BREAKING NEWS!

Sumsuman karon sa mga netizens ang masulub-ong panagbuwag nila ni Angelina ug Brad. Aduna'y mga huhungihong nga maong nakigdiborsyo si Angelina ngadto kang Brad mahitungod sa mga tabi-tabi nga aduna'y third party ang nauwahi. Apan sa dihang nagkomprontasyon na ang managtiayon, gibutyag usab ni Brad ang iyang kahiubos ngadto sa iyang kanhi asawa mahitungod kay kini iyang nasakpan nga usa diay ka mahuyang. Kinsa'y nagsulti sa kamatuoran? Kinsa'y imong labanan? Atangi ang sunod nga issue!

9 Months

Had I been pregnant the past 9 months, I must have given birth to a lifeless baby by now. When an office friend hinted my predicament sometime in June of last year, I already knew it was coming. I must have felt it ahead of time - way before they could personally say it to my face, which by the way, never happened at all. Yet, it still caught me offguard being told there wasn't any extension anymore. Or was I just trying to be melodramatic? Whatever! Surprised? I don't think so.

Fast forward to 9 months. Well here I am, still jobless and overweight. Yes there were minimal projects in between. Trivial actually. But somehow these mini projects helped me get by with occasional showers of drama, of course. Tears, both claiming joy and misery, never dried up unattended. Even friends from the former office have been intentionally avoided as well. I don't know why. I suppose it had something to do with the untimely demise of my finances, as we all need to pay for something somehow each time we meet up. Or it could also be just keeping away from them for the sake of moving on. And there's more. The former boss was cutoff from all forms of social media. Thank heavens I was finally able to do that. Yahoo! The former boss even tried to get even by making up stories, funny unbelievable stories of my alleged conflicts with the unknowns. Hah! Sounding like an old record stuck at Side A, huh! Haven't you heard of "there are B-sides to every story"? Obviously you have not.

I have sent out feelers to companies looking for skills or talent (if you can call it as such) comparable to mine yet to no avail. Must be the age. Must be the test of times. Sigh. 

So what do I do now? Get some sleep, dream away and pray just a little bit more? Implore may be more appropriate. Go ahead. Go on. Meanwhile, let me just wipe away these familiar tears.

Good Friday

(Silot Bay photo grabbed from cebudailynews.inquirer.net)

Some bad news on this year's Good Friday. While we were in church a little past 4 in the afternoon, my nephew Jolas got a call from a friend and was told that another friend drowned while swimming in Liloan. We hurried back home upon hearing the bad news so he could go see the dead friend's remains at Rolling Hills. When Jolas got home later, my sister-in-law and I asked a lot of questions like what really happened, where did it happen, how did it happen, who was with him when it happened, what about his parents, where are they from and perhaps everything else us women can think of. Jolas' short answer was simply "he jumped off from the (infamous) Liloan bridge and never ascended back from the deep water". And that was it. Oh men.

Tidbits: 15 March 2016

15 March 2016, KFC Fuente Osmeña

A Middle Eastern looking medical student walked-in in this fastfood chain I was having breakfast at, ordered his breakfast, mumbled "samoka oy!" as the crew took a while to clean up his table, opened up his notes to study aloud, tinkered onto his celfone, turned to me and asked: "Excuse me Ma'am, is there a difference between this picture and my face now?" Wa ko ka-gets dayon kay nakurat ko so I asked him back "I'm sorry, what do you mean?" "I mean is there a difference on how I look? Do I look smaller in this picture compared to my face now?" Well he did look smaller in the picture so I honestly, though safely, answered "You look smaller in the picture, or I don't know, maybe it's the hair you have right now?" He looked a bit confused but said thank you anyway. I got confused, too.

That's Not How It Is

Earlier: A European tourist was pissed off with the slow service at the Oceanjet ticketing office in Tagbilaran City. He snapped at me and said "There's so many people lined up and they only have 1 window open." I replied with "Well, that's how it is here." He says: "No, that's not how it is! That's no respect!" I told him "Then go talk to them." And he said: "I already talked to them, they don't understand english!" What?!
I got annoyed and finally said to him: "Well, that's your problem!"

Later: It was raining hard when the boat docked in Cebu. I was the last one to get off the boat. I waited for at least one porter to help me carry the six heavy boxes I had with me. And porters were nowhere to be found! I went out of the terminal and asked the security guard to please get me one porter. The guard just stared at me. So I went back to get a pushcart and decided to carry the boxes myself. I finally saw one porter so I called on him if he could please help me. The porter got back at me saying: "Daghan mig gibuhat, Ma'am!" Oh $&@%! And so I had to get back and forth from where I left my six boxes to my pickup service, all soaked up wet!

Well, that's not how it is! That's no respect!

Delayed Goosebumps

Five years ago, I was up for a shooting assignment down south, specifically Tawi-Tawi. As we were to take photos of sunrise in the middle of the sea on our second day, we had to sleep overnight in the island of Panglima Sugala. Electricity there, like in all other islands nearby, was only available between 6 o'clock in the evening until 12 midnight. And so we called off our first day early by sleeping around 9PM to be able to catch up the 4AM call time. Like I always do, I woke up ahead of my alarm clock but stayed on the bed as I could not see a single thing in the dark, not even my colleague Aileen who was sound asleep on the other bed. Hearing the roosters early on, I did not reach out for my cellphone to check on the time. I presumed the alarm should go off anytime soon. Until I felt a tap on my left arm. It must have been Aileen who probably happened to move while still asleep. I even said, "O?" (Yes?) to her but somehow she did not reply. So I just stayed there lying for quite sometime until my phone alarm finally went off. The alarm sounded so loud it totally made me forget about what happened earlier and so we hurried up to get all our stuff and head off to the waiting speed boat. We were just on time for everything and had beautiful shots of sunrise.

Six months after, I went back for another assignment. I was on the same island, the same pension house, the same room, the same companion. When the lights went on at 6 o'clock in the evening, somehow I remembered what happened the last time I was there. So I finally told Aileen about it and asked her if she remembered tapping me. She said "No, you were the one who woke me up, remember? And how can I touch you then when our beds were quite apart, long enough not to reach the one lying on the other bed!"

Oops! My goosebumps rather came late. 

nasaan ang LOVE?

nasaan ang LOVE?

1. ang love, wala sa estado, nasa load (rich-poor love affair)

2. ang love, wala sa edad, nasa calendar (may-december love affair)

3. ang love, wala sa position, nasa office (boss-messenger love affair)

4. ang love, wala sa kasarian, nasa California (same sex marriage)

5. ang love, wala sa lahi, nasa fiancée visa (inter-marriage)

6. ang love, wala sa movies, nasa totoong buhay (artista-nonshowbiz love affair)

7. ang love, wala sa pinas, nasa remittance center (ofw)

8. ang love, wala sa classroom, nasa playground (puppy love)

9. ang love, wala sa bahay, nasa neighborhood (childhood sweethearts)

10. ang love, wala sa itsura, nasa puso (a face only a mother can love)

11. ang love, wala sa grupo, nasa sarili (selfie enthusiast)

12. ang love, wala sa patience, nasa pawnshop (durugista lover)

13. ang love, wala sa tabi, nasa facebook (stalker)

14. ang love, wala sa puso, nasa friends’ list (na-friend zone)

15. ang love, wala sa pagkakaintindihan, nasa pantasya (one way love affair)

16. ang love, wala sa commitment, nasa bar (one night stand)

17. ang love, wala sa flowers, nasa atm (bilmoko)

 

Fast and Curious

Paul Walker dies in a car crash. That's horrible.

People post the bad news on Facebook. That's expected.

Social media friends click Like. That's appalling.

I don't get it. Do you?

If I die, I wonder if people would click Like, too? Probably.

Unless I never get posted. Poor me.

Lost and Found

I should say the past twelve years were the best years I’ve had in my entire life. Having worked as an in-house graphic artist for two consecutive USAID-funded government projects based in my hometown Cebu, Philippines, I had the opportunities to travel both abroad (cities of Portland and Tampa in the US) and locally (in the remote islands of Bohol, Palawan and Tawi-Tawi); interacted with almost all types of personalities – from high ranking government officials to unassuming boatmen; and the chance to bond lasting friendships that came along the way; not to mention the good pay, and the long plane/boat/bus rides which I truly loved!

It was a well-spent decade with ups and downs both personally and career-wise. New and improved working techniques were all welcome respites from our tedious and sometimes monotonous routines. Rivalries, may they be professional or personal, were eternal components that spiced up our environment from time to time. Relationships too, either went beyond or were merely co-terminus with the project. Personally, I was able to meet people I intend to be good friends with for the rest of my life. Also on the lighter side, I somehow managed to lose weight, gained it back, and unfortunately never lost it ever again!

Like all other special-funded projects, ours too, at some point had to end. An ending that was rather dramatic – unresolved legitimate employment claims that resulted to a legal encounter, of which I was a crucial part of; and the sad, untimely death of a colleague, perhaps partly caused by too much stress of losing one’s source of living, leaving behind a young son and a pregnant wife.

When my contract ended, after being separated from my longtime friends, and all legal disputes settled, it took me six months to find a new job. It was rather hard to move forward after losing one’s comfort zone. And if not for a friend, I probably wouldn’t be able to find a decent job sooner. Having no choice at that moment and despite a heavy heart, I took on the job contentedly with the hopes of starting over again. Sadly, the corporate world turned out to be such a heartless place for somebody like me. I realized giving up one’s bread and butter was probably better than holding onto it, and so even with nowhere to go to, I went on and left.

Three months have passed and as fate would have it, I am back (temporarily on a part-time basis) in the same group as I did before. No contracts, just minimal and brief assignments. No promises, no expectations. But I’m enjoying my short and transitory stint with them. The best part is I get to laugh more often and loving the feel of it, again. This is probably what I lost – and I earnestly wish to get it back.

(Entry written as an attempt to join Reader's Digest's Something I've lost and wish I could get back Writing Contest. Of course, it never made it.)

Tony

My favorite nephew X2 sees his classmate’s car beside ours on a stop-signal traffic and points to me Judyn (the classmate) who’s inside the car. And so we talk a bit of Judyn living in the same part of town as we do until I got into asking X2 Judyn’s family name. The boy said Ferrer. I had to stop myself from laughing and with a straight face told my nephew X2 to ask Judyn if his father’s name was Tony, as in Tony Ferrer! The ever witty X2 snaps back at me and says – Tony Stark?!

---

Funny but this has happened before. Back in the 90s, my then 5 year old honorary brother Gringo had twin friends named Peter and Paul. I used to tease him “I bet your friends have a sister named Mary” (referring to the 60’s musical trio). He got so confused but somehow was able to snap back at me and said “Yeah, and Jesus and Joseph, too!”

Gaba

I have had this nagging headache the whole weekend so today at lunch, when I finally caught sight of a pharmacy, I immediately bought 6pcs Biogesic and 2pcs Serc 16mg. But when I opened the plastic bag back at the office, it contained only 3pcs Biogesic and 6pcs Serc instead! I wanted to return it but the pharmacy’s quite far for me to go back to and it’s really freaking hot to take that 300 meters or more walk so I opted not to return them. Thing is, I only wanted to get rid of my previously-stated nagging headache-cum-vertigo, yet I have to carry on with the guilt of the 159-peso difference! (The total amount should have been P261 but I was made to pay only P102 – which is what I originally asked for anyway.)

I only wanted to be relieved from this painful headache. But because of this sudden mix-up, I might just have to bear more of unsolicited gaba! Waaa!

The Homecoming

The ladies (and the few men, now also ladies!) I grew up with - St. Joseph's Academy GS Batch '83 and HS Batch '87. Photo taken 29 January, 2012 during the 48th SJA Grand Alumni Homecoming at the Mandaue City Sports Complex.

33 Ways To Stay Creative

1 Make lists
2 Carry a notebook everywhere
3 Try free writing
4 Get away from the computer
5 Be otherworldly
6 Quit beating yourself up
7 Take breaks
8 Sing in the shower
9 Drink coffee/tea
10 Know your roots
11 Listen to new music
12 Be open
13 Surround yourself with creative people
14 Get feedback
15 Collaborate
16 Don't give up
17 Practice, practice, practice
18 Allow yourself to make mistakes
19 Go somewhere new
20 Watch foreign films
21 Count your blessings
22 Get lots of rest
23 Take risks
24 BREAK THE RULES
25 Do more of what makes you happy
26 Don't force it
27 Read a page of the dictionary
28 Create a framework
29 Stop trying to be someone else's perfect
30 Got an idea? Write it down
31 Clean your workspace
32 Have fun
33 Finish something

grabbed from designcrushblog.com via tumblr

Godchildren

I just realized that in a span of 18 years, I have already acquired 19 godchildren. Averaging 1 godchild a year must be quite a feat, considering I’m not a politician.

1. Tetet
2. Kirby
3. Jolas
4. Angela
5. Noning
6. Diether
7. Xyxy
8. Maica
9. Dominic
10. Julia
11. Denden
12. Janray
13. Liam
14. Cassandra
15. Daniel
16. Moymoy
17. Rubie
18. Fifi
19. Xanti

Advanced merry christmas to all of you!

Assuming?

During my last job interview, the ex-future boss curiously asked what my zodiac sign was. I promptly replied with “Leo” and he excitedly said in the vernacular “Ayay, hait!” and we had a good laugh at it. Yet he never called back. Was I taken in for another good time? I have been in this particular situation exactly 3 years ago and I seem to be taken in for another ride this time. Sad. People say awful stuff usually come in threes. Well if they’re really true, oh please let the 3rd one come quick so I can finally find or settle with a decent (and permanent) job soon.

World Teachers' Day

Just so I won’t forget them, these are the teachers I have spent half my life with:

Sr. Lina
Sr. Mary Jean
Mdm. Erguero
Mdm. Lim
Ms. Aris
Ms. Sanchez
Mdm. Estillore
Ms. Serquiña
Mrs. Legaspi
Ms. Agasid
Ms. Tiempo
Sr. Doria
Teacher Noble
Teacher Obed
Ms. Cubillas
Ms. Basilgo
Mdm. Paras
Mdm. Daiz
Ms. Famador
Ms. D. Perez
Ms. Alcantara
Ms. Ang
Ms. Imbong
Ms. Villacrucis
Ms. Ranile
Ms. Mahinay
Ms. Bongo
Brod. Alex
Ms. Salvacion
Sr. Gemma
Ms. B. Perez
Mr. Tamayo
Sirmund
JV Villacin
History and Philosophy Professor ?
Mrs. Yap
Mdm. Cabanda
Ms. Bartolo
Karl Roque
Biko
Ms. Generalao
Dr. Vaño
Mr. Mayo
Mdm. Bañez
Mrs. Ramirez
Mdm. Lastimosa
Mrs. Etemadi – my favorite
Ms. Kangleon
Mrs. Manuel
Prof. Gotiangco
Dr. Jadloc

Apologies to the rest of you whom I could no longer recall. Nevertheless, thank you for molding me into what I have become today.

Happy Teachers' Day!

Anonymous

With my random thoughts hardly seeing print these days, I have indolently been posting stuff from my long-abandoned Tumblr account directly into my FB account, which promptly alarms my blog’s one and only follower (generically named Anonymous) who immediately texts me the moment she feels being left out from my blog’s updates!

Thank you Lord for people (or just one person, at least) like my good friend Anonymous who diligently takes time to scan my written thoughts every now and then. How I wish this head can finally come up with something, or anything at all, to write about you. Or your trees, perhaps?

Life is a Verb

Walk. Alone and away.
Laugh. Really, really hard.
Run. Chased dragonflies in 4th grade.
Work. 19 years.
Read. @ 5 years old.
Swim. 20-something feet, deep seas of Olango, sans life vest!
Listen. EBTG's Rollercoaster over and over again.
Learn. How to drive.
Travel. Leaves me sleepless in excitement.
Jog. UP Jogathon.
Love. Love, love, love!
Pray. When things are just so hard to take.
Cook. Even hot water gets burnt!
Plan. Hate being asked what my plans are. Do I look like a freakin' garden?
Dream. Most nights.
Do. Beating deadlines.
Enjoy. Dipping in the beach.
Teach. Was once an Art tutor. Ha!
Grow. Fingernails. On a weekly basis.
Eat. 3 times a day or more.
Plant. Your own garden and decorate your soul, instead of waiting for someone to give you flowers.
Make. Love not war.
Nurture. Cherish.
Sing. To my heart's desire.
Write. When thoughts flow out.
Play. To kill time.
Create. Something worthwhile.
Celebrate. Small things.
Smile. When the paycheck comes on time.
Climb. Mt. Tapyas' 700+ steps.
Row. To paddle or to line up?
Sip. Sweet brewed coffee.
Craft. SuperCat.
Nourish. Feed the hungry.
Add. Calculator please!
Use. Tinker me please, says my D5000.
Fix. Arrange me please, says my room.
Call. When the bill’s not overdue.
Hug. Atom hugs me!
Imagine. Till you drool.
Look. Before crossing the street.
Be. Kind for everyone is fighting a hard battle.
Daydream. Dream on.
Feel. The rain.
Taste. Ate durian just for the heck of it and found it, well, overrated.
Give. Sure!
Prove. No need.
Grow. My own jackfruit tree.
Get. I don’t care how you get here, just get here quick!
Accept. It’s always either the sweetest or the hardest part.
Become. Just what I have imagined to become.
Cheer. For every goal the Azkals make.
Design. As the need arises.
Do. Again?
Breathe. All the time.
Draw. Pretend.
Build. Relationships.
Know. Bike.
Juggle. ATM cards.
Increase. Lose weight.
Let. Me Be The One by Mathew Sweet.
Move. Read it as “mo-vie” in 1st grade.
Think. Out of the Box.
Relax. Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Shoot. Loved the feeling but don't feel like doing it again. Ever.
Share. Even the last piece.
Risk. Dare me not.
Succeed. To the next level.
Win. End of the battle.
Uphold. Keep up!
Wonder. ???
Connect. Once in a while.
Attract. Takes time.
Surprise. !!!
Battle. If it’s worth it.
Believe. Yeah, I do.
Dance. Wish I could moonwalk.
Dare. Too cold to be challenged.
Reserve. More like it.
Go. I would, if I can.
Greet. With a smile.
Hop. Feeling giddy.
Lead. Who’s in charge?
Follow. After you.
Prepare. When you’re prepared, you get lucky.
Protect. Bahala na si Batman.
Talk. When I feel like it.
Wait. Half my life.
Hold. My breath while I put an end to this.

Poor Shamcey

Some people's idea of winning doesn't seem to be such a winner at all.

After successfully placing 3rd runner up in the world’s most prestigious beauty (and brains) pageant, this is how a local paper present the country’s currently most beautiful lady.

How sad.

Daily Amusing Facts: Half-py Birthday!

My cousin’s ever dependable yaya have spent the first half of her life celebrating her birthdays every June 12th. On her 25th year, she claimed her baptismal certificate and only then did she find out that her original birth date was actually June 19!