5 October 2010
2010
This year is truly memorable. A year of transition and changes.
I will surely miss our home for the last 5 years but looking forward to moving on.
All the pieces are coming together to bring us to our next destination.
It is meant to be.
Oh we are also looking forward to the new addition to the family.
We are truly blessed.
30 May 2010
20 May 2010
Gearing Up for the Summer
Finally,we are experiencing some warm sunny spells. I am definitely looking forward to the summer. Hopefully we will have a lot of barbeque weather.
My daughter is turning 4 years old this summer. This means that she will be going to school in September. How time flies! I would like to host a party for her and if the weather is nice, I would like to rent this place where we can have a picnic theme with our friends and their kids.
We are also planning for my family's summer get together. My mom and my youngest sister are arriving next month for a visit. Sis is staying a little less than 3 weeks while my mom agreed to stay longer. I am definitely looking forward to her home cooked meals!
8 April 2010
Easter in Istanbul
We usually have a tradition every year to spend the Easter holidays in the UK with our friends and family. However this year, we decided to spend the Easter holidays with only the three of us and we decided to go to Istanbul. We loved the city, the food and its people. Istanbul is very rich in history and culture.
It was nice to bond as a family. It was a joy to see my daughter appreciate the sound of the city and she was such a trooper trying out the Turkish cuisine. With our busy schedules, we always find it important to spend quality time with each other and these short breaks allow us the opportunity to just enjoy being together.
11 March 2010
A Global Village
I work in a very multi-cultural environment where 80% of the employees are all foreigners. It feels like working for the United Nations, with at least 60 countries represented. So it is not surprising that I am not motivated at all to speak Dutch or practice my Dutch. This also makes work very interesting and challeging--with all the confluence of cultures, temperaments(!) and varying backgrounds (and egos too having a lot of highly educated professionals employed specifically for their expertise).
During lunch it amazes me to be sharing a table with 10 or more different nationalities. Funny, with my Italian sounding family name, people are curious where I come from given the fact that I do not really look Italian. Some colleagues are surprised when I say that I come from the Philippines. "You are quite tall for a Filipino", some of them would comment. But again, there is the usual stereotyping.
What I like about my job is that I work a lot with stakeholders in developing countries and emerging economies so in principle I work with different time zones. In principle, I do not even have to be in the office all the time because all my projects are located abroad. However, since I also need to work with various experts, I also deal with a lot of Dutch and European counterparts both in the private and public sectors so in that regard I still feel very much connected to Europe.
Speaking of developing countries, I am getting some interesting projects and the travel prospects are leading to the Philippines, Maldives, Nigeria, Bangladesh and....Pakistan. The next few months will be an interesting mix of travel adventures.