It was such an honor to be invited by the Queen herself. It was not my first time to meet the Queen but believe me, it was unimaginably exciting. Alright, alright, I did not meet Queen Elizabeth or any queen from somewhere else. I went to Cebu, the queen city of the south.
Cebu is one of the famous cities in the Philippines. Located in the Visayas region, Cebu was already the center of trade in the south even before the Spanish colonization. However, it is the Spaniards who brought Catholicism in the Philippines and it all started in Cebu.
Enough about history, I went to Cebu for a business trip and that's what I want to share with you. I know you're thinking that all I did there was eat and work but you're wrong. Yes, I had to work but I made sure I would have the best business trip ever. Allow me to share some photos I took during my four-day trip in Cebu.
These were what I went to Cebu for. We joined the Philippine Librarians Association, Inc. National Congress 2010 to promote our new products namely: the RFID LibBest, CE-Platform and the Philippine E-Journals(www.ejournals.ph). I was sent to Cebu with one of our digital librarians and our E-Publishing head. We stayed at the booth to entertain questions and distribute flyers on our first day. The next day, we did the same but with presentations and sponsored a party for the attendees.
After the party, we felt like we've done our part and it was time for us to relax and do what we do best, party! Yes, we had lots of time to party and get around the city. I never had the chance to try the SkyWalk and the Edge Coaster during my first trip to Cebu with mom so this time I made sure I try it with friends. It really took my breath away. At first, I felt like not walking further during the SkyWalk experience. There were no railings and I only had to hold onto the harness to support myself. Good thing it was not windy when I started the trail. Took some photos and then we were asked to stand on the edge of the platform and pose as if we were Superman. It was surely nerve-wracking and I thought I looked terrified in that particular photo. The following pictures are proofs of how much we enjoyed the trip. Plus, you'd see my Korean student I met during my third night in Cebu. I taught her for a couple of months and before I quit teaching, she flew to Cebu to study English. It was our first time to see each other in person.
I've been contemplating on a conversation I had with a friend two days ago. It started with blog sites about families and the kids. We exchanged ideas about how couples transform into selfless creatures when a baby is born. Seeing those pictures and reflecting on that idea felt magical. It seemed as if it was not human-like. Or maybe I'm too young to understand and not ready for that kind of transformation yet. Nevertheless, it was a real eye-opener to both of us to somehow realize how divine God is that He created such creatures capable of loving and caring for a total stranger and someone whose life will never be owned by anybody.
This led me to opening up the issue of adoption. There's really nothing wrong about adoption but some people find it hard to accept an idea such as this. Why? And so I began to wonder why couples adopt. I have a cousin who just adopted a baby girl. They waited and tried for fifteen years to have a child but they ended up adopting a baby. Why did they need to wait that long and end up adopting anyway? I tried to put myself in their shoes and I realized how bad it would make me feel to know that I will never be able to produce an offspring. It's like a slap on one's face. We surely can do things we never thought we could. We have both the egg and the sperm cells but why can't we make a baby? It surely is not a skill we can acquire. That's what's frustrating. We can all excel in different aspects but that doesn't give us the right to control everything. This is what makes every couple hesitant in adopting a child. Eventually they learn that whether it came from your own womb or from someone else, it really does not make a difference. This life we have is only borrowed. This makes us all equal and that's why we cannot separate the legitimate from the illegitimate. The word illegitimate does not apply and should not be applied to humans.
The real outsider doesn't exist. It never did. People, us, we created this. It was an idea which evolved since mostly everybody has their own opinion but never an original idea. So think twice. Would you still consider yourself an outsider? Your answer should be NO!
This is definitely not your usual strawberry/lemon-flavored candy. It originated in Turkey and became more popular when Edmund, from The Chronicles of Narnia, betrayed his own siblings when Queen Jadis offered him some of these treats.
Curiosity got over me that I quickly looked for stores that sell Turkish Delight in Manila. I got this from Marks and Spencer for 350php. Quite expensive for a box of 20. Anyways, it is extremely sweet and you'd feel as if you're eating flowers when you get the pink ones. The yellow ones are lemon-flavored, which I liked more.
After the party, we felt like we've done our part and it was time for us to relax and do what we do best, party! Yes, we had lots of time to party and get around the city. I never had the chance to try the SkyWalk and the Edge Coaster during my first trip to Cebu with mom so this time I made sure I try it with friends. It really took my breath away. At first, I felt like not walking further during the SkyWalk experience. There were no railings and I only had to hold onto the harness to support myself. Good thing it was not windy when I started the trail. Took some photos and then we were asked to stand on the edge of the platform and pose as if we were Superman. It was surely nerve-wracking and I thought I looked terrified in that particular photo.
The following pictures are proofs of how much we enjoyed the trip. Plus, you'd see my Korean student I met during my third night in Cebu. I taught her for a couple of months and before I quit teaching, she flew to Cebu to study English. It was our first time to see each other in person.
