Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Rammy in Vancouver

Concerned that Rammy had 4 jobs in Canada, I asked him for an update. Here is his reply, with permission to post, of course:


Actually I have a full time job at Manila Cargo and a part-time job with Fedex. Well, if you consider that I do marketing, operations and newspaper editing for Manila Cargo, then maybe it counts as 3 jobs, hehe.

Ok naman kami dito so far. Between work, school and the never-ending call of household chores and errands, we somehow find time to do things, especially on weekends. Bills payment is a constant stress but is something that eventually works itself out one way or another, by the grace of God.

Chinggay works for BC Housing, a governement institution providing housing for the needy. They provide excellent benefits for employees and they have great hours (up to 430pm only) so, she gets to pick up the kids from school everyday.

Bianca goes to St. Anthony's in Vancouver and is in the 6th grade this year. Her school is about 15 mins from our place. In the short time she has been there, she has made a lot of friends already and she really enjoys going to school. She will start training for volleyball this month.

Paco goes to a Montessori pre-school in Richmond, about 5 mins from where we live. He loves going there to play with his classmates. He joined the Richmond soccer team and gets to play at least once a week with kids his age. They play 3 on 3 with no goalies, so basically they just run around and try to make a goal. Super kulit si Paco ngayon and he has so much energy, so its good that he gets to expend it there



We live in Richmond, about 10 mins from Vancouver International Airport and we are a stone's throw from the hospital, the grocery, the mall and the wharf where serve excellent fish and chips. We are also about half an hour away from the US border in Blaine, Washington.

We get to see and talk to Leo Sison a lot as our kids play together. He's been a big help to us, especially in helping us move. We were together at an Ateneo Alumni picnic last August here in Vancouver, the last event he organized as out-going president of the AAABC.

During the summer, we were able to visit a couple of places here in British Columbia namely Whistler and Victoria.



Whistler is a world-class ski resort about 2 hours from Vancouver and it is where the 2010 winter Olympics will be held. We spent 3 days there and were surpised to see it bustling with activities for kids and adults alike during the summer. Aside from the scenic gondola and open-chair lift to the peak of Whistler mountain, there were tons of stuff to do for the kids. The Adventure Zone had a trapeze, a trampoline, a mini-zipline.

Victoria is the capital of our province, where the Parliament building and the Butchard Gardens are. Its a 1.5 hour ferry ride from the mainland. We took our car on the ferry so we could drive around the city.



Its almost fall now and its starting to get cooler here. Next week, Chinggay and I are going on a dinner-cruise around Vancouver harbor. We got a free ticket so date kami, hehe.

Anyway, I have to cut this short now. Hope all is well with you, Ricky and the kids. Kamusta na ba si Boricky?

Best,

Rammy

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Ang Kuwento ng Mga Alahas ni Imelda



Found this Probe TV video quite interesting--in a bad way.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Mara's 2007 CA visit

(Mara with Monica, Magu, and Selena)

Mara came over a couple of months ago to attend her friends' wedding in the Bay Area.

I hope she can send us more pics of the wedding and her school, Rosemont College in Philadelphia, where she is on a full-ride scholarship.

Way to go, Mara. We're so proud of you!

Ate