Stories

There are seasons for everything - a time to hope, a time to just get along. And sometimes a time to be alone. Thanks for all the circumstances that I have been to. Thanks to all the phases of my life that I am growing, I am making mistakes and I am reflecting. Corniche Dammam - those nights alone looking at the sea. Looking for some answers and yet I have heard some voices maybe self-reflection that life is indeed a gift. Thank you. In a park alone - I love the sound of nothingness when I could only hear is my thought. My thoughts that resonate and took me back in time. To cry. To remember everything. And to learn.

After my barber shop session at the Salon de Manila near the Bamboo Kabayan Restaurant, I went to Jarir Bookstore and bought The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom ( where's the photo? - not yet ready!). And now it is there..

Some days are really just fun and exciting and some days are just normal and unexpected things happen. Sometimes we have to be prepared to all circumstances. We must be just like that wires and switch that anytime can be turned off or on depending on a situation in life. But is it really like that in real life? We hope so. A couple of nights ago we went to a hospital here in Dammam to see my friend and elementary classmate Gerry. We have to seek his assistance for a medical check-up of one of my fellow Filipino here in Dammam. Thanks God Gerry was there in that big Mouwasat Hospital. He was a supervisor of general services of that big government hospital here in our place. He almost ran the "show" for all the cleanliness and order of the whole hospital. It was so big we were lost in maze of hallways and floors. The medical check up did not last that long because Gerry made it clear that we will be prioritized. And he did. Then we went to his house just a walk away from...

At first I do not know what it is. And then someone lit a cigarette and put it in such metal thing. An ash tray. Designed to be that way as it is used in industrial spaces like in our power plant. Design. Our life. Our surroundings. Everything is according to the Grand Design? I get it from a philosophy book. But sometimes I don't care about design. We are the one designing our life. Of course with the guidance from Above if you believe. Or sometimes our very own existence designed someone else's.

Yesterday I attended a christening of the lovely daughter of my college classmate Sally. I became ninong once again to Aaliyah Louise together with our other classmates Roselyn and Donnabel. Rico and Wend did not make it yesterday because they were in the government sector and they had this emergency case.

Yesterday as I had become ninong again..this time to Mylene's son Geof Adriel in San Isidro Batangas City..

Yesterday I was in Manila to remit the annual contribution of my mother to an insurance company for public school teacher. The venue was familiar since when I was in elementary I used to go with my mother there. And it was just in the intersection of Banawe St and Quezon Avenue a few blocks short of the Mabuhay Rotunda commonly known as Welcome Rotunda before. It was easy to get there since I have worked before in Araneta Avenue which is just a few blocks also from where I was yesterday. The building, an old one, with so many people in their old age ( but not yet retirable) occupied the offices and you can see some clutters in the vicinty, a typical of a government agency. However I could observe the less-bureaucracy setting  now than before. I was amazed at how those in their 50's and 60's work withe ease updating to their computer system the data that their customers are giving them. And in a few minutes I was done doing everything and I could go back to Batangas. And I ju...

I am talking about two stories. Two fathers one in each story and a lost woman in one story. A movie. More or less. A weekend of doing nothing but eat and drink and watch movies. And lots of sleep. With the fifth installment of Die Hard I can assure you that it is worth your hundred bucks. An action-packed movie with some dramatic content along the story of a father and son and the usual Bruce Willis' dialogue makes the movie not only worthwhile to watch but be amazed at how those ammunition and fire power got on the entire run of the film. You can never be wrong that Die Hard really does not disappoint its moviegoers that mostly comprised of not so young individuals like me. Maybe we really cannot moved on with our hang-over with the four previous Die Hard franchise. And another one which eat up my afternoon yesterday was the Nicholas Spark's adaptation into film of his work Safe Haven. The usual Sparks's love story; so simple yet so true-to-life. And we do not need ...

Almost every week I am on road. I travel. Be on a bus, or from a friend's car I am always on the go. I always feature some restaurants or coffee shops that make the travel and visit a worthwhile endeavor. And on this summer,if it will push through, we have two major summer route escapade for 2013. The Pinatubo Trekking Adventure and the Boracay Getaway! I can't wait to see those two wonderful destinations! Yesterday we have booked ourselves for the Pinatubo trekking while on the Boracay exit we are still gathering some cousins and friends to join with us. And thanks to Google Photos I can have a sneak peak to these two awesome places! and of course the famous Boracay Island and we will go there via 2Go, a shipping vessel from Batangas City Port to Caticlan.

Together with Tita Sol and others my mother went to Las Vegas last January and had some fun looking at those buildings, those casinos, and other variety of sight-seeing extravagant that the City Of Lights has to offer. Though it was much colder there it did not stopped them from going out and see what the city has to offer.

And today is Ash Wednesday. Traditionally as a Catholic this is the beginning of the Lenten Season. The start of the day that I quit. We quit. We resign ourselves from the flesh and other worldly things. This is the start of our renewal. I quit being online always. I quit on attending to some negative vibes. I quit on judging others. I quit on my former self. A renewed one. A born again. In Catholic's faith. And speaking of Catholicism, the highest designated leader of our Church surprisingly announced yesterday that he will quit. He will retire come the end of this month. A shocking news? Not so. When health is the issue everyone has the obligation and right to quit. How can you serve of  what is expecting of you when your own muscles and bones and brains do not function well? And the Pope chooses his health over the power of continuing the highest position in Catholic Church. In the end he is still human like us capable of vulnerabilities and susceptible to disease. And we ...