Of Friendship: Letting Go Of Some and Keeping Some For Life

Friendship - when started and nurtured in good faith remains for a long time and even for life.  Similar to anybody's life - friendship is tested and a few struggle can end up losing one and ending the relationship. 

I value friendship even if it’s still young – I guess this is one quality inherent in me that even if a person is just a fresh entry in my life's circle, I always treat them as if they’ve been in my life from the very beginning. This quality of mine also borders into danger because some may take advantage of the goodness.

But hey – even then what’s important is that you’ve been a nice person while you’re in the friendship.

Of Lenten Season, Of Summer, and Of Ihaw-Ihaw Sa Tag-Araw

A powerful sneeze has just exploded before I started scribbling this. And I felt like my lungs could also explode any moment. It’s painful to sneeze esp. if it’s a forced one. The urge to release is so sudden. 

I don’t have any plan to write about anything right now – I mean it’s 2AM. Who the hell would wake up at this holy hour? I should suppose to be in my sound sleep. But I was awakened by that powerful sneeze and incessant coughing. It's so disturbing that I can't even go back to sleep again. 

So, what I did was - I went to the kitchen, boiled the lemon grass. After boiling, I pour out into a mug and mixed it with a powdered ginger given to us by my sister-in-law last Friday. 

ThrowBack Thursday: The Pilgrimage to Antipolo

It was summer of 1994. I was about to enter as a college freshman in Manila. And what better way to do fasting for Holy Week than doing an Alay Lakad from Pasig City going to Antipolo Church. 

Distance didn't factor to me as I was then built for longer distance walking - coming from a remote island in Sibuyan - where I practically grew up going to school walking a total of 4 kilometers (twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon) everyday. So that night of Apirl 9, we walked at a normal pace from an assembly point somewhere in Ortigas in Pasig City heading to Antipolo City, Rizal where our last pit stop was in front of Antipolo church.

What I've Been Into Lately?

Does anyone miss me lately?

Errrrr…my posts? Haha. Well, I had been so occupied the past week. As much as I wanted to write but reading both books and stock market updates & online tools had been the culprits for failing to give this blog some worthy posts.

Also reecently, I’ve been giving more time and attention to my stock market exposure as I’m gearing towards establishing a really strong fundamental and technical knowledge about it. I’ve been doing my own financial analysis plans, working on excel on the updates of my account, computing several valuations and target prices and stuff like that. 

Plus, I have a financial exposure that if one would see will say “Oh, that amount is huge” or so I thought. Well, it’ll still depend on how one consider a huge amount. One reason why I'm so focused in monitoring over these stocks.

Quick Movie Review: Miracle In Cell No. 7

I’ve seen quite a few friends sharing it in their timeline but paid little attention. Initially, I thought it's just another movie bordering from lame to boring kind - that made me skeptical to watch. Until a time when a brother in Singles For Christ shared it in his timeline that my interest heightened. So, I clicked the link and started watching. 

Society may not always have our best interests at heart. Laws and regulations are tangled with bureaucracy and riddled with a rigidity that often leaves the individual alone and unrepresented. Modern Korean cinema has embraced the depiction of such societal frustrations, often choosing to downplay authority figures while indulging melodramatics.

Sunday's Reflection: Of Being Not Qualified

So the other day, I got a message on Facebook that said “I love the message of your videos but none of it is coming from you. There are choices you’ve made in your past that render you NOT QUALIFIED to spread such a message. 

And for me that was hard to hear because the HYPOCRITICAL Christian is somethin' I FEAR. 

To be put in the category like that I could think of nothing worst. So maybe there something I should've set first. 

You see, I CAN'T and WON'T and DON'T claim to be PERFECT. In fact - most times - I'm not even GOOD. I'll take responsibIlity for the mistakes I've made and the hurts I've caused I got more than I probably should.

The Woman Behind BALUT MANILA

First meeting in Bo's Coffee in MOA with Arvin last February 2013

Lately, I was thinking how to surprise the woman behind the blog “BALUT MANILA” on her upcoming birthday. Ideas seem rare but some are proving to be worthy.  

Few days ago, making a picture greeting was at the back of my mind. But, I just feel that it’s quite an understatement to a person whom I maintained good friendship with through out my blogging life -not only online but in person as well. 

Undeniably, it's both our "gone-in-the-calendar" age that swiftly in tuned us. She's a devoted mom to a number of children and a loving wife to his only God's gift. While yours truly is a father of soon to be two kids and a supportive hubby to my God's gift as well. 

When she talks I listen and versa. Call it the same wave length - perhaps that's how to describe how we get along so well. She's passionate in writing - the same as I do. Another common denominator between us is our love of reading.  

If I'd go back to recall the first encounter I had with her blog - trust me - you'll be disappointed because I cannot remember when it has started. All I'm sure about was the year - it was year 2011 when her blog captured my interest. I'm particularly intrigued with its name "Balut Manila" - of which when we finally had the chance to talk she told me the back story. As I read some entries, I quickly had the desire to go back and read for more. Her Sundays Quote and Photograph didn't fail to impress me. I realized as well that she's into poetry too, like me.

Sunday's Reflection: I Ponder As I Journey Beyond

A while ago, as I was looking for something that would be a pre-cursor for my Sunday’s reflection, I come across a photo posted in our SFC Global Facebook page (photo on the left). 

This photo consists of seven (7) interesting messages that centers on our CFC theme this year - Behold and Ponder. Seven as it fits the number of days in a week. I read them one after the other. Its hashtags read #Ponder #Share #Act #Share #Act #Ponder #Share - seven of them right? 

This is a lenten season (for Roman Catholic observant like me) challenge for every SFC single man and woman. In fact, it's the first week of lent. I know I'm not under SFC already since I've crossed over to CFC last December 2011 but I'd use this to make my reflection anyway. Since it's Sunday, it's very timely to utilize the Sunday's ponder challenge.

The TOP TEN BLOGPOSTS Of All Time

I’ve visited my blog statistics today for no apparent reason or purpose. 

Call it accidental? - Yes, it is. I was about to click the comment moderation page when I clicked the wrong button. 

Then suddenly an idea just popped-up in my mind. How about sharing something to you? Would it be a good idea if I'll give you a glimpse of what posts occupy the most number of views in my five years of blogging.  

This caters as of current date and the list may differ depending on the number of visitors in the coming days or months or years.

I have never done this before - so I guess it's quite thrilling if you'd see which one topped the list. I can't even imagine nor have concrete thought how some of them landed a spot in the list.

It's Called A Free Flow

Ever wonder why sometimes we’re left with no words or should I say specific topic to write. As if our tongue is tied or our mind is so cluttered that thinking of anything to write is impossible at the very moment we need to. Perhaps, it happened to you as it quite frequently happens to me. 

So, I got a resolve on that. I want to fill that void in me that hinders my fingers to press the letters in the keyboard of my lappy. 

And I want to call it as a “free flow thinking”. I will write whatever I think of as of the moment without regarding the sequential flow of thoughts. 

And so here it goes.  

I'm sipping a mug of green tea mixed with little sugar to satisfy my glucose need. Occasionally, peeking at our living room window right across the other building where a light is still visible at the wee hour of 2am.