Much Ado About Something

What Kevin has been up to these days?

Everyone experience change at one point in their life. And we have our own ways of dealing (or not dealing) with change.

Our son Kevin is going through his own swirl of changes in the last three months. New country. New home, New faces surrounding him. New places to explore. No more car, more walks and trains. No more SM or ATC. New playground. New food. Etc etc.

We tried to "space out" the wave of change happening so that whatever impact it would have on him can be minimized as much as possible. Any parent of special kids would understand what I am talking about.

We realized is that he is coping with these changes in his own way. How?  Here's how...

Everything in pairs

... or symmetrical

... or neatly lined up (despite having a shoe rack)

Most picture frames face each other, in this case, it "faces" the trinket



his and hers

 We actually tried to 'correct' it at first, like bringing the things back to their original places. Because we are seeing it from "our" point of view. But he would "fix" them later anyway. So we eventually let him be for his peace of mind. But his Dad has to put his foot down on non-negotiable items (like moving the sofa or the bedside tables). We suppose there is 'order in his world' by putting symmetry into things.

He would also sweep the floor, put back dried utensils into the dish cupboard and wipe the kitchen counter dry. He did this on his own and we didn't have to tell him what to do. We make it a point to praise him for a good job and I know he feels better to be able to help around.

Of course, things get pretty interesting when he is outside the house. Like when he would try to move the bench in the park, or rearrange the monoblock chairs in the library when we visted Kyla's school :-)

So in case you ever had the time to visit us, if you happen to see unique arrangements at home, you would know that it is Kevin -- bringing order into his world.

X-plore Singapore Series: Jurong Bird Park

Today is a good day to take a breather and visit the Jurong Bird Park. We decided to take the Bird Park as the first destination because it is quite unique to us who were raised in the era of Manila Zoo, Q.C. Wildlife and much later, Ocean Adventure and Zoobic Safari.

"With over 4,600 birds across 380 species, Jurong Bird Park is one of the world's best in the conservation and display of birds in its natrual settings." Its awesome how Singapore is able to create a sanctuary for such different bird species.



Ready for my close-up!



We took the Panorail to have an overview tour of the entire park and later on, we can choose areas where we would like to linger a bit longer. We enjoyed watching the Flamingos and  Pelicans because they were set in their natural settings and you can enjoy watching them swim afloat the lake, unlike the other birds who have to remain in guilded displays. The Hornbills and Toucans are also interesting but quite monochromatic for camera saved for the yellow beak.

The Aviary was also fun and we had a chance to have close encounters with the most colorful birds we've ever seen!  There were also series of shows round the clock in the Ampitheaters. We enjoyed Birds n Buddies the most! You can even experience bird feeding at The Loft!



Photo-Op starts at the entrance

 





Bee-Eaters neatly lined up. Just liked the way Kevin liked 'em.



We lingered at the African Waterfall Aviary.
Kevin loved the rustling water.

The pink Flamingos were a joy to behold.
Kyla was busy snapping a few photos of her own in her Digicam.

Before calling it a day, Kyla even went to buy a replica of Barry (red and blue Parrot) who starred in the show and for Kevin we named his new pet Jurong (Bird of Paradise)!

Kung Hei Fat Choy

Bidding the Year of the Tiger goodbye and full of optimism for the Year of the Rabbit.... I was born under the Tiger year and I have to say that 2010 lived up as MY year indeed in more ways than one.

Living in SG this year made us a little bit more in tune with the CNY hullabaloo which pretty much reminds me of the fuss we Pinoy's make during Christmas season. The stores are also decked with gold, red and orange trimmings and symbols of prosperity and good luck. Grocories were brimming with mandarin oranges/lukans, Lo Hei, Yu Sheng and many other assortment of Chinese goodies. I bought some goodies to try at home.

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Kyla and Kevin also wore their traditional Chinese costumes and we gave them some good luck baskets. And as for me, it's time to get some much needed sleep and catch up on my blog!

Happy Lunar New Year!!

The Portrait of My Hometown (Part 1)

“When were you born? Where do you live? Where is your home?”

An anonymous author said that the simplest of all questions are the most profound ones. These questions made me think back about a place close to my heart.

A view of Laguna Bay from the Binangonan Hills

I’ve never given my hometown as much thought until today. I’ve been accustomed to the daily routine of leaving and coming home through the years. But having been separated for it for almost 3 years now made me look back into those growing up years I spent in it.

Age of Slumber

I’ve been reading a book about the “Mysteries of the Taal Volcano” and the lost towns that had been buried centuries ago underneath volcanic ashes from the furious Taal volcano eruptions. The accounts made by Spanish priests about the Spanish-era towns near Taal volcano reminded me of our hometown in Tayuman.

There is not a lot of printed literature about Binangonan, Rizal except for my sister’s book report in high school days. I never heard about its existence as a significant Spanish settlement, unlike the neighboring towns of Cainta, Taytay, Antipolo, Angono, Morong and Tanay which had a richer history, evident in their culture and architecture which gave a flavor of Spanish influence.



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Binangonan is a combination of mainland and a fishing village – despite its size, it might not have been a settlement then and that it was only a point of access for the neighboring towns, esp. that of the southeast section which traverses provinces of Southern Luzon (Laguna and Quezon). The western section is simply a dead end facing Talim Island and Laguna de Bay. Based on its terrain, it’s quite obvious that most of the earlier habitants were fishermen (Binangonan being a lakeside town) and livestock raisers. There could hardly be any farmers due to the nature of the soil. It could raise select types of vegetation, but not plentiful enough to make a rich harvest. The vast track of land at the foot of the mountain range had been underutilized up until the early 90s when immigrants from the city and other provinces settled in Binangonan. The lowlands were slowly converted into Industrial estates, residential villages and community facilities. The Binangonan hills were actually a part of the low mountain range of Montalban, Antipolo, Binangonan all the way to Tanay-Morong-Baras and Laguna. It was known to be a physical border separating Rizal from Laguna and Quezon.

Before I got married, I spent 12 years of my life in Rizal. Relative to the other municipalities under the 2nd district of Rizal, the majority of the baranggays in Binangonan remain as rural towns until this very day. There had been changes through the years to keep the town abreast with the needs of the growing population – but nothing significant enough to alter the face of the quiet, unassuming town.

It was around 1983 when our family visited our future home in Tayuman. Our house was being constructed then. The trip from Cubao to Tayuman lasted anywhere between 30-45 minutes. It was a breezy drive and you can hardly see anything interesting along the way save for the endless stretch of highways, the tall shrubs in empty lots and occasionally, mountains of gravel, sand and hollow blocks piled long the perimeter of budding subdivisions along the towns of Cainta and Taytay. And although it was a long, uneventful trip, it never bothered me. The cool breeze brushing against your face is a welcome relief from the humid city air. The highway overlooks Laguna de Bay and it felt serene to watch the lake as we drove by. In the early 80s, jeepneys were the only public utility vehicles that made trips from Cubao, Pasig and Mandaluyong and vice versa. There were tricycles that can bring you to the adjacent town of Angono, where the nearest public market, church and schools can be found.

Aside from the sprouting malls along Felix Avenue in Cainta, the predominant landmark then was the then newly established NCBA, Taytay campus along the Manila East Road highway. The building looked very modern compared to the typical low-rise, semi-concrete schools In Rizal. The Sienna College of Taytay Annex also gained preference over the other private school in Eastern Rizal. The newly constructed High School complex was a far cry from the antiquated campus near the St, John the Baptist Church at the Taytay Municipal Town Plaza. Some of the interesting places then were the famous Bahay Kawayan restaurant beside NCBA, while Balaw-Balaw Restaurant and Art Gallery in Angono were just beginning to carve a name for itself as a gastronomic haven for tourist and lovers of the Arts. The Vicentian Hills Seminary was a predominant sight atop the rolling hills that stretched along the Angono-Binangonan terrain. Tayuman had a number of resorts targeted mostly for out of town tourists, the most popular among them is the Lake Island Resort located directly across Barrio Road where we lived.

I was in my pre-adolescent years when I first set foot at Binangonan. The stark contrast between the rural town and the city never left me unsettled though it was a far cry from the urban living I’ve been used to in Cubao. The road that was called Barrio Road, leading to C.O.D. Compound was actually not a road but a dusty, rocky pavement during hot seasons that became a muddy alley during rainy months and it was impassable for vehicles. Electricity had just been installed then to a few households who can afford it until it became a necessity to the barrio folks after a few years. But potable chlorinated water and telephone were definitely unheard of. The source of drinking and utility water was a deep well located 50 meters away from the compound. It was in the late 80s when a deep well station has been installed inside our compound. PLDT was able to reach Tayuman only in the early 90s after the population had grown so much and installing phone lines became viable. Internet and Cable TV followed only in early 2000.

The nearest store from our house  then was at least 30 meters away. Luckily, we had 1 neighbor but the next one is much farther and was obscured by the tall bushes. Our house was built along the perimeter of the compound. Behind our house is a vast track of uninhabited land and a small duck farm which reeks of foul sulfide gases during summer. There was a cluster of nipa houses built in the middle of the land, which looked more like a farm to me. And you can imagine how life at the country side was – slow paced, simple, bereft of the luxuries we were so used to at the city. But nevertheless, it was home and a place that my parents can call as their very own. Somehow, there is a sense of pride and security living in a place you can call your own regardless of distance.

The place was so quiet, almost a deafening silence. We often make giant paper kites and play kite flying in the afternoon. 2-3 years later, the families who lived in the compound and in the surrounding neighborhood increased. There were a handful of kids playing around then it almost tripled after several years after most of our teenage friends got married and had children.

Talim Island

(To be continued... My Growing Up Years in Rizal)

Note: This was written in May 5, 2002 in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, to commemorate our 15^th year in Rizal. We relocated to Tayuman May 17, 1987.

Our Enercon Owner

Kevin is officially the Home Enercon Owner :-)

We were wondering one day where on earth the AC remote controls have gone? All six of them. Turned out he kept them in his bedside cabinet. All neatly lined up. Naturally, I tried returning them into their respective areas. But they kept on disappearing anyway. So we let him keep it.

And then I thought... it's not a bad idea... with the RCs safely in tow with Kevin, we were compelled not to use the ACs and save them for summer. So we let him keep the RCs and at any given time we only need to turn on at least 1 AC. Great energy saving scheme!!!

My Favorite (Bridal Shower) Advice

(These was written 3-4 years ago, after attending a Bridal Shower Party)

It was quite some time after I have been invited to a bridal shower party. After all, more and more women tend choose to marry later in this day and age, not to mention that an appalling 1:2 man: woman ratio, women are indeed running out of catch these days!

Having been married for 10+ myself, coming to witness bridal showers and wedding ceremonies are always a joy to behold for they remind me of good memories if my own shower party and wedding day that I have kept in my heart. And as always, whenever there are shower parties, the inevitable “share-your-advice-to-the-bride-to-be” part of the program is a given expectation for us, uh… should I say… mature women of the pack.
One favorite advice I often give out to a woman about to embark on marriage was borne of out of a personal conviction and belief in womanity and individual.

When a woman gets married, she starts acquiring new ‘roles’ in life—being a wife, a mother, a daughter-in-law, and so on.  But we must also not forget our own individuality.

These roles I mention are temporary in nature. Our role as a wife can end in many possible ways - someday we will have to part ways with our spouses thru death; sometimes we may end up losing them earlier through another woman or may be through work. Some marriages end simply by couples growing apart. While I am fortunate enough to have been raised by parents who have managed to stay together amidst many differences, I am aware that there are a lot other children then who went through life without a solid family to lean on. And now, I realized that the crucial roles that the husband and wife play in a family, begins with the two of them. Love is such a complex subject and while it is fairly easy to fall in love, the crucible is in making it lasts.

On the other hand, we never really end our roles us mothers but there will still be a time when we have to start backing off and let our children live their lives and we have to stay in the background as much as we can. I have a sassy two-year old daughter reminding me exactly that, young as she is, she has her own choices now and vehemently insists on them (“I don’t like skirts, I like pants…”, “I don’t want to dance, I like to sing…”, “I don’t like to write, I like to read books…”, “Where is my cellphone, Mommy?”) and while it will still take a long while before she can really assert those choices, the reality sinks in that times have indeed changed and so does the children of today. And because of that, our roles as mothers, though still unchanged at the very basic level, also had to evolve and meet the changing generations head on.

But the one role we never stop being, is being our self. Thus, we have a responsibility that even though two people in love are blessed to live one life together, we must also not forget who we are, our dreams, our strengths and our beliefs. A woman should not lose oneself despite being united to another. A woman ought to continue cultivating her dreams and enriching herself, find meaning in life other than being a wife or a mother, a friend, a citizen of the world.


Women today are far luckier than the women from our mother’s and mother’s mother’s generation. Women today have more choices and are more informed of our rights. Women today are more empowered to choose and chase her destiny and live up the life she wanted.  I hope that women continue to cultivate and assert her womanity!

At the end of the day, when everything and everyone else are gone, the one person you will be left with is you. Aptly said by an anonymous author, “When you are alone, do you like the company you keep?”

Love yourself!

2010 Year Ender : The Climb

I would like to recall the year 2010-  the Tiger year  -  My year through a song.

“There’s always gonna be another mountain. I’m always gonna want to make it move. Always gonna be an uphill battle, sometimes you’re gonna have to lose. Ain’t about how fast I get there, ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side. It’s the climb.”

Year 2010 is filled with events, which at the time, seemed just like another ordinary day really. Little did I know that life was weaving strings of memories that is going to be a part of a folio of people, places and events in the patchwork of the journey.

• Metamorphosis was reborn in January 2010 via my blog site. In the internet age, I finally decided to be done with my usual journals and start something for world wide web to see. It continue to be an extension of my earliest passion for writing and deep down, I was hoping to be able to touch lives through stories from my children, in this web page.

• My Birthday celebration. Looking back I realized it was the last one I will be celebrating in the Plant. It was actually a working day due to the AM Step 6 Workshop so I celebrated t with the Laundry LT at King Bee’s a week later. The folks also bought Mango Bravo cake at Conti’s as a surprise. Not to be outdone, Loves also took a (surprise) VL that day and they came over in the afternoon to bring a bouquet of flowers and cake and gift from Body Shop waiting at home, after celebrating over dinner at Nuvali's.

• Kevin’s Graduation. A big step from last year’s graduation day, Kevin is now more comfortable wearing his toga and gown and walked alone without tantrums for his graduation march. He also came up alone on stage to get his multiple intelligence award and we met him on stage halfway. Parents also applauded for him and we are happy that he now feels a sense of belonging with the rest of the school kids. In their Christmas Outreach program, Kevin was one of the kids awarded as Most Generous for his donation to the drive.

• Our travels. This year we started carving out more time to travel as a family. We love going to beaches which Kevin and Kyla also love. This year we went to Canyon Cove, Caylabne and Bohol Island. The kids loved their first plane ride and were on their best behavior throughout the flight. I started creating a list of new places to visit and explore.

• Kyla’s Self Discovery. Kyla did not make it for the honor roll in pre-school and while as a parent, I will miss the bragging right, I reminded myself that this is not about me. And so I assured her that we have confidence in her capabilities and not make a big deal out of not making it. But Kyla is full of surprises… We decided to enroll Kyla in St. Scholastica’s College Westgrove for grade school. Coming from a private school myself, I wanted her to experience growing up in a big school and be prepared to face life at large. I am proud to look back and see how Kyla has grown so much in the last five month… she joined the Center for Pop Music singing workshop and in her final recital, she sang “This is Me” with great voice and stage projection. She easily made new friends in SSCW and also joined the Dance Club where she got to also perform. She was a finalist for the Science Quiz Bee and top 3 finalist for Grade 1 Declamation contest. Kyla was also awarded the TOP Book Borrower for Grade 1 level and won new books as her prize. Kyla was also twice awarded the Academic Excellence award and a great way to say goodbye to her school. Most of all Kyla is most endeared and praised not for these achievements… but for her emerging strength of character. Kyla loves her brother very much. They share a special bond and people around them see it and are inspired, seeing Kyla merrily bouncing around her Kuya Kevin and showing her support and caring in every way possible. They are our true blessings!

• ITW plant was engulfed by fire and this changed the course of Alvin’s career in ITW. He was assigned to do a short term trip in China which is his first ever international travel and for the first time, celebrated his birthday away from home. We continued to have the usual cake and birthday dishes at home even though he can only join us in Skype. For the first time, I’ve seen Kevin cry over the absence of a family member.

• My Career (edited version from the original musings). So much has happened this year career-wise and little did I knew that it will be a prelude of things to come.  In a whirlwind of events, next thing we knew I accepted an assignment at the Singapore GO and the entire family will have to relocate by January. We had to live as split family for three months and had to wrap up our lives in Manila, pave the way to new destination, new country and a new assignment.

• Kyla’s 10th Birthday. Kyla celebrated her 7th birthday in a Camp Rock/Pop Star theme at the Paseo Premiere Hotel. We had over 150 guests and more than half of her classmates past and present, teachers and Kevins' teachers and therapists came to celebrate with her which is a testimony of the people and friends she has made. She also rendered a solo song number which makes for a memorable birthday.

• My farewell. I’ve always wondered how my life at the Plant will end and where to go next. I’ve always thought it would not be soon. But it’s not to be. And so last October 1, the farewells were in order. I feel humbled and honored from the touching messages from so many friends, colleagues, direct reports and people I have worked with in the Plant. I will always keep their messages with me as inspiration and source of joy during the difficult times.

And so as I bid farewell to 2010, I also welcome and embrace a new life waiting. Life is full of surprises. Life is beautiful!