Of airport lounge, plane, and hotel room

Dear kids,

Earlier, I left the house with just enough time to get myself to the airport assuming all variables were normal. Then again, almost all variables weren’t in their normal form today. I have miscalculated the fact that it is a Monday and it’s the Holy Week which means many people are taking vacations. I also encountered traffic at the expressway because of a vehicular accident.

Upon arriving at the airport, queues at the check-in counter and immigration were insanely long. I honestly thought I wouldn’t make it but I did. In fact, I’m sitting in the plane as I type this. I think it was some good manners and a bit of luck which got me here. But you know what would have surely gotten me to my flight? Promptness and preparedness. So as I sit here, possibly 33,000 feet above ground, let me share some lessons I learned earlier.

On promptness. I’ve had my fair share of running around the airport because I might miss the plane. It happens to the best of people. Some things are beyond our control. But it is ALWAYS better to be prompt. This means providing more leeway if you have a flight to catch because a two-hour lead time isn’t enough sometimes. So if we’re traveling in the future and I get cranky because leaving the house takes forever, trust me when I say that it is better to wait longer at the airport than miss a flight. Promptness isn’t my best suit but I try. And promptness should not just apply to flights – you should always be respectful of other people’s time. Remember that the world does not and will not adjust its pace for you because you’re running late.

On preparedness. Last week, I lost my company ID. Since I am traveling on official business this week, I asked our Admin Officer to issue a certificate of employment in case the immigration officer asks for a company ID. This rarely happens but I thought to myself: “just in case.” And what do you know? After enduring more than 30 minutes queuing at immigration, I found myself face-to-face with an officer asking for my company ID. What I’m saying is if there is a probability -- even if it is very small -- that something can happen, then it can happen. And if you can do something about it, DO IT. Anticipate and then act. It is always better to be prepared.

As for me, today I have learned not to prepare my luggage haphazardly. Otherwise you forget something essential like your shorts. That was something I did not anticipate. Sorry for the TMI, kids. (TMI may not be as used as it is today by the time you're reading this so to spare you the Google search, it stands for "too much information.")

On having good manners. I've already told you about the long queue at the check-in counter. What I didn't tell you was that I was able to check in ahead of almost maybe 30+ people on queue. Here's how it happened. I tried to do mobile web check-in but could not do it because the system was asking for a five-digit reference number which I could not find. I ended up asking the airline staff at the web check-in counter where to find this. Unfortunately, she didn't know and said that mobile web-check in can sometimes be difficult. I asked if there was a kiosk I could use but she told me there was none and advised me to go back to the queue.

At that time, my mind was already racing. I will definitely not make it to my flight if I do that. I wanted to scream in frustration and complain about their system and how the regular check-in process is too slow. But I didn't. Instead, I politely asked whether she can process my itinerary despite the fact that I haven’t done web check-in. The next thing I know, I had my boarding pass at hand. 

Kids, when things go wrong, sometimes we adults just want to scream and blame something or someone. But trust me, it accomplishes nothing. If you ever get into a similar situation in the future, keep calm and remember your manners. Those small things preschool teaches in values class, they matter. In fact, I think there should be values education for adults. Doing so will help improve the world.

On being lucky. I believe in a little bit of luck. I believe that when you think about positive things, you tend to attract them. I thought I was lucky the airline staff accommodated my request. Or the fact that I am here, safe and sound in this nice hotel room in a new city. I actually wrote this in three locations hence the title.

Anyway, it is past 11PM and I still have work tomorrow. Goodnight kids! When you're older and happen to be reading this, you might think "Dad did that weird parenting again" when all he wanted to do was share his airport stories. I wanted to tell you in person but I might forget. Plus a five- and (almost) two-year old will not really be interested to hear these. I do  hope someday you will listen to my silly stories. I probably sound like Ted Mosby right now.

But I'm doing this because the days are changing too quickly and I'm not with you most of the time. Sometimes, it is just too hard to leave the house because I miss you a lot. And as much as you can both be some pain in the butt, life is always more fun with you and your Mom. :-)

With lots of love from Melaka,

Dad

After 3 years, 11 months, and 20 days

A few weeks back, I stumbled upon this blog and realized that I really missed putting my thoughts, er... I was going to type “in paper” but then, this doesn’t work that way. But you get what I mean. So yeah, here goes my attempt. A lot has happened since of course. I did have a long hiatus (see blog post title) so I’m just going to focus on a few important milestones in my life now. 

Well, I guess you should know that I fell in love with another girl. Hard. Deep. The kind that keeps you awake at night. The kind of love that grows on you. I never thought I’d love another girl but then she came into my world almost two years ago. Every single day, my love for her grows even deeper. Her name is Anela Isabel. And she is my daughter.

My wife, Lore, has been a full-time mom to our two adorable (depending on the time of the day) children since July 2013. You have to ask her if she enjoys it, which reminds me that I should ask (read: force) her to start her own blog.

Remember Lorenz, the little tot who was the reason why I put up this blog in the first place? You may want to check my previous posts. The mischievous boy who used to spill milk and spaghetti is now the quite-a-handful yet really loving (again, depending on a lot of variables here) five-year old kid. He is turning six this September. And he just had his second moving up day earlier today.

He finished Preparatory School a year early from the Christian Education Development School here in Calamba (the school's actually walking distance from our house). He skipped Kindergarten (call me a stage dad and not to brag!) but he finished as First Achiever and Best in Reading in his class. Okay, I’m bragging. :-) He also got the “Most Ingenious” Award. When I got the text message from my wife, I googled its definition because I wanted to get the right context as to why his teacher gave him the said award. By the way, "ingenious" means clever, original, and inventive. Hmm... sounds good to me. Haha!

So you see, with an ingenious kid and a very energetic toddler, we have our hands full. Why am I blogging then? Well, to be honest, it’s mostly Lore who looks after them. We still live with my parents so at least she has some support. I’m away during weekdays as I now work in Quezon City. It is three hours away from home so I ended up renting a room. I’ve been working there since June 2013 so you can say that we’re in a semi-long distance relationship ever since. Plus my job sometimes makes me feel like I’m living in a suitcase. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that I get to travel (A LOT) for work. But having two kids… I do miss them when I’m away. And you tend to always worry about how they're doing when you're working somewhere on another part of the world.

I’ve had those moments when I thought to myself that “this job would be a whole lot easier if I didn’t have a family.” Or “I wish I can extend for another day or two to explore this [insert city/country] but I’ve been gone for more than a week and I haven’t seen my wife and kids.” Another part of my brain tells me “The expenses you incur if you extend your stay can be put to better use like groceries or kids' clothes or whatever.” Sometimes, I get to a point where my thoughts would really be dark and I go back and just think “what if?”

It is scary and it can get really ugly. But you know what? As my wife said, "it's okay." Two words. But powerful and effective. Every time I fall into this pit (I think our mind is a pit and sometimes, our neurons tend to react strongly and negatively thereby altering our usual frame of mind), I’m fortunate enough to be able to crawl and pull myself up again. And I owe this to my wife. She is just the most understanding woman I have ever met. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have her as my wife and the mother of my children. Okay, I’m bordering on being cheesy here but since it’s our sixth wedding anniversary tomorrow, I should get a free pass.

What I’m trying to say is, at the end of the day, what matters most is what you DO and not what you THINK. I admit, starting a family at 23 was not the smartest plan. Heck, it wasn’t even a plan at the time. But it happened. And I (we) had to deal. We’ve had a lot of challenges along the way. And even now, we go through a lot. But we stick together - and we do something about it. Everyday, life throws us a challenge. It could be as simple as getting your five-year old kid to smile genuinely for a photograph. Believe me, in this time of Facebook and Instagram where everything gets posted, not being able to get a good photo can make you snap. Pun intended. Kidding. NOT. 

But sometimes, life throws you a major challenge that makes you think. Like, will it be a good move to take my family to Quezon City so that we can be together more often? And we'll be a "real" family. TOGETHER. This way, (I hope) I can play a larger role in my kids’ lives and not just be there for them during the weekends. Of course then I’d have to think about the rent, utilities, and school. While I worry about all these, my wife thinks about how to ensure that our two kids grow up to become functional members of the society. I must admit, this sometimes also crosses my mind. HAHA! This turned out to be longer than it should be. So I’m stopping now. ‘Til next time.

Our Little Promil Kid

We changed Lorenz' formula milk last January from Nan HW Three to Promil Kid. Our pedia advised us it might be a little hard to shift because of Nan's unique formulation. Thankfully, she taught us a scheme to facilitate smooth transition.

At the time, Lorenz was drinking eight ounces of milk three times a day (his drinking habits still haven't changed, by the way). Hence, we mixed seven scoops of Nan plus one scoop of Promil at the onset. Everyday, we would reduce Nan's proportion by one scoop and add one scoop of Promil. We adjusted it until such time that he was accustomed to Promil's taste.

Our pedia advised us that when switching formula milk, more than the toddler's preference, parents should also observe and monitor changes in bowel movement (i.e., frequency, color, form, and texture) as well as weight gain.

We were fortunate that Promil neither upset Lorenz' stomach nor adversely affected his weight. In fact, he quite enjoyed the shift. Such was his enthusiasm that earlier, he couldn't wait for his milk to be prepared. We didn't really know how it happened. We lost sight of him for probably just 10 seconds and the next thing we knew...

Wow, powdered milk!!!

Hmmm... Tastes good!!!

Look at me, Mamee. Don't I look happy? :-)

We inferred that he was trying to reach his milk dispenser and eventually, two layers toppled on the floor along with the content. This puts a whole new perspective on the warning: Keep out of children's reach. And his now empty Promil can has served another purpose -- it has become one of his toys.

More of Lorenz' (mis)adventures in succeeding posts.

Post-anniv Dinner Date at Café d'Asie

Mamee (yes, that's how we spell it!) treated me to a buffet at Café d'Asie, Bellevue Manila last April 4 as post-celebration of our second wedding anniversary. Technically, this was the first time I experienced eating in an international buffet at a first class hotel. For a relatively picky eater like me, there were lots of options to choose from -- Japanese, Mexican, vegan, and an assortment of sweets. The buffet table was a feast to the eyes. 

Although I think I wasn't able to maximize the food, it was still a great experience for two reasons. First, it was time well-spent with my wife after a very busy week at work. Second, we were able to avail the full buffet with unlimited iced tea for only PhP650 per head (half of its original price) courtesy of Ensogo.

The buffet table

Happy 2nd Anniversary, my wife!

03-28-09

When I look back, I realized where I went wrong. I went overboard on my first plate by filling it with rice. I did enjoy the first serving since the food was really great plus I was very hungry (I came from Los Baños and went straight to Alabang). However, by the time I was done with my second plate, I was already too full to enjoy the tempting desserts.

Plate 1: Superb and filling. The sweet and sour shrimp was the best.

A sweet encounter indeed.

As much as I want to eat more, I just can't. I was too bloated and I don't think my stomach can handle another serving. So I guess, the lesson here is simple: when eating at a buffet, don't be in a rush. Try to enjoy a little bit of everything first and then just come back to get those which you enjoyed best. Also, don't be shy to go back. It doesn't matter how many servings you get -- it is after all, a buffet.

I won't say NO to another buffet experience at The Bellevue. In the not so distant future, my wife and I would definitely try it again -- possibly with Lorenz. :-)

___________________

CONTACT DETAILS: 

Café d’Asie at The Bellevue
North Bridgeway, Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang, Muntinlupa City
Philippines 1781
Tel:(632) 7718181 Fax: (632) 7718282
www.thebellevue.com.ph

Two years

As much as I don't want to leave tomorrow, call of duty dictates otherwise. And yes, we're just going to be apart for a day. What is that compared to the 364± days that we can be together? It just sucks that we have to be apart on our day. 

March 28, 2009: It was that fateful Saturday when we made a commitment in front of our family, friends, and relatives.

"I, Ranell, take you, Lorelyn,
To be my wife;
To have and to hold,
From this day forward,
For better, for worse,
For richer, for poorer,
In sickness and in health,
To love and to cherish,
'Till death do us part..."

 

Two years passed by quickly. It seemed just like yesterday when we were goofy college students trying to figure out what we want (we're still doing that 'til now). In reality, that was five or six years ago; then we got married, had a son, and now we're learning how to be good parents everyday... Photographs tell us that a lot has changed (including our weights).

I just want you to know that I'm truly happy to be where we are right now. Sometimes, I want to stay still -- get lost in time with you. But we both know that can't be done. So let's write and weave a wonderful story because I know, ours have just begun.
 

Before I become cheesier than usual, I'll keep this post short. I LOVE YOU and HAPPY 2nd ANNIVERSARY!!!

Lorenz' Spaghetti Madness

Lorenz attended a birthday party earlier. And he was just a bit too enthusiastic in eating his spaghetti that I couldn't help but take pictures of him.

Often, we let him enjoy his food no matter how messy he got. Currently, his habit is to mash his food with his hands before putting it back in his mouth. Not really the best way to eat but what can you expect from a one and a half year old toddler? :-) By the way, he wasn't able to finish his spaghetti because his enthusiasm eventually led to the plate falling off his lap.

I'm really glad that Lorenz isn't a picky eater -- something he fortunately didn't inherit from me. I was and I guess I still am a VERY picky eater. When I was younger, I would go to my grandmother (who lives just above us) when I do not like what is served at our table. Eventually, I ended up not eating veggies. Thankfully, both my mother and my wife recognize the true value of eating healthy food -- although it's quite unfortunate that they are both unsuccessful in inculcating that trait to me. 

I'm just proud and happy because Lorenz eats a balanced diet. I hope he's able to sustain his appetite for healthy food in the long run.

PS: Lorenz is 18 months old today.

Intoxicated

So I've said years 2006 and 2011 are my best UPLB FebFair because I was both intoxicated -- the first one with love, the latter with alcohol. :-P

Earlier this month, I felt that my chances of maximizing the Fair were slim compared with the past years. I long to bring Lorenz to the UPLB FebFair but since the event isn't really conducive for a toddler, my wife and I agreed that this isn't the right time. Plus her schedule wouldn't permit her to go.

Personally, I felt that I should go and spend a few hours at the Fair. So I told her I'd be spending Thursday night (Feb. 18) at the Fair with office friends. In eLBi, Thursday night is usually gimik night. But the fair wasn't bustling yet when we got there. There were six of us -- and prior to the intoxication, we first enjoyed a ride at the caterpillar and ferris wheel.

Photo by: Edwin Cortes

We had chicken barbeque for dinner and thereafter, the drinking started. Believe me, I sure didn't plan to get drunk that night. If I did, I would've brought extra clothes.

But the shots kept coming -- one after the other. And I just drank. I was looking at the time thinking that I should get going. But we were having a great conversation (although now that I think about it, I could barely recall what we were talking about). I can feel the alcohol starting to take its toll on me. I shrugged it off. Another bottle was opened. More stories. I'm feeling a bit tipsy. I told myself I can still go home.

We've already consumed two bottles. They wanted to buy another. So off they went while I busied myself chatting with orgmates who were in a nearby booth. I was way past tipsy by this time. Crap.

Third bottle was opened. I joined the session -- this time engaging in full English conversations. Not a good sign, eh? I didn't know if we finished that third bottle. Mostly, what I remembered was that I was laughing, babbling, and staggering from Freedom Park to the office building. See picture below. This was not my proudest moment.

Photo by: Joel Cardenas (I think.)

I don't want to divulge the most gory details of that night. Or what became of me after we left the Fair. But I can tell you that the next day, I was still a wreck. I'm just thankful I have really great friends who did not leave me when I was down (literally). The jeepney ride from eLBi to Calamba felt like hours in purgatory. I was (barely) able to get home. When I finally did, I spent most of the time semi-sleeping whilst trying to get rid of all the alcohol in my system.

Again, I'm not proud of what I did. But I'm not ashamed either (okay, maybe a little). Sometimes, we have to lose ourselves in the moment -- even just for a little while. Everybody needs a break. This night was mine. I didn't plan it but I think, deep down, I wanted it to happen. True, this night wouldn't be on the list of nights that I would want my son to relive. But someday, I know he might have his fair share of crazy nights too. And I will tell him that it's okay -- as long as he does not forget to snap back to reality.

By the way, did I mention that drinking at the FebFair was prohibited? So sue me. ;-)