Dancing Queen

I love to dance. Those who know me pretty well know this fact. Unfortunately though, I am not blessed with this talent and so secretly, I have always wanted to take dance classes. Jazz, salsa, samba, hiphop, even ceilidh dancing! Back home, dance classes were too expensive or they were held in really posh places or I was too shy. I don't know which excuse I used but I always had one whenever I would think about enrolling into a class.

Last term, I decided to be cool and so I took up ceilidh dancing. It was by far the most Scottish thing that I did since I came here. Every Thursday, I would walk to St. Peter's Church, which was about a 15min walk from my residence, and dance for an hour with locals and other eager beaver foreigners. I learned how to do the Virginia Reel, the Flying Scotsman, and my all time favorite, the Belgian dance. It was so much fun to twirl and spin and to skip and hop with strangers but my favorite dance partner is my flatmate Megan. Because let's be honest, most white people can't dance. But you didn't hear that from me. And then I got tired of ceilidh dancing. Well not really, I am usually busy Thursday nights because most of my submissions are on a Friday morning so I haven't been to ceilidh class in a month. But since I have been eating so much lately, I decided to do be more active. I don't walk around the city as much as I'd like to because it's just so damn cold all the time and that's why I end up stuffing my face with whatever I can find.

Yesterday after class, I went to the university gym with my friend Quianna. We attended the hiphop dance class which was being taught by this short hairy white guy who I think is from Aberdeen 'cause he keeps saying "Yeah?" all the time but Quianna thinks he is Spanish. And what was so funny was that Quianna was the only Black person in that entire class. There were a couple of Asians there but mostly Europeans and Americans. Majority of the class were women too. And I reiterate... Most white people can't dance. So for an hour, we were busting our moves to Rihanna, Neyo, JT, Mario, and Beyonce. You gotta love the British, they are so behind the times when it comes to music. Anyway, the dance routine was actually pretty easy so we didn't have any trouble learning it. And except for his high pitched whistle, I really liked the instructor. I had to laugh though when we were doing the "chest bump" because as you know, I am not really gifted in that department either.

I just love the fact that this city has given me the chance to do the things I have always wanted to do. Again, Edinburgh has given me one more reason to love it even more.


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On a totally unrelated note, my sister Hannah has given birth to a beautiful baby boy yesterday. :) I can't wait to see the little guy!

Coffee yeh?

(photo taken from: http://www.elephanthouse.biz/index.html)

I had a very nice chat with David Taylor, owner and manager of the Elephant House, this morning. I applied for a part time position as one of his staff in the cafe made famous as the place where J.K Rowling wrote her first few Harry Potter books. (How cool is that??!) He has a Filipina wife and has been to the Philippines, "countless of times", he said. He has a house in Pangasinan and a restaurant in San Fernando, Pampanga. He has even been to Ormoc, Leyte, my home sweet home. As of the moment, he still doesn't have any vacancy for me but promised to give me a call in a few weeks when one of his full time staff will be leaving so I can take her place. Coffee, tea, or me? Hahaha. I can't wait!

A Sunny Day in Scotland

I woke up with the sun shining on my face and thinking "Graaaaaa, init!". But then I realized my pillow was right next to the heater. (Oh, so that explains the heat.) But the sky was clear, the sun was out, it was too good a day to waste. So I took a shower, changed into my "walking outfit" and downed a bowl of cereal in record time while chatting with Jessie and Atejuni on YM. With my ipod filled with new tunes I downloaded last night, I began to jog up Calton Hill. While climbing those ridiculous steps, I can't help but think that it was a stupid idea to go alone cause no one would take my picture! Then, I saw this guy, about my age or older I suppose, taking his picture with his camera perched on a rock on self-timer. Brilliant! I could do that. Then I had another idea, so I walked up to him and asked if I would like to take his picture. He said that he was fine and then asked if I wanted him to take my picture. Aha, it worked! So that's how I met, Juro. My new friend from Serbia.

Me and the National Monument

While being each other's photographer, we got into talking about Edinburgh, school, career plans, everything basically. I found out that Juro is in Edinburgh on holiday with friends and that he studies power engineering in Serbia and was on a 6 month exchange program in England. He loves to travel and has been to Cuba, America, Spain, Greece, and other interesting places. He told me that he is planning to go to Thailand in February and so I gave him tips about where to shop and where to eat in Bangkok. In return, he told me which places in Europe I should go visit, comparing them to the cities he has been in America. I was quite surprised when he said that he didn't like Vegas and that the only great thing about it was the Hoover Dam. I am a fan of hydraulic power plants and after watching the NGC Megastructures episode on the Hoover, I vowed to myself that I am going to go there someday. Talking to him about it made me want to see it more.

After having exhausted all our photo taking abilities, we had drinks (me a hot chocolate, him a warm whisky) at local pub called, The Last Drop. I told him about my huge family (his mouth dropped when I told him I had 7 brothers and sisters), my degree, and my plans for the future. He laughed when I shared stories from my childhood and was appalled when I described Sisig and the Behrouz' Ox Brain. It was really nice talking to him because he is very open-minded, smart and well traveled. Around one o'clock, I told him I had to leave because I still haven't done much for my Csound assignment. So we said our goodbyes and promised to keep in touch through Facebook.

I think the best part about studying abroad is the different people that you meet and having to hear their stories. It's not so much what you learn in the classrooms but what you take in from the experience of being in another place and another culture. This is what strengthens your character and molds you into being who you want to be. We are here in this world not because of career or money or power. We are here because we want to experience life and to have our stories heard.

Me and my new found friend, Juro.

Ode to Ysabel

I have a plant.
Her name is Ysabel.
She is a kalanchoe.
This means I only have to water her every 10 days.
She was a Christmas gift.
From JC, my Malaysian friend.
I hope she won't die.
Like the "others" before her.

Calton Hill Climb

I have always wanted to climb Calton Hill since I got here. Before coming to Edinburgh, I would google for images of the city out of curiousity and these beautiful pictures taken on the hill would come up. One of those photos is the one I am using for my header (see top of page). I have never gotten around to climbing it last term because it was always dark and dreary and quite depressing. This morning, my two friends, Stephanie and Dave, and I decided to walk up to Calton hill at 10 in the morning. It was quite a challenge getting out of bed but after reaching the top, I must say the view was worth getting up for.

The hill is located at the center of New Town and overlooks Hollyrood Palace on one side, and gives you a magnificent view of the sea and Inchkeith Island (which I also plan to visit), on the other. The hill also includes several iconic monuments and buildings: the National Monument, the Nelson's Monument, the Dugald Stewart Monument, the New Parliament House and the City Observatory.

This is a photo of the National Monument in the middle of the grounds.

This is the view of Arthur's Seat from the hill. Arthur's Seat is a dead volcano in the middle of Hollyrood Park and is the main peak of the city. It is quite popular to walk there since it gives amazing panoramic views of the city and it is an easy climb as well.

Portuguese Filipinos

Alex, my Portuguese flatmate, always insisted on calling me a "Philippinian". Last term, we would have endless debates about how people from the Philippines ought to be called. He told me that he couldn't call me a Filipino because they were biscuits in his country. Now, Alex can be a pain in the arse sometimes and he loves teasing me in the kitchen with my mad cooking skills (i.e me cutting myself with the butter knife and burning myself with the damn faucet all the time). So naturally, I expected the Filipino biscuits to be one of his stupid antics to get me annoyed. But when he knocked on my door a few days ago, back from his holiday in Portugal, he thrusted the pack of Filipinos in my face. Omigod, he really wasn't kidding! I just had to laugh.



Alex: See Ida, I told you and you didn't believe me. We eat Filipinos for breakfast.
Ida: Oh shut up, Alex.

The Year That Was... 2008

My older sister, Ate Jen, started a New Year tradition of recalling the previous year's events and writing them down. These events can be big or small, happy or sad, they can be family related, work related or just something personal you have experienced or realized during the past year. I have picked up this practice and started when 2008 began. As I bid 2008 goodbye, I have made my "The Year That Was..." list and so I begin.

* Ate Hannah's Wedding to Shawali - Jan 12
* Ate Juni's Wedding to Martin - Feb 23
* Worked for Atejen - Kodak (RBS ) and Ormocnet (Mac Support)
* Mac Certification Training/Exam - end of Feb - Mar
* Best Holy Week Ever with the Ialcoolcuz in Camotes - Holy Week in Mar
* Dos Palmas with Atejen - April
* Opening of Tsilys! - April
* Worked for Kuya Igoy (Home Sweet Home Spa start-up) - April
* Ate Hannah is pregnant! - May
* My honor was defended thanks to my brothers - June
* Home Sweet Home Spa officially opened - June 2
* Tito Bebot (Jessie's dad) passed away
* Opening of Ormocnet Naval - Aug
* Atejen became engaged to Nolitz - Aug
* Kuya Igoy's Kristo Rey Park proposal was approved - Aug
* My Despedida Series began - Aug
* Discovery of the beautiful Canigao Island - Aug
* Mady came home to work for Papa - Sept
* UK Trip with Mady and Atejen! - Sept
* We watched Wicked in London! - Sept
* I start my MSc program in Acoustics & Music Tech in the University of Edinburgh - Sept 16 :)
* Atejen's pamanhikan - Oct
* Anaura left for the States to work - Oct
* Ivi left for Australia to look for opportunities - Oct
* Opening of Cafe Oramoca - Oct 31
* Maan pregnant again! - Nov
* Atejovit joined Sycip - Nov
* Monic became engaged! - Nov
* Death Cab for Cutie Concert - Nov 16
* Kuya Igoy graduated from AIM
* Erica, our obese yellow Labrador retriever, died after giving birth - Dec
* Went to London with Megan and Tanya - Dec
* Watched Wicked again and Phantom of the Opera - Dec
* Atejuni is pregnant! - Dec
* Cooked my first Christmas dinner - Dec
* Maica got engaged! - Dec

A lot has happened in 2008 not only to me, but to my family as well. And as 2009 starts, I can only cross my fingers as I await what it has in store for me.