Monday, August 27, 2007

Second Home

If there's one place I considered my second home, that would be Pintuyan, Southern Leyte. It's a little fishing and copra town where my lola lives. When I was a kid and teenager, I would often spend my summer vacations there to the delight of my old and widowed lola. Pintuyan has been greatly part of my childhood and teenage life. I've had such fond memories of the place and its people. Apart from being the place where I blossomed into a lady (READ: first menstruation), I experienced a different kind of warmth from the humble people of Pintuyan. I've had quite a few friends there mostly my cousins and distant relatives. The town itself was a refuge to my peaceful heart. The fresh air and the sea breeze, the sound of the waves rushing to the shore, the sound of the crickets at night, the glow of the stars and fireflies, the laidback life I sorely miss. Pardon my nostalgia but I can't help but write a post about that place. A month from now, I'm off to that place again to visit my favorite lola (she's the only one left from both sides)and to celebrate the town's annual fiesta. I'll be traveling together with my sister and daughter (hubby isn't sure yet...depends on his sked). It's been ages since my last visit and my lola hasn't seen yet her great grand apo (my daughter). I'm already very excited that I filed a vacation leave this early.

Definitely, I'll be sharing pictures of my vacation. Promise!

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

How do you protect your child from bullies and nasty kids in school or even at home?

I can feel her pain seeing all the bruises as big as a five peso coin all over her knees and arms. She told me “Kuya Clarky pushed me twice, I fell on the ground”. The cousin is five years older and is supposed to be wiser or so I thought. Several times I hear stories from her that she’s being hit by her classmates in school. My husband was furious but what can he do? Hit the minor offender as well?

My heart was broken into a thousand pieces. No parent would want her kid hurt in any way. I always tell her to play fair and be polite. I never teach her to fight back. “If somebody hits you, stay away from them”. I always remind her. But lately, my husband after hearing all her woes would say, “If somebody hits you, hit them back or call for help”. I guess the latter sounds sensible enough but the first suggestion of hitting back is not right. It would only cause so much trouble. He’s a bit paranoid and keeps on telling me to arrange a meeting with the parents or teachers ASAP. Is it okay to talk to the parents? I have this feeling that parents of these kids could be defensive or overly protective. At least they will do their share in teaching their kids to be nice. They may not be aware of their kids' behavior in school or outside their homes. I’ve talked to her teachers before but I don’t think they’ve done anything. They told me that they’d usually give the offending kid a “time out” or be separated from the rest of the kids.

But what do you expect from a four-year old girl? With all her frailties, I don’t think she’s capable of hurting somebody. I’m afraid she will remain a constant victim of these bullies. I don’t want her to be teased, pushed around or hurt by her classmates or even her cousins. I don’t want her to do the other way around either.

This may sound weird but is it okay to let her take self-defense class such as karate and the like? Just a thought....

Friday, August 17, 2007

Table 7 @ Larshan

Napad-pad sa Larshan Hernan Cortes ang grupong Table 7 aron manihapon. Dugay-dugay na pod ni nga plano adto unta sa “Jun-jun and Malou” pero karon lang gyud nahitabo. Salamat sa among mga drivers nga ginganlan ug Totski ug FranG sa pagkarga namu padulong didto…murag bug-at sad ang mga karga padulong ug pabalik.



Sa uban nga wala pa nasayod, ang Larshan Hernan Cortes bag-o lang gyud gi-open. Parehas ra pod ni ug style sa larshan fuente ug larshan paseo --- grill pork, chicken, fish, liver ug uban parte sa lawas sa baboy ug manok nga gisugba ang naa sa ilang menu. Daghan pod stalls naa didto…barato ra man gud ang abangan. Imagine, P4k lang a month ang renta sa stalls.

Pero kung adto ka mukaon, kinahanglan nga isog-isog ka ug tiyan kay wala sad ta masayod kung natarong pag-prepare ang ilang gibaligya.

You also need to follow these time-tested tips:

1.Dapat mag-hugas sa kamot sa dili pa mukaon.


2.Dapat magsul-ob ug saktong proteksyon sa kamot inig kaon…a.k.a plastic gloves.


3. Take note kung pila ka puso (hanging rice) ang imong nakaon. Honesty is the best policy.


4. Dili puwede ang diet-diet…kaon tamans ginhawa.


5. Ayaw kalimot sa softdrinks...perfect combination sa grilled barbeque


6. Kinahanglan maglinya kung mugamit sa CR.


7. Ayaw kalimot sa paghulog ug piso human gamit sa CR.


8. Ayaw kalimot ug bayad kay lisod na.


9. Smile for the camera.


10. Don’t forget to spray cologne/perfume all over your body kay baho na kaayo kag larshan.


Bitaw, pasensya na…wa jud klaro akong mga tips.

Why Table 7?

Table 7 is a group of Xl employees from various departments (Finance, Sales, Admin, HR, Audit and Marketing) who convene every 7:00 PM for dinner. They would often discuss their many sentiments about their respective jobs, their bosses, their colleagues. They started this group way back Mango time and they continue to increase in number though some have left the company for good.

More stories about Table 7 coming at yah soon...

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Trees for Life

Today, the Xl Admin Team joined DENR and other stakeholders in the launching of “Trees for Life: 1.25 Million Seedlings for Planting and Nurturing” under the Green Philippines Program of Her Excellency, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Literally, that was the text written in our streamer.



I woke up as early as 6:00 AM because our assembly would be before 7:30 AM at Badgers, Banilad. I only had less than 5 hours of sleep (as always).

But it was a worthwhile activity. We had a breath of fresh and chilly air. I loved the scenery of lush vegetation and green canopy of trees…a welcome retreat from the polluted city life.



It was also a perfect venue to shoot for ANTM (America’s Next Top Model) fanatics and wannabe’s like Sylvette and me. Ms. O also joined in the craziness and cover girl poses ala-Tyra Banks.





The boys did most of the dirty jobs digging and clearing up the location where we could plant the tree seedlings. We were able to lodge in a total of 40 seedlings. Since BOI (Board of Investments) required us to plant 100 trees as a requirement for our company’s registration, we have to schedule another tree planting to complete the requirement. We’re looking at the mountains of Sibonga as per suggestion from Ms. O.





Though a bit tired, we have to go back to the office after a hearty lunch at Chikaan.

I believe that what we did today was a noble act. Our forest has been receding to make way for what they call --- DEVELOPMENT. It’s a sad fact that our children and grandchildren might not experience the perks of Mother Nature because of our careless and selfish acts today.

Sigh.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Back Online

I'm back after several days of being "off the line". Our PC is now on the road to recovery after a week of being in the ICU. The initial diagnosis was “memory dump”. Then I was advised by Nanding to buy a new mother board and upgrade our PC memory. What the ___? It’s like buying a new PC. Fortunately, our night shift IT dissected our PC further. Literally, he was doing a major operation on the PC and was able to finally fix it. I'm no techie person so I really cannot understand what the damage is but it’s one of those rare and isolated cases as what our IT guys told me. Big thanks to Nanding and Edshel...I owe you guys your quarter-pounder meals.

So, I’m back. There are a lot of things that I miss to do online.

• Like updating this blog
• Like posting at pinoymomsnetwork
• Like posting our pmn photohunt this month
• Like checking my friendster
• Like updating my multiply
• Like checking my emails at yahoo

Lesson learned after what happened to our PC: Just take care of what we have coz it’s the only one we got.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Blog Leave



I never intend to but our PC at home is still on the Intensive Care Unit after it turned blue last week. I had our office IT checked on it and he’s still trying to figure out what’s wrong --- I just hope it’s really nothing serious. He said something about the hardware. God forbids! I don’t think we ever could afford buying a new one at this time.

I miss updating my friendster, checking on my multiply and updating this blog. I’ve got a few stories running around in my head. But for now, I’m just making my blog leave official.

Ciao!