Talk about perfect timing!
The trip back home during the holidays couldn't have been more perfect - two of my closest friends were getting married (well, not to each other though) and they've both asked me to be a part of their special day. One, of course, I already blogged about. Gail, the other friend I referred to, has been an old, old friend from way back. We went to the same grade school and high school, but she was a year older. We were both top of our respective classes and we shared so many other interests in high school, we easily clicked. From then on, we became good friends and shared so much through the years. Despite going separate ways in college (we went to different schools and made new friends), Gail and I would always make it a point to see each other during the school breaks. We did so through the years and so continued to share an amazing friendship.
She asked me to be her matron of honor, and needless to say, I was honored.
Her wedding, I have to say, was one of the most beautiful I've been to. I couldn't help but cry (hmmm, honestly, bawl would be more apt, even my husband, who was there throughout, would say) throughout the wedding because of how happy I was for her. I first cried seeing her groom, Owen, cry as she walked down the aisle. I cried again seeing her beam as she walked down the aisle to her already crying groom. I cried (AGAIN) when they exchanged vows (they wrote their own vows - God bless their priest-celebrant who allowed them to; ours didn't, sadly). I cried, for the nth time, when the priest blessed them and they kissed and hugged. To put it simply, I cried every time the groom cried. Yes, he cried throughout the wedding and after. It was just the most touching sight! I've been to too many weddings, so trust me when I say I've seen all sorts of grooms and all sorts of expressions on their faces as they watched their bride walk down the aisle (I've seen some laugh, smile so brightly and cry tenderly), but I've never seen such expression as the one I saw on Owen's face. He cried in the most tender, most thoughtful way that simply just moved me (and many others, I saw!). I don't know Owen so well, I just know him through Gail's beautiful stories about him, but somehow seeing him during the ceremony (and after), how he cried, how he looked at Gail, how he cared for her throughout the day, I knew and I know that my dearest friend is in very good hands and that she's just so blessed to have him, as much as he is blessed to have her!
For those of you who know me well enough, it wouldn't come as a surprise to know that I cried at a friend's wedding. However, it just felt different for Gail. I've seen Gail through so many things - through all her triumphs and heartbreaks. Gail's former boyfriends ALL broke her tender heart in too many pieces in the past. Seeing her so happy with Owen just made me too emotionally happy for her. Add to that the sweet and crying groom that Owen was, I just couldn't help but thank God for sending my friend truly the man of her dreams. As good, caring and thoughtful a friend that Gail always has been to me, she deserved only the best, not an ounce less. Then again, like I like saying, good things do happen to good people - all in God's perfect time. So it did.
And like I said in my toast, cheers to two selflessly caring people who truly (TRULY) love each other and who truly (TRULY) deserve each other!
***
Here's a glimpse of their beautiful wedding!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
earl+sam
It was early last year when I got a Facebook message from a college buddy, Earl, asking me if I was coming home for the holidays because he wanted to ask me to be a part of his wedding.
If you knew me and Earl and the kind of hate-love (yes, hate first) friendship we shared more than a decade ago, you'd be surprised, too, that he did ask me to be a part of what was to be the most important day of his life. Then again, if you also knew how our friendship "improved" through the years, you'd simply smile and sigh.
You see, Earl was the biggest bully to me and to my girlfriends in college. Before I went to college and met, I never thought college bullies existed. One would think a bully was this kid of a jerk of in grade school who made lives of the lowly, geeky ones miserable. Earl gave a new definition and perspective to the word. He was both that bully and jerk in college.
He belonged to what we, back then, labeled as the "haughty group" from Sacred Heart (referring to the high school they graduated from, which, by the way, is this exclusive all-boys school in Cebu City). The group was composed of guys who came from that school and were such "feelers", acting as if they were invincible and too smart for the course. I actually remember a teacher "hating" them! Ha!
I think I dwelt too much on the "hate" aspect of our friendship. There was more good to it really, in the long haul.
Eventually getting over the many pranks and haughtiness Earl and the other guys "showered" us with, we all ended up sharing a wonderful friendship throughout our college years. We went out to dinners and parties, traveled together and simply shared the joys of the college life. Even after graduating from college, going separate ways, we continued to keep in touch. I, most specially, kept in touch with Earl and the other guys - yes, the haughty bunch.
Earl back then was dating this beautiful girl from a different college. They were high school sweethearts. They were together over a decade (after college, they both went on to take up Law) when they finally broke up. Earl was devastated. As big a bully as he was in college, I never saw him so shaken up as he was that night we went out to dinner to tell me about the sad news. He was pouring his heart out to me and I couldn't help but feel no matter how bad he was, he didn't deserve to go through that breakup (and all the ugliness of betrayal, more so). And oh, imagine sharing over a decade of your life with someone you thought you were growing old with already and just as suddenly he/she disappears from your life forever (and worse, ending up pregnant with another's child - talk about adding insult to injury).
Earl, however, moved on, although not as soon as I thought he would - considering his "history" (a bully+jerk could mean many other things, too, you know - ha ha!). We had dinner several months later (and yes, which means the old flame already gave birth to a boy - heartwrenching, I know!) and he told me he met Samantha, a pretty and petite lady, who, as he described, was just amazing. Earl's eyes just lit up and I couldn't contain my happiness! Good things do happen to good people. In God's perfect time, they do.
About three years later, they marry.
It was an honor to be a part of their simple but beautiful wedding. More so, it was meaningful to be a part of a guy friend's wedding. It was something new because I've never been part of a guy friend's wedding. Usually, I'd end up bawling as I watched a friend walk down the aisle to marry the man of her dreams. This time around, I nearly cried watching Earl, my friend (former nemesis, ha ha), waiting for the woman of his dreams walk down the aisle.
Here's to a happy beginning, Earl & Sam! Cheers!
***
The wedding was a happy college reunion of sorts. Although we weren't even half the number of friends from the group during the wedding, it was fun to catch up with them, especially that we mostly came in pairs, save for my best friend, Mylene, who came stag (boyfriend was in Europe).
College was such a blast for me! Earl's wedding and the fun company reminded me why.
If you knew me and Earl and the kind of hate-love (yes, hate first) friendship we shared more than a decade ago, you'd be surprised, too, that he did ask me to be a part of what was to be the most important day of his life. Then again, if you also knew how our friendship "improved" through the years, you'd simply smile and sigh.
You see, Earl was the biggest bully to me and to my girlfriends in college. Before I went to college and met, I never thought college bullies existed. One would think a bully was this kid of a jerk of in grade school who made lives of the lowly, geeky ones miserable. Earl gave a new definition and perspective to the word. He was both that bully and jerk in college.
He belonged to what we, back then, labeled as the "haughty group" from Sacred Heart (referring to the high school they graduated from, which, by the way, is this exclusive all-boys school in Cebu City). The group was composed of guys who came from that school and were such "feelers", acting as if they were invincible and too smart for the course. I actually remember a teacher "hating" them! Ha!
I think I dwelt too much on the "hate" aspect of our friendship. There was more good to it really, in the long haul.
Eventually getting over the many pranks and haughtiness Earl and the other guys "showered" us with, we all ended up sharing a wonderful friendship throughout our college years. We went out to dinners and parties, traveled together and simply shared the joys of the college life. Even after graduating from college, going separate ways, we continued to keep in touch. I, most specially, kept in touch with Earl and the other guys - yes, the haughty bunch.
Earl back then was dating this beautiful girl from a different college. They were high school sweethearts. They were together over a decade (after college, they both went on to take up Law) when they finally broke up. Earl was devastated. As big a bully as he was in college, I never saw him so shaken up as he was that night we went out to dinner to tell me about the sad news. He was pouring his heart out to me and I couldn't help but feel no matter how bad he was, he didn't deserve to go through that breakup (and all the ugliness of betrayal, more so). And oh, imagine sharing over a decade of your life with someone you thought you were growing old with already and just as suddenly he/she disappears from your life forever (and worse, ending up pregnant with another's child - talk about adding insult to injury).
Earl, however, moved on, although not as soon as I thought he would - considering his "history" (a bully+jerk could mean many other things, too, you know - ha ha!). We had dinner several months later (and yes, which means the old flame already gave birth to a boy - heartwrenching, I know!) and he told me he met Samantha, a pretty and petite lady, who, as he described, was just amazing. Earl's eyes just lit up and I couldn't contain my happiness! Good things do happen to good people. In God's perfect time, they do.
About three years later, they marry.
It was an honor to be a part of their simple but beautiful wedding. More so, it was meaningful to be a part of a guy friend's wedding. It was something new because I've never been part of a guy friend's wedding. Usually, I'd end up bawling as I watched a friend walk down the aisle to marry the man of her dreams. This time around, I nearly cried watching Earl, my friend (former nemesis, ha ha), waiting for the woman of his dreams walk down the aisle.
Here's to a happy beginning, Earl & Sam! Cheers!
***
The wedding was a happy college reunion of sorts. Although we weren't even half the number of friends from the group during the wedding, it was fun to catch up with them, especially that we mostly came in pairs, save for my best friend, Mylene, who came stag (boyfriend was in Europe).
College was such a blast for me! Earl's wedding and the fun company reminded me why.
inspired!
I am watching this movie and was inspired (or reminded could me more like it?) to write on this blog again. It is definitely hard to keep up and make do with the promise of regularly dropping by and sharing my thoughts as much as I would like to. I'd like to say there are no apt excuses but there are just too many I can think of everytime I start to write or try to think of something inspired to write about. Such is life, I know.
I am not good at writing reviews so I won't even try. I just want to, however, mention how I quite enjoyed the movie and like I said, was inspired to write. Like I perhaps mentioned in the past, I've always loved writing. There was such a time in my life where I wanted to be a writer, as simple a dream as that. Julie Powell did it somehow, inspired by her love for cooking and her admiration for Julia Child. Should I even try? Perhaps that question also went through her head the first time she thought about blogging.
Question remains. Can I be a writer, like I once dreamed of a long time ago?
Question remains.
I am not good at writing reviews so I won't even try. I just want to, however, mention how I quite enjoyed the movie and like I said, was inspired to write. Like I perhaps mentioned in the past, I've always loved writing. There was such a time in my life where I wanted to be a writer, as simple a dream as that. Julie Powell did it somehow, inspired by her love for cooking and her admiration for Julia Child. Should I even try? Perhaps that question also went through her head the first time she thought about blogging.
Question remains. Can I be a writer, like I once dreamed of a long time ago?
Question remains.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
US of A
I never thought I'd say this, this soon, but I LOOOOVE America. Don't get me wrong, Ormoc will always be home to me. Even when I've started my own family here, my heart still, and always, belongs to Ormoc (yes, I still would want to grow old, die and be buried in Ormoc). BUT, I loooove this country (well, not half as much as my husband, who's lived here more than half his life, does!).
How can I not?
*There is ORDER in the streets. People (and dogs!) do not just cross the street at any time. Well, there are no dogs on the streets (aka askals, as they are called back home), to begin with. People follow rules when crossing the street - yes, they cross through the pedestrian lanes. When I first moved here, I remember my first observation about the streets here - wow, the painted lines actually mean something here. Yes, they do.
Drivers are the most courteous. They give way. Everyone follows the rules, almost always by the book. Okay, okay, it's not a perfect world out here - there are still crazy drivers (thus the accidents here and there), but unlike back home in the Philippines, it's the other way around here. Almost everyone back home drive crazily, save for a few who actually follow the rules. Here, almost everyone follow the rules. Like I already said, drivers here are mostly courteous. And trust me, it took me all those 27 years to realize that courtesy in driving does exist!
Because of such courtesy, and knowing that most people drive safely and follow rules, driving here was such a breeze for me. I did not once hesitate to drive. Although it took me a while to have the guts to drive through the freeway, I easily conquered it because of drivers who, yes, drive carefully, safely, courteously, NEVER (or rarely, anyways) crazily. It was actually the speed with which I had to maintain through the freeway that kept me from driving through it the first few months. (Yes, on the side streets, the average speed is about 35-40 miles per hour, about 56-64 km/hr; on the freeway average speed is about 65-70 mph, about 104-112 kmh.) But once I conquered the speed, everything just happened naturally. There was never fear for anything else because I knew (and I know!) that everyone drives with common sense over here.
**Everything is ORGANIZED and EFFICIENT over here - in malls, groceries, stores, and the like. I remember I hated going to Gaisano or most other stores back home because there were too many useless workers all over. I shouldn't forget the gazillion cashiers at the cashier registry - the cashier herself, a checker, another checker, yet another checker, bagger #1 and a bagger #2 even. It's almost hilarious when I remember all of them in one cashier's booth. I'm sure you get the point.
I LOVE the return/exchange policy here and how they actually make sense and that they actually work. They don't give you a hard time. As long as you have the receipt and the item, you're good to go. Heck, in some stores (eg COSTCO), you don't even need the receipt! As long as they identify correctly through the bar code of the item in question, you're good. Point of the matter is that they do not give you a hard time. At all.
Here, the customer is indeed always right. They don't fight customers. Everyone greets you courteously, warmly. Everyone attends to your needs, ASAP, too. When you have a question, concern, complaint, they address them immediately, you never get to the point of seemingly "fighting" them just to get your point across. They actually LISTEN and CARE.
***People here are FRIENDLY. People who don't know each other talk. I don't mean to sound so anti-Filipino but I cannot imagine this friendly atmosphere among strangers back home. I remember P, my husband, telling me how this one guy at a Starbucks in Cebu looked at him strangely when he (P) asked him how he was and then asking politely if he could take the extra chair across him. The guy was too shocked to know how to respond to him, he nevertheless gave a quick OK nod. My husband's cousins were as shocked as the guy. Pancho goes on telling me how, for a "very hospitable nation" (as what we proudly call ourselves to be), talking casually to a stranger was such a "strange" thing for us, almost seeming that "friendly" was not in our nation's vocabulary; that being friendly entailed malice. He swore the look on the guy's face at Starbucks read "what does this guy want from me? Where does he come from just talking to me like that?" Yes, you get the picture.
I love how, for example, in elevators (at the hospital or at the mall), people greet each other, comment on each other's kid's cuteness, wish each other a good day, and the like. We can actually carry out short conversations with them without putting any malice to it! Oh well.
****I LOVE this nation's postal service! I love how it's so easy, so quick to send mail without having to spend a fortune! Back home, to be certain your mail gets to your recipient, you have to spend at least Php100 at least!!! Worse, you have to go to that courier service, line up, pay, etc. Even worse, you have to deal with incompetent people behind the counter (shoot me now, I'm just telling the truth and you know it!). Here, you can just leave your mail on your mailbox and the mail man just picks it up. Voila! For bigger packages, well, you do have to go to the post office and line up, but they're so organized you don't mind lining up! They've made it easy for us, too. There are auto machines where you can just drop off your parcel after you've paid for postage. You can also buy and print stamps online - then you can just leave your parcel for your mail man to pick up and deliver to your recipient. Again, voila - that simple, yes!
*****911. Emergency hotlines. Those phone numbers actually mean something and can actually save your life! I've heard stories of friends and family about calling 911 during an emergency and the paramedics (and usually along with the firemen and police) arrived in 3 to 6 minutes tops. I once went to church during a Wednesday novena and found paramedics resuscitating an old woman who collapsed in the middle of mass, saved her life and brought her to the hospital. Yes, that's how it efficiently works here. People work their ass off to save other people's lives. Hospitals never refuse to treat patients. People live because people always try to save their lives.
******Road constructions (which are most rampant in our country, as well, no thanks to crooks running the government as their own business/BIG source of income - oh, you didn't hear about the SOP; how much is that now, 40%? 50%?) here exist but they don't exist as long as they do back home. Minor road constructions are completed ASAP; here in the US, ASAP means ASAP, thus the overnight work. When you pass through that same road which was being worked on the day before, it's completed. No political fuss involved. Freeway road constructions last longer, of course, but whenever you pass by the site, you see people actually working on them, not just a bulldozer left on the site to "show" people that the site is being worked on - ahem, ahem. Point of the matter is that people work efficiently here, construction people, construction companies included. Like P and I talk about, we're certain politicians here are as big crooks as our very own politicians, but here, they're efficient "crooks", no matter what. They don't delay road constructions and the like.
Needless to say, I've said a mouthful. Enough said, then. Yes, I am loving this country - for its efficient, organized and orderly system. I just got back home from my beloved Ormoc (Philippines) and I have to admit when it comes to systems (oh gosh, I'm talking about the airport, most specially), we are a gazillion years behind. SAD (and CRUEL, i must admit) but SOOO TRUE. Life. Can't have it all. No matter what I've expressed above, I still love my beloved country, the Philippines. Nothing will ever change that - not the crooks, not the painted lines on the road which don't mean a thing, not even the askals. But then again, it can't hurt to be honest, right?
Wishfully hoping (and still forever hopeful) for a better Philippines in my lifetime.
How can I not?
*There is ORDER in the streets. People (and dogs!) do not just cross the street at any time. Well, there are no dogs on the streets (aka askals, as they are called back home), to begin with. People follow rules when crossing the street - yes, they cross through the pedestrian lanes. When I first moved here, I remember my first observation about the streets here - wow, the painted lines actually mean something here. Yes, they do.
Drivers are the most courteous. They give way. Everyone follows the rules, almost always by the book. Okay, okay, it's not a perfect world out here - there are still crazy drivers (thus the accidents here and there), but unlike back home in the Philippines, it's the other way around here. Almost everyone back home drive crazily, save for a few who actually follow the rules. Here, almost everyone follow the rules. Like I already said, drivers here are mostly courteous. And trust me, it took me all those 27 years to realize that courtesy in driving does exist!
Because of such courtesy, and knowing that most people drive safely and follow rules, driving here was such a breeze for me. I did not once hesitate to drive. Although it took me a while to have the guts to drive through the freeway, I easily conquered it because of drivers who, yes, drive carefully, safely, courteously, NEVER (or rarely, anyways) crazily. It was actually the speed with which I had to maintain through the freeway that kept me from driving through it the first few months. (Yes, on the side streets, the average speed is about 35-40 miles per hour, about 56-64 km/hr; on the freeway average speed is about 65-70 mph, about 104-112 kmh.) But once I conquered the speed, everything just happened naturally. There was never fear for anything else because I knew (and I know!) that everyone drives with common sense over here.
**Everything is ORGANIZED and EFFICIENT over here - in malls, groceries, stores, and the like. I remember I hated going to Gaisano or most other stores back home because there were too many useless workers all over. I shouldn't forget the gazillion cashiers at the cashier registry - the cashier herself, a checker, another checker, yet another checker, bagger #1 and a bagger #2 even. It's almost hilarious when I remember all of them in one cashier's booth. I'm sure you get the point.
I LOVE the return/exchange policy here and how they actually make sense and that they actually work. They don't give you a hard time. As long as you have the receipt and the item, you're good to go. Heck, in some stores (eg COSTCO), you don't even need the receipt! As long as they identify correctly through the bar code of the item in question, you're good. Point of the matter is that they do not give you a hard time. At all.
Here, the customer is indeed always right. They don't fight customers. Everyone greets you courteously, warmly. Everyone attends to your needs, ASAP, too. When you have a question, concern, complaint, they address them immediately, you never get to the point of seemingly "fighting" them just to get your point across. They actually LISTEN and CARE.
***People here are FRIENDLY. People who don't know each other talk. I don't mean to sound so anti-Filipino but I cannot imagine this friendly atmosphere among strangers back home. I remember P, my husband, telling me how this one guy at a Starbucks in Cebu looked at him strangely when he (P) asked him how he was and then asking politely if he could take the extra chair across him. The guy was too shocked to know how to respond to him, he nevertheless gave a quick OK nod. My husband's cousins were as shocked as the guy. Pancho goes on telling me how, for a "very hospitable nation" (as what we proudly call ourselves to be), talking casually to a stranger was such a "strange" thing for us, almost seeming that "friendly" was not in our nation's vocabulary; that being friendly entailed malice. He swore the look on the guy's face at Starbucks read "what does this guy want from me? Where does he come from just talking to me like that?" Yes, you get the picture.
I love how, for example, in elevators (at the hospital or at the mall), people greet each other, comment on each other's kid's cuteness, wish each other a good day, and the like. We can actually carry out short conversations with them without putting any malice to it! Oh well.
****I LOVE this nation's postal service! I love how it's so easy, so quick to send mail without having to spend a fortune! Back home, to be certain your mail gets to your recipient, you have to spend at least Php100 at least!!! Worse, you have to go to that courier service, line up, pay, etc. Even worse, you have to deal with incompetent people behind the counter (shoot me now, I'm just telling the truth and you know it!). Here, you can just leave your mail on your mailbox and the mail man just picks it up. Voila! For bigger packages, well, you do have to go to the post office and line up, but they're so organized you don't mind lining up! They've made it easy for us, too. There are auto machines where you can just drop off your parcel after you've paid for postage. You can also buy and print stamps online - then you can just leave your parcel for your mail man to pick up and deliver to your recipient. Again, voila - that simple, yes!
*****911. Emergency hotlines. Those phone numbers actually mean something and can actually save your life! I've heard stories of friends and family about calling 911 during an emergency and the paramedics (and usually along with the firemen and police) arrived in 3 to 6 minutes tops. I once went to church during a Wednesday novena and found paramedics resuscitating an old woman who collapsed in the middle of mass, saved her life and brought her to the hospital. Yes, that's how it efficiently works here. People work their ass off to save other people's lives. Hospitals never refuse to treat patients. People live because people always try to save their lives.
******Road constructions (which are most rampant in our country, as well, no thanks to crooks running the government as their own business/BIG source of income - oh, you didn't hear about the SOP; how much is that now, 40%? 50%?) here exist but they don't exist as long as they do back home. Minor road constructions are completed ASAP; here in the US, ASAP means ASAP, thus the overnight work. When you pass through that same road which was being worked on the day before, it's completed. No political fuss involved. Freeway road constructions last longer, of course, but whenever you pass by the site, you see people actually working on them, not just a bulldozer left on the site to "show" people that the site is being worked on - ahem, ahem. Point of the matter is that people work efficiently here, construction people, construction companies included. Like P and I talk about, we're certain politicians here are as big crooks as our very own politicians, but here, they're efficient "crooks", no matter what. They don't delay road constructions and the like.
Needless to say, I've said a mouthful. Enough said, then. Yes, I am loving this country - for its efficient, organized and orderly system. I just got back home from my beloved Ormoc (Philippines) and I have to admit when it comes to systems (oh gosh, I'm talking about the airport, most specially), we are a gazillion years behind. SAD (and CRUEL, i must admit) but SOOO TRUE. Life. Can't have it all. No matter what I've expressed above, I still love my beloved country, the Philippines. Nothing will ever change that - not the crooks, not the painted lines on the road which don't mean a thing, not even the askals. But then again, it can't hurt to be honest, right?
Wishfully hoping (and still forever hopeful) for a better Philippines in my lifetime.
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