There's nobody home

Dear insansapinas,

I already posted the sign on the right and yet, someone knocked at the door.



He was very insistent. Grrr.



Pinaysaamerika

Ibong Mababa ang Lipad

Dear insansapinas,

Hindi sila sa mga kalapati. Pero hindi sila masyadong lumilipad ng mataas.



Naliligo sa kakarampot na tubig na nanggaling sa ulan. Nagtago nga ako at piniktyuran ko sila.

Naalala ko tuloy ang aking kabataan na pag nakakita ng dagat eh gustong maghubad at maligo.

Minsan may pinuntahan kami sa Cavite. Swimming pool. Sa excitement ko, hindi ko pala naalis yong t shirt na suot ko over my swimsuit. Sinita ako ng guwardiya.

Buti di ko dinala ang batya at palu-palo. mohahahaha

Pinaysaamerika

Behind the Cloud, there is always the silver lining

Nanghiram ako ng libro sa library. Sangkatutak. Kaysa maglakad kami ng kapatid ko at lumaylay ang balikat niy, pinaghintay niya ako sa harap ng library.

Tumingin ako sa itaas, tumingin ako sa kaliwa at sa kanan. Hindi naman ako tatawid.
Kinuha ko ang aking camera na ang hinala ko ay parte na ang katawan ko.

Click click.

Pinaysaamerika

Moon River and Andy Williams

Dear insansapinas,

Hindi ko alam na ang Moon River pala ang song sa Breakfast at Tiffany's kung saan ang bida ay ang paborito kong si Audrey Hepburn. Hindi ko pa napanood ang pelikula. Fascinated lang ang ako sa word na Tiffany. Tunog singsing.



Moon River, wider than a mile,
I’m crossing you in style some day.
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker,
wherever you’re going I’m going your way.
Two drifters off to see the world.
There’s such a lot of world to see.
We’re after the same rainbow’s end–
waiting ’round the bend,
my huckleberry friend,
Moon River and me.

Naalala ko kasi ang kaibigan ko. Kaboses niya si Andy Williams. Kamukha pa nga except hind blue ang mata niya. Bago siya umuwi ng Pilipinas, iniwanan niya ako ng tape nog boses niya. Kasama ang Moon River.

Nasaan na kaya siya?

Pinaysaamerika

Violets are blue

Dear insansapinas,

Kahapon lumabas ako. Naghahanap na mareretrato bago dumating na si Winter. PAg dumating na kasi yon, wala ng mga dahon. The world will be in black and white. Sa labas ito ang nakita ko.



Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet;
And so are you


Problema wala namang roses. Tapos hindi naman violets ito. Hmmm.
At least may sugar ako. Too much of it. In my blood. Lintek na diabetes yan.

Pinaysaamerika

Houseplants-Dracaenia -Pinay Goes Gardening

Dear insansapinas

This is one of the varieties of Dracaena. It is called Warnecki.




Dracaenas grow slowly and retain their foliage for long periods. Several varieties are grown for houseplant use. The vsriety Warnecki is used as low growing plants. Others, such as the corn plant are known for their stems. Dracaenas are known for their long slender leaves, either green, or differing variegations.

Light: It can tolerate low light but it prefers moderate lighting
Water: Do not overwater, let the soil becomes a little dry between waterings.
Fertilizer: All purpose fertilizer.
Problems: TOo much and little water cause yellowing of plants.

Thank You

Dear insansapinas,

This blog entry is dedicated to the hardworking staff of the Customer
Finance Services of Sprint which office is in Fort Bonifacio, Philippines
especially to people named below. Sey. Let the Cat meow.


My blood pressure hit the ceiling again. My blood sugar too… (that’s because I
ate ice-cream with a banana. Banana split baga. Banana is for my potassium
requirement, without which, the blue-black bruises will be back again. Arghhh.
Ice cream is for my calcium requirement which I can not get from my milk because
it has melamine
errrmm because I am lactose intolerant. (whisper..palusot lang).

The irritant that cause my blood pressure to shoot up is the lone letter from the
mail box. It was another collection letter from the SPRINT, my previous wireless-phone-provider-of the cell phone -I-did-not-use –but-continued-to-pay-when-I-was-busy-visiting-the-specialists-that-told-
me-that-I-have-the-disease-which-name-I-don’t-even-want-to-mention.
Pause and Breathe.

They are warning me that my account will be sent to the collection agency and
will be written as a bad debt and my cell phone would not be renewed.

I am quivering in fear. Hide me, please. Nobody is going to BAIL me out. ARGHH.
No one is going to pay the $ 26.31 that I owed and have not paid to date. Shame on
Me. slap, slap, slap.

I got my cell phone from my previous employer in Los Angeles in 2006. It was
a cell phone company. I can’t just give it up, it had a two year contract or else
I’ll pay a pre-termination fee.

Last March or April, the contract expired. I called to close the account. The
person I talked to told me that I renewed it for another year. Ha? I must be
drunk or I was in daze due to a lot of medications I was taking. To cut the
story short, I asked the guy I was talking with what to do because I have no
intention of using the cell phone anymore.
And I am saddled with costs of my medications and other things. The proud
person of me does not want to bother any people I have helped before so I
tried to be financially independent by eliminating non-essentials.

Why do I know the problem of not having a health insurance? …because
Virginia I have been there.

The guy agreed to close the account on the condition that I am going to pay
the $ 50.40. I was happy. He even gave me a confirmation number. He said
that I would get the invoice in July. Since I know already the amount, I sent
a payment of 50.40. The invoice came, it was $ 76 something.

Another collection letter came asking for payment. I checked the bill.
My payment was already reflected. So what are they demanding payment
for? The agreement is 50.40.
I do not care if the difference is $ 26.31.

Last September, I received another bill. I ignored it. It stresses me to make
any phone call that deals with problems.

I know how it works in the Accounting Department. I was a Chief Accountant
before and time and again we discussed what accounts to write off given the
proper documentation forwarded to us by the collection department. Some of
the customers have already died and yet the payable clerk has not cleaned
her file. Sheet.

This afternoon, I decided to make a call again. My blood pressure was making
me shake. I was ready to tell whoever would take my call if they can understand
English or not. Why do they continue to send me the bill when I have already
cancelled my account and have paid the agreed amount last June?

But I stopped. The mataray-bitch-sharp-tongued in me paused. Aha, the lady
at the other line is very composed. Even while I was already talking with
several decibels over my special phone, she was still calm. She was not
scared of me?

I suspected that she is a Filipina because in my experience dealing with
support services, ONLY FILIPINOS can calm down irate customers.
They have the charisma and the patience.

Sabi ko na nga ba. Filipina siya. She is one of staff of the customer finance
services of SPRINT which is located in Fort Bonifacio or Global City.
Anak ng pating, kahirap pa ako ng English, buti marami akong
stock sa aking Frigidaire. Yon palang kausap ko nasa Pinas at
ako ay nandito sa Estet. (No translation please).

Her name is Jacquiline Gaspay. Siguro kamaganak siya ni Baltazay.
hehehe biro lang. ( I hope I got her name right). Bingi kasi ang phone ko.
Hindi makarinig. Hehehe.
She promised that she would take care of the account. Unlike other
customer finance services, she asked my permission if she can put me
on hold. There was one office where I was made to wait for several minutes
without telling me that I should wait…so para akong tanga na hinihintay
ang PASKO, eh Marso pa lang naman. Hohoho.

She consulted her supervisor whose name is Kenneth John Mariano kung
pwede akong patawarin sa aking kasalanan kahit hindi ako nangungumpisal
.. .ehek sa aking utang na $ 26.31 para sa cell phone na matagal ko
ng inilagay sa crime scene dahil matagal nang hindi humihinga.

He talked to me and told me that they will do everything to the best of their
ability to give me a reprieve. Alelujah, pinatatawad na nila ako.

Salamat. Thank you. My mail was rejected. Wala sigurong stamp.

Pinaysaamerika


PS...sa kasusulat nito nasunog yong niluluto kong nilagang baka.
..kaya hindi na siya nilaga kung hindi
tinutong na baka. mwehehe

Food Festival

Dear insansapinas,



photocredit


Who said that Philippines is a poor country? If not for the weather and traffic,
my friend who is now vacationing in the Philippines would have stayed for good.
He said that everyday is Food festival day…what with a lot of food courts in the
mall brimming with customers everyday, every hour aside from the food carts that are servicing the office employees who alternate their catered food with the combo
food they ordered from these meals on wheels.

Then he mentioned what he was having every morning as breakfast…tosilog..tapsilog,
losilog… wooo wooo, I said a lot of cholesterol and he is on maintenance for his high blood pressure.

Lunch time…either he orders sisig, sinigang na taba at tiyan ng bangus ( shirt…
sarap noon), or laeng, or ginataang alimango at kare-kare. I told him that he should
be easy on rice. He laughed…”how could you eat chilly food without or with little rice?”

When we were office mates, we used to walk several blocks in San Francisco to look
for Filipino restaurant. There was one in Ellis but the food is bad that I do not know
if it is still there. Just like in Los Angeles Filipino restaurant where I was served
this food they called Laing…a vegetable swimming in coconut milk like it was a soup
or a recipe with white broth. . Parang gusto kong higupin ang sabaw. Yeck

He called me overseas thru his VOIP. I requested him to buy some books from the
National Book Store.

For every query he made, the store clerk said that she does not know any book
of that title.

My voice went up one decibel…(oopps. I am just requesting and I have the gall
to raise my voice) out of disgust not to my friend but to the store clerk.

Who is a bookstore clerk who would not know any book about Panitikan ng Pilipinas
or any Panitikan book that was used in high school? Besides, if he or she does not
know any, could he/she not find it in their indices or list of books or textbooks?

My friend was already able to buy some materials from TRC. The seminar on
silkscreening
of tee shirts pushed thru even with 10 participants. I think 5 is their minimum.
It was for three days and he learned the basic.

I asked him if he was able to go out of town especially from his rented condo in
Makati.
He said no. After his bout with flu for more than a week, he did not venture out.
he's afraid of relapse.

One precious moment that he had was meeting his online girlfriend. Former
, he emphasized. They had a misunderstanding last year and they never
bothered to work for reconciliation.

She is small he said, about 5’ 2” Aray, ouch and I thought that I was not that
really vertically challenged to be considered small.

As to what happened? He would not tell me. Later maybe when he comes back.
Press two palms together and wink like Sarah Palin. *heh*

Houseplants-Devil's Ivy -Pinay Goes Gardening

Dear insansapinas,
I do not bring this houseplant inside the house. The family has a superstition that it is a bad luck to keep a clinging plant inside the house. I do not know where that belief came from.



This is mostly planted in hanging basket and let cascade or creep as a vine with its roots used as its hold even in smooth surface.

Light: moderate to bright
Fertilizer: All purpose fertilizer but it does not need heavy when it has already started growing.
Water: Do not overwater
PRoblems: Overwatering results to root rotting. Low light causes lowg rowth.

Pinaysaamerika

Very Remote

Note: To know what the picture is all about, read the entire story.

I am in pain for several days now. Don’t ask. So I am taking some
pain killers which I suspect dull my brain cells.

My celebrity-junkie friend had been calling me the whole day …updating
me about Cristy Fermin and Nadia Montenegro’s-baboy-ka-baboy-ka-rin-wala-kang-budhi-wala- kang-
budhi- ka- rin word war. Not because I told her so but because
she was asking me about libel, paternity test and opinion as to who is lying.

I thought she's not going to call me anymore when I told her that both
are lying. I was watching Dancing with the Stars and
chuckling how the geriatric patients in a convalescent home were looking
for Cloris Leachman from another dance pair who visited the facility in
their bid to get their votes when the phone rung. My brother handed me the
cordless phone. I said I am not going to answer it. It’s her. I planned
to call her today. Five calls are enough for the day about that scandal.

The truth is I do not want to be disturbed when I am watching the Dancing
with the Stars.
I may not be a good dancer but dance is a part of my life. If you have
read my series about moi, I was
included in all dance presentations of the different schools I attended
since grade 1. And one Hans Christian Andersen's story that I could not
forget is the The RED Shoes which was made into a film in 1948.


Must be the failed dream of becoming DON’T LAUGH OR ELSE I AM
GOING TO
POINT MY MAGIC WAND ON YOU AND CHANGE YOU TO A FROG… a ballerina
…a promise of my mom to enroll me in the ballet if I stop accumulating those baby fats….uhrm by eating a lot of sweet potatos when I was around five.

Then the whats matta moment happened. When I’ve gone
back to watching the Dancing with the Stars after
ignoring the call, I noticed there was a long break …lots of commercials
and some previews of the channel’s TV series.

Was there an accident? Again. The Olympic medalist Misty May-treanor was already sidelined because of injury. Derek Hough blacked out last Saturday during dance rehearsal.
Or did Cloris utter another bleep bleep word?

Minutes passed and I realized I was already watching a whole episode
of a TV series that has nothing to do with the Dancing with the Stars.
I looked at the clock. It was still one hour and 15 minutes before the
reality show ends.

Am I transferred to a different zone. Was it Monday or it is already
Tuesday? Am I really watching Dancing with the stars?