REST ROOMS

This article caught my attention:


By Ian Simpson VENICE, Italy (Reuters Life!) - Venice wants to make itself an easier place to go, so it is launching an online service to allow visitors to pre-pay for access to public toilets with the click of a mouse...Read full story: PAY VIRTUALLY AND PEE VIRTOUSLY IN VENICE.

Toilet facility shortage is one of the main problem of Venice specially during summer when almost 10,000 tourist flood the city in a day. Estimated 10,000,000 people visiting in a year is an overwhelming number for merely less than a dozen public comfort rooms.

WC -AMAV(Azienda Multiservizi Ambientali Veneziana) charges 1 euro per entry and may double for the city sanitation authorities' plan to improve their services. "WC" is the sign, by the way, for comfort rooms and always have coins ready for the loo in case you'll come and visit Venice.

When I was pregnant and using the toilet is an every minute necessity, going around the maze of this floating city would be an excuse to enter bars for a drink(water or anything), a meal in fast-foods restos(McDonalds, Spizzico etc...) and restaurants(on special days if the budget can afford). A bottle of water in a bar which is more or less 2 euros is not bad when you're relieved of "liquid retention". Quite practical than lining public toilets, I think.

I remember when we were still in Baguio City, Jollibee and McDonald's were more like "CR's" than their "intended purposes". I haven't checked the last time we went home if the public toilets of Maharlika and La Azotea Building are still there. Now, I'm making mental count on our public rest rooms. Not much of a handful too when its a very important basic facility that the city should address.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, the comfort rooms of Center mall and SM have longer lines than the cash registrar to any of their stores.

SON OF DAVE

A touch of 21st century Blues. I love it! Find out more about "the man" here: SON OF DAVE (please click his biography). It all started one Christmas in Canada when his Daddy Dave gave him a harmonica and a shaker.

GIRL, WHAT'S UP?

Its not mine, I got the image above from amckerns site when I was googling images for "blog hiatus". I have to start this entry linking him or he will hunt me for posting this image with out his permission.

A friend emailed and asked if I lost the password of my blog. "Hey, update your site before I will stop peepin', girl!" she wrote.

Quite a childish reason why I stopped writing. I've been reading back some of my post and OhheeMGeee(oh my gosh), my grammar is so bad, it made me retreat into our duvet. Same words are being used every post and I'm afraid, I lack substance. With all these, "Hide me please!" my mind beckoned the remaining shame in me.

My blogs name added why I don't want to log-in. Its good the blog description: "trying hard try outs...try again" was there or I will really change the name of this site.

My friend read my reply and she wrote back, "Girl, are you on drugs or is it PMS?"... How I laughed while I told her neither of the two.

NO IDEA

Was there ever a time your instinct proved you right? What did you do about it?

This is not Teacher Julie asking the question. It was a friend who once caught her husband cheating. She said, at first she noticed how her husband's character changed. He was always quiet than the usual, always angry and he would always consider it nagging when his wife wants is just to actually talk. Their communication had obviously shut off and the husband could not stand being in one room with his family.

The confrontation was painful and all the lies were revealed. "Lies coming from another lie", said my friend, were what killed her a million times. But then, the husband asked for forgiveness and she gave him another chance. Besides, they have a daughter and she needs her father.

Time healed the husband's mistake though the wife said it was an everyday struggle to put the past behind. They survived how ever and had two more children.

Then lately, my friend said she saw those changes again. Changes that she once dreaded to admit. Instincts which are so familiar and those obvious lies being knitted were happening again.

Ease my burden folks, get some of it. Answer her questions for me because I really don't have no idea what to tell her.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

LUKIE'S 7th BIRTHDAY

At home, Lukie's "real" big day.

7 YEARS

Notice my Lilypie.com Baby days counters widget. Its Lukie's Birthday!

I have to start convincing myself that 7 years had passed since the doctor placed Lukie on my belly just after he cut my son's umbilical cord. January 21 2002, our baby was snugly wrapped with a green cloth and his face and head were still covered with blood and thick yellowish matters (vernix caseosa). I remember as I held him, he literally gave me warmth when my senses forgot about labor pains and was diverted now on how cold the delivery room was. Squirming, stretching and making baby sounds, I held our son tight.

Boogie was comforting me with his pats and stroking my hair as I lay there crying and sobbing and I don't care if I sounded like a cow. It was the sweetest cry I ever had. I finally met our son and the ordeal of giving birth was almost over. Seeing and holding him made me forget the "agony" of going through every excruciating pain of my 4 hours labor.

I told my husband, "karuprupa ni Pa!"(he looks like Pa)(my father in-law). Then the nurse took our son for his APGAR Scoring and bath. Boogie went back on holding my hand like he did when we were birthing. The obstetrician worked on taking out the placenta and I started to shiver when they were "already stitching me up". The additional blankets the nurse gave did a little help.

Adrenalin kept me fully awake for almost 5 hours after giving birth. The painless needle and the thread being pulled to repair my episiotomy were one of the worst for me. It doesn't hurt but I could feel my skin being dragged by the thread.

In the observation room where I have to stay for 3 hours before I will be brought into my room, they "loaded" my bed with hot water bags. Then I wasn't shivering anymore when the pediatrician brought Lukie for his first breast feeding.

Remembering all these will always lead us back to the five years of waiting before Lukie was finally conceived. Those years were painful thinking no children will bond our love more. Our OB-Gyne in Philippines, Dra. Solang, started us with fertility work out, sperm count, lab tests etc and it would always disappoint us when I get my monthly period.

Our "wanting" to have a baby was put on test when we decided to come here in Italy after working two years to a family in Malta. We came here as tourist and 25 days lapsed, we became illegal immigrants. We don't speak nor understand Italian and worst, we're jobless.

The very second day of our stay here, pregnancy test kits in this country proved us that it works "positive" than any other parts of the globe. We are pregnant! Lukie wanted to be made in Malta and preferred to be born in Italy.


LINK TO THIS POST: MY FIRST BORN AND HIS FEAR OF BOATS•

WEEKLY QUESTIONS 33 AND 34

Let's go back to blogging with Teacher Julie's questions from GreenBucks. Good enough I have these weekly "ask about" to answer weekly, big help when I'm running out of things to write.

If you were to “reinvent yourself” what would you do?

I wouldn't. I love what I had become. It had always been a smooth sail or things had always been easy for me. I never stopped considering myself as one of God's favorites. Cocky as it may sound, but for me, it is true because I do accept what ever comes with optimism, gratitude and laughters. Most of the time, things are far from how I want it to be, but I strive and work in making the best out of it. But if we're talking of weight gain, that's a different story.

With a long list of women’s health concerns, what is it that you dread to hear the doctor say to you?

Anything that would lead him to say I am dying now. I can't bare to even think how my young kids would live with out a mother. Its a sad and scary thought.

THE GAZA CHILDREN

POSTING AN ENTRY FROM Boogie's Blog.

The financial crisis had left my beloved hotel, where I work, with just a handful of guests for nearly a month now. All the rooms in four floors of this eight storey building, one of the oldest in Venice, are empty. Like the past several days work was light and tips are low. My colleague, before he finished his shift, left me a list of rooms to work on. He told me to dust off the “Baldachino” (those curtain like things that hang on the beds and head boards) using a vacuum cleaner. I went to work, finished a room and moved on to the next.The work bored me to death and my boredom made me feel tired, sleepy and lazy. I was about to go to the next room when I decided to take a break. So I grabbed the remote control, sat on the edge of the bed and clicked on the TV. Nothing caught my interest till I got to CNN. The Cable News Network ran the war on the Gaza Strip as it dragged on for the 21st day now.

A UN facility was in flames, the Israeli army hit the compound because they were being fired upon from the building. CNN also showed a footage of a large crater some where in Gaza and the Palestinians standing around the rim of the hole looking on. BBC was running the same news and I changed the channel again. I continued to surf the channel and was about to switch it off when the studio of the Aljazeera caught my eye. The news anchor was standing and behind him was a video wall, wide and black with the names of all the Palestinian children killed written in white letters. They highlighted a name, and said he was four years old, his sisters died too killed by an Israeli bomb. They picked another name and this time the boy was two and he died in his mother’s arms. Then Aljazeera showed the images of the dead children, some of them were lined up and covered with cloth, others were covered by debris, one was mangled and many were being carried by Palestinian men. The lifeless faces of these children were scarred and bloodied. Some were “lucky” (I don’t know if this is the right word) enough to be recognised others were not. As I sat there and looked on, shivers ran down my spine and I wasn’t bored any more.

Aljezeera continued on with the children but now they showed the survivors recovering in hospitals. A pretty little girl told a reporter of a bullet hitting her hand and another one found its way on her back. I saw a boy lying down, his head bandaged, his face covered with scars and tears were welling up in his eyes as he tried to talk about what happened. Some thing in me gave way when I saw this boy’s tears. I started to cry and at the same time tried to control the tears but I could not. My mind told me, “goddamit its okay to cry!” So I turned off the TV and cried.

Except for the breathing and sniffing sounds I made, the room became quiet. I got up, paced around and dried my tears. Then I left the room draging the vacuum clearner along and headed for the service elevator. I decided to put the machine away and do something else. Tears began to fall again when the lift started to move down.

I cried a lot of times this day. I cried after I called me wife telling her what I saw. I cried again when I was on the boat on my way home. I’m crying now as I write this piece.

I don’t understand this war I couldn’t even tell who is winning. One thing is clear the Palestinian children and civilians are paying the price. I’m a father of two boys and I felt that the dead Palestinian children were my own. I wonder about the Israeli fathers and Hamas fathers who are fighting each other in this senseless war, do they cry too like me? I hope and pray that the monsters would stop killing. . . . . stop killing our children.

AUDIO: NO OTHER LOVE

by: CHUCK PROPHET
P.S. I LOVE YOU SOUND TRACK

I know, the world had watched it already and I only did last night. Be warned that I will be mushy today. "Senti+mental mood", sometimes(if not all the time), is refreshing. It makes us vulnerable and its okey if the world will know we are capable of it. Reminds us we're human. (A long time, recycable, 'gas-gas' line for those who really know me hehehe... It comes handy all the time when I'm justifying my exagerated sensitivity and my being extremely emotional...lol...).

Oh well, this PS I Love You movie my husband dowloaded for us to watch and he slept in the middle of it while I was there crying my heart out. Its not because he was bored, he worked night shift the other night and he didn't sleep the next day. So yeah, he was tired. Knowing my husband, a gooey Boogie man who shares my love of movies, from cartoons to love stories, sci-fi, thriller etc, he would be joining me as he hides his tears and would tease me for being such a cry baby.

I'm not getting any where and I'm on my third paragraph ei?... The movie was based on Cecelia Ahern's novel, PS I Love You. Hilary Swank played the widow whom her husband, Gerard Butler, left 10 letters to help her over come grief. His dead husband ends his letter with the film's title.

While it was playing I thought of the stories other couples have. So with those who were once a couple. How they met, their dating days to finally getting married and also those relationships that sadly failed. I believe that rekindling the past would always remind us why are we IN this "coupleship" specially at times when we want to throw a shoe to our better half.

When me and my husband were still dating, we used to write letters to each other and hand it everytime we meet. Something my siblings thought as something silly because we talk hours on the phone, we see each other almost everyday, yet we still write letters.

Yesterday as we were singing with the Magic Mic, I found my old "break-up" letter and it made me cringe reading what I wrote. Then my husband took it and read it loud using the Magic Mic. My golliee geee... it was soooo funny and it made us laugh! You know that unending laugh where you can't catch your breath and your eyes are already in tears? That's how worst it is. But almost 12 years ago, those weren't funny at all, it was once a "heavy dramatic episode" to our tele novela hahaha...

To cut me off before I punch million words and bore you further, go watch the movie and if you already did, go watch it again. Its something to remind us of the people we are lucky to have!

P.S.(lol) I didn't like Hilary Swank for Holly. I still see her the "tomboyish and the boxer" but she played her role excellently. Hello earth! She had 2 Oscars ano...

WEEKLY QUESTION 32

I hope Teacher Julie's question this week will help me set goals or "game plans" on how to improve (in every aspect) this year 2009 - Health wise, spending, blogging, mothering etc... Or I'd rather NOT, knowing my fondness of anything jovial that has anything to do with spontaneity, those goals might just be made to rot. I'll just write random "reminders" on what should and must be done this year.



What are you looking forward to in 2009?



1. Toilet training Dylan in preparation for school on September.

2. Enlisting Dylan for 'Scoula Materna'(3 years pre-Grade 1).

3. Lukie's 7th birthday next week.

4. Opening savings account for both kids. Means we need to pay back what we owe them(lol).

5. Blogging on historical sites of Venice (more on studying history...sus!).

6. Less rice intake considering it's price going up hahaha....( I have to include this. It will make my list include "spending and health wise" all together hahaha).

7. That's about it for now, I can't think more on anything to add. See, planning alone is hard for me! Listing 6 is exhausting enough... am I becoming a hopeless case?

GEC AFFECTING VENICE

Its taking it's toll now, the "Global Economic Crisis" is getting scarier for us here. Some hotels are closing or filing bankruptcy - an easy way out.
Other hotels are also being sold to new investors making employees unsure if they will be re hired by new owners.

Tourism is what makes Venice live. Hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, rtw and shoe stores, art galleries align the left and right side when you walk through the maze of this floating city. Aside from the museum, churches and historical sites of course, these compose the main source of living to almost everyone of us residing here. Italians or foreigners alike.

With the ongoing "crisis", people will not spend. No holidays, no out of town so there will be no tourist flocking in. Americans, which are among the top nationality visiting Venice, sadly they're one of the most affected with this economic slowdown(more of a shutdown).

Many Filipinos are also being laid off with their jobs while its also true that many new Pinoys are still coming in to Italy. Add that other European such as Romanians, Russians etc are flocking in too. The imbalance of jobs against workers is damaging. We Pinoys, who demand higher pay, could not compit so we'll be forced to level with other nationalities in terms of salary.

Being said, we're still getting by, not to worry our love ones reading this. We're OK, its just we're sad for other Pinoys here who're greatly affected. Pray with us though that miracle will work on this "crisis" before it will gnaw at us.

PHOTO CREDITS: Le Gente - musashiboogie

CLICKING CHOICES

How did they do that? At the end of each video, you are to click what will happen next. Cool!

WEEKLY PHOTOS

ANIDO

Posting my favorite shots from the recently concluded LA BEFANA 2009.

NOTE: Anido - Kalanguya term for "keeping one's self warm by the fire".

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LA BEFANA 2009

School will start tomorrow for the kids after their 2 weeks Christmas vacation. And today, La Festa Della Befana marks the end of our 'festa' (festive) mood. I had a post here: LA BEFANA 2008 and last night we had our La Befana 2009. Read the link for the origin of this Italian tradition.

It wasn't the same as last year that every 'comune' had their own Befana to burn. It used to be sort of a parade who has the best, tallest and biggest witch. Just shows that even the 'strega'(witch) is affected with the ongoing "global economic crisis".

Our community didn't have one (Befana burning) so we went to my sister Noeda's neighborhood, Ca' Ballarin. You will see here: LA BEFANA 2008, that last year Ca'Ballarin had the best 'strega'. But last night, we were only seeing a big fire and people were asking for the witch. The effigy was so tiny you wouldn't notice it was even up there.

Regardless, Lukie had fun waiting for his "socky" to be handed by the Befana after the burning ceremony. The organizers hired some singers and put up stalls for free chocolate drink, hot wine and Panettone. Dylan stayed home with Boogs because he would be scared of the fireworks anyway. Good thing he did because he had a fever later that night.

This morning my kids had sweets from the strega and not coal. I'm thinking, since almost everybody is home today because La Befana is a non-working holiday. Everyone is probably nibbling chocolates, young and old hehehe. Well, its good for this cold weather and not everyday that the strega is this generous... so, cheers to chocolates and La Befana.