The Swimmer in Cerise

A Debut

11 December 2005

Cerise's first piano recital where she played "Mary Had a Little Lamb". A result of two months training. Two minutes of flawless performance of a self-confident and dauntless 5 year old. This girl continues to amaze us. Here's hoping for more recitals to come (her ballet recital last year didn't really go any further).

Thanks to her piano instructor but more importantly to Daddy for the daily practice and for instilling in Cerise the standards of excellence.

Thanks to Jethro, the fan, for supporting her by his presence and cheer.

note: sorry. the camera's flash didn't seem to work.

Dressed for the Part

I don't think I ever owned a fancy costume when I was little. I have no memory of going to parties trying to look like someone or something. It didn't seem like a trend at the time.... or at least, not in my circle. Now that I have a wee daughter to dress up like a paper doll, I seem to be developing an addiction for these things. Here are the other personas of cerise which I have never posted here before.

A Merry Christmas To All!

Edwin, Cherry/Chai and Cerise

wish family and friends

we hold dearest to our hearts....

a merry christmas that brings only

joy, peace, love and abundance.

May this special time be a celebration of

the special people who matter most to you.

And let the true meaning of Christmas

be about counting God's blessings

despite our habitual shortcomings.

(photos taken at snowplanet 23-12-2005)

nail files

My cellphone rang earlier today and I heard the lady (clearly asian, maybe chinese or korean) on the other line say "Hi, Cherry. It's Katie's neighbour here". I thought that was peculiar as I AM Katie's neighbour (Katie, being the english lady next door who I spoke to the night before when Cerise and I delivered our christmas present to her and her family) so I had to ask the caller to repeat herself while I wasted no time walking to the kitchen to look over Katie's house. The caller obliged and I could swear I heard her say again, "It's Katie's neighbour". I didn't want her to think I was both stupid and deaf so I thought it was best to acknowledge that she was indeed Katie's neighbour. At that very instant, I remembered that Katie DOES have an asian (possibly chinese or korean) neighbour just behind her house. Within three seconds my mind said "oh, okay it must be that asian neighbour of Katie who loves to garden, I understand, and why would she be calling me if not for an emergency... oh my gosh this can't be good... Is Katie's house on fire or is there a burglar....but wait, how did she know my name, let alone my cell phone number? This must be reeealllllly bad..." At this point, the next thing I heard from the caller was "You have an appoitment at 8:00 tonight?". I felt myself stop breathing as I turned from panic-stricken to totally confused. What she just said didn't make sense... yet she was absolutely right... I did have an 8:00 appointment... to get my nails done! And then it clicked... the caller was not Katie's neighbour but rather one of the korean ladies from the place where I get my nails done called, Cutix Nailbar (pronounced by the caller as ktis neyba).

A Party for Two

6th November 2005... Edwin and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.


A 45 minute ferry trip took us from Auckland City to Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant at Waiheke Island for a romantic dinner.

The views, the food and wine, the ambience were absolutely divine. (blooper: forgetting I was at Mudbrick VINEYARD, I had asked for Church Road Chardonnay!.... reminds me of my job interview at San Miguel Corporation... over lunch at their executive floor and stressing out that I might order the wrong brand of anything... well, I did.... I ordered Pepsi instead of Coke!)

Only a 3 hour sojourn in this island and already it's charm invites us to hurry back.

Back in the city, we were delighted by more surprises.

While I pretty much volunteered to do all the organizing and bookings as Edwin's own plans were starting to fall through a few days leading up to the special event, it was amazing how the night turned out to be more magical than I anticipated.

This night's turn of events could pretty much sum up how our marriage has been in these last 5 years and how it's going to be in the years to come... though this marriage takes us to many places unknown and unfamiliar, we simply get on board and enjoy the journey. Though we make plans, God always has the best plans. Though we work together to achieve mutually desired results, God will always surprise us with more beautiful outcomes beyond our imagination. Though it's not always a bed of roses, we take comfort in simply having each other . And this we know for certain... the best is yet to come.

A toast to 5 years of bliss, faith, trust, respect and love between me and my muffin!

excellent handwriting

Cerise's first award in Primary School comes after barely a month of settling in at Macleans. She told us how she had to get up on stage, shake the Principal's hand, accept her certificate for excellent handwriting and bow down to her fellow students.

I had to make do with what rich imagination I possess in order to capture such proud moment.

the spider witch comes out on halloween

Cerise's month long sweet pleas to have her friends over for a play had inspired me to throw a halloween party.



Okay, let me rephrase that... Cerise's constant begging to have her friends over for play and in fact, already inviting a few, forced me to get on with it and throw her a discreet halloween party.


No, I wasn't quite accurate on that so let me admit the truth... Cerise's constant reminder of my promise to invite her friends over for play and which I had been putting off for months had turned the size of my guilt into that of a football stadium that I just had to organise a play date much more elaborate than she could have imagined.
Which brings us to the gallery of photos that you are now either enjoying or cursing if they're taking ages to dowload.

Mind the decors, games, lollies, costumes and make-up.

Needless to say, I kinda got carried away.

On top of that was me serving a HOME COOKED dinner!

They say it's wise to under promise and over deliver.

Well then if you break your promise, I say it's but right to outdo yourself.

Oh the tricks and treats!

tuesday

Amazing how a two hour meeting with clients today can leave me struggling to get some sleep. I spent half of my morning preparing for the meeting with one goal in mind - get them off their interim contract that had allowed them to enjoy a sweet deal in the last two months and finally get them to sign a new one which I believed they agreed to do upon signing the interim contract. In those two hours however, the contract was barely discussed as the meeting turned into an indepth discussion of their wish list. All well and good. I had a clearer understanding of their business and where the industry is at, got a peek into some of their secret strategies and was challenged by the opportunity to establish a partnership. My manager and I decided to park the contract negotiation for a little longer while we walk away to do some thinking.

And here I am at 1am doing just that... still thinking! I can't stop. Perhaps I should make a note to myself: do not schedule meetings in the afternoon. Coz then, by the time you get back to the office, it's time to go home so you quickly attend to emails waiting in your inbox, attend to missed calls and work on stuff you'd put aside earlier - all these in 10 minutes. So when you head home, your mind hasn't totally switched off and it keeps thinking no matter how many times you tell it to stop.

Or maybe I had too much coffee today. Or maybe I'm just too hot. Geez, I do love summer but sometimes the heat can drive you nuts. Hmmm.... this is when the thought of Manila's tropcial climate can get daunting.

Anyway, I decided that blogging is better than lying down with eyes wide open. And no, this post's title does not refer to today's day. I had been meaning to thank my readers and commentators like good friend in the UK, Kirsten Tuesday. Hey, girlfriend! How is it going? Before anything else, let me tell you that I am seriously suffering from june-rain blog depression. When will your blog be up and running again???? So, you haven't found your own Laura yet. Well, one's survival kit has got to be tailor made. Let's put it this way, your working with kids is my parenting Cerise; your theatres and films are my fave shops, cafes, waterfronts; your internet equals my reality tv shows; your vegemite is my daily fix of coffee. May I also thank you for all the helpful pieces of advice you give. And for making it known that I am not the only one who can see over the top stepmums. They do exist. But not everyone has the gift of sight for such creatures. Zoning - yeah, it's got it's pros and cons. And I'm afraid this Yumul family is one of its slaves. We are renting in Macleans zone. We choose to stay here and we choose to buy a house here even though it'll cost so much more. What a pity. So, you're really serious about cello, huh? Good on you. Cerise is having her first piano recital on Sunday! We're very excited. Well, I AM very excited. Although our pianist will only play "Mary Had a Little Lamb". I was hoping they'd let her play "The Chimes" as it is my current favourite among the songs she can play. But I guess, they didn't want to risk her making a mistake so they're letting her play the shortest and simplest. Hahaha. Daddy, being in charge of the skills and talent department has been practising her fingers and note reading while I, in charge of the glamour and poise department, am organising her dress and training her how to bow to the audience. I'm sure many will agree that stage presence does matter.

These Little Fingers...

started to learn play the piano two months ago...

To date, Cerise can play "Mary Had a Little Lamb"....

And "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"....

While Mum is mastering "The Entertainer", "Deck the Halls", "Silent Night", "Jingle Bells", and "Amazing Grace"... all by the art of cheating.

Daddy, on the other hand, is trying to play classical music and is eager to revive his guitar skills.

Lovely to have music in the house.

With enough practice, the three of us can later find a spot in the streets of the CBD and render a musical number for money! Watch out for the Gone Cracked family.

work

One of the many blessings around the time I celebrated my 30th birthday was a promotion that would take me back to my former team and let me handle some of the million dollar accounts of The New Zealand Herald. The opportunity was presented to me a few months prior but it was taking a while to formalise it. Just when I thought it was never going to happen, it did. Came to work one morning and two hours later, I was resigned from my job and appointed a new role. I had a month to make my move.

Two days later, TVNZ (Television New Zealand) rang to inform me of an opportunity for which they thought I could be a good candidate. Apparently I was recommended by the person who interviewed me earlier in the year (bless him!). This new development had left me irresolute. Do I apply at TVNZ when I had just accepted a promotion from the Herald? If TVNZ doesn't hire me, fine. But what if they offer me the job? Do I decline it and give my loyalty to a company who had looked after me well in the last 3 years and who so needed me to fill a vacancy? Or do I betray the Herald and leave that comfort zone to tread a path unknown to me but one which would lead me to my real passion of working for television? Sometimes, God's timing is funny.

I decided to apply at TVNZ even though unsure if I even wanted the job that bad. I had nothing to lose and I wanted to keep our relationship. I was honest about my situation at the Herald. I wasn't convinced that it was the wisest of moves but I couldn't leave them in the dark. Soon, they rang to say they decided not to pursue my application because the other candidates had extensive background working for TV. Which makes you think.... how can someone like me get any background in new zealand TV if I'm not offered to work for a television station in the first place? But that's beside the point. Interestingly, I felt relieved and far from crestfallen. The agony of making a choice between the Herald and TVNZ would have been challenging. Truth of the matter is, I'm not ready to move out of the Herald yet. I'm happy where I am, doing what I'm doing now at the Herald. I take comfort in knowing that I will do business with TVNZ in the future, at the right time, should God will it.

Advertising Account Manager for Key Accounts, the role I inherited from my friend Laura. My 4th job since I started at the Herald in 2002. A job that will push me to take the bull by the horns. I'm back working with my former team (some old faces and some new) where the friendship and camaraderie stayed strong, I'm glad. I'm back servicing the recruitment industry and boy oh boy, things haven't changed much. I'm back in the boardrooms (some of them have splendid views of the harbour I start counting the reasons why I should consider resigning), shaking hands with people in 3 piece suits, doing sales presentations for them, negotiating contracts and making them feel I work for them more than I work for my employer. I'm enjoying the walks to most of my client meetings since majority in my portfolio are based in the CBD.

This is a welcome change. Far from my dealings with the retail industry and my struggle to fit in my team in the sunday paper. Not that I regret any of it. No, not at all. My sojourn in the sunday paper was an awakening for me, something I needed at the time. I grew up, I stepped up and I transformed. I became part of a history and part of the team that successfully launched and established a new product which many in the industry doubted. I found new friendships and was forced to learn to read the map, enhance my driving skills in the motorway and get over my fear of driving over the harbour bridge! I now hold a full driver's licence. But the job, due to various reasons, was starting to get wearisome and boring for me that I needed to move on.

I've come a long way. Praise God for that. I remember during my interview for my first job when I blatantly brushed off their interest in the degree I hold and where I graduated - casually saying it was pointless and a waste of time to discuss such things seeing that they couldn't possibly aprpeciate my background since they didn't know much about my country and the University of the Philippines and what only mattered to them was new zealand experience and the only way I could prove my worth was for them to let me work. I couldn't believe I said that but I did. I'm sure most immigrants could relate to my sentiments. When asked during my induction where I see myself at the Herald in the next five years, my response was I didn't know but I was certain I'd have worked my way around and up. Again, my mouth was moving faster than my mind.


But with God's grace, with the right mentors,the support of work colleagues and the appreciation from clients, I found my way around and up. And I'd like to think that my trip is not even half over yet. Not that I'm at the top of the chain now or I've got a glamorous job. Believe me, when things go wrong, this is the job you wouldn't want to have. Like last week when I missed booking an advertisement worth $15,000. But more on that later because after a grueling week following the client's phone call on a weekend just as I was getting ready for a party, I've had a closure on this already so allow me to enjoy a moment of peace.