Blog Additions

Few days ago, there were some additions in my blog which I knew, you guys didn't notice much. I just realized that I should spice it a little bit to make it interesting somehow for the followers. I agree with TB that before we write for ourselves, but as soon as you get some followers you become more concerned with what you are writing because you are also writing for them. Aside from adding the "Confession" which will give you a birds' eye view of things and stuffs about me and the "Question" thing which will asked for your opinions, suggestions or advises, I am also planning to add a "Poll".

I also added my signature (bottom right) and the welcome picture on the sidebar. Thanks to Mads, my friend who is a graphics artist  who made the artworks for me.

Friday next week, I will start the "Friday Blessings" a post which will be entirely about the good stuffs and blessings in our lives.

Wishing you all a great weekend guys!

Would you still come to me, if I won't give you what you want?

Every Friday, when I'm off from work, I am visiting the church for a mass. After long hours of stress from work and daily choirs, sometimes you want to get away from the chaos that makes your mind go crazy. We always pray for something that we want though I know that wouldn't be the only reason to pray.Of course, we have to utter a thank you prayer for the blessings. But lately it seems like blessings weren't for me, though I know there were some which I didn't notice because of this crazy fever that I'm in to. And now, it's time to go to church again. Maybe God is asking if I would still come to HIM, if I am stress like this and he hasn't given me what I prayed for. 

YES, I will still come and visit you today and for All the Friday's to come. I have my faith in you that you are planning something for me and just wanted me to know that you want me to wait for the best time. I still have my faith harder than the rock, more precious than diamonds and stronger than the strongest man in the world.  

A friend suggested that I should create another blog and make it as my journal for the blessings I received and will receive. I ponder with the suggestion for a while and told her that it is difficult to manage many blogs, so I told her that I will dedicate each Friday of blogging in thanking GOD for the blessings. That will be another thing that will spice up my blog aside from the confessions and questions that I added at the bottom of each post. Isn't it amazing?

Thanks to my Blogging Friends

I was about to write a new post for today but I will do that plan tomorrow and would take this opportunity to thank all my followers who leave their comments on the previous post about Mama.
I was just quiet in the corner, reading your blogs and leaving my comments and planned not to write another post so that I could gather the thoughts from other followers who answered my question. I know if I would put my gratitude letter in the comment below yours, you would barely notice it. I just want to let you know guys that I really appreciate your suggestions and advises and they helped me a lot to regain my focus and go back to blogging again. Acknowledgement, gratefulness, gratitude, thankfulness, whatever you call it, I am thankful to everybody for giving me some bits of advises and I can say that I am now 50% to coming to a final solution.

My heartfelt gratitude to my blogging friends below:

1. TB of Year 31
2. Mishieru of Upsidedown
3. Island Gal of NYC Island Gal
4. Dionne of City of Dionne
5. Jessica of Kitchen Belleicious
6. Pam of The Thrifty Things
7. Coreen of Velvet Over Steel
8. Rachel of The Diary of a Dreamer
9. Betsy of Joyful Reflections
10. Janjan of Between Me and my Thoughts
11. Nathalie of Brooke in the Big City

My gratitude as well to all the other followers who followed me back. 

CONFESSION: I was teary eyed when I read your advises. I wasn't expecting it. Thanks :)

I miss you too Mama

Yesterday, Mama sent me a text message and here it goes; "Good evening, how are you, hope we could see each other, we really miss you so much, love you forever. God bless and guide us always. Take Care".

My heart was ripped to million pieces when I read the message, I wanted to to press the reply button or run to her but there's nothing I could do. I wouldn't give myself the chance to waste all the effort I had this past few months to go and mend my broken heart. I don't wanna do this but I have to. I hope you understand mama. I love you and I miss you too.

She's neither my biological nor adoptive mom. She's the mother of my ex-boyfriend for 5 years (how and why we separated? well, let me gather enough strength to blog about it, but definitely, I will) with whom my relationship ended the hard way. His family became my second family, they treated me as their own, and even up to the end of it all, they stood for me against all odds.

CONFESSION: I wanted to turn my world upside down whenever I feel the pain/hurt in my heart. The pain of missing them makes me feel dizzy, weak and vomit while the longing was still there. 

QUESTION: What should I do? (please advise)

"Bayanihan" A Filipino Tradition

Bayanihan

During the time of our forefathers, "Bayanihan " is a common scene in the Philippines. This is the term we are using when referring to the Filipino way of brotherhood, where people were helping each other in doing a task without a pay/salary/wages, whatever you call it.

When bricks and cement were not common materials in building houses here (of course that is in the 1600's to 1800's) people build their houses using bamboos for the wall and nipa for the roof. Most houses are single storey since the materials were not good for a 2 storey house and cannot hold too much weight. When people moved from one place to another, their houses will be moved too. How'd they do that? No machines, no pulleys, just the mere shoulders of Filipino men. Don't worry because the weight was not that heavy since the houses were built using light materials and with neighbors arms ready to help anytime. Yup, that is one way of "Bayanihan". I'll provide you with pictures when I get the chance to come across one (hope so cause it's rare now) because most houses here were built with cement, so they were permanent.

Another way of "Bayanihan" is when farmers were helping each other to plant rice. I saw an old picture of my aunt helping in the farm of our neighbor, but it's just now that I realized that I should've taken it with me so that I could scan it and share it here ( I suck...!) I will do it next time, but that would take a long time because I'm uncertain when will I go to the province (as we refer to countryside here) again. Going back to planting, the farmer would just provide food for the people who are helping and they all ate using banana leaves. It's pretty amazing with the singing men beside them to give a mood boost. (ya'y).

Opps, and about the picture above, I saw them yesterday when I'm off from work. That is a school bus which obviously stopped in the middle of the road ( sorry though, I didn't bother to asked what is the problem) but I did bother to take a picture so that I could post it here (I cared for the picture and not for the children.....what kind of a person am I?, it's just now that I realized, sorry) and those men in uniforms were the street sweepers. A round of applause for those guys who helped in pushing the bus on the side street so that it wouldn't cause any traffic.

Transportation the Filipino Way

 I would like to share to you how common people here in the Philippines travel from one place to another. Cars are very expensive here and only those who can afford may have it. But no worries because we have our way and it's really enjoyable. I took a picture of each but there are other options too, which vary from one place to another especially in the provinces. Check them here

Pedicab commonly called "Padyak" 

The pedicab is a three-wheeled vehicle. It is actually a bicycle with an attached sidecar for the passengers locally called "padyak" which means to tramp (using your foot).

Tricycle

Motorcycles with a sidecar attached on a third wheel. This, together with the pedicab usually operates for small distance travelling where jeep and buses couldn't reach.

Jeep or Jeepney

The most common means of transportation in the Philippines. The number of passengers varies upon the size of the jeepney and in most provinces (countryside) it was loaded from seats up to the roof. you can view some pictures here.

Bus

Buses are for long-distance travel usually from the city to the province and also for field trip and company outings.

Wish Granted

My friend ( and a mom in the office) hand me a plastic bag earlier today. She told me that she had difficulty carrying it from home (I'm used to it because she's always like that, frank and straight to the point- however, that is just a joke). I was surprised when I opened the plastic and saw this hand bag which I requested from her a long time ago (the exact date I cannot remember anymore). She told me it's a gift for my birthday last May 05.

My new bag

Below is a picture of Lauren (we fondly call her SK) with Mads (Madelaine) our graphics artist. They're so happy and you can see it in their smiles. Isn't it? I requested them to hold the bag so I could post it here. After that, I removed all my things from the bag I carried at work and transfer it all in my new bag.

Lauren and Mads with my New hand new bag

The Moon and the Star

What a beautiful sight last Sunday, May 16, 2010 just the time after sunset, I was walking on the street from the market when I saw the wonderful  view of the moon with a crescent forming like a smile and a star just above it. It was reported in the television that the star is actually the planet Venus. It is called an occultation, the moon appears to pass close to Venus which is not impossible to happen since the moon and the planets share a similar apparent path in the sky but only few can observe since it usually happens after sunset and before dawn when people are starting to take a rest after a long day of labor.

Who said the moon and star couldn't be together? Well, I beg to disagree cause they just proved you wrong and I am glad I saw it.

What's in a Name?

TB of Year 31 asked about the name of Ding Dong (screen name) an actor here in the Philippines. In her comment she told me that calling someone "Ding Dong" in their country is an insult, while here in the Philippines it's a common nick name.

Since TB's husband is half Filipino, I would like to give her a few hints how the people of the Pearl of the Orient give nicknames to their children. If you are a natural born citizen, who grew up here, it would be easy for you to guess the real name of a person by just hearing their nicknames which are basically extracted from one of the syllables of their names and then uttering it twice( how many times did I used the word name?). To give you some examples, look at the list below:

Real Name                               Nicknames
                                  Rural                               Urban                                                     
1. Rebecca.............Beck-beck......................Becky....Becca
2. Lauren................Ren-ren. ....................... Lena
3. Gladis.................Des-des. .......................Des, Glads
4. Jennifer...............Jeng-jeng or jeng............Jenny or Jen
5. Dominic............ .Ding-dong......................Dom or Nick
6. Myra..................Mye-mye.......................Myra
7. Kristine..............Tin-tin........................... .Kris or Tin

Rural nicknames were commonly applied to young girls and boys and these nicknames changes while they grew up switching from rural to urban or making reducing the 2 syllable rural to one syllable like Jhen-jhen to Jhen, Tin-tin to Tin,  and so on.

As a matter of fact, I myself was being called Sey-sey when I was a kid, but now, it's only SEY and I kinda like it. Only people who knew me well call me that way, but others still calls me Roselle.

Crazy nicknames they may seem but that's what makes us unique, natural and creative.

Salt and Pepper

Due to the nature of my job and it's requirements we are now nocturnal beings, like owls and bats. Switching night and day for almost two years now, things seems to be normal for me and my colleagues thought there some advantages and disadvantages. To sum up some, please refer to the list below:

Advantages:

• Long rest day from Saturday morning till Monday night (exactly 9:59 pm)
• High salary compared to day jobs
• Add the benefit of a night differential pay, allowance and other fringe benefits
• Less exposure to the deadly UV rays from the sun brought by the depletion of the ozone layer
• Learn a lot of stuffs about computers (due to the nature of the business) and other facts from other countries plus other crazy thoughts which might be helpful sometimes (but not most of the time)

Disadvantages:

• Big eye bags brought by inconsistency of sleeping hours
• Being caught in the middle of the traffic in the morning while the rest of the country rush off to work
• Less time bonding with friends because of different time schedules
• Taking extra doze of medicines so that your body could cope up with the stress
• Being stuck with the fancy foods (as I fondly called them) of fast food chains (yaiks) which is the reason why I came up with this topic for today.

I'm so sick with the foods we are eating during break hours. Name a meal and we tried it, almost familiar with the menu's of each place, eating the same thing over and over again. It's like you're eating a not so real and not so good food.

My depleting appetite scares me. I am becoming so thin and it's not good since I need extra energy and have to keep myself fit for the job which I could say I really love. I urge myself to search for some easy to cook healthy meals recipe's over the internet and browse over food blogs. What I needed are foods which are healthy, easy to cook and the ingredients are available and can be found even in the market here.

With all the websites that I visit like Video Jug salt and pepper are two seasonings which were always used 

with all the food preparation. Do you guys noticed that they are totally opposite? Salt is white and pepper is black. But how come when both added to a certain meal their taste seems to complement each other. Isn't it amazing? And I admit I love them both like when eating a porridge, pizza, pasta, pancit and more. I hope you don't find me crazy though. I also love the taste of "pringles" with the salt and pepper flavor.

But this wouldn't be about mere foods only. Salt and Pepper teaches a lesson sometimes we cannot see because we're not paying attention to it or maybe because they are too ordinary. In my recent post about th movie fireproof Michael talked to Caleb regarding the later's marriage to a woman he thought to be different from him. Michael used salt and pepper to explain that choosing a partner never rely on how many similarities and differences you have but on deep respect and love for each other and completing each other's shortcomings. 

See? Sometimes the best person for us is the complete opposite of ourselves who can fill out the emptiness and acknowledge the differences yet ready to accept.

My Celebrity Boyfriend

I was browsing GMA's website looking for some interesting stuffs to do like to read blogs, watch videos, and look for photos and of course to switch the page to GMANews.tv to monitor the Election 2010 count. Then I saw this option at the top bar entitled "Fun Stuff". On that page you can answer a multiple question type of test so that you can check who is your celebrity boyfriend. Guess who's mine? It's DINGDONG DANTES. Check out who's yours, just follow this link Your answers will be matched on the character of the actor (most likely-I guess).

Nice to be Back Home

 Below are pictures taken from my way home to our 3 hour ride province from Manila. Captions are added for your reference. BTW, I went  home to participate in the 2010 Election., "see!!!" I am a responsible citizen.

Heavy traffic as we rode our way to the province. The other side of the road were the cars going Manila

This is my room in our house in the province. It's nice to be back home with the window widely open where I used to jump when my brother was chasing me because I poured cold water on him before taking a bath (LOL)

riding on a L300 van on our way back to Manila via SCTEX, a nice way to bond with nature.

A very long ride from home 

these are the mountains which are also visible even at our home. And look at the sunset, simply amazing!

rice field near the the expressway and the mountains on the far sight

the intersection going left to Subic and right to Manila with the view of a nipa hut above the hilltop with 150 steps ( i thought)

on the right side is the way to Subic and turning left on the intersection would be the way home

an airplane which is about to take-off at Clark Air Base 

Mount Arayat. When you're still viewing it, you could bet that you are still in Pampanga. BTW, this mountain has  natural spring water swimming pool at its foot.

first stop-over to have car check-up

Wake-Up Call

“God places the heaviest burden on those who can carry its weight.”

It was my birthday last May 5 and I was abruptly disturbed and depressed. Sometimes it's so pointless to feel that way yet I can't do anything to control it. Thank GOD he never let me down during the hard times of my life. See the picture below, believe me or not when I was sitting on my bed that same day and I can't sleep, I glance at the back of the door and read the pamphlet behind as "PLAYING BIBLE" and when I took a second look it's " Paying Bills". GOD is giving me a wake-up call and made me realized that I was not alone that time and he was sharing the pain in my heart.

“God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons we could not learn in any other way. The way we learn those lessons is not to deny the feelings but to find the meanings underlying them.”


“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

Thank You Shine

What Happened to Me?

I have few blogs this week, cause I was pretty busy and oh well, just thinking I was busy. There were few interesting things happened to me this week. I don't have the energy to write my stories but I will give you the gist:

1. Last Wednesday, I experienced earthquake. I was shocked, my heart pumped fast and I was out for words. Maybe because there were forecasts that there would be lots of earthquakes in the Philippines this year and the place where I am living is included on the so called fault line. (scaryyy)

2. Last week I haven't reach half the quota but the good news is, that wasn't the last week of the month. Thanks to GOD, I only asked for a $1000.00 to have at least half and HE gave me extra $7000.00. Thank you so much!!!

3. I went to church yesterday and guess what...the gospel was about how to handle the problems in your life. It's like, don't be sad if you have hard burdens that other people even though you're living a good life than them.

4. On my way to the church yesterday, I was stuck in the traffic 2 hours on the way to the church and 2 hours on the way back home. Can you imagine that? I can't even see the cause of the traffic.

5. I played the game of Nancy Drew "Warnings at Waverly Academy". It feels like I don't want to turn off the computer and don't want to go to sleep as well, so that I can figure out the culprit and I enjoyed solving the brain draining puzzles. Weeew (thumbs up for me).

6. and so on.................!

But trust me, I opened my blog and read the good posts of the blogs I am following. Have a great weekend and may it be less stressful.

Godspeed,
Sey