I Rock, My Mom Too

And what about that? After blogging and bloghopping at a slower pace lately due to inevitable everyday errands, Mitch still thinks I rock. Thank you, thank you. I'm not prepared for this. I'm speechless.

Still from Mitch, I was tagged on 10 Random Facts about my Mom. In fact, I could list a lot more than that, but OK, I'll limit myself to 10.

1. She's a proud Mom. And she's got all the right to be one. She's raised 6 kids (with my Dad of course) with two meager salaries of elementary school teachers. With the expensive education in the Philippines (add to that the boarding house, telephone, water, electricity fees and the monthly allowances), she's obliged to follow a strict financial scheme. They are insurance agents and rice farmers on the side. And by the way, she was obliged to sell a beach lot which she bought when she was still single - for our precious education.

2. When she starts to brag, she brags. She would start with 'Yung panganay ko... yung pangalawa naman... yung pangatlo.. yada yada yada.' She would normally talk about her kids and their achievements. No wonder, we are her pride. And of course, when we are with her and she starts to brag, nagtatago na kami. Ang yabang ni Ma-Dear e.

3. She's equally proud of her grandkids. She's got 4 from 4 of her children, and obviously, she wants more.

4. She helped for the education of her youngest sister-in-law. My Dad is the oldest child in the family and with that, the salary of my Mom became a part of the family money. Inspite of that, she still feels indebted to my Dad's family by the fact that our house is built on their ancestral land. By the way, that youngest SIL just gave them a Toyota Revo as a gift this year. Not bad. Good deeds pay off.

5. She never knew her parents. They died when she was still young. So her eldest brother raised her. But this eldest brother married a very strict wife who obliged her to work all the time except on Good Friday. And yes, she feels indebted to this SIL too.

6. She's an utang-na-loob slave and I don't know how to move her out of that.

7. Loving Mom as she is, she never wanted her children to be morally indebted to anybody. Not even to her. She doesn't want her children suffer because of utang-na-loob. She never obliged us to send her monthly remittances - she just doesn't like the idea. To those who don't understand her concept, she just shrugs her shoulders and say 'Pinaghirapan naman ng mga anak ko kung ano man ang meron sila ngayon. Dapat lang na para sa kanila na yun.'

8. She is the 'Mommy' to all her children's friends and all her co-teachers. My ex even continued calling her 'mommy' even after we parted ways.

9. She waves her hand to everybody when she's out to go to the market. She knows almost everybody in our little town. They even tease her to run for Mayor of the town to which she answers 'Naku, ngayon at retired na ako, I will dedicate my time to my children and their kids.'

10. She's 64 years old and enjoying her retirement with my Dad (who is 7 years her senior). They still do farming and work as part-time insurance agents. They consider that work as their sole social outlet.

As you noticed, it was hard for me to dissociate my Mom from my Dad. They are partners, through good and bad times.

Job Applicant - French Style

The engineer trainée in our department is currently applying for a job and is chaining interviews one after another. One day, she would be somewhere around Paris, the next, she would be somewhere in the south. She have a rendez-vous with ANPE next week, for her to have all her travel expenses be reimbursed.

Sarap buhay!

*ANPE - Agence Nationale Pour l'Emploi (National Employment Agency)

Note: New graduates have to register to Assedic (National Unemployment Insurance) as job applicants. Assedic will then study the applicant's case to evaluate the amount he is entitled to. Most of the time, almost 95% of the travel expenses related to job-hunting is being shouldered by this government office. The papers will then be transfered to ANPE. ANPE will then provide all the services available for the new graduate, from job propositions to trainings with pay.

A Day in a Life of a Working Mom

She woke up at the irritating sound of her phone which she set at 6:40 am the other night. It’s Monday. She turned carefully and gave a warm kiss to her daughter then moved out of bed slowly, wary not to wake her up. She decided to sleep with her daughter last night, longing for her daughter’s presence after few weeks of business trip.

It would be a long day today. She had to move double time. The usual 20 more minutes of sleep extension is not for today. Her husband left early this morning for a week-long business trip. She had to do everything alone… and for the next 4 days.

She hurried downstairs and had the usual toasted bread topped with Nutella and a mug of café au lait for breakfast. She tried to eat faster but the only way to do it is to eat less - she only had half of her usual dose. At 7:00 am, she was already brushing her teeth, ready to take a quick shower afterwards.

7:20 am. She poured 210 ml of fresh milk in the feeding bottle, placed it inside the microwave oven and pushed quick-start. She hurried again upstairs while saying ‘Good morning baby.’ repeatedly. She starts to hate the stairs which seems to take minutes of her precious time everyday. She peeped inside the room and checked if her daughter started to move. She smiled. She suddenly remembered her daughter when she was younger. Mornings had always been a pleasure.

After a morning ritual of hugs and kisses, she instinctively looked at her watch. 7:25 am. She carried her daughter up and zoomed downstairs to give her daughter her bottle, checked if the flow is okay, then ran again upstairs. She started preparing herself while her daughter took her breakfast.

At 7:35 am, she settled her daughter on her potty chair and she continued dressing up. Oppps, she forgot to give her daughter a toy. Potties are boring places for busy toddlers.

7:40 am. She started to change her daughter’s diapers. Her daughter just discovered playing boxing with her feet so dressing her up is all the more difficult. Add to that that her daughter wanted to put on her own shoes and didn’t want to brush her hair.

At 8:00 am, doors and gate closed, she started buckling her daughter up inside the car. She needs to be at her Nanny’s place before 8:20 am, or else, she would need to take the road to the school. In fact, the Nanny had to bring her son to the school at 8:30 am so she, together with the kids, needs to leave the house before 8:20 am. Too much constraints. At the fourth day, she was reminded that it’s summer vacation and rushing in the morning was not really necessary – Mommies forget things.

She arrived at the office before 8:30 am. Life went on as usual. At 5:30 pm, she was already preparing herself to leave the office because at 5:45 pm, the clock would start ticking overtime pay over at the Nanny’s place.

After a quick update on how her daughter was during the day, mother and daughter geared up and hit home at 6:00 pm. Their day has just started. Upon arriving at home, she placed her daughter on her potty chair while she did her potty too. Mothers and daughters do things together. Bonding and learning starts from there. They then started to play mommy-baby role-playing. Her, as the baby, her daughter, the mommy. At 7:00 pm, it was bath time. Bath time with toddlers always takes time - her daughter had this good habit of brushing the tub floor and wiping the tiles during bath time lately. And she just can’t tell her daughter ‘Stop that baby. That’s bad.’

At 7:30 pm, she was already preparing dinner while her daughter continued playing. Her husband called up and after a quick update of how the day was, she passed the telephone on to her daughter who took the phone and started talking while walking. Exactly like what her Dad does. She’s a copycat.

At 8:00 pm, it was dinner time. Her daughter is a good example of a toddler with a good mealtime manners – she eats on her own neatly. She’s a real breath of fresh air.

After mealtime, she started cleaning up the kitchen while her daughter continued playing. At 8:45 pm, it was toothbrush time for both mother and daughter. They went upstairs afterwards. After the potty, they both headed to bed. Her daughter took her favourite Dora the Explorer book and she started to flip on the pages with her. Yes, her daughter will again sleep next to her.

Her daughter started to doze off. She checked her phone. It was 9:00 pm. The alarm was still set at 6:40 am. She needs to rest too. Tomorrow is a promise of another long day.

PMN E-Zine's Up

The fast growing Pinoy Moms Network is taking another height by launching the much awaited e-zine. The sexy new look is of course a product of blood, sweat and tears as Sexy Mom describes it. Credits to the founder of PMN, Connie and Noemi, and of course the section editors, Sexy Mom, PinayExpat, FeistyMomma and AnnaManila.

PMN has become one of my favorite tambayan lately. It's there where I met interesting people with the same interest and love as me - our children. So once the e-zine project was announced, I was quite excited to be a member writer. Too excited that I have my first two articles published at the same day. Read my take on Toddler Management and what your kids could benefit from camping.

See you there.

My Daughter just turned 20 Months Old

Check out her new tricks here.

Les Vacances en France

My vacation counter has been reset last month. On the list are:

Congés Payés : 25 days. That’s 5 weeks of Paid Leave.

Pont Payé : 1 day. Day between a legal holiday and a weekend. We have 1 day a year and we could take it anytime we want.

Réduction Temps de Travail (RTT) : 11 days. The RTT is the equivalent of 35-hour workweek. With that regime, I get 11 more days of vacation a year.

Congé d’Ancienneté : 2 days. Days added related to the length of service in the company. What? Who says I’m old?

Report Jour de Repos : 2 days. The days I wasn’t able to take last accounting year which I have to consume till the 31st of August this year. Another way to keep unconsumed vacation days is to transfer them to the Compte Epargne Temps. It’s like a bank where you place your vacation days without worrying when you have to consume them. A quota of 18 days a year has to be respected tho.

Jour de Récupération : 3 days. These days are linked to the number of Saturdays I worked during my business travels which I have to recover upon arriving in France.

Add to that the official holidays which are:

January 1 – New Year’s Day
April N – Easter Monday
May 1 – Labour Day
May 8 – 1945 Victory
May N – Ascension Day
June N – Whit Monday (Pentecost)
July 14 – Bastille Day
August 15 – Assumption Day
November 1 – All Saint’s Day
November 11 – Armistice Day
December 25 – Christmas Day

Now, let’s do the Math. How many non-working days do I have? 55 days. Yipee!

Let’s get to the more serious topic now. Frenchguy, Louna and I need to take a 3-weeks summer vacation this August. We started to think about spending it in Italy, starting in the Vallé d’Aoste (to do mountain activities), then go down south to Pisa, Florence and Rome, then drive up to Venice and spend some time whiling away at the Italian shores, Mediterranean side. The problem was, we just started to organize everything last week, a month before our actual vacation. Since we’re running out of time, the best way to do everything quick was to ask people around us for some tips on where to park the car, which hotel to stay, what other small villages to visit, etc. But after hearing stories like August is the worst month to visit Italy because of too much tourists etc etc, we decided to think about Plan B.

Plan B is to visit something authentic or why not exotic. Egypt was long considered - cruise in the Nile River, a stop at the Hurghada/Red Sea then a day tour at Cairo. A perfect getaway. But I need a visa and we’re 3 weeks from taking our luggage off. Add to that the fact that the mercury will most probably display 40°C at daytime and Louna’s vaccines has to be reviewed. Ok, this destination - cancelled.

I again restarted to browse the net to search for Plan C while Frenchguy leaf through the pages of travel magazines. After minutes of thorough checking, I shouted ‘Know what? I won’t need a visa to go to Morocco’ to which he responded ‘Yes but you will also melt there because of too much heat.’ This destination – cancelled.

On to plan D. Plan D is … not yet finalized. We have an idea where to go and what to do, but nothing is reserved yet. And everything could still change at the last minute because of various reasons.

So expect for plan E. Hayy, ang hirap din ng maraming bakasyon!

Is Your Kid Safe Inside the Car?

Have you ever experienced being absorbed by something leading you to commit serious errors and problems? Even fatal consequences?

A 19 month old toddler was found dead inside a car after a day of non-surveillance. In fact, his father forgot to drop the kid off at the day care center so he unconsciously left his son locked inside the car at his office’s parking area. He only realized the error at 4pm, when the day care administrator called up to ask why the kid was absent. When the father arrived, the kid was already dead of too much heat and dehydration.

The accident happened in a town not far from Dijon. It happened two weeks ago, when I was in the Philippines on a business travel. Imagine my fear when I heard the news and the images that crossed my mind... remember, I was away from my daughter. My first reflex was to imagine myself on that same scenario.

Louna is of the same age and I know that she’s not yet capable to unbuckle her safety belt nor open the window, nor open the car door. Imagine how helpless the kid was, and imagine the feeling of guilt his parents are into right now.

I know that this is a horrible news but I need to share it with you and be warned that such thing could happen.

I am listing some kid-friendly measures that could save lives:

- Wear seat belts. They’re there to save your kid’s and your life. An abrupt braking could literally project your kids pass the car windows to outside of the car.

- Use a car safety seat. The built-in seat belts are designed for adults. In cases where no car seat is available, stay at the back seat with somebody holding your kid.

- Never let small kids stay on the passenger’s seat. They could disturb your driving concentration when they start to push all those buttons. In case of accident, it is safer to have them at the back seat. I once saw a kid displaying half of his body outside of the car window while his mom was driving. The kid was of course, not attached. I saw two risks. Either the kid will fall down or be hit by a car.

- Lock car windows and doors. Most of the latest car models provide automatic lock system. Don’t hesitate to use it especially during long drives when kids start to be restless and try to open windows and doors. You know, kids learn at a very young age how to buckle and un-buckle up their seat belts.

- Never stay inside a stationed car with the air-con running. You risk carbon monoxide poisoning.

- Bring some water (and water spray). Here in Europe, summers could be very hot and dry. I’ve heard a lot of stories of infant death inside a car during long drives because of too much heat and dehydration. Car air-con is not yet generalized particularly here in France. In such cases, schedule the long drive at night when the temperature is lower. Use water sprays without moderation.

- And yes, don’t leave your kid alone inside the car. During summer, the temperature inside a car could go up to 45°C or more.

Some parents could just take these details for granted, especially the first 4 points, reasoning that their kids are well-disciplined and would never try such crazy deeds. But remember, kids don’t have the same notion of danger than you do. One prevention is better than a thousand cure. Take your pick.

More on defensive driving here.

Why I Can't be a SAHM

This is a cry from a Career Mom trying to justify herself. Hear her lament.

Job is not Everywhere in France

France is far from being the El Dorado for non-French job hunters regardless of the number of diplomas you have. Firstly, language is a BIG barrier. Another is equality. Though they cry out loud that Egalité is a French emblem, racial discrimination is still a rampant social distress. A job hunter named Mohammed won't have equal opportunity as someone named Pierre, even if both were born in France. Go measure for someone named Analisa born thousands of miles away from France.

During my recent business trip in Thailand, I bumped to one of the big bosses based in Bangkok. He was surprised to know that I am based here in France. I could still remember his reaction when he said in his inquisitive tone 'A Filipina working in Dijon?', then his endless questions on how I arrived here in France till how I bagged the job. Isn't that a yelling evidence of how white collar jobs are reserved to these royal bloods? Take my situation to the US setting and nobody will be surprised. Filipinos are part of their workforce, right? In fact, if not because of my previous working experience with the same company in the Philippines, I don't think they would hire me.

That said plus the current job scarcity France is facing, I think I'll need a great motivation to quit my job.

I Love My Job (because of …)

Flexible Time : I’m not the typical 8am-5pm employee. I could go to the office past 9am. I could take my vacation in synch with my Nanny’s. I could go home as early as 4pm. I manage my time.

Multinational Exposure : and since it’s a French company, we’re the boss. Ain’t that a bonus?

Business Travels : I loved it. When I signed my contract where it was written that around 30% of my time will be spent outside of France, I was excited. I was excited to the idea of having somebody waiting for me at the airport, holding a cardboard with my name written on it, me feeling like a VIP. Now, it starts to tire me up especially when I know that there’s a little girl patiently waiting for me.

I love what I’m doing. The best part is that I’m being paid to do what for me is a dream-come-true. I think this one is the most essential part, right?

I Need Cash

Who don’t anyway. Apart from all the monthly payables, I need my own money to keep my sanity. Frenchguy is quite tight with his money. He’s got this bad habit of saying he’s got no money and he’s got this mindset that everything is expensive. Though unintentional, he made me feel I was a parasite when I was not working yet. Me who was financially independent pre-Frenchguy time. He said I was stupid to think that way. Mea culpa.

No, I’m not complaining, I just need cash.

I’m at my Best at Work

I’m only excellent when I’m being paid. And nope, I’m not proud of that. I’m a lazy bum at home. I hate cleaning the house, I hate cooking, I hate most of the household chores. I just do all of them because I’m obliged to. And of course, Frenchguy does 99% of the job. But that doesn’t make me less of a wife or a Mom. I hope we’re clear with that. Call me lazy but don’t call me Bad Mom.

Though I have all the perfect reasons why I can’t be a SAHM, the dream of being one still haunts me at times like this - arriving from a business travel and finding Louna with long nails and dirty teeth.

Did I tell you that Moms and Dads are not the same?

I'm Back

With a vengeance! Francine just tagged me. This girl wanted to know how vain I am and contrary to what I thought I am, I still have a shy of vanity on my bones. I thought I was close to negative. Well.

You Are 19% Vain

You don't have a vain bone in your body - almost as a matter of principal. You demand to be judged on who you are, not what you look like.

How Vain Are You?

Francine, summarizing that supposed-to-be 19% of vanity gave me a real hard time. Here's my list:

1. I have 4 different shades of eye shadows that I rarely use.
2. I have 3 eyeliners which I used once. They're now collecting dusts on my dresser.
3. I use mascara everyday since probably a year now. Not that I'd like to have that Betty Boop look. Wala lang.
4. I normally wear shirts and jeans. The very rare time that I wear skirts and high-heeled shoes at work, I have all the eyes focused on me, men and women alike - ready to blame me if it rains!
5. But honestly, I love to see myself dressed with a lot of taste and feminity. Ang hirap lang i-assume hehe. It's just not me.
6. I just had what it feels like a one-year-shopping-spree with my recent trips to the US and Asia. Not that I'm vain, mas mura kasi dun hehe.
7. I normally wear those clothes being displayed on shop windows. Not because they're the latest trend, it's simply because I hate shopping and the easiest way to finish shopping is to ask the saleslady if they have my size.
8. I was driving an old pawis-steering car before we changed to our car now. And honestly, who cares.
9. Ok, this is vain. I sometimes buy trendy clothes for me and Louna but I make sure I don't pay that much. There's being vain and being practical at the same time, right?
10. I hate to see my bulgy tummy so I do belly exercises, like once a month hehe. Sorry, you have business with a lazy gurl here. And me thinks being vain and lazy at the same time are simply not compatible.

Oh by the way, I'd like to know your honest opinion. Do I look/sound vain? I find that 19% vain description of me so cute hehe.

Updates coming next..

Temporary Hiatus

I have been hiding behind the scenes lately (that reads: blogging world) and I’m afraid it would continue till I get back to France. Work has been taking a lot of my energy lately that I feel drained at the end of the day. In fact, my stay here in the Philippines was extended for few more days because of a big problem in the plant and I need to squeeze my brain from day in to day out to find technical solutions. And I mean having my brains turning even inside the taxi, while taking a bath, while dining, while watching TV.. I mean, everytime. Goodness gracious, they’re back to normal now, buti na lang, I could go back to normal life too. My brain is still bleeding and malfunctioning tho. Thanks to me - boss, can I have a raise??

And since I never went out yet since I arrived here (my social life was in its all-time low – I was doing the hotel-work-hotel itinerary), I finally called up some friends this afternoon and voila, I have my calendar fully-booked till my last day here. That would mean I won’t have time to blog and bloghop too. Catch up with you guys soon. Promise.

PS: Louna starts to understand pretty well. Read how she revealed my cooking prowess to everybody here.

My Little Frenchy at 19 Months Old

She starts to dream big...a lot. I mean she's got a lof of dreams. I was just wondering what suits her most. What do you think?

She dreams to be a Dancing Queen. So, supportive parents as we are, I taught her the first step (wriggly pampery arse), Frenchguy the second one (incredible hulk style). Hehe.

See her wriggle here.

Don't Break My Doll

Moms. When it comes to kids, they just don't trust anybody. Not even the father of their child. Well, at least for me.

After repeating (and I mean repeating) my list of to-do and not-to-do with Louna, I was left of nothing else to say but 'Don't break my doll.' to my Frenchguy. He then reminded me that he's the father and he cares as much as I do. Oh yeah, how many times should I explain to him that Moms and Dads are not the same? Well ok, I don't make any sense.

I was observing Louna after I arrived from a 10-day business travel and I just realized how such a short period of time could change a toddler a lot. To good and bad, of course.
- She looks prettier. (Miss ko lang siguro)
- She loves to throw a hug from time to time (she hated it before - but this is exclusive to Maman and Papa).
- She gives a lot of kisses (flying kisses included) - she could be considered malambing now.
- She starts to say Mama to refer to me (she probably missed me). She was babbling mama before but to refer to food.
- She dances each time she hears music.
- She's got less appetite.
- She speaks louder to get more attention.
- She doesn't do pooh on her potty chair anymore.
- She sleeps lesser hours in the car during long drives (so we have to entertain her most of the time).
- She doesn't want to sleep at 9pm anymore. She wants to play more.
- She screams when other people touch her.

And it seems that these changes aren't enough that I have to leave her again for another 17 days (I'm writing this from the airport). I start to miss her. She woke up early this morning to cuddle with me. She surely understood what I told her yesterday - that she'll be a good girl while I'm out.

Life of a working mom. A travelling working mom.

Sport-y Weekend

Frenchguy's childhood friend celebrated his 40th birthday last weekend. May 17 being the Ascension Day, most of the attendees took their Friday off to have a long 4-day weekend. It was a big sport-themed getaway which they started to plan months ago. Frenchguy's brother came all the way from Mali (Africa) to attend the occasion. Another friend came from La Réunion and Moi came direct from Pennsylvania. The rest, of course, came from France Metropolitan - mostly counting 13-hours drive to destination. Yeah, that far.

We arrived Friday late afternoon at Chateau-Ville Vieille in Queyras, at the QueyRaft station. The boss Rafter is a friend and most of the attendees are experienced kayakers. A lot of friends were already there. Some tired of rafting (the level of water is too high, no kayak is allowed), some tipsy over gallons of wine, some just chit-chatting, catching over the lost years. What I hate about arriving late is that I have to do beso-beso to everybody instead of waiting for the newcomer to do the bises. And take note, the traditionnal 4 times the bises in Frenchguy's region is a no-joke.

After the courtesy bonjour to everybody, we headed direct to the gite so I could take a quick nap before the soirée. At 10pm, Louna and I were already ready for the big night. The sausage-wine menu was not at all a welcome treat after the 10 days spent in the US but the fun must go on, right? A little after midnight, I bid everybody goodbye, taking Louna as my alibi.

The next day was a speedy transition - a jetlag swiper. Just as Louna dozed off for her morning nap, Frenchguy and I geared up for our Via Ferrata adventure. The trail is so picture-prefect that it was just too sad that we didn't bring our camera, afraid of losing it to the wild river below us. In fact, the trail runs along the gorge at the left side of the castle. The raging sound of the Guil river below us just adds up more excitement, not to mention the number of rafters passing by. The ambiance was festive. I was already dreaming of doing that activity with my Louna.

Just as we arrived from an hour of Via Ferrata, another group was gearing up for a 2-hour raft. Frenchguy told me to go and he would take care of Louna. I was hesitant at first but just gave in to the adventure. The 2-hour ride included 6 rapids and lots of fun. I was soaking wet but no regrets. I just forgot that I had to complain about jetlag.

The next day was Frenchguy's day. He and his friends did a 3-hour raft in the most exciting and most difficult part of the river. The rest of the day was spent relating funny tales about the weekend. Later that Sunday afternoon, the beso-beso part of the adventure came. Time to get back to reality.

We actually decided to spend one more day in that area - our family day. It's Louna's first ever hike. Well, we actually did hike already with her - a lot of times, but it's her first time to actually walk like a real baby-hiker - out of the baby backpack. It was 100% fun. She's just as excited as we were. And look at her munching her own sandwich. Who would say she's just 18 months old?

Let me leave you with some pictures taken just after the hike. Look at her tan. And look how kulit she looks.

US Stopover

I hate airports. Make it double when destination displays USA: that would mean added security measures and more customs blah-blahs. Triple the hate when I couldn't make my wi-fi connection work at the airport for I don't know what reason. I'm a techy illiterate.

But well, there's more to my US trip other than hating the airport.

Customs

Come on, tell me, you know somebody in Pennsylvania, right? You just don't wake up one day and say 'I'd like to visit PA'. There's nothing to visit there. Hehe, I just re-entered the US with my 10-year tourist visa and I just couldn't tell the officer I'll go here for work. Bad girl. So I told him I'd visit PA on my own and it's a strategic destination to get closer to NY without paying NY prices. Well, I probably sounded convincing, the officer wished me 'Enjoy your stay in Pennsylvania, darling.'

Work

I spent the whole time working with men infront of a dirty machine. I let them work, of course. But that nevertheless kept me busy. It seemed that I work pretty fast for their taste, they now call me 'slave driver'. Well, I have to say, I ask a lot. I need loads of results within my 10-day stay and I need to keep them moving. When I said goodbye to the big boss this afternoon, he said he's been hearing good reviews about me. I know he said that to be nice to me but that nevertheless made me feel great. Feeling ko tuloy, ang ganda ganda ko hahaha.

American Hospitality

I was pampered. A colleague met me at the airport. Drove me to my hotel. Fetched me from the hotel and drove me to the company. And vice versa, not allowing me to take the rental car. He made sure I had everything I needed, up to the maps I needed to go to Jersey City. He paid almost all my dinner bills. I even pleaded to pay once, otherwise our department might think I don't spend anything, they might want to send me outside of France all the time. He wanted to show me the way to Jersey City. He wanted to accompany me back to the airport. I guess he will search for a Filipina wife soon. I made a good impression. But honestly, tinataguan ko na sya after my first week. Shhhh.

Business with Pleasure

What do Analyse do on weekends during business travel? I do visit!

I drove from PA to NJ to meet my HS friend who lives in Jersey City (thanks to the GPS, I got direct to her place without getting lost). We're supposed to watch Les Mis on Friday night but I was caught on a traffif jam for 2 long hours. As they said here, there are two seasons in PA: winter and road construction. I guess you know what season is it now. We spent the whole night catching up instead.

Saturday was spent walking around NY. This city is grandiose. And with the 1€ = $1.36 change, even a shop-a-phobic-me couldn't resist shopping. We wanted to visit the Statue of Liberty but we backed out when we saw a queue of about a mile. Next time na lang. We climb up the Empire State Building instead.

We dined out at Arthur's Landing where we had good food and a good view of Manhattan by night. Sarap. And to make the night even more special, Kat joined us there. It's my 2nd EB among blogger friends. What's good about meeting a fellow blogger is that, we seem to know each other already even if it's the first meeting. Thanks for being there Kat, even if it was for only a few minutes. Hope RSB's ok now.

Sunday was like, rest day. We had late breakfast at Little Quiapo where I had Tapsilog. We then played Badminton. After a 2-hour play, we headed back to NY to finally watch Lea Salonga in Broadway. Sarap. That made my weekend extra special. We did not wait for Lea to come out as I still had to drive back to PA. Watching her play is more than enough for me. We ended the day dining at Red Ribbon where we continued looking back at our HS days. Hay, sarap balik-balikan.

So now you understand why I was too silent and hiding behind the scenes. I was just too darn busy with work and gala. And I missed my baby so much. To all those who greeted me Happy Mothers Day. Thanks a lot. I really appreciated it. Happy Moms Day too.

Oppps, getting my luggages done now. Flying back to France tomorrow. Bon voyage to me.

Pictures: Billboards 5th Ave, Ground Zero, Times Square, Central Park, Manhattan by night (view from the restaurant - picture taken from their site), Kat and moi at Arthur's Landing, Moi resting at Rockefeller Plaza.


Blogging at the Airport

I'm bored. Still an hour before the flight and my Frenchguy doesn't even answer to my text messages. Buti na lang Haze is there to keep me company. I'm disturbing her from her loads of housechores hehe. Sa sobrang bored, pati luggages ko, pinag-trip-an ko no hehe. They're actually payatot when they left France. Look at how bundat they are now. Obvious ba na mega-shop ako? But of course, I limited myself to what my luggages could contain. I don't check them in kasi. I don't like waiting luggages at the airport, so if I could avoid it, I try to avoid it.

And know what, I was raging before as I couldn't make wi-fi work. I finally discovered. Sus dali lang pala. Techy illiterate, right? So now, I could blog and bloghop anywhere I want. Just hoping I have enough batteries to accompany me up to my next stop in Atlanta airport. Di kasi direct flight, kainis. Anyways, I'll go bloghop now. Ciao.

Visiting Prague at a Toddler Pace

Come on, Louna. Let's go. Viens. On y va. Bilis Louna. Tara na.

Those were my favorite phrases during our weekend in Prague.

It started at the airport. Louna, as already observed on her first plane ride, still loves airplanes. She would ran at the glass wall to get a good view of the planes and could stay there for hours. She would point at them and say a-be continously which could mean avion or airplane or eroplano. Why not, hehe. The only way to get her out of there is to tell her Come Louna, I saw another plane over there. It's flying. To which she would answer ooohh with her lips in O-form and her eyes wide open.

The prodding game continued each time she saw a dog, a pigeon, an ant (yes, she sees them!), anything unusual on the ground like an empty bottle of soda or a pair of reading glasses (unfortunately, we were not able to find the owner among the hordes of tourists).

Stay here, Louna. Tu restes içi.

Those were another set of favorites. The tag-of-war game is set off especially during the walk tour where we had to stop from time to time to appreciate the beauty of Prague whilst listening to each story behind each wall. The stories about the Jewish ghetto, the fall of Communism or even King Charles IV seems to be a boring topic for an 18-month old kiddie.

Parents and toddlers don't have common interests. Don't you think?

The Prague Experience

I was thinking of the best word to describe Prague but thought of sharing to you this picture instead. The number of tourists was overwhelming and it's not even peak season yet. The fact that most of the tourist spots are concentrated in one area makes their downtown really congested with people. It's almost impossible to cross downtown with a car! Like most of the European capitals, the hot spots are crowded with musicians, vendors and all kinds of artists. This one is a fave.

The architecture of the city is a mix of Baroque exterior and Renaissance interior. What probably marked me the most is seeing their Cathedral surrounded by the Prague castle which reminded me of hotels around Eurodisney. Oh yeah, I'm not an architect, alright. Another one is this church of Our Lady before Tyn with a very nice interior but is surrounded by appartment buildings, litterary using the church wall as their appartment wall. In fact, in the ancient time, they built their buildings where they could, without really giving importance to such architectural heritage.

Another point of interest is the Jewish part of their history: the ghettos,the cemeteries and their synagogues. This is part of world history which intrigues me the most. Why they ended up to such level of inhumanity? My ultimate dream is to visit extermination camps in Poland. Well, that's another story.

The food. Cheap and good. Tourists will never get hungry here. They have spacious restaurants with high chairs available and a live music to boot. After a sumptous dinner, the night ambiance with the souvenir shops, street music, and romantic atmosphere will surely give your money's worth to visit the city of 100 spires.

Visiting the city with a baby/toddler is a pain tho. Most of the buses have the 'No Stroller' sign simply because they are most of the time full-packed. Buses/Tramway/Metro arrive every 10-20 minutes and it's not enough to accomodate all the tourists coming in. Another pain are the pavement and streets of cobblestones practically everywhere. It's cool when Louna's awake and enjoyed her horsey ride.. but imagine when she's sleeping.

So that was my recap of our Prague weekend. A must-see. Here are some pix, visit Prague with me.

Labor Day Tidbits

Our Labor Day weekend to Prague has finally come. Our itinerary includes a 6-hour walk tour, drinks and meals included for 32€/person. We don't normally bite such kind of tours because we're more of discovery and adventure buffs and we hate following bunches of people, but after reading feedbacks about Prague, our 3-day stay seemed to be bitin. This tour would be a sure way to get a good load of what Prague could offer - history overload guaranteed.

Thanks Haze for all the suggestions. Everything noted.

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To mark history, this coming Labor Day marks my 3rd year as an official taxpayer here in France. Funny to start a job with a national holiday. Happy Labor Day everyone!

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Speaking about work, I was trying to block June 12 on my calendar and mark Business Travel-Philippines. The French expat in the Philippines then reminded me by email that June 12 is Philippine Independence Day and it's a national holiday. He ended up the email with a Kalimutan already? Argggh.

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I was checking on our shared calendar this afternoon and discovered that my boss will be in Bangkok at the same time as me. Darn.

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Browsing through Mitsuru’s NY adventures, I’ve learned that Lea Salonga’s playing in Broadway. And yes, he’s got a picture with Lea in person. I’m so green with envy. I so love this Victor Hugo’s grand classique Les Miserables and would like to watch Lea’s version (I’ve seen the American movie starring Uma Thurman as Fantine (1998) and the French version starring Gérard Dépardieu as Jean Valjean (2000). Les Miserables is the first book I’ve read in French – that’s how I’m in-loved with this book. Watching it in a theatre, with a Filipino Fantine should be something else. Now I should really mix business with pleasure.

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That is to say, I finally fixed all my schedules. Yes, I'm busy, but I'm organized.

Tax on OFW Remittances

An email which was forwarded to me last Friday has awakened me in my dormant status about Philippine news. I've read too much anger, hatred and some violent reactions about the news. Sino ba naman ang hindi?

Does the government help these OFWs financially during the process? No? So why the heck do they want to get their part of the cake?

Does the government evaluate the risks that our fellow kababayans take when they leave the country? They can't even eradicate all those illegal recruiters who not only go away with the hard-earned money but worst, the hopes and dreams of some kababayans.

And anyway, it's simply N O N S E N S E ! Why do we have to pay taxes on earnings from outside the Philippines? According to the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, an individual citizen of the Philippines who is working and deriving income from abroad as an overseas contract worker is taxable only on income from sources within the Philippines. That's logical. So why do we have to amend it and again, be the center of mockery of all the other nationals?

And by the way, don't they know that these OFWs already pay taxes in the country where they work? That's double taxation! Naman! If only we have a clean government, I won't think twice. If it's the way I could help the country out of poverty, why not. But you don't even know where you're money goes after taxation. Honestly, I've read the news, I probably missed some lines, I saw the taxation proposal and saw no exact program nor plan. Great!

Eto pa: The study suggested that these same remittance incomes pouring into the country had nurtured dependence, contributed indirectly to the contraction of industries and developed a culture of migration among Filipinos.

- had nurtured dependence : that's personal. It's their choice. I don't send monthly remittance to my family so I don't think I nurtured such dependency.. but well, I'm not an OFW. I'm just a concerned citizen who feel bad about the news.
- contributed indirectly to the contraction of industries. I don't think so. There are still a lot of Pinoys willing to work in the country. And besides, being an OFW is not for everybody. Not everybody has carabaos and a piece of land to sell just to move out of the country. .. and hello, if you listen to foreign investors, you could hear corruption, under-the-table business, government instability and terrorism as the main reasons, not the massive migration of the Filipinos.
- developed a culture of migration among Filipinos. Oh yes, if only the country could offer jobs to the Filipinos! A job which could offer him a decent living. A job which could help him send his kids to school.

How dare you blame the remittances for the above-mentioned reasons - the same remittances which kept the Philippine economy survive. Pinoy nga naman.

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Here's to lighten up the atmosphere. Louna's Image of the Week. I left her with some apple slices and came back with this image. Picture-worthy.

Where did Spring go?

Our outdoor thermometer was displaying 30°C last weekend. Louna, clothed with a beautiful robe from Divisoria, already displays a very good tan at this time of the year. She's a real outdoor kid. With such temperature, we decided to move our garden table and chairs out from the cellar. We then had barbecue for lunch.

After lunch, we headed off to Genlis, a few kilometers out of Dijon, for Frenchguy's planned 10-km marathon which started at 4pm. When the second half of the participants arrive, they were complaining about the lack of water supply and residents were not even armed with bottles of water for the dehydrated participants. In fact, the organizers didn't anticipate such a hot weather at the month of April, thus the meager number of bottles available. Poor Frenchguy did it in 56.44 minutes and claims he could have done it better if not for the lack of water. Oui, c'est ça!

At the starting point.

Arriving at home, we were happy to find the comfort of our 80-year-old, 80-cm-thick-walled-house. Best to maintain cool inside temperature. After few minutes of marathon-centered discussion, I finally gave in to the urge of mixing my fave cocktail - long island ice tea - and squeezing a fresh orange juice for Louna. That was a refreshing drink - a killer!

Louna doze off after a shot of long island ice tea.. err, I mean orange juice. Moi went directly to the study to iron our clothes and watch Close to You from this site while ironing. I'm not really a fan of pinoy films but it feels good to have a doze of kilig moments pinoy style from time to time.

Frenchguy, despite being dehydrated, felt satisfied with his afternoon. Doped with a glass of long island, he took the hose and started watering the plants. Since we planted some flowering plants last month, we're obliged to water them correctly this year, before the authorities ban the whole community with the use of water for garden use (and others like car cleaning and pool filling).

I could sense a very hot summer coming. There was not much rain nor snow this year. It's already hot at the month of April. Global climate is changing. If you think you could do something, do it. Every little geste counts. Please help save the planet.

PS: Louna's 17 months old now. Check her new tricks here.

Faire ses études en France

With Mitch's question on one of my posts, an idea came to write about my university experience in France. I don't think I've talked about it here, so I don't even know how she knew that I have an entreprise administration diploma. Please explain hehe. Writing about it might give insights to some future student aspirants so they could prepare their documents before arriving here. This will surely be a long and boring post, but I'm just being helpful ;)

Warning: Like all the other admistrative stuffs here in France wherein procedures and requirements differ from one prefecture to another, the universities are not exemptions. They could ask you more or less papers, depending on their mood. I have studied 4 years ago so there's a big chance that informations I will list here are already obsolete.

Faire valider son Diplôme

School curriculum vary from one country to another. Here in France, they require foreign students to submit their credentials to the SRI* for evaluation. They then forward these papers to the Commissions Pédagogiques for final screening. Results are then sent by mail to the deserving candidates (you could follow the status by internet nowadays).

In my case, I submitted my CV, my diploma , my transcript of records with the descriptions of all the subjects (which I got from my school) and all my training and employment certificates. Not translated.

I included in the package my diplomas like DELF*, DALF*, CIEF* and another one from CCIP*.

Victime de Discrimination ??

While waiting for the result from SRI, I decided to ask for an application form from IAE so I could fill it out and submit at once (I was beating the deadline). I came wrong timing. The secretary, who was chatting with another secretary, cut me short by telling me that the delay for submission was long overdue. And when I asked if there's no other means to add one more application, she told me to wait until next year. What deception.

Frenchguy, equally disappointed, went to try his luck that same day. And guess what, he came home with an application form (which I used, of course)! Realizing that I might waste one year of my time if I wait for the verdict from SRI, we decided to get a rendez-vous with the IAE Director. After the interview, the Director left with all my credentials at hand. Whew!

PS 1 : Please don't ask me why the diploma validation and the application deadline aren't synchronized.
PS 2 : Though IAE is part of the Université de Bourgogne, aside from the Commissions Pédagogiques, they also have their own set of screening committee.

Le Chemin à la Réussite

After weeks of agonizing wait, I finally had an affirmative response from IAE, direct in my mailbox. But the calvaire didn't stop there. Along with the letter is a date for an entrance exam. I quickly went to the university to check the bulletin board and there, it listed the scope of the exam: regular stuffs and some questions about two management books. I quickly checked the library but the first book was already out so I was obliged to buy one.

PS: During those times, you could see me submerged with different management books and other stuffs I found in the library and FNAC. And yes, the university library became my home.

After the exam, I became a regular visitor of the bulletin board. A week later, I saw my name proudly listed among the other candidates. I passed. But at the bottom of the list, another date was written - panel interview.

PS : At this time, I was exhausted and was about to give up if not for Frenchguy's encouragement. You see, it's like I was restarting my life to zero. I'm not a rich girl but I had a good job and was financially independent back in the Philippines. And I left all that because of him. Hay buhay. Minsan, gusto ko syang kagatin pag naaalala ko kung paano ako naghirap dito hehe.

Aside from the standard questions they've asked to all the other candidates, I had a bonus question : Will you be able to follow the class? All the lessons will be in French blah blah. You're the only foreigner and don't expect that we slow down the rhythm because of you.

To which I replied It's been a year that I'm here in your country and all I did was to learn your language with the objective of entering the university this year. You have all my diplomas to prove my level of French. I never asked you to repeat any of your questions. I passed your exam. I think all that are proof enough that I understand your language fairly well to follow the lessons.

I was accepted.

PS : Yabang ko no? Sometimes, you need that little yabangto get where you want. It's just so easy for them to intimidate you.

On passe à l'Action

Then came the reality. My level of French wasn't enough to listen and take down notes at the same time. No to multi-tasking. I became a regular customer of the xerox machine. Thanks to my kind classmates.

Examinations are only at the end of the year so that was kinda cool (but tiring in the end because you have all the exams coming at the same time). Group works are a-bounty. An on-the-job training at the end of the school year is obligatory - which opened the door for me to where I work now.

La Récompense

A diploma, what else. DESS in Certificat d'Aptitude à l'administration des Entreprises. Analyse with a Masters Degree.

* SRI : Service Rélations Internationales
DELF : Diplômes d'Etudes en Langue Française
DALF: Diplômes Approfondis de Langue Française
CIEF : Centre International d'Etudes Françaises
CCIP : Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Paris
IAE : Institut à l'Administration des Entreprises
DESS : Diplôme d'Etudes Supérieures Spécialisées

PS: Should you need more obsolete infos, just let me know.

Weekend de Pâques

J'adore la France. This country is just so rich in diversity that we don't even need to cross its borders to breath new air. Its mountains, its seas, its architecture, its different regions, its different regional products... the list is endless.

La Petite France

This weekend, we had our stopover at the Alsace region. The picture above is just an appetizer. Let me serve you the rest of the menu.

Strasbourg

Random pictures from Bergheim, Riquewihr, Kayselberg, Chateau de Haut Koenigsbourg, Ribeauvillé and Colmar.
As most of the European cities, the Alsace region should be visited by foot to really enjoy and feel the place. A lot of marvels are oftentimes hidden inside narrow streets and forgotten squares.

Mommy traveller as I am, of course I went there armed - comfy shoes and clothes, and most important of all, light but convenient baby stroller. Though Louna enjoys walking around the centre ville, it's still advisable to take the stroller in case she gets tired and wants to sleep.

Enjoy the colors of Alsace!

Easter Egg Hunter

She's just finished collecting all the easter eggs in Dijon. A bit early, yes. But early bird catches the eggs. She's heading off to Strasbourg this weekend for another easter egg hunt. Happy Easter, folks!

I'm busy. I'm not.

I am feeling a little boredom infiltrating my office walls lately. It's stressing me out to know that I'm being paid to do nothing. Though I know that my work's nature is quite cyclic, depending on what project I work on, still the idea stresses me out. Just when I thought I should talk to my boss to ask for more short-term jobs (because I'll be busy on the second semester - in Dijon, fortunately), mental telepathy worked rather fast and saw him coming in with a contagious smile.

Bonjour.
Bonjour.

Ca va?
Ca va.

So there. After several exchanges of what's up and what's new, he asked me if I could assist our American plant on a week-long-or-longer job next month, probably mid-May.

Errr. I'm actually working on my schedule as I'm planning to go to Bangkok, then to Manila sometime end of May.

Conflict. Now I'm wondering if I really have a problem with time management or is it simply because schedules are quite unpredictable at work that I find schedules overlapping on my calendar at times. When I was in Bangkok end of last year, I was actually supposed to go to Milan at the same time. I asked another colleague to do the job instead. The Milan job, just like the upcoming US job, was a last-minute plan. And oh, boss just reminded me that I need to go to Milan before summer vacation starts (July-August).

It's either I stay put in Dijon, or I have to hop from one country to another, not even care about jetlag.

What makes the schedule more complicated is that there are a lot of long weekends in May and we already planned some getaways. Labor day will be Prague. Ascension day will be a birthday celebration of Frenchguy's childhood friend. In the menu are wild water activities mixed with a mountain hike and a via ferrata which I wanted to try. To top it all, Frenchguy just organized a wild-water-activity weekend on the first week of June.

Hmm. Do you still follow? Well, I know it's quite complicated and I'm afraid I have to sacrifice his friend's birthday to keep up with the schedule. Poor Frenchguy might not be able to ride his kayak because of me. Nobody to babysit Louna.

I'm in the process of negotiation and who knows, I could fit in all the schedules and sing 'We did it' in the end.

Tagged

Princess and SassyMom, both of Pinoy Moms Network, tagged me to list 7 songs I'm addicted into at the moment. It's been long months I haven't received any même on this blog, and this one came wrong timing - simply because I'm not into music at the moment. It's spring and I feel like playing badminton all the time (Louna serves as the net. She loves staying in the middle). After the match (with Frenchguy), it's bath/play, dinner and bedtime for Louna. Then it's telly or blog/surf time for me. No time for music.

Well, ok. I'm not as boring as that. Here's my list:
- I'm the Map and We did it. Themesongs from Dora the Explorer. I'm repeating I'm the map in my head while writing this.
- My toes, my kness, my shoulder, my head. Repeat it 3x. With actions please.
- Tape tape petite main, vole vole petit oiseau, tourne tourne petit moulin, nage nage petit poisson. Again, with actions.
- Itsy bitsy spider during giggly playtime.
- I tune in to RFM on my 12 minute-drive to go to work so that gives me a list of non-mommy songs. You gave me something by James Morrison is one of my current faves.
- And finally, Gardien de Nuit by Francis Cabrel. It's just way too cool that I use it as my ringtone.

Whew. That tag was cool. I just forgot about my hectic schedule within 5 minutes!