Daffodil Place

Poppies everywhere! While the rest of the country are getting ready for the Anzac ceremonies tomorrow, our friend Loraine has to prepare herself to undergo radiation in the next half hour or so. When hubby saw the ambulance at our driveway yesterday, he knew that it was Loraine. She's a cancer patient and yesterday has been a stressful day. Her friend Nicolette is her support partner but she too is going through hospital treatment from a nasty spider bite that she got from Aussie during a recent trip. Loraine happens to be the grandmother of our neighbour's son. She's told us about her situation a couple of months back and has invited us to come for a visit once she starts treatment. So today, we did.

The Domain Lodge is actually home to cancer patients who are currently undergoing treatment. She just had to cross the street, to the hospital to undergo treatment. She's staying in the Daffodil Rooms and despite being a bit wobbly, she happily gave us a tour of the place, showing us the kitchen, the deck, the library and her room. It's a nice place, just a like a hotel but of course, you you'd rather not be in there.

I can't help but feel nostalgic about the whole experience. Like what hubby said, her journey is just starting. We lost my Dad to brain cancer about a year ago. I'm hoping it will be better for her. I can sense her fear and how she's just trying to be strong. We'll support her as much as we can, and for as long as we can.

PinoyKiwi Forum

I remember before how hubby and I painstakingly combed through the internet to find out about everything to help us start out here in New Zealand. Most of the information were at least 5 years old. There really wasn't much that we found and thus, I've taken the popular Ka Uro's pages to heart.

We were fortunate to have dealt with a reliable immigration adviser. They really took care of the visa process. We just focused on securing the proper documents. And, as part of their service, they have directed us towards the right resources from authorised clinics to migrant services here in Auckland. I arrived in Auckland with just enough information that has helped me succeed in my job search visa, securing my family and in acquiring our residency status. It was a very expensive experience but it was all worth it.

Recently, I chanced upon a forum called PinoyKiwi. It's been up for 3 years and have recently just celebrated their anniversary with a get together in Auckland. I noticed that a good number of members hailed from Singapore. It was organised and up to date. They even have a schedule for a daily live chat. The moderators and active members do provide well researched information. Success stories and other experiences are also shared. There were plenty of comments/ advise on how to be cautious with dubious actions/ fees of agencies. Folks who raised a question are often directed to facts, apart from personal opinions. And it's good to see constructive conversations in the thread, which was good so as to avoid wasting people's time.

It's nice to see how the efforts being put into this by these young and intelligent volunteers comes from the pay it forward culture of Pinoys here in NZ. Keep it up PinoyKiwi!

Throwback

I used this photo of me in our Social Club event called "Quiz with a Twist" wherein they gathered baby photos and trivial information on the babies for participating teams to guess. The winning team actually got all of them correct.

This was taken at the PICC during my aunt's capping ceremony. It's nice to see all the young faces. I actually see my son in this toddler's face.

Lunch: Walking to Narnia

I needed to clear my head. The weather's lovely, perfect for a lunch time walk. I haven't been to this side of the Domain. I thought I'd turn left for a change and it's a refreshing change.

The lamp posts reminds me of the opening scene in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. These are bronze sculptures by Chiara Corbelletto 2005 and Charlotte Fisher 2004 respectively.

There are no ducks in this area and the path leads to the Auckland Bowling Club. The roads here lead to the CBD (see the Sky Tower on the right, behind the crane).

I Thought I Had a Eureka Moment

Woke up at 4am, and was still thinking about how idle I was at work. It is a scary thought coz that means I'm next in line for redundancy. My manager and 2 other managers were made redundant just last October. And no, there was no compensation. Just a 4 week notice.

Then eureka!

Operations have a new project and I thought it to be in line with the docs streamlining initiative of the Docs team. I wanted to project manage, even do BA work for it. Besides, the head of Operations is a sensible manager who has earned my respect. He's always been supportive and forward thinking. I even thought about getting the Docs Team lead heavily involved as I think our combined skills will complement each other.

So when I came to work, I talked to the Docs Team Lead. The more he explained about their initiative the more that the idea started to dissipate. I really felt lazy after talking to him. I even wanted to to go home.

It's tough when you're left with a manager who can't help but assume everyone's duties. And she then tends to just focus on what's hot at the moment, forgetting about BAU things, and gets really distracted with whatever or whoever is jumping ang screaming at the moment.

So I went out for a walk. Had to tell hubby about my concerns over the phone. Then I went out for a walk at the Domain to help clear my head. Now I'm tempted to leave early, skip tomorrow and just focus on submitting job applications.