Moving in… moving on…

SURVIVAL. Since I arrived almost a month ago, I’ve been staying at a relative’s house. The house in Cainta, Rizal wasn’t my first choice of temporary shelter because of so many reasons. My close friends would probably know why. I normally make my nest at a friend’s place but since they’re jam-packed right now, I had no choice but to face all incoming storms, which I knew I would meet, head-on during my stay there. I was prepared. After securing a job, the next item on my To Do List was to find a place to call HOME and a week of searching the “real estate” market found me a cute 2-storey apartment with a reasonable price.

APPREHENSION. I’ll be sharing the apartment with a cousin. We lived together in the past and it was a period we both wouldn’t want to experience again. So why risk staying under the same roof again? I believe we both have gained some level of maturity to be able to work things out. I believe that together, we can beat whatever odds would come our way. So, can I maintain a whole apartment? I’ll try my best. I’ve lived alone before but this is the first time that I’ll be maintaining the whole place almost all by myself. I know it won’t be easy but I’ll get by with a little support and help from friends and cousin :)

EXCITEMENT. I now understand why my Mom was always attracted to the “Home” section of department stores. Lately, I’ve been shopping for appliances and furniture and to my surprise, I’m enjoying every minute. The two main items I’ve bought so far are the refrigerator and my queen-sized bed. I still have to buy a washing machine, a TV and rack/stand, a desk for my room and furniture for the whole of the ground floor. For the living room, I plan on buying bean bags instead of the normal sofa chairs. Sabi nga ni Jaja, “Dapat tatlong bean bags ang bilhin mo… para sakin yung isa pagpunta ko sa bahay mo” (Jaja said, “You should buy three bean bags… so that one of them would be mine if I come to your house”). The current table and stools in the dining area would eventually end up in the terrace on the second floor. As much as I’d like to fill the apartment up in the soonest possible time, I have budget constraints. I’d also like to subscribe to Cable TV and broadband internet which again entails money. As it is, the apartment is quite livable and I can probably invite friends over next weekend already ;)

And you calling me colored??

I got this poem from an email. It was written by an African kid and was nominated by UN as the best poem of 2006. Read on and enjoy :)

When I born, I black
When I grow up, I black
When I go in Sun, I black
When I scared, I black
When I sick, I black
And when I die, I still black

And you white fellow
When you born, you pink
When you grow up, you white
When you go in sun, you red
When you cold, you blue
When you scared, you yellow
When you sick, you green
And when you die, you gray
And you calling me colored??

A bum no more...

Yipee… my bum days are over!!! After a month of boredom, I finally have a job which I start tomorrow. Ever since I started working, I’ve always wished for time off from work longer than a week. I finally got my wish but to my disappointment, I needed lots of cash to do the things I imagined doing if ever I had the time. So what do you do to escape boredom if you're low on cash? This is how I did it…

TV Series Marathons – Download and watch all the episodes of the shows you’ve missed. You’d of course need an internet connection and a fast one at that. Luckily I was a bum and everyone went to work. I had the bandwidth all to myself!!! hehehe I still haven’t started on some of the shows I downloaded and I don’t think I’ll be able to watch them anytime soon

E-books – Again, download e-books from the internet and catch up on your reading. Bookworms out there, I have over a thousand e-books from almost all the popular authors. Send me a message if you want a copy :)

Chat online – I’m addicted to chatting online and friends never fail to cheer me up. I think I chatted with friends till the topics and conversations became redundant. I also took the opportunity to rekindle relationships with friends I haven’t spoken to in a long time.

Start a blog – my inspiration to start one came from a friend. She asked me to read her blog and from then on, I got hooked… need I say more???

And lastly

Sleep – it’s the most relaxing thing to do :)

So if ever you have time off and don’t have much money to spend, my advice would be… GET CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET! hahahaha you can never get bored with the world wide web… cheers!!!

To a special friend

Dear friend,

Thank you for being there when I was troubled;
Thank you for your unwavering support when I was weak;
Thank you for staying positive and optimistic when I lost all hope;
Thank you for making me laugh and smile when I was on the verge of crying;
Thank you for the encouragement you gave me when I couldn't move forward;
Thank you for showing me the way home; and
Thank you for being you

For...
Without you, I'd still be a mess;
Without you, I wouldn't have the strength people think I have;
Without you, I'd have lost all sanity during my darkest hours;
Without you, I'd have sulked and broken down to pieces;
Without you, I'd still be stuck in uncertainty; and
Without you, I'd still be lost...

Again, THANK YOU so much for being the friend that you are...

Sincerely,
Lark

Bittersweet September

“Friday Group goes to Cherating”

After all the hardships and troubles a few of us went through last August, we welcomed September with 3 days and 2 nights of pure bliss at Cherating, Kuantan - no worries, no problems, no troublemakers!!! 12 friends out on a beach adventure where we were free to do whatever we wanted. We laughed our hearts out, played around like 12 year olds, swam till we all got dark and wrinkled, and drank enough Vodka to run in our veins … hehehe *joke* It was fun fun fun!!!

As we were welcoming September and saying goodbye to troublesome August, I was also saying farewell to Malaysia. Cherating gave me 3 precious days to be with my closest friends here. The bonding moments around the bonfire and our last fishbowl session will never be forgotten. I shall surely miss the Friday Group. I could always try to pioneer another Friday Group in the Philippines, but nothing will come close to the one in Malaysia. A place I can always call HOME. Thank you so much for the memories… the Friday Group will always remain special to me...