Home, At Last

Finally i'm back in the blogosphere after a few days of hiatus. Our flight last sunday was a smooth one. We don't encounter any problem with our luggage though we do have stopover in Kuwait and Bangkok. My children picked us up at the airport. We were also able to meet one of the contractor for our house the next day.

Cool Mom with the McDonalds staff at Kuwait International Airport

The first days of our stay here in my nativeland were spent stuffing the house with our kitchen and other personal needs. Our rented house now looks nicer and Dirk was able to complete our office needs.

Below and above is our rented house which is now 95% furnished, four days going from one malls to another to buy stuff for the house.


our elephant-size bed

our kitchen

Since Dirk was not yet familiar with the way of driving here, we hire a driver to be familiar with streets and metro traffic. Now, Dirk can drive on his own and getting used to traffic situation.

Lunch and dinner the past days were at the shopping mall and restaurants. The other day, my visiting brother in law from the US also invited us to have lunch with them. He proudly showed us his big christmas tree imported from US which already reach the ceiling of their house.


Indeed, our fews days here were all actions and our body slowly recovering from jetlag and time difference. Today, is the first time that i cooked for Dirk, he liked very much the fried tilapia and lapu lapu. I enjoyed very much buying and bargaining in the market which i was not able to do for a long time. Theres really no place like home.

Just ignore the size, when easts meets west, size doesnt matter and what is important is the happiness that we have.

My Best Friends

I consider the sisters joy and madam jo not only as my colleague but my best of friends. We're together through sadness and happiness, sickness and in health and hopefully till our last breath. Our friendship was tried and tested through the times, through thick and thin. Our respective lives are an open book to each other and we're transparent to each others feelings.

We work with system, complementing each other and at the end of a tiring day, savoring the freshness of the air outside of work. We're just like real sisters enjoying and coping up with the problems of life. We have lots of things in common being educators and we respect, trust and understand each other.

Yesterday is our last bonding moments that we eat again at our favorite italian restaurant ordering the same food in the same spot. joy and me even browsed around the city just for some more bonding moments. As i'm going to have a long vacation in the Philippines, i'm going to miss them terribly.

My Kaputt Foot

Today is not my day. While working in the hotel, i fall down on the stairs. My right foot twisted while slowly falling down and its really painful. At first, i did not pay attention to the pain, we even have lunch at chinese restaurant. Later in the afternoon, the swelling began and the pain progress. It's hard to walk anymore so i decided to see our family doctor. The doctor advised me to go the hospital for foot x-ray. Thanks God, there's no broken bones, only the ligaments are affected.

Lunch at Indian Restaurant

We're supposed to have lunch at our favorite chinese restaurant but it's full of hungry customers and its self-service only for today. The waiter and the waitress did not showed up so you need to give your order in the counter, get your order and pay there also.

So we decided to try the sereena palace, a cozy indian restaurant located just in front of the chinese restaurant. We were surprised that the foods tastes good though its a little bit spicy. Dirk bowed not to eat anymore at any indian restaurant bacause of our unpleasant experience in Boracay´indian cuisine. It was expensive and we're not able to eat the food because its over spicy.

The restaurant also sells some girly stuff from India.

A Day with Friends

Though the weather is not nice, i was still able to see some of my friends in the city. I have lunch with madam jo at Gugglhupf restaurant where we eat german foods.

Then i met my "ninang analyn", the shopping queen where she bought 2 boots and other beauty stuff. Her place is probably like a clothes shoppe, she never wear twice her blouses and dresses.

Dinner is at Agnes place where we eat chopsuey and adobong baboy.

At night, siony arrived to bring her balikbayan box. Her son Rainer is now 14 months old.

Sister's Act, Mother Reacts

My children are on semestral break which gives them the opportunity to bond with each other. For the past months, my girls were busy with their own activities. Rosebelle, my mini-me, is busy taking care of the house and making sermon to her siblings. She is also in charge of everything making her the shock absorber of all the problems in the family. She's also the one doing all the paper works and other processes related to our future house construction.

Aizza and Astrid, both college students is also doing some share in the household chores. When Rosebelle is running for an errand, astrid took the center stage of taking care of the house while aizza manage the family's small computer shop.

Arianne on the other hand is the family's medical adviser. She works at mercury drug and she's the one suggesting what medicine to take before consulting the doctor. So far, the girls are doing their respective chores well.

Thousand miles away, cool tiger mom sometimes reacts by making sermons as well, reminding them that life is hard and they should save on electricity, water, cut costs, should study hard. avoiding unnecessary trips to save on gasoline, etc..etc.etc..etc....

It's Autumn

The warm weather from june to september draws more tourists than at any other season. And now its autumn here in Germany and leaves started to fall. The weather also turn to be temperamental, sometimes its very cold, the next day its warm.

In this kind of weather, there are really millions of leaves around. In our driveway and in the hotel where we work, we always gather the dried leaves but the next days there are new ones. Thanks to our very own super broomstick (walis tingting), it helps a lot. You can also notice the presence of snails, frogs and other insects around. Take a look at our catch outside the hotel, the baby frog. We left the creature somewhere maybe there's a chance to see the mother and the father frog.

College Life

My college life was full of action, the same with my youngest daughter Astrid. Last tuesday, she send me a text message that she passed her oral defense on her thesis, but its just half, because the other half will be next semester. At least, there's some good output on all my sacrifices here in Germany. Education is everything and its a key to success.

Relaxing Massage

Massage is one of the oldest and simplest form of therapy in which touch is a very important part of human contact. It becomes a part of our everyday life for it help the body heal itself, increase health and well-being.

Dirk like body and foot massage very much. It relaxes his muscle, improved blood circulation, helps manage pain, relieves stress and a lot more health benefits.

Dirk having thai massage at Shangrila Hotel, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Swedish massage with a blind masseur at Boracay Island

Dirk in a massage chair

Cool mom while waiting for her massage girl in Mission Hills, Shenzhen, China

Cecille's Birthday

Cecille, a friend and colleague celebrated her 50+ birthday today. It was just a small gathering of close friends. Her sister cooked a delicious afritada while the other had a pot luck of adobo and sinigang. It was a small get-together but we enjoyed it a lot.

A toast to the birthday girl

Horseradish (Meerretich) Fest

Urloffen is a small village and was incorporated as part of Appenweier in 1975. The place was well-known in Germany for producing and selling meerretich or horseradish, a vegetable which was planted in Urloffen for many years.

Horseradish-spiced curd or cream cheese is a popular spread and its also great with smoked fish, boiled and roast beef, meat platter and vienna sausages.

We did drive there yesterday to feel the festive atmosphere. There were carousel for kids, floh markt, food,beverage & liquor stalls, meerretich stalls, and a kilometer long of vendors selling their wares.

Bonding Time and Saving Lives

I don't have work yesterday but still i woke up early. I was able to clean the house, washing and ironing our clothes. Then, in the afternoon we did drive to Freiburg to visit my relatives and to get the small package that they're going to send to their family back home. We're leaving in a few weeks and this time we're going to stay in the Philippines longer. We really enjoyed our visit to my first cousins in which we exchange pleasantries over cup of coffee.

Our next destination is Lahr, we were invited by Thomas and Mabel to have dinner with them. While driving on the highway, we saw the tourist bus in front of us swerving to the left because of a flat tire at the back, we tried to get the attention of the bus driver by driving ahead of them flashing the emergency signal. We have a sigh of relief when the bus stopped on the side of the highway, accident was avoided and we help save lives.

How time flies, Annika, the daughter of Thomas and Mabel is now 10 months old.

She loves to read book and eat it too!

Uncle Andreas, Uncle Ralf and Ninong Dirk, please speak not so loud, my poor ears are fed up with your big voices.....pleaaaassse......

AIG, Philamlife and Me

Last week, i received an email from my agent sharing with me the letter sent by Philamlife President Jose Cuisia Jr. and Deputy President Michel Khalaf. The letter is an assurance that my insurance policies from Philam Equitable Life Assurance Company that i purchased through the former EPCI Bank will remain unaffected as:

"The insurance policies written by AIG companies (such as Philamlife)are direct obligations of our regulated insurance companies around the world (in our case, Philamlife in the Philippines). These companies are well capitalized and are subject to stringent regulatory and capital requirements. These companies continue to operate in the normal course to meet our obligations to our policy holders."

The saga continue with the plan sale of Philamlife in which the President said that the financial issues pertaining to AIG Company will not affect the ability to pay claims and underwrite new policies. Philamlife has about 143 billion worth of insurance contracts with more than one million policyholders including me.

Dining Out- The German Way

When in Germany, Do as the Germans do. In many ways, the german way of dining out is similar to that anywhere. When dining out, we usually make a reservations days before the date. Once you're seated in the restaurant, you need to order first your drinks followed by the food. Back home, for some strange reasons, we expect a glass of water to automatically appear on our table.

It is polite to have both hands above the table at all times, but elbows should not rest on the table. Germans eat everything on their plate. You should not leave a tip on the table, giving a tip is always done at the table with the waiter or waitress who served you. While burping is a sign that you enjoy your meals, for germans it is not acceptable.