nearly thirty

my 29th brings me to malaysia this year.

there's something about reaching a certain twenty-nth age that you just stop celebrating. for me, i try to escape reality by running off to another country or a different place than home.

coward.

the G-word

what do these have in common?

• Nazi German : Jews
• Ottoman Turks : Armenia
• Khmer Rouge : Cambodia
• Darfur conflict
• Hutus and Tutsis in Burundi

genocide is real. and it's heart-rending.


the thing with travelling and making friends with people from other countries & culture is that i become attached. i wanna know how they live where they come from. i wanna know why they act a certain way. i wanna know what happened in their past that makes them think this way.

lately, i've become interested in geography and history because of that. been corresponding through email and reading up feature stories. that's how i stumbled upon the g-word.

i've been hearing about it, true, but it sank only now.

it's just harrowing that it actually exists.

i think i'd like to live by caskie stinett's saying

i travel a lot,
i hate having my life disrupted by
routine.

i like mine...

too many choices... size, shots, syrup, milk, and the list goes on.

here's how i like mine: tall, peppermint, nonfat milk, extra hot, foamy white chocolate mocha.




alternately, i like mine





here, make your own drink.

comfort sundays

for supper, i fixed myself some comfort food-- a dish of good ole' baked mac and cheese and a warm loaf of yummy banana bread. all home-made.

pair that with a cold mug of calimocho (red wine and soda).
mm-mmm.

i love sundays. i get to explore my culinary skills.

trickle-down effect

"We will not grow rich by pulling the rich down but by pulling the poor up. We should bring up everybody... spread the wealth that way."

- Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on why the benefits of the country's spectacular economic growth have not trickled down to the grassroots.
[PDI, February 10, 2007]

last day on earth

there have been too many deaths lately.

too many in fact, that it's becoming quite disturbing.

at the peak of the Vigan fiesta season, my mom has been to two funerals already. that same week, my lola (grandfather's sister) passed away. day after that, a distant relative in Santiago died. that weekend, a typical Ilocano cortege marched towards the church near our house. at the eve of my lola's internment, one of our staff's brother got killed in a vehicular accident. on the day of the internment, we passed by a neighbor who also set up tents for the dead. at church, another coffin was beside lola. on our way out, another set of mourners for another dead person is coming in. the other night, one of our subscribers was stabbed right inside his house.

10 deaths in 2 weeks. it just doesn't end.

i heard somewhere that life is taken for every repulsive sin we commit.

Have mercy on us, God. Spare our land. Forgive us from our sins. Let there be no more deaths.

"if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
- 2 Chronicles 7:14