Behind the success of an expat man is a pinay wife ...

Very recently my husband and i attended a dinner party with the other expats whose wives are all filipinas. One of the things that struck me most was the fact that all these high profile executives have pinays for wives ... that just goes to say that: behind every man's success is a woman (and in this case, filipina woman!)

It was an intimate dinner with 5 couples all in all. The booze were great and the conversations were warm. Amazingly, all the expats had their own tagalog phrases to spill out once in a while. And all of these 'puti' have proclaimed their love for our dear country, the Philippines. Most of them even see themselves retiring in our beloved 'perlas ng silanganan'.

It got me thinking that even in the worse political situation that our country may be in, there are still people (and in this case the foreigners) who have hope for the future of the Philippines. It's not just because they are husbands of pinays that they feel strongly for the country but because they have experienced for themselves the uniqueness of filipinos from our hospitality, close family ties to our fascinating sense of humor which normally brings the better out of our wits during crisis.

As for the pinays, all of them in the party have this commanding aura. They cannot be labeled as 'doormat wives' since they bravely speak out their minds if the need arises. Each one of them grace every conversation with intellect and self confidence. They easily laugh at jokes and intently listen to what the others have to say. Just goes to show how empowered pinays are: empowered to speak up, empowered to decide, empowered to love and be loved ...

I sure am proud to be pinay!

Timeline

Now here's my take on Duke's tag
(Salamat Dukessa ha ... i enjoyed doing this!)

20 years ago:
Was in Grade 1 in Nazareth School ... started to be naughty by digging a hole in one of the boys' ears using Mongol pencil No.1 ... thank goodness that classmate had a crush on me and went mum on the whole thing ... or else i probably would have been kicked out of school! whew!

15 years ago:
had my first boyfriend at the age of 12 yrs old ... my dad found out about it and i got the beating of my life! that shook the hell out of my wits! hehehehe ... started to be involved in the Declamation and Oratorical events in school. Oh yeah just remembered, i started dating again! hihihihihihi ...

10 years ago:
graduated from HS ... got a bucket full of tears from singing "A Special Memory" during graduation. Was accepted in the Journalism program of UP Diliman. Was active in UPJC and started to go teach kids from the provinces on the basic dynamics of journalism ... i really had fun doing this! First time to witness the Oblation Run! Had big expectations on this one ... hehehehe ...

Have a number of first times during this year: after 17 years, 1st time to transfer home ... from Tamarind Village (Sampaloc) Manila to City of Stars (Quezon City); 1st time to get my eyebrows shaved; 1st time to get up as early as 530am, to catch my first class at 7am, and come home late from class at 11pm!

5 years ago:
Was working in a Public Relations company as PR Coordinator ... active in travel locally due to PR stints ... got involve with a guy which became my first serious relationship ... aaaawwwwww ....

3 years ago:
Still working for the same PR firm ... was promoted as PR Manager ... confronted with office politics ... took exams for Masters on Literature in Peyups, which i passed but did not pursue since the company i worked for did not approve of it - they say they cant allow me
to take flexi time coz other employees might find it unfair ...which is a big time Bullshit! Had a bad/nasty break-up with the guy i mentioned above ... I was pretty much devastated and on the realm of depression during this time ... very near to being suicidal! Good thing i listened to the better side of me ...

As like any other challenges in life, great things came out of all these problems ... I actually thank my former boss for not allowing me to do my MA since it encouraged me to look around and realized that better opportunities are just right in the corner if you just put your heart to it. Hell i wont be at their mercy! So I ended up getting the job i've always wanted ... a job in a hotel, this was THE turning point in my life. Worked in the 5-star hotel as Events Manager ... met my husband there. It was also this year that i made my first trip to Austria and met my husband's parents. Had an incredible Christmas. Went to Amanpulo for our engagement celebration!!! After a year i got married and was pregnant with my little one ...

Last Year:
Delivered my first bundle of joy ... first time to go to Shangri-La Mactan ... finally! Had the baptism of my little one ... went to Austria again ... was able to experience Austria's version of Octoberfest ... Wiesenmark (hope i got the spelling right) ... opened a filipino restaurant ... first time to hear about our posting in India ... had a very special Christmas and New Year with the family!

Yesterday:
Helped my little one get ready for her playschool ... picked up my little one from playschool ... had my nepalese maid cook afritada for lunch (which turned out very good) ... in the afternoon i went to a "computer master" to fix my laptop and get rid of all those nasty viruses ... had my maid cook schnitzel with carrots and potato as side dish for dinner (which also turned out yummy!) Started to use the computer at 8pm and hit the sack at 12mn. By this time even if i've wanted to go on and doodle in my computer (since i missed it a lot) my eyes were just soooo tired ... had to give in ...


Today
Helped my little one prepare for playschool ... started to use the computer from 9am ... and just took a break to prepare lunch ... started to do this Timeline thingy ... and later i'd go to Delhi do some errands and pick up my husband from work ...

Tomorrow
Will help my little one prepare for playschool ... will have coffee with husband since he'll be day off tom ... will prepare a dish for the pinoy potluck for lunch ... will go to the lunch with the husband ... will ask maid to cook congee for little one for lunch and vegetable rice for dinner ... most likely we'll order delivery or take out for dinner ... and for sure i'll access the internet in the night ...

Next year
Will go to Austria early next year and hopefully go to Germany and Italy ... there's a big chance that we'll get posted somewhere else next year (not that i'm complaining in living here in india) it just seems like that's the way things are going ... for sure we'll visit pinas again ... i'm 20 pounds less!

5 to 10 years from now
my little one would be enrolled in a big kid's school ... i'm fluent in German ... would have travelled to the places i've been wanting to explore ...

Hit-and-Chase in New Delhi

Just recently we got into a hit-and-chase incident ... yes you heard me right ... hit-and-chase! We got hit by a car which crazily sped off and ran ... so what do we do? we chase!

We were on our way to pick up my husband in the hotel where he works when this car coming from the right just sped up and overtook us! i wasnt really able to get the plate number of the assaulting car since my immediate concern was the safety of my baby riding with me. Fortunately no one got hurt and it was not the fault of my driver ... by this time the assailant has long been gone ...

After telling my husband what had happened and while driving 500 meters from the hotel the a**hole just showed up ... parked at the shoulder of the street! We recognized it immediately coz of the model, color of the vehicle and the last numbers in the plate ... We assumed that the driver stopped to check on the damage in his car. As soon as the driver saw us coming he just sped up! That's when all the chasing started ...

While tailing the car we were able to get the complete plate number and also found out that the driver was a woman (not that her gender really mattered but i just thought that men would have more guts to do the running - sorry guys for the prejudice, i now know better ...)

For about 10 minutes (which seemed like forever!)of chasing, swerving and lights blinking we got into an intersection which forced her to stop ... that's when my husband got out of the car and tapped the driver's window. At this point we assumed that she'd wave the white flag and call in defeated ... but no! what does this b**ch do? she totally ignored my husband, looked straight on the road and pretended as if he's not there (hey, you can miss my thomas ok ... imagine an austrian bear tapping your window!)

Just then the traffic moved and she started her pace again ... this time we didnt bother chasing after her since it was clear that she didnt care ... either that or she was too scared of my thomas (your guess is as good as mine). We just decided to make an official report with the security dept of the hotel and they would make the neccessary actions on this.

With a dent in front of the car and a sweaking driver's door, my thomas went and saw the head of security. As soon as the guy saw the dent he made this statement: "oh this is too small of a damage for New Delhi accidents ... you're still lucky that the dent is so minimal. That's nothing."

I was appalled! I didnt know that you have to have a certain
degree of damage in the car for you to be in the roster of significant victims!

Ok, fine ... i guess the dent is not that obvious ... maybe i was even over reacting ... still something unfortunate happened, which is unlawful and inhumane, and for sure they have to take essential actions regarding this.

Good enough the security guy did his report forwarded it to the police station, which really is SOP (standard operating procedure) ... but i wouldnt know for sure whether we'd get to see that lady getting her ticket for the assault at the very least!

Well this is India ... they dont have much respect for people on the road. If you're on the street you'd notice that 9 out of 10 cars have dents, wrecks in their vehicles ... what a reassuring thought ...