With the recent natural calamity that stuck Baguio, I am hesitant to greet them a “Happy Baguio Day!” Since I learned last Tuesday about the thrashslide in Irisan dumpsite that killed some residents, I have been worried about the safety of some people that I know who lives in Irisan. Mayor Mauricio Domogan is wise in saying that history will judge how the present (Baguio) government is performing in terms of rescue operation and clearing up. Instead of blaming anyone or getting dramatic, the mayor simply issued a simple statement with a lot of meaning. I know that this recent calamity is no match to the 1990 killer quake that rocked Northern Luzon. Nevertheless, it is still a calamity and nobody would like to see babies and old people sleeping on evacuation centers. I know that just like the old days, Baguio can rise again and rebuild itself for the better.
The Baguio government needs to clear up 15 metric tons of garbage in Irisan dumpsite. Several years back, the same thing happened in Payatas dumpsite where some scavengers were buried alive on mountains of thrash. We have thrash-related floods in Metro Manila, too. Obviously, thrash is a big environmental problem that we must not ignore. What happened in Irisan, Payatas and the flooded streets of Metro Manila is an effect, not the cause. But how do we really get rid of thrash, much more, mountains of thrash?
It’s holiday in Baguio today. I don’t know if big schools there like Saint Louis University, University of Baguio and University of the Cordillera have an outreach program today. These schools have always been charitable but involving their students is a better way to express empathy on those affected by the calamity.
Category: Life & Love
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I just found out that I am one month on the family way. Mixed emotions. I texted my husband, he must be too busy, he’s not yet replying. I texted my sister-in-law, she replied quickly, excited about the good news. I texted a friend whose wife has just given birth to their second child. I will inform my father about it later in the evening, then my brothers, then my children. I don’t know how Adi will react to the good news. He’s the baby of the family, the beloved, the most special one. I, myself, am confused about my emotions. I always belittle my capabilities as a parent and I always have this thought that raising a child is not my core competency. My husband and I have plans of having another child in a year or two; reading the test pack result stunned me.
Anyways, I decided to document this pregnancy. This is my first month. I feel sleepy most of the time since last week. I feel that my temperature is up sometimes. I feel a dull pain on my lower left abdomen. That’s the weird thing about pregnancies, it will make you lose weight on the first trimester then it will make you gain weight on the second and third trimester. I will stick to my diet plan. I promise NEVER to gain so much weight on this pregnancy.
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Have you ever experienced that feeling when you think that you are acting not your usual self? I’ve been on the fighting mood since middle of last week. Something snapped in me when a co-worker disregarded me in one of our activities. I felt used and abused and powerless. I wouldn’t mind being disregarded had it been the first, second or even third time. But this person has a habit of treating everyone below him as thrash; I hate it. Things were not okay at the province, too; some family issues. I hate it when relatives fight with one another. I hate it even more when their judgment is clouded by emotions and pride. My toddler’s nanny got into my nerves last week. She just couldn’t get it why SECURITY was very important to me; she had a habit of leaving the door unlocked. Worse, my husband did not get it why I was upset at the nanny! The nanny had a habit of using my personal things which I found disrespectful. My husband did not make a big deal out of it and it just fueled my emotions against the nanny.
I assessed myself and discovered that I’ve always concealed my emotions in the past. That is why when I couldn’t take it, I tend to explode and turn nasty. I realize that I have the right to voice out my concerns when I am still at the “cool” stage rather than tolerate the intolerable and explode later. I had this feeling in 2009 after my mother’s death. I felt that the world was so unfair and unkind.
Life is a cycle and so are emotions. I’d like to learn how to manage my high tides and low tides.
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I arrived at the office wet from the rain. It’s typhoon Juaning’s fault! While some people get melancholic when it’s raining, the opposite happens to me. Rain is my aphrodisiac, my endorphin; I get romantic only when it’s raining. There’s something magical about the rain: the rain forms bubbles on the surface that it falls, matresses get dampy even if you live on a concrete house, the rhythmn of the rain is music to my ears.
When I was in kindergarten, I had a brown Otto sandals that I only use during the rainy season. The sole is anti-slip and the body is made of durable leather. I had a red umbrella that literally flew in the middle of the traffic when I let go of it during a heavy wind.
From grade school onwards, I wore plastic shoes during the rainy season. I had a red plastic shoes and a white one. They were very durable and I just grew tired of them; I gave them away. My umbrella in High School was given to me by an uncle. It was very durable; it took me four years to replace and it was even because of its fading leaf. Products then were more durable than today. Now, I replace my umbrella on the average of four times a year. Quality umbrella is a rarity these days and high price has nothing to do with the promised quality of it.
I love traveling when it’s raining. It was raining hard when we had our honeymoon in Puerto Galera. It was raining hard when we went to Bohol last February. It was raining hard when I first stepped in Baguio. It was raining hard during my final interview with the company president.I realize, all the good things that happened in my life happened when it was raining hard. 🙂
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If you are familiar with Anna Manalastas, you know what I’m talking about. In fact, there is a little, if not too much, of an Anna inside of us. And maybe, at some point in your life, you were an Anna Manalastas, the Coney Reyes persona.
100 Days to Heaven is not your typical teledrama. You would fall in love with the characters portrayed by Coney Reyes as the adult Anna who died and was brought back to life as a young girl portrayed by Xyriel Manabat. Jodi Santamaria as Anna’s “sidekick” is good, too; she has screen chemistry with both Coney and Xyriel. Coney Reyes has always been my favorite since her “Coney Reyes on Camera” days. She just have this certain charm. But the real scene-stealer is Xyriel Manabat, she’s just so good in portraying good/bad roles. That’s what we call TALENT.
If I were in Anna’s shoes, I guess 100 days is not enough to correct every wrong decisions that I made, to make peace with every persons that I offended and generally, to edit or revise my life. In real life, we don’t have a second chance like Anna; that opportunity to be resurrected or reincarnated to correct whatever we want to correct. In real life, our second chance is correcting every misdoings that we did right after we realize that we should never did that in the first place.
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1. Watch the northern lights while eating Pringles.
2. Have coffee while sitting on a grass, on a foggy day.
3. Play under the rain and rest on a blanket of red flowers.
4. Sunbathing in Amanpulo.
5. Go to Nepal to see Mt. Everest.
6. Bring my kids to Disneyland.
7. Ride on the tallest and fastest roller coaster.
8. Travel in France, Turkey and Austria.
9. Learn a new language.
10. Feed a tiger in Africa. -
I’m very new to Facebook and I don’t intend to repeat the mistake that I did in Friendster; that of adding anybody for the sake of adding. Isn’t it cool to have 500+ friends or more? I would appear friendly and popular. But hey, do these people really mean to me or vice versa? Do we share the same connection or at least affiliation? Not all. Some of there are just lurkers, if not posers. I decided to make my Facebook extra personal; I will only add and search for people that I truly know. I would only add people that I share the same connection and affiliation. This is the reason why the pictures that I post in Facebook reflect my day-to-day life. It’s good to be posting pictures from a recent travel or event and I am also posting this kind of pictures on Facebook but I also want my friends to see how I look at my most normal day. I’d like them to see me without make up. I’d like them to see that I get zit sometimes. I’d like them to see how I look in the morning right after rising from sleep and at night, when I’m ready to sleep. I’d like them to see the clothes that I wear at home. I’d like them to know that I have a simple yet satisfying life. I don’t want to project that I’m somebody. I don’t want them to have the misconception that I’m living a charmed life or I’m living a very comfortable life. I’d like them to know me better based on my day-to-day activities. I’d like them to see me as me, no more and no less.
The World of Second Chances 