Road to Wellness: Checkpoint: My first 1,5 weeks since I get back to work

After being in medical leave for 1,5 months, I officially got back to work on July 11, Wednesday. 

I requested the doctor to give me the authorization/go signal to go back to work after taking clearance from my 2 psychiatrists and psychologist that I am strong enough to get back to work. Hehehe Yes, that´s how they described me.  Hahahaha  They were also telling me that the longer that I am in medical leave, there is a risk of higher difficulty to get back to my normal routine.  

As I am certain that I want to go back to work, I already prepared my mind for it.  Prior to my medical apppointment, I was already taking the metro, train and bus to practice and to see my reaction.  Hehehe.  Thankfully, everything seems normal.  I also did several sessions of acupuncture and therapeutic massages.  On a more personal level, I ate as much as I can in a nearby Filipino restaurant hahahah and did the Korean teledrama marathon that I truly deserve.  

Our small family, my husband, son and I prepared ourselves mentally, physically and emotionally so we can mutually help one another.  I really love my job but it is far. So again, it means long hours away from home. It is not just the commuting time but the long hours dedicated to work itself.  

The big day came.  I woke up early, did my morning meditation, showered and prepared myself for work and prepared our family´s power breakfast.  I did say my morning prayer before I left my home.  I wore red shoes and red accessories.  This is a tradition that I follow. It is the "chinese" in me.  I strongly believe that wearing red brings luck and fortune!! 

Commute to work was breezy because it is summer and many people are on holidays.  Upon arriving to the office, my colleagues welcomed me with warm hugs and smiles.  We are happy to see each other. They decorated my desk with balloons and in the later part of the morning, provided some delicious pastries and I ate half of them. Hahahahaha 

I was able to conduct meetings like business as usual.  I even said in jest to a colleague who saw me suffering from anxiety attacks during meetings that it is a fact that I am under medication and that the medications are kicking in as I was able to conduct the meetings like the TRUE PRO that I am.  

I am organized at work, it is innate in me.  I am an excellent multi tasker.  I am delivering as expected as work.  

But I must not forget that I am taking medicines which help regulate my reactions and my stress levels.  That´s why I make conscious effort to breathe profoundly, to continue to do meditation, to listen to my mindfulness and relaxation music and to enjoy work in spite of its demands, after all I am blessed with kind and understanding colleagues.  I also make it a point to exercise 3-5 times a week.  

I continue to have sessions with my psychiatrist, psychologist and general practitioner doctor.  

It is very important that we listen to our body, check our stress signals, eat well, exercise, disconnect, enjoy, remain professional but not take work and personality differences at work too seriously because after all it is just work.  The important thing is to MENTALLY, EMOTIONALLY, PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY DISCONNECT AND NURTURE OUR MIND AND BODY!!! 

In a nutshell, I have had a productive comeback and I continue to hope and pray that I will be able to juggle between work and family, with FAMILY as my priority.  I love going to the office and working but I love it more when Friday arrives because it means unhurried, 100% family time, domestic Isay mode. :)  And MEDITATION, DEEP BREATHING, MINDFULNESS they indeed work. :)  

So help me God!!!   

 At my desk with my gorgeous Longchamp bag 

  My gorgeous almost 6 year old pretty ballerinas red shoes 

  I am a firm believer of God.  WIth God we are nothing.  When Man prays, God works. Amen. 

  M-W-F.  Friday is when I run like flash to pick up my son from school/summer camp.

As one of Annie´s song says:  You are never fully dressed without a smile.  So S-M-I-L-E. :):):) 

My literal street style summer fashion..

I am a very pragmatic, active, on the go, and busy yet full of love working mother.   I don´t dress up for style, rather I dress up for comfort and practicality.  

That´s why I so love summer!!!  During summer and as I hail from a tropical country, I do not need to do layering to protect me from the cold weather.  I need to apply sunscreen and hydrating cream though.  During summer, it is so easy to pick up my comfortable street style clothes, sometimes even wrinkled, fresh from the clothesline (not ironed) clothes.  

During weekdays, office days, I do my best to look as professional as I can.  Though I love wearing mini skirts hehehehe I make it a point that it is not tacky at all. Hehehehe 

On weekends, as I am a mom on the go, I wear very comfortable shorts, trainers/sneakers, cotton shirts and comfortable bags to store all the necessities of my son and my medicines as well. This simple and easy style of clothing enables me to run after my son when necessary, play football, basketball with him when necessary and gives me the flexibility to be mobile.  

I am not posh nor sophisticated at all.  I am very hardworking, organized, loving mom trying to overcome my anxiety disorder and this pragmatism is all reflected in the simplicity of my matter of dressing up. 

Here´s a sneak peek of my very predictable street style summer fashion.. by the way, my spring and autumn fashion is the same only i add up a jersey, sweatshirt or a jacket. Heheehe I try to wear shorts as long as my body can endure the cold temperature. Hahahahaha. 

How Sports contribute to a Child´s Development

I always say that we are fortunate to have the resources that enable us to send our son to extra curricular activities, in this case, sports activities, that hone his physical strength and at the same time allow him to develop new skills. 

My son is enrolled in the following sport activities: 

1.  Swimming 
2.  Judo 
3.  Basketball - he is Filipino and we Filipinos just absolutely love basketball.  Hehehe He should at least learn how to dribble, shoot and do the rebound Hahahahaha.  He should be able to participate in street style basketball which is common in my country. Hehehehehe 

My husband and I were given the opportunity to see how the activities were conducted during their open house.   I liked that even if we and the instructors know that sports is definitely about competition, the instructions are packaged in such a way that the children/participants are taught about discipline, generosity, respect for individual/others, commitment, ownership to your actions and winning in a fun form.  In short it was a fun learning activity even though they were building skills. 

I remember my child going home from his extra curricular telling me about the new friends he met, new skills he has learnt.  From time to time he would show his moves on stretching and other physical activities.  

He would equate certain actions to some values he learned in these extra curricular activities.   For example: waiting for one´s turn, not shouting, not physically hurting each is a sign of respect for individual.  

His discipline and organization have also improved as he is able to organize his things and his time.  From school, he knows that he has to take his afternoon snacks and after,  go to his activity on time (as tardiness is not good).  His listening and attention skills also increased.  He follows instructions and can execute them.  It is inevitable though at his age, that sometimes, we have to repeat ourselves.  

His ownership to his tasks and responsibilities have evidently increased as well.  In their judo class, the students have a notebook where they put the cards/points that they were awarded to every end of the session.  And when that is complete, they submit it to the professor.  And if there are duplicate cards, the students take them back to the professor and request for a new one.  My son took responsibility in ensuring that his notebook is up to date though he was unable to complete it.  

On a more physical note, his muscular strength, agility and technical skills have improved.  He has better grip on the basketball.   He runs faster though still slow.  Hahahahahaha   His swimming skills have tremendously improved.  He recently participated in his school´s swimming competition.  He was the last in his category but I was cheering and screaming as if he was the champion! Hahahah Stage Mom I am, yes indeed!!!! 

Even if sports is about winning,  three of my son´s greatest learnings are generosity,  kindness and social interaction.  He knows that he needs to do his best to win, but at the end of it all, he knows/he is taught that sportsmanship is also about helping your colleague/team mate.  He exemplifies that whenever there is a new kid in the class by being warm and welcoming to the new classmate and at the same trying to help by showing some of the techniques learned. My son has always been timid, introvert but during these classes, he just let it all out, he relaxes, he has fun and he enjoys his time with his classmates.  He engages in conversations with them!!! 

As a parent, I strongly recommend that our children engage in individual or group sports leaning activities for skills building but more importantly for fun memories and values reinforcement as they grow up. 

Way to go to you my son!! I will always be here for you!! Aja!! Fighting!! Animo!!! 

Madrid.. Madrid.. Madrid.. (Lavapies and Paseo del Prado) Te quiero Madrid.. I love you Madrid! :)

This is more like a picture post as I would like to share some snapshots of the city centre of Madrid.  We are fortunate to live in the city centre, again with the trade off that we are far from nature (but Madrid has beautiful and kid friendly parks full of trees which simulates feeling of nature) and that our units are smaller.   We can probably live in a chalet or in a bigger unit in a suburb or in the outskirts of Madrid but we made the adult decision to stay within the city.  

For today´s post, I would like to share with you the areas of Lavapies and Paseo del Prado.  

Lavapies is know for its fusion of Asian - Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian flavors and cultures.  There are Spanish locals residing in the area but a big part of the local business are managed by Asian businessmen.  There are also Spanish food areas and we have visited more than a couple of times, the Spanish classic coffee shop Cafe Barbieri.  Lavapies  has significantly improved through the years.  It is home to the Lavapies Metro, Lavapies Plaza which is neatly maintained by the Comunidad de Madrid.  There are several playgrounds which allow the children to have a good time.  

 Lavapies Signage

 Metro Lavapies

 Resto 1

Stores

 

 Lavapies Housing units

  Indian Resto

   Roadsweeper of the Comunidad de Madrid that keeps the city clean

 O Paso del Lugo, a classic Spanish resto.. Really good food!! 

Plaza de Lavapies 

 

Paseo del Prado is a long avenue that connects to the Paseo de Castellano a long avenue where the business district of Madrid is located.  The nice thing about Paseo del Prado is it is very near to the Atocha Train Station, the biggest and busiest train terminal that connects to all points of Spain, it is close to Retiro Park, Caixa Forum, Neptuno, Ritz Hotel (currently under construction) Jesus de Medinacelli Church and the famous Paseo del Prado.  

On Sundays, the Comunidad de Madrid closes one lane so that the tourists, locals can freely walk withouth worrying about the stoplights and vehicles. 

As this area is very touristic, there are a lot of food franchises (Burger King, McDonalds, Starbucks, KFC)  but it also houses a lot of classic Spanish restaurants. 

 Neptuno

Signage

 Calle de Jesus and Basilica de Jesus de Medinacelli  

 Hotel Palace, right in front of Prado Museum 

                                                      Paseo del Prado 

 Museo del Prado  

                                        Caixa Forum and its famous vertical garden  

Paseo del Prado has many trees which add up to the beauty of the area.  

Hope you like this blogpost and for sure, you will not miss it when you come here in Madrid!  Thank you!!! 

The Amateur Cook in Me.. Easy and healthy homemade spinach turkey bread

This is a recipe that is so easy to prepare and a winner for adults and children!! It is healthy, light and easy on the budget. 

Complexity:  Easy 
Preparation and Cooking time:  30 minutes 

Ingredients: 

6-8 pieces of white or wheat bread 
4 eggs 
spinach, finely chopped 
grated cheese 
turkey cold cut 
half cup of low fat milk 
salt, optional 


Procedure: 
1.  Preheat the oven.
2.  Finely chop the spinach. 
3.  In a bowl, mix the finely chopped spinach, eggs, grated cheese (leave some to serve as toppings) and low fat milk.  Set aside. 
4.  Prepare the white or wheat bread on the pan. 
5.  Put the spinach mixture as base.  Evenly spread on the bread. 
6.  Put the turkey cold cut on top of the spinach base.  
7.  Put additional grated cheese as toppings. 
8.  Cook in the oven for 20 minutes until crunchy. 
9.  Ready to serve, so light and so delish!!!! 

Enjoy!!! 

Keep Calm and Stay Vaklush...

Vaklush is a colloquial, coined Tagalog (Filipino) word which means gay, happy, merry or simply associated with a positive, cheerful disposition. 

Most of my friends address me as Badaf or Vaklush because of my cheery, optimistic disposition associated with my distinct high pitched (?), loud, resonating laughter. Hahahaha I still remember ex colleagues and even current colleagues telling me that they know that I am within the work area because of my laughter.  Hehehehe 

As I struggled with anxiety disorder and panic attacks, I must admit that there was a point that I felt a totally different person - I was afraid, I missed my laughter, I was restless, I was very cautious.  Thank God with His healing grace and compassion, with my medication, and my other physical activities such as acupunture, footing, meditation, I am slowly going back to my normal life.  Needless to say, I still have a looooong way to go. 

As I reflect in this period when I fought anxiety (and continue to fight it), one of my biggest take away (this is so corporate term hahaha) is the need to stay calm.  It is actually a skill that can be practiced and acquired.  When faced with restlessness, sudden confusion, discomfort, our first reaction is to pant, to panic... But staying calm, closing our eyes, taking a deep breath, feeling and relaxing our muscles, calm our nerves, calm our thoughts to the point that we can just shrug off the panic/anxiety attack.  Meditation has been very helpful in helping me practice mindfulness and applying techniques to fully live the present moment. 

Aside from staying calm, the young at heart hahaahhaa and the positive soul in me would like to add to STAY VAKLUSH.  :) In my terms, staying vaklush means: 

1.  Consistently arming ourselves with a happy thought - family anecdotes, crazy movie scenes or whatever that will always spark a sudden feeling of happiness in us. Sometimes, looking at photo albums also rekindle beautiful memories.  

2.  SPOTIFY!!!! Music!!!  I once read a quote saying "can you imagine a world without music?"  That must be terrible.  Music is like food to our soul.  Right now music is very accessible.  So load your mobile phones, tablets with playlists that are close to your heart.  I have a wide variety of collection in my Spotify.. I have mindfulness/anti stress,  old songs (Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams era hehehe), pop music, soundtracks, Korean and Mandarin Pop, and of course Tagalog and Spanish songs.  I have an emotional connection with these playlists. This also means that we can sing to our hearts delight and it does not matter if we are out of tune! At this age, nobody should care. Hahahahaha 

3.  Feel Good.  This is an overall package/overall feeling of feeling good, looking good and loving your aura.  Feeling good means embracing, sincerely accepting our limitations and our imperfections (after all, nobody is perfect), dwelling and nurturing our strengths as they will enable us to contribute better, acquiring a new skill to hone our capabilities and sometimes looking good.  Looking good does not mean buying the most expensive shoes, bags, clothing, jewelry that is available in the market.  Rather looking good is being comfortable in your skin.  I know that I am already in my early 40s but during summer, I am most comfortable wearing shorts and cotton shirt.  Maybe too casual for a mom like me, yet it works for me.  During winter, I love wearing mini skirts with my wool socks.  They key here is to love your reflection in your mirror.  To always smile.  It is a mental mindset and yes! it is achievable! 

4.  Take care of yourself.  Charity begins at home.  You cannot give what you do not have.  If you are exhausted, it is quite difficult to give a sincere, happy, joyous love and service to your family.  You may easily snap in the process.  Taking care of ourselves is crucial because this means that we must listen to our body.. When we are tired, we puase, stop and prioritize our things.  Not even Noah´s ark was built in one day.  We need to prioritize our household chores, we need to have a work life balance sometimes in spite of the long hours at work plus the commuting time.  Taking care of yourself also means pamper yourself... on a weekend, which I usually do, I fill my tub with hot water and I spend half an hour just soaked in the water; taking care of one´s self also means putting a facial mask every other day, haing your nails done, going to the salon or simply having your me time even if it meant eating alone in McDonalds or in the Ritz Hotel restaurant.  I am not afraid to eat alone. In fact, to me it is a sign of personal strength and I am a firm believer that eating alone is healthy because you actually disconnect and just enjoy the process of eating. :)  Travelling/going on vacation is also a good therapy.  

5.  Stay connected with people that matter to you:  never be afraid to make the first move to get in touch. Surely, there will be times that your call will be rejected or your message is not answered but keep in touch.  This has been very helpful to me as I am living outside my country of birth and I am far from my closest friends. 

6.  Buy beautiful, colorful flowers as they add up character in your mansionette. Hahahaha 

7.  Sincerely praise people and sincerely look on the positive characters of people.  Let us not dwell on the negative. 

8.  Watch Korean Dramas. Hahahahaah 

9.  Laugh to your heart´s desires.  Laugh loud, as if there is no tomorrow. 

10.  Pray.  When man prays, God works.  Nothing is impossible with God. 

I continue to be a work in progress but I am hopeful that everything will be back to normal.  I will continue to KEEP CALM AND STAY VAKLUSH, for my sanity, peace of mind and for my family.  So help me God!!  

Happy weekend!!! 

I love Madrid. I love Spain.. My second home..

By now, it is already a known fact that I am an Asian living here in Madrid, Spain.  In my previous blog posts, I have talked about my adjustments.  It was not a bed of roses but it has been a blessed, beautiful and challenging experience. 

This blogpost is lovingly dedicated to my second home, Madrid, Spain who has openly accepted/adopted me as its own child.  Though I maintain dual citizenship, I can say spending the last decade here in Madrid has been an eye opener and I am very grateful for this experience.  

Madrid is the capital of Spain.  It is huge, enormous city and I will only talk about my daily lifestyle and the beauty of being a Madrileño :) living in the city centre. :)  

1.  Madrid as Spain´s capital and as one of the biggest cities in Spain, provides professional opportunities.  Many multinational companies have their satellite offices here in Madrid or in Barcelona.  This is good because it provides options for us, skilles foreigners.  

2.  Although Madrid is also a melting pot as you can see a wide variety of races and nationalities and more and more people are inclined to speaking in English, it is still imperative to learn and speak Castellano.  Madrileños/Spanish in general are very accommodating and helpful to foreigners learning Castellano.  

3.  The Madrid Community offers a wide variety of services to the citizens.  We have bilingual public school system for pre-school, primary and middle school.  From what I heard, university education is still affordable.  Our taxes are still properly managed :) as we can still avail of public medical services through our social security.  I would like to commend the public health system for the newborns, infants and children.  Even if my son has a private insurance, we still go to the public health system because of its impeccable attention, service and protocol to childcare.  The same applies to adults however, there is a longer queue. :)  There are also public residences and services for older people.  For younger adults, below 26 years old, they have discounts in their public transport cards.  

4.  The Madrid school system also offers services for families below a certain income bracket providing them financial assistance so that the children can avail of lunch in the school (this way, the parents´work schedule will not be disrupted) and discounts for the school supplies and materials. 

5.  Madrid has invested a lot in its public transport system.  We have a very, mega efficient public bus, train (inter city, intracity and long trips), metro/subway transport systems.  Prices are very reasonable compared to Italy and France.  :) Schedules are usually complied to.  This is very convenient for us, the working class who move around a lot using the public transport system.  

6.  Madrid is a clean, orderly, safe and secured city.  We have our special numbers to call should there be cases of emergencies and the response rate is immediate.  The Madrid city administration makes sure that the roadsweepers regularly clean the streets and that the public waste system is very reliable.  

7.  Although we do not have a beach here in Madrid, unlike in Barcelona, it is compensated with the parks that enable the people to enjoy picnics/sunbathing during the hot summer.  We have the Retiro Park and Madrid Rio as two of our biggest and well maintained parks.  Retiro Park can be the equivalent of Central Park of New York.  Madrid Rio boasts of its man made water spring (chorros de agua) where the people can stay up all day and simply enjoy getting wet and refreshed with the water.  

8.  Department stores, Police stations, churches, medical clinics, hospitals, groceries, drugstores, schools, museums and other entertainment places (bars/resturants) are accesible in Madrid!!! 

9.  Madrid has its own brand/trademark for its nightlife. When my husband and I were younger and prior to our mortgage jajajaja, we did our fair share of the Madrid nightlife! Jejejejeje 

10.  Every Christmas season, people go crazy, jolly, cheery and all participative with the Loteria de Natividad (Christmas lottery) where a hefty amount of money is awarded to the winners!!!

11.  Madrid is home to the well known Prado Museum, Templo de Debod, Royal Palace and Almudena Church, Plaza Mayor, Escorial, Las Rozas Shopping Village,  MAN: Museo Arqueologico Nacional Madrid to name a few.  We also have the Gran Via which is equivalent to the Time Square/Fifth avenue of New York.  

12.  Madrid is a kid friendly city to raise your children.  Aside from the quality education and reliable protocol for child care, Madrid has a big theme park (Parque de Atracciones), Madrid Zoo, Faunia, Museo de Ferrocaril and other treats to the children! There are so many educational options for children.  During summer, summer camps are also available to enable the parents to continue working, manage their holidays and at the same time keep the children entertained and busy.  

13.  Madrid winter is light compared to other European countries! Certainly, we need to wear our winter coat, boots, etc but the sun is always up!  On good winter nights, we are fortunate to have the sun still up until 630pm.  There are days that we have sunny winter!! This is a big bonus for a tropical animal like me. Hehehehehe. 


I am always proud to be a Filipino and my Filipino blood is always with me.  But I will always be grateful to Madrid for all of the opportunities and new experiences that it is giving me and my family.  I continue to hope and pray that in spite of the economic crisis (high rate of unemployment),  corruption within the royal family and the public servants and other political issues surrounding the government, we will continue to enjoy our social and public services and that Spain will continue to be a great country especially for the next generations.  So help us God!! 

Here are some snapshots of the beautiful Madrid!!! 

Catedral de Almudena 

 Casa Toni

 Sangria in Mercado de San Miguel

 Madrid Zoo

 Mom and I enjoying the efficient Train System

Mom in Plaza Mayor

 Mom in Callao

 Mom in Plaza de España (Don Quijote) 

 Beauitful weather 

 Street name

 Cuesta de Moyano

 Paseo de Florida

Parque del Buen Retiro