First Few Minutes

Lovely.

Expression ng mga Briton.  Description rin sa paligid.  Totoo naman pala.

Yeah, lovely talaga ang paligid.   Unang hakbang pa lang paglabas ng airport - lovely na agad ang klima - malamig at presko. Walang kainit init kahit na alas 3 or alas 4 na ng hapon yun.  Ang sarap lang maglakad.  

In any case -  check out a few pics while we were on our way to the apartment.

Right Hand Drive.  Whew.
This is totally new to me kasi naman Left hand sa Pilipinas.

My First Step in Europe

View from the top.

Well, the United Kingdom isn't really in the middle of continental Europe, but hey, it is one of the primary hubs of the continent.  I can't be more thrilled to step in the UK - almost a year ago.  It's still fresh in my mind.
Yung UK trip, particularly London, was not a liesure trip but a working trip. Thank you sa company ko, QBE, for sending me and an officemate, there - for free with allowance. Bongga talaga. Nakakakaba man ang visa application but hey - approved. 6 months Business visa. Choosy pa ba ako?!


Skip the other stuff, i was off to London via Hong Kong - and that wasnt bad for a 1st time out of the country trip!

It was a long flight and it was literally an "all day" flight - from the time we were off at Terminal 3 at around 5AM and arriving in Heathrow at 3PM - timezone is backwards. 12 to 15 hours travel time in total. No sleep. The heck. It was pure excitement!

Touchdown - Heathrow.

While on the plane, para akong tangaa. Di makakilos. Palibhasa economy. Pero di na ko choosy. Libre naman kasi. Nasa window seat ako, dko naman mabuksan ang bintana kasi mainit. All throughout the flight tanghali ang dinadaanan namin. Mainit talaga. Di rin ako makatulog kasi alanganin sa pwesto. Masikip kasi may katabi akong magasawang foreigner. Maybe nakatapos ako ng 2 or 3 movies. Di na masama.

May flight path. Dun ko tinitingnan if malapit na kami. Nakaka excite. Di ko lubos maisip,  nasa ibabaw kami ng China, Russia at iba pang bansa. Saya lang.
Ignoramos.
Bakit ba, di lahat ng Pinoy nagkakaroon ng chance to travel - for free.
Finally, nagsalita na si Captain, malapit na daw kami.
Excited.

Binuksan ko ang bintana.
Behold!
My first glimpse of the United Kingdom.

Beautiful. Green.
Smile. Thankful.
Then a few more moments, nagland na sa Heathrow.... and my companion, Joms, and I inched our way out of the plane... to finally breath London air.

What this means is.....

1st step outside the airplane door and brrrrr... it's cold in here. No aircon needed.
Smile. Thankful - we arrived safely.


Next hurdle - Immigration. Di pa lubos ang tuwa dahil baka mapabalik kami ng de oras. In any case, at that point though, I was thankful enough to have my first step in Europe.

PAANO ??!!!!

I have gained a lot of weight.
OO, ang taba taba ko na.
di ako nagtitimbang pero ang sukatan ko ng pagtaba ay ang mga pantalon ko.
Ang binili kong pants pang pasok sa office 2 years ago na waitline ay 34 - masikip na ngayon.  Nakakatakot na mag-snap or matanggal ang button, or worse, baka masira pa ang zipper - nasa office pa naman din ako.
Paano ba kasi ang magpapayat - PERMANENTLY.
Sabi nga nila - complete lifestyle change.
I smoke.
I eat a lot.
I love chocolates.
I love to eat burger.
I occasionally drink soda.
I like lechon kawali and bagnet.

Tamad ako mag exercise.
Tamad ako bumangon ng maaga.

Mid shift ako - from 2 PM until 11 PM ang pasok ko.
Pagdating ng bahay - antok na antok na ako.

Di ba - paano magpapayat?!

One bagyo after the other can be good or bad.
Good for me kasi malamig at masarap matulog - beneficial sa mga nagttrabaho sa gabi na katulad ko.  Bad sa iba kasi wala na silang masilungan kundi nga evacuation center na siksikan at mabaho.
Good for me kasi tipid sa pera  kasi of eating lunch, itutulog na lang.  Bad for some because there are material damages which means more gastos and more nasayang na gamit na naipundar.
Good for me because I can stay home the whole day - and sleep of course.  Bad for some because it means they do not have a place to stay.


Gusto ko lang naman sabihin na kung may naghihirap dahil sa bagyo, meron ding mga natutuwa. Hindi naman kapinsalaan ang dulot ng sakuna - dahil sa likod ng lahat ng paghihirap, merong mga taong natutuwa, meron kumikita, meron yumayaman.  Yan ay isang katotohanang dapat harapin ng lahat.

Birthdays and New Things to Come

I have been existing in this world for 32 years and yet wala pa rin akong napapatunayan sa sarili ko.  Nabubuhay pa rin ako sa anino ng pagsisisi at sa awa sa sarili - na alam ko namang sarili kong kagagawan.  Ngayong isang oras at ilang minuto na ang lumipas at akoý 32 na, parang karaniwang araw ulit ang aking haharapin.
My birthday was like any other ordinary day. Mas malungkot pa nga kasi concious ka na lumagpas na sa calendaryo ang edad ko... lumipat na sya sa numero sa thermometer. Parang wala naman talagang special na pangyayari except for the greetings na nabasa sa Facebook, sa cake na binili ni Kermit at Sarah.  Wala rin namang significant na feeling na umuusbong sa aking pagkatao. Wala talagang pinagbago.  Pasalamat na lang siguro ako at ako ay naka leave ngayon sa trabaho. Other than that - nah.
Buti na lang there are new things about me that I want to discover - the yearning to push my limits and at the same time, fulfill the dream of living a healthy lifestyle - quit smoking at eventually losing a lot of weight.  Good thing that I started to run again.
Ewan ko lang kung ano pa talaga ang mga dadating sa hinaharap.  32 years na mejo bitter-bitteran ang pakiramdam ko - though people do not seem to see it - but then deep inside - I am ... not super happy with what I have now.
I dunno if this mentality will ever go away. I hope it will.  Anyway, I still have a whole new year to rechannel all of my energy and my frustration and all of the sadness I feel inside...
Definitely, there will be a lot of things to come my way...and I am sure these things - good or bad, will make me better.