The Suit

Before I left my former company, Ate Kae gave me a parting gift: her beautiful two-piece beige suit. Tucked inside was a note—simple, but deeply meaningful. She told me to wear it when I achieve my dreams.

She shared that she had once reserved it for a special occasion of her own, but chose to pass it on instead. Perhaps she saw how determined I was to keep growing, to keep going. Or maybe she believed I could give that suit the stage it had long been waiting for.

Over time, I’ve worn the pieces separately, on a few occasions. But never together—until recently. Somehow, it never felt like the right moment. Like Ate Kae, I, too, wanted to save it for something significant: a milestone, a ceremony, a recognition that quietly says, "you’ve made it."

But life doesn’t always unfold in clear milestones. More often, I’ve found myself in between—closing chapters, stepping into new ones, constantly in motion.

These days though, I find myself dressed less in structured pieces and more in movement—sportswear, dancewear, heck even swimwear—answering the sound of the music or the call of the sea, testing not just my strength, but my ability to stay in flow in every sense of the word.

Because the truth is, many of us—especially women—are holding multiple roles all at once. Daughter. Lifelong learner. Caregiver. Entrepreneur. Leader. Each role drops into our lives like coins into a piggy bank, quietly shaping how we measure our worth.

Then there’s the other side of the coin: friend, woman, lover, partner, wife, mother, matriarch. Identities we carry, nurture, and sometimes struggle to balance.

And just when we begin to find our footing, life intervenes. People come and go. Health shifts. Hearts break. Systems change. Crises unfold. Loss arrives unannounced. Even death reminds us—nothing is guaranteed.

Life is fleeting. The roles we hold so tightly today may one day fall away just as quickly as they came.

So I wonder: will there come a time when I no longer wear a suit like this? When it no longer fits—not just my body, but the life I’ve chosen? After all, our bodies change. Our paths evolve. What once symbolized arrival may later feel like something we’ve outgrown.

And maybe that’s the point.

Fulfillment isn’t always found in waiting for the “right” moment. Sometimes, it lives in choosing—again and again—the paths that resonate most deeply with who we are now, and having the courage and commitment to see them through.

Whatever future we shape, may it bring us happiness, peace, and purpose. May it leave the world gentler than we found it.

So wear the suit. Re-imagine how it should look. Or begin again.

But whatever you do—let yourself shine.

Challenge the status quo. Break the barriers placed before you.

Bet on yourself.

Our nature as women—both tender and powerful—is not something to diminish or give away. It is ours to claim, to honor, and to carry forward.

And that, in itself, is more than enough.

#March #InternationalWomenMonth #EndofSTA #LessonstoLive

Burning

When leaves have fallen and tears

we’ve shed have dried let me

bring the letters you folded

into paper planes that

flew in open skies;

I kept it close

to this heart

until today –

Swing it

to the

open

fire!

the test

They only meant to set the bar high –

our hopeful looks was soon replaced

with a grimace staring at numerous options

multiple hurdles and possible scenarios

that only confused the examinee

if you stare at it for too long or

try to think about it

even harder.

The night before I spent the remaining hours

of my free time packing my brain

with more words that no longer

made sense to me.

In the attempt to soothe my nerves

I was forbidden to open another book

or peek into my notes

or even go out for fresh air.

More than just repeating lines, I asked myself

why I was even doing this;

why did it matter?

Should I recall the name

and work of someone

I have never met?

Should I find them lurking

at the back of my head

trying to prove their points

when the odds are stacked

against me and things

don’t match up

as I expect?

That day when we walked of the rooms

wiping the sweat off our brows,

no one dared to call it

a piece of cake.

Potter hands

my epsi cup of clay

After six years, I finally take apart the cup I molded with clay...to shape it once more.

Kung Hei Fat Choi! It's the Year of the Water Dragon!

New year has past but the Chinese New Year is still to come. Though not a Chinese and I’m more into the Japanes culture, I look forward to celebrating the Chinese New Year especially when it’s the Year of the Water Dragon (hey, that’s my sign!). Some say we’re going to be lucky, some say it’s our obstacle year. Heck, whatever the outcome or ending that we’ll see, here are some of my resolution/goals (some which are simply recycled) for this year:

Be a wee bit more choosy.

I had been lenient for the past two years in favor of being considerate and generous but I realized now that I should have stuck to the standards I have set, especially for myself. Therefore, I will be more critical. I will heed my intuition. I will not spill all my guts. I will not settle for less – especially when I’ve seen the best. I will be more discerning of my actions. I have a rather eccentric list, so let’s all cross our fingers that I can keep them.

Lose weight.

My progress to slimville is kind of slow and my commitment wavers as often as the weather changes. I hope a friend’s dare to wear a two-piece to the beach will inspire me ward off my sleepiness and get back to exercising. Weh!

Strive for Transparency, Integrity and Consistency.

Others, myself included would often still refer to me as somehow mysterious despite being outgoing most of the time. While there are some things that ought to be kept to myself, I realized nowadays how important it is to be truthful – that is, to be consistent with what one thinks, says and does. Don’t want to mislead people around with my intentions, words and actions that strongly contradict each other, because I wouldn’t want that vice versa. Unless we’re talking about getting into character for a play, duality is not an option.

Be more bad ass!

This year is the time to further break the norms! Bring on that red lipstick! Reek sarcasm!  Be stubborn to the core! Got to extend an arm further out of my comfort  zone and befriend my shadows. The night is young so let’s embrace our dark sides! While I fancy myself as some sort of devil’s advocate, I have no intetion of turning cruel, mind you. That’s something you wouldn’t really want to go to.

Be more positive. Exude good vibes.

That includes avoiding excruciating sad love songs that ought to be reserved in preparing to internalize some dramatic role. Got to think positive to attract some smooth flowing chi to sweep me off my feet. So cheers to happiness!

Stick to your principles.

These are my non-negotiables. The tried-and-tested theories – theories which sometimes make me sad because they always prove to be true you can almost make it a laws. Don’t want to waste what I have learned from my mistakes and from the wisdom of the selected few I heed to. Saves me from head/heart ache. Reserve the energy for key battles that matter most to me. Ikwayo!

Less party, save more.

I think I partied way too much to the end of 2011. I’m a few years away from supposed financial stability and it seems like I’m closer to poverty and nothingness. Oh, well. Got to keep my health and wealth in good state if I want to do more.

Do what you love. Follow your heart (but take your head with you).

Write. Write. Write. Read, Sing, Act, Dance, Draw. Laugh. Imagine. Cultivate and nourish the friendships and connections I’ve built over the years. Love wisely. BE DONE WITH IT. I’ve been taking notes of small progresses and reflections in my journal and my planner to keep track and remind me of all the things that keep me afloat (and avoid those which weigh me down). Older and wiser folks keep telling me I’m too young and I ought to explore. Undeniably true. Don’t just dream – make them come alive! *fist up in the air*

****

Those are just the highlights of my new year's resolutions list. I’ve been travelling a lot already (international travel awaits, and I’m out to get my passport) and I’m very slowly building foundations of "projects" I’ve long wanted to get moving. I have to pass the torch next to some of these to others so that I can focus on things I know I am more passionate about and have a strong grip in my heart. Like posting in this blog for instance. Happy new year, people! Rawrrrr! 

hmm...this dragon's a bit western though. =)

Cross-fingers for the New Year Ahead!

2012 - I don't believe it's going to be the end of the world just yet since news broke that the Mayan calendar may have been miscalculated but then again, just in case...

[Predictions bases on horoscopes are broadcasted all over the tv and the internet it's practically confusing as to who's better in predicting the future...]

My journal entries are quite a few while my poems, essays and travelogues remain to be edited and refined. I've been recording tidbits of my life in my planner but I know I have to write something soon enough other than just what I did - I need to write down my thoughts, feelings and reflections so that they don't just slip away...

I've written my resolutions months earlier while organizing my files (and I'm still taking into account what I've been doing at work for the past two or more years), so all I need to do is look back and edit it to make it a wee bit achievable. But to close a rather turbulent year and welcome a promising year of the dragon (hey, that's my sign!) and to strengthen my vows I have publicly declared in class and privately affirmed by writing, here is a poem that somehow gives me a sense of paglaom (the Bicol word for "hope", but which may be interpreted as "akala" using Rinconada dialect).

The More Loving One 

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well

That, for all they care, I can go to hell,

But on earth indifference is the least

We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn

With a passion for us we could not return?

If equal affection cannot be,

Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am

Of stars that do not give a damn,

I cannot, now I see them, say

I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,

I should learn to look at an empty sky

And feel its total darkness sublime,

Though this might take me a little time.

- W.H. Auden (1957)


Goodbye 2011 madness! Hello there 2012!

A Strike of Soulmates

Last day of August – despite the threat of a transportation strike, I walked my way towards our office only to find out that work has been cancelled. But as usual, my colleagues were also around and we simply accused each other of being workaholics, recited famous lines from old local movies and laughed ourselves off while continuing our work. 

Since we were still on the holiday mode, I went out with bossingshe and applethea that afternoon to watch the light comedy Crazy Stupid Love. It reminded me of the movie Love Actually – only with less characters and more laughable antics. The characters were also circularly related to each another and the theme focused only on the romantic connection of soulmates and keeping them. The relationship of Cal and Emily (played by Steve Carell and Julianne More) seem to stress that aside from knowing your soulmate, one ought to choose them in order to keep them with you. Although I liked it that Cal’s daughter (Emma Stone, Easy A) gets Jacob (Ryan Gosling, The Notebook) to change his playboy ways, I wanted to see a bit more strength in the development of his character in the movie to convince me that their relationship is for keeps. Or maybe I want to see more of his photoshopped-like abbs. (Just kidding)  =P

Soulmates. What or who exactly is a soulmate? I have a hard time believing in the concept of soul mates, let alone the idea that they will meet and end up being together. But that’s because I’ve met people I got along so well in an instant and I'm just so happy to find someone I can share my hobbies, interests and passion with. It makes me giddy sometimes but not always wired with romantic vibes. Have you ever tried sitting down with people from a very different walk of life? They've usually got something interesting to say. That is, if you keep an open mind and heart AND they don’t come across with an egoistic air around them.

As it happens, these "soulmates" just seem to come and go. They can be just around the corner or they can be at the other side of the world. According to a book recommended to me entitled Soulmates by Thomas Moore, a soul mate is one you have a soulful relationship with, the one you can communicate anything under the sun without inhibition or pretense. We can have several soul mates – friends who share our love for hobbies and collectible items, friends to whom we sit down with and say nothing at all but totally get what the other is feeling. Two of my college buddies shared the same birth dates and called each other soul mate or “kambal.” Heck, the Hero Jose Rizal called his German friend Ferdinand Blumentritt his soulmate!

But on the notion of a soul mate a.k.a. life partner, I asked my former high school science teacher who is a fan of magical science and who wrote a note entitled the Magical Method of Calling your Soulmate: How does one know his/her soulmate? How can one be so sure that he/she is “The One?” I mean, we get a lot of similar frequencies once in a while, right? He simply replied “If you know yourself, you will know your twin soul.” 

I guess that's an appropriate advice for the girls who get worked up and hyper at the sight of their male crushes in my former school where he works.

Have you watched the movie Somewhere in Time? There’s this dreamlike scene when writer Richard Collier (played by the late Christopher Reeve), finally arriving in 1912 via self-hypnosis time travel, walks into the park looking for the woman he saw in a portrait. He then sees someone familiar behind the trees and is entranced by the scene. The woman, actress Elise McKenna (played by Jane Seymour), slowly walks into sight, gazes at him with wonder and awe and asks “Is it you?” Talk about swoon moment.;)

In the end though, they didn’t get your typical happy ending on earth – which I admit was a bit depressing but better than the usual cliché of them getting back together quite easily. The striking thing there is that they felt so strongly towards each other- Richard was able to travel through time and Elise was able to wait for so long to meet him again in the future. Then they died almost instantly after seeing each other (Yesss! I mean, that's sad).

It’s a bit impractical to look for your soulmate in the past but it puts other so-called relationships and soulmates to shame, don’t you think?

How about you? Do you still believe in soulmates? Despite my skepticism and sarcasm, the crappy events I’ve experienced and served as witness, the world taking a turn for better or for worse, I know I do. I have done so. I still do. And I will continue to be...so far. Hahaha. ;)

The news that made the headlines

William and Kate marry!

"Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves."  

-Archbishop of Canterbury in his sermon during William and Kate's wedding

The same afternoon we got back from the office outing, I kept my tired eyes open just to watch the royal wedding in BBC. From a shallow point of view, the parade of hats made me long for the hats I owned (and lost) and Kate’s Alexander Mcqueen wedding dress reminisce old world charm when Hollywood star Grace Kelly’s married the Prince of Monaco. Who wants flowers when you can have trees inside the church?

I’m not a psychic, but I think they have what it takes to make their marriage work. Aside from the fact that they’ve known each other for almost a decade, Kate, I mean Princess Catherine, has gracefully handled the pressure and attention throughout the years while William seem to have grown into a good and decent prince. He could have chosen almost any beautiful upper class girl; she could have her own life and could have dished out insights about the royals for a fortune. From stalking news of the upcoming wedding, it does sound like true love. ;)

Despite the usual reserve the British Royal family exude, the two managed to come across simply as a couple in love, conversing throughout the wedding, beaming at the cheering crowd, exchanging loving glances…you get the picture.

I don’t normally waste my time writing this kind of stuff, but it will go down in history (hopefully not just as the wedding of the century). As it also happens, I  believe in the advice Princess Di gave to his son before her death: Marry your best friend. But please don’t just befriend cute and charming guys in hopes you’ll find your match. 

Long live the Royal Couple!

My favourite part of the wedding: Still holding hands when they made their exit in the balcony.

*****

Pope John Paul II is beautified

Back in Summer of 2004, I had parked myself in front of the TV and vigilantly watched news from Vatican through CNN. Although he looked so frail, the pope had appeared several times in his balcony waving at the growing crowd in St. Peter’s Square praying for his recovery. Days later, he eventually passed away and I had stationed myself morning ‘til evening in the living room to wait a little bit longer for the white smoke to appear in the Sistine Chapel's chimney…

Nearly six years later, I watch him make the first step to sainthood. Indeed time flies so fast.

Being such a skeptic, I take note of the quick time interval between his death and beautification as compared to many others lined up for sainthood. Commentators mention the existence of a group called the devil’s advocate composed of experts like psychiatrists, doctors and psychologists that aims to disprove miracles as part of a stringent process in declaring who’s going to be venerated. In the Philippines, people line up in objects (second-class relics) that the pope used during his 1995 visit in the Philippines for the World Youth Day, among them the pope mobile once displayed weeks later at the school I went to in Alabang.

It must be special treatment. It would be interesting to have a career in that special group but it has long been dissolved. When they brought the blood of the pope to the altar inside elaborately-styled silver vial case, I though, wow, these people actually reserved his blood for this occasion years ago…

Believe.

“Why do you think did the centurion believed?” My spiritual director asked me when I relayed to him my meditations on the faith of the Roman soldier who asked Jesus to heal his servant by just saying so. After short pause, I lamely told him it was probably because he was powerful and was used to giving commands to his servants who would carry it out immediately. After a moment's breath, I slowly added that it was probably because of love; the love of his people who told him about Jesus and the love he had for his sick servant - love that gave him the confidence to believe. What else would defy reason and motivate us to trust in the absence of any concrete evidence?

Up until now I can’t fully understand even my own answer to his question. For the meantime, I try to suspend my judgement and just believe for a change. So far it is better than to burden myself with too many doubts no earthly wisdom can erase. 

"Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed" (John 20:29)

I suppose that instead of considering it as plain ignorance, it may just be a gift, one I have yet to receive after a long time of disbelief.

*****

Bin Laden is dead!

If my mom hadn’t pointed it out, perhaps I wouldn’t have noticed the irony of people rejoicing over someone’s death. It was all over the news, website and social networks – posing updates from Washington, flashing pictures where the ceasefire took place, looking back to the events of 9/11 (I had turned on the TV that fateful morning, flipped through the channels and paused momentarily at one particular scene of a smoking tower, trying to deliberate whether what I was seeing was real or a stunt). I suppose it is a monumental event, but I also fear that this could spark more radical measures as a form of retaliation. And it’s just 2011! No more tsunamis, nuclear plant breakdowns and tornadoes please…

I hate wars. It gives me the chills when people lose their temper and argue over petty issues which are often fueled by how people handle with it and do not actually focus on the problem at hand. Whenever someone release a string of curses and naively think it’s so cool to call someone a b*tch and the like, I’d like to see how would they would actually fare if they were caught in the middle of a ceasefire. *insert sarcastic tone here*

The b*tch culture is in, but it will never be cool. I admit having a hard time sticking to the kind of life I choose for the meantime with all the supposedly cool stuff I could have and do. I see it everywhere, or at least in the net.

I just need to remember what really makes me not just happy but elated. And nope, it is not finding the cutest pair of high-heeled pumps, although that would be awesome acquisition. Maybe if I get to read and watch all the books and movies I had long wanted to watch. Maybe get that one trip I could share with people who matter to me. Maybe hold a hand. Maybe world peace! =) 

Hmmm…I have asked too many if not hard questions in this post. I might as well scare people off at this rate. I’ll end this one in a simple question then: what’s your side of the story when all these things happened?

Sources:
Will and Kate pic - http://www.popsugar.com/Kate-Middleton-Prince-William-Royal-Wedding-Pictures-16158967?page=0,0,25
JP2 pic - http://lionswordwriting.wordpress.com/2011/01/15/the-beautification-of-the-late-pope-john-paul-the-second/
Transcript of Royal Wedding Homily - http://www.interaksyon.com/article/2705/full-transcript-bishop-of-londons-sermon-at-the-wedding-of-prince-william-and-kate-middleton

Just Another Foolish Story

It's far from graduation but it's one of those commencement speeches people can be raving about. It also recalls to mind the advice of our keynote speaker Fr. Joaquin Bernas, S.J.to "be daring!" during our own graduation day. =)

http://baldoso.blogspot.com/2008/05/of-tsamba-fools-and-silent-walks-by.html

A foolish story:

I met two of my teachers back in high school yesterday. Despite not being as nostalgic as others may be when it comes to recalling this medieval age of my personal history, I was still happy to see them. One of them was my former English teacher who immediately recognized me, since she probably recalled me with all the stuff I wrote back then. I failed to recognize the other one until I heard her introduced herself during the meeting we were called in. Imagine my surprise to realize that she was actually my sharp but witty Religion teacher Ms. B! (She grew her hair) I was just thinking about her the other day, recalling her awesome style of teaching. (It's strange how I often think of some things only to encounter them in front of me a little later...) We talked a bit after the meeting and I had to drop the name of some famous classmate so that Ms. B could remember which batch I belonged to (yep, that's me, the wallflower). Yes, ma'am I'm working here. No ma'am I'm not married. Not today, I still like being single. Hahaha! =)

Despite the challenges, life isn't so bad...yet or after all.

I think I'm gonna write another article...

Year-End Highlights

COUNTDOWN TO 2011. In an orderly fashion, here are some highlights for the year 201. No bitterness or sadness; just a lot of BIG surprises. 0_o

JANUARY

The much-needed peace came to me in 2009, so for 2010, I prayed for balance – which I incidentally read in the book/movie eat pray love months later. Another resolve for that year was to restore things that were lost. That included the bubbly, wacko and ambitious me. No point wallowing in self-pity when one's got a lot of other things to live for, right?

January 22 – I don't keep track of famous people I meet but still, meeting CNN Hero Efren Penaflorida is pretty cool. With him was also the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Chief Byron Garcia who posted the popular viral video of the dancing Cebu Inmates online. Just like when I stared (more like drooled) at Chris Tiu from afar last year when he came to AdNU, I was at loss for words to initiate even small talk with these people.

FEBRUARY

February 20 – the beginning of a series of celebration to mark the 70^th Foundation of Ateneo de Naga University was marked by a concert with performances from the Ateneo University Band, University Choir and a foreign violinist.

MARCH

The first A-WILL on Missioning-Visioning. Fairly easier to conduct than the usual A-WILL which usually required the student leaders to stay overnight but gruesome preparations were still needed. Topics included were creating/realigning the mission, vision, goals and objectives of the organization and managing and evaluating activities. A lot of people may not fully appreciate needs such as an articulated mission-vision, but having these can give the members a sense of order and purpose; a foundation for conceptualizing activities and measuring whether the org is accomplishing anything it was intended for.

Of course, in order to harness these skills one needs to practice, practice, practice. Makes me proud of being orderly and critical when it comes to details…at least, for most of the time. >=)

March 9 – Mariano Reis Baesa (+)

APRIL

April 5-9 – Five-day Silent Individually-directed Retreat @ Sacred Heart Novitiate, Quezon City. Hit the play button for the song No Sound but the Wind by Editors here…

April 13-17 FSSO GGA: Culion, Palawan! If last year's group growth activity offered us the chance to go snorkeling for corals in the islands of Caramoan, the formation offices now headed southwest of the country to the place once called the "Land of the Living Dead". Formerly the Leprosy Center of the Philippines since the Spanish Period, this place is now a promising [eco] tourist destination, if you don't mind traveling first on land, air and water. 

Places to stay: Isla Culion Hotel Maya

Sights to See:

View from Kayangan Lake

Crib in the Leprosarium Museum

• 17^th century church where a Jesuit beloved to the locals is buried inside
• Loyola College of Culion
• The Leprosarium Museum of Culion built in the early 1900s
• San Ignacio Farm
•  Pulang Lup
• Agila Hike
• Kayangan Lake
• Twin Peak
•  and many more!

MAY

May 10 – the First Automated Election in the Philippines wherein Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III won.  

May 18-23 – Summer A-WILL: Beyond Borders.

(A four-day workshop-seminar BUT NOW WITH a two-day immersion in the community)

With my first boss leaving, the vacated position split into two and two new bosses appointed to the directorship, this was an even greater challenge than last year's Summer A-WILL (back then, I had less than a month to prepare since I took the job in mid-April and the seminar-workshop was scheduled on the latter half of May). But by some luck and with staff and students willing enough to extend their time and efforts to become community workers for at least two days, the seminar-workshop was a success.

A memory of this activity I shall never forget: crossing a dark watermelon field at night with some student volunteers and barangay officials just to make sure the student leaders scattered all over a barangay in Calabanga were fine in their foster homes. Don't tell mom I did that. ;)

JUNE

June 5 – Soundtrek: The Platinum Edition! Tapped the student organizations to conduct their Income Generating Projects while the music played and the crowd swayed. No head banging and no Foundation Anniversary Ball for our office, though. =p

June 19 – Tree planting at the Forest of Hope @ Pacol, Naga City. Out of the five seedlings I planted, who will survive?

June 30 – Inauguration of P-Noy.

JULY

July 19 – SONA Conversations with Live Viewing of P-Noy's SONA. Maybe a coffee-table discussion after the talk to keep the audience in their seats next time? More interesting and interactive but I wonder if it would work…

July 23 – National Voluntary Blood Services Program – Bicol Medical Center Blood Program Network: Zonal Recognition and Fellowship Night at Starmark Royale

Three things I've learned so far: 1) Invest in formal attire 2) Do not bring a jacket 3) Condition yourself bring only a purse and survive with what fits in it.

July 31 – 200 bleed and become Dugong Atenista Blood Donors!

AUGUST

August 13 – Dugong Atenista Processing Session: Tribute to Blood Donors. It is always a challenge to attract people to come to an event, more so when we are talking about getting shy students to talk to strangers and in crowds about their feelings, thoughts and insights. What else can we do? Rename the activity, emphasize the needs and benefits of donating blood and invite regular blood donors from the student body, faculty, staff and administration to share their personal experiences and reflections.

August 30-31 – yPeace at Hyatt Hotel, Manila

Sponsored by the Public Office Section of the US Embassy, yPeace or YouthAID gathers youth leaders from different institutions, government and non-government organizations to talk about religious pluralism and create civic action interfaith programs in their respective communities.

Side Trips: AdMU, MOA

SEPTEMBER

Bicol celebrates its 300 Years of Devotion to Ina (Our Lady of Penafrancia)

September 11 – the most beautiful voices are heard again as the Philippine Madrigal Singers return to serenades us once more…

September 9-10 BACS: Dolot ki Ina 2010 in AdNU.

OCTOBER

September 30-October 1 – Enneagram Retreat. Dos-Siete!

October 26-28 – Characteristics of Jesuit Education (with Sir Rosendo Badilla, Gregorio Abonal and Fr. Alberto Alejo, S.J. as our speakers)

NOVEMBER

November 6-7 – OSA GGA: Calaguas Island, Camarines Norte.

Riding a smaller boat compared to the ones we rode in Palawan and Caramoan actually makes a huge difference in experiencing the force of the waves. Challenges include testing our survival skills in tent making, cooking corned beef in an hour, literary eating sand in sandwich, and posing like the castaways of "Lost."

I think I'll never get tired of going to the beach. The wide horizon beyond tells you what a wide world it is.

November 30 – 227 Blood Donors for Dugong Atenista!

DECEMBER

December 16-17 – Teacher-Counselor Training 2.

Needs to get a hang of Solution-focused therapy/approach to cure me from my obsolete in-depth study counseling technique.

Partey-Partey!

December 19 – AdNU Institutional Christmas Party: El Ultimo with Primo @ The Tent, Avenue Square

December 15 – OSA Christmas Party @ Bob Marlin

December 28

·         Psychology Batch 2009 Get together @ Molino

·         Peer Counselors Reunion @ Music Box

I'm pretty sure I missed a lot of important events that ought to be included in the list, but over-all 2010 was very enriching in experience. Will I be as productive and happy for 2011? These things often make me very apprehensive of the future but I've got to remind myself to remain in the present. There has to be a way. If I found out otherwise, well, at least I know how to pray. Fingers crossed!

Some photos courtesy of Atty. Jo Cabiles (Culion, Palawan) and Fr. Ritche Elot (Calaguas OSA Group Picture).

Greetings, Earthlings!

First things first, Happy New Year Everyone! =)

It’s been quite a while since I posted anything this extensive online but this doesn’t mean I’ve stopped writing – just taking my time to throw out a lot of unnecessary works, polish my skills and put order in my mind (which will hopefully reflect in this new blog I’ve created).

Making this has not been easy and quick. Sometimes an idea can pop out of nowhere, needs to be written down before it can be lost and must be deliberated whether it’s really worth pursuing or not. Apart from time-consuming details like creating tags and titles to be used and figuring out codes to manipulate templates, security and privacy settings are not to be taken lightly as people sue each other due to a lack of online ethics.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The question is really this: why do I write? What do I write? Whom do I write for?

I won’t attempt to answer those queries right away. Let the words unravel themselves in time.