A juggle of activities 2

from my last post, i had made two trips to the famous o2 arena. the first was when baby and me watched the World Artistics Gymnastics Championships where my baby's countryman won a silver medal in one of the events. and britain's own elizabeth won a gold medal in one of the events as well. but an accident happened to the Columbian gymnast who had a nasty landing, she was later put on a stretcher and brought to the nearest hospital. glad to know she was okay now.

my second trip was just very recently, last weekend. we went to the ATP World Tour Finals where i saw how Nikolay Davydenko beat the world's number one Roger Federer. it was a very exciting match, but the underdog won! Roger just made too much mistakes. Congrats to the Russian.

weeks ago as well, i made my second trip to the Emirates Stadium where I watched my favorite football team, Arsenal played against the Dutch Team, AZ Alkmaar. well, it was a good trip coz my team won! 3-1! well played! tottenham in disguise huh?

A juggle of activities

there could have been a lot of happenings to blog about but got busy with work. still trying to find my own feet at work, again since i moved early last month.

how i got the job is a pretty interesting story. like everything else, it all starts in a dream, chasing it and making it a reality. you see, my ever favorite place in London is the Tower Bridge. one Sunday afternoon, we had a little walk around the area, just admiring how beautiful London was, he showed me the street where he used to live. it was a very quiet area and it was at a back of a big building, which turned out to be Guy's Hospital. he said that his ex's college was affiliated with the hospital so he frequently picked him up there. he also said that it is a sister hospital of St. Thomas' Hospital, conveniently located near Big Ben. in Cebu there is no hospital as big as it was, or half of its size. it was massive.

when i got home, i googled it up. looked at their job vacancies. applied for positions suitable for me. then off to bed. i wasnt desperately looking for a new job then. so i never really told anyone about it. not even my roommate Ara then, or baby.

a month after, i got a text message from the hospital saying that i was shortlisted and scheduled me for an interview. of course, it was a surprise! now i told baby who was also as excited as myself. the next day after the interview, the ward manager called me and congratulated that i got the job! perfect!

but it wasnt after 3 months after the pre employment checks were completed. just before we went to zurich, i was slowly losing hope that i would get the job because of immigration policies, which i totally understood. i tried my very best to support it with the necessary documents. and after careful review, when we got back to London, an email of unconditional offer was sent to me which made me really happy!

now im working for a very reputable hospital. very proud and happy! got it with my own two hands.

anyway, after zurich our next stop was Manchester. Home to Manchester City Football Club and Manchester United. because i could not get the days off, i decided to just follow baby there on a Saturday. the tournament started on a Thursday.

just when i got to the tennis courts, baby's match just ended and sad part was, he lost! ohhhh... but that's life. some wins, some loses. it was unlucky this time it was the latter.

anyway, we stayed on since he still has another match that day which was the D Doubles with Nigel. we met few old friends and new ones as well, watched others play, chit chatted.

the weather was nice that day but maybe they were just very unlucky because baby lost again. hmmm... looked like its not a good tournament.

anyway, life had to go on. he had a consolation match the next day to which he also lost. he played really well but the opponent just played better. in fairness to baby, he was a strong opponent.

on our way back to the hotel, took some pictures of the stadium which was so massive! we decided to stroll around the lovely city and find somewhre to eat. baby showed me where Queer As Folk UK was shot, the Canal Street, their own version of Soho. loads of people when we got there. very busy! the whole street was jampacked! while we were walking, we bumped into a couple whom baby knew. the other guy played for B in the tournament with his boyfriend. they said that they were meeting other people for dinner and invited us to join them. so we did. it was a bit awkward at first sitting in the same table as the other guys. maybe im just used to just me and my baby. but the guys were really nice. good company plus good food. just what we needed.

after dinner, me and honey separated and went back to Canal Street for a drink. we got in to the nearest bar that we could get in because i needed to go the loo. we got into Club Via which surprisingly turned out to be a very good bar. the ambience was great. we had a suite all by ourselves. we drank, got drunk. but had fun! i miss clubbing!

the next day, baby had to play in the afternoon, so we strolled around the town again before going to the courts. mostly the buildings were red. it was ancient but very nice. i was so vain, i put my camera in a timer mode but ended up dropping it. it can still function but it was too slow and some of the files were corrupted. so stupid of me. got what i deserved really.

anyway, this happened to be a very good day for baby since they won their game.

no trophy this time. but we had a great time in Manchester.

when we got back to London, my friend Ivy confirmed that she was indeed getting married on the 2nd of October in Nottingham and invited us (me and Ara) to be her witnesses. my baby couldnt come because it was a friday and he had to work.

because of the short notice, tickets to Nottingham were too expensive already. the cheapest that we could get was rerouting to Leicester and it was a red eye train ticket as well. we were left with no choice but to take it.

a week before the trip, i treated my baby to a dinner in Pinner. it was a lovely Thai restaurant. just after we ordered our food, he surprised me with a camera! wow! i felt so special. at first I thought it was his camera that he was giving away, but it was a new one! thank you so much honey!

Ara and I didnt realize how stressful as it should have been taking a late night train and having a four to five hour layover in Leicester. what the heck! we already took it. we just have to make the most of the trip. it was a bonding for the two of us since we live miles apart after I moved to the big city. gossips are neverendings, hehehehe!

ivy and her husband to be picked us up at the train station. nice chap! took us to his house, had breakfast and prepared ourselves for the wedding. it was a solemn wedding, very private, not too many people. the couple looked really happy! we went out that night to a local pub, did some dancing! missed the party scene! we lost track of the time we got back to our hotel room at 2am. take note: Ara and I had to leave at 7am, so you can just imagine how sleepless we are. huh! good thing we caught up the train and we got back to London safely.

the week after, baby and I went to an opera, Le Grand Macabre, in London Coliseum. there were loads of people but the opera was boring. maybe it just wasnt my thing. but it was an experience. though my Sister Act experience is still on top.

that same weekend, we went to see the London Gay Symphony Orchestra at Soho. i have to say i was proud to be gay. it was a really entertaining show. i love it! cant wait for the next concert!

YEAR

last sept 25 marked my first year of stay in the uk. coming to another country far away from home was never easy as i imagined. i thought i had seen the real world after college when i worked in my hometown. but i had seen reality in London. that life isnt always the way you expect it to be. life is sometimes bitter. its not always sweet. in short, i had a taste of everything here.

but more than anything else, i am ever so grateful that i stepped foot in London. it taught me the best lessons in life. it made me brave. i stumbled. i fell. i fought back.

but most importantly, i fell and still in love.

im looking forward to what's in store for my 2nd year in london. things have only started to get better.

new job. so far, very much happy with it. new flat.

but still the same Mykee...

Z U R I C H

in zurich airport

baby in zurich airport... i so love this shot!

where we ate dinner


us

lovely couple

national museum

getting ready to play huh?

videoke

me in Haldorf

i felt like a jetsetter. just barely a month from my Prague trip, there I was again at Luton Airport waiting for boarding for my flight to Zurich. my good friend, Ara, spent the Christmas Holidays in Switzerland and my boyfriend had been there twice, so I was given the thoughts of what to expect and what not. but having to experience first hand is another story.

immigration officials were nice. let me in with no problem. there i was... on swiss soil! the airport was like a shopping center. very nice. got our tickets to the city center and off we went. by the way, it was my first time to get in to a double decker train. so cool! it was comfy as well compared to the London Underground.hhehehe

it was nighttime when we arrived at the registration venue for my baby, where we met the other players and also, my then-good German friend Christian.

the weather was nice, so we decided to walk to our hotel which was a good 20 minute walk from the resto. i have to say, without ara and peter telling me, i noticed that the streets in Zurich were very clean. well maintained or just disciplined people? or both?

anyway, with all our bags, baby was so tired when we got to the hotel. i felt hungry so i went out to grab a bite. i walked through the streets looking for food. it was around 10pm, and the nearest food i could get was kebab, so i had it and took some for baby which he politely ate.

come the next day, we had breakfast at our hotel and we went to Haldorf which was 18 tram stops from where we were. it was far yet we didnt take notice of the time because we were so preoccupied looking at the views from the tram. and by the way, you can tell that it is a rich city by the looks of their trams compared to the ones in Prague. very modern.

we saw Patrick Tang from Belgium when we got there. Hugs and Kisses. and the Spanish Team were there too. the nicest people on the tournament. they got so lucky with the weather. all day it stayed dry. not only that, my baby won his match. so he got in to the next round!

at about 530pm we went to the other venue to watch the two famous players from Switzerland. actually one was from Bulgaria but has a Swiss passport. those girls can certainly hit the ball. everyone was in awe! we didnt finish the match though because baby had to play early the next day. so we went back to our hotel. but we rerouted to the filipino store which was just very near to our hotel. we accidentally saw it, so we thought of grabbing a bite there!

i was so excited, i bought a lot of stuffs in there that i could have got in London hahaha! met other Filipinos there who mostly were drunk from a hard day's work. after we had our dinner, the owner, put on the videoke.. hehehehe just what i wanted!

of course i sang. my baby turned red when i grabbed the microphone. maybe he was ashamed that i was really going to do it. he had a choice of walking out but he didnt. that was so sweet of him. the plan was one song, but it was on and on. after about 5 songs, i stopped and decided that i had enough and had to consider my baby. so we went back to our hotel with smiles on our faces. a city as big as Zurich, who would have thought, i would come across a Filipino shop. even Ara didnt know it was there when she went. lucky me!

the next day was another early day for us. we ate breakfast at the tennis venue. weather was still very nice. baby, had to play at 800am. he won! and got in to semi finals. his next match was 1300 so we decided to have a little stroll around the city rather than waiting in boredom in the courts.

we went to the National Museum of Zurich. Just like the River Thames of London, we also walked through Lake Zurich which had a fantastic view on both sides. we also walked through the Old Zurich which had expensive shops all over. the tiny streets were absolutely stunning!

baby went straight to the courts and i headed for a siesta at our hotel for an hour. when i got back to the courts to see baby, he was winning. and he went on and took the match for himself, which meant, he is in to the finals the next day!!!!!

we thought it called for a celebration. so at night, we strolled around Old Zurich again with an outstanding view of the Cathedral. Ohhh the citylights were brilliant. it was so romantic. especially spending the night with my one and only love. gorgeous!

we ended up eating in this lovely restaurant called, Pier 7. it was like a boat in the river. it was wobbling because of the waves when we ate. so cute!!!!! we had a lovely dinner plus i was with my baby, so that made it extra special. i would never have spent it with anyone else. mwwwaaahhh!!!!

baby lost the finals the next day to an italian guy. bad news! well he still played his best, enjoyed it. maybe next time. you win some, you lose some.

we stayed on until the closing ceremonies where baby got his trophy and headed home.

me, baby and Christian headed straight to the airport together. we took Christian to his terminal and we strolled around a little bit because our flight was delayed.

well our flight was delayed for 2 hours!!! can you believe it? worst delay ever. and mind you, we both still had to work the next day. just imagine.

anyhow, we got home safely. had a lovely time in Zurich. it was like another honeymoon... til next!

P R A H A

i almost did not push through with the trip. only because of the persistence of my partner, i was convinced to go. i have to tell you he is really good at that. you see, i just moved to a new job and i did not want to leave a bad impression from the management. im still in the prove yourself stage at work. and i was literally struggling and still adjusting to living on my own. to be very frank and honest, i did not prepare well with the transfer. there were times i wanted to go back and take the easy road but in life, we always have to lead on. i can only learn from my own mistakes. and move on.

anyway, at my age of 25, i still believe in signs. not that it proved reliable to me in the past, coz there had been times that it wasnt. but still keep on believing. i asked for a schengen visa and if i will get it, Go with the trip! Indeed it arrived. its another visa in my passport. i love it!

next step was making sure that my work schedule was blocked on the trip dates. i talked to the manager, of course, gave a more valid reason (white lie), which worked apparently.

so off we went!

czech republic was the 3rd european country that i visited after uk and ireland. my excitement was on tops!

by the way, we did not really came to Prague as tourists. my beautiful baby had to play for a tennis tournament for GLTA and he wanted me to come and support him. sweet, aint it?

we got to London Luton Airport early, we still got time to grab a bite there. while we were queuing for check in, we saw other two players on the same flight as us. a couple too, i think!
the view from the plane was very nice. city of bridges indeed.

it was very sunny when we got out of Praha Ruzyne Airport. and it was good to see again a normal car, that is, driver sits on the left front seat.

we headed straight to the registration which was at Latimerrie Bar in central Prague. we took the bus and metro, which was very cheap. on our way, the sightings were so beautiful. its such a lovely city.

Latimerrie was a very compact bar. baby introduced me to his friends. said hi. had drinks. and we headed to our hotel. another story. we booked a botel which came at a very cheap price but the reviews were great. it wasnt very central but there were activities around the area that we were looking forward to do. we took the tram there. a good 15 minute ride. only to find out that they run out of room for us, but they took responsibility and booked us in a 4 star hotel in the city central. their driver took us to our new hotel. we got a very big room and all the perks. and all for the same price. we got lucky! we thought.

we got so hungry. we left our things and went out again to find a good restaurant nearby. surprisingly, there were a lot of italian restaurants around. so we headed to the nearest. the waiter was very naughty! the food was good though. filled us up for that night. we had a a little walk around the area. the city was very beautiful. anywhere you look, you can see beautiful structures. i was so amused.

friday, july 17 2009, was still a beautiful day at 31 C. it was very hot! good news to the players. my baby only played one match that day. and it was a very good to see him win!

we went back to our hotel at around 3pm. had shower. and explored the city. although we booked a guided tour at 7pm, it was still nice to be all by ourselves. tooked some pics. visited the famous, Charles Bridge, the Old City Hall, The Opera House. Great! It was just sad that it rained hard at around 6pm just when we headed to the meeting area of the guided tour which was in the monument of St. Wenceslas, the patron saint of Prague. But anyhow, we got there on time.

it was very interesting to know a bit of Prague History, how they fought for their democracy. It was very much like my country. That is why they have their Vaclav Havel as to our Corazon Aquino.

we ended the tour in a pub going to the Prague Castle but again it was raining very hard plus it was getting late, so we decided to call it a night.

the next day was horrible. It rained whole day. Lot of matches were cancelled. They had to play indoors. But my baby won all of his matches that day, both singles and doubles. Well done!


the organizers hosted a dinner and steamed cruise that night at 9pm but my baby had to play the finals the following day, and it was as early as 8pm. we decided to spend the night all by ourselves.

we had dinner near Prague Castle. We were supposed to go to Cowboys which was mentioned in Spartacus Guide, had an overlooking view of the whole city. But when we got there, they were fully booked. It was the same, except for this one cute restaurant, Restaurate U Certa, which had authentic Czech cuisine. it wasnt very expensive. and we had a very lovely dinner. then we walked towards Prague Castle. the view from the top was gorgeous. looking at the citylights was very romantic. and most especially with your loved one, just right beside you. it was a very perfect setting. we went inside the castle. and a big OH MY GOD to St. Vitus Cathedral. Absolutely the greatest! I thought that kind of church only existed in movies. But it was right infront of my eyes. All around, it was just amazing. the detailing, the wall painting, the gold windows. Hats off to the architects! I have never seen like this in London. Only in Prague!

it definitely was worth it not going to the cruise. what we had was more personal and memorable for the two of us. we slept with smile on our faces. but sad because we left the following day.

we brought our luggages to the court because we headed straight to airport after baby's matches. it was both finals for singles and doubles. but he lost. he did fight hard because the 2 matches got to 3 sets. not bad. he did his best and thats what matters most. plus according to the cheeky guy, he's got the best trophy already.hmmmmm...

when we got to the airport, some guys from the same tournament were also on the same flight. went duty free shopping. had dinner. and boarded the plane which was delayed by the way.

we got back to London at around 930pm UK time. got home at 11pm. tired! even then, the trip had been a breather for us.

infront of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle

backdrop: Charles Bridge

Hotel Arkada





Metro Station

Pride London 2009

independence day in the US.... Gay Pride in London!


again a lot of firsts for me in London since I got here. last weekend was no exception. it was my first ever gay pride! aside from me and my baby, we were in the company of another couple who lives next door to my baby's flat and one of their friend.

baby, me, danilo, christoph, sam

the crowd was massive outside piccadilly circus station. the atmosphere obviously was very gay. it felt good walking with your partner hand in hand without people giving you a second look. i saw guys kissing passionately on the streets. girls too.

the metropolitan police also participated in the parade which was a testament of support to the gay sector. that was really nice! the party in trafalgar square was just starting when we arrived. we saw various artists performed. and the crowd was crazy! partied like there was no tomorrow.

at around 4pm, we went to Leicester Square to see Boy George. and we were not disappointed. we saw a big celebrity! his stint was short though. but he hung out for quite some time backstage evidently in the pic below.hehehehe

me infront of St. Martin in the Fields...rainbow flag was displayed infront of the church

we finished the party in Trafalgar Square and had dinner at a Korean Restaurant, walked to Soho for a bit and head home. it was a very special day for the gay community. as one of the organizer said, London is OURS today! And conquer we did!

the rainbow flag

Fighting and Surviving

a bit of everything was what i felt on my first day at work last week, the 15th. it feels weird being the new guy again. extra careful, youve got to prove your worth and not only that, you have to mingle and blend in with different people, as in different personalities, races. it really is hard. it doesnt happen overnight but i will get there. i will settle in...well, hopefully. it had been a week but im still finding my own space.

speaking of space, i have moved to a new flat, somewhere close to work. i have to admit it wouldnt be possible without the special people around me especially my baby who tremendously inspired me in a lot of ways. i did not imagine moving to london was this hard. i did not have much bullets with me. i did not prepare, so to speak. if i would have gone to war, then i died already. but thanks to the shield that gives protection. no round of bullet but ive got a shield.

i greatly appreciate my guy for giving me that extra push, because im too slow, im too weak. slowly, little by little i become stronger, which is what a fighter and survivor should be. his being organized and responsible is magnetizing to me which is very good. and the qualities that i need in leading my life. after all, it will always be me who will be the captain of my ship and not somebody else.

you know who you are, i love you always...



Diverting....



together with his officemates, we watched Sister Act the Musical in Oxford Circus and very much enjoyed it. i was really looking forward to it because it is my first ever musical experience in London. and it was fantastic! the actors were great! the revolving stage was amazing. it was very clever how they change sets. and the songs... you cant help but join in the groove. it was absolutely an awesome experience. evidently, we were still singing the music while we went home.