Burned Eyebrows...

In Front of Winston Churchill

Galit yata sa akin si Lolo Winston :-)

My life since my last post has been filled with struggles. My travesty goes like... focusing on my readings... concentrating on my reading assignments.... reading materials written by Aristotle and some other high flying academics from the past, present, and has been!... reading at 2:00 AM with my eyes drooping and my mind saying "ang kapal moh! tingin mo ma-a-absorb mo pa yang binabasa mo, matulog ka na kid!"... reading with a dictionary in hand only to find out that the word i don't understand is not in the dictionary anyway.... and well... writing essays!

Yup, friends m forcing myself to read everyday. Its not easy. Ive not read lengthily since college. My mind flies every after 10 minutes. The sad thing is... aside from the one's ive shown you in my last post.. i got two volumes more plus almost the equivalent of another two volumes uploaded in the internet or given in class. Sometimes, even if i want more info about what has been discussed in class ayoko na magtanong sa prof. Baket? The end of such inquiry would likely be.. "you better read so and so's material on blah blah and also kurdapia's book on blah blah!!!!" Yup, they will answer my query, pero malamang madadagdagan na naman babasahin ko. Ano ako hilo?Q!@== Well tama kayo... hilo na nga ako. :-)

At any rate, m doing great. Hope and pray i'll be able to read and digest better in the coming days.

Cheers y'all!

Off to Masters I Go!

God’s been very good. The intro program turned out to be not as difficult as I thought.
However, in those six weeks I pushed myself to perform very well to ensure that I’ll proceed with my Masters program and not have a downgraded diploma in public policy – I discussed this in my previous posts. My effort wasn’t for naught. Got very high marks in economics and pleasing remarks in academic skills. I actually think the remarks I got for the latter was a bit overboard, but I could only be thankful. Salamat sa Diyos, nag-enroll na po ako sa Masters last July 18.

Here’s the bad news for me thought. Yeah, diretso na ako sa Masters, tignan nyo naman ang readings ko.

These are photocopied (with permission) books. Hence, its pages are thinner than book paper. To save resources, each page has back to back printing with most leaves containing two pages as shown below.

And these are not everything yet. There are subjects that require another book or two plus readings uploaded in our intranet. At ito pa, I’ll have to read two volumes of these in next four weeks for one modular subject. I’ll have two of modular subjects this sem. Ahuhuhuhu. As we were forewarned in the intro program… “Kiss your social life goodbye”.

Please pray for me people. Matagal na akong hindi nagbabasa ng ganito kaha-haba. This week alone I need to read almost an inch and half thick material (back to back with two pages in each surface). Mauubos ng kilay ko nito!

Worry not though, I’m thankful for the learning experience. :-)

A Crash Course in Australian Wedding

I never thought I would experience this soon. But I did. I’ve played emcee/host several times in the Phils. That would include weddings of friends. Gabbing over the mike is nothing new.

Two eeks ago, a newly found friend invited me to be the emcee/coordinator of their wedding. That means, after only four weeks of stay here in Canberra, I will be the emcee and coordinator/floor director of a wedding. Parang mahirap yun because, one – Ive yet to know how weddings are done here; two – I’ve yet to know the “kiliti” of Australians which is very vital in keeping the party interesting; and three, I have never coordinated a wedding, nag-host lang ako.

But I can’t say no to the Bride who’s been very much of help to me. Besides, I felt so privileged to have her trust.

Okay so payag agad ko. It turned out, there is nothing much to coordinate prior to the wedding coz the bride and her fiancée have done it all. Diretso na tayo sa wedding.

Weddings in Australia are…………. SIMPLE in every sense of the word. As in, Australian Weddings would be utterly boring in the Philippine context.

Sa Pinas ganito eksena pag may ikakasal, sa Manila Hotel man o sa Sitio Dimalupig, Kiangan, Isabela. “O yung tutugtug sabihan mo na, susunod na sila…. yung choir pakantahin nyo na …. o yung pari nasan na, yung mike i-on nyo na… yung father of the bride magsasalita na...” Kaya naman kaylangan ng sandamakmak na coordinator to get things going.

Dito sa Australia, most of the weddings are civil ceremonies not religious. So isang hukom lang ang officiating person, wala nang sacristan, assisting minister, etc. Fifteen minutes lang ang seremonya. Pagkatapos nun reception na.

At ang reception, simpleng-simple. Sabi nga nung isang pinoy, “hay naku dito sa Australia basta bigyan mo sila ng pagkain, wine at kape tapos na ang reception.”

Of course, formal pa rin ang dinner. Usually, ala carte hindi buffet! Complete course with matching wine and champagne. Meron din syempre yung mga universal practices like the toast by the best man, speeches by the parents of the bride and groom, cake cutting, couples dance, etc. But the difference is, hindi kaylangan may event every minute of the reception. The one I emceed lasted for almost five hours. Out of that, baka 1 hour lang ang may nangyayari. The rest, usap-usap lang. Its so laid back that I have to walk around the hall to spend my adrenalin! I like it though, kasi may chance to connect with the people. Hindi gaya nung sa Pinas na sobrang busy.

It was such a learning experience. Pwede palang ganun.

n.b. A lot of the guest thought I’ve been in Australia for so long. They were surprised to learn that ive only been here for a month.

Our International Kitchen

Toad Hall is predominantly occupied by international graduate students. Most of the students taking up Public Policy, Public Ad, International Devt Econ, and Environmental Mgmt live here. Kaya naman, sobrang multi-cultural ang buong hall.

Kitchens in the Hall are shared. Ten residents share one kitchen which has two 4-burner stoves, 2 large fridge, 2 sinks, one bread toaster, one oven, one microwave oven and one electric kettle. Usually sa kitchen nagki-kita-kita ang mga magkaka-block coz we don’t really eat in the dining area nor loiter in the common room.

One night I was busy cooking pork adobo when two ladies, Japanese and Chinese, came with a bag of groceries. They’re so excited to bring out their goods and start cooking. It turned out they will experiment on cooking an elaborate Japanese dish. They got the recipe from the Japanese’s aunt. They were just starting when another Chinese girl, who is into cooking, passed by. Upon learning that the other two will cook a new recipe, she stayed put to get to know the dish. Syempre nakisali na rin ako. Kasi yung adobo ko pwede nang iwan habang kumukulo.

Nakaka-aliw ang ingay namin. Just imagine a Japanese, two Chinese and a Pinoy conversing in English while cooking a Japanese recipe. Mahirap lutuin yung recipe kaya maingay kami. We have to discuss how to do the instruction. Nippongo has to be interspersed coz the instruction is written in that language. From time to time, nag-ma-Mandarin yung mga Chinese. Then English na naman na bali-baliko. Ako naman English with a fake Aussie accent para mas maintindihan nila ko. At ito pa, nang hindi mabasa nung Japanese yung recipe, yung isang Chinese ang nagbasa ng Niponggo. Para kaming palengke in a place you can’t ascertain where.

Well… in the end we were able to cook the recipe but not with much success. Nakuha ang lasa but not the presentation. Dig this - dapat nakabalot sa piniritong itlog ang elaborately cooked rice with tomato sauce. But we enjoyed eating. Naubos namin pati adobo.

Sara Lee

Sara Lee is not into hosieries and undergarments nor direct selling here in Australia. They’re into… Dyaraaannn!!!! Food. Gulat kami sa brand ng Cupcake na kinakain naming. Aba! Sara Lee. At may ice cream din sila. In fairness, masarap.

Ang bagong model ng Sara Lee. :-)

Ang Inuman ng Tubig, Bow!

Remember my First Australian faux pas? Hindi naulit yun syempre. Pero as always nag-mistulang taga-baryo na naman ako, at least in my mind.

I was eating lunch with a good friend along the beautiful street leading to Manly Beach in Sydney. The place is exactly an improvement of the Nakpil area. Pagandahin mo lang yun 10 times at ilapit sa white sand beach.

We were gobbling our shawarma while seated comfortably in the middle of a walkway. Ito ang naging usapan namin:

My Friend: Bro ano to? Part nung aluminum artwork dun? (look at artwork in front)

Harold: Hindi bro. Ano yan, siguro kuhanan ng tubig kapag may sunog. Parang may tubo eh. (I was thinking of the yellow colored water disposal unit used by the firemen).

We both satisfied ourselves with that assumption. Kain na kami. Suddenly, a man in coat and tie approached the beautiful tube, pressed the circle protrusion on top, then drank the water that came out.

Nagkatinginan kami ng friend ko. Sabay tawa. Eh sino ba naman mag-aakalang drinking fountain pala ito. Ala eh ang ganda!

Circular Quay

Here is another place that stunned me when we went to Sydney. Circular Quay is a very busy port in the heart of the City. It’s right next to the Opera House and the famous Harbour Bridge. Andaming taong sumasakay at bumababa ng ferry in this place. Pero, as you can see in the picture, napakalinis ng tubig sa paligid. Wala ni isang upos ng yosi. Promise, tinitigan ko ng matagal yan, hoping na may makikita akong kahit na isang wrapper ng candy. Pero wala talaga. Gusto ko nang sabihin sa Australians around, “Hoy magkalat naman kayo para ma-justify ko dumi ng Manila Bay!!!” Syempre di nila ako mai-initindihan noh. Tagalog yun eh. Hehehe

Circular Quay. Ferry port right in the middle of a financial district.


Circular Quay. See the buildings.. ala Roxas Boulevard ba?

Napakalinis po ng tubig. Walang "floaters" :-)