Today with Carphone Warehouse

I ordered online a dongle (for mobile internet) from the Carphone Warehouse. Instead of just one, I ordered 2 instead. So I called the company.

The Customer Advisor rattled off his lines and I kept on saying 'pardon?' and 'sorry?' because he had cockney accent. For someone like me whose ears are used to thick northern accent, it was certainly a difficult deciphering job. Anyway.

He then asked me if I was from the Philippines. (Does this detail appear in bank accounts? :) ) So I said, yes!

It turned out that he's Filipino as well but can only speak a little bit of Tagalog. For him, 'marunong akong mag Tagalog' means I cannot speak Tagalog. I was tempted to say that he was correct in that translation.

So my transaction with Carphone Warehouse turned out to be more interesting and a little bit longer than it should have been.

And if you ever encounter a problem with Talktalk, AOL, or TMobile, call Carphone Warehouse and speak to LEO! (Lee-yow or as his mother pronounces it, Ley-yow).

Snowmen

Thanks to Joy, I was able to see my men on the cover of National Geographic. Unfortunately, I haven't received yet my own subscription copy!

When you are told to study and you go off gallivanting

Today, I have a rare chance to go online while my boys are being entertained by their auntie, uncle and grandparents.

K gave me this chance because I've been moaning all the time that I need to rewrite my course essay and submit it before deadline.

So my mother-in-law cooked Sunday lunch for everybody.

And they don't have a faintest idea that I'm just bloghopping.

I can't study while I'm online, y'know!

Myra Cabrera

I was disturbed last night when I saw the news about the death of Myra Cabrera, a Filipino nurse in Swindon.

She was a victim of gross negligence from a hospital and staff who were supposed to provide excellent care.

Although this happened in 2004, an inquest's ruling on her death just came out which highlighted some safety policies that have been ignored by hospitals in the UK.

More of Myra Cabrera here.

To my Husband

Happy Anniversary!, originally uploaded by Soyy.

We had lunch outside today. Had to be lunchtime. We don't like to leave our boys in the night, do we?

While eating, we looked at each other and wondered how time flies! We decided not to have dessert and went to the supermarket instead to buy cake so we could share it with the rest of the family.

We went for a walk in the snowy hills of the Peak District. It was lovely. I scrutinised my boot prints on the snow and noticed how tiny they were compared to other boot prints of other walkers.

We recalled our favourite moments during our wedding. We received messages from my family back home in the Philippines.

You made me feel special today.
Thanks for the happy years together.

work lunch

work lunch, originally uploaded by Soyy.

When I'm at work the whole day, I usually bring my own lunch. Rice is painstaking, when I only have one hour to prepare in the morning. It should be a treat but the only other kind of food I can think of to go with it (one that doesn't need 15 minutes to prepare) is tuna with pureed tomato and loads of black pepper.

If only I could make paksiw the Surigaonon way...
If only I could make paksiw the Surigaonon way that doesn't whiff off vinegar and garlic...
If only I could just...

But I don't have a choice, unless I go back to my mother-in-law's house to feast on her baked tuna and cheese and some other sorts with only 5 minutes to spare before going back to work again.

So I make do with this concoction of raw vegetables. (Cheese was added after I took this photo.)

And my stomach started to rumble soon afterwards.

And I still have 3 hours to go before home time!