Filipino Friendship Weekend

How comforting it is to know that we are not the only Filipinos in Wellington, let alone in the respective banks we work in! In BNZ alone, there are about over ten Filipinos and I’ve met most of them. In ANZ, Ronnel has several Filipino officemates but two of them were leaving New Zealand as their contract was finished. So we were invited to attend the farewell party, the despedida, that was held for these two pinoys.

Our First Pinoy Party
It was drizzling a bit when we went to meet Ronnel’s officemate, Philip, in McDonald’s Lambton Quay on a Saturday afternoon. We were a few minutes late since it was a long walk from our place. After meeting Philip at McDo, we dropped by his place for a while to pick up the food they prepared. The party was potluck so everybody had to bring their own contribution. I’m sure you know what I brought. What else could it be but my default time and taste-tested S.E.C. (Special Einge Carbonara)? My carbonara hasn’t failed me when I prepared it for my officemates in BPI (Philippines) and friends in Malaysia. It is palatable regardless of ethnicity and background… and I was hoping that it will get the same reception here. Well, it kinda did. I got one or two nice comments about it but it was better received back in those two Asian countries. It could be the cheese. My secret ingredient (well, it’s not secret anymore coz I’m telling you, right?) is Kraft Eden Cheese and well, they don’t have it here. I even dreamt about one shop that had it. Ok, back to the party. At Philip’s place, we met two other Filipinos. We stopped by another house and on we went to our final destination, the host’s place. The host was a well-known figure in the Filipino community here in NZ. He is the moderator of pinoys2nz yahoo groups and the UP (University of the Philippines) Wellington e-groups. His place was really nice. They told me he bought the area first then designed the house. The party was about to start and Filipinos from different sides of the city were pouring in. There were about 20 of us then, and mostly, aged late twenties and early thirties. It was our age group and it was nice to get to know how fascinating their move to NZ was. It was like the Filipino Diaspora told in different colours. There were lots of food, barbeque, shrimp, chicken, and of course my waiting-to-be-tasted carbonara. They had a sports fest before and we watched the recorded footage of some games they had. And of course, since it is a Filipino party, it was Videoke time! Out came the Magic Mic. Ronnel and I had to undergo an “initiation” rite to start the singing session. We did our rendition of Cher’s “Believe” which we usually sang at home (yup, we too had a magic mic. Haha!). The party ended at about ten but apparently, for some of them, it was just starting. We were invited to go to another house to continue with the Magic Mic session. We went along since we also wanted to spend more time hearing about their experiences in NZ. The stories could be different for each but there was one thing in common – going to NZ was never in their original plan. It was like everything fell into place for them and led them here, much like how it was for us (refer to entry “Finally in NZ.”). They told us that they usually spend their fortnight weekends like this, having fun singing and drinking up to four in the morning. We had to leave a bit early (about 2 am) and they were kind enough to bring us home since we didn’t have a car and we didn’t know how to go home . We were a little embarrassed that we couldn’t stay and it was reminiscent of the times we had in Malaysia. I remember Ronnel and me being called the “Cinderella Couple” because we had to leave parties and gatherings before the clock strikes twelve. I guess the sad experience Ronnel had staying up late before in BPI made us quite mindful of the time we go to sleep. (Side story: Ronnel had a problem with his lymph nodes when he had to work endless nights back in BPI. A big lump grew near his right jaw line and the doctor had to manually extract the pus inside. We were scared that it was a cyst and that he had to undergo biopsy but thank God, it wasn’t. The doctor then advised Ronnel to get enough sleep. Hmmm… come to think of it, Ronnel gets into a lot of weird health problems, doesn’t he? Remember the great tragic Malaysian basketball accident?) Anyway, it’s hard to explain to others that we have to sleep early. Well, technically, it’s just Ronnel, but since we are conjugal, that covers me as well. Plus, Ronnel says he can’t sleep without me by his side. So, we limit our activities to day time and well, we enjoy it that way. Sometimes, I marvel at how much both of us have changed over the years. I remember I was a party girl back when I was in the university. I didn’t stay home much and went out all the time. I was dubbed the “Alanis Morissette” of my org, with my long black wavy hair and groovy clothes. I could down two bottles of Red Horse (the most potent beer on earth) and can still walk straight (oops, hope my parents aren’t reading this). I was active in six different orgs and still manage to show up in class. It did wonders to my system and sometimes, I felt like a zombie – partying at night and clueless at daylight. Ronnel was my exact opposite. He was an ideal student and son. He helped in his family business, was active in his favourite sport (basketball), spent time with his younger brothers and found time to study (although he didn’t really need to, well, except for Accounting. But that’s a loooooong super unrelated story). I guess that’s why a lot of people were surprised when they found out that Ronnel and I were going out. I even heard that there was an on-going bet on how long we would last a couple. (enter Shania Twain, Looks like we made it…) Anyway, where was I? (Sorry, I have this knack of always going off-topic). As I’ve said, I marvel at how much Ronnel and I have changed over the years. I’ve mellowed down while he became a little more outgoing. I didn’t party at night anymore and he learned to appreciate shopping (my fave activity) and going out.

A Sunny Sunday Special
We were late for church on Sunday since we slept late the night before. We make it a point to attend the 9 am mass and we’re usually early coz it’s a little embarrassing to be late. You had to open the big heavy doors of the church and people tend to turn their heads when the door opens. Anyway, today was also a special day since we were meeting Kuya Nestor and his wife, Ate Soc. Kuya Nestor is an officemate of mine in BNZ. I stumbled on his name in an org chart of the Development Team. Looking at his name, I guessed he was a Filipino and decided to call him up. Well, my guess is right. I went to his work place and introduced myself. Apparently, he has been in NZ for the past 16 years and joined BNZ only eight months ago. He has raised his family here and has three wonderful children. He invited me and Ronnel to have lunch at his place so there we were to meet them, on the Sunday morning mass. It was a wonderful day for sight seeing so they drove us along the Oriental Parade, all the way to Island Bay. We passed by the long seaside and saw people on the beaches (there was an Iron man Timex event being held that time). We dropped by the Warehouse (yay, shopping again!) where Ronnel and I bought some stuff for our house. We took the scenic route so it took us about half an hour to get to his place, otherwise, it would have been eight minutes only. It was all worth it. At their home, they both prepared lunch for us. Kuya Nestor barbequed while Ate Soc cooked sinigang and chop suey. It was a very sumptuous lunch, but most of all, we enjoyed their company. They told us stories of how they came to New Zealand and how it was so different sixteen years ago. Kuya Nestor was into gardening so he showed us the different plants he had in his backyard. After lunch, they brought us to the shooting location of Lord of the Rings. I got to appreciate how good a director Peter Jackson is as we saw the different spots used in the film. They also brought us to the LookOut, the highest peak in Wellington, where we could see the whole city. It was a great day out for Ronnel and me. They brought us home and we invited them to our little flat. We had to warn them that they might have to squeeze in and suck in air before they go in coz our flat was really small. We ended doing the very same thing we did the night before – sing with the Magic Mic!

And Darkness Falls
I meant that literally. When Kuya Nestor and Ate Soc left, I started cooking and preparing our food for the coming week while Ronnel did some ironing. I baked banana bread and was preparing our dinner so I switched on the stove. And came a big PLOP! Then everything became dark. The power tripped! Ronnel played around with the fuse box but nothing happened. We couldn’t call anybody coz it was Sunday night. So we had to sleep in the dark. I was particularly concerned about the food that I had just prepared because the fridge has no power and the food inside might get spoiled. Well, to make the story short (coz your eyes are probably tired from reading my looong entry), an electrician came over the next day to fix the main fuse box. And the food was still ok… we had it for lunch today.