My extraordinarily ordinary life!
My life is extraordinarily ordinary and this is celebrating and writing about my beautifully ordinary moments.
I am proud to be Filipino and I am proud of my heritage, which, inevitably, includes the United States of America.
The fourth of July is now officially the Filipino-American Friendship Day. It is recognised as the day the Philippines gained independence from the United States.
To friends and family in the US, Happy Fourth of July!
The weekend’s been a bit of a washout. It rained. Really hard. As I was coming out of the hairdressers’ it was, as the Met Office predicted, showery. Very showery. No make that heavy on the showery. But because I was a girl scout (I was, really! I wore the green Girl Scouts of the Philippines uniform for 6 years!) I brought with me an umbrella. Said rain would have, most probably, put a damper on the proceedings at the Colchester Food and Drink Festival. Lower Castle Park can get squelchy when it rains. I was looking forward to going to the food festival today. So the rain wasn’t welcome! Except that I managed to get 2 important things done: my hair AND get dim sum from my favourite Chinese supermarket. I got beef and pork (and shrimp) siu mai, bean curd rolls and dumplings for frying!
I was, however, lamenting my choice of footwear. I have allowed my lovely ballet flats (my favourite pair!) to be soaked in rain water. Not a good thing, I don’t think! I may have to replace them. It’s a good thing they’re a Clark’s shoes standard and, thank goodness, there is a sale on! Mind you, that particularly design may not be on sale, but we shall see!
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On to other things, I am a tiny bit disappointed that my giveaway hasn’t worked. Mind you, I haven’t really done anything to promote the giveaway so that may be the first thing I should address. I will wait until the last day, 6 July and see if there is any interest. If not, I shall go back to the drawing board and have a rethink! Maybe attempt Rafflecopter again?
I thought if I did too much to prepare, I would be overthinking the whole blog giveaway thing. But I think this time, overthinking may be the best thing. I want to run a really good blog giveaway and I want it to be exciting! So after 1AM on 6 July, if I have no takers, I’m going to try to give the iPhone case again. I just shake my head at the seemingly sloppy way I’ve prepped for this giveaway! In the words of Mr Knightley (Jane Austen’s Emma), “Badly done!”
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On another note, I am quite surprised at how much I love my hair. It was cut by someone else and I wasn’t quite sure I liked how they handled my hair. Thankfully, it wasn’t something I was unhappy about. What a relief! The lady that cut my hair no longer worked at the salon that I went to. It took me almost 2 years to find someone to do my hair in a way that I was comfortable with. And now she’s moved! I was given her number and I’ve sent her a text message. I hope she sends me a text message back so that I can go where she works! Unless, of course, she doesn’t text back! Scary thought!
It’s only Wednesday and I am completely shattered!
I told myself the fatigue was probably because I’ve allowed myself to go full throttle this week on the work front. I have been taking it slightly easier than usual at work because I’ve been recovering from a nasty throat infection (which I ignored at first because I thought it was hayfever!). Monday morning was my last dose of antibiotic and the prescription meds seem to have worked. My tonsils don’t look so huge now (I did say at one point that my tonsils were so big they needed their own post code!) but every now and then I still feel a twinge of pain and I must admit, I am worried that I haven’t quite kicked the infection yet. I must remember to book an appointment to see the doctor again, to just check.
I got home slightly late today because a teenager stupidly drove his motorbike through the railway. Just as the train was passing through. He wasn’t hurt but was obviously shaken. I think he was thrown from his bike. Because when I looked out the train window, his bike was lying VERY near the tracks and he was about 3 feet away from said motorbike. He also looked very afraid. Afraid enough to yell at the driver, in a very worried voice, “I’m sorry!” Even through the closed windows and doors of the train, you could hear the tremor of fear in his voice. He suddenly looked very young, ringing his hands and his face flushed bright red. The poor thing. It makes you shake your head really. Why do kids do stupid things like run a motorbike through a railway track?
In other news, I have broken the unofficial baking embargo by baking tonight. It will be coconut and jam slices. I am excited! I am baking again!
As promised, I am giving away an iPhone5/5S case.
I first thought I’d run the giveaway by Rafflecopter but I need to read up on how it works before I actually use it! The competition is open to anyone and everyone who wants to provide a home to this lovely case (I was quite excited when I saw Claire in Modern Family use a similar case for her phone when I was doing my Modern Family catch up yesterday! At least I thought it was the same case).
I only ask for 3 things:
You have from RIGHT NOW until 1AM British Summer Time on 6 July to enter!
The winner will be announced on Sunday, 6 July!
On my birthday, I claimed a lovely and very generous goody bag (value of all items combined was over £100 and let me tell you, that bag was HEFTY!) from Carnaby Street and Sister. I have said this before, but thank you again, Carnaby Street and Sister! Mucho appreciated!
I loved every single item in the perfectly amazing goody bag. Unfortunately, as with all great loot bags, you find yourself unable to use EVERYTHING. One of the fabulous freebies is the now unavailable Avon Pink Otterbox iPhone5 Commuter series case. I am currently using an Incase Slider case (the colour, which is a delicious shade of blue, is called Skydiver Soft! Sounds terribly cool huh? Unlike geeky me, I assure you!) which has proved to be very effective (I am very clumsy with my phone and the Incase Slider case has protected all my iPhones — so far, knock on wood — from the damage that I inflict on it!) so I don’t really have a need for the Otterbox case.
It is my intention to run a giveaway on the blog soon to find a worthy home for the phone case. The case has never been used and is still in it’s packaging. So if you want an Otterbox commuter series iPhone5 case (in Avon Pink!) for your iPhone5 (or iPhone5s) watch this space!
…of not being able to blog!
It frustrates me that I haven’t been able to devote any time at all to blogging of late. I seem to always be apologising to everyone and no one for not being able to write anything. But sometimes I wonder, are you listening out there…anyone?
I am sitting in my front room guiltily typing out words while I am off sick from work. I’ve had what seems to be a throat infection for a few days now. My throat still hurts like heck, even after a 3-day course of antibiotics. I have had tonsillitis since moving to the UK but not quite this bad. I’ve had to take one day off but that was mostly to make sure I rested. I took most of Thursday and all of Friday off sick and yet I still find myself without energy. I’m hoping to get another doctor’s appointment so that I can be checked to see if this isn’t anything more than a throat infection (I am listening to the doctors’ surgery hold music as I type!).
But to go back to my blogging issue, as with everything in my life, I think I need to just sit down and be devoted to it. I used to be. When I started blogging I used to be vigilant, I used to blog nearly everyday. And not too long ago, I managed to post one entry a day! The excuse that work is more involved does not fly because I used to blog even when I was terribly busy! I guess the difference is that, now, I can’t blog at work.
I really need to devote myself to this. I am going to embark in another blog revamp and I think that’s what’s the most daunting for me. I want to make sure my blog entries are more focused and that my blog is a bit more of what I want it to look like! I’m seriously considering getting my own domain and seriously committing myself to writing more and writing better blog entries!
What say you dear reader? I would love to hear your thoughts!
On the 12th of May I received a tweet!
The tweet said that I had been selected to win a goody bag from Carnaby Street and Sister. And what a goody bag it was!
This was the photo that won me my the fabulous goody bag!
Thank you Carnaby Street! Y’all know how to give a birthday girl a good time!
Dr Jose Rizal is the Philippine national hero. He was an opthalmologist by profession. Although he wasn’t directly involved with the actual rebellion against the Spanish colonial goverment, he was a member of the Filipino propaganda movement. He wrote Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, two novels which are credited to have inspired the rebellion against Spain.
Rizal was well-traveled and well-educated. He studied in Madrid, in Paris, and in Heidelberg in Germany. He was a polyglot and a polymath. I remember my early years in school, from Grades 1 to 3, we studied Jose Rizal’s life. We learned about his parents, Francisco and Teodora, his siblings, Paciano, and his nine sisters, Saturnina, Trinidad, Maria, Lucia, Josefa, Concepcion, Narcisa, Soledad and Olympia. One of the stories from our little Jose Rizal books that I distinctly remember was an anecdote about how devastated Rizal felt when his little sister Concha (Concepcion) died when she was only three years old.
When I moved to England, one of my friends told me about a blue plaque that bore Jose Rizal’s name. The Blue Plaque scheme is run by the English Heritage, honouring the notable men and women of the world who lived in London by placing a blue plaque on the houses or buildings which they lived in or worked in whilst they were in London. I didn’t know about this. I knew that Jose Rizal had memorials in other countries, but I didn’t know about the blue plaque in London.
It was something I had to find. I was Filipino and proud of my country. I get all choked up seeing the Philippine flag flying and ruffling in the wind whilst hanging outside the Philippine Embassy on Suffolk Place! I found out that Jose Rizal lived in the very posh area of Primrose Hill! After getting the exact address, I did the only thing a proud Filipino would do, find the actual plaque! I dragged Alan with me as I tried to find 37 Chalcot Crescent. Before we found Rizal’s plaque, we discovered that the house he lived in was just around the corner from Sylvia Plath’s old house!
I didn’t want to do the cheesy thing of posing right next to the blue plaque but, oh my goodness, was I so proud to see the words “Dr Jose Rizal, 1861 – 1896, writer and national hero of the Philippines, lived here.” He apparently lived here in 1888 as a lodger. His rent was £2! I’m sure that wasn’t exactly cheap then!
I only wish I’d seen this with my parents when we were traipsing around Camden, after our visit to the Jewish Museum. I’m sure they would have beamed with pride, too, that this young, talented man from the Philippines, who lodged at 37 Chalcot Crescent, was recognised by English Heritage as a person of note.
Pinoy pride!
I am struggling to blog these days.
While I would love nothing more than to blog about food, the books I’ve read (I’ve managed to finish reading Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You! Hurray me!), the places Alan and I have been to eat, the musicals I’ve seen, it feels a bit self-indulgent. My father is still very ill and I feel that any enjoyment I feel about my life here is not allowed. He would say otherwise of course, because he has always said that I should live my life, that I should live the life I dreamed. But I cannot help but feel selfish.
I will write properly because to write about them would be honouring my father’s wishes. But right now I will allow myself to worry about him. Tomorrow is Sunday and Skype day. I will be able to chat with them and see all of them.
There are days when my grip on my faith is loosed by doubt. Why is my Abba still ill? Why is God letting him go through all this pain? But then I am reminded that these are questions that I mustn’t really ask. Because the God I believe in does not want His children to suffer. The God I believe in will turn a bad situation into a good one. The God I believe in is the God that heals. The God I believe in is a God who will take His children in His arms and comfort them. I know that I cannot understand my God’s wisdom because that is beyond my understanding. I must trust in His plan.
In His perfect time and according to His perfect plan.
That is what I must hold on to.
Yellywelly 