Phillipines-Day 3

Well, if I don't make it back to the states, it's because I ate too many fried bananas while I am up here.I forgot how good they where until I had them for breakfast today. *Is still drooling like Homer Simpson.* Seriously, I could eat those for the rest of my time here, and I would be as happy as a clam. Today was family day. Mom and Aunt Jo got all the gifts mom, Linda , and I brought up there, and figured out who was getting what. Note: it is hard to shop for cousins when you don't know how many you have,how old they are, what they like or anything. It is also hard to shop for aunts when one already owns their own store, and another one who already owns her own boutique. Anyway, after our gifts where distributed and given away, we where supposed to go to the beach, however we ended up spending most of the evening in my Aunt Evees boutique shop, where my mom and I tried on clothes to take home since it rained. After that, I learned that they really know how to make things happen here. We where talking about going out to sing kareoke and drink margaritas. But since we have to get up in the morning, we decided to do it at the house. Next thing I knew my Uncle Jerad was bringing over huge speakers, a stereo system and a playlist of 1,000 + songs. Then they ordered margaritas, and put it in the right glasses, and put margarita salt around the glass like they do in restaurants, and it was excellent! I swear my moms sisters could rule the world if they wanted. But it's their time to. My grandparents here aren't in the best condition. My grandma recently had a stroke. My grandfather can't really walk now, so he hires a guy to drive him around in a motorcycle with the name of his factory "Golden Egg" on it since noone will let him drive anymore. So, he just spends most of his time cruising on his motorcycle now. It feels weird seeing them like that because my grand mother used to be able to do calculations in her head, and she can't like she used to. Ofcourse last time I saw my grandfather , he still could walk, didn't have the gray hair, but ofcourse he was stil just as stubborn. However, seeing Linda here with my mom makes me wish I had a friend that had the time and money to come up here. But,I get it. When you are in your twenties, you may or may not have the money and time to do these sorts of trips. But sometime in the future, it would be nice. I definitely plan to come back here to visit at least one more time during my life time. Anyway it is time to turn in. Until next time- peace, love, and I miss you all! -Donna

Phillipines Day 1 and 2

Well, a hop, skip, and a layover in San Francisco, Hawaii, and Guam later, I somehow made it to the Philippines. It was the longest plane ride I have ever taken. I am wondering how people who do this for a living handle it. On the way there, I was cranky, tired, and in Guam I lost track of what day it was. Even now, I am still adjusting to the humidity, and time difference. My Aunt Jovana is the one who made our itinerary, my mom is taking pictures like a Japanese tourist, and I think I am going to gain at least ten pounds from all the food I've been trying. Lol. But everyone here has been nothing short of welcoming so far. After we arrived at the Manila airport, the first place my Aunt Pinky and Jovana took us was a 24 hour spa. There we got to eat, have a full body massage, and we ended up hanging out there until 5 in the morning. I fell asleep while I was there. Mom said she could hear me snore, and I learned that in America, I am not known for my tipping. However, abroad I am apparently a very generous tipper. Linda, (my mom’s friend) and I left the ladies who gave us a massage ten American dollars each as a tip. It wasn't until afterward we learned that ten American dollars for them is a very, very generous tip. After the spa, we went to Pajsangan falls. There we rode in a canoe literally through a waterfall. It was when I got to see my Aunt Pinky’s adventurous side. She was the one who was going "one more time" after we went through the falls, and we did get to go through it again- yeah! lol After drying off, we had lunch at this place called Exotic Restaurant. There, they have a peacock for display, and a huge, fat snake which scared the daylights out of me. Our food was served on a banana leaf. I learned my palette is not that exotic. I liked the chicken more than the snake that was served. After that, we made the 6 hour car ride back to Aunt Pinky’s place in Daet, Camarinez Norte. On the way there, we stopped at some religious shrine where we got to see statues of Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, and you can attempt to make an over 100 step climb to the top of a hill where there is the biggest statue of Jesus Christ I have ever seen. After we got finally got to Aunt Pinky’s place, we unpacked, ate dinner, and now everyone is starting to turn in for the night. Tomorrow we are going to see my grandparents here before breakfast, and if the weather is nice, we will be going to the beach. This vacation has reminded me that my mom and I have opposite views of vacation. My mom still likes to get up, and see everything she can. I'm the kind that's happy with some music, a beach to lay on for the day, some music to listen to, and a cute cabana boy. But, I learned I have very interesting relatives here. All my mom’s sisters are really well established and respected here, and one of the first things my cousin Jason asked me was how many boyfriends do I want when I told him I was single, and he asked about my single American girl friends. So, just by that, I can tell it is going to be an interesting trip.

Phillipines, here I come!

I can already tell I am a cross between my mom and dad. Like my dad, I love games, sleeping in, and cartoons. Like my mom, I like going to dance class at the gym, and swimming. The one thing they both gave me is the travel bug. This coming Saturday I will be on a plane to the Phillipines. I will be there until the 28th of September. It's been hard to work all week because my mind is already on vacation. I am already wondering what the beaches there will be like, what the food will taste like, what I am going to see-ect. I think my trip is coming at a good time though. It seems like I'm not working hard enough because I am still working on overcoming objections at work. At home, it seems like I am not cleaning or working out enough. If being an adult is a balancing act, then I am not doing a really good job. Plus, I have never really met my family up there. I met my grandparents on my moms side once when I was in elementary school. My mom said I used to never admit I was part filipino until I realized that anime and being asian was in. I think it's because I really didn't know much about the culture or what it meant. I would just see mom cooking lumpia or pansit and I would wonder why we couldn'teat what other kids where eating for dinner. On the other hand, I have lived with my grandparents on my dads side. I know my uncles and aunt, as well as other relatives. But that is because they live in the U.S. So, it's not quite as expensive to see them. At this point, we have gifts bought for everyone, and some of our clothes packed. Jenn O is going to make sure Silver gets her temptations fix while mom and I are away. Mom is in her we need to get everything cleaned up before we leave mode. The only thing I am wondering about is if I am going to be handle the eighteen hour plane ride. I hate sitting for long periods of time. But that's what sleeping and seasons of Supernatural and Magic Knights to watch are for. If I do anything wrong while I am abroad,I hope they realize I am just an American whose mom happended to be born there. I will share my misadventures here and on facebook. So stay tuned!

Two months...

Sunday night, I received a text from a guy I went on one date with a couple of months ago asking me to come over after I got off work at nine in the evening. I love late night chats, and visits with people. But I wasn't exactly going to do an impromptu late night get together with a man I haven't even heard from in two months. So I just went home from work as I usually do. As I relaxed, I couldn't help but wonder- whatever happened to romance? I understand schedules and obligations make it hard to meet up like we would all like to at times. However, the word busy is the weapon of mass destruction in any relationship. It sounds legitimate because we all have things to do. But, even the President of the United States still makes time for his family. Plus, I still dream of going out , and hearing - I just want to be with you. Not just come to my place after work. In a world where we all have a million things to do, I want the one who can't wait to see me again. Not the one who takes two months to send me a text.

Being #1

Every Thursday, I have to go to a weekly staff meeting at 9:30 in the morning. At one of our meetings, our director said the girl who is #1 in the company is the kind of person that if she where to find out someone pulled ahead of her, she would try to get back in the lead, and stay #1. As for me I am the total opposite. I'm the kind of person that goes okay, lets do our best, and see what we can do, not I have to be the best. With that attitude, I did pretty good at one job in the company I work for. But, I am still learning how to do well at my new job there. According to Shakespeare, "all the world's a stage." If that's the case, why is it some people always need the lead role? Yes, as humans , we all want to be seen and heard. But, throughout our life, we will play many roles. Daughter, classmate, girlfriend, friend, granddaughter, wife,employee,ect. Sometimes we will be the star of the show, and sometimes we will be the person who only has one line. After all, like Miley Cyrus sings - "There's always gonna be another mountain I'm always gonna wanna make it move. Always gonna be a uphill battle Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose." Meaning, there's always going to be someone richer, smarter,prettier-ect. So maybe it's not about being number one. Maybe it's about being the best you can be.

Finding our own spotlight

I got a phone call from someone I work with tonight. I have to admit before that I was tired from being in the sun two days in a row. During our conversation, she told me others have said I usually get the best numbers at the park. That surprised me because usually I hear people telling me how good she is at her job. I still don't know if it's the truth or just gossip. I don't worry about numbers when I am working. I just do what I am supposed to do and I try to let whatever numbers I need show from that. Actually on the job, I am a silly person. I dance like no one’s watching , jump around acting excited about everything, chat about random things, and I try to create an environment where it's fun and everyone can make money. But it did remind me to continue to do the best in all I do because you never know who is watching and admiring what you bring to the table.

So long, so gone...

After work on Sunday, I got an im from Brian,and I was on the fence about if I should resume contact with him. A part of me still wants to talk to him again. After all, we where friends before we officially went out. Plus, maybe I did over react to everything. I know I can. I still remember us hanging out until the middle of the night, getting together for dinner after classes, and working together. Another part of me still wants to throw a shoe at him. I also remember him leaving me alone on a mountain pass for over an hour while he went to get help just as an incentive for someone to get up there and help get his car unstuck quicker, monolouging to me in Subway about how he doesn't want to get married again, and then getting engaged to someone else a few weeks after meeting her. This is after supporting his cause, welcoming him to Central Washington University, and saying nothing but good things about him when I was asked about him for the student newspaper. Some of my friends still say I really should at least hear what he has to say and remain in contact. Some have said I have made the right decision to not have contact with him. However, I just recently lost my wallet. I still feel really stupid that happened. I have tried to stay calm. But of course my mind was going all over the place wondering where it is and if whoever found it is going to use it to ruin my name or something. But in the midst of this chaos, my friend Carolyn willingly made sure I had lunch and took me home from work the day that happened. Sarah willingly switched shifts with me so I could get a license, and everything else taken care of. Meaning, instead of getting to work at a Spurs playoff game, she ended up taking my 8 hour shift at Fiesta Texas. With friends who have treated me with nothing but warmth and kindness, I didn't feel the need to go back to being treated so cold. Plus, I really don't want to hear that his fiancee is great in every way, and why we didn't mesh. I don't want to have to explain why I haven't been in contact. Honestly, I don't know if I even am the same person I was when I last saw him. I'm 50 pounds lighter, and if there is one thing I have learned since I moved back to Texas it is that I am the woman you want on your team.