There were more than 300 examinees when I took the exam 13 years ago. English, Math and Chemistry, oh I so well remember each hurdle I took. Particularly, I could not forget my effort to hold the pencil as it continuously slip through my sweaty palm. I had been always cautious of timed exams and [...]
Mar
16
2008
16
2008
Mar
9
2008
9
2008
the experiment
The word experiment is something I can’t forget because I have a scar in my right wrist because of it. I didn’t like doing experiments in school. A few years ago, I would not have burned my skin if only my experiment partner reported for school and translated the Japanese text to me. Instead, he [...]
Feb
3
2008
3
2008
foul
Back when I was an active teenager in college, I loved participating in sports activities. I love the adrenalin rush, the cheering audience is music to my ears and every drop of sweat meant some sort of achievement to me.
I was in the Engineering department and with a limited number of females enrolled, the department [...]
Jan
27
2008
27
2008
miscellaneous
I work on Saturdays.
Just when most of the working moms shout “hurrah weekend!”, in this globally unsynchronized place where I am an expat mom, work week starts on a Saturday. Schools and other offices including my husband’s start on Sunday. What does that mean to me and my little family?
It means I have to battle [...]
Jan
20
2008
20
2008
fellow travelers
It was going to be Christmas in less than an hour. Along with my three fellow travelers, I was on board a ship going to Manila to attend a seminar for our school newspaper. The boat was late so we docked at the designated port more than 10 hours behind schedule and now, the desolate [...]
Jan
13
2008
13
2008
the date
“Three weeks and 2 days and the date the baby is due is December 23, 2003.” I was only half listening, still couldn’t believe I am going to be a mom before the year ends.
Amazing these modern machines, they can see beneath our bodies, measure our fetuses and tell when they’d be born! I wished it would [...]
Jan
6
2008
6
2008
that bubbly feeling
July 2003.
Summer had always been like this in Japan, nothing new: carnivals despite the hot humid days and nights filled with “cool” shows. It was particularly hot but we did not turn the aircon on. We were just married and expecting our first child (hence the frugality) and besides, I never really liked too much [...]
Dec
30
2007
30
2007
The internet and me, then and now
Every now and then we hold a conference, chat conference online that is, my 5 other siblings and I. One brother chillin’ in Tokyo, 3 brothers in the Philippines (different locations) and my only sister in my parent’s house also in the Philippines.
I say I have to thank the internet so badly. It is saving me lots [...]
Dec
23
2007
23
2007
1996 holiday memories
It’s three days before Christmas and the clock never seem to stop ticking its way to December 25. Here comes the season where I daydream about Christmas pasts and holiday memories while decorating the tree or wrapping gifts.
The date was December 24, 1996. Barely two months after my arrival in Japan (to study), my school [...]
