radar

June 4, 2007. the reason why i insisted on climbing the mountain that Monday was because i wanted to remind myself of something--that a task is never big enough that i could not conquer it.

i remember trekking the ranges of bordering Malaysia and Indonesia (um, almost Indonesia) last March and i clearly recall not even being daunted by it. the entire hike (one-way) took almost an entire day, the trail was tough & challenging, we had to cross rivers, slog up and down the mountains, all under the sweltering heat of the noontime sun, and yet i hardly broke a sweat (metaphorically speaking)! but the whole time, i really had a blast and never considered it such an arduous task.

that trip taught me a few things:

- never look too far ahead of you, lest you be overwhelmed and decide to turn your back
- take one step at a time
- enjoy every moment

you see, my father recently took over the management of existing systems in 3 more towns. you can equate that to more work for me. there's just too much to do since we're also upgrading our billing system. and my sister still isn't here to give me a hand. it's just overwhelming!!!

i needed something to remind me of that precious lesson i learned a few months ago which i almost instantly have forgotten.

the local energy station announced that there would be a province-wide power outage that day, so i grabbed the opportunity since i couldn't do much work in the office without electricity anyway. next was to find me a buddy for the day's climb. my cousin Maki was also perfect since he's a bouncy energetic teenager who was up to any action. he picked me up at 6am and we set off with our day packs and a determination to reach the peak.



along the way when i started to whine (which was more than occasionally), Maki would cheer me on and say, "We're almost at the bridge" or Just a few meters more or You can do it! Three and a half hours and countless breaks later, we reached the summit and stayed in this rundown office-cum-resthouse with a spectacular view of the town.

that was all i needed.

i came back home with throbbing joints & muscles and a sore body, but the task ahead of me did not seem so enormous anymore.

watchdog

exercising my right of suffrage. Precinct 1-A, Bantay, Ilocos Sur

May 14, 2007 Election

i got an invite to a most unglamorous and risky job.

you get a few hours of shut eye the entire week, and i heard that in the southern part of the country, violence is expected. in Manila though, each person is insured up to P50,000.

i'm talking about volunteering to be an election watchdog.

why not? the last altruistic thing i ever did for my country was join the Edsa Dos which ousted Joseph Estrada.

my IDs say i am a LENTE (Legal Network for Truthful Elections) and PPRCV (Parish Pastoral
Council for Responsible Voting) volunteer. the group i joined in is an "accredited citizen's arm of the Commission on Elections whose task is to monitor the canvassing of tallied votes in cities, municipalities, and provinces around the country."

together with other volunteers, i took up to the task of encoding election returns (in my province Ilocos Sur) to come up with a quickcount which we can compare against ComElecs' and other entities' results.

along the way (our second day perhaps), we were surprised that there were massive election irregularities. some election returns were tampered, others had no thumbmarks and no official seal, there were conflicting totals, and several ERs were noticeably written by just one person. one cheater's attempt came accross as hilarious by sending a copied ER and typing at the back, "this is a certified true photocopy"!!!

i was appalled. and deep inside, i was screaming "dirty politics". these "spoilt" entries shouldn't even be counted! but what can an ordinary volunteer do? i wanna tell our chairperson to do something about it. to not just stand there and witness all these crap happening. that's what we're here for, right?

being an election watchdog is not a walk in the park. for all the effort i did, all i got was a shirt, a week's free lunch (and breakfast), some multi-vitamins and new-found seminarian friends. i never volunteered to expect financial remuneration. all i was after was clean elections. and i can't believe i witnessed cheating first-hand.

i went back home dejected thinking this massive cheating is a desecration of the people's right to choose who they want to rule over their nation.


May 27, 2007. tonight as i watched the news, PPRCV Ilocos Sur was featured. Our chairperson actually had the media with her and exposed these irregularities. i let out a sigh of relief. by making the people aware, at least now i can say that my time was not wasted. it was for a good cause after all.

urban pleasures

not wanting to have my hair done by a stranger, i opted to forego going to the salon. back in manila, Arcy alone can cut my hair.

being in the rural province has its setbacks.

so i dared to do what no woman would dare do. standing in front of a mirror, i picked up a pair of scissors, muttered a little prayer, and snipped away. at least if it didn't turn out well, i've no one else to blame but myself.

as it turned out, i managed to create a soft layer with bangs and an uneven trim. haha.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

in college, my university stood in front of a row of eateries ranging from fast food to pastry shops to semi-fine dine restaurants.

one of my fondest memories was a particular shop called hmm, what was it again?

anyhow, it has the word "angel" on it and what makes it special actually, is one comfort food i discovered there-- lemon squares.

now, what do you do when you suddenly crave for it and you find yourself in a rural place without shops offering that specialty?

google it and bake your own. good thing there's a recently opened supermarket here that offered lemons. otherwise, i guess i'd have to improvise and recreate it into calamansi (green local Philippine lemon sized a quarter of a golf ball) squares.

here's the recipe...

LEMON SQUARES
A recipe for lemon squares, a popular bar cookie dessert made with a cookie crust and lemony topping.
INGREDIENTS:

* 2 cups flour
* 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
* 2 sticks butter
* 2 cups sugar
* 1 tablespoon flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 4 eggs, well beaten
* 1 heaping tablespoon grated lemon rind
* 1/4 cup lemon juice

PREPARATION:
Sift flour and powdered sugar together. Cut in butter until well blended. Press mixture over bottom of a 9 by 13 by 2-inch pan. Bake about 25 minutes at 300° until lightly browned. Combine remaining ingredients and spread on top of the baked crust. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Makes about 12 servings.

shaken, but not stirred

..MAY 8, 2007..

at 2.30am yesterday, the earth shook. it lasted an intimidating 15-seconds. but i was not scared, really. as i lay there by myself, three things came to mind.

1. i uttered a prayer for my parents who were just by the next door. i asked for God's protection to be upon them.
2. the construction!! of all the things, i could think about, my thoughts were racing: were the foundations built strong enough to stand any more earthquakes? was their work futile? after these shaking, would the posts still be secure? would the architect / foreman notice any changes? what if the ground shook again after a few years? will it be sturdy? or will it have the same fate as the hotel in Baguio which fell after a major quake?
3. uh-oh. what have we done again? forgive the sins of our nation, Lord. forgive us for every abominable sin we committed. have mercy on us.

so, no. it was not your near-death-experience-my-entire-life-is-flashing-before-me. it's a reminder that once again, we have no control of our lives. that Someone greater has our lives in His hands.


epilogue:
that same day, the earth shook again at around 10.30pm.

T.I.M.E.

islands of Ilocos

badoc island

Happy Birthday MOM!!!

For the third time this month, I went to the beach. And for the third time, we celebrated another April birthday on an island. We celebrated Mom's __th in Badoc Island, off the Badoc town in Ilocos Norte.



I had guests from hospitality club who tagged along. Franziska is a Swiss nurse while Jo is a Belgian who works with computers; they're both working in Singapore.

Jo and Franziska are seasoned travellers who've been to most countries in SouthEast Asia and Latin America. They're a lovely couple and such adventurous ones because they hopped on a plane not knowing what to expect from the Philippines. To them (and to most Europeans), the Philippines is a black hole. Nobody knows anything about us. And when they tell friends they're going to North Luzon, they almost always get questioning looks, "What are you going to do there? What's to see there?"

It gladdens my heart that there are a few who brave coming to my country, despite of the news, and despite of not knowing anything. I hope that in the short span of time they spent here, Jo and Franziska would tell other nationalities about us... that they'd tell about the people they met... the local cuisine they tasted... the unique mix of culture... most especially, that they'd tell the Philippines is a beautiful country waiting to be explored.