WORK-LIFE IMBALANCE (NOVEMBER)

WORKED IT

PAL's back, baby!  Yep, after an absence of over a decade, we have direct flights between the Philippines and Europe once more -- Heathrow, no less!  Make no mistake, this re-launch is a big thing, as many a potential business partner and tourist has told us that they "just can't be bothered with taking connecting flights." You could tell there was a lot of pent up joy over the news when this unassuming pic casually taken by an Embassy colleague. . .

. . . ended up being the all-time most popular Embassy facebook post of all time, with close to a thousand likes, over 250 shares, and nearly 30,000 views!  

And here my blog sits on six followers since 2007.

LIVED IT

Reminder No. 4,845 that the LLDD-Hyphen-L and I are meant for each other: we went on a short trip to the States, with NY our first stop and DC the next, and almost immediately after arriving in Washington she said (completely unprompted and uncoached by me), "mas maganda dito, mas gusto ko kaysa New York." 

Awww, sweetie.

I hadn't even mentioned all the area outlet shops yet

Can't really blame the LLDD-Hyphen-L for her sentiment, as no sooner had we set foot in New York did the place turn on its "charm".  And most of it wasn't even directed at me, nor the LLDD-Hyphen-L -- it was directed at the LLDD-Baby!   Among other incidents:

• We were at a subway stop that didn't have any elevator or escalator, so the LLDD-Hyphen-L and I had to lift the LLDD-Baby and her pushchair carefully down the stairs.  As we're going down, some guy from above mockingly yells "Hey sweetheart, when you get to the bottom tell your parents to come back up. I wanna be carried down too!"

• We stumbled upon the John Lennon memorial in Central Park, and I thought to take a picture of the LLDD-Hyphen-L and the LLDD-Baby standing in front of it.  A hipster-type comes up to us and says indignantly "You know, the baby won't understand the significance of what you're doing."

• We were on a bus, and the LLDD-Baby was taking a nap in the arms of the LLDD-Hyphen-L.  The LLDD-Baby coughs a bit to clear her throat (as napping babies do).  The guy in front of us instantly spins around and shouts "Cover the baby's mouth, I don't want to be catching anything! COVER THE BABY'S MOUTH!!!"

Welcome to New York, sweetheart

But it's all good, as we just focused on the positive, still enjoyed ourselves, and generally just made our own fun.

buti na lang may Jollibee sa Jersey City