Home

So I'm back home, in good old Manila for a much-needed break. I still have some work to do, so I've just been alternating between catching up on much-needed sleep, working and contacting friends.

I took the Emirates Air direct flight to Manila and the flight was, thank God, uneventful (except for my snoring seatmate) so I just stayed up and watched all the movies I can cram in the 8-hour flight. All Emirates Air flights now fly out and land in Terminal 3 so I got to see it, only one month after it opened and it's huge! Walking inside felt like you were just walking on and on and on, and as such, it's not as cozy as the old airport.

The signs inside are like the street signs in Dubai - confusing. I needed to go to Gate 121 and signs going to the gate pointed to different directions - to the left, to the right and another says go straight. Eventually, we found out it all converged in the middle where you need to go down one more level from the ground floor.

There were plenty of cafes and little nooks you can grab coffee and food though, which was good so you don't have to walk a long way back in case you want to nibble a bit before boarding.

Back in good old Philippines, getting out of the airport took a mere 30 minutes: immigration, customs and picking up my beautiful apple green suitcase. Then when I got down to the Arrivals area, the whole family was already there waiting for me! Lovely!

In the last three days, I've only stayed home, glued to the computer - yeah, boring stuff, save for trips outside to the doctor. Today was no different, but after the doctor's we decided to go malling and do a bit of shopping. We ate merienda (afternoon snack) at Producer's Market in Mandaluyong City, in a little place called 'Manong Pepe's' which surprisingly, offered decent champorado. I haven't eaten real champorado in a long time - it's chocolate porridge which is eaten with a little sugar and milk. But traditional Pinoy style, you eat it with tuyo or dried, salted fish. Yummy! The saltiness of the fish complemented the sweet chocolate flavours perfectly.



Then we went to Shangri-la, the nearby mall and after walking for quite a bit, we had coffee at Figaro - one of my favourite cafes. They offer the local brew, Kapeng Barako, and one of my ultimate favorite sweets, My Little Oscar, a small round sansrival cake (have to confirm if I remember it correctly). My heart's desire. Every time I go home, I make it a point to eat this yummy dessert.





I haven't really catered to my food whims yet, except for these two. But on Sunday, it's talaba (oysters) and my ninang's special leche flan time!!! Can't wait for Sunday!

7th Kyu

I passed my 7th Kyu exam today. It's the first in a long line of grading exams for Aikido and as my classmate said last Monday, to a very apprehensive me, "Don't worry, after you pass your 7th kyu that's when you start learning what being a Kyu really means."

Very nervous me bungled up the last move even though I had very good ukes to work with (who were already coaching me what to do! Unfortunately, as I grew more tired, I also grew more confused... there's a step there that I always forget).

But I passed, they said I had a good stance and I was focused, but I have to work on improving my Kokyunage, the move I nearly massacred.

Now, I am officially a learner of Aikido.

I'm glad I continued... there was a couple of classes back there that I felt very frustrated that I wasn't getting it, but Kathy (who will be teaching in Sensei John's absence) said 'hang in there'. I'm glad I did.