third destination

after having been spent time with my bro after a while in the country that he lived with his wife and kid; and oh btw, they're expecting again; i realized a lot of new and old things.
a couple of notes of where my bro lives. it is hot and steamy. with lots and lots of people walking around the area. pretty much everywhere u go, u jst need to walk. kind of like new york city, including the subway, but the subway at where he lives is definitely much better than new york.
for the past week, i had a chance to go to places that i never been to. i met people that i had not met for a long while.
a note about the old stuffs that i realized about me and my family is the reason that i was fat. i got a chance to talk with my bro quite a bit. and not only him, but also, with his wife and kid. a lot had changed within my bro. change 4 the better, off course. like some of my friends said, having kid will definitely change u; all i can comment about that is, no comment.
i also got a chance to meet my mom's younger bro. probably one of the relatives from my mom side that i was kind of close. he is probably the one person from my mom side that can really talk to me freely in comparison to my bro and sis. i was really really glad to be able to see him and his wife. he reminded me of my grandpa from my mom. this actually also remided me that i never really have that role model in my life. i was never really close to any grandpas from any side of my family (mom/dad).
we actually went to the ashes burial site of my 'a kung'. after seeing the block with his picture on it give me great flashback of the time that i was able to spend with him. it was fun time. i realized that i actually learnt a lot from him, either from him directly back then (about 25years ago), or thru my mom.
i also went to one of the theme park with my mom. it was one of the oldest theme park in asia i would say. and guess what? it was my first ever visit, while it was probably already my mom's 5th time, maybe?! oh well....
overall, my visit on this third destination was definitely much better than i expected. better in the sense of having the opportunities to spend time with people that i won't get to many times; also, with the people that i had not been in contact, but yet, i was able to reflect and catch a glimpse of things in the past that made me who i am today, and even thru the future.
all in all, i thank GOD for giving me the opportunity to travel to this place. it was dfntly and pleasantly surprisingly great. will dfntly find time to return.

impression of first destination

it was a great experience. it was really nice to be able to see the places and people the y's grew up at and with. got a chance to see some old pix. as not so much time as the ability to spend with y, i guessed all i can say that i enjoy the time i was there. the first destination trip was not at all about me, or even about y. i understood my role was a support role for her in anyways that i could. other than that, the informal interview session were ok. i thought i managed and handled it very well. all in all, it was a good trip. thank GOD for everything that i was able to experience and also for the blessings that i received thruout the days i was there. off to second destination.

leaving for the next destination

it was sunday. as always, they would go to church, so i definitely went along. the service was nice. the church was called victory. the preacher was pretty cool and the message was simple and direct. he talked about how GOD wanted everyone to follow HIM so that everyone can live prosperous. afterwards, i went along to eat at brazillian bbq place, which i think that got me the sore throat. but oh well.....it was good. then, i went to y's parent's place. hung out a little bit there, which i wasn't sure why i got drop there, since i needed to pack to go 'home'. after playing around with some of y's nieces and nephews, and the newlywed got there, they decided to take me back to y's sister's place. by that time, it was quite afternoon. not sure whether i was me, or y, or maybe something else. i was probably a little upset since i had to wait jst to get back to pack. but, in this case, i guessed i had no say. so i tried to go along, which at one part was probably my fault. i shld'v said something, which i thought i did, but oh well.
as soon as i got back to place, i started to pack and jst as i thought my laundry was not dry, since it had been raining in the area for days. as much as i was upset about that, but i guessed nothing i could do, say, and/or even blame anything and/or anybody but me. oh well.....still....not sure why i was a little upset. maybe it was also compunded to the fact that i didn't really got a chance to spend time with y. then again, it was expected, oh welll.....i really really don't know what to say, or even think at the time, so i was jst quiet. i didn't want to yell, or say something that could be hurting to anybody, especially y. then, say goodbye to some of y's relatives and also the parent, then off to airport. i wanted to say something to y, but y seemed to be really really in a hurry and jst wanted to get away and go. so, i jst hug, kiss, and say goodbye. this line could probably make u a little upset, but jst had to write it, especially about the day i was having. oh well......let me know what u think when u got a chance.

nite time celebration with some after party

so, now i was in stu's wedding. the celebration started with pictures taken with the family and close friends at the stu's parent's place. then, we are off to the ceremony and reception place. nice place. it's called the glass garden. the place was great that they were able to combine the ceremony and the reception in one place. they started quite on time. i probably won't describe it in here, since i was just a guess and observance. all i can say is it was different. not your typical wedding. it was great tho. it was diffrerent in the sense of the way they do the ceremony. the placement of the bride and groom. the placement of the parents and other close relatives. i guessed what i was trying to say, not the usual way that i had experienced in the past. not that it meant i was in one already. i had always been a guess. then again, i had not been to too many weddings, oh well...
then, along the way i was introduced to more of y's relatives and friends. yeach, like i can remember any of them now. i'd b thankful if i could name about five of them. and yet again, i was put in the position of being in informal interview session. not sure what number was that, oh well...i'm sure i lost count.
one surprise side note, i was introduced publicly on the pa. man.....that was really something. felt like i was in the spotlite, which i thought the bride and groom shld b the one that was in the spotlite. oh well....the food was fine. it had many different kind of stuffs in many different kind of places, but yet i thought people were jst concentrating in the buffett. other than that, for me it was great. taste good. good coffee, good desert, pasta, rice, beef, chicken, and pork. nice hors d'evre.
overall, all in all, i personally thought everything went well and it was a great event in a very nice venue.
afterwards, the brother, the sister and some of the relatives were talking about an after party. so, after i got the place where i was staying, i started to kind of prepare to go to bed until suddenly the sister's husband knocked on the room's door and told me to change because everybody is going out for an after party. so, yeach.....ride on.
we went to a place called 'spicy fingers'. nice place. kind of like the old hard rock in bali that i went when i was in high school. we had some snack foods and drink. the band was good. then, we went home around 1.30. oh well....that's why they called it an after party.

another day being used

so after having done so many things that is not training related for so many days since pelotonia, i finally back to it. not fully tho. me and y decided to run this morning. altho we weren't sure since it had been raining in the area for days, so we thought we just played it by ear. so, i woke earlier than y and ask whether we still running and it turned out, not only did y want to run with me, but the brother stvi also awanted to bike with me. so, well, i guessed i just realized that i'm about to be used by the family.
first we jog around the neighborhood of y's parent's place. five minutes into the run, i thought well...this should be bearable considering there were some sprinkle, so i thought it would help, but....well....was i wrong. the humidity and the heat started to make me a little out of breath, but yet i was able to manage it. so we ran for abt half an hour, which is about 5k, not bad. considering the climate, heat, and humidity. altho onw side note, thank GOD for the rain to clear up some of the smog. by the time we got back, we are drenched and guess what stvi already waiting for the bike session. i rested a little bit with some shower, gatorade, and a philipine own energy drink called cobra. oh my goodness, so sweet and as much as it didn't say on the bottle they put lots of sugar, yet it tasted like the whole bottle filled with sugar.
now, off to the bike with stvi. first, i was just following stvi around since i didn't know the area too well at well. we go round and round in the complex for about half an hour which was abt 10k. then, i decided to go another round finding out different route around the area, in which i think i ended up with another 10k, which is another half hour.
impression that i got; the complex of the area where the parent live was nice. some certain inner side was quite, but some other areas were quite crowded. for some other bikers/joggers that is not used to the aggressiveness of people, especially the ones on the cars, or motocycles, i would not recommend riding around. helmet is definitely a requirement, as much as i think it is not a law, but i would definitely use them. as much as there were some joggers lane, the drivers (as much normal as in se asia) were always agressive; no such things as give ways. giving signs were definitely not as useful, but yet, it did help.
as for the bike that used, it was stvi's friend. it was a bianchi. not bad at all. i liked it, altho it is pure heavy road bike. not very heavy tho. it helped when u could use the look pedal with the proper bike shoe, which surprisingly fit me perfectly, what were the odds?!
all on all, the morning and daytime went well. got a chance to experience some of the real hot and humid climate weather. pretty good place to train for hawaii, but not so much heat of the sun, as what in kona usually people felt.
after all that, i talked a bit with the other brother stu, in which that nite was his wedding day.

interesting side note

met this guy, not sure whether he's a family friend of y, or something, not sure. but apparently, he has gifts from GOD for healing and prophecy. he did some healing ministry to some certain people. and yes, i do believe in things like that. i believe that GOD is still working and moving, especially in this modern times thru HIS minister. so thruout the nite, i was talking a little bit with mike (which is his name, btw), and he said he had some words for me. so, we prayed and he shared the word to me, which i actually do believe that the word he shared was indeed from GOD. the words were definitely an encouragement and confirmation for me. at the same time, it is definitely something that i do still need to work on and pray about it. i'll share about those later, but jst wanted to make a note that i do believe that the words were indeed for me from GOD.

next day

alrighty after getting some rest, i was finally up for the day ahead. not sure where i'll b going, what i'll b doing, or even what 2 think. in a way, i kind of felt like somebody had my schedule for the day. i was up around 6am. not knowing, or even sure what's up, jst stayed in the room trying to catch up with my blog writing. after a while, decided to walk downstair to check things out, guess what? some breakfast was prepared, yeach.....according to the host, which is y's sister's husband, that is the typical breakfast; which consist of rice, poached-egg, and corned beef. for me, yeach.....bring it on...i'll eat anything. in between breakfast, talked with peter, uncle larry, and autie freya. here we go, first round of 'interviews'. hahahhaaa.....j/k..........not too bad, jst normal q&a. no big deal. no surprise. quite a bit of expected stuffs. then off to get ready for the day. got to y's parent's place around 8, or maybe 9. another round of interviews, hehehehehe.............tallked a bit with stu and steve around the breakfast table while waiting for y. then, we (me, stu, and y) are off to go around the city for some sightseeing. first impression of the city, oh yeach...jst like home. with traffic, weather, people, surroundings, streets, roads, houses, etc. felt like i'm home already. stu and i got some lunch in mall called landmark (hopefully that spells rite). we had some bk, oh well....some american stuff, but i had rice. hahhaaha.........along the way, got a chance to talk to stu about all the stuffs that he went thru until now; in terms of preparation, things that he's doing, planning, past, future, family things, etc.
after a while having to go round and round the many different cities and suburbs of the area, we got back to yl's place around 5-ish in the afternoon. i thought i was done for the day, but guess what? hv to prepare again for more festivities at nite. obviously, there are some b'day celebration for auntie dinah and uncle larry at y's parent's place. great gathering, great food, great people. so here we go interview session #1673.....hahahah...........j/k......got a chance to meet a lot more new people of y's relatives. ok let's see if i can remember; auntie bessy, auntie francis, uncle phillip, bro mike, evi (steve's wife), kids of the brother and sisters of y, omg, i guess that's all i can really remember. i did remember that some of the people that i met are parent of the people that i met earlier in the year thruout the year. oh well....sorry, y'all...
ok, so, here are some of the dish that i had at the party, that i can remember in terms of name. i had some kare-kare, ribs, salmon (three kind of them, cooked differently), black rice with squid, bbq chicken, empenada, rambutan, sticky rice, mango, and u know what, well...that is all i can remember. oh well....
so thruout the nite, basically, i talked to many different kind of people, about many different kind of stuffs, u know, some basic questions in family interview informal session. all in all, i think all the things that i went thru for the nite was understandable. i didn't mind, didn't really have any problem with any of it. i was up for it, no complaint, i was just trying to enjoy the surroundings. at the same time, i really thought everybody were making things quite not as hard for me. like stu said earlier in the day, obviously, i jst remembered that i did get some training during my much younger days back home. just remember that i was the kid that always went around with my mom and dad meeting all kinds of relative all over the place. i was the kid that went with my parent to many event to meet people. so yeach, i did get some training in terms of how to relate and communicate with people. it was a gift that GOD gave me and it something that HE helped me developed thruout my life.

vacation 2009 - first destination

finally, i'm having a vacation time. new journey, new 'teritory', new destination. interesting destination. first stop, chicago, where i would meet my friend y. then, continue on to japan, which is the longest plane ride of the trip. got to eat many different kind of stuffs (japanese rice dishes, japanese rice crackers and snacks, pasta, etc), saw many movies (5, or 6 maybe; i saw the proposal, terminator salvation, night at the museum 2, wolverine, angels and demons, and fast and furious). from japan, with a little delay, the trip continue on to the first destination. so, after about 24hr on the road, in the air, and somewhere else in the globe, i finally reached the first destination of the vacation. it was manila, philipines. never been here, so like i said, interesting. first impression, it is similar to where i came from, which is jakarta, indonesia. we arrived around 10pm, then went to y's family's place in makati, which is not the place where i'll be staying. as soon as we got there, as most asian tradition, we were told to eat. ate traditional chinese dish for birthday (misua; a noodle dish), since there was somebody's b'day. got to meet some people in y's family. meet the brothers (stu and steven), the sister (yvette), the aunts (dinah), the uncle (ben), and the cousins (jon b). after the late supper and soem chit chat, i was delivered to the actual place where i'll be staying, which is y's other sister (ylaine)'s place. got to the place close to midnite. had some chit chat, then well.....i was about ready to take a shower and sleep, which i did. so, ttyl.