i took adrian to a mini date this afternoon for just a little recoupe and regrouping.
adrian and i do this regroup and reconvening away from home, away from the energy of work, and the mundane..and away from the computer, because when were at home, him and i are at our respective computers typing away (him on his work), while i, on my research (or Facebook,haha).
so today, we had a little date. not planned. not organised. just a "come,lets go, lets make an ordinary saturday evening special by chatting".
so we did.
my date
the place..cafe rouge
chatter chatter chatter
pleased missus...
***
on another note:
a few saturdays ago, i attended a first year old's birthday party. she is my grandniece Anya=)
my!! this little madam is now growing..why do i say so? she now knows she's being photographed..just look at the head tilt=)
on my last day before we fly,im supposed to be packing and arranging the last minute stuff. but here i am answering phone calls and emails from my university. they have emailed me regarding my essay (remember the dining table saga?), well i got really good feedback (and grade! woohoo!!) from that, and im absolutely ecstatic.
also, a phone call asking me if im interested in working in Learning Disabilities for Adults. DUh! would i just! absolutely, i am! Jobs like these comes once in a blue moon, and the learning opportunities are massive=) i spoke with the Clinical Lead and she told me the benefits and the responsibilutities,but i was too excited to concentrate. besides, the lady said, she thinks its tailor-made for me, *happy*.
the catch? i had to submit my application ASAP, as the deadline is the week after (and im in India). so the moment we ended the phone call, i had to submit my CV and the tedious process of filling up forms online.
talk about BUSY, i am really not exaggerating.
The good thing too, that means, i will have more time to entertain Kharla when she's here in September while waiting for the things to get finalized! (WOohoo again!)! September, roll on in=)
Technically, i dont have THE job thats being offered yet (as the powers that be has to go through red tape) , but its not a worry, as i currently am still working (well semi working as im in university too),and if i get the job, i will just slide into the new one from the old one. Praying it will be given to me too, as one of their requirement was flexibility working in the weekends (if needed, but swapped with weekday off), which can be a tough case, but lets see.
So, in between, answering emails, sending job applications,tidying up, blogging,haha and banking transactions, life is hectic..yet, life is good.
***
Flying to India in a few hours...
Excited for the possibilities that await me.
***
Things im looking forward to in this trip:
-a whole body massage at an Ayurvedic centre in one of the lodges we will be staying at
-Elephant safari
-the Keralan backwaters (which i heard is an out-of-this world experience)
-the safari lodge where we are booked to stay at
-the Tea plantation in one of India's peaks
-the authentic Indian food we will be served from our hosts
-the weddings im attending (and capturing,be still my heart, and Lord, please help me rise to the challenge)
-the Riverboat lodge cruising through the backwaters, where we are also billeted for two nights
-the castles and museums that were booked to see
-Ashrams were planning to visit and meditate at
-the Kathakali cultural show-- a highly costumed stage play reenacting the triumph of Good over Bad (the make up and costumes, i am so looking forward to see)
-the backstreets of a very rural Indian town
-the culture that im about to sample and witness (disclaimer: but obviously thru a visitors eyes)
-although i am sad, i wont be able to see jaipur and the pink city and the Taj Mahal, but i hope there will be a next time to visit it. for the meantime, i will be concentrating on the Southern part of India (the not so often featured part of India and apparently has the best seafood) specifically Kerala and Tamil Nadu, its food,its colours, its smells (Aileen, i will bring the pinchers as promised,haha),and its taste..
I am grateful for all the good things i am given, i just wish i can take you all with me=)
**
Thank you heavens, for always for knowing what i need before i do.
Thank you family and friends, for always being there.
x
Eat,Pray, Love (ok, copyright to Ms.Gilbert,haha).
The Rage x
***
this is a sample of a video i saw for Kerala--often called as God's Own Country
if i want to remember what i did for the past few days, i get a reminder thru the pics on my iphone..
the photos on our phone are swatches of what happened during the week, as theyre the easiest and handiest photographic tool one is carrying these days.
i wanted to organise what i did this week, but i was thrown off by the anniversary date, in between events that happened before and after that.thank goodness from phone cameras, most especially, big storage in phones.
here are some photos from the phone (interspersed with photos from my Dinky Niki phone)..
ebi katsu from Wagamama meal Adrian and i enjoyed over last weekend..(iphone)
and the yummy chcken katsu curry...(iphone)
coming out of the resto/wagamamaplace, this was the lakeside 's array of restaurants.. (Nikon coolpix)
a view of how busy a weekend meal could mean...(Nikon coolpix)
*
also, i did a make up job this week, for a friend of mine.She is the mother of the bride.
she was quite happy with her make-up..For someone who doesnt wear make up, she asked me to have look that will look fresh and stay the whole afternoon til the wee hours of the morning.
(iphone)
(iphone)
(iphone)
Lisa was so happy most of all, because of her eyerows. She didnt know anyone who could draw her eyebrows the way she wanted it. She has barely there/to none eyebrows as its very thin and the colour is so fair. I had to literally draw eyebrows over and above the original one, to lift out her eyes. Yes, ladies, age is not kind to us..No matter how beautiful our features are, gravity gets to us, and it sucks..Thank you Lord for make-up.
The photo was done hours before the wedding as i had a prior engagement on the same day.
***
and then on friday, a late lunch with Bing. a filipina friend, my first ever filipina friend, when i moved to england, and who is just like my second mother. we had to squeeze a lunch meet-up because she was turning a year older this Thursday (12th) but i wont be able to see her.
We had lunch at Las Iguanas..we ordered the same exact food Ana and i ordered when the sis was here to visit me. I didnt take a photo of Bings and mine's lunch, but here's a phonecam photo of Ana and mine's lunch in May at Las Iguanas..
it was my birthday treat to a friend who is much like family to me. and we hardly see one another considering were just a few blocks away from eachother. we had to schedule meeting one another..
(iphone)
here's Bing during the ice cream dessert. This was her treat for me, and who am i to say No to ice cream?
(iphone)
***
And last night, a birthday party for Glen and Lionel at the local TGIF.
Lionel who's office is in Brussels likes TGIF for some reason (there must be no TGIF in Brussels,haha), requested to have the dinner there.
So off we went last night.
(Nikon coolpix)
(Nikon coolpix)
Heres the two..
both had birthdays together..one was the day before, one was the same exact date we celebrated. both are South Africans..and gosh theyre like family to us..
after desserts we proceeded to more drinking and karaoke at Cheryl's house.
this is a photo of Cheryl, Pamela, and Glen, saying goodbye to us.. it was around 3AM. they were about to sing (and dance) the song Pamela Wan to me as a goodbye song. (i know theyre the craziest and funniest bunch..South Africans are the best party animals there are).
At the karaoke:
They asked me to sing the song Pamela Wan. They love it even if they cant read the lyrics nor sing it. They just loved that song because it has the name Pamela on it, which is Pam's complete name.
The whole night of the karaoke, they kept asking me to sing Filipino songs, but most Filipino songs i know are in english which they felt cheated about,haha. (it made me realise, for a Filipino, im so bad, not knowing Tagalog songs much. note to self: learn more tagalog songs).
History of the Pamela Wan song: when my sister Ana visited last time, they also invited us to a karaoke party. (their karaoke machine was a gift from adrian and I from the Phils,haha). As we have turns to sing, their daughter Yentl chose to sing the Pamela Wan song to all the South African guests delight..Ana and i laughed because the daughter couldn't sing it properly,and it was weird why she was singing a filipino song.
When Ana helped her/Yentl to sing it, they asked to repeat the song for Ana to sing properly. Ana became the hero in their eyes at that instant, as they all wanted to learn the song, because everytime their whole family are together, they try to sing the song, but they dont know how.
So Ana taught them the tune, and how to pronounce the words.
How easy to make these people happy.
***
Last night they kept wishing Ana was there to sing it properly for them..I wished that too,LOL.
**
i tried singing it last night, they all loved it..even if i half guessed the tune as when that song came out in the Philippines, i was already living in the UK. i only (barely) learned the tune from Ana.
i wanted to post the video of them singing the song as a goodbye, but im so embarassed as my voice was trying to coach in the background as well. its a sound for distress i must say,haha.
**
In exchange, these South African friends of ours are also happy that we love the song we heard played on Pam's ipod one barbeque evening we attended at their house.
we loved it too much that we decided to learn the lyrics from them, and sing and dance to it.
their faces laughing but beaming with happiness that we love a SA song.
its a song called "Los Lappie"
here's the clip..
Ana and i loved it..but obviously, they were laughing because apparently it has a rude meaning. it means loose women/men,hahaha..
who knew South African-Filipino music exchange will be between rude, or crappy music, yet end up satisfying to both parties?
..because Adrian bought me my longed-for wish: chinese lanterns, i decided, it was time for a bbq..
i had some friends over on Saturday.
some photos taken the day after the BBQ...i wasnt able to whip out my big Nikons during the BBQ because it was hard being the host and taking photos too..
so i will be backtracking photos. the next entry will be photos from that BBQ night from my canon g10..=)
dont you think they're the cutest?
***
everyone commented on them when they came in..
last night, my stepson had a meal with us, and he also commented on these beautiful lights..
theyre tiny but they're adorable.
now, i want to send some to my little house in talisay,haha.
***
PS. i woke up so late and feverish. and again, semi-deaf in one ear. ive been getting this ear problem lately.
im sure i have an infection, nothing that a good strong antibiotic (and freshly squeezed orange juice) cant cure.
in my quest to be current.. here are what went on in my life since sunday night.
do not get puzzled why they are food photos. my life's centred around food.
sunday night, Adrian had his friend Pat around for desserts.
he came over at 7:30 pm, and stayed till 10pm.
Pat is a retired professor and now is enjoying life as a B & B owner at the Isle of Mull.
he and Adrian (and some others) are quite close and they always see one another at least once a year, althought they communicate regularly due to a business they have together.
here are the two, having baked apple pie and vanilla ice cream at the garden.
***
ive been having guests in the garden recently. its the only place in the house that you can breathe in, its so warm inside the house.
on monday night, i had my friend Lisa drop by and had biscuits and orange juice with me at the garden. she needed to drop by to drop off stuff i ordered from her Pampered chef party..*yaaayyy to a growing collection of bamboo cooking spoons, chef knives and some new baking tools*.
i wasnt able to take a photo of her, but i was able to take a photo of my dinner cooked by Adrian..
unfortunately, i wasnt able to take the sliced photo as i was famished by the time adrian dished out.
the cook who tended the garden before all the kitchen tasks he had to do as well. (no, im not a slave driver,really,haha).
the small yet very productive garden..we have a strawberry patch, tomato patch, an herb (rosemary, coriander, thyme) patch, carrots, potato patch, parsnip patch, plum and apple tree, blackcurrant, raspberry and blueberry bushes...as well as a flower patch, two tubs and four various little containers.
the gardener is quite a busy teacher as well, so he does what he can and i say he does a very good job=)
***
adrian's last day for work before summer holidays was today. so we met up at a coffee shop and had a 'summer plan' talk.
tonight, i was craving for something "saucy" and i was craving for roti's too, so i decided to go 'indian'.
***
hmmnnn, i wonder what tomorrow brings..
fish and chips maybe?
**
all photos (except the cofee + cake photo done by the iphone), are from my Dinky Niki (Nikon Coolpix).
there are stories behind silences, pregnant pauses and thwarted thoughts.
what goes behind the curtains, is written.
this is evidence of a life lived, thoughts evoked and emotions stoked, when the time comes for goodbyes.
