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MIAMI BEACH- A Place I Never Expect To Call My Second Home

It all started when I decided to have my work and training in USA. I have always wanted to work abroad; not just to earn money, but also to grow in different aspects. There’s no doubt that the USA is one of the leading countries worldwide, and I believe that I’ll get great opportunities once I step in this country.

I started my application last January of 2018. After a few months of processing necessary documents needed, I flew to the USA in June of the same year. I was so stoked of what were in store for me in that journey.

I flew straight to Atlanta, Georgia to visit my sister first. After travelling for roughly 26 hours from Manila, it was comforting to see my sister. I almost got teary eyed as I hugged her. I couldn’t blame myself, I travelled alone in a completely strange place, and will be in a new environment. She lived there for 2 years, and I honestly missed being with her. I stayed for a little over 4 days before starting my journey in Miami. I was hesitant to stop by Atlanta before reporting in the property that I’ll be having my training with. Good thing I listened to my family, my sister got me goodies that I needed to settle in my apartment. Hehe thanks, Ate!

Miami is a crazy city- one of the busiest cities in the states and top tourist destination. As soon as I knew the city I was going to, I started researching about it. I saw a lot of GREAT pictures, and I can say that those pictures did justice to the place. Yes, Miami is that beautiful.

I started my J1 journey as a restaurant hostess for the first 4 months. I met a lot of nice guests along the way. I even met the nephew of Mother Lily Montenegro! At first glance I knew that he’s a Filipino, and I wasn’t wrong. He’s so nice, and I’m glad he had a great stay at Royal Palm. Going back, we had a training plan to follow as cultural exchange visitors. For every 3 months, we had to rotate positions within the department.

The property’s executive committees were checking on us and making sure we were having a great experience in the hotel. Three months into my training at the restaurant, our HR Director approached me and asked if I would be interested in other positions such as HR coordinator or Reservations coordinator. “Yes!”, I replied, “If given an opportunity it would be a great experience for me.”. Our HR director consulted this to the rest of the executive committee, and they have decided to open the position of Catering and Sales Specialist / Banquets Captain to me, as it was still related to Food and Beverage. And without hesitation, I accepted the job opportunity.

October 10, 2018- I officially became the new Catering and Sales Specialist. This time I told myself that this will be a new experience. I knew that this will not be easy, and will require high level of professionalism and critical thinking. I was very shy and soft-spoken when I started working in the office. You’ll just hear me say ‘Yes’ whenever something was asked of me. I won’t deny, I was scared of voicing out what was in my head. I was scared of giving suggestions or observations because I was afraid to make mistakes. Well, who would want to fail? I promised myself to learn as much as I can, and give every one with utmost respect.

Let me give you an overview of what were my duties and tasks as a Catering and Sales Specialist:

Always attend the 9am meeting with all the department heads, and report if the hotel has any group meetings / events of the day, and the status of in-house groups.

ALWAYS check e-mails and voice messages.

If there are any meetings or events during the day, make sure they have everything they need and fix whatever problem they have- it may be an issue with their sleeping room, meeting room, billings, food selections, etc.

ALWAYS BE ON THE FLOOR.

ALWAYS be on top of everything. Think ahead of time all the possible challenges that the event/meeting will encounter.

Prepare reports such as Group Resumes, Banquet Event Orders, Banquets Forecasts and Banquet Checks, Final Billing and Closing Log.

Be in touch with clients in detailing their incoming meetings/events in the property i.e., food selections, schedule of their programme/meeting, total number of people attending, if they have any dietary restrictions, table set up, audio/visual needs, and even decoration.

December to March is the high season in Miami. Most people in America are trying to stay warm on winter season, and have their Holidays in the Sunshine State. Indeed, in these times, Miami is packed with different tourist around the world. The historical Ocean Drive has different city-wide events especially this season. This only means that businesses are very much alive. Hotels are fully booked, restaurants have at least 15 minutes waiting time, bars and nightclubs are packed, and the streets are never empty. I bet you cannot imagine how busy it can get during these times.

ART BASEL 2018

April to May 2019 were a little lighter. I was able to move freely as my mind was not that stressed out. During this time, I was able to go out more often, and see Miami as it is. Not like the first months, I was just focused on work and had a home-work-home routine. It took quite a long time for me to get out of my comfort zone, to be confident with what I do. Don’t get me wrong, ever since I started working in the office, I gave my all. I walked extra mile with anything that I did. I just wished I did it sooner, to believe in myself. Anyway, I really had a great experience in Royal Palm. I learned A LOT.

I admit, I got really excited to be transferred to another department and position. Little did I know, things will get pretty heavy. I got overwhelmed with how much work I had to do. Everything was new to me. I had a little experience with handling big groups and clients. To be honest, I felt like being thrown into the ocean without knowing how to swim. I’m so lucky that I was surrounded with a great team that helped me and taught me everything that I needed to know.

I had countless breakdowns, not to exaggerate but I had it almost every night. I also had panic attacks much often than it used to. One time I had a rough day at work, I started crying on my way home. I didn’t care if I was on a jam-packed bus, tears started streaming down my face. I couldn’t help it. As time goes by, I was able to cope up. One day I found myself handling all things by myself. However, things got pretty much hectic with work on the first quarter of the year 2019. I was usually off during weekends, but since January came, sometimes I only got Sunday off. That was fine. I mean, it’s included as overtime. Lol!

I remember being nominated as the Associate Star of the Month twice- for the months of February and May. I didn’t expect being nominated, as I was struggling with work during those times. But it was really comforting to know that some people appreciated my hard work when I thought no one saw it.

I got attached. Yes, deeply attached with Miami. I got to experience living away from home, being independent, paying my own bills, being responsible with the basic stuff. I had a freedom. My freedom. It felt good to decide whatever I wanted for myself, at least for a few months.

The beach was just a few steps away from my apartment. I love spending Sunday afternoons at the beach with a bottle of beer. Who would’ve thought that this lady would love the beach so much? Lol. The ocean witnessed every emotion I felt in the duration of my stay. When I was happy, I was at the beach. When I was sad, the moon and stars listened to my story. When I missed home, the wind caressed me. When I got broken, the cold breeze sympathised with me. And when I thought that I found love again, the ocean was the first to witness.

I wanted to stay, but I guess it’s not God’s plan for me. Who knows, maybe sooner or later I will be back again. I really hope so.

I had a lot of down times, not to add the homesickness I felt. But I thank my friends I made along the way. They helped me cope up, they cheered me up. I honestly wouldn’t know what to do if they were not beside me.

I am grateful to experience the Miami vibe!

’Til next time, Vice City!

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FLORIDA'S SOUTHERNMOST POINT

Went on a spontaneous trip to the Keys, May of last year. Key West is the southernmost point of Florida, and is just 90 miles away from Cuba. We were not supposed to push through with this cos I had an event to handle in the hotel.

I reserved a car online a couple of hours before we drive down to the Keys. Upon picking up the car in the airport, the agent who assisted us with our reservation was Fil-Am. We chatted for a few more minutes while she's verifying my documents, asked us how many months we've been in Miami, our journey as J1 visitors, etc. She told us that we were so brave to drive to the Keys since we were all girls. She was so nice and pretty!

I originally booked a Toyota Vios, however, she cannot check it out as it was already given to another client. She was so kind to upgrade us to a convertible Mini Cooper S! I didn't believe it at first since it was too good to be true until she handed me the form and the key of the car. Deym!

We left Miami Beach on Saturday at 12mn. Took a stopover in Homestead to get food before driving for 3 hours. It was nice to drive on an empty road, as we know, Miami traffic is crazy. Lol! We got to the Keys at around 4am of Sunday, tried to check in but our room was not yet ready at that time so we had to wait 'til 8am to get in.

We rest for a couple of hours before exploring Key West. We went to Fort Zachary Historic Park to see the beach. It was a beautiful, sunny day- perfect to get that golden tan and just relax. There were a bunch of people at the beach, good thing we were able to find good spot easily.

After spending a couple of hours at the beach, we went to look for a place to eat, and we found the famous Restaurant & Conch Bar for lunch. Food was meh, however we loved the ambiance. It is located in a sea port; while roaming around, we saw a fisherman feeding the manatees.

Key West has a large painted buoy which was established as a tourist attraction. We waited and fell in a long line just to have a picture with it (sadly, I couldn't locate my picture with it :().

Here's a picture of the street in front of the iconic buoy:

We headed back to the hotel shortly after we took pictures with the buoy. My friends and I maximized our stay in Marriott Beachside Hotel, and went for an amazing afternoon dip at the pool. We were relaxing and having fun until an iguana decided to join us. Lmao, I couldn't forget how quickly we got out of the pool once we realized the iguana was swimming beside us. 🤣 Iguanas are common in Florida, we were used to see it every day in Miami Beach especially in Indian Creek.

Going back, the hotel pool is located just in front of the sea. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the beautiful sunset, and took pictures in the golden hour.

After a tiring day, we were excited to eat and ended up in Outback Steakhouse for a sumptuous dinner. We hit the road once again after dinner and explored Duval Street. Duval Street is the drag of downtown. It will give you the '60s vibe. While driving, I noticed how Miami and Key West differ from each other. The streets in Key West are much quiet and empty, the beach is much peaceful, and people are calmer. It is a great place to disconnect from a busy city.

We headed back to the hotel at around 10pm. We had a bit of rest before hitting the road again back to Miami. Checked out of the hotel at around 3am of Monday as we had to report for work at 8am of the same day.

It's crazy how spontaneous trips turned out to be one of the best trips you'll have in your life. Key West has a lot to offer, and I was fortunate enough to see even a little bit of it. I hope I can go back and explore Key West more.

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STUDENT NO MORE!

Time flies! I graduated almost 3 years ago? Feels like it happenrd just a year ago. Lol. College life was a rollercoaster ride, and I'm honestly grateful and don't want to change a bit of my experience in La Salle.

I definitely miss everything (minus exams lol jk), I miss my friends, after classes shenanigans, FOOD TRIP, etc.

Thank you, DLSU-D!

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I'm back on Tumblr after 2-3years!

A lot of things happened in those years, and I'm ecstatic to share some good stories to this blog! I missed Tumblr!

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Kahit anong gawin ko, andito padin yung sakit.

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do u ever play loud sad music and lie down on your bed and stare at the ceiling because life is fuckin hard man what’s up with that

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“I remember one morning getting up at dawn. There was such a sense of possibility. You know, that feeling. And I… I remember thinking to myself: So this is the beginning of happiness, this is where it starts. And of course there will always be more…never occurred to me it wasn’t the beginning. It was happiness. It was the moment, right then.”

Michael Cunningham, The Hours (via amortizing)

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YES YES YES

Have you ever craved someone? Their touch. Their smell. Their presence. Where all you want to be is tangled up in them? Doing nothing. Saying nothing. Just lying there together. Where nothing else matters.

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You’ll meet her, she’s very pretty, even though sometimes she’s sad for many days at a time. You’ll see, when she smiles, you’ll love her.

Pan’s Labyrinth, Dir. Guillermo del Toro (via wordsnquotes)

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You can run from the world, but you can’t run from yourself.

(via deeplifequotes)

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Most of the time

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It’s crazy when you stop to think about how many times you’ve thought to yourself, “This is it. I just can’t bear to do it anymore. I’m done.” And yet here you are. You’re still breathing, still living, still fighting for joy, for life, for light, for love. And you are loved. For as much as you may be struggling right now, you’re here. You’re strong as hell. Don’t forget it, kid. 

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