The Journey. It’s Mine. [My personal take on love, life, parenting and blogging.]

The whole day brownout in this city earlier today. 9 am to 430 pm. Imagine that in 1st world countries? That would be horrible and the economy will just die.

I hope that the next president of the Philippines will focus on investing in an energy source that is reliable and advance. Balita ko sa Subic merong coal plants (or magkakaron) c/o their Korean investors. Imagine that?Di ba pabaliktad?! Ewan…bakit ganyan. Then Gordon wants to be President. Baka ibenta nya buong bansa kung wala pang gumagawa noon.Then we’ll be the biggest coal-plant country.

At least magkakaron ng color coding sa bawat ruta ng mga jeepneys. Move-over Bayani. Gordon will rule MMDA!

WAIT…baka mali yung sinabi ko about coal. According to wikipedia:

Coal is primarily used as a solid fuel to produce electricity and heat through combustion. World coal consumption was about 6,743,786,000 short tons in 2006[10] and is expected to increase 48% to 9.98 billion short tons by 2030.[11]

China produced 2.38 billion tons in 2006. India produced about 447.3 million tons in 2006. 68.7% of China’s electricity comes from coal. The USA consumes about 14% of the world total, using 90% of it for generation of electricity.[12]

Pansin ko lang…bakit puro 3rd world countries and largest producers ng coal fuel? Dahil dyan rich in coal? Well…may coal plant ba ang US? Or are they just buying coal fuel from other countries?

Hmmm…lemme Google! hahahaha!!!

Simply because Raine’s class starts at 830 am on Wednesdays.

On Tuesday night we can watch TV ’til 10 pm or so. (Except we don’t have TV in our new house. hehe)

We can then oversleep in the morning.

Not hurry…

Wednesdays are just wonderful!

This morning, I didn’t hear my alarm. It was supposed to go off at 530 am. Eventually, I woke up at 630 and immediately woke up Raine. Good thing he cooperated. The keyword is just ‘late na tayo’! He he.

Anyways…we made it out of the house by 651. Raine has to be at school not later than 710 am.  One advantage of being walking-distance from school. Pero si Raine na lang ang naligo kanina so we can make it on time. And we did. Now I’m back at our house and have all the time in the world to take a bath.

Meanwhile…I’ll surf the web first.

It happened again — I snapped at Raine during lunchtime at school today.

Why?

He’s being choosy about his food. Again.

He can’t eat well coz he just wants to play. Again.

He can’t sit even for a straight minute. Again!

Other moms were looking at me (at us!). I don’t care. Having other people around doesn’t mean Raine can get away with anything. Being in public - to me - isn’t an excuse not to impose discipline on a child.

I insisted he finish his food. He did.

I insisted he sit down and do their learning task. He did. Eventually.

But it wasn’t that easy. It is always not easy. I always have to put an iron hand forward. Else he’s going to abuse me!

He finally settled down and then some of his classmates came up to me. Kesyo hinampas daw sya ni Raine, naitulak daw sya ni Raine, etc.  Then I got angry at Raine again!

Then I saw the back of his white polo. It is splattered with mud.  I asked him what happened. He said the other big kid (one of those na nagsumbong sa akin!) stomped on a platter of rainwater while he was running! Arrgghhh…kids!

Tonight we’re going to have some lenghty conversations. Mother to son.

See? I told you…I don’t need a Kettlebell these days! Hayyy

It’s just Monday but our laundry basket is already half-full. Remember, it’s not 24 hours yet since Raine and I moved into our new house. Medyo mahilg lang talaga kami magbihis mag-ina!

I keep telling my mother to get a new (good) labandera since our washing machine broke down a year ago or so. However no labandera has yet to pass my mother’s laundry standards. (Magaling lang sya talaga maglaba at wala pang pumapasa sa kanya so far. Either amoy bleach at pati de-color ay pumuti na…o kaya naman eh amoy pawis pa kahit nalabhan at natuyo an sa araw ang labada.)

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People who haven’t seen me for quite awhile immediately notice that I lost weight. What is it with pinoys right? Whether you gained or lost weight…they will surely let you know about it. But I don’t mind…I always take either way a compliment. For someone who have always been on the chubby side, medyo natutuwa ako each time somebody mentions na pumayat ako. But I am worried sometimes…it makes me think why? Am I sick?? Wag naman sana!

However…I really can’t eat much these days because I am always on the run. Hatid sundo sa anak…kahahabol sa anak…magpapakain at bibihisan at anak. By the time that Raine is back in school…I have already lost my appetite. I often just use my free time in the afternoon on sleeping  instead of going online.

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I’m typing this entry in our new home in the city. Maybe in the coming week…i will have broadband installed. I’m still using my phone to get online. At least there’s a full signal here so my connection is still okay.

We were supposedly to move after lunch today. But the tricyle I asked to bring us  was only available  in the morning. We got up at around 730 am only to find out that my mother already arranged that we hit the road by 9 am. So it was a whirlwind packing! I did not even take a bath the whole of Saturday because I wasn’t done relaxing yet. He he he.

Anyways… just allow me to let the following photos speak as to how this day went for us:

Ready to go at a little past 9 this morning.

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This morning? Raine and I got up at around 8 am! 8 am?! Eh 710 ang flag ceremony right? Grabe…we were that tired.

Anyways…Raine and I just enjoyed our morning and went back to the city at around 12 noon. We still made it to the afternoon session which starts at 1 pm.

Meanwhile…it was raining so hard when I took Raine to school…so instead of hitting the internet cafes,  I slept in our new house! Hehe.

Well..I can’t wait for Sunday afternoon, that’s when we officially move in to our new house. It’s going to be exciting, I can’t wait!

Happy weekend everyone!

The last time I moved to a new house…there was a battalion of boys and girls who helped me pack all my stuff and put them in the jeepney. The jeepney has to travel some 600 kilometers home. Only Raine was in the said jeepney with my mother on their way home. I remember the top-load was full of my boxes. I was really surprised that I have accumulated as much. Well…18 years really is not nothing.

I still remember the time I moved into my very first apartment. There were only two bags that Ruth helped me carry. I stayed 8 years in that apartment! Then a college sis lent me money (1500 PHP!!) so I can buy an electric fan and a mattress. (That’s how cheap things were. This was 11years ago.)

 Those 8 years were fun times. Housemates came and went and I was still there. Kahit merong boarders na battalion ng daga sa ceiling, I stayed in that place. There were cobwebs in the CR ceiling when I came in, right on the part of the kisame that was falling out. I came out 8 years later and the same scenario in the CR ceiling remained the same!

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This morning, I started moving some of our stuff in the room we rented to the new house for rent I just got. (I wish there is a motorhome towing services here!)

This time we have our own water, electricity, cable tv. Most importantly we have our own CR/bathroom there! 

Coming soon will be Smart Broadband or Bayan DSL (I’m still undecided which, what do you think?).

The job I recently applied for? It didn’t work out. So I decided to get the house for rent I looked into 2 weeks ago. I’ve got more stuff to bring in there. Hopefully by Monday we are already settled.

Hirap pala madaming ka-share sa CR! Ha ha ha.

And then makakatipid ako. Last month I paid 6K to Smart for the data sevices via my 3G phone! While sa broadband or DSL, I will only pay 1K monthly for unlimited use.

Hayyy…sana makatipid na talaga ako!

To make the long story short…I made it home in one piece on Saturday afternoon. All I did on Sunday was eat and sleep.

Today I wait for further notice as to when is te interview. Hopefully Wednesday or Thursday. With all these moving around??? Who needs a Solo Slim??!!

I’m both nervous and excited. I realy hope my next blog post will be about my first day at work. Hehehe.

My voice is harsh now with all the talking with friends I’ve been doing in the last 24 hours. Time is not just enough to catch up with my friends here in LB. It’s really great to be here.

This place - my 2nd home -never failed me. My visits are always nice and I can’t get enough of it. I wish time is just enough.

Well anyway…I go home tomorrow but I will surely be back next week for my interview. After that (if I get hired) I come back to stay. It will just be me for starters, Raine stays at home in the barrio because education is too expensive here. Just one of the reasons Raine can’t join me. Not yet at least.

I’ll see how things turn out.So…let’s wait and see. I’ll keep you guys posted.Thanks a lot for all your prayers and good wishes.  I really appreciate that.  

I am flying to Manila tomorrow. Hopefully I can take the early morning flight of Ceb Pac. I’m just on my there now to buy a ticket. Sana…sana hindi puno ang flight bukas.

At 1 pm tomorrow…I have an exam appointment in Ortigas for my job application in a multinational pharmaceutical company.

Please keep me in your prayers (that I get hired).  Just when I already found a house where Raine and I can move in to next week…

So it seems that fate has got other plans for me. I know it is for the best!

So there was this public transpo strike yesterday. I guess there is a looming fare increase. Not good. 

The only good thing about the strike yesterday is that Raine and I were able to maximize our weekend at home. We just got back in  the city this morning (630 am). I dropped Raine at school and I went straight to our room to bring our clean clothes. 

Now I’m online in the nearest internet shop. I’ve got lots to do. I need to read up on some industrial products.

This is going to be a long day. It started at 430 am. I fell asleep around 1 am!

Raine and I are enjoying our rather lazy and relaxed stay at home this weekend. We don’t have a schedule for once. After 5 nights of sleeping in the city, for 2 days I don’t need to set my alarm. What a bliss, isn’t it?

So here we are…talking and playing and watching movies. If Dream TV cooperated, this would have been a lot better weekend for me. So I just resorted to my good old CDs. They will do for now.

I’m thinking of going back to the city on Monday morning. I just want to maximize our time at home.

First of all, part 1 is here.

It’s been a week of living here in the city…Raine and I are going home this afternoon right after Raine is dismissed in school.

I’m not excited to go home…

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Enough of the Michael Jackson overload…he he he.

The world didn’t notice that Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince already premiered in London. The stars are all so grown-up on the red carpet. (Emma Watson was even showing some cleavage! Sinabayan si JK Rowling. Hehe. )

Though the stars of HP got soaked in London during the red carpet entrance…they all charmed everyone.

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Bad trip talaga ang last-song-syndrome. The last song you heard will keep on playing inside your head. That happens wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

The last song having such an effect on me?

Man in the mirror by Michael Jackson!

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…in the city!

At least we hope we get some decent sleep in the coming days.

At around 4 pm we arrived in the city yesterday. (Para kaming lipat bahay, pati electric fan bitbit namin.) We “fixed” the room, put in our stuff –mostly clothes, toiletries and food. LOTs of food. I made the small bed and Raine went on to play with the landlady’s daughter. She is Raine’s classmate in grade 1. My mother and new sis-in-law helped us move in.

Then later in the afternoon, Raine and I went out to eat. We were just buying time after that, just to escape the heat outside and the heat inside our room. Before we noticed, it was past 7 pm already. Like a typical city, downtown Sorsogon is bustling with people everywhere. Everyone was in a hurry. Raine and I were still enjoying the A/C in an internet shop when suddenly the counter girls said they are about to close.

wtf?!

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Starting next week, Raine and I will be living in the city 5 days a week. I’ve just rented a room for us, walking distance to and from the school. The owner of the said room is the mom of one of Raine’s classmates.

The room is located at the back of their fenced house. In front are room of bedspacers. The room was rented to me for 1,000 pesos a month and I can use their kitchen. Not that I’ll be cooking regularly. In fact we have been having lunch at the school’s canteen for 25 pesos per combo meal. Isn’t that cheap? Well the food isn’t gourmet, but it will do.

I have realized that we spend about a 100 pesos for fare alone (jeep and tricycle) everyday. For 20 school days in a month, that is already 2,000 pesos! For the rent alone, I have already saved 1,000 pesos.

Besides…if we live near the school, Raine doesn’t have to wake up at 5 am. Now we can even get out at 5 minutes before 7. The school’s flag ceremony is at 710 am. It wouldn’t take us 5 minutes to walk to the school’s gate! Isn’t that swell?!

Then we won’t be too tired by the daily commute. Especially Raine.Moreoever, now that we are in the city on school days…Raine and I will be saved from my mother’s yaki-yak-yaks in the mornings. She does that because she gets mad at Raine for being so slow in the mornings. Ikaw ba naman ang batang gisingin ng 5 am?! Raine is always complaining that his eyelids wouldn’t open!

So…tomorrow afternoon we will go to the said rented room to bring our stuff and get settled in. Then on Friday afternoons, we go home and spend the weekend here. Hopefully our mornings will be peaceful this time.

That’s the very question I was asked this morning by the ChowKing counter girl in Sorsogon. That’s because she knows me as Glo already (they ask you your first name, must be protocol to have a personalized service) because I am a regular costumer everyday in the past month.

That’s just because ChowKing is open as early as 7 am. I often go there after bringing Raine to his school to have a small breakfast (i can’t eat anything heavy at this hour) and to just hang out until the internet shop I go to daily, opens.

Yesterday, I wasn’t there early. My mother had to bring Raine in the morning because I had flares of arthritic pains. I just went to the city at around 11 am and stayed until 4 pm in time for the school’s dismissal.

It’s funny how other people around memorize your daily routine. Even the girls at the internet shop already know that I need the internet right away. Because I am always the first costumer, the A/C is often not turned on yet and one of the girls is still sweeping the floors. He he.

The ChowKing girl this morning even asked me which school my kid goes to. Small talk you know…I just replied politely. Besides she is always nice to me.

Daily, we take this road on the way to the city.

Recently I’m having blackheads in my face and sty inside my eyelid. It is becasue of this dusty road project that can’t seem to wrap up.

Still I can’t believe that the King oF Pop - Michael Jackson - is dead. How I wish this is just a dream we can wake up to. But it’s not.

Today I’e been digging YouTube for videos of Michael Jackson. Here’s a clip from his 30th Anniversary Concert in 2001, featuring performanes of ‘The Way You Make Me Feel” (solo)  and “Black or White” (with Slash).

In my heart, there’s always going to be Billie Jean associated with MJ. Now, at least he would not need Mesothelioma lawyers ever.

Rest in peace, MJ.