Back from My Vacation

I've just arrived early this evening from my week-long vacation. It was one of the most enjoyable, memorable and life-enriching activities I have done. Meet new friends and gained insights along the way. I'm still tired from all the traveling. Had an early plane flight and van ride just to get home. I immediately requested for a massage when I got home because of the aches and pains that my body have endured during this trip. And I'm ready for another round of aches and pains.

It was truly a wonderful vacation and I can't wait for the next one.

Still Packing

I have finished packing my main backpack with all my clothes, however, I'm still packing secondary bag and I have problems determining what I bring. the cameras ready, jacket, sunglasses, medicine are now in it but I'm still wondering if I forgot to brig something. It's not unusual for me to forget my belongings so I have to double-check everything.

I'll be leaving early this morning so that I could prepare for the tomorrow morning's flight. I'll be gone for about a week. Hoping to replenish the spirit and come back renewed and refreshed.

Eagerly Awaiting for My Vacation

I will be having my week-long vacation next week. My friends and I will be going to an exotic locale for the first time. We've booked this flight months before to avail of the discounts offered by one airline. We want to enjoy nature at its best. City life is quite stressful. Too many buildings and less trees to look at.

I will be leaving this Saturday but I haven't packed yet. Not even one piece of clothing is in my backpack yet.

It's nice going to places you've been before. This is a new thing for me because I don't usually go out to other places to have a vacation. I usually stay home and most of the outing that I've attended are just overnight stays.

I'm a homebody. I don't go out a night to party or have some activity during weekends to immerse myself into or have friends to hang out with. My friends are important to me and we stay connected. We plan our meetings because of our busy schedules and the distance from each other.

I prefer to spend a couple straight days of vacation to relax rather than spend almost everyday after work to go out to some party or activity. It's tiresome for me. I would like to immerse myself in what I do so I prefer long vacations.

Recommendation Letter Dilemma

I need to have two recommendation letters, professional and academic. I already asked permissions from the signatories if they could give me a recommendation. But the catch is, I have to make the recommendations myself and they'll just sign them.

That's where my problem comes along. I don't want to make them myself. I find it difficult to praise or give approval to myself and have other people attest to it. It is difficult to make a casual recommendation to oneself. How could we gauge if we are already too self-indulgent I what we write about ourselves?

And I have to find the answers to this questions soon because I need to have both documents by next week.

I Missed Going to School

Yesterday, I went to my collegiate university to take care of some documents that needs the school seal. It's been more than a year since I last stepped in it and I still adore it. It changed a bit but most of the buildings during my time were still there and improved dramatically.

We used to have only electric fans in our classrooms, but now, most of the school is air-conditioned. Overall, the school looks much better than before.

I miss studying there, not because of friends or the activities, but i missed learning from the teachers who helped me to be what I am today. I miss doing the assignments even if i used to dislike doing them. I miss listening to the teacher especially in Philosophy even though I'm afraid that he might solicit my answer or just an opinion.

Learning things on your own like reading from books or surfing is internet is good but I believe that the teachers are great at reinforcing those knowledge that we've learned from other mediums of instruction.

Beginning

This is the moment of embarking.
All auspicious signs are in place.

In the beginning, all things are hopeful. We prepare ourselves to start anew. Though we may be intent on the magnificent journey ahead, all things are contained in the first moment: our optimism, our faith, our resolution, our innocence.

In order to start, we must make a decision. The decision is a commitment to daily self- cultivation. We must make a strong connection to our inner selves. Outside matters are superfluous. Alone and naked, we negotiate all of life's travails. Therefore, we alone must make something of ourselves, transforming ourselves into the instruments for experiencing the deepest spiritual essence of life.

Once we make our decision, all things will come to us. Auspicious signs are not a superstition, but a confirmation. They are a response. It is said that if one chooses to pray to a rock with enough devotion, even that rock will come alive. In the same way, once we choose to commit ourselves to spiritual practice, even the mountains and valleys will reverberate to the sound of our purpose.

Deng Ming-Dao

"Isang" Unleashes The Power

News reports are talking of her power. The devastation that she brought throughout the land. I thought that my town will be spared. We live in the opposite end of her center. But I was wrong, her power was encompassing. It reached us and exuded her will. Fierce and strong. "Rain, rain go away..." won't be enough for this one. For two consecutiev nights, she bashed us with her might, only to give us hope in the morning. Tonight's a very dark and cold night but may tomorrow give us sunshine with a smile.

Let her have her will but spare us from destruction.

God Bless Us All and Be Safe.

A Gentle Reminder

I received this text message from my mother that reminds of something that I take for granted:

"In our everyday life, we may fall into the trap of losing our sense of wonder. Experiences may become so ordinary that we no longer see each.

A moment as a miracle from God. the people we meet, the things we accomplish, our simplest joys - all of these are concrete proofs of the Lord's love for us."

True Friend and True Love

A friend that you want to be with, every moment possible each and every day.
To share the joys and sorrows of life, and help them in any possible way.

A friend that can influence your day, with a little word that fills you with smiles.
A friend that can do all of this, even when separated by many miles.

Have you ever had a friend that outshines all the others?
A person so special to you, they rank up with sisters or brothers.

But a friend who is even more than that, in their own unique and special ways.
Because this person can make you feel good, even when your having "one of those days."

A friend who can touch your heart, with everything they do.
A friend that knows how you feel, even when you don't want them to.

Have you ever had a friend, who makes you start to feel.
That you may be more than friends, a feeling that is strong and real.

Have you ever had a friend, who has a special place within your heart.
One that you know you really love, in fact you've known it from the start.

A friend who you want to hug, a friend you want to hold.
A friend to keep warm with, when the both of you are cold.

A friend whose eyes enchant you, have you ever had a friend
That has magic in their smile.
A friend you want to kiss, and hold them for a while.

A friend whose touch excites, a friend who you want to spend all day with
And then look forward to the nights.

Have you ever fallen in love, with someone that is a friend?
A love so real and wonderful, a love that is a friend...

In The Dark Ages

For a day and a half, it felt like we were living in the dark ages. Yesterday morning, the electricity went out and the water supply was cut off immediately after that. There were no notifications made or any warnings. Most of us didn't have any water stored.

In the afternoon, we learned from reports that the power supply was cut off because some rebel insurgents destroyed three power lines while they were fighting with the military forces.

Not having any water stored, we went to a nearby neighbor and fetched some water using the jetmatic pump. It's been years since I used one of these things and it came as a savior to us during this waterless day. We hauled water using the five gallon mineral water bottle. My brother and I made about 8 trips each back and forth to fill up the pails in our house that were to be used for bathing, washing and for the toilet. We were so exhausted carrying it because its been years since we did that. Way back in our elementary and high school days when water was still scarce and far from where we lived.

It was so hot most of the day that we bathed in sweat and had many shirt changes. Since there were no cold drinks available in our area, we went downtown and bought some iced refreshments and softdrinks in one of the few establishments with a generator. We ate halo-halo, mais con heilo and some s0ftdrinks. It was quite refreshing and I didn't mind that I have to spend that amount for such refreshing delights. On other days, I would've declined to purchase them because of the cost.

Luckily, the lights came back this evening and we don't have to haul water anymore tomorrow. I'm glad because my back is already aching.

I think that sometimes it is necessary that we lose some of the conveniences that we are used to having in order to remind us what is necessary in life. I wouldn't have had conversations with some of my neighbors earlier while fetching water if there was electricity. It brings us back to the basics. And it's good to be reminded.

Don't Ask

• Are you asleep?
• Now what's the matter?
• Have I kept you waiting?
• You don't remember me, do you?
• Will you promise not to get mad if I ask you something?

Be Whole

The Missing Piece (by Shel Silverstein) tells the story of a circle that was missing a piece. A large triangular wedge had been cut out of it. The circle wanted to be whole with nothing missing, so it went around looking for its missing piece. But because it was incomplete and therefore could roll only very slowly, it admired the flowers along the way. It chatted with worms. It enjoyed the sunshine. It found lots of different pieces, but none of them fit. So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching. Then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly. It was so happy. Now it could be whole, with nothing missing. It incorporated the missing piece into itself and began to roll. Now that it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to notice the flowers or talk to the worms.

When it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly, it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away. The lesson of the story was that in some strange sense we are more whole when we are missing something. The man who has everything is in some ways a poor man. He will never know what it feels like to yearn, to hope, to nourish his soul with the dream of something better. He will never know the experience of having someone who loves him give him something he has always wanted and never had. There is a wholeness about the person who has come to terms with his limitations, who has been brave enough to let go of his unrealistic dreams and not feel like a failure for doing so. There is a wholeness about the man or woman who has learned that he or she is strong enough to go through a tragedy and survive, who can lose someone and still feel like a complete person.

When we accept that imperfection is part of being human, and when we can continue rolling through life and appreciating it, we will have achieved a wholeness that others can only aspire to. That, I believe, is what God asks of us - not "Be perfect," not "Don't ever make a mistake," but "Be whole." And at the end, if we are brave enough to love, strong enough to forgive, generous enough to rejoice in another's happiness, and wise enough to know there is enough love to go around for us all, then we can achieve a fulfillment that no other living creature will ever know.

Harold Kushner

The Jewel

Once upon a time there dwelt an old King in a palace. In the center of a golden table in the main hall, there shone a large and magnificent jewel. Each day of the King's life, the stone sparkled more resplendently.

One day a thief stole the jewel and ran from the palace, hiding in a forest. As he stared with deep joy at the stone, to his amazement the image of the King appeared in it.

"I have come to thank you," said the King. "You have released me from my attachment to Earth. I thought I was freed when I acquired the jewel, but then I learned that I would be released only when I passed it on, with a pure heart, to another.

"Each day of my life I polished that stone, until finally this day arrived, when the jewel became so beautiful that you stole it, and I have passed it on, and am released.

"The jewel you hold is Understanding. You cannot add to its beauty by hiding it and hinting that you have it, nor yet by wearing it with vanity. Its beauty comes of the consciousness that others have of it. Honor that which gives it beauty."

Thaddeus Golas
The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment

Street Fighter IV has finally arrived on... PC

The game that I've been waiting for more than a year has finally arrived on PC. I was ecstatic when I find out that they were developing a new Street Fighter game. This was the game that I grew up with, starting with Street Fighter II in the old family computer, then in Sega Mega Drive and then in PS One.

After Street Fighter II, I was hooked with the EX version. I didn't have the chance to play Street Fighter III in the console because I couldn't afford to buy the newer consoles. Arcade machines are not for me because I have problems controlling the joysticks. It isn't the same for me without the gamepads, even if my fingers suffer from blisters after playing it for long hours.

I had just finished playing Street Fighter IV from my friends PC and it was awesome. It brought me back to the days of hadoken and shoryukens especially with my all-time favorite character Ryu. I just stuck my game with the basics because I can't do the SUPERs because of a cheap gamepad. It really hurts my fingers just to do a simple hadoken.

We've just unlocked a few characters and I hope soon that my friend will unlock all the other characters, especially the new ones. I'm more of a Versus kinda guy because I'm not good in fighting the Arcade Mode at higher difficulties.

I can't wait to play it again tomorrow if I have the time.

To all Street Fighter fans out there, prepare your fingers and get ready to FIGHT....

Tomorrow Should Have Been My Rest Day

As with most employees, I look forward to a relaxing weekend were there is no paperwork do do in the office but, alas, I was informed today that I will be working tomorrow with my boss to do some unfinished work that was supposedly due this week.

I'm quite disappointed because during Saturday, I wake up late to recover some of my lost sleep during the past week. This is the time for me to sit back and relax and maybe watch a movie or two. But this is the life on an employee, you have to work when you're asked to during weekends.
Just suck it up and do my job even if I don't feel like it.

Attitude is Everything!

Being happy in this life isn't dependent on what happens to you, but rather how you respond to what happens to you. It's true: Attitude is everything! So take it easy, smile a lot, look for the rainbows in life, real or imagined, and just be happy. Life's just too short to do anything else!

Just Laugh!

Celebrate life by laughing loudly and laughing often. Find something silly to enjoy just because it's silly. Laugh because you're sad and want to feel better. Laugh because someone else tells you a joke--even if it's not the funniest one you're ever heard. Appreciate their effort in making you laugh and do so! Laugh when you do something that would otherwise be embarrassing. Laugh at life in general. Laugh because life's too short to spend it being unhappy. :)