I’m signing off…

Though i.ph has been great in inspiring me to start blogging again, unfortunately, the loading time is too long for my taste. And so I am utilizing my multiply site instead.

You may visit my new (and improved?) blog site at http://<my first name>.multiply.com/…

Yep, it's a guessing game.. =P

All my previous posts have been uploaded there…see you on the other side!

This is caladhiel.i.ph signing off… =P 

Boooooo!

Just when I thought I would be posting something cool, I found out that…

Find out what heroes character are you at LiquidGeneration.com!

Great! Just great…No superpowers for me! Boooooooo!

This page is under construction…=P

I told you guys I'm really lazy about this blogging thing! And I'm so sorry to all those who keep checking back every now and then and see that I'm still stuck at Day 1… ahahah =P I am currently on my 33rd day here in Japan…

Kumusta naman yooooooown! 45 years na oooooh! 

 Anyway, I've been uber busy (kind of…hihi) with cramming for the JLPT exam which will be on December 2. So forgive me guys for the uber duper delay. I will, I really will find the time to catch up once the test is over. =D

 Don't worry! I've been keeping a daily journal through my pictures. All I have to do is remember what happened and write them down all at once (yeah, I make it sound soooooo easy huh!). 

So again, to save you all some Internet time at least, please do check back again around December - preferably after December 2. I'll be pouring down everything I did for the past 2 months with one blow. Ahahaha! Good luck to the writer, and good luck to my readers. 

 Until here. Just had to write a quick one. Tata!

AOTS (Day 1)

The alarm went off at 6:30 AM but the laziness to get out of bed begged for 5 more minutes of snooze time (which I repeated for about 3 times..hihi). I got up at around 6:50 and took a bath in my tiny bathroom. There was hot water so the bath was goooood. I met up with Rouie and Geno at the canteen for breakfast at around 7:40. Wednesday apparently is a buffet day. So I got to try a little bit of everything (well everything that I was willing to eat that is).

After breakfast we headed up back to our rooms to freshen up and get ready for Day 1. Today marked the start of our AOTS training. I was both nervous and excited. I was a student again! Haha! =P As I entered the Lecture Hall, I felt like I was entering a conference at the United Nations. Participants from countries like Vietnam, Croatia, South Africa, Malaysia, Pakistan, Egypt, Thailand, Mexico, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Haiti, Paraguay, Jordan, and ofcourse the Phillipines were in one room. I told Rouie that I was overwhelmed to see actual people from the Bible (referring ofcourse to the participants from Egypt and Jordan…ahahahah =P ). Oh, the guys from Mexico were kinda cute too. It confirms my hypothesis that a greater portion of the population of Mexico are goooooood looking…hihihi. Chinese participants were also in the same room with us for the General Orientation. They handed us this nifty gadget which we can listen to wherein Channel 1 connected to the Chinese Interpreter and Channel 2 connected to the English Interpreter.

The whole morning and a little after lunch was all orientation. Nothing really interactive for that part. The highlight of Day 1 was the field trip to Adachi City Hall. We walked to Kitasenju Station wherein we were oriented on how to purchase a train ticket (ofcourse, we already did that on the way here yesterday).

We got off at Umejima and walked (or should I say waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalked) to the Adachi City Hall passing by the Adachi City Part first. They say that the Adachi City Hall is one of the strongest buildings in Tokyo, built to withstand the strongest of earthquakes so if ever we experience one, we should find shelter in that building. Ofcourse, after the very exhausting and painful walk there, I think I'll just stay under my desk for now, thank you..hehe =P

After a short tour of the City Hall, we headed back to TKC passing by some place which looked like  a town proper for its lights and a giant TV screen. We passed by several shops and I saw my very first 100-en shop. But looking around, other things here like clothes and shoes really do cost a lot of money. So no shopping for me here (well, at least for now until maybe they go on Sale. haha).

The walk back to TKC seemed much much much longer and both my feet we're already throbbing with pain. We headed up to our rooms immediately and i just had to throw my feet up against the wall. Dinner was also served in buffet and while wondering around the canteen I got to meet participants from Egypt, West Africa, and Guinea. I can't remember their names though (sorry if you're the one to read this) but it was indeed a pleasure to meet them.

And so I conclude Day 1 with the things I learned today:

1. You will really have to walk great distances here to get around. So wear rubbershoes from here on (ahahah).

2. When shopping in a grocery store, it is extremely important to use a grocery basket or you will be suspected of shoplifting.. seriously!

3. When going up or down the escalator, stay on the left side if you're not in a hurry because the right side is the "fast lane".

4. The Japanese people are really very disciplined. We should really commend them because everyone - old and young - were brought up to follow and respect rules and laws. Something that everyone should learn and apply in our own lives.

Do you know that they even have Stop/Go signals for pedestrians even for small streets and the Japanese really follow the signals even if no cars seem to be approaching. They also have designated places for smoking so you won't be blowing smoke on anyone's face while you're walking.

5. Japan is very pro-environment. Or at least that is my impression so far. They follow strict segregation of trash and littering is strictly prohibited. Even cigarette butts are supposed to be thrown in a designated bin separate from other trash. They also have this design in Adachi City Hall wherein they placed a garden on top of the Parking Lot basement so that the smoke from the cars would rise and be filtered by the soil and the plants above so that it can be released as clean oxygen. Sugoii!

So here ends Day 1 of AOTS. Tomorrow's a new day. I bid you all farewell and good night!

Jia mata!

AOTS (Arrival)

Nihon ni  tsukimashita (Arrived in Japan). Local time is now 10:52 PM…a full hour in advance from the Philippines.

I can't believe that I'm finally here. For the longest time there had only been talks about it, discussions, and then came the announcement that I was to go. Several months passed by so quickly and before I knew it, I was already saying goodbye to my friends and workmates, to my family, to beh…everyone familiar, to set on a new adventure in the Land of the Rising Sun. I even remember that this blog was originally created to document this adventure waaaaaaaay back in July. And so we start with the stories…

 Last night, I was trying not to get a good night's sleep on purpose (so unlike me…haha), because I was scared that I would miss my flight. Even after my alarm sounded, I was asking for 5 more minutes of snooze time… ahahaha =)) Forcing myself out of bed at around quarter-to-5 in the morning, I took a cold shower (really cold coz the airconditioner was still on at that time…I was literally shaking my ass off in the shower!) and dressed up. My Mom also got up at the same time to heat up breakfast. Papa and Apuput was also stretching their muscles to warm up. Kuya was the last one to get up because he came from a dinner party the previous night. But still my whole family was wide awake to bid me goodbye and take me to the airport (this was the same scene when I went to China last April…I love my family!). Even my little baby dogs were awake and yawning and knew that I was leaving that day.

 After breakfast, my crew (Papa, Kuya, Apuput, Ate Nanet and Lucky) got into the car and I hugged my Mama many many many times thanking her for arranging everything for me - from buying my winter stuff, my boots, my luggage, my pocket money. She is indeed our Supermom. I told her that I would miss her cooking very much when I get here (I'm scared that I might end up eating Yoshinoya everyday for the next 3 months…=/ No offense behbot). After kissing Mama goodbye, I also kissed my baby girls Charm and Panda goodbye and got into the car. We were off at a little after 5:30 in the morning.

 We got to the airport at 6:30 and thankfully I got passed all the inspections smoothly. No questions asked. My excess baggage was even ignored…ahahaha. People at JAL really are very accommodating. As we walked to the boarding aread, I tried to call up Mayang and Iya. They were leaving for the US and Denmark, respectively, on the 15th and I missed them by a few days. Who knows when I'll see those buangs again. I really hope it won't be long. But I know that they will also try to fulfill their plans there.

Rouie, Geno and I boarded the plane at around 8:30 in the morning and the plane was already moving at 10mins before 9, which was our take-off time. Talk about being on time ey! And so we we're off again in the high heavens. The sky was pretty clear on the way, but when we got to Japan the clouds were getting darker. We prayed for no rain that day coz  we still had a long walk from the train station to the Center.

The flight attendants in the plane were very nice (and pretty too..heheh) and the food was more than enough for my tummy! I wasn't even able to finish up the noodles and the dessert. 

I fell asleep after lunch for I'm not sure how long and after a while, they were announcing that we were going to land soon. Looking over at Rouie's window when we were over Japan, I was actually very surprised to see farms and rice fields. I always imagined Japan to be pure concrete or steel (ahahaha!).

When we finally landed, we picked up our luggages at the arrival area and changed our dulars to yen. Based on our instructions, we were supposed to take the Keisei Line to Takasago then transfer to a local train to Sekiya. Well, that was when my burden began. Unfortunately, the wheels of my big luggage were not cooperating. The whole bag just kept on wobbling on each side whenever I walked a little too fast. And the absence of a sturdy handle made it even worse (we only improvised and tied a leather strap at the handle so I'll be able to pull it). I won't go into the details of how I ended up bringing the old thing but I'm just glad that I won't be bringing it around anymore (or so I hope) from here on until I get back to the Philippines.  

 So as I was saying, we took the Keisei Line to Takasago for about an hour or so and then transferred to a local train on the same platform to Sekiya Station. That trip lasted for about 10mins. When we got out of the train station, our 400-meter walk began. I was dragging my luggage way behind. The rough pebbled sidewalk wasn't doing any good to my wobbly luggage so when it was getting too difficult, Geno was gentleman enough to just pull my smaller trolley, so I could push my big old luggage. 400-meters after (which in time units I don't know how to measure), we arrived at the entrance of the AOTS Tokyo Kenshu Center!

A nice reception (uketsuke) welcomed us and then presented us a video orientation of the Center procedures. A short tour was also given by one of the cute (female) receptionists and then we were off to check out our rooms.

I am now staying in room 531. No cable - all Japanese local channels. Internet connection? Yes, a very good plus. The bathroom is the size of a lavatory (haha). But all in all, the place looks very cozy. There's a radio and alarm clock in one near the headrest of the bed. And the controls for the aircon and the lights are all there in that little component. Neat little room I tell you.

Dinner was new for us. We didn't know how to go around the cafeteria. It's a good thing that some of the NSP Cebu people recognized us and showed how to go about our dinner. We had to swipe our card for registration. Tonight I had chicken - just fried chicken. A safe choice for my first night (hehe). And ofcourse, the traditional Miso soup (yum). The entire meal already got me uber stuffed and it was really delicious. The cafeteria people - eventhough they don't smile so much - are also very nice and polite.

After dinner, we had a small get-together with the other NSP people who are here. They already planned a welcome party for us this Friday at the Karaoke room. A trip to Tokyo Dome was also in the itinerary this weekend, but we're not sure if we can squeeze that in, since we also had plans with the other Manila people who are here. Anyway, I still hope we can visit as many places as we can here in Tokyo.

And so now I end my post and get some sleep. It is a mortal sin to be late in Japan (hehe). I hope you all had fun reading my first post. I'll try to keep this blog updated as much as possible. 

Oyasuminasai Minna-san (Good Night Everyone)! 

NOTE: Posting maybe delayed every now and then for the next 9 days. Because unfortunately, the Internet connection here at the Center keeps timing out for some strange reason…maybe every single person in this building is using the net, so we just get itsy bitsy shares of the bandwidth. =(

Measure in Love (Part 2.5)

(Flowers in bloom)

 I'm sorry for the delay in writing Part 3 of this series. I haven't been feeling the "blogging rush", if there is such a thing, to write it yet and I don't want it to end up all crappy so I just uploaded the pictures for now. 

 For now I just want to show you all that my roses are now in full bloom and looking very purty on top of my desk. =D

Thank you again behbooooooooooot.. =P  

Measure in Love (Part 2)

(Part 2, Dayto desu) 

Late yesterday afternoon, I was rushing to finish everything I could to catch up with the 5:10 trip. But alas, Mang Jerry forgot to wait for me, so I ended up taking The Fort Bus to Ayala to meet up with Beh. We were going to catch the 5:45 mass for Thanksgiving - an appropriate way to start another year together. Even the night before, I already thanked God for all the blessings up to this day. Everything that He allowed to happen in both of our lives led us to this moment and if He hadn't willed it, we wouldn't have gone anywhere at all. 

 As I said in my previous post (Part 1 of this series), our date today was meant to be a reminiscing of our first date. And so we proceeded to Chili's to have dinner at around 6:30. It was so cool coz we got to sit in the actual table we sat last year. Talk about chances! Haha =D

 Oh, Beh suprised me by having flowers sent to the office. I didn't get the chance to take a photo of it so I just downloaded the one from the site. I got three very lovely roses, almost buds. He said he wanted me to see them bloom on their own. Sweet.. =)

NOTE: The pictures I'll be presenting in this post would be a comparison of the events we did last year and, for some, repeated on purpose for this year. The left (or top) photo would ofcourse be last year's version, and the one on the right (or bottom) would be for this year.

Next stop was to grab dessert at Haagen Dazs. Beh got the Macadamia Nut flavor, and I got the Belgian Chocolate (dark chocolate… aaaah… =p~)

After dessert, we hailed a cab and went straight home. It was a simple evening. But it was so much fun to look back at what we had last year. And much more grateful to know that we still have it til today. 

Measure in Love (Part 1)

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes,
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

…Measure in Love… 

-Seasons of Love (RENT Movie, OST)

 Our first year has finally arrived. I've been looking forward to this day. Imagining how it would turn out. Today I'm extra jumpy and cheerful (and blooming too, I hope…hahah).

 Early this morning, I went to visit Beh at his home. My original plan was to surprise him (again) with breakfast, just as I did last year on our first monthsary. But unfortunately, my lack of capability to wake up early stood in the way. So I ended up asking him to eat out for breakfast instead. Well, it's still close enough isn't it? I still showed up in his front door. hehe =P

 We had an early celebration last weekend at Hidden Valley Springs in Laguna. I'll be writing a separate entry on that since it really deserves it's own space. This particular entry would probably be divided into three parts: Part 1, which is this one, would just be a short intro, so that I can say I wrote something on THE day. Part 2 would feature our date tonight, which would be sort of a reminiscing of our first date. And finally, Part 3 would be a feature on our "romantic getaway" to Hidden Valley Springs last Saturday. 

 So to my avid fans, please be patient. Haha =P So here ends Part 1…

The First

This is how I'm feeling right now… can't even think of an "appropriate" title for this post. I'm not even sure why the hell I'm posting this. I just have to let it out I guess, or I'll burst into tears right here…

Yes.. this IS my very first post categorized under "Rants and Grumbles"… I'm human too.. so sue me for being sad and depressed. I am very capable of getting hurt too! I just hope people will get that…Anyway, I will apologize for the mushiness of this post. You may puke in your own time if you wish. Or you can just stop visiting my blog page completely. I really won't mind…

I'm having conversations in my head again. I do that whenever I want to say something but I can't. It's not really a conversation. More like a monologue in my head but I also picture the person I want to say it to right there, listening to me…really listening to what I really have to say. So here's what I want to ask you… 

Why? Why is it so hard for you to include me in your world? 

I really don't understand. I remember saying it once. Or at least implying it. I even remember you apologizing for it. It started out as an "example" in one of our petty arguments and I was hoping the message got through. But apparently not, coz you did it again. You just keep on doing it.

Hindi ko alam kung anong mararamdaman ko minsan. Minsan nakakainis. Minsan nakakabastos. Minsan nakakadepress. Natatanong ko tuloy: Ikinakahiya mo ba ako sa kanila?

I'm trying to make up excuses for you. Maybe you think it would be awkward for me so you're just "sparing" me from all of it. Yeah, the concern is appreciated and I am getting your point. But sometimes, the mere invitation means so much more. It shows you're actually giving me an opportunity to be a part of what you have.

I'm not trying to invade your life completely. You deserve some personal space as much as I do. All I'm asking is that you let me feel that I can be part of the things that are important to you. 

Masaya naman ako eh. Pero hindi ko lang maintindihan talaga kung bakit minsan nagiging "others" na lang ako sa buhay mo. 

Haaaaay.. naiiyak na ako..  ayoko na.. siguro pagod lang.. ayaw ko nang mag-isip ng masama pang kahulugan. I'm still not feeling any better even after this…

Note to self: Ten days to go… 

"The!"

I got this from a forwarded email. It made my head hurt so bad I just had to share it. Prepare for a major nose-bleed! Ahahahah =))

We' ve been friends for a long time ago. We come from the same alma mother. Actually, our paths crossed one time on another. But it's only now that I gave him a second look. I realized that beauty is in the eyes. The pulpbits of my heart went fast, really fast. Cute pala siya. And then, he came over with me. He said, "I hope you don't mine. Can I get your number?" Nag-worry ako. What if he doesn't give it back? He explained naman na it's so we could keep intact daw. Sabi ko, connect me if i'm wrong but are you asking me ouch? Nabigla siya. Sagot niya, The! Aba! Parang siya pa ang galit! Persona ingrata!!! Ang kapal niya! I cried buckles of tears.

Na-guilty yata siya. Sabi niya, isipin mo na lang na this is a blessing in the sky. Irregardless daw of his feelings, we'll go ouch na rin. Now, we're so in love. Mute and epidemic na ang past. Thanks God we swallowed our fried. Kasi, I'm 33 na and I'm running our time. After 2 weeks, he plopped the question. "Will you marriage me?" I'm in a state of shocked. Kasi mantakin mo, when it rains, it's four! This is true good to be true. So siyempre, I said yes. Love is a many splendor.

Pero nung inaayos ko na ang aming kasal, everything swell to pieces. Nag-di-dinner kami noon nang biglang sa harap ng aming table, may babaeng humirit ng, "Well, well, well. Look do we have here." What the fuss! The nerd ng babaeng yon! She said they were still on. So I told her, whatever is that, cut me some slacks! I didn't want this to get our hand kaya I had to sip it in the bud. She accused me of steeling her boyfriend. Ats if! I don't want to portrait the role of the other woman. Gosh, tell me to the marines! I told her, "please, mine you own business!" Who would believe her anyway?

Dahil it's not my problem anymore but her problem anymore, tumigil na rin siya ng panggugulo. Everything is coming up daisies. I'm so happy. Even my boyfriend said liketwice. He's so supportive. Sabi niya, "Look at is this way. She's our of our lives."

Kaya advise ko sa inyo - take the risk. You can never can tell. Just burn the bridge when you get there. Life is shorts. If you make a mistake, we'll just pray for the internal and external repose of your soul. I second emotion.