I felt the LOVE on Valentine's day!

"Oh I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm I get high with a little help from my friends"

-- With a little help from my Friends, The Beatles.



I used to dread Valentine's day. Seriously. I can't seem to withstand the intense romantic atmosphere. Flowers, chocolates, couples holding hands, traffic, jampacked restos and bars. Sheesh. I'd rather stay home and whine about the apparent waste of time, money and more importantly - waste of emotions. Well i did just that for so many years (yes, even when i was in a relationship. and YES, i am that type of guy. lol) - I almost became the GRINCH of the love season.

Little did I know that I am up for a paradigm shift. With a little bit of COERCION on my "barkada's" part, I ended up having a date on valentine's day. WITH THEM! They literally volunteered my house to be the venue for the group dinner date!



Dinner was over in about 15 minutes (most of us are Nurses, and as you all know, we eat everything in a hurry!), but we stayed at the dining table to catch up and share stories. It was then that i realized, that i had been a little too cynical about valentine's day - that i had been mistaken all along. It is indeed a celebration of love! And love should not be confined in the context of two persons having mutual romantic feelings for each other - love it appears, is much more than that. Love is an enigmatic force that... that. hmmm. that... Well, love is so powerful that i don't have the godforsaken right to describe it. =P What I want to say is that, i realized that i am WELL LOVED. Even though i am not in a romantic relationship, love is really all around me. And i am important to people who are also important to me. That's the thought that i have been missing regarding valentine's day all those years.




If the measure of a beautiful valentine's day is getting to spend it with someone you love, then i must have had a sublime one, for i did not spend it only with someone, but with the ones closest to my heart. HAPPY BALENTAYMS GANG!

That crappy yellow Humpy Dumpy!

Common scenario sa mga field trip way back in grade school:

Boy 1: Anung baon mo?
Boy 2: Humpy Dumpy! Yung Yellow!
Boy 1: Tara kainin na natin!
Boy 2: Sige! (rips open the foil pack)

*kakalat ang all-too-familiar-smell ng humpy dumpy yellow*

Boy 1: (nagtatakip ng ilong) Yuck! Ang baho amoy utot!
Boy 3: Ano yun?!
Boy 4,5,6: BAHO!!!
Boy 7: *sumuka na sa baon na plastic bag*
Everyone: *sunud-sunod na sa pagsuka*
Teacher: CLASS! ANO BA YAN??? QUIET!!!!!
Boy 2: *kain pa din ng humpy dumpy yellow*



For some unknown reason, i woke up this morning with "humpy dumpy" chips on my mind. Yes, THE yellow one. Yung langhap-sarap variety ng humpy dumpy chips. Yes, the farty-smelling one. The one you'd love to eat especially when you're inside an air-conditioned and enclosed space. Yung variety na hindi mo malaman kung nautot yung katabi mo or yung kinakain mo yung naamoy mo. Ito rin yung chips na nightmare ng mga teacher at bus drivers pag may field trip - kasi sigurado, pag may nagbukas na, sunod sunod na ang pagtawag ng uwak ng mga estudyante. Nakakahiya man aminin, isa ako sa mga madalas magbaon nito dati, oo, medyo paborito ko to nung bata ako. There were lots of funny (and gross) memories that flashed back in my mind this morning when i woke up to the thought of this brand of chips. In short, nagbalik-bata na naman ako. Hehe.

So i looked it up at the net, to see if it was brought back to the market already (i assumed that it was pulled out quite some time ago). And to my surprise, i came across a blogsite that has an entry about my humpy dumpy chips. Natuwa ako! It turns out that they already re-introduced it to the market. Pero may part din na medyo na-disappoint ako. Iba na yung packaging! And the worst of all, di na daw amoy utot! Haha! Yun pa naman yung hinahanap hanap ko! The smell that can bring me back in time. Back when field trips are the "gimmicks" for kids my age. Back when it's ok to throw up inside the bus because you know, everyone will follow suit. Oh well. Ganun lang talaga, things change. Apparently, how things smell, also change. On the good side, the author of the blog narrated that it still tasted great, so i might just go ahead and hunt for some!

"Mang Gerry, pabili nga po ng Humpy Dumpy! Yung yellow po ha!"

*photo from: http://www.junkfoodie.com/2007/05/22/humpy-dumpy-supreme-tortilla-corn-chips.htm

Dreamer's Manifesto

This is an old entry from my Multiply account. I got this manifesto from the internet (sadly i forgot the site, but credit goes to the original poster of this manifesto), feel free to copy it. This is very, very nice.

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I, Owen, choose to live a life of adventure, excitement, service, joy, spontaneity and love. I choose to love. And as I love I live, as I live I give, as I give I serve, as I serve I step closer to the reality of my dreams.

I will dream. I will dream of big and amazing and spectacular and awesome dreams. I will live my dreams and not compromise for the sake of security or safety or comfort. I will jump out of my comfort-zone and embrace change.

Change, whom I fear. Change, whom I dread. I will seek to live beyond what I can, believing that the God whom I trust is much, much bigger and greater than any obstacle I may face. I will face my fear. I will stop running away from it and turn around. And when I'm face-to-face and eye-to-eye to it, I will grab the bull by its balls and make it scream surrender.

I surrender. I surrender to my great Destiny. Knowing deep in my heart I am destined for excellence. I am destined for greatness. Not mediocrity, not conformity, not in arrogance, but with the mantle of humility placed upon me. Because this is not about me. This is about humanity.

I will persevere for the sake of humanity, who need men and women inflamed by passion that will ignite the hearts of the timid and fearful souls to push on and soar higher.

I will do all this not in ten years from now when I'm free. Not five years from now when I have money. Not one year from now when I am ready. Not one week from now when I know how. Not even tomorrow for tomorrow is far from now. I will live my dreams and act now!

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Whoever wrote this one is a genius. Viva la vida!

Being an Alchemist over the weekend.

I am an Alchemist. Well, at least for the past 2 days, I was.

My phone rings at around 2 pm, friday. It was my former professor and friend, Jv Ignacio. He asked me if i could help him out by being a staff for the Alchemists Inc (a company which he co-founded, along with my other former professor - Mr. Rene Tadle) for the weekend. Without any hesitation, i told him to count me in. After all, my surfing weekend has gone up in smokes, and i've got nothing else to do. A brief meeting to orient me about the details followed, and everything was set. The seminar will be a 2-day event, with a combination of talks and activities which are all geared towards personality development, goal setting and foster "Passion for their own Mission and Vision through a continuous Life of Learning and Caring."

We had 100+ participants for the seminar, all boys - as ICSB was an exclusive boys' school. We did the set up like men (and women) possessed - everything was done in less than 30 minutes! When the hall was filled with the participants, i could not help but see myself in them when i was in high school. Ah, just like me, the typical high school-er - i told myself. But I thought wrong. yes, in a way, they were just like any other senior highschool batch - if we're talking about how boys will be boys. But unlike most of boys their age, these guys were far more advanced in thinking and skills wise. As soon as the first session started, it was noticeable that we had an excellent and driven group - and they were consistent til the very end. Session after session, activity after activity, they did not fail to impress me and the other facilitators and staff. The things they said, wrote and done made our jaws drop, so to speak. Personally, it was a humbling experience, as i could NEVER have thought the way they did back when i was a teenager. I think we learned as much from them as they did from us.



For me, the highlight of the 2 day activity was the presentation of the boy's life maps. We asked them to do a life map, which as planned, is the final product of every classroom activity we gave them. They would have to connect every output they produced to finish their life map. In a nutshell, a lifemap consists of your own mission and vision as well as your goals in life. It didn't surprise me at all that they were able to make all of their maps, what struck me was what they put in it.. Every map was well presented and well thought of. The mission and vision was excellently delivered and the goals were precise and praiseworthy. Each had different goals, but you can really feel the passion in their works. Words can't really say enough of how proud i am to be part of this endeavor with them.

One participant who really made a strong impact on us facilitators, was a boy who had one of his legs amputated because of a certain sickness. He went to us after the last session and thanked us for the event. He said that he looked up to us and admired our work. What he didn't know was that, we are the ones who are honored by his presence. Jv wisely said that, that kid has accomplished more in his young life than we'll ever do. He is a survivor and did not let his condition get in the way of reaching his goals. And I'm sure he will. As a matter of fact, he will be attending one of the best universities here in the country next school year.



We may not be alchemists who can turn lead into gold, but we ARE proud to be alchemists who helped boys become men of vision.