Hello friends, actually sa Thursday pa ang flight ko. Pero malayo kasi kami sa Frankfurt airport kaya kailangan ko ng umalis bukas to avoid stress. I’m staying at my sister’s place in Darmstadt at sila na rin ang maghatid sa amin sa airport early in the morning. Kaya this will be my last post while I’m away.

Hindi ko akalaing malulungkot ako ng ganito and never I imagined na magkakaroon ako dito ng mga kaibigan na katulad niyo. You are all sooo nice. I really enjoyed blogging and bloghopping lately at hindi lang enjoy kundi inspired pa :) dahil sa inyo. When I started blogging, the situation was just like in my real life. Nag-iisa dahil walang kakilala, kaya malungkot at siyempre walang ganang sumulat. It rapidly changed since I met you guys.

Taos puso akong nagpapasamalat kay Mommy Ting. Dahil kong hindi sa kanya hindi ko kayo nakilala. Ngeek! Sorry if I sound melodramatic ha, pero lahat ng sinabi ko ay tutuo.

And I would like to thank everybody for the best wishes. Enjoy kayo habang wala ako and take care.
P.S

Teka muna. Meron palang pc ang brod ko so meron din pala akong pagkakataong makipag chika sa inyo. Thess, oo na I’m going to enjoy my vacation at hindi lang sa harap ng computer nakaupo. Promise!

My web server sucks!!! I have been having problems with “safe mode“. I asked them to turn it off for me but they said it’s not possible. In addition…Wordpress have some function like editing permalinks structure. Now…I can’t apply this either due to mod_rewrite, they don’t have it installed.

Well, since they are not willing to comply with my wishes I decided to move to another server. I found one this morning that offers all the possibilies I need. “Freeweb” is a whole lot cheaper than my current server. I only have to pay €2,99 monthly (the same diskspace of 500 MB) without extra yearly payment for my com domain.

Don’t worry friends, you still find me under the same web address. I asked my new server to take over barkada-network. All I have to do later is manually transfer all files and mysql datas, in order to have my site’s former function. This means I’ll be having a lot of work to do in the next few days. Nasa bakasyon na ako nito kaya doon ko na gagawin ang lahat.

Stay tuned and til next.

There’s nothing much to write this time, so I decided to show off the templates for Wordpress 1.2 I made. Be gentle with your comments for I am just a beginner.

Template 1 ==> Download here.

Template 2 ===> Download here.

Template 3 ===> Download here.

Templates for WP 1.3 and or 1.5 is coming.

I’m having a lazy day today. Ang pangit kasi ng weather kaya no jogging. So I decided to pamper myself instead habang tulog si liit. Wellness bath for my body and soul is what I need after those stressful days. Kaya I went to the “Drogerie” (drugstore) nearby and bought a rose scented bath oil, body peeling and some fresh roses from the flower shop.

I sliced some cucumber while the water was running in the bath tub. Nabasa ko kasi from a magazine na maganda daw ito gamiting facial mask. Downstairs again, I poured bath oil to the water and added those rose petals . Wow ang bango-bango! I lighted candles and turned on the recorder playing Chopin. Then I took a shower at doon ako nag body scrub.

I climbed in the tub pagkatapos and laid there for some minutes before I applied the cucumber slices on my face. Hmm, how relaxing. It feels like as if I’m in heaven. I should have done this often.

Habang nakapikit ang aking mga mata at nag muni-muni bigla kong naramdaman ang sobrang kati ng aking mukha. I ignored it dahil akala ko kasama yon sa mask effect. Aba! Ang kati ay naging hapdi. Graveh! Kaya bumangon ako’t tiningnan ko sa salamin kong ano ang nangyari. Waaaaaa! I got red circles on my face and it’s swelling. What a shock, mukha akong hinalikan ng octupos. Helllllpppp!

My wellness turns out a disaster! Allergic pala ako sa lintik na cucumber. Arayyyy! Paano na lang ito may appointment pa naman ako mamaya sa hairdresser. Anak ng kabayong nangamatis I’ m not going to follow tips from a mag anymore without testing it first. Pahamak!!!

Three different words one meaning. It simply means Carnival in english. Carnival is a regional festival and is celebrated in different ways according to different local traditions. It?s known as:

Karneval in the Rheinland area.

Fastnacht around the city of Mainz (’fasting night’, or eve of Lent, the period of fasting).

Fasching around the city of Munich (M?nchen) and in Austria.

Fastnacht is related to the Germanic word ?fasten? (to fast, abstain from eating).
Karneval is related to the Latin ?carnem levare? (to remove meat)

Carnival season (season nang mga baliw at ng gustong magpaka baliw like me) is a time of wild fancy-dress parties and costume-balls (hihihi kong hindi lang malamig 3 band-aid ay pwede nang isuot…oh what a daring thought), which are open to the public. Carnival reaches its climax in big street processions with elaborately decorated floats, usually on Rosenmontag. Carnival celebrations happen mainly in the Catholic parts of Germany. Nevertheless, Karneval parties do occur in some places in the north of Germany.

Officially it starts “am elften elften elf Uhr elf” (11th November at 11:11am) and continues in a fairly low-key way for about three months before the Tolle Tage (Crazy Days) which climax on Rosenmontag, the 42nd day before Easter. Carnival season is traditionally seen as a chance for people to go wild and at magladlad ng kanilang kapa before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday. In the Christian church Lent is a serious time before Easter for fasting (I’m a bad christian kaya kumakain pa rin ako kahit Fastenzeit) and making up for your sins and mistakes (every year I get confused where to start dahil sa dami ng kasalanan ko).

Carnivals are held in southern German cities, and in the Rheinland cities of Mainz, Aachen, Bonn and D?sseldorf. The biggest and zaniest Karneval is in K?ln. The first written record of the K?ln carnival is from the year 1341. K?ln has the Dreigestirn (three Stars): the Carnival Prince (known as Seine Tollit?t, ?His Craziness?), the Bauer (peasant) and the Jungfrau (virgin). The Jungfrau has always been a man. It is a great honour to be a member of the Dreigestirn, and they are elected each October from the members of K?ln?s 105 historic carnival associations.

Army officerThe K?ln carnival involves heaps of street-parties and pub-parties, with people disguising themselves in all sorts of ways. In fact, on Rosenmontag you stand out as unusual if you aren?t wearing

some sort of mad costume or haven?t painted a clown-face on yourself. At the parades and costume-balls people are dressed as sheiks, Vikings (with hairy coats and horned helmets), Attila the Hun, clowns and harlequins, devils, witches, animals, or fruit, and in many other creative ways.

K?ln?s many Karneval associations put a lot of effort into building and decorating the floats for the Rosenmontag parade. As the floats pass by, the costumed people on board them pelt the street crowds with lollies and sweets. The people are like hungry animals na nagtutulakan at nag-aagawan. Minsan if your’re not careful it might happen na matatamaan ka sa mga pinagtatapon na candies. When we watch parade we always have umbrella with us. It serves not only as protection kundi pansalo na rin ( it’s only possible kong babaligtarin ito).

Weiberfastnacht (women?s carnival night) is the Thursday before Rosenmontag, and it is tradition that women are allowed to cut off the tie of any man within reach (our boss and male colleagues were our victims), and to kiss any man they want to (yikes). Women going out that night to pubs take scissors with them. Rosenmontag is not an official holiday but in areas of Germany that celebrate Karneval, workers usually get the day off. On Rosenmontag German television devotes a lot of time to Karneval am Rhein.

As described above, Karneval is associated with festivals of the Christian church (wild partying before Lent begins). However, it goes back to pagan times, and was a way of driving out the evil spirits of winter and encouraging the coming of spring and good crops. Ugly masks worn for this purpose are still worn in carnival festivals in southern Germany.

Karneval can be traced back to pagan Roman festivals, which may explain why K?ln and Mainz, two ancient cities with Roman history, have such big carnivals. In the Middle Ages, Karneval gave the people a break from the tightly structured class system, as they were able to hide their social background behind imaginative masks and costumes. Poor people were able to mix with all other levels of society and share fun with them. In those days people would dress up as knights, damsels and even priests, as a way of making fun of them. In a similar way, people these days sometimes wear masks which make fun of well-known politicians or celebrities.

The Wiking => dedicated to Stella’s son :)

I myself love to wear funny costumes, I even sewed clown costume for each one of us not knowing na hindi ko rin pala magagamit this year dahil uuwi ako. Poor Kathleen, she has to go alone this time…

Dear Beng,

How are you going to react if your husband flirt with your best friend often times? I can’t understand why my husband is doing this to me. I know he flirts a lot. When I ask him about it, he gets mad. He says I’m seeing things and that I’m crazy. He never admits to anything. All I get is lots of lies, not even an “I‘m sorry. I’ll never do that again.” But, for a marriage to work a wife needs to know she can count on her husband. Yet, because of his constant flirting, and making eyes at my friend I honestly don’t know if I can trust him. I can’t forgive or forget his flirting. I tell him how I’ve seen him look at her passionately, but he says he didn’t do it. But I was standing right there and watched until I just about got sick to my stomach! This hasn’t been resolved for almost 2 months. It’s been a very long stretch of hell and I’m sick and tired of it.

Anne H.

Hi Anne H.

I think flirting just breeds jealousy in the other partner. But let me tell you, flirting directed your husband to someone you know…that will set you on fire. I would be tempted to revert to my rebellious teen days, tatadyakan ko siya doon sa pinaka sensitive part of his body para niya madama kong anong kirot ang nararamdaman ko.

But seriously speaking many men have a hard time admitting that they might be wrong in any situation. It’s as if they fear that admitting that they made a mistake would label them as a mistake.

But, in marriage, honesty is still the best policy, especially about mistakes. Lies and deception can break up relationships quickly. And, if your husband continues to ignore you emotionally, and not tell the truth, you may indeed choose to leave in the future. But, your becoming preoccupied with his flirting behavior doesn’t help you at all. You may feel bad every time you catch him flirting with someone. You may blame yourself for the fact he’s being flirtatious. But that’s not reasonable or logical. If you do that, you’re letting his behavior affect your thoughts and feelings. In other words, it’s like you’re choosing to punish yourself.

Take care of yourself, rather than get upset about what he is doing. You can’t control him. You can only be in charge of yourself. Also, check out counseling services in your community. In my opinion, you don’t need marriage counseling, because right now, there’s not much marriage left to counsel. You need counseling for yourself. Build yourself up emotionally. Detach from being upset by his behaviors. Okay?

At long last I finally made it! Puwede na akong makakuha ng passport para sa anak kong si KC, matapos kong tawagan at makausap ang ilang officer encharge ng youth welfare department and lower district court. I never imagined it’s that complicated to apply a passport for a child most specially sa case ko. Common custody kasi kami ng ex-husband ko dito sa anak naming si Kathleen.

A passport for a child can only be issued with the signatures of both parents. I told the encharge na wala na dito sa Germany ang ex-husband ko. Nasa Pilipinas na at nagtago at hindi ko alam kong saan ko hahanapin. The guy told me to go to the youth welfare dept. instead at baka daw ako matulungan. Well, pumunta nga ako doon at ipinasa naman ako sa lower district court to apply for an excemption of the absent parent. I was so mad but I had no choice than to go there. Mas lalo akong nabuwisit dahil sinabi sa akin doon na hindi ko daw kailangan ang excemption na ito dahil may extra article under civil law daw na hindi necessary ang dalawang signature ng parents lalo na’t missing ang isa sa amin. I hurriedly left and went back to the city hall to relate them what I was told. Ayaw pa rin nilang maniwala dahil iba daw ang patakaran nila. Sus maryosep! Ano va yan…pakiramdam ko tuloy para na rin akong nasa Pilipinas. I told Mr. Fledermann to call the person whom I have talked earlier at the court. I said I’m not going to leave his office til I get things cleared, and I don’t believe there’s no other solution for this matter!

He called Mrs. Buettcher and after their short conversation he told me na puwede na daw akong mag apply.

My daughter has already a valid passport but the American government is now requiring visitors to have a machine-readable passport. This means I also have to renew or get a new passport kong sakaling pupunta ako doon.

Damn bloody bureaucracy!

Ito na yata ang pinakamatagal na panahon na hindi ako nakapag update. We just got back home yesterday from Frankfurt and as usual kapag ako ay wala nagtambakan din ang gawaing bahay. Hindi lang trabaho dito sa bahay ang nag-antay sa akin kundi pati na mga pending appointments. Umuusok ang witpu ko ngayon sa kaiikot.

My departure is fast approaching pero hindi pa ako nakahanda at wala pang nabiling pasalubong. Mukhang doon na lang yata ako mamimili dahil 20 kilos lang ang allowed. Mabuti naman dahil ayaw ko rin na magmukhang isang kargador sa dami ng bitbit at saka may isa pa akong maliit na anak na kasama. I can already imagine myself pushing the buggy and pulling our suitcase at the same time na ubod ng laki. I have no idea how would I manage to do both.

Ang ilusyon kong maging sirena in Pearl Farm ay nawasak dahil I gained weight again after my visit in Frankfurt. Puro kain kasi ang trip ng mga tao doon. Actually half portion lang ang kinakain ko since I started having diet and I avoid fatty foods. Pero kinantiyawan ako ng mga lukaret doon kaya tuloy ako na challenge. Hindi na kain ang tawag doon sa ginawa ko kundi lamon na talaga. Kaya tuloy hindi na ako makakapag bathing suit when I’ll go to the beach this coming vacation of ours dahil lumaki ulit ang mga liferings ko (waaaaaah). Mag daster na lang ako para hindi gaanong diyahe :(