I was pleasantly surprised to unearth find recently a poem that I wrote when I was 16 years old, way back when I was a freshman at the Ateneo de Manila University. At that time, we were discussing a poem in English class that had something to do with how people can be classified into either cats or dogs, personality-wise.

The paper is now yellowed with age but what our teacher wrote in red ink on the first page still fills up my heart with so much pride. “Very nicely, done, Mimi” is what she wrote — that is, our teacher, Mrs. Susan Evangelista. She became more than just a teacher to us in the two semesters that we spent in her class. She became our friend and confidante, as we poured our hearts out in the journals that we kept which we submitted every week to her. We read, discussed and dissected unforgettable stories like ‘Flowers for Algernon‘, classic poetry like E.E. Cummings’ ‘Somewhere I Have Never Traveled‘, unorthodox material such as the lyrics of The Phantom of the Opera’s ‘Music of the Night‘. We couldn’t help but have a grand time being creative in her classes. Never mind that those classes started at 7.30 am…

I remember the wacky assortment of truly gifted people in our class — Tatine, Alexandra, Marcelline, Lionel, Nessa, Baybay, Jessica, Mabel, Margie, Richie, Cris, Peds, and many more whose faces remain clear in my memory but whose names escape me right now. [Note to self: Dig up those old photos and Google them up!] They were so gifted that, at more than one occasion, I felt almost unworthy to be in the same class as them. Notice that I used the word almost ;)

However, I cannot, for the life of me, remember the exact poem in question. All I remember is that, after we discussed it in class, we had to write our own poem, classifying ourselves as either a cat or a dog.

Here is the poem that I wrote back then, in its full, raw, unedited glory (hah!), so please excuse any grammatical errors:-

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I managed to record Twin1 singing part of an Indonesian children’s song that he learned from our maid.

Here are the links to both the wav file and the mp3 file.

[Twin1 singing (1.75MB wav file)]

[Twin1 singing (331kb mp3 file)]

I converted the wav file through Media-Convert.com, where you can convert files from one format to another for free, without downloading any programs, without having to wait for them to email you the converted file. It’s fast, it’s free, it’s easy.
I also found the lyrics of the entire song in Mama Lisa’s World:

Naik Ke Puncak Gunung

Naik naik ke puncak gunung
Tinggi tinggi sekali
Naik naik ke puncak gunung
Tinggi tinggi sekali
Kiri kanan kulihat saja
Banyak pohon cemara*
Kiri kanan kulihat saja
Banyak pohon cemara.*

Her site has the English translation, as well:

Let’s Climb the Mountain So High

Come on, let’s climb the mountain so high,
The mountain, so very high!
Come on, let’s climb the mountain so high,
The mountain, so very high!
To the left, to the right, as far as we see,
The pine trees show us their greenery!
To the left, to the right, as far as we see,
The pine trees show greenery.

Am I being biased or is voice just too precious? :)

When it comes to hotels, I’m always on the lookout for three things: cleanliness, location, and value for money. Luckily, in Europe, it is possible to get all three, unlike in Asia, where 1-star or no-star hotels compromise a lot on the cleanliness aspect. Hôtel Central in Geneva fulfilled all three of these criteria and more. When DH and I stayed there on our first ever trip to Geneva in 1999, I remembered it to be clean and well-located, and I found the prices to be very reasonable by Geneva standards because the hotels there are very, very expensive. I’m happy to confirm with you that my memory didn’t fail me.

Cleanliness

The rooms and toilets were all clean and well-maintained. The sheets and towels were immaculate white. Hôtel Central passes with flying colours in the cleanliness criteria.

Location, Location, Location

I find Hôtel Central’s location to be very convenient indeed. It’s very close to a tram stop and a bus stop (both known as ‘Bel-Air’). You can go anywhere in Geneva to and from the hotel very easily, thanks to Switzerland’s excellent public transport system, coupled with the free Geneva Transport Card card. There are plenty of shops and restaurants all around, including an H&M outlet, a small art gallery and the Confédération Centre Shopping Mall. A Migros outlet for your grocery needs is about 3 minutes away in Rue Molard. There’s even a charming small fresh market (marked marché in the map above) in the daytime not far from Migros, where they sold crepes, fresh fruits and vegetables (including round eggplants slightly bigger than a baseball and artichokes bigger than my fist!), fresh pasta and cheeses.

The hotel is right smack in the centre of Geneva’s Old Town, so most of the attractions can be reached on foot. The lake (and the Jet d’Eau) is less than 5 minutes away. The Flower Clock is less than 10 minutes away. The main train station, Gare Cornavin (on the upper left hand side of the map), is about 5 minutes away. But if you have luggage with you, you’d be better off taking the bus to Gare Cornavin.

Like I said, it’s all about the location and Hotel Central scores a perfect 10 in this category for me.

Value for Money

Hôtel Central gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “value for money,” as they offer several room options to suit your budget. Continue Reading »

Here is one car accident photo that I forgot to post in my previous entry “When It Rains, It Pours“.

I shot this with my Sony Ericsson W710i camera phone on the morning of our flight to Geneva. This one’s pretty scary, as you can see how badly mangled up the car is. Notice the broken portion of the divider on the lower right hand side of the photo. That area must have taken the full impact of the collision.

I’m not sure who the guy is, hence I’ve pixelised his face.

One thing I notice about road accidents in Malaysia is the almost instantaneous presence of people offering to tow your car to their workshop. It’s almost freaky how they just happen to be in that place at that time almost all the time.

Word of caution: If you do get an accident in Malaysia, stay calm and do NOT — I repeat, do NOT — entertain those instant offers to get your car towed to their workshop. More often than not, they’ll charge you exorbitantly for the towing and/or the repair once your car is stuck in their workshop.

So what do you do if you get involved in a car accident in Malaysia? Try to stay calm enough to do the following:-

• Get the car plate number of the other car(s).
• Exchange phone numbers with the other driver(s).
• Take note of the time, date and your exact location, especially the street name (necessary information for your police report),
• Call your usual workshop or check your car’s service manual for the address and telephone number of the nearest authorised workshop of your car, e.g. for a Toyota car, call up the nearest Toyota Service Centre.
• Take photos of the scene of the accident with your camera phone, if you have one.
• If you intend to file a claim from your insurance company, be prepared to file a police report within 24 hours of the occurrence of the accident. Take note that not all police stations handle car accident reports. For instance, if the accident takes place within KL area, you must go to the police station in Jalan Bandar, near Petaling Street a.k.a. Chinatown. However, if the accident occurred outside KL, and no policeman arrives at the scene of the accident, go to the nearest police station and ask them where you should file your police report…because I don’t know which police station to go to, that’s why :P Be prepared to bring your passport (if you’re a foreigner) or IC (if you’re Malaysian) when you file the report.
• If the damage is too little to involve the insurance company (e.g. small scratches), get the thing settled quickly on who pays who. And get it settled in cash quickly, preferably before 24 hours is past so that, if the other person doesn’t pay up, you still have time to go and file a police report. As far as I know, if the car behind you hits you for whatever reason at all, they’re automatically at fault and they must pay you. If you’re the one who hits the car in front of you, hard luck lah! :D

And one last thing — accidents in Malaysia, no matter how minor, always cause a major traffic jam. It’s not so much because the car(s) involved in the accident is/are obstructing traffic. Rather, it’s because everyone slows down to take a look.

I once thought Filipinos were a curious lot. I remember hearing about uzi-seros — a play on the word usyusero (busybody) — the term coined at that time for innocent bystanders who got shot by stray bullets during one coup d’etat when I was in Ateneo in the early 90’s. Then I got to Malaysia, where people on the other side of the road (across the actual scene of the accident) actually stop and park their cars on the road shoulder just to get a better look at the accident. I’d have to say that the Malaysians win hands-down when it comes to curiousity!

<<Quick update: For accidents in Petaling Jaya a.k.a. PJ, a very reliable source told me that you should go to the police station at Menara MPPJ in PJ Old Town. 29-Jul-08>>

I am recording this for posterity.

At 2 years and 3 months, the twins can:

• identify the major colours;
• identify common animals and some of the not-so-common ones, like the flamingo;
• identify fruits;
• identify shapes and state the shape of objects;
• understand the concept of numbers and counting;
• count up to 10 in English, Malay, Spanish and Arabic;
• count objects;
• have a vocabulary that includes words like tusks, beak, clouds, stripes, crane (for construction, not the bird), and excavator
• sing nursery rhymes like “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, “Baa-Baa Black Sheep” and “Row Your Boat”

One time, I showed them a photo of a swan that I took in Amsterdam. That same night, we went to a neighbour’s house and Twin1 excitedly exclaimed ‘Swan!’, pointing at a small ceramic swan inside the display cabinet. I never expected them to be able to associate the photo of the real thing with its ceramic equivalent.

That’s not an isolated case. A couple of months ago, they saw a CD with an illustration of the Petronas Twin Towers. Later that week, we were driving past the real thing and the twins excitedly pointed out to me “Twin Towers.” I was surprised how they recognised the actual building based on a simple line illustration of the world-famous landmark.

I’m their mother and tend to be biased, so I dare say that the twins’ recent development has been quite phenomenal ;)

But kidding aside, people often ask me how I raise my children — if there’s a special nutritional supplement that I give them, or a certain book that I use, or a special commercial method that I follow. And I always answer “no”.

Tips on Boosting Children’s Intelligence

Many articles state genetics and the environment to be the main factors that determine a child’s intelligence. Genetics is something that we don’t have much control over. We can, however, provide an environment that will — hopefully — nurture, stimulate and boost our children’s intelligence.

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