July-August 1992 – My First Trip to Australia
It was an emergency trip. My mom and I had to fly out to Sydney because my grandfather died of heart attack. My grandpa died on July 19 (my mom’s bday) and in two or three days we left Manila.

When we arrived in Sydney, it was 4 degrees–my first taste of Winter Season.

My first impression of this country: Malinis ang paligid, may disiplina ang mga tao at hindi ako napapagod sa byahe kasi walang traffic.

Since I was only 15 years old at that time, I never really cared much about this country. Basta ang idea ko noon, bakasyon ito so dapat enjoy lang. Although napansin ko na talaga na parang mas maginhawa ang buhay ng mga tao dito compared sa Pilipinas. Ang focus ko noon ay makipag-bonding lang sa mga relatives ko especially sa mga pinsan ko na noon ko lang ulit nakita.

My photo here with my Tita Bess and Baby Rachel was taken at their first house in Oakhurst. Oh ha? may bangs pa ako nyan at ang kapal pa ng kilay ko hehehe. Neneng-nene diba?

Nang pauwi na kami sa Pilipinas sobrang lungkot ko kaya pinangarap ko na lang uling makabalik ng Sydney para magbakasyon at makasama ang mga pinsan ko.

December 2001-January 2002 – My 2nd Trip to Australia

Ang focus naman ng trip na ito ay para mag-celebrate ng debut ng pinsan kong si Clare. Pero ginusto ko talagang umalis ng Pilipinas because it so happened that I was recovering from a failed relationship. Gusto ko na talagang mag-move on noon pero nahihirapan ako kaya umalis na lang muna ako. And there’s another reason pa pala: I wanted to celebrate my 25th birthday in Sydney as well.

Eto ang isa sa pinakamasayang reunion ng pamilya namin (mother’s side) kasi mas marami kaming lugar na napasyalan and since most of us cousins are over 18 y/o, naka-gimik din kami sa mga bars sa City.

Dito sa photo na’to, kasama ko ang mga pinsan kong sina Dianne, Michelle, Ayie at si Bobby na parang half-cousin namin (hindi ko talaga alam kung anong relasyon namin sa kanya hehehe) na nakatira naman sa Canada. Summer season that time kaya sobrang init!!!

It was during this vacation that I realized I wanted to live here. As in, nasabi ko sa sarili ko na kung mag-migrate ako, dito ako pupunta. Nakita ko kasi sa lifestyle ng mga relatives ko kung gaano kaginhawa talaga ang buhay dito basta may stable job ka at marunong ka sa buhay. Nakita ko na kung may effort ka in making your life comfortable, may result kahit papaano at umaasenso agad ang buhay nila. It was also during this time that my relatives were encouraging me to live here. So parang lalo akong na-enganyo. Tapos si Hilda (my college barkada) was already living here na rin. At ang pinakagusto ko sa lahat, tahimik ang pamumuhay dito.

While writing this, I realized that during my 2nd visit, si Chris wala pa sa buhay ko. Nung time na yun, ‘magka-away’ pa kami ni Chris sa office. Di pa kami friends, pareho pa kaming inis sa presence namin hehehe. Yung inisan namin tungkol sa work. Pagbalik ko sa Pilipinas (Feb 2002), dun lang kami na-introduce sa isa’t-isa (formally) at eventually naging magka-barkada.

When Chris and I went steady, sinabayan naman ng lola ko ng tanong na “Do you want to live here? Coz if you really want to, I’ll help you.” At the same time, Chris’ dad offered to help him migrate to Canada. Since Chris and I are very open to opportunities, pareho kaming nag-“yes” (ako sa lola ko, siya naman sa dad nya). Pero inuna namin (ko) na mag-apply sa Australia kasi mas gusto ko ang lifestyle dito. After a year and 4 months from the time I lodged my application, I was granted my visa to live here.

16 October 2005 – Arrived in Australia as an Immigrant Photo taken on my 2nd week in Sydney, on my way to work.

The constant challenge on my first year here was to stay in this country. Everyday, eto ang motto ko: Everyday is an achievement.

Why?

Because everyday really is an achievement for me. Araw-araw kasi nung first year ko dito, gusto kong bumalik ng Pilipinas.

I know in my entries last year, parang enjoy naman ako sa buhay dito, at totoo naman yun. Kasi yun lang ang pwede kong gawin—mag-enjoy kung anong meron ako (count your blessings) at kung nasaan man ako (bloom where you’re planted). It was never my attitude to wallow. But I will also never deny the fact that my first year was a struggle. I had a lot of questions, hesitations and what-ifs. But I avoided focusing on negative thoughts that would make me weak. Kaya kahit may mga tanong na ako mismo ay di ko masagot, hinayaan ko lang na pumasok sa katauhan ko ang lahat ng learning na pwede kong mapulot sa paligid ko.

Eto ang entry ko last year nang mag-celebrate ako ng 1st anniversary ko dito: 1st Sydney Anniversary

16 October 2007 – Happy 2nd Sydney-Anniversary to Me!!

Has it already been two years? Where did the time go?

When I was about to go back to the Phils for my wedding and vacation, I thought I would have a hard time coming back here. Bago palang ako umuwi ng Phils, ito ang tanong ko sa aking sarili: Paano kung matapos kong makabalik sa Pilipinas eh hindi na ako tumapak uli ng airport pabalik ng Australia?

Pero nakabuti ang pag-uwi ko sa Pilipinas kasi na-realize ko na mahal ko na rin ang Sydney. Nang minsang tanungin ako ng isa sa mga kaibigan ko ng “Kelan ka babalik ng Sydney?”, bigla kong nasabi na “I go home on February.” Nagulat ako at nasabi ko ang salitang “home”.

Pagbalik ko dito, na-realize ko na masuwerte ako at dalawa na ang home ko. I realized na hindi naman pala masama kung mahal ko pareho ang Pilipinas at Australia. I realized that I will always be a Filipino and I will always miss my family and friends in the Phils but I also have a life here that I have come to love.

Just last week, I told my mom, “Mommy, I realized na ginusto kong manirahan dito sa Sydney, na hindi ako nandito dahil pressured ako o dahil gusto mo lang.”

Nasabi ko yun kasi last year, sa sobrang lungkot at confusion ko hindi ko talaga maisip kung bakit ako napunta sa Sydney. Parang nagka-amnesia ako dahil sa homesickness ko.

But now I know. I’m here because it is my choice to be here. I’m here because I worked hard just to be here.

Now that my resolves are clear, I’ve made up my mind to focus on our life here in Sydney. Kasi naman last year, gusto ko bilhin LAHAT—bumili ng property sa Phils at dito, bumili ng sasakyan sa Phils at dito…para akong gumagawa ng dalawang buhay, which is not right. For one, hindi pa naman ako milyonarya hehehehe. So kabaliwan lang talaga ang iniisip ko to have everything at the same time. Seriously, magagalit si Jesus kung sobra-sobra naman sa material things lalo na kung di naman kailangan.

Today, I really wanted to tell you about how I’ve changed since last year but I didn’t. Maybe one of these days I’ll write about it. But for now, I’ve just decided to tell you how I got myself here and that I now have two countries that I consider home. Two countries, two homes, two sets of friends…two of everything. Sometimes, blessings come in twos, so happy 2nd Sydney-Anniversary to me!!! 🙂