...the journey of my thoughts...

.
.sometimes, my mind would just travel to all the places I'd like to go. My mind..your mind..our minds....hold the most powerful FREEDOM on earth...so be free.....sour..explore...and tell the whole world your story....and this is where i write the story of my mind's journey.....

HYUNKI

GRIEF. How can someone justify this word? I had once experienced it, it made me numb. I was actually expecting a burst of emotions, flood of tears and uncontrollable cry. But no, I was actually numb and lost. No one told me that I’ll feel that way. Movies, dramas and novels showed me that grief will bring those emotions and drama. No one told me how to deal with it if you’re not feeling anything. I was ready to cry, but no tears came. I was ready to face those emotions but, I felt nothing. EMPTY. 

Today, I woke up with the sound of cry from my dog. Hyunki, it’s his name. He was with us for 6 years, he was a gift from my boyfriend then and now my fiance’. He was like our son. He became a symbol of our love, we become a family. My fiance’ and I’s fights never turn overnight because we can see Hyunki whining with those sad eyes, so we always stop and made up. Hyunki became my constant companion, when I’m alone at home, in a big city, I was never afraid, cause I know he’s with me. He was my protector and my buddy for all those years.




I imagined my future with Hyunki and my children playing in our backyard (or frontyard). I imagined him on my wedding day, sporting a handsome tie and a custom-made suit. I imagined him watching over my babies while I’m busy preparing the milk. I imagined him in a lot of scenarios with me and my future family. But everything’s gone. Just like how a wave washed up the sandcastle I built. Today, I saw how the sand slowly went back to the sea. Just like how Hyunki breathed his last. All my dreams gone, then comes regrets. Those “I should have’s and If only’s” crowded my mind. But I can’t cry. The tears weren’t just there to flow. My feelings gone, just like how anesthesia feels. I was supposed to cry, right? But why can’t I? Does this make me a bad person? I can’t even cry for my baby. My mind keeps me telling a lot of things but my heart just feels like tons of stones were pressed inside, slowly. I can’t eat. I tried but I felt like throwing everything up.

Yes, this is my grief. My mind keeps on telling me that he’s be resting in peace and that he’s in a better place now. But there’s still a part of me that’s expecting that this never happened, that I will open the door and Hyunki, with his wagging tail, will welcome me.
The house is never the same. It will never be. I don’t even know how to start grieving or if I’m grieving already. I’m writing this cause this is the best way I communicate.

Whoever say that time will heal, I hope you’re right. 

TOGETHER.


I will always be that girl who wears the smile that makes your day...



and you will always be the guy who melts my heart with your warm embrace.


Together we can conquer the cruelty in the world and savor the goodness of life.


Happy 7 years of love and happiness, my love!

11/23/14
Baguio City, Philippines

CECTS: My Teacher

   

      What is CECTS? Everyone knows it as an ESL online company. But for me, it's more than that. This is where I grow as a teacher, a daughter, a friend, an employee and as a person. Why?How? Because in our company, we don't just focus in skills but most importantly...personality.  

     I was a homebased teacher for almost 2 years. I admit, I was confident with the way I speak and teach my students. My students are  contented with my teaching skills. I'm confident with my skills. When I moved back here in Manila, I applied as a trainer in other ESL companies. But my choices is either a trainer with a low salary or an emplayee with still a low salary. I applied to atleast 5 different companies, but among those 5, CECTS caught my attention.

      I can still remember the moment I stepped inside the office. A teacher opened the door for me with a smile that relaxed me a bit. The process was organized and everyone's smiling! The office is clean and the employees that I saw all looked presentable. While waiting for my interview, I envisioned myself working with these people in this kind of environement. I was so determined to be part of the company that I made sure to ace my interviews and exam. But at the end of the day, they just informed me that I'll be receiving a text message whether I'm accepted or not. I lose hope because of it though I know, deep inside me, I was waiting for their message. I even joked my boyfrienmd saying, " I think they only accept pretty applicants so if I'm accepted..it means I'm pretty!"

     After 3 days, I almost jumped in joy when I recieved a message from the company with my orientation schedule. My first day was a mixture of awe and excitement. My confidence level is slowly going down. The teachers speak well and are very confident! A lot of things happend, those pronunciation lapses and unnoticed provincial accent were slapped on my face (not literraly). I mean all those laspes that gone unnoticed were now in front of me. It was difficult for me at first, to accept everything. But just like what our manager always tells us, acceptance is the first step to improvement and growth.

     Speaking of which, my Korean manager and manager have a big impact on whoever I am right now. From them, I learned the most important lesson in life. " Do not chase money. Let money chase after you." Most people consider the "offer" first in looking for a job. Let's be practical, they say. But have we ever asked ourselves, "Am I worth of every penny I receive?". Why do most people jump from one job to another, because they are looking for a good pay. But did they grow? Let's work to make our selves better and worth of the price we're expecting. Once you are skilled and capable, then you won't be looking for the job with a good pay but they will be the one chasing you..offering the right amount. How good it is to be chased by biggest companies because of your value, your skills and your personality? So I decided that I will empty myself of any achievements I had and always take each day as a challenge to be better. I won't last a day without learning anything. I may be a teacher but I make sure that I just don't teach but I also learn. I set a standard for myself and continuosly setting it high until now. I always tell myself that I still have a lot of things to learn.

     I wasn't even half way there.

The Proposal♥

I thought everything's a wrap for our special day, but I was so wrong. Actually, it was just starting. We had our dinner around 9:30 cause we had a late lunch. Dadhee ( my endearment to my boyfriend), kept on insisting for me to dress up. I didn't know why. We arrived and was welcomed with this table.


I thought it's just a surprise because of our anniversary. But I never expected something BIG is up. The food was served and again, we enjoyed our dinner. It was a romantic one. Petals of flowers on the table, candle lights, cold breeze of wind, delectable meal and of course the man I love....it's PERFECT!



After eating, he asked me...."Are you happy?". I told him how much. We talked about the past years we had. The fun, the difficulties....then he suddenly said, " It's almost perfect, there's just one thing missing."
Me: " Missing?"
 Then he kissed me.

Then in one knee, he took something from his pocket and asked me those FOUR-WORD question... " Will you marry me?"


I couldn't believe it at first, I even exploded in laughter, which I'm terribly sorry after. He's serious! He got the ring and he even asked permission from my dad. I cried after realizing everything.




It was a surprising and unexpected proposal. What's next is still unsure...but one thing is certain. We are together in the future!♥






A Sweet Escape♥

I don't know how to begin this blog. I have a lot of things to share and the emotions overwhelmed my whole system. Yesterday was our 6th anniversary and we decided to celebrate it at Tagaytay Country Hotel. The plan is just to spend the weekend away from the city and just relax together. We arrived and was warmly welcomed by a glass of cold iced tea.



We arrived and checked in at the hotel at exactly 2 pm. It was a good day outside so after checking out the room and freshening up, we went out to have our late lunch. 


This isn't our first time in Tagaytay but I always crave for Bulalo ( Beef Shank Soup) whenever I'm here. We ate at LZM Restaurant during our recent visit so we decided to try a new one. Dadhee's , my boyfriend, friend suggested Leslie's Restaurant. So we went there. I was so surprised to see the place packed with guest knowing that it's around 3 in the afternoon already. We requested to eat in one of their Kubo's ( traditional wooden rest house). Since it wasn't available that time, we waited for around 15 minutes. We decided to choose what to eat while waiting. The we were ushered to the Kubo. We're so lucky cause we got the perfect spot to enjoy the scenery while eating. 



This is our view while waiting for our food. It was indeed breathtaking. I wouldn't mind waking up with this view everyday. If only I can. The place is perfect with the man beside me. 




We ordered their Special Bulalo ( 599 pesos), Lechon Kawali ( 349 pesos) Steamed Rice for family ( 220 pesos) and a fresh Buko (Coconut) juice (99 pesos). It was a sumptuous lunch and we couldn't  finish everything on the table! It's a perfect feast for at least 3-5 persons. 

Since our tasted buds and tummy are satisfied. We went back to our hotel to rest since we haven't had a good sleep the night before. We slept for two hours and prepared for our full body massage at 7 pm at La Costa Spa






It was relaxing and we left the spa with smiles. It was a relief after a week of work and a breather from all stress around us.


CHANGED

I can vividly remember, 2 years ago, I was also sitting in front of a computer, I was craving for change. I guess, almost 2 years of doing the same thing everyday wore me out. At first, I don't want to admit it because I'm scared to try something new. I'm scared to risk and scared to fail. But if I haven't pulled myself from my deep shell, I won't be where I am right now.

I'm not earning millions now, neither having my own business. But I can say that I've CHANGED...for the better, mostly.I will never regret the decision of leaving everything behind and facing a different but seemingly familiar world. I didn't trust myself for a while that I'll make it but there are people who made me realize my strengths.

So now, here I am, minus the bangs, haircolor and make-up....I'm definitely a CHANGED WOMAN.  




That Someone Who Pulls My Strings

I may be a brat to many's eyes but I know when and where to be one. I'm not the type of person who'll confront someone during office hours just for petty things. I can act professionally and won't let my negative emotion drown me.

I never HATE. For me, HATE is a luggage that will always be with you from the time you wake up until you sleep. I don' want that kind of burden and my parents taught me how to forgive and forget. For how many years, it makes my life easier. But then I met this someone. Many people don't like her and judged her. Though I can feel it too, i tried to understand and get to know her at first. I tried to understand why she talks and act that way, I always want to see the bright side from anyone. But she's different. She admits that she has attitude problems but she live with it expecting people to understand and adjust for her. Life isn't like that. We should know when to be sensitive and conscious of what people think and feel about us. The world doesn't just rotate around us and if we want to survive life, we need to be flexible and blend in. 

I tried to ignore her because I don't want to hate her. But well, I don't know, she's trying to test my patience by annoying me. Well, I don't hate her but I just don't like her presence, does it makes sense? Well, she doesn't make sense so whatever! Hahaha. Anyway, whatever I feel for her, at the end of the day, I still end up praying that she'll soon realize that not everyone can be patient and understanding. Thus, I pray for more patience and wisdom! 

HABAGAT 2013: Flood in the Philippines

It has been a year since my first FLOOD EXPERIENCE (#Habagat2012). I wasn't prepared that time and to say I panicked is an understatement. I didn't sleep well because I fear that the water will go higher. Good thing my apartment has 2 floors so we stayed on the 2nd floor for 3days. The water went up fast that before noon, it reached the 2nd step of our stair. One thing that I learned from that experience was to be prepared and be updated. 

This year's Habagat (monsoon), the whole Metro Manila was flooded and my place wasn't spared. I was woken up by my neighbor/bestfriend, telling me to move our things upstairs because the water is starting to reach our compound. Unlike last year, the water went up slowly but the rain is making it worse. Watching news and reading updates online, made me worried not just for myself but mostly for the evacuees and those who were greatly affected. 

(PhotoCredits: PAGASA)

(PhotoCredits: Dondi Tawatao, Getty Images )

The images above is the weather update from PAGASA where you can see that our country is almost covered by rain. The next image is from a resident showing how Filipinos cope up with this situation. 

Flood and rain is almost normal here in our country. But everytime it happen, we can't help but fear for our lives, our homes and our love ones. But as Filipinos, we also know how to take things positively and lightly. That's just who and what we are. During this time, we can feel how we care and help each other. I just hope that the government soon realize that Filipinos are also human. We can't tolerate everything forever. 

Personally, I want to move to a different apartment, but when I ask myself where is the SAFE place, I can't find an answer. As long as the government won't realize this, they will still keep on blaming the weather and rain. 



NOW

Today is my 10th month as an employee of CECTS and I admit that being one is not as easy as it looks. At first I thought that it's because of the sudden change of my working environment, from a home-based tutor to office-based. But more reasons come, I wasn't just challenge by my skills but also by my personality.

Looking back two years ago, I still couldn't believe that I am who I am right now. I was transformed professionally and I love it!

So why am I staying at our company? It's not just because I love what I do but more importantly, I love what my job requires me to do. It's funny how few years ago I hated wearing business attires, slacks, long-sleeves, skirt, dresses and even heels. But now, I look comfortable wearing those.

I say, I'm confident then but now I gained a different level of confidence. The one that people feel not just from the way I bring myself but also because of the words I say. I learned how to value myself and my job. I learned life's lessons. I know back them that hardships and difficulties make us strong but it's different when you experience it. My skill and will were tested. But I'm happy to learn every bit of lessons I from those. Now I know, I'm stronger, fiercer and my value is the thing that people can't steal away from me.

Without the people in our company, my friends, my mentors, the people who come and go, the people who trusted me and those who doubted me. I owe my learnings from all of you.

As I continue my journey, I know, I have more to learn and experience and my excitement is drowning me.^__^ Be POSITIVE CECTS !!!!