01/2006 Our FREE 42" TV
The best things in life are free indeed. Today, Nino and I received the best 1st year wedding anniversary gift we can ever receive – a free 42” Sony Flat screen Plasma TV!
Yes, you read it right: FREE!
Well, actually, Nino spent about $70 for the offers he had to complete and about 4 months of waiting time, but considering that the TV cost about $1500, it was relatively free! Ayaw ko sana ipromote ang website na yun kasi hindi naman ako ko-komisyonan, pero dahil gusto ko rin kayo mabiyayaan, eto yung site: everyfreegift.com.
We did not expect it to arrive on the day of our anniversary, but it did, just like an anniversary gift straight from heaven. Salamat po, Lord!
Now, the challenge: where to place it in our apartment. We just realized hindi bagay ang 42” TV sa isang maliit na studio apartment. We should really move to a bigger place.
01/2006 One Year in the Making
Today marks my first year anniversary of being a Filipina in New York (I still refuse to be called a New Yorker and I always will so don’t push it, ok?).
Needles to say, marami akong natutunan sa buong taon na nandito ako.
I learned more about myself, New York, the US and its people in general, my beautiful country and my fellow Pinoys.
1. Kala ko magaling na ko mag-English, so I won’t have a problem communicating in the US. Boy, was I wrong. Minsan gusto kong humirit, pero dahil hindi ko sya ma-translate, tahimik na lang tuloy ako. Sige nga, try translating this:
- wag kang praning!
- Wala naman syang utang na loob
- O, hihirit ka pa eh.
- Naks!
2. I don’t speak 1000 words per minute here, for reasons in number 1.
3. I’m not housewife material kahit na for about a year I was domesticated back in pinas. Di ko feel ang chores. I’d rather pay someone to do chores for me.
4. I can survive a year without a massage or a foot spa.
5. I am prettier than I thought I was because most guys here prefer my “exotic” beauty. That’s supposed to be a compliment but for some reason it doesn’t sound like one to me. Can I just not be exotic?
6. Maangas ako. Pero nawawala ang angas ko pag may itim na mas maangas kesa sakin. Kaya I just shut up and try to look sweet.
7. I can get depressed and I’m not as strong as I thought I was. I was humbled knowing that I am nothing without my God and only through Him can I have the strength to go through anything.
8. New York is cold – cold ang weather, cold ang people.
9. New York is totally dependent on mass transit for getting around. Without it, pahirapan.
10. The weather can change as erratically as New Yorkers’ moods. That is why the morning weatherman is my best friend.
11. New York transforms in the fall – it becomes so serene and peaceful. Because of that, fall is my second favorite season next to hot, hot summer.
12. New York is romantic yet harsh, cultured yet modern, refined yet so wild – it’s the perfect place to practice antonyms.
13. In New York, space is a very rare commodity – literally. We learned to find every nook and cranny available in our apartment to store our stuff.
14. I love the west coast – southern California in particular.
15. Most Americans are used to and like being spoon fed. Not a lot of them prefer to learn on their own.
16. Americans are very polite: “How are you?” “Good to see you,” “Nice to meet you,” and all other niceties are staples in any conversation.
17. You’re not really expected to answer how you are with the how-are-you question. “Good” is the general answer unless you’re really upset. Then you say “I could be better.”
18. I learned that the Philippines is so rich in natural resources and so beautiful that we need to keep promoting our tourism – nothing here can compare to our own Boracay, Palawan or Sagada.
19. I learned that sadly, a lot of Filipinos have inferiority complex towards the “puti” – either that or we are just an excessively polite people, or both.
20. I learned to appreciate my country, my fellow Filipinos and my language twenty times more.
01/2006 Desperate Housewife
I am a desperate housewife – desperate to move to CA and come home to Pinas this December, and now back to housewife status as of today. I quit my job, effective yesterday. Yey!
Bakit yey?
1. Because I now have the time to finish everything in my to-do list that I normally won’t have time to do while I still had the job.
2. Dahil pwede na ako maghanap ng ibang trabaho kung saan mababayaran ako ng tama, kung saan may matututunan ako sa amo ko at kung saan hindi lang sakit ng ulo ang maiuuwi ko sa bahay. Kung nagtataka kayo kung bakit buong-buong Tagalog ito, isipin nyo na lang ingles ang salita nila dito. Maaring ayaw kong maintindihan ng ibang tao ang nakasulat dito. Malay ko kung makita nila diba.
3. I can start preparing to move to California.
Though I will miss working, most especially the friends I made, I am more than happy to leave. And though I’m not very keen about being a housewife again, I can definitely make the most of my newfound free time.
Ang saya saya!
01/2006 My Season Ender
My holiday season ended without a bang, literally.
No fireworks, no huge family with cousins and relatives, no kaka-bundat food, no lola’s hot chocolate during media noche (no media noche to begin with), no kwentuhan until we can’t keep our eyes open anymore. It was just nino and me.
Kaya naman di ko na napigilan ang iyak ko. Hindi sya yung simpleng iyak lang, ha, yung klase na falling tears, tapos sniff, sniff lang, parang sa mga soap opera na tutulo lang yung luha mo. Eto, NGAWA (kasi nasa loob lang ako ng bahay, unlike nung Christmas nasa church ako, ayoko ng crying in public, pangit ako pag umiiyak eh hehehe).
Despite having the worst case of homesickness, I tried to be positive and not end 2005 or start 2006 with tears. So we decided to have dinner out, take pictures in Rockefeller center, and even made an attempt to join the gazillion tourists and New Yorkers in the annual ball-drop in Times Square. But of course, asa pa kaming may mapupwestuhan kami, kaya umuwi na lang kami, thinking sa TV na lang kami manonood nung New Year countdown. We ended up falling asleep through it and woke up 12:03 na. We missed the 2006 countdown. Ganda.
Buti na lang, I had a very memorable pre-new year celebration with Nino and my 2 favorite friends here in New York, Alice and Judy. On the last Friday of the year, we had dinner at a nearby resto, hung out at our apartment till the wee hours of the morning and talked, laughed and drank until we can’t see straight anymore. That was probably the most fun we had for the entire season.
I don’t recall ever crying so much in a year in my whole 26 years of existence. But despite a tearful 2005, I’m still really thankful for the year that passed. 2005 has been a very challenging year for me but at the same time, it was a year full of growth, new experiences, new discoveries, new friends and even a newfound love and appreciation for my country, my home and all the little things I used to take for granted.
I am so excited for the next season of my life. There are so many things that can happen both here and at home to look forward to. I just can’t wait for it to begin.
