To the Queen City

            Cebu, an island in the Philippines was given the nick name of "the Queen City of the South". My colleagues planned to visit this island for our summer break and I half- heartedly agreed to join. Partly because its a shame to say no. Anyways we stayed there for three days and this is how our adventure went.

Where we had breakfast

Puso, cebuanos idea of rice

            Yes, apparently Larsian is somewhere you  should try eating in Cebu. Inside is like a foodcourt where you pick a stall and point what you want to be grilled and they do it for you. Your chosen food is paired with Puso, a triangle of sweet rice covered in banana leaves.

            Also try visiting the Fuente Osmena Park where the city's premiere feast the "Sinulog" is held.

              The weather in Cebu is not for those who are not used to the hot weather, one way of escaping this is going to the Taoist Temple. It is built on the mountains so expect winds that could help alleviate the searing heat.

          If you are a fan of places that are as old as a city check out their Fort San Pedro. It is what spanish colonizers built to protect the city from invaders from the sea. It is literally a wall filled with cannons before, but now there are also pocket museums in the place you can check out.

         If you are getting hungry, a must- try is the famous cebu lechon. There are only two choices with this one: if you want the classic taste try the one from CnT Lechon. If you wanna go with the modern taste there is ZubuChon for you.

         Also check out their art display at the Heritage Park.

            We all know that Ferdinand Magellan proved that the Earth is not flat, and that he died in the Philippines. Visit the places where he had been by dropping by at the Magellan's Cross and the Lapu- lapu shrine for Magellan- related umm.. memorials?

         The beach where Magellan died.

         If you are planning to visit the place you can ask any cab driver for a city tour for 1,500 pesos. Oh, don't be surprised because there are no jeeps in Cebu they only have multi cabs. During my 3- day stay I only counted 5 jeeps so its a little bit unerving if you are used to or expecting to ride a jeep.

Example of a multi cab as seen from our taxi. Cebu's major mode of transportation.

           Please leave your questions and comments on the comment box. Thank you for reading.

The New Month

           Yes, it's the time of the year again where new year's resolutions and what- have- you's hound everybody. When everybody promises to do good, to diet or to be happier. But me? I will do my best so that this year will be the year of "fun". But of course, the first three months will not be included since I will still be at that hellhole.

            But, after that I will try to enjoy doing those things that I have lined up for myself. I promise to be busy enjoying my life starting April. I hope you have planned up a lot of fun for yourself too for this year.

Trapped!

        Well three months are up, and now it is time for the update on whether I have finally escaped hell. Drum roll please. Or not anymore, because as the title implies I didn't.

        Yes, once again I was too weak to protect myself from being taken advantage from. I just couldn't bring myself to say no when she asked me to stay for three whole months if no applicant to replace me came by. And that is what happened, instead of enjoying the holidays I kept on thinking about what I could have done to stop this from happening. I was actually wanting the holidays to prolong not because of its the holidays, but because I know that it will be hell soon.

         I don't know what to say anymore but as cliche as this gets I sincerely hope this does not happen to anyone.  

Hello, Goodbye Soon!

           It's been a long time since I became part of this world again. I have been so busy like a slave these past few days, But, believe it or not it has not been that way from the start. Neither have I imagined that I would be feeling this way ever.

             

        I was gone because I finally found work, and believe me I loved it. I was teaching even without a licence and it felt great. I thought that the distance was manageable, in short I thought it was heaven. And why not? I feel like I would never escape teaching (not that i'm complaining, of course) and I feel like having it for my first job is very fortunate for me. Until, I felt like hell after a few weeks.

         You see, i'm not just teaching kids but, kids who are slow learners. I have no problems with that but the distance that I used to like? I'm starting to curse it everyday I go to work. I found it really hard to commute to school because I feel like I was a boxer who had a match the night before everyday. And at night I couldn't eat dinner anymore because I have to sleep as soon as I can, in order for me to survive the 3 hour commute to work the next day. Sometimes, the only good thing about it is that my students, no matter how slow they are, they take away any exhaustion I feel as the day progresses.

          And so, I went to my superior to talk about leaving as soon as I can. I breathed a sigh of relief because she said that she completely understood how I felt. But, when I felt that I cannot go on until the end of the month I went to talk to her again.That was the time I came to hate the job, I felt like I was just forcing myself to do what I love. She told me she won't allow me to leave by the end of the month. It was so weird, she kept on telling me that she totally understood how I was feeling, but I know that her understanding of the situation had no depth. The next thing I know, I was called unprofessional and unfair.

         Yeah, maybe she was right about something but her decision was too motherly. She should have thought in the first place that  employees who come to work cursing how they hate their jobs, won't be able to perform well. And now I can't help but wonder, how did I come to hate something that I used to love?

          By the time I leave that place, i'm not sure if i'm gonna miss it. Maybe, I hated it for a long time now that I won't even bother looking back on how it used to make me excited. Either ways i'll let you know.

Loser Connections

       Having internet connections is annoying. You can't really say if it's beneficial or a contributor to your health problems. Well, I guess it depends on your connections. But, for us the connections are hazardous to health.
       
          My brother purchased a router from wi-tribe and its killing us. We hate it to the max, it doesnt have consistent signal. And when we have a connection it only has two signal bars. I actually thought that afetr that purchase I can save a lot from not going to computer shop but then not so fast. If I am expecting an e-mail and I dont have money then i'm dead. Hrrgh!

Found!

  Yes, a day after we lost Alfred our kitten we have finally found him. Where? At the place where my dad left him. according to the caretaker of the chapel our kitten spent the night wailing in the dark. My dad and I originally planned to go back to where he left him but , due to petty reasons we didn't make it.

   But the morning I woke up Alfred is home (minus the collar for his "homing device"). We wasted no time asking him if he was ok and planned on his good grooming. We tried cutting his nails (one paw took an hour!) and were successful (with front paws), gave him a bath when the sun came out, and we went back to our crazy,  lively lives.

Missing!

   We have recently acquired a new kitten. Our old cat is not yet dead but, it's still a good idea to adopt a new one in order to have a replacement on hand. We found our new kitten not far from where we live and I must say everybody was so excited (except the old cat of course) when we dropped him on the living room floor.

    The new "bundle of joy" was orange and of course tiny. On his first day he hid everywhere he can so, we decided to call him Alfred, put a red ribbon on him and called it his "homing device". On his second day, he relaxed a bit and started playing with his "homing device" around the house (which the old cat hated, he walks out every time the kitten ran to greet him!) and ate well.

    The following weeks was bliss and the old cat soon got used to Alfred (but not much). Just yesterday we bathed  (yes! bathed) Alfred with "Rejoice" shampoo (our mother's idea). And now, on this day we lost him.

     I was still sleeping when it happened. Apparently, my dad took Alfred with him to the chapel. went to the scheduled meeting and then lost Alfred. He and my mother went back to the chapel before lunch and still couldn't find the kitten. I am just feeling annoyed right now because I feel that they have given up already just because the couldn't find a tiny kitten. Like duh! It's supposed to be hard looking for it because it's a tiny kitten!

     I just hope right now that Alfred would be found or returned because we have already grown fond of him and he's just a tiny kitten.

Alfred