The Pursuit of Happyness...

Yesterday, while trudging the narrow street on my way to work, I noticed a portrait of a family. A father, pedalled with all his strength a worn out trisikad while his wife and his little boy were on board. Their "trisikad" was loaded with plastics and old recyclable materials while the wife was holding a big old umbrella to somehow protect her young boy from the scorching heat of the sun. I felt a sense of sympathy and somehow was thinking just how life might have simply goes on with this kind of portrait of a family.

In the back of my mind, I was tyring to compromise their very poor situation and thought instead that even if they are in such stricken poverty, they must be happy still being together thru the odds and evens of life. I actually saw the weary countenance of the father as he struggled to drive the "trisikad". But then somehow I felt relieved to have noticed that they have a way to go..because they seemed to be really binded with love. It's not their poor situation that filled me with much awe at all, but its the admiration I felt for the father trying to carry in his shoulder the responsibility of a family man no matter what happens. Might be sad somehow to have realized of how much can they go at the far end, what I mean is "survival"...but if their love for each other as family won't ever fade, I think they will be successful along with their faith in God in their pursuit of "happyness".

What makes a friend...

There is no rule to creating friendship...it just happen and come to you naturally. It's when you realize that you click and you understand each other's failures as separate individuals with different ideas but still able to meet common end- ACCEPTANCE.

Who would'nt want to be welcomed, as human, we always yearn for sense of belongingness. The good thing in friendship is that it's a choice out of free will. It's not planned and dictated but surprisingly, you are able to find new home with them. They say we cannot choose our family ( i mean biologically) but we can choose who to befriend with.

Friendship is not a matter of who give and get the most out of it but it's a matter of how far can you stay when the rest of world cannot. Sometimes, lasting friensdhip is hard to find. We cannot look for what's ideal but we can look for what or should i say who's REAL. Not everyone is lucky in finding true friends...you'll realize that when you're in the most down part of your life...you may build a troupe of friends but you can only make a single soul who stays loyal. Somehow it's normal. The world is round, our friendship must not be limited...along our journey, we meet a new one..it is b'coz we are given a gift that's not limited to be just shared to one person...it must be spread so that everybody can benefit...in the end you'll realize it's worth the journey...because a genuine friendship is priceless.

***the picture above features gladz, I and sheng taken 2yrs. ago out of our crazy adventure!haha!...wow!tagal na rin friendship natin mga sistah!i love u guys!

Nice Quote....

"I do my thing and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, and If by chance we find each other,it's beautiful."

by Frederick E. Perl

The Hourglass...

We are now in an emerging generation Y wherein everything is in fast pace.Running after schedules, meetings and the everyday struggles wherein even "Juan Tamad",a comic character once known to have waited for the fruit from falling directly his mouth, is no longer in his sitting pretty position. He has to work inorder to survive. We are no longer parasites just waiting to be fed. And we realize after a hard day labor that we are not only running after survival from physical starvation but we are also running after time so that one day, our chasing after rainbows will be met. We get satisfied with what we have on our hands today but tomorrow we realize that we no longer want it and would want another brand new thing because a new model is now out in the market.

This is the hard truth of being mortal...the never-get-to-feel-satisfied feeling.As if a tingling current within our system is telling us that we want more when we actually have very less for the part of being human in a world that is temporal. If we happened to notice how the sand in an hourglass flow spontaneously and yet we are fully aware that it measures how much time we've consumed for a certain task. Are we on the other hand rushing one after another and compelled to finish them because the sand in the hourglass of our life's routine is almost completely finished from pourin? Do we still get to notice the sun as it shines in the morning or appreciate the misty flower in its pot? The small details of life most often ignored because there are more big things to comply.

I, for the most part, am guilty of that. I am not a busy person. But sometimes I still get to find myself running after an hourglass. Just what it is that is more important between the simple and complicated things? All still so interconnected and chained to define us and differentiate us from the realm of life. I only wish that at every end of the day, as I rest my head so comfortably on my pillow in bed,I would'nt want to forget to thank God for everything.Because its not how much in my list that I've accomplished within my day's hourglass...but its how much I cherish and value life everyday as it comes.

Ode to Papa...

I have no idea how my thoughts might go here ,actually. I only wish i could pay tribute to you. A song probably, or a simple composition as my way of thanking you for everything...regardless of how many fights we have had because we often failed to understand each other's view. But finding myself tapping each letter on this pc's keyboard......my mind only goes back to my times when all I remember was when I had so much regret why I didn't grow up close to you. Maybe because there were more pains you inflicted in my heart than more of sweet and thoughtful ones. Even when I was a child,I often wondered why you were not open to my views and opinion and my right to speak was repressed...when I've no choice but to just listen...your voice is the most powerful than all other living creatures. I understand your role in an aspect of a father, but i simply don't understand why you could never allow me to rationalize my way not just as a daughter but as a person.

I don't know if I would blame you for raising me such a person too sensitive and yet too tough. But know that "i love you still and always". I grow too expressive about what I feel towards other people but what a sense of dismay why its so hard to tell you that you are so important to me...other than the acts of respect I remain showing you. I honestly blame you for not teaching me as a child how to be vocal in saying "thank you, i'm sorry, and i love you" to you in all ways. For no matter what, you will always be my father and i will always be your little girl. Now that i'm an adult and you're wrinkled, old and so sensitive, I realized that I should understand you even more. And that I must understand that as a father, your only goal is to protect me in ways I cannot just overview..maybe...because you are not open too about your feelings...i know when you're hurting...your pent-up emotions are poured down into a bottle of hard drinks 'til you drop and that remain your proof.

Happy Father's Day Pa!You will always have a special place in my heart. At least its been awhile since we last heated into an argument...and I can already crack jokes with you. And it's good and even feels great to be open-minded...and thank you so much because your strictness taught me to. I owe you more than any other things in this world...and that is my life.... and your love.... in your own father's way.

"Onli in da Pilipins"

As I looked at this picture of a jeepney ( courtesy of www.sunstar.com.ph/davao) where passengers just branch out or should I say crop up like mushrooms only to get reach to their individual destination , I couldn't help but grin over the realization that we Filipinos are amazingly unique from all other countries around the globe.

Amazing because we are not just survivors in our own ways of dealing with poverty but it seems to me that we are the most innovative and humorous people that I've so far encountered with.

Can you just imagine how we cook our own specialty of food namely "adidas"(grilled chicken feet),"isaw" (grilled chicken intestine) and "kwek-kwek" (courtesy of www.mindanao.com/photoblog ) (chicken egg buttered with cornstarch),such creatively innovated cooked animal parts also known as street foods but very salable to the taste of the masses. Just realizing how all parts of an animal become like life-saving food only to satiate the need for physical survival because of its affordability. And as for transportation, we also have this "trisikad or trisibot", making bicycle very useful as some Filipinos another mean of earning extra income.

These "Onli in the Pilipins" scenarios really make me think that "we Filipinos have actually this gut!" and we are a born natural survivor by all means. Well, this to my own assessment.

As we crossed the bridge together...

I was in a mixed emotion when I found myself on my first day of training to have handled 40 students who underwent bridge program. The program was intended to enhance the linguistic competence of all incoming college freshmen students in one University in a far-flung area in Mindanao. But as days went by, I never realized that the learning process, workshops and trainings that we hurdled together made us feel like one big happy family. While the learning was never easy for them, to have tried to speak that for them might be too unconventional, a wonderful connection and the most rewarding friendship lead us into one common goal- "And that there is unity in learning".

For 20 days, though it was such a very short span of time,I could say that I am too blessed to have been given such responsibility and to have experienced being a facilitator and friend to them. And as I went back home this morning to continue my journey while folding this one page in my life with the EBP students, I know I will forever cherish those challenging moments.

Thanks to my EBP studes who paid tribute before I parted with them on our last day together. I will surely miss those shared laughters. I wasn't able to say much of how I feel for them...maybe because I was just too overwhelmed with the way they responded(surprisingly on my part) and to the little contributions I have added in their soon-to-be college life. But as I go back to my own journey leaving you all as independent learners in your own fields, I wish to extend my heart-felt thanks and warm congratulations for having passed this one test in your lives. Just continue reaching for your star!

And so I dedicate this song to the EBP bridgers and to our Almighty God ...as I express my warmest gratitude for all that we went through...

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Thanks To You
by Tyler Collins


Thank you for teaching me how to love
Showing me what the world means
What I've been dreamin' of
And now I know, there is nothing that I could not do
Thanks to You

For teaching me how to feel
Showing me my emotions
Letting me know what's real
From what is not
What I've got is more that I'd ever hoped for
And a lot of what I hope for is
Thanks to you

(Oh there's)No mountain, no valley
No time, no space
No heartache, no heartbreak
No fall from grace
Can't stop me from believing
That my love will pull me through
Thanks to You

(Adlib)

(Oh There's)There's no mountain, no valley
No time, no space
No heartache, no heartbreak
No fall from grace
Can't stop me from believing
That my love will see me through
Thanks to You
Thanks to You

For teaching me how to live
Putting things in perspective
Showing me how to give
And how to take
No mistake
We were put here together
And if I breakdown
Forgive me but it's true
That I'm aching with the love I feel inside
Thanks to You
Thanks to you