Life, Day by Day

It's been a long time since I last undertook a long road trip without car air-conditioning...so long ago, that I have forgotten how the wind feels like against my face.  Last Friday, I went to Barangay Pandanan in the mountains of Murcia town riding an old KIA vehicle and although I initially balked when I first saw our ride...this experience is something I will always remember with a smile. The moment we set out, I knew it was going to be a fun day.  As soon as we were out in the highway,  the cool wind was brushing my face and lifting my ponytail...The air was filled with the smell of grass and cut sugarcane...I could smell the molasses in the air as we passed areas where there are sugar centrals...I saw the mountains of Negros and Mt. Kanlaon clearly and not through tinted windows...I heard the rush of water in the rivers and creeks we passed.  The road trip awakened precious childhood memories that I thought I have forgotten.  It was a wonderful, wonderful d...

This question was posted on Avalon.ph as part of a contest to win a Moleskine Colour a Month Daily Planner in 12 Notebooks 2010 . For those who are not familiar with moleskines, this is a brand that identifies a family of notebooks, diaries, and folio books. It was created as a brand in 1997, bringing back to life the legendary notebook used by artists and thinkers over the past two centuries: among them Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Ernest Hemingway. I have a small handy black notebook which I carry everywhere I go and frankly, it is one of my best finds in 2009, one that would count for someone addicted to notebooks like me, as one of those things to be thankful for. The year 2009 has been both a blessing and a stressful time for me...so many things have been happening day in and day out since January that I seem to have lost track of time and suddenly, December is here! But one thing for sure, in everything that has happened to me this year, God's hand was there...He sen...

In August 1972, I remember a big flood happened also in Luzon . For more than two weeks, heavy rains pummeled Luzon before then President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. Floodwaters merged with the Pampanga and Agno rivers and submerged most of Central Luzon. This became known as the Great Flood of 1972. I remember working in the gym with classmates preparing relief goods. Classes were suspended in some subjects so that students can help instead. Less than a month after...Martial Law was declared. I don't know why I suddenly remembered this fact...maybe because like Marcos then, GMA's popularity and approval rating is at its lowest today. It's like deja vu...the atmosphere of political conflict, the morale of the people, the air of discontent among the people is eerily similar. Is this a sign? I am not saying that GMA is going to declare Martial Law...but somehow I feel a great change coming. Maybe this is our second chance...maybe God is telling us somethi...

A truly heartbreaking video made by Glenn Omanio .

Last Thursday, Tropical Storm Ketsana (better known in the Philippines as Typhoon "Ondoy") entered the Philippine area of responsbility. It was not even a storm yet but a tropical depression. The next day Friday, it was declared a typhoon and signal no. 1 and 2 were raised in parts of Luzon including Metro Manila. However as it swept across Luzon on early Saturday morning, packing winds of 85 kilometers per hour, or 53 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour, "Ondoy" dumped 42.4 centimeters, or 16.7 inches, of rain in just 12 hours, said Nathaniel Cruz, the government’s chief weather forecaster. He said the rain that fell in those 12 hours was equivalent to the amount of rain that Manila received in the whole of September. To make matters worse, it was high tide and the water levels of 2 dams, Angat and Ipo were at critically high levels as well. By sunrise Metro Manila and it's environs were underwater. And for the first time, places t...

My Dad would have turned 77 years old today August 25, 2009 except that he passed away 18 years ago. We have celebrated his birthday every year since then by attending mass, visiting his gravesite, offering flowers. It is not often that I would feel his presence and I'd like to believe that this is because he is happy in Heaven. But today, it seems to me that Daddy was making his presence felt in more ways than one. It seems that he knew I needed him because looking back in the events of the past few days, people I needed to aid and encourage me were suddenly there...people whom I rarely see but they were just the right people to help me! It was like I had a special angel looking out for me. Everything was falling into place...I felt so cared for and supported. Serendipity? I don't think so. This is a time in my life when I really need my father to be there for me, to guide and to fight for me...and he came through! He could not be here physically so he sent angels in the...

These days life gets much harder and there is really not much to smile about. Maybe because I feel that there are just so many things beyond my control and the purity of my intentions is often misinterpreted and seen as intrusion. Then in a sort of roundabout way, a friend's friend said something that triggered a memory and all of a sudden I feel, hey! it's not that bad (^^) I remember the feel good times of my life and I was surprised that I have forgotten many of them...like the fun christmas vacations in Manila spent with my maternal grandparents...the feeling of awe and wonder on opening my presents...the carnivals and Holiday on Ice at the Araneta Coliseum...the pleasure I felt when eating ice cream at Dairy Cream...the excursions at Balulan Beach and the effort I put in to get a tan and the allergies that resulted afterwards(although how that could be classified as feeling good escapes me at the moment...but yes, remembering those times make me smile)...the stories my...

It's been more than 2 weeks since Michael Jackson's sudden death on June 25, 2009 and since then there has been relentless media coverage in the US that has not waned to this day. I am not a Jackson 5 fan nor am I a big MJ fan. But his death has made me realize how unfair the world was to Michael Jackson. Michael from the time he learned how to talk was conditioned to become an entertainer. This was a boy who grew up without a normal childhood. He was surrounded by people who over-protected him and limited his human interaction to his family, his record producers and people who all had a bested interest in him one way or the other. It is no wonder that Michael Jackson went into adulthood in a suspended state of childhood. His emotional maturity was probably near the bottom of the chart. Like a child who has not much experience in dealing with adults, he was full of trust and wonder. And because this is the big bad world...Michael was exposed to the wolves in people's clo...

I know I have been neglecting my blogs since the tail-end of April and there's no valid excuse, really...just poor time management and plain laziness. There are so many things happening all at the same time that somehow "inspiration" and "motivation" get lost or buried among all the other daily issues and concerns that come my way. And what are these issues and concerns? Well, some are indeed urgent and important, a few can be life changing, others I would consider abuse of authority but most were just petty. The most important one for me...the CON-ASS. Now, I am not a radical person and basically, I have a rather high tolerance for politicians but this...this takes the cake for the most " walang-hiya " house resolution ever cooked up by this congress. The motivation here obviously is to get into the good graces of GMA and probably get that much coveted funding for the 2010 election...plus of course, let us not forget the pork barrel. This particul...

What is it about summer that brings about a certain restlessness in me. I used to think summer mattered only for those who are still in school and looking forward to vacation, but so many years have passed since my schooldays and still when summer arrives, I always get that feeling of anticipation...that sense of holiday that only summer could bring...everytime. Is it because there are still school-age kids in the house? Or maybe because it is too near Christmas break that somehow I haven't shed off the holiday mood. But summer started late this year since it continued to rain till mid-March. In fact, it was only in April that the rains stopped...and not entirely because till now, there's minimal to moderate rainfall at least once a week during late afternoons to evenings making nights cooler. In a way, it's nice because the humidity is high during the day, but on the other hand, a rainy summer is a sure sign of climate change. So maybe...in reality...it's not about su...

February 2009 started out not differently from January or so I thought. The first week, my son Ramie's cellphone was lost...misplaced...fell...whatever. But, if you saw his phone, you'd have said good riddance. It was functional but looked...well, battered. Since his last phone was a camera phone which he also lost, he chose a cheaper one as replacement and it has been put to good use(abuse)for the last 2.5 years. So losing this phone didn't hurt as much. One week and one day later, on Friday the 13th, it was my turn to lose something. This time, it hurt! We planned to attend a fund-raising for a young man stricken with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia but at the last minute, it was only Ramie and I who decided to go. I brought my 3 month old digital camera "just in case" there was a photo opportunity. Well, when we got there, it hasn't started yet and so we decided to drive around. When we came back, I decided to leave the camera in the car and forgot about i...

Who is Preemie Girl? Last year, in mid-July, a woman was brought DOA to the emergency room of the provincial hospital. Her severely premature baby miraculously survived but was brought to the hospital 6 or 7 hours after birth. Her mother was previously admitted to the hospital's ICU due to hypertension and was closely monitored for several weeks.  She was relatively in a stable condition and the doctors were waiting for the baby to become more viable before doing a caesarian section, but the family decided to go home.  She eventually delivered at home and died due to severe postpartum bleeding.  The baby developed acute respiratory distress syndrome and was not expected to make it.  Because this was a public hospital with limited resources, she was not getting the kind of care severely premature babies like her should have. Some mothers nursing their own premature babies would give her their milk and help take care of her. Initially I really did not take much...

My two grandmothers were as different from each other as oil and water.  Lola Rizing@age 40 My paternal grandmother Rizalina Javelona Lopez , died at age 91...a pretty long life. We had our share of long conversations which consisted mostly of her memories and how she would have lived her life if she had the chance to do it all over again. She told me stories no one in the family knew. I am very privileged to share a few of her secrets. Her husband and eventually her children too, looked upon her as a very dependent person, and thus treated her like a child. But the Lola Rizing I knew was someone who was not an intellectual or highly educated, but was very insightful and extremely wise in her old age...someone who outwardly manifested a soft character but inside was a strong, self-sacrificing woman who would do anything for the children and grandchildren she loved. Her opinions did not matter much to her husband so she learned to keep it to herself, deferring to him at a...

It's a brand new year and almost everyone I know is thinking about what is in store for them and for the world in 2009. But, I don't look that far ahead...I think that planning and then failing is too depressing...so, although I do follow a schedule, flexible at that...I always think and plan my life in terms of days...or if needed, 2-3 months max. I don't dwell on what if's or what could be...but that does not mean that I am not introspective or that I am impulsive...it just means that I don't worry about it. The fact is I am a cautious and deliberate person...I don't do things without thinking of consequences...and because I am like this, I believe that nothing happens by chance. So my wish for 2009 is that it will be a year of happy consequences for me, my loved ones, my work and the people I work with. Happy New Year!!!