Last week pogiBoy told me one of his classmates wants to come with us to see the Snowman. I told him it’s okay as long as the boy’s parents say yes. Aba e di naman ako seryoso, ni wala pa nga kaming ticket for the Snowman, but still I humoured my son.

Friday, hubby says he saw the boy talking to pogiBoy and pointing to him. Immediately hubby knew what that was about.

When I arrived home, pogiBoy was so excited. He tried to sound casual when he said “Lemar’s dad said yes”.

Ayan nalintikan na. . I know I shouldn’t make a promise I cannot keep. So I just told him, we don’t have tickets yet but if we do buy them & classes are still in session we will talk to Lemar’s parents.

Then I dug deeper hole for myself by asking, what does Lemar look like. He couldn’t describe the boy. Sabi ko na lang, puti ba, itim o pana? Siempre sa ingles dahil di pa marunong mag-Tagalog si pogiBoy.

Naku he said I said a bad word. Bakit kako?

Aba e di daw ako dapat nagsasabi nang “itim na bata“. Pinipigil nang asawa ko yung hagikgik nya dahil di ko ngayon malaman sasabihin ko at paano ko ii-eksplika na wala naman akong masamang ibig sabihin.

To cut the story short, I told him some people are offended & he is right to be careful in using that word to describe others. But I said I only wanted to know who Lemar is. Turns out the boy is the tallest in class & has curly hairs. Asus!

I asked him who told him it was bad. He says he just knows… hmmm.

Halfway through our meeting, bossing’s mobile rang. In the middle of the dev manager’s spiel, bossing picked up the phone & interrupted the meeting.

I was wondering if I could do that. In fact, if any of us middle management can. I doubt it. Such is life, in practice the rules do not apply to all.

After the call, which was sufficiently long and jovial, bossing said while giggling that it was his daughter & she was excited their school had a power failure & thus she was going home.

har har har

Then he went on that in his daughter’s school they have a credit-card-like method of paying for their meal (!) and that she once spent £150 (!) for a week’s worth of school dinner (!) — that’s Brit for lunch. Of course, they told the girl not to spend so much on food but her response was they want her to eat properly.

har har har sabay tumbling

Hayy the longer I work in London, the more I am faced with how different my life really is to all these Westerners. Yes, not all Brits can afford to send their kids to a private school & that having a card limit of over £150 for school dinners is not a common thing. BUT, my my my.

I can hardly afford to spend more than £5 for my lunch & I make efforts to limit my monthly allowance. I am a working class no matter how far my career goes. I don’t own the company. I don’t dictate my hours. And I certainly cannot interrupt management meetings for casual chats with my family.

I’m not sure if I blogged about it before, but there was this lady I used to work with & she moved here from Paris. Her husband’s a banker & she said it was very tough for her moving & settling in. She lamented how difficult it was to find the right (private) school, the nannies, the cleaners… She was telling me this thinking I could relate. Well, I guess yes, but in a (much) smaller scale. It was tough because my husband’s nurse wage isn’t enough. It was tough because we had to share accommodations until we could afford a house deposit. It was tough because our combined income’s very stretched with the private nursery & house let alone be able to afford a house cleaner!

While we continued on with the meeting I sat there with bossing’s children in mind. I mean how much do you think they get for an allowance? How much is their family budget? They live along Regent’s Park, you know.

Me, I live in East London. Gritty, real, pulsating & sometimes unstable. The streets are often dirty & because the fascist party BNP won a seat in the council, I’m always aware that in our area, there are a lot of closet racists.

I love my neighbourhood though. The people around us are nice. We have one or two troublemakers but they’re just a nuisance more than anything else. pogiBoy goes to a really good public school, Praise God! He’s well-liked by schoolmates, teachers, and parents. Our Pinoy friends are blooming.

But sometimes I can’t help entertaining thoughts of living somewhere much nicer. Where the streets will be clean, the views will be grand, the house cleans itself. Will I need to own my company to get there?

I hope not. We’re hoping to get there in afew years’ time. For now, austerity daw.

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If you’re not familiar with Lito Lapid & his most famous character, google it.

Sa Amerika kaya common din ang charitable causes? Dito kasi parang laging big deal.

Tatakbo ako o magha-hiking ako for AIDS sufferers, sponsor me.

Wala namang masama, medyo alien lang yung concept sa akin. Sa Pinas nagtataka nga ako kung bakit may mga game show na artista minsan ang contestants, don’t they have enough money already? E dito parang lahat nang “celebrity” may charity na sinusuportahan. Imagine the shame and shock kung bigla sasabihin nung contestant, “actually Chris I’m taking the prize to my bank, I need a deposit for my dream kitchen”

Anyhu, Red Nose Day nga kahapon. All week may fund raising activities sa school ni pogiBoy. 20p na cakes, biscuits, etc. plus bring some money for donation. Bukod dyan e may separate letter pa dahil may trip daw sa Brighton yung isang year (I forget which year exactly) sa Brighton at nanghihingi nang stuff for selling to raise funds.

Medyo naiirita ko sa ganyan. Imagine ha, hihingi nang stuff to sell to raise money. They don’t actually go to car boot sales to sell them, they sell them back to you, the parents. Bakit di na lang manghingi nang pera? Parang ganun din naman ang kinalabasan, papakahirap pa kong mag-reminder na kelangang magdala nang something.

I know, kusang-loob dapat. Nagkukusang-loob naman kami e. Pag siguro bilog ang buwan talagang lahat nang bagay napapansin ko.

Ahh no, i’m not having one of those red periodic days.

BUT before you get the impression I’m a total scrooge, I in fact love Red Nose Day.

BBC’s shows and all those wonderful skits, TV-addict heaven. I love the Stella McCartney shirts this year :-)

pogiBoy enjoyed it as well.

Sa tinagal-tagal nang panahon di ko pa din masasabing gets ko na ang british humour and attitude. Actually habang tumatagal lalo ko lang naiisip na dense yata talaga ako.

Kahapon may impromptu meeting na kami. Lagi ‘tong nangyayari, para bang “feel kong magpa-meeting ngayon. Anyway, ang tagal nung nagpatawag nang meeting so chika-chika kami ni jops. Tatlo lang naman kami so attempting to be friendly, tinanong ko si dong kung business o pleasure ba yung trip nya sa amerika.

Ang haba nang sagot nya. Pleasure daw, nagshopping sya, nag-meet sila nung mga friends nya nung dun pa sya nagta-trabaho. Yun daw ang ganda nang walang pamilya pwedeng basta-basta aalis nang walang iniisip maski cost etc etc.

Litanya talaga and naisip ko na na parang may pasaring itong unggoy na ito dahil last year I said something to that effect sa kanya. Panay kasi holiday nito na biglaan, mga weekend trip tapos diretso sa trabaho dala-dala yung board nya. Di ko alam kung pinapasaringan nya ko o inuunahan na nya ko thinking na sasabihin ko uli yun.

But before I could reply, sumagot si jops. Sabi nya dinala daw nya sa Asia-Pacific yung buong pamilya nya “all five of us”. At talaga naman daw mahirap na magastos pa.

In response to that sabi ko may kakilala nga akong apat ang anak di pa nakakabakasyon nang Pinas dahil sa mahal nang pamasahe. Kako they holiday in the US instead.

Aba sabi ba naman nang kumag na dong “fascinating”.

jops and I didn’t say anything after that, dong went out after a while and so did I.

Where the heck did that come from? I really didn’t see it coming. But then I should have known better. Itong lalake na ito na nung una e crush ko pa naman, talagang talo pa ang babaeng nag-me-menopause and I apologize to all women for saying that.

Pag talagang nabuset kasi ako I find it hard to let go. I keep thinking and thinking “dapat nasabi/nagawa ko ito”. Siguro talagang dense lang ako o siguro mabagal reflex ko pagdating sa mga verbal assaults o siguro I just expect people to be decent.

Dong is a jerk and jops said to me once that this guy plain cruel sometimes. Matalino nga kasi at talagang dependent sya kanya yung top bossing namin. Pero arogante at walang modo, napakahilig mamahiya, walang pinipili. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been on the receiving end of his sarcastic evil tongue but it’s also very painful to watch him tear others down.

So note to self, iwasang makipag-usap sa lalakeng ito at all cost.

On the funny side, sabi ni jops nabanggit daw nung mga building receptionist-or-whatever-it-is-they-call-themselves na pogi itong si dong. Sinabi daw nya kay dong at talagang looking well pleased naman daw ito. Sabay hirit daw si jops nang “then I told them you were gay“… aahhh bless.

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FYI dong pala ay penis, nagkataon lang yan ang ginamit kong hirdaw.

Ang gusto ko dito sa UK compared sa “tingin” ko sa US ay mataas at mabigat nang katagang “Human Rights”. Sa US kasi parang natatabunan yan nang napakaraming technicalities at historical laws.

Pero ito din ang kinaiinis ko.

I don’t remember how many times I wrote about the yobs, teenage pregnancies and overall terror from these louts pervade England and Wales alone. I might have said it before but a burly officemate said that he makes it a point to stay of clear of swarms of teeners. You just never know.

In the last two years, the use of guns and knives (easy acces to) have been steadily increasing. So what would follow? Weekly news of teenage death, theft (at least those deemed news worthy) and a considerable number of disabled and elderly abuse & crime.

How can I fault a friend for sending her 14 y.o. son back to Pinas when the boy got in a fight?

Better safe than sorry and the boy is happier back home. So happy in fact, he didn’t want to spend Christmas last year with his folks!

So I nearly choked when I read a small item of news on the London Lite on Friday. There are sectors condemning  the Met for the increased stats on the use of tasers on teeners. One group said the Police should only use tasers during extreme circumstances.

It’s almost laughable. These people do not patrol the streets, I doubt they’ve even experienced fear of going out or looking outside their window! The Met already lost, have very limited use, of guns due to potential “Human Rights abuse” and now the remaining teeth they have are being filed to bluntness.

What is an “extreme case” to these people?

Kapag sinaksak ka na? O kapag tumatakbo papalayo at hindi mo na mahahabol pero kelangang mahuli mo?

Stupid.

Kaya maraming bata dito na lumalaki dito thinking they can get away with evil because of their age.

Ewan. Minsan natatakot din ako.

Of course I want pogiBoy to grown up in a safe environment. I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve lost count in thinking of him studying in UP. How cool would that be? Have him wanting to grow up in Pinas?

Baka maiyak ako.

We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour tvs

I know two posts with lyrics on them. It’s an after effect of the Cure concert last night.

The headline on the news today is that UK employees are working for free!

Basically everyone’s putting in more time to show their bosses that they shouldn’t be made redundant if the company is cost-cutting.

Gawd.

UK’s already got the longest working hours and the least Bank Holiday in Europe. I don’t really know whether today’s news makes any difference in that respect.

Most of the staff in our company are working like dogs. We’re not forced (in my opinion), we’re all just driving for the same goal: hit the Live date with flying colours. It’s been the case (the professionalism and staff dedication) since I joined the company, and to be honest I’ve never enjoyed work this much since my first employment.

We could be an exception. And probably in other industries they are working like their lives depended on it.

There are ugly things happening all over the country because of the recession.

The racists are having a field day, pointing out the jobs held by non-British (i.e. non-white) people. News of strikes are almost daily/weekly recently and people (I’ve not seen non-whites in clips or pictures) have banners and flags fostering British Jobs for the British. The BNP’s probably reaping members like Death himself.

These are like scenes out of the film “Child of Men” depicting a futuristic UK, where immigrants are treated like vermins. The “fear” is here.

Now Brown’s infamous words are haunting him. New Labour doesn’t want to be seen as racists or snobs, do they? That’s the Conservative Party’s role.

I hope the resentment stops here. With desperation, things can get ugly.

I wrote before that unlike in Pinas, the telly ads here aren’t very imaginative. In Pinas, there’s a whole story/backdrop and some are even shown in series format.

Well, this year two adverts stood out in the UK airtime. They’re so interesting, Pogi-boy would tell me not to switch channels.

See for yourself:

And this, which Pogi-boy says means “if you smell good and comb your hair, people like you”:

I  came across these articles while taking a “break”.

A newborn was found inside a carrier by schoolchildren. If you have Faith, then you’d say this child has a Super Being looking after her. It’s so cold today, it could have within a few hours of exposure. If you don’t have Faith, then she’s very lucky indeed.

Now they’re looking for the mum as she might be bleeding etc. The report says the child might be of Black or Asian descent. And now that sort of gives me a little comfort that it’s not Pinoy. They mean either african or middle eastern.

Still point is you wouldn’t think cases like these happen in “developed” countries.

On a lighter note, have you read that article written by a Brit in Pinas where he dissects our eating habit and penchant for “weird names” like Lingling, Lovely, Randy etc?

Anyway, I don’t have the time to trawl thru my emails archive but there was such an article being passed around some years ago.

And today Yahoo wrote about the UK (and US) “weird names” and I tell you these are definitely curse-worthy. Come on, Bill Board? Annette Curtain? And the best Doug Hole?

To think I already pitied this baby christened Alejo Alejo.

Prince Harry once attended a costume party with a Nazi insignia on his sleeves and the media went wild. Now he apparently said to a black comedian that the “didn’t sound black”, and he is being sent to a racial awareness training.

I don’t know who’s paying for it. The taxpayers?

Maybe it would be better to just issue the Royals a list of things they are not allowed to say or do in public. Less hassle and cost-effective. But then no one will know the level of their ignorance or snobbishness.

It’s like all these rules the PC-machine keeps churning out to Councils and government officials. MPs, the Met, and now priests cannot join the racist party BNP. Personally I’d like them to join and have a list sent around the neighbourhood. Better to see your enemies in daylight than have them serving you poison on the sly.

Britain’s stance on racism and equality is okay with me. I mean, I’m a “minority” afterall and anything that upholds my rights can only be a good thing. Right?

But I guess being Pinoy, I’m not so bothered. Sanay na ko. In my own country I get discriminated against by my own people.

It’s common for people to remark how fat I am or dark my skin is. It’s acceptable marketing ploy to have dumbass celebrities flaunt their mestiza skin to promote whitening creams or other products meant to attract men. You get haughty SM salesgirls who will not want to assist you if you don’t look “right”.

It’s a common practise to use contacts to get jobs or projects that you’re not equipped for.

I didn’t realise how ingrained all these are in my psyche. In my first job, my manager’s fiancee called me to say my bossing is in hospital. Later on when she was all better she told me that her fiancee couldn’t believe how fluent I was in English. Apparently “the only Chinese people he spoke to were from takeaways”. I could and should have been offended on so many levels here. But I am ashamed to admit, the rest just went over my head and all I heard was I spoke good English.

When Pining told me of the BBC documentary on Sunday, I made sure I booked it in my calendar. I sat and shivered as the hosts showed the good, the bad and the really ugly in the Philippines.

I agree with some of the sentiments that the show was not entirely flattering. Imagine being shown the North Cemetery and the thriving communities with teenage boys removing 5-year old bones. Or the trash thrown about by the Badjao in the very area where they live, garbage floating around their homes.

But what entered my head was for people who love the “exotic” and adventure, the show managed to present our islands as something of an undiscovered treasure. Typical of Third World Countries, corruption and poverty are ripe, but there are beauties and wonders to discover.

That’s just me though. So maybe my attitude like this because I have the slave mentality and I’m so thankful for little morsels of grace. Or I’m just dense.

Our friend called me this morning, pogiBoy’s school canceled the Nursery to Year 1 classes due to flooding. When I spoke to pogiBoy he said there was no school because there was water in their room. He then explained that their classroom and the “outside” is flat “like that” (palm down) and when it rained, the water came straight in.

In the last two years, England flooding (unexpected in most places) caused a lot of damage to property and in some instances lives were lost. Now is the worst time to be trapped in a flash flood, it’s freezing! Even if you do not drown, you’re bound to suffer hypothermia. I know my toes were nearly frozen this morning when I tried to get into work from 730am and didn’t arrive at work until 845am due to severe delays on all lines from my place to the City.

Last night whilst coming home the rain was pouring so heavily that the entrance to the Liverpool Street Station from Bishopsgate was flooded. I was just thinking if it was possible for the Underground to flood.

So after the Siberian snow, now we’re contending with floods.

I saw a news item over the shoulder of another passenger that the London Thames barrier was released. I can’t find a news item yet but that would have meant more water in. Now I don’t know if pogiBoy’s school will reopen tomorrow.

BTW, the Underground suspended a lot of the lines going my way! So the trip home was far pleasant again. Honestly, if the Tube staff really does go on strike, I might join the other commuters in throwing tomatoes at them!

11 Feb 09

My friend just called, the classroom’s still flooded. So she’s taking pogiBoy with her to go shopping. Okay  lang naman rather than have him spend his day on the sofa watching telly. Only this morning I was wishing I could take him to school which he sees as a treat! Nakakalungkot sobrang rare kasi.

At least there was no transport issues and I was here just after 8am.