My New Car & Pix from Camping

I am still busy as ever at work. I spend about two to three days a week on the road, visiting other US facilities in Germany to scope out upcoming projects by visiting with project sponsors and customers. The rest of the week, including weekends, I am putting together the contract packages (scope of work, request for proposals, cost estimates, etc.) for new projects. This past weekend, I worked 6 hours each day. I am counting down to 30 September, which is a little more than seven weeks away, when most of this madness will die down.

On a better note, I finally purchased a car. I have managed to get by without a car for more than a year in Germany without any major hassle, but there were a few things I missed out on without a vehicle. I bought a Mini Cooper Clubman. When I was looking at the Minis, I was only considering the basic Mini Cooper model. I figured that if I were going with the Mini for its small size, then it does not make sense to get the Clubman model because it no longer has the “Mini” size. But after visiting the showroom and checking out the Clubman model, it diminished my concerns about owning a smaller car: Room for passengers in the back seat and storage. The Mini Cooper basic model definitely did not satisfy the concerns, but the Clubman model did. The Clubman has fairly ample room in the back for passengers – I sat in the back seat to see how much room there was. Also, there is sufficient storage space in the back, including a special area in the back under the seats that can be opened for additional storage, similar to the area where a spare tire is stored in most cars’ trunk. They are all out of 2008 models, so I ordered a 2009 model. The car is chili red in color with black trim and black front stripes. It gets a decent gas mileage, which is always a plus, with the gas price skyrocketing. I should be getting the car in late September.






Now on another subject, my previous post extolled on how successful this year's event was. I will post a few pictures on this blog, but all my camp pictures can be seen on my flickr account once I get a pro account. Right now I am limited to how much I can upload. I will keep you guys posted and provide a link to my flickr account.

The golden pan award for the best cook during camp is given to Manong Joey for the chicken curry during the Friday evening dinner, and the dinardaraan and pinapaitan for dinner on Saturday. The photo below shows him putting his finishing touch to the chicken curry that was enjoyed by everyone.




Not too far behind is Manong Edgie for his diligence in preparing most of the breakfast dishes on Saturday and Sunday such as longaniza, daing, fried rice, sausages, etc. By default, he was also the Iron Chef winner for the beef barbecue contest.




Best service offered during camping goes to Edward for the much needed back massage I got. It was so relaxing that I fell sleep while being massaged.




Chris D.wins the athlete of the camp. He won all the basketball events. Chris shows his gravity defying b-ball skills on the photo below.




The biggest compliments goes to the Games Committee for all their work in planning games and activities for the kids. The kids managed to enjoy themselves throughout the duration of the camp.

Building a moat to protect the sand castle.




Ina is having issues with her kite. Gavin is trying hard to hang on to his kite. As you can see, grabbing on the kite string with his dear life is even more important than keeping his pants up.




I am not sure who Cameron is rooting for, but I am pretty sure her team is winning.




The kids are having fun playing with and in the sand. It soon turns to mud when they start adding water. Their parents have much more fun cleaning the kids afterwards.




Playing connect four with Janice. Jeremy, you better watch out --- I am ardently practicing for the next time we play "connect four."




I was invited by this group to join their “no shower for the duration of camp” club. I was honored to be invited, but I politely declined to join their esteemed group. Eww!!!




I had a super-terrific time at this year’s camping event. Although I spent a lot of time sleeping because of jet lag and the weather turned sour for a bit on the second day, I still enjoyed my time at Nehalem Bay, Oregon.

I enjoyed the food:








I enjoyed all the activities and playing with the kids:












And I especially enjoyed the company --- all the family and friends who were able to make it this year:


























I forgot to extend wishes to those with July birthdays. Happy Birthday to Maria, Jason, and Mng. Eden. And to those whose birthdays fall in August: Cameron, Nathan, Janice, Marcus, Jun, and Mng. Joey, I also wish a wonderful birthday.

Seattle Visit

I made it back to Wiesbaden on Monday afternoon, after an 11 day visit of Seattle and 4 day stop at Miami before heading back to Germany. My return flight was delayed a bit and my luggage was lost for two days. But I will not allow these problems take away from the great time I had visiting Seattle and Miami. The time off gave me the boost of energy I needed after spending the last three months practically at work. I also feel refreshed and reenergized to go back to work and take on the countless projects on my plate for this upcoming fiscal year end.

My visit back to Seattle was full of activities -- things I needed to do while in the states, such as renewing my Washington State driver's license, obtaining an international driver's license at AAA, visiting my dentist twice, going to the doctor for a physical, getting an eye check-up and new eyeglasses, eating food that I craved while in Germany, a little bit of shopping for summer clothes and shoes (they are too expensive over here), and doing some yard work to clean up overgrown hedges and bushes. I always feel a sense of accomplishment coming back home because of all the things I have to do before I return to Germany.

But as always, the highlight of my visit is seeing family and friends. My father was in Seattle for a couple of months before returning to the Philippines; I had not seen him for a year. So it was nice to see him. Seeing all seven of my siblings during the visit always makes me happy. I do not usually express to my brothers and sisters how much I miss them. I always enjoy seeing the younger kids in the family (nephew, nieces, grand-nephews, and grand-nieces) and see how they have grown since I last saw them. I am proud to see that the older nieces and nephews all hang out together; they are a very close-knit group.

I attended a very successful camping event with family and friends at Oregon's Nehalem Bay. It was well attended -- with almost 80 people. I commend the group who planned and coordinated this event. Thanks to Ron for spearheading the planning; to Jay and Ed for doing the blue-collar tasks such as food planning and bringing the necessities; to Mek for being the finance officer; and to Donna, Grace, Mia, and Joyce for planning social activities and games for the kids.

Picture below shows most of the people and furry creatures who attended the event:

It has become a tradition now for me take the younger ones in the family to a special dinner treat to Sea Garden after each visit to Seattle. The food is always good; what makes the dinner special is being in the company of my younger relatives and their friends. It has become a big social and bonding event for everyone. We usually go to bubble tea place after dinner. Being such a big group, it was hard to find an area we have not used before to take the group picture. We managed to find a parking lot to take the picture.

I congratulate Grace & Jason, and Maria & Edward on their recent proposals; Janice on her graduation from Holy Names -- good luck at UW; Jen on her graduation from Holy Family -- good luck at Holy Names; Jay & Alvie on their new baby to come; and Ron & Donna, also, for their baby to come this autumn. Holy sh*t, that's four new additions to the family.

I failed to include Ate Christy on the June birthday greetings on my previous blog -- I hope you had a great birthday. Big thanks to Joyce for organizing the Sea Garden dinner. The two group pictures, above, were taken by Grace.

I would like to write more, but it will have to be next time. It's Thursday afternoon, 5:30PM, and I am waiting for my ride. A co-worker will be picking me up soon. We are on our way to explore the western part of Germany and the neighboring Alsace region of France for the 3-day weekend. We will be visiting Freiburg, Germany, and Mulhouse, Colmar, and Strasbourg -- all in France. Until the next time ... Happy Fourth of July!!!

Visit to Scotland and Ireland

Sorry for the long break since the last update. But I am still busy as ever at work. I have been putting in 10-11 hours during weekdays, and 6 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. But my two week break and visit to Seattle is coming up.

On Memorial Day Monday, I returned from a 10 day visit of Scotland and Ireland with a colleague from work. We had a blast. I have always wanted to visit these two places. This trip definitely was a good introduction to exploring these two countries even further in the future. We stayed 4 ½ days in Scotland and 5 ½ days in Ireland. I hope to come back and explore more of Scotland, especially the Highlands area; this is true as well for Ireland – I want to see the west coast of Ireland.

The trip started in Scotland. Our first stop was Edinburgh – spent two days exploring the city. Then we proceeded to Falkirk, via train, with a day trip to Stirling, by bus. From Falkirk, we took the train to Glasgow. Edinburgh still has a historic charm with its old buildings, while Glasgow has a mix of modern and old style architecture. From Glasgow, we flew to Cork, Ireland and spent two days there. While in Cork, we did a side trip to Blarney to visit the Castle and its famous stone. From Cork, we took the bus to Kilkenny and spent a day there. We rode the train from Kilkenny to Dublin. We spent the last two and half days in Dublin. Dublin is a very lively city; it is definitely a city worth visiting again.

Scotland was a bit expensive compared to the other European countries using the euro currency. In Edinburgh, we spent a lot of time seeing the sights by walking around the city, toured the Edinburgh castle, did the Whisky Experience tour, and enjoyed haggis for breakfast. Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish containing minced lung, heart, and liver of a calf or sheep mixed with oatmeal, onions, and seasonings. The mixture is stuffed into a slaughtered animal’s stomach and boiled. The haggis I had for breakfast was lightly fried. So my guess is that after it is boiled, it is sliced into pieces and pan fried. Prior to the trip, people at work had kidded me about at least trying the haggis. I had insisted that no way was I going to eat this. I had pictured in my mind what a haggis would look and smell like: as the freshly cooked stuffed stomach is being sliced open, putrid smelling steam would drift through the surroundings. So I had no intentions of trying out this food. But the haggis that I was served came with eggs, bacon, potato pancakes, baked beans, and toast. It did not look or smell as I had imagined. It was not bad; it’s similar tasting to canned corned beef. The highlight of Edinburgh was a tour of the castle located near the city center. During our day trip to Stirling, we visited the castle and the Wallace Monument. Stirling Castle was where the kings and queens of Scotland held magnificent feasts and celebrations. The Wallace Monument is a memorial honoring Sir William Wallace, patriot, martyr, and guardian of Scotland. We had stayed a day in Falkirk for two reasons: it’s a good springboard for a day trip to Stirling and to visit an engineering marvel, the Falkirk Wheel. The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift connecting two separate canals. The function is similar to a navigational lock, but the method is completely different. We had about a day in Glasgow. Our tour of the city consisted of the “hop on – hop off” excursion on a double decker bus and a little bit of walking around the city. It’s was a nice way to see the major sights of the city.

I had a camera mishap on our last night at Edinburgh. We had befriended a local at a pub who wanted to talk to Americans. At the end of the night, as we were waiting for our bus to take us back to our hotel, our Scottish friend insisted that he take a picture of us with the brightly lit Edinburgh Castle in the background. I handed him my camera to take a picture of us, but I think he accidentally changed a few of the settings on my camera. I could not figure out how to get it back to the original settings. I also did not have the camera manual with me. Most of my pictures after Edinburgh are somewhat grainy. The clearer ones are photos taken by a coworker who joined me on this trip. The following are few pictures from Scotland:



View of Edinburgh Castle from Princes Street Gardens below.

While walking the streets of Edinburgh, I found this fast food place with my name. A worker there tried to convince us to try their food, but we were not looking for fast food fare.

This is a portion of the Royal Mile, a popular tourist walking area with the Edinburgh Castle at one end and the Palace of Hollyrood House on the other end.

I am not into hard liquor but what the heck, I am there so let's do the "Experience Scotch Whisky" tour and try some genuine Scotch Whisky.

Above picture is inside the compounds of the castle in Stirling.

The Wallace Monument - it commemorates Sir William Wallace, the 13th century Scottish hero.

The Falkirk Wheel - a modern version of a navigational lock.

On a double decker tour bus in Glasgow.

The prices in Ireland were comparable to Germany. Heavy rain and wind welcomed us during our arrival at Cork airport from Glasgow. But that was the worst of it. We were able to walk around the city later that afternoon and evening. During our first night at Cork, we had dinner at a pub while watching on tv the UEFA Champions League championship between Manchester United and Chelsea, played in Moscow. The pub was quite crowded as soccer is very popular here even if the teams playing were from the English Premier League. A majority of the crowd in the pub were Manchester United fans. The crowd in the pub went a little bit crazy after United’s win in the shootout. I guess for the locals, it is similar to watching the Super Bowl. The next day, from Cork, we took a day trip to Blarney. We visited the Blarney Castle, the Blarney House (a private mansion nearby), and the Blarney Stone. On top of the castle is the stone. I had thought that I probably would just skip the kissing of the Blarney Stone. What’s the big deal anyway? After a long, steep climb via winding steps to the top of the castle, you can’t just stop there. Since you are there anyway, what’s another 10-15 minutes waiting in line to kiss the stone. Yes, I kissed the stone and purchased the requisite photo doing it. Legend has it that by kissing the Blarney Stone, it endows the kisser with the gift of gab, great eloquence, skill at flattery, or some other blarney (local term for b.s.). Well, none of these attributes were imparted on me after the doing the feat. What I got by kissing the cold rock was the slobber on my lips of the many people that kissed the stone before me that day. Kissing the stone is a difficult feat. To kiss the stone you must lie down flat on your back, a man provides assistance by supporting your back and legs as you hang upside down over the edge of the castle 90 feet up (I recommend tipping this man well before you do the feat), you lean far back and downward into the abyss while grasping iron rails, and then you lower yourself until your head is even with the stone to be kissed. It’s amazing that I did not pull any muscle while doing this. In the past, to kiss the stone people were hung by their heels over the edge. I am glad that iron bars are now placed in the opening to prevent anyone from falling.

The traditional Filipino method of getting younger kids to be talkative is much easier. They are fed a certain part of an animal (not sure if it’s a pig, goat, or maybe either one). I won’t tell what part of an animal it is. You can ask a Filipino oldtimer. But I digress…

From Cork, we took the bus to Kilkenny. Kilkenny is a small town, about halfway from Cork to Dublin. We had a great dinner at a restaurant there and enjoyed the music of a local band at a pub. From Kilkenny, we took the train to Dublin. In planning for this trip, I had a tough time looking for a hotel in the center of the city unless we were willing to pay exorbitant price. As it turned out, some reasons why the hotels were booked for that weekend was because of big venue concerts by Bruce Springsteen and a “friendly” soccer match between the national teams of Ireland and Serbia. We ended up finding a hotel near the airport, a nice hotel which was priced reasonably. The hotel was also located near a bus stop for buses headed directly to Dublin city center. So it worked out great. We purchased a 3-day pass which covered buses to and from Dublin and the “hop on and hop off” double decker bus tour of Dublin. The bus tour is the easiest way to get a good overall understanding of the layout of the city. Also, since we had multi-day passes, we had used the tour bus to get to some sights we wanted to visit instead of walking. In Dublin, we did the Guinness Storehouse tour, ate traditional Irish food at nice restaurants, visited several pubs and bars, and walked throughout the city. As Scotland has the haggis, Ireland has the black pudding. Like the haggis, black pudding is also a breakfast fare. Black pudding is made from pig or cattle blood with meat, bread, barley, and oatmeal as fillers. It looks like a regular cut of sausage. I guess the black pudding is more palatable when served with the other more traditional food. The traditional Irish breakfast consist of black pudding, egg, regular sausage, baked beans, and bread. Not that I like either one that well, but if I had to choose, I would select haggis over black pudding.

The following are few pictures from Ireland:

In front of a bookstore, next to a cut out of James Joyce, in Cork.

A gray and wet day in Cork.

Me kissing the Blarney Castle. I don't think any gift of gab rubbed off on me; for sure, I got a bit of the slobber of many people who kissed the Stone before me that day.

Blarney Castle - the opening near the top on this face of the castle is where the Blarney Stone is located.

Brightly painted doors in Kilkenny.

A great view from an alley in Kilkenny.

Elvis lives on!!! While walking around Kilkenny, we came across a private yard paying homage to Elvis.

In front of the Temple Bar in Dublin.

A visit to Dublin would not be complete without visiting the Guinness Storehouse. It is not the typical brewery tour since there are Irish regulations about being in an actual brewery, but the tour takes place within the large Guinness Brewery compound and shows the history of Guinness beer, the brewing process, and at the end you get a pint to enjoy at the Gravity Bar, at the top of a the storehouse, with a great view of the city.

The back part of Dublin's St. Patrick Cathedral.

The Wall of Fame located in Dublin's Temple Bar area.

Pictured above is a typical Irish breakfast - eggs, bacon, sausage, hash potato, baked beans, sauteed mushrooms, tomato wedges, toast, and the two dark colored discs in the center are black pudding.

Dublin, and for the most part the places I visited in Ireland, is very colorful. Storefronts, doors, and many buildings are brightly painted.

The entire trip was great. And as I mentioned previously, I would love to visit again. Next time I would like to visit the Highlands of Scotland, the west coast of Ireland, and definitely, Dublin.

On another subject, Wiesbaden is having another festival, out of the many festivals throughout the year, taking place this Friday and Saturday. They closed off a major street near where I live; the festival also encompasses a park nearby. Food, beer, wine, and art and crafts vendors are everywhere at the festival site. There are several music venues with a host of bands playing a variety of music. I believe this festival is an art related festival. I guess any reason for festival is good. I was able to check it out Friday evening and today, Saturday, after work.

Here are a few pictures from the festival:

I missed extending birthday wishes to those with dates in May. Belated birthday wishes to Joyce, Michael, Mng. Evelyn, and Amma. And to those with birthdays in June – Happy Birthday wishes to Jessica and Joseph.

I will be arriving in Seattle late Saturday, 14 June. I am excited to see everyone. I am also excited about the upcoming family camping event. See you all soon.

Happy Mother's Day

It was nine years ago that I said goodbye to my mother. I remember the day vividly. It was a gray, cool overcast day, not the typical mid-spring weather that one might expect in Seattle. Family and friends were in and out of our house that day, as it had been the past several days, to visit my mother. We had brought my mother home for her remaining weeks and days of living. The doctor had recommended hospice care because my mother’s condition was terminal. As a family, we had agreed that it was best that my mother spend her last days at home. She had been in hospitals or nursing care facilities from early February 1999 until we had brought her home in late April 1999.

I had taken extended leave from work to be with my mother and family members during her ordeal. My father and I took turns to be with my mother at all times. Whether it was at the hospital, rehabilitation clinics, or nursing care facilities, my father or I would be there with her. Most of these locations were considerate enough to provide a portable cot in my mother’s hospital room for either my father or me to sleep in during the night. During her stay at these facilities, her alertness was on and off due to her condition and medications. The times that she was alert, we had talked quite a bit. I am really not a talkative person, so I listened to her stories. I relived many moments from my past, as she related her stories. Because I am the youngest one in the family, I often accompanied my mother on her travels around our area in the Philippines --- when we would visit Artacho or Manila to drop off food staples to my older siblings who were attending schools in those areas, the wedding we had attended in Tarlac where I got to see a few “mountain people” come down to town to barter with the locals, and the many times we would go the markets of Cuyapo, Guimba, and sometimes further out to Pangasinan. She would recount to me how she taught me unrelentingly how to read, under the dim light of a single light bulb in our old house. I never tired of her stories from the past. In between her stories, my mother would give me sagely advice and guidance. When she was telling her stories from the past, it was as if she was reliving those moments also. I would guess this because she would sometimes think that I was the little boy of whom she was recounting about. This is probably why she would provide advice and guidance, appropriate to a young kid, every so often in between her stories.

During her remaining days at home, most of us had accepted the inevitable. It was still painful at the moment it happened. But we knew that we can not be selfish and wish that my mother remain alive longer because the person that had been overwhelmed by illness can no longer live an enjoyable life. I still remember how my mother had gotten used to the miserable and dismal stay at the hospital. When a nurse or doctor entered her room, she would raise her hand up, ready for a finger puncture for the blood sugar test. I would imagine that her fingers were always throbbing with pain from all the short piercing thru them. Finding a “usable” vein to draw larger blood samples or to place shunt thru for dialysis was almost always an exercise in futility. It would take two or more attempts to find a good one. Her quality of life was quickly deteriorating.

Once the battle is out of our hands, if fear and regret are taken away, what’s left is peace. My mother had embraced this position. She had overcome the fear of death and thrust aside any regrets. My mother had already lived an enriching and fulfilling life; she had a life well-lived. I don’t remember exactly how many of my mother’s remaining days on Earth were spent at home. I do remember that her last days were some of her happiest and most peaceful times. She was quite alert and talkative. I listened intently to her conversations with family members and visitors. It was her who had consoled all of us of her impending departure. I remember her conversation with my Auntie Ninay, my father’s sister, a few days before her passing. As my aunt approached my mother, my aunt started crying. My mother comforted my aunt by telling her that she should not be sad for her but to be happy. She explained to her of how a fulfilling life she had already lived, rich among others things, of all the love from her family. As my aunt began to recover from her sobbing, my mother proceeded with countless stories of their younger days together. Even through all the medication that she was taking, my mother’s memory was sharp during her last days, After a while, my aunt had a constant smile and would burst out laughing, every now and then, as she reminisced with my mother. I had witnessed this consistently from my mother as she received visits from family and friends. I found it ironic that it was her consoling us, rather than us consoling her.

My mother had died without pain, at home, with family, and at peace. It was in the early evening. At the moment of her passing, our house was chaotic with everyone approaching her bedside all at the same time. The clamor consisted of all the wailing and crying. Amongst the chaos and clamor, was my mother – her face as peaceful as ever. She would no longer have to endure the ravages of her diabetes and its related ailments; no more pricking of her fingers, continually, to get blood sugar levels; no more placement of shunt thru her veins and arteries during dialysis; and no more countless medications to take. It is not a contradiction when I say that my mother had a “very good death.” It was as if she had chosen her own way to move on --- with her husband, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren beside her.

Later that evening, I had called the hospital and the funeral home of my mother’s passing. They had told me that they would pick up my mother’s body the following morning. The entire extended family had stayed overnight at the house. The small house was full --- from the sofas, to the two small bedrooms, and the living room floor were we had assembled ourselves to honor and remember my mother. That evening, we related to each other all the happy and funny moments with my mother, as she lay peacefully on a bed in our living room. There was no fear at all, not even from the youngest ones.

I miss my mother dearly. Because of my Christian upbringing, I have always believed in afterlife. I am confident that if there is such a place, my mother would be in heaven reaping the rewards of having lived a life of generosity, compassion, and altruism.

I celebrate Mother's Day and honor her on her death anniversary for who she was and what she made of us. To my mother, Inna, where ever you are, I wish you a most happy Mother’s Day.

The following prose was written by Ron:

i remember when she used to walk me across the overpass towards the ferry terminals to bainbridge after my mom and dad dropped us off on 1st ave

when she cooked ichiban for me in the morning when i was still in the 1st grade

when she used to play solitaire in the kitchen by the window

when she worked tirelessly in the raspberry fields after the sun set over the evergreens

when she would welcome you at each family party with open arms and a sniff on the cheek

when she asked us not to cry during the last three weeks of her life

how every single one of us slept in the living room with her after she died

and how she continues to resurrect herself at each family party and in the laughter of her great grandchildren

and i remember why uncle alban initiated the family camping trips 9 years ago

and why i will never forget this beautiful person who we all used to call Inna...

- - - - - Ronald Antonio