Virtual Insanity? Or my Virtual Laughter Therapy!

This is how we do it (taken during our wedding), with Ex-Corporate Slave at the background

One of the sure-ball cures to homesickness is laughter therapy.  Thank God hubby and I enjoy laughing out loud together.  There are a lot of comedic moments at work too and it’s fun laughing with my team.  But it is a huge treat if you do get some dose of laughter care of people whom you normally laugh with back home.

Let’s start with two of my favorite women in the world!  My mom and my best friend, the Ex-Corporate Slave. 

Where else will I get my laugh than from the woman who gave birth to me, right?  As in sometimes, when we’re talking on the phone and she laughs the person sitting next to me would hear it.  That’s how loud it can get! 

My best friend and I, as we would go walking around the village or hang out in the village park would really wake up the whole street because of our laughter.  We even got “kicked out” of a (noisy) Korean restaurant back in Manila because we’ve been laughing so hard (bah-humbug to that resto I must say!).

Aside from my favourite girls, when he’s in his comedic element, my brother, the Film Maker also cracks me up.  Even from miles away in down under Australia, struggling with his own bouts of homesickness (and growing up pains really), he can still put together words that just are plain funny (check out his personal blog and work blog specifically his profile).

He got that from my dad, the Grandpapi.  Who with his Facebook comment “hirits” crack me AND hubby up for just kidding my brother-in-law!  Craazy!  Thank God brother-in-law is a good sport! Haha!

Laughter is surely the best medicine – most especially for homesickness.

Missing Home

One of the toughest parts of living la vida Lanka is homesickness.  I don’t get it a lot because 1) I actually love living here, 2) I can cook Filipino food here and 3) ultimately my home is really with my hubby – so when I’m with him, I’m at home.  But you know what I mean… family and friends, and everything else you grew up with is no longer where you are. 

The emotional cycle started on Valentine’s day.  I was in Bangkok for a business trip and serendipitously one of my very good friends was in Bangkok as well.  We met up and I just realized how I missed him and their barkada (close friends).  They are actually hubby’s barkada but back home we go out often – eating out, going to “clubs” and singing our hearts out upto the wee hours of the morning.  When we moved here, well, they were not around.  We have friends but reaching the barkada level is a process.  It was a fun “Valentine’s Date” – we talked about our lives, how our friends are back home (or what he could remember since everyone’s been uber busy) and how the whole fact of catching up happens abroad. Somehow the whole scenario just made us feel old. 

Hubby and I with my funny Valentine during one of the crazy Manila nights

Then yesterday, it really hit me.  Because “my favorite couple” also in the same barakada got married and we were not there.  It just made me miss home a little bit more.  They were not the only close friends we had who got married during the time we are away – or celebrated something significant.  Heck even in our own wedding our family was incomplete.  But I digress. 

Hubby and I with J & M on one of our party nights!

Being away and missing things like this made me feel like I’m missing out on my friends / family’s lives.  Especially those who mean a lot to us.  I’m sure we will miss a couple more.  But I guess that’s all part of growing up.

So to R – thank you for being my funny Valentine! 

And to J & M – we really regret not being there for your special day… when you guys have been with us on our special days… emceeing, singing and just making the party wilder.  But trust that we were there in spirit and praying for an awesome marriage! 

To all our friends back home, we miss you guys!  I’m sure you miss us too!  Haha!  But really, we hope you’ll also come and visit us and see what it’s like livin’ la vida Lanka.