The River Under

I've been thrilled and fascinated when I've heard and read from the news that our very own natural wonder made it to the provisional New Seven Wonders of Nature.


Ever since I can remember I have always been dreaming of arranging a getaway in the last frontier of the South - PALAWAN. This nature lover side of me has always been comfortable communing with nature. Well, the fact that it brings a soothing and relaxing treat when air caresses you. Aside from the fact that it's pure and clean, free from the irritating pollution of the metropolis. The sight of the sea and the wonder of nature itself is what enthralls me to wander and be lost in a paradise of our own.


The size of the video won't fit in so I'll just provide you the link: New Seven Wonders of Nature - Underground River in Palawan. 


Another pride, another honor. 

The Entrance to the Under Ground River Cave

The Wonderment of Stalactites and Stalagmites 

The Wonder is Inside 

A Testament of it's growing tourists visit

Indeed, truly world class - a sight to sigh and behold! Our own, a gift from God. A wonder of nature carefully sculpted through time.

And Still ................

The Trilogy Saga Has Just Ended

It's really a problem for people with emphasis to many of our countrymen and even to the world. They have high expectations set for themselves from Manny. Never did they imagine nor realize that Pacquiao, at some point, wouldn't gave them a fight the way they wanted or simply Pacquiao didn't deliver that much as they have highly expected.

They should realize as well the it's freakin' hard to stand up there, fight, receive painful jabs, carry the nation's flag and discounting the will to give up just for his country. Even if he is regarded as the P4P King, he's still subject to vulnerability. A vulnerability that could even lead to a loss should he not too careful with his opponent.

And tonight's fight was a classic example that Pacquiao is still human and isn't an invincible creature as touted by some if not many. If some losses their beliefs in the fighting ability of Manny, it's your loss and not him. 

For me, I still firmly believe in Manny and will never change or be lost should a loss lands on his face.  

Plus, these bunch of irksome and cynical craps acted as if they were the official judges scoring the match. When clearly, judges score cards didn't even favor Marquez for once. All that he has is a draw from one of them.

Who says he was robbed of the win? A loser would always claim he was robbed of winning just to compensate his hurting pride and  listens to the sympathy of lots of cynical nincompoops pretentious to know more of boxing rules when clearly they are just bunch of skeptic morons whose knowledge in boxing is insufficient.

So for me, the clear winner...AND STILL the defending champion "The People's Champ" Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao.

No one else, nothing more, nothing less!

The trilogy saga has been officially ended. The question is: "Will there be a fourth one? I hope so, it would be another exciting, equally furious & controversial ring meet-up.

A Song For Her

Indeed, God gave me you. And I'm thanking high heaven for a worthy gift of a lifetime.

This awesome and heart-melting song is lovingly dedicated to my fiancee- Milwida Domingo

In 30 days you'll officially be my wife and I am thankful to God for you.

I have been listening to this song by Brian White for the nth times. I just can't get over. It's like my breakfast, lunch, and dinner rolled into one.

It all summed up how our roller coaster kind of romance and love has been, is,  and will be. And ours isn't a smooth one. I'm not even a perfect boyfriend she had and never will be perfect. But through my imperfection, she learned to love me more as she accepted all in me.  She had seen the worst in me for the nth times as well. 

And now, it's time to give her what she's worth. It's time to show 'em the best that I've got.  And only after our wedding will it be realized.

Like the few lines in the lyrics of the songs which says:

For all the times I wore my self pity

Like a favorite shirt

All wrapped in that hurt

For every glass I saw

I saw half empty

Now it overflows like a river into my soul

For every doubt I had I'm finally free

Now I truly believe

God gave me you to show me what's real

There's more to life than just how I feel

And all that I'm worth is right before my eye

To both of us, may God continue to guide us in every step we take and every decision we make. And amidst all misunderstandings that we had and we'll still have, we claim that God will always find ways to lead us back into each other's caring arms.

To my soon to be wife, thank you for the unconditional love you've shown me. 

Game of Words

It's scrabble time.....

I, together with my SFC buddies, Satty McScotty, Rob Cabalsa, Jefferson Alfaro spent our time playing scrabble on Thursday night. Good thing it's Friday the next day and we are all on a rest day.


Below were our recorded scores. Happy to have won in three separate games. But I lost in Game 5 with a score of 75 due to my inattentiveness. I was busy watching you tube videos of Billy Crawford during his stint in France. We all knew that Billy was famous then in all of Europe popularizing the hit songs "Keep on Trackin' and "Bright Lights". It also reminded me of my once presence in his major concert in the Philippines way back in 2006. To know more about Billy, please click this link Billy Crawford

I don't know if this will have a succession. I mean, if we'll still have a round two and so on. I hope so to at least be challenged and maintain my rank. LoL. hahaha! I've always been competitive in any of the sports game or mental exercises I've competed into. I still have this kind of attitude with me due to my stint in quiz bees in my college life.


We finished at around 3am since Rob was a bit tipsy already. Jeff and Rob had their share of  the famous "sadike"--a formulated but not regulated nor underwent quality inspection liquor here. As we all know, liquors are banned here in the kingdom. And if caught in the act, a severe punishment of I guess 50 lashes plus the reality of immediate deportation confronts the offender.


So, for the record, I never tried it and have no plan in the future. Good night guys! Oh sorry, it's good mornight na pala!


Keep safe you all. God bless -:)

Torture

-----00000-----

Dito sa loob sa kabila ng dingding

Sa likod ng pinto sa gitna ng dilim

Lumakad, tumayo, humiga, umupo

Isip lumilipad sa malayong-malayo

-----00000-----

Wala doon, wala dito

Wala sa kanya kundi na sa iyo

Ang umaga, ang tanghali, ang gabi, ang hapon

At ang bawat sandali ng bawat panahon

-----00000-----

Dito sa silid sa sulok sa gilid

Sa taas ng sahig, sa ibabaw ng banig

Bumiling biling, pumikit' dumilat

Diwa'y gising at kalat-kalat

-----00000-----

Hindi bangungot hindi panaginip

Hindi guni-guni o gawa ng isip

Sulyap sa saloobin ng isang hapo

Kapiraso ng pangarap na malabong malabo

-----00000-----

Dito sa ngayon, sa harap ng kasalukuyan

Sa likod ng kahapon, ikatlo sa kinabukasan

Nakaupo, nag-iisip sa gitna ng dilim

Naghahanap ng matulis na patalim

Wala doon, wala dito, walang makita ni kahit anino.

An Act of Silence

"I think a man who lives right and is right has more power in his silence than another man has by his words." - Phillip Brooks


And so I set the record straight. I'll pay more attention to silence. Silence will be my company for now. And as the title would speak I'll let it act on its own time. If you'd ask me how long will it take me, the answer is "uncertain". I just let things the way it is now and will just focus on all the highly important elements in my life now.


I am slowly disintegrating myself to what I consider less important. I'm detaching from it. I'm putting myself in isolation. More so like a solitary confinement. 


Indeed, time has flown so fast and like a water in a stream noisily running down through so fast, I can't bring back the time I've lost. The time where I could have said "I could have done this and done that". But, as they say, God has His reason for any single thing we experience. All I could do is to just see the wisdom in all of those things and learn from it. Capture it, hold it, and move on.


And I am moving on. And part of this journey is detaching myself from all the less important elements in me. Part of it is to create separate ways, moving on a separate path.


I'll create another world for me. I'll embark on new friendship. And yeah, I have started already and will nurture what is constantly blossoming.


This is my solid attempt to break out from the monotony of my life. I feel the need to and I will do it. Much has been said, words has its own sour bites in me.


All I can do is to take on a challenge which I will set for myself. A challenge not motivated by the prodding words of people around me. But it's more of a self-cry to change, more of an inner need to face the revolution within me.


And so the silent battle is on.

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The Dryness of Spirit in Me?

Marahil ay di na naging lingid sa inyo magiliw kong mambabasa kung bakit parang madalang pa sa patak ng ulan ang aking entry nitong mga nakaraang araw? or isang linggo na yata.


May pinagdadaanan lang ng personal ang inyong lingkod.


Kagaya ng nakasulat sa pamagat, nakakaranas ako ngayon ng "weakening of the spirit". -- ito yong tinatawag na "spiritual dryness". Ouchh! parang ang lalim ba? Oo, malalim nga yata kasi there comes a point na I feel like my spirit is not ablaze. I feel like I'm so weak inside. All my vulnerabilities attacked me.


Maging ako man ay di ko naiintindihan ang aking sarili sa mga nangyayari ngayon. Maging sa pagsusulat ay biglang di ako naging interesado. Parang ayaw ko ng magsulat.


Sa mga nakakakilala sa akin ng husto, ito'y isang maaaring nakakagulat na pahayag. Batid kasi nila kung gaano ako kakulet or ka "ligalig" kapag kasama nila ako.


Pero, nilalabanan ko naman ang aking sitwasyon. Alam kung pagsubok lang ito. Ang nakakatawa at nakakainis na rin eh kung paanong parang di na ako nasanay sa mga challenges na dumadating sa akin. Parang tuwing may bagong dating, I feel like I'm always a newbie to it. 


Ganunpaman, kakayanin ko ang lahat ng ito. Maaaring nakaramdam lang ako ng mga pressures these past days kaya siguro bumigay ang emotional side ko. Plus, di pa maganda ang pakiramdam ko physically. Siguro nagkahalo-halo na rin.


Siguro nga napapanahon na. Napapanahon ng magkaroon ako ng "unclogging of unwanted elements in me". Kaya I'm looking forward na  to going back sa Pilipinas para makabisita nang muli sa aking favorite spot-- ang Blessed Sacrament ng Nature Church sa Las Pinas -- ang lugar kung saan ako naging member ng SFC (Singles For Christ). Doon ko ibubuhos ang lahat ng mga dapat kung ipagtapat sa diyos. Doon ko nanamnamin ang pakikipag-usap sa Panginoon in silence. Kung saan ako'y magiging isang listener lang. 


Kung nangangailangan man ng pagpatak ng luha ang magiging tagpong iyon, then so be it. Thy will be done!

Making A Memory

They were born

They breathe in & breathe out

They shared a life

They’ve dwelled for a while

They laughed, sometimes needed a cry

They inspired

They lit up

They shone down

They struggled

Yet didn’t survive

To those departed loved ones

Making a memory for once

Is a thousand and one night in an instant

THANK YOU

For a short-lived encounter

P.S. --> My own way of paying tribute to the departed ones

A Domino of Bad Luck

WARNING: This post isn't so interesting, it may bore you up. Don't risk or else you'll regret reading it. LoL!


I've had a nice sleep last night though mine only fitted for five hours since it's almost midnight when we've finished our rosary prayer intention for bro. Ronnie Bautista.


I opened my eyes at around 5:30 in the morning - my usual waking time. But, since it's still comfy to sleep I luckily managed to snatch almost an hour of extended sleep. And when the clock hits at 6:30 in the morning I finally rose up and fixed myself and the bed. By the way I slept at the "House of Voices" since bro. Sattie McScotty requested my presence that night.


Had to woke him up since I need to go back to my flat to fix myself up for office. And so he quickly ran to the shower room and had his bath. 


We left at around 7:00am and since no traffic disturbed us, we arrived in my flat at around 7:15am.  Had to rush up since I'm staying at the third floor of the building. I got in and opened my room. Immediately, I pick up my towel and under garment and quickly entered our shower room. Believed me, I finished consuming only a five minutes shower session. Gone out of the bathroom and dressed up and bingo! I'm done. It was like I'm competing for a Guinness World Record contest. 


And so I went down, a really fast paced walk was the scenario early morning. Luckily, I reached our office at exactly 7:30 in the morning. Whew! the exact time where I should get in. Quickly gone up and sat down at my office station. Opened my PC and started my daily routine. Then, suddenly I remember we have a schedule training today and nine o'clock is the call time. This is a further training for me in the system and to Talal, Bassam and Abdullah their first since they are newbies in our company.


While waiting for the nine o'clock time, I busied myself doing routine works: follow-up purchasing emails, inquiry for new suppliers, calling suppliers for our orders, a routine Skype chat/talk with our representative in China (Engr. Adil), and the enslaving daily stock transfer encoding in the system. I can't put all my works here--running it down would literally showing my work closet. LoL! 


So when was the domino effect of bad luck happened? Where did it all started?


Here's the story of my not-so-good day of November 02, 2011. I don't know if it has something to do with the observation of the "All Souls Day" or it's just a coincidence.


We headed to the training center "Motakamel Office". I was with four office mates summing up to five people. We arrived at around 9:15am. We had a short chat with the trainer and after that we proceeded to the formal module of the topic. I won't elaborate what it was since it won't matter to you.


The training went on until 1:00PM. It was really weird when I realized that I failed to bring my keys with me. It was stucked in my office table's drawer. And the dilemma started to fill in. So, a domino effect for the bad luck I got today really stressed me out.


As a result of forgotten set of keys, I wasn't able to get back to my flat for my lunch. We have a two-shift schedule at work and it's the reason why I always go home for lunch.  My mobile was in low battery and eventually emptied. I tried to call using Abdullah's mobile one of our office mates who has the office key but his mobile was off. I tried another one but to my surprised he didn't have the key too. Feeling frustrated, I just gave a big sigh. I was inside the car of Abdullah and even Abdullah and Talal were like a bit worried about me since worst case scenario was that "I'll be staying outside and wait until the 3:00 prayer finished. 


Talal offered me his flat to stay while I wait for the prayer time (sallah prayer). But he told me that he'll be back in the office at 4:30pm and I can't afford that since I have lots of things to accomplished. Losing an hour would really make a difference. Plus he was staying in Khobar. So, since I was riding with Abdullah's car I just told him to drop me by at a Filipino Restaurant. At least I can spend more than half an hour of eating my lunch for the purpose of killing the time. But I was forced to went out since the restaurant closes before prayer time. I was forced to leave and stay in front of our office for almost an hour since I got out of the restaurant at around 2:30 and office time is 3:30. 


Now, I was like a wanderer trying to fit in to the street. I stayed for an hour outside our office. I can't even peek in to my mobile since the battery was empty. Boredom quickly sets in and I hate it big time.


But, I did what I'm at best. I just write this article to kill the remaining time before our office resume. And this entry was like a non-sense to me. It's like a narration of a stressed individual clouded with frustration for a domino effect of unexpected things today.


LoL! At least I still was able to use my boredom to write this. 

Gone Too Soon

Life is so short..............


Life is full of surprises. It may bring you one great wide smile yet put you in tears in a wink of an eye.


You can be caught unprepared. It's like a sun that rises in the morning and sets before dusk.


Truth to what late Michael Jackson's lines in his famous song Gone Too Soon which says: "Like a comet blazin' across the evening sky; Gone too soon. Like a rainbow fading in a twinklin' eye; Gone too soon." This is how I can relate the sudden loss of a dear brother in SFC whose life has been so colorful during his time with us.


It's like he was just here the other day and gone the other night.


It's so devastating. We can never measure up how we are affected of his sudden demise. All that we could think of are those moments when we're still together, laughing our hearts out, collectively putting all our might serving God in a very strict land.


But now, he's gone. He will never come back. We won't see him face to face again. We will never have the chance to hear his voice.  Never will we experience again the tenderness of his attitude. The selfless brother who always offer anything for the community. A brother who would choose to walk under the blistering heat of the sun just to attend our household meeting or activities in our community.


Now, who will graciously offer us free donuts even without asking? Who will call in the middle of the night and tell endless stories of loneliness, of triumph, of hope,  of encouragement, and of faith? Who will cook our favorite "sinigang na ulo ng lapu-lapu" for the Dammam Boys --one of our favorites and his expertise?


No more Ronnie Bautista. It pains us realizing that we never got the chance to know the full extent of his sufferings. We never got the chance to step up with our help when we're needed the most.


Bro. Ronnie, you will be dearly missed. Eventhough, we can never fathom the deep of God's reason for choosing you to depart early yet we know you are safe and secure in His loving arms. We may have run short of our goodness to you when we're together but God will fill the missing part under his care.


Goodbye bro. We will cherish the good memories, the unsolicited advices that we gained from you and we'll try to emulate the unparalleled love and passion for service that you've shown to us.


May you REST IN PEACE.


God bless you......