If Today Was Your Last Day by Nickelback (NikkiLBaq)

My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day's a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by

That first step you take is the longest stride
If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?

Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
If today was your last day
Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the prize is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you'll never live it twice

Don't take the free ride in your own life
If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?

Would you call old friends you never see?
Reminisce of memories
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you're dreamin' of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you finally fall in love

If today was your last day
If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are
So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothin' stand in your way
Cause the hands of time are never on your side

Para Po

I like taking jeepney rides. Not only they are cheaper and breezier but also because I get to observe typical Pinoy commuter's behavior and especially humor. For the past 12 years of commuting in Manila, I only got one major bad encounter (my bag with nothing in it got snatched in Cubao and I wasn’t also cautious that time). I consider that a pretty good statistic of commuting in Metro Manila.

Last Saturday, I was on my way to the land of mangoes (Manggahan) for a night of poker with Noe and Jerry. I took my favorite bus to Ortigas then I got off at Robinson’s Galleria. Near EDSA shrine (a place where I should’ve been that morning), I took a jeepney to IPI. From IPI, I needed to cross to take another jeepney to Libis.

Anyway, after getting off at IPI, a young man with a big red bag approached me. My initial reaction in situations like these would be to move away from any suspicious looking stranger but the “lost look” on his face did it for me. He asked where he can get a ride to Libis. Since I was on my way to Libis, I told him to go with me. Just when we are about to cross the street, a girl with a piece of paper approached me and asked how to get to Greenmeadows (the address on her piece of paper). I don’t know how to get there myself so I told her to ask the jeepney driver. At this point I was thinking, this could be a modus operandi, but both of them don’t look like scheming persons. So I took my chances and since I felt really crappy the night before. I thought nothing can make me feel worse, not even innocent-looking muggers. Seriously, they really look lost and they didn’t appear to be conniving kids prying on hapless moi.

So three of us, like classmates on our way to school, crossed the busy and dark stretch of Ortigas Extension. When we got to the other side, I asked the girl to ask the driver how to get to Greenmeadows. It turned out the jeep would pass by the verdant meadows of Greenmeadows. So we all “boarded” the jeepney, this motley crew of "lost individuals". The first to get off was the girl going to Greenmeadows and she thanked me profusely before getting off. After a few meters, I had to get off but the other lost kid, who still looked lost, glanced at me with questioning eyes. So I told him to get off near the very big billboard of noodles and he said “Salamat po”.

I felt the quizzical stares of other people in the jeepney after I said “Para po”.

moms at work

My brother Bob sent me an SMS telling me that my Mom is talking to someone on the phone when she mentioned a word that I’ve used a little too much for the past few entries……..COW SURFER.

full circle

A few months ago, I wrote about an American couchsurfer (whom I’ve never met) who looked for Cambodian friends, Meg and I met in Baphoun Temple. I thanked the good soul, Ben Ranta, for helping me look for the kids. Now, I get to catch up with Samon and company. It turned out the kids still sell books, scarves, trinkets, and a lot of other stuff in front of the temple. As for Ben, I knew he was on his way to South Asia after covering pretty much of South East Asia for the past few months.

To my great surprise, Ben emailed me last November 13, saying he’s in Makati! My Makati! (not really mine but I’d like to consider it as that) Ben would like to meet up. It turned out on a last minute-whim; he decided to swing by the Philippines for a few days. He was on his way to India via Hong Kong when he found out that there are cheap flights from HK to Manila. Thanks to low-cost carriers, the world has really become flatter and smaller.

Here’s how we met. On November 14, Ben and I were supposed to meet at 11:30 in McDonalds’s Glorietta. The ubiquitous arches have been a very helpful landmark wherever you may be. (I remembered meeting my first CS host in a McDonald’s too.) It was 12 noon and he wasn’t in sight. Since he has no mobile phone, I couldn’t reach him, I had no choice but to wait for him.

A little after 12, I got a call from an unknown number, it was him and he couldn’t find me in McDonald’s and he said he’s in SM. Uh-oh…… there are several SM malls in the Metro. What if he’s in a different SM? I heard alarm bells as far as the Makati Fire Station. Half-expecting he was in SM Manila, I was glad to hear he was in SM Makati. So, I told him to stay put and I’ll just go to where he is.

I finally found him under the golden arches, different set though. Then, Ben and I had Chicken Joy in Jollibee.

This story came full circle. From Manila > Siem Reap > Michigan > Siem Reap > Manila. Or simply put from Jollibee> McDo > Jollibee.

with Ben and Vangie, CS Manila member

deluge 21 years too late

When I was a child every summer vacation was spent in my grandma's place. When I was 8 years old I got really sick and the doctor said it was contagious. The doctor advised me to stay home. It was summer vacation, a time when I could play all I want, when that news was like the end of the world for me. But I didn't cry. It's not my fault I got sick.
After a few days I felt better, so I ran next door to play with our neighbors' kids. I was so excited after having been stuck in my grandma's house for several days. They were riding their new bike and I got excited because I didn't have one and I've been wanting to learn. While I was waiting for my turn with the bike, the kid's mom arrived and requested me to leave. She said I can't hang around with her kids because I might make them sick. I understood her point. I just ran home and cried. Oh the bitterness of rejection. Thus, I psyched myself for rejection, that way I won't get disappointed.
After 21 years of being accepted most of the time, that same feeling of rejection hit me but I wasn't sick this time. And the deluge, that never happened before, came 21 years late. And my fortress of solitude turned out to be an overcrowded bench in the park.
I realized that when I expect, I'll eventually get disappointed. I can easily forgive but it takes a while for me to forget.
'Nuff said. 'Nuff drama.

tutti frutti

Whenever I meet Couchsurfing friends who are visiting our beloved country, I encourage them to go outside Manila that is if they have the luxury of time to do so (of course they have). Because our country has a lot to offer outside the metro.

Ok, if the world is big big tree and if the Philippines is a fruit, Manila is the secondary stem (Thanks Vida!) that connects Manila to the tree…the rest of the world that is. But the fruit is outside Manila. The fruit is the real meat. Of course the heart of the fruit or the seed is the people….the Pinoys. The Filipinos are among the friendliest people in the universe (call it a biased opinion on my race). Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. But generally, we are friendlier than most of our neighbors.

Anyway, I might suggest a new slogan for the Department of Tourism (DOT). More than the usual is acceptable. But putting that alongside Incredible India, Malaysia Truly Asia, Cambodia Kingdom of Wonder, Uniquely Singapore and Amazing Thailand, it doesn’t really stand out. How about? Friendly Fruity Philippines (so much for alliteration). Hmmm… I think I can come up with my own list later.

the best beaches

did I say the best beaches?

the best rice stairway

the best sunset

the best crater lake

torn between pages

Have you tried looking for something and ended up with another thing which turned to be equally as nice if not a better deal?
When I was in Grade 4, I fell in love with Frances Hodgson Burnett's book Secret Garden. (I named my diary in high school Francesine and I was thrilled that my roommate’s name in senior year is Francine.)
While reading the Secret Garden, I rolled on our bamboo floor and try to imagine how that secret garden looked like. 18 years later while loitering in a bookstore just looking for nothing or anything that might catch my fancy……. I found a copy of the book with a different cover and to my even greater delight, Lois Lowry wrote the foreword. (This book is not hard to find so finding a copy is easy but having Lowry introducing the story, that’s a candy treat for me.)
So I got my copy of Secret Garden with Lowry but another book caught my fancy, Flip Reader. It’s a compilation of articles from the now defunct Flip magazine. Since I have this Nikki rule that I only buy one book one day at a time and since I already read Secret Garden, I chose Flip Reader. But I’ll definitely go back for Mary and Colin soon. Maybe tomorrow.

in a garden up north

random thoughts in random

In our own human capacity to love, our emotions tend to have limitations. And in the most altruistic act, our finite minds sometimes see a dark self-serving motive.

We think we know a lot but the universe’s plethora of knowledge will prove… we’ll be found wanting in the Jeopardy of Life. The main difference is there’s no Alex Trebek and there are more than three contestants. You won’t get deductions for wrong answers but there is also no prize money. The race is only against yourself. You are given one chance, one chance at life.

In our search for answers, we tend to hang on to whatever’s within reach. In a moment of weakness, we settle. However, we convince ourselves otherwise. We hold on to the things that we deem as real and yet would fail us in the end. Like the man who built his house on sand, foundation is the critical component of any structure. Foundation, foundation, foundation.

But how it easy it is to write things on paper and how extremely difficult to apply it in the real world. All your life, you’re made to believe your house is built on the strongest foundation of all. But in a minute, everything can change. And in my zest for life, one of my fears is to have that flame snuffed out too soon.

sunset in Sagada

step by step

When significant moments in history happen, you remember exactly what were you doing at that exact point in time. So 30 years from now if I’m still here, I would remember exactly what I was doing when Barack Obama delivered his victory speech in Grant Park in Chicago in front of about 200,000 of his supporters.

On the 5th of November (4th of November in some parts of the world), he became the change that he has been professing for almost two years. Change has come to the world’s remaining superpower, a distinction they may lose in no time, if change as world-shattering like this, hasn’t arrived. But as most would say, this is just the beginning because a lot of work has to be done or undone. But what a start this is.

As the Chinese proverb goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. But this step is no doubt one giant leap for mankind.

a blog's life

Some may wonder why I spend precious time updating this blog. I entered the blogosphere because I’m thinking that this blog is going to outlive me. So I tried to verify the life of a blog. How long do these hosts hold on to the shared thoughts and sentiments of their bloggers? Blogger takes the position that once established a blog can only be released by the person who set it up (The act of releasing reminds me of the book The Giver, that's how they let people go, they release them). Hmm… so I guess blogs are here to stay unless the author releases them.

Thanks Fran (my roommate back in college) for introducing me to this author. I hope you continue writing!

How ridiculous, this need to communicate! Why should it mean so much to you that at least one person has seen the inside of your life? Why should you write down all this, for yourself, to be sure- perhaps though, for others as well?"

Markings, Dag Hammarskjold

light years

Changes….. I was never a fan especially if I see ‘em happening in fast forward pace that my eyes and heart can’t keep up. But I guess there are certain facts in this world that we can’t do anything about. Changes go hand in hand with living. And if I find myself light years away from where I used to be, I’ll find comfort in the fact that most of the stars that were with me before have also drifted away from our cloud of origin. And this Eraserheads song suddenly assumed a whole new meaning for me….

Big dipper, North of nowhere

Outside the room, inside my mind

I look forward to tomorrow

But can’t leave yesterday behind

How it feels so strange

To have grown and change

Now its not the same

Coz time slips and slides into another place

And try as we might

To understand each other

Doesn’t really matter where you are

It always seems too very far

It’s like you’re light years away

You’re light years away from me

the search for a name

While I was browsing through old pictures, I came across this picture.


And using the cliché, a picture paints a thousand words. In this case, this picture is worth 301,100 words.

Two years ago, Tata recommended this book, Professor and the Madman. This is not a book review because I don’t really know how to make one. Anyway, just a little background, the book is about W.C. Minor who supposedly collaborated with Professor James Murray in creating the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). According to Wikipedia, the Oxford English Dictionary is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language. So the OED lists W. C. Minor as one of its contributors. So Tata and I wanted to see for ourselves W. C. Minor’s name on the dictionary.

On October 14 2006, We had the perfect opportunity to look for a copy of the OED in the UP Main Library. It was a Saturday so the library was only open until 5pm. Since we were not students anymore, we cannot go inside the main library. We had to get a UP Alumni ID. Ala 24 the TV Series….I’m going to put time stamps from hereon.

3:30 pm
So at around 3pm, we ran from Beach House (home of the best barbecue in the campus) to the Bahay ng Alumni where the Alumni office is. The lady in the office just asked our name and course. She located our names in her amazing database of all graduates. Then, she gave us our Alumni IDs.

4:15 pm
We sprinted from the Bahay ng Alumni to the UP Main Library General Reference Section. We tried to go through the Engineering building shortcut, but the exit nearest the library was closed. So we had to go back to our initial point of ingress (just feel like using this word). We lost precious moments here.

4:25 pm
We finally got to the main library. We checked the OPAC, the library’s online database (yup no more card catalogs), and we found out that the OED copy was in the general reference section.

4:35 pm
We searched for the OED. And after about 10 minutes of searching, we found it. I forgot who found it first, Tata or me. Anyway, there were about ten volumes of the dictionary. I think we started with the last volume or was it the first?

Basta, we started flipping through the dusty pages of the OED. We heard the bell rang to signify that the library is about to close. For a moment, I felt like this was an Amazing Race task. And just in the nick of time, Voila! W. C. Minor's name....

true colors

Most informal settlers in Metro Manila are located in visible areas. Some may see them as eyesores but I think they’re just showing this city’s true colors. Unlike most of these areas which are very noticeable, my close encounter was in a lesser known part of Makati….It is carefully hidden behind a row of big houses and a concrete wall, a few blocks from where I temporarily reside. You won’t see it at first glance. More than a hundred houses occupy a very small strip of land. The average house is less than nine square meters. To maximize the space, some families built second and third levels. All of the houses are made of makeshift materials. Some walls are just made of flattened boxes.

Reach Youth Ministry allowed us to join them in their weekly rounds in this area. Ate Fe is the one in charge of the area. Almost all the kids know Ate Fe. She has been working with Reach Youth for several years. And I’m amazed by how comfortable the kids were with her.

Ate Fe gathers the kids twice a week for feeding both spiritually and physically. So one Saturday in January, we went house to house to invite the kids. We walked along the very dark narrow corridor which serves as the walkway for these houses. The corridor was so narrow that we had to stop when someone is coming from the other way. What made the walk more complicated, is that some residents were washing their clothes along the walkway.

The experience had quite an impact on me and it’s not because I have been sheltered and have only seen these harsh realities for the first time. . I’m aware of the poverty in our country. Aware..is an understatement. My parents are public school teachers and we were six in the family. So I know how it is not to have enough. We live in a community where most cannot afford to eat three square meals a day. Before I made this into a sob story, let me get back to my story.

The experience with Ate Fe had an impact on me. It makes me appreciate the little things…. I have taken for granted. I’ve just been detached for quite some time since I haven't been home for quite a while. As my boss would say although in a different context, sitting atop out ivory towers, we tend to forget how it is out there. But my experience with Reach Youth allowed me to re-acquaint myself with the world I know. And I’m thankful for such experience. But I hope the impact won’t be just short-lived and I would be able to do something about it.

Below are the kids, we shared food and stories with…….

age of innocence

Ate Fe in action

Reprising my role...bilang tagahawak ng aklat (not doing my job well...no hands)

----isms

In the most ordinary conversations, I get realizations of utmost relevance with mind-blowing implications in world affairs…NOT

1. You know you’re ready for a relationship when you’re ready to give up the remote control of the TV and also your life.
2. Highfalutin terms do not signify profundity.
3. You know you’re in the company of friends when it’s ok to have long comfortable silences without you worrying whether they are bored to death or having the time of their lives.
4. The grass isn’t really greener on the other side of the fence; it’s just a play of the light.

one couch at a time

Couchsurfing, in its website, describes itself as a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit. And it's not merely having a cheap place to crash. ...it's about connecting people to the place they're visiting aside from the usual tourist-y tour.

Helen introduced me to this wonderful project that aims to create a better world, one couch at a time. This project is not for everybody though. I can still remember how apprehensive I was on my first CS meeting. I was probably wary to be in the company of total strangers. Eventually, I loosened up and I realized my friends now were also total strangers to me before I met them.

I’m not really an active couchsurfer but the past few weeks I had several CS activities. And I’m really enjoying meeting travelers from all over. I love sharing the things our beautiful country has to offer. I also love hearing CS people’s stories and looking at their pictures of places in the Philippines I haven’t visited yet. While doing so, a fact is affirmed by these visitors….our country is blessed with a lot of beauty.

Here are some pictures with Couchsurfers from all over…..

My first CS hostess, Rhonda from HK

One of my first CS meet-up in Jordan Road, with a Canadian, Icelander and Pakistani

My first CS guests, Rhonda and Suey Po from HK

My second CS guests, Raquel and Shael from Toronto

My first CS Manila meet-up with CS guests from Israel, USA and Belgium

With a Smile

From Ely B. to whoever needs a smile today....

Lift your head, baby, don't be scared

Of the things that could go wrong along the way

You'll get by with a smile

You can't win at everything but you can try.

Baby, you don't have to worry

'Coz there ain't no need to hurry

No one ever said that there's an easy way

When they're closing all their doors

And they don't want you anymore

This sounds funny but I'll say it anyway.

Girl I'll stay through the bad times

Even if I have to fetch you everyday

You'll get by if you smile

You can never be too happy in this life.

In a world where everybody

hates a happy ending story

It's a wonder love can make the world go round

And don't let it bring you down

And turn your face into a frown

You'll get along with a little prayer and a song.

Let me hear you sing it

Lift your head, baby, don't be scared

Of the things that could go wrong along the way

You'll get by with a smile

Now it's time to kiss away those tears goodbye

a past revisited

Grace, Jaja and I visited Yakal last Saturday. Here are some of our pictures.

Grace, Jaja and I in front of Yakal dorm

Jaja and Grace in the lobby, my favorite shot

During our dorm days, there used to be long lines of dormers with angry stares directed on the dormer giggling on the handset....World War III. But with the advent of mobile phones, say bye to queues...

Hay, I miss dorm humor.....

crunch

Economics was not one of my favorite subjects in college. But right now, I think I should have listened more back then. With all the downward-pointing arrows I see now in the stock market and interest rates and my favorite crude prices….. have gone haywire, and the declaration of Chapter 11 (bankruptcy) of some of seemingly unsinkable companies. The panic button has been pressed and everybody’s paying attention (well, almost everybody). While some of us watch in the sidelines, the ripple effect can be felt in the pumps and the grocery shelves and in the jobs of our friends. But as much as I’d like to pretend I know a lot of what’s happening, for me, the best way is to break it down in very simple terms for me. Kahit sub-atomic levels…And by doing this, I will start to understand this very complex adult world which Peter Pan disliked but has to contend with.

So this crunch supposedly started when entities who lend money decided to do that, (loan money) to people who bought homes. These people however, lack the ability to pay or the banks lend more than what these borrowers are capable of paying (of course at higher interest rates). Thus, the word sub-prime…(not choiced cuts) So the result are a plethora (this is my favorite word of the week) …of bad debts. The borrowers weren’t able to pay what they’re supposed to pay and they ended up giving up their homes.

So the companies who loaned them the money were in deep…. deep trouble. Thus, these companies declared bankruptcy. Since most of these are banks are connected in this wonderful world of capitalism. The domino effect was felt all over NY- LON-KONG (Time magazine’s front page a few months ago).

Other schools of thought say the culprit of all these is……deregulation. When companies were given the free reins to run wild… within the boundaries of the law of course…that’s what started the fire they stay.

This is really getting too complicated for my Kindergarten mindset. In Neverland, we don’t get to worry about these things such as mortgages and jobs. But when you see your friends losing their jobs, you tend to worry…And with our finite human minds, we become anxious with all the things that are happening…And then a verse the Pastor mentioned yesterday struck me…

Matthew 6:24-34
25"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

26Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

27And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?

28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.
34"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day.

Of course that does mean we don't have to work like the birds in the air....but that's another story. ..

I won!

I won! I won!

It’s not major like one of those Reader’s Digest’s million dollar sweepstakes (but I must admit every time I get those cheques placed in big envelopes….I feel like I really have a good chance of winning that jackpot ) or a kitchen showcase from a noontime show.

One of the blogs I follow had a caption-making contest. I came up with something not-so-original. The slogan of M and M is “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.” My caption for the picture is “Melts in your mouth, not in your banana.” Yes, it's a rip-off.

Thanks Terry for choosing my caption. :-) Here’s the link to the blog.

http://terrylove.blogspot.com/2008/09/caption-contest.html

Philippians in Iberia

Grace, her friend Nino and I watched a Spanish film last Saturday. La Torre De Suso. Suso is the absentee bida (so technically he’s not the bida). We weren’t able to see Suso in the whole movie since he had died of drug overdose. But before he died, he left some weird drawings on his bedroom wall. There were a lot of sketches of what looks to me like power lines. Most of his family and friends thought the drawings, were just a junkie’s last-minute ruminations. Suso's best friend Cundo, who turned out to be the bida sa pelikula, thought there was a hidden message in the drawings. And he was right about the message, according to Suso’s confidant (I forgot the girl’s name) during his last days. It was revealed that there was a hidden message, Suso wanted his friends to build a 7-m tower so that they can see things from above.

Now, seeing things from above…. What does it mean to see things from above? This made me think of the dying man’s wish.

Maybe we always have this normal perspective of things, in our case only at eye-level. We always see things in a way we’re used to. But come to think of it, maybe we just have to change our perspective. See things from a different perspective.

Maybe what Suso had in mind is to allow his friends to see their surroundings in a different light. See things from above….. if we are so used to our own myopic perspective on our current situation. Like when we sometimes feel so discontented with our current situations (eye-level lang siguro) and we fail to see the many blessings that we have. We should start seeing things from above….

That trail of thought reminded me of a scene I saw in Luneta last week. While my sister and I were strolling around Luneta, we saw a father and his daughter eating on a bench. Based on the stuff they have with them, they seem to living on the streets. They were eating rice and their viand out of plastic bags. Even their water was placed in a small plastic bag. It was probably their first meal of the day (at 3pm!). What struck me in this scene was the disposition of the father and daughter (not the environmental impact of plastic bag use). They were eating heartily and with a big smile on his face, the father invited me and my sister to eat. A big smile of contentment in a seemingly hapless situation….. And I compare that smile on my not-so-jolly disposition on very trivial matters. So when I sometimes feel dissatisfied, I remember Paul’s words in Philippians 4:11, I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

Whatever the circumstances... That is pretty difficult but that for me is seeing things from above…..

From Berlin to Saigon and from California to Cubao

This blog was inspired by my strange small-world encounters. It is fitting that I highlight stories of these kind every now and then. A few months ago, a friend of mine, Grace, met a Filipino photographer in Germany. The lens(wo)man took several pictures of my friend. Last week, Grace got an email from one of her Vietnamese classmates. The sister of Grace’s Vietnamese friend bought a magazine. While Grace’s classmate was flipping through the pages of the Vietnamese magazine, she saw Grace smiling face.
It turned out that the Pinay photographer’s shots of Grace got published in Vietnam. If the sister hadn’t bought the magazine and if Grace’s classmate didn’t read it, Grace wouldn’t have found out about her few pixels of fame.

This encounter reminds me of another story I heard from an American who was based here for two years. Most of his family's appliances have the name of his family placed on a strategic spot on the device. And they sold some of these old but still working appliances (in the States). So imagine his surprise when he saw their old blender in a shop in Cubao. The same blender their family used in California turned up in a shop, selling previously owned stuff, in a street corner in the heart of Manila.

Talk about a world that has become so small, I can see its edge across my 17-inch monitor.

The other UAAP Finals

Yesterday, the town was painted Blue and Green. The Ateneo Blue Eagles bagged the UAAP Men’s Basketball Championship in Game 2 of their Best-of-Three series. The Eagles dethroned their arch-rival the De La Salle Green Archers. Dugong Bughaw dominated in the end. Kudos to the ballers from Katipunan for wrapping up the series with a sweep.

I love watching basketball, may it be NBA, PBA or UAAP. Last night, I was surprised to find out that there was another ongoing UAAP basketball finals, the Women’s division. The UP Lady Fighting Maroons are battling the FEU Lady Tamaraws for this year’s crown.

I remember those dorm days where my female dorm mates would make a basketball game appear like agawang buko. It was fun to watch but the action is really in men’s basketball. Overshadowed by their male counterparts, the lady ballers may not share the bright spotlight, their counterparts bask in but I think they deserve more media attention. Basketball is basketball. Whether the ball is dribbled by estrogen-filled fingers or testosterone-filled ones, the women’s finals should at least have a live telecast. I guess it’s really a question of viewership. (Scalping won’t be even an issue here because there’ll be probably none).

James Naismith probably designed basketball with only men in mind because women can’t jump (with apologies to white men). Still, those women athletes probably trained as hard as their male counterparts, if not twice as hard.

I hope I’ll be able to watch the other UAAP basketball finals.

Yankee Doodle

I was surprised to learn that the New York Yankees might not make it to the playoffs this year. I was even more surprised to discover that they're leaving the Yankee stadium, a place they've called home for 85 years. Those seemingly trivial facts (for some) bother me. Some things that you expect to be constant, in a blink of an eye, may change. That's why I think it is important to value each day and be thankful of the things I have now. Coz as they say, you CAN never CAN tell.......

"Learn as if always you're going to live forever; live as if tomorrow you're going to die."

PG in pictures

my favorite subject

from a different angle

gloomy day

wala lang

They say Puerto Galera is a haven for a lot of boats

look at those waves (behind the coconut trees)

our next door neighbor's place

our next door neighbor's place again

Mozart in China

It was Grace’s birthday last Tuesday. We decided to watch one of the films in Cine Europa, Mozart in China. It was a story of two boys, Austrian and Chinese, who went on vacation in Hainan with a Mozart marionette in tow. Salzburg and Hainan, two very different places were connected by the friendship of the two boys.
The first scene in the movie showed the Hohensalzburg castle. And Grace not knowing that the movie is set in Austria shrieked, hey that’s Salzburg. (Grace just arrived from a one year study grant in Berlin. I guess she still has Europe in her mind and heart.)

Salzburg as seen by Grace

The movie was in German (with subtitles of course). The plot (just google it) was simple but engaging. It was a breather from the usual movie formula that I always subject myself to. And since it involves China, its appeal to me is further enhanced.

Kaya ngayon, nakikinig ako sa pampitong simponiya.

orange flowers

I haven’t been out of Manila for quite a while. And seeing vast fields of green instead of buildings and traffic jams, is a welcome sight. It’s Jerry’s birthday on September 14 and together with Noemi’s family, we went to Puerto Galera last weekend (another entry). So we, eight adults and two kids, set out for Mindoro on a cloudy Saturday morning.

I rode at the back of the pick-up. The feeling of the wind against my face in a cold morning made me feel alive. Feeling the cold wind reminded me of my childhood. We used to travel really early in the morning to go to the city (so that we can get back home in time for dinner).

For long stretches, I would just see rice fields and rows of houses. Once in a while, I would see orange flowers that stand out by the roadside. That sight made me think of our own journey. We might be doing the same thing day in and day out. For several miles in our journey, we might see endless verdant fields that we get tired of them… But along the way, life surprises us with bright orange flowers. But in our state of jadedness, we lose our ability to appreciate those bright orange flowers along the way. Or worse we fail to see them altogether.

feels like home

I lived in the Diliman campus for 6 years. Thinking about it, I would’ve survived for six years without going out of the campus without feeling deprived of life’s essentials and simple luxuries. The Diliman Campus Bible Church is of course inside the campus.
The UP shopping center has everything I need, Turon, reading glasses (I have no use for them, just want to emphasize the variety), Tapsilog, paperbacks, major dailies, maasim na mangga, gold fish. Name it, the shopping center has everything.
If I want to watch movies, the Film Center is there (although you would have to wait for several months after the latest movie would be shown). The film center also shows art films (whatever that means). Hospital? There is the UP Health Service, although some say it’s not reliable, still….there are hospital beds and available medical staff. A bleeding hand can’t complain.

The campus has been my home away from home for six years. That’s why every now and then, I find myself longing to visit my second home. That’s why last Saturday, I visited the campus again. My first stop was the shopping center, most of the shops have been converted to internet shops. Before, the center is dominated by photocopiers and “binders”. Now, with the advent of cyber age, the shopping center also evolved with the changing times. But some of the original shops are still there, Rodic’s of course and Miranda Bookstore. And the Coop (UP Cooperative)! It’s still the same even the Ate and Kuya, They’re still there. And they’re still selling the dormer’s essentials, timba, tabo, soap dish, walis, and of course the student’s blue book in the 2nd floor. And the arrangement of their SKU’s is almost unchanged. But I notice that the Coop building is getting old. Somehow I felt like I was visiting my grandmother since I felt very comfortable with the aging look of the Coop.

I didn’t get to go around the campus but a day wouldn’t have been enough to cover all the places that I want to visit.

I didn’t see any familiar face save for the vendors this time. Usually I bump into a former classmate or dorm mate. Maybe I’m really getting old. Like light years older….physically ……and also emotionally I hope.

The first few times I would visit after graduation, a wave of nostalgia would sweep over me. As time went by, a different feeling persisted, although the nostalgia is still there, I felt very comfortable with my surroundings. I felt at home.

Minsan

I have my own share of interesting roommates from Kalayaan to Yakal (and a brief stint in scary Kamias). But what’s most baffling (and sad) to me is I forgot who my last roommate was. And when I asked a friend who stayed in the next room, she can’t remember either. It’s like that memory of my last year was removed from my brain.
Anyway, I had dinner with some old friends from Yakal last night. Friends whom I haven’t seen for quite a while. We used to live across each other in West Wing II. (The ladies’ section of Yakal was divided into four sections, West Wing 1 & 2 and East Wing 1 & 2.)
And I recalled how we were before. We usually eat dinner in Lutong Bahay (a house cum dining place) where a full meal is ony P30 and we room-hopped every night. During study sessions, the favorite chow is instant Pancit Canton (although I’m not a big fan). Ang sarap kumain pag konti lang ang pinaghahati-hatian. We jokingly called ourselves Sorot, there were about eight core members or maybe more (iba probationary ata). The master of the Sorot just left to live the American Dream with only a tourist visa in tow, while another one has just left for France to study Physics, while another one has already settled in San Jose. My roommate (one of them) has already settled down in the province. One is studying nursing and another just came back from Berlin where she studied for a year (but toured Europe most of the time rather than study). Basta, iba iba na ang mga landas na tinatahak namin ngayon at bihira na kami magkita. But it’s good to reconnect sometimes and laugh about the past and look forward to the future.

That Eraserheads (sorry can't get enough of 'em) song, Minsan says it all. Whether Kalayaan or Yakal. …..

ngunit ngayon kay bilis maglaho ng kahapon

sana'y huwag kalimutan ang ating mga pinagsamahan

minsan ay hindi ko na alam ang nangyayari

kahit na anong gawin

lahat ng bagay ay merong hangganan

dahil ngayon tayo ay nilimot ng kahapon

di na mapipilitang buhayin ang ating pinagsamahan

ngunit kung sakaling mapadaan

baka ikaw ay aking tawagan

dahil minsan tayo ay naging tunay na magkaibigan

point and shoot

May mga bagay talaga na sadyang di mo mapaliwanag lalo na kung samu’t saring emosyon ang nararamdaman mo. When words fail you then blogs become irrelevant. Putting into words my hodge-podge of emotions is going to come up short in describing what’s going through my head. But I just have to take a snapshot of this phenomenon (kahit point and shoot lang hindi SLR).
For the past few days, there has been a resurgence of Eraserheads fever. After the aborted concert last Saturday and after the shock wears off, and you are left with a sentimentality that goes beyond the band’s music and the lyrics. As Tata told me, you get transported to a time when you were young and carefree. And the vehicle? The band’s easy to sing along with tunes and simple yet profound lyrics that were able to capture the joys and frustrations of a generation. The Eraserheads did that. And our generation, wherever our paths have led us, should relish the thought that we can look back and reminisce how we were then. Thanks to the musical genius of Ely, Raimund, Buddy and Marcus.

This is moi with the stage as the background

E

Back in high school, I have this witty seatmate in senior year, Edelweiss. And half of the time, Edel and I don’t listen to the teacher’s many pwents. Instead, we tried to figure out the pronunciation of some US states but we never got Maine. And we sang Eraserheads songs. This brings me to the band’s reunion concert scheduled on August 30. They released the tickets two days before the concert. The original organizer (alliteration intended) backed out a week before the concert (which was initially planned to be an invitation only affair). Everything I know about the concert is from a Pinoyexchange forum. Now I don’t know if I’ll watch the concert this Saturday. Tickets are a bit pricey for an open air concert on a day with very high likelihood of rain. As much as I like to watch this concert, I think I’m just going to wait and see til Saturday. If I won’t be able to go to the concert, I think it won’t lessen the impact of these former college boys’ lyrics on my senior year. Or maybe I’ll just buy a CD.

happy on the job

Being happy on the job, sounds like an oxymoron these days especially if you are plagued by deadlines and faced with difficult situations. But I realized that it depends on who I think my boss is. With impeccable timing, I came across this verse.
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you serving the Lord, not men. And that is something that I should keep in mind always. And not only when I feel like it.

Showbiz.....................Not

Greg Grunberg who?

Few probably notice him. No starrer with him in the lead role. But he always seems to be there. (Felicity, Alias, Lost's pilot episode, Heroes) Maybe he’s J. J. Abram’s (creator of all those shows except Heroes) favorite go-to guy (they are really close friends). Or maybe I’m watching too many reruns of Abram’s shows. Anyway, my point is this, like your role players in basketball, the Greg Grunbergs of this world don’t get starring roles but they’re essential to the formula. Role players in basketball may not give you the points but they know how to box out and hustle to get the ball so that your go-to guy can score.
Big or small role. Each of us has a role. I found a role we all should have in Matthew 5:13-16.

money for food

I was surprised to learn that India, the second most populous country in the world, just got their first individual gold in the Olympics. So yes, it’s not really the number of people you have (but of course it doesn’t hurt that you have a big pool of talent.) China and US being the 1st and 3rd in terms of population, respectively are runaway leaders in the medal tally. This makes me wonder how good the sports programs of these nations are. What are they doing right?

The United States, the perennial Olympics winner, has a US Sports Academy. Because of their dismal showing in the 1972 Munich Olympics, the government saw the need to establish the academy. But surprisingly, the government provides only modest indirect support to their star athletes in the national team. Most of the US athletes are products of local clubs and school teams. Michael Phelps for instance, trained in the North Baltimore Aquatic Club. Their formula works.

What about the host country China? Besides the mind-blowing opening ceremony, they certainly prepared for this Olympics. In the 1988 Seoul Olympics, China only won five gold medals. But look at them now (as of press time), they have 43 gold medals, 17 more than the US. A revamped sports program which aimed at developing very young athletes and very lucrative bonuses and job offers await the triumphant athletes.

To be able to run 100 meters in 10 seconds, you need to actually prepare for more than 10 years. For one of our athletes to swim 100 meters in 51 seconds, he needs a lot of support not only from the government but from the community as well. But before we can do that, we should have food on the table first.

bittersweet facts

How sad it is that…..

• Only when you come to face to face with your mortality that you begin to appreciate your life
• Only when something is taken away from you, that you learn to appreciate its value
• Only when you see people who are in worse conditions than you are, you learn to appreciate the blessings that you have
• Only when you get to the other side of the fence that you realize the grass is not really greener there
  
• Only when you are in dire straits that you remember to run to God

a prayer

I forgot how I came across this prayer but it has struck a very sensitive chord in me....

Lord, we pray that we shall never judge a brother's actions until we know his motives. It is better to err on the side of charity than to misjudge anyone. Remind us that the faults we see in others' lives are sometimes true of us. May our expectation of others be tempered by an awareness of our own weakness. Lord, help us to lovingly build up one another and show kindness for your honor and glory.

olympicware

Olympic fever is on. And I've caught some. I have some “hard to find” Olympicware from McDonald's and from one of China’s Special Administrative Region that’s not Macau. (just trying to force some China connection in this sentence) They say that this year's opening ceremony is the best ever. Well, considering that this is the most expensive Summer Games so far. Dapat lang. Anyway, I saw some parts of the opening ceremonies on TV. And I really like what I saw.

There were some rumors of a specially trained panda lighting the torch. The real thing didn’t disappoint though. The lighting of the torch was pretty amazing. A Chinese athlete from yesteryears (who owns a sports apparel company Li Ning) lit the torch. He was hoisted by a cable and he glided on the wall of the Bird's nest (actually he was seemingly running perpendicular to a wall that is vertical of course) while video clips of the torch’s eventful world tour are being shown. I heard that Li Ning’s company's net worth shoot up because of his appearance in the opening ceremony.
I’m trying to get a copy of the opening celebration. After seeing the pictures of the other performances, I want to see the entire ceremony because China’s coming out party turns out to be quite a party.

stretches

Wala Maobra nga Tawo

When my mind wanders, I come up with these “stretches” of analogies or word plays. The first two are somewhat indirect opposites. The third one is pretty straightforward. Go figure.

Bright Dame (movie with a double)

Lousy Bridge (landmark)

Black Spice Midday Meal (dining place)

my small flat world

I’ve been working on this miniaturization project (you’ll find out later) and with the help of a person I haven’t seen yet. I found some newfound friends whom I think I’ve lost contact with. Here’s the picture and the story….



Last April, I met some very friendly kids in front of the Baphoun temple in Siem Reap. It was drizzling and Meg and I have been walking all day, checking out the many temples of Siem Reap. So we decided to give our tired feet some rest for a little while. We found a nice little spot in front of Baphoun. There weren’t too many tourists and the peddling kids weren’t too active in their trade. Until the drizzle turned to a downpour so we ran for cover and the kids selling in front of the temple were nice enough to offer us their umbrella. So Meg and I and a host of nine Cambodian kids sat under the big blue umbrella and waited for the rain to stop. While we were all seated cozily with all their scarves, Coca-Cola in cans, Cambodia guides and a lot of other stuff they sell, we started to chat and talk about their life in Cambodia. We found out that only three of them go to school and only for an hour a day with a tuition of $200 for three months. After selling in Baphoun the whole day, the three girls rush to bring their goods home then they would go to school from 6pm to 7pm everyday. At that moment, I realized how blessed we Filipinos are. Despite the many bad things we hear about our education system, we still have a system that is able to provide free education to the public at least four hours a day.

Although only three of them know how to speak English, the other kids still flocked around us not because we were buying all their stuff (I didn’t buy anything actually) but because we are actually chatting with them and exchanging smiles with those who can’t understand a word of English. The kids gave Meg and I, a scarf each. A scarf which they’ve been trying to sell us for $3 a few minutes ago, they’re offering to give it to us for free. We tried to pay for it but they won’t accept our payment. They said it was their way of saying thank you for the attention we gave them. They just don’t know how much I learned from our encounter. A smile is truly the universal language, my Esperanto.

We got their email addresses and phone numbers and I was planning to keep in touch with them as soon I get back.

It turned out that they gave us the wrong phone numbers and email address. I thought I won’t be able to contact them ever again. Until I decided to post a shout out for help in the couchsurfing website in June, two guys traveling to Cambodia in July replied to my request.

A month later, I got an email with the subject “News from Baphoun”. My heart skipped a beat. I was thinking it could be good or bad news. The first line of his email is …..”I’ve found them!” He actually found the kids!

A person whom I’ve never set eyes on found the kids using a picture that I just emailed him. Small flat world. That’s miniaturization.

Pinoys and singing

Last Saturday, Helen and I heard Charice Pempengco sing Whitney Houston’s “Run to You” several times that I almost memorized the song. We were watching a drama anthology about Charice’s life, the little girl became an instant celebrity after Ellen DeGeneres saw her video in YouTube. Charice flew to the US to sing in Oprah and Ellen. The next day, I saw this 10-year old Fil-Brit boy singing Summer Wind in a Sunday noontime show. He won in a reality show in Britain. These kids’ popularity in the international scene come as no surprise. We are a country of singers.

Pico Iyer in his book, Video Night in Kathmandu, said that one of the Orient’s great truths: Filipinos are its omnipresent, always smiling troubadours. I don’t have the numbers, but next to our nurses, seafarers, domestic helpers, I’m guessing singers are our next top export. You just have check out a bar or club or joint (or whatever you call these places) in any major city and there’ll be a Pinoy band playing or a Pinoy singer. Helen told me that once a foreigner she meets find out she’s Pinay, he or she would immediately ask if she knows how to sing.

What is it with Pinoys and singing? Do we attempt to drown our problems in our songs? Or are we just a musically-gifted bunch with so much time in the bathroom? Or we just know how to maximize what is given to us? Music is in every Filipino’s veins and we are blessed with so much talent.

If that’s the case, I may not be Filipino after all, because I’m tone-deaf, just ask my high school music teacher. Maybe I should start practicing so I can have a rightful claim on my citizenship.

Sagada

This was written after my trip to Sagada on June 2006.


Have you ever seen coffins hanging from a cliff?

The hanging coffins in Echo Valley are just among the many unforgettable sites you will see in Sagada, a little quaint town, in Mountain Province. Since college, I have been wanting to visit the place. At last, I had the perfect opportunity on June 12-14, 2006 to go to Sagada. (Thanks Ta for letting me tag along)

There are several options to go to Sagada, we chose the route via Banaue so that we can have a glimpse of the world famous terraces. From Banaue, we took a jeepney to Sagada, which is at least four hours (of very rough road) from Banaue. Although, it is only a few kilometers away, the road is really tricky since we have to pass by very narrow roads carved from the slope of the mountain. As we enjoy the scenery, I can’t help but be amazed by the beauty of the rugged terrain.

At first sight, I fell in love with Sagada. The place offers a lot… from rice terraces, rocky terrain, waterfalls, centuries-old burial caves and caves with beautiful formations, rice terraces, local weaving and hanging coffins. Most of the locals express themselves better in English than in Filipino(Tagalog). To make the most of our two-day stay, after freshening up after a 13-hour road trip, we set out for Sumaging cave, the cave was just a 20-minute walk from the town proper. It was very cold inside the cave, with ice-cold water flowing everywhere, you can see your companion’s body seemingly smokin’ cold not hot. You can literally see the person’s body heat radiating. The formations inside the cave were breathtaking. What you have to do get inside the cave was a bit of a challenge, you have to crawl your way into really small holes and use a rope to get to higher ground. We found out later that we can opt not to rappel. But I think that added more to the adventure. It was definitely quite an experience. I have been inside caves before but nothing prepared me for this marvelous encounter.

After our exhilarating cave adventure, we indulged on good food in Yoghurt House and St. Joseph’s café where you will taste the freshest vegetables in the country. The following day, we
hiked to one of the biggest falls in Sagada. It took us an hour to go to the big falls (We rode on top of the jeepney, my first time). When they say, it is the trip not the destination. This is an epitome of this saying. The view that you will see on your way to the falls is really breathtaking, seeing the waterfalls is anticlimactic though. It’s a big waterfalls but nothing extra-ordinary. So far, this trek was one of the most difficult I’ve been in so far. Going back, same way but opposite direction, uphill. Some of my companions were so tired that they did not go with us to Echo Valley and hanging coffins. Igorots place their dead in hanging coffins. The Echo Valley Hanging Coffins are hung from the limestone cliff using slabs driven into the rocks.
Two full days were not enough to enjoy the beauty of the place. Sagada has a little of everything. This is one place where I would want to grow old. Sagada, is just one of the places that affirms the fact that we live in a very beautiful country.

P.S.

I went back to Sagada a few months later on February 2007.

a river runs through it

If London has Thames, Bangkok has Chao Phraya, Vienna has Danube and Paris has Seine, Manila also has a river that runs through it…..Pasig.

Cruising along the river is like having a colonoscopy, an invasive procedure which allows a different view of something very close to my heart. I got to know the city in a different way. When I rode the Pasig ferry last May, the experience was an eye-opener for me. Growing up, all I heard about this river is how dirty it has become. The water is not crystal clear now but thanks to the efforts of several agencies particularly the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission, Asian Development Bank and Danish International Development Assistance, things have improved significantly since that Smokey Mountain song “Anak ng Pasig” was released. There are less floating garbage and less informal settlers. I was also pleasantly surprised by the modernity of the first ferry station I saw, the Guadalupe station.

This is an unfinished entry meant to be completed by someone else who has captured the moment better than I did and who can weave words more creatively than I ever can.

worst analogies

These are my personal picks among the winners of the "worst analogies ever written in a high school essay" contest run by the Washington Post:

Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever. (Unknown)

He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree. (Jack Bross, Chevy Chase)

Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph. (Jennifer Hart, Arlington)

The thunder was ominous-sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play. (Barbara Fetherolf, Alexandria)

"He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something."

"The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant."








Source: http://www.etni.org.il/farside/analogies.htm

of Everest and Lego

I’m not a mountaineer. I haven’t even reached any mountain peak, but there’s something about Mt. Everest that evokes bizarre emotions from me. After watching a movie about a blind man (Erik Weihenmayer) scaling Everest last night, I have reached a decision. No, I’m not planning on conquering Everest. I decided to determine my own summit. A line in the movie which struck me is “What’s your summit?” I fell in love with the movie after hearing that line. Nothing ground-breaking, just a simple statement, each individual has a different summit to scale.

Like little children given a set of Lego blocks to work with. Each is given a unique set, no set alike. Some may be given enough Lego blocks to build a mountain, while, some may just have been given enough to build a hill. So our summits are expected to be different. Erik’s Dad summit is the Everest base camp. After reaching that, he turned back, that’s how far his Lego blocks can take him. And he was happy and satisfied. For him, that is the top of his world.

Erik was not given his sense of sight, (that’s one big chunk of Lego missing!), not a prerequisite to mountain climbing but it is critical. He was given much less than what most of us have been given. His summit can just be learning how to wall climb but he decided it to be much higher, as a matter of fact, the highest peak in the world.

Each person’s summit is not only determined by his own set of Lego blocks but also by his determination to go beyond his limitations and stretch the resources he’s been given. God-willing, a person’s summit can only be as high as his vision and his own belief on himself.

Your summit can be Mt. Everest itself or it can be reaching your 30th birthday or going to the moon. Or it can be learning to love yourself or figuring out what to do with your life. Whatever it is, I know I just have to determine what mine is, because it’s there.

pen or sword

Our own history tells of a classic battle between these two mediums of combat. One plays on the mind while the other, takes a more physical form of combat.


By choosing the pen, I have opted to use a more diplomatic means of resolving a problem. Taking on a sword means to attack every situation, ready to pounce without giving diplomacy to work its magic.


I personally am a person who’d rather settle things as amicably as possible to avoid conflict. Before, when I had fights with my siblings and friends, I would usually write to them. Although, things won’t get resolved immediately (coz email’s not yet available then), I believe my relationships did not deteriorate because I tried to reach out first using words first instead of challenging them to a fight.


By using the pen, you would have lesser chances of people getting physically hurt unless the pen will be used for stabbing. And nobody really wins in any war, not to mention that there’ll be a lot of collateral damage. In a fight against my siblings, I would be less likely to win because they all outsize me. Especially if you don’t have the resources, better disarm your enemy first by words. But not necessarily hurtful words, rather, they may be words trying to reach out to the aggrieved party. It doesn’t matter who’s at fault or not. Words, like fire, can soften even the hardest of metals (well not really but sounds nice to me...)


Sometimes, a situation calls for a combination of both mediums. Not all persons can effectively use the pen, not all persons are adept in combat skills. You may use the words first to assuage the other party. And then let the sword or maybe just the threat of using the sword do the finshing touches. (ain't no Machiavelli)


Are you Jose Rizal or Andres Bonifacio? Well, as they say, each person has his own strengths and weaknesses. For me, Jose Rizal used the pen to convey his message since he can effectively wield the power of his pen. His words may have convinced a lot of people to take on a sword to fight for our freedom. In my case, there were no Spaniards to fight with but I believe with words, you can move the hearts of your adversaries to submission. Unless of course your adversaries have hearts of steel or have no hearts at all. That’s another story.


And who’s considered our national hero? Jose Rizal, someone who preferred the pen over the sword. (Or maybe because the Americans brainwashed us so that we’ll submit to them without a fight) To each his own. But as for me, I believe that the pen is mightier than the sword. And there’s always James Bond’s pen.

my new crush

I have a new crush. He's big, white, and really clean. And he also has a very feminine feature on the side, big flowers. Mannrose Liner.That's his real name. My latest crush is a bus.

My heart skips a beat whenever I see it. For reasons I cannot explain, the sight of this new clean bus plying the streets of Makati inspires me. Maybe it's the fact that it's the first time I have seen a nice clean bus in the Metro. With all those second-hand Korean and Japanese buses scattered all over the city, it's quite refreshing to see this rare sight.

The bus philosophy

But there's more to my unexplainable affinity to this bus. It’s a silver lining behind these dark clouds of hopelessness looming all over us. However disheartening our situation might be, especially with everything that’s been happening all around, it’s uplifting to see something different, something unexpected ………that along our crowded thoroughfares, a nice clean bus may come along….
Even if we only see old dilapidated buses for now, we just have to wait and make sure we won’t miss the nice bus when it finally passes by

Yakal

This was written on my last day in Yakal Residence Hall (March 29, 2002)


Today seems like another ordinary day. But for me, today is not just any other day. This is my very last day as a dormer in my home away from home. My refuge during rigorous episodes of my college life. I could distinctly remember the time I got accepted in Yakal. I clearly remember the rush of emotions I went through knowing that I finally have a place to stay. My only concern for that moment was to have a place to stay while studying. I didn’t expect it to be a start of a five-year relationship.

Now as I attempt to savor my last few hours as a dormer I would like to capture this moment by writing. This moment presents a flurry of heart-rending emotions which if not put into writing, I know will eventually pass. I would move on. Time will help me get over this I know. And as I reminisce in this desolate place (only three of us are left in this 380-person dormitory) what will I miss most in this place are the people who have become a part of my life here. Countless individuals whose faces will be forever etched in my heart. They make up my recollection of Yakal. In time, each of us may go his/her own path. They will just be a part of my memories of a place that I considered my second home. But there are some who would stay. Some bonds are unbreakable as they say but things wouldn’t be the same the next time I’m going to enter this place, I would be a visitor. I couldn’t even go beyond the lobby anymore. I would have to use the CR for visitors not because it’s the nearest one, it’s because I have no choice. If ever I pay a visit to my friends at night, I would have to leave at 8:00 pm. Eventually, I’ll get used to that set-up. As of now, that is unthinkable.

A deafening silence resonates from this place. The basketball court, a hang-out for most of the boys, is empty except for dried leaves and the volleyball net. This is where I had countless encounters with several of my crushes. This place is the venue of my “breaks” while studying. Though most often I spent the whole night watching games, I can recall one time when I almost missed an exam because I got so engrossed watching a game.

I would miss the long corridor of this dorm which I have traversed countless times; how my boisterous alarm clock which bugged a lot of wingmates because of its annoying alarm. How can I forget the times I sneaked watching TV fooling myself often that they will just be 20-minute breaks while studying and the conversations until the wee hours of the morning. Those long walks toward “Lutong Bahay” with grumbling stomachs and the mile-long line. Several layers of “plastic” you have to sift through before you can savor your extra-cheap meal from the Engineering cart… And who could forget those pretty serious conversations about our many love problems? Most importantly, with these memories are the friends who joined me along the way. As I leave this place, there will come a time when these memories would be my only link to this world and of course the bonds I have formed with my friends. Friends who have made these memories worth treasuring. As much as I would like to think that Yakal won’t be the same without me, I know that next year, these experiences will be happening to someone else. New bonds of friendship would be formed. Yeah, next year, another day in Yakal would not include me. But even if next year a day in Yakal wouldn’t include me, I will find comfort in the thought that the friends I have found in this place would have special places in my heart. And if there will come a time, that some ties would be broken, I would still find solace in the thought that they have once been a part of my life… that once our paths have crossed and may eventually cross again. For now, I would like to believe that these ties cannot be broken… That the next time we meet, it will just be like another day in Yakal.

traveling

I love seeing new places. Well actually not only seeing but experiencing new places. Who doesn’t? I guess it’s being in unfamiliar territory, it’s the possibility of being surprised by new things. Whether it being pleasantly surprised or not so pleasantly surprised, traveling lets me experience how people from other places try to go about their daily lives. And traveling also lets me realize that we all have something in common. The humanity of an individual transcends race, age and background. Although I haven’t been to so many places so far, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to see a few. And I especially love hearing stories from people from other places and friends who’ve lived in other places.

my pet peeves

In no particular order of disgust…..

Bilo-bilo sa ginatan
Maraming tao sa Mall
Hopia na baboy at mongo
Very colorful friendster pages
Fault-finding freakazoids
Unappreciative creatures
Insufferable know-it-alls (like me? hehe)
Holier than thou pips (guilty)

my glorietta 2 experience

It has been more than six months since God led Tata and I, away from danger.....and here's my account of the incident

I had a lunch date with my friend Tata at Glorietta. She had been at the mall with her brother since 10:00AM that Friday, and they parted ways around 12:30PM. I was on leave, so I took my sweet time getting to the mall. Meanwhile, my friend whiled away the time at Glorietta 2, trying out clothes and bracelets at the Atrium.

I may have reached the mall around 1:10PM, just as my friend finished trying out a dress at Plains and Prints. It was around 20 minutes before the fateful incident.

Tata then moved to The Bead Shop where we agreed to meet up. She tried out some trinkets while waiting.

“Glorietta 1. lapit sa YRYS and cindy and carol.” was her text message.

My friend was mistaken; The Bead Shop was in fact located at G2. But we both didn't realize this at the time. Tata simply relied on the only guide signage she saw closest to the Bead Shop, and that signage said "Glorietta 1", so that was what she texted me.

Looking back, that “Glorietta 1” guide signage may have saved my life.

Anyhow, I went straight to the center of G1 but I wasn’t able to find The Bead Shop. I asked for directions and a salesperson pointed me towards G2. For some reason, I doubted his instruction.

I could’ve gone straight to G2 from G1 but some unseen hand seemed to guide me back to the mall’s Activity Center. I remember asking myself why I was going that way when the salesperson could be right, that The Bead Shop could be at G2.

Still, I followed where the unseen hand seemed to lead me and found myself at the Activity Center where there is a customer service booth. Meanwhile, I got another text message from Tata saying, “G2 pala.”

Before I could even ask the lady at the customer service booth for the exact location of the shop, I heard an explosion and the sound of breaking glass. Smoke and dust emerged from the corridors of G2. People were running and screaming. I ran as fast I could to the nearest exit, G1.

Nearing the exit, I still felt so unsafe and exposed since I had no idea what I was running away from. I feared I could be running towards a more dangerous zone. So I stopped just outside the mall and looked back in time to see an old lady trip on her way out the door. Had there been more people running, she could’ve been crushed in a stampede. But thank God there were only a few people in that particular area and a guard was able to swiftly help her up.

Then I saw a girl right behind me who suffered some minor cuts, probably caused by shards of glass, just before pandemonium broke out again. People started screaming and running again. Still unaware of what everyone was fleeing from, I ran anyway towards SM where I finally met up with my friend.

Retracing my steps, I realized that God was watching over us that day. He allowed my friend to see the "Glorietta 1" signage which caused our confusion and ultimately led us away from the heart of the blast. The Atrium, where Tata bid her time, was completely blown away but not before she stepped out of the place to get to The Bead Shop. It was still a very close call for her--- The Bead Shop was just three stores away from the Atrium--- but she was nevertheless unharmed.

Tata said that during the minutes of waiting, she almost wanted to text me for a change in rendezvous--- a store familiar to both of us and one we’ve made a meeting point before--– Plains and Prints. We all know what became of this shop after the blast.

God’s unseen hand guided us to safety. In a weird way, I am thankful for the experience. I was reminded of how short life is, that I should value each moment and focus on things that really matter.

smoking weed

Why do some people resort to smoking weed to get away from it all? Or are they just bored? Or is it because it makes them feel cool? Whatever their reason is, who am I to judge?

But is saddens me to think that we sometimes have to resort to actvities that would destroy our God-given bodies to make us forget about the harsh realities of life.

my small world encounters

Bumping into friends, classsmates and acquaintances in strange places and under weird circumstances..... is the story of my life. Here are my top encounters:

1. I met up with a high school friend who was in town for a week and she brought her college best friend (whom I have never met before). While chatting, I discovered my friend's college bud usually hangs out in the same building where I live. So we decided to exchange numbers, so much to our surprise, when I asked her to dial my number so that I can save her number. She blurted out my full name (reading from her phone book). I was already in her phone book!!! It turned out, she's my second cousin and her mom asked her to save my number in her phone and look for me when she gets here in Manila.
2. On our trip to Macau, my friend Helen and I were supposed to meet a Filipino based there but unfortunately he wasn't available during the days we were there. So on our first day in Macau, we decided to explore on our own. While we were in a crowded bus, Helen ended up talking to a Filipina. Right after she introduced herself to her new friend, a guy seated behind me suddenly patted me my shoulder and asked if my friend's name is Helen Sophia Chua. I almost fainted. How can this stranger know my friend's name? It turned out he was the guy we were supposed to meet. So we ended up spending a few minutes strolling the streets of Taipa, one of Macau's 3 islands.
3. It was my first trip with my brother out of the country. We took the MRT from Sentosa. Upon boarding the train, I suddeny saw a familiar face, it was a college friend of mine, Gay. We were there in the same car, I stared at her for a few seconds and I had to blink to check that it was really her. Then I shouted, "Gay"! She was as shocked as I. I found out she was there to attend a wedding while I was there for a few days.

What are the chances of these strange encounters happening?

I'd like to believe they happened for a reason....Maybe to make me realize how small the world is...