The World of Second Chances

Elison Hotel in Balanga City

February 16, 2016

Travel
Advantages:
1. Located right at the heart of Balanga City. Just a few minutes away from the Genesis Bus Terminal and provincial bus and jeep terminal. Just a few meters away from the plaza, mall and place of worship (Balanga Cathedral and Iglesia ni Cristo).
2. Privacy- each room is similar to an studio-type unit sans the kitchen.
3. Security- guard on duty takes his job seriously. Female visitors are not allowed to go directly to the room of the person she’s visiting; she has to wait at the reception area.
4. Swimming pool- if your purpose is just to relax, the small pool is just right for you.
5. Attitude of Staff- the old man at the reception area gives you the feeling of security.
6. Hot and cold shower is available.
7. Cold aircon.
8. Sound-proof room. This came as a relief for us because of my noisy kids!
Disadvantages:
1. If you are budget-conscious and travelling alone, price starts at PhP 1,200. Since we are travelling as a family, we took a double de luxe at PhP 1,350 + PhP200 for the extra bed. I am okay with the price because it’s like paying PhP 370 per person.
2. Bed sheet and blanket are too thin. Don’t expect comforters here.
3. Don’t expect a state of the art carpeted room or a bathtub at the restroom.
Burn

February 2, 2016

Life & Love

In relation to my previous post about the photo album that I intend to deliver to my ex through a common friend, my final decision is to burn it when I get home later.

I don’t need to keep an item that’s not even mine in the first place. If the owner does not want it back, I don’t want it and I don’t need it either. It’s not my memory for me to keep. I had the best intention for giving it back to him but it seemed that his party misinterpreted it.

Anyway, you might ask why should I use a middleman to send the album back. In 2011, I offered to send it back to him but we did not agree on some things like where to send it and to whom should I send it. Logically, my name couldn’t be seen on the sender part because his wife might misinterpret it. A meet up was not possible because to be honest, while I missed the person during those times, my values as a married woman held me back.

So last Thursday, while running through some stuff, I saw his green album again and decided to let it go forever. This is kind of symbolic because I intend to let go of the person as well. Not that I haven’t moved on because I already did a year and a half after the break-up but I want him to be totally out of my life. I guess that the feeling is mutual; our family has something to do with it. No, my husband is never mad at him or at the other ex–I am fortunate to have found a very secured man who does not give a damn about my exes.

Let’s just put it this way—people move on and let go at different time phase. If a person does not cherish anymore an item that reminds him/her of an ex and consider it as clutter, then that person has totally eliminated that affection from his/her system.
My Ex’s Photo Album

January 29, 2016

Life & Love

He was probably so in love with me before so he asked me to safekeep his photo album containing his childhood photos with his family and his photos with his officemates.

I was probably so in love with him even after the break-up so I took care of his photo album.

In 2011, I asked him if he wanted to have it back but it didn’t push through for a number of reasons. Maybe I was still emotionally attached to him and losing his childhood photos would mean a disconnect from his life so I didn’t push the idea.

I’ve been keeping the album for 9 years now after the break up. Coincidentally, it was on a cold January morning when he said it was over between us. It took me a total of 9 years to finally accept and move on with my life without traces of his memory.

It’s not that ours was a tragic love story as there were good times, too. But I stopped caring about his memory and its preservation. It’s not that I hate him, I just moved on without a trace of hurt or bitterness.

I asked a common friend if he wanted to be the middleman for the package but he seemed apprehensive because he was afraid that my ex would take it negatively. I told him to ask my ex if he wanted his album back or I’ll just burn it because I don’t need it either.

His album is not for me to keep. Being a sentimental person, I assumed that his wife and kid/s would love to see his childhood through the photos. But if my ex says that the album is no longer important to him, then I’ll do the honor of burning it to kill the memories it brings to the real owner and the keeper.
Belladonna Bag

January 28, 2016

Career, Finance & Product

Affordable and chic.

I seldom buy bag. Correction, I seldom buy any stuff unless I really need to replace an old one. Most of the bags that I use were hand-me-downs from my late mother. She had good taste in bag and she was a BIG bag lover so she left me with more than thirty bags. Out of those bags, I only took around five bags–the rest were given to family and friends as souvenir.

I was looking for a good bag; one that can fit in my folding umbrella, make up kit, wallet, coin purse and reading glasses. A good bag for me is one that is water resistant, has durable strap and one that can stand. Of course, a Louis Vuitton is out of the question though I’m tempted to buy a Neverfull. Yeah, Neverfull is so old school for LV lovers but I’m not really into designer stuff and it’s the model that I am most comfortable with. I guess that’s another story because in the end, I chose to find another bag and put my hard-earned money into better use.

I found this peach Belladonna bag on the lowest portion of the rack. If you would not bother to look at each bags per layer, you wouldn’t notice this hidden gem just waiting to be discovered. The body is trapezoidal and can fit in my stuff neatly into three compartments. The handle looks durable and the color is very feminine. There’s a mini-bag to complement it and I use it during days of worship. Without looking at the tag price, I thought I would have paid around PhP 5,000 but hey, I got this bag on a sale so I only paid around PhP1,200; original price was around PhP2,500.

If you are a student or somebody who prioritizes putting her money to better use, you might want to try a Belladonna. 🙂
They Were Just Kids (Tagaytay Car Crash)

January 20, 2016

Life & Love

I feel sorry for the parents of the victims of the recent car crash in Tagaytay.

To those who are criticizing the kids because “tinakas lang ang sasakyan” and the parents did not know about the road trip, please stop. They were just kids; just send your condolences to the family of the victims. Your tactlessness wouldn’t help to ease the parents’ pain.

They were just kids who wanted to explore. All of us wanted to prove ourselves when we were younger. We wanted to be free to prove that we could do things. We wanted to go places but always had the intention to come back home. We believed that the kids from the TV series Beverly Hills 90210, TGIS and Tabing-Ilog were the coolest; and we wanted to be like them. We wanted to prove mommy and daddy that we survived traveling at night. We just laughed at their concern but deep inside, we were so touched by their love.

Yes, they were just kids and for sure they were sorry they offended their parents. The last one alive must be crying not just out of physical pain, but more of the thought of not seeing her family again. So please, don’t be hard on them. They were just kids who unfortunately had to go ahead of us.
No To Paputok!

January 4, 2016

Life & Love
With all due respect sa taong nakadisgrasya ng dalawang glass window namin sa second floor ng bahay dahil sa kwitis, ikakampanya ko ang pagbabawal ng pagbebenta at pamimili ng mga paputok para sa mga kadahilanang:
1. Pasikat- maraming tao ang pasikat magpapaputok. Buti sana kung sariling daliri nila ang mapeperwisyo. Kaso, may mga incidents na dahil sa kapapasikat, naibato sa taong dumaraan at yun ang na-injure nila. Kainis di ba!
2. Walang skill- may taong responsable naman sa pagpapaputok pero hindi skilled enough para magpaputok. Gaya nyang nakaperwisyo ng glass windows namin. He might have been responsible enough pero dahil hindi nya skill ang pagpapaputok, muntik pa nyang masunog ang bahay namin! Buti na nga lang at walang napinsala sa mga bubog ng bintana.
3. Crowded/Masikip/Walang open space- kung di ba naman di nag-iisip, magpapaputok ka sa crowded place? Paano kung sa bahay tumama at magkasunog eh di isang buong barangay ang nasunog mo!
DOH, PNP, barangay—please lang! Please lang puspusin nyo na ang kampanya sa firecrackers ban starting this month! Para din po ito sa ating lahat.
Timilai Kasto Cha?

December 11, 2015

Filipino Culture

“Timilai kasto cha?”

That was the first phrase that I learned from a Nepali classmate in college. There were a number of foreign students from the university that I attended and among them, I became friends with the Nepali because I felt more connection with them. They have this kind of “no mean bone in their body” attitude. They were generous and hospitable as well.

One of them was my neighbor in Sanitary Camp. He was good in class and did not hesitate to offer tutoring me for some lessons that I did not understand.

“Okay, Iris, this is how you graph it. Use different colors of pen for each coordinates” he would say. Those were the days of manual graphing when using Microsoft Excel was not yet the norm.

He was older than me by three years and acted as my “kuya” everytime I had love problems with my college sweetheart.

“Don’t take love seriously yet,” he would say.

The other Nepali that was close to me was equally generous and hospitable. We became close during the thesis-making days and we would storm at his apartment to do that.

There was a time when he and his friends cooked “momo” for us. There was a beer-drinking session after. I was never a fan of beer so I headed to one of the rooms to continue doing the thesis. His dog named Arki was there in the room with us. Arki was used to seeing us at the apartment.

The third Nepali was also a neighbor and a classmate who was generous enough to welcome me and a female classmate at his apartment to do some projects. The friendship did not went deeper because he was from another engineering course and we did not have sufficient time to bond after the semester that we were classmates.

My mother, who at that time, had never seen a Nepali before asked me how they look like. I said, Nepalis are beautiful with round eyes but some have Chinese eyes but their greatest character is their friendliness.

🙂