You ran around inside my head
When you passed out, I felt dead
And I realized you make me live
And when my world starts to cave in, you jump inside and take my hand
No matter where, you are there
Will I ever see, what you could see in me?
I do, I just believe that we will always be and dream, yeah
Well I will never be the same and when they see
that you and I were meant to be they’ll just believe why we
are together
You are my light, you are my star, you are my sunshine and my dark
You are the everything I dreamed about
You are the guy who stole my heart
I am the girl you’re always fighting for
We have a love people dream about
A real life fairytale
I thought that I would be alone
You caught my eye and I was home
And I realized that this was love
I see the world through different eyes
I look at you by my side
No matter where, you’re always there
Will I ever see what you could see in me?
I do, I just believe that we will always be and dream, yeah
Well I will never be the same and when they see
that you and I were meant to be they’ll just believe why we
are together
You are my light, you are my star
You are my sunshine and my dark
You are the everything I dreamed about
You are the guy who stole my heart
I am the girl you’re always fighting for
We have a love people dream about
Dream with me, make me believe that this is a real life fairytale!
You are my light, you are my star
You are my sunshine, and my dark
You are the everything I dreamed about!
You are the guy who stole my heart
I am the girl you’re always fighting for
We have a love people dream about
A real life fairytale
A real life fairytale
A real life fairytale

April 19, 7:05 AM – Airport shuttle service picks up Mom and Dad from Medina

April 19, 2:10 PM – Airport shuttle service picks me up from Medina

Jing endures 3-hour wait at Sydney airport

April 19, 5 PM – Mom and Dad arrive at Manila

Jing sleeps most of the 6-hour flight to Singapore airport

Jing endures another 9-hour wait at Singapore Changi airport (that’s from 12 midnight to 9AM)

Jing excitedly makes the 3-hour flight to NAIA Terminal 1

April 20, 1:30PM – Finally back home!  Aming Aming Aming!!!  (P.S. Panira ng moment yung fixer ng airport taxi, haaays!)

They have a double-decker bus here that goes around Sydney and also takes you to Bondi beach.  It costs $35 for one adult (me!) and $25 for seniors (Dad & Mom!).  It’s a good way to enjoy the scenery if you’re on the upper deck but after Bondi beach, I had to settle at the lower deck.  The sun was just too hot for me.

We finished the tour at around 2pm and we were just famished!  We bought Chinese food from across Medina and ate it in the hotel room.  Servings here are very very generous so we had enough food left until tomorrow.

After lunch we still had time to rest before Ate Lorraine and Hyacinth would meet us for a little shopping and going around.  I had to rest, I had slight fever already.

Anyway at around 4PM, Ate Lorraine and her family were in the hotel lobby.  We went out to shop for pasalubong at Market City (if I got the name right) and then walked to Harbour Bay to meet up with Hyacinth, Jay, Badette, and Pums.

Dinner was like they cooked one whole cow for our table.  Mom and I shared a plate but still didn’t finish our food.  After dinner, we went around to take pictures.  Jay and Nam took the pictures since I forgot to bring my camera. How about that?!

Sydney looked better at night time I must say… the Opera House was brilliant.  We couldn’t resist the photo op.

Today was really fun but still, Chin and I had little time to catch up on each other’s lives.  I hope we had more time.  Maybe I’ll come back here.. or stay for good.. ?

Alex picked us up at 7am and drove us around the city.  We also went to see his wife, Baby, in her office.  She worked in a caring facility for the ageing.  There I saw a eucalyptus tree (but ofcourse no koala) and basil!  I’ve always known basil as the green things they put on my pasta.

At the Caravan show, we saw a lot of camper vans or trailer trucks (?) that could be a house here in the Philippines.  Awesome!

When we got to Hyacinth’s baby shower, it was almost 4pm.  We had little time to catch up. Too bad. I enjoyed the games though; not to mention making baby Marielle laugh like she’s seen a clown. (that’s me alright)  I didn’t even had the chance to tour my friend’s enormous house.  Alex wanted to go because Baby cooked dinner for us.

Alex’s house was as huge as Hyacinth’s I guess… It just had a more classic look.  We met their daughter Cai who was really really nice.  So far all the kids we met here are just so nice, polite, and friendly.

Dinner was great… Baby cooked chicken, duck, okra… yummy!  That was the biggest meal I’ve eaten here.

Now we’re back at Medina… I have to sleep.  I’m still not feeling well. :’(  But Aming and I got to talk on the phone so that’s fine. Good night, Sydney!

On my way back to Medina, someone fought with somebody on the bus; but maybe they were just talking out loud, although I heard one call the other a low life.

Anyway when I got in the room, Dad was busy playing Farmville while Mom was glued to Bejeweled.  Talk about techie parents!  I am so proud of them.

Before 5PM we were already outside trying to explore nearby streets.  We wanted to look for a baby shower gift but we couldn’t find the right store.  Anyway when Dad’s slipped disc finally won over our perseverance, we decided to have dinner at Pepper Lunch.

Pepper Lunch here isn’t like the one in Greenbelt 5.  It’s more fastfood-ish here but the price is about the same.  We liked it anyway.

We took the bus on our way back and it was my parents’ first time to ride the bus and it was my first time to feel smart.

Now I have to go to bed.  I’m not feeling very well but Alex is picking us up at 7am tomorrow.  More stories tomorrow I guess.   Good night!

Waking up to Day 4 is like eating a Cornetto ice cream cone… You can’t wait to get to the end.  Why?  Well, let’s just say the ice cream filling in the middle is my Mom and Dad’s arrival and the chocolate coated cone tip is seeing my friend again after 16 loooooong years!

So I won’t be giving the details of the rest of the day now, alright? 

I had lunch with my parents and Alex and his wife, Baby.  I ordered a lot since I got my financers now (hahaha!) but Alex won’t let us pay so it was a bit embarrassing having them pay for our food again.  Anyway, I went back to training after that big lunch and slept my way through 5pm.  (Kidding!)

After the training, my four “adult companions” (I might get in trouble if I say senior companions…) picked me up at the lobby of 200 George St. and Alex insisted to drive us down to Hyacinth’s place at Quaker (or Quaker’s?) Hill.

On the road, there are just some things that I noticed:

(1) no foul smell came from their “Manila Bay”-ish area where I parked my yacht

(2) sidewalks were clean

(3) motorists don’t honk their horns to death when caught in a traffic jam

I felt so not in Makati or EDSA or QC…

Anyway, their freeway looked much like SLEX or NLEX, only they got more greens at the sides of the road.

My friend’s house was really pretty, big, and bright.  It was like something you see in the movies.

It felt soooo great seeing them all again.  Her Mom was there, her husband, kids, sister, sister’s husband and kids… Wow, we were all back in Ilagan, Isabela hehehe!

They took us to Hog’s Breath Café (in Westpoint Shopping Centre) where I ate Prime Rib Calamari.  The steak was really good.  When you say medium well, they cook it just like that.  But I didn’t finish my food because I was just too busy talking. 

I felt bad that we had to go back to the hotel early but Hyacinth needed to rest else she might give birth now and I had to sleep early too.  But we’d be seeing each other again on Saturday for her baby shower.  I might be seeing other friends, Badet and Pums, there too.

At the hotel, Mom, Dad and I sneaked in to my room.  They only allow two people there at one time.  Hahaha!  So I slept on the floor.

Day 5

I am not writing anything for today because I’m almost sulking!  Dad bought shoes today and Dad bought Mom a bag.  (Ate Mitz, Mom broke the bag you gave her hahaha! Sumbungera ako.) I haven’t got anything for myself and I’ve been here since Monday!  Hmp hmp hmp. (Hahahaha!)

Anyway, the hilight of today is… I was able to use the Internet from inside the training room so Aming and I had the chance to google chat! Hihihi! Sorry teacher.

Now I have to go… we’re having dinner and Alex is already here.  Bye!

P.S.  Alex gave us raw steak just now… and it’s PLENTYYY.

I had lunch with the instructor and the other trainees.  I don’t know if I was just hungry or if the food was really  delicious.  I enjoyed the GENEROUS serving of rice and honeyed chicken fillet but got full so soon I left about 2 tablespoons of rice on my plate. Hahahaha!

After lunch, I got myself hot choco because it was so cold this afternoon.  I’m getting the same thing tomorrow.   I walked a few meters back and forth George St. looking for a place that can give me load on my Vodafone SIM.  Well, it turned out, just beside the training facility’s lobby is a convenience store. so there… I got another $20 credit for my SIM and was able to text my friends.

Just before the PM session started, Hyacinth and Ate Lorraine called.  We’re meeting up tomorrow, just in time for my parents’ arrival.  That is soooo exciting! I haven’t seem them for YEARS, and I mean 15 or so years!  I can’t wait! This is going to be the best part of this trip.

After the training, I was excited to go back to the hotel.  I was thinking about the internet subscription I made.  I wanted to make the most out of it but I just had to buy breakfast cereals and milk at the convenience store downstairs.  After buying the stuff I needed, I decided to ride the bus back to the hotel but unfortunately, the buses don’t issue tickets anymore.  The driver was really nice and even called me to go back up the bus just to tell me where to buy the bus tickets.  So there I got my tickets but decided to walk because I was amazed by the Town Hall.

Anyway when I got to my room, I opened my laptop and got online.  And that’s the most exciting part.  Chatting with Aming! I got to tell him all my stories and bloopers that I’m too embarrassed to tell anyone.  After about 30 mins, my subscription expired. But I was in luck!  I was able to use the free WIFI and didn’t get disconnected until 7pm.  Turns out the free connection is only available from 5am to 7pm.  But that’s better than none at all.  I was also able to chat with my friends Iva, Kats and Dada.

Tomorrow I’ll wake up early to post this in my blog site.   For now, I’m going to bed early.

“So far, so good” in Sydney but missing Manila,

Jing

So, there I was.. at 10am, I already have my luggage.  I was about to text Dad’s friend, Alex, who was picking me up.  “Hi Sir, I’m already here, finally! *smiley smiley*”  Message failed.  SMART says I only got 1 peso load in my roaming prepaid.  Panic mode!  Hahaha!  I used 50¢ to call home.  Line got cut off.  Think!  Think!  Oh OK, I didn’t have to think, a Vodafone outlet was nearby.  I bought a prepaid SIM for $20 and a $20-load to get started.  The PIN was written on the receipt.  The sales guy says I’d have to wait for the SMS confirmation before I can load my account, so I just held on to the receipt.  5 mins passed by and I was getting impatient.  I noticed that the payphones were accepting credit cards.  I called Mommy: “Please load my roaming SIM.”  She said Aming will send me the load in a few minutes.

And there, finally, I was able to text Alex, still thru my SMART SIM.  Vodafone activation didn’t get thru until about 30 minutes more.  Anyway, I met her wife also who was really nice.  She hasn’t slept yet from night duty but she was still happy to tell me where to go, what to do, the likes…  They drove me to the apartment-type hotel, Medina, where IBM booked me.  Fortunately, we were able to get the room before the usual check-in time (2pm) so I was able to take a shower before heading on to the training facility.

They wanted to show me what bus to ride so they left their car at Medina and even paid for my fare and lunch!  I can’t thank them enough.  They’re really nice.

So after lunch, off I went to Clifton for the training.  It was OK, then I remembered I still have to load my Vodafone SIM so Alex can text me & it wouldn’t cost him that much.  And then, I realized, I don’t have the receipt anymore.  I thought maybe I left it in the room, but now that I’m here, I just couldn’t find it anywhere.  So there goes $20 down the drain!

Another “not good” part of the day is that I can’t receive messages from SUN.  Aming has already sent me two messages and I’m just not getting them.   So I’m frustrated, I need to go online.  I felt lucky that I got free WIFI from my room the first time I tried.  Then after a few YM’s, I got disconnected and just couldn’t go back online.  Hmmmp!  I had no choice but to subscribe to a broadband connection here in the hotel and it costs a lot!  But I’ll just make the most out of it.  Tomorrow, I’ll just find a coffee shop with free WIFI.

So there goes Day 2… Not as exciting, but still, worth experiencing.

I’ll be away from home for just 10 days but when my boyfriend dropped me off the airport, it was as if I wanted to beg him to go with me hahaha!  Of course I didn’t tell him, that would be way too embarrassing and he would probably worry too much.

Anyway, once I got in the terminal and queued up for the Singapore Airlines SQ191 baggage check-in counter, I made a friend.  Her name’s as unusual as mine, Julliezavie (Jul-ye-zavee)… She’s a SPED teacher and it’s her first time to go out of the Philippines.  And after a few minutes, the scared me found a great buddy in Jullie.  I just hope I didn’t bore her & that I was able to help her.  She’s scared of riding the elevators and well, of course more than that, the airplane… Too bad we weren’t seatmates on the plane.  Well I think she’s done well, so Jullie, congrats!

Now I’m here in Singapore, waiting for my flight to Sydney.  It’s still about an hour away so I guess I can still finish up this blog.

My boyfriend is not feeling well, he’s got fever and sore throat… Maybe he’s got the flu.  I feel bad that I can’t be there with him & take care of him. He was OK when I left, maybe he’s just missing me too much. Cheesy! Haha!

When I got here, the first thing I did was to text him and my family (well basically he is part of the family) that I’m still alive.  I’m sure all of them were worried when I left because they know how stupid I am with directions and communications and resourcefulness and everything else.

Well, to you my dear family and friends, I was able to find a socket and free internet connection here at the Terminal 3.  I was able to ride the SkyTrain from T2 to T3 also. Seems simple to most people but to me and to those close to me, I know I did something I could be proud of.  So far so good.  I hope this luck doesn’t brush off of me for the entire trip.

Hmmm officially, this is going to be Day 1.  Except that I still have to say that the guy to my left asked me how I got connected to the internet.  I guess I can call this day, Helpful Regina Day.

On the issue of political dynasty, Erap has an unbelievable analogy: kung ang pari daw ba may anak na gusto din magpari, hindi mo daw ba hahayaan yon?

Noynoy has improved really well. He answered the questions straight to the point. Yung iba kasi halatang nangangampanya. He was composed and although at first I couldn’t imagine him in front of the “Pangulo ng Pilipinas” official seal, well, since his previous interview w/ Ted Faylon, mukhang OK naman sya.

Gibo, in fairness, is really intelligent and of all the 7 who participated in the debate, sya yung pinaka-mukhang presidente. Siguro the only thing that could ruin his presidential dream is his alliance w/ GMA. It’s not a secret how unpopular GMA is w/ the Pinoy masa right now.

I hate Pinoy politics, but I just love talking about it. I hope my vote next year can and will make a change. Baby steps Pilipinas. Kaya natin ‘to.