Virtual Walk Through My Childhood

Last night I chanced upon a vlog of someone who walked through our village. It was a one-hour video of her just walking through the streets. I was fascinated since it's been over a year since I've been home. It was like seeing my home with a fresh eyes. 

Photo by Kuya June <3

The video was long, but I ended up watching it. I bored Sweetie with my commentary haha. I pointed out memorable places, homes of my friends/Titos/Titas, areas where it usually floods, history of the houses, homes we visited for caroling etc. I was surprised to see many new houses and renovated houses. There were very few empty lots left. 

The most exciting part for me was when she walked through our street. She even stopped to take a close-up of my neighbors flowers. I immediately pinged my friend the link to the video. She's in the US now and I'm sure she misses her home too. I appreciate the effort of the vlogger who walked through our village because it reminded me of many happy childhood memories. 

I went to sleep dreaming of the day I can come back home. The video made me realize that everyday things will always be there and we take it for granted. If you ask me I'd still want to live in the village where I grew up. Perhaps I can find a smaller home where we can live. I hope it can just be a stones throw away from where my Mom lives. 

Thank you Kuya June for lending your photo for my blog post.

CB///362  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/25 #StayHome #BeKind   

What I Miss Most from Home

This day a year ago Miggy and I flew back to Singapore. I'm glad I was able to take a break and stay home for six weeks. We were also able to go to Baguio and Bohol during that time. We had planned to go to Tagaytay also in early January. Good thing I decided just to stay home because Taal Volcano erupted. 

Bohol, December 2019.

I've lived in Singapore for almost ten years now and this is the first time I've been away this long. I would normally get to go home once or twice a quarter. Being away this long has been very hard for me. I wouldn't be surprised if my doctors say that one reason why I've been sickly is due to homesickness. 

Here's what I miss most about being home:

1. Being with Miggy and my Mom. It was truly heartbreaking we were not complete for Christmas. It was certainly odd not to be with them during noche buena and media noche. And truly incomplete not to see the rest of my family and friends for Christmas. 

2. Christmas in the Philippines. I've spent several Christmases outside of the Philippines (sometimes in Jakarta, sometimes in Singapore). The best place to celebrate Christmas is at home. A big part that we missed was simbang gabi and the midnight Christmas eve mass. And as much as the fireworks during new year is annoying, I missed that too (even though they usually keep me inside because of the smoke). 

3. Filipino food. Jollibee and some Filipino restos has helped us here, but it's just not the same from what's available at home. That's also the reason why I started learning how to bake Pinoy buns. All the silogs, I miss you!

4. Shopping at home. SM! Glorietta! MOA! I miss shopping at our malls. I normally buy my clothes from Manila since the quality is better, a lot cheaper, and there are more options. It's been also hard to find Filipino ingredients here. There are times it's hard to find toyo, suka and it's been a few months since I've been able to buy Del Monte Italian spaghetti sauce (grrr). 

5. Vacation places. Back home there are so many places you can visit. We have five different types of sand, so many different types of beaches, mountains, hills, forests etc. The options are bottomless. Our last family vacation was in Bohol. I took a lot of videos, but I just can't bring myself to edit it until now. 

I know realistically it's going to be awhile before we can go back home. I'm just praying that we will be complete this Christmas. 

CB///288 #StuckAtHomeDay/318 #StayHome #BeKind 

How I Cope with Homesickness

I miss those days I could just hop on a plane and be home for the weekend. I used to do that a lot when Sweetie and Miggy still lived in Manila. We had a brief respite when all of us were in Singapore while Miggy was studying. Miggy's finished school and has been in Manila for a year now. I was able to see him monthly since he went home since we'd have him over in Singapore quarterly and I went home every so often. I was expecting to do the same this year, but I haven't seen Miggy since February. This is the longest time we've been apart :'(

I pinged my childhood friends this afternoon and told them I'm feeling super homesick. The longest time I've been away from home is 6 months. I was only 4 years old then and we spent 6 months in the US. I turned 5 on the way home from the US. I don't think I felt homesick back then since I had my Mom and Titay to play with everyday. So I pinged my friends this afternoon and told them I was feeling super homesick. They are scheduling an online meetup this Friday (yay!).

This is how I cope with homesickness -

Nag Miggy on Chat - all day, everyday lol.

Order Filipino Food - I can cook, but there are dishes that are best cooked for you. I even put together list of where I get Pinoy food.

Watch Vlogs from Back Home - we watch vlogs from all over the Philippines, I prefer the vloggers with pets though haha. I'm also watching this vlog from a Filipino-Italian based in Australia, his Mom reminds me so much of my Tita Olive.

Ping my Family and Friends - of course, must get tsismis! Errr I mean check on family and friends lol. I especially miss those times I meet up with friends at Commune. Or have weekend get-togethers at Mom's.

Build my Balikbayan Box - probably all Filipinos who work abroad do this. I only finally did this only this year. I didn't need to before because I used to just bring home all my pasalubong. This is the reason why I'm planning for Christmas now.

I'm so grateful to my friends who have been watching out for my family while we're away. <3


CB//155 #StuckAtHomeDay/185 #WFH105  #StayHome #BeKind