2011

looking back the people, events and happenings, still captured in my mind at this moment in the year that was 2010:
-the music ministry. the life giving service that made my life fulfilling every week.
-the ortigas feast :) still it nourishes my soul for the talks and people whether in prestige or in cinema4
-unilab. the place that partly i cannot leave. it is my comfort zone
-passing the compre exam. a month of managing time to study
-hongkong. a dream come true, its like im a child again wondered in dreamland. with len, cielo & con
-tahanan ng pagmamahal orphans. these children are not poor in material things but poor in belongingness. i hope to still serve with the ministry this year. one year is not enough, God asks for more
-cebu & davao trips. who would have thought i'll have this opps in my job. lucky me :) thanks to my c3s project in unilab
-boracay. after a year of getting fair skin, im back to tan
-jarome, myles, cathy, edward, cielo, bryce, pat, alvin, pj gave smiles to my heart
-mommy coming home
-thesis. thanks to kuya dong who provided but still i owed him
-my hyundai getz gold. now frustrations have changed
-holdup incident. loosing 2 bags & everything on it didn't matter, except my journal that i've missed so much.
-caleruega day with the tahanan team :>
-videoke here- videoke there!
-kerygma conference. i have come to serve again.
-myles wedding. i could have forgot my car keys inside the car anywhere in manila, ironically it happened in tagaytay!
-ceu classmates get together

thank you Lord for everything! there are sadness & adversities that already counted as blessings. i knew it'll make me better and true. your guidance and control had made me flexible to completely trust in you. it wouldn't be better if i've done it all by myself. you have given me people and things that i need. thank you also for forgiving me endlessly in my weaknesses and sins. life wouldn't be this great without honoring your goodness and mercy. this year is for you Lord...

Man in silver paint

Is this man in silver paint reminds you of a movie? I love movies. Back in high school, my best friend and I would watch video in Betamax every Saturday after our high school military training. What I remembered are ‘The Cutting Edge’ and ‘If looks could kill’ – but I couldn’t remember the actors anymore. We also watched ‘Chances Are’ and ‘Untamed Heart’ of Christian Slater which are heart warming love stories that time.
There’s ‘Cry baby’ and ‘Edward Scissorhands’ of Johnny Depp , ‘Where the heart is' of Uma Thurman, Patrick Dempsey’s ‘Can’t buy me Love’ – just few movies I remembered watching with my childhood friends over dozens of Pompoms for our movie snack.(Microwave popcorns were not yet made.) I had missed to watch ‘Mystery Date’ of Ethan Hawke in the widescreen but I was able to rent it in VHS. I also liked chick flicks of the 80’s – ‘Pretty in Pink’, ‘St. Elmo’s fire’ and ‘Some kind of Wonderful.’
During college, I even missed a class just to end the 2nd movie I watched with my classmates during our long lunch break- that was ‘Jurassic Park’. We had watched some Filipino movies too – ‘Sana Maulit muli’ of Lea Salonga and Aga Muhlach to name a few. The best movie and still my most favourite love story is the ‘Bridges of Madison Country’. We watched it in Louie’s cinema, the best cinema with Dolby sound in the country that time. The audio made it more heartbreaking, and I have understood their love story on my latter years of life.
At home, I wasn’t alone on being entertained by movies. My brother was a fanatic. He already had few collections of his favourite classics and sequels in VHS. We had watched the ‘Godfather’, ‘Return of the Jedi trilogy’ and ‘James Bond’ movies. He hated love stories but we got along together with high-packed action films like the series ‘Bad Boys’, ‘Transporters’, ‘Bourne’ movies and ‘the Lord of the Rings.’
Watching ‘good’ movies is not just a way to entertain or relax me. It also opened my mind to different lives of other people. It is a fact that we knew American life mostly from the movies we watched. The ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ movie had defined India. Cultures of Japanese were seen on the film ‘Samurai’. The lives during the holocaust and the lives of a civilian and a soldier on world wars were unfolded. A mere life of an ordinary person in an extraordinary situation had made us moved through movies. Fact or fiction, love or war, comedy or drama – the people behind it should be commended on the creative and artistic way of touching other’s lives.
My recent movie marathons were 'Inkheart', 'The Orphanage' and 'The Proposal' last week, and this week was 'Veronika decides to die' and 'My sister’s keeper'. There are few movies I would want to see again—the love story of ‘The English Patient’, the deliverance in the movie ‘Shawshank Redemption’ and the joy in ‘The Joy Luck club’. The silver man was a mime on the occupied places of malls’ parks to amuse strolling adults and kids.

Ferris wheel

The first time I rode a Ferris wheel was when there’s a mini carnival that was situated in a big vacant lot near our subdivision. That time, the famous amusing and entertaining park in the country was the Festival Carnival in Araneta Center. People were not yet aware so much of the safety and security. I remembered there’s only one steel bar that locked us in the ferris wheel seat. Whatever then, it was the happiest thrilling night ever with my childhood buddies. The ride was not scary at all; I even tried it again during our high school foundation day. During the ride, I was singing the song ‘Zombie’ by Cranberries so I can ease out on the high sensation I felt during the peak of the cycle. It was amazing when it stops to pick up the others; I saw places in different views. That time it was the highest point I had been in my life.


The Singapore Flyer is the world’s largest observation wheel since 2008. They said I should have ride because it would be like the London’s Eye which was the tallest for 6 years (2000-2006). Anyway, we tried the Sentosa’s Sky tower instead, to see the whole Singapore terrain view. When I’m up there, there’s just that gushy feeling looking what was under and what everything my eyes can see in a different point of view. Like any other when you’re in an airplane looking outside the window. Like sightseeing from the 84th floor of the highest building on the city or the Hong Kong’s peak looking at the Victoria’s harbour view. And like another gushy feeling with majesty was the furry clouds behind me – the fact that you’re in it and seeing the great mountains of the north of the country from the zenith of the Pulag range. Every body has its own feeling - it depends on one’s perspective and dweller of his heart.

Lovebirds

I sometimes ask if I saw him today. I went to mass and I told God I’ll pray hard tonight... I prayed about my dreams and almost forgot about him... the sermon that time was not clear to me but it made me realized and understood that God wants me to be His... I don't know, I just felt it and cried. Maybe the reason I cried was I felt happy and my life have been meaningful because of Him. And maybe I just don't need anyone at the moment...because I can truly say that God has completed me already. If he comes, it's because he had prayed for me and I prayed for him. For now, God has so many promises waiting for me....

windmills of your mind

I went back to North Coast last year with bunch of good old friends - Mariz, Yano and Renzy. The trip was long but amusing and enjoyable. Nothing beats the touch of waters from the ocean... happily walking and jumping on the shores. The truth was there's really nothing much on the historical places of Ilocos: Paoay, Vigan and Batac. It should have existed to preserve a past phenomena but I saw changes of the place. It looks like it goes with the time... new roads, buildings but the things that supposed to be maintained was deteriorating. Anyway, the Bangui Windmills compensates the dissatisfaction. The enormous 15 wind turbines on Bangui bay can be seen on the road way to Patapat. Though its nothing more to the place but to take pictures of the awesome view and memories. The windmills were made to help on the global warming and accelerate electrification in the Ilocos region.

Photo taken August 2009

Bride's maid's flowers

The big event was over. We woke up at 3:30am, left at 4:30am, and arrived at the wedding church at 8:30am. It was a long trip. My eyes turned red after putting eyeshadow in my face. What happened to my eyes - it didn't matter.

At last I saw again my cousins from my dad's side. Ate Charie was able to join us with Tita Alice. I was a bridesmaid with Rachelle. Our partners were Noel and Aris. Joyce was also there with Diego, the dog. Tito Jun didn't come but he sent SMS to keep in touch. Reah was there alone. On weddings, getting the bouquet wasn't really thrilling for me anymore. I have few nice shots with them. The new married couples were cute. Kaycee is such an amazing mom with Eric and the kids. Nothing much to tell, but still right now, I haven't find myself. I couldn't go back to my old self- there are clouds in my head. Maybe because I only had few hours sleep and really I need to rest.

I didn't catch the bouquet. So what. I haven't prayed for my OTL for a long time, though I have thought of it sometimes. I didn't want to look or find it in my work place, or in school. The grounds to find it became narrower. I don't know why, but I know when the time comes, you'll feel it's time to feel 'forever'... so be it. Amen.

-Journal, 4/12/09

Pagoda

My Thailand trip was not actually a pleasure trip. I worked for a few months to complete a project with JS Thailand. It was my first time to be away from family for a long period. I was both excited and nervous. I was deployed alone working with Thais, with different language, culture and food. I remembered my first evening at work; I stayed until 8:30pm and just ate skyflakes, because I didn’t like their spicy food. I didn’t know why they like hot & spicy so much and they were really not fond of sweets. However the place is the same with Manila but their infrastructures were ahead. And the people, they’re not far from the looks of a Filipino. Actually, they would think I’m a local at first time unless I talked.

There are few people I got acquainted with, mostly in the office. When I eat with them, I often talk. I had a lot of things to say though; I wasn’t comfortable speaking in English and whatever thoughts I had been kept in my journal. But my journal was lost before I left for Manila. That’s a different story. However, I got talkative later on, after a month, met Au and got close to Pong. I ate with them and traveled with them. Au takes over the project after my turnover, who had been my housemate for a month. She stayed with me during weekdays in my apartment in Chonburi, where the office of client located. Then on weekends, I have option to go back to Bangkok, so I went with Au sometimes. Pong also became closed to me; he took me to the nearest Catholic Church when I was looking and took me for dinner as a sign of welcoming friendship with me. Both of them eventually the closest people I’ve been in that place.

Thailand’s tourism was amazing. Bangkok was filled with about 70% foreigners. Tourist places were jam packed including hotels and their public transports. However, the tourist places weren’t astounding compared to ours. The floating market was not that great, though it’s not bad either. I also visited crocodile farm, snake farm, and a lot of temples, but these places are just so ordinary, yet tourists go for it. Anyway, the country had already established their tourism and they’re the most highly visited in Asia. Ayutthaya and Pattaya, the places I visited are not that astounding compared to Philippine’s Bohol and Pagudpod. But I know, there are more to Thailand.

My longing to go home extended because I have to stay for 2 weeks more. I hope to get home before my brother’s birthday and the birth of his new baby. Yet I thought it was still okay to stay, but at the end of the day, I felt I was in cage, yearning to be free. I can’t wait to speak in Tagalog and burst everything whatever was on my mind. I knew, there’s still a lot more travels to come for me, and there’s much better place to stay. Saying goodbye was taboo, I just pretended it was easy. The learnings and challenges I experienced while I was away from home were sanctified. I was all safe through out the journey. God simply let me be alone by myself to realize that I will have no want of others if I had Him. When I got back, my perspective in life had changed. There’s a lot more to do, a life waiting to live to the fullest and people waiting to be blessed as well through me. Thank you God for such an opportunity!

Pagoda. One of the historical pagoda in Ayutthaya kingdom. It was Siam before, the world’s largest city that time and Thailand’s old capital city; however the kingdom was ruined during the 18^th century by Burmese army.

Alone lunch in Chatuchak

Some people would likely not to travel if they’re alone. Some would prefer travelling by themselves. For them, it’s the places you are trying to connect with, and bonding takes place effectively when you were alone. I could go by midpoint. I love travelling with or without a company-only that you’d hate it when there's no one to take your pictures. .. So maybe it goes when eating alone. Those who love food would indulge eating by savouring each bite of the sumptuous cuisine. But in my experience, the company of a friend or a stranger you can talk to was what I missed during my stay in Thailand. Bonapetit for me.

Chatuchak is the biggest market in Thailand. It’s like Divisoria but it’s a bit clean and organized. But of course it’s jam packed with people because it’s only open on weekends.

tshirt

I want to describe that someone, who loves me in NY -

She’s easily annoyed, with hypertension, shouts when talking—but she’s not angry… She’s friendly in person, smiles a lot and had few close friends. She wishes I have been married. She’s helpful and donates to charities. She loves décor. She hates beef. She likes yellow, it’s bright and close to prosperity which is gold. She’s so active and hyper, she clean up, do that and these. She’s industrious, prayerful and hopeful. She’s a woman of strength – and that someone is mommy.

The distance between us didn’t change her. She’s still the woman I saw handling the trials and struggles of a family even when she’s far away from home. She had her very reasons why she’s staying there. In my prayers, always I am thankful for her opportunities and that God has blessed her and surrounded her with good people. And I thanked God for her too. By the way, the shirt isn’t mine… it’s my nephew who’s wearing it J

The famous hanging coffins of Sagada

This is the traditional way of burying the elders of Sagada people, but not all are eligible. One should be a local, meaning born in Sagada with mothers and fathers who are locals too. One should be married to a local and bear a child. And of course, the elder would have to be good abiding citizen who contributed much in their culture.

To get to the hanging coffins, it’ll take about a half an hour hike from the Echo valley. Trekkers can also drop by at one of the elder’s coffin in some caves. Sagada have tourist offices for guides and tour packages.

Sunflower

Sunflower- it was taken last November 2008 in my 2.0 mp Motorola cellphone. I was eating this chocolate biscuit while waiting for others in a jeepney at Bontoc, Mt. Province. We dropped by to the town’s museum. There were artifacts and the old houses Bontoc locals used to lived. There were historic books and clothes used by the townspeople. It was informative and interesting. The waiting didn’t take long. We were on our way to Sagada-a much more exciting place.

golden buddha

They said that Buddhism is not a religion but a way of life...and they have Buddha as their follower, leader and teacher. I actually have a lot of shots of buddha in Thailand, with different pose, color and costume. But this picture is the biggest so far, and I am not sure if its pure gold or plated. But it was all inside a temple all by himself, dressed with yellow silk. There were silks piled on the sides that were offered by adorers, and it seems like every minute, they change his silks so that the piled offerings can be wear by buddha during their adoration.

The buddha were being prayed with an incense, candles and flowers, not far from a traditional catholic reverence to religious statues and images. However, a buddhist concept is different from a catholic. In buddhism, there is karma as the law of cause and effect, and the rebirth or the incarnation. That is why they spare the life of an insect believing that it must be someone's life incarnated. The popular terms I heard from buddhism are Zen, meditation and nirvana. So far, buddhism is the major religion in India, China, Thailand, minor in other countries in Asia.

Photo: Taken 2/19/2006 in Bangkok, Thailand