Here was my plan: Save up a couple of grand, fly to Canada, find a job, get an apartment, sponsor dina, and live happily ever after.
June 2009: So I've been here in Toronto for nearly two months, living in my aunt's condo and my bank account slowly bleeding to death. My aunts who were actually excited with my arrival were already bored with me. The best way to put it is, I was a cute little puppy that grew up into a pesky mongrel in just couple of weeks. They don't actually say it, but my being there with them is aggravating their lives. How can I tell? Nag, nag, nag. We don't talk. It's hard. I have nothing against them and I actually am very grateful for them accepting me to stay with them. Still, I wanna move out. But two months into my ordeal, I still haven't found a job and I was helpless.
Interviews. I'd say that back home, I was always good at interviews, probably because of my flawless English and non diescript twang. Back home, most of the interviewers would revert to speaking Filipino because they can't keep up with my slang. Oh well, that was not the case here. Everybody was speaking English. Though I'm proud to say that all my interviewers here complimented me on my lack of any accent. Still, my qualifications as a web techie was unsubstantiated by my lack of programming skills or design talent.
Back home, I prided myself of being a Web 2.0 critic, I knew most of what was going on in the industry. Moreover, I worked for an outsourcing company that didn't really know what I was talking about most of the time. Basically, I coulld say anything that sounds kinda techie and they would have no way of knowing if it was the truth or if I was making it up as I went along. Suckers. So my job was pretty easy.
Here however, this was the center of the industry and they knew what they were talking about. Everytime I'd go KIA mode (know-it-all), I found myself with my foot in my mouth and still unemployed. I went to an interview for an E-mail Marketing Manager position adn he asked me what e-mail marketing was, all I answered was 'SPAM'. Partially true but it wasn't quite what he was expecting.
Before I left, I was already looking at job openings in Toronto and was exoecting that with my qualifications I was sure to land a job paying at least twice minimum wage, hell I had a Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics! Well tough luck for me, the world was in an economic recession and employers weren't just going to hire some schmuck from the Philippines as a project manager or even a writer.
So there I was, two months into my Canadian ordeal, jobless and desperate. I was contemplating getting a fast food job or a sales clerk position in Best Buy. Actually, I did submit my applications there just to cover my bases. My aunts were pressuring me to volunteer at the library or get a menial job instead of being on 'vacation mode' as they put it.
Then I discovered internships. I figured that I wasn't qualified for entry level jobs so I had to take another step back. I applied to all kinds of intern positions I could find on craigslist, some were even non-paying at all! One web start up was offering $650 a month and I was expected to work even on weekends. I went to that interview, but I didn't show up for the 2nd phase of the process. Being someone who wrote about web startups for two years, I knew that their product was no good.
I always despised salesmen. However, I was so desperate, I nearly went for a door-to-door sales position.
July 2009: Still jobless and running out of options, I received a call about an internship position I applied for in June. I went to the interview, it was an SEO intern position for 6 months. I figured, what the hell, if they make an offer, take it. So I did.
July 15, 2009. First day of work. Hardcore Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
The Long Wait
May 2009. So I just arrived in Toronto Ontario. Regardless of all the research I did, I was still a tourist in this new city. So I did what every tourist would do, explore. Ok maybe not really a tourist going on tour busses or checking out museums and the usual tourist spots, I was on a tight budget and this city is the most expensive one in Canada. Good thing I did my research and I knew where the free places were.
So Toronto has a lot of parks and parkettes. I think in the city alone there's over a hundred. Some are just a block big, and some are entire forests. Yes, forests in the city! So I ventured out and explored those forests. One particular trek I did took me 5 hours to complete. I walked from our condo to a forest about 3km away. I knew my maps and I also knew that that forest led to another park though I don't think it was open to the public, but whatever. So through the forest I walked, watching kids play in the facilities, dogs running along the creek and lovers sitting on benches. All I thought of was how great this would all be if my girlfriend was here.
Still she wasn't and yeah I missed her. Anyway, I kept walking, trying to go as far as I can until my feet were sore. I walked through glacial forests, over creeks, up and down ravines. It came to a point where I didn't see any people anymore. I was alone in the woods with only the squirrels and beavers. I kept walking with only the sun as my guiding star, it was afternoon so I knew that if I faced the sun that was west and I was heading east. Finally, after nearly 2 hours of woods, brooks, and fallen trees, I heard dogs splashing in a pool. Sure enough, there were people too. I arrived in Sunnybrook Park, 7 kilometers from the condo.
Sunnybrook Park is nothing special, it's just huge. There's about 20 football fields and ironically, the only players I saw were playing cricket. It has a horse ranch, a botanical garden and more forests. But I didn't go there for any of those, I went simply to kill time, I went to get lost and find something interesting. This was my pathetic attempt to go to the unknown yonder.
After 7km of walking through ravines and forests, my feet were sore, but I had no intention of stopping. I missed walking. Back home I used to walk a lot until I started driving then I got fat. So these long walks through unknown terrain was a welcome treat. Besides, I didn't want to spend money for the bus.
So I walked. Every weekend since I arrived that spring day in late April, I walked through cityscapes, lake shores, forests, parks and streets.
Of course walking can also be boring if you do it too much. On weekdays, I'd go to the library, use the WiFi and look for jobs. I usually had an interview with a job prospect every week. Unfortunately May passed and I was still unemployed.
My bank account was slowly being drained. If you're used to eating fast food in the Philippines, you'd be shocked at the prices of food prices here. Let's just say that a meal you'd get for the price of a 2-pc Chickenjoy meal would only be a hotdog in a bun without a drink. So I ate at home, bought my rice from the grocery $2/kg.
Then I discovered Chinese food at the food court. For $5, I'd get fried rice and spicy chicken, it was good enough considering that that meal was my lunch and dinner at the same time (it was that much). So nearly every day, after I was done surfing in the library, I would head down to the food court and get me some Chinese food.
June 2009. Still unemployed. Walking through parks and going to the library had become routine. I was bored and unable to spend. My aunts were getting restless too. I'd get the occasional nag about not looking for a job, or accused of being lax and taking a vacation. It wasn't my fault that there was a recession. Still I shrugged it all off. I was not in the position to fight back. So I took every punch and turned the other cheek. Sure I felt bad, I wanted to move out. I wanted to move to Alberta where I had one gay friend I knew would take me in. Don't get me wrong, he is really my friend and he was just gay.
June passed, still unemployed. Wanted to give up, wanted to move out, wanted to abort my mission of taking the Canadian dream. I thought of Dina, the rest was easy.
So Toronto has a lot of parks and parkettes. I think in the city alone there's over a hundred. Some are just a block big, and some are entire forests. Yes, forests in the city! So I ventured out and explored those forests. One particular trek I did took me 5 hours to complete. I walked from our condo to a forest about 3km away. I knew my maps and I also knew that that forest led to another park though I don't think it was open to the public, but whatever. So through the forest I walked, watching kids play in the facilities, dogs running along the creek and lovers sitting on benches. All I thought of was how great this would all be if my girlfriend was here.
Still she wasn't and yeah I missed her. Anyway, I kept walking, trying to go as far as I can until my feet were sore. I walked through glacial forests, over creeks, up and down ravines. It came to a point where I didn't see any people anymore. I was alone in the woods with only the squirrels and beavers. I kept walking with only the sun as my guiding star, it was afternoon so I knew that if I faced the sun that was west and I was heading east. Finally, after nearly 2 hours of woods, brooks, and fallen trees, I heard dogs splashing in a pool. Sure enough, there were people too. I arrived in Sunnybrook Park, 7 kilometers from the condo.
Sunnybrook Park is nothing special, it's just huge. There's about 20 football fields and ironically, the only players I saw were playing cricket. It has a horse ranch, a botanical garden and more forests. But I didn't go there for any of those, I went simply to kill time, I went to get lost and find something interesting. This was my pathetic attempt to go to the unknown yonder.
After 7km of walking through ravines and forests, my feet were sore, but I had no intention of stopping. I missed walking. Back home I used to walk a lot until I started driving then I got fat. So these long walks through unknown terrain was a welcome treat. Besides, I didn't want to spend money for the bus.
So I walked. Every weekend since I arrived that spring day in late April, I walked through cityscapes, lake shores, forests, parks and streets.
Of course walking can also be boring if you do it too much. On weekdays, I'd go to the library, use the WiFi and look for jobs. I usually had an interview with a job prospect every week. Unfortunately May passed and I was still unemployed.
My bank account was slowly being drained. If you're used to eating fast food in the Philippines, you'd be shocked at the prices of food prices here. Let's just say that a meal you'd get for the price of a 2-pc Chickenjoy meal would only be a hotdog in a bun without a drink. So I ate at home, bought my rice from the grocery $2/kg.
Then I discovered Chinese food at the food court. For $5, I'd get fried rice and spicy chicken, it was good enough considering that that meal was my lunch and dinner at the same time (it was that much). So nearly every day, after I was done surfing in the library, I would head down to the food court and get me some Chinese food.
June 2009. Still unemployed. Walking through parks and going to the library had become routine. I was bored and unable to spend. My aunts were getting restless too. I'd get the occasional nag about not looking for a job, or accused of being lax and taking a vacation. It wasn't my fault that there was a recession. Still I shrugged it all off. I was not in the position to fight back. So I took every punch and turned the other cheek. Sure I felt bad, I wanted to move out. I wanted to move to Alberta where I had one gay friend I knew would take me in. Don't get me wrong, he is really my friend and he was just gay.
June passed, still unemployed. Wanted to give up, wanted to move out, wanted to abort my mission of taking the Canadian dream. I thought of Dina, the rest was easy.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Arrival
Apr 25 2009: Most people when flying from South East Asia take the trans pacific route. I didn't. My flight to Canada went west, stopped at Abu Dhabi then straight to Toronto. After 8hours flying, 4 hours layover and another 15 hours on the plane, I arrived in Toronto, half way around the world from the country I call home.
What can I say about the airport? It wasn't much. I just noticed that it took quite a while for my box to finally get to the conveyor belt, which by the way broke down twice. Not exactly the first world country welcome I was expecting.
Before leaving the baggage claim area, I changed my US dollars into Canadian. The weird thing though, I was expecting the immigration officer to stamp my passport or at least have a look at my credentials before letting me out of the terminal. Instead, he just asked me to open up my passport, glanced at my picture and waved me through. 10 seconds tops. That I'd say was the fastest border crossing I've ever made. I guess it does pay off to be a citizen in this country, I couldn't understand why at home when reentering it takes way too long, sure I use a different passport but my girlfriend with a Philippine passport just waits as long. Oh well.
Now I walk out of the terminal where my two aunts are happy to see me. After some hugs and kisses, I get my first taste of winter wind, 12 deg C. Good thing I was wearing my leathers.
On the cab ride to my aunts' place, I sat up front, keenly observing and noticing the road, the cars the weather, the temperature, the behavior of motorists on the highway. I can honestly say that on the ride, I forgot all about the anguish and grief I experienced on the plane. I was grinning like a dog, eager to explore this new land.
When Filipino balikbayans come home, the first thing they eat is a Filipino dish. Now here I was, a Canadian balikbayan technically coming home, and the first meal I get: sushi. Now the sushi wasn't bad at all, I only found it ironic that after walking more than a kilometer looking for something to eat, we ended up in a Japanese restaurant. Sad thing is, there apparently is no such thing as a Canadian restaurant! Everything's from somewhere else. Still, I did enjoy that sushi.
A year prior to my arrival, I've already detailed what I was going to do on my first day in Toronto. Just as planned, I filed for my social insurance number at the federal building a couple of blocks north of the condo I shared with my aunts. That afternoon, I went downtown and got me laptop. It may seem simple and straightforward but you have remember that this was my first day in this country. Most newcomers have no idea where to go or what to do when they get here and there I was taking the public transit, walking through unfamiliar neighborhoods, shopping in stores I never knew existed. I have to admit, I was proud of this first day I had, a year of research, mapping and calculating travel times and distances from satellite images have finally paid off.
And so my first day came to an end, I had my new laptop, and called home. In an instant, I was back to reality, all my excitement faded as I listened to my family eat breakfast over the instant messenger.
What can I say about the airport? It wasn't much. I just noticed that it took quite a while for my box to finally get to the conveyor belt, which by the way broke down twice. Not exactly the first world country welcome I was expecting.
Before leaving the baggage claim area, I changed my US dollars into Canadian. The weird thing though, I was expecting the immigration officer to stamp my passport or at least have a look at my credentials before letting me out of the terminal. Instead, he just asked me to open up my passport, glanced at my picture and waved me through. 10 seconds tops. That I'd say was the fastest border crossing I've ever made. I guess it does pay off to be a citizen in this country, I couldn't understand why at home when reentering it takes way too long, sure I use a different passport but my girlfriend with a Philippine passport just waits as long. Oh well.
Now I walk out of the terminal where my two aunts are happy to see me. After some hugs and kisses, I get my first taste of winter wind, 12 deg C. Good thing I was wearing my leathers.
On the cab ride to my aunts' place, I sat up front, keenly observing and noticing the road, the cars the weather, the temperature, the behavior of motorists on the highway. I can honestly say that on the ride, I forgot all about the anguish and grief I experienced on the plane. I was grinning like a dog, eager to explore this new land.
When Filipino balikbayans come home, the first thing they eat is a Filipino dish. Now here I was, a Canadian balikbayan technically coming home, and the first meal I get: sushi. Now the sushi wasn't bad at all, I only found it ironic that after walking more than a kilometer looking for something to eat, we ended up in a Japanese restaurant. Sad thing is, there apparently is no such thing as a Canadian restaurant! Everything's from somewhere else. Still, I did enjoy that sushi.
A year prior to my arrival, I've already detailed what I was going to do on my first day in Toronto. Just as planned, I filed for my social insurance number at the federal building a couple of blocks north of the condo I shared with my aunts. That afternoon, I went downtown and got me laptop. It may seem simple and straightforward but you have remember that this was my first day in this country. Most newcomers have no idea where to go or what to do when they get here and there I was taking the public transit, walking through unfamiliar neighborhoods, shopping in stores I never knew existed. I have to admit, I was proud of this first day I had, a year of research, mapping and calculating travel times and distances from satellite images have finally paid off.
And so my first day came to an end, I had my new laptop, and called home. In an instant, I was back to reality, all my excitement faded as I listened to my family eat breakfast over the instant messenger.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Flight Date
I was leaving the country I call home for good. Was it difficult? Yes and no.
For the yes part, I was devastated by the fact that I was gonna be apart from my girlfriend for an indefinite period of time. It was also difficult knowing that I was probably gonna miss X-mas morning at home in 2009. But the thing that bothered me most about leaving, was my dog. Who was gonna walk him? Who was gonna pick up after his poop? Who was gonna scratch his tummy? Although I knew that he was gonna be in the care of my folks, I also knew that nobody showed him more affection that I did.
On the no side, well, I was excited. I was constantly dreaming and calculating how much moolah I was gonna be making. I was even checking out cars and the payments that came with them and how I was gonna budget my monthly salary. Of course, it all depended on how much I would actually earn so I made plans in my head for all possible pay grades. Sure, I was counting my chicks before the my eggs hatched. Still, it was all part of the excitement.
Jan2009: A month after I purchased my plane ticket to Toronto, I get laid off from work. Good thing, my pocket money was already in place, however, I also had a scheduled trip to Singapore in Apr2009 and was planning to spend what I earned from Jan-Mar on it. Also, I couldn't cancel the trip even if I was laid off, coz my girlfriend was looking forward to it and would literally kill me if I shot down her hopes. So, without a job, I had to slum it and spend as less as I could before I go.
Feb2009: So there I was, jobless and leaving the country in 3 months. I was actually looking forward to just bumming around. Without my night shift job, I could sleep with my girl at night. I figured that maybe losing my job that January was a great thing. I was so wrong. That month, my girlfriend was assigned to Cebu to set up their company's operations there. I was pissed. I asked her to get out of it. Of course she couldn't unless she resigned but I couldn't affor for her to do that 'coz I was jobless and we were living off her income. So, that was the case a week before the last anniversary I'd have with her before I was gonna be gone indefinitely.
I'm a sentimental person, I knew that I needed to spend that anniversary with her, it was more important than X-mas. Luckily, February is an off-peak month for airlines. Naturally, the prices dropped. So I bought a plane ticket to Cebu with no idea where I was gonna stay when I got there. Still, I packed a backpack and flew there on our anniversary.
My flight back to Manila was scheduled 8 days after my arrival in Cebu. In those 8 days, I had no idea where I was gonna stay in Cebu. My girlfriend was checked in at a girl's dormitory so I had to get a place of my own. That being the case, when I got there, we spent our anniversary night in a cheap motel with roaches under the bed. I didn't care, I was with her anyway and it didn't break the bank.
Valentine's day was great too, it fell on a Saturday and we took a trip to Moalboal beach for some snorkeling. It was great. Here are the pix. After our beach weekend, she was back at work, and I was spending the day looking for a cheap hotel to crash in. It was a long shot, I wasn't ready to spend a Php1000 per night. So we spent another night at a 10hr room.
Then my luck changed. The next day my girlfriend's cousin from the US arrived in Manila for a week long vacation. He had been to manila before and was looking to spend some rest and relaxation time with my girlfriend, so he came to Cebu and we all checked in at the Marriot. My problem was fixed. A week in a five star hotel was more than I needed.
March2009: At last, my girlfriend's stint in Cebu was over. She was back in Manila with me and our dog. Everything was great, I had no work to worry about and we had money to spend, not a lot but enough. We even went with my dad on his class field trip, and there for the first time I showed my girlfriend how I wanted to spend my time at the beach, because unlike most people, I didn't go to the beach to take pictures, or splash in the water, or bask in the sun. I never liked the idea of being a tourist at the beach. I on the other hand loved to have purpose, and that time, my purpose was to baby-sit my dad's students and show them marine eco systems and how they worked.
Apr2009: Two weeks before I was scheduled to fly to Toronto, my girlfriend and I had planned our first international trip together in Singapore (and Malaysia). By this time, my pocket money for Canada was safe in the bank, and we also had enough to bring and spend for our vacation. Since one Singaporean dollar was worth about 30 Philippine pesos, we opted to bring US dollars instead. That way, it did not hurt that much on the foreign exchange counter. And so there we were in Singapore, met up with our friends and had a good time on a budget.
Although I've never been to Toronto by this time we were in Singapore, I already did my research and was comparing the two cities. I was trying to immerse myself into the efficiency and expensiveness of the Singaporean lifestyle in preparation for my life in Toronto. Anyway, Singapore was awesome, just as I remembered it when I first went there 16 years earlier.
That week in Singapore passed by and as we boarded the plane back to Manila, I thought to myself, "One day we'll come back here, first class all the way."
Apr 24, 2009: I asked my girlfriend to skip work and spend the day together. We slept in, made love, then went to my house where my mom was packing my stuff. I know right, my mom packed my stuff. Well, it wasn't as easy as you'd think. I was only allowed 23kg of checked baggage, and 7kg carry-on. So it was kind of tricky. Although I was leaving for good, I didn't bring most of my stuff. Essentially, I didn't bring anything I did not need. Also, because of the weight limit, I did not bring a luggage bag that had wheels on it. I brought box. And it wasn't a balikbayan box like you'd think, it was actually a box that was used for cartons of cigarettes. We reinforced it with duct tape and tied it up with nylon. It was light, the box only weighed 1kg as compared to a luggage trolley that weighed in at at least 5kg.
As night fell, I was with my dog, talking to him, and scratching his tummy just as he liked it. I also took my car out for a short drive, and was talking to it too, telling it that it has been a good car and I thanked it for the convenience it brought me. Finally it was time to drive to the airport, I hugged my nanny, her daughter (who is practically my sister too) , my dog, and said my goodbyes.
I was driving the van, my mom, dad, sister, aunt, cousin were seated at the back while my girlfriend sat up front with me. I wasn't gonna drive myself to the airport, I was on the wheel because my girlfriend did not want to go to the airport and see me off and we were driving to her place to drop her off. I understood this very well. I hate goodbyes.
So I dropped her off at her apartment, kissed her and hugged her goodbye. Then I was numb.
At the airport, my brother, his wife and daughter came to see me off, I said my goodbyes, boarded my plane, and looked back as the lights faded from the runway in the country I call home where all the people I love stayed. The day had come, I was on the plane, my life was gonna be different from now on, I should have been excited, ecstatic and thrilled. No, I was sad. It was a grief I never felt before. Naturally, a tear rolled down my cheek.
Start at the beginning.
For the yes part, I was devastated by the fact that I was gonna be apart from my girlfriend for an indefinite period of time. It was also difficult knowing that I was probably gonna miss X-mas morning at home in 2009. But the thing that bothered me most about leaving, was my dog. Who was gonna walk him? Who was gonna pick up after his poop? Who was gonna scratch his tummy? Although I knew that he was gonna be in the care of my folks, I also knew that nobody showed him more affection that I did.
On the no side, well, I was excited. I was constantly dreaming and calculating how much moolah I was gonna be making. I was even checking out cars and the payments that came with them and how I was gonna budget my monthly salary. Of course, it all depended on how much I would actually earn so I made plans in my head for all possible pay grades. Sure, I was counting my chicks before the my eggs hatched. Still, it was all part of the excitement.
Jan2009: A month after I purchased my plane ticket to Toronto, I get laid off from work. Good thing, my pocket money was already in place, however, I also had a scheduled trip to Singapore in Apr2009 and was planning to spend what I earned from Jan-Mar on it. Also, I couldn't cancel the trip even if I was laid off, coz my girlfriend was looking forward to it and would literally kill me if I shot down her hopes. So, without a job, I had to slum it and spend as less as I could before I go.
Feb2009: So there I was, jobless and leaving the country in 3 months. I was actually looking forward to just bumming around. Without my night shift job, I could sleep with my girl at night. I figured that maybe losing my job that January was a great thing. I was so wrong. That month, my girlfriend was assigned to Cebu to set up their company's operations there. I was pissed. I asked her to get out of it. Of course she couldn't unless she resigned but I couldn't affor for her to do that 'coz I was jobless and we were living off her income. So, that was the case a week before the last anniversary I'd have with her before I was gonna be gone indefinitely.
I'm a sentimental person, I knew that I needed to spend that anniversary with her, it was more important than X-mas. Luckily, February is an off-peak month for airlines. Naturally, the prices dropped. So I bought a plane ticket to Cebu with no idea where I was gonna stay when I got there. Still, I packed a backpack and flew there on our anniversary.
My flight back to Manila was scheduled 8 days after my arrival in Cebu. In those 8 days, I had no idea where I was gonna stay in Cebu. My girlfriend was checked in at a girl's dormitory so I had to get a place of my own. That being the case, when I got there, we spent our anniversary night in a cheap motel with roaches under the bed. I didn't care, I was with her anyway and it didn't break the bank.
Valentine's day was great too, it fell on a Saturday and we took a trip to Moalboal beach for some snorkeling. It was great. Here are the pix. After our beach weekend, she was back at work, and I was spending the day looking for a cheap hotel to crash in. It was a long shot, I wasn't ready to spend a Php1000 per night. So we spent another night at a 10hr room.
Then my luck changed. The next day my girlfriend's cousin from the US arrived in Manila for a week long vacation. He had been to manila before and was looking to spend some rest and relaxation time with my girlfriend, so he came to Cebu and we all checked in at the Marriot. My problem was fixed. A week in a five star hotel was more than I needed.
March2009: At last, my girlfriend's stint in Cebu was over. She was back in Manila with me and our dog. Everything was great, I had no work to worry about and we had money to spend, not a lot but enough. We even went with my dad on his class field trip, and there for the first time I showed my girlfriend how I wanted to spend my time at the beach, because unlike most people, I didn't go to the beach to take pictures, or splash in the water, or bask in the sun. I never liked the idea of being a tourist at the beach. I on the other hand loved to have purpose, and that time, my purpose was to baby-sit my dad's students and show them marine eco systems and how they worked.
Apr2009: Two weeks before I was scheduled to fly to Toronto, my girlfriend and I had planned our first international trip together in Singapore (and Malaysia). By this time, my pocket money for Canada was safe in the bank, and we also had enough to bring and spend for our vacation. Since one Singaporean dollar was worth about 30 Philippine pesos, we opted to bring US dollars instead. That way, it did not hurt that much on the foreign exchange counter. And so there we were in Singapore, met up with our friends and had a good time on a budget.
Although I've never been to Toronto by this time we were in Singapore, I already did my research and was comparing the two cities. I was trying to immerse myself into the efficiency and expensiveness of the Singaporean lifestyle in preparation for my life in Toronto. Anyway, Singapore was awesome, just as I remembered it when I first went there 16 years earlier.
That week in Singapore passed by and as we boarded the plane back to Manila, I thought to myself, "One day we'll come back here, first class all the way."
Apr 24, 2009: I asked my girlfriend to skip work and spend the day together. We slept in, made love, then went to my house where my mom was packing my stuff. I know right, my mom packed my stuff. Well, it wasn't as easy as you'd think. I was only allowed 23kg of checked baggage, and 7kg carry-on. So it was kind of tricky. Although I was leaving for good, I didn't bring most of my stuff. Essentially, I didn't bring anything I did not need. Also, because of the weight limit, I did not bring a luggage bag that had wheels on it. I brought box. And it wasn't a balikbayan box like you'd think, it was actually a box that was used for cartons of cigarettes. We reinforced it with duct tape and tied it up with nylon. It was light, the box only weighed 1kg as compared to a luggage trolley that weighed in at at least 5kg.
As night fell, I was with my dog, talking to him, and scratching his tummy just as he liked it. I also took my car out for a short drive, and was talking to it too, telling it that it has been a good car and I thanked it for the convenience it brought me. Finally it was time to drive to the airport, I hugged my nanny, her daughter (who is practically my sister too) , my dog, and said my goodbyes.
I was driving the van, my mom, dad, sister, aunt, cousin were seated at the back while my girlfriend sat up front with me. I wasn't gonna drive myself to the airport, I was on the wheel because my girlfriend did not want to go to the airport and see me off and we were driving to her place to drop her off. I understood this very well. I hate goodbyes.
So I dropped her off at her apartment, kissed her and hugged her goodbye. Then I was numb.
At the airport, my brother, his wife and daughter came to see me off, I said my goodbyes, boarded my plane, and looked back as the lights faded from the runway in the country I call home where all the people I love stayed. The day had come, I was on the plane, my life was gonna be different from now on, I should have been excited, ecstatic and thrilled. No, I was sad. It was a grief I never felt before. Naturally, a tear rolled down my cheek.
Start at the beginning.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
After a lot of procrastination
Hello world.
Welcome to pukkamoves. The blog's been created a long time ago in preparation for my move from home to Toronto.
And no, I didn't just get here. In fact, I've been here for over three months now. So why start this blog just now? Well, I've always wanted to write about what my new life here is. I had so many plans on how to deliver an interesting story, however I guess it only happens in the movies. My life here so far hasn't been so interesting. I wouldn't say it's not completely uninteresting but it's not like how I imagined.
Anyway, let's start from the beginning.
June 2008: After 22 years of living in the Philippines I was completely comfortable there and you could say I was doing pretty well. Living a cosmopolitan life with my girlfriend, I was happy because work, friends and a steady paycheck that could buy me a comfy lifestyle were all in my pocket. Moreover, my parents, brother, sister, dog, sister in-law and niece were all within a few minutes drive from me and my girlfriend.
Of course you have to remember that this was in the Philippines where prices are lower and after years of being there you get used to the harsh living conditions in a 3rd-world country and simply be thankful for what you got. I have to say, I was happy.
Nonetheless, happiness in there was always given a reality check that it was still an economically crappy place to be in. When that realization hits (and hits quite often), every Filipino wishes they were in a better place.
Under the smiling faces of countless Filipinos is the urgent desire to immigrate to any of the G8 countries. It's practically a default ambition there. When you ask high schoolers what they wanna be when they grow up, they'd always say they wanna go abroad and send money back home.
But I was different, I was born a Canadian. I had a birthright many of my countrymen would suffer for. I had a Canadian citizenship on a silver plate and I stayed home.
For 22 years, I've been hearing people say that I was so lucky to have an all access pass to the western world. When I graduated from university and decided to stay, too many people couldn't understand why. They'd tell me "Do you have any idea how many people would give their left nut for a your birth certificate?" or something to that effect. It really gets annoying. Anyway, I got used to that and continued my blissful existence with my girlfriend, family, dog and friends.
So that was the situation in June 2008 when I finally decided to set my sights on Canada. Why did I do it? Well, regardless if I was happy, I wasn't completely satisfied. I'm not stupid, I know how difficult life can be in the Philippines. And after watching developed countries live in prosperity from afar, I wanted it too.
It was decided then that I would go for the North American dream in the country where I was born. I had the blessing from my mom and dad and the support of my girlfriend. The plan was simple, save enough pocket money to bowl me over in Canada until I get income, stay with my aunt in Toronto until I can afford to rent my own place.
The amount was Php 100,000, about $2400 to last me a maximum of 6 months without income. I know, that amount is cheap. But if you're earning Php 20,000 a month, a hundred grand is a long way to go.
Dec2008: What I thought would take me a year to save up for, I completed in about 6 months. How is that possible? Combined income. Me and my girlfriend lived off about Php10-20k a month and saved the rest of both our paychecks.
On my birthday that month, I bought my plane ticket, one way. ETD was April 24, 2009, 12MN.
Welcome to pukkamoves. The blog's been created a long time ago in preparation for my move from home to Toronto.
And no, I didn't just get here. In fact, I've been here for over three months now. So why start this blog just now? Well, I've always wanted to write about what my new life here is. I had so many plans on how to deliver an interesting story, however I guess it only happens in the movies. My life here so far hasn't been so interesting. I wouldn't say it's not completely uninteresting but it's not like how I imagined.
Anyway, let's start from the beginning.
June 2008: After 22 years of living in the Philippines I was completely comfortable there and you could say I was doing pretty well. Living a cosmopolitan life with my girlfriend, I was happy because work, friends and a steady paycheck that could buy me a comfy lifestyle were all in my pocket. Moreover, my parents, brother, sister, dog, sister in-law and niece were all within a few minutes drive from me and my girlfriend.
Of course you have to remember that this was in the Philippines where prices are lower and after years of being there you get used to the harsh living conditions in a 3rd-world country and simply be thankful for what you got. I have to say, I was happy.
Nonetheless, happiness in there was always given a reality check that it was still an economically crappy place to be in. When that realization hits (and hits quite often), every Filipino wishes they were in a better place.
Under the smiling faces of countless Filipinos is the urgent desire to immigrate to any of the G8 countries. It's practically a default ambition there. When you ask high schoolers what they wanna be when they grow up, they'd always say they wanna go abroad and send money back home.
But I was different, I was born a Canadian. I had a birthright many of my countrymen would suffer for. I had a Canadian citizenship on a silver plate and I stayed home.
For 22 years, I've been hearing people say that I was so lucky to have an all access pass to the western world. When I graduated from university and decided to stay, too many people couldn't understand why. They'd tell me "Do you have any idea how many people would give their left nut for a your birth certificate?" or something to that effect. It really gets annoying. Anyway, I got used to that and continued my blissful existence with my girlfriend, family, dog and friends.
So that was the situation in June 2008 when I finally decided to set my sights on Canada. Why did I do it? Well, regardless if I was happy, I wasn't completely satisfied. I'm not stupid, I know how difficult life can be in the Philippines. And after watching developed countries live in prosperity from afar, I wanted it too.
It was decided then that I would go for the North American dream in the country where I was born. I had the blessing from my mom and dad and the support of my girlfriend. The plan was simple, save enough pocket money to bowl me over in Canada until I get income, stay with my aunt in Toronto until I can afford to rent my own place.
The amount was Php 100,000, about $2400 to last me a maximum of 6 months without income. I know, that amount is cheap. But if you're earning Php 20,000 a month, a hundred grand is a long way to go.
Dec2008: What I thought would take me a year to save up for, I completed in about 6 months. How is that possible? Combined income. Me and my girlfriend lived off about Php10-20k a month and saved the rest of both our paychecks.
On my birthday that month, I bought my plane ticket, one way. ETD was April 24, 2009, 12MN.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Pukka Moves
Hello World!
This is gonna be a blog on me moving. From where and to where... we'll soon find out.
This is gonna be a blog on me moving. From where and to where... we'll soon find out.
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