the new china

Last week was hell. I was running around Shanghai like a tourist as summer approaches and all the people from Manila are visiting me.

I have delayed updating this blog of mine. Anyway, I wanted to share with you what the passion of the citizen of the New China. I'm so surprised myself to see all of these kids' tech gadgets as they take a break on their excursion trip at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.


We have here a bunch of middle school kids munching on their LAYS and COKE while tinkering and punching those buttons of their Nintendo Gameboy. All influences from the Western World.


What a good way to take a break..."Have a break, bring out the Game Boy!"


I find this so cute to see a Chinese version of a Millionaire's Game but all the elements included in it. A roulette, cards, chips, dice, tiny icons.

Having been schooled and educated in the Philippines, I can remember our excursion trip then. It was not at all the same as the very relaxed museum visit these Chinese kids experience. All of us were to KEEP QUIET while maintaining our queue. We were supposed to write a report after the visit with all the info we "gathered". I dont think these kids do the same thing. To start with, the Scitech Museum is really informative even for an adult like me. It is sad to see though how these kids are "americanized" in the lifestyle that they live. I don't know if Confucian values are instilled in this one-child citizens of China. I hope their passion in tinkering their game boy is supervised by their parents as not to turn them into brats of the future!

Laofan - never too old to start a blog

I ocassionally check the website of my first employer here in China. I am very grateful for "Laofan" and "Sun Bin." Recently, I found out and visited Laofan's blog!! There's a small line saying "never too old to start a blog"

It is really nice to find people with such achievement, social status, background to even find time do all these seemingly unnecessary essentials of life. Laofan is one of a kind and makes sure he lives life to the fullest.

He is your jack of all trade and master of all. He is currently a consultant for the Beijing Olympics. He can speak at least 7 languages fluently. Very organized, very social, extremely intelligent. I remembered when I started out as his assistant, he was complaining I didnt know how to use MS Word. He was very particular with the alignment, font type, margins, spaces between punctuation. An engineer at its best. I learned a lot of little details from him which I use now in my line of work.

Since I left Beijing, he has been running. Actually, I got into running because of him. He is running still now. He has joined a lot of marathons around Beijing. He is really really competitive and athletic. He is also very conscious with what he eats.

Sometimes, meeting such people keeps me grounded and reminds me that I should never think that I'm somebody. I keep meeting exemplary people and it enriches me as a person learning from them.

Snapshots of Shanghai

Hello! I'm back. I got myself a new camera and it is really fun tinkering with it. Here are some of my nicer pictures. Enjoy!

advance happy mother's day

Next weekend will be Mother's Day. I'd have to deposit in advance my article in time for this very nice occasion. My brothers will be arriving on that weekend so I wont be able to update this blog. Anyway, I'd want to share with you my mom. :)

I'd have to be grateful for who she is... not our typical society conforming mom. I think that's why I have this passion for non-conformity since it was her genes after all....

Happy Mother's Day, Ma! We may not be expressive, but I hope you know you are very special to us.

These are some of her "out of the box" mom personality:

1. She started to learn how to piano when all of us are not using the piano now. She's 54 now.
2. She never grounded us...EVER....I never knew that term existed if not for my other classmates using it when they get grounded.
3. She's the only mom who agreed when I was 7 to sleepover to my bestfriend's house.
4. She encourages us to go out for partying but we never did party.
5. She paid for my brothers and a cousin to go on a speed dating event!!! It's PHP 750/head. I wouldnt spend for it if I'm a Mom.
6. She asks my officemate (a guy who doesn part time gym instructor work) what's the best exercise to reduce my asset (blatantly!!!!!!)
7. She never got our report cards during grade school. Teachers pity us since the only report cards that were left were the ones with failing marks.
8. She doesnt mind us not studying to engage us in hard labor of repacking candies and other "confucian values" work/chores repetitive tasks.
9. She never gave us allowance while grade school until high school. We still got our ration of snacks in our bags even when we were in 4th yr high school.
10. She was the only mom I know who told us explicitly how difficult it is to give birth. We got our sex education there.
11. We can laugh at her as if she is not our mom.
12. We can wrestle, pick her nose, mess her hair as if she's our own sibling or friend.
13. We never receive any gifts from her on our birthdays.
14. She gets angry when she receives any birthday or christmas gifts when we were still studying because she know it's her money. I think things have changed now. She welcomes gifts now because we are working.
15. She gets to fight with papa whenever papa buys us box full of books. There goes us being "enlightened." She thinks hard work pays off and is enough.
16. We don't have to report ALL the time of our whereabouts. We can leave a message to the helper if we are not coming home for dinner.
17. She never paid for a tutor to teach us.
18. We can talk to her as if she wasn't our mother. Believe me, you should hear us speak to her.
19. She's using and learning along the way what Excel, Skype, Yahoo Messenger and Email is all about. Again, She's 54.
20. She reminds me and my sister to use sunblock to devoid us of future aesthetic problems encountered by female. I trust her on this for practical reasons.
21. She NEVER nagged us on getting married. Reason: her ROI has not been recovered! This is why I loved her so....
22. She never rewarded us on our academic excellence... getting something if we get good grades is not part of her vocabulary.
22. She never wore heeled shoes, doesn't own any stiletto, doesn't wear any make up. This is her secret for varicose-free feet and youthful face, I think! hehe
23. She got the LARGEST rosary you can ever think...to prevent her from falling asleep while praying. Trust me, it doesn't work.
24. She does a lot of crochet. She did all our throw pillows, cellphone pouches and in progress...our dining table cloth. I hope she finishes it. hehe
25. She's the queen of divisoria (For those who are non Filipino, Divisoria is the wholesale market on anything under the sun. It is not a glamorous place. Try googling what divisoria looks like)
26. She's from Bohol. We all got that twisted tongue. She can't pronounce "milk" "beer and bear" "really" properly.
27. We never had graduation celebration parties. She didn't mind my brother not attending graduation ceremony.

This is why I love her. For all these things, it may sound harsh but I'm grateful she did all of these things to us. If not, we wouldn't have survived a complete and happy childhood and be who we are now. I'm sure she still gets disappointed at us most of the time for not being at par with her standards.

Hearing what people around me has to say about their moms make me proud I got one unique mom who is not perfect but was the best for us. She knew how to be a good parent giving us the necessary markers just enough to walk on our own. We are not successful but I think, I'm always going to have the feeling of gratitude my very own life cannot repay with all these things my mom is to us. Here's the recipe of real motherhood and parenting if you want to have kids like us (not perfect but happy for who we are and who we will be because of them!)

buddhas birthday

I'm very restless to WORK today despite the fact that it is supposed to be a holiday here in China. Anyway, I just found out today that it's Buddha's birthday and across Hong Kong it's a holiday too.
After mentioning such an important day it seems for Buddha, I remember how paradoxical it is how the Chinese associate Buddha with wealth, fortune and luck while if you look closely to the teachings of Buddha, he is an advocate of material detachment, enlightenment and love for sacrifice. Are we speaking of the same Buddha?

I think too much commercialization has changed the image of Buddha. The statues showing Buddha with big fat bear belly vis a vis the Keanu Reeves portrayal in his movie, "Little Buddha." Check how skinny he was in that movie. If you go all over China, most of the Buddha representation doesnt seem to be that obese.

I hope we bring back the real teachings and spirituality of Buddha in our lives. Not only as "someone" who will bring us wealth whenever we rub his belly but to dig deeply into a real awakening in our own lives! Waiting for that light bulb moment to happen---"ting! eureka!"

trading places

I've been going to different blogs and it always melt my heart going through the blog and website of Lane.

I met Lane through my sister, Bonnie. He deserves a mention to my blog since he is really an embodiment of a truly passionate, kindest and best teacher all his students proclaim.

Very timid and serious, not the usual profile of a "favorite" teacher students would want. You can see all the happy faces of his students all over Thailand and the Philippines. It seems even if he's already semi-done with teaching, all of his students missed him. I was once a teacher myself and I know the feeling of sharing something to these young minds. I'm sure they had so much fun spending and learning from him. It is exhausting but at the end of the day, getting tired turns into rewards. Especially after teaching them, you receive happy smiles and makes ur day complete. I'm sure Lane felt the same way.

He has showed a window of the world to his host siblings. He chose to leave his comfort zone and try to discover the world. He had a stable career as a high ranking navy officer but chose to teach kids in far flung provinces in the Southeast. Being a teacher doesn't receive so much success points in our world these days. But being a teacher is the most noble, fulfilling, rewarding profession. Lane didn't bother trade a good career with being a humble teacher. He deliberately chose to live it simply. Simplicity is a complex word itself. Easier said than done. Trading a comfortable life for a richer life is not simple.

Oh by the way, besides being a good samaritan, he is a vegan (strict), a yogi and a great photographer. Visit his web, check my blog links.

laowais in Shanghai

It's a nice warm and sunny day here in Shanghai.....We've got a week long holiday and I was so unfortunate to be stuck here in the city. I've got tons of things to do following this holiday. Sigh!

Being here in Shanghai for almost a year, I've come across to a lot of "laowais." I myself is considered one. Laowai in english refers to "foreigner." This is what we are called but referring more to Western and European foreigners. I've met two wonderful laowais, Asel(Kazakh) and Flo(German).

It always fascinate me how come Western people are more willing to try something new than Asians. Asel and Flo aren't different. Very young, only 23, both decided to jump and be here in Shanghai. Asel to study Mandarin and Flo to work as an intern and eventually acquire some bit of Mandarin along the way. Both of them, this is their first time in Asia. Looking at their faces, they are amused to see things they are not used to in Europe! As Flo said while using his chopsticks, "All the teaching of my mom for all these years seem to be put into waste here in China." Asel, when I first met her, attested that this is sensory overload for her. She's getting used to the "noise" of the Chinese.

Hanging around them makes me so immature seeing two people starting their adulthood years, tried to do something they aren't used to. When I first came here in China, my dad accompanied me. It saved me from having a wallet being stolen and being ripped off for a cab ride from the airport which Asel and Flo experienced in their first footing in Shanghai. I think I'd trade my dad accompanying me to the experience Asel and Flo experienced. You'll think that they were so pissed off about it. They told me about it as a funny incident which I should learn from.

These two laowais have bold hearts. They have a lot of ambition and desires which isn't far from their reach. They are more eager than me to study Mandarin. Asel having stayed here for 2.5 months have learned a lot. I'm sure Flo will be more eager to learn since he will be staying here for a shorter period. I wish u guys the best!!!!! Cheers for your stay here in Shanghai!