i wanted to belong here
but something felt so wrong here
so i'd pray
i could breakaway ("breakaway" by kelly clarkson)..

.. and i did.

thank You, Lord. :D

Sunday, April 30
7:15pm

Ok. I’m here in Singapore Changi Airport, sipping café mocha and munching down a tuna sandwich. Pacific Coffee Company seemed a nice place to camp (fine, fine, I’m just really after the free Internet access) so I decided to stay here while waiting for my 940pm confirmation. Haha.. Emirates. Keep Discovering. :D

You must be wondering how I got here, when I should be back in Dubai by now, working. After all, vacation leave is over. It has ended for almost a week, I am nowhere near home base, and have got two absences already! Haha.. You’re not alone. I, too, cannot fully understand as to how I got myself in this situation a lá The Terminal. One thing is certain, though. This is an adventure I won’t ever forget, and will always look back to after 5, 10, and even 48 years. It will be a story I’m sure I’ll be repeatedly telling my grandchildren. In my opinion, a spaz will always be a spaz. With gray hair, I still won’t run out of stories, believe me.

Anyway, why in the world am I here in Singapore, alone?

I was set to leave on the 26th of April via Emirates Airline with my brother and mom. I’ve got two tickets (an ID90 and ID50) to ensure that I get back on time. You can just imagine my surprise when I arrived in NAIA last Wednesday. There were 70 standby passengers, and most of them paid the full fare! It was that bad. When people could finally be accommodated, only 4 out of 70 stood a chance and got on the flight. This has been the crazy scenario since I first went there, and being dextroscoliotic didn’t help, either. My back started to really bother me with all the carrying and pushing, so we didn’t have ourselves enlisted yesterday. My mom, then, helped me figure out what to do and recommended a travel agency. I was willing to pay the full amount, even a business class ticket, just to get home. I was that desperate. According to the agent, though, Middle East-bound flights from different operating airlines are fully booked until last week of May. So I thought of other possible routes, and realized I have Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong to consider. Per the company’s portal (where we can check the flight status and prediction), I have the highest chance of getting on a flight to Dubai through Singapore on April 30 via EK 352 leaving at 1025pm. Consequently, I found out about this budget airline which could take me to Changi Airport in such a short notice (imagine, there was still an available slot a day before; bought the ticket only on the 29th) and for a much cheaper price. Besides, the arrival time of 405pm allows me a couple of hours to check in and prepare for the connecting flight to Dubai. So here I am, taking chances miles away from my family, camping in the café. :D

As I type away my story, though, I can’t help but feel so blessed to have this experience. In the midst of it all, God is still good. I’ve learned so many things, like not going on leave during the summer (good luck, haha!) and expertly packing and unpacking clothes. Kidding aside, I’ve also realized that we can stay happy and optimistic despite circumstances, only if we choose to. After all, there are much worse things in life.

Crazily singing “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5 over and over despite not knowing when I’ll finally be back in Dubai (plus a very serious meeting with my manager hanging over my head), I think I’m doing pretty good. :D

And life is a road.. I wanna keep going
Love is a river, I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through

Lord, in the end, I want to be standing
At the beginning with You! :D

my sister forwarded a quote that really got me thinking..

@>--

it is madness..

to hate all roses

because you got scratched with one thorn,

to give up on your dreams

because one didn't come true,

to lose faith in prayers

because one was not answered,

to give up on your efforts

because one of them failed,

to condemn all your friends

because one betrayed you,

not to believe in love

because someone was unfaithful

or didn't love you back.

i hope as you go on your way,

you don't give up..

@>--

i haven't given up, have i? god, i hope not..

do i trust you?
by twila paris

sometimes my little heart can't understand
what's in Your will
what's in Your plan
so many times i'm tempted to ask You why

but i could never forget it for long
Lord, what You do, could not be wrong
so i believe You even when i must cry

do i trust You, Lord, does the river flow?
do i trust You, Lord, does the north wind blow?
You can see my heart
You can read my mind
and You've got to know i would rather die
than to lose my faith in the One i love
do i trust You?
do i trust You?

sometimes my little heart can't understand
what's in Your will what's in Your plan
so many times i'm tempted to ask You why

but i could never forget it for long
Lord, what You do, could not be wrong
so i believe You even when i must cry

i will trust You, Lord, when i don't know why
i will trust You, Lord, till the day i die
í will trust You, Lord, when i'm blind with pain
You were God before and You'll never change
i will trust You..

@>--

jHOanNa babY is.. up all night with te laarns, te pam, blu, ara and kuya kirby. :D

it's great to be back home! :D i've been in manila for less than a day and already i'm starting to enjoy and go places. in a spur of the moment, my friends ate pam (aka muffin) and ate laarns (or danish, short for danish pastries.. why, i will explain later) decided to go to tagaytay today for a ride with my family as well and some other friends from johia. we hung out at starbucks overlooking taal from 5pm to 830 pm, notoriously downed coffee cups without insulating sleeves like there was no tomorrow, and basically updated each other with the latest bits of our lives. we've been good friends since year 2000, and so much has changed.

ate pam is now a supervisor of a shipping company, definitely not the quiet and apathetic (as in wa care-slash-kebs, haha) girl from k.i.m. (kids in mission, a johia ministry). she's obviously more assertive, and ahem, more "important." in short, mas maangas na.. joke! ate laarns, on the other hand, has shifted from her admittedly plain and boring outfits to feisty ones! she now loves going to shops that sell funky clothings of all colors and sizes. actually, the smaller the size and more revealing, the better. haha! she won't say it, but ate laarns condones britney's fashion sense 4 years ago when she was still justin timberlake's girlfriend. or was it christina aguilera's during her 'dirrrtty' stint?

and well, i'll leave my life's supposedly "big" changes to your imagination na lang. :D

what do we have in common, really? first and foremost, we all have an undying love for coffee (starbucks, in particular, and their european pastries. by the way, my name's waffle. :D). second, our friendship is low maintenance.. even if we don't get to see each other everyday as i am now based abroad, we still keep trusting and loving (naks naman..ching!).. a whole year can pass by without watching a movie together or swapping books, but the next time our paths cross, hala ka! dakdakan to the max, ever, as in chuvanes here and there. hehe.. it'll be as if the whole 12 months just went in a blur. for some reason, we always find each other no matter what. like now.. we all are 6 years older, much wiser (aka more bading! :D), and yet still darn good friends..

basta. i can go on why up until now we remain "mare-slash-gurlaloo" (we've also had rifts and catty fights, mind you, although i can't think of anything at the moment.. i'm sure meron eh. or maybe we really are just boring! :D), but i guess our shared passion for god (despite being stupid in the past and all the mistakes we made) tops it all. kaya kami friends eh. we recognize our weaknesses that humble us (especially me! jhoey's no angel, that's for sure. i'm not exactly proud of that.. but not going to let myself stay that way, either), and at the same time, we acknowledge we can be better people.. as in different, but good different. catch my drift? we've all decided it's about time, anyway. :D

@>-<

jHOanNa babY... is too excited and can't sleep. hehe..

at exactly 6 in the morning, i stay awake surfing the net and chatting with my friends joy and ella. i couldn't sleep.. i actually didn't want to. i've been eating a lot lately, especially at night, which is sooo bad. i still do it, anyway, haha.. i guess this is my equally bad way to burn calories. besides, i have to be at the office around 8am for my brother's visa, and if i take a nap now, i won't be able to get up early. i know, i know. it's a lame excuse, but whatever. haha.. i'm really looking forward to my vacation this april.. i've got so many plans with my family, friends from citi, college barkada and my johia circle. i hope to also apply for a non-pro license this month, and get accepted, among some other things i have to take care of when i get home. **sigh** just thinking of the stuff i both need and want to do makes me cringe. but it's better than not going back to the philippines, that's for sure. :D

@>-<

jHOanNa babY is...busy at the moment watching f.r.i.e.n.d.s., checking out new music videos, burning smallville vcds for noems, and binging on sweet stuff (ugh!)..

@>-<

why does mariah's song "don't forget about us" keep playing in my head like a nagging thought that wouldn't go away? bugger off, mimi..