reminiscing dumaguete city: eat pray love in one go :)

looking back since day 1, i wasn't able to reach the places i planned to go to before i left for dumaguete city. but i've been to places i've never been, done stuff i've never done, and built lasting memories with people who have become my friends and family. my stay in dumaguete city so far is the slowest pace of my life, and i liked it. by saying yes to God, thru the invitation of my boss to be part of a start-up project, i was ushered to a place where i realized what slowing down really means, where i had realizations that no one can take away from me, where i gained my internal source of happiness, where i learned a lot of things that i didn't know i can do and sacrifice, where i finally said that "now i'm seeing the beautiful fruits of the painful past," where i finally claimed that "i've never been this free" (literally and figuratively), where i got to know myself more, where i found God's overflowing love, where i realized the importance of family, where God answered some of my previous prayers, where God showed me His faithfulness, where God taught me to just trust in Him, where God allowed me to share with people His work in my life, where i was able to put into practice what i've learned in the past, where i held myself responsible in anything i did -- a place where i technically started all over again. i am just so blessed to be led to this place, really. i am blessed to be surrounded by the very people i met and the very people i was almost always with every single day of my stay. it's like my second home. i may not have contributed much to work-related stuff, but i sure did contribute something and i did learn a lot when it comes to life 101. thanks, everyone! thanks for your time and for everything. i surely am missing all of you. till we meet again! :)

missing me

too busy to contemplate and actually write. :( this isn't me at all. i am missing me who almost always scribble something every night. my job's eating me alive!

appreciation for our parents (and probably our grandparents and whoever our guardians were)

instead of flooding my friends' inbox, i thought of reposting here the email i received from my cousin. here it goes:

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company. He passed all interviews with ease and now reached the very last interview wherein the company's chairman conducted the interview himself and who would make the final decision.

The chairman realized from the resume that the youth's academic results were excellent all the way, from secondary school all the way up to postgraduate research. There was never a year did he not score an award or honors.

The chairman asked, "Did you obtain any scholarship in school?" and the youth answered "none".

The chairman asked further, "Is it your father who paid for your school fees?"

The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old. It was my mother who paid for my school fees."

The chairman then asked, "Where did your mother work?"

The young academic answered, "My mother worked as a clothes-cleaner."

The chairman then asked for the youth's hands upon which the youth showed a pair of smooth and perfect hands to the chairman.

The chairman continued, "Did you ever help your mother wash clothes before?"

To which the youth responded, "No, never. My mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Besides, my mother washes clothes faster than I.

The chairman then concluded, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and help clean your mother's hands. And then, see me tomorrow morning."

The youth left feeling confident that he would land the job. When he reached home, he happily and eagerly wanted to complete his task and asked his mother for her hands.

The mother felt very strange, happy, but also felt a mixed emotion of fear.  Nevertheless, she hesitantly showed her hands to the son.

The young academic cleaned his mother's hands slowly, and as he did, his tears started to slowly drop down his cheeks. It was the first time he realized how wrinkled his mother's hands were, with so many blisters and bruises on both hands. Some of the wounds incited twinges of pain so sudden that the mother shivered when water washed upon them.

This was the very first time the young, accomplished academician realized and experienced that it was this very pair of hands that washed clothes every day to earn him for him his school fees; his mother's badly bruised and worn out pair of hands was the price the mother paid for to get him to achieve academic excellence, to graduate, and perhaps prepare him for his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother's hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

The next morning, the youth proceeded to the chairman's office. The chairman noticed the young man's tear-swollen eyes and asked: "Can you tell me what you have accomplished and learned at home yesterday?"

The youth answered, "I cleaned my mother's hand and also finished washing all the remaining clothes she left behind."

The chairman the asked, "Please explain to me what you felt."

The youth explained, "First, I learned what is appreciation; without my mother, there would not be the successful me today. Second, I learned how to work together with my mom. It was only then did I realize how difficult and tough it is to get her work done. Lastly, I felt the importance and the value of a true family relationship.

The chairman, satisfied with the young man's new learned knowledge, enlighten him, "This is what I am asking. I want to recruit a person that can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the suffering of others to get thing done, and a person that would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired.

Later on, this young man worked very hard and in return received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee under him worked diligently as a team and the company's performance resulted into a tremendous improvement.

A child who has been overly protected and habitually given whatever he has and had to do developed "entitlement mentality" and as a result would always put himself first. He shall be ignorant of his parent's efforts and hardships. When he starts to work and steps into the real world, he assumes that everyone must listen to him. And when he makes it to the top, he may never realize how much suffering his employees endured and may always blame others for failures. These kind of people, may deliver good results, may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel that sense of achievement. He will grumble at life and may develop hatred within himself and eventually want and fight for even more. If we ourselves behave as such kind of protective parents to our children, then, do we actually love the child; or are we just simply destroying the child?

You may let your child live in a big house, eat the finest meals, learn the piano, have the latest gadgets, or watch the big screen TV. But when you are gardening and cutting the grass, please let them experience that chore with you. After a fine meal at home, let them wash their plates and bowls together with their siblings. It is not so much about not having the money to hire a maid, but it is more so much as to wanting to love them in a right way. You would want them to understand that no matter how rich parents are they too will grow gray hair one day and grow old, just as the mother of that young man did. The most important thing is that your child learns how to appreciate the efforts of life experiences the difficulties and learns the ability to work with others to get thing done and to all live in harmony.

here goes my reply to him:

i've learned the lesson just in the recent years of my life. still bratty though but i'm working on it. i always have to learn things the hard way. i'm just as glad that God did not give up and is not giving up on me. :) for the longest time, i chose to ignore the lesson. buti na lang lumaki ako na hindi lahat nabibigay ng basta basta. :) for the experience during the growing up years, i'm thankful now. :)

hahaha! naiyak naman ako. :)

temporary residence: dumaguete city, negros oriental

so, now i'm here in dumaguete - my new home (temporarily)! :) been anxiously waiting for this day (and the days to come). not because i am so excited to be somewhere else but because i agreed to be here for work -- not so usual in my vocabulary though.

it's been a jam-packed first day. :) i have already met people i supposedly will still meet come monday. we had free meals at shakey's after we dropped by the pension house (c/o a birthday celebrant haha). later in the evening, we went out with the same group for dinner along the bay (similar setup with the bay area in manila) then videoke somewhere near the bay area.

one of my goals in my stay here is to understand and speak their dialect. my four months will be easier if i can at least understand their dialect. for a start i have listed the following words in my handy-dandy notebook:

naluya/kapoy - tired
kabalo - marunong/knowledgeable
katul(u)gon - sleepy
kaon - eat
ngano - why
asa - where
naa - meron/i have
pila - how much
pikas - other side
dili - no
diri or dinhi - here
lisod - difficult
maayong buntag - good morning
maayong gabii - good evening
ugma - tomorrow
muadto - going to
tudlo - teach
usa - one (1)
duwa/dua - two (2)
tulo - three (3)
upat - four (4)
unam - six (6)
pulo - ten (10)
puso - steamed rice covered w/ buri leaves (not sure what kind of leaves)
tocino - pork barbecue

i hope i got the translations correct. so far, words just keep on slipping my brain cells haha! hopefully, in time i'll get more comfortable with the dialect. :)

all my bags are packed....almost

(image source: http://www.envcap.org/sample/sample2.htm)

i tried packing up my things this morning as i have so little time yet so many things to do before i left for my temporary residence for the next four months.


all my bags are packed...almost. my luggage already looked full, but i still have so many things left in my checklist. i have yet to buy some stuffs that i'll need in my stay there. i'm actually bothered of the excess baggage i'll have when i get to the airport. haha! knowing me, i'll have unnecessary things stuffed in my luggage, but for now, i wouldn't mind.


i've been to a mall late this evening to window shop so that i can buy other things in my checklist tomorrow.


whew! i'm running out of time!