About Me

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Adventurous, observer,kind, compassionate, generous, Practical, quick learner and hard working.

Monday, December 5, 2011

My morning walks

As i  grew up in our small village in the Philippines, i spend lots of walking, because my family didnt own a car. Walking a great length is part of our daily exercises. As far as i can remember, my grandfather used to bring me along with my cousins to visit our relatives in a nearby village. We used the shortest route  if there is any  or else we have no choice but to follow the right path.

Our village lies in a massive rice plantation, so sometimes if we choose to go by the short route to our distination we go via  a rice field. I mastered to balance my step in a narrow path which about 10 inches wide. And if  i lost  my footing  i will difinitely fall on the rice plants which if its touch your skin it gets stingey because the rice itself and its leaf  is very rough.

The leaf  if you feel it  feels like a sand paper, quite rough if its rubbbed against your skin.
Me and my cousins sometimes  race along the rice fields, whoever walk slow could be pushed aside in the mud. The best thing about walking the fields is the opportunity to catch dragonflies or sometimes tree with ripe fruits. No one prohibited you to pick a fruit in our place. People are friendly and forgiving. Sometimes, farmers even  offer you thier vegetables or fruits as you pass by. I remember carrying  loads of sweet potato , string beans and tomatoes on our way home. My cousins sometimes moaned for it because it is really heavy. I am talking about a basket full of vegetable and fruits.
I rememberber growing up eating organic vegetables, farmers in our area does not always use fertiliser as the soil are already rich.

Ok back to our  long walks, yes it is  part of our growing up. When i was about 12 or 14 years old me and my cousin and children from our neighbour together with thier parents went to climb a mountain.
 We left very early, even before the sun rises because we aim to be on top of the mountain by  mid morning, so we can come back the same day. We did not tell our grandparents (who are our guardians that time ) that we are following our neighbour to the mountain.
We brought some water and food for the day. Hello, that time  phones are not heard  of so there is no way that my grandparents will know if something happen to us. But thank goodness we all came back safe aside from few mosquito and insect bites and a sunburn. And yes we brought home some fruits from the mountain and gave it to my grandparents, and for that we did not get any beating only scolding :-(

As a young kid i enjoy walking, and even now in my adult life.
Here in Singapore, it is one of my favorite past time. I have the previlege to do my walkies in the morning and also at night. I learned that if  i dont go for a walk my body will be aching for the whole day, but if i go for my usual walks i feel energized for the whole day and my mind is more active.

This is one of my favorite walkway, its a canal along sixth avenue beside Laurel rd. This is a very quite place esp in the evening, but i was told that there was a cobra sighting in this area so i avoided walking at night. Beside it, is a rain forest which is very serene and the smell of wild plants is heavenly. Aside from this place i love walking along holland road down to pandan valley then back to sixth avenue. Sound of the traffic didnt bother me, what i need is an earpiece and a good music from my ipod.
Back in my village my music used to be the chirp of birds and mooo from the cows, but as time changes it is more  hi tech and modern.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

December

December is the loneliest month of my life. For some its the most joyous month because its the time of year where most people spend  it with thier love ones.

I am working here in Singapore for 18 years and i have never have the chance to go back home and spend Christmas with my family.


None of my boss present or previous volunteer to offer me to go back home and be with my family.
Most of them are foreigners , i only work for a local family once.

My present one is English family, which i served for the last 10 years.
Although they give generous gift on xmas, i  still miss  the warm company of my family.
I almost always spend xmas here in singapore alone, although most of the time i celebrate it with friends.

While my employer busy planning for the xmas holiday vacation somewhere, i am also busy planning what to do on xmas day.
I know there is nothing much  i can do but probably ask my friend what we will be doing on that day.
The most obvious is have xmas eve and lunch with them , sometimes in my place or my friends place, whoever is free. I mean whoever bosses are away. We are allowed to have parties while our bosses are away, sometimes our employer give us extra money for our xmas celebration. I remember my boss offered me to take 2 bottle of champagne from the wine cellar and 2 packets of smoked salmon for a starter.
We dont drink and get drunk like most people do, none of us wants to get drunk anyway. We are all good, well behaved people who enjoy a simple get together.

Normally my boss and family spends xmas holidays overseas and return after the new years day.
It might be the time where i will be on my own and have a peace and quite week, but its the most hated part.
The company of dog and cat doesnt substitute the warm company of a love ones. Although i get paid for doing nothing for the entire month of December i still feel the need of being with my family back home.

I hope to spend my next Christmas with my family.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Missing a friend

How many times we heard  the phrase 'friends are forever' ? Are there really real friends? How about the phrase 'Friends come and Go' ?
The last phrase seems to apply to  me accurately.
True, i have friends who come and go. When i was still in high school, i have  a best friend named Marina.
She is a petite 4 feet 11 inches sweet girl. She is the nicest of my classmate, well that,s what i believe.
We were in the same section since year 7 to year 11. We sat with each other in the classroom, we help with each other in our home works and projects.
We share ice cream during recess and sometimes we share our lunch too. We both like the same local artist, we enjoy the same song and we are both outgoing.

We escape classes numerous time so we can catch out favorite movie.
We had to be called in the principals office for our silly escapades, but we just giggled when the scolding from the principal finishes.

When we graduated in high school, i went to stay with one of my sister  in Manila to spend my school holiday.
By the following school year, Marina went to a college near our province, i did not follow her there although it is our plan to go to the  same  school when we finish high school.

After graduation, i saw Marina one more time, she came to my place to visit me, she stayed for a week and that was the last time that i saw her.

Its been a  2 decades  now since i heard from her. I am until this days wondering where she might be. I tried to find her via Facebook, but she share the same name with many people and its difficult to assume which one is her. I tried google too to find her but unfortunately didn't match my search.
I really hope that she is somewhere out there enjoying life and hope that someday, our path will cross one more time.





Thursday, July 14, 2011

My Pilot admirer

Its been a week now since i heard from my pilot friend. I wont be mentioning here which airline he works for to keep his identity.
He is a senior pilot and is in the service for more that 20 years.
He is single in his prime age and living alone.

He came from down under, he has yet to tell me about his family, and i respect his privacy. He buzzed me up in one of the social networks and  i responded. He introduced himself , show me his photo and shared some personal details about him.
After chatting for a while, we agreed to meet for a drink. He asked me to meet him at the Marina Bay Sands  lobby so we can go up in the Skypark together.
Since it was weekend and not afraid to stay out late, i went to meet him. People say, do not meet stranger alone. In my case i dont see the need of anyone or any sort .
This person seems respectable and i trust my  judgment. Hi truly is a gentleman. When we meet he keeps  praising my dress , that i look so classy, he loves  the way i dress up, the way i walk and the way i talk.I did not tell him about my job, i want to meet him first then see what his reaction when he see me.
But he seems not bothered what i do that he didnt ask  me.
Maybe he sees me as a attractive girl and  does not bother him whatever  i do for a living.
I am a very sociable person, and having a chance like these to meet interesting people really excites me.

Well, he is setting another date night and i cant wait.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

My Dream House

When i first come to work in Singapore my plan is to save as much as i can so i can buy a land and then build a house in it.
I limit my shopping the best as i can, no fancy clothes, buy bargains only. Thats the rule i gave to myself when it comes to purchasing clothes.
I love fashion of course, i love to dress up like any girls out there.
But my mind is already programmed to limit my expenses.
I am also obliged to send some money to  my family back home. Being a Filipino its our nature to  help out our family and sometimes even relatives who needs our help.
And se being the one who is working abroad and earning  a lot better, they sometimes seek our help when they need some extra cash, esp when time of emergency.

In the past year i have countless remittance sent to my  family and relatives but i did not  keep track on the money sent to them.
Once the money is sent to them , i dont expect it to return to me someday.
For them I am thier saviour whom can they turn to in time of needs.

In return to my generosity, they treat me as a VIP whenever i go home to visit them.
Yes, i earn thier love and respect. They consider me as the most loving sister, aunt, cousin ,daughter , friend, saviour and whatever you may call it.

I throw parties whenever i am home, this is a once a year occasion and i always make the most of it.
The happy faces of my family inspires me to work harder. And thats the highlight of my vacation.
I have a close knit family, even have extended families, meaning nephews , cousins who are so loving towards me.
Aside from the regular remittances i also send packages which contain clothes, shoes, bags, book and sometimes even computer and tv, and of course few grocery items that i felt they should try.

Ok now back to my dream house...yes after paying my agent  in full when i first arrive here, i slowly save some money.
After 4 years i manage to purchase a 350 sq m residential lot. In the province land are a  lot more cheaper that in the urban city.

Its a quite countryside place with few neigbors . I love the vast green land sorrouds it.
During the rainy season, we are sorrounded with a vast  green scenery. The smell of rice  and corn that is beginning to ripen that is ready to harvest fills the air. The air is clean compare to the air that you inhale in most modern cities.

We started to build a humble farm house as i called it. With a 3 bedrooms complete with living room ,kitchen and bathroom i think its comfortable enough for a small family.

But after a flood our house became a mini house as it shrunks to the ground after sand fills the entire land. Our house as  a lot higher than the one here in the picture.
After the horrible flood it became a tiny maniature.

However, after years of saving again I started to rebuild it into a bigger one. Now the construction is still going on and hopefully by the end of this year , the construction process will finaly be over.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Traveling Around Asia

Been working and living here in Singapore for a number of years now. And one of my best experience is to be able to travel around the region. In the past years i managed to squeeze some time to travel (when bosses are away on holidays). I may one of those lucky ones who can get away whenever I want to. I love traveling , i consider myself a very  adventurous person.
Although my trips are short I enjoyed all my trips, I  have a friend who loves traveling too and whenever we both have the chance we try to squeeze our limited time into traveling. For some maids who are working here they can only envy us whenever we said we just traveled overseas and of course they said WHOA you so lucky.

I get a very reasonable pay every month, so extra money for traveling is not a problem..The countries that i have visited over the years are , Hongkong, China, Brunei, Macau, Malaysia( been to Malacca, KL,  Genting Highlands, Cucup a small fishing village in Malaysia and a numerous trips to JB)I also make a numerous trip to Bintan  and Batam which I quite enjoy.
I am planning to visit Vietnam, Cambodia and Nepal someday if i have the chance and the extra money of course. I enjoy traveling because i love photography. I took a lot of photo whenever i travel and I will put them in a CD and gave it to my relatives back home to show about  the countries I visited.
One particular place i went to in China is the 7 Wonders of the World. Its a massive park in Shenzen where  they build a look alike of The White House, Grand Canyon, tower of Liberty, Pyramid of Egypt and so on. There was also a Eiffel tower and all looks like the real one.
And in Brunie I noticed that there is no tall buildings or  sky craper like what we have in Singapore. The land is massive but you cant see tall buildings and i find it so strange knowing that Brunei is a very rich country. Me and my friend who lives in Brunei drove to the other end of the island where they built the 2 Mllionth Barrel Monument. Then we went wandering about in the Empire Hotel and Golf resort , it was a very massive place , the hotel structure is so beautiful. We sat by the edge of the pool and no one noticed that we are not a guest there. I think everybody can go there and take a leisurely walk around the hotel . We had dinner though in one of its restaurant so we are not a intrusive stranger after all..
My aunts who lives in Scotland  and London are  inviting me over and over again to visit them there. If only visa can be bought in a flea market why not....sigh. I heard a horror stories in Singapore about visa application being ignored by a  official at the British Embassy. I f they find out that you are working as a maid they wont even look at your papers even though your sponsor  provides you all the necessary documents.
Talking about assholes.......My  uncle who lives in Las Vegas  was  inviting me to visit him and his family as well but that can wait. Wait till the word discrimination disappear in the dictionary.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

My American date

It was year 2006 when i meet Greg. We meet in one of the dating site in the internet. We talk via IM whenever we see each other online. He is a married guy with 5 grown up daughters he was 44 when we meet. He works as a lecturer (thats what he told me). He comes here to conduct seminar with students who wants to become a internet genius.. He has a masters degree in a California University ( didnt ask though what course he took)
When we started chatting he mentioned that he is coming to Singapore to conduct a seminar in Suntec city. He will be staying in a hotel near the building. He asked me if we could meet up one morning for a coffee and have a chat before he start with the class. I agreed to meet him.
I live about 10 minutes away from Suntec so I thought theres no problem with the travelling time.

When he arrives he gives me a call saying that he arrives safe and asked me when is the best time for me to meet him up. In short we meet up in the morning for breakfast in his hotel restaurant. There was a buffet breakfast , but we both more interested to talk than eating. After few months of talking via IM and cam to cam here we are finally making eye to eye contacts.
We both know what to expect to each other as we already talked a lot of things over the months.
Our topics consists of family, weather, work, daily routine etc.
He knows im working as a maid , and he thinks that my english is good and everytime he says that im blushing ...I have a college diploma for goodness sake and works in a different company in the Philippines before I came to work here.
He is a average looking guy, soft spoken, speaks clearly and always smiling.
He asked me if i love Singapore and my answer is YES. Is it his first time to visit but already wanting to come again if the company permits.
We meet again in the evening after his meeting and dinner with clients. I brought him in the clark quay area for a drink and show him around. He enjoyed my company we laugh a lot like we know each other for a long time..
He stayed here for 5 days and I meet him every single night till he went home.

He came back one more time around July 2008 and of course we meet again. I brought him to Vivo City and had lunch in a Brazilian Restaurant. We watched movie after and show him my photo that was being displayed in Marina Square. YES, im a maid and a photographer too. Peopl
e thinks maids are ignorant and stupid but i tell you its the people who judge maid thats is ignorant.
He was so amused with the photos that he asked me to teach him how to take good photos. We did take a few snaps at the Marina Bay area using his point and shoot camera . And took some using my DSLR . I let him use my camera for a while and he took few snaps of me . Being the photographer myself im not good at posing but we laugh at the outcome of the photo shooting.

Well, by now some of you are wondering how i manage to skip out from my employers house and meet this wonderful man.
When your employer is good and gives you all the freedom you want. This is how we suppose to live, right.
I have the right to live and enjoy life, and 10 years over with the same employer, they still havent fired me.
When I came home and showed them photos of me and Greg, they are so happy and said GO GIRL!

Now 2 years after that meeting Greg is coming again to SG. Cant wait for you my friend.
Over the years , you make my life worthwhile with your never ending thoughtfulness and your jokes really makes life bearable.