Nhemskie's Haven

MARBLING STORY I got involved into volunteer groups through my friend Bona. Bona is an NGO worker working for the Asian Center in the Philippines. When I went back to Philippines last 2005 and dropped by her place, she introduced me to Jerry who was also from Busan and working for Pusan Women's Hotline . It was such a short chat but I never knew that from then, I'll be bound to have this wonderful friendship with her and the organization. Our group do cultural awareness programs for primary schools in Busan. We call the program "Marbling Story" because just like the art, the different colors blend beautifully to the others but the original colors remain or at least the streaks are still noticeable. In the same view, We hope that muliti-cultural families would be able to live by the Korean way but at the same time keeping their country's culture with them. Our group meets every Tuesday morning from 10 to 12. For the first few meetings, we just talked much about e...

I like personally the singer and his songs. 내가 만일- 안치환 내가 만일 하늘이라면 그대 얼굴에 물들고 싶어 붉게 물든 저녁 저 노을처럼 나 그대 뺨에 물들고 싶어 내가 만일 시인이라면 그댈 위해 노래하겠어 엄마품에 안긴 어린아이처럼 나 행복하게 노래하고 싶어 세상에 그 무엇이라도 그댈 위해 되고 싶어 오늘처럼 우리 함께 있음이 내겐 얼마나 큰 기쁨인지 사랑하는 나의 사람아 너는 아니 오오 이런 나의 마음을 내가 만일 구름이라면 그댈 위해 비가 되겠어 더운 여름날에 소나기처럼 나 시원하게 내리고 싶어 세상에 그 무엇이라도 그댈 위해 되고 싶어 오늘처럼 우리 함께 있음이 내겐 얼마나 큰 기쁨인지 세상에 그 무엇이라도 그댈 위해 되고 싶어 오늘처럼 우리 함께 있음이 내겐 얼마나 큰 기쁨인지 사랑하는 나의 사람아 너는 아니 오오 이런 나의 마음을오오 이런 나의 마음을 -------------- If I were the sky I’d make your face glow Just like the flames of sunset I want to put colors on your cheeks If I were a poet I’d sing for you Like a mom singing to her baby nestling on her arms I want to sing happily for you I wanna be anything for you Being with you, just like today, means lots of pleasure I ask you, my love Do you know my real feelings? If I were a cloud I'd be a rain for you Like a shower on a hot day in summer I'll pour down to make you cool I wanna be anything for you Being with you just like tod...

Ngayon ko naisip na labis ko nang nasasabik na makita ang aking mga pamilya at kaibigan sa Pilipinas. Marahil sa dahilang malapit na ang pasko kaya palaging sumasagi sa aking isipan ang mga maga-gandang alaala ng nakaraan--- simbang gabi kasama ang mga kabarkada, walang katapusang kwentuhan at kainan sa ka-hanggan (wikang Batangas na ibig sabihin ay 'kapit-bahay'), sa Jollibee at sa SM. Bumili ng mga regalo sa nararating na pasko, Gumala kasama ang mga pinsan, dumalaw sa puntod ng mga Inay at Tatay... dalawin ang Nanay, mga ninang, mga inaanak (pag-iisipan ko muna kung dapat nga lang dalawin ang inaanak...hahahahaha! biro lamang~)... Nalulungkot ako dahil hindi kami makaka-uwi nitong darating na pasko. Abala si Tommy sa kanyang trabaho, at ako naman ay nagkaroon ng espesyal na klase sa Ingles sa aming institusyon na sisimulan sa darating na bakasyon (Tag-lamig). Nangako kami noong nakaraang taon na darating kaming tatlong pamilya nitong pasko, subalit sa kawalan ng sapat na ora...

My mom-in-law gave me a skin care set as a gift when I first came here in Korea. I panicked over the idea that I never had tried those stuff before... honestly. So I asked Tommy how, and he quite didn't know then too(I had expected the answer) so he tried to asked his sister and I was too embarrased that I never knew these 'chronology' of things which I, as a WOMAN, should know~ Ha! So far I've had gained fairly good observations on how to use them and through several practices I think the results are amazingly good! Here's how: 1. Cleansing First you have to cleanse. There are different types of facial cleansers: cream, foam, oil, bubble or even towel-types (like wet-tissues) to cleanse your face. I do put the cream type cleanser first on my face (especially for removing make-up) gently rubbing a dab in circular motion and wiping it off with a clean facial tissue. After getting rid of the make-up, I then use the foam type, doing the same circular motion then washi...

Six years ago, I followed my heart. The events from that day seem from a distant planet. Six years ago, I worked as an English teacher in a Korean Language school in the Philippines when I met my husband, Tommy. He looked so strange when I first saw him at the school’s lobby because of his weird eye glasses (white-framed plastic eye glasses where he claimed he got the style from a famous Korean actor, 배용준). I think his strangeness and good looks had led me ponder some thoughts that night before I slept. The next day, to my surprise, he became my student (I was really glad that he enrolled to my class). I found his English very poor and horrible. I remember an instance that he mentioned his forehead as his “ground” and when he said something like "he is at my beside" thing. I burst into laughter when he metioned those lines. But after a few months of studying, his English had really improved a lot. Time passed and I found myself interested with him. I knew somehow that he sec...

I was tagged by Che and have been asked to say 7 unknown facts about me. I haven't had much to tell 'coz I still prefer keeping some with me. Thanks Cheryle! I really enjoyed doing this~ So, here it goes: I don't look like a book worm, but I do love books. I love the smell of books and enjoy reading them anywhere, anytime. I got involved in the 1994 Philippine National Games. I was one of the 500 delegates who kicked off the ceremony and my involvement gave me a Final grade of 98, final test exempted. I was a Vicente P. Eusebio Scholar in HS (Pasig City), Provincial School Board Scholar in College (Batangas) and a Dean Lister for some semesters in College ...modesty aside... just pure luck...LOL I failed to go to PMA because of the height requirement...sh*t. I commuted from Pasig all the way to Batangas alone at the age of 12. I gained more than 8 kgs. since I came here in Korea. Sheesh. My sister Tetet was an ATE nean scholar from HS~College and I'm helping ou...

I remember my days when I was in college listening to Joe 'd Mango's Lovenotes. It was such a nice radio program which I'd almost always cried because it had mostly sad stories --- betrayal, love triangle, one-sided love, death and such and such... and really I always felt terribly bad for the letter sender. And I thought for some time that constant listening to sad lovesongs and watching soap operas may lead to serious melancholy and suicides.... Oh dear~ please spare me . Here is one of my favorites... ---------------------------------- Tragedy of Love by Joe D’Mango They say that only time can heal the wounds of a broken heart. That time makes it easier to accept the loss of the people we love. It is a chain that all of us go through, falling in love, getting hurt, getting hurt and vowing not to love again, promising not to love again and becoming miserable all our lives. It‘s not easy getting up on our feet after a crippling fall but there is no other way but to sta...

Directed by: Phyllida Lloyd Starring: Meryle Streep, Amanda Seyfried Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard Dominic Cooper, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski Year: 2008 Running Time: 108 mins. Language: English, Greek Country: UK, USA The movie was awesome! It made us, Tommy and I, laugh until the last scene. It was about the story of a young lady(Amanda) who was about to get married discovered that she has three possible fathers. She had read her mom's diary (Meryle) secret summer affairs and she secretly invited the three possible men to her wedding (wishing her father might lead her way to the altar). The movie, just like the musical, features the original songs of ABBA. I like personally the songs of Amanda because she can really sing well.

다 름 이 같 아 지 는 이 야 기 필리핀 친구가 “결혼생활은 처음에 힘들지만 시간이 가면 갈수록 더 힘들어” 라고 말해줬습니다. 그 말을 듣고 웃음이 나와 눈물이 뚝뚝 떨어 졌어요. 하지만 한국에서 5년이 지난 지금은 그 말을 이해할 수 있습니다. 한국의 인간관계에서 힘든 점을 떠올리면 처음 한국에 왔을 때 일단 문화가 너무 달랐습니다. 문화가 달라서 아마 첫 인연을 맺는 것이 힘들었어요. 시부모님을 모시는 것, 그 중에서도 아침에 시부모님 보다 먼저 일어나서 인사 드리는 것이 힘들었죠. 왜냐하면 필리핀에서는 그런 문화가 없어요. 필리핀에서는 보통 9시쯤에 잠을 자서 아침 6~7시 사이에 일어나 자기 생활을 해요. 하지만 저희 남편 집은 저녁에 자주 가족들과 함께 식사를 하고 술도 한잔 하면 늦은 시간에 잠을 자요. 갑자기 생활리듬이 바뀌고, 그래도 시부모님께 좋은 모습을 보여드리려고 하니 몸이 피곤하고 힘들었어요. 또 한국은 필리핀 하고 음식 맛이 달라요. 어머니가 준비하는 음식이 많이 맵고, 제 입에 안 맞아도 “네~ 잘 먹겠습니다^^”하면서 먹어요. 사실은 우리 시어머니 마음이 상할까 봐 먹기 싫어도 어머니가 정성스럽게 만든 음식이기 때문이죠. 저희 남편 집 음식은 원래가 맵고, 짠데 제가 오고 난 이후로 어머니께서는 저를 위해 안 맵고, 안 짜게 해주세요. 저를 위하는 어머니 마음을 알고 나니 미안했어요. 저는 나 혼자만 한국 문화에 맞춰야 한다고 생각했었는데 어머니도 저를 많이 생각하고 있어줘서 고마웠어요. 그리고 또 힘들었던 점은 한국 사람들은 모임이 많아요. 초등학교 동창회, 중학교 동창회, 고등학교 동창회, 부부동반…… 그냥 모이는 것만 아니고 돈을 내는 ‘계’도 많아요. 한국 오고 일주일 후에 남편의 친구 결혼식이 있었어요. 결혼식 전날 친구를 소개시켜 준다고 모임에 참석했어요. 처음에는 고기만 먹고 집에 갈 줄 알았는데 새벽3시에 집으로 갔어요. 그리고 다음날 아침 일찍 결혼식을 하고 비행기 떠날 때까지 또 같이 놀았어요. 필리핀에서 결...

SINIGANG NA BABOY (시니강 나 바보이) (Sour Soup Pork) 500 gm boney pork 3-4 medium tomatoes - sliced 1 big onion - sliced 1 Tbsp sea salt 1-2 green chilis - pointed ends cut off [optional] 6-8 cups water souring agent (tamarind puree, lemon and/or lime) 1 aubergine (eggplant) - sliced 1 inch thick and quartered 1 bunch long string beans (sitaw) [optional] - cut into 2 inch pieces 2 taro roots (gabi) - peeled and quartered spinach leaves or kangkong - washed and plucked from stems PROCEDURES 1. Combine tomatoes, onion, and sea salt in a big pot. Mix and mash them a little bit with your fingers. Add chilis (optional) and pork. 2. Pour just enough water to cover them and bring to boil. Cook for about 3 minutes. Mash the tomatoes with a sandok (cooking spoon). Pour in the rest of the water, bring to boil and simmer until pork is tender (about 1 1/4 hours). 3. Add taro, aubergine and sitaw. Bring to boil and simmer until taro is almost cooked (about 5 minutes). 4. Add the souring agent and spin...

I believe that in order to understand Korean men, we must know something about their beliefs and culture first. The Koreans in general do believe in the Confucian doctrine. The Rule of three Obediencies states that a woman is a subordinate to: (1)her father before marriage, (2)her husband after marriage, and (3)her son(s) once she is widowed This belief of Chosun system of male family has persisted to the present day (even the guys don’t agree sometimes) despite the countervailing demands of industrialization. The doctrine itself is somehow a key to understand why men thought of their selves as the head or the “king” of the family. In the courting period, this isn’t a problem. Of course, all of us may vouch for this that, the courtship period is not the reality, the reality starts once you married the man and live together in the same house. After a few years time, you’ll get to know each other and somewhere between life will be a little tougher than before. But before life gets toughe...

Overview: Batman (Christian Bale) has to keep a balance between hero and vigilante to fight a vile criminal known as The Joker (Heath Ledger), who would plunge Gotham City into anarchy. Directed by: Christopher Nolan Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger Year: 2008 MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 2:32 Language: English Country: United States I've seen this movie at IMAX Busan with Tommy and I thought that the movie was better than what I expected. The only bad thing was we couldn't see the return of Heath Ledger (Joker) in the next sequel (if there would be...) of the movie. He did a good portrayal of the character and I felt really sorry for what had happened to him after seeing the movie. Perhaps, it could also be one of the reasons why it's marked as the second All-time Box Office in the US, next to Titanic. I expect the next joker would be as good as what had Heath's done.

My vacation this year was very busy and tiring. And though I had a full 10-days off from work, those days were still not enough to have a real decent vacation where I could get a day's nap and take things slowly than my usual pace. Most of these times were spent at the Philippine Embassy in Seoul, our Community Center and the Busan Immigration . If you were keen to guess... yes, I am now a naturalized Korean. I won't say I'm very happy for this big change but I won't deny too that it'll make my life easier here in Korea and for my family too since we're all of the same nationality now. I also applied for Chloe's Philippine Passport and reported her birth as well (meaning she's now a dual citizenship holder). I'll do some more talking about the procedure next time. So, off we go to Seoul last Friday's night after my last class. We started at 11 pm and arrived at Euijeong bu at 3:30 am. Tommy drove all the way from Busan~Euijeong bu IC for four a...

I’ve been tagged by Cheryle . Thanks for the tag~ I'm tagging Vanessa , Bona Dea and ate Rhea RULES: 1. This tag should be passed on to your friends. 2. Visit the Blog of the person you’ve got this tag. 3. Leave a comment on her/his tag post. Be sure to thank her/him for this tag. 4. Highlight and link all the list of people who accepted this tag by visiting their blog site. 5. There are 10 questions that you need to answer but you will be the one to write the 10th question for the next person you want to pass this tag. Here are your questions: Just Be Honest and Fair! 1. How did you meet your husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend? I was working at an English School in QC when Mr. Jung asked me to interview three new students. He was one of them (It took some time to recognize our "liking to each other") 2. Where did you go on your first date? We had our first real date at Max's SM North. 3. When was your first intimate kiss? Six years ago... whew! 4. How many girlfr...

Aside from catching my daily ounce of reading, I'm also catching up with the latest pops. I thought RX 93.1 would be updated with the weekly chart but I was disappointed to see that their last chart update was March. Anyways, I got to listen to this song by Little Bit- Forget About Me . How I love sad songs!

Life has been smoother after the strenuous family schedule few weeks ago. There was this house moving, weekend out-of-town trip, and bidding goodbye to a family going abroad. It's kinda' easy to think this for some... but not with the JUN's. Tommy's family is quite different from other families here in Korea, as far as I know. They are really, really this kind of "close" to each other, they enjoy eating with a couple of drinks... I MEAN eating for as long as they can! I mean I know their metabolism are quite amazing even if they eat for hours and still they don't get fat but, how about ME??? (kkk) A typical get-together dinner would last for 3 hours... minimum but if you'll say it's a get-together party with some more relatives coming it would be just like until dawn! My mom-in-law has a fairly generous set of hands. Appetizers, main dish, desserts... soup for hangovers... you name it! and the list goes on and on. Our family believes like it...

We've got this amazing opportunity to go to Former President Roh Mu Hyun's hometown and luckily see him personally. The location is in Bong Ha Village, Kim Hae. People were really glad to see him. Just see how they smile although it was midday and the weather was really hot and humid.

I have fancied to be a politician before and I thought of doing some good things for my country- the Philippines. I am not a much of a patriot, I've never been involved to any strike, demonstrations or rally. But I had volunteered to some environmental projects run by the government back in my college years (coastal cleaning), I did "Alay Lakad" twice when I was in High School and applied for PMA scholarship when I was 17 (unfortunately they turned down my application because of my height... I was 157cm before they require for at least 158.5). I was told by one friend that you'll never love your country more than you would when you haven't gone out of it. It was very true to me. It hurts me to see something bad happening in 'Pinas', when other people ( should I say other nationalities) get the news first (it's always a bad news) before me or whenever a natural disaster like typhoon or earthquake hits the Philippines. It makes me think for a while th...

I'm too engrossed in reading books lately. In two weeks time I've finished reading 4 books and I'm really impressed with it, thinking I've got to read all of those while travelling by subway (It's my ONLY private time nowadays). I like especially the books written by Sophie Kinsella . I like the way she writes and her way of telling silly humorous things~ it gives me a big smile on my face while commuting and I don't care whether some Korean students are looking at me and curious "why is she smiling like that?"-thing on their faces. Anyways, I'm so happy I've got into this reading regime back into my system again for more than four years! I thought of many things in my life lately because of reading. There was this once like I'd like to make a big change in my life. I work like a dog lately and I never had had the time for myself. And if there are so, like going to the spa or meeting my friends sometime... I feel rather guilty asking Tommy ...

Chloe's dad and her grandma at the Annual Spring Sports Festival Chloe's uncle, aunties, Sue and grandma with me, of course! 'Yu Che' flowers in Bloom 2008 Busan International Motor Show (BIMOS) at BEXCO She's the prettiest racing girl I saw around!

My schedule is full. Believe me, I don't even have my personal time nowadays because of my daughter, Chloe. So when it comes to blogging, I always have this desire to write and update my blog often, which were best done than said. So, my daily routine is like this: wake up early at 6 am, play with Chloe and watch DVDs with her, prepare her breakfast at around 8, feed her at 9, put her to bed before 10 which I should take a shower right after she sleeps, prepare our lunch... (at that time she'll be awake), eat lunch with her, make up, dress up for work... then bring Chloe to my in-laws house before 12:30 nn. Take the subway for 40 minutes, work.... arrive at my in-laws house at 8 pm, take Chloe home, feed her milk, give her a bath and send her to sleep... (massage...massage) prepare dinner and eat dinner with Tommy... that would be at least around past 10 (it depends if Chloe would sleep sooner) and after, wash the dishes, wash Chloe's bottles, pick up some of her mess arou...

Five years ago, when I was still in my home country, I never thought of what my students say when they tell me that married women here in Korea are the strongest. I, for one, had never been in to this country so, I took it only as a joke. How could have any married woman in the world be different? But since I married and came here, I found their words to be true. An "아가씨" is a single woman in Korea. Once this single woman married, she therefore enters to the world of "Ajummas." Ajummas are of no difference from any other humans, except they are wives, mothers, companions, daughters and career women-all-of-a-sort. They are believed to be 'super-humans' because of their strength... they are strongest after giving birth to their children. They are happiest with other ajummas around, singing trot music and chatting almost everything from their family lives to what side dishes to make, what Sauna is the best or where is the biggest sale in town, like that. They w...

Sunday morning for me is the best day of the weekend for that's the time where I can sleep a bit more in the morning and have much more time for Chloe and Tommy. But yesterday Sunday morning was different. After a Busy Saturday (Advance Korean Class at the BFIA in the morning and the family-get-together-dinner at my in- laws house) Chloe, Tommy, and Min Jae oppa's family (Tommy's HS friend) set forth for a railway trip by Mugung hwa from Dongnae Station to Bulguk Sa Station yesterday. This was my first East Coast railway travel as well as Chloe so it was such a delight to see all beaches at our window starting from Haeundae, Song Jong, Gijang, Il Gwang, Dae Byeon, Woell le to Im Rang Coast. Chloe was very happy and excited (she was looking for her whale friend from Porroro) to see the vast sea. She was also very glad eating her snacks and drinks while travelling. We boarded the train at noon and arrived at the Temple's ground by 3 p.m. (We met a lot of problems on the w...

I just came from my family's weekend trip to the Northern region of South Korea- 경기도. My sis-in-law and her family arranged a ski trip (Daemyeong Resort- Vivaldi Park) with the whole family. It was really, really fun but tiring... really. This is my second ski experience and I found it to be very interesting and worth the hurt... Ouch~ So I thought of those good things that money could do to make people happy. We stayed there for three days and two nights (thanks for my sis-in-law's membership benefits~) and although staying there is quite fun, money is what you'll always need there. Then I thought of my fellow teacher who just luckily won in lottery (320,000,000 won approximately around 338K USD) and thought of the good things she could get.... She told me before she left the school that she'll travel around Europe with her family, buy a new new house, buy an imported car and give some cash to her family... Hmmm... I'm very green with envy! I went first by an expr...