I Miss You...
I miss Philippines.
It’s been 3 weeks since I came back from Philippines for a 2-week vacation.
It is always an awesome vacation whenever I go back to my homeland. Although there were times that I had to go back because of a tragedy, it still is good to be with family and friends. I have been living here in New York for the past 7 years and 2 months, but I still long to go back… home.
My life in Manila before I left was good. I was happy with my family and friends. But as I worked for 1 year in Manila, it occurred to me that the economy of the country was not doing well. I had to think about my future, what I want with my life. So I decided to come here in New York and work, thinking that I would only stay here for a couple of years, save up and go back to Manila and have my own business. Well… that didn’t happen… as you can tell, I’m still in New York.
A lot of things happened since I came last March 1998… I found a great job, I got my own apartment, I was independent, I met Joe, we dated, we got married. And since I left, Manila also changed so much. So many malls, no more crossing the intersection, all u-turns. MRT is working fairly well. So many small businesses, so many people in the entertainment industry that I don’t know. Gosh… I am totally lost. I went to the mall one time with my sisters. I noticed that nobody was wearing a pair of shorts! And mind you it was SUMMER! I wondered why… I was told that the trend during that time was wearing mini skirts. YIKES! My brother even told me that I do look like a “balikbayan”. I wore a pair of shorts, plain shirt, sandals, sun glasses, wearing subtle jewelry so as not to attract attention. And I thought I was wearing clothes that does not look like a “Balikbayan”… gheez! I guess the more you try, the more that it won’t work.
I’ve been here for 7 years and I still like talking in Filipino since I rarely use the language here. So when I went to Manila, I’ve been talking in Tagalog most of the time. Sometimes I tend to do TAGLISH (mixed Tagalog and English) since I sometimes forget certain tagalong terms. I NEVER THOUGHT THAT WOULD HAPPEN TO ME!!! Sometimes there are certain deep tagalong terms that I hear for the first time after so many years, so I tend to repeat the word… like trying to memorize it so I won’t forget. It’s weird. Now, when it came to the pronunciation of certain English terms, I tried to talk the Filipino way. Not the “P and F” syndrome way. It’s kind of hard to explain. Filipinos are so versatile that we can change the way we talk, and the way we pronounce words. Anyway, one time, I went to starbucks with a friend of mine. My friend ordered a chocolate drink, and then I ordered a “grande, decaf, skim, caramel, latte”. After we ordered, my friend told me that I already have a “slang” accent. I said, “what do you mean?”. The way I said the words and the type of coffee I ordered. My friend had a hard time explaining it to me. Nevertheless, I guess there is a tendency to pronounce things the way you’re used to.
One thing that I also like is the relaxed environment. Things tend to move really fast here. And it’s always work, work, work. If not work, you have to do household chores. So people are always busy. In malls, people just walk leisurely. Here in New York, even in malls, people tend to walk fast. If you don’t follow the flow, people can step on you, or sometimes get irritated coz you’re so slow.
Other things I like:
1. Easy access to the beaches
2. Great Food!!!!
3. So many fun things to do
4. Having a sleep-in helper (No need to do the laundry, cook, wash dishes, clean, etc!!!)
I bought some Filipino Movie DVD’s, CD’s. I ate Filipino food. I missed the fruits like chiko, atis… because they were not in season. I had the Indian Mango though! It’s one of my favorite fruits!
3 years ago, I did a lot of clothes shopping because the prices of the clothes in Manila were way cheaper compared to here in New York. But I noticed that this year, I didn’t buy much because the clothes that I liked, have almost the same or just a little bit cheaper compared to the prices here in New York. I just wonder how people are able to afford such expensive clothes!
Still… I miss Philippines
It’s been 3 weeks since I came back from Philippines for a 2-week vacation.
It is always an awesome vacation whenever I go back to my homeland. Although there were times that I had to go back because of a tragedy, it still is good to be with family and friends. I have been living here in New York for the past 7 years and 2 months, but I still long to go back… home.
My life in Manila before I left was good. I was happy with my family and friends. But as I worked for 1 year in Manila, it occurred to me that the economy of the country was not doing well. I had to think about my future, what I want with my life. So I decided to come here in New York and work, thinking that I would only stay here for a couple of years, save up and go back to Manila and have my own business. Well… that didn’t happen… as you can tell, I’m still in New York.
A lot of things happened since I came last March 1998… I found a great job, I got my own apartment, I was independent, I met Joe, we dated, we got married. And since I left, Manila also changed so much. So many malls, no more crossing the intersection, all u-turns. MRT is working fairly well. So many small businesses, so many people in the entertainment industry that I don’t know. Gosh… I am totally lost. I went to the mall one time with my sisters. I noticed that nobody was wearing a pair of shorts! And mind you it was SUMMER! I wondered why… I was told that the trend during that time was wearing mini skirts. YIKES! My brother even told me that I do look like a “balikbayan”. I wore a pair of shorts, plain shirt, sandals, sun glasses, wearing subtle jewelry so as not to attract attention. And I thought I was wearing clothes that does not look like a “Balikbayan”… gheez! I guess the more you try, the more that it won’t work.
I’ve been here for 7 years and I still like talking in Filipino since I rarely use the language here. So when I went to Manila, I’ve been talking in Tagalog most of the time. Sometimes I tend to do TAGLISH (mixed Tagalog and English) since I sometimes forget certain tagalong terms. I NEVER THOUGHT THAT WOULD HAPPEN TO ME!!! Sometimes there are certain deep tagalong terms that I hear for the first time after so many years, so I tend to repeat the word… like trying to memorize it so I won’t forget. It’s weird. Now, when it came to the pronunciation of certain English terms, I tried to talk the Filipino way. Not the “P and F” syndrome way. It’s kind of hard to explain. Filipinos are so versatile that we can change the way we talk, and the way we pronounce words. Anyway, one time, I went to starbucks with a friend of mine. My friend ordered a chocolate drink, and then I ordered a “grande, decaf, skim, caramel, latte”. After we ordered, my friend told me that I already have a “slang” accent. I said, “what do you mean?”. The way I said the words and the type of coffee I ordered. My friend had a hard time explaining it to me. Nevertheless, I guess there is a tendency to pronounce things the way you’re used to.
One thing that I also like is the relaxed environment. Things tend to move really fast here. And it’s always work, work, work. If not work, you have to do household chores. So people are always busy. In malls, people just walk leisurely. Here in New York, even in malls, people tend to walk fast. If you don’t follow the flow, people can step on you, or sometimes get irritated coz you’re so slow.
Other things I like:
1. Easy access to the beaches
2. Great Food!!!!
3. So many fun things to do
4. Having a sleep-in helper (No need to do the laundry, cook, wash dishes, clean, etc!!!)
I bought some Filipino Movie DVD’s, CD’s. I ate Filipino food. I missed the fruits like chiko, atis… because they were not in season. I had the Indian Mango though! It’s one of my favorite fruits!
3 years ago, I did a lot of clothes shopping because the prices of the clothes in Manila were way cheaper compared to here in New York. But I noticed that this year, I didn’t buy much because the clothes that I liked, have almost the same or just a little bit cheaper compared to the prices here in New York. I just wonder how people are able to afford such expensive clothes!
Still… I miss Philippines
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