silenced

sometimes silence could be a better welcome remark than the opening speech delivered by a country representative (an ambassador? i won`t say) during that country`s presentation in the expo hall in 2005 aichi world exposition. i lost 25 minutes of my time listening to the mouth rumblings which i could have used to line up to see a far far better show of the hitachi group. lighter note, my friend gained back his strength for 25 minutes by sleeping the entire speech.

i was silent for the past 3 days. i tell you it was better that way. i needed it. i desired it. it was waited for. it was welcome. i gained a new experience, looked at new perspectives. nothing stopped me. and nothing could. the 3-day silence was spent entirely in the world expo. had i not pursued the silence in favor of the noisy university crammings, and so of this blogging (this blog is a byproduct of lackofbetterthingtodo), i wouldnt have gone this far.

because of the must see opportunity i must not refuse, so i was silenced. but it was a better welcome remark. nothing beats it. bet you on that.

hey back now to the world of blogs, i am.

imaginings

imagine there's no thesis
life's easy, if you try
no paper to think
only world expo to go
imagine all the students
are leaving today...

imagine there's no classrooms
it isn't hard to do
nothing to worry about
and no sleepless nights too
imagine all the students
living life in peace...

you may say i'm a dreamer
but i'm not the only one
i hope someday you'll join us
and the world will be as one

imagine no professors
i wonder if you can
no need for grade or homework
only entries in blog
imagine all the students
sharing all the blogs...

(with apologies to lennon and his diehard fans)

seasons of love: the musicale

the stage: season bliss
solo: why have you chosen me?
duet: can't live a day (without you)
trio: beautiful in my eyes
quartet: God causesallthingstogrow
quintet: love will be our home
ensemble: answered prayer

choir: til the end of time

all songs, except the solo, are taken from the album I Will Be Here, c 2001 Sparrow Records. solo song composer i dont know

passing of winter

picture taken in mt naeba, during the FIS World Cup, february 2005

my tribute to the passing of winter.

soon winter will only be part of my album. this particular experience, captured in a digiphoto, paints a thousand words. the mountain as background looks like a charcoal sketch, and the people as foreground seem to be a stroke of pastel colors, but such wordless scene brings forth the greatest speech i have ever heard. believe me so because i was there. i took part.

"the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge." -psalm 19:1,2

blogged

no, it's not what you think...

blog time

click the image to enlarge (then u can enlarge it some more). it's a good read when your brain doesnt work anymore understanding the relationship of education and economic growth. this is also a better reading material. it makes sense to me.

i had a hearty laugh while reading this inside the plane on my way to tacloban last december 2004. taken from philippine daily inquirer, forgot the issue. (for non-pinoy, maybe u can just continue reading your textbooks.)

i changed the title from break time to blog time as suggested. the latter is more appropriate. hahaha ive been blogging most of the time such that my break time becomes synonymous to blog time.

sample of philippine island

just a sample of philippine island. with a place like that, who would want something else? if you don't like this one, there are other 7,107 islands to choose from (wow phil CNN ad).

the picture was taken when i was travelling from tacloban to manila by bus. yes by bus. 24 hours or more. seeing a place like this, the worth is more than the plane ride. this island is located between northern samar and bicol. we took a barge to cross the islands.

soon i will be going home. finally home sweet home. frolic again in a beach like this. my japan experience may be great, but there's still some sweetness in a place like home.

i may love japan as a country, but i love my country more. maybe because it's my home. or maybe because there is simplicity and warmth in the filipino people themselves. just like this island.

prelude to spring

flowers taken from a pot. snow still covers the garden, but melting

waking flowers, blooming
at hand, dawning
night ending
another day, beginning.

bright sun, consoling
clear sky, cheering
hope rising
beautiful life, appearing.

a prelude to spring.

teban ug goliat

weekend with teban and goliat. taga hapi mart.

goliat: noy teban, mo-posing una ko. da, ni-posing na lagi ko.
teban: unsa ka diha! posing-posing.
goliat: mag unsa man diay ko, noy teban.
teban: saba!
goliat: ambot!

(i actually forgot what we were laughing about. but the weekend was more than fun to a point daniel complained of a locked jaw. and when teban went back to his house in yokohama, he cried because he did not bring along goliat and his cousin leah to disneyland.)

ii tenki desu*

* literally "ganda ng panahon" but in our context it goes beyond that.
it becomes a source of our laughter that can't be written to be laughed out
loud. the spontaneity of it is a joke in itself.

photos courtesy of leah and daniel. posted without permission. but this time, unauthorized
reproduction of this picture without LDB's permission is prohibited and subject to criminal prosecution

lunch at 1,000 meters up in the alps of yuzawa. take a ropeway that can accommodate 166 persons at a time, pay 1,200 yen for it, and pay for lunch. how rich can you be? but what if i tell you that we got the lunch and the ropeway for free. how privilege can you get? that's exactly what happened to us today. thanks to the takahashi couple who made our day. they were a joy to be with, not because they were generous enough to allow us to enjoy the opportunity for free, but because they simply are.

it was snowy up there. such tiny flakes that poured on us, powered by the winter wind. or seemingly a blizzard. zero visibility at about 100 meters. too bad. we couldn't appreciate the contours or the forms. but awesome, nonetheless.

but the place was nothing compared to our camaraderie. leah, daniel, jason, hideo san, yoshiko san. fun company. the company with humor. the company of humor. the company with sense. the company with a sense of humor. whatever. but it was. it is.

this is my "ii tenki" story for today. whatever that means. but we had a good laugh at it. better be there to really laugh at it.

karagtatawa

you know you're a pinoy if you laugh when somebody farts and that somebody blames everyone for doing so.

here's a story. during prayer meeting, when everyone is silently sitting, heads bow, arman could no longer contain his struggle pag-utot. he slowly stands up, moves one step away and... phuuuutt! he immediately stops. looks left and right and ensures that no one notices. then moves one step and... phuuutt! he stops. oh, my! he muses to himself. slowly he moves another step and... phuuutt! to avoid further embarrassment, he runs and... phuuutt! phuuuutt! phuuuut! phuuut!

i miss such kind of stories. hahaha. i tell you, my life is a riot if i am with the right people at the right time in the right place. and even if it is at the wrong time and in the wrong place, but if i am with the right people, no telling it, we are bending our stomach to contain all the hahahaha in the world. i am such privileged to have such right people for a company almost everyday of my life. walking downtown zamora, sometimes ha kahabaan han imelda avenue to skina han real, ha jeep, ha quality bakeshop, ha alexis, ha mcdo, ha jollibee, ha skina rovic, ha balay, ha airport, ha nlbc, ha tricycle, bis diin, we laugh. no wonder i find it hard to live in isolation.

and i'm glad, the younger generations are now finding also the value of karagtatawa.

manang

she is joy to others. manang to me. now a mother of a beautiful girl. she is my best friend. was always there when i had nothing. was always available when i needed company. willing to cook. willing to listen. willing to serve. she washed my clothes. she laughed at my jokes. she lent an ear to hear my stories. night after night of story telling, she never showed boredom. she was a conversationalist.

i went to college as a struggling student. fried chicken was a luxury then. manang, nanay lory and tatay japs, opened the door of their house for me to eat whatever was available in their table. i ended up staying in their house more often than in my boarding house. when i was hungry, they fed me. when i was cold, they provided me shelter. when i was bored, they provided me company. i slept in their house. i bathed in their bathroom. and yes, manang washed my clothes for me. i gave her coke.

what made their lives so amazing is that they are not rich but their door was widely opened to accommodate me. the poor embracing the poor. where were the rich people then when we needed them? maybe they were busy enriching themselves. but the poor in wealth is rich in heart. i'd rather be with them. God bless them.

what i have become now, manang and her family will always be a part of it. by the way, i have now a washing machine in my house.