Additional Program Staff

Day 4 of 100 Happy Days

I work for a small non-profit organization. It's so small that there are only three people--The Boss, Admin Assistant, and me. I work on developing the organization's programs and designing the projects under these. I also work with communities to implement these projects. It's a lot of work. The good thing is that we also slowly built up on the work load. It wasn't this busy four years ago when I started with the organization. And then we got "bigger" in the sense that we had more projects happening.

We currently have three active projects under one program and two active projects under another program. Last week, The Boss finally hired two more people to work on the organization's projects! This frees me up a bit.

Today, I met with the new staff and two of our volunteers and we discussed the documentation output of one of our projects. It's so fun when there are five heads working on something. The work pace is so quick! We were done with the major discussions and decisions after two hours! Yey!

Our new staff being briefed by our admin assistant on office procedures

Productivity is ALWAYS a Happy Thing

Day 3 of 100 Happy Days

There is something internally rewarding about successfully completing all of the day's task. Even if it means staying in the office an hour past work hours.

I just completed the initial re-designing of an indigenous education curriculum for university students. Yes, it is only the initial step to the re-designing process but it's the "biggest" step--crafting the education philosophy of the program. I have shipped it off to The Boss and should get comments in the next couple of days. Yey!

I don't have a picture of the curriculum. Haha. But I do have a picture of today's runner up. New Staff bought milk tea for all of us. It was 32 degrees C today, felt like 41 degrees though. With lots of humidity too. So the cold milk tea was really appreciated. :)

Cold milk tea with "pearls" (sago/tapioca marbles/balls)

God is Faithful

Day 2 of 100 Happy Days

The past few months I have been reflecting on my life choices and God's promises. I am becoming more and more convinced that my life journey goes in circles. It's like I always find myself back where I started. It's not a bad thing. It's not like I didn't grow. It's more like I seem to take the long road and yet I was already home in the first place.

TS Eliot said, "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." I really feel like it was written to describe my life journeys. Haha.

Recently, I have been asking if I should make a "drastic" decision in order to "change" my journeying in circles. Sort of "take matters in to my own hands" because it seems that God is taking too long to give me closure.

Today's church message was on Numbers 23:16-26. This is my "happy" for today because it reminded me that God is faithful. I might feel that certain aspects of my life are going nowhere or are just going in circles. This is reassuring because it focuses on God's character instead of my circumstances.

My circumstances may change but God remains constant

I have runners up too! Other things that made me happy today are: 

1. A friend giving me a very summery skirt! I love summer dresses and skirts! :)
2. Staying within my 800-peso food budget for this week's grocery shopping. :D

100 Happy Days

The 100 Happy Days Project is a challenge to people to intentionally "see" the good things in life. The idea is to upload a photo of what made you happy each day for 100 days in a row. I am not really a fan of the social network options so I am uploading my photos on this blog.

Here's Day 1 for me! :)

Dry Martini with Co-Worker

I met up for drinks with a former co-worker tonight. Co-Worker had to leave the job quite abruptly because of the need to personally attend to family business. We didn't even get the chance to say goodbye! Co-Worker just sent Boss an email and stopped showing up for work. We haven't seen each other in three months.

Now that the family business craziness has mellowed and the office is beginning to transition with three new staff (one replacing Co-Worker), I just felt the need to meet up with Co-Worker to establish some sort of closure and to share updates on where we are now in our respective endeavors.

It was a happy occasion because, given that I am slow to form relationships, I have realized that Co-Worker and I have really become friends outside of work. Work is good but if interactions are strictly work related and work-induced then there isn't really enough space for depth to develop. I enjoyed hearing about Co-Worker's present job, wedding plans, relocation plans, and family life. Lots of work-related conversations too but it was refreshing to not talk about work tasks.

Here's to forming deeper friendships!

Tiara's 2013 Travels

Here’s a summary of where I’ve been (literally) in the past year. Short review and travel tips included!

January

Flew to Iligan City from Manila to spend a few days with my friend. Went to see Maria Cristina Falls for the nth time. Got on a Rural Transit bus and traveled six hours to Davao City and spent the night at Costa Marina Beach Resort in Samal Island.

Maria Cristina Falls in Iligan City. Costa Marina Beach Resort in Samal Island, Davao del Norte

Costa Marina: Nice cottages, reasonable price. Food is okay. What I like about this place is that they have maintained the nature-y feel of the beach and “forest” instead of clearing the land to build concrete structures. If you like, you could also bring tents and camp at the beach.

February

I had friends from Manila visiting me for a few days! Yay! They did the usual tourist-y day-trips—Paradise Island in Samal, Eden Nature Park, Malagos Garden Resort, Philippine Eagle, Jack’s Ridge. I threw in a few not so usual eating places in their itinerary—Coffee for Peace, Casa Munda, PonceSuites, Backyard Burgers, Bankerohan Market. We also visited the Davao Contemporary Art Gallery! They stayed at Green Windows Dormitel.

Buying fruits at Bankerohan public market

Green Windows: Rooms are kind of cramped for four people with two beds but price is okay. Not for the claustrophobic. The room they stayed at in Green Windows ironically did not have windows. I'm not a big fan.

April

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bataan

Went to Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bataan for a day trip of visiting heritage houses. I like old things so I had a lot of fun. This place is a bit pricey but we got a voucher from MetroDeal or CashCash Pinoy (I can’t remember). We also went to Mt Samat; there’s a memorial for the soldiers during the Death March. Overall a good day of history. It's a loooong drive to Bataan so make sure you have a good driver. My awesome father was our driver. :)

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar: They have a batis-inspired pool which focused more on aesthetics rather than safety. The pool looks really beautiful but it’s slippery and you can easily bump your head in the big decorative rocks. There were also some corners of the pool where water was stagnant. The heritage houses looked really well restored.

June

A friend from Manila spent a weekend in Davao. We went to a resort in Samal owned by the family of my former workmate. It was a chill, beach bumming weekend. The resort is also near Hagimit Falls so we did a little side trip. Just make sure that it didn't rain the previous day/night to have a better appreciation of the falls.

 

Fernandez Beach Resort is well-known in Samal, accessible by public transport

Fernandez Beach Resort: Accommodations are cheap, nice, and clean. The beach is okay, though waters are not as clear as in the parts of Samal Island I frequent. The resort has a lap pool! Food is delicious and cheap but food service is not very efficient. The resort can get crowded and noisy on weekends.

July

Lawyer friend visits me and stayed less than 24hrs. Haha.

Another friend from Manila spends a weekend in Davao! We went to the default touristy place—Paradise Island. I have been to Paradise Island countless times for a day trip but this is the first that I actually stayed the night.

Paradise Island: I really liked how they took care of the small details showing they have really studied the behavior of Filipinos who go to the beach—foot wash at the entrance of all cottages, clothes line in the yard, plastic bags to store wet clothes, etc. Paradise Island is the default tourist destination because their food is good, their beach is nice, and their accommodations are very comfortable. Good value for money. Just be prepared to be with a lot of tourists though.

July

Blue Waters Beach Resort in Samal Island

I did my mid-year retreat at Blue Waters Resort in Samal. I always do a mid-year retreat as it helps me “get away” and take stock of the year so far.

Blue Waters Resort: Accommodations are okay, nothing spectacular; structures are quite old. I had a good view of the sea though so I wasn’t complaining. They have a saltwater swimming pool! Food is forgettable, nothing special. This resort is not as accessible as Paradise Island.

September

I went to Bohol with friends visiting from China and Nepal. Bad time to travel by sea because of the monsoon rains. I was traumatized riding the SuperCat from Cebu to Tagbilaran, Bohol. Worst time of my life, I really thought I was going to die. Best thing about this trip? Free food and accommodation! It’s always fun (and cheap) to have a friend who is a local. Had a lot of fun snorkeling. We arranged for a boat and snorkeling guides with Panglao Tropical Villas. We travelled to Panglao by finding random motorbike drivers willing to drive us. Haha. We haggled for a bit and settled on a good reasonable price for bringing us over to Pangalao and fetching us after our day of snorkeling. We also did the customary Bohol city tour—Chocolate Hills, heritage churches, tarsier, man-made forest, Loboc River cruise. This was a couple of weeks before the big 7.1 earthquake that hit central Visayas.

Chocolate Hills, Loboc River cruise, Panglao beach in Bohol

Panglao Tropical Villas: Staff is accommodating. The snorkeling fee (gear and guide) was only PHP300/head. We snorkeled at the Bellevue side of Panglao because the winds were too strong to go over to Balicasag Island. I did my first dive in Balicasag Island three years ago and I fell in love with marine life so it was sad that our friend from Nepal couldn’t experience that. We also went over to the famous sandbar. Two years ago it was a public place, now it is fenced with a sign that says the name of the guy who has bought the island. Sad.

City tour: We booked through a car rental service. It was a good deal with five of us splitting the expenses. The Loboc River cruise is the height of being touristy, I think. But it was entertaining enough so it was okay.

September

I did a side trip to Cebu on my way back to Davao. I visitedthe Cebu of my childhood. For the most part, Cebu has changed a lot. It has become a highly urbanized city. The Cebu I know is Jones Ave, St. Theresa’s College, and Urgello-Aznar only. Interestingly, these places haven’t changed much. I find it funny that tourist-friends go to Cebu and when they find out I am Cebuana they assume I know the Cebu they know. No. The Cebu I know is small and unassuming. I’m still the small-town Cebuana, not the flashy party girl Cebuana most tourists know. Stayed at Cendet.

UCCP Cendet Guesthouse: Straightforward backpackers dormitory at PHP300/night, along Jones Ave.

November

Diving group (big picture), the view from our villa,
intro/discovery divers with master diver/instructor,
swimming with turtles!

Went to El Nido for a few days to accompany a couple of foreigners visiting the Philippines. We went diving; were also supposed to go island hopping but there was a storm on the first day we were there so the Philippine Coast Guard cancelled all boat trips. The diving was amazing! El Nido unseated Balicasag in my heart. Haha. The dive was arranged by Submariner Diving Center/Habibi. The dive masters were awesome. I really appreciated how they weren’t just doing it as work but were really passionate about marine life. Saw a hawksbill sea turtle, green sea turtle, and a huge stingray. I am a "master" intro/discovery SCUBA diver because all my dives in the past three years are all intro/discovery dives and still no money to actually get certified. Haha. We ate all our meals at the “strip.” Nothing spectacular, everything is sort of the same. Spent a couple of days in Puerto Princesa and discovered Casa Nieves owned by director Dante Nico Garcia. Lunch at Ugong Rock was the best food we had in the whole duration of our Palawan trip.

Makulay Lodge, El Nido: Great view of the bay! You’d have to walk up almost a couple hundred steps though. The villa we stayed at was spacious and quaint. I really liked it. Plus, it wasn’t in the “center” of El Nido so it wasn’t as busy.

Princess Armicha, Puerto Princesa: Nothing fancy here. Straightforward “locker room” in the city. Good cheap accommodations if you just need a place to sleep in and are not really prissy. Staff is accommodating too.

December

On the speedboat to neighboring Malipano Island, snorkeling,
"birthday" dinner, sunbathing :P

A friend treated me to Pearl Farm for my birthday. I am not really a fan of expensive, flashy things. Opulence makes me feel uncomfortable because I can’t get it out of my head that the Philippines is a third world country and it’s not right that I “squander” money when so many kids are going hungry. But my friend really wanted to try Pearl Farm. The service was awesome! I have never met a happier staff. They were accommodating and pleasant and fun. Made me wonder how much a Pearl Farm employee gets paid since they seemed to be very happy with their jobs. Haha. The food was great. The beach, accommodations and resort facilities were really good. Pearl Farm is somewhere I’d go to once. Because it’s too expensive to go there more than once. Haha. And it’d be an insult to (my) poverty. Big thanks to my friend who took me though. I really appreciated it.

Visiting the Cebu of My Childhood

The last time I was actually in Cebu was in 2009. I was attending a conference with a friend and the launching of a book we helped to edit. That was the last time I was able to go to Cebu to spend some time with my uncle and cousins. All other times I have been in Cebu, I was just passing through on my way to Dumaguete City—the island where my mother is from.

I was born and raised in Cebu. My family moved to Manila, the country’s capital, in 1995 so the Cebu I know is NOT the Cebu of SM and Ayala Malls and party places that tourists and settlers know today. My family also lived in the old part of the city, where streets are narrow with houses made of wood not wide and paved in gated subdivisions of big concrete houses.

I was supposed to spend two days in Cebu after vacationing in Bohol Island for a few days but due to bad weather my trip to Cebu had to be moved a day later and I had to find other ways to get to Cebu from Bohol. I took the fast craft from Cebu to Tagbilaran, Bohol and it was the longest two hours of my life! The waters were so rough that children had started to throw up due to seasickness and some of the passengers were already crying because of fear. I was afraid. If the boat capsized, the lower deck passengers (me included) would surely be trapped. I have never prayed so much in my life. No, wait. I have! On a rainy motorbike ride during a trip up the mountains last year and last month on a plane as I flew through a typhoon. Water, land, and air. I think I have reached my quota of scary travels for the next five years.

Anyway, I vowed never to leave from Tagbilaran on my way back to Cebu since the Tagbilaran port was more exposed to westerly winds (habagat). I decided to leave from the Tubigon port of Bohol. That was an adventure in itself. I found a motorbike with a driver who was willing to drive me 54km (33 miles) north of Tagbiliran City at 5AM so I can get on the bigger, more stable boat at the port of Tubigon that leaves for Cebu at 7AM.

I got to the Tubigon port at 6:30AM and found out that the ticketing office was not at the port! An LPG tanker driver offered to bring me to the ticketing office since he was also getting a ticket for the tanker he was driving across to Cebu. He also offered to put me down as “guest crew” of the tanker so I wouldn’t have to pay the fare. I was tempted for a split-second but decided against it because the roll on-roll off ferry docks in Mandaue City and I needed to go to Cebu City, which was 8km (5 miles) away. Besides, that would mean I would be obligated to make small talk with the kind driver from Bohol about being Cebuano, something my introvert self wasn’t too keen on doing at 7AM. Haha.

It would have been my first time to ride an LPG tanker had I taken up the driver's offer to be "guest crew."

The boat I was on docked in the Cebu City port mid-morning and I was picked up by my uncle. After a quick, lunch I made my way to Casa Gorordo Museum. I might have been in third grade when my school went to Casa Gorordo for a field trip. I love visiting museums and old houses and I attribute that to my Casa Gorordo experience as a child. I love the stories these museums and old houses tell.

And I love the memories of my childhood that are brought up and the feelings of nostalgia that they evoke. The wooden floors remind me of a time my older brother and I would sprinkle baby powder on our wooden floor, wear socks, and then slide pretending we were on skates. I broke my arm “skating” on our wooden floors. I also like touching the rattan furniture and I am reminded of the times my grandparents from Dumaguete (my mother’s parents) would visit us and my brother and I would sit with our grandpa and listen to his stories.

Casa Gorordo Museum
The dining table on the left, around six feet in diameter, is made from a single plank of Molave/Tugas wood.

From Casa Gorordo I took a 10-minute walk to Museo Sugbo. This museum only opened in 2008 and is housed in the old Cebu provincial jail. The museum has twelve galleries but my favorites were the pre-colonial gallery and the World War II gallery. I really appreciated how the descriptions were in Cebuano with the English translation in a smaller typeface below them. Here are a few interesting facts from this trip:

1. The structure of Museo Sugbo is made from coral stone blocks.
2. In pre-colonial times, the people of Sugbo flattened their skulls because this was considered beautiful.
3. Cebuanos are unapologetic snobs. Haha. The entrance fee for foreigners is 60% more than the fee for Filipinos. The cashier’s window has a sign that says: “If you consider this discrimination, please be reminded that you are not forced to visit Museo Sugbo.” That made me chuckle.

I also went over to St. Theresa’s College (STC) where I spent my elementary years. I have three brothers and my father was worried I wont grow up to have ladylike manners. Haha. My family is Protestant so my father had to pull a few strings just so I can get admitted into this school run by nuns. I remember STC being very strict with dress codes. On days that we weren’t wearing our school uniforms there were strict guidelines as to the appropriate clothes students can wear. No shorts, no flip flops, no sleeveless tops, no big/chunky earrings. On the day that I visited my alma mater, the security guard wouldn’t let me in. Haha.

This was the outfit I was wearing on the day I visited STC.
No wonder the guard wouldn't let me in; the nuns would be livid. :P

I had the famous Cebu lechon and puso for dinner. After dinner I took a walk down Jones Ave/Osmena Blvd to visit the UCCP Bradford Church and admire the additional buildings being constructed for the Visayas Community Medical Center (VCMC), formerly Metro Cebu Community Hospital.

What is a Cebu visit without lechon and puso? :)

My siblings and I were Christened in UCCP Bradford; I grew up attending Bradford; my father and his siblings attended Bradford; my grandfather was a pastor at Bradford; my grandmother was a Bible teacher at Bradford; and even my grandparents’ wakes were held at Bradford. I have very fond memories of running up and down the ramp from the ground floor to the main sanctuary on the second floor wearing my frilly Sunday dresses. When my grandfather passed and we had already moved to Manila, we all went home to Cebu and I attended a Sunday service at Bradford for the first time after a very long absence. It was humbling to realize that from the very beginning, so many men and women had already been part of my faith journey.

United Church of Christ in the Philippines Cebu Bradford Church

I was born shortly after noon on Christmas Day (after my parents attended Christmas morning service at Bradford which was next door to the hospital) at the Metro Cebu Community Hospital (MCCH). My mother worked at this hospital as a staff nurse until we had to move to Manila. Annex 2 ward. I remember hanging out at the nurses’ station, waiting for my mother’s shift to end. I remember enjoying the disinfected smell of hospitals. MCCH was such a small hospital then. Now, it is being built into this huge structure.

Two new buildings being built for the Visayas Community Medical Center

I walked home from the hospital. I walked the road I walked as a child when I attended kindergarten at Bradford School. The houses remained the same. This part of Cebu was still the Cebu of my childhood. It was I who has changed. This trip made me realize that I will always be proud of being Sugboanon but Cebu is no longer home.

I left Cebu for Davao the following day with contentment in my heart. Walking around Cebu for a day was like flipping through the pages of a college yearbook when you’ve already been working at your dream job or have long passed board exams. It’s great to be reminded of how fun and awesome college was but nothing really compares to living in the moment you have spent four years working towards.

After you have gone through the pages and looked at pictures in the yearbook, you always close it and put it back on the shelf. And on days that you need to be reminded of where you came from so that you have a better appreciation of where you are at present and where you are going… You know where to look in the shelf.

Of Human Relationships. Well... Mine at Least

"Group" shot. Camera Owner should get a tripod so everybody can be in the group shot. :P

Some of us have been friends for fifteen years. Others five years. Others five months. We all went to the same church (or dated/married someone from that church) at one point in our lives--we engaged in missions and outreaches together; we taught in Sunday school and were children and youth camp counselors together; we attended conferences together, travelled the country and parts of Southeast Asia together... We're friends and it seems that we are growing old together.

We are now in our late twenties and early thirties and the out of town trips and get togethers have become a little more challenging to coordinate. Some have moved to other cities/countries, some are more swamped work-wise, and then there are some who just have a really active social life hence the very full social calendar. Haha. But when someone who is no longer based in Manila comes to visit, we make time to do a big get together so we can catch up on each other's lives. And of course there's the annual Christmas/year-end/year-start get together.

Road trip! :D

A few weeks back, I was traveling to Manila and another friend was traveling from Bicol for work. We decided it would be a good time to take a drive and spend the weekend somewhere in the mountains of the Sierra Madre. Three are married now, one couple with a baby popping in the next couple of weeks! Some recently graduated and got masters and law degrees, one recently became a lawyer, another became a school administrator, another quit their firm and went solo, one almost got married, another almost had a boyfriend, and another almost had a girlfriend. Haha. Aaah the "almosts" of life seem to be as frustrating as the "what ifs."

We didn't sleep the whole night. I was hoarse from all the singing, talking, and laughing.
But it was worth it. We watched the sky turn a deep blue, purple, peach, and white as the sun rose over the Sierra Madre. 

As I watched the sun rise over the mountains I thought to myself that the people I was with that weekend were some of the people who knew me best. They know me in varying degrees but they love and accept me for me. They are the people who have been with me when I was giddy and compliant about things and were still with me when I was difficult and stubborn about things. And the sincerity of their acceptance for all that I am humbled me.

I'm scared. There, I said it.

I'm scared of being found out. I'm scared that one day, a few years down the road, the person I'm with will say I'm not so loveable after all. Because I can be and I know that. I'm neurotic. Very much so. My friends can attest to that. And there are days that I wish, as a Psychology major, I can fix myself but then I realize that isn't really possible.

Relationship building scares me. Because I'm not perfect and I don't like being told that I'm not enough or that I'm too much. The deep and meaningful relationships I have built through the years have been brought about by mutual willingness to journey together in each other's brokenness. Somehow that gives me comfort. That they know me, they enjoy me, have seen the ugly side of me, and still have that deep affection for me.

I can't seem to say the same for all other relationships I have. Some I can just ignore, others I can do occasionally, and then there are some that scare me. The type that you're willing to explore but don't know if you can be everything that you are because if you choose to be so you might not be accepted. Sigh. Anais Nin was right. Anxiety is love's greatest killer.