GRATEFUL

US and other countries are celebrating thanksgiving day today, and so am I! Teehee…

Today is the big day to give thanks to the Lord for all the blessings we have received all throughout the year! But still we should not forget to thank Him every now and then. Let us rejoice, for He is good!

This year has been a blast for me! Starting from my celebration of 21 years alive! Thank you, God for giving me 21 years to spend here in Your wonderful world!

And one of my biggest blessing this year— my USA Experience! It was great! As you have seen here in my blog, I have learned a lot and met different people, I gained real work experience, I made friends to cherish , I’ve been to places and most of all… I found my Prince Charming! YES!

I am also grateful that finally, after 4 years of ups and downs, I finished college! Yey! Super thank you, Lord! It was an amazing grace! I am also grateful to my family specially to my mother who sacrificed everything since day 1 so I can continue to study, that she even sent me to private school despite of our financial difficulties just to make sure that I can have the best education! She is a Super Mom! Though I don’t say it to her more often, I really love her! And because of her undying love and support for me, everything that I’d do, I’d do it for her. And of course thanks to my siblings who supported me all the way and thanks to Papa for the help.
Thanks to God that our relationship with my father is going great! 🙂

One of the things I am really thankful for always is having real friends! When it comes to friends, I am rich! Because I have the best friends on Earth ever!
Not to mention, Joan, Charm, Gladyz and my new best friends and sisters Ariane, Sachi, Ely, Kris and moore! Of course, I don’t forget my old good friends since high school, can I just say they are too many to mention? Oh, I love them!

And this year’s biggest blessing— WHEN I MET HIM! Yes, he is Mr. W.M! ❤❤❤ We met and became friends when I was in the US. So when I came back to Philippines I realized I have this feelings for him. Knowing him even just for a very short time, I was thinking that he might be the one! The man that I’ve been dreaming and praying for — my Prince Charming! He has all the qualities I am looking for a man — God-fearing, gentleman, family-oriented, sweet, and many more! (The one that I’ve been talking about in this blog lately.) When we parted ways, I thought my fairytale was over. Then I prayed to God that if he is not the one for me I want a man who is exactly like him. How demanding I was! But you know what, God is really good! Because He gave him back to me! And I can not express into words how thankful and happy I am right now that my fairytale is coming true!!! Looking forward to what lies ahead for us!

More blessings to come to all of us, my dear readers!

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” – Psalm 107:1

With love,
Atria

Beyond Compare

Yes, I was not able to experience and play snow in Northern USA, I was not able to see the Statue of Liberty in New York, I have not met the beautiful Disney Princesses nor watched the firework show at Disney World, I did not reach the target income (or maybe we just expected too much), I was not able to buy everything I wanted (oh DSLR!).

Why do good things come to an end?

It is supposed to be my cultural essay but it turned out like a farewell message. Awwwwwww, I am just sad. What’s good in goodbye?

Enough with drama… Here’s my essay! There’s more drama! wuhooo! Enjoy!

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. This statement reminds me not to feel sad that my Work and Travel Program is now about to end, but to be happy because it has been an amazing experience for me. It taught me a lot of life lessons. It gave me friends to cherish and made me memories to remember.

                 On my past few days, it just made me realized that I don’t want to go home yet. I am just starting to do great on my work and it is good to know that King and Prince acknowledge what I am doing. All my hard work has paid off. I got incentives, I made extra money but it’s nothing compared to my satisfied guests saying “You did a good job! Thank you. I really appreciate it.”, it’s the sweetest I could ever hear! Just like last week, I received guest comments via internet that they like my service, that I was friendly and sweet to them. Also, I will never forget the guests who said that they took home my personally written notes so they can file it on their photo album. Oh, it was so heart-warming! But still it is better to see them personally thanking me for making their stay more enjoyable by giving them my service. Those compliments boost my everyday energy and inspire me to always do the best that I can.

                Also, I will forever cherish my new found friends here in America, both Filipino and European interns, even King and Prince regular employees too. After all that I have been through, my co-interns became my family. Even the other American employees especially my co-housekeepers, they became so close to me. They were like my mothers and my sisters. We helped each other, we shared life stories and some of our culture differences. I taught them some Tagalog words too! And it was fun! I am overwhelmed that they are all glad they met me, if they could just let me stay longer they would!

                Well, this is really a life-changing experience. I believe that after this program, my social skills and English-speaking skills have been developed. I can now interact with other foreign nationals effectively and confidently. I also have learned more about Hospitality Industry and excellent guest service.  I am now globally competitive! Thank you Our Lady of Fatima University, International Educational Exchange,  King and Prince Beach Resort and Zip Travel for being part of this journey.

By: Atria Kenn Tapalla

Share this:

iI’m giving you,guys, this tranquil view of the beach from King and Prince Hotel at St. Simons Island, GA. I know I owe you a lot of blog posts, I hope you’ll forgive me.

I was so busy working on my papers for my International OJT ( Oh thanks to God for the opportunity), which was not easy. Visa Interview was crucial, so we must be prepared. There are possibilities that U.S embassy consulate might deny your visa. Thank God (again) my visa was approved! 😉

Now, I am already here in America!!! I’m missing Philippnes 😦 but I’ll be fine. This is the essence of the program, to live independently.

Sorry for the random thoughts. I have to go to sleep now because tomorrow is another work day!

Goodnight, sweeties! More blogs, sooon!

with love,

Atria

College Life Photo Diary: Freshman at TIP

It was my dream to have a title “Certified Public Accountant” ever since I was in high school. I imagined myself working in the office wearing corporate attire or working at home in front of tons of papers. So way back May 2009, which was kinda late for me to find a school here in Manila, I and my mother were searching for universities where I can take BS Accountancy and that is nearer from our house at Q.C. We went first to New Era University but for some reasons I changed my mind and looked for another school. Our second choice was TIP ( Technological Institute of the Philippines ) at Anonas,Cubao. And that’s it! I enrolled BS Accountancy at TIP with no hesitations!

Woah! That’s quite a long intro,huh. LOL!

Here’s our photos during my first and last semester at TIP. 

Room Q-9301 at Building 9, only for freshmen. I am just proud that I have studied at one of the cleanest schools in Manila.

My classmates! I remember how we strolled at Gateway Mall with this large group. We were so noisy that we just caught guards attention. HAHA! One thing I cannot forget…when I heard a lil kid said “Yung mga teachers oh, naglalakwatsa!” Do we really look like teachers?  

We presented a creative cheer dance at Physical Education Class! 🙂 It was more fun at TIP!

As a BS Accountancy student under Business Education, we should present a New Business Ideas or NBI. That’s it! Torta Masa by Joan’s group, which was a mashed potato balls with a twist and at the right is Leafy Lumprice from our group which was a rice full of leafy veggies wrapped with lumpia! Only unique products were acceptable, no copy-cut! Oh my, our parents should be proud! *Clap Clap Clap*

On top; My leafy Lumprice groupmates, on top most: My Groupmates in Algebra. 

It was at TIP, June 15, 2009 when our friendship started. We met and became friends since day 1. I, Joan and Charm were never been apart. We had never belonged to another group just like other group of friends do. We were like a loyal bf or gf that is stick to one. 

That was our kulitan moments during our free time! Oops, that’s not just an ordinary lollipop! It glows in the dark!

We supported each other like a mother to her daughter. We treated each other as sisters even though not by blood but by heart. Cheeszy! In the photo above, Charmaine joined the Search for Miss CBE. She looks pretty, right? I wonder why she didn’t win the crown. Hmmm.. But for us, she was the one! 

Well, the world did not just revolve around us. Four of our classmates became closer to us, they’re Mommy Carlyn and Daddy Ronnel (who stand as a parents to us), our lolo Justin and Delbert (our brother in the group). And we called ourselves the Monggie Family! The origin of our group name was a long story to tell but to keep it short, we were just crazy! Haha! I don’t think I give justice to that. Sorry, monggies. 🙂

Looks like a family portrait, eh? 

I could say that I made the most out of my stay at TIP because of the people I met there and the relationships we built that I know would last a lifetime. Also because of the lessons and knowledge I got from our professors and classmates. The whole semester was surely remarkable because of them. (Who can forget their first year in college,huh?)

Thank God I’ve been to TIP where I found the best of friends I could ever have – Joan and Charm. *teary-eyed* 

More of my college life stories soon! Thank you for reading this, my gorgeous readers!

with love,

Atria