Pabaon

Dear Svelte,

Kamusta ka kaibigan, ok ka pa ba riyan? Gusto ko sana magdetalye ng aking mga kaganapan. Pero at the moment, sa totoo lang, after my first week here in this big, strange city and after all the madness that was the preparation, tabula rasa ang mga at the moment feels ko. Just like today, it has been a long holiday here for Chinese New Year. Thursday pa ang balik. Most 'Seoulites' are in the province now. As for me, I literally stayed in the apartment for most of the day, save for some 'neighborhood familiarization' work. Gladly, I discovered few things around. May Paris Baguette at may cluster of quaint coffee shops (Cafes here are everywhere. Literally). May nakita pa akong beauty cafe concept (forgot the actual name). Parang ang concept is cafe and beauty store / service in one. Ano ba yun may libreng facial! Unfortunately, they're all close since it's New Year holiday here. I will have to see them again soon.

And at last, I already saw where the garbage dumping area is located. Kase medyo strict din ang garbage disposal system dito at medyo mataas ang multa. Gusto ko sanang magtanong ng kung saan yung mga garbage bags na puwedeng paglagyan noong mga basura ko. Kaso waley yung tao at hindi ko alam kong paano sabihin. Tomorrow, yan ang major order of the day ko. Ganyan. Ganyan ka momentous ang araw ko ngayon. haha. Other than that. Borlogs ako buong maghapon at nagbasa lang.

Mabalik tayo ulit sa neighborhood area. To be honest, it can be quiet. Lahat ng officemates ko hindi alam ang area ko. I had the impression na para siguro itong zone ng mga low-income groups. Pero wala namang manifestations so far. I mean the subway station is conveniently just few blocks away. Yung mga bahay naman is okay. Maraming apartment buildings. At sa mga kanto my 24-hour convenience stores. The best of it all is sa likod ay nandoon ang Seoul Trail, which is like a long jogging and hiking trail. And feeling ko talaga yung mga puno doon sa area malapit sa amin ay mga Cherry Blossoms. I have to wait for the Spring though! What does it mean? It means wala na talaga akong excuse para mag jog at hindi umaura.

Ang dami kong gustong sabihin sa blog na ito. Marami akong insights - from preparations to my first work week. Quiet exciting really. But all I can do for now is take a step at a time. Mahirap naman na Take the Nestea Plunge ang peg. At the onset, marami lang akong gustong pasalamatan. Ang daming what ifs sa utak ko, mga doubts. Then first work week ko, sabak agad. Physically tiring. But somehow, I could not complain. I could not ask for more because it was easy. It was enough so far. I know the works. My heart is overfilled with gratitude, sa lahat ng suporta (parang award's night, but seriously - from my family to my friends to my newfound officemates! you know who you are. You rallied behind me). Yan ang pinakaimportanteng takeaway ko, ang tanging pabaon sa akin- as mars Cookie Chua would have said...'Ang Pag-ibig'.