I'm Home.

It's so good to be home after being away for over a year and a half. It feels as though I've only been away for a few weeks though. I've never been this happy and comfortable in a very long time. It's nice, you know, the feeling of knowing you're so safe and secure. It's a good feeling.

I don't know why I even gave this up! Haha. It's just nice to have it back. As soon as I got home, I got messages and phone calls from my friends. Friends that I missed so much, that it hurts my insides when I think of not seeing them again. My room! which by the by is gone! All my stuff have been moved to the smallest room in the house, when I used to have the nicest room with the nicest view, other than my parent's room of course. Now, I'm reduced to some of my stuff being in boxes in the basement. My shoes and clothes now belong to my brother. Yet, still I'm home, and I feel at home.

I saw my mom, my dad, my brother Emer, my sisters, Nicole and Erika. I saw my sister Nicole's baby, James Tyler Kendall-Recarro. He's so delicate. I haven't seen his father though. I haven't seen the rest of my relatives and friends yet. I can't wait to see them. I know they all have a plot to make me stay.

I miss Langdon. I miss Calgary. I miss Alberta. I miss Canada. I miss it all. And now I'm here.

I'm so happy.

I shall return...

Like MacArthur once said, "I shall return". And so shall I...eventually. For now, all my emotions are concentrated on my return home. Yes my real home! It's where I grew up, where my friends from way back when are, my family, my comfort zone, everything I need and want, well almost haha. There are a few things in the Philippines you could never get anywhere else in the world, you know, those things uniquely Filipino.

So goodbye to you all. I'll miss you Philippines. I'll miss the smoke that fills the air, the vendors on every street, the drivers who don't adhere to road signs, the influx of people going in and out of the malls and the heat! Goodbye! text text na lang! haha.

Canada, here I come...too bad I'll miss Canada Day....which by the by, tomorrow is Canada Day!!!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY
CANADA....eh!?
I'll just have a belated celebration with ya when I get home!

Looking forward to:

1. HOCKEY! even if it is the summer.........
2. CANADIAN BEER! MOLSON!
3. The Rockies, The Prairies, The Great Lakes, and....Saskatchewan. haha.
4. Poutine! Montreal!
5. The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth! Calgary Stampede!
6. West Edmonton Mall the Gigantor! lol.
7. The Red Mile!
8. Rogers Pass
9. Banff
10. CowTown! booyah!

40 Secrets

Forty Secrets About Yourself. Be

honest no matter what.

Grabbed from Miko!

[One] from whom was your last text

from?

- Angelo Ramos, telling me to make sure I had oreos.

[Two] Where was your primary picture

taken at?

It was in 'Wade' at SM MegaMall.

[Three] What's your middle initial?

E.

[Four] Your current relationship

status?

Recently single and livin it up boring style!

[Five] Does your crush(s) like you

back?

No...i'm going to cry in my little corner now haha!

[Six] What is your current mood?

Very Content.

[Seven] What's your mom's name?

Emelie Grifalda Evangelista Recarro

[Eight] What color shirt are you

wearing?

Orange

[Nine] What was the last thing you

drank ?

Water...cold water!

[Ten] If you could go back in time

and change something, would you?

yes, maybe just one thing.

[Eleven] Have a crazy side?

I'm crazy on all four sides! (I'm a quadrilateral)

[Twelve] Favorite song/s?

Today, favorite to listen to: Forever by Chris Brown or American Boy by Estelle and Kanye

[Thirteen] Something you do a lot?

Look at a monitor. Stare blankly into space. Daydream.

[Fifteen] Do you wanna see somebody?

Yes! But...it's forbidden.....dun dun dun (with matching music in the background)

[Sixteen] Name someone with the same

birthday as you?

Mark McLarty

[Seventeen] When was the last time

you cried?

Hmmmm...June 4th? Yes. I remember the date. I'm lame I get it.

[Eighteen] Who would you do anything

for?

#1.

[Nineteen] Who is your idol?

Andersoon Cooper.

[Twenty] What's the first thing you

notice about the opposite sex?

Their looks of course. You said first thing.

[Twenty-two]What was your biggest

secret?

My biggest secret ...well I think my biggest secret which I share with someone else is being spread around everywhere nowadays. It may just be a secret to me, haha.

[Twenty-three] Where is your ex?

Uh. I'm sure asleep somewhere...on a park bench perhaps! haha just kidding, peace XO

[Twenty-four] Favorite movie?

Donnie Darko, hands down!

[Twenty-five] Do you still watch

kiddy shows?

Yes! Who doesn't like those?!

[Twenty-six] What are you eating or

drinking at the moment?

nothing at the moment.

[Twenty-seven] Do you speak any other

dialect?

dialect, is broken tagalog a dialect. I speak french, it's our national language in Canada. :)

[Twenty-eight] Whats your favorite

smell?

i love the smell of freshly baked cookies!

[Twenty-nine] describe your life in

one word, what would it be?

Complicated

[Thirty-three] What should you be

doing?

Taking a shower.

[Thirty-eight] Do you act differently

around the person you like?

well i treat them a lot better than i treat everyone else...apparently i'm a mean and vindictive person. haha.

[Thirty-nine] What is your natural

hair color?

Black

[Forty] Who was the last person to

make you smile?

Yung super smile talaga? The one who always makes me smile :)

Why is it always me?

You know....it's very difficult for me to imagine that people have nothing better to talk about than what I'm doing with my life. I know what they say, it's better to be talked about even if it's not true than not being talked about at all. Yeah, well if you've had so many issues and rumours going around about you, it becomes redundant and utterly ridiculous.

Just when I got here, people were already speculating as to the reason why I was here. Can't people accept that I really wanted to learn about the culture and go back to my roots? I know it sounds like a showbiz answer, but that was very much a big part of my decision. Then of course there is always the issue of who am I with, who am I dating, who am I interested in, who am I sleeping with and who was the latest fling that I left for the newest catch.

Most of these rumours are FALSE. And some of them only rang true AFTER the rumours had been spread. Meaning to say, it was due to the spread of these rumours that I ended up dating or whatever else with some people. Most likely less than 50% of the rumours spread out there about me have been true.

Here are some of the most ridiculous gossip and hear-say that I've heard about me. Let's count them down shall we:

--------

5.
RUMOUR: I was in the Philippines because I got someone pregnant and was running away from it.
TRUTH: I wanted to spend more time in the Philippines to understand what it truly feels to be a Filipino.

4.
RUMOUR: I was putting the moves on some person that I didn't even know nor have I ever spoken to.
TRUTH: To this day, I have never spoken to this person, only seen them from afar and I was in a relationship at this time.

3.
RUMOUR: I was "namamangka sa dalwang ilog" and I was cheating on both parties. This was the reason why I wanted a "break" from the person I was with at the time.
TRUTH: I asked for a "break" because I needed to clear my head. We ended up, well, ending it because that someone thought that the rumours were true.

2.
RUMOUR: That I had been making out in public with one of my bestfriends in open and in public for all to see.
TRUTH: No truth to this rumour at all, and this became the reason for all the fights and eventual break-up with one of the people that I was really happy with.

1.
RUMOUR: That from the very start, since we met, from the first time we met, #1 and I had been together as a couple and that we were trying to keep it a secret. Also, that I've been seeing others so that #1 and I could keep our relationship under wraps.
TRUTH: #1 and I are no longer togther. We did not get together since the very beginning. I had never been in a relationship with more than one person at a time.

-----------------

Now, lately, I'm being talked about again. Maybe it's a little bit my fault. I'm a bit all over the place these days and I guess because there are lots of issues going around I keep thingking that noone will notice me now. If yuare, unless it's too personal of course. But asking any question is fair game. I'll give you an answer for sure. Don't go around other people to confirm or deny issues for you. Only I can truly deny or confirm anything. As of today, June 11, 2008, I remain single and happy, verry happy.

That's all.

Three In One.

Three in One. That's right. Three in one day. Can you believe it? I can't. I'm actually glad I was able to limit it to three. Haha. Wow.
For Lunch.
During Drinks.
At Breakfast.

I need to be stopped.

Three different ones in just a span of one day. I feel guilty. But I had fun. Does that make me a bad person?

Yes, I know it does. It was just one night. No judging! And it was all innocent fun anyway.

I said don't judge me!

BEEF of the Week: Starbucks Worldwide Corporate Center

I have beef with the Starbucks at the Worldwide Corportate Center in Shaw. Last night, May 27th 2008, I felt discriminated against by the baristas who worked there. This was the first time I felt discriminated in the Philippines!

I've been to many different places before, different cities, different countries, and have never felt any sort of discrimination about my race. Therefore I couldn't believe that the first true blatant act of discrimination against me was going to happen in the country of my ancestry.

I walked into Starbucks about 10 minutes before 8pm. There was nobody in line and so I walked in, went up to the counter and smiled. The barista, I forgot her name, had greeted me and was asking me for my order. She knows me by first name already. I frequent this Starbucks more often than not. She took my order and I was in the process of paying when another customer walked in. In walked a tall, older gentleman. His name is Randy. He is the VP of Operations at ICT Group Worldwide Corporate Center.

The baristas greeted him and asked him if he was going to have his regular. I payed, got my receipt and sat down to wait for my drink. As I sat there, Randy greeted me and I smiled back. To my surprise, his drink was finished and served before mine was even started. I was apalled! I could not believe that they started to make his drink before they started mine and they served his drink before they did mine. Even though it was clear that I was the first customer to walk in and I had ordered and payed for my drink before Randy did.

Did Randy deserve to be served first just because he's white? Ladies and gentlemen, that's utterly ridiculous. I was in shock. At first I started to think of different scenarios in my head. Maybe there were two baristas making our drinks and his barista was just faster than mine. Wrong. There was only one barista making the drinks and one at the counter. Therefore it meant that they started to make his drink before mine on purpose. The only reason I could think of as to why that would happen is because he's white.

Is that how it is here in the Philippines? I mean it's insane to think that my first real encounter of discrimination would come from here. In Canada I have never felt discriminated before. In clubs, bars, restaurants, school, especially Starbucks. The baristas should be ashamed of themselves.

I paid for my drink and I expect that my drink be served first if I was the first person there. They're going to get a piece of my mind the next time this happens to me or to anybody else I know. People are not better because they have fairer skin. I'm also a foreign national, I just happen to have darker skin than he did, does that deem me less worthy of good service?

It's unimaginable that someone of that color would discriminate against someone of the same. I should have stood up for myself right then and there, I felt compelled to. But, I saw my friend walk in and I totally forgot about it until just now. Haha.