Fresh From The Holiday Hiatus.

The two most important holidays of the year has just ended, and I'm absolutely elated to have celebrated it with 3 of my strongest passions: family, friends, and food!

This year, our family wanted to do something we haven't done for Christmas. We agreed to skip the standard Noche Buena Dinner at home, and instead, we all stayed in a family suite at Astoria Plaza. I was in charge of the hotel, and getting a room on Christmas Eve proved to be a very difficult task!

The room's motif of white and blue is a refreshing take on the classic wallpapered and heavy curtained rooms we're all familiar of. The floor-to-ceiling glass that gives a good view of the sprawling city was a plus I didn't expect, and it's awfully pretty especially at night.




So we're all gathered in this cute little spot away from home, and the only thing missing is the food right? Well, to complete the whole Christmas experience, Mom packed some Buko Salad, Leche Flan, and her signature Roast Beef in disposable plastic containers. Sis came with her Pesto Pasta and Grilled Prawns. Both tasted awful, but I commend her effort ^^. While waiting for midnight, we watched "Romeo and Juliet", then we exchanged gifts and greeted each other "Merry Christmas". I recieved a chocolate body scrub gift that smells good enough to eat! The next day, we all went to hit the Buffet for some nice, familiar comfort food. Look, they even got Kimchi!

For New Years Eve, I went to Eastwood City with two of my best buds for the 2010 countdown. We came 20 minutes early, and it was already jampacked with people. We were far from the stage so we didn't get to see the performers, but we had the best view of the whole place with the lights and everything. When the countdown began, people were in a state of frenzy, jumping and shouting and laughing altogether! The amazing fireworks generated even more shrieks and 'wows' from the crowd. It was unbelievable having to jumpstart the New Year like that. I didn't get a video of my own, but I found one from rachellelorene on Youtube. Do click it to get a glimpse of the kick ass New Year celebration.

Holidays like these are indeed the perfect time to bond with the people you love the most. I've learned that being around them is enough to restore the energy I need to face all the stress and hardships of the coming year. And sometimes it pays to think out of the box and do things outside tradition. It can be super fun as long as you're with the people that matter the most. I hope you all enjoyed the holidays as much as I did!

Crossroads... The Countdown Begins.

Sis broke the news today about her coming departure to Australia. It's official. She and her husband are leaving in two months, and seeing their one-way tickets to Australia made me realize the true enormity of the situation, our separation that is. Mom is scheduled to follow a few months after that. This marks a complete psychic shift in me, and it triggered a sense that time is running out.

For the longest time, I was up in the air about my family's imminent migration to Australia, still wary whether it is the rightful path we should all take, and still unsure if all the processes would yield to what we were all yearning for. I've been busy juggling so many things; taking on responsibilities my late father had left us, my pursuit of higher education, living my personal life, and love in between all of that. The fact that I've been busy and everything remained a conundrum somewhat shielded me from the pain of the coming separation. I can't even begin to imagine a life without the people I love the most, and the whole situation is hard to absorb, even absurdly painful, but it's happening nonetheless.

I had my reasons for choosing to stay behind. Partly because our finances couldn't cover all the migration fees and the cost for everyone to start a new life all at once. I do have other reasons, bigger reasons actually. But I choose not to write it here because I feel it rightfully deserves to be written in a different post. For now, let's just say I wasn't ready to give EVERYTHING up.

Sis isn't just family bound by blood, shared genes, and striking resemblance. She's also my best friend, and the one who knows me inside out. Although she's younger, her insights is equivalent to a phalanx of psychologists combined. We've been through a lot together. And honestly I don't think I can get through all that without her. She has been there through all my stupidity and tear jerking episodes, comforting me with her sarcasms which at times get under my skin. She's the most grounded person I've ever known. Always crediting luck instead of savoring the accolades she got from First Grade to Graduation. And when my father died and so much financial uncertainty is in the air, she wrestled with the responsibility of taking care of it all, especially during my absence.

To show how thankful I am for everything, I'm giving her a sending-away present. I can't really decide between these two: a scrapbook I'm gonna make using her old and new pictures or Escada Sentiment - her favorite fragrance. Whatever it is that I choose, I hope she'll like it, and remind her that she is loved and will be greatly missed.

All In The Family.

My mom's the latest addition to the ever growing cult of Twilight followers. Could you imagine at her age, she's into those four books tinged with the hallmarks of first love and high school mush, swooning over Edward Cullen's immortal hotness? I'm used to dealing with her post-menopausal insanity spells that happen from time to time, but I'm telling you, I never saw this one coming.

My sister's a big fan, and her addiction conveniently brushed off to my mom's pysche, and now she too is an addict. And unlike me who inconspicuously waited for about a week post the opening date of New Moon, she scrambled to the theaters on the first day itself, and after which she was thrilled to give everyone a blow-by-blow account of what transpired in the movie, paying special attention to Edward's Cullen's shirtless glory at the end part.

She called this noon asking where she could get a copy of New Moon so she can watch it again at home. Well, I don't have any idea where to get it (not till it's out on DVD in a couple of months), but I can't get over the fact that at age 57 she's 'jonesing' for a teeny-bopperish Edward Cullen fix!

Of Melancholic Train Ride.

Yesterday, I met my sister for some girl bonding time. I'm frequently abroad so we rarely have the chance to hangout. She wanted to show me her new place at Torre Lorenzo, just beside DLSU in Taft. Since it's Saturday, there was major traffic in every road, so I opted to take the train instead. In Korea, taking the train is something I do on a daily basis. But here in the Philippines, I rarely get the opportunity to try it, so I brought my camera along. But when I took the camera out and started clicking, people began to stare at me in disbelief. Taking pictures of the train is something so unusual perhaps that they couldn't help but stare.









The train station is just a stone-throw away from our house, so getting there is never a problem. But since I'm not in any way familiar with the purple and yellow line (I only know the MRT blue line), I had a hard time 'transferring' from Recto station to Dorotheo Jose. I can't seem to find the pathway sis was talking about. But after a couple of phonecalls and missed turns, I was able to find the bridge that connects the two stations. The cold airconditioner inside the train brought relief to my sun burnt skin. As I sat comfortably in the cool chair, sipping the green buko-pandan smoothie I purposely got for her, and despite the obnoxious stares people are throwing at me, I fell into a whirlwind of daydreaming about my Korean life that was temporarily put on hold. I miss Chris, and I miss everything about his country. I miss the pushy ajummas on the subway, and their stiff handbags that always hurt my elbows. I miss how I instinctively breathe through my mouth everytime I sat close to an ajussi that reeks of stale soju and cigarettes. I miss the never-ending giggles of middle-school kids, standing by the door, gossiping about every famous, make-up wearing, lip-synching boyband there is.. I even miss the noisy and overly enthusiastic vendors selling all kinds of things from umbrella, to gloves, even kitchen shears. Somehow, that train ride going to my sister's house felt oddly quiet and empty. When I finally arrived at my stop, I was limp like a cookie thrown into a cup of tea. It's probably the heat, humidity, or the headache-causing text message tones I incessantly heard from the train, I was tired and not in good spirits. And if not for her contagious cheerfulness, the afternoon would've dragged...

No-shoe Policy.

There are many reasons why shoes are removed before entering a temple. Temples are a sacred place, and removing shoes is a sign of respect. It also shows that a person is humble. Leaving shoes outside is symbolic of leaving wordly stuff so that the person can concentrate on spiritual things. Because shoes can be dirty, taking them off is a sign of purification inside the temple. This is also true for Muslims when they visit a mosque. For some of these reasons, many Asian cultures consider it polite to take off shoes inside the home too.

In our house, we don't wear our shoes inside. As kids, we were taught by our parents that the outside and inside of the house are two different worlds separated by a door. But I know for a fact that not all household here in the Philippines practice this.. Whenever I visit a house for the first time, I politely ask whether I should remove my shoes or not. Most of the time, they would say it's ok not to remove it. But since I'm not used to wearing shoes inside, I get really uncomfortable so as much as possible, I only stay in one place. When it's my friend's turn to visit our house, they willingly oblige to the no-shoe policy. The line-up of shoes just outside our door (like in the picture above) reminds them to take off their shoes before entering. But sometimes, there are quite a few insensitive ones who are oblivious to the pile of shoes outside our door. What I do is offer them my puffy indoor slippers, and if that won't work, I just wait till they leave and scrub the floor with Lysol and Bleach.

I just can't imagine how others could bear wearing their shoes inside. I don't need to emphasize how dirty shoes can be. They could come from hospitals, public restrooms, or alleys covered in mud, spit, vomit, and all the germs, bacteria, and viruses imaginable. We clearly don't want that inside our house. Besides, being barefoot is the most comfortable way to walk around the house!

Sickening Summer.

It's 3 am in Manila, and the temperature tips at 29 degrees celsius. It was mildly drizzling this afternoon, and I steadily hoped it would quench the scorching, blistering summer heat. But the rain fell short and it didn't cool the air. It just made it even more unbearably humid.

Even with this temperature, I managed to go jogging with my mom today. She recently made a pact with herself to start being more active, and get involved in the labyrinth world of fitness and exercise. But she doesn't want to do it alone, so for the last couple of days, she has been pestering me to go jogging with her. With a hint of petulance in my voice, I agreed to accompany her to the sports complex . Who could blame me? Sweating and exercise with this temperature can be exceedingly trying. The heat drains out all the energy and motivation in me. At first I thought it was just an all out, full blown, spur of the moment thing-y that she'll get over in a few days. But I guess I was wrong. She appears to be decided, even going on a frantic shopping for sweatpants and running shoes the other day. Strangely, she refuses to go to the gym with me. She thinks it'll just bore her to death..

Today's the start of what seems to be an exhausting routine in the making. I have no other choice but to go with my mom.. I can't just let her jog by herself. It was close to 6 pm when we started our first round at the oval. I did 5 rounds before I slumped lifelessly at the grass-covered ground. At age 57, I didn't expect that my mom could keep up with me. She was only able to half jog/half walk 2 rounds before she sat down and joined me. We did a couple more laps after that, taking more rest that necessary. It had been considerably more difficult that what she expected, so I was caught a little off-guard when she said she wanted to do it again tomorrow.

There's no need to emphasize how drained I was from the run when we got home.. I was resting infront of the computer reading emails when all of a sudden, my nose got runny so I reached for the box of tissue. I was so focused on whatever I'm doing that I didn't realize my nose was already bleeding. Blood was steadily dropping from my nose, and seeing the blood all over my shirt freaked me out a bit. I've had nosebleeds before but never to this extent. I did the standard pinching of the nose and tilting the head, then I laid down on the bed before I called my mom. I could taste the blood in my mouth and that sickened me all the more. She brought an ice pack which she applied to my head and neck, and that significantly helped stop the bleeding. It's probably the heat, and it shouldn't be any cause of worry, but I blame the usual koreanovelas I see on TV for making me freak out that much.

In Memoriam.

It's my father's 2nd death anniversary today, April 9th. I can't believe two years have passed since he was taken away from us. The familiar pain is still there, and I wonder if it will ever go away. My father's passing is by far the most horrific, emotionally draining, personally devastating event I have ever experienced. I can't even begin to imagine how painful and how broken I was at that time. In my disillusioned, angry, and rebellious state of mind, I searched for answers and for something to alleviate the pain. His death at age 57 was all too sudden. We weren't prepared, although I doubt if someone could ever be prepared for such a thing. As a way to cope with things, I started an online journal and I began to write some of my past experiences while I tried to make sense of them all. I discovered that it's an emotionally cleansing, and inspirationally enriching outlet. I found solitude and healing in writing. It has become my ideal escape to things I'm not yet ready to tackle, and there are so many of them. Whenever I talk about my Dad, I still have that tendency to mope, but I didn't intend to write a sad post so enough of those.

We visited my father's grave today.. He was laid to rest at Himlayang Pilipino together with my grandparents. When I was young, I really enjoyed visiting Himlayan. It was a time I get to play with my cousins and eat as much ice cream as I want to. For some reason, my father likes buying Magnolia Ice cream whenever we go there. He wanted to make it as fun as possible for us so we wouldn't get tired of visiting there. I took some pictures at Himlayan today. The place still brings back a lot of good, sad, and bitter memories.














Some interesting facts about my father;

* He started driving at age 14. When his mother was about to give birth, nobody was there to drive her to the hospital. My father volunteered and brought her to the hospital just in time.

* He cooks the best "pinakbet" sans the 'bagoong' (he hates the funky smell of it^^).

* He reads the newspaper every single day from age 28.. not a day missed.

* He feels claustrophobic inside a movie theatre.

* He only listened to classical music.

* He could basically fix anything, so everyone in his family called him "jack of all trades"...

* He cooks the best fried chicken ever.

* He was a soccer player back in high school at Don Bosco. He was very proud that he led his team to the championship game in China. Unfortunately, they lost. T.T

Arrival.

It has been a week since I arrived in Manila. As soon as the plane landed, I thought about jumping on the next plane going back to Korea. The weather is unbelievably hot and humid that every minute feels like pure torture. I almost forgot that it's the 'summer season' here in the Philippines, and 29 degrees at 2 am is just as normal as a sudden drizzle in a very, very sunny day. My family was at the airport to pick me up.. The flight was delayed and everyone grew hungry from waiting, so we went looking for a restaurant at 3 am. We couldn't find a place near the airport so we drove towards Eastwood to "Something Fishy" for some 'wee-hour grub'. There's nothing extraordinary about the food there, but buffets like that has it's charm. In the middle of munching 'kakanin', tapsilog, and lumpia (it's a very weird combo, I know) I told them stuff about Korea like places I've been, things I saw, and people I've met. Then we talked about things that happened here in the Philippines while I'm away. We stayed at the restaurant chatting non-stop till the call-center employees started lining up for their early morning food fix and they started begging for extra chairs. When we arrived home, my mom served buko salad and ube cake from Goldilocks. I was already full but the ube cake made my mouth water.. It was almost sunrise when I went to my room. But no matter how tired I was, I couldn't sleep that day. Something's off with my old room.. I didn't feel comfortable at all. I'm missing Chris a lot, and I thought I needed some sort of distraction. So I kept myself busy doing these...



* From a very loud purple yam color, I had the walls of my room painted in a girly lilac tone. I originally wanted something different like lemon lime or tangerine, but my mom wanted a lighter tone. Both of us agreed with lilac..

* I bought new sheets, pillows, covers, and curtains that match the lilac walls.

* I got myself a sony PSP.

* I had my old monitor changed to an 18.5 LCD screen which I got at Gilmore's at a very cheap price. The old one is taking up too much space in my room.. ^^

* I went to a comedy bar with my friends, and Ethel Booba picked me (despite my very obvious resistance) as a stage contestant for some lousy game. It was extremely embarrassing.

* I enrolled in a gym, but I haven't tried working out yet.

* I'm taking care of a new dog named Akira.

Today is officially the start of Holy Week, so I'm putting some of my plans on hold. My mom is thinking about going on a trip somewhere this Holy Week, so it's one of the things I'm looking forward to.

Of Wallowing and Weddings.

I was chatting with my sister a while ago, and I noticed she seemed really perky these days. She must be excited about something, so I suspiciously asked if she's pregnant. That question made her answer "I'm so~ not", in her most defensive tone. We talked about visiting Palawan together when I come back home next month. It must be fun cause we never really 'bonded' for the longest time. Like I said in my previous post, she and I are really different but we're surprisingly close. We were inseparable before, even sharing the same condo when my parents decided it's about time for us to move out of the house. She's more like a bestfriend to me, a constant shopping buddy, and my very own fashion critic, so I kind of miss her a lot. While we were growing up, I hated her so much and even called her my 'evil sinister sister'. There was a lot of sibling rivalry going on between us. I was my father's favorite and she was my mother's. She's more of the 'intelligent type' being the class valedictorian from elementary to highschool, and graduating cum laude in UP. I was more of the 'academically challenged' like how my father likes to put it, no special awards or anything, just mediocre grades. What's the point of studying when you'll just be compared to someone like her? And besides, I thought school is about having fun, being with friends, and having a hell of good time. Our difference doesn't stop in academics, and it's very much evident by how our rooms look like (mine is loud purple now, and although I haven't seen her new flat, I'm guessing it's peach). I'm a neat freak and I like things ridiculously organized, she's anything but neat and organized. I like black and pink... and she adores lemon color, mint green, and peach tones which happen to be the top 3 colors I'm never gonna be caught wearing. Physically, our differences can fill up a whole journal. She's three inches taller than me, fairer by several shades, and has that distinct chinita look. I, on the other hand was always referred to as the smaller, darker, and relatively the non-chinita uglier one which totally defies our strong chinese surname. But as we got older, our similarities became more evident. We like going to the same salon, shopping at the same places, reading the same stuff. Both of us love traveling, going to the beach, and having family picnics.

I wasn't used to hearing her talk about boys, so I was startled when one day, approximately 2 years ago at age 24, she came home saying somebody's courting her. After a couple of months, she had her first boyfriend ever. I first met him when I came back home in 2007, he was there at the airport together with my whole famliy. He kept on calling me 'ate' which creeped the hell out of me considering he's a year and a half older. But he was nice, polite, and awfully quiet. But then, for some profound reason I felt exactly the way she felt when she saw Chris for the first time.. She thought Chris was geeky with a creepy sense of fashion, and that's exactly how I felt with her bf.. I have issues with guys wearing plaid polos, I think it's specifically worn to annoy people.. and plaid happens to be his favorite pattern and he wears that most of the time. ^^ I heard they met in the church where both of them are active members. I also found out that my sister was his first gf ever, and for some strange, unspoken reason, that thing bothered me. And just like how my mom hated Chris, she also hated my sister's bf, but since we're way over the legal age, she couldn't do anything about it. It didn't take long before he finally proposed, and fast-forward to 15 months, they got married. Now that little sis is a married woman, she became more practical. She has cut back on her weekly retail therapy and saved instead. I heard she even enrolled in a cooking class. I've never seen her cook anything besides fried egg and Lucky Me pancit canton, so the whole marriage thing is doing wonders in domesticating her.. One thing I'm kind of regretting is the fact that I wasn't there when she was doing the whole wedding preparation thing. She actually asked me to be her wedding planner right after she got engaged, but I wasn't able to fulfill that duty. But even without me, her wedding turned out nice. It was very simple yet memorable, like how she always dreamed. She's moving to Australia sometime next year, and this saddens me to the point that I'm wallowing cause I'm not used to not seeing her for a long time (we were never separated for more than six months). But now that our separation has some degree of permanence, I feel bad that I took her for granted. I should have been nice to her when I had the chance...

I'm posting some photos from her wedding last December...



Bridal Car.




The Aisle.




Happy.




The Rings.




Cake and Cupcakes.




The Centerpiece.




Floral Girls.




With Mom and Francis.




The Lake at night.




Newlyweds.

Yet another birthday...

Chris is celebrating his lunar birthday today, and for some freakish coincidence, so as his father. Both of them were born on 11th of February (how convenient), but like most Koreans, they celebrate it using the lunar calendar. I couldn't find a family picture of Chris, so I'm just gonna use his grad photo for all intensive purposes. Just don't ask me why his mom is the one wearing toga.. It's meant to be funny, although I'd say in a very peculiar way.



His dad is hosting a party today at their residence for his staff and other people who works for him in his company. Tomorrow, he'll be hosting yet another party for his friends, associates, and golf buddies. I feel sorry for Chris cause they share the same birthday, and he's obliged to participate in a party where he's the only young person. He'll be forced to drink soju with them, and I know just how much he hates the taste of soju.

Felt guilty as I wasn't able to get him a birthday gift last February 11th, so today I bought this long-sleeved shirt for him. The shiny collar buttons bothered me so much, but I thought the shirt will look good on him so I ended up buying it anyway.



Last night, we were having the whole birthday talk, and I asked him what his birthday wish is. I was eating sushi then, and I almost gagged when he answered me. He actually wishes*** not to get fat, lose his hair, and have wrinkles. I laughed so hard cause I've never heard a birthday wish vainer than that in my entire life!

In my case, I wish him good health this year. Career-wise, I know he couldn't wish for a better career than now (I could actually kill for a job like his ^^). He works under the procurement division of Samsung Electronics. There is no striking difference with regard to his paycheck to other employees of the company, but his position gives him great benefits. He deals with mostly CEOs and Presidents of manufacturing companies that supplies certain parts that Samsung needs. For some specific item, he's the one who gets to decide which company they'll do business with. This could mean a very big income for the company who'll get chosen, so they suck up to him with expensive liquors, cigars, chocolates, teas, pastries, toiletries, and other gift items. Except for liquor and cigar, I'm the one who conveniently takes advantage of all those stuff. It doesn't end there, he gets to travel a lot, eat and drink at the most expensive places for free, and that is what he likes the most. The last time he went on a business trip to China, there was a limo waiting for him courtesy of a CEO he's dealing with. So for four days, he got to move around China in a limo, ate as much sharksfin, bird's nest, and lobster as he wants to, and he got a lot of stuff for free to give me.





His job didn't come easy as he had to work really hard for it. The job appeals to a lot of applicants, therefore the competition was really stiff. In their team of 8, 4 graduated from American Universities, 2 from Seoul Nat'l University, and the other 2 were from Hanyang (which includes Chris). The job calls for excellent command in English, so having a Filipina gf works for his advantage as he gets to pratice his English a lot. I'm not giving myself entirely the credit, cause he got accepted there even before we met, but I kinda help him 'stay' in the competition. Out of all the negative effects of our interracial relationship, I'm glad there's one good thing that comes out of it.

I did a bit of shopping for seafood cause I'm going to cook Haemultang for him tomorrow when he arrives. It's his favorite dish and I'm dead worried that it might taste anything but Haemultang. So I'm preparing the cookbook and some internet stuff I printed on standby, just in case.

About music and my sister.

For some inexplicable reason, I had a really hard time sleeping last night so I listened to songs till all my anxieties dissolved. I actually have a lot of frightening and unsettling thoughts running through my head... I found myself repeatedly listening to these 5 songs. I'm particularly drawn to the alternative genre (although not exclusively), it's kind of a mood-setter for me.. But if my sister gets to read this, she'll probably roll her eyes on me.. I remember a time she blurted, "From Seether to THIS"? She's referring to a Jesse McCartney album.. She meant to be sarcastic cause she obviously had issues with him though I can't understand why.

My sister discovered this bizaare theory (thru a magazine I suppose, she likes reading 'em a lot) that a person can be 'read', not exactly read but 'assessed' through the kind of music they listen to. I know... she reads a lot of Cosmo magazines but I'm dead curious what was her assessment with me. Sis is entirely the opposite of me. She likes the typical chick flicks and chick music.. I like conspiracies, tragic endings, and the unpredictable. She'd always say she exactly knows what kind of music I like.. Like if she hears a certain song, she'd know if it's 'my' music or not. I don't know how she does it cause most of the time she's right. Is there some sort of distinct rhythmic pattern that she unraveled, something that draws me but I wasn't aware of? I don't like EVERY alternative song there is... I'm a bit more choosy that what she gives me credit for.




I don't know why but whenever I talk about music, I always associate it with my sister. Probably because she loves music as much as I do. Or maybe I just miss her.. We're so different in so many ways, but we're pretty close. She's always the first one to know if I'm troubled or if something's bothering me.

It's tedious to create links for all five of them, but I'd really want to share it with everyone. I think it's pretty great.


Faber Drive - Tongue Tied

Fuel - Wasted Time

Skillet - The Older I Get

Graham Colton Band - Best Days

Twelve Stones - Running Out of Pain

Those are new links. I tried to fix it cause the previous ones didn't seem to work. Happy listening!!!

Reunions.

Sis called yesterday about the big family reunion I just missed. She is a known talker for all things negative, so when she enthusiastically narrated all those 'gory' details about the said reunion in Villa Escudero, I felt relieved that I conveniently missed everything... My father comes from a very big family.. They are 16 in total, and most of those 16 siblings are scattered to different parts of the world, so naturally reunions like that can be quite chaotic! Whew, must have been a pandemonium gathering all those people in one place. When I was younger, I remember we also had a reunion like that, and I heard 4 of my cousins talking... one is from Australia, one is from Belgium, and two were from U.K. and U.S. They were simply talking about coffee, but I almost got a nosebleed from trying to understand each and every one of them!

Most people would usually let out an inconvenient gasp whenever they hear that my dad has 15 other siblings.. And the next question they would always ask is if they come from the same mother. But I would say not. My grandfather obviously had issues with fidelity at that time. But the good thing was that he raised all of those 16 children in one roof, gave them the best education possible, and provided well for their needs.

The oldest among the 16 children named Myne or Wilhelmina who lives in Belgium was the one who organized it. I always thought her name is kinda pretty and classy, so I was surprised when my dad said she was named after Queen Wilhelmina of Netherlands. She was born during the 2nd World War, and Queen Wilhelmina played a great role in the Dutch resistance at that time. Must have been interesting being named after a very important and famed royalty... But not in Manny Pacquiao's Queen Elizabeth kind of way. I have issues with people named Queen, Queenie, Princess, or King. It's like their parents wanted their children to be the center of everyone's attention. But I do have one exception, when I was in highschool, I became friends with a girl named Majesty. Surprisingly, I didn't have any issue with her name, so I guess Majesty is fine. By the way, Queen Wilhelmina's mother's name is Emma, the second wife of King William III.. and that's where my name was taken from, according to my father.

My grandfather whose name is C.S.O., has a very interesting story to tell. He was a Chinese orphan who came from the province of 'A-moy' which is now called Xiamen in China. When he was a young boy, 11 or 12 perhaps, he detested the poor living condition of his province, so he tagged along Chinese merchants who did business in different parts of Asia. One day their boat docked in Aparri and my grandfather, C.S.O., decided to try his luck there. There were other Chinese settlers there who inter-married with the natives, so C.S.H. didn't have difficulty fending for himself as he worked for them selling bread and dumplings. It was then a Jesuit missionary priest saw him. They pitied him because he was an orphan at a young age, so they decided to adopt him... Soon after, they sent him to study in Ateneo and in return, he cleaned the yard and ran errands for them. C.S.H. was a very determined young boy and he spent most of his time studying. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Commerce, something he was very proud of, considering how poor he was at that time. Shortly after, he met my grandmother who then works as a teacher in Saint Paul's University. Like C.S.H., she was also a very smart woman, earning a degree there in Economics as Magna Cum Laude. Shortly after the meeting, they tied the knot.. I'm not sure what were the pre-disposing factors why my grandfather went philandering, but one thing's for sure, he loved and provided for all of his children equally, to the best of his ability. And hats off to my grandmother who accepted and love all her husband's children as her own.

The idea of having 16 children all under one roof was amusing for me as a child. Whenever I hear my dad's tales, I really can't help but be amused. Like how they would use up a new bar of soap everyday for example. I did the math when I was younger, and including the 5 helpers and my grandparents, it was a fairly reasonable consumption. And of course, they took turns using the dining table. I still remember the old Lazy Susan table which they used before. It could accomodate 10 people all at the same time, but of course, since there were 16 children, some had to wait for their turn. I could only imagine that those 16 children were big enough to fill a children's birthday party! Also, my dad was the first one to drive, so my grandmother would always oblige him to go with her to the market. He was her personal chauffeur at that time... And my father fondly recalls how different her shopping list would be from other housewives. For one, she buys half of a whole pig each time and chickens never went down to a total of 10 with each visit to the market.

Since my grandfather was adopted by priests, he kept a rule to only enrol his children to all boys and all girls school run by nuns and priests. He must have loved those priests who adopted him that he even sent one of his sons to a seminary to become one. When my dad was a sophomore in Ateneo, my grandfather got sick with Cancer and died two years later. He must have been a great man when he was still alive considering all of his accomplishments. I wish I had the chance to meet him in person and hear those interesting tales of his life.