Project FEETrail [October 2012]: Ipanema on Confetti-ed Red Carpet

I was supposed to be a bridesmaid but I still chose to wear my bridesmaid shoes.

In the middle of the wedding, my feet hurt from too much walking around the church, running and taking photos, capturing moments and finally I just decided to ask the driver to take me back to the hotel so I can change into my trusty Ipanema rubber sandals.

I think I can almost hear my toes breathe a prayer of thanks for changing footwear.

We almost missed our flight to Tuguegarao

I think, now that Kuya's wedding successfully pushed through, it can now be told that we almost missed out flight to Tuguegarao. 

The last time I rode the plane was November last year when our family and relatives flew to Davao for my birthday weekend, I always seem to not remember what stuff to bring and what to check in. Good thing, we're shipping flowers for Kuya's wedding which allows us to have more kg for check in. Not only I am a terrible light packer (I always tend to bring more clothes than what I can actually use), I'm a paranoid flyer as well. 

It's been almost a year and NAIA Terminal 3 really did change from the last time I saw it. First, you can now bring hairspray via hand carry. I even remember seeing another passenger leaving his brand new bottle of perfume because he did not check it in and it was not allowed to be hand carried.

How the Brits got jiggy with it: The Tagalog-British-Kalingan Inter-cultural Wedding

On top of the Talama Ranch in Tabuk City, Kalinga is the reception of Kuya Stew and Jaydee's inter-cultural wedding. 

When we had the "pamamanhikan" before, we were told that it takes time ( I'm not sure if it was a month) to make the tent and make sure to cover the surroundings of the place.

Months before, Ate Chimy and I were BBMing each other and I was sending her photos that I took from my phone so that she will have an idea once she gets there. They flew in three days ahead of us and had more cultural immersion.

Our Kuya finally got hitched!

I never had a brother. So when Kuya Stew came to stay in the Philippines for a year, we were given a chance to borrow an older brother even just for a year. So when Kuya decided to get married, October 20, 2012 in Kalinga, Apayao to be exact, we were given a chance to see what it felt like having a family member get married. We even went to Kalinga for the formal "pamamanhikan" to represent his family who are based in UK.

Weddings are big in the Philippines. The stress is always, always on the menu especially the day before the big day.But when you have a rush inter-cultural wedding like ours, stress is also magnified in the middle of flying people from UK and Laguna to Kalinga, three different languages for language barrier challenges, observing each other's cultural protocols, all for the coming of two people together to start a family.

I would always remember Kuya Stew, the groom, knocking at our door at 5:30 in the morning handing me the car key, telling me that the wedding car has arrived. The official wedding florist and Church designer, my sister Aprille, immediately went down and took care of installing the flowers to the vehicle.

Then a photographer arrived telling him that he's having a pre-wedding pictorial. He looked at me, zombie-like and surprised, then handed the key and said:

"If worse comes to worst, since you drive, you're driving!"

How I turned my Bridesmaid Que Horror moment to Q'Viva moment!

What is the worst thing that a bride and a bridesmaid (who flew thousands of miles away) that could hear the night of the wedding?

" Cuz, none of the bridesmaids' dresses fit!"

Source

We arrived last friday evening and kuya's wedding is on saturday morning. The very next morning. There's no way they can make another dress for me ( I heard they had it made somewhere in Bulacan) and still make it just in time for the weekend.

Travel Kalinga: Stay at Grand Zion Resort

Last week we stayed at Grand Zion Hotel and Resort for my cousin's wedding. They have limited number of rooms because they are a fairly new hotel. We got the biggest room, the dorm type, which is only for Php2600 a night with 5 beds and a huge room. My sister used this hotel room for her wedding flower arrangement gig that I will blog about soon.

WARNING: Major photo dump ahead. Prepare to load. :)

This is what the entrance looks like:

What happened to decent business conversations?

Image source

First and foremost, this post was not supposed to be bitchy. 

When I was 20 years old, my first job was to work for Americans. I was fascinated by how straight forward, upfront and honest they were that until now, it was probably the trait that not only I picked up, but I embraced whole heartedly. Maybe I just had a really damn good American Culture Trainer, but whatever it is, my being upfront (polite upfront) saved me a lot of time, irritation and energy.

Years later, not only I was able to learn to be straight forward and save time, I also learned to ask when I don't know what is.

So when I came to elbi (where people expect that you know everything by giving you the world's greatest university jargons) my being upfront with people that I don't know this place, this protocol, this whatever, definitely saved me a lot of time  (provided that my first semester in graduate school, I lost my sense of time). The world has been a little bit, kind of, nicer. That is because, I honestly do not know and that is why I am asking.

Now simple everyday transactions irritate the hell out of me. Like bank transactions:

Me: Can I ask for my account balance right after this deposit?
Teller: Our system is updating.

I am cutting this scenario short but bottomline is, she could've told me I cannot because the system is offline. I would understand.

Like booking a hotel/accommodation in a place up north. Of course I know the hotel standards are definitely not like those in the city. This actually happened right after we paid more than half of our stay before we even checked in.

Me: Hi Ma'am, does our reserved type of room have it's own bathroom? (we have the dorm-type)
Hotel: Yes, you have your own bathroom.
Me: Do you also provide complete toiletries as well? and May I ask if your hotel has a spa or a massage service?
Hotel:  Yes, we provide toiletries.
Me: How about the spa, ma'am?
Hotel: *No Reply*

Oh I'm sorry, did the hotel attendant suddenly had a cardiac arrest in the middle of the text exchange? Three weeks later, I asked again about the spa and did not get an answer. This is in the middle of a text exchange. If they dont have it, it's okay. It's not like we're going to back down or throw in a tantrum. It's just a question of having it or not. No big deal. Nothing personal.

And last but not the least, I was in the middle of speaking to a coordinator via text when I asked something that required a forwarded number and very defined yes or no. We were in the middle of texting when, and I need to stress this, that I POLITELY ASKED A QUESTION, I did not get a reply when it is her job to reply. And yes, I waited patiently for an update/reply for 24 hours before coming to a conclusion and never got it. 

Did someone fall into a coma in the middle of a text conversation of an event coordination?

Again, my apologies for being bitchy. I do not intend to blog today because I'm so swamped but I just couldn't help my self venting out.

What happened to decent conversations, never mind that it's over text? If you're speaking to someone face-to-face, you wouldn't just walk away just to NOT REPLY, especially if it's business-related. 

The Magic Hot Compress

I think a couple of weeks ago I woke up with a bad back, so bad, that I can't even fall asleep. Knowing myself, I can sleep anywhere as soon as I'm sleepy. I've slept on bar ledges, public sofa in Starbucks, Burger King in Singapore, MRT in Magallanes and so on. So the fact that I had to wake up and sleep while sitting ( pillow leaning on the wall, me doing an indian seat) it is a big deal.

One day, my sister handed me over what she calls a "Magic Hot compress". At first it looked like a jelly bag with a loose lucky penny swimming inside it.