Should I Be Thankful or Should I Be Afraid?

… that my download is STARING at me… 

Globe WiMax: UMAYOS KA!

Mula nung Bagyong Chedeng, binibwisit mo na ko. Pinagbigyan kita nang mga nakaraang araw dahil sa ilang dahilan:

1. Wala akong time, namatay ang one and only sisterette ng lola ko at busy busy-han kame noon, kaya di ko masyadong feel ang pag-iinarte mo.

2. Lumuwas ako para umattend ng Guidance Counseling Seminar chorva ng CFO, kelangan ko yun para ma-renew ko ang passport ko. Dahil dun, di na naman ako nag-internet at di kita na-feel.

3. Finally, nakapag-net na ko, at nakita ko ang kalokohan mo, BUT! Pinalampas ko, kasi naman ang lakas ng hangin nun, may kulog at kidlat pa, needless to say, may bagyo, at kahit naman TV namin umaarte nang mga panahon na yun, kaya feeling ko normal lang ang pag-iinarte mo. Take note, second bagyo na pala ito, dumating kasi si Chedeng nung nasa deads kame.

Two weeks ko din di namonitor ang pag-iinarte mo. Tapos nung tapos na si bagyong D, gora na naman ako sa net, at eto na ang walang katapusang problema ang binigay mo sa akin. Alam mo ba na Chemistry ang major ko at hindi ComSci o IT o ECE o kung anuman? Lahat nang alam ko sa computer napulot ko lang sa SNS Club ko sa Canossa, at nang mga panahong yun, sobrang baby pa sa Pinas ang Windows, kaka-shift nga lang ng Canossa from Wordstar to Microsoft Word noon eh. Kaya wag mo ko gagamitan ng jargons mo na di ko naiintindihan! Kausapin mo ko nang maayos at wag mo akong sabihan lagi nang “DNS Failed.” Malay ko ba kung ano ang DNS.

Please lang umayos ka, else mapipilitan akong palitan ka na naman! Di mo lang alam, may nakita kong bagong promo ng Sun Broadband, naglelevel up sila sa yo, may bundle din sya na telepono. Sige ka, wala pa man ding available na VOIP para dito sa area ko, eh for sure ang Digitel may VOIP pa na available, pwedeng pwede kitang ipa-cut at palitan ng Digitel anytime. Kaya kung ako sa yo,

UMAYOS KA!

< Sinuswerte lang ba talaga ako ngayon o talagang umayos ka na nga? Nai-publish ko kasi itong blog ko eh. >

Randomness

I tried to start a new blog at Wordpress, but then, am not satisfied. There is something about this theme I have here at Blogger that makes me very unsatisfied with Wordpress. I am looking for this same theme there, but I only got disappointed. I love the combination of blue, green and white here, it describes perfectly what I want to express on my blog.

Anyway, that  blog would probably remain private, I won´t share the link to anybody, I am going to use it to practice my German, and when I am good at that, and edited all the posts there in the future, I would share it to the world as well. But for now, it´s going to be between me and my hubby… :-)

It Is Time You Start To Believe In Them

Since I was a small kid, I am always the person who my family turn to for help. In return, they always reward me with something I like, one time it was a watch, sometimes it was a simple book, or a doll or a kitchen play set, and one time, the costliest of all, an organ. That is the reason why I made sure I am at my best at all things, expecially with my studies. The more I get my grades high, the better the rewards were. But I failed to see and feel how my cousins think about it. I used to always have the "me, myself and I" thinking. I never realized that my cousins, their real kids, were hurt.

Call me selfish, I am aware of that. That is the reason why I am trying my best to change things these days. In fact, I had started this when I was in college. I know that each of my cousins have their own talents and intelligence, hence I try to divert their attention to them, let them know that it is not only I who can do things for the family. However, they would not believe me on that part. Honestly, I would always decline even things about leading the rosary, because I know there is someone in my family who can do it better than I, someone who had been in love with serving the Lord the best way he can. They never realized how much it means for him, that it would require them to let me do the talking too. Maybe that was the time when they realized that someone in the family is craving for the attention as well, and that someone in the family can also do the things they thought only I can do. Even if the process was a bit painful, I am happy that they learned how to trust him regarding the religious matters, I can now sit silently at the back and enjoy quiet moments with the Lord.

Technically, they would also always think that it is only I who knows the things. "Computer problems, leave it to her, she had been using the computer since DOS times," that is how they think about it. How many times did I try to explain to them that not because I had started using the computer with Lotus 1-2-3 or Wordstar already means that I am the expert on this thing. Fine, I might me the oldest, but it does not mean that these younger guys, these cousins of mine, can also do the tweaking and could even be better than I (saying better is still a humble description, they are in fact the best! I do not know how to read those C++ thing-y!). That is why, just the other day, they all went here at the house to ask me technical things or two again. I guess I did a better way of explaining it, and thanks for my cousin for tagging along, I started explaining simple things and looked at my cousin for other terms. He did answer me! They all realized that they do not need to drive that far to ask stuffs like that, he can help them out. I simply told them one thing why he is an expert, "of course, he knows it,he's an engineer in the making!" Today, my uncle came back here, not to ask me some more technical stuff again,but he came to check on their house, if the construction is on going. I guess my cousins would love me again for giving back what is really due for them.

I am bad at speaking towards my relatives, especially those who are older than I (generations older, actually), but then I guess it is about time for them to learn to trust the talents and intelligence of my cousins. In few months I might be out of the country already to be with my husband, I want them to have a life that is independent from me. I want them to have a normal life even if I am miles away from them. There are my cousins, they are experts of their own fields, two of them already started working as well, I wish they would start to believe in them with all their hearts and trust that they too, know all stuffs.

It is overwhelming to know that they trust me and believe in me despite all the crazy things I did in the past. I like the feeling, but I do not want to take away the credits and the everything from my cousins, who I know had always been loyal to their craft and are experts on their own fields. I do not want them to feel bad against me for taking away the applauses that should also be directed to them.

We are all good at everything that we do, I am thankful for trusting and believing in me, this time let my cousins feel the same way I am feeling.It is time for you to start believing in them.

On To The Next Step

After marriage, the secretary of the judge, who is also a family friend, submitted our contract the next day. She sent me a message saying to be there on Tuesday to apply for endorsement of our contract. It is one option we heard from friends because if we wait for regular processing at NSO, it would take us 3-6 months before we could have our marriage contract available. But since we went for an out of town with our family, I was not also able to go there to start the processing. We went there Wednesday, and sent the contract to NSO as well. The clerk at the city hall told me to go at NSO two weeks after and follow up on our contract. Two weeks of waiting is actually on June 2nd, but I decided to just go there today, and guess what? Yes! I already have the contract! I could not believe that it IS possible to have the contract in just TWO WEEKS!

Next plan is to attend the CFO Guidance Counselling, I need the certificate to renew my passport. My passport renewal is scheduled on July 18th, so in between today and July 18th, I am going to CFO for the seminar, then renew my PRC ID (with my new last name, of course), then request for my new TOR and Certificate of Graduation (authenticated). So much to do for June!

On to the next steps! Thank God for making the road I travel smooth.

The Journey Has Begun

As most of you had already seen the photos from our simple civil wedding, I guess it is about time to narrate what we had been through to get there and start the journey together, a journey for the best.

Well, the Presiding Judge had already told my story during the marriage, so I guess there is nothing to hide here anymore, this is my site, I'm free to tell everything!

It all started when I asked for the list of requirements needed for application of marriage. Since I was still working that time, I asked my mom to go and ask at San Jose Municipal Civil Registry. The supervisor there had given my mom this list:

1. Birth Certificate
2. CEDULA
3. CENOMAR
4. Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage (for my German spouse, I would discuss this later)
5. Photocopy of Passport of my German spouse
6. Copy of Divorce Paper of my German spouse

(Disclaimer: The list was specific for me, to see complete list, please refer to another blogger at http://pinoyingermany.blogspot.com.)

Afterwards, she said, we should wait for 12 days before the release of our marriage license. I thought the 12 days wait was a little long, so I asked mom to go and check at Lipa City Municipal Civil Registry, and the guy there asked for the same requirements and he said he would do his best to shorten the 12 days wait. I thought it was a better deal, and told mom to go on at Lipa City. However, I CANNOT FILE ALONE. We need to wait for U to come. Until we received another suggestion, and it is faster as any of the two. The other one is that the secretary at San Jose Municipal Hall would make a certain statement and will be notarized and we could get married on that same day too. The catch? We must declare that we had been living together for five years. I had second thought about it, because I believe there would be documents to be asked to confirm that we are together for 5 years. But they say there would be no problem, no one would ask about it. So we set our hopes high that 3 days after U's arrival, we could get married. Until that day came...

So as suggested, we go and visited the secretary and asked for the specific document. Afterwards, we made an appointment with the judge we prefer to have for marriage. She was not yet there, so what we did was to process the remaining documents and paid the necessary fees. In the afternoon, the judge asked us to stay and she would give us a short counselling. She came and reviewed our documents and she changed her facial expression. She did not accept the document we brought from the secretary, she said she would accept it IF we could prove to her that we really lived together CONTINUOUSLY. That is something difficult to prove, because my visa were only for tourist and his as well. She said we need to go on the regular way. That moment when she said that, I cried...

I am not exactly sure why I cried, it was a mixture of emotions. First, he could not understand the reason, he already believed and hoped that it would be that fast, and we were already having arguments, right in front of the judge and right in front of the clerks. Secondly, I felt frustrated as well, like U, I already set my hopes high too. Thirdly, my relatives had already invited people on the wedding, just how frustrating could that be. It took me hours before I felt a little okay. Then we both realized, that we have no other choice. We processed the documents the normal way, and asked that his Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage* be submitted at a latter date. Lucky for us, the civil registry agreed. That same night, we packed our things and booked a hotel at Manila, because we have to process his legal capacity early the next morning. Because it was already late, there were only 2 hotels with available room for us, GoHotels.com and New Horizon Hotel, both at Mandaluyong. These two were not your typical 5-star hotel, but we have no choice. I booked at GoHotels, being loyal with Robinsons Corporation. In the end, it was worth all worth it. We paid only around Php3600 for two nights (without breakfast), but we are satisfied with the cleanliness and the accessibility of the hotel (it's just across Robinsons Pioneer), plus the coffee at the cafe (Tokyo Cafe) was superb, the only coffee that U enjoyed in the Philippines.

Now, to talk about Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage (Ehefaehigkeitzeugnis auf Deutsch). We left Lipa City at 7am and was at Makati at 8am. First adventure: the taxi drivers were asshole as always. They would not drive us to RSBC where Germany Embassy is located because of heavy traffic jam along Ayala Avenue. I told them I know that since I am working at Makati as well, and that is the reason why they have the meter. They asked for a fixed price between Php 150 to 200 just to bring us there, I gave them the BIGGEST NO as an answer. Luckily, one cab came, and took us, the fare was only Php 80 from Magallanes MRT station to RSBC Tower, but I gave him Php100 for being an honest driver (imagine how much it really cost, even with the new flag rate of Php40). We arrived at the Embassy half past 9am, thanks to those asshole taxi drivers we were not able to get there at exactly 9am. Still, we were thankful that we are early and the first one to be at Window 5, the window where one submits the pending documents, and where the Germans go when they need something from the embassy. The woman asked us where we are from and I said from Batangas. She asked if we are going to drive back to Batangas or we would be staying in the city. U said we had already booked a hotel, I did not know that they have an option that they could release the Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage in the afternoon IF we are not staying in the city. But since we are staying, she scheduled the release for the following day. For more details on what legal capacity is, and how it looks like, visit pinoyingermany again.

We were finished for the day, so I asked him to go with me at Goethe Institut to claim my SD2 certificate (by the way, I passed it again with flying colors and got a new shirt!). He met one of my favorite teachers, Donn, and the admin assistant, Nana. It is so sweet that these two people told him great stories about me as a student, so sweet! In the afternoon, we went to see Thor at Shang Cineplex. It was really not in our itinerary, but since we cannot find the kind of shirt he is looking for (a shirt we found ONLY at Duty Free), we watched the movie instead. After the movie, we went out for dinner with my cousins at Robinsons Pioneer. The next day, after we claimed the legal capacity, we went to MOA to check for his shirt again, sadly, we did not find it there as well. So I called on my cousin and her girlfriend to join us the whole day, and we went to Fort Santiago instead. It was again a day of facing those asshole taxi drivers.

The next day, we drove back to Batangas to attend the Counselling and Family Planning seminar.

 

I asked the person in charge if it is okay for us not to attend and I'd have the copy as well because he does not understand anything anyway, the seminar's being taught in Tagalog. He is not so good in English, what more in Tagalog. We were lucky that they agreed! After that day, the waiting time for marriage license had begun. They released the license on the 13th of May, and we scheduled our marriage on the 15th. We were so lucky to have people who are willing to help out even if everything was in a rush. We were lucky too to have someone who knows the judge and agreed on a special appointment for our marriage. Imagine a civil wedding on a Sunday, isn't it so unusual? Thanks to Judge for making it possible.

And that was the start of a journey I had long been praying for. I am now on the second step and thank God everything is going on as planned.