Mabuhay ka, P.Noy

Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Conjuangco Aquino III

15th president of the Republic of the Philippines

May the Almighty Father deliver this country from the hands of evil and make its people rejoice in the Keeper of Truth, seek His Way and follow in His footsteps. May the new president remain true to his words and faithfully help this country stand up back to its feet - with eyes towards a gleaming horizon.

Together, let us make this nation great again!

NoyPi Ako! Proud to be. Always.

Happy Father's Day

...and I just had to get started with the food! :)

Froyo mix: strawberry, lychee (YUM!), raspberry, and mango with strawberry, blueberry, and crushed graham toppings. Cloud nine!

Today, we are celebrating my dad's [insert two digit number here] birthday as well as Father's Day!

It has been quite a while since the family has been complete and I couldn't be happier. With us was one of my cousins, Belle. We went to Manila Ocean Park for the first time and had a relaxing afternoon watching and marveling at the different species of fish there.

Dinner at Trinity Ihaw-Ihaw (Grill) and Food House along Macapagal Highway followed a few hours later. We ordered the usual: baked tahong, liempo, sinigang sa miso (my favorite!), buttered shrimp and pansit. Although we were caught in the heavy rain and the quite heavy traffic on our way home, I still had a blast. The best and most important part? The family is complete; we were together and having a great time.

Pa, I'm so glad to have you as my dad.
Wishing you all the best.
May the good Lord always bless you and keep you safe.
We love you, Papa!

Wet season

On my way home from graduate school, I had to wade through ankle-deep brackish water at Buendia to get to the bus that seemed to be waiting wearily for passengers to make their way through the concrete jungle under seige by natural forces.

Needless to say, the wet season is back with a vengeance with matching eerie lightning and loud thunderclaps to boot. And what happened to me seems to be only a preview of the days to come under the rainy season. And this time, may the Ondoy tragedy not happen again.

Words of Wisdom

I need to constantly remind myself of who I am and what I am here for...

The calligraphy work above is made by a certain man named Brian Baker, whose work I just stumbled upon during my net browsing. :) Great job, sir!

What happened

Today, I learned more about the common bruise.

A particularly big one covering almost half of my lower left leg from a fall during my recent trip caused me enough concern to drop by the nearest hospital from where I work to get it checked by a doctor.

After a few interviews, an x-ray, and a couple of hours waiting for results, I discovered that another term for bruise is contusion... and that the one I have on the anterior muscles near my shin is particularly deep. Although that may be the case, the doctor calmly assured me that x-ray results didn't show anything severe and that she'd only be recommending me painkillers if I needed any. She advised me to rest and elevate my leg as much as possible and put warm compress on it every now and then. Praise God!

The accident happened midday Sunday; the check-up came after a couple of days. Thank heavens nothing terrible happened in that span of time. My bodily functions concerning my lower extremity is still intact.

On that fateful day, I was thankfully able to apply ice on it as soon as I could. Although it didn't discolor much into purple, it got really swollen. The first thing I did was ask my friend (who happened to have a Nursing background) was if the bone was hit. She said it didn't seem so. From all the excitement of our helmet diving in the middle of the sea and my own adrenaline rush, the seriousness of the condition didn't seem to register to me at the time. A loud alarm turned on in my head only when I heard one of my co-teacher's panicked words when she saw my leg: "You're like a car, friend. There's a dent on your leg."

A lot of other things could have happened but I don't want to bring myself to think about them anymore. God definitely had my back. I know it's Him who was watching over me. He's always looking out for me.

More than ever, I know now that I have to take better care of myself.

Boracay Sunshine 2010

My first trip to the Visayan islands with my co-teachers turned out to be one of the best and most memorable three days and two nights that I've had with them... and there will definitely be more trips to look forward to!

In spite of the 300+ photographs I took during this trip, the priceless moments I'll always remember were experiences not caught in camera. Nevertheless, my trigger-happy index finger captured just enough heartbeats and twinklings for posterity's sake - memorabilia to remind me of 'golden days' when time comes that my mind will start playing tricks on me.

"What happens in Bora, stays in Bora" might be the way to go, but "those who happen to meet in Bora, can stay in friendship beyond Bora" sounds better to me. :)

And can I just say: "What a beautiful country is the Philippines!"

(Hover over the photos for captions and click to enlarge.)

To my co-teachers and newfound friends, I can't thank you enough for one of the greatest long weekends of my life. Until our next adventure. :)

In focus

I can't help but think of how hard it is to face a blank page right now.

I won't exactly call it writer's block because I know I have so many things to say, to share - I just can't organize it quickly it enough. Sometimes, it takes me many minutes to hours at most just to come up with a single decent write-up in front of the computer. My mind just seems to shut down on its own when forced to squeeze out its deepest musings and reflections. (Or maybe, my mind is simply too old fashioned for computer applications and cyberspace.)

On the other hand, I find it much, much easier to think about what I want to say in a crystal clear way while riding the car or the bus during long commutes. When I'm simply thinking for the sake of thinking (not for the sake of publication), my mind flows richly and uninterruptedly. If only the brain had it's own word-for-word recording device that you can just switch on and off automatically.

My thoughts, more importantly, come out more spontaneously when I'm in deep conversation with somebody: a family member, a friend, or a kindred spirit. Surely, the human-ness in the connection provides the perfect atmosphere for a worthwhile and meaningful engagement.

As I turn off the lights tonight, I continue to ponder about questions in life that most people want answered. I continue to think about things other people usually think about and those things that most people also do not even bother to try and think about.

Lights off now... and many parts of me went away with it.