thank you!

a cover of one of my favorite songs :)

si eljay...

staring at a blank page,
cursor blinking.
random thoughts...
in my head are running.
silence fills the room,
dim light completes the gloom.
but i'm wide awake,
when i should be sleeping.

"the infatuation
is always there"
on a loop
in my music player.
looking back in time,
when you cannot be mine.
cannot even fake...
what's the point of dreaming?

we cannot make it last
another day.
one had to go,
the other had to stay.
never said goodbye,
and no reason to cry.
the good times we made,
were mem'ries worth keeping.

Back at Sandari

my Mt. Batulao experience reinforced my obsession to roam and explore. i've gone to a number of places already but most of them were work-related and side-trips (taking advantage of the work-related trip to roam the vicinity). for this year, the forest trekking adventure organized by Sandari Batulao is my second non-work-related and non-side-trip escapade :)

schedules were checked and cousins were rounded up to join so i could share the outdoor experience with them.

and what better way to road test my new kicks! ;P

there were two batches scheduled for the trek and my group was included in the 2nd batch at 1:00pm. we left the house by around 9am to avoid the hassles of being stuck in traffic caused by road widening projects, pipeline repair projects, etc. plus, we planned to have lunch at Picnic Grove as a side-trip.

then again, traffic has now become part of living wherever in the Philippines so we did not escape the inevitable. it also rained a little upon reaching Tagaytay so lunch at Picnic Grove was crossed out. we worried about coming in late.

but the heavens were smiling upon us as we reached our destination a couple of minutes before our schedule. plus, the first batch haven't returned from the forest yet, so we still had time to eat lunch and shoot some pictures :) talk about being lucky :D

pre-trek photo-op at the marketing/sales office of Sandari Batulao

after our hearty lunch, we filled up some forms and after the orientation, two vans transported us to the forest reserve.

never go outdoors without this

some lovely 'shrooms

downhill towards a footbridge

take five with bro on the giant roots of the balete tree

photo op with our official photographer ;)

signed on the big tarp at the end of the trek

the Forest Trek gets our thumbs up!

climbing Mt. Batulao

when i was younger (so much younger than today! hehehe!), i made a mental bucket list--a list of what i wanted to do and/or where i wanted to go. one of them is to climb a mountain. i have always wanted to do that and vowed that i must fulfill it on or before i reach the big 3-0.

21 months after my deadline, just when i thought it will never happen, i finally got the chance.

the climb was organized by Sandari Batulao and was conducted on April 16, 2011.

unfortunately, i wasn't able to reach the summit because my shoes gave up on me halfway through the climb. i had no choice but to stay and wait at peak 8 while my siblings and friends continue to peak 10 (the summit).

nevertheless, the climb was an enriching experience. though my body got tired, my spirit was refreshed. being outdoors, high up the mountain and seeing God's creations felt so great.

thanks to all the people at Sandari Batulao for organizing the climb, thanks to all my fellow climbers, thank God for the good weather. maybe next time, and with sturdier shoes, i will reach your summit, Mt. Batulao. 'til next time :)

I DO

I used to look up at the night sky and just stare at the stars. I never thought the heavens would look down upon me and give me my own star...

Typhoon Ondoy

International Name: KETSANA
The Date: September 26, 2009

I'm still overwhelmed by the extent of the damage that Ondoy has caused. People have died... many were left homeless as they were ravaged by the flood. As of this moment, many are still waiting to be rescued.

this floodwater is waist-deep.
our antique narra sofa can be partially seen floating here.

that's another cabinet floating around.

I'm just thankful that we have a 2nd floor in our house. We still had a dry spot to rest in and space where we moved the ref, and some other appliances that may be damaged by water.
It had been the worst (and hopefully the last) flooding i've ever seen in my life.

My prayers for the less fortunate victims of Ondoy who were left homeless, for those still waiting to be rescued, and for those who died in this calamity.

Please pray for them, too.

Miag-ao Church

40.04 kilometers southwest of Iloilo City is where one of only four churches in the country to make it to the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List. The church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva or better known as Miag-ao church (named after the same town) can be reached by jeepney from the city proper in about 45 minutes. Built over 200 years ago, the church’s fortress-like design suggests its dual purpose as a place of worship and as a fort used in defending the town against moro raiders during those times.

From exploreiloilo.com:

The artistic facade of the Miagao Church is decorated with a relief sculpture of St. Christopher carrying the Christ child amidst coconut, papaya and guava shrubs. Like any other foreign influences, the architecture of many colonial churches has undergone the process of indigenization. This process is carried out by incorporating the prevailing Hispano-American and Medieval Spanish architecture with local as well as Muslim and Chinese touches. Thus, the synthesized topology which is anachronistic with the unmindful sues of decorative elements. It had no distinction in terms of periods or orders. A truly ‘Philippine Church’, it exudes a native touch.

A large stone image of St. Thomas of Villanueva, parish patron saint, dominates the center. Carved life-size statues of the Pope and St. Henry with their coat-of-arms above them flank the main entrance. Supporting the facade are the twin belfries, one towering two-storeys and the other three-storeys high. The church's simple interior is nevertheless highlighted by a striking gold-plated retablo.

- - -
I have been to Iloilo thrice but it was only in January this year (the third time) that i was able to get up close with this magnificent sight. It was a regular day when a friend and i went there to visit. The church was closed but with a bit of luck and my friend, being a local, found a way to sneak us in. Nah, we didn't actually sneak in. It only took a little chat with one of the people there and that's it--instant access inside the very quiet and solemn place.

the massive door

church-fortress

contemplating (?)

Folks say that one should make a wish when you visit a church for the first time.

I miss the place already. I wish i could go back there.

A day at the La Mesa Ecopark

A day of fun with family and nature.

with cousins, aunts and nephews

keep walking...

active play is more fun!

and they conquered their fear here.

Other scenes...

It's actually my second visit here and if i have more time, i'd come here often. It's one of the few places in the city where you could see lots of greens and enjoy the fresh air. My usually funny uncle found the park a nice place to escape from one's worries and stressful situations. Indeed it was.

So put on your most comfy shirt/tanktops, shorts or jogging pants, and shoes (or slippers...anything comfy for long walks), put on some mosquito repellent (although i hardly saw any mosquito), and you're ready for the park. Bring extra shirts and hand towels ...and don't forget your SPF.

More information about the park here.

I'M BACK!

been quite a while since my last post.... so here are some updates:

-> post grad class will be ending on the last Tuesday of this month (hurraaaay!)

-> with all the training that happened during the last quarter of last year...and the post-grad class, i wasn't able to spend time in the kitchen. but that's gonna change a few weeks from now.

-> my mother dear is coming home for a vacation! (yehey!)

well, that's all for now.

and thanks again for dropping by.
:)

Ponder on this

from my inbox

- - - -

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet.

He held up a sign which said: 'I am blind, please help.' There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy
recognized his footsteps and asked,

'Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?'
The man said, 'I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.'
What he had written was: 'Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.'

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?
Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.
Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story:

Be thankful for what you have.

Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.

Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets.

When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile.

Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.

Keep the faith and drop the fear.

Great men say, 'Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness…. In the journey of life, if you want to
travel without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience.'

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling…

And even more beautiful is knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!

Almost!

Who hasn't heard of Jennifer Chung?

She's an Asian teenager based in the US and quite popular in YouTube because of her videos where she sings with her beautiful voice (a lot of viewers actually commented that she should join American Idol).

Jennifer did an excellent rendition of Make Me Whole by Amiel Larreux (one of my favorites) but she's also got a couple of original songs. One of my favorites is her song "Almost" which you can check out here.

= = =

It's another weekend and the month is almost over.

Just had our defense on our research proposal last Tuesday and we're on the process of revising it per recommendation of our adviser.

Next week, we'll be having our last subject for the trimester. Yup, almost done. Soon we will all be singing "I Will Survive" for surviving the first trimester of the post-graduate course. And before we know it, a year has passed and hopefully we'll all graduate from the course.

Good thing that work was breezy lately. The paperworks trickle in manageable quantities. I hope it stays that way while i wait for my busted scanner to get fixed, but that's another story.

= = =

On another note...

Baking skills are starting to get on a steady pace. Most times I find myself researching for recipes and thinking of ways to make them more interesting.

My cookies have taken a backseat for a while because my brownies and cupcakes are getting rave reviews from the office people.

triple chocolate delight:
choco cream-filled chocolate cupcake
with chocolate frosting
mmmm....

They said they wouldn't be surprised if one day i resigned from my job and just concentrate on the baking business or put up a bakeshop.

Although i like the idea, i just don't think i'd be doing it very soon. It would take a lot of work and capital to start with.

For now, i'm happy with what i'm doing. I have a day job which serves as my steady source of income. The baking stuff serves as my stress buster and an outlet for my creativity (or kaartehan, hehehe!). Sometimes, those baked goodies also provide me extra dough! No pun intended.

= = =

Oh well.
Have a nice weekend!
And see you again next month!
:)

. . .

I watched you try to cross the bridge,
looking for a steady foothold to walk on.
But you gave up so soon,
knowing you can't really cross a bridge you once burned.

Big!

Remember the mini mango?

First time i saw it, i thought it was amazing.

Think you've seen it all? Here's mini-mango's big brother. And i mean big!

Ready?

told ya.
it's almost as big as my sister's face!

Anniv pics

Photos courtesy of choir mate Bing.

- - -

SLC's Anniversary celebration @ San Lazaro Hospital Pediatric Ward...

'Dr. Jollibee' doing his rounds

flanked by the kids-at-heart!..... and yeah, the balloon has to match the shirt! ;P


this was supposed to be a 'wacky' shot with Fr. Jun

and here's a more decent one

same cast as last year...
but we're open for applicants
;)

Bills, bills, bills

The phone bill came today and i was surprised that the envelope was red (meaning: notice for disconnection). Now this rarely happens because i pay the bill every month -if not on time, i just never let them pile up. But it's there already so i decided to pay both the previous month's bill and this month's even if the latter is still due next month because i don't want to risk disconnection.

Now i end up having just enough cash on hand to get me by until the next payday. Oh well! At least i don't have to worry about the bill next month!

Flowers

Happen to pass by Dangwa on my way home. The jeepney driver was taking detours and shortcuts to avoid heavy traffic jam. So there i was, sitting inside the vehicle looking out the window, taking in all the sights and sounds of the busy street brimming with flowers and people haggling with the vendors.

Looking at the flowers, i began to get lost in my thoughts. I remember ninang's flowers, which i took home and adorned our little grotto for a couple of days. I remember the last time i had flowers on my desk at the office. I remember that one time i took home some mums bought form Tagaytay, which died after a week (maybe because i didn't have a green thumb?). I remember the orchids that papa was able to grow and the pretty white flowers that bloomed under his care.

And before my thoughts went any farther...i let out a sigh to get me back to my reality.

I just thought, if i wanted flowers, i'll buy them myself.
;)

Today's stress reducer

From my inbox (as you might notice it's directly copied and pasted here)
;)

- - -

For anyone who didn't see David Letterman's Show when he
talked about this incident on his show:
(And it's a true story...)

On a recent weekend in Atlantic City , a woman won a bucketful of quarters at a slot machine. She took a break from the slots for dinner with her husband in the hotel dining room. But first she wanted to stash the quarters in her room. 'I'll be right back and we'll go to eat,' she told her husband and carried the coin-laden bucket to the elevator.

As she was about to walk into the elevator she noticed two men already aboard. Both were black. One of them was tall...very tall...an intim idating figure. The woman froze. Her first thought was: 'These two are going to rob me.' Her next thought was: 'Don't be a bigot; they look like perfectly nice gentlemen.' But racial stereotypes are powerful, and fear immobilized her.

She stood and stared at the two men. She felt anxious, flustered and ashamed. She hoped they didn't read her mind but gosh, they had to know what she was thinking!!!
Her hesitation about joining them in the elevator was all too obvious now. Her face was flushed. She couldn't just stand there, so with a mighty effort of will she picked up one foot and stepped forward and followed with the other foot and was on the elevator.

Avoiding eye contact, she turned around stiffly and faced the elevator doors as they closed. A second passed, and then another second, and then another. Her fear increased!

The elevator didn't move. Panic consumed her. 'My God,' she thought, I'm trapped and a bout to be robbed!' Her heart plummeted. Perspiration poured from every pore.
Then one of the men said, 'Hit the floor.'

Instinct told her to do what they told her. The bucket of quarters flew upwards as she threw out her arms and collapsed on the elevator floor. A shower of coins rained down on her.
Take my money and spare me, she prayed.
More seconds passed. She heard one of the men say politely,
'Ma'am, if you'll just tell us what floor you're going to, we'll push
the button.'

The one who said it had a little trouble getting the words out. He was trying mightily to hold in a belly laugh. The woman lifted her head and looked up at the two men. They reached down to help her up. Confused, she struggled to her feet.

When I told my friend here to hit the floor,' said the average
sized one, 'I meant that he should hit the elevator button for our
floor. I didn't mean for you to hit the floor , ma'a m.' He spoke
genially. He bit his lip. It was obvious he was having a hard time not laughing.

The woman thought: 'My God, what a spectacle I've made of myself.'She was too humiliated to speak. She wanted to blurt out an apology, but word failed her How do you apologize to two perfectly respectable gentlemen for behaving as though they were going to rob you? She didn't know what to say.

The three of them gathered up the strewn quarters and refilled her bucket. When the elevator arrived at her floor they then insisted on walking her to her room. She seemed a little unsteady on her feet, and they were afraid she might not make it down the corridor. At her door they bid her a good evening.

As she slipped into her room she could hear them roaring with
laughter as they walked back to the elevator. The woman brushed
herself off. She pulled herself together and went downstairs for
dinner with her husband.

The next morning flowers were delivered to her room - a dozen yellow roses. Attached to EACH rose was a crisp one hundred dollar bill.
The card said:

'Thanks for the best laugh we've had in years.'
It was signed:
Eddie Murphy
Michael Jordan

Happy Birthday Manny!

Here's to another year of videoke, SanMig Lights, lunches-out and lots of fun!

Cheers!

Major Slacking

It's a holiday today and i had a rather long weekend. But unlike the other weekend, i was on major slacking this time.

Well, not completely.

Saturday was a busy day at home cooking and mingling with the relatives as we remember dear old lolo who passed away a year ago.

Sunday was spent sleeping til almost noon, binging on yesterday's left-over food and watching movies on HBO.

Today, it's almost the same as yesterday. Almost.
I still have homework to do and a take-home exam to accomplish.

Signing off for now...

The other cake

As previously mentioned, i made another cake and brought it to the office today. I was so excited that i forgot to take a pic of it.

The cake kinda looks like this:

chocolate cake with pink icing and colored candy sprinkles.
they loved it!

The cake was small so i thought of adding some chocolate cupcakes so that everyone can have their share of the goodies.

It was like a feast of cakes because we also had a store-bought roll cake courtesy of another colleague who earlier "pledged" the cake.

Of course, it wouldn't feel like a birthday celebration without some pancit so some friends chipped in to order a big platter of Pancit Malabon while some thought of buying soda for our drinks.

It was a lot of fun sharing the food and sharing laughter.
The simple pleasures of life...

from Ninang

It's been quite a while since the last time someone gave me flowers. So i was surprised yesterday afternoon when a colleague handed me a bouquet of peach roses. Some officemates got curious as well.

I got the card and it read: Happy Birthday, from Ninang. But Ninang (tagalog word for godmother) wasn't around so i just texted her for the lovely flowers. She replied: nice to know you appreciate the flowers.

Hay ninang! You have no idea how much i loooove flowers.

(How long has it been since the last delivery? Find out here.)