Buscapades

I have this gay housemate who has a weird habit. Here is what he does every time he is board.

He loves riding buses. So when boredom strikes, he will ride the bus, no matter what the destination, get to where the bus will stop, then ride another bus going home.

One time, while he was waiting on EDSA, he saw a bus bound to Cavite. He just rode the bus without being familiar to any place in Cavite. The moment he saw SM Bacoor, he alighted, then make a quick tour of the mall, then went home.

Some may find the idea pretty weird, but since I am a lover of weird things (and ideas), I find it brilliant!

I love long journeys and commuting. It sounds exciting being in a place that is out of your comfort zone. I have also read in a lot of travel blogs that you will learn more about yourself when you are alone and conquer unfamiliar grounds

Because of this idea, my friend and I thought that we should try it when time and our wallet allows us to do such. I even created conditions for the craziness that we were planning.

Whether the location is near or far, the place we will go to should be not familiar to both of us.

Next, once we reached our destination, we will go to two places – a church and a place where the locals love to eat. There is an old Filipino belief that when you entered a church for the first time, you must make a wish. It is something I loved doing every time I visit a church for the first time. I believe the second place is self explanatory. Haha! if we still have time, maybe we can visit a local tourist spot.

Last, the whole trip will only take place in a day. So if we will arrive on a location early in the morning, we must be on our way back to Makati by the end of the day. Since the trip is really not that much planned, we will be able to save more on accommodations if we will sleep on the bus. :D

Travel Blogs always mention that before you reach a location, everything must be plan. I have nothing against that. We can do that for trips where we will stay in an area for more than a day.

We will just do this for fun and I guess in every journey, that is what is more important.

I am so excited to do this! Haha!

The Last Lecture

Remember my landlady who always ask me to do the projects of her kids? Well, before summer started, she gave me another assignment. It is another book report that his child has to do while he is on vacation. His school is really weird. Students on summer break should be enjoying summer!

Did I do it? Well, no. haha! This past two months has been a struggle for me. Aside from adjusting from morning to night shift, it has been so hot in the Philippine Area of Responsibility that staying in one place is really not an option.

Let’s talk about The Last Lecture.

What it is: The book is all about Randy Pausch’s last speech at the university where he used to teach. Randy was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, and was given by his Doctors a couple of months to live. The book documented the things that he taught in the lecture, how he spent his life after he find out that he was sick, and his plans for his family.

The Last Lecture is all about Randy’s legacy.

I already anticipated that it will be one emotional book. Well, it is, at some extent. But, the book talks more about Randy’s childhood dreams and how those dreams can help you in the future.

What I Love About It: When Randy said, “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something,” I know that the book is talking to me. With the things that are happening to me lately, the phrase served as a bucket of cold water waking me up and telling me that everything will be fine. Yeah, I am encountering a lot of walls lately. Most of the time, I just became too weak and let them take the best of me. Now I understand that walls are there because I have big dreams and all I need is a hammer big enough to crush the walls in front of me. haha!

Another quote that made me love the book is when he said that, “It's not about how to achieve your dreams. It's about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.” Now I know what hammer is needed to crush the walls – make sure that you lead your life the right way. True enough, as long as you are doing everything right, not hurting anyone and taking advantage of anybody, everything will fall into place. There is nothing left but for your dreams to come to you.

What I Don’t Love About It: Randy Died. Period. Haha!

Recommended for: The book is highly recommended for all, it touched my heart, definitely, it will also touched yours.

After reading it, I thought of my landlady’s son. I still won’t do the whole report, but I will help him with the questions. I guess that will be the right way. :)

Watch the Last Lecture below. :)

Clueless

Nabanggit ko na ata na galing ako sa isang malaking angkan. At since isa ako sa mga pinakabata sa aming magpipinsan, karamihan sa kanila, pamilyado na. Mayroon ng kanya kanyang pamilya at malalaki na ang mga anak, kung malaki ng matatawag ang may anak ka ng papasok sa kolehiyo. :D

Hindi kami mayaman. Alam naming lahat na magpipinsan iyon. Mga magsasaka ang mga Lolo at mga tatay namin, sanay ang mga pinsan ko na magbanat ng buto sa bukid, magtiis sa kung anong meron sa hapag, at higit sa lahat maging kuntento kung ano man ang mayroon kami.

Isa ako sa mga mapalad na nakapagtapos ng kolehiyo, kasi bukod sa biniyayaan ako ng konting katalinuhan, haha, binonggahan naman ni Bro ang lakas ng loob ko at ang tiwala ko sa sarili at sa mga pangarap ko. Ang kaibahan nga lang, laki ako sa Maynila, kaya kung siguro laki ako sa probinsiya, baka naging magsasaka narin ako. Pero hindi naman siguro magandang tignan ang magsasaka na nagtsutsunami walk sa gitna ng bukirin kaya kahit anong problema dumating sa kin, pinaglaban ko ang mga pangarap ko.

Masaya akong umuuwi sa province. Happy ako na nagpapasalubong ng dunkin donuts sa napakaraming pamangkin, nagpapameryenda sa buong angkan, magpapamasko kahit na walang matira para sa akin, nagbibigay ng pamalengke sa Mama ko tapos lulutuin niya lahat ng paborito kong pagkain para kainin namin lahat, at higit sa lahat, masaya akong kasama lang sila. Hindi naman kasi araw araw na asa province ako e, siguro maraming beses na ang tatlong beses sa isang taon, kaya kahit na maghirap ako sa bawat bisita ko sa Canda, okay lang, minsan lang naman e.

Ang hindi ko lang kinaya ay nung lapitan ako ng Asawa ng pinsan ko para lang sabihin sa akin na tulungan ko ang anak niya sa susunod niyang sem sa college. Noong una ayaw kong maniwala, kasi habang sinasabi niya sa akin ang mga iyon, lasing si Koya. Pero noong hiningi na ng pinsan ko ang cellphone number ko, doon na talaga ako kinabahan. Tapos parang nalamatan na ang masaya kong mood kasi nga hindi ko alam kung paano ako magrereact.

Hindi naman ako madamot. Pero minsan, ang panget kasi kapag asa Manila ka, iniisip ng mga tao sa province na sobrang nabago na ang buhay mo, na big time ka na, at wala ka ng masyadong pinoproblema. Kung alam lang nila, diba? Lahat ng bagay dito sa Manila ginagastusan, siguro ang libre nalang ata ay ang hangin at ang mga pangarap. Pero siyempre hindi mo naman pwede sabihin yun. Kasi nga kahit papaano, kadugo mo, at kung mahirap makipagaway, mas mahirap makipagaway sa mga kadugo.

Sabi ng Mama ko, huwag ko nalang daw pansinin. Pero siyempre parang ang hirap naman na hindi na nga ako umimik ng kahit ano, aasa naman sila. Sabi pa ng Tiya ko, ang asawa daw ng pinsan ko na humingi ng tulong sa akin ay tamad, hinahayaan nalang ang pinsan kong babae ang magtanim ng sitaw sa ilalim ng naglalagablab na init ng araw habang siya ay nagpapahinga sa loob ng bahay kasi nga daw, mainit. Sabihin mo sa akin kung paano ako mamomotivate na tulungan siya?

Alam ko na mahirap ang buhay, at sobrang hirap ang magtapos ng pagaaral kapag hindi naman kayo kayamanan. Pero kahit kailan, hindi ko hinayaan ang pagiging mahirap namin na humadlang sa mga pangarap ko. Magiging mas mahaba lang ang post na ito pag kinuwento ko pa ang mga pinagdaanan ko, pero ang punto ko lang naman ay, kahit kailan kapag gusto mo gawin ang isang bagay, ano mang sagabal ang kaharapin mo, kakayanin mo. Kinaya ko, at kahit papano napagtagumpayan ko siya.

Pagbalik ko sa Manila, iniisip ko na ang magandang paraan para hindian ang pinsan ko. Yung tipo bang hindi sila masasaktan, hindi ako magiging mayabang, hindi ako masusumbatan at higit sa lahat, hindi magiging issue sa pamilya namin. Siguro hindi ko matutulungan ang pamangkin ko para bayaran ang gastusin niya, pero matutulungan ko siya kung paano niya ipaglalaban ang mga pangarap niya.

At siguro sa mga panahon ngayon, isa sa mga importanteng bagay na matutulong mo sa tao ay ang mangarap at tulungan siyang abutin ito na hindi ka naman madedehado. Paano yun? Hindi ko sure, pero siguro if it works, asahan niyo nalang na may karugtong ang post na ito. :D

Canda

Before I almost forgot how to define the word “vacation,” I spent the last four days in the province where I was born. :D

Sariaya is a province before the capital of Quezon. It is a three hour drive, I mean, bus ride from Manila that is if you want to get to the town proper, huh. :P My extended family live in a Barrio which is still a 20 minute tricycle ride from town. The name of our Barangay is Canda, and I don’t even know where the name came from. I will not say that it is remote, because there are a lot of other Barangays which is farther from where we live.

It is a place where farming is really the main source of income, where the only concrete road is where the vehicles pass, where the dogs are not even chained, where people sleep at one in the morning and still wake up at six AM, where the phone’s signal is really drag, where people are friendly, and where everything seems so simple and relax.

The picture below is our nearest neighbor.

Yes, if I will estimate it, its close to a hundred yards. My cousin and her family lives there, and if you want to call her, since she doesn’t own a cellular phone, you have to do it the old fashion way. Shout! Haha.

I have a lot of stories to share. But since I just arrived in Manila, I think it is proper to rest first. Haha!

The Girl Who Played With Fire

By: Stieg Larsson

 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is really superb. Both the book and the movie will really make you more interested to know what will happen next to the lives of the characters. It really took a while, but finally, I was able to finish book two of the Millennium Series!

What it is: The story was set two years after the events on book one took place. Lisbeth is richer now and has been travelling the world and when she returned to Sweden, she got involved in a murder case. The search for Salander and for the main killer took place which will reveal more secrets about the lead character.

What I liked about it: Two words. Lisbeth Salander. From the way she handled her millions, to how she have hidden herself when she was hunted by the police, to how loving she get when she discovered that her guardian was alive, to how passionate and wild she can become with Mimmi, and how she beat the bad guys in the book. She will really be the reason why you will love the book.

She was introduced more on the book. You will learn more about her past and all the things that were running thru her mind. You will understand Lisbeth more, and though you know that she has a lot of reasons to kick some bad guy’s butt, you will never learn to hate her because the author will make you understand Salander more.

What I don’t like about it: I am really not sure whether this is a bad thing. But, I really have cliff hangers and when things like that happened, I will not be a happy camper.

Recommended for: People who really want to believe that Salander is really someone that you will love, it will also be a good read for people who loves action films and mystery stories.

Sweet Dreams

Title from Beyonce

The Supermarket is an hour and a half away from where we live in the province. It is always tedious going there. My mom and I were shopping for leche flan, a favorite during Christmas. Our family love all things sweet.

I placed five condensed milk on our basket, my mom then looked at the price and said, Ay, mas mura dun sa suke ko sa palengke, doon nalang tayo bumili.

I returned the milk on the cabinet. We then went to the aisle were the sugar can be find. My mom got it this time, checked the price, and said ay, dun narin tayo bumili nito sa palengke, mas mura doon. All I can say was okay.

I then picked the Cream that we will need for the Buko Salad. My mom checked again the price and when she was about to say something, I interrupted her. Haha! Mama, hindi tayo nagbiyahe ng malayo para bumalik lang sa palengke, ako ang magbabayad nito kaya don’t worry, okay?

She just said, Alam ko naman na ikaw ang magbabayad nito, kaya nga gusto ko doon tayo bibili sa mura para mas madami tayong mapapakain sa libre mo. Pati ngayon ka na nga lang umuwi, magbonding muna tayo ng mas matagal.

All I can say is, Tara na nga! We left the supermarket buying nothing. :)

My mom really has creative ways of getting into my nerves, but she also has wonderful ways of making me smile. I think I got my impulsiveness and weirdness from my mother and I am really proud of that. :)

Mothers really have the best job in the world. Too bad, I will never be one. Hahaha!

Happy Mother’s Day to your Mom!

Photo Credit

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The Emo Blogger's Happy Blogging Challenge: Happiness and one of the Five Senses

• ןıuǝ oɟ ɟןıƃɥʇ: Happiness and Olfaction, A Series
• citybuoy: hearing
• The Orange Wit: Sweet Dreams 

The Witch of Portobello

By Paulo Coelho

While I was doing last month’s blog activity, I stopped reading. Haha! I was back in the night shift and it was really hard adjusting to my new schedule. Most of the time, I was sleeping. Aside from that, the weather was hot that made me too lazy to even do something.

But, it’s always nice to get the motivation to read something back. Enter, The Witch of Portobello!

What it is: At first, I thought it was a true-to-life story so while I was sifting thru the first pages of the book, I started researching about it on Google. Only to find out that it was just fiction. Haha! The book was about a girl named Athena, her mission, and the process she went thru in order to complete it. The theme about the book revolves about finding one’s true self and being aware of the energies of the world. A lot of feminism idea was also shared in the book.

What I liked about it: The book was written in a way that it will begin and ends with a mystery. It was also written in a cool way – doing a biography using the different views of the main character’s friends and family members. What is really cool about reading Paulo Coelho books is that he will share with you an idea about history or religion and you will not be bored with it. You will understand that it will always be part of the whole story. Gypsies were also emphasized – their history, views and cultures were also described. It is always nice learning something new from people that you rarely encounter. It also centers on how powerful a woman can get. The idea of the book on how woman affects religion, culture and society will always be enlightening.

What I don’t like about it: There is only one thing about the book that I don’t like. Probably because divorce is never practiced here in the Philippines but the book mentioned that if someone gets divorce, he or she cannot take the Holy Communion. That is something I really don’t understand.

Moral Lesson: Paulo Coelho will definitely give you something you can ponder on when you read his books. Well, the book really concentrated on answering “Who am I?” and doing everything to answer that question. He wants us to be like Athena, fearless and dedicated. She will do everything in order for her to know what her mission on this world is. She will try her best to succeed on it. Because she knows that by doing such, she will be complete.

I guess that is something that we can all ponder on. Knowing what you want is one thing, but doing everything to achieve something will always be a good trait.

Enjoy Reading!

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On other news, other news talaga! Haha! My blogger friend PM will have a project where she will give notebooks to bright and worthy kids from Bataan. We will definitely appreciate if you can help out, you can check her post here.

The Orange Mail

   

Hello,

Who would have thought that a blog activity will be the reason why I will remember you? And, oh, I remember you well. I have a lot of things to say, but before I go emotional with this introduction, let me first tell you that I love you, and I will always believe in you.

Times will get tougher.

You will move to a different place where you will have no friends, not even a single acquaintance. Never fret, though. You have Mama and your sisters, and you will always have me. Most of the time you will be alone, but that will be way better than being lonely. Your parents will never get back together. Be thankful that it will happen because you will never see them hurt each other again. You will be able to sleep better because Mama will not cry na. You will even see her in a happy mode because all of her problems will subsides.

Moments will come where you will be confused. You will be scared. Never worry because you will make the right decision. In time, you will be happier, surrounded with fabulous friends, and amazing experiences because you made the right choice. You will be involved with several people, for several reasons, most of them will not give you the fairy tale ending that you always opted. But let me remind you that you are not a princess, not even close to being a damsel in distress, but you will be as strong as the Wicked Witch, probably as cruel as Cinderella’s evil step sisters, but will always be as loving and caring as the Prince. Never let someone save you, find ways to save yourself.

If there is a thing that will be easy, I think that will be the subjects that you will take in college.Haha! There will be one problem though; you will not end up with your career of choice. God will always be good, though. He will compensate in tremendous of ways. Way bigger than both of us can even fathom. Just never lose faith and never let go from his grip.

No matter how hard things may get, you will always be special, not just for me, but also for the people you will meet. You will discover something new, a talent that you never thought you have. Just make sure you keep your focus on your dreams for yourself and for your family and everything will flow according to our plans.

Eventually, the tough times will end. Just believe, and get yourself working.

You will always be meaningful to me, not just because I love and believe in you tremendously, but because you will always be a part of me. Don’t get confused if suddenly, you will never recognize yourself, because what you will see is a better version of you -- Someone who will fulfill all your heart’s desire.

Just keep moving forward. And if you will get a chance to look back, never forget what you’ve been through. That will motivate and help you to greatness.

If the moment comes where you will not be able to take the chaos that is going into your world. Don’t even get frightened, I will always be here, and I promise I will help you make things easier. We will remove the ghost together.

Lastly, thank you. Thank you for always sticking to your morals and values, for being braver that you thought you can be, and for dreaming big unselfishly. I appreciate everything you are doing and I promise, I will do my best to never let you down.

I will always be here.

Talk to you soon,

LJ

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To end the 30 Days of Blogging Honesty, we must complete a Dare. And I guess writing to your sixteen year old self is really tough, its hard reminiscing the way you feel when you were younger.

Category: Youngins
Write a letter to your 16-year-old self and post it. Detail your journey.

White Russian Doll

Title From Lucky Soul

Life is too short to live within restraints.

I have read this somewhere while blog hopping thru my reader. Too bad, I am really not good in remembering things, and even if I did remember where I got this statement, this eight word statement is more than enough to leave me sleepless one scorching summer afternoon.

Now, I am looking at this Matryoshka doll and the first thing that I thought of is restraints. The bigger doll needs to be opened in order to get the smaller doll, until you get the smallest doll inside.

Sometimes, restraints affect us in ways that we will never see coming. Fears will make us more afraid, insecurities will make us ugly, and failures will always break us down. Problems will never leave us and no matter how hard we try to convince ourselves that we are strong, there will be points that we will be vulnerable.

Like this doll, you and the things that bother you will always be together. But it’s best to treat them like these nested dolls.

Make sure that your fears, insecurities, and failures will always be the smaller part of you. Never allow them to grow bigger, and if the moment come they did, just twist and open them into two for you to find the strength that was there all along.

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