Jul 14 2008
The Bridal Truck
Most dreamy-eyed brides go to their grand Cinderella-weddings in flower-laden long white limousines which goes by the name of “bridal car.” Myself, I had no such luck. Instead, I went to my wedding in a “bridal truck”.
Jul 06 2008
Of Dentists and Facial Therapists
I went to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned sometime last week and then had a facial a day after that. Funny how there are so many parallels between dentists/clinics/dental appointments and facials/facial therapists/facial rooms. Consider this…
My dental cleaning took thirty minutes, my facial took forty minutes. My dentist and my facial therapist both wore white gowns. They both did a lot of funny things to the front side of my head. My dentist probably had at least six years of college education and had to pass some sort of exam. I don’t know how long my facial therapist studied to become such, but I’m quite certain it’s less than six years and she didn’t take any board exam. But I paid my dentist only $15 and I paid my facialist $20.
Continue Reading »
Jun 29 2008
Of Packing and Unpacking
So you see I’m supposed to be stuffing those boxes at the right with clothes and books and cds and all my personal stuff. And instead, I’m watching a marathon of How I Met Your Mother on the pirated DVD channel, playing Freecell, and YMing all at the same time. You might be wondering what the heck is the pirated DVD channel. It’s a local channel here where they show pirated DVDs all day complete with the blue Sony screen where where they show the eject button, choose language… and sometimes, the operator falls asleep right after he accidentally presses the pause button or the fast forward button… usually happens when I’m riveted with a movie in the middle of the night. Anyway, the pirated DVD channel is totally not my topic. So you see… I’m procrastinating packing so much that I’m even procrastinating blogging about packing.
Jun 18 2008
Anak, Koon-Oey, Anak
We’re not exactly the Philippine Madrigals, but hey, this is not my real job after all and my singers are not Conservatory graduates nor professional singers. Instead, they’re teachers, accountants, sales and marketing managers, and IT experts who took time out from their jobs and their families here in Cambodia so I can bully them to practice… all for a bit of rellenong talong and afritada for dinner. So ladies and gentlemen, let me present, the Koro Filipino in their final performance (at least with me) singing Freddie Aguilar’s Anak in Filipino, Khmer, and Bahasa during the diplomatic reception in celebration of the 110th Anniversary of Philippine Independence held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Cambodia:
It’s a bit dark (it was dark in the ballroom and I had to compress the video to upload it to youtube) and we were very a bit pitchy but hey… all the officials and diplomats loved it anyway. Anak is such a famous song (26 translations, no less) that everyone was able to relate to it. They were also impressed that we could sing in Khmer and Bahasa. My boss actually wanted us to sing it in all the ASEAN languages but I think that singing in Vietnamese or Laotian would be a bit too much, even for us. Anyway, the guests actually thought that the choir was imported from the Philippines and I was some sort of professional choir conductor (I’m actually tone deaf in real life)… so it was great and the rest of the evening rocked! 
While the choir was singing, we presented a slideshow of the lyrics:
May 31 2008
What Would You Do If Your Blog Went Pfffffft?
“Now Toe,” you bloggers out there are probably thinking, “why would you want to scare us like that? What a horrible nightmare!” Nothing frightens a blogger to death more than the thought of his or her blog disappearing into oblivion. But disasters do happen. It’s not that bad, actually. In fact, I did it not once. Not twice. But three. Whole. Times. It’s been occurring with alarming frequency that I’m actually getting used to it…if it’s possible for anyone to get used to a constant state of panic.
The first time I lost my blog, I was trying to upgrade my wordpress when without warning, “404 not found” screamed at me from the computer screen and if it’s possible, cyberically punched my gut. My stomach turned upside-down and I felt like throwing up. It was almost like losing a loved one. Thankfully, after days of excruciating waiting, Job, my bloghost recovered it.
The second time was in January when I forgot to renew my hosting (see this post). Again, the panic in my gut was so painful that it was physical. At that time, I was questioning the universe, if my blog is not there, where did it go? Hmm… more than two years of blogging and the concept of cyberspace still eludes me. Anyway, after I renewed my subscription, Job pulled me out from the throes of hell and recovered my blog, I don’t know where from, and it was up and running again.
The third time was last weekend. It’s really quite lucky that I lose my blog during weekends so not too many readers notice (not that I have that many readers and most certainly not that I want to lose my blog every weekend). Yes, as Snglguy rightfully admitted, it was partly his fault… having senior blogging moral authority over me, he was bullying me to upgrade my wordpress. And being an wishy-washy obedient person, I obeyed. And poof! went my blog. In its place, my old friend “404 not found” reappeared. In Snglguy’s defense though, he tried to console me by saying that it was good that I backed up my blog. The only problem was that I had no idea in hell how to recover the stupid back-up.
Actually, the third time didn’t hurt quite as much as the first two times. Perhaps, it’s because CNN was on the whole weekend and seeing Chinese victims of the earthquake and the Burmese victims of Cyclone Nargis all day made my loss seem so trivial. So instead of moping around and checking the Internet every other darned minute if my blog reappeared, I just listed down possible alternative hobbies in case I really lost my blog forever. Continue Reading »
May 27 2008
Letter from a Future Teacher in Cambodia
Dear Toe,
I’ve been reading your blog in preparation for going to Cambodia. I am going there to teach in an International School run by a US-based missions organization, but I’m Pinay. Your blog has been very helpful and I’m grateful since I knew nothing about Cambodia until I started reading up when I got the job. I first applied last year but am only going to be able to leave in June (God-willing).
I promised my friends I’d keep a blog while I’m there, so I may be following in your footsteps… but that may be wishful thinking since this will be my first attempt at teaching.
I noticed a reference to Matabungkay Beach. I lived half my life right near that–on White Sands (now Terrazas de Punta Fuego). I wonder if my family knew yours?
But what I really wanted to ask you was that statement you made about Pinoys having “POEA”. I was just hired directly by the school and they’re handling my ticket and visa… so is there anything I should know and do aside from the papers they’re arranging for me? I understand if you can’t answer my question… but appreciate your taking time to read.
See you online, and keep up the blogging!
Ningning
May 25 2008
When Husbands Get Sick
About two weekends ago, Honey threw his back after exercising. Suddenly, he couldn’t move and he was in excruciating pain. I panicked. What was I to do? Who’s going to cook my lunch? 
Well, you know the rule here in Cambodia where emergency and hospital services and facilities are not yet very good and medical evacuation is ridiculously expensive - Bawal magkasakit sa Cambodia (You are not allowed to get sick in Cambodia). See this post.
So I was about to do the only Filipino-style first aid remedy I know - apply White Flower. Thank God that Evil Big Brother (and I say evil with much affection) had the foresight, good sense, and presence of mind to marry a physical therapist who I called up immediately. I must say that although I got a great family discount on the consultation fee (i.e. pro bono, gratis, or free), it still ended up expensive due to the high overseas calls rate.
Anyway, I’m glad I called her up because it turned out that white flower or efficascent oil or any such hot liniments are no-no’s for the first day or two of an injury. She told me to apply a cold pack on the area instead and make him lie down on his back. Wow, she’s a genius! The pain, which was rapidly spreading, was immediately localized.
In the meantime, because Honey couldn’t move, I spent the entire weekend slaving over and nursing him and attending to all his needs. For days, I was bombarded with an endless stream of: Continue Reading »
May 24 2008
Realities of the Foreign Service (Part 1)
Continued from Realities of the Foreign Service (Introduction)
For all those who dream to be FSOs…
So what happens if you pass all three stages of the Foreign Service Exams? Well, after waiting and waiting and waiting some more for the results, then you have to do more waiting… for your appointment papers to be signed and for you to take your oath. Then, there’s cadetship… which could be either deadly fun like a paid vacation or deadly boring. Then comes the fun stuff. And this is what I will talk about in this post - about where you might be assigned in the Home Office or abroad and the ranks and positions that you would be holding.
Offices and Posts
During the length of the career of a Foreign Service Officer, he or she may be assigned either in the Home Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs or in one of its Foreign Service Posts abroad. After passing the FSO exams, an FSO would have to serve for a minimum of three years in the Home Office before being assigned abroad for a tour of duty of six years. After six years abroad (with an option of cross-posting sometime in the middle of the tour of duty), one has to go back to the Home Office to serve for a minimum of two years before being posted again for another six years and so on.
For Honey and myself, our six-year tour of duty in Cambodia is about to end and we are about to go back to the Home Office soon. Right now, we don’t know yet what office we will be assigned to back home. Continue Reading »
May 18 2008
May 18, 1970
May 11 2008
Letter from a Mother and Future Expat in Phnom Penh
I blog mainly to express myself and to record the details of my life. But I am very happy that besides being an outlet for my thoughts, I also have the opportunity, through my blog, to help other people. These people are mainly future FSOs, and recently, future expats and tourists to Cambodia, who have been emailing me asking about life in this country I have called home for almost six years now. I have published the first of these letters in the post Do’s and Dont’s in Cambodia. Today, I am publishing an email letter I received last month from a concerned American mother who is about to move to Phnom Penh next year with her family which includes two teen-aged kids.
Dear Toe,
My name is I. and I commented on your Do’s and Don’ts in Cambodia a few days ago and really enjoyed it. My family and I are moving to Phnom Penh next summer and I hope to meet you then and we can exchange stories.
Anyway, my husband and I are very excited about living in Cambodia, but we do have a few concerns about teenagers living in Phnom Penh. My son will be 15 and my daughter will be 12 when we arrive. In fact, my son will graduate while we are there. A lot of people think we’re crazy to want to live in Cambodia with two teenagers, especially with one graduating. I did a lot of research, emailed a few parents living in Phnom Penh, and came to the conclusion that it’s not that bad. I’m hoping, with your years of living in Phnom Penh, that you can shed some light on our concerns. We are not strangers to living overseas. We have lived in Hong Kong, Philippines, Haiti, Mongolia, and now in China. But as the children get older, the concerns get stronger.
Here are a few of my concerns:
