The world around me

Photos of Catherine the Great Palace in St. Petersburg Russia. Baltic cruise 2003

2004-11-03T21:54:00.000-08:00

A welcoming brass band in front of the palace.

2004-11-03T21:53:00.000-08:00

Entering the palace. My son is in the middle. My cursillo brother Al is on his right wearing burgundy sweater.

2004-11-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

My wife and son's shoes covered to protect the palace floor.

2004-11-03T21:46:00.000-08:00

Palace hall.

2004-11-03T21:44:00.000-08:00

One of the dining rooms.

2004-11-03T21:42:00.000-08:00

Chess set.

2004-11-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

Furnishings.

2004-11-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

Catherine's dress on display.

2004-11-03T21:34:00.000-08:00

Back of the palace.

Med cruise

2004-10-31T01:39:00.000-08:00

We boarded the cruiseship Celebrity Millennium in Barcelona after 16 hours of travel fron San Diego via Detroit and Amsterdam. Our group of nine people came in just minutes after the other two groups from our parish arrived by busses from Lourdes France. There was no time for sightseeing in Barcelona. After checking in at the pier we wasted no time in buying souvenirs at the duty free shops. The ship sailed two hours later.

Millennium was our second cruise and according to our travel agent, a better ship than last year. But we were a little bit disappointed. The engine vibration that I read from the reviews was still present. Last year our cabin was situated much nearer the engine but felt no vibration whatsoever but aboard Millennium it was really noticeable. But after a day or two I was used to it and sleeping was not a problem.

The activities were duller, I guess it was because the average passenger was 60 years old and above. After a very tiresome shore tours, these passengers just slept the night away to prepare for the next day’s tour in another port but for younger people like us we crave for the nightlife of dancing and entertaining. Last year there were group contests of dancing and other entertaining stuffs like dressing in drag, a contest of who’s the fastest group that can provide things that the host asked like a 50 dollar bill, a nail clipper or a bra. One of our older women nonchalantly took off her bra and presented it to the host. We won that contest and the dancing too. Aboard the Millennium, there were no such things. The internet was so slow charging 75 cents per minute. On the upside, Millennium’s broadway shows were excellent. The food, the service, the staff were better. The ports were to die for.

Aside from port of embarkation which was Barcelona, there were nine ports which are gateways to well known cities. Nice and Monte Carlo Monaco were the first cities we visited. Less than four hours was not enough to see Monte Carlo. There was no time to see the inside of Grand Casino because of the long line.It rained cats and dogs in Pisa that day. No time to climb the leaning tower. The women enjoyed shopping Tuscany leather bags though. Florence is very nice. We just drove by Naples on the way to the ruins of Pompei. My wife bought a serving cart with wood in lays in Sorrento for a door to door delivery. The Amalfi coast has breathtaking views. The sceneries of the greek isles of Santorini and Mykonos were spectacular. Dubrovnik Croatia has the walled town. But the top 3 cities to die for were Rome with Vatican, Athens with the Acropolis and Venice with it’s canals and gondolas.

Our last port was Venice arriving there past noon and toured the St. Mark church and square, the Doge palace and attending a glass blower demonstration. My wife bought a 24 carat gold laced wine decanter set to be displayed in the serving cart bought in Sorrento. Our evening serenade in a gondola was cancelled due to the rain.

Overall, our mediterranean cruise was better than last year because of the italian ports. Spending less than eight hours in one city was not enough though. It only made me want to come back for more. Yes, we’re going back but not on a cruise. We need more time to savor the views, to immerse in the culture and to shop.

Happenings

2004-09-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

Here’s what happened for the last three weeks that I didn’t post:

Attended a reception of the wedding of a pinay and a chinese held where else? in a chinese restaurant. It was my first time to experience such banquet where they serve the fried rice last and by that time guests were full and requesting “to go” containers because we can’t eat anymore

I had a gout flare up that lasted for four days and was not able to go out that weekend. I ended up going to the clinic and having a cortisone shot on my foot. With less than 3 weeks to go before vacation, I’m on a strictly low protein and low purine food diet to lower my uric acid that caused the gout flare up. But last weekend my dieting suffered a setback. My better half loves to eat buffet style and with all those mouth watering foods in the serving table, I was forced to pig out. My plan now is to eat the minimum for the next two weeks and then enjoy the food aboard the cruiseship. The cruise is port intensive and involves a lot of walking and hopefully my feet will hold up otherwise I’ll be left behind and dining by myself alone aboard the ship.

Myy son is doing great and we’re just waiting for the doctor’s order to stop the blood thinning regiment next week. By that time the artificial ring that was installed in the heart valve is covered with his tissue that blood thinner is not needed anymore. But as of now, the weekly ritual of going to the lab for the blood drawing continues. He is itching to drive his car and getting ready to move his belongings to college apartment and start school in three weeks time. Too bad he won’t be able to go with us during the cruise this time.

Right now, we’re in the process of checking out our “things to bring and do list”. I still have to buy a 1G compact flash memory card for the digital camera in lieu of the laptop computer that we won’t bring this time to upload the photos. I want to avoid the hassle of inspections at the airports and traveling light is very convenient. We’ll be bringing our neck pouches to put our cash and credit cards to avoid being victims of pickpockets especially in Rome.

I’ll try to post aboard the ship and say hi to everybody if time and cost permits. It costs 75 cents a minute to use the ship’s internet and me being a slow typist that will be prohibitive.

ala Titanic

2004-08-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

Passengers being served like kings and queens, dancing the night away with the big band’s music in the ballroom and lounging with drinks in their hands watching other people come and go. Scenes from the movie "Titanic"? Nope.

Welcome to the growing popularity of cruising where ordinary people experience things that many years ago only the rich can afford to. In "Titanic", the rich occupies the upper decks while the poor is in the lower decks. Now, anybody can afford to be in the upper decks or with ocean view.

After 9/11 many cruiselines were offering discounted cruises up to 50% off to entice terror stricken americans to travel. If you’re travelling in big groups, the savings are much more. Cruises are offered almost anywhere in the world including Antartica. There is another reason why it’s affordable. Cruiselines are employing international crews mostly from poor countries like the Philippines where labor is cheap.

Last summer my family together with other members of our parish went on a 12 day Baltic sea cruise with visits in Scandinavian ports and Russia. That was our first leisure cruise, my first one where I didn’t have to work. After spending my navy career working from destroyers to aircraft carriers, cruising aboard Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Sea was unforgettable. It was the only ship that I boarded and hated to leave. Of course, navy ships were only my basis of comparison, where living and working conditions were spartan.

On a cruiseship there’s a lot of filipino crews working as waiters, cooks, cabin attendants, maintenance workers and entertainers. I talked with a father and son who were deck workers and found out that they were paid a set amount of wages and allowed a 2 month vacation to the Phil. every year. Their plane fare was free but only one month vacation was paid. Work was hard and they missed their family but they were earning less at home they said.

I found out that cabin attendants and waiters were only paid $50.00 a month plus plane fare and tips. The recommended tips were $3.50 per cabin attendant or waiter per day from one passenger. That means the 3 of us gave one of them $10.50 /day for tips. If 3 workers were serving us everyday then total tips were $31.50 daily and $378 for 12 days.

If you think that they earn a lot of tips you’re wrong. Giving of tips is basically voluntary. Because it is not required, some passengers like europeans are tightwads and giving tips is alien to them. One cabin attendant cried because a british couple gave only $10.00 for the whole cruise. Our party gave them the recommended tips plus extra for the excellent services that they rendered. In tagalog I say it was "sulit na sulit".

Cruising is very relaxing compared to a land tour aboard a bus. Almost everyday you have to unpack and pack your luggage in a land tour while you only do that once on a cruiseship. So if you’re thinking of cruising, do it in a heartbeat and please give tips to any deserving crew. It’s highly appreciated and recommended.

Who's the macho now?

2004-08-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

We’re all familiar with the filipino husband as the breadwinner of the family and the wife as a homemaker. The wife takes care of the kids and the needs of the husband when he comes home from work. The husband when he’s at home reads the newspaper, watches the tv or barks orders to the wife, kids or the maid. The wife plays a supporting role in the family’s affair.

I want to share with you a true story about a homemaker in the Phil. who was dependent on her husband for support when kids were growing up and her empowerment later on. Let’s call her Mrs. Abad.

Mrs. Abad came to america when her daughter petitioned for her, found work as a cook in a restaurant. She only finished elementary school but her skill of cooking landed her a job in one of silicone valley’s restaurant. She’s a hardworking lady and took advantage of the job opportunity that eluded her in the province. After working for 15 years she retired in 2000 and divides her time between zambales and california. She now resides in the province but every 6 months she comes to visit her children here in california and to have mammogram test taken. Her family has a history of breast cancer that’s why she and her daughters have this test taken every 6 months. Two of her sisters died of breast cancer and a niece is a cancer survivor.

Her husband retired as a bank manager in the province and received a large lump sum retirement money which he promptly spent in treasure hunting which by the nature of the business was highly speculative. The money was gone and needing for more capital, he obtained money from the bank by mortgaging their house as collateral. The bank was about to reposses the house when Mrs. Abad luckily found it out and paid off the loan. Without her intervention, they would have been homeless.

Aside from her savings, she gets $400 social security pension every month. Also, she has a buy and sell business wherein she buys second hand stuff in the flea market here and then she ships it to the Phil. in balikbayan boxes. She’s generous and helps a lot of her relatives who are poor. Also her husband receives additional $200 per month through her social security. The husband’s share is separate from Mrs. Abad’s.

Life is like a spinning wheel, sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down. When the husband was still working, the community look up to him with respect and the wife was viewed as one who was lucky to land a husband with a good paying job. Now, it’s the opposite with the wife making a lot more money than the once respected husband.

With the Phil. sending a lot of it’s workers overseas, this story is not unique. Many wives are working abroad, remitting dollars and becoming the dominant figure in the family.

West Nile virus

2004-08-11T15:03:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, birds in new york were dropping dead. Authorities thought that somebody was poisoning these animals. They found out later that birds died due to the west nile virus. It was hypothesized that immigrants from africa brought the virus into the U.S.

Three years ago, the virus was confined to the east coast like new york, florida but last year it showed up in california. At least two people died. Fever, headache, muscle aches and fatigue are the symptoms same as the flu. Most people recover from it but deadly on others. There’s no vaccine yet against it. Three weeks ago dead birds were found three miles from us and was positive for the virus.

Last week a notice was mailed to the residents on what to do to prevent being infected. Birds and mosquitoes are carriers. I checked the yard to eliminate places of standing water where mosquitoes can breed like spent tires, pots of plants and buckets. I’ve been regularly maintaining the pool and spa making sure that chlorine level is just about right. I checked the screens of the windows and the screen door for holes where mosquitoes can get through. In addition they advised us to wear pants and long sleeve shirts when outside the house during dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are active.

Aside from brush fires, earthquakes, traffic jams, high cost of housing and now west nile virus…..san diego is a nice place to live for most of us.

Day of destiny

2004-08-08T13:36:00.000-07:00

It was summer and I was home in the province enjoying my vacation when my high school bestfriend came and told me that he had applied at the subic bay naval base as a US navy recruit and tried to sell me the idea of doing the same thing. That time joining the military was far out of my mind. The military didn’t interest me but pressures from my parents and the idea of being financially capable finally did it. They said there’s nothing to lose if I apply.

As the eldest among 5 siblings I personally know how tight the family’s finances were with the younger siblings still about to go to college. There were times that I had to do drastic belt tightening to get by on a daily basis while in school. I had to skip lunch or just a snack was good enough. The main reason why I went to UPLB was because I had an aunt living in Los Banos and board and lodging was free. I liked to be an engineer and Mapua was where I wanted to go but inadequate finances dictated my choice.

I sent my navy application which were photos of myself with my biodata at the back. I received my navy calling card to take the exam just before taking summer courses at Diliman. Armed with a navy reviewer notes, I studied it diligently and simultaneously with 2 college courses. I had an added incentive to pass the navy exam, I was the only sibling to pass the UPCAT and with it the siblings challenge of whether I was good enough to pass the navy exam.

When I was in college, olongapo city was just a bus stopover on the way home. I lived 2 hours by bus north of it. Accompanied by a cousin I found myself at the gate of the massive navy base and was met by a navy representative who ushered me inside and aboard the cattle truck with other eager and nervous applicants. It was my first time to set foot inside the base after many years of taking glimpses of it from the buses that I was riding along the national road.

As I sat in the exam room I told myself that if I failed, I’ll be graduating from college in a year anyway but meantime I was determined to pass it. I had read the review notes so many times that I memorized the order of the questions. There were 100 exam takers in that room and found out later that only one recruit will be taken among us. After one hour, the result came in. Out of 80 questions I got 65 correct answers same as another guy from Holy Angels College in Angeles city. We were the topnotchers. The two of us were told to stay for the interview and the rest left dejectedly and hoarded back to the truck like cattles to return to the base gate.

A navy senior chief was my interviewer and the first thing that I did was to read a paragraph which I did easily. The next question was the meaning of the word nocturnal. I dropped the ball on that one. My answer was one that lives on land and a cow was the example that I gave. I was thinking of the word terrestial. The final question was why do I want to join the navy. I had anticipated that question will be asked and so I had my answer rehearsed a lot of times. Looking into his eyes I said, "I admire america and what it stands for like democracy and when I was growing up, the moment my uncle who’s in the navy told me all the places that he visited all over the world I found myself dreaming to be like him. It is a childhood dream". I guessed I told him the right answer because he was smiling, Of course half of that was bullshit. I told him what he wanted to hear. I didn’t tell him my true motivation which was financial because that will be an outright rejection.

Finally the senior chief said I passed it and gave me the papers for the physical exam in a later date. They were impressed on us that they took two recruits instead of only one. I was jubilant to go home and tell my siblings in their face about it.

And the rest is history.

A ritual

2004-08-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

I woke up early last saturday morning to beat the weekend rush of people going to a car maintenance shop. The shop is on a first come first serve basis and the earlier I come the earlier I can go back home and do some yard work.

I am using an 11 year old but still reliable car with no breakdown whatsoever for the past two years. I bought it used with 105,000 miles that time and now has 152,000 miles mainly from my daily commute to and from work. My son used it during high school and early college days and three years ago it started to overheat a lot of times. To prevent breakdowns while he’s on the road I decided to buy him a new car. I inherited his old car which was fixed, installed a new radiator and I’ve been using it ever since.

Here in california, if your car is more than 4 years from the date of manufacture the car is subject to an emission inspection called the SMOG test once every two years. A passed test is a requirement before your car can be registered. This test determines if your car is road worthy pollution wise. It measures the pollutants that the car is discharging. If it fails, it has to be fixed before another test is to be done.

To make sure my car passes the test and avoid the hassles of shops overcharging me, I take it to the shop early for an electronic injection service, a fuel filter replacement and an engine tune up. I also use the premium gas for a clean burn our a month before inspection. A failed test will cost a lot more.

After my car was serviced I went immediately to the same SMOG test center that I always go to. A pinoy technician who retired from the navy works there. I told him to please run it hot for 5 minutes first before testing. Five years ago, I brought my wife’s car for testing and because it was parked for over one hour and the technician tested it without running for at least 5 minutes, it failed. I had it inspected by the MB dealer and they found nothing. It just wasn’t run hot enough when smog tested.

After that episode I got smarter. When my car is next in line for testing, I run the engine for at least 5 minutes while parked. It always work. I have no failed test from that time including the one last saturday. I’ll be using the old car till end of 2005 or probably beyond that. As much as possible I don’t want to buy a brand new car because it’s expensive at more than $20,000. I rather invest my money to appreciating assets like real estate.

Memories of the White House visit

2004-07-31T20:19:00.000-07:00

Four small bottles of Brut champagne with the seal of the President of the United States are displayed in our family room reminds me of the once in a lifetime tour of the office and residence of the U. S. president, The White House.

A year after 9/11 we exchanged our one week Las Vegas timeshare with a colonial style cottage in Williamsburg Virginia. After several days touring Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, plantations, Busch Gardens we took a two and a half hours drive in a Hertz rental car to Washington D.C. We tried to tour the washington monument before checking in to the hotel but because it was a weekday, trying to find a parking space was like treasure hunting. So we decided to check in first at the hotel which was a mile from the white house.

Due to 9/11 the white house tour was not open to the public that time. The only way to tour was for somebody working inside to sponsor you. Our sponsor was the husband of my wife's high school classmate in the Phil. Let's call him Ed (not his real name). Ed is a master chief in the navy, an aide of George Bush. He was Clinton's aide before. Wherever Bush is, Ed is there. A week before our departure from san diego our social security numbers were given to Ed for background checks.

We were advised by Ed to dress conservatively. During Clinton days, he said tourists can wear shorts. So dressed in working casual clothes we walked for one mile to the southwestern gate of the white house where Ed was supposedly waiting for us. Instead, John was there standing by for Ed who was still with Bush in Marine One(presidential helicopter) in transit from north carolina. After getting by security John took us first to the old executive building where vice president Cheney works. Next is the West Wing where John took photos of us. Then we went to the staff's dining hall with John showing us where the president's table is. While waiting for Ed, he seated us in a table near the tv and served us cookies and drinks. John is a navy cook and after declining his offer of hamburgers, resumed his cooking. In a table full of presidential plates, cups and saucers, I kiddingly told my wife to take a plate for a souvenir.

At last Ed arrived and he took us to the press room. In tv it looks like a big place but in reality it is small. We had lots of picture taking standing behind the podium. My son Michael really loved it posing like a candidate. Like him, we were so excited. My mother in law who was with us said never in her wildest dream that she set foot inside the white house. Next was the oval office where a marine was on guard duty. Picture taking was not pemitted. It was really oval shape but smaller than in tv. We then went to other rooms in which names I forgot. The thing that I really regretted was forgetting to ask Ed to show us where Bill and Monica did it.

After one hour of touring with Ed and thanking him for the privilege, he accompanied us to the parking lot and said good bye but not before he gave us some souvenirs like champagne and lots of chocolate with presidential seal. I was indeed a privelege to visit the white house. We didn't see the president but we saw Karl Rove, the president's top adviser and strategist. Karl Rove calls Ed, the Little President.

From Russia without love

2004-07-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

I was walking in the hallway of our office building this morning and I bumped to a smiling Betty who just arrived from a two week Baltic sea cruise vacation. I asked her how was the cruise and she blurted "It was so short, I don't want to come back to work". Then she asked me if I had the same observation of Russia, about the grumpy russians.

My family together with other cursillo couples took the same cruise last september. We boarded the ship in Hartwick England while Betty boarded it in Stockholm Sweden. After visiting scandinavia our ship pulled in to the port of St. Petersburg Russia. A brass band playing american songs greeted us while we were lining up for the russian customs to stamp our passports and issue the entry passes. As my turn to show my passport came I was mesmerized by the pretty russian women wearing military uniforms manning the customs booths. With a big smile on my face and a hearty hello, I handed my passport. The pretty russian answered with a cold stare and like a robot, mechanically stamped my passport and issued a pass without saying anything. That was my first interaction with a russian citizen and it jolted me.

The museums and palaces were manned by old ladies who were grumpy looking and when I strayed from the line, one old lady blew her whistle immediately to get my attention. We did three tours and always the names of the drivers and tour guides are Igor and Svetlana. The tour guides speak a number of languages and I suspect they were probably working formerly with the KGB and other intelligence agencies in the old Soviet Union and changed jobs after the break up of the union. Again, these people were serious in their demeanor with no sense of humor whatsoever. I guess I can't blame them because they were raised under the rigid rules of communism where a slight infraction results to prison time. They have a hard life and it shows in their faces, nobody smiles. Compared to scandinavia, russia is a poor country. They live in drab, weathered box like buildings they call home. The cars, buses and commuter trains that I noticed were old and rusty, very different from the new and gleaming transportation of scandinavia.

No matter how hard life is, we filipinos smile and we smile a lot. The russians......well they are another story.

Recuperation

2004-07-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

My son is recovering at home since monday spending most of the time surfing the web using laptop. Days before surgery he installed a wireless router for our network making it possible to surf wherever he pleases inside the house with a range of 100 meters.

The six inch cut on his chest is slowly healing but he still suffers episodes of pain. The surgeon made a cut in the middle of the sternum using a surgical saw and then using a viselike device, spread it apart to work on the heart valve. Blood circulation was channeled through the heart-lung machine for a brief period during the surgery. The tear on the valve's chordae was sawed up and an annuloplasty C-ring was added for valve support. The actual surgery was done in less than two hours.

A nurse comes to visit him twice a week to take his vital signs and to draw blood. For a period of six weeks he'll be taking coumadin which is a blood thinner to prevent blood clot or stroke due to the artificial ring on his valve. A complication of blood thinner is bleeding which he suffered twice already with his nose bleeding for ten minutes each time. Blood drawing is necessary to measure the thickness of the blood and to adjust the coumadin dosage if necessary.

Generally, his recuperation is going smoothly with target date of six weeks for full recovery. The summer heat is here already and will make episodes of nose bleeding more frequent that's why I bought another fan to cool off his room. By the third week of september he'll be ready to resume college work and the parents will be ready to take a refreshing twelve day cruise vacation.

Day 2

2004-07-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

We're at home right now to eat and get a few hours of sleep after spending the whole day and night at the hospital catering to the needs of my son Michael, my only child. The second day was a lot better than the day of surgery. He was out of the surgical ICU one day after surgery. At first they put him in a two man room but a private room opened up (thanks to a cursillo sister who works as a nurse in the hospital who reserved it) an hour later.

My wife and I played nurse making sure michael do his breathing exercises every hour to prevent fluid build up in his lungs, to move his feet from time to time to avoid blood clot and to assist him in going to the bathroom. He will do his walking exercise at noon. He still has a slight fever but walking in the hallway should help.

There was really a remarkable difference between the first and the second day. At the surgical ICU, the sight of him with all tubes and sensors sticking out from his body made us shed tears. The nurses that took care of him are excellent showing a lot of TLC. Michael is in a high spirit when we left this morning, telling us to bring his backpack of video game paraphernalia.

I'm really amazed of the skill of the surgeon and the quality of care being given by the staff. We expect that by sunday, he'll be discharged and go home to recuperate, four days after surgery. Our health insurance will take care of all the bills. Can you imagine how much we have to pay without the insurance? It will be in the hundred thousand dollars range at least.

Open heart surgery

2004-07-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

Today is day 2, another day to spend in the hospital. Two years ago my son went to the university clinic for fever and cough. He was surprised when the doctor mentioned about a loud heart murmur. That was news to him, he didn't have a history of it.

A month later, his cardiologist diagnosed him with a severe mitral valve regurgitation. It's a condition where the valve doesn't fully close making the heart work double time to pump the blood which if not fixed will result to heart failure.

The thoracic surgeon felt that it wasn't time yet for the surgery that time. But 3 months ago he decided that it was time to do the surgery during the summer. The heart is starting to enlarge.

My son was ready yesterday for the surgery. I did not see any fear or worry on his face. My wife and I were a bit apprehensive. We have two years before to worry about it and we already have accepted the fact that surgery is the only solution. Also, the surgeon is the best in san diego or even the whole of southern california.

After two hours of open heart surgery, the surgeon was able to repair the valve to our great relief. My wife and I hugged each other and shed a few tears. Valve repair is a lot better than valve replacement. A mechanical valve requires a lifetime dose of blood thinner which sometimes result to complications like bleeding and stroke.

He's still staying at the ICU but he's doing fine. I thank the Lord and my cursillo brothers and sisters. Their prayers made a difference.

Looking for a friend

2004-07-08T19:18:00.000-07:00

His name is G. Pangilinan, my friend and classmate at UPLB. He graduated in 1977 or 1978.I forgot what his major was. He's the same age as I am 48 or probably a year younger. I lost contact with him when I joined the navy during my senior year in 1977.

I deliberately not mentioned his first name to discourage false information. If anybody knows this gentleman, please comment and mention his first name, e-mail address/phone #.

Thanks.

In search of the american dream

2004-07-07T17:24:00.000-07:00

The scene was Los Angeles International Airport, friends and relatives of a family were there to send them off. Were they going on vacation to the Philippines? What about the tearful farewells and huggings?

That was the scene when I turned on the TFC channel. The family was being deported to the Phil. for illegally living in the U.S. for nearly 20 years. They came here as tourists and stayed permanently. The kids are now on their teens and america is their home, the Phil. was just a faded memory.

A family that I personally know suffered the same fate. The wife was working for the government and one day she just didn't show up at work. Her letter of resignation was sent weeks later. Rumors indicate that they were given an option to voluntary leave or to be forcibly deported. The husband and wife voluntarily left but I don't know what happened to their kids. They may still be living in hiding here in the U.S.

Another couple came here as tourists with the intention of delivering their baby as a U.S. citizen. The wife was nearly eight months pregnant, they have no relatives and depend only on the newfound friends for help. The couple stayed in cheap hotels and some friend's house. Because they were short on money, the pregnant wife didn't eat right and was short in prenatal care. As a result the baby was stillborn. They went back to the Phil. dejected.

I feel sad for these families. Can you blame these people who want to live the american dream, to have a brighter future for their kids? If only the Phil. can provide jobs and prosperity then people like them will not come here to try their luck.

4Th of July

2004-07-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the anniversary of the american declaration of independence from england. We traveled to my wife's cousins place which is fontana ca, an hour's drive north from home. There's a number of public fireworks display here in san diego but we go to fontana because people are allowed to buy fireworks and light it themselves. In short, individual fireworks display is not prohibited compared here in my place. There's a reason for the ban. Fontana is desert like. Green and brown vegetations are very few, the possibility of a brush fire is remote. San Diego is more lush, due to years of drought there's a lot of fuel in the form of dry grass and dying trees. Hundreds of houses were burned last year due to brush fires but not related to fireworks.

At 9 pm, the fireworks displays started. Here, july 4th is our new year in terms of celebration. The whole street erupted in brightly colored explosions and screaming sounds of pyrotechnics. Parties were everywhere commonly held at the driveway of a house. They put up a tent for the potluck parties. Potluck means bringing your own food and drinks. Actually many parties starts at noon till 12 midnight.

My son started to lit the small fireworks we called "mura and mahal" because they produced small explosions. The finale were the big ones which were awesome displays eliciting ohhs and ahhs from the peanut gallery. Fireworks here are generally safe compared to the Phil. There's no "bawang" or any finger blowing kind. It's just lights and sounds.

We left at 12:30 am and after an hour fighting off sleeping on the wheel arrived safely at home. Today is monday, a holiday and a time to take care of the "honey dos"(taking orders from the wife).

Graduation

2004-07-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

These days graduation parties are common and today is not an exception. We attended a college graduation party of the daughter of one of our friends which was held at their new house. Their old house was given to the eldest daughter that's why they bought a new one. The graduate completed a computer science degree from one of the best public college which is California State University San Luis Obispo, a powerhouse in science education. The parents were very glad not only that school expenses is ending but also she has a job already and will start very soon.

My time will come in two years when my son graduates from Univerity of California Irvine with computer science as his major. I hope that he'll be getting a job as quick as our friend's daughter. Although my son is only paying a token amount of tuition because I'm a veteran, the board and lodging expense is considerable. We're saving $4000 of tuition per year but food and apartment cost is $10000. Public education cost is much lower compared to private which is three times higher. Other expenses are gas and car maintenance. I bought him a new car rather than using the old one with 150000 miles in it. The school is only an hour from here but I was afraid that the old car will breakdown in the freeway and so a new car will do away with that. I'm using his old car and I don't mind driving it as long as it is reliable. Actually, I like it very much because I can park it anywhere without fear of other cars denting it. It is small and I have no problen in looking for a parking space unless it's in between two big SUVs.

I can relax when he graduates thus saving me lots of money which we can use for travel which we are fond of. He may even fund our vacations someday...maybe.

The lawnmower

2004-07-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

It was 3 am saturday morning when I woke up, showered and ate my breakfast fast frequently checking my watch. My wife was sleeping soundly and snoring when I left the house at 4 am after deactivating and activating the security alarm system. Traffic was very light with just a few vehicles in the freeway. I pressed the gas and the mini-van zoomed to 80 miles an hour.

The night before, I removed the last row seat of the mini-van and using two planks of wood as a bridge pushed up my 18 year old gas powered lawnmower inside. It has served me well but due to old age I have difficulty in starting it and frequently required at least 15 pulls to start the engine. I'll be going to the county admin building in downtown san diego to exchange my ancient lawnmower with a brand new battery powered one.

I arrived in downtown at 4:30 am and the line for the exchange was long already. I unloaded my lawnmower and joined the end of the line and learned later that my number was 48. I'm glad my wife was not with me because if she did, my number I supposed was 748. The filipino time is still in her system eventhough she have lived here for the past 21 years. The county was giving away 450 lawnmowers and my friend told me to come in early because some people will be there as early as 9 pm the night before. I brought a portable chair and tried to take a nap but the loud voices of my neighbors talking in english and spanish prevented me from doozing off.

The exchange was not really free because I have to give back $150 plus my old lawnmower. At the Home Depot, that battery powered lawnmower costs $500 that's why people are taking advantage of this program. The city wants to replace old lawnmowers for environmental purposes with non-polluting ones. But with only 450 to exchange, it won't really make a dent in a city of a million lawns. They need to expand the exchange or prohibit the sale of gas powered machine at the stores like Home Depot which you can buy for $175.

It was 8 am when they started to process the exchange and sure enough, a city official who is running the show was showing off how to operate the new lawnmower. He is running for city mayor and being there was a smart move. I may even vote for him.

It only took 15 minutes for me to get my machine and took my time in paying it because a tv news station was taking video and I tried to linger for a while. I told my wife later to watch the news, I may be in there but unfortunately it was edited out.

I have been using my machine for a month now and I'm very satisfied. I have no need to go to a gas station and fill up the plastic gas container and avoid the messy work of fueling the lawnmower. All I have to do is charge the battery before and after using it everytime. To adjust the height of the grass to cut is sweat free, just press a lever and choose the height. It is much quieter and most of all it's environmentally clean.

I'll be waiting when the remote controlled one is available for exchange. After all, a robot vacuum cleaner is now available in the market. That's called progress....or laziness?

Filipinos are everywhere

2004-06-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

When visiting a foreign country my first question is, are there pinoys living or working here? Filipinos are deployed around the world as immigrants or contract workers(OFW). The middle east is teeming with pinoys from UAE to Bahrain. There's even a number of filipino restaurants in these countries.

On the way home after three months in the Persian Gulf, visited Darwin, Cairns and Brisbane Australia where we met pinoys and was invited to a baptismal party at Cairns, a touristy town near the great barrier reef. Many of the pinays were married to older australians and I assumed they were mail order brides.

After Australia we went to the island of Pago-pago American Samoa and lo and behold, pinoys are also working there in the cannaries. Some of them are waiting to get in to mainland U.S.

Copenhagen Denmark has a community of 5000 pinoys according to a young pinay working as a waitress in a bar at the cruise ship's pier.

The cruise ship's crew includes lots of pinoys who are paid a set amount and some are only paid tips. They work long hours and pay is below U.S. wages.

Yes, millions of filipinos are living and working overseas because they want to improve their lives and their families. Lots of them work in an alien society where culture and lifestyle are vastly different and in conflict with their christian upbringing.

Against all difficulties, filipinos persevere.

Just charge it!

2004-06-22T15:36:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day to pay the travel agency for our annual vacation. Of course my wife will pay it the american way, charge it. It’s so easy and painless to use these plastic cards…until the bills come in and that’s the hard part. “Did we spend all of that?”, that’s the usual question I throw to my wife. When you’re on vacation and enjoying every minute of it, you just simply pull out the plug on spending. You just keep on charging.

We learned a lesson last year while in London. A few hours after using the Citibank visa card to pay the London day tour, the tour organizer said that our credit card was rejected. “What do you mean it got rejected? I just paid it a week ago and our balance is nowhere near the max” said my wife who was increasingly annoyed. Thank God, we brought another card and use it to pay.

We found out that we should have notified Citibank that we are going on vacation to these places so that their security procedures will not activate. We used the card in california the day before and then a day later we use it in London thereby the alarm bell sounded. They thought somebody else is using it and so they put it on hold. Finally it was resolved and we merrily start charging.

After 2 days in London, it was time to sail to the Baltic.

Why marry?

2004-06-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

Couples have their own reasons not to take the marital plunge. One of these is financial, no savings or jobs to make the marriage work. For Darlene and Cesar it's not what they don't have but the one they will lose.

Darlene was married to a marine who was killed in a vehicular accident inside a sprawling base. As one of the beneficiaries of the marine's insurance policy, she got half of the $200,000. In addition she gets a monthly amount of $900 pension until she remarries.

She is now the girlfriend of Cesar who is in the navy. Baby Sylvia was born out of wedlock a year ago and Cesar is claiming her as a dependent for allowances and benefits purposes. On the basis of paternity, Cesar receives allowances of more than $1000 per month. He is receiving all the allowances as though he is married.

Now the question is, can they afford to lose $900 a month for the sake of marriage? Will they continue to live outside the bounds of matrimony and let baby Sylvia grow up as a bastard?

My intuition is, they'll take the money.

The mango trees.

2004-06-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

My wife bought mexican mangoes yesterday which are small and cheap. The mangoes are sweet but not as sweet as the mangoes of zambales. Our dinamulag mangoes are really big and the sweetest in the entire world. The record holder for the sweetest came from a tree in an island off the town of Masinloc.
When I was growing up, mango trees lined the provincial road across the capitol building and a source of sustenance and shed for us kids. We used to play under it for hours until the sun sets. Now, just like the denuded zambales mountain it's all gone replaced by a concrete jungle. I guess they cut the trees to widen the road but I'm not sure if this was the reason. Maybe when I go back for a visit one of these days I'll find out.

June gloom

2004-06-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

Southern California's climate is the best in the world but the month of June brings gloomy days. The tourists probably are asking "where's the sun?". Yeah, the sun is still there hiding and showing up later in the afternoon. For many people trying to buy a house, it's a month of ever rising home prices and rising mortgage interest rate. Lots of buyers are desperately trying to get in the housing market before it's too late. Recently, my wife's cousin finally took the plunge and bought a 2 bedroom condo conversion for nearly $300,000. In 1990 my primary residence which is a 4 bedroom and 3 car garage house cost me $315,000. Now it's worth more than double the purchase price. The price appreciation is really unbelievable and sellers are making a killing but questions on how our children will be able to buy their own house abound. How can they afford it? Parents should use the equity and buy another house for primary residence and use the old house as a rental. That's what I did in 1990.