last monday, i got to try wall     climbing for the first time. i’ve seen it a lot of times before but i never tried it. i thought that i was too heavy to scale the wall. i couldn’t imagine scaling a 50 feet or 75 feet wall while i entrusted my safety to a thin piece of rope. the objective of wall climbing is easy: use different grips or hand holds to reach the top most part. actually doing it though is a different story. you have to use your arms and legs to pull yourself up. its a lot of hard work but the satisfaction of reaching the top is well worth it.

one person in our group was stuck in the middle of the wall. she couldn’t move up or down because she refused to let go of the hand hold she was holding. she was doing fine at first but she reached a hard part and she couldn’t seem to reach the next grip. we told her to let go so the instructor can pull her down. she wouldn’t let go so she couldn’t go down. she was terrified of falling down that she gripped the hand hold with all her might. as a result, she was just there on the wall, stuck.

as i watch her frozen in the middle of the wall, i realized one thing. you have to let go in order to move on.like wall climbing, sometimes you have to let go of certain things in our lives in order to welcome new things. if we don’t let go, we can never move up or down. you will just stay stagnant in one position. sometimes it’s an issue of trust. some people refuse to let go of the grip because they don’t trust the strength of the rope or the instructor beneath them. but trusting the rope or the person holding the rope is part of the process. you cannot climb the wall if you don’t trust the person holding you. in the same way, you can’t move on if you can’t trust god.

it’s funny how God reveals things in the most unexpected places…

as for my friend, she finally let go the of the grip and finished the wall

my holidays are usually spent at home. i take advantage of the free day to either do extra work, watch movies or sleep all day. i rarely go out since it is the only time i get to spend an entire day with my family. however, this holiday was particularly different since i had a "packed" schedule, so to speak.

it started with the larong pinoy at the parks and wildlife. it was a kick-off event for the CFC anniversary so rain (and rain it did) or shine, the show had to go on. my entire family was going so i decided to go with them. my family and i might go to different churches but we still support each other. and besides, CFC will always (always) be special to me. 

honestly, i didn’t think i’d enjoy the event; it was raining after all and the entire place was either wet or muddy. the venue was right on top of a lake and the weather was gloomy. it makes you want to crawl under the covers and sleep. however, the infectious mood of my teammates and everyone around me, especially the children, changed all that. (go yellow team! ) i mean they really gave it their all, especially in the scavenger hunt. the rain kept raging yet everyone was busy literally scavenging trash cans and pathways to find the ever elusive juicy fruit wrapper and bottle caps to win the game. you have to hand it to the kids. when they capture the vision, they really go all for it. they didn’t care if they were wet, muddy and dirty. all that mattered to them was finding the list and winning the game. kudos to the organizers and facilitators of the event. given the weather we had, i’d still say that it was a success. (photos to follow on my next update).

from the serene surroundings of parks and wildlife i travelled all the way across manila to the bustling area of quiapo. ("bustling" would be an inappropriate adjective to describe the quiapo we visited today. it was quite uncongested which was something that i wasn’t used to.) our linggo ng wika was at hand and materials/prizes had to be bought.  i then met up with heidi and carla and we set out to scour the streets for the right materials.

after a couple of hours of scouring the streets and haggling with vendors, we decided to treat ourselves with the sumptous food of binondo. this is the first time i’ve seen binondo in the morning and i have to say that i was quite excited. our first stop was an old restaurant that claimed to be the house of the original fresh lumpia. we decided to give it a try and to rest our weary feet. the food was quite cheap but the lumpia was not exceptional (according to my food critic bosom buddies). we headed out in a few minutes in search of tasty dumplings.

needless to say, tasty dumplings really do live up to their moniker. it is tasty. we started with the steam dumplings,  followed by fried dumplings and ended with the tsai mao (? im really not good with chinese names). the food was very cheap (8 pieces of dumplings for only P60) and it will surely satisfy your craving. there’s something different with their sauce (its vinegar and patis) that truly brings out the flavor of the pork. the "siopao" bread was fluffy and tasty in itself. i guess it would be safe to assume that this is not my last visit in binondo

     we were tempted to visit binondo church after our meal but our we decided to head home and rest.

to finally cap the day, we decided to put on our dancing shoes and watch the remake of hairspray. (read hairspray review)

i love holiday mondays

i remember the first time i ever wanted to walk inside the walls of intramuros. i was seven years old then, reading a story in our filipino workbook. the story was about a field trip in the different historic sites in manila particularly intramuros and rizal park.  and i remember reading it and being fascinated about the history of my city. i literally begged my mom to take me on a tour of these places and we did, amidst the rain and all. (the first time i laid eyes on dr. jose rizal’s monument was under an umbrella with my mom and sister. i was that desperate!)

and now nearly two decades later, i was here yet again, in Manila’s original walled city. i have to admit, i was hesitant to tour intramuros for the nth time. my friend carla has been bugging me to go on these mini tours around manila but limited resources and time have always been a big factor on my end. i finally gave in when i learned that they were offering a free tour. at least i won’t have any regrets if i did not enjoy this tour. at least that’s what i thought.

we started in the new bahay na tsinoy in anda street. the tour began in this section because it will trace the arrival of the different influences of our country: chinese, spanish, american and japanese. i loved the part with the piedra chinas or the heavy stones the chinese used to balance their ships as they make their way here from nearby china. they were reused as tombstones when they arrive here in the philippines.

after this, we headed to one edifice that survived the bombings of world war II, the san agustin church. there were two bell towers in the church but only one remained standing to this day. the other one welcomed the visitors as they entered the church. i never grew up in the catholic faith so i am quite unfamiliar with the rituals and traditions that comes with it. i am fascinated with old churches though. i loved the design of the church sanctuary itself. it was painted yet had the illustion that it was three dimensional. the tour around the church also showed how visual we are as a nation, even in the early days. the spanish came here to "market" their religion. we bought hook, line and sinker because we were fascinated with the ostentatious display of gold, their intricate carvings in the altar and of course, the ubiquitous santo. however, i believe that these are all part of God’s plan for our nation. we were the only spanish colony and christian nation in asia. i believe we were immersed in the christain faith, to the point of fanaticism, because we are called to spread it.

we finally reached the end of our tour with a ten-minute walk to the walls of intramuros itself. it was a beautiful site, seeing the original manila built by the americans after the war. there was a slight drizzle but it was perfect nonetheless

i have been a manileno for the past 25 years and yet it still never fails to take my breath away. yes, it is polluted, bursting in the seams with the population it currently it has and not to mention traffic jams in every corner. but if you look closely, it is still a city with a rich cultural heritage and, i  believe with all my heart, a bright future. walking around the walls of intramuros and learning about my history once all over made me proud that i live in this city maynila…

halos magtatatlong taon na rin akong nagsisilbing guro sa PH229. naka tatlong klase na rin ako ng mga batang nasa 5-6 na edad. ngunit sa tinagal-tagal kong naging guro dito, hindi ko pa naranasang bisitahin ang mga estudyante ko sa mismong tahanan nila. sabi ni ate vicky, dapat daw ginagawa ang home visitation kahit isang beses sa isang taon. isang paraan ito upang lalong maintindihan ng mga guro ang kanilang mga estudyante. kung alam mo ang kalagayan ng mga bata sa kanilang tahanan, mas lalo mo syang matutulungan.

sa aming pagbisita, lalo akong nagpasalamat sa Diyos sa mga biyayang walang sawa nyang ibinibigay sa atin. minsan puro kakulangan lamang ang ating nakikita at nalilimutan nating magpasalamat sa maliliit na bagay na ating nakakamtan. mas lalo ring nadiin sa akin kung bakit ako naging bahagi ng programang ito. sumali ako rito dahil ako mismo ay nakaranas ng kabutihan ng Diyos. nais kong ibahagi sa mga batang ito na maari rin nilang maranasan ang kalayaan mula sa kahirapan kung hindi sila bibitaw sa salita ng Diyos at mananatili sa pananampalataya ^^ 

this wasn’t my first time on boracay. i went there five years ago with my family as a side trip when we went to odiongan (yep, there is such a place in romblon). however, this is the first time i’ve there for more than two days and actually experience boracay. this was also my first time to experience the economy section of a ship. to say that it was a memorable experience would be quite an understatement…

it was part of our annual trip in compassion but any friends who are willing to join the trip with 20 other people are welcome. we were on a very limited budget so we can’t travel first class. we took the very hip and clean (sarcastic) MBRS Virgin Mary line. it was tolerable, to say the least, in the economy section. but if you have a distinct hatred to be surrounded with feet while you sleep and eat, i suggest that you avoid this place like the plague. definitely not for the faint at heart  we survived the first round of the trip by sitting on the deck and taking lots and lots of pictures of ourselves. what was that quote by al pacino, who played the devil, in the devil’s advocate? vanity is definitely my favorite sin? tsk, tsk, tsk…

since we can’t imagine eating surrounded by possibly unhygienic extremities, we searched for a cafeteria to eat our dinner. one such cafeteria transforms into a disco, complete with a dancing dj/waiter, at the stroke of 9PM. whoever thought that people on an overcrowded ship would have the energy and interest to get down and party definitely has a very weird imagination.

the rest of the night went on quietly. my friends, my sister and i managed to squeezed in and get a couple of hours of sleep. it was quite a feat considering that we were three people in one very hard bed. if one person moves to the left, everyone else has to move to the left. we were a very coordinated group  morning finally came and we ate our breakfast in a more "fancy" cafeteria on the upper deck. we had a great view of the odiongan port and the island. needless to say, we were more excited to reach boracay than ever.

when we finally reached the caticlan port, there was another hour or so of enless people, pushing, shouting, sweating and hauling their bags to ride the ferry. the ferry was a mere 10-15 minute ride. we finally reached boracay after a very exhausting 12-15 hour journey.

i’ve always considered myself as a very laid-back person. i rarely fuss about anything and you can take me anywhere and i hardly complain. but i have to say, traveling economy class during the holy week season has made me change my opinion about myself.

"transition" was the word of the weekend. blame it all on heidi’s knack for coining up terms or for using unusual words in a common way. but it a way, it did sum up our weekend getaway in zambales. it was a transition for us. it was our first ever planned weekend getaway. most of our former excursions were spur of the moment decision that miraculously pushed through. i remember one out of town trip where in lory literally woke up lei in the middle of the night to go to Baguio. That was how spontaneous we can be

to say that i had a fun weekend would be a grave understatement. we left early saturday morning and arrived in zambales around 9am. after spending an hour in the town market buying enough food to feed our insatiable hunger, we went to the resort expecting the worst. what can we say, mac said it was a hassle and we took it very literally. we were completely taken aback when we finally saw the accommodations though. it was very charming to say the least

we literally did nothing but be total beach bums for the rest of the weekend. we sat on the beach, stared on the horizon, slept, ate, swam, talked, sang and do everything all over again. one thing i’ve learned over this weekend is that women really do talk more than men. A LOT MORE. we woke up at 5am on sunday morning and instantly, and i mean instantly, the room was filled with incessant chatter. to quote heid, "wala man lang transition, gising na gising agad!" i’ve been with these girls for the past eight years now (gosh! i can’t believe it’s been that long! ) and yet the we never seem to ran out of things to talk about. it doesn’t matter if we’ve discussed that topic a million times before, we can still discuss it and enjoy what we are discussing. weird huh? but i guess that is friendship.

one additional thing we did for the weekend was learn how to surf. yup, surfing in the waves, and not on the information highway   i never imagined i would have the opportunity to do it in the near future. so when mac volunteered to give us free lessons, we were thrilled! hey, that was one faithgoal i checked on my list (learn a new skill). it wasn’t as easy as what you see on tv; surfers made it look sooooo easy! but it was certainly just as fun we covered the basics theories of surfing first, how to stand, the different parts of the board (who knew it had parts?) and others. after practicing for a few minutes on how to stand on the board, we started hitting the waves. Fighting to stay on top of the board and actually standing on the board required a LOT of hard work. even paddling was difficult. a lot of upper body strength is required. and i never knew that those boards were sooo heavy. surfers carry it around like a purse and use it like a skateboard so i thought it was that light as well it wasn’t as easy as what you see on tv; surfers made it look sooooo easy! but it was certainly just as fun. riding on the wave and feeling the wind on your face for just a second was worth all the bruises and scars i got i will definitely do it again!

It really was the perfect weekend that I’ve always wanted

*for more information regarding the resort we visited, check out www.crystalbeach.com.ph

i can’t believe its 2007. i never even realize it was Christmas until the actual day itself.  there are so many things to do last year that i was just glad when vacation time finally arrived. but it has been a great year and i am looking forward to this one. i’m turning 25 this year so this should be fun aside from this, here are the other things that im expecting:

1. learn to drive - ive been saying this for the past three years but i haven’t really done anything to make it happen.

2. financial breakthroughs for my family and me - need i say more?

3. get that 18 units for education! - okay maybe not the entire 18 units this year but at least six. i need to study again!

4. travel (here and abroad) - every time i travel, i just know i was born to see the world. so this year, i hope to see more of it. locally i want to see sagada (nitz, we better make this happen ), palawan, ilocos, bohol and camiguin (paging Tita Ritz ) . overseas, i guess i can start here in asia: hong kong, singapore, malaysia and thailand. i’ve had my passport stuck in the drawer for more than a year. i want to finally use it this time.

5. expand my social network - dont get me wrong, i love my friends and i there’s really nothing wrong with them. i just want to meet new people and learn from them.

6. improve my skills as a teacher - this is my first formal year of teaching and i could say that i learned A LOT. next school year will be a better one for me. be more patient and love your kids more

7. learn to dance - i love what Antonio Banderas said in Take the Lead: "Do you want to dance? Then you were born to dance." I am definitely one of those people who are sooo bad in dancing I feel embarass even when I am dancing alone in my room. hope this year will finally change that.

8. be more health concious - it doesnt mean that i would diet every month and suddenly turn into a vegetarian. no way jose. i’ll just be more careful and exercise more. more time for badminton, swimming and jogging. but definitely no gym.

9. breakthrough for my small group - i’ve written this down for the past two years and nothing’s happening. i know that this is the year that we will finally see this happen.

10. some things are just too personal id rather keep it to myself

enjoy 2007 people

biernes na naman, tapos nanaman ang isang linggo ng pagtatrabaho…hay, ang hirap pala talaga kumita ng pera. dati hindi ako makapaghintay na maging empleyado, ngayon naman miss na miss ko na ang simpleng buhay ng estudyante. oo, may mga deadlines kang hahabulin, professors na kakalabanin at mga subjects na paghihirapan. pero mas madali ata sya kumpara sa paghahanap ng sapat na halaga pambayad sa mga bagay-bagay at pagpaplano sa mga susunod na taon ng buhay mo. may mga araw na gusto ko lang ng simpleng pamumuhay (payak na buhay, sabi nga ng kaibigan ko), pero alam ko namang hindi pwedeng habang buhay ay payak na lang ang buhay ko. di naman pwedeng lagi na lang ako masaya lang at walang patutunguhan. buti na lang nandyan si jesus para tulungan tayo. pano na lang di ba kng mag-isa tayo sa buhay? baka sa kangkungan tayo pulutin lahat…

isang hapon, sa opisina ng asul na karagatan sa gitna ng lungsod ng pasig…

officemate 1: ay, hindi ko papala friend si jon sa friendster. ano ba ang pangalan nya sa friendster?

officemate 2: jon

oo nga naman di ba? yan ang nangyayari sa mga taong kulang ng social life….