Bye Texas, Hello New York

The week flew fast and it was time for us to leave Texas and go to New York. Our last days at Rockwall was fun fun fun. We had dinner at Luigi's last Friday and had lunch at Red Lobster over at Mesquite yesterday. We hop from one shopping center to another, Firewheel, Rockwall, Town East....We enjoyed our coffee break at Barnes and Noble where the conversation led to meeting friends, relationships, settling down, working on marriage and eventually separating. We all learned from the experiences of those who shared esp. Anna who is about to marry her bf from the internet. She was in the hot seat until we all went home...I hope she took note of our advice. Anyway, I slept almost midnight trying to pack my things without exceeding the baggage allowance.

We left the hotel at 4:00 am and headed to the Dallas Fort Worth Airport. We were supposed to take off at 6:20 but our plane just had us waited and went to and from the airplane for a maintenance check. I remember our dilemna on our way here...haay, grabe the plane took off 3 hours after the schedule and so we arrive at Philadelphia International Airport at 12:30, the time we were supposed to arrive at Binghamton. I was so tired and hungry, I just slept thru the whole flight. We left the airport for Binghamton at 3:55 and arrive after an hour. It was a small airport just like the domestic airport in the Phils. but we didnt get our luggage, it was left at the Philadelphia airport....We proceeded to the DCSI's GM's place to have dinner. It was sumptous, we had turkey, wine, just like a thanksgiving dinner. We also met some of the managers attending the sessions tomorrow. Oh, by the way, the weather here is colder than in Texas, and the place we went to is amazing. Their house sits on a hilltop and it's the only house on the area, no neighbors. The windows are overlooking the forests. Sometimes, they can see wild animals roaming around like grizzly bears, deers, bobcats etc...The hostess is so kind and she cooks really well. i love her pumpkin pie. By the time, I'm writing this, my luggage has not arrived yet, I hope they are not lost.

Celebrations!

Our training for Flotec commenced after 2 full days of training. It's a good thing that we were able to pull it off earlier, I hope that they were not info-overloaded. But based on the results of their activities, I can say, this group is ready, well most of them has undergone ISO training before and had experience with the implementation so I hope the 2-day stint is okay for them. That meant 2 full days of rest for me, because I was not feeling well during the days that we were travelling to and from Irving. Arnel Esguerra and his team arrived yesterday and when it's time to have sumptous meals with them, my stomach is not cooperating. I had gas pains, feeling of indigestion, had been vomitting a couple of times for the 2 days I've been out. When one of the managers there already told me that they will be bringing me to the hospital, I was afraid that I'd turn out to be in Mr. Danny's case - had to be operated and all that....just thinking about the cost, I felt more sick. I had to ask my friend Cathy to do me a favor to check if this was something else, and when she came with the test kit, it confirmed what I've been thinking all along -- I'm having another baby. Yeah, Kyle is going to be a kuya na and Kuya Aloysius will have to take care of another brother or sister (the latter is my preference). Well, this calls for a celebration, I was not sick after all!

Today, Aloysius graduated in Pre-school, being no. 3 in his class is an achievement. Although he didn't get a medal, only the no. 1 gets the medal, I'm still a proud mom.

Egg Hunting, Singing and Dancing at Easter

I attended service today at Lakepointe church at Rockwall and I was amazed how big the congregation is. The music ministry is galing, imagine me strings (violins) and bands creating perfect music at the same time. It's right that today is the resurrection, but what's important is the revival in our hearts. I was touched by the message today...and like what the song meant, I will never be the same.

After church we headed to Marisel's place by the lake and had Easter Egg hunt, I got the least number of eggs because I started to eat the contents of the eggs while they were roaming around looking for eggs. After a hearty lunch,(Pinoy food was served- Kare-kare with bagoong and rice), we got up, sing our hearts out and dance the night away...we had Danny Carreon to sing New York@ and YMCA. It was so much fun.

At night, had a chat with the kids, saw them at webcam and I felt homesick again.

Shopping time, Buffet Lunch, Ted's Ranch and more..

It's Saturday so we don't have work again. Cathy fetched me from the apartment then we headed to Ross, a favorite place to shop ksi mura hahaha. Then before lunch we fetch her family then went to Mesquite. We had lunch at Golden Corral. Buffet ulit at me steak ulit, hahaha. I chose to eat little in each type so I can taste them all. SARAP! Full agad, had no room for dessert. Just by looking at the table full of cakes, cookies, cheesecake and creams plus the ice cream dispenser on the side with your choice of toppings, nakakabusog talaga.

After lunch, we went to Fry's electronics. I didnt buy anything there, no more budget. Afterwards, we head to Rockwall again, they dropped me off at the apartment and i slept na until it's time again for Dinner. We were invited to Ted's place which turned out to be a ranch by the countryside, ang ganda! I loved the place, they have horses and donkeys but didnt get a chance to ride because we were inside and the conversation was interesting. We had burgers and pica pica...a few drinks then uwi na ulit, here's our picture at Ted's place. Note, had an opportunity to have a picture taken with Teresa.

Good Friday at Downtown, Town East -Mesquite and Hubbard Reservoir

We didn’t have work today so we headed to the Downtown area to see the high-rise buildings there, had photo opportunities everywhere. Then we took lunch at Town East Mall in Mesquite, where we also had opportunities to try Western Apparel at Shephler’s. For a moment there, we felt like cowboys and cowgirls.
After lunch and shopping at Shepler’s, we headed to Heath to meet Craig and his family and cruise down Hubbard reservoir (lake) in his boat. This was another breathtaking experience. I have seen the harbor but seeing it from the lake is another thing. While cruising the lake, we also had opportunities of seeing the nice mansions and lakehouses. It was like seeing a view from a postcard. It was refreshing! Afterwards, we headed off to get Danny from the hospital, shop a little from Old Navy and Ross then had dinner at Friday’s.

Meeting Cathy and sharing the good old times

It was an early dismissal today so Cathy (a high school barkada based here in Rockwall) fetched me and Remcel. We had dinner at Olive Garden, an Italian restaurant in North Garland and the conversations were mostly about our high school days. It was fun reminiscing how silly we were and how the whole barkada looked and acted before. We also had fun recalling the “popular” and “unpopular” batchmates and how they looked like now. By the way, the dinner served was superb, I had wine with my salmon dish. After dinner, we strolled by the shops in Firewheel where we bought Bath and Body Works pasalubongs. Then we headed to Cathy's place and we had opportunities to call our families in Manila. I was relieved to hear Lito’s voice and talking to him still brings kilig moments. I missed him and the kids that’s why the eating and window shopping activities helped after each working day to keep me from thinking about them. Good thing there is a webcam and internet but still, talking over the phone is another thing.

NBA game at American Airlines Center

When we were at Flotec yesterday for the Awareness Training, Ron one of the attendees invited us to the NBA game today at American Airlines Center. Being a NBA fan, I got excited to see the Mavericks versus Lakers live. Today it was raining hard and we had to rush to Flotec then head to the Dallas area for the game. The game starts at 7:30 and we had early dinner first at the Platinum Club restaurant and bar. I have seen lots of Barbies and Kens here and my eyes can’t get enough. Soon the game started and we were excited to cheer on until Mavericks were behind by at least 25 points. At half time, the boys decided to stay at the bar area and I opted to check out the Souvenir shop. The game already started again and I chose to watch it from our seat (we were in the VIP row-Platinum Club, they have a Season pass so we got good seats) because the boys never want to leave the bar. Anthony only joined me when Mavericks started picking up until they almost won with almost 2 points away from getting the game. Well, Lakers is really a hard team to beat but the game is really fun, It was like watching a Ginebra game. The Dallas fans cheered on wildly(we were exchanging high fives with the other fans, the girl in front of me and his boyfriend, plus the family of 3 on our side). I had fun today, taking one of the great opportunities others didn’t have privilege on. Joe and Ron were great conversationalists, never had a dull moment. Since it rained and there was flooding in some areas, we arrived at the hotel 30 minutes after midnight. What a day!

Trabaho na

Prior to the training, we already got an idea on the level of awareness, acceptance and adaptability of the trainees so we already know what (and who) to focus on. Learning that training effectively works when there is application after each theory is discussed, I have given the trainees a quiz to assess their understading and they were surprised, now we get their full attention 
Eating time again; Lunch at Dickey’s and Dinner at Phoa Garden (Vietnamese) after we visited Danny at the hospital

Palm Sunday at MAJ’s

We celebrated Anthony’s birthday at Marisel’s place in Lakeside Village, a gated community in Rockwall where the view is also fantastic. We had Pinoy food prepared by Marisel, and since it’s Anthony’s birthday, we had wine and had started the Magic sing repertoire. We were surprised when Mr. Danny suddenly came downstairs and told us that we need to send him to the hospital. He needed to be operated on the gall bladder and so that meant doing the training for him. Being in the US, his health needs will never be a problem but since he doesn’t have an insurance, then that’s another story.

My Texas Giant Experience

On our second day here in the US, we had the experience of our lives. We were treated to a great weekend at Six Flags over Texas Amusement park, a double or even triple version of Enchanted Kingdom back home. Just from looking at the different rollercoasters alone, you can already feel the thrill and excitement.
I would say I find Superman (Dizzying speeds flying up—and falling down), Batman the Ride (suspended from the rails of one of the most innovative coasters of all time. ) Flashback (you will be dropped backwards then forwards in loops and Titan (Towering one hundred feet Titan features over a mile of twisted steel with huge sweeping spirals, spectacular plunges, a 120-foot-long tunnel shrouded in total darkness, a series of camel-back hills, huge spiral curves, and high-speed helixes.) the challenging ones but never dared to try.
But after discovering that Texas Giant is voted no 1 wooden Rollercoaster in the world, we found ourselves lining up for this ride. I thought that this would be our benchmark in our thrill-finding over the other rides but we got the surprise instead. We were excited going up the stairs and even shared stories with other riders while lining up. When it’s already our turn, Anna had no choice but to take a coach alone while Remcel and I took the same coach. Going to the peak we already started to scream and I remember that that’s the only time I was able to open my eyes, when we were finally dropped after the last peak, the ride became more exciting, it was more scary hearing the squeaking lumber as the coach pass by. I cannot hold my head up during the ride and the bumps, loops and twists made me brain-freezed for a moment there. Marisel, Anthony and Danny told us that we looked pale after the ride. Nevertheless, we surely had fun, but it was the first and last tough rollercoaster ride that we had that day.
We also enjoyed the easier ones and we found ourselves getting wet in the Aquaman ride. It was just taking a great plunge in water. What’s more exciting is that, since you already got wet, standing over the bridge will make you get more wet by the splashing underneath the bridge. It was our last ride because we were already cold. . You may want to check out the description of the rides here. http://www.sixflags.com/overTexas/rides/ThrillRides.aspx

Our day was concluded with a dinner at the harbor (Dodie’s) where we also had fun taking pictures. The view of the harbor with the lighthouse was spectacular.

Day 2 - Lakeside, Six Flags, Harbor

Just view the pictures, stories later...more pics at http://irmee.multiply.com

Arrival Day

I had a hard time sleeping in the limited space but I was able to rest my feet. After 11 hours, we arrived at San Francisco International Airport. There was along line at the immigration but I had fun with the short interview. Ang kulit ng Immigration Officer, he assumed I'm the owner of our company, he gave me max 6 months stay but forgot to stamp on my passport only in the I-94 form. It's a good thing we found out even before leaving the airport. Ang daldal ksi nung officer, namesmerize ata sakin hehehe kaya gusto pang bumalik ako...after dinner we went to the Immigration Office and had it stamped by no less than a Fil-Am Officer. Ang Dami rin palang Pinoy nagwowork dun sa airport... My cellphone can receive SMS and calls but cannot make calls and send SMS. Another booboo, our plane got stucked in Amarilo Airport for a "maintenance check" we were there for 2 hours and was able to arrive Dallas at 8:00 am. One thing that irritated me, a black seatmate told me I'm rude when I passed him by, I remember saying Excuse me and the white guy seated next to me also gave a shrug, wondering what's the guys problem. I told him I said Excuse me it's not my proble he didnt hear it...tapos deadma ko na while waiting for the peopple to move out. Kainis! making my day worse buti na lang maganda ang weather sa Dallas and the driver of the Limo who picked us up was too polite, by the way he was also black....ironic noh...anyway, the rest of the day was hectic, ate lunch at Friday's, went to the office to print materials for the training and set up the laptop assigned to me (HP Pavillion) then head off to Wal Mart to buy groceries and then had dinner with the Texas boss at Culpepper Steakhouse. Sarap! I could not sleep because of fullness, had to drink my baon slimming tea...I hope I can have the wifi working in my room tomorrow for a chat with Lito and the kids, I terribly miss them already....

Departure Day

I had a nice "ala Gretchen" hairstyle before I headed to the airport. We had a shuttle waiting for us at ADEC. Remcel and I were touched when most of the Management team of Global had a predeparture party for us. We were a little early to get the near exit seats but we were shocked to find out that all these seats were taken and we were checking in 5 hours before our departure time. Pakunswelo na lang we were able to see Annabelle Rama and Eddie Gutierrez with their son Rocky headed for LA maybe to watch Pacquaio. Another celebrity Lloyd Samartino boarded on the same plane we boarded on.

Ready to go?

All my bags are packed and ready to go says the sang but my heart isn't saying that...I've started to prepare my kids for my departure. Aloysius being 6 understood but my bunso always cry everytime I say mommy will go to a far away office. This is the last night and my heart sank when I heard him prayed this way " Sana po wag punta si mommy sa office malayo". I cried silently as I watched them sleep.

Kidnapping news

I am alarmed at the heresays, urban legends on kidnapping and taking out of internal organs from the kidnap victims. I heard the stories in a parlor. I just had a footspa, manicure and pedicure and after the session, I suddenly felt unsafe. Imagine the kids are being taken from the mother or lolo and a van returning the dead body of the child without the internal organs? I'm not sure if this has already reached the media or has been exposed already but since I do not watch local news, I'm clueless. I just hope these criminals will be caught soon. Katakot!

It's my 2nd year anniversary !

Wow, it's been two years ang bilis! I remember applying in a blind ad at Jobstreet and I have already given up when I haven't heard from them after a series of interviews (one from an American) then during a Valentine's date in Powerplant Mall, a got a call from the last interviewer asking me if I'm still interested. Next thing I knew, I was already being called for the job offer. Well, I was clueless of what the offer was until I got my first pay check hahaha. (I was desperately seeking a job then) Anyway, my American Boss (Mr. Kaminski) was so kind and my co-workers were supportive and most of all, the workplace is very near our place so I stayed on. It was very hard to cope up after being unemployed for almost a year but I was fortunate to have a very likable working environment and a challenging job function. In a span of 3 months, I was able to finish a system and that "made" my career at ADEC. I also learned a new ISO standard and that was also another challenge. I loved all the internal audits, awareness trainings and system orientations I conducted for a company with over 3,000 employees. Now after only 2 years, I will have a chance to do it to a different audience in another country and probably another 2 countries aside from US...(I heard we will also be doing it in China and Australia hopefully before I settle) Jetsetter, as you may call it but that also meant tough job...crossing different continents...Sana makayanan ng powers ko...I thank God for all these blessings!

Now I know why God made me wait for the right career He has in store for me. Happy Anniversary at ADEC to me!

We're US bound na!

Lito got his US visa na rin and so after my business trip and before Lito goes to Canada, we'll meet first in New York for a holiday...parang honeymoon ano? Irvin and Faye are also excited. Too bad the kids can't come with us yet. Honeymoon nga eh, hehehe...

So come first week of April, we'll finally meet Liberty :)

BTW, I got this cute ladies American Tourister by Samsonite luggage for a good deal at SM during the 3-day sale. I got the biggest one then when I started packing, I only occupied half of it, hehehe, reserving the other half for the results of my shopping there :)