possibly my last summer

summer. and despite its notorious sunny skies and scorching temperatures, this season is partly sparing us from the catastrophic effects of global warming by sending us frequent drizzles and almost daily doses of grey skies. and i'm loving it.

it's the 1st day of May and all I want to do is indulge in slumbers in the summer that is most likely to be my last. come june, I shall send myself to educational hell aka med school. god knows how old and old I am once I earn the MD title and actually start earning some moolah.

on some random angst babbles...

dear horoscopes and animal years,
I didn't ask for another pathetic tragedy to preoccupy my already disheveled thoughts. I was kind of saving the crisis management abilities for heaven knows what hell med school will cause me. so please, spare me from more crap.

careful of what you're sitting on

Well, stories don't get much worse than this. A 14-year-old boy in China was killed when his chair exploded, sending chunks of metal into his rectum. The bleeding this caused killed him. The alleged explosion came from the gas cylinder that was in the base of the chair, the part that allowed the user to adjust the seat up and down.

source:
Gizmodo

120 steps to Heaven

I actually forgot the exact number of steps before getting to the top.

Random thought:
Wouldn't it be pleasant if the path to heaven is as direct and simple as this?

which is why we have instincts

The reason that I've been wearing glasses since time being is that I am blind.--literally and figuratively.
Well, this particular incident was truly more of an intuition than mere red flags and red lights saying hello before me.

It was my nephew's 4th birthday and we took all of the staff and their families on an outing at La Mesa Eco Park which is a convenient 10 minute drive from our place. Em being the only grand child, the grandparents opted for nothing but the best. We made reservations with the park including their newest attractions: Zorb Ball, Zipline, Rappelling, Wall Climbing, and Paint Ball. Other delicacies on the side dish are: Boating, Fishing, Biking, Swimming, Horseback Riding, etc. So after the much awaited Lechon arrived, everyone went in for the kill and started piling up calories which are to be burned on the latter part of the day.

I wish I spared 3 minutes or less in doing some stretching but the laziness in me dominated my entire being. The first red flag started wavering itself before my imaginative mind when Dad, Me and the birthday kid went on boating. I was determined to tone [at least] my arm pets which have been saggier and bouncier than ever. I volunteered on taking charge of the rowing but several minutes after proving myself incapable of properly maneuvering the vessel, Dad had to take the other paddle and share the burden of rowing with me.

Second stop was the Wall Climbing. Looks chicken but it's NOT. IT'S NOT. IT'S SOOO NOOOOT. Okay, maybe it is but it's NOT in the case of a pig like me. There were several Chinese kids who went in before me and theycertainly made it look effortless in their tiny little frames and fresh, pale faces. When my turn finally came up, I asked the assistant to lend me some tips considering it's my first time. Kuya was kind enough to spare a minute or less to brief me. Then he said it: "Climb on."

The first few steps, or should I say climb, was easy. But I realized that I have no endurance after leaving college. But still, I went up with mental debates on which rock I should land my foot unto and which rock I should hang myself from. I was about 3/4s on the way when exhaustion caught up with me and I had to pause for a breather. There was actually a time where I really was gonna slip. But I convinced myself that I'll be in for a lot of frustration if I let myself fall when I was that close to the top. So yeah, I managed to finish the climb. But when my feet got back on the ground, reality kicked in.--painfully. I ached in muscles and places that I never even knew existed. I knew there's the occasional deltoids, triceps and biceps but I forgot about the sternocleidomastoids and trapezius and pectoris. Bottomline, I was in a lot of muscle pain. Not the cramping or spasming kind of pain but more of the ouch-i-should've-stretched-first-before-climbing-on-that-wall pain.

Afterwards, I managed to effortlessly glide through the Zipline but I listened to my body and made a pass with the Rappelling before I bury myself further into more pain that may render me bed-ridden.

It's been two days since that muscle-straining chapter of my life and I am still sore.

So before you plunge into a whole new activity, make sure to slow down, take a breather, and stretch those slumbering nerves and muscles.

another afforable bookshop

As I was saying, mom dragged us to Tomas Morato for lunch but my eye for cheapos were on full alert. Especially after this scenario flashed invitations before my broke state of mind. >>>



Bound bookshop houses lots of good books for a very reasonable price tag. They have a wide selection of genres and categories and even patronize local literature. They also have audio cds for poetry and the like.


Even Dad gave in to the craze and purchased all of the back and vintage issues of Reader's Digest [3 for P50]. I also found a graphic war and military mag for him which only costs P5. I got myself 3 new books under 500 bucks. Em got himself a new Toy Book.

Outside the shop, they have pre-owned Fiction books which only costs P20 or P25 each.


So if you're around Timog or Tomas Morato and you're thrifting on your reading addiction, spare some time to visit bound bookshop.

earth hour: a success

After several weeks of anticipation, Earthlings proved to be worthy of being residents in this planet. Me, Andz and my Mom were outside when the clock striked 8:30. We were mobiling along the streets of the metro and I noticed how everything is dimmed. Most of the lights that are present are those coming from the head and tail lights of vehicles. Even huge establishments such as popular malls gave their full support to the ocassion. When we got home, almost all of the houses here in our village,. including our own, showcased their votes by opting for darkness even for just an hour or so.

Philippines ranked no. 1 in the list of countries with the most number of cities involved in this year's event against climate change. Greece came in second, followed by Australia.--the country that started the movement last 2007.

I'm sure Mother Nature is wearing a pretty huuuuge smile on her face right now.



visit Earth Hour on Twitter for the latest infos
and
Earth Hour on Flickr for photos of this majestic event form around the world.

the floating bookship

If you're a book lover and is currently on a serious penny-less crisis like moi, then MV Doulos is your thrift-spending paradise.

Doulos [greek for servant], is the world's oldest active ocean-faring passenger ship [built in 1914]. She is now owned by the German charity Good Books for All, and is used as a floating bookshop. She is manned by a volunteer crew of different nationalities and visits sea ports world-wide.

The MV Doulos currently holds the biggest floating library in the world. Normally there is somewhere around 3000 to 5000 books on the shelf and half a million in the hold. She is part of OM [Operation Mobilisation]. OM currently has more than 5,400 people working in more than 110 countries around the world, seeking to "demonstrate and proclaim the love of God."

Here are some photos I took while aboard it. You'll find lots of kid-friendly, inspirational and Christian books in here. There are sections that are also dedicated to Health, Cooking, Designing, etc. Prices are surprisingly cheap considering that some of the books are hard-bound, glossy paged, and you'll even find the original selling prices at the back of it. The cheapest one I found was 50 Php and the most expensive ones range between 400-600 Php.

If you're more of a fiction lover, there's a small tent which houses books of that category. The best part is that you can get 3 books for just 200 Php in the Fiction section. Which is why I didn't hesitate to grab some for myself. I got 6 new books and it totaled for less than a thousand bucks.--superb great bargain. The ship also houses CDs and casettes which are diverse in genres. Other than Christian music and instrumentals, they also have Pop, Rock, RnB, etc.

Doulos is currently in Gate 1, South Harbor, Manila, Philippines Pier 13 [near Manila Hotel] until March 30. The ship is open to the public from 10 AM onwards.

She is currently doing her last world tour and is planned to be de-commissioned in 2010.

Vote against Global Warming

Whatever part of the world you're in,
help vote against global warming by
switching your lights off on

March 28, 2009
Saturday
8:30-9:30 PM

You may start joining the movement now by signing up here.

Visit wwf.org.ph to find out how else you can make a difference.

Prayer of Acceptance

Lord,

Help me understand that all the
good things in life that happen to me
do so because I deserve them. Help me
to understand that what moves me to
seek out Your truth is the same force that
moved the saints, and the doubts I have
are the same doubts that the saints had,
and my frailties are the same frailties. Help
me to be humble enough to accept that I
am no different from other people. Amen.

-Brida, Paulo Coelho

forever; you said forever

i wish i could expand on that but no, i can't. i won't.
so i'll just let the title speak for the unspoken.

overdue new year's post

So the year of the rodent, or should i say rat, is long and gone. The great 08 is now officially a part of history.

Oddly enough, I wasn't around to welcome the new year. Believe it or not, I was dead asleep inside a tent, on top of a hill, in my dad's old farm. Thus I miss the traditional bangs and clangs of whatever there is to make awful noise with. Or worse, failed to even witness the fireworks.

I'm no fan of birthdays and christmases. But I do make an effort of trying to survive through them. New Years were more of a consolation for Christmas than of being a biggie occasion.

Looking back again, 2008 probably held my greatest triumph in the last half-decade. And I am still thankful for the blessing that I passed the board exams. There's been only a few memorable moments in my 20 years of life where I truly felt glorious and alive. And the news that broke out on July 24th, 2008 is definitely on top of my list. I wish I could relive that moment forever. But clarity wears off and reality kicks in. And believe me, it sometimes could get ugly. I wouldn't bother getting into the specifics of the details but bottom line is that, the latter part of 08 didn't end pretty well for me. Not that a turning point came out of the corner. I just wish I could work on my sense of contentment. And stick to myself without having to create another identity in the absence of those whom I'm comfortable with my real self.

I'm making no sense again.

Anyway, as usual, I skipped on the over-rated resolutions part. Nobody seems to stick to them anyway.
But I did swear to myself that I will no longer rely on Chinese horoscopes and year of some random animal readings. Rather, I would learn from the mistakes of the past. [ie: watching my life pass me by].

This year, I would try to live.
Or feel alive in the very least.

So yeah, give me your best shot Ox!

Name Fame

In my recent travels, I discovered that me and my friends have establishments built in various places.
And yeah, I'm taking claim of 'em since they were built under our not-so-common names.
**insert sarcasm here**


Sightings such as these make up for all those butt-freezing car travels.



Andz has her own dormitory along Recto near PRC:






I have my very own Bridal shop in Tagbilaran, Bohol:






Madz is letting the world taste her bakings. I found this branch in Tagbilaran also:





And she's pretty serious about going eco-friendly too: [Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City]




See what I mean? So be sure to keep those s handy for spontaneous moments such as these.

Patronize your own!

a Love Letter

This was my great grandfather's love letter to my great grandmother during their courtship stage in 1936. They were married a year later, in 1937.
We found this in the family archives during my lola's wake.
Too bad it's the only one which my grandmothers recovered.


I redid the entire letter in cs3.
But my great grandfather's handwriting on the original is truly applause-worthy.



Here are the originals:









The cs3 version that I made:





Move over Shakespeare.

**better image quality available in moi MULTIPLY**

PNA offers nursing skills seminar

The Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) still has two more schedules for the “Nursing Skills Fair" seminar under its continuing professional education program. These are on August 29 to 30, and October 10 to 11, 2008. 

Registration fee for every seminar is P1,500 for members; and P1,700 for nonmembers. 

Each seminar day will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the PNA Auditorium, P.N. A. Headquarters, 1663 F.T. Benitez St., Malate, Manila. 

Pre- registration is required and will stop once the quota is reached.

Registration fees will be forfeited if pre-registered participants will not be able to attend the paid schedule.

For further inquiries and confirmation, please contact Mr. Nicole at tel. nos. 4004430; 5361888; and 5210937.

CCNAPI seminar sched for august

Venue: Philippine Heart Center - Aventura Hall

Fee: 200 Php [exclusive of food]

License number is required for membership [means we cannot apply for membership yet].

Certificates are distributed at the end of the seminar with your computerized name on it.

August 16 - 08:00 am 

UPDATES ON APPLIED ENDOCRINE PHYSIOLOGY & CARING FOR PATIENTS WITH THYROID DYSFUNCTION

August 30 - 08:00 am 

UPDATES ON CARING FOR PATIENTS WITH ACUTE ADRENAL INSUFFICIENCY & METABOLIC CRISIS OF DIABETES MELLITUS

With Tired Eyes and Dragged Limbs

You have something on your hair."

He stretched his hand and reached for her face,

swiftly passing through her skin and directly to her locks,

freeing her mane from this seemingly distracting object.

Two seconds passed and they both fell silent.