Migrant Thoughts

In 2002 as I was given another working visa I made it my goal to migrate to Terra Australia. This time was in an orchard in Donnybrook, Western Oz.

Meanwhile, a family friend who married an Irishman invited me to come over and live with them. As it turned out, they 'adopted' me. The family took me in as they knew me since birth. I became 'Kuya' to two beautiful mestizas and semi-owner to a Persian tomcat I called 'Ming'. I even got to drive their red sleek Chrysler sometimes.

It all sounded exciting and promising. The dream of finally meeting roos and koalas or any odd-looking marsupial face-to-face in dreamland Terra Australis was to fulfill at last. And perhaps, I might fall in love with Victoria and settle on her shores permanently or so I thought. It was a chilly cold wet April morning on the southern hemisphere, when a huge bloke named Craig, a farmer of Scottish descent, approached and asked if I were 'Balcos' -- I was muddled up with uncertain emotions as he wasn't sympathetic at all. But I was sleepy-eyed from the tumultuous journey so tarrying along was the best thing I can do. We had to drive about 3 hours northwestwards to a tiny town called Minyip.

Healthy food is crucial for one's well being. And good food means it should look sumptuous. (Culinary connoisseurs would confirm - we eat first with our eyes.) And don't Pinoys love to eat or find it essential to eat three, four, even six times a day?

I embarked on a series of German Language courses, met nice Viennese fellows and forged long-lasting friendships, engorged books inside Vienna's public library, discovered the scenic routes via tram and railways, retracted the Sound of Music film locations, saw for the first time the majestic Alps, explored the local Viennese coffeehouses, and indulged in different Austrian wine reading methods.

It's a gloomy yearend for the tourism industry but most of all a nightmare for those working in the health sector. There are, of course, many FilipinX working in hospitals, sanatoriums, clinics, or hospices around the city.

Chinese officials kept silent about it until the 31st of December when they alerted the World Health Organization, reassuring that the disease was controllable.

Right after the first week of November, houses are fully illuminated with playful lights. (Indeed Pinoy Pasko is the longest in the world!) Hoisted up zigzagging the main alleys of Puerto Princesa especially are the colorful buntings signaling the city into the annual fiesta mode. Pista na Pasko pa! - the city slogan during my late teen years - was what my Cebuano boyhood pal referred to as Pis-kot na! (In english - Pest time !).

From the station crowds lined up. As soon as the gate latches were released everyone was running hysterically even pushing others away just for a chance to get the limited seats on board.

A good friend of mine who was part of the homecoming committee mentioned that the whole program of activities (parties, food, costumes, medical mission, culmination event, etc. etc.) cost a staggering two million pesos

A nomad like me finds it hard to settle in one place. I grew up in many islands in the Philippines, spent my childhood...

I had a chat with an old friend some time ago and the topic somehow shifted towards Happiness. She, I observed, considering her current...