Visitors Week

It was a week of visiting guests for us here at Churchill House last week. My cousin Dimple and her husband Ed decided to book a last-minute trip to Edinburgh the day before my big exam. Craving for anything familial and familiar, I was excited to meet them Tuesday afternoon even though I had to rush out of work at 4 to view a flat at half 4, then rushed out of that to go to Hollyrood Palace where we decided to meet. I told them to go around the Palace while they waited for me but unfortunately, royalty was also in town which meant that the Palace was closed to visitors until the 25th of June.

To welcome them properly to Edinburgh, I had Ed and Dimple try Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties (translation: Haggis, Turnips, and Mashed Potatoes) at the local pub, the World's End. Haggis is Scotland's version of what we Filipinos call sisig. It's sheep's heart, lung and liver cooked in a pig's stomach for a couple of hours. It sounds gross but like sisig, is actually pretty good. After scarfing down our food, we walked around the city, touring Calton Hill then the Princes Street Gardens. Around 8pm, I rushed back home and crammed for my Acoustics exam the following day.

Scottish Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties

The dreaded Wednesday came, and my exam was actually not that bad. For the first time in years, I took an exam which asked me what I know. I guess I am really miles away from De La Salle. Anyhow, I met with Dimps and Ed that afternoon and we did the Mary King's close dungeon tour which personally, I found disappointing. I have been on other ghost tours before and I enjoyed them more than this one. That night, to celebrate their last night in Edinburgh, I took them to another famous local pub, called The Royal Oak. It was smaller to the pubs I usually go to but this one is famous for its folk music so for the ultimate Scottish experience, I decided to take them there. Every week, a bunch of old Scottish men would sing these folk songs either in acapella or with a guitar and violin in the background. They would encourage us to sing along, muttering the lyrics so we could join in. Even the bartender would play the mandolin if he wasn't busy attending to the customers. I was told that all the people who worked there knew how to play at least one instrument. It was really cool and we found ourselves singing with the old men and having fun.

Inside The Royal Oak Pub

Megan's friend Sarah was also visiting that week. She is a bit quiet but she is an awesome girl and for her last day here, we took her to Portobello beach where we had proper fish and chips facing the sea, because, as my friend Gwen would say, that's the only way to eat fish and chips. True enough, it was the best fish and chips I have ever had since I've been here. Being in Portobello made me all warm inside even though it was about 14 degrees. And even though the weather wasn't perfect, it didn't rain. So I took off my shoes and ran and skipped and dug my toes on the sand like I did back home. I have never been happier in weeks.

My food and my feet

Birthdays

For as long as I can remember, I always celebrated my birthday. Growing up, I had parties either at our house in Donghol or a pool party at my grandparent's house inviting kids I don't even know. When I was about 5 or 6, I had the "make-your-own sundae", which around that time, was huge because we just discovered the magic of Hershey's chocolate sauce and sprinkles. I even remember having an Easter egg hunt at one of my parties because my birthday fell on the week after Holy week. My parents, bless their hearts, went along with my ideas because my birthday was in the summer and all my siblings and cousins were home. It was another excuse for all of us to get together, talk and eat Nang Doring's food.

When I got older, I grew tired of big parties and just wanted things I could not buy on my own. When I was fifteen, I got a guitar. When I turned 17, my dad bought me my first stereo with a cd changer and 2 cassette decks. It was my pride and joy.

In the last couple of years, I started to celebrate it again only now, my guest list has shrunked to include only my first cousins and of course Ivi and Monica, my remaining Ormoc friends. We would usually just eat pancit, lechon and cake then sing karaoke until our throats hurt. It became a yearly thing then one year, my sisters' tried to spice it up a bit by throwing me a surpise party. My loving father spoiled the surprise over breakfast a few days before by asking me if I wanted a party and when I said no, he told my sister, "See, I told you, she doesn't want a party!". My sister couldn't believe what he did and didn't speak to him for the rest of the day. I was so touched by the idea of the "surprise party", I didn't get upset it didn't push through. So that year, we ended up eating pancit, and lechon and cake, and singing karaoke until our throats hurt.

The point is, as much as I try to deny it, I love my birthday and I always try to celebrate it in any way I can. Being homesick as ever, I decided to go all out this year and went to London with my flatmates and Mandy and saw two musicals - The Last Five Years and The Lion King. Both were fantastic! I know you're thinking, "Wow, really Ida? Two musicals? Can you afford that?". Yeah-uh! Because for the rest of the weekend, we just toured London on foot, went to free parks, watched street performers and had the best time. And on the train back to Edinburgh, we stopped at a charming little town called Berwick-upon-Tweed, walked around some more and I saw the ocean! I couldn't swim in it though so it broke my heart a little. Needless to say, this birthday ranks high with the ice-cream-sundae party and the Easter egg hunt. The only thing that was missing was my family and friends from back home. Add that and it would have been perfect.

Road Trip : York, United Kingdom (day 2)

Fountains Abbey (from google)

Continuing from my last blog entry, Tanya and I have decided to go to Fountains Abbey for our second day in York. The plan was to go on a picnic with sandwiches and grapes with Jeff, his girlfriend Becky and his bestfriend, Claire. Not wanting to get lost this time, we decided to print off directions from another website and chose Jeff to be the navigator.

Aerial View (from google)

Fountains Abbey is Britain's largest monastic ruin to date and it was only about an hour drive from York's city center. It was founded by Benedictine monks in the 1100's and over the years, the abbey and its over 500 acres of land were preserved and passed down to different patrons and generations, growing in beauty and charm as they added more gardens and more buildings. At present, the estate is Yorkshire's first World Heritage Site with the dramatic ruins of a 12th-century Cistercian Abbey, a beautiful ornamental Georgian Water Garden, a Medieval deer park and finally, an Elizabethan mansion.

the water garden

When we finally got there, I couldn't help but be amazed at the beauty and elegance that was Fountains Abbey. The ruins, the park, the marble statues, the white swans on the water gardens. Everything was just perfect. I promised myself though that if anybody were to visit me here, I would definitely bring them to York and show them Fountains Abbey. With the weather turning gray and misty, my photos did not turn out the way I wanted them to and so they do not do the place justice and for this, I apologize. Some of the images are from flickr and google.

the water garden

When we got back from the abbey of course, the weather got better. Tanya and I spent the entire afternoon walking around the city wall. After that, we went to the York Minster where we heard an Evensong. An evensong is an Anglican liturgy celebrated in the late afternoon or evening, parts of which are sung by a choir. They usually last about half an hour and the reason why Tanya and I went to one was that it was the only way to get in to the minster for free. Tihi!

walking on the wall

the York Minster

Road Trip : York, United Kingdom (day 1)

I have always enjoyed going on road trips. It gives you an excuse to drive dangerously fast, sing like a rock star, and pig out like there's no tomorrow. Driving is the ultimate form of independence. With your car, your license, and a tank full of gas, you can drive wherever you want, whenever you want. The minute you turn the ignition, you are in control. It is invigorating and relaxing at the same time. I love driving and I miss having that feeling of control and freedom. Back in college, I used to share a Toyota Vios with my sister, Mady and we called her Britney. She was a bright blue car, reliable, and was very fuel efficient. I loved her with all my heart.

So going back to my original story, my friend, Tanya, and I decided long ago that we are going to go on this road trip to York. Because among our fabulous group of friends, we are the only ones who didn't go on holiday for spring break. We thought we too deserve to go somewhere exciting and so Tanya had this brilliant idea that we will drive ourselves down to York to visit our friend Jeff and go to Fountains Abbey, a place she has always wanted to visit but never found the time to. I told her as long as it's going to be a cheap trip, I am all for it. So, she called the car rental company, booked us a car for the weekend, called Jeff, and we're all set!

When Friday finally came, we were off to a great start! (minus my killer hangover from the night before, but that's another story) We arrived in the car company, signed the necessary papers for insurance, and finally saw our car, a beautiful black Peugeot we named Pierre. We got in, I, the chief navigator ready with my directions and maps on the left, and Tanya, the amazing driver on the right. "Woohoo!", we screamed. I was so excited, I was practically jumping out of my seat.

Pierre, our baby

Now like any other road trip, ours had its share of bloopers. Edinburgh, being the charming little Scottish city that it is, is full of road works, closed streets, and blocked entries. And my favorite, small street signs that changed every 50 metres. And to add to that, the directions Tanya printed off the internet were crap as well so of course, we got a little lost trying to figure out how to get out of the city and onto the highway. After a few frustrated sighs and shrieks of omigod omigod, we found ourselves on the A1 highway and enjoying the scenic route towards York, England.

The second part of that adventure came when we reached our exit on A59 en route to York. We called Jeff, who doesn't know how to drive by the way, for directions. "Just exit on A59, go straight until you reach the city wall, then when you go inside, turn left." Okay, seems easy enough. But after about 10 miles, we didn't see a freakin wall. So I asked, "Jeff, is the city wall a proper wall?". "Yes", he replied. Right. So after long debates of what a city wall looks like, I called Jeff again and told him that we are not hanging up until we see his face. About 5.15pm, we finally reached his doorstep.

York's City Walls

After the "mandatory rest period" of 1 hour, Tanya and I explored the city and went on a ghost tour, which actually ended up being a comedy tour. Oh I loved our guide, I called him, Mr. Fancy Pants. He was fabulous. He took us around several spots in the city while trying to scare us with his ghost stories. But he did it in a sarcastic tone and he made fun of some of the people in the group so we ended up laughing instead of being creeped out and scared. He even convinced us to line up across an Italian restaurant, wave at the customers, and when we got their attention (some of them even waved back!), we all shuffled in front of the restaurant's windows and at the count of three, we made faces with our tongues sticking out at the customers, "Bleeeeeeeh!". It was the silliest thing I have ever done in my entire life and I loved it! After the ghost tour ended, Tanya and I decided to get pizza and ended up eating at the same restaurant we made fools of ourselves. This was proving to be a really fun trip and we are only at day one.

Me and Tanya exploring the city wall

Mr. Fancy Pants

Sunny Day in the Park

This is how a sunny day in Scotland looks like.

couple walking their baby

Bianca under the tree

a sculpture by a Filipino

And here I am, enjoying my view, while lying down with Bianca.

After an awful week of cold wind and fog, today reminded me that Edinburgh is live-able. Thank God the sun came out! I was beginning to think that Spring will never arrive.

Jinny Getting Married

My sister, Jennifer, got married yesterday. It is the first of the many weddings I will not be able to attend this year. With my family busy with the preparations, it was Paulo Cortes who updated me with what happened at the ceremony. Thankfully, I had to work so I did not have time to process what was going yet. At night though, when I talked to Atehan, then my mother, then Atejen, then Mady, the tears came as I laughed and listened to their stories. Everybody looked beautiful especially Atejen wearing her dress which is a creation by Boy Abad. She cried as she walked down the aisle, and Nolitz was beaming the entire time. At the reception, there were so many guests they had to set up tables in the garden. It's just a bit sad that Papa didn't go. He wasn't ready to let go of Atejen I suppose and so he had to deal with it in his own way. Later on, after the speeches and dinner, the party started. Mady was in rare form, they said. Pissed off her face, she took over the mic, (shared according to her), and did her own interpretation of the The Corrs' Breathless among others. My brother, Kito, had another dance showdown with bestfriend Ega and other cousin, Enyong. And everybody just danced to the "un-modern" songs played by the band of Msgr. Damayo with the gay vocalist. In short, I missed another epic Larrazabal wedding.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about my plans for the future. With just my dissertation to worry about, I have started to apply for acoustic jobs and have even considered doing an internship and possibly another diploma course on Acoustics. And with planning and replanning what I'm going to be doing in the next few months, I realized I might not be able to go home as soon as I thought. And though I know it is better for me to stay here, times like these always make me wonder if it is indeed worth it.

Oh Holy Week...

It's Easter Sunday today and although I have plans to cook dinner with a few friends tonight, I can't help but feel homesick. In my family, Holy week comes second to Christmas for the most important holiday to look forward to during the year. While other Catholics fast, reflect and pray during this time, my family likes to go to some remote beach paradise so we can bake in the sun and drink the night away while singing cheesy telenovela-inspired love songs with the karaoke machine.

This is not my first time to miss one of our annual island get-aways but I suppose being in a non-religious country during the event that practically inspired my faith just didn't feel right to me. And since being in this God forsaken country means never having to enjoy a warm day at the beach anyway, I decided to do a religious practice that I have not done in years. I messaged my Maltese friend Julienne and convinced her to do the Bisita Iglesia (7 visits to churches) with me on Good Friday. Julienne, who is also a Catholic, tells me that they do the same thing in Malta and since she was homesick as well, she said yes to my brilliant plan. The only problem is, can we find 7 Catholic churches in Edinburgh? With the power of Google earth, I had a list of 9 potential Catholic churches within minutes. But then, I found out that 3 of these churches are so far we would need to take a bus in order to go there. We don't have the time or money to do that. So, Julienne and I decided to just walk around in the hopes that maybe, we might just discover a "secret" church while going to the other 6.

And so began our mission to go to 7 churches around the city. We braved the Scottish wind, encountered homeless weirdos, tripped over the cobblestoned streets, and endured starvation (okay, LIE, Julienne was the only one who fasted, I couldn't last 5 hours of walking without food). The point is, we were the only idiots in the entire city who seemed to be doing the bisita iglesia. And that made me sad. There was even one church that was closed! On Good Friday! And they call themselves Catholic. Tsktsktsk. It was actually funny because we ended up praying outside the church door, using its cross carving as the well, altar cross and we couldn't stop laughing. We counted that church anyway.

Around 5 o'clock, we have already visited 5 churches and just needed 2 more. But it was too late to go anywhere else and the bus times have been changed due to the road works around the city. We decided to cheat and had tea at Starbucks instead. It was the best damn tea ever. Around 7pm now fully recharged, we walked to St. Mary's Cathedral where we joined the congregation for the Stations of the Cross completing our Bisita Iglesia. Well, minus one.