Milestones
- First time to go home twice in one year (normally once a year lah)
- First time to a four week long vacation (normally I get 2 weeks only hehe)
- First time to go home for Christmas & New Year’s (after 5 Christmases & New Year’s in Bahrain, finally!)
- First time to
campsleep in a hospital for Mum’s procedure (successful, thank God!) - First wedding in our family (my eldest brother Pop gets hitched)
- First local trip with Buboy.
- First EA+SEA trip with Buboy.
2012 Vacation 2.0
But this was not a coincidence. I’ve planned almost a half a year prior (yes, ako na ang excited-slash-OC), considered various factors: available leave days, air tickets, itineraries, expense budget, et al.
I booked my BAH-MNL tickets in late June 2012 – availed my bank’s offer and noted the fact that ticket prices double during December.
I’ve informed my boss in advance (backed by a perfect attendance record) and department colleagues (so that our leave skeds won’t clash), yes, ako na ang may malasakit sa kumpanya at ayokong sabay-sabay kaming nakabakasyon, hehe.
I didn’t use any of my leave days since March 2012 (1st home leave, 2 weeks only), so as to accumulate maximum # of leave days, hehehe. I used Eid holidays for our trip to Qatar (Aug 2012) and Oman (Oct 2012).
Did research for our Boracay-Clark-Singapore-KualaLumpur-HongKong-Macau backpacking trip, grabbed seats from airline promos, drafted itineraries and set expense budgets.
Two months prior, my brother informed of his intent to marry his childhood sweetheart after Christmas day. 
About a month prior, my mom told me of her diagnosis and the procedure she’s required to undergo (I was so anxious that time, that I wanted to go home earlier. Thank God it wasn’t emergency and was scheduled upon my arrival).
With all these events noted, my itinerary dynamically adjusted and patiently waited for the days to pass. Actually I had so much paper works the week prior that after my last day of duty, I punched out, rested a bit, grabbed my luggage and took a cab to the airport.
Yes, diz iz it pancit!
hwaw naman ang busy ng sched, siksik sa events
mabuti at ayos na ang lagay ng iyong ina…
thank you RP! sinulit tlaga hehe! at salamat sa Diyos, ok naman si Nanay, sinigurado ko munang OK sya bago lumakwatsa!
Lots of preparation, sacrifice and anticipation when we go back to our motherland, eh? I have yet to go to Boracay.
hehe, buhay OFW e, what to do yani? so we make the most out of every home leave, no matter how short, and then anticipate the next one,
and yes, go visit Boracay soon, maganda pa rin sya maski commercialized na,