Ukuleleing

Meet Lanika Ferrer -- my new love and joy. We have a good relationship, me, Yas and Lanika. Except in the early mornings when I prefer playing with Lanika. That really annoys Yas. Lanika Ferrer. Fresh in the entertainment industry ... ukulele industry, that is :)

Since I'm now an impoverished student and no longer able to buy a guitar, I decided to settle for a ukulele. That's actually a bit inaccurate. I did want to buy a ukulele because of its unique and rustic sound. While playing, it gives me the feel of warm beach sand and the gentle sound of crashing waves as they accompany the strumming of Jack Johnson and Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. Yes, warm beach sand under my feet. That feels good ...

All right, my real reason for getting a ukulele was to help me imagine all these things while Yas and I freeze in our poorly insulated attic. And, of course, I always dream of jamming with Jack Johnson in Hawaii one day.

So far these are what I've learned to play in my ukulele. Enjoy!

Discovering UN

It's been almost a week since the end of my UN internship and I still barely have time to write an entry in my blog. As expected, a 2-months internship is hardly enough to complete one report and two research papers. I guess I should say goodbye to my remaining 2 weeks of real summer vacation!

My UN internship was a cornucopia of emotions -- a meshing of rapturous delight, frustration, pride, humility, sadness and happiness. We arrived awed, then departed skeptical. Came in optimistic, left somehow thwarted. It was a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. High in our eureka moments, but low when overworked and stymied. In spite of the radical shifts in our moods, I still wanted to get into the system. The sneak peak into the colossal bureaucracy had only enliven my desire to become an international civil servant.

What made the experience extraordinary were the friends and family who hopped on the roller coaster ride with us -- the co-interns we commiserated with over lunch and coffee breaks, family members who provided support, and the better-halves who received most of the brunt. Weekends became the highlight of the "play" component of our intern lives. Exploring the best gastronomic places became routine, stretching our palette from Asian to Latin American and to African cuisines. The long walks in Central Park, midtown and downtown Manhattan were more than pleasant, even when the 30-blocks strolls and the hot pavement had worn out our shoes quicker than we imagined. Free concerts were always worth the 1 hour commute from Secaucus to Manhattan.

The mix of feelings towards the end of my internship was even stranger. I was sad to see my friends leave (I stayed a week longer), though ecstatic and excited for Yas's arrival and my parents' visit. Although my final week was utterly stressful, it was wonderful to end it with my family watching my final presentation and the relaxing trip to Niagara Falls. Now that I'm back in Syracuse, it's good to just sit back, contemplate and reminisce the great two months of adventure in NYC.








Thanks so much to all my new friends (Annick, Samantha, Carla, Marianne, the yearbook committee), old friends (Jeff, Elaine, Mitul and Yaying), family (Dad, mom, ate claire, kuya troy, tita viging, tito lito, and marcel) and Yas for the fun-filled summer. UN would not have been this memorable an experience without you. To all my new friends: Annick, I'm sure we'll see each other often; Samantha, we'll visit you in DC next year; Carla, I'm not sure if we can visit you down under anytime soon, but I'm sure we'll be able to do so in the future; Marianne, hope to see you in ADB!

-

At the parliament of men (women)

I was in 5th grade when I made a diorama of the United Nations headquarters. It was made out of illustration board held together by elmer's glue and cut-out paper flags glued on toothpicks. I did not have the dream of working for the UN then. All I wanted was to impress my history teacher and receive a grade of 90% for the project. Who would've thought that nineteen years later I would be walking the halls and corridors of the very buildings I modeled my diaroma project after? Well, my history teacher certainly did not.

"250 out of 5000. That's the odds of getting accepted to do internship at the UN headquarters," exclaims the assistant secretary-general as she welcomes the interns in the orientation program. I guess I was lucky to have a supervisor who knows someone from the inside. Although the statistics may seem overwhelming, it was some other thing that struck me the most in the welcome ceremony. Even at the start of the orientation we were already referred to as future diplomats. The heck, I never really imagined myself becoming a diplomat. All I wished for was to become a policy analyst. That's all. Environmental policy analysis and none of the international relations stuff! I never had the skills of playing with politically-correct words anyway. Nonetheless, here I am amongst the company of the world's established and would-be diplomats. I wonder where this brief stint at the parliament of men (women) would take me. Only time will tell ... approximately five years from now.





To my 5th grade history teacher, I think I deserve 100%.

"It's good to be home" - Joe Biden

It's good to be home. These were the very first words of Vice President Joe Biden's commencement speech at Syracuse University last Sunday. I pondered for a while upon hearing this line. Do I now consider Syracuse as my second home? Surely after coming from a long travel, say from another state, the thought of coming back to Syracuse is akin to "coming home". After living for almost a year now, I have learned to accept my cozy little attic and the friendly Westcott neighborhood as my new home. I guess it's just like the time when I learned to accept our Clementi HDB flat as our home in Singapore. Now I'm beginning to realize how weird it feels to be jumping from one place to another. I wonder if it's for the better to explore the world and slowly watch the gap between myself and my "first home" to grow wider. I wonder when I could finally and sincerely say to myself, "it's good to be home."

This is realizable for some of us who are about to leave the walls of SU and ESF. After 3 long years of grueling doctoral studies and being apart from family, Jing is now concluding the remaining few paragraphs of her Syracuse chapter. As for Yas and I, it will still be another 4-5 years of journey here in the US. I guess we won't be able to say "it's good to be home" in the truest sense for a long time, but we do look forward to that day when we can truly unpack our luggages and settle down for good.

One commencement down, four more to go. Congratulations to Jing and Nilo! It may be a short acquaintance, but definitely long enough to make us miss you a lot.

Pinoys in front of Bray Hall at ESF

SU and ESF commencement at the Archbold Stadium

Jing receiving her diploma from President Murphy (aka Dumbledore)

Dr. Toledo-Bruno and mommy

Maestro Alcala and Dr. Toledo-Bruno

Congratulations Maestro Alcala!

Our friend, Nilo, had his recital on Sunday and the pinoy group came to give its all out support. It was a proud moment for us, knowing that one day this guy could make it to Broadway, Hollywood, or one of those prestigious conservatories. If not, we're confident he'd write the score for the next hottest telenovela in the Philippines.


Posing in front of Crouse Hall (AKA SU Hogwarts or College of Music) with the Maestro an hour before his recital.


The Maestro conducting his 14-piece choir.


The music was very interesting -- too contemporary for my taste, but I'm sure he got an A+ for his recital. Good thing my best friend introduced me to contemporary composition back in college. At least I did not have to sit through the entire concert, like most of the other pinoys, wondering why the music was so atonal. Nonetheless, I think they appreciated the part when the choir was making native american-like sounds while stumping their feet.

Congratulations Nilo! The pinoys and Billy Joel are so proud of you!

Mabuhay and pilipinas!!!

Farewell Freeman

I was shocked to hear the passing away of Francis "Kiko" Magalona.

Here's my tribute to this great Filipino musician.

Back to letter writing

I immediately felt the difference upon coming home from the airport. The clutter was not in its usual place anymore, although that blue, puffy jacket was still hanging near the banister of my attic staircase (funny how in an instant I began referring to "our" attic as "my" attic). I went to the kitchen to help myself with a glass of OJ and stared at the leftover cookies on the dining table. I pitied them cookies, knowing that they would probably sit there for three more weeks rather than being appreciated for less than a day if the circumstance weren't so different. I went back to bed again hoping to just sleep through the somber experience, but stacking two pillows did not help at all. I then figured that perhaps it would help to recall my first few weeks here in Syracuse, when the best way of assuaging bouts of the blues was to rely on Blogger, Skype and the US postal service.

The realization came: It's back to letter writing, at least in the next six months.


Sometimes I wonder if we're taking this "letter writing" theme in our relationship too seriously. That our love for the postal system has inevitably created a world for us to constantly act the roles of a long distance couple. Nah, I seriously doubt it. I don't believe in The Secret crap anyway. Letter writing is always here to stay in our relationship, even if it's just a week of being apart. It's not a dismal reminder of our sad state, but a proof of our endurance to cope with dramatic changes in our relationship. Ten years from now we would proudly say to our kids, "We wrote a hundred letters when your dad entered the academic convent." One of those letters would say:

"Thanks for visiting, Yas. Now I know how it would be like when you unpack your suitcase for good in August. Love -- Marbs"

A Holiday We Deserved

After a stressful semester and being far apart from each other for more than 3 months, Yas and I finally got the vacation we deserved. It was a very eventful trip: last minute change in departure, whirlwind packing, delayed bus and train rides, and two snow storms. Nonethless, it was balanced by many days of just hanging out at home, chatting, playing video games, doing artsy stuff, eating, and eating, and eating again. I guess the highlight of the trip, really, was spending time with family and friends and being able to celebrate our anniversary just the way we imagined it to be.






Many thanks to our hosts, Uncle Edgar, Auntie Cynthia, Cece, Coco and Chris in Sparta, Jeff, Elaine and Annie in Cambridge, Tito Ricky, Tita Marissa, and Christina in Boston, Uncle Rene, Auntie Joan and Steph in Manalapan, and Ate Claire in New York City. This trip would not have been possible without you. We look forward to seeing you again in the future, and hopefully in Syracuse next time when you visit.

Please visit our flickr account for more photos of Boston (http://www.flickr.com/photos/marvjfm/sets/72157611905279621/) and New York City (http://www.flickr.com/photos/marvjfm/sets/72157611956944952/).

Happy New Year!!!

Rochester Bochester

It's funny how Rochester became the first of our Northeast city tour. While my friends were packing their bags for NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA, and SF, we were making our way to this small city tucked away somewhere along the fringes of freezing lake Ontario. Don't get me wrong. It was all good and we're very proud of going there. Rochester is absolutely not the "place to be" if you are a tourist. The only reason why one would go up there is to either apply for a job at Kodak or to check out the university (which we did). But places near the university and around their ArtWalk district are absolutely nice to visit, not just for locals but for tourists as well.





They say fall and spring are the best seasons to take photos in Rochester. I agree, specially after seeing this photo taken from the admissions prospectus of UoR.


But here's another photo taken from the exact spot in the university, just in case you're curious how it looks like during winter. Well, it's not so bad...


Visit my flickr account (www.flickr.com/photos/marvjfm) for more photos of our Rochester trip. Yas and I are in New Jersey and will be traveling to Boston and New York city soon. So stay tuned for more photos :)

What Saturday afternoons have turned into ... (Guest blogging by the wife)

Life as a PhD student has become a little different for Marvin since his wife came to town.

Suddenly, he finds himself having to make space for her things, her habits, and required drug intake (sugar and caffeine).

Suddenly, he finds his sleek winter coat suffocated by her 4-year-old comforter-like monstrosity from a time when "thinsulate" wasn't invented yet.

He finds himself talking about Martha Stewart recipes because like any other culinary-challenged modern woman, she likes to plan lunch like she plans her homework.

He finds it harder to buy things like books from Amazon, a Warren Kimble cow mug, or a vegetable peeler because his wife is, how should we say it, kuripot.

He finds himself trekking to the local organic store to buy coffee in -9C weather. Wife goes through a severe withdrawal syndrome when the flow of caffeine is delayed.

However, he finds comfort in the fact that the store sells other cool stuff like organic lettuce. Bad thing is that they discourage customers from using plastic bags so he had to protect the lettuce all the way home.

So while the changes remain small, they are worrying symptoms of what the future may bring.

Trip to Charlie's Abode

Who would think that someone's house could be a destination for an Energy Class field trip? On the way back from the waste-to-energy plant, our professor insisted that we drop by his place to see "energy-efficiency in practice." It was a lovely home and we definitely enjoyed his russian furnace while snow was falling heavily outside.

A lesson on passive solar heating.



This reminds me of hollywood films, really. Could it be one of north pole's toy workshops disguised as a red barn?

Guest blogging by the wife

They say Thanksgiving is a time for families to be together so it seemed like a fun idea for Marbs and I celebrate this holiday after 3 months of being apart. Eating a whole turkey on our own was out of the question, but we made do with a menu of pumpkin soup (no butter or cream), artichoke pasta, grilled chicken with tomatoes, and pumpkin pie (only $3.99!). Thankfully, there were no crazy crowds at the supermarket and the whole town was strangely quiet given that all classes were cancelled for the holidays. Here are some life lessons we learned from this experience:
1. Walking to the supermarket in Syracuse is not like walking to the supermarket in Singapore. Especially when this means a temperature difference of more than 30 degrees.
2. Snot freezes if you don’t wipe it away quickly enough
3. Buy chopped butternut squash even if the fresh one is only 80 cents per kilo. It is not fun to peel this vegetable.
4. You can buy a readymade turkey with all the trimmings for just $57 (we hung out by the butcher’s counter and watched people come by to pick up their dinner).




We also invited Yaying, one of the other Pinoy phd students here, and had a nice dinner talking about student life and the dilemmas of moving across the world. We had a lot of fun – and it was easy to feel nostalgic about being together again. In a way, 3 months is really not that long a time to be apart. But for some reason, it was every bit as difficult as the time we first started our long distance relationship five years ago. There’s a lot to be thankful for this year. It was nice to sit down, have a nice meal, and appreciate everything.