My Becks

In my twenty-five years of existence, friends have come and go. Some have left marks in my heart. Sadly, I have none or very little contact with them (partly my fault for always being busy with work and always feeling tired).

Nevertheless, I know things happen for a reason, so there must be some perfectly good explanations as to why my friendships turned out this way. Let us not dwell on the sad side of life as I am at a very happy state at the moment. Why?

I have a new best friend! :)

APRIL

I have known her for a few years now, since our Uni days. We were room mates back in Uni. It's funny because we have so much in common, down to the very last details. We are both God-fearing, love to eat, love to SHOP! Our love for shopping would have to be one of the ones on top, hence our "pet name" for each other,

BECKS

April derived this from Rebecca (Becky) Bloomwood of the Shopaholic series. Perfect comparison indeed! lol :P

April was my Maid of Honour at our wedding, and I'm proud and happy that she took on that role. It wouldn't fit anyone but her. She has been a big part of my life and I'm over the moon that our friendship has blossomed into something as beautiful as this.

Becks, I just want you to know that I'm always here for you, no matter where life takes us.

Love you! :*

Bittersweet Reunion [long post]

Last night after work, I went to the wake of Alvz' Mum. I came in and it was silence, except for the very familiar voice I hadn't heard in almost a year - it was Alvz, reciting the prayers for his Mum. I stared at him, noticing how well he carried himself. Such courage. His voice would occasionally shake, but he would compose himself and get back on track. I understand how he feels the the need to be that way, as he is the eldest son and he has a Father and younger sister to look out for.


I was close with Alvz back in Highschool, even before our schools were amalgamated. He was easy to get along with and great to talk to. Sadly, we drifted when I left for the Philippines in 1999. Eventhough, Alvz will always have a special place in my heart.


As the prayers ended, Alvz' dad thanked everyone for attending and welcomed everyone to take a last look at his wife. I made my way towards the front but stopped to greet Tito Fred (a HS friend's Dad) and made "mano". I continued my journey towards the front, then bumped in to Zaldy, and old Highschool friend (two batches ahead) whom I haven't seen in nearly 10 years. A hug and a kiss on the cheek, and we got talking for the first few minutes briefly catching up. We then realised that he had to get back to work (Alvz assigned him to take some photos for relatives in the Phils) and I had to continue my walk up the altar.



So I continued my walk, got half way and stopped when I saw Karen (also a Highschool friend, part of our "barkada"). I also hadn't seen her for nearly 10 years. A kiss on the cheek and a huge hug, whispering that it was sad we had to see each other under these circumstances. We would have loved to have seen each other at a lighter environment. We walked towards the altar together, with me reaching Alvz first. We stared at each other before a kiss and a hug. I was totally speechless. I stood by him and looked at his Mum from where we stood (first/second row).

I left Alvz after a bit to allow other family and friends to gather around him. I settled for a small piece of space just behind the last row of seats, standing.

Not long after, I came across Zaldy again and we chatted some more about the happenings in our lives. Surprisingly, not much has changed between the two of us (only that I was married).


Karen found me again and dragged me to meet some of her (and Alvz') dance friends. I also caught up with another Highschool friend, Patricia, who was a batch lower than us (with a kiss and a hug). Moments later, another friend from our barkada arrived, Jayson (with a kiss and a hug). Jay was also close to me back in Highscool, with him calling me "Ate" eventhough we were less than a month apart. He didn't stay with us long as he headed for Alvz up near the altar.


Before heading home, I said my goodbye to Alvz. We stared at each other momentarily (me temporarily unable to speak), me hoping that I got the message across to him - that I was still there for him. With that, my last words to him were, "Take care of yourself, okay?", wishing that I had left an order instead of a question. Nevertheless, he understood me and replied with, "I will".

Thinking of the many topics we talked about last night, one particular conversation stuck with me (although they may not be the exact words). Karen told me:

"Life is short. You have to do as many things as you can. Have fun."

Life is short indeed. And from today onwards, I hope on playing those words in my head - To help me overcome all the fears and worries I carry in my heart and head, to help me make the most of the blessings that God has given me.

Farewell Letecia de Castro

We received horrible news yesterday..

My good old high school friend (barkada), Alvin De Castro, lost his Mum. She passed away early Tuesday morning, 03 February 2009 at 52 years of age.

Hearing the news saddened me not because I personally knew his Mum, but because Alvin is a dear friend to me. Losing a mother is and will never be easy, and I know that Alvz must be going through a really tough time. It hurts to hear that a good friend is hurting.



I went through his Facebook profile, and it was nice to see that many friends are consoling Alvz and his family. I scrolled further down and got the shock of my life. Two of his status made my eyes huge. One was a little past 4:00AM, and the other was around 10 minutes after.



The first one said that the ambulace guys have been resucitating his Mum for the past hour. And the other, requesting God to not take his Mum yet. I couldn't believe it.

Now I can't even imagine the pain he is going through, especially during the time when his Mum was being saved right in front of his eyes. I really can't imagine the pain. All I can think of is one word - unbearable.

I pray for the soul of Alvz's mum, and for the family she left behind. Please help us to pray for them.

This illustrates how fragile life really is. It scares me. :(

Western vs Asian Culture

I was emailed by my Colleague to check out Topher's blog entry, particularly this one on Western vs Asian Culture. Research conducted by Liu Young, Chinese born who studied in Germany. Thanks for posting this Topher. :)

Blue --> Westerner

Red --> Asian

Opinion

Way of Life

Punctuality

Contacts

Anger

Queue when Waiting

Sundays on the Road

Party

In the Restaurant

Traveling

Handling Problems

Three Meals a Day

Transportation

Elderly in Day to Day Life

Moods and Weather

What's Trendy

Rambling [watch out, long read]

I am so exhausted. Actually, I have been feeling exhausted and weak these past few days. I'm so exhausted, I didn't even get to blog yesterday. Plus, I ended up not going to work yesterday. I attempted to go to work, but after waiting for the bus for nearly an hour, I gave up (they closed the Burnley Tunnel so people who normally go that way had to reroute elsewhere - hence, the horrible traffic in the city and the surrounding suburbs).

I took advantage of the day to rest and unwind. I spent the day with Tita Arlene and her two sons, my cousins, Darcy (5) and Dashiell (2). We had to wait for just a little over an hour before we picked up Darcy from Kinder, so Tita Arlene, Dash and I dropped by Highpoint to kill time and do some errands. After picking up Dash from Kinder we stayed at Tita Arlene's house to rest (that's play for the two kids) and try to regain the energy lost these past few days.

At about 5:30PM we headed to the hall beside Darcy's Kinder to watch Darcy and his classmates' concert (it was Darcy's first concert). Darcy's class did two pieces of presentations, one about dinosaurs (the kids had dinosaur hand puppets) and the other about the Christmas Story [Darcy is the one in the red shirt in the photos]. The program didn't go for very long, but it was really nice watching the kids do their stuff - big smiles, enjoying every single moment as their parents and relatives watched. During my time with Tita Arlene and the kids, I realised that it's not easy being a Mum. It's not easy - but it's definitely rewarding. That day, I experienced a day in the life of a Mum.

After the concert we headed to Tita Thelma's house for dinner, and a small celebration for Nanay's 85th Birthday. Yesterday was her actual birthday, although yesterday was her second party of three (we'll be having her big birthday bash this Saturday). We didn't stay for a long time, as I was really tired already and Papa had to do some things to prepare for the next day.

I arrived home, got ready for bed, hooked up on Skype, spoke to hubby briefly, and fell asleep as hubby stayed on the line. 

**Thanks for taking care of me babe. Mwahugz!**