Thanksgiving ‘06

Happy Thanksgiving! Belated that is.

Yesterday was just spent eating, eating, eating and nothing more.

I just came from the early morning sale, we woke up 4 am just to be there by 5, wow ang aga ko naman mag shopping! Prices are downright low. We got a 12-cup coffee maker and blender for 3.99 each, a portable vacuum cleaner for 12.99,  an all-in-one(scanner,copier and printer) Lexmark printer for 29.89 (which we initially thought was sold out), 6-pc bread toaster for 15 and many more! Ganito pala Thanksgiving dito, kakatuwa!

I have a lot of things to be thankful this year, first is being given the opportunity to be here at
 timing pa ako sa BIG SALES, that meant big savings for us para pamili nang gamit-gamit. God also made is easy for us,galing ni Lord, binigyan nya kami ng free tv (from my cousin) and sofa (galing kay ate susan).

Oo sya, tulog muna ako, napagod talaga ako kanina eh.

Surviving NY

I survived going to NY alone, for a no-sense-of-direction-girl, that is quite a feat!Armed with just the street and avenue numbers I braved NY today, wearing my spankin’ new boots (which were 2 sizes higher because dumb me didn’t check that I went home with the right size, but still good enough to use nonetheless). I wouldn’t have done this if it weren’t for Yiek’s passport. See, we need to get his new passport so we can adjust his departure card, he can’t go to NY again to claim his passport, so I have no choice but to go there alone. It was fun by the way! It did help though that the streets are easy to find.

I went there early because I wanted to tour the place, my first stop was the biggest Macy’s in U.S. (9 floors, 1 whole block), the place was that big filled with cosmetics, shoes etc, the ambiance reminded me of Seredipity. I was too overwhelmed that I left the place after 30 minutes or was it because I didn’t have any money with me? LOLZ!

Second stop, Empire State Building, tall building, nothing really special so I kept on reminding myself that this was the building where King Kong got killed. LOLZ!

I walked and walked finding some shops here and there until I saw the Philippine flag, a sign that I’m already at the Philippine Embassy, with my task completed and feet shouting let-me-out, I went home happy that I survived NY ALONE!

Empire State Building from afar (phone cam k750i lang kasi dala ko)

Empire State from a near (opposite ng a far LOLZ!)

World Trade Center , ay Empire State pala,
bahay ni King kong

New York public library, would have liked to go inside
but I was running out of time, must go to embassy,
next time na lang

P.S.
Yiek was always calling me every now and then, checking up on me, what a pesky husband! 

P.P.S.
Shorcut story, I am too tired. While on the bus, the lady beside me was reading and singing her notes (do do mi mi ti la so) kaya natulog na lang ako ang weird eh! Also, while walking along the streets of NY some lady passed me a flyer, aba nung tiningnan ko yung flyer, nakalantad sa picture isang lalaki na nagho-hold ng kanyang ehem.

Cancerian Self

A lot of people were asking me, what I was doing while Yiek is away at work.

I’d usually say I’m bored and they would suggest that I go out elsewhere, and I’d say I have no money, no car and other excuses.

My cancerian self is coming out, aba pwede pala akong ma homebody. I’d usually just surf the net the whole day aside from that I’d sometimes do the laundry and iron Yiek’s clothes, which I really hate doing, its the task that I abhor the most. I’m thinking of getting a steamer so it will save me from cursing every damn minute while ironing. Did you know that I ironed Yiek’s pants for an hour and still there were a lot of creases. I HATE IRONING! Sinusumpa ko siya! There I said it.

Ok, I am again off topic, I’d usually surf the net the whole day, I am an internet freak, internet junkie, internet potato whatever you call it. I can’t survive a day without surfing the net. I can live without tv but I can’t live without internet. Off topic na pud. hahaha.

Ok, so a lot were asking why I don’t tour the neighborhood and I’d give a thousand and one excuses. I’m just really not ecstatic about touring the place ALONE, its as exciting as eating paper. But since a lot were asking me why, I’m kicking my butt to move and go outside (na pressure). Time to flex my muscles and tinker with our dlsr. Will post pictures later.
~~~

5 minutes after…

I changed my mind, its not a good day for photo-ops, overcast skies and rain, not a good background and weather. Tsk! Tomorrow overcast rin at uulan. Ano ba! Saturday lang ata maganda ang weather, at least may kasama na ako sa pamamasyal . Next week promise mag photo-op nako. paturo ako kay Yiek pano mag picture-picture. Pag naka transfer na kami sa apartment namin, mas maraming magagandang picturan don at mas malapit sa park.

~~~

I need to do something worthwhile, I need to maximize my time para hindi useless. So dapat mag

1. Pilates/Yoga ako every morning – kaya lang wala ako yoga mat at ang lamig ng sahig!
2. Study! Study! kailangan para mas maraming madagdag sa resume. Webservices, SOAP, SOA Architecture atbp. Akalain mo mami-miss ko pala mag program kahit na sinusumpa ko ang aking pagiging programmer paminsan-minsan.
3. Mag digi scrap, nag download na ako ng photoshop.
4. Mag picture-picture ng kahit ano.
5. at pag naka transfer na kami, experiment ng dishes, gusto ko magluto ng cheesecake (dish ba to?).

huwag mag …
1. surf ng kahit ano-ano. Ano paki mo kung break na sila ni britney at federline, at ano paki mo kung buntis si angelina at ikakasal na si tom at katie holmes (o di ba updated ako. hehehe).
2. ma carried away sa pag surf ng coupons.
3. mag blog ginagawa ko na ata tong diary.

P.S.

useless na naman tong entry nato. Sorry pero di ko talaga kerry maging senseful eh, wala akong words of wisdom dahil isa lang ang wisdom tooth ko and impacted pa kaya nga impakta ako, at puro ako ako ako ako ako lang ang mga journals ko. Alam ko dapat meron akong mga help the community entries, or help other pipol entries. Or dapat meron akong life realizations, sorry wala pa akong na re-realize eh or di kaya puno nang pagre-reklamo entries ko.

Shopping 101

I just came from Macy’s, shopping, haven’t had my lunch yet and its 3 pm! Lemme make a quick turkey sandwich first….

I learned a valuable lesson today, shopping lessons that is. Ate Susan, the queen of the house where we are presently living in, is a very seasoned shopper and taught me these valuable lessons.

one. Never buy items at their original price (opps! bought one last week ) unless they are really cheap. I bought a sweater for Yiek for 9.99 at Walmart, it wasn’t discounted or anything but it was cheap so we bought it.

two. Go directly to the clearance items and on sale items. GO for the early bird specials as the item you want might be sold out. I was suppose to buy a 12-pc pans and pot set but the item that I wanted was sold out.

Three. If possible, don’t buy shirts/pants/thermals etc. priced more than 10 bucks, even if they are branded. You can always wait until they go on sale or placed into clearance.

four. Use coupons. I still can’t register and have them mailed to me since I have no permanent address yet but that will change at the end of this month. We found an apartment yiipppee! So i’ll sign-up on all those possible stores, have the coupons mailed to me or look for printable coupons in the Internet. Some coupons, takes percentages off on top of the clearance/specials items. I just bought an 8-pc. bed ensemble set today for 29 bucks (original price 100), this set includes the comforter, bed sheets, pillow cases, shams and dust ruffle. I was prepared to pay 39 bucks for  this special sale item but some nice lady gave me her coupon and I got another 10 bucks off. So now, I’m going gaga looking for printable coupons on the net.

five. Buy items at the end of the season as it will be 75-90% cheaper. You can get a fleece sweater for 10 bucks or less. So this March, expect me to spend my days inside some mall.

six. when buying for groceries, shop at Costco as most items are way cheaper.

seven. If you found the same item at another store and it is cheaper, you can return the other item and buy the cheaper one.

eight. Thanksgiving and Christmas are BIG sale events. So if you are looking to buying BIG items such as Mattress, microwave,toaster etc. you can buy it at this time of the year.

nine. Go to outlet stores, they are usually priced at 40-50% lower than original price.

ten. wear comfy shoes as I guarantee you, your feet will hurt from all that walking.

When bored = blog

I am bored hu-humm.

if (bored  && can’t-think-of-a-thing-to-do)
{
 blog
}
else
  throw a fit and beat up some squirrel

I’d rather blog than beat up a squirrel, as if I can catch one LOLZ, saw one climbing a tree a few hours ago. I am bored with a capital B. So let me just teach you some language ethics here, i am still trying to teach myself by the way.

When someone says: Hi how are you?
You say: Good, how are you?

If someone says: Have a nice day.
You say: You too.

When paying up for something you should always say: Hi how are you?

after paying up. Thank you have a nice day.

I saw someone saying to a cashier boy, “good how are you?” her facial expression saying the complete opposite. Tsk! People here can be very plastic.Sabagay mas malala ang how are you sa pinas, oi kumusta ka na? tumaba/pumayat ka ata. Palaging may kadugtong na “ang taba/payat mo na..” as if i really give a damn about his/her opinion. If I’m fat then I know I’m fat thank you very much. I’ll take the plastic “how are you” anytime.

People here are generally friendly, they will say how are you to complete strangers and talk to you about the weather etc.

 

Crappy pic, I lost the other one eh. We bought these shades at Pocono, Pennsylvania. It’s a mall of 100 outlet stores, every imaginable brand can be found here from shoes,make-up, bags and kitchenware. Guess how much we paid for those Fossil shades? Only 15 bucks (750 pesos) and thats for 2 shades. What a bargain! Fossil shades in the Philippines are quite expensive it can range from 1-5k or more. The nine west shoes were really cute, but still i was an unwilling to pay 50 bucks for boots. Bass shoes are also quite cheap, I got knee high boots for only 40 bucks (2k petot). Yiek got a Gap sweater, for 28 bucks, I was very unwilling to buy that high a price for a sweater but since he really wanted one, I conceded. Grr!! We are going back there next week, a day after thanksgiving, where the price would really get lower.

What I really like here are the numerous bargains, I found some Liz Clairbone bags at Target for less than 10 bucks, branded shirts and blouses for less than 5 bucks. For someone who likes shopping, its paradise. LOLz!

I can’t wait to get a job so I can have more money for shopping! LOLZ! That will have to wait though, I have 3 more months or more of waiting time. I just submitted my working permit application and I haven’t gotten my receipt yet, I’m crossing my fingers that there is nothing wrong with my papers as I forgot to put my name at the back of picture (darn it!)

Also, we are having a string of badluck with our papers. Yiek’s ssn(social security number) has not arrived yet and will not be arriving sooner which means we can’t open a bank account, loan a car, etc, and his passport needs to be renewed so we can change his i-94 (pc. of paper that will determine how long you can stay here). I feel like were newlyweds again, starting a new life, so NO to shopping yet CLAIRE. I just need to beat my head with all that so I can sort out my needs and wants.

Day 5

Wow! I have so many readers welcome, welcome. Although I sometimes get irked by immature annonymous comments, welcome pa rin kau. I’m happy that you’re reading my senseless rants.

For those who don’t know why I’m here. Here’s some info, I’m holding an L2 visa (dependent visa). This means that I am Yiek’s dependent. L2 visas are allowed to work but not until I have filed my working permit which I’m still trying to study how. Hopefully I can file this week, because there is a 3 months max waiting time.

So,I will be a housewife for 3 months *rolls eyes*. Day 3 of being alone here, not so bad, I have ym to keep me company and the tv has become my bestfriend *ekk*. Ok! I am bored shitless and it didn’t help that I’m living in a suburb area. Sometimes I think I’m living in a ghost town because I rarely see people going out of their house and cars aren’t that plenty either. Feel ko tuloy nasa horror movie ako. I’ve been a city girl throughout my life, so the serenity of the place sometimes gets to me. Although, the people here are generally friendly so unlike snob New Yorkers and the pace is generally slower and relaxing.

Here are some pics of the neighborhood.

 
See that whitehouse? That is where I’m currently staying

 Across the house, leaves are scattered.

 
Spruce Street, our street. Ghost street no?

The microwave has also become my bestfriend, since Yiek’s company is just renting for us a room (squatter lang muna kami sa isang family of 6), it would be hard for me to cook meals without bothering the family. So, I just bought lots of ready-to-cook meals, mamatay na ata ako sa preservatives dito.

My eyes popped out when we went to shoprite to do our groceries, 80% of the place are filled to the brim with microwavable foods, an array of cheeses, bagels, cakes, muffins. No wonder so many americans are obese, the food choices are simply amazing. The truth is I had a hardtime doing the grocery, my head hurt from converting from dollar to peso. Ang mahal nya, hindi ko kerry na ganun kamahal ang pagkain. Also, I looked for the all too familiar foods, wala pala chiz whiz dito, walang datu puti, silver swan wah! Di ko kilala lahat ng brands. And the vegetables, my oh my the talong is soooo big, di mahaba kundi mataba suuppeer taba, hirap naman gamitin for personal use (hahaha di bale may talong naman akong pinoy so solve na ako bwaahahah!!)

The long trip

I’ve reserved a separate post for my trip to the land of milk and honey.

My trip was slated at 6:45 am, so I had to be at the airport early. I wanted to sleep before the trip but try as I might di ako makatulog. Tagalog na lang, ubos na englis ko. Natatameme nga ako pag kausap ko mga kano at bigla akong nabibingi dahil sabi ako ng sabi ng what? or pardon? eh pano ang slang slang nila di ko talaga ma intindihan. Sabagay matagal na rin akong bingi, alam mo na pag magaganda bingi hihihi! Ok off topic na ako.

Hinatid ako nina Georgia and Harley sa airport. Nahiya nga ako dahil ayaw umuwi ng dalawa, until naka check in nako. So sinabi ko na lang sa kanila mga quickie ng 100x dahil ang tagal ko pa maka check-in. 3:15 am ako dumating sa airport. Kala ko ang aga ko pero laking gulat ko na wah! ang haba na pala ng pila sa check-in counter. Kakatuwa, 80% ng pasahero ay mga pinoy. Kinabahan ako na ma over baggage dahil nga na carried away ako sa pamili ng mga winter clothes, tsaka my gulay di ko kaya buhatin ang suit case ko, dyosme. Buti na lang maraming mababait na lalaki sa airport, sila yung tumulong sa akin magbuhat ng baggage sa cart and check-in counter. Na friendship ko na nga ang guard dahil 3 beses ako labas pasok sa airport.

pila para check-in

Mga 2 hours din ako nag hintay para maka check-in no! Sumakit na tuhod ko sa kakatindog (unsa ba tagalog ani ba), nung nag check-in na ako over ako ng 3 kilos. My gulay ang mahal ng overbaggage kaya $125, ekk! buti na lang mabait ang girl at sinabihan lang ako na next time di na ako ma carried away. Tapos ito pa, hindi na ako pinabayad ng no show fee, so save ako ng $50. yipeee!!!

Pagkatapos ko makacheck-in, pumunta na ako sa labas, para mag bu-bye kay Georgia at Harley. Eh, di kami masyado madrama dalawa, kaya walang iyakan, at quick goodbye lang, sabi ko kay Harley nga ingatan mo Georgia ha at kantoten mo (shet! bastos ko talaga).

Sis and I,saying our goodbyes

So, punta na ako para bayad ng terminal fee, tinawanan nga ako ng mama dun dahil nakalimutan ko kunin ang aking sukli. Pagkatapos immigration officer na, at papunta na ako sa aking gate. Mya kopi roti duun, favorite coffee namin ni Georgia, kaya lang pinigilan ko ang sarili na huwag uminom para makatulog pa rin ako sa plane. So before ako makapasok ng gate, hubad na naman ng sapatos, belt etc. Ewan ko ba kung ilang beses kung ginawa to sa airport. Sa Pinas alone, 3 beses akong naghubad ng mga ka ekekan.

Before ako magboarding, txt2 dito txt2 doon, di pa nga ako naka board parang miss ko na ang Pinas. Excited akong sumakay sa plane, dahil ma e-experience ko na naman ang plane food hindi na C2(bigay ng cebu pacific) lang ang ibibigay yahoo!

Ngarag na ako nung dumating kami sa Nagoya, ganito kasi itenirary ko, MNL-Nagoya-Detroit-Newark. So dalawa ang stop over ko for a total of tsedeng! 22 hours. Meron na naman security check, kukunin ko na naman belt etc. Haay! ano ba!!! Nag light up lang ang mata ko ng nakita ko ang starbucks, pero wah! di tumatangap ng dolyares. Ayaw ko naman pa change ng yen no! So ayun, nag board ako ng airplane with a heavy heart.

11.5 hours ang trip from Nagoya-Detroit, isa itong torture chamber. Parang ayaw ko nang makita pa ng plane sa buong buhay ko. Di ako makatulog, eh sino ba makakatulog sa silya nila at ang dala kung inflatable neck rest, walang silbi, dahil may butas, nag de-deflate kaagad grr!.

After 11.5 hours of torture, umabot na rin kami sa Detroit. America na! Pag baba ko sa plane, napa buntong hininga ako sa lamig ng hangin. Shet ang lamig, di ko kerry.

Wala naman akong problem sa immigration, in fact wala ng hiningi na documents sa akin. Tapos kuha ng baggage at check in ulit. Lakad lakad ako sa airport at may 2 hours pa akong stanby time. Gutom na ako for lunch, so naghanap ako ng kainin, ang mahal naman ng pagkain dito cheapest is at $4.00 eg 200 na yan sa pinas, kahit na coke $1.75. Di ko ma accept ang price, so nagsalad na lang ako dahil yung ang pinakamura at $3.50. Ang dami ng serving, feeling ko tuloy isa akong kambing na kumakain ng damo.

NUng papasok na ako sa eroplano ulit, para bang bigla akong nagkaphobia. Ayaw ko na mag trip ulit! Sa kasamaang palad pa na delayed ang eroplano at nag stanby kami sa loob ng eroplano for almost an hour dahil sa runway traffic.

4:10 pm, dumating na rin ako sa wakas sa aking final destination, kaya lang nainis ako sa plane dahil nag stanby siya sa runway for almost 30 minutes. Naiihi na kaya ako!

end na ayaw ko ng magsulat hahhaha! tinamad na ako basta dumating ako dito sa rockaway new jersey in one whole ngarag pc. Next story my GREAT and one of a kind adventure in new york.

P.S.

Georgia made an entry for me in her blog. Read it here

Meeting Uncle Sam

It’s cold in here …brrr…

Going here was one hell of a ride, full of trials and drama! (Drama queen). Yiek and I always dream BIG and here we are are, almost there.

We knew we weren’t going to settle in the philippines, the high crime rate, the never ending dirty politics and let’s face it, no matter how we work our ass off we couldn’t get the things we want to have in a short span of time.

we initially wanted to come to Australia as Yiek’s uncles are there but the oppurtunity to come to the US was presented to us in a silver platter so we couldn’t resist to take a bite.

It was a rollercoaster ride for me. I had to sell all our things and see all our money going down the drain and to top it off, my visa was delayed for 2 weeks (see previous entries). When finally my prayers were heard and I was finally able to touch my elusive visa, I immediately book my trip. Last week was busy with me saying my goodbyes to my friends in manila. We had dinner at dampa (sutukil in manila) last wednesday, and Georgia kept on repeating how old we were. (salamat kau sa paghinumdum nga tiguwang na ta nallipay dyud ko ).

Thursday night, Lester and Jaspher gave me and Mau a free dinner. THanks ninyo duha and early early morning of friday I was off to the land of no return. o.a. hehehe

click to see the bigger pic.
Piskot ning wordpress gamayon man ang picture