Stories

  In this age of information overload, we might think that getting offline is the answer to unclutter our mind. Maybe. Or is it? We want some offline time. We want to get back to the basics. We want the generation where in the 90s we can be happier without the gadgets, without the instant gratification.  But can we still go back? Gettig retro, getting into vintage and analog? Maybe I need to start some list. A list of something I do not want. And anything of list that are of importance to me. 

High School was the best or one of the best times of our life! And those colorful and memorable memories still or kept on lingering even up to now. Thanks to our effort every year to have a reunion. Actually we almost have reunion or get together annually and thanks also to myself for organizing it! hahahaha! Though some of the others classmates cannot really attend, their minds and hearts are still with us. And unfortunately they were the center of topics whenever they did not attend! So again December is fast approaching and we will be busy again to contact everyone even if they are abroad or relocated somewhere else.

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.

Last year or two years ago  if I am not mistaken we have our "vitalization" in Pagsanjan Falls with my previous company. I remember that I have mentioned in my blog post here about the "bangkero" or boatman who almost carry us literally in their boat all the way to the wonderful site of the Pagsanjan Fall. And we have known that one of our bangkero is doing the same job for 27 or 37 years! Imagine that! And last night  I encountered another old man here in Saudi with the same story. While waiting for the realty agent ( we are looking for a new flat) in Manila Shopping Center in Seiko District, an old man approached us and asked if we want balot. I bought two pieces for 4 Saudi Riyals each. The old man was about 60 I guess and we were right because we had about 5 or 10 minutes conversations with him. He was 62 this year and he was from Rosario Batangas, a kababayan indeed! And not to our surprise he is now on his 23rd year here in Saudi Arabia. He is a simple manan...

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...

Saturday and Sunday..my friend Richard (ins Singapore) is on a diet mode too..but he insisted on a day or two that he will eat as much as he can..he calls it "cheating day"..and I have my own version..Saturday in Bigg's Diner and Sunday in Goto King..such a relief after a five-day almost no-rice week..

Definitely the process of losing weight has its own downside since I really have to deprive myself of the amount of delicious food to take. Take note of the word amount. I am not on a diet or something but on taking minimal calories as I want to be. I am still on eating such "prohibited" foods but on a very low quantity. And guess what? I am feeling better and better each day. I thought the sun will not shine this morning. It is August month and I am expecting such heavy rains and storm but to my surprise the brightest object in the sky is radiating its heat that seems to invite me to go on a trip once again. But where? I have two in mind. Go east or go south though  north of me now. Sounds weird? It is not. I checked on my two nephews this morning and they are so busy doing some chores. Arvin is sick of seems to be chickungunya which translated into "tuko" in Tagalog language. Though similar to dengue it is not dengue and yes it is caused by mosquito too. And o...

"Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't.   You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted. Mitch Albom. Tuesdays With Morrie (Kindle Locations 334-336). Wheeler Publishing.  And I am reading from my PC an ebook. I thought that I will not fall into this trap but sometimes I have to go with the flow. I still prefer to read the print version but now I will give it a try the e-book reading. I will not definitely abandon the printed book I will just try this high-tech version of reading. Thanks to our IT, Leonard, for giving me tons of e-books, almost a thousand materials mostly fiction, bestseller books like this one, the book of Mitch Albom. Thanks also to Kindle ( the e-reader) and thanks to its PC version that I am able to read from my computer. Maybe I should buy a tablet, an ipad mini or a kindle its...

And I was born in the year of the snake. Just looked at the photo and guess my year is in there. Just be realistic hahaha!! And I found some truth while reading them yesterday at SM-Batangas.. 1. You can be a bit too mysterious.      I guess so. I don't know but sometimes I am surprised too of the mysterious forces that sometimes carried me and somehow in me that I become such a deep person but eventually if you will be much closer to me you will realized that I am but a normal one. 2. Utilize the snake's ability to charm and draw people closer to you.    And I have remembered what Cindy had said when we were still studying in UB that I can easily draw attention with regards to our class and in our general conversation as well. A natural born speaker? I owed it because I am a Gemini and happened to be born on the year of the Snake. 3. It's a good idea to provide yourself with a oasis of solitude..    Despite my many acquaintances as well ...

I could put this in the literary folio in our college's student paper in which we were part of it. Or maybe not. But this one speaks of the way how we deal with some "escapism" version of our adults life. Be it vices or whatever that made us escape the reality of our existence. But this one talks first of the "takasan" that we had last weekends. I should not used the word but it is appropriate I guess. We attended last Saturday to our dear friend Tina in the barangay fiesta in her native abode in Paharang. Almost every year since college we tried to go their residence in that time of the year. We found ourselves together again with Rudolf and Tina and sometimes with Paulyn, Mercy, Rommel or Aque, our fellow writers back in college, in that festivies in Tina's home. But this year it was only the two of us with Rudolf that joined Tina in the annual festival. As usual endless conversations filled our time as we ate our lunch with different delicious menus ...

And while waiting for my friend's arrival (Rudolf) from Manila I tried to go around the city this morning. I just want to feel the breeze fading away and the cold mornings are being replaced by hot steamy day. I am still waiting and I have my time pass at this computer shop in a local mall. And I check out my Reddit account. Full of forums.And I turn to subreddit askreddit. And I found this thread "what is your life's philosophy?" thing and I answered " please yourself first and everything else will follow" by the late lead vocalist and chief songwriter for Nirvana, Kurt Cobain. And I forget to write the one I have written in my facebook account " I will do it..because it is what I have said..". And Rudolf called and he is still in Mandaluyong. Okay one o'clock. Well my life philosophy is so basic that one should first take care of one's need before it can lend help to others. I know parents will disagree. I am still not a parent. Not...

Thanks to this site in Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/pages/World-Art-Magazine/399209363443600) I can repost and see some of the greatest art ( drawings and sketches) that suits my weary eyes..love to look at those piece of arts which mirror the soul and the dedication of the artist to come with such nice and eye-popping canvass of life..