Remembering 2008 (Part 4. Insoy and Basti)

When Roland left for Auckland, my parents took in the kids. They have not enrolled in school where Insoy would have been in 1st year high school and Basti in Grade 4. Instead, to keep them pre-occupied until our permanent residency is approved, Insoy worked with Only Furnitures while Basti helped in Grandma’s kitchen assisting Mana Tuling & Lalay Linda.

Every morning, Insoy would go with Mom to Talisay. They would commute. His office was a few blocks away where my Mom worked. He had allowance he could spend for lunch. He would file the records of the furniture workers, answer phone calls, do excel worksheets, type something, log in to the SSS website to get some information, do anything…

I remembered I spent my summers working with Norkis Trading before doing filing and typing work too. Now, it is Insoy’s turn. I know this will teach him all about hard work and the value of money.

In an effort to prepare them for life in Auckland without helpers, Basti was trained in washing the dishes, sorting out the laundry, folding clothes and cooking simple dishes at home.

On weekends, Insoy would crave to go to Opon where his cousins on Roland’s side of the family were. They would play basketball, use the cellphone for uyab uyab, friendster galore and guitar jamming. He enjoyed staying there compared to staying at “Saints” (my shortcut for Sto Nino Village, it was the village’ basketball team name too)

Insoy pleaded that he live in Opon while waiting for his trip to Auckland. My dad agreed only if Basti would go with him. He cannot allow them to be separated. Unfortunately, Basti enjoyed his stay at Saints because he enjoyed being pampered and watching TV in an airconditioned room. =) Don Basti could not see himself enjoying a stay in Opon where Lalay’s pochero will never be served.

It was an ordeal that they fought out. Insoy felt tortured in Saints. My dad was strict with his diet. He did not have cousins to talk to. No one to jam the guitar with because my Dad insisted on silence inside the house. Curfew/sleeping time was at 9:00 pm. He cried and phoned us to let him travel to Auckland soon. His only outlet was his work. And the weekends that he was to visit Opon, he bribed Basti to go with him so that they be allowed to go.

Basti on the other hand, seeing that Insoy had a salary, asked my mom to bring him to work too so he gets a salary.

And thus, every morning, the 3 of them set out to work. But what does Basti do? He rides the ’sikad’ and buys bread for Kuya Insoy and his boss – for merienda time. Glamorized messenger slash Nuisance. He interviews people at work until they realize they have yet to get back to work. Only to realize that they had a hard time conversing in English when Basti can speak Bisaya fluently. My gulay.

I’m sure my mom had a dent on her budget with this two tagging along with her daily. Plus the fact that she wasn’t able to do much work with Basti around, interviewing her too.

Insoy bought a skateboard so Basti won’t be too bored at Saints. Unfortunately, that did not go too well. Basti broke his left arm for the second time. Insoy blamed himself no end for this and threw the board away only to be picked up by Lalay Linda and stored in the bodega while Basti was recuperating in Chong Hua.

Alas, another delay to the trip.  Winter looming. Another delay. Insoy had become frustrated, anxious and temperamental. They fought. Each day was misery.

Insoy went to Opon on weekends by himself. He overstayed the weekend visits to the point of missing work for days. Basti stayed at Saints, scratching the edge of his cast, while watching the shows that Dad watched. Each time we called, the question would be “When are we going there?”.

It was painful to be separated from them. Each night we prayed the winter would end soon.

Insoy spent all of his salary by sponsoring a despidida for himself together with his cousins. (and we thought he would spend it wisely and save some for his trip).

Basti bought a cheap necklace for his friend Teody.

Now we know who is the tightwad between the two.

The skateboard never got to Auckland.

Insoy now wants to find a job that could earn him money while Basti does the folding of clothes and cleaning up the table. Cooking will have to be Insoy’s task for now.

I am just glad that they are now here. And I am sure they are happy to be here too.

Insoy still misses his cousins while Basti misses Daddylo’s constant nagging for him to ‘usap usap’ during meal time so he does not get constipated. But both of them surely misses Mommyla – their roomie and workmate.

Lovely February

February Blessings

* Passed the New Zealand driving theory test. I now have a restricted driver’s license. Full driver’s license next…pressure pressure.

* Insoy’s first article posted at the KBNZ website. =)

* A newly registered nurse in the family, Malou Abadingo-Genita. Mom Carol’s constant yapping over being Malou’s driver to and from hospital duty has paid off. bwahaha

* Basti placed 2nd for free stroke and 3rd for back stroke – Glendowie Primary School’s swimming contest – Small Pool Category (not too small though)

* My bestfriend Marilou finally into Facebook. I can now track her. And brother in law Paklot in FB too. Plus cousin in laws and former officemates. Even Roland is now in FB. Supergirls found there too. Yes, a Baranggay reunion.

* Pre Valentine Dinner at the Viaduct with Janet and Pam. The dessert was to die for. Enjoyed the Friday Night crowd too. People watching was fun. I’d have to say – this people have thick skin to wear halter tops on a cold Friday night. este frig brr

* We are hosting the Sto Nino for 9 days at the house. The nightly prayers and songs have started out hilarious. Roland pronouncing scepter as “iskepter” had the kids laughing non stop. We are into the 5th night and we still can’t get over the memory. Now we laugh at our singing off key the Tantum Ergo Sacramentum song… the kids are so looking forward to our nightly prayers and singing the full 5 verses of the Senyor Sto Nino hymn. It is a sacrifice keeping serious despite. Me the mananabtan.

* Roland getting back to his graphic designs. I prayed this to happen and I am no rush to push him. I just hope he does go into this full time. This is after all his first passion. For now, cd cover & invitations work.  OT slash Graphic Designer aint bad, right?

* Because of the little space in our rented place, we decided to put the dryer on top of the washing machine for space. Blaaagh it went falling down one night. Tough dryer still works but we had to buy a sturdy base to put it on. Finally, Roland put it up last weekend. Thank God for a handy man in the house and Mitre 10. Now it is secured and I now have space for a shoe cabinet. =)

* Happy news of the “honey” kind from Cebu. I’m glad that my family is enjoying the benefits of NZ’s manuka honey. We should try this too.

Thank you LORD. Thank you for friends who care and inspire. (A day is never complete without me making my blog round). Thank you for my job. And most of all, thank you for family.

Trade Me

When Cari left her room, I moved from sofa to bedroom at JD’s flat. It was a room with a single bed.

When Roland arrived, we shared this room. The top foam layer of the bed was laid on the floor for him, while I slept on the base bed.

Since the room was too small to fit in the 2 kids, we had to find another accomodation.

We had to look for a suburb where the kids can go to a good school. Good school = good suburb = expensive rent.

When it comes to the kids, I would rather invest in a good suburb than live cheap but constantly live in fear and discrimination.

For us to acquire furniture, we had to look for a house first. We found our next home at St. Heliers. It was expensive to stay there. But it was here where we had started our adventure with buying cheap.

We both agreed that it was better to sell our things in Cebu and replaced it with 2nd hand items in Auckland. We made a list. Car sold in Cebu should equal to amount of car to purchase in Auckland. Dining table, beds, refrigerator, washing machine, tv …

Although it sounded to be a pretty easy conversion, we forgot to consider that we did not use a washing machine in Cebu and we did not need heaters for winter.
Thus our budget had to make room for other essentials. The straight conversion only worked for certain items. We also had to consider which ones were priority items.

Thank heavens for Trade Me. This is a website were people can get their unwanted wares sold and auctioned off to a bidder. Same concept as ebay except that the items were around Auckland.

The idea was to wait until the last minute when the item up for bidding was about to close. To win, you need to be the highest bidder.

There was a risk that the item would not appear the way it was photographed on the site. Sometimes there are problems on the item that the seller did not mention. Luckily though, our purchases were reasonably priced and met our expectations.

Our car, the lounge, the dining table, some frames and what nots were all used items from Trade Me. Everytime David visited the house and found something new, he would immediately assume it was from Trade Me. And yes, he was right.

That is how we acquired things. We did it piece by piece. Each night I would patiently wait or even wake up in the middle of the night to check if we got ourselves a new table or chair.

For 3 months, we slept separately on single beds we bought from a friend who bought a new bunk bed for her girls. It was intended for the kids. That was our very first furniture together with the TV.
We would have dinner on the bed, or on the floor. We sat on a paint can covered with carton from the grocery. It was our chair.

Because Trade Me only had cash options, it disciplined us to only purchase when we had money to spend. I was paid monthly so we had to make a list of what to purchase each month based on what we expected would be left out of the budget.

The car in Cebu wasn’t sold even if Roland had already arrived in Auckland. Thus, we did not have a budget for a car.

It was a pain to do grocery shopping during the winter months in July. We would bring along our luggages. We used this to carry our grocery for the week. Roland’s luggage was used for the meat, vegetable and fish. My luggage had the dry goods. We rode the bus. Rolled our luggages back to the house.

Mura mi ug frequent flyer. We learned to laugh and enjoy our grocery moments.

Unforgettable was the time we went to a church garage sale. It was 2 blocks away. We came really early. We found a white bedroom cabinet with gold handles and a glass on top. It was cheap at 40$. Guess how we moved it home? We carried each drawer piece by piece. Mura mi ug kawatan plying the block 4 times until we could assemble back the whole cabinet. We were laughing all the way. Oh, and the organizers helped with the big piece. They even offered us a hotdog for our efforts. Funnier was how we moved the whole piece to the 2nd floor. You’d have to be creative with the imagination here.

As soon as our car was sold in Cebu, back to Trade Me we were to find the replacement car.

Having a car should have been on top of our list if only we had the cash. And so, out of too much excitement, I placed a bid on a van that was closing in minutes without having seen it physically. I swear I had to pray the rosary twice to summon the heavens that it was a good buy. We spent another half on fixing it but it has served us up to now. And hanging on the key was a picture of Mama Mary. How divine was that?

We pressured ourselves to put everything in place so when the kids came, we could allocate the budget with whatever they needed that we did not prepare for plus there was school of course.

So 2 weeks before the kids arrived, we moved to Glendowie. We paid cheaper rent and all the items we purchased fit the small apartment And alas, the car made it into the garage.

David and Normita was with us from St Heliers to Glendowie. We did the moving in one day. Everything in boxes got moved and set into its place.

The place did not impress from the outside. The entrance was more accessible from the kitchen. Most people who visited would immediately say they did not like the house.

But the house does have magic. The longer you stay, you find it is comfortable. It has a view of the front yard from the lounge. We went from garage sales to garage sales to garage sales to find quirky finds to decorate.

It is home. Just the way we like it.

And it is filled with  Trade Me items we bought which had  little stories of its own to tell.

Our coffee table was from a lady who just got over a divorce. Our hallway table from an Avondale migrant who was into sales. Our TV cabinet from a lady who lived on a farm by the lake. A frame from a student painter.

And best of all, Roland learned to drive around Auckland by picking up the items and meeting the wonderful people who now share the history of these items with us.

Our new home was found in Trade Me too (hahaha) from a lovely lady Jenny who is now touring the world.

Framed photo taken by Jopie

I wish that one day, we will own a house that will be filled with beautiful pictures photographed by the supergirls. It will breathe magic.

Carlson

Roland tooked on a lot of odd jobs before he finally found his permanent job.

He went from moving office furnitures to tig hugas ug plato on evening shift when the resto was at its busiest on weekends. He did try cleaning.

In the morning, he would map out his trips to find places to work for. But he always came home before 5pm to cook me the best home cooked meals. He is sweet like that. And I melt each time he does it.

Because he does love taking care of people, he decided a job he could excel in would be caregiving. He went to agencies that had links to services that took care of the aged. It was an on-call job, he would need transportation. He may have to do grocery for them, do some household chores and a lot of toileting I suppose. And David would joke about rubbing backs and giving extra massages for old ladies. hehehe

But iyang asawa had a different agenda. I sent out his CV to other agencies that could make use of his Advertising skills. He is afterall a graphic artist. There was even a time when Normita and I went into some bank websites and took online exams pretending we were Roland. Naa pa gyud koy accomplice. (and a good banker at that).

But he wanted something else. Either Caregiving or Caregiving. That was what he wanted. Stubborn pud.

NA hala! Caregiving be it.

But one day, he received a call from APN (the same company I work for) which was interviewing for Area Manager. Hopes were up. His Amerikana was ironed back to life. And the interview began. He was given a tour of the office and a promise of a contract the next day. It was a long sleepless night filled with excitement for him.

Next day came and we both rode the bus to Britomart. Walking down Queen Street, we saw a boy on a wheel chair with Cerebral Palsy.

Me: Yang, kaluoy pud anang bataa oi.
Him: Ni apply biya ko ug work with a school for kids with Cerebral Palsy, remember?
Me: He could be a sign.
Him: Nah.

My phone rang on silent mode at around 10:00 am. I did not know how to comfort him. He lost the contract because the person hiring him did not get the right requirement from her manager. They needed someone with NZ experience. Oh that elusive NZ experience. Pagka BAHAK.

We had lunch on mute. It was difficult to enjoy the food. I could hear his heart tore into pieces. He said he was going to St Patrick (our cathedral).

The emotions he kept locked inside him for so long just started pouring out. (at our cathedral)
I was not there to witness it but I knew how it must have hurt.

2 hours later on his way home,Carlson school for Cerebral Palsy called. They wanted him to start working even without experience. They will observe him for 2 weeks and he will only be substituting someone who was on leave.

The kids loved him. He cooked their meals, did the toileting, played soccer with them. He was named Mr. Natural.

After 2 weeks, the school looked for a position he could fill in. They did not want to loose him. He just has this nurturing spirit in him that makes it so easy for the kids to get close to him.

When the teacher announced that Roland would be leaving the class, they all cried. So he just had to visit the room each day to wean the children.

6 children grew to 10, then 15 and now he has 25 children under his care.

He comes to school early. I have never seen him very happy and fulfilled. He would study and read how the kids can be motivated. He helped improved the system. He cried buckets when they lost 2 kids last year. He never tire of talking about his kids as if they were our children too. He loves that his schedule fits right into our own kids schedule. He is back home after school.

He just recently got a new contract for permanent work. A teacher aide is one of the lowest paid employee in NZ. He says he wants to keep his job.

Me: You should take a course in teaching so that one day you will be a teacher. Teachers are paid better.

Him: I want to be PRINCIPAL.(said with conviction)

Maybe he will become a principal. Maybe! in 20 years I suppose.

His teacher aide pay is so low, I am betting on lotto as the only way we could buy a house here.

But seeing how much happier, fulfilled, motivated and excited he is in going to work each day is a testament that he was made for caring.

I am happy for him but our budget is not looking happy. =(

But then again, good health, happiness, family, friendships and  love is all that matter, isn’t it?

(shhhs, A salary increase would not hurt too.) please Carlson.

Remembering 2008 (Part 3. Roland’s Arrival)

Roland enjoying the recent lantern festival (murag bata)

Roland arrived Auckland on the 17th of May. I took a leave on the 19th to get him acquainted with the transport system.

I never thought that it would be a major challenge having him around. It was something I did not prepare myself for.

While I welcomed the home cooked meals he so lovingly prepared for me everyday, I was not prepared to deal with the frustrations he had with finding a job and looking for a new rental in anticipation for the kids arrival.

I prepared Roland and the kids to the thought that there was no turning back on this decision (even while in Cebu).  My fault was that I did the brainwashing not realizing that I never gave them time to react and air out their views. Nag buot buot ko.

But time sa? How much time do they need? We talked about this plan since 2005. Defensive pa gyud ba.

Anyhoo. Back to the main topic…

The preparation of the mind needed to be in place first.

He was constantly thinking about the kids (being his first time away from them). I assured him that my parents are keeping them busy and training them to live without a yaya. Okay na!

Then, he was in constant touch with his former office mates, as if he was still managing them. I had to let him focus on finding a job and forget about his past. Okay na!

Then, he worried about his father and siblings. I re-assured him that we can help them move here in time, first we need to help ourselves. Okay na!

AND SO, after all the preparation, he finally took the bus ride to Queen St with me. He also went to the library to print his CV and we would head home together. 2 weeks came to 1 month, then 2 months, then 3… This handholding continued on…

Until he tired of my constant checking on how he was doing with his job search. He tired of me typing up his CVs for him. He tired of the trips that seemed fruitless. He got rejection letters, rejection emails, puro rejection. Hasta ako, ni reject na pud.

We went through a falling apart. He changed. I changed. We used to have long dinner talks and constant laughter. All that changed when each day we went farther from our goal. I am hard on myself but harder on family. Ga bukal among temperaments each day. He got frustrated. I got frustrated. We talked in high decibels on deaf ears.

We had lesser trips to Britomart together. I can’t help but compare my efforts and how much I wanted to succeed in this decision with his. I felt all alone when in fact we were suppose to do this as a team. Ambot! The only reason I could give myself is that men are from mars. They are not resilient. They do not bounce. Their pride is fragile. After 15 years of marriage plus 7 years of uyab-uyab apil, I realized – I don’t know him.

I would filter mails and trashed all the rejection letters before he got his hands to it. That is the only way I thought I could regain his confidence.

I helped him changed his CV from Sales/Advertising Manager to Graphic Artist. From Graphic Artist to Draughtsmen. Then maski unsa nalang up to Caregiver. If a cleaner required a CV, we would have done it too.

He only needed 1 foot in. Kay lagi he needed NZ experience. How? Take whatever job that is out there.

If we wanted to save this team, we just had to change our perspective too.

He had enough money to get a return ticket. He was very close to taking the next flight home. He wanted to lift his spirits up. Maybe Cebu can give him that.

Pero! What was his excuse? Did he exhaust all his paningkamot? Or was it just pride? How will he explain this to the kids?

It was time to change the game plan. We agreed. I will have to lower my expectation BUT he had to accept the fact that we came to Auckland to start all over.

And start all over we did!

JDE Application Programmer Support

I was very intent on getting a job with Vista Entertainment Solutions. They offered travel overseas and a chance to learn Visual Basic. I spent all my time researching about the company. I moved schedules just to accomodate interviews with them. They were top on my list. I was interviewed and had the customary tour of the office which was a sign that I had a good chance. I had a second interview with the 2 top guns. It was very pleasant. It felt like the sure thing. My agent was asking me my favorite cake filling. Murag mao na gyud ni.

The 3rd time I was called to come in was to sit an exam. It was at the Fujitsu office using their technical exam (done for Vista). 15 minutes for 30 items. One was a programming exam and another a Math exam. I got too excited and nervous at the same time. I was too overwhelmed with the time limit I did not get to review my answers. Even then, I knew I did not do well. It was just too unexpected. I was not prepared at all.

I was given a final interview but the pleasantries were not the same. They got the results and I can see the disappointment in their eyes. I led myself out the door. Goodbye vanilla cake.

I cried in disappointment. I made a career in looking for work and yet I failed at a time I was this close to getting a job. The scene was one for the telenovelas. Maala ala kaayo. I was kneeling at the front pew of the Cathedral. Soft like a whisper music of choirs singing (tape recorded and played on the speakers). Me tearing up in buckets (hikbi hikbi). Asking myself, why I have gone this far only to fail.

I hated myself for I only had me to blame. I never expected the turn of events. Tanga kaayo ko to think that they would trust my capabilities based on my CV. Of course, they had to do some checking. I didn’t know what to do. How could I go on? Will I ever be ready for another rejection.

Then I noticed my phone was vibrating like crazy inside my bag. Dugay dugay na pud siguro to. Christine, the PA of the DEV department of APN Holdings called. She asked if I was free to do my 2nd interview with Darren, the CTO.

I was not too excited the 1st time I came for an interview for this company because the interviewer had paint on his hands and was geriatric. And he was supposed to be my boss? Basin ug abacus computing pa akong makat-unan niya.

I have written several posts before this about my bobo over my interview with Darren. I was super late and overly messed up. Yet, I got a tour of the office and a few hours after the interview, as soon as I got home, I was told I was hired. They were preparing the contract and was happy that I applied without an agent.

I started working on 1st of April (yup, April Fools Day, how can I forget).

Peter, my boss, is the smartest, the kindest and a very appreciative person. He had paint all over his hands several weeks ago because he did some work on his house before getting to work. He can be eccentric but in a good way.  He gave me a shot at learning JDE and he has really good techniques which I can learn being in the industry for so long.

Sus tinuod. You can’t put all your eggs in one basket. I am just lucky naa pay 1 egg nahabilin.

And JDE Application Programmer Support it is. (simplified, i’m a programmer)

Remembering 2008 (Part 2. The Job Search)

I applied under the Skilled Migrant Category to get to NZ. Under this visa, I have 6 months to get myself a job that matches the skills that are needed to be filled in NZ’s job market.

My visa was received by the 1st week of February. I arrived Auckland in March so I only had 5 months left. In order for me to get permanent residency, I need to submit 3 pay slips on a skilled job.

While in Cebu, I already sent tons of CVs to job sites. They preferred that applicants be in Auckland of course.

On my second day in Auckland, I started to make phone calls to recruitment agencies on my list. 8:00 am, I was announcing to them that I was looking for a job. By 10:00 am, I got a confirmation that someone was willing to get me an interview.

I hurriedly dress up and rode a bus to the city (same bus I rode from Britomart) Queen’s street is Auckland’s version of Makati. I had a map (thanks to JD).  The library, Britomart (the transport center), agencies, government offices, private offices, law firms, restaurants, the cathedral, banks, coffee shops, the theatre, casino, shoe shops, the heart of Auckland is within this center.

I arrived 2 hours earlier than the 1:00 pm interview so I decided to open a bank account. While at the bank, another agency called up and asked me to come for an interview immediately. It was 2 blocks away so I came and seized the opportunity.

Surprise surprise. The agency was manned by only 3 consultants and one secretary. They had a nice lounge and a good view of the city being on the 12th floor. They took my CV and told me that they will push my CV to companies on their list.

Agencies here get paid by the employers. They don’t get a cent from people they place into jobs.

After the interview at Wyndham St, off I went to the agency at Shortland Street. This was a bigger agency with a very well decorated waiting room (murag hotel). The agent went over my CV and told me they would try their best to push my CV.

I had a late lunch and started to head home.

Pamela, who lived at Colenso Place before JD took over is also a theresian of the same batch. She took JD in when she arrived in Auckland in 2007. The motto we stand by is that – if dili mi kita ug work in 1 months time – bogo (b.o.t.o) mi.

This  got me on my toes because JD got her job in just 2 weeks.

Every night, I would modify and send CV’s to jobs posted online, jobs found in the newspapers and to listings of recruitment agencies. I modified my CV to match the job description. I read somewhere that job sites uses a filter that matches CVs to job descriptions and to get short listed, the CV should have majority of the words matching. Pamugas ug panigurado.

I woke up early every morning and take the 8:00 am bus as if I was ready to work. My mantra was ‘I will have an office in one of the buildings in Queen St overlooking the city. I will. I will. Very soon. Very soon.’

I would stay at the library, print my CVs and then walked into the agencies from my list. Pabaga gyud ko ug nawng. Even without an appointment, they will accomodate you because after all they needed your CV. On a lucky day, I would get 2 to 3 interviews. On some days, none at all.

When I get a call for an interview, I would tell them immediately I will be there in 30 minutes. I knew the streets, corners, elevators, alleys. I studied the map every morning while riding the bus. I daydreamed of interviews.

I had a schedule. 1:00 pm was prayer at St. Patrick’s Cathedral which was also in the city. My prayer life was the busiest at this time.

I head off for home at 5:00 pm to join the other corporate slaves. I wanted their employment luck to rub off on me.

At night, I would open my email and receive heaps and heaps of rejection letters. “Thank you for your application but we are sorry to inform that your application did not make it to our short list.” Lami kaayo ihilak. I am closer and closer each day to being mocked as ‘bogo’. And other than that, my budget was slowly going kaputz. I needed a job badly.

I did not loose hope. I made it a habit to send more than 50 CVs a night. I had different versions of CVs and I couldn’t even remember if I sent the CV to the same ad already. I didn’t want to waste time on making a list and indexing which CV went to which company.  However, I did make a list of agencies I have visited and interview schedules and persons to talk to. I memorized names and jobs.

Each day, I would look for the one email that would bear the good news. But nothing. Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6 went by. I had a possibility list. The list became shorter and shorter each day.

I joined a free seminar – Auckland’s Chamber of Commerce Kiwi Career Service. They went over my CV, they made changes. Painful changes. Downsized titles. Removed some words used, defined what mattered to employers. It was a 3 day seminar that was well attended by Asians. Our difficulty was language and understanding the culture (of course). We had mock interviews & hand shake practice (it did matter). We learned to say words like awesome, lovely, cool and sweet as (the magic Kiwi words). Our CV was entered into their database.

The combination of prayers, the library office, the KCS seminar, the pabaga, the “B” word looming in my head, the 1million CV changes, friendly advises…all of this helped me in getting my current job in 16 days.

Arrived 10th of March and got a job offer on the 26 of March. But started to work on the 1st of April.

Allelujah! Dili ko bogo.

Changi on the 9th and Auckland on the 10th

Singapore airport had been renovated and it was massive. I had to take a train to get to another terminal for my departure. I had 4 hours to meet someone very special to me. I met her online yet it feels like I have known her for a lifetime. I was told there was no way I could get out of the lounge and meet her but yet I was stubborn. We both were. I only wanted to spend a few hours to hug her and tell her how much she was part of this journey. When we were interviewed by our visa officer, she was the one who assured me that it will work out just fine.

Oh yes, I met her indeed but behind glass and metal doors we could not cross. We saw each other, sent text messages and waved and read lips from a distance while our hearts were leaping with excitement. Despite the disappointment of not being able to sit down and talk, I was glad to see her . Her smile still etched in my memory. Deebangs (I call her) has the sweetest soul that can spawn happy waves beyond a 10 foot pole.

I boarded my flight to Auckland walking on cloud nine because a gem in Singapore had send me off.

After a 10 hour flight, from Singapore, I arrived in Auckland. I was to take the Airbus, an airport bus service that goes to the city where I will be meeting JD at Britomart. Therese had sent me some goodies for Normita and I was told she might be picking me up. I waited a few minutes at the lobby in case Normita does show up as I had no way to get in touch with her.

I bought a souvenir NZ pen just so I could have some loose change for the bus.

Hoist! Ikaw man to ang babae nga kit-an namo sa Mactan Airport nga kahilakon nga nag unpack sa baggage no?

Wala gyud mo nasayop. I answered.

Do you have I ride? Where are you going?

I am waiting for someone to pick me up and if she does not come, I will take the bus to Britomart.

Why don’t you ride with us? We can bring you to Britomart. Bisaya man mi. Taga Opon pud.

Ayaw lang, ma ikog ko. Out of your way na man tingali na ang Britomart.

Hmmm, bag-o pa ka sa NZ no?

Ah, eh, eee, oo. ooo.

Ako si Dexter, akong wife si Love, among anak si Kate ug kani si Alfred. Naa pud diri si Alan ug iyang wife si Perla. You can ride with us, anyway while waiting for your friend, magkuha pa man sad mi sa rest of our luggage.

I slowly escaped out of the airport and looked for the Air bus service. Relieved that I left most of my luggage items in Cebu so this time I had only a few items to carry with me.

I was about to ride the bus when Alfred and Dexter caught up and told me. Ayaw lagi sakay ana. We insist. (Kulit ni sila oi.) Sakay lagi namo. Ayaw na kaulaw. Bisaya ra ta pareho. Ayg ka hadlok kay ihatod lagi gyud ka namo. Dili ka namo biyaan.

I took a long stare at them and decided Okay! There was something with this set of strangers that spelled of Bisaya hospitality. I thought it had been more than 30 minutes since I arrive and Normita may not have been able to make it. JD would be waiting at Britomart by now.

Alfred drove, Dexter took the front seat of the van. Love, Kate and I shared the backseat. They wore shirts in green. They travel that way they say. It was easier to spot the other. I asked – taga Bohol mo? Most weddings I attended had a green motif were of my cousins from Bohol. =)  Uso lang.

We reached Britomart and met JD there. The troop offered us a ride to our final destination at Mission Bay but JD insisted that we take the bus.

And so we took the bus, 2 luggages and 1 laptop bag together. From Eastridge Mall, it was a good 15 minutes walk to Colenso Place.

Tired from the trip and from moving luggages, I sat down on the sofa. The blue sofa that will be my bed for the next days. It welcomed me to my new and temporary respite.

Day 1 in Auckland started off with strangers offering a ride to Britomart and an introduction to living room aka bedroom. It was unforgettable.

Remembering 2008 (Part 1. The departure)

The 1st of February, I sit on my computer and miss home. And I remember this day last year, I sat in front of my dad, asking his permission and opinion about my trip to Auckland. I have resigned from work. I don’t have a job waiting for me when I arrive. I don’t have relatives or friends that he knows. I looked at his face to find the reassurance I needed, the kind you only get from family. I saw question marks popping out of his head similar to the ones he saw in mine. We just sat there waiting for someone to start the repartee. Alas my mother “ang abogado sa iyang mga anak” spoke in my behalf. She told him that I needed to do this for the children “iyang mga apo”. I staggered between words. It seems all I could do was say “yes” to whatever mom said. My uncertainties overcame the confidence that I wanted to exude that night. But mom & my sister backed me up. The hub and kids kept their silence (as they always do when Dad is around). It was after all a tense filled night.

At 42, I sought the approval of my Dad. It mattered to me that he sealed my decision. Not that I would stay if he did NOT approve, but I just needed it badly. I needed affirmation from someone who saw me at my worst.

How that night ended up with skeptic Dad being convinced of my decision remains a mystery. Maybe the blood type kicked in.

And so I start February with a look back, a retrospect of my journey in 2008, while it is still etched in memory. I dedicate this series to my Dad who seems to be always the last one to know. Better late than never, right? <wink>

The Mactan Airport  ( 9 March 2008 )

3 days before my trip, Roland took care of packing. He has the precision of a grocery bagger who can fill in all corners of the luggage. We were told Singapore Airlines only allowed 20 kilos maximum. I was told I could come in early and sweet talk my way into exceeding the requirement because there was such a thing called 1st time migrant.

1st time Migrant, my a$$! The counter personnel were power trippers who did not understand compassion. They were heartless. I unpacked the carefully packed luggage, unloaded books, shoes, blingblings into my  extra large black garbage plastic. Gi ladlad nako akong luggage uneasily, mumbling “yawa”,”pineste” and all the adult swear words I can remember. I forgot timid and self control! I only remembered crazily stressed and disappointment for not knowing which part of the bag I should start the unpacking.

When I thought the weight was acceptable, I would close the luggage, lug around my trash plastic and go to the counter to check the luggage weight. I did this 4 to 5 times because it broke my heart to only have the important documents and essential clothes to fit. I prayed that I could bring more shoes and more winter clothes but they had to stay together inside my black bag.

My heart bled too that I spent more time unpacking/repacking instead of spending time to say goodbye to the kids, the hub, best friend precy and dad, mom and sister waiting outside who got worried too as to why it took me such a long time to check in.

I got annoyed with the situation, the moment, which I could only have myself to blame. For not packing my things myself, for not following the 20 kilos limit and for not being prepared enough. And mostly for believing in unverified information.

And so, this was how I got my infamous moment. Notorious swearing traveller. I surely did make an impression to people around. I should have pulled myself together instead of acting like the “babaeng nawawala sa sarili”. I lost me. Too late for composure.

I boarded, walked to my seat, strangers staring funny while my thoughts were still fixated in Cebu. I so wanted to cry. Kanang minatay nga cry. But I didn’t. I stopped myself from breaking down because I cannot be vulnerable.

I definitely did not want to start the journey this way. I want to make it right from here on.