Not Her!

Medyo na-bad trip yata ako kahapon. Nalaman ko kasi na yung proyekto nung katrabaho ko e hindi pa maayos ayos at kailangan pa nyang tumigil sa Tsina. So sa madaling sabi, magiging mas okupado pa sya kesa sa naka-plano. E sya pa naman yung papalit sa akin sa proyekto ko naman dito sa Dijon habang ako ay naka-maternity leave. And mas masama pa, parehong makina yung trinatrabaho nya sa Tsina at yung makina na itinatayo dito sa Dijon sa ngayon (as in yung makina ko). Magkaiba nga lamang ng proseso. Gagana naman kaya yung makina dito sa Dijon? Lagot ako pag hindi, ako kasi yung nag-design ng makina.

So sabi ni bosing kaninang umaga, since busy yung isa, baka yung isang katrabaho ko na lang yung papalit sa kin kasi mahirap iwanan sa baguhan (kukuha kasi sila ng papalit sa kin - contractual) yung proyekto ko lalo pa at nagiging mainit na sa mata ng mga big bosing tong proyekto na to dahil nga sa experience sa Tsina.

Heto ang problema ko sa ngayon. Yang isang katrabaho ko din kasi na yan yung pumalit sa kin nung naka-maternity leave ako kay Louna. Na-hire din sya pagkatapos kasi nagkataon na me umalis na katrabaho namin. E hindi ko sya feel. Heto kung bakit:

- Isa syang fashion victim. Sya ang nagpa-uso ng high heels, palda, make-up, alahas, at susmaryowsef, kung makadamit, kita na ang cleavage! Magkasama nga kami nyan minsan sa Barcelona, kinabukasan, sinisipon na. Kung di ba naman sya magkasakit e ang baba ng damit nya. Sabi ko sa kanya, e pers taym nyang magbyahe, pano pa pag sa Asia o US sya pinadala, e Europe pa lang, di na sya maka-adjust sa klima, lol. - Sa awa ng Dyos, di pa sya bumabyahe mula nung na-hire sya, ngek.

- Masyado syang magastos. Biruin nyo, kilala na nya lahat ng driver ng taxi sa Paris! E karamihan sa amin e nagmemetro lang. E ikaw ba naman ang naka-heels palagi. Minsan, nagco-compare kami ng gastos. Sya, di nga bumabyahe di ba, hanggang Paris lang. Ako, galing ng Bangkok noon (kasama tiket sa eroplano ha). Aba, halos pareho kami ng gastos. Kaya siguro di pinapadala sa labas, ang gastos e.

- Masyado syang pa-epek. Lam nyo yun, nasa meeting e hindi mahiwalay ang mata sa computer. Hello, respeto lang po sa ibang tao no, kung di mo maiwan ang laptop mo, e di wag kang umattend ng meeting. Minsan naman, kung makaporma sya e parang alam nya lahat. Hay naku.

- Parang wala akong tiwala sa kakayahan nya. Minsan kasi, may gusto akong ipakitang litrato na kuha sa mikroskopyo sa kanya. Gusto kong malamang kung ano ang opinyon nya tungkol sa problemang yun. Sa panahon kasi na yun, me problema din sya sa proyekto nya. Aba, di pa daw sya nakakita ng litrato ng partikular na bagay na yun na kuha sa mikroskopyo. Hello?

- Medyo sipsip lang naman sya. Aga yang pumasok pag andyan si big bosing. Ganda ng chika lagi kay bosing. Samantalang sa amin na ka-level nya, wala kang makukuhang impormasyon na galing sa kanya. Feeling ko tuloy, extract lang sya lagi ng kakayahan namin, kami, walang mapala sa kanya. Sabi ni Frenchguy, it's either ayaw nyang mag-share ng info, o kaya, di sya ganun ka-confident para mag-share, o wala syang alam.

- Feeling ko, di sya seryoso. Minsan kasi, magkasama kami sa training sa Paris. Di pa tapos ang meeting, nagpaalam na sya at maiiwan daw sya ng tren. Ganun? E meron pa namang tren pagkatapos nun. E trabaho nya yung pinag-uusapan. Ako e consultant lang kuno. Nung Martes, ganun ulit. Umalis sya bago pa matapos ang training.

- Hindi ko rin sya ma-imagine na humawak ng makina. E tumingin na nga lang sa mikroskopyo, di pa nya magawa e. Yan ang problema sa mga bagong inhinyero sa amin, lagi na lang nakaharap sa laptop. Ang sa akin lang, paano ka magiging epektibo kung ni hindi mo alam kung ano sinasabi mo?

- Ang pinaka-ayaw ko pa sa kanya, hindi sya honest. Or ewan ko kung ano tawag dun. E di ba nga sya yung pumalit sa kin nung buntis ako kay Louna. So sya humawak ng mga subjects ko. Then merong award yung isang subject, pero yung pinakamalaking trabaho, syempre ako ang gumawa. E hindi naman alam ni big bosing yun kasi bagong dating lang sya sa service nung panahon na yun. Aba, ang loka, taas noo sa pagkuha ng award, nakalimutan ang pangalan ko. As in ang sama ng loob ko nun.

So ayun. Ako ang nag-design ng makina. Feeling ko, iba na naman ang mag-aani ng itinanim ko. Bakit ba naman ang aga kasi ng maternity leave dito sa Pransya? Hay naku. Bad trip. Kakausapin ko talaga si bosing pag confirmed na sya nga ang papalit sa kin. Laki ng problema ko no?

Last Week's Blahblahs

Dealing with Administrative Stuffs

I'm barely two and a half months away from maternity leave and my mind couldn't stop listing all the necessary procedures I need to do while waiting for the D Day. I'm not talking about maternity stuffs though. My expiring passport starts to annoy me and I can't drag myself to renew it at the embassy in Paris. There's just too much papers to present and I don't have all of them. And I hate myself for not asking for naturalization earlier to avoid such a headache.

So stubborn me thought, ok, I need to get on with this. I need to be French. Just for the sake of my passport! Darn.

I took my Friday off. There's just too much to do. I just can't sneak off the office to do all that.

First rendez-vous was at my gynecologist for the 5th month visit (first portrait as shown on the left).

Then after a quick lunch, I went to the Préfecture to get the updated list of requirements for the Naturalisation thing. Jeeez! The list was long. It was almost okay except that I need to have my Philippine documents legalized by the embassy - the birth certificates and the NBI clearance. I hope they won't ask me for red ribbons everywhere - I mean, I only had mine stamped, but not my parent's.

Then I went to the Mayor's office to ask for the Attestation d'Accueil for my sister and my Mom. I hope they could spend Christmas and New Year with us. The same, the list was long but since I already asked for my parents two years ago, I already prepared all the papers before going there. Surprise! I can't put both of them in the same document, so I paid 90€ for two Attestation d'Accueil. 2 years ago, it was only 15€/person.

After my stop at the Mayor's office, I went directly to Trésor Public to ask for a Bordereau de Situation Fiscale, a paper needed for the naturalization thing. It's a document stating that I paid my taxes - revenu, proprietary and resident taxes.

Whew, I was never that productive in my entire life! I think it's a hormonal thing, lol.


Frenchguy Got Back from the US..

.. and he brought my new toy! It's sleek. It's black. It's sexy. It grows longer when you play with it. Here it is:
The euro-dollar rate is so interesting nowadays that US became our favorite boutique lately. And since Frenchguy gets to travel in that part of the world quite regularly, I bought that new toy there (thru internet).

The shopping addict (read: Frenchguy) also bought some stuffs for Louna - clothes, toys and books. Prices here in Europe just got too expensive lately that having this shopping mall alternative is a welcome treat to our pocket.

If only I'm not pregnant, I would surely organize our summer vacation in the US - to visit families and friends - and of course, to do some shopping. And you hear that from somebody who hates shopping!


It's Tax Season, Arrgh!

Have you declared your 2007 revenu taxes (residents in France)?

I was probably hallucinating. I saw more than 2000€ difference from our 2006 taxes. Didn't they promise lower taxes? I checked again this afternoon, even re-simulated the computation, but still the same, we will pay an additional of 2000€ this year!

Nope, we didn't really have huge salary increase. I know that they changed something in the computation (removed the 10% deduction and 20% abattement before the application of QF). I also know that they changed something on the computation pertaining to travel incentives. But the heck, that's 2000€ (+ the base of 2006 revenu tax which also increased compared to 2005!).

So the government talks about measures on how to increase buying power? Are they really serious?

My Hometown Under State of Calamity

So you probably heard the news. Mang Cosme has hit Northern Luzon and left thousands of families homeless. My hometown is apparently the most ravaged in Zambales - Sta. Cruz. Indeed, I saw the news, saw familiar landmarks, even saw my cousin's internet shop with computers drenched, all houses roofless, no electricity.

I was trying to call up my parents for no particular reasons this weekend. I wasn't informed, I hardly keep up. But they were unavailable. Apparently, their mobile phones have no charged batteries anymore. And with the damage Cosme had caused, it would probably take them a month for electricity to go back to normal.

My sisters in Manila just informed me that our parent's house lost its roofs, our car was hit (Don't know if the insurance would handle the reparation expenses), all trees were broken/fallen (Including those mango trees that my Mom planted ages ago. They just started to bear fruits.) and our ricefield was flooded, and so, damaged (Meaning all investments washed away, no harvest this season). The only good news is that my parents are safe. Which is the most important news.

As far as I could remember, we already had the same calamity ages ago (I was probably 7 years old) but we only lost our roofs. It was during the night and we woke up floating on our instant swimming pool. We in fact slept in the basement, on a bamboo bed, so it floated. I could remember how happy I was playing with our swimming pool.


Rip-Current Deaths

Raqgold's entry about a drowning incident in one of the beaches in Zambales disturbed me. It's a story which is a déjà vu for me. I felt a certain familiarity to it. Aren't these the kinds of incidents where oldies would say Marami talagang na-eengkanto dyan. Taon-taon may kinukuha dyan. Aren't these the kinds of incidents why my parents always warned us against going to the seashore?

There was never any scientific explanation to it. Province people has always relied to kababalaghan, sa sabi ng matatanda, sa tadhana. But as I said, I was kind of disturbed. Me and my siblings, inspite the warning from our parents, are beach lovers. Philippine beaches are there to indulge to, and lifeguards are almost nowhere. We need not rely our lives to life security which is not there. We need to be responsible. I found this link which explains what this phenomenon is and how to avoid it. And why not, save lives. Please do me a favor. Read it.

Deux Ans et Démi

Check out Louna's update at 2 and a half years old here.

Italian Getaway

We’re back from our Italian escapade. All three of us are beautifully kissed by the Tuscan sun. We’re slowly starting to get things back on track but loads of pictures are still waiting to be sorted, retouched and downloaded. Oh by the way, I met Michelangelo's David in Tuscany (left photo), tumaba na. Naober yata sa pasta, lol.

A nice weather greeted us upon our arrival in Pisa. The 8-hour drive was quickly forgotten once we saw the Leaning Tower. Did you know that I came to this place like 5 years ago but was not able to see the tower? It was because Pisa was not included in our itinerary. So I, together with an Estonian friend decided to take the train from Florence and go there. Unfortunately, or should I say, stupidly, we missed the fast train because we were caught by the beauty of the Uffizi Museum. We stayed longer inside without caring for the time. So instead of the fast train, we took the regional (slow) train, unknowingly. Upon arriving in Pisa, we only had the time to take another train back to Florence because our bus was already waiting for us. Luck!

After the visit, we headed directly to Florence for a two-night stay. Museums were full-packed (and anyway, I already visited them lol) so we just contented ourselves to a walk around the city and appreciate its architecture, visit churches, eat ice cream, pasta..

We visited the Science Museum (just near the Uffizi Museum) where works of Galileo Galilei and other scientists were exposed. There’s generally less visitors here so for science fanatics like me and Frenchguy, it was haven. I already visited it but I didn’t mind re-plunging myself to these great works. Even Louna appreciated peeping on Galileo’s telescope!

Our next stop was in lovely Rome. There’s just too much to say about this place. I’m speechless. I let the pictures speak for themselves.

We took the Roma Pass which gave us access to public transportation for 3 days, free entrances to 2 museums, and discounted entrances to other museums. With that, we had direct access to the Colosseum which was a bonus because there was too much tourists at that time.

But well, anyway, we did not visit a lot of museums because Rome could be considered as an open-air museum. You could just walk around the city and church hop..

We visited the Vatican City on a Sunday, May 4. Big error. Incidentally, it was also the 140th anniversary of Santo Padre Benedetto XVI. Could you see the number of people over there?
After the intensive city visits, our next getaway was at the relaxing countryside of the Tuscany region. Our first stop was at Pienza (Siena Region) - a UNESCO-protected site. We stayed in an Agriturismo where Louna had the privilege to collect eggs every morning. A morning walk around the farm was a relaxing way to unwind from our busy lives.

The last stop was at Volterra (Pisa Region) - again in an Agriturismo. We mixed between visiting old villages and sunbathing by the seaside.

We visited a lot of typical hill-top villages but you need to note these sites: Pienza, San Gimignano, Siena, and Volterra. A walk in the farm and old villages or a road-trip is the best way to enjoy the Tuscany region. Its beauty is simply captivating and extraordinary.

Tips: I did all reservations via booking.com and reserver.it. Great sites. Lots of choices and you could also read feedbacks from former users. I highly recommend BBSavoia in Rome simply because the owner Augusto is really nice. I had all needed information before my vacation and he even updated his site for me ;). Another one is Agriturismo Il Colombaiolo in Pienza. Nice room, nice view, good breakfast and really accommodating owner Lucia. She wanted to keep Louna with her.

More pictures here.