My Precious

What: Waterford Crystal Lismore Carafe and Wine Set
Where: (it came from) Ireland (Waterford Crystal is originated from Waterford, Ireland)
When: (was it given) February 2004
Who: (gave it) ADLK colleagues (ADI Limerick TSM team - design, design evaluation and test development engineers)
Why: (was it given) Wedding gift (given few weeks earlier than the wedding date)
How: Handcarried by my (former) offshore boss

I've been assigned (years ago - while I was still working for ADI) for few months offshore "work" in ADI Ireland (which we also call ADLK) for three consecutive years but I never had the courage to buy even a small piece of artwork from Waterford Crystal because of it's "for your eyes only" price tags. Few of my Filipino colleagues who have earned their target savings from our per diem allowances have bought themselves a small piece or two while what most of us, who visited the main outlet in Waterford county, only did "window shopping" and of course, picture taking.

I must be very lucky to have worked with the entire TSM-LK team who were so generous to buy me (and my soon to be hubby at that time), not just a small piece from the crystal store, but a big item - not one piece - but a set of three.

On February 2004, few weeks before our wedding set on March 6 of the same year, my Irish boss went to visit the Philippines plant (ADGT) for business meetings with the management, and with our local team as well. On the day he went to Cavite, he went down to our workplace carrying a huge paper bag. Some of my colleagues started to look as he headed to my seat, said his hello, offered me a handshake, gave me a hug and a kiss, and finally handed me that huge paper bag.

At the glance of it, all I can do is smile (and I think my smile was from ear to ear). The package inside was triangular with the mark "Waterford Crystal". Actually, the huge paper bag itself was marked with the said brandname. He said it's from the whole of TSM-LK team. Inside the bag was also a huge greeting card which I opened right after he left my seat. I was so happy to see the familiar names from those I've worked with and those that I just knew by name and face.

When he left, one of my friends approached me and said "I bet that costs __K Php". On the other hand, my local boss uttered "Lucky you!" followed by "Maybe I should get married again so I can receive the same gift package as yours." One friend, who just heard from others about the present, came to me asking, "hey, can you open it now for everyone to see?" Other colleagues from different work area also came to curiously ask what's inside the huge paper bag.

Since the set was given before our wedding, my housemate and friend (who was also trying to quote the set) suggested (or actually insisted) that we should use it on our wedding day for the wine toasting part of the wedding (reception) ceremony.

We then brought the set, handled with all loving care, along with us when we went up to Baguio a week before our wedding date. I had to instruct the hotel wedding attendant several times to ensure that the set will be used during our reception and that it should be brought back to us after the reception. Oh well, I didn't have to tell them what to do after the wedding party as I made sure myself that the set is carried back to our room while the reception area was being cleaned up.

The triangular packaging is still intact up to now, that huge paper bag has been crumpled though. After our recent vacation, I surfed the net if the item is still available (partly checking on the price as well) and I found out that the current packaging is not as how we received it. The wine glasses also looked different but I found the same design sold separately.

By the way, it's not that I am after the materiality of the present that I consider this item a precious. (well, I could say it's part of it - call me hyprocrite if I don't admit that, right?) It's more of its representation of a country I hold dear in my heart - Ireland. A place I wish my family could visit someday.

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The kIsS

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The ToUcH

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A Bit of Sunrise From One of Acop's hills

I have long wanted to take sunrise photos especially after the “Show me your Sunrise/Sunset” photo tag from Lovelyn. As I mentioned when I did “My Sundown”, one of the reasons I just can’t is the difficulty of waking up early to catch the break of dawn. Another reason is that I don’t know where to shoot.

While vacationing in Acop, I had opportunities to get up early and watch the sunrise right at our room’s window but the bed’s gravity is strong enough to keep me in bed. Lol! But there’s this one morning that I had no choice but to wake up early because of the clothes waiting to be dried. I woke up ahead of my sister, who did the night washing with me, and while hanging the clothes, I thought I can grab my camera after my chore. So up to the room I went, took the camera and tried to find a good place to take pictures. Alas, only few turned out pretty acceptable for posting. I might just give it another try next time I get the chance.

Every sunrise is a present, a gift from God above,
Gift-wrapped with scarlet ribbons and tied with bows of love.

Each day's a new beginning, a time to start anew,
While all the stars are sleeping, and the rose is fresh with dew.

Every day's a new creation, too lovely to ignore,
And we may find a blessing, just outside our door.

We cannot keep the past, like fireflies in a jar
Nor journey to the future by wishing on a star.

Every sunrise is a blessing, a gift for just today.
Rejoice, my friend, embrace it before it fades away!

~ Author Unknown ~






The reason behind the shots...


One of nature's alarm clock...

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tHe IcEdRoP sErIeS

I haven’t posted personal stories for a while but I have a number of them kept in my draft folder. Before I go offline again, it’s time to publish them else they’ll end up staying in the D folder forever. “D” is either for “draft” or “delete” – I’d better put them in “P” as in “published post” now. :p

I owe you stories about our CNY vacation back home but I don’t think you’ll have it as a whole. Bits and pieces they’ll come. Posting the pictures was an easier task, and Hannah re-emphasized that to me :) I sticked to “pictures speak louder than words” in that case, hahaha. I’ll still do that with this post. I think the facial expressions of my daughter in every picture speak for them, lol.

As an introduction though, let me tell you that she never got the chance to eat icecream here in Taiwan not until last Saturday. It was the cold weather that deprived us of that. During one of the warm days we were vacationing in Cavite, a familiar bell sounded from afar. I asked hubby to call the pedicab vendor and got ourselves chocolate icedrop and pinipig. Jade excitedly watched us open them as she willingly obeyed my word when I asked her to sit down on the kitchen door floor. And the rest of the story lies in the following pictures…

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Do mothers really lie to their kids?

Before I had my daughter, I was already a cry-baby when it comes to talking about mothers – the more I became when I turned out a mom myself. I vividly remember how my aunt and I shed buckets of tears after watching the movie “Nasaan ka Inay?” eons ago in Maricel Theatre. I would cry too even if I’m just reading articles or stories about mothers that once again, I couldn’t help but cry, unmindful of the passersby, while I was reading an article forwarded to me via email.

Did my mom ever lie to us? If yes, how many lies did she tell us? Why did she lie? Did she really have to lie? Then I asked myself, did I ever lie to my daughter? Or would I ever lie to my daughter? I don’t have the answers now…

EIGHT LIES OF A MOTHER

This story begins when I was a child: I was born poor.

Often we hadn't enough to eat.Whenever we had some food, Mother often gave me her portion of rice.While she was transferring her rice into my bowl, she would say .."Eat this rice, son! I'm not hungry."This was Mother's First Lie.

As I grew, Mother gave up her spare time to fish in a river near our house; she hoped that from the fish she caught, she could give me a little bit more nutritious food for my growth. Once she had caught just two fish,she would make fish soup. While I was eating the soup, mother would sit beside me and eat the what was still left on the bone of the fish I had eaten. My heart was touched when I saw it. Once I gave the other fish to her on my chopstick but she immediately refused it and said,"Eat this fish, son! I don't really like fish."This was Mother's Second Lie.

Then, in order to fund my education, Mother went to a Match Factory to bring home some used matchboxes which she filled with fresh matchsticks.This helped her get some money to cover our needs. One wintry night Iawoke to find Mother filling the matchboxes by candlelight. So I said,"Mother, go to sleep; it's late: you can continue working tomorrow morning." Mother smiled and said"Go to sleep, son! I'm not tired"This was Mother's Third Lie.

When I had to sit my Final Examination, Mother accompanied me. After dawn,Mother waited for me for hours in the heat of the sun. When the bellr ang, I ran to meet her. Mother embraced me and poured me a glass of teathat she had prepared in a thermos. The tea was not as strong as my Mother's love, Seeing Mother covered with perspiration, I at once gave her my glass and asked her to drink too. Mother said .."Drink, son! I'm not thirsty!".This was Mother's Fourth Lie.

After Father's death, Mother had to play the role of a single parent. She held on to her former job; she had to fund our needs alone. Our family's life was more complicated. We suffered from starvation. Seeing our family's condition worsening, my kind Uncle who lived near my house cameto help us solve our problems big and small. Our other neighbors saw that we were poverty stricken so they often advised my mother to marry again. But Mother refused to remarry saying .."I don't need love!"This was Mother's Fifth Lie.

After I had finished my studies and gotten a job, it was time for my old Mother to retire but she carried on going to the market every morningjust to sell a few vegetables. I kept sending her money but she was steadfast and even sent the money back to me. She said,"I have enough money!"That was Mother's Sixth Lie.

I continued my part-time studies for my Master's Degree. Funded by theAmerican Corporation for which I worked, I succeeded in my studies. With a big jump in my salary, I decided to bring Mother to enjoy life in America but Mother didn't want to bother her son; she said to me .."I'm not used to high living!"That was Mother's Seventh Lie.

In her dotage, Mother was attacked by cancer and had to be hospitalized. Now living far across the ocean, I went home to visit Mother who was bedridden after an operation. Mother tried to smile but I was heartbroken because she was so thin and feeble but Mother said,"Don't cry, son! I'm not in pain!"That was Mother's Eighth Lie.

Telling me this, her eighth lie, she died ...YES, MOTHER WAS AN ANGEL! M - O - T - H - E - R "M" is for the Million things she gave me"O" means Only that she's growing old"T" is for the Tears she shed to save me"H" is for her Heart of gold"E" is for her Eyes with love-light shining in them"R" means Right, and right she'll always be, Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER" a word that means the world to me.

For those of you who are lucky to be still blessed with your Mom's presence on Earth, this story is beautiful. For those who aren't so blessed, this is even more beautiful.

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If kids were blogging...

It won't be a surprise, if it's not happening already.

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Pahina Isang Daan at Isa

I ran into somebody's blog and figured that blogger has added an option to view one's blog site in Filipino. I never explored into that until today when I cleaned my cache and had to change the default language setting (Chinese) in my computer. While looking for "English" in the list, I saw "Filipino" and I thought of choosing it to see how it works. I was thrilled at the thought of it yet upon seeing the seemingly unfitting translations, I asked myself if there's really a need to do that. Sorry, I don't mean to agitate, just my personal thought. Maybe you can see by yourself and share your thoughts about it. On the other side, having Filipino included in the language option means there are millions of Filipino bloggers out there!

Here, see how my post list looks like in Filipino...

And my blogsite in Filipino...



BTW, please note that my subtitle is really in Filipino and is not a direct translation :)

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