The Child Within Me

It’s been raining these past few weeks but that didn’t stop us from going to Legoland Windsor. Last Sunday my Filipino colleague invited me to join him and his family along with other Pinoy friends in Legoland. The idea that we will be visiting Windsor and having a side trip in the famed Windsor Castle got me interested and sent me immediately booking an entrance ticket online.

Legoland is basically a theme park for kids. It has Lego model villages, rides, gold panning, car racing, boat rides, 4D movies, story-telling shows and a lot more. If you’re hooked with Lego during your early years, you’ll surely enjoy it there. The rides though are not for the adventurous adult since they are really children-friendly. What I enjoyed most was the Miniland. I realized that the area was far more interesting than I ever expected. Miniature models of London and other famous cities and landmarks were displayed and I just can’t believe that they were made from millions of Lego bricks. Really awesome!!!!

What added more fun to the trip was that we have some tots in tow with us. It’s really amusing seeing them enjoy the rides and water fun as well as the rain. Hehe!!! It has somehow brought out the child within me and how I wished that my little brother and nephew could one day visit Legoland as well.


Legoland Windsor


The Miniland - miniature models of London and other famous landmarks around UK


Having a pose in front of the mini-Big Ben and the mini-London Eye


The Football and the Stadium - Brits just can't get enough of this game!


Buckingham Palace


I just can't believe these are all made from Lego bricks...


With Filipino friends and their adorable kids


One last group shot before going home

Of Different Tongues

I am trying to finish this dimensioning summary that I have discussed minutes ago with my British colleague with his lovely accent. But I just can’t!!! I am distracted by my Hungarian officemates talking loudly in their own language. Then, not just far behind me are the Taiwanese and Chinese-Malaysian giggling and chatting up in their native tongue. What more? The one sitting in front of me called out to the other one in what I assume is the Nigerian lingo. I just sigh and keep a chuckle to myself. I better take a break and get on with this blog. And, as if on cue, just this moment a guy whom I know to be from Poland pass by the alley and is on his mobile phone and guess what? He is talking in some language that is definitely not English. That gives me the idea! I think I better give my Filipino friend a ring and care for some chika, pinoy-style!!!

Indeed, diversity is the setting here. I am in a multi-racial company and in a country where there is a blend of races. When in gatherings, the first thing being asked of each other is “Where are you from?” (and they are always shocked to know that I am not Chinese but that’s another story.hehe!). You can always see all sorts of people in the cafeteria. Save for the Asians and Africans where you can recognize them for their appearance, you can find out that the others are not from this country by the language that they are speaking or simply by their accent

Here, I am in the company of colleagues from different countries. It’s funny every time we sit together for meals because it seems that every country is well-represented in the long table. I found it really interesting when the conversation gets rolling. It will always start with the British weather and will then be followed by its comparison to our respective countries. It will eventually lead to everyone sharing about his or her country in terms politics, history, geography, people and culture. I find it really productive and amusing. It’s like widening your horizons, discovering foreign lands and understanding people from all corners of the earth.

It’s true that each of us have our own languages and even us Pinoys have to thrive on our own local dialects. But the most amazing thing is that despite the differences in tongues, we always find a way to understand each other and share our knowledge to others. We should really be thankful that we have the universal English language that makes it possible to reach out to all the people in the world and discover the beauty of life.

Here's to NANAY

She has greatly influenced me to spread my wings bravely and pursue my dreams with grace and strength...

She raised me well with considerable independence for me to search my own niche and succeed in it…

She’s the one who believes in me as a person and in my capabilities right from the start…

She inspires me to voice out my thoughts and opinions and stand for my principles…

She is always there to give me an encouraging push when things are getting rough and I am finding it hard to go on…

She is my all-time emotional road map…

She is my role model of how a WOMAN should be…strong and determined, loving and nurturing. And most of all her unwavering faith in God and her being the person God wants her to be define her womanity.


Dear Nanay, everything I am today and will be in the future, I owe to you.

To the incredible woman who gave me life and is doing everything so it will be a happy and fruitful one, I love you, and I thank you.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!

Missing GLOBE

For the past weeks, I’ve been busy! I’ve been occupied with dimensioning work and I got really engrossed with it. It helped a lot as I don’t have time and space left for melodramatic tendencies. Hehe!!! Though I can say, that after a couple of months, I have adjusted to living a British lifestyle and being literally on my own, work has made me miss Globe.

It’s just different here…from the workplace to the workforce.

Here in our workplace, they are not much concern about orderliness as long as they have a place to put on their laptops and do their business for the rest of the day. They have desks double the size of what I used to have in Globe but they are all full of binders, folders, empty paper cups (that they don’t bother to throw) and what-have-you’s. They don’t personalize their desks like we do in Pinas where we display figurines, pictures, stuffed toys and all those souvenir items. Well, for most of us girls. Hehe!!! Even if they serve free espresso and cappuccino (and people here are still complaining about it not being good enough) and a vending machine with all sorts of chocolates and crisps, it is still not as homey as 14/F BPI Buendia where they managed to put ornamental plants and seeing to it that employees feel comfortable while working.

Then I realized that the clutter may be because people here usually work on site or from home. They just turn up in the office once in a while. For the past three months that I’ve been here, I’ve only seen a few of my colleagues. There will always be new faces popping in and out of our work area. Of the few that goes in everyday, I haven’t really established a relationship the same that I had with my previous colleagues just yet. You see, people here are so absorbed with whatever they are doing (be it work-related or internet-related. Hehe!) that they don’t have time for chika like what we are used to in Pinas. Back home, when work is getting kind of stressful, we just take a break, turn to our nearest cube mates and talk about anything and everything under the sun.

The thing that I missed most in Globe is the camaraderie among officemates. We see and spend time with each other everyday and creating friendship along the way. I miss having lunch together, taking long breaks in the afternoon together and having someone with me on my way home after a long day.

There will always be bitter realities that we have to face and one of them is letting go some comfy things in life in order to explore the wider world. I know somewhere along the globe, we’ll be seeing each other again or better yet, work with each other again.

Last afternoon coffee session at Starbucks.



CNE NSS Team – AGA 2005 Nominated for Excellence in Innovation :-)


I miss my cube mates!



The girls with Rommel J.

Spring

It seems a little weird for me that I am eating my dinner and the sun is still beaming up in the sky. It is 8:00 in the evening and it seems the day is still far from over yet as the sun is still enjoying its apparent presence. Indeed, God is so clever that He lets the people from this side of the earth enjoy the magnificent season of spring for a longer time each day.

It was in late March when I kind of noted the slight increase in temperature, the longer days and the blossoming of the daffodils just about anywhere you lay your eyes on. As days passed by, more varieties of flowers suddenly attracted my attention and the sounds of birds greeted me every morning. Those were the things that I haven’t encountered when I first arrived here. Though, I haven’t really noticed when exactly the trees next to my window grew its leaves. I think what they say about spring being so refreshing is true. It soothes your mood and lifts up your spirit. After the biting cold of winter, spring is really worth looking forward to.

I am enjoying Spring so much and now Summer is just around the corner. I just can’t wait what it has in store for me here in UK.

flowers of spring



in full bloom



daffodils lining up in the highway



took so long for me to noticce that the tree just outside my window has leaves on it