Read, I Write.

…EJ is number 3 in her class. Like mother, like daughter truly, in all sense of the phrase! This is why I LOVE being a MOM.

…EJ and I are closer than ever. We may be physically away from each other but we are always so open when we talk to each other.

…EJ is hell-bent about being a doctor. I so look forward to sending her to med school and to seeing her graduate. This early on, I can already see myself looking like the "youngest" among all moms present. hahaha!

…EJ and I will have some time off after my business trip back home.

…from a starting as a project coordinator for our company’s Mango business, I got to be assigned its Project Manager in less than 6 months. This is so cool. So early in the game and I already get to handle the different departments under this new business.

…the Chairman of our company thinks I am big ASSET of our company that he see me handling bigger and better things in the next 2 years.

…I am traveling to Chengdu for 4 days next week to oversee the grand opening of our new Mango store there. Whoooppppeeee! Free clothes, free shoes, free trips, free food, what more can I ask for?

…I am wearing 3 caps at work these days. I am the team head of our overseas uniforms department, I am the marketing coordinator for our clothing brand’s franchisees in Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia and I am the Project Manager of our Mango business. Give me more. I just thrive well in a very busy environment.

…I am traveling to the Philippines for 7 days early next month to undergo my operations training.

…my desk is no longer located at the first floor. I am now working at the executive floor, where the CEO, senior managers and directors are. Presently, I am the only WOMAN manager here and the only Filipino, to boot. Take that, male chauvinist pigs! hahaha!

…that aside from my recent salary increase, I have housing allowance, food allowance, house utilities allowance (which I maximize by renting a cheap yet comfy place!) and phone bills allowance. I have an expense account. My HK mobile number’s bills are paid for by the company. I get free Theme clothes every season (S/S & F/W) worth RMB 4,000.00 and if I’d want more clothes, I can just buy them at 50% off if they exceed my clothing allowance.

…I am learning how to speak Chinese more and more.  Niga… niga… ting pudong! hehe!

…I understand a considerable number of Chinese words already.

…I may soon get to visit Spain for work purposes.  Our company already sent me to the US once (with a 10 year multi-entry visa) so it will be fairly easy for them to send me to Spain next.

…the Universe truly conspired to make all these things happen to ME.

…I am not only LUCKY, that GOD always has my back. I feel RICH, beyond words, beyond the material things and beyond all I can ever imagine. My FAITH made all these possible.

Just a few things about Shenzhen:

• It is so big that most people call Shenzhen sub-provincial. No wonder, really…within the city, there’s a different minimum wage requirements for Futian (the Central Business District, where our head office is), Bao’an (a municipality known for manufacturing), Songgang and the rest.
• It is number 7 in the top ten safest cities in China, behind Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and 3 other cities I now cannot recall. Shenzhen fall behind because the number of incoming and outgoing migrant workers here are totally way beyond the charts.
• It is number 3 (hip, hip hoorrraaayyy!) in the top ten most beautiful cities in China, behind Hong Kong and Beijing only! I can see and feel how utterly beautiful Shenzhen is. It has been my home for the last 3 years now and I just cannot help but always be awed of it again and again.
• It is one of the top ten fastest growing cities in the world and to be here when all these growth are taking place, whoa! Talk about the feeling of being in the right place at the right time.
• Western fast food places can be found anywhere here like McDonald’s (Mai Dang Lau in Chinese), KFC (Kendaji), Starbucks (you can even find them at bookstores!), Pizza Hut, Taco Bell Grande, Papa John’s (the Pizzas there are JUST to die for!) and Subway. Papa John’s delivers (we have one close to home and one close to work!) and Subway, too (we only have one near work).
• As for Western grocery places, there’s Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Metro. There’s even B & Q. 
• This place is truly a wonder because just less than 30 years ago, this place just used to be swamplands.

If Lucena City is my hometown, Shenzhen is my HOME away from home. I just so LOVE it here.

One of my officemates saw my tattoo the other day and he
asked me if I will allow my daughter to have a tattoo someday…I said yes but
only when she is over 21 already. That way, she can make an informed decision
about it.

And that office exchange gave me a new
blog topic to write about. Things I will allow my daughter to do. Which I
believe is a good topic now that my daughter is 14 and soon, she’d be 18 and
can already be considered as an adult.

Well, here goes:

1) She can ONLY have a boyfriend when she is already 18. Before that
age, she has to present a very good and tight argument why she should and if
she convinces me, maybe, JUST maybe, she can have a boyfriend sooner.

2) As for clothes, well, considering the times, then she can wear what
she sees other girls her age wear. I am never conservative and I have my share
of miniskirts, tight clothes and spaghetti-strapped tops, hence, if I can wear
them, so can she.

3) No smoking until she already earns her own keep. I stopped smoking
so that I can have a longer time to see her bloom so it will be both for our
best that she bears the costs if she wants to take up smoking.

4) Drinking. Hmmmm…She can start at 18 but better that she only drinks
what she can bear. No drinking beyond what she is capable of. I can even show
her how to know how much she can bear or not.

5) As for tattoos and body piercing, fine by me but not until after she
turns 21 and I will only say yes, if the tattoo and/or body piercing can only
be seen when deliberately shown i.e. back, abdomen, butt, anywhere hidden.
Anywhere where she will not be judged simultaneously as soon as seen!

6) Going first base – 18

7) Going second base – 18

 Going third base – when she finishes college.

9) The whole nine yards – when she finishes college.

10) Getting married – Only when she is SURE that the guy loves her as
much as she loves him and when she already has work that she is happy with.

Bottomline though is that all those
written above are only her guidelines and the final decision-making is still up
to her. After all, I may be her mom but she is she and only she knows what will
be best for her.

I can guide her through the path she
wants to take but I should try my best not to intervene because I know she will
only learn well when she has gone through life on her own.

Being her mom though, I am torn. As I
have seen how life ultimately is, I cannot help myself at times, so I try to
steer her away from what I perceive to be life’s landmines. I do not really
want to intercede yet I rather that she get mad at me than see her suffer the
pains that life throws her way.

Oh, well, a mom got to do what a mom got
to do. I can only LOVE her as much as I can, guide her through life the best
way I can and hope that somehow, she knows that all these, I am doing for her
and for her alone.