Day 3 - Liam's Dedication

On Saturday, I attended the first party that I was invited to—one of the reasons why we came here. My nephew had his dedication and I was one of the godmothers.

I started the day early as I woke up at 330 AM yesterday which translated to about 6 hours of sleep. Not bad. I wrote my first entry on our trip and came down for breakfast at about 6AM when hunger pangs called.

Everyone then got ready for the Dedication and the party afterwards. Not wanting to get on everybody’s way, Leo and I got ready way before my sister and her family did.

The Dedication was held at a christian church (Jesus the Healer Filipino Church). It was a short and simple ceremony. Here we are posing with my sister, her family and the other godparents.



Afterwards, we proceeded to the reception at The Rosewood Gardens. My sister gave me an assignment to count the guests.

It was my first time to attend a Filipino party in the US. Other than the good food (it’s really good! My relatives said though that I’ll surely miss Filipino food soon), they had line dancing! Leo’s aunt, Tita Chit, who my sister invited, apparently is a veteran in line dancing and also participated. She said that around 90% of Fil-Am parties usually have line dancing and she can lead too. I tried my hand at it and could’ve participated more if not for my party shoes. It’s really fun!

Also got a more decent picture of my sister and I, here we are:



Afterwards, another aunt (my mom’s sister), Tita Flor, invited us to stay with her last night at East Brunswick. We quickly packed an overnight and Leo’s aunt drove us over. Here is Tita Flor's family:



If our house at Manila is in the suburbs, this literally defines suburbs. I feel like I’m in Forks (yes, in the Twilight movie) where the backyard is literally a forest. However, it’s not as overcast or rainy as in the movie/book. In fact, I just saw a squirrel when I woke up this morning! Cool! My only encounter with a squirrel is with Alvin and the Chipmunks and Chip and Dale. :) I couldn't resist taking a picture.



We also visited another aunt, Tita Cora, who lives a block away from Tita Flor's house. Here we are with Tita Cora's family:

Day 1 and 2 - Outlet Shopping at Jersey Gardens

I was up and early the next day as I could not sleep properly. After breakfast, my sister and her daughter, Madison together with my husband and I left at around 10AM for Jersey Gardens to do some shopping.

Here's my picture with my twin sister. It's the only one that we have so far since I got here. I'll make sure to take more.



I was not prepared when I saw what was in the mall. There were branded stores all around that I could not wrap my mind around what I want to see first. I just told Leo to shop for himself first and I'll just see what I want.

We settled down for lunch at the foodcourt where I had some sort of chicken bourbon meal. I've forgotten how the servings here are just so humongous. I was supposed to share with Leo but he wanted another thing. Anyway, I was only able to eat barely half of it and decided to take home the rest.




Here's Maddy, smiling one of her beautiful smiles.



I survived on caffeine and sugar during the whole time. By midafternoon, I was almost on the verge of collapse. I got a pack of M&Ms for the sugar rush which gave me the strength to get back on my feet and do more shopping. Here's me with Maddy as I shared my last two M&Ms with her. I became her bestfriend all of a sudden. :)



We headed back home around 5PM but briefly stopped over at a local grocery at Carteret to get some supplies. When we got to the house, my mom was waiting for us with her stepdaughter-in-law and her step-grandson. It was great seeing her and gave her my pasalubong. Will spend more time with her next week.

We bought so much stuff at the outlet mall. I can't wait to go back to buy MY stuff. :)

US Vacation - Getting There

The day that I've been looking forward to in more than 20 years has finally arrived, I am able to return to the US and experience its wonders all over again.

We were actually supposed to visit in April 2008, a few months after my husband and I got married. Together with my US visa getting renewed, we confirmed that I was pregnant! So we had to postpone the trip until I gave birth. That occasion finally arrived when my mom invited us for her 60th birthday celebration and my sister for her son's Christening this June 2011.

I booked an EVA Air ticket for my husband and I (we did not bring our son with us) last March for a three week stay in the US. After that, there were a flurry of email exchanges between my mom, sister and I as we planned our itinerary.

On the morning of June 16, we were in NAIA around 3.5 hours before our flight. That's my husband with his rare smiles as we patiently wait for the check-in counter to open and that's me at the Gate waiting for our flight to be called.




Our flight left almost one hour behind schedule at 130PM. It wasn't a problem as our flight does not leave until 650PM so with the almost two hour flight time, we'll surely make it without stressing ourselves too much.

When we arrived at Taipei, we went around familiarizing ourselves with the place and trying to find a place to eat.



We settled on a noodle house where we had beef noodle soup. The serving was so huge that my husband and I shared a bowl.



We boarded our flight right on schedule. The flight though was uneventful and horribly boring for me as I could not sleep. The EVA Air entertainment/interactive system helped me keep my sanity. The movie selections sucked though but I did manage to watch an episode each of Family Guy, CSI and five other shows.

We touched down Newark airport 20 minutes ahead of schedule. I was so grateful that I wanted to kiss the airport ground but that would probably not be advisable. :)

Due to the lateness of the hour, there were only a minimum number of passport control officers who were manning the counters to process our arrival. There were more officers for the US and Canadian citizens and green card holders. We were in line for more than hour until we were up. Our fingerprints and pictures were taken and we were asked how long we will be staying.

After that, we proceeded to the bags carousel to retrieve our luggage. As we've been stuck in line for so long, our bags were already on the conveyor. I got a couple of carts (which costs $5 each!), loaded our bags and was fortunately waved through customs. I don't mind the random bag search but I was so tired already.

It took around 30 minutes before we finally found my brother-in-law, Jeff and got everything loaded in their SUV.



My niece, Madison, and my sister, Claudine, greeted us when we arrived. I still had strength to open our bags and give out pasalubongs. It was already 130AM when I was able to take a shower and lie down. Unfortunately, I was just too tired to sleep that I only had 2 hours of rest. I gave up when I woke up at 4AM and decided to just tough it out that day.

Our Day 1 and 2 kuwento here.

Basti Picture Company Pictures - 5 June 2011

I've been getting lots of comments about my son's overflowing cuteness. To ensure that his cuteness is preserved before it disappears from memory, I paid for an annual membership at Picture Company so he can go there anytime for a studio shot. It's money well spent because my son is as cute as ever!

Here's a collage of his photos:



These are my favorite photos of the bunch:






How cute can you really get???

Parent Humble Pie

I had a somewhat humbling experience yesterday as a parent.

When I came home last night, my husband shared with me news that Basti cried during Kindermusik class yesterday afternoon. I was amused as usually, Basti is the culprit whenever other children cries but this time around, he's the one crying. It turns out that he has a classmate with Down Syndrome and as the boy's way of showing his amusement and "gigil" for Basti, he grabbed and pulled my son's hair which caused my son to cry.

I just hugged my son as I totally understood what happened. Moreover, I wanted him exposed to such kids and hopefully, he'll develop a mindset that these children should not be scorned but accepted and loved.

I was touched when Teacher Ana (his Kindermusik teacher)  gave me a call informing me of what happened and apologizing for the incident. The call was not needed but still appreciated. I really don't know mind if he gets hurt during such incidents as long as he's not severely wounded. However, I would make a big fuss if he's bullied or hurt intentionally by other kids.

Are We Good Parents?

My husband and I will be going to the US for three weeks and we're leaving our son behind.

I've been hearing so many things and opinions regarding our decision. There are others who could not comprehend how we can leave our son at home (with my in-laws actually). There are others who are quite supportive and totally understand where we're coming from.

I'm already preparing myself for all the questions and uproar when we arrive without our son in tow. Being the polite person I am, I will just give vague references on why we chose to do what we did.

Of course, there are doubts but my husband and I believe that right now, we made the right choice.

I hope I get to enjoy this vacation without the unnecessary stress.

Foreclosure Empathy

One of the tasks that I do at work is to review approved consumer loans and check for any deficiency in the approval process. Recently, I was asked to concentrate on home loan accounts that have been endorsed to our Remedial Unit (i.e. clients that have not paid their dues for the past 90 days or more).

I was excited over the task at first as it will be the first time I'll be handling home loans, but after reviewing several accounts, I'm beginning to feel a bit down. The last one I reviewed, the Bank has already started steps on foreclosing the house which is the client's primary residence.

As I have the clients' folder with me, I have somehow grown familiar with their background. My heart just bleeds for them and their children that will be uprooted because the Bank will force them out of their house.

I feel for them because my family had the same experience while I was in College. My parents were struggling with their business and the Bank soon foreclosed on our family home. We were forced to live within the family business premises. And when the business folded, my mom had to go abroad to work as a caregiver so they can pay off their debts. Thank God I was already working by then but the trauma of it stayed with me. I guess that's the main reason why I am so afraid to go in business.

I cannot fault the Bank for doing what they did and still continue to do up to now. The clients signed an agreement that in exchange for the sum that they borrowed, the Bank has every right to foreclose on the property if the regular payments are not made.

I can only wish them the best and hope everything works out for them in the end. I just hope their children won't be too traumatized.