certain Romance", and "Teddy Picker" among others. Now I'm eagerly awaiting for their new album that going to be released next month August 2009. Go on YouTube.com and search for the Arctic Monkeys. They're good live performers as well if I may say so.

So there you go, I'm one rocking middle-aged momma. I wouldn't have any other way ... really.

I think I'll post my Led Zep piece next to keep the theme running. Hehehe!

MG Update - July 2008

2009-07-28T21:20:00.001+01:00

Experienced some MG relapse starting around 17th of July. This must be because a few days before that (9/7/09) I was so very exhausted with my whole day trip with Joshua to and from Croydon. We rushed back home again in the afternoon to see off Janine to her prom. As expected I was very tired afterwards. The next day I had flu-like symptoms and I think this aggravated my MG. A week later I was having double visions and had trouble breathing.

I quickly phoned my neurologist's secretary who upon hearing my breathing problems told me to see my GP right away and call my neurologist's registrar. I followed her instructions and my GP called my neurologist right there and then. My GP then increased my prednisolone from the alternate 5mg/7.5 mg to 10mg everyday. By the time I went back 4 days later, my breathing was better and I didn't have anymore double visions.

My scheduled appointment with my neurologist came up on the 28th of July and in our meeting he examined me and advised to continue with my daily 10mg prednisolone for six weeks then reduce it to 7.5 mg for four weeks then put it back to my normal alternate 5mg/7.5mg.

Current dosages:

prednisolone - 10mg daily (for 6 weeks)
azathioprine - 50mg x2 daily
levothyroxine - 50 mcg daily
metformin - 100mg daily
alendronic acid - 70mg once a week

Harry Potter Grows Up

2009-07-27T22:47:00.003+01:00

Now I know why some people don't like this movie. It's not light and happy like the previous episodes. The theme is dark which correctly reflects the way it is in the book. In fact I can't remember much scenes where the lighting was bright. If ever it was, it's more hazy kinda blurry rather than the previous episodes' bright sunny lightings.

Do I like it? Yes I definitely do same as my kids who fittingly said that it's meant to have that dark theme because the book is the same. It would be disturbing if they try to make light of a heavy subject as death and murder. I particulary like the special effects like when Harry was in the pensieve the first time and all the objects in the memory were taking shape from smoke-like ink - fabulous effect. Then there are the ones from the cave scenes where the sea of fire emerged then it parted like the Red Sea. It didn't help that Dumbledore looked like Moses!

This movie adaptation of a book is no different from others that they have to take out a lot of stuff. But I didn't reckon they would add something else like the burning of the Burrow. I never read of any burning house in the book only an attack on the Weasely's home.

We definitely recommend the movie. In fact, we'll buy the DVD once it comes out. Although I wouldn't rate it the highest among the Harry Potter movies.

Sung-an, Mercedes, Eastern Samar

2009-07-18T18:38:00.002+01:00

Well, as most of my linked friends and relatives in Facebook already knew I've been back to the Philippines for a little over two-week break (thanks to the generosity of my sister Citas). On one hand, I wish it could be a food-discovery trip but on the other, I knew my time is too short in seeing and meeting up with relatives and friends I haven't seen at least in the 10 years I've been away. One thing I made sure (and with a lot of determination) is to visit my father's hometown of Sung-an, Mercedes, Eastern Samar. It was the first time I've ever set foot on it. There were always talk in the family of visiting it since I was small but it never came to fruition. Thankfully I persisted and witnessed in full glory the beauty and other quirks of my father's village and heritage.

The goddess of weather was cooperating. I arrived in the Philippines during the wet season - meaning the typhoon season. Samar is well known to be the doormat of typhoons in the country. Most of these severe tropical storms make landfall in Samar and as expected the populace are well experienced to deal with them. Tourist industry-wise this is the low-season. Mercifully, there were only a couple of short showers during my stay which for the most part was hot and very sunny.

One thing pleasantly odd in Sung-an, there weren't any mosquitoes! Well at least in the four-nights I slept there I haven't seen one nor been bitten by one. So we slept completely mosquito-net-free with no insect screens on the windows and with only an electric fan to keep us cool. Try doing that in Manila and you'll get literally lifted by a swarm of mosquitoes!

We stayed in my Auntie Dining's (my father's sister) place which is across the road from the village church and a stone's throw from the local primary school. So every morning we were woken up by the daily drill of primary school pupils reciting the times table or the singing of the national anthem at flag ceremony.

This is the village church opposite my Auntie's place. It's the hub of the community.

We also went to the coastal area of the village which is only a few hundred meters walk away. I really couldn't say 'beach' because the water edge is almost completely covered by mangroves. Probably because their area faces the gentle currents of Leyte Gulf. This road leads to Sabang, a place where there is a bridge that connects Sung-an with other adjacent villages.

From time to time, me and my siblings hear our father describe a small island owned by their family. It might not be a good idea to subdivide it because the current size of the whole clan means we would probably get a bucket of sand each. Hehehe!

And here it is - Margano Island. It's about 5 hectares big and like the area, completely covered by mangroves by the water edge except for a small beach for access. What I like about this pretty island is that during low tide you can walk the 300 meters from the mainland. If you can't wait for the water to recede you can always borrow one of the small outrigger boats (banca) parked in a small beach in the mainland.

That's the daongan (beaching place) of Margano. No one lives there now but there was a time when my Auntie Goning and her husband lived there for a whole year. I think it was cool of them to live there. Imagine being cut-off from almost everything but yet near enough to access supplies to not worry about your survival.

Starfish, sea cucumbers, shrimps, and small crabs abound around the island. How about that - a four-armed starfish? That's the first time I've seen one! But it's actually rather common there.

Noticed the nice resolution of the pictures? My BIL Derek lent me his high-end Nikon Coolpix camera which accounted for these great images. Thanks Derek!

Although administratively Sung-an is part of Mercedes town, almost everyone goes to the town of Guiuan where major businesses and shops are located. Above is the old Guiuan church originally built in 1595.

This, a tricycle, is my local taxi which, because of the seriously rough roads to Sung-an, on riding it feels like being in a 30-minute workout in the gym.

One of the curious things I saw, see that tiny little hut on the left of the above photo? That's the local petrol station. LOL. Big and small glass bottles of Coke, Pepsi, or 7up are filled with petrol (gasoline) or kerosene. Customers are mainly tricycles.

I chanced upon the 61st anniversary of the founding of Mercedes town. They have a simple ceremony at a stage opposite the municipal hall. Naturally, town and village officials attended including representatives of local schools. I was surprised to see not one but three marching bands. One from an elementary school and the others from the two high schools in the town. Despite the dwindling student population (lots of people have migrated to the cities) they still have marching bands in their schools - how cool is that? And I have seen quite a number of advertisements everywhere - saying "band members required apply here" or "band practice every Tuesday and Thursday" or "band practice area - inquire inside". I could guess there must be a lot of musical/performing talents in my Tatay's province. It certainly showed among my paternal relatives. Several cousins are professional singers or dancers. My father's uncles used to be part of some mariachi-type of band. I certainly love music and dance which I can attribute to my father.

We also went to Sulangan (yes aboard that tricycle), a small island at the very tip of Samar province. People from all over Samar, Leyte and beyond visit this small island because of the miraculous image of St.Anthony in Sulangan parish church.

Probably the only other significant sources of income here, besides the tourist commerce the pilgrims bring, are fishing and seashell crafts. The most notable of the latter is the prevalence of the golden cowrie in the area. They are relatively rare because their habitat is around 10 fathoms (60 feet) deep and they only come out at night! Imagine diving and hunting at those depths and in complete darkness.

Just look at those beautiful, plump, golden, bottom-of-leche-flan-caramel colour of these wonderful shells. These ones I saw being sold in Sulangan ranges in size from 1.5 to 2.5 inches. Less perfect ones are pegged between 800-1000 pesos while the most perfect one there, the one I really fell in love with, was offered to me after much haggling at 2000 pesos. It was worth less than £30.00 ! But I was not sure if these beautiful shells are allowed through British customs. So sadly I have to let go of it.

Of course we won't miss the beautiful beaches of Samar. On the way, we went saw this PAG-ASA weather station. Being the doormat province of typhoons, it's just appropriate for Samar to have one of its own.

Do you notice the wide paved road? This used to be the old airfield of MacArthur's WWII time. In fact, the new Guiuan airport they're preparing to replace Tacloban's to become the local domestic airport, used to be a WWII airfield as well. Tacloban airport will be extended and redeveloped to be handle international flights.

One of the resorts we went to admire the beach is Dumpao.

Nice shady trees to shelter from the sun.

A World War II memorial right in the resort.

Dumpao is your typical palm-fringed white sandy beach. Nice!

There's a curious mushroom-shaped formation among the cliffs. I wonder what it is?

Calicoan island's popular side is the one facing the Pacific. When the waves are strong you can bet surfers are not far behind.

Another Calicoan island scene. We saw a number of beach-front lands for sale there. Wonder how much they cost?

Buyayawon is a barrio near Sung-an. It's got a beach called Haclagan which I really find quite charming. But they apparently don't maintain it that much such that there are sea urchins and other sea creatures in their beach that can injure bathers.

You don't know how hard it was to photograph San Juanico bridge aboard a passenger van travelling at 70mph. I think it's beautiful. I would have loved to stop right in the middle of the main span and take pictures but I didn't think I have a chance with our reckless driver.

One more time for San Juanico.

We went to and from Tacloban airport via Cebu Pacific. They're quite good actually. The morning flight incoming to Tacloban was on time but the afternoon flight outwards was delayed by 30 minutes. Not bad.

There were lots more beautiful Samar scenes I failed to record in picture especially ones in the van ride between Guiuan and Tacloban. I'm just glad I persisted in visiting my father's place. Now I feel my sense of identity is much richer and more defined.

Maupay nga adlaw ha iyo tanan.

Love Day

2009-02-14T17:20:00.004Z

I was fortunate enough to be part of a group of talented bloggers called Blogging Berks. We used to do regular postings according to certains themes in a blog. Though in its recent incarnation I was just too busy with life to have the time to write for it that's why you can't see my name there.

Mec, one of the blogkadas, was so sweet and gracious enough to make this wonderful Valentine's Day presentation. Isn't it great? She's not only generous to her friends but she's also a talented writer and digiscrapper.

Thanks Mec! And Happy Valentine's Day to all of you !!

LP 34: Madumi (Dirty)

2008-11-20T09:04:00.003Z

Leaves has fallen and are all over the back garden. Guy Fawkes day has come and gone but the spent sparklers, fireworks rocket and roman fountains are still around. I wonder when can we clean up this dirty garden of ours. I hope the weekend will bode sunshine so we can do the deed. It's hard to rake in wet grass and leaves.

Nalaglag na ang mga dahon at nagkalat sa likod bakuran. Lumipas na ang Guy Fawkes day kaya ang mga basyo ng lusis, kuwitis, at roman fountains ay naglipana. Kelan ko kaya malilinis ang madumi naming lugar sa likod. Sana umaraw sa Sabado o Linggo para magawa namin ito. Mahirap kasing magkalaykay ng basang damo at dahon.

LP 33: Kinagisnan

2008-11-15T23:46:00.008Z

I should have blogged about her last Thursday. She would have been appropriate as well for the Litratong Pinoy theme of "Maalaala Mo Kaya" (do you remember). Why her?

Firstly, I stayed with her during school terms from Grade 1 (6 years old) up to Grade 6 (12 years old) only going back to my parents during vacations and holidays. She practically raised me during my formative years. With her, I've gotten used to working hard, being diligent, and being persistent with whatever you're doing. She need not tell me words of wisdom. Her actions are enough to instil in me that no problem or job is insurmountable as long as you keep working at it and even if you have to do it a little at a time.

Secondly, she died last week on a Friday in the morning at a ripe old age of 96. I used to say that I honestly cannot remember if I feel close to her. But as tears flowed from my eyes I can frankly say now that she may not be much in my mind but she is definitely imbedded in my heart.

Goodbye Lola Ebia, thank you for all your care and sacrifices for us your family. May you rest cradled God's arms in peace.

Dapat nuong isang Huwebes ko pa siya nai-blog. Tamang-tama rin siya sa tema ng Litratong Pinoy noon na "Maalaala Mo Kaya?". Bakit siya pa?

Una, ako'y tumira sa kanya mula noong ako'y Grade 1 (6 taon) hanggang Grade 6 (12 taon) at bumabalik lang sa aking magulang kapag bakasyon. Siya halos ang nagpalaki mula sa aking kamusmusan. Dahil sa kanya, nakagisnan ko na pahalagahan ang sipag at tiyaga sa kahit ano mang tahakin. Hindi na niya kailangang magbitiw ng salitang aral. Ang kanyang gawa ay sapat na maiwan sa akin ang diwa na walang problema o trabahong hindi makakayanan hangga't patuloy na gumagawa kahit na paunti-unti lamang.

Pangalawa, namatay siya noong Biyernes ng umaga sa hinog na gulang na 96 taon. Dati ang sinsabi ko ay hindi ko matandaan kung naging malapit nga ako sa kanya. Ngunit habang dumadaloy ang luha sa aking mga mata, natanto ko na hindi man siya masyadong nasa isip ko siya naman ay naka-ukit sa aking puso.

Paalam Lola Ebia. Salamat sa iyong pag-aruga at sakripisyo sa amin na iyong pamilya. Nawa'y humimlay kang mapayapa sa bisig ng Diyos.

Make-up Promotional Gifts

2008-11-03T01:04:00.003Z

Whenever I pass by the cosmetic counters of department stores or pharmacies, I can't help ogling and desiring after the free promotional gifts the different cosmetic companies are giving out. I don't even wait for the conference folder toting, survey taking ladies to chat me up with a view to buying something. I just get on with the business of nabbing these cute traveller-sized cosmetics. I just love the small, dinky, cute give-aways and usually same with the bags they come with. Although the latter is more of a hit or miss. In one rare instance it not only came with a bag but with a small promotional umbrella. How cool is that?

I don't know what I liked more, their smallness or the fact that they're free. Well, not really free unless you buy two or more premium priced product of theirs. And therein lies my problem, I am willing to pay for their expensive stuff in order to get these freebies. How stupid is that? It even came to a point several years ago that I was buying things I don't really need just so I can get the promotional gifts. Analysing my desire for these, I think it's a combination of that 'sale' mentality of women where we get so zealous of nabbing a sale item even if it's cheaper elsewhere at regular price plus the fact that I really really adore those cute little bottles and compact cases. Did I mention I like them very much?

Litratong Pinoy 31: Kadiliman (Darkness)

2008-10-30T01:08:00.006Z

One night as me and my youngest were locked in tight embrace on the sofa while watching a particularly scary horror movie I glanced over to the window beside me. I felt my heart stop beating when I saw in the middle of complete darkness outside the window a pair of green luminous eyes that was looking at me intently. It's a good thing I recognized that it was that darn black cat of our neighbor. I thought I was going to have a heart attack from fright. Shoooo cat!

Isang gabi habang kami ng bunso ko ay higpit na magkayakap sa sofa habang nanonood ng isang kahindik-hindik na horror na sine, napalingon sa aking katabing bintana. Tila tumigil ang pagtibok ng aking puso ng makita ko sa gitna ng kadiliman sa kabila ng bintana ang dalawang umiilaw na berdeng matang nakatitig ng matalim sa akin. Buti na lang at nakilala kong iyon ay ang lekat na pusang itim ng aming kapitbahay. Muntik na kong atakihin sa puso sa pagka-gitla. Tsupiii!

LP#30: Liwanag (Light)

2008-10-23T13:40:00.002+01:00

I am fascinated by old churches. A recent training course in the City of London (financial centre) gave me a chance to get into the old churches within its one square mile area during my lunch breaks. This one is the church of St. Mary Abchurch (double barrelled church!). Inside it was very dark when I first went in that I could hardly make out some of the statues, signs, and decors. After a few minutes the sun suddenly shone fiercely and it came flooding through the huge windows illuminating everything. It's as if the spirits in the church decided to give me a show to flaunt the beauty of the paintings on the ceiling and of the whole church. I wonder what that Hebrew word in the centre of the painting means?

Ako'y sadyang naakit ng mga lumang simbahan. Nag-training ako kamakailan sa City of London kaya't ako'y nagkaroon ng pagkakataon na makapasok sa mga lumang simbahan sa paligid nito sa aking lunch breaks. Ito ang simbahan ng St. Mary Abchurch. Madilim sa loob nang una akong pumasok at hindi ko halos maaninag ang mga imahen, karatula o dekorasyon. Makalipas ang ilang minuto ay biglang suminag ang araw at ang liwanag ay bumaha sa mga malalaking bintana na nagbigay liwanag sa lahat ng bagay sa loob nito. Para bang ang mga espirito ng simbahan ay napagpasiyan na bigyan ako ng pagtatanghal para maipakita ang ganda ng mga larawan sa kisame at ng buong simbahan. Ano kaya ang ibig sabihin ng salitang Hebrew na nasa gitna ng painting?

Litratong Pinoy #27: Aking Kompyuter

2008-10-06T21:14:00.001+01:00

Marapat lang na i-blog ko itong aking computer sa trabaho. Baka kasi eto na ang mga huling sulyap at gamit ko sa kanya. Merong darating na tanggalan at walang nakakasiguro sa kanyang trabaho sa gawing amin. Kaya't mahal kong laptop at extension monitor sana'y hindi pa ako mawala sa piling mo. (naks!)

It's just right that I blog about my computer at work. It might be my last few glimpses and use of it. There is a coming redundancy at work and none of us are assured of our work in our area. So my dear laptop and extension monitor I hope I won't have to leave you yet.

Litratong Pinoy #24: Pilak (Silver)

2008-09-11T17:59:00.004+01:00

Maniwala kayo kulay pilak ito hindi nga lang makinang. Nataranta ako sa paghahanap ng kahit anong pilak sa bahay namin nang maalala kong Huwebes nga pala and kailangan ko ng isang kokodakan para sa Litratong Pinoy. Ito ay isang thermometer na pang dekorasyon. Alam niyo na, yung gawa sa glass na may likido sa loob at iba't ibang kulay na mga glass baubles na may mga pilak na metal na nagsasabi ng temperatura.

Really it's silver except it's not so shiny. I was frantically looking for silvery things around the house when I realised it's Thursday today and I need a photo for Litratong Pinoy. This is a decorative thermometer, you know the glass kind that has a liquid inside and different coloured glass baubles with the corresponding silver metal temperature tag on them.

Olympic Handover

2008-08-24T23:26:00.004+01:00

Now that the Beijing Olympics is drawn to a close, London's task of building and preparing for the next Olympics officially begins. As expected, Beijing treated the world to a spectacular presentation in the closing ceremonies. But for us the key moment is the actual handover to the current mayor of London, Boris Johnson, of the Olympic flag and the short very modern 8-minute presentation for London's 2012 Olympics. A stark contrast to the formal, dramatic and epic proportions of the host's show.

Boris gave this rousing but funny speech (true to British nature) after the ceremonies. Click on here and have a listen to what he says.

See this logo for the London Olympics? You don't know how much I hate it. The colour is absolutely jarring. It certainly hurts my eyes. Characters look like jagged jigsaw puzzle pieces that are not fitted together. At first glance I couldn't make out what it says and tries to convey. I don't like it at all. Doesn't it look like a blown up something that was jumbled up together? I do realise now that London Olympics is trying to project a modern and 'cool' image. They could have done the same with a nicer logo with clean lines, equally bright colours and most of all readable text. Mr. Boris Johnson, this would be your next work assignment - replace the London Olympics logo ASAP !!

Another Trip To Cornwall

2008-08-23T23:00:00.001+01:00

Okay so the previous post tackled the beaches. Next up is the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth. This museum has got a really cool way of ferrying their visitors. You can actually arrive there from the car park by a boat - no kidding! Just make sure you visit during Monday to Friday. They don't have the boat ride on weekends. :(

They have excellent facilities in showcasing the maritime history and anything about sea sailing.

There were lots of hands-on displays that were very good and guaranteed to keep your young ones interested and engaged. It ranged from wind sailing toy boats in an indoor pond to interactive weather quizzes to computer interactive games in steering virtual boats.

The toy sail boats in the pond were particularly impressive because they don't have any motor to propel them forward. There were vents on the side of the pond that blows air. So you were really using wind power and the boats' tiny sails for movement.

I've to Cornwall many times but I haven't been to the tip of the Lizard Peninsula. The very day we arrived we grabbed the opportunity to visit Lizard Point. As expected we were feasted with dramatic steep rocky cliffs that is prevalent in this area. The setting sun provided a dramatic backdrop to the photogenic view.

See the green things growing on the side of the cliffs? They're not grass but a variety of the succulent plant sedum pachyphyllum I guess it must be hardy enough to grow rampant in what must be harsh seaside conditions.

On the way home we decided to stop by Tintagel and we saw this sign along the way.

Tintagel is one of the fabled home of King Arthur. 'Fabled' since nobody really knows if King Arthur is real or a product of a fertile imagination of a medieval writer.

WARNING: Bring your sturdy walking shoes and be prepared to hike and climb up steep stairs and cliffs!

There were no warning of this kind in any of the tourist literatures that we researched on nor even in the sign in the entrance to this English Heritage site. I tell you it's such a disappointment if you're not wearing the right gear since the actual ruins of the castle is way way up high on top of cliffs! Even just the hike from the cafe and visitor's centre is uphill which is an ordeal for someone like me who was wearing open backed slippers with heels. Though if you think you cannot make it back from there are Range Rovers ferrying people to and from the entrance and the visitor centre.

Since I can't climb up to the actual ruins of the castle I have to content myself with the sights down below. It did not disappoint at all. Just look at the dramatic rock formations and caves in the pictures above and below.

Three Beaches

2008-08-22T00:20:00.000+01:00

This is the first part of my post on our trip to Cornwall this year that is long overdue. We went there last year and so many other times before. I never tire of going to that area. There are so many things to explore and see. Besides the fact that I have to have my yearly fix of being near the sea. Even if I don't have to bathe in it. There's something about seeing the water or hearing the lapping of waves rejuvenates me. Right now Cornwall is my favourite destination here in the UK.

Okay let me begin with the tale of three beaches. The kids (especially J3) definitely wanted to go to the beach and bathe or just lie around. Of course we first went to our favourite - Kynance Cove. We timed our visit with the only sunny day during our time there (courtesy of the Met of course) but we forgot to check the tide times. So by the time we got there it was nearly high tide and in Kynance Cove that means no beach!

As you can see, one of the reasons people don't flock to this area is because of the access which is just fine with us because that means there would be less crowding. Besides the long walk from the car park you have to negotiate steep stairs cut in the cliff side which when wet could be quite slippery.

After only about an hour, we have to leave due to the oncoming tide. Bye bye beautiful Kynance Cove. See you again next time.

Before we went on our next beach, we had to stop and buy our youngest J3 a surfing suit since the water was chilly so she can't stay in the water for so long. As expected she asked a few more like a kite and a surf board with the Johnny Depp design. *sigh* My credit card hurts.

Anyway, the next one we went to is Poldhu Cove. This is where Marconi relayed the first trans-Atlantic radio message to Newfoundland in 1901. We did not go to the Marconi museum but in its beach we did go. This is a more kid-safe with wide flat and very gradual depth. There is a shop for food and other beach paraphernalia and toilet facilities. The sand is fine and white to light gold. Our main complaint is the proliferation of seaweeds on the shore. My daughter does not even want to wade in. So we lay around for an hour again while me and J3 busied ourselves with flying our kite.

Again we have to move and I was getting desperate at this point. As a last resort, I took them to one of the westernmost beaches in England that I know is a safe bet - Sennen Cove. Still you'll never know until you get there but thank god we finally hit the jackpot. I highly recommend this beach folks. It's got very broad flat beach, plenty of room to move around, a little bit of waves to satisfy surfing, lots of lifeguards patrolling, lots of nearby shops, toilet facilities, restaurants, even a surfing school and surfing equipments rental shop.

As expected, the downside of any popular beach is not enough parking nearby. I say 'nearby' because there are lots more further near the entrance of the town but you have to walk about 500 meters steep uphill and I mean really steep. Fortunately when we came it was already late in the afternoon so most people are leaving and we were able to bag a parking space in the only car park facing the beach. It was almost perfect. What can I ask more? Probably warmer waters.

Litratong Pinoy #21: Mithi (Wish)

2008-08-21T13:29:00.003+01:00

Ako'y nagdadasal kung ang mithiin ay gustong matupad. Maaring sa Maykapal, maaring sa aking sarili sapagkat ang isang mithi ay ang simula ng pagsasakatuparan ng ideya na nag simula sa ating isip at puso.

Kuha ito sa St. Patrick's Cathedral sa Dublin, Ireland.

I pray when I want my wish to come true. Might be to God, might be to myself because a wish is the beginning of the materialization of an idea that started in the mind and in the heart.

This was taken at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland.

Times Online Sports Photoblog

2008-08-17T22:19:00.003+01:00

I found this blog of Marc Apsland the Times Online sports photographer who's currently covering the unfolding dramas in the Beijing Olympics.

He not only describes the technical details of his photos and the circumstances surrounding the shots but also gives tips to us amateur photographers. Stories behind the pictures are also there besides the human interest stories that is surprisingly well written by a professional photographer such as himself. So click on the link and learn from a master.

Litratong Pinoy #20: Liwaliw

2008-08-15T22:29:00.006+01:00

Bakit nga ba nagbabayad tayo para takutin ang sarili natin?
Ito ay kuha sa isang thrill ride na Oblivion sa Alton Towers theme park. Ibibitin ang mga nakasakay sa bingit at biglang ilalaglag ng paharap sa isang malaki at madilim na butas sa lupa.

Matapos ay naglalayag na lalabas sa kabilang dulo na parang eroplano. Wheeee!

Beijing's Coming Out Party

2008-08-08T21:16:00.003+01:00

courtesy of BBC Sports

There can be some advantages in staying at home when you're ill. One of them is to get to see the opening ceremony of the four-yearly Olympics in its entirety. I never got to see the previous ones because they're either shown in some ungodly hour or during weekdays or the replay is in some ungodly hour.

So I get to enjoy what Beijing Olympic has to offer yesterday and it was a fantastic, stunning and unforgettable experience. There were so many ooohs and ahhhs that I kept my mouth shut to prevent my jaw from dropping. It must have been so much of an sensory overload if you're in that beautiful bird nest stadium.

Beijing sure knows how to throw a party to announce to the world its 'coming of age' in the modern era. Now let me gear up for the round-the-clock watching of so many Olympic events I'm interested in - rowing, swimming, gymnastics, and I hope they televise the basketball games as well.

Italian Church In London

2008-08-04T19:10:00.002+01:00

When I had my training in London last year I did a post in my food blog about interesting sights and food around the area of the training venue. One thing I forgot is to post here of another quirky find.

See this church? It's not just any old Catholic church. It's an Italian Catholic church which judging from the memorials outside has been here for quite sometime. I find it fascinating to see these out of the ordinary places hidden in the nook and crannies of London. At the time, they have just finished a service and was closing up so I did not see the inside. And yes the parishioners are all Italian speaking London locals which considering the number of nearby Italian delis and restaurants make this corner of Clerkenwell intriguingly Italian.

I didn't get a chance to see the inside since they were closing up.

There is some kind of a war memorial in the fenced-off porch in front. I hope next time I can get inside and have a look around.

Litratong Pinoy #18: Dalampasigan (Beach)

2008-07-31T00:20:00.001+01:00

Nakalulugod masilayan ang mga batang naglalaro sa dalampasigan. Nakakahawa ang kanilang saya sa pagtatampisaw sa tubig. Kahit na anong lamig ng dagat magsusuot lang ng makapal na surfing suit at sige na uli ang ligaya sa paglalayag sa ibabaw ng kanilang surf board.

It's so delightful to see children playing in the beach. Their exuberant frolicking in the water is so infectious. No matter how cold the sea they'll just don their thick surf suit and continue with their surfing happiness aboard their boards.

Wall-E

2008-07-26T22:22:00.002+01:00

Last Saturday, I took the whole family to watch the critically acclaimed movie Wall-E. There were lots of resistance from the two elder teenagers thinking that this is another kids' movie and they're much more grown up for that. Hah! No sooner than they started the short film before the main one they were already in stitches. Nobody can resist a Looney Tunes-type of cartoon and that short film certainly was in that category.

I don't try to analyze or be a critic with any movie that I see. The only qualifier I ask after the end of each is - did I enjoy it? Once in a while I come across films that entertains me and at the same time makes me introspective. Wall-E is one of these. While I am tickled by the cute main characters (Wall-E and Eve) the sepia-like beautiful in-a-desolate-way landscape Pixar created is riveting. Makes you think of your responsibilities as a human being to this planet to prevent that cataclysmic scenario from happening.

Okay if I'm honest, Wall-E certainly entertained me - a lot. But it did not grip me as much as Finding Nemo or Toy Story did. After a day I couldn't remember much of the details of the plot. I wonder why? Maybe because the main characters have no speaking dialog? Or the second half of the film is not as elegant and more cartoonesque than the first? As I said I'm not into analysing films so I'll leave it to the professional critics to do the job. I'll just wait for the DVD to come out and add it to our collection.

Litratong Pinoy #17: Sa Gawing Kanluran (Over In The West)

2008-07-24T00:33:00.004+01:00

Ang pinaka kaluraning lugar sa Englaterra ay tinatawag na Land's End sa probinsiya ng Cornwall. Ang namamagitan mula dito hanggang sa dalampasigan ng Estados Unidos ay ang dagat ng Atlantiko. Likas na maganda ang baybayin sa gawi dito kaya't dinadayo ng maraming turista. Makikita mo sa karatulang ito ang layo ng Land's End sa iba't ibang bansa at lupain.

The westerly-most place in England is called Land's End in the county of Cornwall. The only thing between this place and the coast of USA is the Atlantic Ocean. The coastal area of Land's End is naturally beautiful hence lots of tourists flock to it. On this sign you will see the distance of Land's End from different countries and places.

Bad Day

2008-07-22T22:08:00.003+01:00

Siguro alam nyo na dahil Tagalog ko sinulat ito ay dahil magre-reklamo ako. :)
Hindi maganda ang naging araw ko kahapon. Mula umaga hanggang gabi kundi may naiinis sa akin o may kina-iinisan ako.

Unang-una ay itong kasamahan ko sa trabaho. Nagkamali ako ng konti sa salitang ginamit ko sa email invite na pinadala ko sa kanya. Aba, nireject ba naman at sinabi doon na hindi daw niya ine-expect na siya ay magpre-present. Wala akong problema doon sa pagtutol nya pero susmaryosep 1.5 metro lang ang layo nya sa akin sana kinalabit na lang nya ako at sinabi nya ang hindi nya pagsang-ayon. Samantalang kinse minutos bago nito eh masayang nagkukwentuhan kami ng buhay-buhay. Bigla na lang nag-iba ang turing nya sa akin. Pakiramdam ko ay parang bata o pusong mamon o ewan ko kung may topak itong taong ito.

Sumunod naman ang kapit-bahay namin. Nagulantang na lang asawa ko nang paglabas nya ng pinto ay pinuputol nila ang malaking halaman na malapit sa boundary ng aming bahay. Wala na siyang magawa dahil nakalbo na ng husto. Nang makita sya ng kapitbahay sabi ba naman ay - "pinuputol na namin ito okay lang ba?". Eh ano pa bang magagawa eh putol na! Tignan nyo ginawa:

Hindi man lang nag sabi bago ginawa ito. Bago kasi nito ay pinutol nila ang hedge at parte ng halaman (bush) na yon na nakalawit sa parte nila. Nagpasintabi sila at sabi namin ay putulin nila ang nasa kanilang side. Baka akala nila porke't hindi namin ginagalaw yung sa ganang sa amin ay bale wala na ang halamang iyon. Naiinis pati mga anak ko lalo na yung bunso kasi nga naman bahayan ng ilang ibon iyon at natutuwa siyang panoorin ang nagliliparang minsang maingay na ibon. At ang bush na yon ang nagsisilbing tabing namin para hindi kami nakita mula sa kalye kapag lumalabas kami sa side door. Iyon din ang proteksyon ng bahay sa minsa'y malakas na hangin na nanggagaling sa harap. Nakakapanibago paglumalabas ako pakiramdam ko parang lantad na lantad kami. Haaaay!

Tapos nagka enkwentro naman kami ng panganay ko. Grumpy siya dahil mag singaw at hindi makaka-kain. Aba nagtatatarang ba naman dahil sa mga problema nya. Ano daw ang kakainin nya. Kapag tinatanong ko naman alam ko daw dapat ang mga paborito nya. Sa madaling salita gusto niya akong maging psychic at hulaan ang nasa isip nya. Kapag nililista ko ang mga alam kong paborito nya lahat ayaw. Haay buhay nanay ...

Kaya nang gabi ay nanahimik na lang ako at nag blog. Mabuti pang kasama ang computer hindi nagrereklamo. Huwag lang mawalan ng broadband access. Hehehe!

Hamilton Wins In German F1 GP

2008-07-21T22:55:00.001+01:00

Hammi did it again! Lewis Hamilton pounded on the tracks in the German F1 Grand Prix to win it in a convincing show of his racing talent. He led for almost half of the race having pole position at the start. However, the deployment of the safety after Timo Glock's horrific looking crash almost cost him the win. His McLaren team decided at that time not to pit him thinking that he'll be able to get enough lead time later to do his final pitstop even though almost all of the front runners took advantage and were all refueling and changing tires. But the safety car trundled on for four laps - longer than they have anticipated. He finally had to pit from the lead at lap 50 with only about 20 seconds lead from second place Massa. Clearly it was not enough because he was in fifth place as he emerged from the pits. From then on he overtook Kovaleinen, Massa, then finally Piquet to gain the lead again at lap 60 and up to the finish. Great drive Lewis! Wish you all the best in Hungary!

Litratong Pinoy #16: Luntian (Green)

2008-07-17T23:34:00.002+01:00

Ito ay kuha sa Lizard Peninsula ng Cornwall ang pinaka-kanluranin na probinsiya ng Englaterra. Ayaw ko sanang isama ang ilang ligaw na damo sa harap ng litrato pero isang urong ko pa at ako'y isang kawawang pisat at bali-baling tao. Nakabingit sa malalim na bangin ang lugar na ito kaya't may hangganan ang aking pagpapaka-dakila sa pagkuha ng litrato.

Ang karamihan ng 'damo' dito ay hindi talagang damo kundi isang tipo ng 'succulent' na halaman na tinatawag na sedum pachyphyllum o jelly beans sa mas madaling salita. Nakakapamangha na ito ay lumaganap sa buong kapaligiran ng bangin na ito.

This is taken in the Lizard Peninsula which is the western-most county of England. I really did not intend to include some of the wild grass in the foreground but one more move on my part and I am one poor splattered and broken-boned person. This area is at the edge of a high cliff therefore my sacrifice to photography has got limits.

Most of the 'grass' that you see here is not really grass but a type of succulent plant called sedum pachyphyllum or jelly beans in common language. It's amazing to note that this plant spread out all over the whole cliff face.

Great Sporting Weekend

2008-07-08T13:18:00.003+01:00

What a sporting weekend it was here in UK. First there was the high-octane thrilling win of Lewis Hamilton in the F1 British Grand Prix. Like last year's monsoon-rain-drenched Fuji race, Lewis proved he is a master of the wet. He continued to pile on the pressure and made almost no mistake while the rest of the field were spinning like pinwheels on the slippery tarmac. He silenced his critics with his masterful win in impeccable style. Congratulations Hammi !

Then there was the drama and extended excitement of the Nadal-Federer cliff hanger of a championship match in Wimbledon. It was just as well that the weather was dreary which was a further incentive to be a sports coach potato for a day.

In the comfort of our living room I often call Lewis Hamilton 'Hammi' whenever I urge him on. The name makes my teenage son cringe. Well I thought the Finnish drivers' names were cute. Names like Miki, Kimi, Heikki, Mikka, etc. So I thought why not Hammi though I don't want it to sound like a pet hamster.

I have been enthralled by this superbly talented young man ever since he came on the F1 circuit last year. People have grudgingly to admit that his entry was a massive boost to the flagging popularity of F1 with his proven ability on the track, his good looks, articulateness, likeable personality, including the accompanying controversy with Fernando Alonzo.

Years before I used to follow F1 but became quite disinterested because the only person who wins all the time was Michael Schumacher. He was a very dominant talent in those days that others simply didn't have a chance. Now there is an injection of young bloods who are more or less of the same abilities that would make each F1 meet unpredictable, exciting and watchable. Besides Hammi, there's of course Raikonnen, Alonzo, Massa, Kubica, Heidfeld, Rosberg, even Vettel. It's a shame that there is a big disparity in the performance of their cars otherwise it would have been extra thrilling. That is one reason why sometimes I prefer watching a touring car race since the cars there are more or less of equal footing so it is down to the driver's ability to win. Though I wouldn't want the extreme uniformity of the American NASCAR stock racing where same cars go around a oval track. For me it is just too boring.

Navel Gazing

2008-06-26T22:09:00.005+01:00

I just got back from a 3-day internal training course about the Agile Project Management Methodology. It was conducted by Rob Thomasett a great trainer, very entertaining, funny, and most of all very effective in getting his message across. I'm privileged to be in his course.

Now I know all those things I've been hearing about - Rap sessions, Deep Dives, etc. And I feel I'm in the club since I've learned the 'secret' messages. LOL! Don't worry they're just silly little signals that are more meant to break the ice than be something sinister.

The course however further reinforced my conviction that project management is not for me. It's more to do with my personality rather than a lack of ability. One of the required qualities of a good project manager is the knack to put together people and get along well with them. Being a people person is what most project management is all about.

The getting along well with people is not a problem but my shyness and inherent insecurity is a hindrance. Furthermore, my verbal communication is not that great. Many people describe me as quiet. You can sit me in one corner with a book or a computer and you do not have to hear me talk one word. Although the very first time I heard someone describe as such I was actually surprised because even though I hardly utter a word there are a lot of things buzzing in my head. In my mind I was constantly chattering (with myself of course) even if hardly anything comes out of my mouth.

So you can see with all these small talk can be excruciating same with breaking the ice with complete strangers. I'm not a very social person but people who gets close to me become friends for life. Am I an introvert? I'm not sure but I know that my shyness is the biggest thing holding me back. I wish I am more sociable, less shy, more talkative and expressive. However, this is the way I am built and I have to accept myself for what I am. I would be a complete hypocrite to behave otherwise. At least I have identified my weaknesses and would try to build on my strengths. That way I can make the most out of life as it is. As Socrates said - "know thyself". I hope I can know more.

MG Update - June 2008

2008-06-21T22:52:00.003+01:00

I forgot to post here the new dosage that my neurologist gave me the last time I saw him on the 6th of June. And by the way, he's seeing me in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham housed in that big old Victorian building that badly needs renovation.

I'm fairly stable in my MG but feels a bit hypothyroid due to feeling more sluggish than normal. A lot of times feeling as if my mind is in a haze like something is blurring my thinking making it hard for me to concentrate and react mentally slower than usual. He had my blood re-tested for my thyroid levels although I just had them about 2 weeks ago.

The result of that thyroid test 2 weeks ago was evaluated by a GP in my local surgery. She said it is at normal levels so she does not seem to believe me. Anyway she said to call the surgery again when the 2nd thyroid test comes and then we will see if I am really hypothyroid again.

I'm due to see my neurologist again in around 3 months' time.

Current dosages as of 06 June 2008:

Prednisolone - 7.5 mg/10 mg alternate days
Azathioprine - 50 mg x 2 per day
Thyroxine - 50 mcg per day
Metformin - 500 mg per day
Mestinon - 60 mg per day
Alendronic Acid - 70 mg per week

MG Update

2008-03-09T22:32:00.002Z

I had a consultation with my neurologist last Thursday and he said I seem to be improving quite well. My eyes are not drooping so much and importantly my bodily strength returned about three weeks ago. I still occasionally have periods especially at bedtime when I feel like I'm choking and have shallow breaths which makes sleeping problematic. I still get tired easily although not as bad before so I'm still taking things easy and try not to overdo things.

My specialist told me reduce my dosage of the steroids (prednisolone) to 7.5 gm every other day for 1 month then reduce further to 5 mg.

Dosages (as of 10 Mar 2008):

Prednisolone - 10 mg/7.5 mg alternate days
Azathioprine - 50 mg x 2 a day
Mestinon - 60 mg every 4 hours
Thyroxine - 50 mcg per day
Metformin - 500 mg per day
Sodium Alendronate - 70 mg per week

The only thing worse is being officially declared a diabetic (type 2) because my sugar level is 7 while the limit is 6.5. The GP told me that he's almost certain that this is caused by my taking of steroids for a few years now. So last Thursday as well (I was busy in the medical sort on that day) I attended my once-a-year diabetic check-ups consisting of blood, urine, and eye tests and plus a nurse and doctor check-ups. These are all to prevent or alleviate effects of diabetes. I was more hoping they could provide advice or even just literature on how to reduce effects of diabetes or lower the blood sugar level. I had to rely on books and the internet for that. Hopefully once my myasthenia has diminished to its minimum level I could start tackling my sugar level. For now I don't want to jeopardise my recuperation.

Top Dogs

2008-03-08T23:30:00.000Z

You can hear a lot of oohs and aahhs from me and my kids these past few nights. The culprit is the TV coverage of this year's Crufts - the world's premier dog show. We just looove all the beautiful doggies on show. From the fluffy fur ball Frison Brise

to the utterly lovable English bulldog

Some are quite 'interesting' like this Komondor that looks like a big pile of rug!

I personally love the working dog group where I get to see my favourite St. Bernard. Aren't they handsome?

The Return of MG

2008-01-15T14:23:00.000Z

Yessiree, I'm having a relapse of my myasthenia gravis and I just thought I should be writing everything down to keep a record of my symptoms and the dosages of my medication.

This first started way back in the middle of November last year 2006 (that's about 2 months ago). I was exhausted during the week of mine and J3's birthday and in the succeeding days and weeks I couldn't sleep properly. As a consequence, my eyes started drooping and I felt weak in each passing day.

I called up on our GP and had a bloodtest. He found out the reason for my sleeplessness. My blood test showed that for the first time I am hyperthyroid which was a complete surprise because I have been on daily medication since I was 11 years old for hypothyrodism. With that revelation, he lowered my thyroxine to 75 mcg per day plus gave me Piriton to help me sleep. We both surmised that if I get enough sleep and rest then my MG symptoms would go away. Unfortunately, despite getting the needed rest my MG simply marched on and got worse. So he referred me to the nearest specialist in Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham. Now the staff in the neurological department there judged that my condition wasn't serious enough (through the letter my GP gave them) so they gave me an appointment in February 2008 - 3 bloody months later !!! I would have been crawling through the door by that time or maybe in ER.

Well, it's a good thing I have a private medical insurance which referred me to the very same neurologist in QE hospital but this time in Nuffield hospital in Edgbaston, Birmingham as well. He adjusted my medications to:

Prednisolone - 15mg every other day
Azathioprine - 100mg x2 a day

This is for 2 weeks then lowered down the Prednisolone to 10mg for another 2 weeks. In the first 2 weeks at 15mg, my symptoms did not get worse but did not significantly get much better. (As an aside, this is the problem with steroids and azathioprine, it takes them weeks even months before you can get full benefit from it.) Then on the 3rd week when I started on 10mg I tried to get back to work on the 7th Jan 2008 but I really wasn't strong enough nor my eyes open up enough for me to work productively.

I went back to my specialist and he upped my dosage again to 10mg of Prednisolone everyday plus added Mestinon to once every 4 hours. It's now almost 1 week of this new dosage and I could feel that my left eye is opening out more though it still does not have the stamina to keep open for a long period of time. Hopefully I would have better news in the weeks to come.

My current dosages (as of 15 Jan 2008):

Prednisolone - 10 mg per day
Azathioprine - 100 mg x2 per day
Mestinon - 60 mg every 3-4 hours
Thyroxine - 50 mcg per day
Metformin - 500 mg per day
Sodium Alendronate - 70 mg per week

You could just see the cocktail of medicine I have to take. But I'd do anything to keep myself on the path of a normal health.

Tutorial School in West Midlands

2007-05-28T23:03:00.000+01:00

If you're looking for tutors for your kids in the Dudley or Wolverhampton area, fret not because a tutorial school operates in the area.

The Phoenix Tutorial College operates in Dudley and Wolverhampton. They offer tutors for all levels of education from Infants school to AS/A-levels. Tuition is available for most subjects even languages. Students are taught by tutors (specialists on their subjects) usually in groups of 5 or less. That was just fine with us since they charge very reasonable fees. We were just so relieved to find them during the time when my eldest J1 desperately needs help with his English Literature and Language for his GCSE exams. They seem to have sorted him out. We're just hoping this will reflect well in his exam results.

Here's a blurb from their leaflet:

Phoenix Tutorial College was established in 1982 by Mr. R. Sealy, then newly retired from his post as Senior Lecturer in Education (Psychology) at the West Midlands College of Higher Education. The business was set up to provide students of all ages from primary age upwards with access to high quality individual tuition either in their homes or at premises in Dudley.

The college began in premises in Dudley, soon moving to the lecture room in the Dudley Central Library, then expanding into The Brooke Robinson Room in Dudley Town Hall, and now in the Dudley Art Gallery & Museum (opposite the town Hall) and at The Language Centre in Wolverhampton.

Phoenix Tutorial College
Contact: Dr. Mariam Janjua
Tel No.: 01384 359 272
07950 727 743

Saturdays 9AM - 1PM
Dudley Art Gallery & Museum
St. James's Road
Dudley DY1 1HU

Fridays 4PM - 8PM
The Language Centre
Waterloo Road
Wolverhampton

Cornwall (part 4)

2007-05-05T01:26:00.000+01:00

We now come to one of my favourite spots here in my favourite place in UK. The last time we were here was around 1996 - more than 10 years ago! St. Michael's Mount is a castle on top of a hill in a small island only a few meters from the beaches of the ancient town of Marazion. It is indeed an island during high tide while at low tides it is connected to the mainland via a causeway. Just a glimpse of the silhoutte of this island takes my breath away - truly beautiful setting for a castle.

Here we are walking towards the island through the causeway. We were a bit in a hurry since we've got only two hours to spare before the tide comes in and we will be trapped there. Well actually there are small boats that can ferry visitors to and from the place. But we don't want to dig £2.50 for each of us for that short distance.

Once you reach the island itself your ordeal is just beginning for you have to climb a steep walkways and a number of steps to get to the castle. There are no lifts so a definite no-go place for the wheelchair bound or physically frail.

After panting from the climbing exercise you come to a rampart replete with cannons.

You're also rewarded with a magnificent unimpeded view of Marazion and Penzance. Exhilarating to see!

After catching your breath while enjoying the view of the cannons and nearby beaches, you have to climb more steps to get to the front door.

Unfortunately, photos are not allowed in the castle so I didn't get to take a lot. Here is a collage of the main dining room with the various armours decorating the wall, the very interesting wooden support on the ceiling, and the stained glass windows.

Above is a view of the courtyard outside a portion of the castle ...

where you have turrets that have magnificent views of the ocean ...

or the lush well-tended gardens surrounding it. On another note, I noticed that the kids became a increasingly hyper and giggly and happy as we were touring the castle. Could it be because allegedly four major ley lines intersect in this very island? Could it be that they're strong enough to affect people in a positive way? I sure hope so, that would really make our visit very special.

On the way out of the castle I noticed this peculiar solid stone round pole mounted upright. (A round peg in a square hole?) What could they possibly use that for?

Towards the end we were practically running out of the place because we knew that the tide was coming in and we didn't want to be caught out in the island.

Sure enough as we were crossing the causeway, it was just getting covered with water. And within 5 minutes, the causeway was completely submerged.

I loved every minute of our visit there who knows we might come back after 10 years. As we wound down the day, we realised we still have several hours of daylight. So we decided to take the long way back to base by driving along the B road that hugged the coast between Land's End and St. Ives. It was quite interesting, not only in terms of views and quaint little villages but also with the very narrow roads. In some sections it is reduced to a single track so cars have to take turns.

As I reflect on our visit to Cornwall, I can only say that staying in caravan holiday homes is quite nifty, the motorway traffic to and from were atrocious, and I'm afraid I won't be eating fish and chips in the next 6 months!

Cornwall (part 3)

2007-04-30T01:20:00.000+01:00

After our late night theatre escapade the previous night, it was time to go 'techie'. So we drove only 15 minutes from where we were staying. Goonhilly is dubbed as the largest satellite earth station on earth. It doesn't mean the largest satellite antenna but the largest collection of satellite antennas in the world. Me and the husband were particularly interested since we both majored in Electronics and Communications way back in university. If we followed what we were educated for we might have been employed in one of these sites.

What do these 'dishes' do? They transmit and receive live TV transmissions, millions of phone calls, video calls, email, data, faxes, and even weather and navigation data. There are also undersea cable lines that connects the communications station to various parts of the world.

The satelllite dish that greeted us (see above) at the entrance was certainly impressive, big and commanding, towering very high above us little midget humans. This my friends is the satellite dish called Arthur (I love the names they gave them). It's the oldest and one of the biggest in the lot.

Let's take a closer look at Arthur. It was built in 1962 to track the Telstar - a fast and low orbiting satellite. This means that Arthur can do a full swing of its face in just 3 minutes. Mind you, these are working antennas so tour can sometimes be cancelled at the last minute.

On the right-hand side is Merlin and in the middle of the 3 smaller dishes on the left is Geraint currently tasked to track an Inmarsat satellite over the Atlantic.

Here is a closer look at Merlin the largest on site with a dish diameter of 32 meters. It was used in 1985 to transmit the Live Aid concert worldwide.

It also has a Blue Peter badge for being featured in that children's TV program.

Because of advances in technology, huge satellite dishes such as Arthur and Merlin need not be built. Smaller satellite dishes such as above can adequately provide the same service on a smaller physical scale. If you notice, a number of windmills are in the background. That windfarm is not actually part of Goonhilly. It just adds to the peculiar sight of the place.

This is Guinevere. The only east facing satellite dish on site. It tracks the Intelsat satellite hovering over the Indian ocean.

There are a big number of other satellite dishes that I wasn't able to photograph - such as Uther, Lancelot, Isolde, Tristan, etc.

After the guided tour in a tourist bus we were escorted back to the visitor centre.

It has a lot of interactive displays for both adults and school children. There is of course the requisite gift shop and restaurant. I was also excited to find lots of iMacs in a corner with free internet access. The downside is I can't access gmail. :(

Some interactive displays that will keep the kids busy pushing buttons, pulling levers, etc.

But for me, the most eye-popping feature of this visitor centre is the 3-minute free phone call anywhere in the world! You guessed right, I phoned all my relatives and friends that I know that are still awake at that time.

It was a very stimulating experience for all of us most especially for me. I count ourselves lucky for this might be the last time we will see all these satellites as it is in the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall. Because BT (the owner) has decided that by 2008 all of the satellites, except for Arthur, will be dismantled and moved to Hampshire. Shame they will remove these technological wonders in this beautiful location. :(

Cornwall (part 2)

2007-04-28T00:02:00.000+01:00

The next day we came to see Land's End - the westernmost tip of the British Isles. It's just unfortunate that it was not spared from the encroachment of commercialism. To gain access you have to go through this facade for a range of shops, theme park type of shows and restaurants. Of course, if you go via the Cornwall Coastal Path you won't have to pollute your senses of this commercialism. I say ignore all these and walk further ahead until you come to the beautiful rocky scene of the real Land's End.

Paths around here are paved and clearly marked so you can get from one vantage point to another.

This is the view from the other vantage point looking over at the commercial area at the entrance to Land's End. If you notice at the left-hand side of the picture there is a hanging bridge (green one) that may give some people the creepies. It hangs over a cliff where a fall would land you some 200+ feet down the crashing waves below.

That's Cape Cornwall on the foreground - notice the cave carved out by the sea? I walked around that area during a stormy windy day several years ago when I walked the dog (Jack) of a local friend. The sound and power of the waves crashing on the rocks was just amazing.

Some scenes in Land's End. Almost every building here is named 'first and last' this and that. So you have the first and last pub or the first and last inn - ad nauseaum.

After a great time touring Land's End, we decided to do a little cultural thing with the kids. So off we went to Minack Theatre, an open-air theatre having the full expanse of the sea as a backdrop. How's that for drama?

The theatre itself was carved out of the rocks on the cliffside. Such amazing lifetime effort from the woman who started this - Rowena Cade. Their garden was amazing, too. All plants there are made to withstand sea breeze and most probably sea gales as well.

Since this theatre is open to the elements we naturally brought our jackets. But we were wondering what we were getting ourselves into because at the car park we saw a number of people dressed in winter garbs as in layered thick outdoors clothes, wooly hats, gloves, boots, the whole lot. Some even brought in sleeping bags! We decided to play it safe and buy a few wooly hats and jumpers in their gift shops. I know it's expensive but I'd rather pay than be stone cold for a few hours.

This is the stage of the Minack. As you can see the audiences' seating is quite steep. We had to hire (£1 each) cushions to protect us from the cold hard granite seating. See that rocky headland in the middle of the picture? Way before the play started we saw a couple of fishermen walked there, positioned themselves and cast their rods. We thought they would leave by dusk. But what do you know, they were still at it even after the play finished at 10PM !

The musical play we saw was Les Miserables staged by the Kidz R Us amateur theatre company from St. Ives. As their name suggests, all of the cast are kids and teenagers. Despite that the play was marvellous. The singers especially were good. The orchestral music was even live and judging from their sound, all done by kids as well. However, I could just imagine the worry of the parents of these kids because by nightfall the wind was gently blowing with chilly early springtime breeze. I hope none of them fell ill in their sometimes skimpy clothes.

We were shivering as well though we managed to survive with our warm clothes on. The beauty of the setting was apparent from the start but is most especially fantastically dramatic as the sun was setting throwing all red and yellow hues in the horizon. Then a lighthouse from a distance turned on and a brightly lit fishing boat sailed past. Such memorable sight they all are as a backdrop for a very good production of Les Miserable.

On our way home, Deng revealed why he was particularly keen on this musical. It turned out he (or rather a classmate) made a book report on the novel where it is based. He said it's only now decades later that he fully understood the whole story! ;)

Cornwall (part 1)

2007-04-25T23:03:00.000+01:00

I tried very hard for us to go away during the Easter break a few weeks ago because the stress at work is getting to me and I need to unwind. Probably not necessarily rest but a change from routine and scenery is a very much welcome change. Also, I know once the major project at work gets into full swing in late May I can't have any days off later.

Our choice of holiday place was heavily influenced by a 50% discount promotion of a caravan holiday homes in Cornwall besides the fact that the western tip of that county is probably my most favourite place in UK. I've been there at least 4 times and I have always loved the vibes of the area and the beautiful coastal sceneries that could rival any in the world. This time around I've got the whole family with me plus Tony nephew, Dennis, with his kids J and K. We stayed in a caravan park called Weststar Holiday Park in Mullion which is in the Lizard Peninsula.

I'm chronicling here in four parts the places we visited in Cornwall. As usual, these posts will be picture intensive. If you want a bigger view just click on the picture itself. First off, we went to this place called Kynance Cove in the Lizard peninsula.

We had to pay £3.00 to park our car but it was well worth it.

The path leading to the cove is downhill and winding. Later on you have to go down a steep path down a cliff to get to the beach itself.

Then you get a view of this awesome sight of cliffs, massive rocks, fine white sand beach and clear aquamarine waters. For awhile you could think that it's a Hollywood movie set - everything was perfectly arranged as if it was someone's handiwork. Mother nature is truly a great artist.

It was breathtaking so much so that J2 said - "I didn't know there were places as beautiful as this in England!"

The waters were so clean and the beach so pristine that we can't help wading in.

There were a lot of beautiful and intriguing rock formations.

Everywhere you turn ...

... you see a lot of beautiful rock formations, little nooks ...

... and a lot of caves carved out by the sea into the solid rock faces of the cliffs. We had a great time exploring these. I could just imagine pirates of old times coming here to hide things, do business, etc.

We actually loved it so much that we went back again in the afternoon on the same day. We sat hunkered down in the western edge only for about 15 minutes when a lady kindly told us that the tide was coming in and we need to get to the other side so we won't get cut off from the exit steps in the cliffs. Thank goodness for that we got out with just minutes to spare.

Sadly we have to leave Kynance cove. Here's a last look at a truly beautiful place.

Foire de Geneve

2007-02-08T22:40:00.000Z

I visited my sister and her new son last November in Geneva. She just gave birth about a month before and we coincided the visit with a birthday break for myself and J3's very first airplane ride. Mind you, Easyjet wasn't too bad just make sure you outrun everybody in boarding so you'll get the best seats.

While there, it was fortunate that the Foire de Geneve (Geneva Fair) was in full swing. It's sort of like a covered market with stalls exhibiting or selling a myriad of things and services - from carpets, jacuzzi, kitchens, clothes, to food. As you might have guessed I was totalled engrossed in them, sampling, ogling and sometimes actually forking out to buy.

There was quite a number of Christmas decors and items on display with a matching Santa asking kids on his knees what their wishes were.

Let's start the food exhibits with this stalling selling different fruit flavoured sweets.

This is (I think) a sort of toffee made with butter and milk.

Now I love this stall where I got the lovely smooth delicious foie gras mousse pate. The lady selling these made me taste the foie gras generously spread over a slice of baguette with some fig-chocolate chutney. Oh it was absolutely delicious! So that's how I got 2 additional jars, one of fig-chocolate chutney and a onion-chocolate confit.

Next one was heaving with so many sausages you can hardly see the people behind the counter. All the products were made by a local Geneve company. They did have a wide range on display - from salami, dry and fresh sausages, peperoni, venison salami, etc.

A genuine Italian elateria had this luscious array of fruit flavoured ice creams in their stall. You can just imagine the long queue we had to endure before we could partake of these cool confections.

The Big Move

2006-08-31T19:49:00.000+01:00

It's almost a week ago when we moved here in the West Midlands. Despite all the physical hardships and stress, it was all worth it. Afterall it's a different feeling having a house of your own no matter how small it is.

In our move, we actually did it in 2 plus some more. I got hold of the new house by Friday 18th August and stayed there waiting for the movers to come the day after next (Sunday). Problem was that when the movers came to our Sutton home to load our things, the packing was not finished yet! So the hoard I received Sunday morning is only about 2/3 of all of our belongings. The husband and kids came that same night and we slept on mattresses and sleeping bags for 2 days. Good thing our nephew, Dennis, offered to take the kids for a week to their place in Bolton to free us up in the rest of the move.

We then hired a rickety, old-banger of a white Ford transit van for 2 days. It's about 12 years old and had seen better days. Dirty inside, rusty outside, it had no heating, no radio, no hazard indicator, and worse when it rained it rained inside as well ! Why did we hire it? Because it's cheap. The one advantage of it is, every car and pedestrians keeps clear when they see us coming down the road. And I noticed that there's this kinda 'kindred-spirit' thing that all van drivers share. Why, a lot of other vans (old and new alike) were giving way for us. That I tell you is rare for van drivers to do.

Okay, we had our van and drove back to Sutton to pack everything and clean up once and for all. Problem was, most of our time was consumed trying to get rid of our old bigger furnitures thru friends or via local rubbish dumps. In the end Tony had to drive to 3 different dumps but was turned away. The final one he went to in Croydon allowed him to tip the things in but had to pay £40 ! Oh well ...

Then we realised that despite our dumping loads of furnitures and knick-knacks, our things wouldn't all fit in the van! So we had to hire a storage space in our local Shurgard. Are you exhausted yet? In the midst of all these, a number of friends helped us dispose of things and clean up the house. Imagine that on Thursday 24th Aug 5PM, we were still frantically cleaning up the house and loading the final bits in the van - and we're supposed to hand in the keys to the estate agents right at that moment!

At around 6:30PM, after we said our goodbyes to friends and dropped off the house keys, we eventually drove up the motorway to our new home. Inspite of our exhaustion, we were extremely relieved that that part of the move is over and we're starting a new home life in the West Midlands.

The saga did not end there mind you. We arrived in our new house at around 11PM. So we decided to sleep our aching bodies off and just unload early tomorrow. Next day, we reluctantly got up around 6:30AM to begin our unloading because the van has to be returned at 8AM ! I think this did us in, from the drive to the front door is quite an upward haul of about 15 steps (about 10 feet higher in elevation). Imagine us frantically doing the haul up that flight of stairs in record time. We were so exhausted afterwards that at 10AM we were sleeping again and couldn't bring ourselves up until early afternoon.

But now it's done, finished, moved in completely. What lies ahead is the unpacking ... whether we can do it in 1 week or 1 month or 1 year - is the big question.

The Dudley Chronicles - Week 4

2006-07-12T22:23:00.000+01:00

I found out that a contractor colleague of mine is staying in the same B&B in Stourbridge as me! He and another colleague invited me to their mid-week hike in nearby nature parks or woodlands. I agreed immediately since I really like hiking. But as usual, I got more than I bargained for. It was towards the end of May so it's not too chilly nor too hot. Perfect weather for outdoor activities.

They took me to Kinver Edge which had lots of hilltop views. Ergo, when you have hilltop views that means you have to climb. Oh god, I thought I was gonna die! The paths we walked were quite steep that I was panting like a dog. I could manage only a few meters at a time (near the top I think it was only a few feet at a time). Besides that I am overweight and not at all fit, I haven't done hiking in the last few years.

After the torture of the steep climb we were rewarded with great views across the Black Country, Birmingham, and we could even see as far as the Malvern Hills. Really nice. After about a couple of miles we went deep in the woods and explored some caves and saw some houses build right on to rock cliffs. I had a great time walking and exploring around. Good thing it was summer so even if we started at 7:30PM and finished at 10:30PM there was still light. Next stop is a pub, stayed there for a couple of drinks and headed home straight into bed at 11:30PM. Sleep has never been so welcome. Ahhhh ...

The Dudley Chronicles - Week 3

2006-07-09T22:13:00.000+01:00

I got a nice quiet B&B this week. It was backing on to a cemetery so definitely no noise in the evening! So nice as well to look over all that open space broken only by the peaks of the tombstones. :)

Well besides that, this is the first homely B&B that I've been in that's got all kinds of electrical entertainment in each room. Name it they have it - cable TV, DVD player, VCR, CD player with radio, and PC with internet access. Ahhhhh bliss! Not only that he's got an extensive library collection of DVDs and VHS tapes. There are also stacks of books everywhere. So there's really no excuse to be bored. I also like that he just let the guests get on with their breakfasts in the well-stocked breakfast roon. No fussing around no waiting for the cooking to finish.

It's not the cheapest one around so for the second half of the week I tried another B&B in Stourbridge with the lowest rate I can find. And I was not disappointed. It's clean, has basic amenities, comfortable, and only 15 minutes drive to work. Good enough for me!

The Dudley Chronicles - Week 2

2006-06-08T17:39:00.000+01:00

Sorry, I have to explain - I stay in my place of work in a Bed and Breakfast (B&B) then drive home on weekends to my family. Then I repeat the whole cycle come Monday. On the first week I drove Sunday evening, I did the same on the second but I reckon I could drive very early morning on a Monday to save a night's board and lodging.

Anyway, I moved to different B&B because the previous can't accommodate me. This one is in the Sedgeley area. Although the elderly lady and her partner were very nice, the location wasn't so ideal for me. It's right on a busy road which caused me to have difficultly in getting sleep. It would have been okay if I keep the windows closed but as some nights are quite warm I had no choice but to open them. Another is the difficulty in coming out of their narrow driveway which is made doubly dangerous because of the amount of traffic. I could see why it's popular, mainly due to its walking distance to a popular computer training school. So she gets lots of students from there. But it might be my last stay here unless everybody else is full.

This week I get to use the cheap Volvo car we bought specifically for my weekly commuting. I'm not pointing fingers but it's really what my husband want not my choice really. And it's turning out to be a nightmare. There are lots of smoking coming out of the tailpipe, engine is underpowered, no radio, key (which is computer chipped) is broken, side lights not working, etc. You may say, that's what you get out of a cheap car but really I'm not expecting this much problems with it. What's worse was when my husband took it to our local official Volvo repair centre who were either grossly incompetent or just ripped us off our hard earned cash. It should have been just a case of checking if everything's working fine and fixing whatever minor problems it has. But it left the place with more problems than when it came there! My husband has to ferry to and from different garages to patch up the glaring problems (including my thinning patience). One advantage of the Volvo saga is that cars stay well behind me to avoid the copious smoke it's belching.

Our family's car problems did not end there. The Toyota Lucida decided it had enough and developed engine problems. Upon inspection, they found out that a gasket is broken. Price for replacement and fix = £1000. We decided it would be more practical to replace the whole engine which costed $1100 only £100 more than just the gasket. There were a few minor hiccups but it was smooth sailing for the most part. Hopefully this would extend Lucida's working life for a few more years.

As for my homesickness, by Tuesday I have well and truly kicked it. I can think of my kids without almost breaking into tears. Things are looking up at work as well. They've finally given me something to do!

The Dudley Chronicles - Week 1

2006-06-05T15:29:00.000+01:00

Several weeks had passed since I started here in my new job. At the risk of being redundant, I just want to record some extra info on my early days here in West Midlands. It was not all a bed of roses in my first week as far as I am concerned. Terrible homesickness set in right on the first day. Doubts about the job arose by the second day. And as expected I am left in zombie-like state while reading manuals and documents to kill time due to lack of computer and database access.

As a saving grace, everyone I meet here have been lovely and very friendly. Even people on the street and shops were amiable. I guess the adage that, the further away from the city you are the friendlier the people, hold true.

My travel, rather driving, this week has been excellent since I had to get a hire car. Though driving was a breeze, my pocket is not breezing so much what with this added expense mainly because the cheapo car (Volvo) that we bought is not up to scratch. Actually I got a shock when I got the hirecar expecting only about £150 to pay. But insurance and VAT inflated the price to £200! *groan* Just what I needed when I should be saving money.

I stayed in a B&B with a family in their relatively new 4-bedroom house in the Milking Bank area. Dennis, Dang and family even accompanied me there the first night I 'checked in'. Everything was very pleasant including my friendly landlady. Only minor irritation is the lack of a shower room in their lovely spacious bathroom. So everytime I had to sit in the bathtub while scrubbing and very carefully rinsing myself with a shower attached to a hose (I don't what they call that).

Job Interviews

2006-06-02T23:29:00.000+01:00

My recent job hunt made me face job interviews for the first time in more than 10 years. The amount and variety of these interviews I went into is such a wealth of experience to me that I have to write it down for posterity.

The line of job I'm in is a bit technical so there are a lot of quiz-type of questions that usually have absolute answers. Interviews I went into are usually divided between technical and the more HR type. Usually you have to hurdle the technical one first before you are put on the second HR type which gauges more of your personality and suitability to the current team and company culture.

I can't tell you enough of my nervousness in the techie interviews because I know if I got 1 or 2 wrong - that's it I'm screwed. Especially for contract jobs since they expect you to plunge into the job right at the start so they want you to be extra sharp. So just imagine yourself in like a 'Mastermind' type of scenario where the person opposite is asking you questions and probing everything you say in a technical way. Worse still is if you're doing it over the phone. Well actually that has advantages such as you can hide your nervousness since they can't see you. Also you can rummage thru your notes (very quickly) as they fire away their questions. But it still boils down to whether you would appear and sound like you know what you're talking about. I think that's where my weakness lies because I'm a bad liar. I can't bluff very well. Whereas some of my colleagues were able to blag themselves to plum roles even though they don't have all the required work experiences.

Besides those points, going on interviews after more than 10 years in a job can be quite a shock. I'm not really good at it since I am by nature an insecure person and as everyone knows it is very important to appear confident and sure. There were also times when I have a 'mental block' where I forget even the simplest things that I do.

The solution to this is to prepare and to prepare well. Think of all the things they could ask you and if possible write down your best answer. Don't just try to remember everything in your head. You're bound to forget one or two things. As for technical questions, you definitely have to revise via textbooks in libraries (even in bookstores) or in the internet. Unless you have a photographic memory of everything you read and click on your computer you might be in for a shock when at crunch time you realise that you forgot the collective name of the suite of software you're using and some other everyday work stuff.

As for my actual interviews, there were times then that I feel like a multitasking operating system. I had interviews almost everyday for several weeks. Sometimes I have two at a time. Sometimes one phone interview in the morning then a face-to-face one in the afternoon.

First one, I was so unprepared I forgot to answer one fundamental thing about Packaged Procedures in Oracle Forms which I was using everyday in my work. Duh! Be prepared! I learned later that an ex-colleague was getting interviewed for the same position so I gave him all the questions they fired at me and all the tips I can muster. He did get the job, which I was genuinely delighted, but was troubled that he was only asked 2 quite easy technical questions. Waahh, not fair!

Second one, I went thru all the trouble of commuting to their offices and back for a series of exams. Spending almost £50 of my own money. Then after repeatedly calling them for 2 weeks to get an answer, they came back and said they're not recruiting afterall. Arrrggghh!!

Then followed a series of phone interviews:

One was for a job in Belgium, which was so intense they were asking about syntaxes of Oracle commands. They really need one with photographic memory.

Another was for a bank up north, which I really liked but it turned out I was beaten by an ex-colleague. Oh well ...

Then came this job for a software house in East Midlands whose interview was done by an agency person who didn't have a clue on what Oracle was. So I had to continually ask her to repeat the question and often ask her to spell it. As you can tell, it's one of those quiz type of interviews - one wrong answer and you're fried. Not surprisingly I didn't get a followup phonecall from them.

A software house up in Scotland liked my first interview so they sent plane tickets for my second interview. I didn't the job but I got to ride an airplane. :) They said they want someone with more customer facing experience. Maybe that means they want someone who's not fat. hehehe!

Next one is a university who had the temerity to ask for so many years of experience and technical skills then pay you peanuts. I thought it could do for the meantime but when I saw their offices - my God! It was really grim. They are in a tower block that didn't seem to have been maintained much since the 70s. Halls were dark, there were piles of boxes and paper everywhere. What's worse were the holes and cracks I saw on the window panes then patched up higgedly-piggedly with cello tapes or electrical tapes. Yikes! And everyone had a personal heater by their desks. It must be freezing up there in winter.

A financial investment firm in the City called me for an interview. Offices were a stark contrast from the above - very posh, quite new, sleek and trendy, all reeking money. I think I did well in the written technical exam but I did not gel well with my interviewers. Besides one of them was so glum I think he had made up his mind even before he'd seen me. Though I was not sorry to see that job go because even if they're paying top money, the work was all about maintaining their legacy system (read: old system). Not much development work so no real prospect for growth.

Then I had a couple of 'long-shots' - meaning I really didn't have all the core work experience they need but were interested because they were in the insurance industry as well. The one in the south coast is the one I really covet. All new system with lots of development needed and lots of new technologies being introduced. Sadly they said they like my personality but needed someone with experience on the new ERP technologies. I know they're still looking but with the salary they're offering I think they'll have a tough time.

Next one is an insurance company near where I live. I really think I am a good fit in that position but my hunch is that the boss who interviewed might have been intimidated by me. She's well experienced and all but still quite young.

This is a funny one, the guy emailed me for an informal interview in an address in the City. So I went to the designated place expecting an office building. I kept circling around the area but couldn't seem to find it. Just then I saw one of the shop awnings with the number of the address. It was a wine bar !! I have heard of jokes about interviews in pubs but I never thought it would happen to me. I couldn't believe it that I must have walked by about 4 times unsure of whether to come in or not. To be fair, they were a decent bunch of people and wanted to see mainly my personality since they are a very small consulting company. Still, I think they should have done better than having it in a wine bar. That one would really stick in memory. :)

Did you have a meeting where everything seems to go wrong? Well this one was in the Docklands and I don't know what happened but I ended up being late! Tsk tsk, one of the cardinal sins of interviews - never be late! I made sure to leave home in plenty enough time but I think there were train cancellations and I ended up almost running from Canary Wharf tube station across a mall, over a bridge, then sprinted the last 250 meters (my PE teacher would have been proud). As I opened the glass door I was sweaty, panting, and looking particularly haggard. The interview was all right but it's just as well that they didn't call me back because from what they described me the job is mainly doing technical sales. Not for me!

Another software house that developed a multi-media broadcasting ERP software called me for an interview. Location was in North London high tower block office in a not so nice part of town. Though the inside of the office is nice enough in stark contrast to their surroundings. The people there looks laid back and were smart-casually dressed. The senior techie guy I met gave me a written test after only a few minutes of questioning. It wasn't a problem. I was confident of my answers so I handed it in after about half an hour. I thought that was the end of it but no! He sat down and dissected each and every answer I made and questioned me on why this why that. It turned out more exhaustive than I thought. After 2 weeks still no answer but I was not too bothered.

The interview I got for my current job was quite an ordeal really. I have to travel a total of about 6 hours to get to and from the site. Then a project manager and a senior techie guy grilled me for 1 1/2 hours on probably anything they can think of in Oracle. Minutes after all that, they had me take 2 45-minute verbal and numeric assessment exams. I tell you, I felt like a pulp when I got home. Good thing they offered me the job otherwise it would have been all for nought.

So there they are, all my interview experiences this year. Aren't you exhausted yet? It may not be over yet. I might repeat the whole circus in a year or two, who knows?

First Week Blues

2006-05-31T23:19:00.000+01:00

It's been three weeks since I started on a new job and I knew it is always difficult to come out of your comfort zone but was still surprised with the intensity of my gloom in being away from my family and familiar environment. My first week in the West Midlands was hell. I missed my family (my children especially) so much during that time which was unexpected since I was usually fine with my occassional out-of-town one-week trainings. My goodness, you don't know how many buckets of tears I shed (in secret of course) on my first weekend home. It was just too painful for a mother to be away. The experience certainly made me realise how much my family means to me - me, the objective me the logical me. I didn't realise much motherly emotion I have.

The first meeting I had with my colleagues added to my depression. It was troubling to say the least that I found out what was happening to our production runs (which was mostly bad) with all the attendant problems. The way they portrayed it is like there is no solution and we might as well blow up the whole thing and start over again. I kept saying to myself - what did I get myself into? The tricky part is they have to come up with a working efficient system by December - that's only 6 months away!

The bad weather didn't help at all. Rain was pouring everyday throughout the week. It was May but the temperature was more like late winter. Plus all the places I saw in the area were quite run down places where you wouldn't want to live. I ask - why am I here?

After more than 3 weeks, the fog is lifting. We've got definitely plans to move up here in the West Midlands. It seems there are nice places to live here after my extensive poking around. And there are workable solutions afterall to our work problems. Really, my first week was trying to say the least. I was firmly ready to chuck everything out and never comeback. I'm glad I hung on and just hope this will be the start of better things for me and my family.

A New Chapter Unfolding

2006-05-03T20:18:00.000+01:00

A few months ago I mentioned my getting redundant from my work of more than 10 years. The times after that was fraught for me and my former colleagues with lots of anxiety, worries, frustrations, and disappointments. Thankfully now, relief and delight has replaced those emotions. While most of my ex-colleagues have remained in the London area, I'm off to pastures anew in the West Midlands. Yes sir, I'll be working with a company in the outskirts of Birmingham, the second premier city in Britain. For now, I will stay there during the week and come home every weekend. I'll see first how things work out before making the decision of whether to move the whole family. Certainly one of the plus side in living there is the affordable houses and flats. The general cost of living is cheaper as well. Let's hope this will be the start of a brand new adventure for our family. :)

Imperial War Museum

2006-04-19T19:35:00.000+01:00

The Saturday after our visit to Tower of London, me and my two kids (J1 & J3) trekked to the Imperial War Museum London in Lambeth. As expected, it's full of weapons, artifacts, and other war related exhibits. I am generally against war and violence but besides the obvious excitement and interest of my son, I took them there to learn about the destruction and futility of war. As the phrase in the leaflet says "It seeks to provide for, and to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and how it affects our lives." I certainly hope it does.

Above are the imposing big guns fronting the museum. Click on the pictures for a bigger view. I was pleasantly surprised to learn upon stepping inside that entrance is free.

These are the airplanes that will greet you inside. The museum houses war artifacts from all over the world. So you can see German Panzer tanks alongside British ones.

Some spic and span World War II tanks.

And the regulatory guns and knives to go with everything ...

Above is a surface to air missile and a German V2 rocket.

There are a number of excellent exhibitions like the WWI and WWII galleries, the Children's War where it poignantly depicts how war affected children especially in the evacuation of London children during WWII. There was even a Trench Experience gallery where they recreated trenches in WWI complete with sights, sounds and even the stench of urine, sweat, blood, among other things.

Herein is the butt of the big guns or rather the derrier. We're on our way out now after a day of viewing the excellent exhibits of the museum. For me, it's a good way of reflecting on the cruelty of man against his own. For my youngest J3, it's a nice day out running in and out of tanks and submarines. For my son J1, it's absolutely fantastic seeing and photographing all those guns, tanks, planes and seeing those big rockets. What is it with boys and big guns?

On the way home only a few meters away from the museum gates, I noticed this plaque on a house along Lambeth Road.

Tower of London

2006-04-07T23:16:00.000+01:00

I've been remiss in updating this blog. Mainly because of all the mayhem happening in my life offline. I thought being out of job would give me more time to do more leisurely things and be in a more relaxed pace. How wrong I was!

Anyway, early this week me and the kids had a chance to see the Tower of London ... well where else but in London. It was built by William the Conqueror in 1066 originally as a fortress and castle to defend the city. Subsequent sovereigns expanded and modified it. Hence, its use extended to become a palace, prison, execution place, a mint and an arsenal among others.

I've been here with my older kids about 6-7 years ago but they couldn't remember much from the event. We were prompted on this visit by our youngest who wanted to see castles and palaces in London for her classroom assignment of "defending London". It's their 2-week term break and I was not doing much that day so off we went on a trek to the Tower.

This is the view of the castle as you emerge from the Tower Hill tube station (click on the pictures for a bigger view).

This beautiful building facing the Tower of London is, I think, of the National Maritime.

Entrance gate to the Tower. Fees are now a whopping £15 per adult and £9.50 per child (5-16 yo). Good thing we had that 2for1 ticket promotion of the National Rail where we get a free ticket for every full paying adult as long as you present a train ticket on that day. It saved me a lot!

Of course there were loads of things to see and explore within the thick stone walls of the castle. Above you can see the Traitor's Gate where Elizabeth I (she was not yet queen) famously entered the fortress when she was accused of treason.

You can see above the central building in a castle called the 'keep'. Here in the Tower of London, this particular building is named the White Tower. Currently it houses a gallery of armories, cannons, swords, body armours, etc. The entrance via a wooden staircase can be seen outside the building. Access between floors once inside is via a series of winding stone staircases.

The first room you encounter upon entering is this small chapel.

Most of the display room were dark and lit by tiny recessed lights. I got a nice shot of one of the rooms. Don't you think it patently looks ghostly?

The kids were particularly impressed with the knights' metal armours - even the rude one of Henry VIII. There were lots of medieval armaments like swords, cannons, jousting sticks, etc.

Narrow passage ways abound as well as winding stone staircases typical of medieval castles.

More of the relatively contemporary armouries dislayed. The last one being a gaily painted cannon outside the White Tower itself.

I saw this gorgeous gold Lion of St.Mark standing near the exit by a Tower gift shop - you know the kind of shop that is strategically poised to squeeze the most money out of you.

As soon as we got out of the White Tower, we proceeded to the Jewel Tower just opposite it (see pix on left). The Jewel Tower is precisely that, it houses the Crown Jewels of the Queen. We were led along this winding queue lines which thankfully were not too crowded. Then we entered a large room with formidable looking very thick steel vault doors. Some other lesser important crowns and a gold robe were at the foyer of the room. As you turn left you will see a long glass encased display of the Crown Jewels flanked on either side by moving conveyor belts where people step on and pass by and ogle (maybe even drool) at the seriously big glittering rocks on the Queen's crown and in the scepter. We were all in awe. I've never seen such huge gems in my life. The picture by the way on the right is the Fussilier's Museum. We didn't get a chance to see it. The kids were complaining that they're already tired and hungry.

As we wound our day to a close in the castle, I couldn't resist admiring the beautiful setting of this venerable place. It was a perfect spring day, sunny, not too cold, the grass green, the daffodils out - really nice.

Just outside the castle is another famous London icon spanning the Thames river - the Tower Bridge.

A more proper view of the bridge from the promenade outside the castle walls. Now I know most people outside of the UK know this bridge as London bridge probably because of the children's song. Just to confirm this is called Tower Bridge and *not* London bridge. There is indeed a bridge called London bridge which is just within sight of Tower Bridge but it's not half as beautiful as the latter.

We walked on the north bank promenade of the Thames river where I took this picture. We continued all the way on foot to London bridge, crossed it and took a train home from the London bridge train station. I was knackered after all the walking and going up and down staircases. It would have been nothing had I not been wearing a suit and leather boots. Reason being, I had an interview earlier in the morning. Despite that we made sure to enjoy ourselves in this day out.

Lion King Birthday

2006-02-14T22:51:00.000Z

Last month I decided to treat Tony on his 45th birthday with a dinner and a theatre show. Since the lower end of the age spectrum in our family weighs heavily on our choice of entertainment, we decided on seeing the wholesome Lion King instead of a more 'interesting' shows like Chicago. I made reservations for tickets with a pre-theatre dinner included which was good value for money.

I chose PJ's Grill for our restaurant. Largely because all the other choices had bad reviews mainly and unforgiveably in its food. Sloppy service can be excusable on lots of pretext, but please not with food. Thankfully, PJ's didn't have any problem with either of it; with courteous (although somewhat harried) waiting staff and good tasty food to be had in its dining halls. It was also something different for us since most of the time we eat out we end up in a Chinese restaurant.

The highlight of the night of course, is the Lion King musical. It would have been better if the upper circle (where our seats were located) area were a little lower. The endless stairs we trudged on were about the equivalent of 5 stories high! By the time we reached the top we were panting like dogs. The ushers didn't bat an eyelid on our antics. It must have been a regular sight for them. Anyhow, our seats were excellent, it was right in front and at the edge right smack in the middle. No heads bobbing in front of us blocking our way. We had perfect line of sight of the stage. Bliss! Needless to say, we enjoyed our view of the outstanding show especially J3 who was singing along and very excited in seeing such a colourful and magical show.

Let's not forget that all of this is for the husband who celebrated his 45th birthday. Happy Birthday Tony !!

Funky Maps and Images

2006-01-30T18:17:00.001Z

Oh poor blog of mine, haven't been updated for more than a month! Well, it's got something to do with me trying to find a job. So people out there, please pray that I find a good job very soon.

On another note, I've found some nifty softwares and websites that aids in how we look at our world.

First is the Google Earth where you see the topview almost any part of the world maybe including your own street and your own house! It's not very detailed in every place but in cities like Hong Kong, the minute features in the images are simply astonishing. You'll have to download and install Google's software though but you don't have to worry since it's so easy to do.

Next is the World Sunlight Map where you could see an interpretation on how the earth would look out in space ... when stretched out flat.

Last one is this cool website Circular Life wherein you could see different places gradually go through the different phases during the day. Try it - it's real cool. :)

Robot is self-aware?

2005-12-22T00:48:00.001Z

According to a Japanese scientist, they have created a robot that may be regarded as 'self-aware' or recognizes itself and distinguishes from others. If this is true artificial intelligence (AI) then this is a big step indeed. The article in the Discovery Channel News said that:

The ground-breaking technology could eventually lead to robots able to express emotions.

Under development by Junichi Takeno and a team of researchers at Meiji University in Japan, the robot represents a big step toward developing self-aware robots and in understanding and modeling human self-consciousness.

I sure hope this is a positive thing that could genuinely help humanity and not become a nightmarish situations as espoused by the horrific scenarios in sci-fi movies like The Matrix or Terminator.

Black Eyed Peas London concert

2005-12-20T00:27:00.000Z

I'm still buzzing from the great time we had in the Black Eyed Peas' London concert tonight that I thought I just had to blab about it. Although I like a number of BEP's songs I'm not really into it as my two older kids (14 & 13 yo). I was thinking I'm just going there to be a chaperone but no, I did enjoy it more than them. And I even outlasted them both, by about 10:30 PM my daughter was already complaining she's tired while I was still raring to go. Hah! they did not reckon their mum was a veteran party goer. ;)

The concert hall was packed to the rafters. I was sheepishly looking at other concert goers in case I was the only middle aged one. I need not have worried, there were a number of oldies plus lots of kids even younger than mine. The crowd was great, responsive and was almost consistently on their feet singing and dancing to the music.

The show was fantastic, not only were the music and the singing/rapping very very good but I didn't know they all could dance very well. Apl.de.ap (the Pinoy one) could really break dance then Fergie did a belter while doing several one-handed somersaults - wow!! I really really love their show. But what made it more special for me is when Apl rapped 'Bebot' - their all-Tagalog song! I just want to say to Apl - I AM SO SO PROUD OF YOU, man!!! Unlike some Pinoy performers who chose to ignore or hide their heritage, this man celebrates and flaunts it. Well done, Apl, I know this is redundant but - I'm so proud singing/rapping that song at the top of my lungs! I know I know, my kids were cringing saying I was embarassing them but really, I couldn't care less.

Water of Life

2005-12-13T14:17:00.001Z

I’ve always believed that plants react to their environment including people and their prevailing emotions. Several times when I was in high school I experimented with my mother’s plants talking everyday for several weeks to one plant while ignoring the other identical plants in identical pots sited on the same place in the yard. The one I talked to without a doubt looked more lush, healthier, and grew faster than the rest. After about 2 months I stopped talking to it and it sort of regressed to the same average state as the others.

Now in Jaime Licauco’s column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, he discusses not just the effect on plants of human thoughts and emotions but also of a Japanese research on the effect in water. Yes, that’s right – water. Click here for the full article.

And Now the End Is Near

2005-12-08T15:20:00.000Z

We’ve been handed our marching papers today so officially my last day of work should be 8th of March 2006 (I have 3 months’ notice period). But my very last day of being here on site would be 23rd December. After that none of us are required to come in to work.

*sigh* Such an ignomious end to a 10-year tour of duty in this company. Despite knowing for about 2 years, since it was taken over by a large banking group, that we had to go most of us are still kinda wistful in leaving this company. We surely are gonna miss the heyday of our IT dept. The time when we didn’t have enough man power and resources to fill our growing business requirements, the time when our customer base were soaring, the time when everybody was eager to work towards a lofty goal – to be the very best company in our industry.

Our old CEO was very charismatic and he was in the thick of things. You often saw him walking around talking to people and he took time to listen to gripes and complaints. There were certainly problems and troubles, afterall there’s no such thing as a perfect company. However, a lot of our former colleagues who’re now employed in other firms often say that our old company was the best working environment they’ve been in. Certainly among us IT people, there was this palpable feeling of trust from the business people that we will do all we can to help them in the resources available to us because ultimately that was our role – to support the business. Unlike a lot of IT people I know who keep dissing users and generally want them all to go away. The work environment that I recall was that in say projects – the budget, resources, and deadline are all agreed with all parties. After that we were generally left to get on with the work. Not many managers micro manage their staff. It’s one of the reasons why most of us are multi skilled. Sometimes one may be resolving some technical issues with an intranet server when his main job was project management – that sort of thing.

Well so much for my reminiscing. I’ve got to wake up to the truth that I have to find work again. One thing I hate about it is the interviews. It just gives me the jitters so much so that often I get mental block especially in technical interviews. And god help me if it’s a panel one. Once someone asked me something about ‘triggers’ and for the life of me I couldn’t remember a thing while just the day before I was using it! Duh! Then one time I kept on nodding while the interviewer chatted on and then he stopped he was waiting for me. It turned out he was asking a question and just kept on nodding. Hehehe. Must be because of his heavy Indian accent. I think I have to learn to relax, yeah right relax … just don’t let my mind drift to the fact that if I don’t land a job my kids would be starving – talk about pressure.

These days I just quote the US $1 bill – In God We Trust. :)

Music Time Tunnel

2005-11-20T11:58:00.000Z

Funny how old songs you haven't heard for at least a decade takes you vividly on a trip back to a time and place of your youth. It's sort of like a time tunnel. The sights and sounds and even the smell comes back as if you're right in that moment.

Beast of Burden by the incomparable Rolling Stones has always been a favourite of mine. I love love the soft guitar riffs of Keith Richards and the great melody in that song. I heard it for the first time last month since ... oh about 15 years ago. And I was dumbstruck to feel all the things flooding back once I listened and sang with it. Memories of me coming home after classes, sitting on a JAM/RJM bus waiting for passengers in one of the shady tree-lined side streets of Plaza Lawton. Warm gentle wind wafting through the window ruffling my hair. Me sitting there listening, gently tapping my foot to the music. Feeling satisfied that my final exams has finished. Looking forward to the school vacations and chill out with not a care in the world. It's one of those moments in time in my life that everything is in balance, everything is just right. I hope there would be more of them. :)

Beast of Burden

I'll never be your beast of burden
My back is broke, my feet are hurting
All I want is for you to make love to me

I'll never be your beast of burden
I've walked for miles my feet are hurting
All I want is for you to make love to me

Am I hard enough
Am I rough enough
Am I rich enough
I'm not too blind to see

I'll never be your beast of burden
So let's go home and draw the curtains
Music on the radio
Come on baby make sweet love to me

Am I hard enough
Am I rough enough
Am I rich enough I'm not too blind to see

Oh little sister
Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, girl
You're a pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty girl
Pretty, pretty
Such a pretty, pretty, pretty girl
Come on baby please, please, please

I'll tell ya
You can put me out
On the street
Put me out
With no shoes on my feet
But, put me out, put me out
Put me out of misery

Yeah, all your sickness
I can suck it up
Throw it all at me
I can shrug it off
There's one thing baby
That I don't understand
You keep on telling me
I ain't your kind of man

Ain't I rough enough, ooh baby
Ain't I tough enough
Ain't I rich enough, in love enough
Ooh! Ooh! Please

I'll never be your beast of burden
I'll never be your beast of burden
Never, never, never, never, never, never, never be

I don't need no beast of burden
I need no fussing
I need no nursing
Never, never, never, never, never, never ever be

Sense and Sensibility

2005-10-28T14:42:00.000+01:00

There was a conspicuous dearth of English literature in my education. In high school, we were taught the basics and rigors of the structure and grammar but on the literary side almost all the short stories, plays, and poems we discussed were third-world centric. Works by noted Filipino writers like Nick Joaquin or other Asian or African authors (all of which I can't remember now) were what we read and discussed. Nothing wrong with that in fact I got to appreciate that English writing talents also exists in these non-English-native-speaking countries. My college English lessons, on the other hand, were all single-mindedly directed towards technical writing. No flowery words or langous description, everything is precise, measured and concise. That definitely killed the writer in me that was budding in my first year in high school.

In the light of this, I've always longed for knowing all these English classics that are often quoted, referred to, or alluded to by a lot of writers that I planned on reading them one by one 'til I keel over from old age. This spurred my initial headway in collecting classics like Jane Austens novels. I tried reading some Shakespeare but the olde English gave me a headache! Most of the time I couldn't make heads or tails of what he's trying to say. If I constantly refer to annotations it inevitably banishes the fluid poetry of the magic of words. Half of the greatness of works of art is in the appreciation of people. If I can't understand what the writer wants to say it's a cinch I wouldn't enjoy it and what good is a piece of writing if nobody can understand or relish it.

I picked up my first Jane Austen when I was about 15, when a cousin pressed a copy of Pride and Prejudice in my young hands. At first I found the Victorian language tedious but as I got used to it I excitedly reveled in the mellifluous witty funny prose of Miss Austen. After several decades, it's only now that I picked up another Jane Austen - her first novel Sense and Sensibility.

What struck me in that novel was how everyone wass obsessed with money or how much money someone has. Although arguably, the Dashwood sisters put a higher premium on love, honor, and integrity. But still at the back of their romatic minds they cleverly calculate if their inamorata has enough money to allow them to live decently. I can't blame them since at that time (mid-1700s) middle to upper class women are not allowed to work. It is virtually a social suicide if they as much as expend any energy in earning money. So all their lives (in my opinion) were spent in idle talk and gossip and frivolous things besides the management of the household which I think was the only practical thing they do and even with that they have servants to do everything for them. I don't know, I think I'll be bored to death if I were living as a woman in England during that time.

Smithfield Market

2005-10-19T11:14:00.000+01:00

We had a chance one Saturday afternoon to visit Smithfield Market near the financial centre of London. I totally forgot that they are open only very early in the morning and close at around 9AM. So by the time we were there the market itself was closed and we just walked around the vicinity to see some interesting spots.

Smithfield Market, a meat and livestock market, has been in existence as far back as 14th century over a large open space just outside the walls of the old City of London. The current building where it is housed was completed in 1868. Good thing they managed to preserve this beautiful Victorian structure.

Besides the market, it also has a gruesome history being a place of public executions for people convicted of heresy, treason, murder, etc. Nearby we saw a big plaque for Scotsman William Wallace more popularly known as Braveheart. His marker was festooned with fresh flowers, candles, and Scottish flags.

Also in the vicinity is the old church of St. Bartholomew established as a monastery in the 12th century. The abbotts built a hospital as well of the same name which is now popularly known as St.Bart's hospital. Though the monastery was dissolved in Henry VIII's dissolution of all Catholic churches in the mid 16th century, it survives today as a quaint old church no doubt because it transformed itself into an Anglican church.

Bebot's Monkey Business

2005-10-04T15:15:00.000+01:00

My eldest daughter goes every Saturday for her dance lessons in central London in Europhil, a group managed by a bunch of Filipino British parents to give dancing and singing lessons to their children. I got hold of them purely via word of mouth and so far inspite of the little resources they have, they have been successful in teaching both Filipino native dances and street dance to Filipino British kids ranging in age from 3-16 years old. I am impressed with the dedication of the parents to give the kids a wholesome and fun activity. They do look after the kids so I don’t have any qualms in leaving my daughter there while I go gallivanting around town. A lot of the kids on the other hand are quite talented and very good looking – I guess they might be beauty contest fodder later on.

So much for the introduction, actually I want to blog about a song I heard in their street dancing class. It was from Blackeyed Peas’ new album – Monkey Business. And I can’t help grinning ear to ear (sometimes even laughing) while listening to it. Unlike their previous album’s Apl’s song, this one has an all-Tagalog lyrics. The song is very good I tell you and very danceable with an infectious beat. ‘Bebot’ – the title, btw, is a slang for girl or female. Loosely translated it’s ‘chick’, ‘tottie’, etc.

Bebot

Bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot be
Ikaw ang aking
Bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot be
Ikaw ang aking
Bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot be
Ikaw ay

Pilipino! Pilipino! Pilipino! Pilipino!

Hoy pare pakinggan nyo ko
Eto nang tunay na filipino
Galing sa baryo Sapangbato
Pumunta ng LA nagtrabaho
Para makatulong sa nanay
Dahil sa hirap ng buhay
Pero masaya parin ang kulay
Pag kumain nagkakamay
Yung kanin, chicken adobo
Yung balot, binebenta sa kanto
Tagay mo na nga ang baso
Pare ko inuman na tayo

Pilipino! Pilipino! Pilipino! Pilipino!

Bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot be
Ikaw ang aking
Bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot be
Ikaw ang aking
Bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot be
Ikaw ay

Pilipino! Pilipino! Pilipino! Pilipino!

Masdan mo ang magagandang dalaga
Nakakagigil ang beauty mo talaga
Lambingin di nakakasawa
Ikaw lang ang gustong kasama
Yung bahay o kubo
Pagibig mo ay totoo
Puso ko'y laging kumikibo
Wala kang katulad sa mundo ko
Pinoy ka sigaw na, sige
Kung maganda ka sigaw na, sige
Kung buhay mo'y mahalaga, sige
Salamat sa iyong suporta

Pilipino! Pilipino! Pilipino! Pilipino!

Pilipino! Pilipino! Pilipino! Pilipino!

Bebot bebot be bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot be
Ikaw ang aking
Bebot bebot be bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot be
Ikaw ang aking
Bebot bebot be bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot be
Ikaw ang aking
Bebot bebot be bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot be
Ikaw ang aking
Bebot bebot be bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot be
Ikaw ang aking
Bebot bebot be bebot bebot
Be bebot bebot be
Ikaw ay

Pinoy ka sigaw na, sige
Kung maganda ka sigaw na, sige
Kung buhay mo'y mahalaga, sige
Salamat sa iyong suporta, sige

Pinoy ka sigaw na, sige
Kung maganda ka sigaw na, sige
Kung buhay mo'y mahalaga, sige
Salamat sa iyong suporta

...Pilipino ...Pilipino ...Pilipino ...Pilipino

La la la la la la la la la la la la looo [x2]

Milton Keynes Filipino Festival

2005-09-08T15:55:00.000+01:00

A few weekends ago we braved the traffic strewn expanse of the M1 motorway to trek to Milton Keynes for a Filipino festival. Yes people, the thought of eating (what else?) halo-halo, bopis, dinuguan, pork barbecue, among others, is enough incentive for us to endure more than an hour’s drive to there. We thought after hurdling the M1 and once inside Milton Keynes it would be a cinch to find the festival park. How wrong we were! After going round and round endless roundabouts and avenues that look eeriely the same, we had to call for SOS from a Filipina friend who lived nearby. While shouting down at her mobile phone, she directed us (husband was driving) by pointing out landmarks –

'Pagnakita nyo yung estatwa ng taong baligtad kumanan kayo. Tapos pag nakita nyo yung building na yung bubong parang baked beans can na nakatumba malapit na kayo!'

Her instructions were colourfully descriptive ;) it did not take long for us to find the place.

First time I saw it, I liked it. The park was built like an amphitheatre with the stage located down low in the centre of concentric graduated grassy levels where people can sit picnic-style. At the upper level are some fairground rides plus lots of space where kids took advantage of the lovely sunshine and biked around or flew kites. (Next year we’ll make sure to bring kites). On stage, the regular mainstay of Filipino festivals – Europhil – did their singing and dancing although they stuck to an all-Filipino repertoire here. There were other performers like the group of teeners who did an excellent street dance – very very good!, several kids who sang, a kids beauty pageant, a beauty pageant for married ladies, and another one for gays which only had 2 contestants and judging from the looks of the 2nd gal/guy there who looked like he/she just entered for a laugh, essentially there was only 1 contestant – who would automatically of course is the winner. Why do we have these inane beauty contest in festivals?

There are the usual food and goods stall. But most of all there were none of the hoards of people we encountered in Hounslow. The crowd size was mercifully just allright. Not too much not too thin. I hate crowds … really. I go out of my way to avoid them. That’s why when we went to Disneyland Paris in a Christmas weekend it was like a holiday from hell for me. But I digress…

There was also this photogenic colourful jeepney that kids and adults alike loved to see and board.

The food was the typical festival fare but we spied several that we don’t normally see in these festivals. The likes of – itlog na pula, green mangoes, daing na bangus, among other things. Needless to say, we enjoyed our brief stay there so we’ll definitely be back next year !

One Year Ago I Started Blogging

2005-08-18T17:24:00.000+01:00

It’s been a year now since I discovered the world of blogs and started blogging myself. I’ve been surfing the internet for years but found very few personal websites. Must be due to the daunting task of coding the site yourself and the dearth of free webspaces around.

Around 2003, features in several online newspapers led me to being a regular reader of several political/news blogs. It was only when the Sassy Lawyer was featured in the online version of the Philippine Inquirer did I learned of this whole new world of Pinoy blogosphere. When I combed thru Sassy’s links, I realized that a lot of the tech savvy Pinoys are knee-deep into it – since then they became my daily read. Then in Tito Rolly’s blog, I tried commenting but anonymous commenting was turned off. So I was forced to create a login in Blogger.com, and consequently create a blog. Sassy is the one I credit in ‘introducing’ me to pinoy blogs but Tito Rolly led me to that extra step in creating one. The fact that there are a number of sites offering free webspace for bloggers plus free online blogging tools also helped convince me to give it a go.

At first I really don’t know what I would do with it much less what to put in. But a peek at Sassy’s Pinoy Cook (previously Radical Chef) food blog fired up that passion in food in me. I have always longed for somekind of a ‘scrapbook’ for the recipes of dishes I cook – both the tried and tested and the experiments. A food blog would just be perfect and that’s how I started blogging with English Patis.

We travel around and visit places during weekends and I wanted to record and show friends and relatives of where we’ve been, what we’ve been up to. But I don’t want to mix it up with my recipes in the food blog, thus born this Desarapen Tales. I couldn’t come up with a better title so I just got a word from a Filipino children’s nonsensical song. When I was young we used it to figure out who is ‘it’ in a game, just something different from the usual ‘pompiyang’ and ‘jack en poy’ (paper scissors stones) – but I digress.

I’ve enjoyed blogging since day one starting with trepidation, even in just commenting in other blogs I was quite nervous. It’s a good thing the blogs I frequented early on answered even the most mundane hi or hello I put in their comment section. I have to thank also Batjay for encouraging me and emphasising that the most important this in a blog is content. I agree wholeheartedly.

Blogging has improved my writing skills immensely (if ever I have one). Why I haven’t written anything ‘creative’ or essay-like since I was in high school. College writing was just a series of technical jargon blurbs after another so I really can’t count that. But other than letters and long emails to friends, it’s only now that I got to crunch down and pour my mind’s content into the pensieve of blogs. It has also heightened my awareness of the food I’m cooking and eating, of the places where we go, of the people I meet, of the situations I’m in. It also introduced me to the technical side of web design and programming. I’ve been a constant user of PCs and web browsers but the magic behind it is much covered in haze for me. And with the limited time I have as a working mom I couldn't really cover much in terms of learning webpublishing and design unless it's needed at work.

The best best best of all rewards of blogging for me are the warm, friendly, funny, helpful online people I met. Some of whom I have met in person, some of them already phone pals. Yet still a lot are regular email buddies. They come from different backgrounds, ages, genders, professions, persuations, and what have you. I can tell you they made my life so much richer. Thank you my dear online friends and here’s to more years of blogging. Cheers!

Blue Peter Proms

2005-07-27T16:20:00.000+01:00

We treated the kids to a Blue Peter concert in this year's BBC Proms. Every year most of the Proms concerts are performed in the Royal Albert Hall and this kid's concert is no exception. We thought we were going to be late but we arrived with only 2 minutes to spare. There was not much time to enjoy the great architecture of the RAH and the surrounding buildings. Fortunately, I was able to quickly snap pictures of the Royal College of Music (see above left) which faces the back of the RAH along Prince Consort Road and the RAH itself (above right). I've always loved this circular building which superbly combines aesthetic beauty with being highly functional. And the acoutics, ah the acoustics of the place is excellent. Even if you're standing at the very back of the gallery, you can clearly hear even the softest notes from the orchestra. I particularly like those big round things hanging on the ceiling looking like a giant's buttons (see pic below).

The kids concert began with the Star Wars movie theme splendidly played by the BBC orchestra conducted by Jason Lai. It was glorious to hear and strengthened my opinion that there's really nothing better than listening to live music. The pieces were short and lively - Nutcracker Suite, Cinderella, some others by Britten and Debussy - designed with kids' attention span in mind of course. Then culminating, as usual, with Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance with the audience singing lustily the Land of Hope and Glory. There was also a short performance by a magician and his apprentice fittingly done while the Sorcerer's Apprentice was being played. Like in any party, they let out a whole lot of balloons after the concert which means a free-for-all grab down at the arena.

Those were the best seat we had in RAH. We were right smack in the middle with no one in front and none at the back. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and I could see my kids did, too. Although by the middle of it J3 was taking more interest in stacking up the programs on the floor. ;)

Scaredy Cat

2005-07-22T00:08:00.001+01:00

A day after the spate of failed bombing attempts in central London (really they could have tested it on themselves first) and on the same day when a suspected bomber was shot dead by the police, I was in my usual route home sitting pretty at the top level of a double decker bus. It was uneventful until a young man boarded and went upstairs. He walked down the aisle and paused by the empty seat in front of me. With wide eyes he asked me if it was mine while pointing to something on the floor. I sat upright and craned my neck toward the seat in front, that was the only time I saw a black rucksack on the floor apparently abandoned by its owner. I shook my head in the negative while we exchange worried glances. Could it be a bomb? He immediately went down and informed the driver who stopped right away at a bus stop a few meters away. The driver came up, took one look at the bag and told us to evacuate. Within seconds the bus was empty. I strongly suspect it was left by the absent minded teenager who sat in front of me. But during these times it's best to err on the side of caution and be prudent.

You could see the worry and mild sense of panic among us passengers. Everybody was quick out of the door and good on that young man who was vigilant and conscientious enough to inform the driver. I have to admit I was a bit shaken. I just hope things can be done so we can go on with our lives peacefully. My mind says - no need to worry there's nothing to it - but my feeling of anxiousness doesn't leave me even now and I don't know why. I hate feeling like this simply because it means something bad is or is about to happen. My eternal problem is to whom is it happening? Myself? My family? A friend? From the frequency of the 'rumble' it had something to do with the collective society we're in but in all honesty I've got no clue babe.

Harry's Magic

2005-07-19T15:49:00.000+01:00

*** Warning Spoilers ***

I find it funny that not only the latest Harry Potter book enchanted us with a great novel but also wove its magic in our household. After buying 2 copies of the HP6 book first thing in the morning on the first day that it was out, J1 and J2 and me were deep in speed reading what happened next to the boy wizard. For 2 days the whole house was eerily quiet. Heehee. I definitely am not complaining though they were even uncommonly subdued after finishing it. I only found out why when I finished it last night after a lot of housework interruptions – you know inconsequential things like cooking, laundry, and sweeping the floor. ;) This is probably the only HP book that left me feeling crestfallen afterwards. We were comparing notes and observations at dinner time and the three of us felt like we lost a relative or something. The shock of finding out a central character died, who was much more lovable and respected than Sirius Black, plus the realisation that circumstances is forcing Harry to grow-up and go it alone probably sobered all of us up and now grasped that the next installment will be more adult like in content rather than your usual happy-fantasy-magical world.

HP6 is good though the third and the fourth book are still my favourites. There are the funny bits like the quidditch commentary of Luna Lovegood and Ron’s sarcastic quips. Even in the dangerous bowels of the cave with Dumbledore, the author still managed to sneak something comical. Snape came out as an unmistakeable baddie in this one though I think there’s more to his character in the next installment. Slughorn, the professor, was quite a good character insert. However, that scene on Bill’s hospital bed when Tonks and Lupin professed their undying love to each other was simply corny. Excuse me folks while I retch in a second. Yeeeccchhh!! Over-acted love scenes like those of old romantic movies like Gone With The Wind? Nah, shouldn’t be in an HP book. And what with all those snogging? There’s no need to hash it over and over again although I’d think mid-teeners might like them. So as far as the lovefest was concerned – it’s Ron and Hermione, Tonks and Lupin, Harry and Ginny but they broke up in the end. Actually, I am still hoping that Harry and Hermione end up together – they complement and would be brilliant for each other.

Reading this book was a pleasure and we in our family dearly hope that JK Rowling would not take another 2 years to come up with the next and (hopefully not) final installment of Harry’s adventure. Waiting was so tormenting.

How I Get to Work

2005-07-12T15:06:00.000+01:00

In 6 months' time I probably won't be coming to my current place of work because of the impending redundancy we're facing. For posterity's sake, I'm showing here how I get to work in the last 10 years that I've been in this company. It was a hard slog the first few months but I got used to it in the long run.

First off, I walk or take a short bus ride to the train station from home. Walking takes about 10-15 minutes while the bus ride is about 3-5 minutes if there's no traffic. At the train station, I take a train towards the direction of London for about three stops.

Then I take this relatively new tram system. This is a favourite of commuters around the area because of its accessibility (no need to go up and down stairs) and efficiency (almost always punctual). It's a short 2 stops for me before I get off and take a ...
double decker bus for the final leg of my journey. I always take a seat upstairs. So nice to sit high up and have an eagle's eye view of things happening on the ground. The bus goes to all high streets, main streets and winds thru cork screw roads for, oh about 6-7 miles before it drops me off almost in front of our building. So this is what I might go thru every day - 2 buses, 1 tram, and 1 train. Then I do it all over again on the way home. All in a day's work ... ;)

After the Euphoria Comes the Grief

2005-07-07T23:58:00.000+01:00

Because I was busy fielding calls, text messages, and emails from concerned loved ones and friends I completely forgot to blog about the bombing this morning in central London. First of all, to my relatives and friends I just want you to know that we're all doing okay here. I just hugged them a little tighter tonight. Thank you to all who contacted us, we deeply appreciate your concern.

It was not a nice feeling though of being greeted by talks of bombs, terrorists, death before you even sit down for work first thing in the morning. When just yesterday we were punching our fists in the air in jubilation. Once again I feel so sad for the way people treat with utmost disregard the lives of their fellow human beings.

Inspite of the carnage and mayhem in the capital, I take my hat off to the utter professionalism of the London emergency services (fire, police, ambulances) in the swift, calm, and efficient manner that they attended to those affected. Their diligence in preparing and rehersing in the past few years for this inevitability has positively paid off. And you have to hand it to the British public as well when hysteria and panic may be justified in the turn of events, they chose to deal with it in a calm and rational way.

These terrorists may think that this atrocities will break the spirit of the country, ironically it brought about the reverse. Like in America after 9/11, it incensed and brought together people of differing and opposing views to fight these terrorists and refuse to be bowed by them.

I'm glad to see as well that bloggers were one of the first ones to report and express outrage at these despicable cowardly acts.

London 2012 Olympics

2005-07-06T17:18:00.000+01:00

London won the bidding for the 2012 Olympics! Woohoo!!!
It was announced at around 12:46BST today in Singapore. It took sometime before the whole of our office learned about it since I think all the local news websites came to a standstill probably due to record number of hits. I for one, kept on clicking at the BBC site but just a few minutes before the announcement no one can access it. So I had to call home and ask my husband to switch on the telly. Sure enough there were scenes of jubilation both in Singapore and Trafalgar Square.

Paris was the early favourite and was expected by many to win it. But at the end, the London delegation pulled through. Besides the excellent presentations they made, they also bombarded the voting delegates with lobbying from a number of sporting heroes and celebrities like David Beckham and politicians like Tony Blair who took a whistle stop visit to Singapore from his hectic schedule as the host of the current G8 meeting in Scotland. Well done chaps! And here's to the next 7 years of building and preparation for the big event.

Hopefully this would mean more jobs (especially IT ones) and business opportunities in the greater London area.

White Stripes

2005-06-29T14:45:00.000+01:00

Saturday night I was watching recorded performances for that day in the Glastonbury festival. I was about to turn in for the night but couldn't shut off the TV due to the mesmerising performance of White Stripes. I first heard this Detroit-based duo (just read somewhere that they are not brother and sister afterall) in Jools Holland's show years ago. They were okay, I thought but the performance they did in that muddy festival was really great. They had me enthralled. Never have I enjoyed head banging rock guitar riffs since college days (and I thought I was getting old for this).

Their on stage dynamics were magnetic with some sexy undercurrents what with drummer Meg sultrily looking over her shoulder to Jack or their one on one face-offs. Pardon me, but it looks like watching a passionate love act. I do find Meg's dumming antics quite sexy. While Jack, oh the great Jack, is a revelation to me. He has obvious talent in the guitar and the combination of the two of them making it sound as if there were more than 2 people in the band. His vocals reminded me a lot of the young Robert Plant. I love their passion on the way the 'attack' their instruments and it was so good to see this kind of performance where they look like they're giving their all for the audience. Love it !

Free Stonehenge

2005-06-24T15:04:00.000+01:00

I didn’t know that Stonehenge has free entrance during summer solstice?! According to an online article in the Guardian:

English Heritage has opened the site to the public free of charge for the summer solstice since 2000. "It's great the way people can come here now. I'm all for it," King Arthur said.

I wonder if they do this in the winter solstice as well? But then, who would want to be among the throng of 21,000 people unless you want to party. I hate crowds I go out of my way to avoid it, just not my cup of tea. Though it must have been awesome to see the summer sun rising up on the ‘heel’ stone of the megalith.

I’ve been there several times and whenever our car reaches the brow of the hill approaching it, the sight of these enormous stones formed in a circle never fails to take my breath away. Mind you, that’s not the only stone circle here in Britain. A notable one is that in nearby Avebury, where there is a village *inside* the circumference of the circle. There are lots lots more however, they are smaller making Stonehenge the biggest of them all.

I hope in the coming months I could see and revisit some of the stone circles I’ve seen and put up pictures here. They may look like ‘just’ stones arranged in a circle but I’ve always been fascinated by it and wondered on its actual use.

Good timing?

2005-06-22T00:01:00.000+01:00

My glazed look at my monthly payslip suddenly turned into wide-eyed incredulity. Am I seeing what I'm seeing? I used to absentmindedly look at my netpay box, knowing that only a miracle can make the figures change. Now, I was actually a few hundred pounds richer. I did not rejoice and dared not spend it lest the next month they take it away and say they made a mistake. Only when another colleague who was in the same boat as I am remembered that we were due for our 5 and 10 year long service awards did the dawn of realisation set in. Aha! So that's what it's for! In the previous incarnation of our company, we used to receive letters way before the award is given. People are invited to a champagne reception at the personal office of our CEO who gives the gift/award with a commendation letter, 1 week extra holiday, 50% off our main product, plus a bust of his favourite hero - Churchill. Now the new company (who took over from the old one) just wanted us to take the money and run. :sigh: Well, what can you expect. They're just biding their time 'til they got rid of us.

But getting back on the money, great ideas were already dancing in my head on what to do with it such as:

Holiday trip to Venice
A new cooker/oven!
Jewelry

Then the unexpected happened - our old reliable Sony TV died yesterday. Boohoohoo! There goes my 10-year award. :-(
My son and husband are very busy now canvassing prices in the internet. Plasma TV looks like a good idea although I would need about 3 times more than what I got to afford one. Ah, it's a good thing my family is not so keen on TV watching these days. So probably one of those generic TVs will do or probably scratch it altogether since we still have a wee bit of a 12-inch TV to get us by. Would that mean I would have my new oven and be able to bake tarts without setting it on fire?! *eyes widen* Hope beckons me ... *big grin*

A trip to Switzerland (part 3)

2005-06-20T17:37:00.002+01:00

[... continued]

By Thursday (2nd June) we have to say goodbye to our nice free beds (with sinangag and Lucban longganisa breakfast) in Geneva. ;) My sister was leaving for the Phils. while we have to journey towards the Lucerne-Zurich area then on to our long drive home. After the hardwork of packing back our tons of luggage in our old van, we said goodbye to Geneva and drove towards Interlaken. On the way we decided to have a picnic lunch by the banks of small but pretty Lac de Bret near Vevey where me and my husband also had a lovely dinner the night before with some friends. As you can see in the pictures above, the place is tranquil and very pleasant.

We then proceeded to the Interlaken area via a very steep twisting road called the Jaunpass. There were lots of lovely sights to behold - green valleys, lush farmlands, waterfalls, great mountainscape. So nice to breathe clean mountain air. We were quite (camera) trigger happy in that jaunt.

When we got out of that tire-wearing twisting road, we found ourselves looking at the twin lakes of Interlaken. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time to visit the beautifully set town but instead diverted to the hiking village of Kandersteg unless we wanted to see a major tantrum from J1. He wanted to show us around the place where he and his scout troop went camping last year and we were not disappointed. J1 had very fond memories of those times and wanted to share it with us. Kandersteg town centre is quite charming with the air of a small village. There were quite a number of small upscale hotels which belies the variety of outdoor activities available in the area such as hiking, skiing, mountain biking, camping, etc. It is also where one of the camping sites of the World Organization of the Scout Movement is located (where J1 camped last year). That website of the scout camp is quite useful because they have a live webcam onsite. What we used to do is to make J1 stand there in front of the webcam after his daily phone call to us so we could see him on the internet - what he's wearing, who's with him, etc. Isn't that neat?! I remember we used to interrogate him about his clothes - "Didn't you wear that the other day? How come your shirt and trousers don't match?" :LOL:

pictures courtesy of Ernie Endrina

After swanning around for some time in Kandersteg it was time to leave. It was getting late and I thought we might have to take the easy route to Lucerne (where we are supposed to spend the night) instead. But I'm glad we decided to push on to our original plan - that to pass thru the superlative Sustenpass. If ever you want to go to just one place in Switzerland to see mountain views go there !! Sustenpass is even more steep and twisting than Jaunpass and more tire-wearing, too. When we stop we could smell burning rubber what with all those countless steep hairpin bends we had to negotiate. But don't worry 'coz soon enough you will be rewarded with breathtaking views of the Swiss Alps. Although your pictures would look like you stepped in front of a poster. LOL! Really superb views of majestic snow-capped peaks.

What I like most with our time there is that we practically had the route to ourselves. Besides the daredevil powerbike riders, there were hardly any cars enroute. You know me I don't like crowds so it was pure bliss. Also as we were climbing, I could see dark clouds closing in on the mountains. I said a little 'request' to the goddesses and guardian spirits of the Alps to please give us a little window of sunshine to better appreciate the beauty of the place. And what do you know, the clouds parted the sun came out and we had a glorious time! On our way down I looked back and saw the clouds moving back in. The short show was over and I said a silent heartfelt prayer of thanks to them.

Tired from the long drive that day (which included probably the longest tunnel we've been in), we hit our beds right after we checked in a hotel in Lucerne. Early the next day we toured picturesque Lucerne with its lovely location right at the edge of the lake of the same name. The old part of the city is quite small with the oft photographed Chapel Bridge and Water Tower dominating it. The former has been here since the 1300s but unfortunately most of it were burned in the devastating fire in 1993. They have restored it completely although they chose to include some badly charred murals to remind people of the ravages of the fire. It seems like a place with lots of touristic things to do like go up in Mt. Pilatus or Mt. Titlis. It was a nice relaxing day by the river bank where we had a idyllic lunch. We also met up again with our friends Helen & Ellery and their family right before we left.

Lots of old structures are clustered along the riverbank. On of them is this Jesuit church in Lucerne, made distinct with its twin onion shaped domes. On the right you could see its fabulous Baroque interior.

After lunch and saying goodbye again to our friends, we motored on to the homestretch of our trip. Unfortunately, we hit the combined rush hour traffic and countless road works in Zurich and in the A35 towards Strasbourg just outside the Swiss border. Our plan to spend the night in Boulogne was ruined because of this. So we decide to drive thru the night straight to Calais/Dunkirk area. It wasn't much of a problem since there were 3 of us alternating on the driver's seat. We must have drove a bit too fast since we arrived in Calais at 4 AM! Our schedule with the ferry is not until 12:45PM. What to do? After circling around the Calais area trying to find an open restaurant or fastfood to relieve our grumbling stomachs, we decided to go for it in the ferry. When we arrived in Dunkirk, there was hardly any queue. Good thing they allowed us to board. Hooray! Hot breakfast for everyone on board. Pretty soon we were back on British soil and welcomed by the comfort of our own home.

This our old van in the belly of the ferry from Dunkirk. You have to hand it to this Toyota oldie. It travelled close to 2000 miles in the span of a week. Even at one point running for about 500 miles almost non-stop with nary a glitch (except for the aircon on timer :LOL:). It did not disappoint on the contrary it just went on and on and on ... thanks Lucida for taking care of us in our trips. Here's to more travels and adventures - cheers!

A trip to Switzerland (part 2)

2005-06-18T23:00:00.000+01:00

[Continuation ...]

We arrived in Geneva in the evening and settled down for the night in the flat where my sister is staying. Next day was a Sunday so decided to get down to the business of serious sight seeing in central Geneva before we go to church in the evening. We walked along the promenade of Lake Geneva (Lac Leman) and imbibed the beach-like atmosphere. Sun was fiercely hot which made all the summer clothes and activities come out in force. Nothing like a fiesta ambiance to perk your mood. Lots of ducks, swans, sunbathers, rollerbladers, ferry tours to keep us occupied.

We walked around the old cobbled-stone area of Geneva. Saw the old Cathedrale St. Pierre - one of the dominating presence in the old quarter. It was sparsely decorated inside probably echoing the Calvinist doctrine of non-indulgence of wealth which was prevalent here in the 1500s. We also saw a lot of United Nations (UN) buildings and its agencies. Though when we tried going to the main UN HQ building, it was such a long walk from the car park that we decided not to.

Geneva is a pleasant city to walk, very clean and orderly with lots of smart upscale shops. General feel of the place is that of a small cosmopolitan city. Now and again you see the reminders of one of Switzerland's main industry - banking. Prices of everything is so expensive - it's true! And that's coming from me living in costly London.

Next up in our itinerary is that castle precariously built on a promontory in Lake Geneva near Montreux - Chateau de Chillon. It gained fame when Lord Byron wrote about a supposed prisoner in its dungeon in his poem The Prisoner of Chillon. For me, what's notable about this medieval structure is its beautiful silhoutte like that of a fairytale castle enhanced by its romantic location at the edge of an equally beautiful lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Unfortunately we did not choose to go inside because of the prohibitive entrance toll. But we were more than satisfied enough with just touring outside.

The following day we were up earlier than usual for we have to drive up to Broc near Bulle to see one of the big highlights of our trip - a chocolate factory. I blogged about this in my food blog so have a peek there on the culinary side of the visit. Highlight of this was being able to eat as much chocs as we can in the tasting room. I wish I brought a plastic bag with me. ;-) Also here we met up with our friends Helen & Ellery and their kids who were all with us throughout the day's touring.

We then proceeded to the tiny cute town of Gruyere built with a castle on top of a hill. Nice to see a typical Swiss village with its wooden houses with intricate carved decorations. Local delicacies like its meringue were very nice, too. The surrounding areas are very green farmlands it conjures up that cow-milk-pasture image of Switz. What it doesn't include is the stink of cow dung fertilisers hanging in the air. Iiikkksss!!

It was getting late but the sun was still up so we drove on to Bern. The old part of the city had a medieval feel about it what with the cobbled stone streets, lots of old buildings even in the shopping area. Its got a dramatic setting as well with the river Aare running thru it. UNESCO has included it in its list of World Heritage sites - I'm not surprised. We were not able to explore it as much as we wanted to because of the late hour when almost everywhere is closed. Above left is the 600-year-old clock tower that used to mark the western entrance to the city. On the right is the tram lined flag-festooned main street. I bet that place is delightful to do a complete walking tour.

More pictures from Bern ... on the left is a communal water fountain/tap. We found these taps almost everywhere in any town or city centres in Switz. Most of the time the water is drinkable. During the days when it was scorching hot you can find us wetting our faces and arms with the cold mountain waters from these fountains to cool us down. Picture on the right shows what big horn he has! An old man giving a free performance in the cathedral square.

By the time we left it was already dark and drove 2 hours back to our soft beds in Geneva. It was a long, tiring but enjoyable day.

[To be continued with the 3rd and last part ...]

A trip to Switzerland (part 1)

2005-06-13T11:20:00.000+01:00

I've been itching for an overseas holiday for a looong time. Something about being in a different environment and seeing new things revitalises me. That's why I love this European 'tradition' of going on holiday at least once a year. It does your body and spirit good to relax and wind down. Resting, relaxing and being 'away from it all' really do decrease stress levels.

I haven't blogged for sometime partly because of being very busy and partly because we went on a driving holiday to Switzerland. As soon as I heard that my sister C, is moving to Geneva and calculated that we had enough funds, nothing can stop me from planning this. :)

We chose to drive because there's five people in the family plus a family friend who wanted to come. With these numbers in mind, the cheapest way to go is by car. It may be slower and tiring but we've got time and we get to see more sights along the way. For me the holiday starts with the journey and not just when you get to the intended destination. Something about the adventure and the discovery of new places/things during the travel itself that appeals to me.

[Click on the pictures for a bigger view]

Of course we started off on a cross English Channel crossing from Dover, Kent. I made certain that we left the house early to give ample time for the 1.5-2 hour travel from our house to the coast. I DO NOT want to repeat our escapade fiasco of 3 years ago to Belgium where we had to queue in the road to Dover for 7 hours !!! We joined the queue at around 9:30 AM and got on a ferry at 4PM. Imagine we were barely 1.5 miles away from the ferry.

After packing our old Toyota van to the rafters, we left early and found the traffic thankfully light. We were so early that we were one of the first ones on the queue. Yehey we're early for once! Our ferry was Norfolk Lines which left the white cliffs of Dover at 5:30PM then disembarking in Dunkirk, France at 8PM instead of the usual Calais. It was only about 30 minutes drive from Calais.

From there we drove towards Reims, France and spent the night there. Hotel Ibis at the city centre was quite good for its price and very clean. Early next morning after buying breakfast at a kiosk at the nearby train station we set off to see the old part of the city briefly.

The centre-piece of this medieval city is its glorious Cathedral of Notre Dame. Being the place where most monarchs of France were crowned, it had a major role in France's history. As you can see the soaring gothic structure still retains its aura of grandeur and magnificence that rightly deserved its UNESCO World Heritage Site award.

Now, Reims is not in the champagne region for nothing. Almost every other shops are champagne houses and we could not resist buying a few. I was already homing in on several well-known well-packaged brands in a shop when we happen to ask the sales clerk on his recommendations which we direly need because we're wine nincompoops! Very interesting to note that he did not recommend *any* of the well known brands saying that most of them were actually terrible. One exception was Krug, which he said still retained its excellent quality but at an average of £100 a bottle it was not good value for money. He recommended several to us which were actually cheaper than the famous brands. At this point I trust his opinion already since if he only wanted money from us he would have pushed the more expensive famous ones in our hands which in our ignorance we would gladly take. Confirmation of this came when we gave the champages to wine loving friends who heartily approved of 'our' choice. (I think I should be blogging this in my food blog!)

After a brief tour of Reims, we reluctantly went back on the road. It was one of the hottest day of the year (so far) as it reached 32C and probably more on the road. I'm always lucky in having nice weather when holidaying. Unfortunately for us, our old van's airconditioning system seems to have a timer. After an hour it promptly turns itself off. So we have to roll down the windows and bear the heat. :(

One pleasure in driving on French motorways (highways), besides the fact that the roads are very smooth, is that they have a lot of 'aire' or rest areas where you can get off the road, rest, go to the bathroom, or have something to eat and drink. As you can see above left, they have a very pleasant tree-lined park-like atmosphere. Some even have children's playgrounds or picnic areas. I couldn't resist taking a picture of one of their toilets in the Jura region (not all are like this). It's not often that I see these 'hole in the ground' types (above right). But they are clean and stink free.

People could argue that it's just right that French motorways should be good since we have to pay to use most of them. Why, our total road fee for the onward trip was 57 Euros! It can be a shock in the system to pay this much since our British motorways are all free.

[To be continued ...]

Fishy Fishy

2005-06-08T12:07:00.000+01:00

We got a new source of obsession at home in the form of an aquarium. Now everyone fusses over these goldfish (oranda-like) we got one weekend. Actually we had five then a day after 1 died. It probably got so stressed with the move from the pet shop to our globe fishtank. We replaced the casualty with another one and a black one. Total population right now is 6 goldfish, 5 gold and 1 black.

This is the first time we've had a tank, or pet fish for that matter, so we don't know how much or how often to feed them. First few days we put in about a teaspoon of pellets everyday. The water quickly turned cloudy and dirty while all the fish kept on pooing. We had the water tested at the pet shop where you give a water sample, they mix it with some chemicals and a coloring emerges. It was supposed to be very light pink but ours turned nearly purple! The guy testing asked - "Are they still alive?" Of course they're still alive - just. We had to replace 1/4 of the water right there and then and repeat the procedure every week to clean it out. The pet shop boys (pun intended) said we probably have too many fish in the tank. We're thinking of getting another bigger rectangular tank to move these goldies and just get very small fishes for the globe tank. Ayayay, once you start it's getting more and more expensive. Wish us luck, hopefully these goldies stay alive.

Magic Mushrooms

2005-05-18T17:14:00.000+01:00

I always see this shop on my way to work. It's only now that I got the chance to take a picture. All along I thought magic mushrooms or psylocybe mushrooms were illegal since they are hallucinogenic. According to the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, it seems farmers and retailers found a loop hole in the law

which classifies the active ingredients in the mushrooms as Class A drugs,

(and therefore illegal)

but not the fresh mushrooms themselves.
A widely circulated letter from Ian Breadmore (Home Office drug licensing section, 17 February 2003) stated that 'it is not illegal sell or give away a freshly picked mushroom provided that it has not been prepared in any way' and has been taken by vendors as official permission for their activities.

Hmmm, very curious situation. I'm just not sure if I'd be willing to try these in my stir-fry. :LOL:

the Webbies

2005-05-03T17:04:00.000+01:00

The 9th Webby Awards has announced its winners! One of my favourites, the Guardian, which I read almost everyday won the best Newspaper website category. I noticed my one other favourite site, the BBC, was nominated in several other categories. While the blog category was won by the prolific BoingBoing.net. Have a look at the winners and the nominees you might discover new, exciting and informative sites in the outstanding list of sites there. Case in fact, I love that winner in the humor category – Dooce (warning colourful language!). She’s not only hilarious but also unselfishly shared some blogging and photography techniques. I discovered the Webby several years ago and through it I was led onto a lot of note worthy and useful sites that made my working life bearable. ;-) 'Hope it will do the same and more to you.

British Library, King's Cross, & St. Pancras

2005-04-30T00:20:00.000+01:00

My eldest daughter, J2, is attending a dance lesson class in central London. So every Saturday we have to take her there at 1:30PM and come back for her by 5:30PM. I don't want to hang around there for 4 hours and I certainly don't want to go home and come back again for her. What to do? Well, explore London of course! We've gone to the 'big smoke' countless of times but there are still pockets that I haven't explored.

Last weekend me and J3 just walked around the vicinity of where J2 was dancing. The walk was not that far but I was feeling so fatigued on the way back due to the heavy backpack I'm carrying. Feels like a ton. It must have been with all the 'abubots' of J3 crammed in there. Anyway, just about a block away is the British Library. I seem to remember some controversy surrounding it during its inaguration. Can't quite recall what it was. That afternoon it was a sparsely populated place. We just got to view the main reception lobby and their small museum of showcase pieces in their collection. Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed.

Among the impressive items they have in the John Ritblat Gallery are the Magna Carta, Shakespeare's first collection of his plays circa 1623, Codex Sinaiticus - earliest New Testament manuscript in Greek, Gutenberg Bible, da Vinci's notebook (not code), handwritten lyrics and notes of the Beatles, among other things. They also have another gallery where they show how book making and publishing evolved. Very educational, indeed. We did not go in the inner sanctum of the library because you have to register and provide documents, etc. to be given access.

Avoiding lots of hassles so we kept putting one foot in front of the other which led us outside to St. Pancras train station that was only a few metres away. Currently it's closed for renovation. Of all the trains stations here this is my favourite - a classic Victorian Gothic Revival building. Beautiful and majestic. You might find its sight familiar due to it being used in Harry Potter 2 movie when Harry and Ron rode the flying car. And right beside St.Pancras is its ugly sister, the King's Cross train station. Low, squat, very functional, unelaborate mass of concrete, steel, and glass. Roads and subways (pedestrian underpasses) are being built and renovated so there are loads of scaffolding and contruction palaver about, which made it even uglier. Despite this, it's famous for its non-existent 9 3/4 platform - you know from the Harry Potter books. We were tempted to go in and see if they made anything special between platform 9 and 10.

AWOL Pellet

2005-04-24T14:54:00.000+01:00

The dreaded thing happened, my youngest daughter's favourite beanie baby Pellet (which I blogged here before) disappeared. It has been misplaced before but we always manage to find it for J3. Though this time we turned the house inside out we still couldn't find the fake hamster. My guess is it fell off the car the last time J3 brought her. Poor J3 was crying and whimpering for more than 2 days running especially during bedtime when she would always ask, "Where is Pellet?" After 2 days, I couldn't take it any longer I decided to look for another Pellet from the shops. Problem is, that model was released last 2000 and they don't make them anymore. I thought of giving J3 a different substitute like a beanie dog or cat. But Pellet is what she was crying for. Good thing I remembered eBay has lots of beanie baby resellers. After ordering one , soon enough it came through the post. You could just imagine J3's joy when she opened the envelope. Now they're together again day and night. She even takes pictures of it (see pic above). I'm even considering buying another one in case this Pellet goes missing again.

Deep Breathing

2005-04-16T23:53:00.000+01:00

Feeling of tiredness and exhaustion often takes over me from the early evenings onwards even if I am just puttering around the house. Stress is the main culprit coupled with fatigue or plain overwork. When it comes, I usually catch myself sort of holding my breath in my upper chest area and I am often doing shallow breathing. This causes me to expend unnecessary efforts to keep things in that upper area. It’s no surprise then that tiredness soon set in. Typically my lower ribcage will ache and pain in the whole of my torso will follow. I analysed what I was doing and thought that one of the things I definitely have to change is my breathing.

I called on an old friend who mentioned to me before the benefits of deep breathing. He extolled the benefits of it such as – stress reducer, tension reliever, and promotes good functioning of our internal organs through the proper oxygenation of our blood – among other things. The following deep breathing exercises he passed on to me. Undoubtedly it helped me a lot in relieving tiredness and stress even if I only do it once in a while in a day (well actually should be ideally done all the time). Once I start noticing the beginning of exhaustion I do deep breathing which more often than not starts to reverse the state of things at the time.

* How to do deep breathing:

Sit up straight or stand with your spine straight. Relax.
Inhale by starting to fill up your lower lungs. Your belly should expand. This is breathing with your diaphragm.
Next fill up your upper lungs. You should see your chest area expand. DO NOT raise your shoulder while you do this. The chest will expand naturally (and your shoulders slightly rise) as you inhale. Fill up your lungs to the max that you can until you feel like bursting. These 2 stages of inhaling should be done in one continuous motion.
Exhale air from the upper lungs slowly.
Then expel air from the lower lungs completely by contracting abdominal muscles.

You can start doing the above in the count of 3: breathe in to the count of 3, pause to the count of 3, exhale to the count of 3, pause again to the count of 3. Once you get the hang of it increase count to 4 then to 5.

There are some very informative websites complete with illustrations on how to do this. Click here, here, and here for more info.

Strange and Funny Names 1

2005-04-11T16:49:00.000+01:00

I've been living here in the UK for quite awhile and even in the first few months I was struck by how strong the influence of language to their culture. It's no wonder that in such a small country, with everyone more or less speaking the same language, you can find a lot of different accents depending not just on the region but also on the socio-economic level they're in. In just one city alone, London for example, you find so many variations of the English accent. This language-centric trait is also reflected in their love of the written word which accounts for their rich literary heritage and their first-rate theatrical traditions. But for me, the most intriguing and interesting consequence would be the use in everyday colloquial terms. Often when travelling all over the country I would delight or laugh out loud at the strange and funny names I encounter.

With this post I hope to chronicle via pictures all the weird, bizzarre, or sometimes hilarious names not only here in UK but from all over the world. Mind you these are authentic and not at all 'photo enhanced'.

Let's start with something that even an NHS hospital tried to rename as a 'Spotted Richard':

As you would have guessed, Spotted Dick (or Spotted Dog) is not some man's private parts with a bad case of chicken pox. But a suet-based steamed dessert (pudding) with raisins (the spots) and served with custard.

Faggots are not some un-PC name for a maligned member of the society but meatballs made of pork liver, bread, and spices. Welsh in origin though I think some English counties would contest that.

Wardrobe Problems

2005-03-31T17:40:00.000+01:00

I was looking lately in the shops for a dress or at least a top that I could wear to a formal evening do. I completely forgot that most of the evening attires for ladies have either plunging necklines or backless or both. The backless part I can live with (I just probably have to do more scrubbing while in the bath) but the plunging necklines - arrrgghhhh! I have a foot long scar going down in the middle of my chest and I'd rather not have people stare at it. What to do?

Well my choices are either go with a very conservative jacket or get a halter top. The latter would cover up my scar but reveal my chunky shoulders and arms. Maybe I'll just wrap up with a shawl. This just goes to show my frustrations in the wardrobe department. I'm not of a model silhoutte then I have a wormtape-like scar on my chest to contend with. Ho well ...

Weight Sentinel Week 10

2005-03-31T16:45:00.000+01:00

It's been 3 weeks since I last posted my weight and I almost forgot to again this week. It’s now – dyan-dyaran-dyaran … 14 stones 5 pounds. Well after all that time it’s just about right I lose more than 2 pounds. But it’s not been easy my friends, oh no not at all. What with all those confections that I’ve been doing for the IMBB and SHF entries of in my food blog. Plus the back to back parties of my friends where I have to contribute at least 1 dessert or dish. The impulse to splurge completely was too hard to resist. My solution to this is to give away the tempting dessert as much as possible. My dear work colleagues and friends have now been benefiting from my dieting.

Spring in HG Wells country

2005-03-22T22:53:00.000Z

My poor blog hasn't been updated for 2 weeks now. I've been very busy lately with real work, mummy work, achay (maid) work at home (where else) plus my unrelenting obsession with baking and cooking. Somehow these take precendence over blogging here. But nevertheless, hopefully from now on I can update this at least once a week.

We've had a respite from the cold since it started getting warmer last week. Spring is here! It's about time. The endless biting cold, overcast skies were beginning to affect my moods. Only the snow was welcome and it did indulge us with longer than usual visit. Normally, it snows here 2 days a year max. This year there was a stretch of almost 2 weeks with medium to light snow. I know my friends in the NE USA were cursing them what with back to back blizzards that dumped about 4-5 feet of snow at its height. Thankfully they're thawing already.

This sign I see almost everyday at the high street of the town in Kent where I work. It's only now that I remembered to take a picture of it and share it here.

Herbert George Wells or H.G. Wells is a giant in relatively contemporary English literature. He authored works ranging from science textbooks to comedy to science fiction (The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine). A man known for his inventiveness, he nevertheless showed much compassion for the plight of the common man with his works touching on his hope for social progress and human evolution.
For more insight on the man and his life and works click here and here.

Weighty Weight Week 7

2005-03-09T17:44:00.000Z

I forgot to weigh myself last week so my log right now is 2 weeks’ worth. According to the old fashioned (non digital) weighing scale at the mall, I am now 14 stones and 7.5 pounds. That’s about .75 pounds loss per week. Previously it was 1 pound a week. Seems my weight loss is slowing down. At least it’s still going down which I am pleased. I really do hope I could sustain this long term. I guess time to exercise more rigorously.

What's in a Name?

2005-03-01T16:18:00.000Z

It is a word that a thing, a person, a place is called. It identifies the entity. To some extent a name defines it. For an institution it can signify status and reputation. A façade of some sort that can attract the right kind of people it wants to draw in. Normally a good reputation is built up over the years. A result of hard work and good intentions among its members to generate good products much admired over the years.

This is what happened to the educational institution called Mapua Institute of Technology. For the past 80 years it had been known as a technical school of good repute. The high regard for it did not happen overnight but through the years of toil by professors and students alike to turn out an institution worthy of its name. And this is the main reason why I could not understand the plan of the current owners (Yuchengcos) to change the name to Malayan University. They have various ruses on their actions, among them being that Mapua will still retain its name but under the banner of Malayan University.

Firstly I don’t really trust that they will retain it for long. They have done things without any prior announcement or consultations with faculty and students like changing the school year periods from semestral to quartermestral, hiking up school fees, etc. Question is how can we be sure of they would stick to their word?

Secondly, Mapua’s name will be diluted with the name of Malayan University looming right above it in any document and signs on the walls.

The students and faculty are demanding that Mapua as an institution be left alone and consequently its name left intact. It has thrived in the past 80 years in its current setup, why fix something that’s not broken?

If ever they change the name why not it be Mapua University? Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a university of very high status in America but it still retained its ‘Institute of Technology’ title. Why? Because it’s what is has been known for a long time. And because the years of goodwill has been built up on it. Precisely the same case with Mapua.

Now, why ‘Malayan’? Is it because according to President Vea that the name ‘Malayan’ has sentimental value to the Yuchengcos? Well what about the sentimental value of the thousands of students and alumni? That just goes to show they don’t give a horse shit on their customers. I thought the Yuchengcos are good business people, why would they then alienate their customers? Did they not realise that a lot of parents send their children to study in Mapua because of its name, because of its reputation. And if you’re going to take that away how would you entice your customers with a product name that has no providence yet education-wise? I don’t get it, it doesn’t make good business sense. Nag-iisip kaya sila?

Right now almost all the students, faculty, and a large part of the admin staff are still in protest. As an overseas alumni I can only join you in spirit. If you would like to join us in protest please sign this online petition - click here.

No to Malayan University!!

Viva Mapua!!

You can also go to other blogs and sites that wrote about this:

Apple Blog
Carpe Diem
Little Devil's Haven
Mapua Online
MIT Students
My Hideaway
No to Malayan Forum
Stranded on the Same Ground
United Mapuans

Loggins & Messina

2005-02-26T22:55:00.000Z

My son dug out an old cassette tape of The Best of Friends of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina a few weeks ago. I was secretly pleased that he liked it and had even learned a few of the songs there. Realisation came when he played it in the kitchen radio, produced the accompanying lyric sheet and sang with gusto. Well I wouldn't let myself be beaten so I sang eagerly with him. Why oh why did I forget this great song writing duo when I was doing my music meme. I relived memories brought about hearing old favourites like Your Mama Don't Dance, Peace of Mind, Travelin' Blues, or Watching the River Run. If you notice my selection in that music meme, a lot of the songs are arranged with just acoustic guitars and vocals. I love those type of songs where it exposes the beauty of the words, melody, and the human voice. And Loggins & Messina have a lot of those.

In that tape of Loggins & Messina, my son have 2 favourite songs. One was about Winnie the Pooh (which I will blog later) and the other the dainty and refined Danny's Song - song about the joys of parenthood, the metamorphosis of an otherwise aimless young man to a responsible father, of his love to the mother of his son. So poignant.

Danny's Song
(Kenny Loggins)

People smile and tell me I'm the lucky one
And we've just begun
Think I'm gonna have a son
He will be like she and me
As free as a dove
Conceived in love
Sun is gonna shine above

Chorus:
And even though we ain't got money
I'm so in love with ya honey
And everything will bring a chain of love
And in the morning when I rise
You bring a tear of joy to my eyes
And tell me everything is gonna be alright

Seems as though a month ago
I was a Beta Chi
Never got high
Oh I was a sorry guy
And now a smile, a face
A girl that shares my name
Now I'm through with the game
This boy will never be the same

(Repeat Chorus)

Pisces, Virgo rising is a very good sign
Strong and kind
And the little boy is mine
Now I see a family where there once was none
Now we've just begun
Yeah, we're gonna fly to the sun

(Repeat Chorus)

Love the girl who holds the world in a paper cup
Drink it up
Love her and she'll bring you luck
And if you find she helps your mind
Buddy, take her home
Don't you live alone
Try to earn what lovers own

(Repeat Chorus)

Weighty Weight Week 5

2005-02-26T21:45:00.000Z

As usual I'm late with my report on my current scale indication. I weighed myself last Tuesday and I'm now 14 stones and 9 pounds. Another pound off which is really nice considering that I've not been so virtuous this week. But I guess, unless I go on a whole day pig out, I'm relatively okay.

I can understand now the merits of eating with low carbs or with the right ones. The other day I was in the car with my husband and my youngest. Me and the kid were famished, really hungry. We were on the move and have no time to find a resto and sit down and eat. So the only option at the time was a McDonald's drive thru. I ate chicken nuggets and had some french fries. You know what, those little fries I had made me even more hungry. I now discovered that with processed or easily absorbed carbs I get hungrier and the feeling of hunger is more intense unlike the ones I feel when my food is primarily vegs, fruits and proteins. What a revelation. At least now I will know the warning signs when it comes. Unlike before, when I will indulge my stomach with every smallest little hunger pang I experience. The downside with this is when you go out to eat or shop. Almost every food or dish available is catered for fast consumption and absorption of the body. White bread, white rice, processed food. I don't mind having them once in a while but the choices for a low carb eater is certainly narrow.

*Currently Listening to: Virgin Radio playing - Tubthumping (Chumbawamba)

Weighty Weight Week 4

2005-02-17T18:30:00.000Z

It's the start of week 4 and I should have blogged this 2 days ago. But I was (and still am) snowed under with work.

Weighing myself again, now I am 14 stones and 10 pounds. I'm 1 pound lighter. Well, that's expected. It says in the book that at phase 2 the shedding of weight will be about 1-2 pounds every week. Hopefully this continues on. I know what did me in last week, it's that darn Sugar High Friday event in the food blogging world. I tried to make some pain au chocolat and who else is gonna eat it afterwards? Of course waste-abhorring me! ::sigh::

Red is for Valentine ... or Bull's Eye

2005-02-14T00:02:00.000Z

An unforgettable Valentine's Day happened to me eons ago. I was attending a local primary school which was within walking distance from my grandma's house where I was staying. That day I decided to do the full monty and dress up for the occassion. I put on my reddest dress and proudly walked to school. I was imagining in my 8-year-old mind the looks of approval or envy from my classmates.

As I was walking, I noticed there weren't many people or kids on the road and I realised I was already late. So I hurried on hoping I won't miss the flag ceremony so everyone could see my nice dress in all its red glory. I was just outside the school fence I did not notice that there was a bull (note: big bad cow with big horns) tied to the other side of the road. In the corner of my eye, I saw that it looked up from eating its breakfast. Stared at me. Saw my red dress and then charged me at full speed! It probably thought I was a matador's rag. I was pinned against the wire fence with the bull breathing down on me, its horns about a foot from my chest. Horrors of horrors!

cartoon courtesy of my BIL - Roland Mikey Ilagan

So there I was on my Valentine dress ready to be gored by a bull not exactly admiring my red confection. Knees shaking, tears were about to fall from my eyes. But I willed it not to, someone might see and I was more concerned with my street cred than my fear. I was rooted on the spot not daring to move at all lest the friggin' beast charge again and break free from its ropes. Luckily I noticed that the wire fence was broken at the base precisely where I was standing. I was able to wiggle in and make my escape to the other side. Whew! What a relief. You might understand now why no matter what incentive anyone give me I never want to wear red again on Valentine's Day. Even if it meant getting extra points from professors when I was in college. Who knows there might be a tethered bull just round the corner.

I've been Tagged !

2005-02-12T16:43:00.000Z

Mrs.Tweety and Baby Rambutan kindly tagged me in this music meme. Actually I felt sooo constraint by the second to the last question because I am allowed only 5 songs! 5 songs! I've got a lot of favourites and my taste is somewhat eclectic so I would have put easily 50 items in there under normal circumstances. But howell, never mind...

Update: I saw other posts on this and they have a 'Random 10'. Now I just have to add this because I feel a list of 5 songs is too limiting. Here goes:

Random 10

"No Woman No Cry" - Bob Marley (live version)
"Should I Stay or Should I Go" - The Clash
"Under the Bridge" - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
"Lady Marmalade" - Patti Labelle
"Beast of Burden" - Rolling Stones
"More Than Words" - Extreme
"Superstition" - Stevie Wonder
"Oye Como Va" - Santana
"Mais Que Nada" - Astrud Gilberto
"Tell Momma" - Savoy Brown

What is the total amount of music files on your computer?
1228 songs, a total of 4.55GB - most of them my husband's and kids'

The CD you last bought?
Beatle's Revolver and Abbey Road - to start my Beatle's collection

What was the last song you listened to before reading this message?
Benny and the Jets (Elton John) - I heard it over the TV

Write down five songs that you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.
"Do It Or Die" - Atlanta Rhythm Section - in my lowest times this gives me hope
"True" - Spandau Ballet - our song
"Peg" - Steely Dan
"The Joker" - Steve Miller Band
"R.E.S.P.E.C.T." - Aretha Franklin

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
*CaT of Now What, Cat? - I'm curious about the music taste of this funny and intriguing lady (meow!).
*Keiko of Nordljus - because she's one of my newest blogging friends
*Analyse of My Hideaway - I wanted to know what this young vivacious Pinay in France listens to.

Weighty Weight Week 3

2005-02-08T16:05:00.000Z

So here I am at the start of my week 3. I am eager to move on, meaning eat other types of food. Last 2 weeks I was so vegged out, why I have vegetables practically coming out of my ears! I know it's healthy, makes me feel spritely and gives me nice smoother skin. But I can only eat veggies for so long I am dying for some fruits! Strange this diet, I thought I'm going to crave for carbs as in great mounds of rice or hot oil drenched chips (thick fries). What I found I'm craving for are sweets especially after a main meal. Just hope I can stick with this in the long run.

I weighed again as usual and I now tip the scales at 14 stones and 11 pounds - meaning I lost a further 2 pounds! I am mighty pleased. At least all the will power and self control I mustered to prevent me gorging on the fluffy mash my daughter made last night or the banana cake I baked last weekend or the disastrous egg tarts last Sunday, had not gone to waste. Roll on week 3 and hello to fruits and beans in my diet.

Three Angels

2005-02-04T10:09:00.000Z

See my beautiful angels? That's one for each of my children. This is what my husband called 'katas ng blogging' :). They were sent by a very kind blogging friend. I believe in people encountering things and circumstances that they need at the time. Right now we need guidance, direction and strength. I believe help is on the way symbolised by these lovely angels. What exactly they bring I do not know but I believe we will be given exactly what we need to further our education here on this plane in a school called 'life'. Thank you very much dear CaT for your gifts. They are much appreciated.

Here is a song my family love to sing and recently hubby taught J1 to play it on the piano so our 'karaoke' sessions are becoming more lively.

Angels
by Robbie Williams

I sit and wait
Does an angel contemplate my fate
And do they know
The places where we go
When we're grey and old
'Coz I've been told
That salvation lets their wings unfold
So when I'm lying in my bed
Thoughts running through my head
And I feel that love is dead
I'm loving angels instead

Chorus:
And through it all she offers me protection
A lot of love and affection
Whether I'm right or wrong
And down the waterfall
Wherever it may take me
I know that life won't break me
When I come to call
She won't forsake me
I'm loving angels instead

When I'm feeling weak
And my pain walks down a one way street
I look above
And I know I'll always be blessed with love
And as the feeling grows
She breathes flesh to my bones
And when love is dead
I'm loving angels instead

(repeat Chorus 2x)

Weighty Weight Week 2

2005-02-01T17:08:00.000Z

Ta-dan! It's the start of week 2 of my diet and have to report on my current weight. I used the same scale in the same mall in roughly the same clothes I was in before, and guess what - I'm now 14 stones and 13 pounds. That means I lost 4 pounds!! Wooohooo! (cue Blur's Song2 riffs) Ain't that great? I just hope they keep coming off 'coz I'm really getting the hang of it.

Years ago I did the Weight Watchers diet and I vividly remember in the first 2-3 weeks I was sooo hungry all the time. I did lose about 1 1/2 stones that time but it only lasted about 6 months and I was back to my old ways again. With this South Beach diet, I only feel hungry occassionally. Quite a strange sensation. We're supposed to be in a very strict no-carbs-no-sugar-diet in the first 2 weeks but I didn't follow it strictly. I eat a little amount of carbs when I'm feeling woozy probably from too low sugar level. But even then I lost weight. Great! Looking forward now to next weeks' weighing in.

Turbo Charge Your Firefox

2005-01-28T17:59:00.000Z

Read from Batjay's blog about some tips on making your Firefox browser run faster. Have a look in the above link or go straight to Chin Wong's Digital Life article. I did follow all the instructions in it and there was a noticeable increase in the performance of my Firefox. Super! My browser now is like a chipmunk on fastforward. Folks, I highly recommend it.

From that article I also noticed all those extension goodies that you can add such as Adblock or Click2Tab or Bandwidth Tester. The latter was very helpful for me to gauge how well my broadband ISP performs. Well, well, well, if that bandwidth tester is telling the truth then BT Internet is not delivering 512kB to my wire's end as they have promised. It was only tipping in at around 410-425kB. Hmmm, something's not right here. Time to move to Wannadoo? Anyone out there have any experience with them (good or bad)?

Big thanks to Batjay and Chin Wong for their tips and making us bloghop faster. ;)

In This Corner, Weighing In At ...

2005-01-25T17:13:00.000Z

My weight loss program starts today, as a prerequisite of course I have to weigh myself to find out if my efforts are going anywhere. I went to the nearby mall this lunchtime and weighed in at one of those ginormous scales where you put in 20p in a slot. I tipped at … tan-ta-ran-ta-ran ... 15 stones and 3 pounds! (It’s your problem to convert it to kilos and pounds. ;) Numbers in stones just look smaller). God, I hope nobody reads this. (Gagah! Ini-blog mo sa mundo tapos ayaw mong may makaalam?! My yin-yang angels are arguing.) This is sooo embarassing, it's the most I have weighed in my whole life.

According to my Body Mass Index calculations, since I am 5’6” my ideal weight is around 11 stones. So that means I have to lose at least 4 ½ stones! Wooo, that’s a lot. I don’t expect to lose a lot fast because first, I have slow metabolism due to my hypothyrodism and steroid intake, second, I am in this for a long term not for short bursts of weight loss. I would rather lose it slowly and keep it off rather than shed it fast and furious then put it back on again.

I will post my weight weekly for about 2 months. Then after that, fortnightly for a few months then monthly. Wish me luck.