Random Thoughts

STAGE DIRECTOR

2011-10-14T08:15:00.004+08:00

I am fascinated when I get to watch shows like X-factor and the Voice where the professionals get to guide the talent. The way the relationship goes well between the talent and the mentor is when the talent gives complete trust with the mentor and just accepts that the mentor has a better view of how the talent can emanate the stuff effectively and well. It’s just like a director who has the best view on what’s going on outside the stage. I remember there was this hip guy who was part of the cast in the stage play. During the rehearsal the director directed him to exaggerate his movement. But the guy being cool but a newbie thought that the movement is awkward and not cool. And so he did not follow the director’s direction when the rest of the cast exaggerated their movements during the performance. During the performance it turned out that the audience viewed that the cool guy was awkward on stage and the rest of the cast were outstanding. What is deemed awkward in real life is normal when seen on stage most of the time. I was recording a commercial jingle and I was inside the sound proofed enclosed space and there was this sound engineer who was listening to me outside the booth giving me direction. I did many takes and I began to get annoyed when I already thought I have done well already and the sound man still was not satisfied and ordering me to do more takes. “You got to be kidding me.” I have never realized that I may be a better singer than he is but he has better ears outside the booth.

There were many instances that the world does not conform to what we want and you ask God “Why?” You lost your job. You need to move houses. You’re being dumped by your partner. You are not invited to a party. You want to go outside the country on weekends and the plane is fully booked. Why! Why! Why! Then you console yourself by thinking and believing that this has happened for a good reason. And it is true for the reason that God sees the bigger picture. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and soul and everything will fall in the right places even though it does not seem to look like it. It is easier to grasp the wisdom when you have clearer pictures, when you found a better job than what you have lost, the house you left became an earthquake stricken zone, you found a better partner than one who dumped you, there was police raid to a party where you were not invited with or the plane you wanted to book crashed. But most of the time we are clueless to the ill fate that has stricken us. All we got is believing that Our Father Almighty knows what’s best for His children. He knows best because he got a good view in heaven. We are not up there. So how can we have a better view than what God has? The world is like a stage. God is our stage director who brings us to where we can shine out. All we need to do is humbly submit.

YNGWIE

2011-10-04T17:35:00.003+08:00

You were born and you became the sunshine of our life. You lift up lolo’s heart, lola’s and mine as well and put it in another level. The first grandson. My first nephew. Our best friend. You grew up in my arms when your dad was working overseas. It is a pleasure that I become your second dad because you had been my joy. You may never know how much you make a difference but you are the source of strength to many people who love you especially to lolo and lola.

You grew up to become a fine young man, a good son and a good brother to your siblings and a good friend. You made us proud in putting your gifts into good use.

I am having tears knowing that you will never be physically around. But I know that you are in a better place now telling us,” Hey, I am Okay.” And we will be okay. We will be okay.

You are always be the source of our strength even more that you are now where you are. Now we are much closer to God because of you who are looking after us.

I love you. Thank you for the joy you brought us.

BITING HUMOUR

2011-09-15T09:18:00.001+08:00

I am a humorous person. I love cracking jokes. I like making people laugh or smile. Sometimes I succeed and it makes me smile inside when I am hearing genuine laugh after a deliver a punch line.

A TV host asked the Topp Twins, NZ great comedians, “What is the secret of how you make people laugh.” The Topp Twins look at each other and answered in unison, “Timing”. It is true. The punch line has to be delivered in the right time or else you blew it. However there is a kind of humor that I believe would never be in the right timing and that is BITING HUMOR.

Biting Humor is a kind of humour that is funny and painful at the same time. It is a humour gained at someone else’s expense. There was a time that I was not so conscious about the kind of humour that I deliver as long as it’s a joke. “It’s just a joke.” But then when I get to see the importance of connections to people and to see a better view of the reason that I am no different from them and we have all feelings, I learned to be careful to whatever humour I would launch. Sometimes there a couple of slips in the tongue but realizing the mistakes right away I would apologetically excuse myself in any way. Sometimes, one need to put it in the level of relationships in which biting humour can be served among yourselves exclusively but then it is still a grey area and TIMING is important factor. You never know if someone has woken up on the wrong side of the bed. That’s not a good timing. You know that it is bad when you receive biting humour and it hurts. It is not good when you go home feeling so upset after being bitten by ridiculous remark however jokingly it was being put up. There was one time in the mall I was with someone when we bumped into a common friend. The common friend casually said to my friend, “What happened to you? You’re so ridiculously thin.” We all smile with the comment and blah blah blah, hahahahaha. And then after we parted ways, “Am I really thin? Is it that bad?”. That thought lingers almost forever.

There are numerous stand-up comedians who resort to making jokes in the expense of few of their audience. They pick one or two in the audience whom they would make fun with and they will bring the whole house down. Everyone has a good laugh including the ones who were laughed at. It is okay? Or is it? I have watched a DVD of Ellen de Generes (I love her) doing stand-ups when she was younger. I had a blast watching that. I have never seen any instances in that show that she made negative jokes at the expense of others and she is hilarious. See, joke can be still cracked good without biting. Ricky Gervais hosted Golden Globes in January 2011 and he made offensive joke to the likes of Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Tim Allen, Bruce Willis, Steve Carrel Robert Downey Jr and Sir Paul McCartney. That was very low. It was uncomfortable and awkward watching the expressions of these celebrities on TV. I mean what’s the point?

Yes, biting humour is funny and painful at the same time. Usually, negative humour attacks someone’s mistakes, weaknesses or eccentricities. In the normal environment, usually it looks like it is done affectionately with a backhanded compliment. However it can still be hurtful. Beyond the surface, most of the times negative humour is rooted with jealousy, competitiveness or one-upmanship. On the surface, it looks harmless and playful jesting but I can lead to insecurity in our relationships. Being criticized or “put down” under the cloak of a joke eventually makes us feel unsure of ourselves and what others think of us.

WHO HAS LOW ESTEEM?

2011-08-16T08:33:00.005+08:00

A question was posted in a forum of one of those popular websites..

How is it that constantly putting others down means you have low self esteem?

Many answers were placed and readers went to vote for what the best answer is.

And the winner is:

Because people with low self-esteem boost it by seeing other people more miserable than themselves, since that gives them the idea they are better than them. They accomplish that by putting people down

Yeah. Yeah. I know it’s obvious. What can I say? It is indeed a turn off that one is proving their worth by putting down others.

In my prayer, I was reminded that I ought to put security in HIM and to lean not on my own understanding. HIS way is better than any other way. I always believe that I don’t need to put down others with the reason that I am alright just the way I am with God’s Grace.

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED FOR DOING GOOD

2011-08-08T18:31:00.002+08:00

While my wife and my son were doing usual stuff in the living room, I thought of going to bedroom for some reason. I sat on the bed and saw the bible in the side shelves. I picked up and open a page.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens. Blessed are you when they reproach and persecute you, and while speaking lies, say every evil thing against you because of Me. – Matthew 5: 10-11.

O yeah. These verses are what I need to get me going. There is a reason for me to be steadfast in doing good even in the midst of being persecuted at times. The reward is great because I am blessed.

And then I prayed and asked God, “Have I done something to harm You or harm anyone?”

I stayed quiet for a while.

And then I said to myself, “I am ok.” I know that I have been transformed for the better for doing good.

And then I went back and joined my family in the living room.

FORMULA FOR HAPPINESS

2011-08-08T12:43:00.002+08:00

Do you have a formula for happiness? This was one of the questions of NRC to be answered by newbies as a form of getting to be introduced in the council the answer of which would be published in the council’s internal website. When I was newbie I had my own answer with this without a blink of an eye to be honest. However I was curious knowing what the other newbies have answered. And so I explored and got to peek some of the newbies’ answers.

Some answers to the Formula of for happiness:

• Freshly poured honey from my bee hives – on toast, in my tea.

• Go out fishing on a calm, misty winter morning in a small boat- great feeling as the fog starts to disperse, the sun breaks through and warms you through (as long as there is no fish to break the tranquillity).

• Yip: Guitar Hero and vodka

• Just smile at everything

• Tolerance & Respect for others but with lots of laughter

• Try not to sweat the small stuff!

• Chocolate

• Love, laughter, sunshine and generally a good glass of vino!

• Yes, I married him. Also: Be kind. Always do your best. But don’t take yourself too seriously. And never give up your teddy bear.

• Don’t gossip. Identify and work on your strength virtues (and all the others will come).

There is no right and wrong answers here, really.

Me? I was consumed by the thought that my answer ended up becoming a complete blog. http://jonsaintrandom.blogspot.com/2010/08/true-happiness.html. O Dear. What have I done? I was tempted to link the blogsite as my answer but I thought that it was too much as a disclosure of a newbie introduction. And so I answered simply.

My answer: Happiness is a choice. Submit!

Meet The New Staff

2011-08-08T08:02:00.000+08:00

The Community Relations Team looks after the external and internal website in the council. In a nutshell they are managing all forms of communications and information disseminations in and out of the office. One of those information disseminations is introducing the new comers or the newly employed staff. What is delightfully interesting is that they have a personal way (not corporate way) of introducing them in the website. I remember when I was a newbie as an engineer in the council they emailed me a set of trivial questions which I should give answers for them to post the internal website. Among the questions are:

Team & Department? What do you do in a nutshell? Before this nutshell, what did you do in your last nutshell? I consider these still in the corporate zone.

Family/home life/living arrangements? Hmmm starting to get personal.

And then the questions are trying to take some character and personality indications.

What are you reading at the moment? Who makes the best coffee in Whangarei? If you won “Big Wednesday” which beach would you build your bach at and where would your first overseas trip be? What songs all the words to? Do you have a formula for happiness? If the NRC was a movie, who would you want to play your character?

First time a read the questions, it put smile on my face.

RAUL AND HIS WORKSHOP

2011-08-02T06:38:00.000+08:00

When we were single, my best friend Raul and I used to handle action groups of Christian men. During one of those gatherings, Raul gave an interesting workshop. He brought a box of pencils and a bundle of paper and distributed them among us. He asked us to draw the best pictures that we can draw. He encourages each of us to make it as good as a masterpiece that each of us can be proud of. We were given a few minutes to do it. Some of us know how to draw and some us don’t but we exerted effort to give it a shot to make our masterpieces. After we finished Raul showcased the pictures one by one and noted the strong points of each of the pictures while we applauded. Raul asked us, “Can I keep it? Could you give all these to me as a gift?” And all of us agreed that we will give all the pictures to Raul. And then Raul RIPPED them in to small pieces. He threw them on the floor and stepped on them…………………We were silent and shocked. “How do you feel now?” he asked the group. Some say they are mad. Some say they got hurt. Some say they were sad.

God created us. We are not only God’s Creation but we are His Masterpiece. The first time I heard about the story of creation was in grade school. I learned back then God created everything but he sweated out in creating man since he wanted to make this his masterpiece. He created us with body and soul.

I was reading an article entitled Human Body – God’s Masterpiece. I quote “The greatest of all creations is man himself, the marvellous machine—precise and efficient.”

We are created pure in body and in spirit. But since we are living in the sinning world, it is easy for us to get stained along the way.

Raul popped a question, “What are we doing with God’s Masterpiece?

Thanks, Raul.

FALSE CONFIDENCE

2011-08-01T12:45:00.003+08:00

It is good to encourage to help a person build he/she confidence especially when you know that he/she got potentials. But we need to be careful of what we are giving him confidence about. Most of the time putting false confidence to a person is such a dangerous move. It’s like saying to a person that you can fly and that he can jump on a cliff. It’s like pushing someone to bit a guy who is three times the size of his. There are so many vulnerable minds in the world and they are indeed prone to be brainwashed in everything that will be fed to them and they believe right away. They are really the target to get to be conned at and they simply don’t know what’s coming their way. Being overshadowed by false confidence is a sure direction to being doomed. True Confidence must be built up according to what he is, what he got and what potential he has. False confidence is saying that he is what he is not. False confidence is saying he already got when in fact he hasn’t got it yet. False confidence is saying that he has already the talent when it is still a potential. If you want to uplift someone, give it a good direction. Wake up! Wake up! Vulnerable minds.

GAME? WHAT GAME?

2011-07-29T09:22:00.001+08:00

Aware that most of the people are keen to aim for being number one, Morrie asked, “What’s wrong with number two?” I take this to see that Morrie is not into competition. He just want to enjoy whatever he is doing. I already blogged about my personal view about this. (http://jonsaintrandom.blogspot.com/2010/10/helmet-and-paddings.html). I mentioned in that blog that I already reached the stage where competition is not in my agenda already. I am not also aiming to outdo anyone. In the first place how can I outdo anyone when I am not thinking about competing? I just want to do things in my own delight. I also aim to do better everyday not for any reason but to honour the The Almightty Talent Giver. That is the essence of the Parable of the talents - to improve, to excel in His Honour.

Competition tends to surface envy. Putting envy in the ingredient – I am certain that grace will not come my way with this. I am attesting to this. I got what I got because of grace. I am trying to be a good man. Sometimes it’s difficult but I would like to believe that I am getting there. You can never put a good man down. A man who always puts a good man down always makes himself lesser of a man. So take it easy, remove your helmet and competing gears and refrain from running around a good man who does not want your game.

Jacob's Joseph

2011-07-12T08:30:00.000+08:00

The first time I have learned the story of Joseph, the son of Jacob was when it was adopted as a children story in a magazine and I was the one illustrating it. While reading and understanding the story so as I would know how I would deliver the illustrations, I was amazed of the character of Joseph. This guy is super forgiving-to-the-max-a-hundred-folds. And he knows how to turn around an ill fate to thinking that God has a good plan for him. And the plan unfolds and geared towards his greatness. The story of Joseph sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? He was sold by his brothers for twenty peaces of silver. He was imprisoned and falsely accused. Yet he obtained his peaceful perception of everything in the midst of painful injustices. He remained faithful and earned the favour of the Pharaoh. And he was exalted to rule Egypt under Pharaoh. He obtained power and used it not to seek vengeance to whoever had wronged him but used it to get back the long lost love of his family especially of his Father by healing the wounds with forgiveness. And it has been hard to dismiss the thought that this is just crap or this just a fairy tale. But this is part of the scriptures and not just a musical play invented by Andrew Lloyd Webber in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. This is God working in the character of Joseph, Son of Jacob. I was so inspired learning the story for the first time that I have drawn the illustrations much better than what I usually did in the magazine with many colours and shades and shadows.

I have not been an illustrator for a number of years now. I never have totally learned to adopt the character of Joseph as my own. It is too bloody hard to heal wounds and forgive especially if the blow was so crashing. My selfish side would say “I wanna get even. Not now, but I have ways to make it happen.” I always kneel before God and pray “Protect me from my enemies. Show me the way to get even.” I believe that God would just reply “The best way to get even is to forgive.” O man! So much for a strategy, Lord. This gotta work or I am making a full of myself. But He is right. There is a spiritual healing once forgiveness is learned.

Come to think of it: what’s next after getting even? Deep down in our heart we long for peace and harmony because that was what we are designed for. And the only way to attain the ultimate desire of our hearts is when we end the grudges. Joseph could only attain his desire to bring back the love of his Father and be reunited peacefully with his family by healing wounds and forgiving. I was watching Joseph the Dreamer, a musical play that was shown in Meralco Theatre by Trumpets Production directed by Freddie Santos the lead role of which was Audie Gemora and I thought that the scene when Joseph had finally met his Father after so many years was touching. O man, doing the right thing always pays off. And the right thing is forgiving.

We should not be bound by wounds of life. We should always be healed in mind and body. We may remember what happened just as Joseph always remembered his years of slavery and imprisonment but the sting of memories can be removed. Yes it is possible by the grace of God. O yeah!

LOUVRE

2011-07-05T13:29:00.000+08:00

The other night, Da Vinci Code was shown in TV2. I did not watch the whole film that night for the reason that I have read and watched it for how many times. But I got to watch the first minutes of the Louvre Scene. I was not in it for the indulgence of the gruesome murder of Jacques Sauniere or the clues within the Da Vinci’s paintings but the gratification on bringing reminiscences on my fantastic journey inside the Louvre. There are so many remarkable places in Paris. Louvre is definitely one of them. The Louvre, the palace full of famous artworks is so huge that it will take the whole day touring inside. One of the main attractions was the famous Mona Lisa. I was advised to go straight to where Mona Lisa Painting was before I ran out of time seeing it. And so that was the plan. There were arrow signs pointing to where Mona Lisa was and that made the whole endeavor much easier. But it was not as easy as I thought it would be when I kept on being held back by other enticing artworks on the way. As much as I wanted to hurry up, the haunting and mesmerizing artworks seemed like moving and speaking to me to just be still and to absorb them. But I needed to be strong and to stay focus for the sake of the one-in-a-million smile. I got to see Mona Lisa. And Lo and behold……Click! Of course I took pictures like the other visitors did. On my way out, I tried to consume as much artworks as I could the rest of the Louvre time. I may not know most of the names of the masterpieces, I may not have a good idea how most of them became famous, I may not be a huge fan, but the tour inside the Louvre would just forget who you are or where you are coming from for few hours as you are consumed by the wonderful works inside the Louvre.

Breaking a Stubborn Horse to Delegate

2011-06-25T17:58:00.004+08:00

Being obsessed with accolades would mean not allowing anyone to do the job even in the midst of doing another job. The praise hunger fella has difficulties delegating other jobs with the fear that the attention would be stolen. The poor guy tries to do a one-man-band not minding the tension and the time wasted. He tries to afford a frame of mind of all knowing so as not make room for others to grab the stage.

I was a victim of these obsession when I was the director, script/libretto writer, melody composer of a 2-hour musical play Darklight sponsored by the community I used to belong. The story was inspired by C.S. :Lewis Book entitled Screwtape Letters. I also used the character of Screwtape and his nephew Wormwood in the story and the situation where Screwtape advising Wormwood how to be an excellent devil. It took almost one year of preparation with some spices due to some difficult interactions among the staff, crew and management not to mention the hang-ups within me who was still struggling to learn how to delegate. Although there was an existing committee which would serve as a medium to disperse assignments, I still have an itchy soul to grab all the tasks which I liked doing. Scriptwriting, composing, directing, choreographing, costume designing, stage designing. I have managed to juggle the task until I found myself burnt out. It started with a pain in the stomach and sudden dizziness. Yeah! That was stress alright! And so I called for a time-out and had some realization that I got to entrust some of my juggling acts. I entrusted the unfinished choreography to Rey, the vocal coaching to Vim and Mon, stage design to fine arts graduates, costume and make up to a professional, management to Jing, music scoring to Tom. I concentrated on composing songs, scripwriting and directing.

I know that it’s not necessary to learn the value of delegating the hard way. I should have not suffered some stomach pain if I had just believe with the wisdom. Yet sometimes people are designed to be broken in order to learn. It takes breaking a horse in order to ride it. It takes slapping someone on the face in order recognize the wake up call. Several times I have been a stubborn horse which deserved to play the hard ball to learn.

The Great Laughing Stock

2011-06-21T10:50:00.001+08:00

One of the effective schemes in order to lose the respectable image of someone is to make him a laughing stock. It’s like a medal of achievement hung on his breast is being counterbalanced by a paper stock in his back saying dumb ass. This endeavour can be made easy when a lot of them have the same intention to put him down and all they have to do is to water down the ridicule until his greatness thins off. No matter how he chalks up his highest potential, there are always watchful eyes who are keen to inhibit him to blossom. And once a progress of his has taken place, still they have the option to pull his pants down. For sure the root of this scheme is envy and insecurity. One who is always investing in making ways to pull others’ pants down is foolish and insecure and doesn’t know what he/she is good at and envies those who know their place in the world to excel. Spending energy to mess others deprives oneself time and energy in exploring ones own capability. Unless he/she breaks the chain, the more he/she couldn’t find his/her specialties, the more he/she becomes insecure and the more he/she messes others up. Now who has the last laugh?

The more certain you are of your identity in Christ, the less you'll feel the need to make fun of others. – Rick Warren

Carry On Evolving

2011-06-09T20:03:00.000+08:00

One of the reasons why one has difficulty to change for the better is people make it difficult for them. People’s minds somehow do not want to shift from the past knowledge about the person to a revitalized person. No matter how an ex-convict has been renewed, some companies are hesitant to hire someone like him. No matter how the person has realized his past mistakes and how he tries to start anew, some people already branded him a bad boy and they will treat him that way. “Stop treating me as a womanizer, I am family man for goodness sake. Stop offering me a smoke, I am quitting. Stop thinking that I am bum; I have a descent 8-hour job. Stop mentioning to others that I am temperamental, I am learning to control it now.” It is easier to change when people would support the change. The more the information about your old self has spread the more difficult it is to expect support from others in establishing your new you. You may want to move to another place, leave your rubbish behind and start anew with a clean slate. However people who knew you can bring your rubbish in your new place. “Hey you forgot your temper. Here!” The opportunity to have a public declaration of your intention to change is rare and even then, it is not an assurance that people will dig it once you’re given a chance. To carry on is to expect no support. No matter what they think, get out of your cocoon and flap those wings. The shifting of people’s mind won’t happen when you have not proven anything. The shifting happens when the result is evident. “You won’t convince me overnight. You’re still the nerdy and clumsy boy in school I knew.” Let them think what they want. Carry on evolving.

Jonsaint Capella

2011-05-28T04:33:00.002+08:00

This is a compilation of songs in capella the voices of which I sung and arranged.

Jonsaint A Capella at Muziboo | Upload Music

SLEUTHING

2011-05-25T11:24:00.004+08:00

I have been a fan of detective stories in my youth. There has been a time that I was a frequent visitor of many bookstores in order to find out what latest copy of the Hardy Boys or the Hitchcock’s Three Investigators was. I was fascinated with mysteries being cleverly solved. During those times I wished that I would be a clever as Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot. Miss Marple and Charlie Chan. My favorite stories are those books which have endings I wouldn’t have the slightest idea they were coming. The more I couldn’t find a single clue, the more I admire the heroes who cunningly figured them out. I reckon that The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is really a masterpiece of Agatha Christie. Geniusly written. On the other hand I was into action movies. I was also a fan of Bruce Lee. I copied his moves, his haircut and I knew how to play around with the nunchaku just like what BL did in Enter the Dragon. What I didn’t see coming was when Guy Ritchie reinvented the character Sherlock Holmes as an action packed hero in the film in which Robert Downey Jr stars. The movie shows that Mr Holmes is an extraordinary human being who can solve the mystery in just a few minutes of staring and smelling. A clever detective who can fight like Bruce Lee. This I got to see.

Reading so much about sleuthing and gathering facts and completing the puzzles in order to upgrade a hypothesis into full blown evidence somehow has gotten to my system to the point when I found myself enjoying playing Cluedo as a youngster. Hunches and gut feelings will always be in the equation of sleuthing and they just have to be supported with more facts that will define the logic of those unusual feeling. Logic can be tricky sometimes. It can be blurry sometimes in which you may never know why 1 + 1 = 2. Somehow, reasoning put me to question and why this does not add up together. Most of the time, my hunches that there is something fishy going on is supported by result of my nosiness that will bring me to an expression “Aha! I knew it”. Questions pops into my mind when all of a sudden in a spur of the moment I notice something odd on a comment, a gesture or a surrounding which derails the math of reasoning. “Hey wait a minute. Hmmmm.” Sometimes I want to brush it aside but in my experience those brushing aside would encourage the possibility of worsening the sinister of the oddness which will do harm at the end. I learned from experience that I ought to trust my dexterity in identifying evil motives.

It’s complicated to get there. Sometimes I will end up in the truth that I can not handle. Sometimes one can not handle the truth. I guess the truth is perceived to be complicated when I have been immerged so much with false illusions of which I had used to be. The truth can be piercing when in the end I would find out that a friend is not a friend after all but a slimy asshole. Portrayal of a goody-goody, tutti-fruity, non-vice sucker is still a sucker. But I saw it coming. It’s a matter of whether I would be brave enough to further my nosiness to catch the culprit. Well, the truth may be surprisingly horrible but that is how it is when I always have faith that the truth will prevail at the end of the rainbow. Yes, I still I trust that the Truth will simplify life.

READING WORD POWER

2011-05-12T06:33:00.001+08:00

I have blogged a lot about this subject but the article of Jeanne Kun has said it all and I couldn't add more. Thank you, Jeanne Kun!

Word Power

How to make your speech a blessing
By: Jeanne Kun

How many times have we praised God in prayer and in the very next moment, snapped at our kids!

St. James warned us about this very problem: “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing” (James 3:10). It’s hard to disagree with his next comment: “My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so”!

The writers of both the Old and New Testaments have stressed the great power, both for good and for harm, of the spoken word. St. Paul emphasized the importance of virtuous speech in the life of the Christian community when he encouraged members to pay close attention to how they spoke to one another: “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up” (Ephesians 4:29).

Especially with our loved ones, it’s all too easy to become careless in the way we speak to one another. Criticism, gossip, biting humor, and complaining can really injure our relationships—in our families and in our parishes and on the job. Once we become aware of these negative patterns of communication, we can learn to replace them with more positives ones. Let’s examine a few ways in which our speech “may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29).

Compliments Welcome! “Wow, honey, I really appreciate the time you take to fix such a nice dinner every day.” … “I can tell you really worked hard to clean your room, Bobby.” … “Gee, Dad, our vacation was really fun this year. Thanks for taking us.”

All of us like to feel appreciated. It lifts our spirits to know that we are valued and that our talents and efforts have been noticed. On the other hand, we are hurt or angered when we are criticized, especially when that criticism is delivered harshly. Yet often we go about our day paying little attention to the good deeds and actions of our family members, but finding plenty of opportunities to remind them of their faults and failures.

Once I recognized how good it made me feel to be complimented and appreciated, I embarked on my own campaign to express my appreciation to others. It takes a little practice. I often have to force myself not to become so caught up in my own agenda that I become insensitive to others. But I’ve found that whenever I express a word of thanks, that person is blessed. Husbands and wives can truly bless each other and their marriage by following this simple advice.

It’s also important to let our kids know that they are in our good graces. Although we need to discipline our children, constant criticism won’t help them meet the goals we set for them. Instead, they are more likely to give up, thinking they can never please us.

Look for opportunities to express your favor to your kids. Tell them often that you love them and are pleased with them. Let them know that you enjoy being with them: “I’m glad you came to the store with me. We really had a good time together.” Look for opportunities to compliment a job well done: “Thanks for doing such a great job cleaning the garage.” And be sure to offer words of encouragement when they are struggling or lacking in confidence.

The Laugh Is on You. “Mary’s about as graceful as a bull in a china shop.” … “Bill, you eat so much you ought to use your tool chest as a lunch box.”

Have you ever been the object of these kinds of comments? This type of joking is funny and painful at the same time, with the humor gained at someone else’s expense. Negative humor often takes a jab at someone’s mistakes, weaknesses, or eccentricities. Often it may be intended to be affectionate and familiar, a way of kidding someone with tongue in cheek or even of giving a backhanded compliment.

Nonetheless, negative humor can be very hurtful. It is frequently infected with jealousy, competitiveness, or one-upmanship. And, what appears on the surface as harmless and playful jesting can lead to insecurity in our relationships. Being criticized or “put down” under the cloak of a joke eventually makes us feel unsure of ourselves and what others think of us.
Sometimes the message being communicated is one that really shouldn’t be sent at all. However, sometimes the message is worth sending, but should be “packaged” in a better way. If the negative joke was intended as a humorous way of actually correcting someone, speak directly and straightforwardly about the issue. Disparaging remarks, even made in jest, are better left unsaid.

Gratitude, not Gripes. “I’m so busy.”… “It’s so hot outside!” … “Do you really want me to go there?”

It’s so easy to slip into a habit of complaining. We may feel like we are simply commenting upon a difficult situation. However, chronic complaining is dangerous. It can erode our relationship with the Lord, rob us of joy, and poison our relationships with one another. Like an infectious disease, it’s also contagious: Our own complaining often causes others to do the same.
Once on a long road trip with my sister and her young children, the kids began to grow restless, hot, and bored. Every few minutes there was another complaint. Soon they were picking on one another and grumbling. My sister gently corrected her children several times. Finally she told her young son, “Stop whining! Try to be joyful in the Lord.” Quickly this little one replied, “But, Mom, I’m joyfully whining!”

Is there such a condition? I don’t think so. But, like my inventive nephew, I often try to “redefine” my poor behavior, invent excuses for my negative attitudes, and justify myself when I’m disgruntled. This little incident caused me to take a probing look at my own life and listen to my own conversation—and made me realize that I was in danger of becoming a chronic complainer!

There’s a simple remedy: expressing gratitude to God. As the missionary Amy Carmichael once wrote: “Gather up your comforts, the greatest, the smallest, and you will be surprised that you have so many to gather.” When I remember to count my blessings, I’m less likely to complain about what I lack.

Be Deaf to Gossip. “I never repeat gossip, so please listen carefully the first time.” … “Gossip is like a grapefruit—in order to be really good, it has to be juicy.” … “A gossip is a person who suffers from acute indiscretion.”

We may laugh at these witty quips and think of gossiping as a minor fault or petty sin, but Scripture treats it seriously. St Paul included it with serious offenses: “quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder” (2 Corinthians 12:20; italics added). While gossip may not produce outright charges of wrongdoing or incompetence, it spins a web of innuendo. It diminishes the hearer’s trust and esteem for the one who is the subject of the gossip.

Turn a deaf ear the next time someone starts to gossip, or gently change the conversation. And if you happen to hear an interesting “tidbit,” don’t pass it along. “Have you heard something? Let it die with you. Be brave, it will not make you burst!” (Sirach 19:10).

Above all, resist the temptation to spread gossip or talk critically about someone in front of your own children. Not only does it give your kids a negative impression of that person, it also may lead them to think that gossiping is an acceptable practice.

A Fountain of Life. Our speech is a reflection of what lies in our hearts. If we find ourselves saying things we don’t like, we may need to take a deeper look into ourselves and root out and repent of any bitterness or anger we may be harboring.

For many Christians, breaking negative habits of speech is a lifelong struggle. Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you of ways in which you hurt others with your speech. Then repent of them and ask the Lord for the grace to “set a guard” over your mouth (Psalm 141:3). Devise a plan to rid your family of negative patterns of speech. Hold each other accountable in this area. Spend time with Christians who have formed the habit of speaking in ways that build up their relationships.
“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life” (Proverbs 10:11). May we, through God’s grace, speak in ways that bring a fountain of life to our families and our communities.

http://wau.org/resources/article/re_word_power/

Jeanne Kun writes about Scripture, the saints, and the Christian life, and her articles, reflections, and poems have appeared in many Catholic periodicals. She is the author of bestselling Bible studies such as My Soul Magnifies the Lord: A Scriptural Journey with Mary.

THANK YOU, DADDY

2011-05-04T10:12:00.001+08:00

I hit the ground running after I was told that they need a design scheme for such and such and councillor needed the design to be presented before the community affected as a proposal by Monday. I was given one week to do it which I know in my normal phase should not be sufficient. I needed to work overtime in my calculation in which I did. What I haven’t calculated was some on the desk request or public enquiries that I needed to accommodate as well as part of my job. I already damped some of the requests while reasoning out that I got an important job for the big boss blah blah blah. I did a bit of time management and a bit of intense facial expression in front of the computer manifesting “i-am-busy-don’t-bother-me” look. To cut it, it was all done on the dot with pat on the back from the big boss and I put smile on my face on way out of the cubicle.

Appreciation is such a powerful drive. It is indeed a magic word that gets the giver to push harder to give and give. Do you ever think it is easier to give to someone who never ceases to appreciate you than to a person who says nothing at all or who gets to criticise you? JC is an expert in appreciation. I am learning from him. He is my son. Every time I give him something he likes, he jumps, he dances, he hugs and he kisses and says, “Thank you, Daddy”. The more he does that, the more I am overjoyed with delight and the more I think of something to give him so I would see him jumps, dances hugs and kisses again.

In my daily prayer, I make it a point that I thank God for the big and small things he has given me for the day. Prayer is not only about asking or wishing that God would give me this and that. Prayer is bonding with God. It’s like a date. It’s two-way communication. I speak and I listen. In my opinion, one of the most important of prayer is praising and thanking Him. These give Him delight. The more you thank and appreciate Him, the more he thinks of ways of how to bless you. Why? Because he is our Dad, our Father.

Appreciation is not only shown in words. Appreciation is also bringing back the blessing. Good deeds are one way of showing appreciation. Sometimes your good deeds are not appreciated by people around you. But it does not matter really because you know in your heart that good deeds are really meant to the One Above. God is smiling at you and that’s what matters.

CON ARTIST

2011-04-04T07:11:00.001+08:00

What is a coin artist?” asked the Chinese who is trying to learn English for the first time.

“I never heard of it”, I replied somewhat puzzled by the question. “What I’ve heard of is a con artist?”

“Yeah. That’s the one.”

“It is someone who plays tricks on you so that he gets money or anything he wants from you.”

“O, Those people on the street.”

“Yeah. Yeah”

“Street performers”

“Noih! They are like robbers who play tricks in order to lure you.”

Come to think of it!! Hmmm. They’re not just on the streets. People use people all the time in order to get what they want. They are being extra nice to you in order to win their trust and then “Bammm!” they got something that you’ve lost. There were number of occasions that people have stolen credits from me especially in the past when I was just a bit naive. Posters that I painted, songs that I composed, dances that I choreographed, plays that I have written which I wouldn’t careless if I wouldn’t be recognised because I was playing the humility act. Now that I am less naïve and gutsier with whoever will con me, I can see that people are still conning me. Sometimes I let it pass and just shake my head, tsk, tsk, tsk. How different are they from the con artists? I don’t see any. . I have faith in The Truth. When the truth strikes, it badly hurts.

Con artists not only steal possessions but also the goodwill in everyone. In this case, I guess most people nowadays think that there is no such thing as being sincerely helpful. When a wife is being extra nice, the husband would immediately responds, “What do you want?” A gentleman who offers his service is being suspected and one may surmise that maybe he needs free dinner. “Nothing is free anymore” is becoming popular phrase. How pathetic can you get?

How can we revive the sincerity of goodwill? This may be a difficult task when everybody thinks that there is a prize to pay in anything and when everybody thinks that there are lots of con artists around. The danger is when everyone begins to believe that it’s better to con than to be conned.

Do you have to categorize the people you are being helpful with? How does being sincerely helpful become noble and how does it become stupid? It depends on who’s gonna measure it.

A charitable institution may say, “Help those who are in need.”

A friend may say,” As long as he/she is a friend.”

Mothers may say,” Charity begins at home.”

A sceptic may say, “Don’t trust any one”.

Does God measures the nobility of being sincerely helpful?

I imagine being sincerely helpful is always noble in God’s eyes.

Con artists in and out of the streets are being measured as being always stupid.

BULLYING

2011-03-27T16:26:00.003+08:00

I first saw the video of Casey fighting back against a bully in school when someone posted it on FB. My first impression would likely that I am more on clinging on the Hero Material of Casey. And then there was the interview with Casey which added up to the image of the boy hero. I have been hesitating on making comments on what I perceived so far till I saw the interview of the bully and his family which is but fair to them who has been demonized a bit from the whole commercialized stories. The network was so descent enough to lay all the cards on the table and let people decide what to pick.

The footage shows 12-year-old Richard approaching 16-year-old Casey and then punching him in the face and then 3 or 4 times in the stomach. On the next swing, Casey snapped, grabbed and slammed Richard to the ground like a rag doll.

In the interview Casey told that he has been bullied over the past three years. He had once been duct-taped across the eyes and taped to a pole and what have you. The ill feelings due to the bullying and torment has built up over the years and as a result he lashed out against the little bully. There was one low moment of his life that he contemplated committing suicide. His father said that he has had no idea of what Casey was going through till now.

My tiny sympathy with Richard goes as far as knowing that this little boy would carry such an image in his adult life and maybe in a lifetime because the situation was used as an example that he is the villain in the story. This is such a harsh exposure to him. However, the flame of the harshness was panned a bit more during the interview. In the interview, it was obvious that he was prompted to say Yes, he is sorry after he already said No, he is not sorry. I think he was not able to redeem himself in the interview because he is whom we perceive he is.

So much opinions, feedback and TV shows that I gathered so far and I still end up true to what I picture it. The video speaks for itself. Really. I mean, really really. The little bully punches Casey on the face. Casey stands still. Bully strikes him again in the stomach. He tries on the face when Casey snaps and gets him. After he slammed him on the ground, he stands still. He could have kicked him in the stomach or could have stumped his head or could have broken his bones. But he just watches whether the little bully is alright. And he walked away. And he walked away. Casey walking away has shown a lot about himself that he is a non-violent person. He did what he did for self-defense. He is just a nice boy. He is absolutely a hero.

Both boys have so much to go on ahead of them. The tide may change. After the harsh exposure, I hope Richard has learned his lesson and will redeem himself. After learning what he is capable of, I hope Casey would make use of his newly found power to execute good examples.

When I was working as an engineer in the Council in the south, I took a seminar about harassment which touched a bit about bullying. Bullying does not happen not only in school but in the working place as well. For that matter I would say it happens everywhere. And bullying has various types. What most of us know, I believe, is the straightforward and obvious harm striking type of bullying.

Physical bullying – hitting, kicking, pushing, hair pulling, biting, pinching, stealing, hiding or ruining other’s possession.

Verbal – Name-calling, teasing, insulting, gossiping.

Emotional – refusing to talk to the victim, alienating the victim from a group, spreading lies or rumors about the victim, make ways to destroy the self-esteem of the victim.

Cyber ( New) – emailing or instant messaging or texting a rumor, creating a website to destroy the image of the victim.

This was rather new to me during that seminar. And I realised in one way or another I was victim as well. There were instances I was victim of being talked behind my back, being alienated, ganged up, teased, degraded which is I think common to all. AHA! So they are bullies after all. Hmmm.

Bullying has been taken seriously nowadays. It has been found out that it is indeed harmful and got to stop. There are government supports in getting something done to stop bullying. Bullying is bad. I am pretty sure that you have one or more experiences of situations about bullying. Which one were you in the situation? The Good or The Bad? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.

I am pretty sure that there will be many situations when people will try me. But I know better. Most of the time I will just brush it aside and be mature and not to step down in their level. But in the situation when it is becoming severe, I will remember that there was one Casey who showed the world that sometimes when there is no other option, it is okay to slam the bully to make the point. Give me a reason to snap and I am gonna get you until you wake up. Once I get my point across, I am gonna walk away.

PRAISES

2011-03-22T18:10:00.000+08:00

Bragging is the one that will steal away your greatness. No matter how great you are in a certain field if you rub it in to someone who does not exceed or amount to your capability, your credit begins to be unrecognizable. No matter how excellent you are, if you laugh at others who don’t meet your standard, you won’t receive the praises that are due to you. You may have the prettiest garden in the whole neighbourhood but if you always make foul comments on anybody else’s garden, do not be puzzled if your garden is not well visited or admired. You may be well experienced in building houses or painting a house, but if you mock someone who has no knowledge whatsoever in this field, don’t be puzzled when you don’t receive any recognition on the job well done. You may be expert in computer, but if you ridicule someone who does not even know how to burn a CD, do not wonder why you are still branded as an ordinary geek. You may be the best singer in town but you always ridicule how terrible someone else’s voice is, don’t expect that you’ll get the praises. I remember when I cook a meal for my partner. During dinner, I told her how delicious the dish was. And she commented, “You just can’t wait for me to mention it myself, can you?” Your greatness is not earned by promoting it. Receive the praises as they come. Sometimes we ask, “How was it?” or “Did you like it?” Well, it’s fine. I may consider them humble questions rather than saying “It is awesome, isn’t it?” And the worst is when you blurt “Unlike this guy. He’s terrible!” and you will be down the drain big time. You may be wondering even if you believe that you got what it takes but somehow people don’t acknowledge it. And the only solution that you know in order to be recognized is to show off and even to ditch others. The more that you resort to this manner the more that you lose the recognition and even respect. And so you exert more effort to show off and ditch to get what you want. And still you wonder why. All of us have areas of expertise. It's a matter of how you carry it. I learned that modesty has to be attached to what I am good at in order to win the acknowledgement.

THE TRUTH IS.....

2011-03-08T09:16:00.000+08:00

I learned when being true will get me to a much more simple way of dealing with things. Being who I am at the moment is just sufficient for me to make it for the day. Being who I am not will just add to a more complex situation. Wanting to be somebody can be a dream and can be achieved by humbly accepting that I am not there yet but I am making the most of the current me to make the step toward it. It’s good to dream to be somebody someday. If it’s gonna mean going through stages, get on with those stages one at a time. No shortcut or else I’ll end up going back to the drawing board once I fall short and fail. Don’t ever claim you are that somebody now when you are still not. That’s not living the dream. That’s faking. You may never know that an expert in the field is laughing at you doing stuff that you are not expert about in which you are claiming you are.

Truth will get in you into trouble when you are living with a lie. When you wanna be fraud of something, look at what you are offending when you are being one. Make sure it is not bigger than you who may potentially get back at you. I guess the most mortal of all frauds is when you take the Name of the Lord God in vain (The 3rd Commandment). Many claim that they are God’s Stewards but then you see them cursing, rumour mongering, slandering, creating divisions among God’s Flock, destroying marriage and putting not uplifting but distractive words to others. Come on, man. Before you put on that God’s Steward ID, make sure you are truly living the Name. Do not put it in vain.

The truth is I am a sinner just like anybody else. We all have our ups and downs in morality. I make sure that when I stumble and fall, I look up to Him, stand up again and correct my ways. The truth will set me free out of humility before the Lord who will give me mercy.

DRAWING

2011-02-02T07:22:00.002+08:00

Before I became an engineer I worked as a layout artist/illustrator of a children’s’ magazine. I was illustrating famous children stories of well respected children story writers. My job then has gone beyond being an artist. I got to spend time visiting the houses of the writers to pick up the manuscripts and on the side having cookies and tea with them. We also discussed on how I should illustrate the stories. Even though I was not well compensated then, I enjoyed the work so much that I did not consider it as work. Why I enjoyed it? I guess that was my childhood passion.

I used to collect comics in grade school years which inspired me to make my own comics. I remember letting my cousins to read my comics for a fee of 10 centavos. They needed to keep reading everyday because I made sure that every comic book that I made is to be continued. I explored more on charcoals and painting when I was in High School. I remember attending courses on weekends. Father Ben, the school chairman at that time if I am not mistaken gave me a job of painting posters for the church and he got to pay me.

I was good in math as well. Mr Bien Santos (No relation), the high school guidance counsellor, gave me a job of tutoring students who were failing in algebra, trigonometry and geometry. There were few of us in high school who were good in math and were earning money because of tutoring. Anyone in Facebook, raise your hand. My love for numbers leads me to the direction of pursuing a career in engineering. I was thinking then that Civil Engineering combines drawing and numbers.

After graduating in college, while waiting for the result of the board exam, I landed a job as an artist/illustrator in the Children’s Mag as I mentioned above. One day, a friend of mine who was a fellow artist and I tried to apply for a job in animation. Both of us have been accepted. I turned it down because I already pass the board exam and got a job offer as an engineer. My artist friend is now based in California and had done Mulan, and some Disney Animation. I pursued the career in engineering for more than a decade which served as a significant gateway for my family to migrate in New Zealand. I enjoyed being an engineer as well, which I have established my career and took up masters in hydrology.

I have been a full-time engineer until now but I have never given up drawing. It might not be my bread-and-butter but I have been known to be good at it. There have been hundreds of times that I helped out my cousins, nieces, kids in the neighbourhood, the children of my work colleagues with their assignments which involved drawing who I am sure are grownups now and may have kids of their own. Anyone in Facebook, raise your hand. I did not expect anything from them but I wouldn’t mind seeing a sandwich on my office table or a smile every time I meet them.

In order to find out what you are made of, one should examine his childhood passion. I am pretty sure that God-Given Gifts coincide with why you exist. And that’s how it is to have a purpose driven life. I always ask myself, “Now that I got it, what am I doing about it?” How can I make it significant?

Now back to drawing? Where am I now with this? How do I make drawing significant? I am an engineer. I am a Dad to JC too. JC needs guidance and drawing is an effective tool in reaching out to him. JC loves drawing. We have the same passion. As a Dad, JC is my mission. And that’s how it is significant for now.

WHERE IS MY TRUE NORTH?

2011-01-21T10:51:00.002+08:00

BEING UNDERESTIMATED

The advantage of being underestimated is that there is an assurance that I will have my last laugh when the truth says I am more than what they envisaged or most the time I am more than what is mischievously circulated. There was one time when I have finished a job; someone commented that the end result was too good to be true. Excuse me?

SHOW OFF

I don’t need to prove anything and yet sometimes I pity those people who do not know how to give the benefit of the doubt.

Morrie said in his book: “Mitch, if you're trying to show off for people at the top, forget it. They will look down at you anyhow. And if you're trying to show off for people at the bottom, forget it. They will only envy you. Status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone.”

FABRICATED TRUTH

Someone says something not true to another. A fabricated truth is still not true. Whenever there is a chance that the truth will emerge, you fabricate again and again to cover it. It is such a high maintenance which is a waste of time that is supposed to be spent in something worthwhile.

LEADER VS MANAGER

It’s best to have a leader that is principle centred who will guide you to true north. What is a leader compared to a manager. In climbing a wall, a manager can excel in planning, finding issues and options, assessing, analysing pros and cons, budgeting time and finances, implementing, supervising workers in constructing the ladder. If the manager is in the wrong wall, his talent is in vain. A principle centred leader will direct you to the right wall.

ACCOLADES.

A man who is obsessed with accolades would always make sure that there’s no one would top him on the list. He is always on the look out for potential competition. Once he spot one, he would invest time to erase him from the scene or prevent him from doing what he can excel. He may be smart to steal ideas from the rival and disintegrate him afterwards. Disintegration has many forms: making the rival a laughing stock, destroy the reputation, limit is resources to do things to name a few. There is no difference between him and a con artist. Taking advantage is always in his agenda to serve his obsession to be recognized. What he doesn’t know is that his twisted actions are obvious. Because of his obsession he is being blinded from realizing that people are smarter than what he thinks they are. Unless he wakes up, people keep on shaking their head every time he does things twisted.

OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE

A group of individuals who are working together with unclear objective will end up with no good result. Everyone should agree with one objective. Once you have agreed with one, every one should refrain from being subjective.

EQUIPPED

2011-01-13T06:34:00.001+08:00

Everyone needs each other. That’s the essence of community. Not so much on Give-and-take kinda relationship. Interdependency is most likely how I describe it. You can be effective in giving when you have so much to give. Some people are sometimes hesitant to give in the belief there is not much to give or they are not that equipped to give. Some people have devoted too much in equipping themselves and never have given. They are still constructing the right moment. The moment is now. There is a reason for whoever you are now. Much has been given and much has to be given. You see, giving is an important part of equipping.

Church service or any service to God should be considered a calling and it requires total conviction. Some people forget in midst of dealing with the service whom is it for. They should be reminded that they are doing this not for him, not for her and not for them. That is just a lower calling. In this case, every time you begin to get irritated with him or her or them, you fall short on how you do the service. Wherein when you believe that you have the higher calling of service to the Almighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords, consider it as an honour in doing the best of your ability and complete it with God’s Grace no matter what. God bless those who complete the work He bestowed on them. He is always in favour with those who are completing the work according to the Graces He showered them for.

Although the deed is an offering to God, Abel’s brother Cain did the work according to what he thought it should be done and God did not favour his ways. It is always God’s way. Like Cain, you question God “Why?” Why doesn’t God bless me with fruitful outcome? Maybe it’s time to check your ways.

Have I Been True to the Title?

2011-01-11T06:09:00.001+08:00

Have I been true to the title of the blog Random Thought?

Although my recent blogs came out from my random thoughts, they do not look like they are random but rather well coordinated and most of the time deeper thoughts. Believe me, they came out random in the first draft and some of which have been picked out and organised to put in the blog in a coordinated way with good title. I believe in random thoughts because in writing in unguarded and unsupervised moment is where I know myself more.

Again, have I been true? First draft, yes. Second and third draft, not quite.
Maybe in order to stay living the title, the final draft should be a collection of variety of random thoughts in which I should not bother too much in how I connect them.

Here goes.

SUBCONSCIOUS

The subconscious plays an important role in our lives even when we don’t know it. it is proven. Why are my fingers coordinated with what I think? What is the matter? Type. Type. Type. I know almost the keys in the keyboard even without looking. I believe it is the subconscious working. It is beyond reasoning that only the common mind can think. Sometimes gut feels means everything. There is no need for explanation. It is just the right thing to do. Dreams may have some answers to what the subconscious wanting to say. The Movie Inception explains that clearly or not. God may be part of that subconscious. If we can only tap the subconscious, maybe, maybe, maybe. Anyhow, I am still typing.
It’s easy to do something once it is in the system. That is why it is very important to get in the habit of doing something so that the system will capture it. If you want to be a good person, do the good, useful and needed habit all the time.

VULNERABLE

I don’t wanna be vulnerable. All us has gone through a situation where we are so naïve in which some nasty people exploit our vulnerability. Learn from experience. Make sure that you don’t do the same mistake twice.

TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE

I am currently rereading the book Tuesdays with Morrie my Mitch Albom. There are so many interesting quotes in the book. There was a movie made in 1998 about it too. Some memorable quotes are:

"The truth is . . . once you learn how to die, you learn how to live."

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."

"Do the kinds of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won’t be dissatisfied, you won’t be envious, you won’t be longing for somebody else’s things. On the contrary, you’ll be overwhelmed with what comes back."

The last sample quote is my favourite of all. I don’t need to get what others got because I got my own and I should be happy with what I have to give because this is what I am made of.

LIVE IN THE TRUTH

I make sure that I will try to live in the truth. Pretending to be what I am not is high maintenance for covering the truth. What you see is what you get. What I am capable is what you get. If I share my true capacity is the proclamation of how good God is in handing me over such gifts. I make sure to live and give what I currently got. Showing off is not my thing any more. I just do what I am capable of doing.

EATING YOUR WORDS

When you are always speaking about what you are not certain about most of the time, you end up eating your words because the truth will come out sooner or later. You must be bloated by now for eating too much of your words. If you keep on doing the habit, at least keep your word soft and sweet in case you have to eat them.

2010 RECAP

2011-01-05T07:49:00.000+08:00

HE WHO

2010-11-22T16:17:00.002+08:00

When someone would ask what the all-time favourite song of mine is, the first thing that comes to my mind is the song originally sung by Steve Green which was taken from the passage Philippians 1:6.

“He who began a good work in you will be faithful to fulfil it.”

What is my favourite passage? And my answer is obviously that passage. Why? Every time I get to read the passage or hear that song especially in the times that I’ve been tested, my eyes get to dazzle from a wee bit of moisture.

It speaks of God of being so faithful that he will never live you till the end. Once you know through your gifts that God has started something for you to fulfil and you obediently do it, He assures you He will make way for you to fulfil it. You just need to be faithful and steadfast no matter what. Never give in. Never sway even in the midst of being tested. Don’t stoop down to the level of the wicked that make your undertaking a wee bit harder. You know what is true. And it is God-given truth. Hold on the truth even in the midst of devised deceit. God is on your side. Why? Because He is the one who started what you have been doing for goodness sake!

If the struggle you're facing
Is slowly replacing
Your hope with despair
Or the process is long
And you're losing your SONG
In the night you can be sure
That the Lord has His hand on you
Safe and secure
He will never abandon you
You are His treasure
And He finds His pleasure in you

Milk and Cocoon

2010-11-17T05:03:00.001+08:00

Babies get to consume milk for their sustenance. And then a stage comes when those baby foods which are a wee bit solid are introduced. And then the meat. There are stages in human life where the sustenance gets to be developed according to the ability to digest. Some people even though they are not babies anymore still drink milk. I drink milk. I love milk. I consume almost everyday. New Zealand has heaps of cows which produce milk. I learned from reading that humans are the only mammals who still drink milk in their adult life. Pets are exceptions because people feed them but if they have their choice, they naturally don’t. Once milk weaned, mammals stop drinking milk. Once Mummy (that’s how kiwis spell it) does not produce milk anymore, we got Formula. And then sometimes it becomes a habit forming for some children. Bottled milk becomes a comfort zone to some children. And then some children are a little bit picky with what they eat and parents got to be skilful and creative on how to introduce edible stuff to their kids’ mouth. And sometimes things can be a bit nasty and forceful in shoving nutritional fodders to kids who don’t want to leave their comfort food. No matter how parents say that this is good for you, they just don’t care. “I want my milk.” But once they get to try it, they would realise that this is simply yummy. “I want more”. I guess this is also similar to how adults are willing to digest wisdom or learning. “This is just a bit too intellectual or too spiritual. I just want to have a simple life”. And so you keep on doing your routine in your comfort zone with a notion that simplifying life is living what you have been used to. And the more you seek a simple life the more you find chaos when you try to excite yourself with your usual outgrown boring shell. Something is not right when you are overdue to become a butterfly and you still try to keep yourself in a cocoon. And then you found out that it’s not simple to live in this cocoon. I would say that simple life is just let the nature takes its course. Simplicity is how you live with what is currently necessary.

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. ~Hans Hofmann, Introduction to the Bootstrap, 1993

SEND OFF

2010-11-11T09:05:00.001+08:00

I did a bit of sending off to my old Pentium 4 Desktop Comp and donated it to EDay. EDay is an event where people will just junk their old computers for a good cause. Being sentimental to all sorts of things which have been attached to me, it is kinda hard for me to send them away. There are so many reasons why we need to get rid of old stuff and one of them is just to clear space. And that is why my old HP had to go. There were other potential amiable items I keep for slushy reasons which I need to get rid off for all sorts of sensible reasons. I guess recalling the time spent with something which has provided good service for so many years makes me cringed a bit when thinking about turning them over. The Lazy Boy which was my first appliance and one of my inanimate companions in an empty living room of a house when I was just starting to settle in NZ is now wondering like an unlawful tenant in the middle of our guest room of our current house. The charger dependent ACER laptop which is still running but worn out has helped me in putting up good blogs, songs, graphic arts, websites, photos, and a gateway for social networking. Claire mentioned a hundred times that I look like a farmer when I wear one of my two corduroy button down shirts but I still wear them so frequent that you may notice three or more facebook photos of me wearing “the shirts” in different occasions. My favourite books which are just accumulating dust in a shelf: I just want it to be there just in case I will find time to read them again. I am not new in sending away lovable stuff. I have been in a few rounds before. I used to own a scientific calculator which I have been using since the college years and for more than five years working as an engineer. The price of calculators had been getting cheaper and cheaper but I did not want to give it up but the device which got me to graduate in college has sort of whispered to me that it wanted to retire. I mean it was still working even when it had a naked back when the rear shell broke and the cracks of the four corners of the front shell threatened to completely strip it off. And don’t let me start with cars. I only had three previous cars: The Happy Car, The BOX and Singkit. Each of them has a novel to tell. It’s a struggle to send away what used to be a keeper. What makes me carry on after a send-off is by thinking that in the midst of uncertainty on how one would last, there is certainty on how one had been a good company in the past and I would like to keep that memory. Good memories are always keepers.

The Perfect One

2010-10-21T19:13:00.002+08:00

I was reading one of the entries of a member of a group of Christian Bloggers about Christians nowadays being underrated for the reason that some of them don’t act what they speak. Looking at it in a cynical angle, it seems that they are just a bunch of charlatans. But hey! Come on. Nobody is perfect. Anyone has its flaws. We are all sinners. We stumble once in while. Don’t be too hard on them. One thing good about Christians is that they have a track to follow. Once they caught getting off balance and swerving a bit as long as they have a clearer vision of their true north and intend to go back, I guess they are still cool.

However, we are indeed imperfect but that's not a reason for us not to aim for perfection. I always like the idea that people should always find us faithful. Aiming for perfection does not mean that you got to be a member of all the religious org that you knew or you got be well versed in the bible or you got to be a theologian or you got to be a missionary. Although they are in a way tools to become a good Christian, that’s not all.

One well known Filipino writer wrote an article and has been published in her book says that the reason why she does not join such group is that this is just a bunch of people who fish you and use the group as a vehicle for them to exhibit that they are holier, better and more all-knowing than you and they are there to save you from your miserable life. “Excuse me?.” The writer put up a strong word. I would not say she’s right. Neither would I say she’s wrong. Maybe she just met the misaligned kind of fishers of men or maybe this was just her perception.

Self righteousness clouds the wisdom on how to become a true servant. This reminds me of the Pharisee Jesus mentioned in the bible. There are People like Pharisee who consider themselves healthy through their own effort and always think that God favours them more than anybody else. There was this Pharisee in the temple who stood up and gave thanks to God because he was not like the robbers, the adulterers and evil-doers like the tax-collector. The tax collector was in the temple as well and he asked for mercy that he may be cleansed from his sins. Jesus favoured the tax collector over the Pharisee because the tax collector humbled himself before the Lord.

Aiming for perfection: is it a tough? Hmmmm. Naaah. Just be humble. Although in some ways it is difficult to be humble. Paul says that “when I am weak, them I am strong.” Admit that you are not perfect. Surrender your totality to Him. And then acknowledge that you need God to fill your imperfection for perfection. And that’s how you aim for perfection: looking at the Perfect One who can fill your void.

Martha and Mary

2010-10-07T18:00:00.002+08:00

The story of Martha and Mary in John 11:17-40 is such a reminder to everyone that there is time to work and there is time to seat still. I have heard it every time and even just in my head that sometimes doing nothing is the best thing one can ever do at a moment. We have been introduced to wisdom that in order to win, we ought to push your limit. Yes it is absolutely true. This wisdom holds true all the time. However the question is what are you winning for? What are you trying to achieve? "I gotta finish painting the whole house until the sunset no matter what and so I gotta work double time," you say. And then you achieved with aching back and sore arms and you began asking, “Why in the world did I finish it wherein I still have all the time tomorrow? Now all I need to do is rest the whole night and I have no energy to spend quality time with my kid.”

This reminds me of my fave book First Thing’s First. And it talks about priorities that are put into quadrants. I think I have already talked about this in my previous blogs. Find you true north and work your way towards it. Working your way towards it means that you need to be efficient in all your natural intelligence. Mind intelligence (IQ}, Emotional Intelligence (EQ), Physical Intelligence (PQ), Spiritual Intelligence (SQ). Activities which compromise the uplifting of one of this intelligence compromise your efficiency to achieve something. Studying until wee hours of the morning for a board exam sounds a good idea and then you find yourself having mental block because you compromise your PQ – you did not have enough sleep. You find yourself angry and depressed and you think that the best way is to forget them by consuming a little bit of alcohol and then you find that they are still there the following morning and the only way to get rid of your problem is just clear out your mind and dwell on your spirit (SQ) by just spending quiet time. Quiet Time can be called prayer time, talking to God, meditation or communing with the universe.

Sometimes it is difficult to figure out when we need to stop being Martha and to just sit still like Mary. The world is tricky most of the time that it would not let you know that you’re dragged out of the right track. That is why it is very important to do quality control regularly like finding time everyday to sit still and be quiet and listen.

Helmet and Paddings

2010-10-06T17:52:00.001+08:00

I have mentioned a number of times that I have reached the point wherein competition is not part of my agenda anymore. Whatever endeavour I dwell at the moment is for the uplifting of self and for whoever will receive it. I do choir just for the enjoyment and service and not for proving that my choir can excel better than the other. I paint because it is relaxing and it is self revealing and not to let anybody eat my dirt. I shoot photos to let other see the colourful and bright side of life and that there is something good in anything once you put it in a frame thus proclaiming that the world is not that bad. I sing and dance for self expression and gratification. To put it simply, everything that I do now, I try to make sure that it is in a form of worship to the one who allows me to move my brush, to catch a tune that harmonise with other tunes, to move my dancing feet, to capture images and to love my wife and kid.

I am sorry for those who are still trying to compete with others who are not in first place in the competing mode. Those who compete with those who do not want to compete are always the losers and dim-witted. It’s like one is still wearing the football gears with the helmet and paddings idiotically running around another who is just enjoying a cup-a-tea on a bench in the middle of a green field.

While Enriching Vocabulary

2010-09-30T17:59:00.003+08:00

While I was reading an online article, I came across an English word that was rather new to me. Cabal. The word might not be that highfalutin to an average person. I must admit that sometimes I find myself being below average when it comes to word power. I live my life with simple words, words that can be understood even by grade school kids. Sometimes anxiety attacks me over this word deficiency. But most of the time I laugh about it. Simple words. Simple life. Why should I make it harder? And here is another flaw: I am a bad speller. Probably you would have caught my spelling booboos in my blog before I get to edit words such as rich instead of reach, to instead of too, plane instead plain or price instead prise. Mr Forrester was a prominent creative writer who advised his protégée that one must write from the heart and edit from the mind. And I completely believe it. Write first before you edit. But there were instances that I was just reckless and did not give too much deeper look at the draft before I get to publish it. However I am not too worried about slight errors as long as there are still people who get to read it without judgement. Anyway I am responsible enough to get back at the blog once I see some errors and get to edit it. What I am worried about is the CABAL who will get to read them. Whadyaknow! I get to actually use the newly found word in this blog. There are various meaning of Cabal when I Google searched for it and the one that I was looking for which fits with the description in my mind when I get to see one is a group of people who seek power usually through intrigue. They have practiced the skills of formulating harmful intrigues to empower them. They become skilful to the point of almost as easy as winking to create a naughty story that would likely create harm. We get to undoubtedly encounter them in our daily lives. If you agree and know such people, just wink. I am sure they are most obvious in politicians. Sigh. I am glad that I get to enrich my vocabulary once in while.

BLOGGING ABOUT PAINTING

2010-09-18T12:38:00.003+08:00

I am glad that I started painting again. Sometimes you don’t know what you’re missing until you get to dwell on it again. I guess its fulfilment is beyond explaining and when you get lose it, it’s easy for you to wander away when you have blurry idea of its benefit. There is nothing like getting you hands, arms, shirt and face dirty with paint when you get to create colours that subtly registers your own being or your own soul. No doubt that it’s therapeutic. I have said that it’s beyond explaining and here I am trying to explain what I get from painting as best as I can, hoping that in between lines I can get across from one psyche to another. The simplest way to explain it is that when I paint, I feel good. I know that not everybody can paint and what I am saying here may not apply to all. What I am saying really is that when you do something that you are good at and complete it, you feel good. I remember when I was chairman of a painting competition in my beloved home country, I got to advice the young artists during my speech and I kept on saying to them that they need to continue improving their craft while they are young and while they have all the time in the world to move their brushes according to their delight. I stopped painting not for a bad reason but for a better reason. Now that the universe has dictated me to reside to a laid back country like NZ, I was given the time I needed to hold my brush again. One of my friends in FB who also resides in NZ has said, “Definitely you can do that here.” Yes I can!

Smile Back

2010-08-24T08:50:00.001+08:00

I am happy. I wanna put smile on my face to show the whole universe that I am happy. It is believed that a smile can infect others. Hmmmm. I am not convinced with this. I may flash that big smile that says “Hey! I am doing great!” but there are people who are just so pathetically uncomfortable with it. They think, “Why is he happy and I am not. I wish that he is miserable like me. I got to do something to make him depressed then.” Who’s the loser here? I believe the one who stay happy wins. Coz it’s our choice really. No matter how people create scheme in making our life difficult, it’s still our choice if we want to get affected with it. You want to be miserable? It’s your call. You want to drag others in to your miserable chamber? Does it make you better? (Chuckle) Gees. What a wasted effort if the end result is just accumulating miseries. Go ahead! Line up and sit on a bench all yoh old folks who wanna stay glum for the rest of your breath. It’s your choice. I want to flash that smile on my face and this is dedicated to the people who are happy for me. So smile back if you are with me.

TRUE HAPPINESS

2010-08-20T09:41:00.002+08:00

Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.

Helen Keller

I remember reading a book about true happiness. Find happiness in giving and STOP THERE! Period! Don’t expect anything out of giving. Finding happiness on your expectations on consequences of your good deed won’t work. It might lead to disappointment. True happiness is really in giving. And I am beginning to believe that again as I come across Miss Keller’s writing. It is hard sometimes because somehow we are selfish beings. Selfish means trouble and does not connote with gaining true happiness. It is more wonderful to say, “ I am happy because I did something good to a friend today” rather than “I am happy because my friend reciprocated what I did to him.”

In the latter statement happiness depends on someone’s action. In the first statement, happiness depends on your action which you have all the choices in the world.

Do you wanna be happy? It’s your choice.

EMOTIONAL BANK ACCOUNT

2010-08-19T09:15:00.003+08:00

I visited Special Word website. This is what God said to me: "Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you."-Ephesians 4:29

I am at present moulding a habit that would find something good to say on anyone I would meet aside from saying “Hello”, “Hi”, “Good Morning”, “Gidday”.“Nice jacket you are wearing.”“That is a neat outfit.”“Congratulation with your presentation a while ago. You did a good job.”Those little add-ons to your greetings are just small nice comments but they might be a big positive impact to the receivers. Putting a smile on someone’s face due to praises can be a permanent file stored on someone’s memory that can be most of the time recalled. Praises can never be forgotten. They are always on the top file of the most visited folder of someone’s memory. File of praises are meant to be pulled out and be recalled when someone is down. Files of praises are remembered along with certain labels. That certain labels are the names of the givers. “O yeah, Jon, gave that comment to me. He’s something.” If you keep on praising others as a practice, you keep on adding good files with your name attached to them. This gesture is what Stephen Covey (7 Habits) calls depositing to the EMOTIONAL BANK ACCOUNT. When you are kind, honest, caring and friendly to another person, you make deposits on an Emotional Bank Account as well. However, if you are unkind, disrespectful, uncaring and mean, you draw from this account.There is no telling that you would be in a good mood always. No matter how you have all the intention of not hurting anyone, there are times you can not please everyone and there are times that you hurt someone regardless of your intention. Bad moods have their swings and sometimes gets you into saying or doing that you will regret. During those times that you have been bad to someone are withdrawals to the Emotional Bank Account. However if you keep on depositing, by being nice most of the time and establishing a good investment, sudden and unwanted withdrawals would do no harm. Have you noticed that it is easy to forgive a trustful friend who has done petty harm to you. You know that you trust him so much due to all the good deed he has done to you and he has been frequently depositing to your emotional bank account.If you do frequent withdrawal, how much trust do you think you gain from others? If you are frequently unkind, disrespectful, uncaring, maligning, ridiculing, backbiting, lying, making trouble and mean, you definitely will end up with a negative account. Come to think of it: with this kind of attitude, do you think you still have true friends. I doubt it. You may say you have people around your circles but I bet they are just around and are just watchful to your snarl. Gosh! I have read Covey’s book more than 10 years ago and I still remember this concept. This might have created an impact to me.

Satisfaction

2010-08-16T18:06:00.001+08:00

If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, also we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world.

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

C. S. Lewis is one of my favourite authors of all time. The best selling book Mere Christianity has been an eye opener to me in terms of what Christians should be like. He wrote Chronicles of Narnia as a Children’s book but catered for adults considering the allegory behind the story: Aslan the Lion is a symbol of Jesus Christ being humiliated, died and rose in glory, the children (Human beings) who were being lured by the white witch (Satan). If you find the Disney Movie version boring or for kids’ stuff, try watching it again having in mind the allegory, you might appreciate it.

The quotation is one of favourite lines in the book. It made me realized something. “So that’s why I have no satisfaction in this world.?” Do you ever wonder no one is contented in this world.? We always long for something. We always feel that you are missing something. Because the supreme satisfaction that you are after in the long run is not in this world but in the place where you are created for,……… Heaven. Aiming for satisfaction in superficial things would always give you a run for your money all the time. It’s not in this world you are made to dwell forever merrily. The everlasting joy is there in heaven. In that case, I just have to aim for heaven knowing that satisfaction is bound to happen there. However aiming for heaven calls for sacrifice. It might mean depriving me from something that would contradict the direction towards my supreme aim. It might mean striving hard to give your best as offering to God’s Glory. It always means that you do whatever you are made of here on earth in preparation for heaven. Do you know what you are made of and what you’re supposed to do with them? Examine your talents. What are you doing with them? They are not just tricks under your sleeves but the reasons of your existence and the measurement of how you use them is the measurement of your worthiness in heaven.

Whatever You Do....

2010-08-16T17:46:00.002+08:00

An ungrateful man is like a hog under a tree eating acorns, but never looking up to see where they come from.

Timothy Dexter

Sometimes it’s hard to take it when you have been giving much effort and time to help out someone and still he/she is being ungrateful for the trouble. Yes, there is a good virtue in having the attitude of never expecting something in return on the good deeds you’ve done. Yet, I felt sorry for someone who seldom looks back on the one who’s done him/her a favour because he/she is too preoccupied on how he/she indulges his/her selfish motives. This reminds me a scene in a Rocky V, when retired Rocky disappointedly stared at his protégé who has been caught by too much ego which made him wanting to beat Rocky in a match. You never know what comes up with the human minds and intentions. You were exactly sure in a moment that he deserves your attention. Yet the next moment the wind blows and his attitude is tarnished. Nothing is really certain except God’s love. And the logical thing to do is really to put all your effort to what is certain. You can do all things and deal with uncertainty and dedicate your deeds to the one that is certain. Now the verse in Colossians suddenly makes more sense. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men.

YOU! YES YOU!

2010-08-14T21:10:00.002+08:00

You! Yes You!

If you get to check on my previous blogs, I have written about some serious wickedness of people such as credit grabbing, slandering, being “intregera”, lying or simply being assholes. And what’s remarkable is that there were really people who got caught being guilty about these impieties. I mean do they have to react when I had been very careful not to point fingers in my blog? Some people are really naively transparent. And when the impulse already kicked through, ooops! Got yeah!

There is an advantage being underestimated. I mean people would try to do nasty things in subtle way not knowing that I am not dumb to figure that. I’d say that I am less naïve about evil manoeuvres. I wasn’t born yesterday. I felt sorry about this people who keep on doing these nasty antics without them knowing that they already blew their cover. Washing hands is their best move in order not to be totally suspected.

A friend of mine wrote on her FB wall, “You can stab me behind my back all you want; your efforts will be futile. For I walk and talk with my God behind me, in front of me and in all of me!” I get to be at peace with my God as long as I always please my God and every walk I take. As long as I do my best with the gifts God gave me, you can never put a good man down. I know the reason I am here. It is obvious with what has been entrusted to me. People who try to crash what I am designed for will be accountable to the Ultimate Designer. I am on the right side. Or I am trying to be.

I pray that people would learn to uplift each other and not the other way around. True friends whom I treasure the most are those who try to outdo in uplifting one another. Thank God my family still keeps a couple of them and we still in contact with them whenever possible.

Do you know what it means to be uplifting? I can define it profoundly. But I will just put it simply. If you find yourself having a heavy heart after talking to someone who criticizes and downgrades frequently, that is the opposite. What a shame when you realize this ironically.

NO TIME FOR BLOGGING BECAUSE OF FB

2010-08-09T18:30:00.002+08:00

I haven’t used this blog site for a long time because I was too consumed by the worldwide whim with FB. It is always in my first agenda when I flip open my laptop, to visit FB. In fact because it was on the agenda’s first list I already put it in my home page tab in the internet options which is used to be Yahoo. It is Outrageous. It is a good thing I did not go as far as cultivating digital crops, joining a Mafia, or whatever I may have to spend time with. Thank God. I agree that it has some drawbacks. I always had intention to visit as much as many site as possible and to blog in my limited time in the evening but for some reason I always ended stuck with FB and by the time I was done with it, it was time to sleep. And what am I consuming time with in FB? Checking out some comments what I previously posted and commenting with them. Checking out and commenting with some photos, videos, wall comments, links of others. It sounds like a simple task but because there are too many of them you would not realise that it has consume all of your internet time. And before I knew it, no time for blogging, no time for TradeMe. YouTube may be a lot different because it is the most famous site to link with FB. I am so delighted that FB allowed me to get in touch to grade school buddies and long lost best friends. It creates a gateway to once perceived to be unreachable. FB becomes an initiation for reunions and get-togethers. Maybe this is the reason why it is so addicting. It has full of surprises. And I guess human species are keen for surprises. No wonder why we need to get gifts to be wrapped. What’s the fuzz? You get to unwrap it anyway? Surprises in FB come as delight and as dissatisfaction. Shocks! I was tagged again to another freakin’ photo of me in High School! Whow! When did this horrifying candid shot taken? This goes to show that the frequent visit to FB is not only for the reason that I wanna see more interesting stuff but I get to deal with the high maintenance of quality control. Photos to keep and photos to un-tag. And so that’s how I stick with FB. Would I be willing to kill my FB account and get a real life? Naah. But I will promise myself not to be consumed by it and use the internet in doing equally interesting stuffs like serious blogging. And why should I point the finger at FB for my blogging adequacy? Maybe I just need a cheer to stimulate me to blog.

Take it Easy

2010-06-04T15:33:00.000+08:00

Being a planner, I always make it a point that everything I do has some kind of assurance that it is well thought of. Although there are cases that I wanna rely on my gut-feel, I have a tendency to make quick assessment on the possibility of several what-ifs. I would say that where there is risk it has to be well thought of rather than gamble. I am lousy gambler. That’s why I cling to more assurance. I guess risk is something perceived. Perception can be coated with cynicism which gears to taking too much unnecessary caution. Sensible scepticism can be good especially when the result of your calculation false down to failure. But not everything has to be well thought of. Sometimes how you feel about it makes the best gauge on what the best move is. But sometimes what you think and what you feel add up to confusion that leads to tension. I guess too much thinking and too much emotion is cynical. Once it is get to point of out of control when your mind and your heart are messing with you, you gotta take it easy. Quiet time is what we should have as a regular routine. Getting our mind and our heart out of this world would give us renewed perspective. They say that silence is power. Quiet time may be a prayer time to others. Others spend quiet time as communing to the higher being, finding your inner voice, or simply chilling out. The idea is to pull yourself back together or to renew our spirit which will bring Faith back to our system. Personally, I would call it prayer time. Prayer is communing with God. Prayer is finding your inner voice in which the big part is how you were created by God. They are all the same. Get a regular doze and we will be fine. No! We’ll be great!

DED NA SI LOLO

2010-05-10T16:08:00.002+08:00

We’ve watched few Filipino Movies during the weekends. Ded na si Lolo was a winner for me since the rendering of the Filipino ways was made perfect in this movie. I was glued on the video because I began to realise that I already lack Filipino ingredients in a foreign land which become missed longings like Jollibee, SM malls, Tilapia, Divisoria and MRT. Mr Topacio being a veteran PETA affiliate has perfected his craft in writing and directing through this movie. The film succeeded in translating Filipino values, hang-ups, unique funeral practices like gambling, family relationships, humors, culture and irrational superstitions through the well written story. A big part of the success of the movie was the excellent cast like Gina Alajar, Roderick Paulate, Elizabeth Oropesa, Manilyn Reynes, Dick Israel and Perla Bautista who may not be bankable superstars but have earned their rights as respected and refined actors and actresses. The cast made it so realistic. I believe that this was one of the bets for the international competition. I wonder how it will be paired when most of the nuances there I guess were outright Pinoy that might get a hard time being translated in the same way internationally. Pinoy watchers would definitely get to laugh out loud and to be moved with this movie. I may compare this to the English movie Death in the Funeral (I think there is already the American Version) but Ded Na Si Lolo is more moving in all aspects. Thanks to Ben and MJ for letting us watch the movie.

Traffic Cones on Trees

2010-04-27T12:27:00.002+08:00

I was in the lunch area of our office while fixing my coffee when Mike from IT asked me.

“Have you gotten bored last holy week?”

“What do you mean?”

And then he pointed through the window on the tall Pine Tree at the back of the council building. A traffic cone was placed at the tip of it. Most of us who have seen the cone thought it was hilarious. It was the conversation for the day actually. We were informed in the long run that there were same incidents in other locations in town. We figured that these were done by the same guys. Whatever point they were making, they sure were successful in making it the talk of the council. Probably it was something that these guys were proud about. Probably they make a hobby out of it. Or probably they were just bored and needing something to do. They surely put smile on some faces. They surely ain’t gonna put smile to the person who’ll do the job of getting rid of them. Funny but it surely ain’t productive.

Loving Arms (A Capella)

2010-03-07T17:26:00.001+08:00

Loving Arms (A Capella) | Music Upload

I Will (A Capella)

2010-02-16T18:11:00.000+08:00

I Will (A Capella) | Upload Music

Nearsighted

2010-02-05T04:25:00.001+08:00

I started wearing glasses when I was in high school. I found out that I needed one pair when I have been having a hard time reading what was written in the black board. There was no problem when I am reading a book in my hand. In fact I got a microscopic handwriting which my mother always castigated me about because she said it does not speak much about my confidence, where in fact, I got the habit of writing so tiny because there was too much to write during lectures in school and I always run out of notebooks quickly. This developed my skills in reading minuscule text. I guess I still have that skill thus far when I still enjoy reading pdf files on IPods. But I’d be delighted if I got an IPad. O yeah! Definitely I want it. I have been a fan of book reading since I was in grade school. My favourite hangout when I was a lad was National Bookstore and Alemars (Raise your hand if you recall. No one? Well.). I was a member of Book of the Month Club which got me to order books from other parts of the world. I suppose that is one side of me that is geeky. My fond of reading books tapered down a bit when I started raising a family. And subsequently, Ebook entered the picture which rekindles my fondness in reading. Now I got my library downloaded in a brilliant thingy inside my pocket. Whadyaknow! I am sure there is an advantage of being nearsighted aside from reading tiny fonts. I want to borrow the words of Rupert Holmes in his song Nearsighted. “There's more to see than can be seen or said than what is heard……I don’t just a friends or lover by first or second look nor a book just by its cover….” It’s good to see from afar the big picture to see how far you’ve been and how far you should go. The importance of taking a closer look is for today.

Phone Calls

2010-01-27T11:23:00.000+08:00

I dread phone calls every time I see myself not in a conversing mode. You know, there is a moment that you want to be alone and just doing your own thing. And in that anti-social pace, the job calls for you to get to talk to people as soon as possible. There is this instance that I have been so enjoying preparing the expenditures for my management plan in a spreadsheet with all those math ( Ooh I love math!) when I got a letter from the winning contractor which states his intention of making variation to the contract which doubles the cost we have agreed upon together with all the reasons blah blah blah. I emailed him first and gave him a couple of hours to reply so as to allow me to finish the interrupted spreadsheet. 1, 2, 3, 4 hours and there has no reply. I got to call. Looking at the bright side, I get to exercise my listening to skill to kiwi accents. Whadyaknow.

Minding Their Own Business

2010-01-20T05:18:00.000+08:00

There are times that everyone you know are minding their own business. Sometimes everyone are too worn-out to think of nothing else but their own revitalisation. They got to deal with themselves first before they ought to deal with others. Fix your own sagging tent before you get to be involved in others’ affairs. This goes to show that you can not rely on anyone all the time. It does not mean that they are selfish but they are just not equipped at that time. The bottom line is the only person you can count on is yourself. This does not mean that you lose trust on every human being in the whole world. There are people who still care about you. who loves and who are still willing to lend a helping hand as best as they can but the world is not fair sometimes that may steal away others’ capabilities to give.

Christmas Greetings 2009

2010-01-01T15:39:00.002+08:00

2009-12-09T17:45:00.002+08:00

Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson turn a simple film into a remarkable one. Kate finding the need of Harvey to catch up with his lost relationship with his daughter convinced him to attend the reception of her wedding. And that scene when Harvey Shine gave that speech in the reception is the most touching. And then the romance that blossomed between Harvey and Kate were convincingly in harmony with whatever hang-ups they had in their sleeves: having their own disappointments with the turn-out of events. I am glad Dustin did this movie. I have already forgotten how remarkable Dustin as an actor until he did this movie. If you want to identify the younger Dustin when he was The Graduate, Tootsie and Mr Kramer with the old-as-now Dustin, watch him with his best formula in Last Chance Harvey.

Orange Picking

2009-11-28T10:20:00.001+08:00

Most of time you would never know how special a close one is until somebody notices it for you. In our backyard, we got two trees both of which are full of oranges. “Hitik sa bunga” is a Filipino term for it. It has been for several weeks that oranges of both trees so shining in the pursuit of attention. Over mature fruits kept on falling and we kept on throwing them in the rubbish bag. One nice day barbecuing in the house with close friends got the attention that both trees wanted. Friends were in awe how rich the trees were with oranges. They tried tasting them and indeed they were sweet and juicy. “Take as many as you want.” By all means they sought for plastic bags and filled them with shimmering oranges. Each of them brought home at least two plastic bags filled with oranges. At the end of the day, there are still more clinging in those trees. The following day and the next, friends brought friends and friends’ friend to the house to get some more plastics of oranges. “If you’ll run out of oranges, just drop by and pick.” A free ticket that they won’t hesitate to take. And that’s how I got to alter my outlook on our orange trees in the backyard. Every time I eat one, I eat with appreciation. They are indeed sweet. Now, I always bring oranges at work for lunch or snack.

Ipod, Facebook, Trade Me and Zombies

2009-11-17T16:31:00.002+08:00

I am always caught with the lifestyle which relies on the modern technology no matter I say to myself that I want to keep my life simple. I am always fascinated on how to get things done faster in one push of a button. You may say, it makes life easier. No sweat. O yeah? But, hey, the more you see yourself able to do one quickly the more you think of other things to do and the more you multi-task. You think that this is how you can get ahead. The equation gets more and more complicated. And then you find yourself doing juggling act with a whole lot of activities. Well as long as I can handle it, you say. Phew. Peace of cake. Well, just like a peace of cake, your juggling act eats out some aspects in your balance mind, body and soul. Sounds deep eigh? Well the rationality is that if you found something wrong on the surface, you gotta go deeper to find the root. So what’s wrong with harried and busy lifestyle? Nothing’s wrong as long as you wouldn’t notice that you are already in a mental bubble: plugged in to Ipods, texting ‘till you drop, glued to facebook, checking your watch list in Trade Me or Ebay as an add-on to the much more necessary activities. You began to compromise the much more intended activity at the moment for what you like doing: you miss exercise or you decrease your hours of sleep. And then you wake in the morning like a zombie: too soon out of bed with too much on your mind and too much baggage to keep an eye on. Too much out of focus finds it difficult for you to squish in time to smell the daisies. I remember one story in Africa. An explorer and his African helpers who were carrying all his heavy stuff were trekking too fast in the jungle when all of a sudden all the African helpers stopped in middle. The explorer asked why they stopped when he did not tell them to stop. One panting African helper said, “We need our soul to catch up.” Maybe our life is too fast that our souls are way behind us. Or maybe you lost your soul. Isn’t that Zombies have no souls. I believe so.

Under Water

2009-11-16T17:09:00.003+08:00

What is it like living underwater? I am not talking about being in a capsule or a dome being secured with air to breath under water like a lost city submerged. I am thinking about possessing a breathing system that could work with air and water. Kevin’s mutant character in the movie Waterworld would best describe what I mean. Imagine having a set of gills so that you can breathe in water and a nose to breath air. The capability to live in both widens your options. What’s it like living in the water? Do you think we’ll having a blast like Sponge Bob and the gang? Hik hik hik. I reckon that life would be easier. At least we don’t worry too much about Tsunami or the tidals going up a couple of millimetres or big flood. Water covers almost 70% of the earth. Talking about solving population explosion.

Auckland's Landmark

2009-10-28T17:10:00.003+08:00

Sky Tower is such a landmark in the central city of Auckland. It serves as a reference point. It’s like an Eiffel Tower in which it helps you get back to your bearings by just looking up and turning around to check the glance of the tallest structure. The map is surely handy but you don’t want anyone seeing you bringing one which publicises your ignorance to the place. It takes a while to familiarise with the whereabouts and to get rid of your dependence on guidance. But no matter what your situation is, Sky Tower remains the main landmark of Auckland.

Media Training

2009-09-20T16:43:00.000+08:00

A few weeks ago, I went through a Media Training. The council thought that I got to undergo such training in order to prepare me for what might set me on the difficult spot. As a council staff who got to be on the field, I can be subject to the brutal unsolicited, inescapable and uncomfortable interrogation. “Don’t worry about the question,” mentioned the trainer. “Worry about your answer.” My first reaction is “phew” I told myself that as long as I am true to myself and I am not doing anything wrong and I have nothing to hide, I should not worry about my answer. As the training progressed I found myself putting my money where my mouth is. Being true and not hiding anything is obviously the least of my worry but how the media turns your answer around is what I should keep an eye on. There is such thing as fishing for dirt, putting words to my mouth and hitting my vulnerability. “This is how media works most of the time,” trainer from the public relations commented. This training is very useful and I think this should not be put in a package for media correspondence alone but in a wider package of socializing with people of all walks of life. I used to know people and I am sure that I will encounter more people who have nothing to do with media but take the business of being nosy. I knew people who make the opportunity in a gathering such as lunch breaks and dinner parties to fish for valuable comments that they can twist and can use against the prey. If they can not fish for controversy they will make one by putting words to the prey’s mouth. I know people who play this sinister business and I know that I am in the DANGER ZONE when I am in the same zone with these guys. I got to avoid them. You can’t imagine what they can do to your reputation. These people does not mind how serious the outcome of their back slashing whether it affects livelihood or serious illness. They just wash their hands and act as if they know nothing. Tsk tsk. Like the media, they consider it as playing politics and that this is just a job. Yeah right. I have no time for them. I will just exert my effort to cultivate good relationships with my loved ones and friends who know and believe who I really am and who know and believe how I treasure them.

Michael Jackson's Moonwalk

2009-07-19T16:53:00.004+08:00

Many have said that the extraordinary performance of Michael Jackson on the 25th Anniversary of Motown in 1983 started it all. All the moves he executed in that concert became his signature. He started a trend and everyone copied his getups and moves. The audience were flabbergasted when MJ executed the Moonwalk which proved that they were just seeing the moves for the first time.

It may be true that was the first time the audience of the Motown Concert saw MJ’s moonwalk. Some people say that MJ invented that dance step. He may be known as the Superstar who moonwalks but I am sure that he did not claim the steps as his own. I am not sure if it was already named as Moonwalk then but the step has been done since the 40’s.

Sleeping Dogs Lie

2009-07-18T10:40:00.001+08:00

Many agree that in order to keep relationship strong, steady and long lasting they should be honest with each other. This is not always true. Sometimes, best kept secret should be best kept in order to preserve relationships. There are instances that people can’t handle the truth. Revelations may serve as haunting and that makes the relationship cracks and eventually caves in. Testing faithfulness by opening your dirty closet may not be a good idea all the time. You may ask yourself first “Is the testing worth it?” You may say if he is not alright with your unpleasant past then he is not meant for you after all. Yet you might have an unpleasant past which was just one take off and can never happen again. Digging a one-time madness and reveal to loved one may not be worth it. For one thing, relationship is an on-going build up based on constant and present cultivation of affections not based on the past. Everything may be explained much clearer by the film Sleeping Dogs Lie. Amy lost her fiancée when she was persuaded to reveal her icky encounter in the past. She apparently learned her lesson. Her next boyfriend did not know anything about her one-take yuckiness in the past which preserved their relationship.

GeoCities

2009-07-11T06:32:00.005+08:00

Before I was introduced to Blogger, Multiply, Facebook, Friendster, LiveJournal, there was GeoCities which I used to compile all of my memorable stories and pictures. Now, GeoCities has emailed me saying that they’re gonna shot down the site and no one will be able to visit them again. There are suggestions on how to retrieve them so that I would maybe transfer them another site. But I think it will never be the same. I mean, there were pictures there being published on the same months they were taken and it will not be the same when you have to publish them again as some sort of a part of a personal history. I may be so overdramatic here. But GeoCities has served me very well in compiling them that is why I haven’t given up its service. Now that they are saying “bye-bye” there’s nothing I can do but to pull them out. But first I would like to have the last visit of the site. Come join me:

http://www.geocities.com/jonsaint2002/jonsaintfamily.html

Away from Her

2009-07-02T03:58:00.002+08:00

Grant and Fiona, characters from the movie Away from Her, were so in love with each other and has shared their dearly affections for more than 50 years until Fiona was stricken by Alzheimer disease which made her to separate from Grant in a Nursing Institution. To show his undying love, Grant never seized to visit her regularly. This plot is similar to the plot of the film the Notebook: their everlasting love is cut short when the lady forgets. However in the movie Away from Her, Grant’s heart was twitched a little harder when the forgetful Fiona fell in love with a co-patient, a wheelchair bound mute. Realising that her affection to the other guy was what kept her intact, Grant with his unselfish love kept on visiting Fiona and kept on watching her from afar while she nurtured her affection to the other guy even though the only heaven that Grant could get from this setup is knowing that she wouldn’t deteriorate which will lead to a possibility that she can get a glimpse of what she was with Grant.

The Wacko is Dead But the King of Pop Lives.

2009-06-26T16:14:00.002+08:00

I have been wishing that MJ would be given another shot to stardom because I believe he deserves to be up there. I always knew he would pick up because his talent would raise him up to greatness again. I always looked at Michael to be extraordinarily gifted regardless of what he was in private. He's gone. Maybe this is the only way in which most people would look at him in his good side. The Wacko is dead but the King of Pop Lives !

A LETTER FROM A BATCHMATE IN IHE

2009-06-10T13:55:00.000+08:00

Dear Jonathan!

Nice to hear from you again! I am Maria Laura the Argentinean woman friend of Jose Maria, and the whole Latin group, who was always in the party's at Mina with her child ... in that time of 3 years old. Do you remember me? I start to work at IHE 6 years ago and I am very happy to be here, 2 days as Social Cultural Officer and 3 days as Alumni Officer. Of course your group 98-99 is my alumni group, I continue being in touch with most of the Latins and I meet with Jose Maria for a good drinks once a year when a visit Argentina. I am doing very well, my child too, he is now 13 so as tall as me but very nice teenager.

I hope you are also very well and always with your nice humor and character.

Warm regards from Delft!

Maria Laura Sorrentino, Alumni Officer
UNESCO-IHE, Institute for Water Education

Wow! This simple letter returns memoirs when I was doing my masters in IHE, Delft. I was single at that time and most of the friends I hangout with almost every night where Latinos. There I was introduced to Salsa. We usually booked the function room of the fourth floor of Mina, bringing along a simple CD player with a bunch of Salsa Cds and off we go Dancing Salsa the night away. Then Jorge introduced me to another league of Salsa Aficionados when he brought me to a Salsa Club in Laiden. Then I never stop going to Laiden every Saturday night.

Most of the students who were doing masters in IHE were staying in a big condo named Mina. I was staying in a unit with two rooms that I shared with Jimmy, from Iloilo. Nar from NEDA shared his two-bedroom unit with Lu, a Taiwanese Batchmate who has been part of the Filipino Barkada because of his fondness of hanging out with us. Sometimes Tata and the gang, Filipino Students doing masters in Technical University crashed our place for drinking sessions. Our favorite drink was Raghatti. We were introduced to a gazillion kinds of beer as we learned that there was a lot beer factories there but we all reckoned that nothing can beat San Miguel. An American friend of Jimmy who had been in the Philippines for over 10 years and decided to settle in The Netherlands affirmed that San Miguel is the best beer in the world. Nar’s wife Rollette gave a visit and brought a San Mig Beer Grande which we gave to the American Friend. The American guy placed the Grande in the shelf like a trophy and we settled in drinking Grolls.

The Delft Gang attended the Mass in Den Haag every Sunday. The Church was one of the few Churches which celebrated mass in English. In the church, we got to meet more Pinoys. Then once in a while we crashed the Den Haag gang’s condo who were taking masters in the University in Den Haag. Most of them were females.

Ate Cynthia who was a staff in the University of Den Haag and who was once a Bayanihan Dancer choreographed several folk dances that we performed during the Asian Night. We introduced VST & Company in IHE when the pinoys from Delft and Den Haag joined forces to perform Swing. This swing was not most of the Europians had in mind. They were accustomed to the west side swing. So the DJ from Tobacco branded the dance the Filipino Swing when we had the international dance party. Later I saw in Youtube that the swing that the pinoy knew was actually named the Hustle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez4AsDKDFmk&feature=related). And the hustle that I knew was the dance step being introduced by the Wea Dancers in the 70’s with the tune of the same title, The Hustle by Van McCoy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFz2WkVAk38).

The experience in The Netherlands was not all the time bed of roses or we might say bed of tulips. We had our tough days in the university. I had some cramming for exams that got me imprisoned in my room for several days. I witnessed a classmate passing out during the exam in statistics. Some students gave up schooling half of the year because of the pressure. Preparing for the thesis about a flood design should have been easy when you had an adviser who provided me with what I needed like computer program and textbooks but knowing the panel who had the reputation more ferocious than Simon Cowell placed me in hell. At the end of the year, I found myself graduating. I realized that the reward is sweetest when you’ve gone through hell. I realized that one will shine the best when emerging from tough battle.

It was exactly ten years ago. The diploma may have lost my reflections in it as I intended to manifest that I don’t have to prove anything. Being rusty may take the sharpness. Viciousness may pan the flame taking advantage of the injury. And since the credential is already imprinted, it’s just a matter of oiling and getting back in shape and sharpness is there again. Pardon if it bounce back. Nevertheless, time is lousy in maintaining youth and energy. The ability may melt down and when that time comes, the good old days are just preserved in your memory. But one thing for sure, I can say this to those who gave up in the middle of the school year, “Maintain whatever you wanna maintain, but I have finished the race.”

That simple email brings back so much treasures that I have forgotten I still possess: friends whom I shared the joy and sorrow with and the sweet achievements.

Thank you, Maria Laura, for bringing back the treasures.

UST Class 5 ECE

2009-05-12T12:48:00.001+08:00

What is good about having a Facebook Account is that you get the probability to touch base with your long lost classmates. It all started when a certain guy which I did not recognize in his default picture by the name of Alex commenting “ If I am not mistaken, you were UST Batch (Bleep) 5 ECE. Right?” And then he produced a class picture which included me 60 pounds ago. “O yeah, he is Alex from Class 5 ECE. And then a few days after, several of my classmates from 5 ECE sprouted and asking to add them in my Facebook Contact List. Amazing! It’s like I feel young again. There is also a feeling that you want to catch up with them and see how they are after all the decades. Ooops! Years. What do you know? Most of us haven’t been in touch after graduation and after the Besavilla Crash Course for CE Board Exam.

Sayote

2009-04-29T15:32:00.002+08:00

We were grocery shopping in Raeward. When we were picking up some vegetables, right before our very eyes was a bunch of Sayote. You see tinola is the all-time favorite dish of JC. It has been a frustration when we couldn’t cook tinola in NZ for the reason it has been hard to buy sayote. Not today. All of a sudden we were excited to go home and cook tinola. JC had missed tinola so much. It was obvious in his drooling mouth at the very first sight of sayote floating in that rich tinola soup. We wanted to hoard because we never knew when sayote would be available again. We just bought few of them so as we are able to cook tinola every other day till the next four weeks. Naahh. I am just joking. Rayward is few houses from our house. It’s easy to buy them maybe…..tomorrow again? Tinola, anyone?

ANZAC

2009-04-25T11:44:00.001+08:00

I have been aware that ANZAC day has been an annual celebration both in New Zealand and Australia. The question is what is ANZAC? There are several forms of commemorations during this day. Commemoration? What do we need to remember about ANZAC. People should be aware of its importance and as much as possible every establishment should take part in their own ways to commemorate it. For instance, the shopping centers. Well yeah, they help us to be informed about it alright with all those ANZAC sales. If I would be interviewed on TV and be asked about what is good about ANZAC day, I would say that I got my duvet covers for five bucks each. This ANZAC day rocks! So why do we celebrate ANZAC? Well, aaaa, you know, we celebrate it because you know, aaaa, without it, it there is no easier road from pages road to QEII. You know ANZAC road is the route I always take from Pages Road going to QEII. That’s it! EEEEEEEE! Wrong!

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC day is the anniversary of the first landing of ANZAC at Gallipoli in 1915. They were about 2,721 NZ soldiers died in service for that Gallipoli Campaign. ANZAC day is in commemoration of the bravery of those soldiers.

At least when I sleep with my new duvet cover, I feel brave.

Quadrant 2

2009-04-23T13:57:00.000+08:00

I want to practice the Quadrant 2 principle that Covey has thought me. Better do it now before it’s too late. Better do it now when there are no red flags. There should be balance in everything. Quadrant 2 would help me balance everything.

Filipino Sweet Style Spaghetti

2009-04-20T10:57:00.000+08:00

This morning, I craved for a Filipino Sweet Style Spaghetti. And so I told Claire that I was gonna go to the Asian Store in Cashel to buy that Del Monte Filipino Sweet Style Spaghetti sauce. She told me that she wanted to come along so she would see what else she could buy in the store. Then JC has to come along with us. . There is one store that might become popular soon for the pinoys in Lincoln called Filipino Mart. However, since I was in hurry to cook and to satisfy my craving, we settled to visit the nearer store. And so we shopped and shopped in the popular Asian Store in Cashel.

Along with the sauce and spaghetti, I prepared grinded meat, Kransky (substitute for the Purefoods hotdog which we do not have here), onions, green pepper, carrots, and garlic. And so I cooked. I was sure I could never go wrong as long as I have the Filipino Sweet Style Spaghetti Sauce. It was almost like I thought that I could do with more or less ingredients and still I could come up with delicious spaghetti. This is almost like I am advertising the sauce. JC loves spaghetti and I knew we would have a blast eating. Slurp!!

Botanical Experience

2009-04-19T14:12:00.004+08:00

For the first time we walked through botanical garden as a family. We have been to Victoria Lake and Hagley Park Playground several times but we have never set foot on the garden until last week. I intend to go back. I am just waiting for the right autumn moment. I like the color of autumn and I believe the best place to witness it is in Botanical Garden. I may not be correct with that belief. I know that there are several awesome places here in Christchurch. For the sake of a good argument it is the best place in a category of its location where it is nearest to our place and its popularity. There!

Good Friday Walk

2009-04-17T05:20:00.001+08:00

My son and I had a good walk last good friday.

I'm Yours (A Capella)

2009-04-14T06:26:00.001+08:00

im yours (a capella).mp3 - jonsaint

Resurrection

2009-04-12T14:56:00.001+08:00

The priest in Christchurch Catholic Cathedral gave a good sermon this Easter Sunday. He said that without the Resurrection, our faith is in vain. If Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, Christianity does not exist. Jesus promised in three days after its destruction he would raise this temple again. He was pertaining to his death and resurrection. Christianity is alive because of the removal of the stone cover, the empty tomb, the broken seal, the Emmaus Walk, Thomas seeing Jesus’ wounds, over 500 hundred witnesses and the lives of the disciples after the resurrection who continually spread the good news despite being bitten, stoned to death, thrown to the lions, tortured and crucified. Jesus Christ conquered death. Jesus Christ has risen and lives among us.

One More Gift (A Capella)

2009-04-11T15:56:00.000+08:00

one more gift (a capella).mp3 - jonsaint

Heart Robot

2009-04-10T17:48:00.002+08:00

Could you ever love a robot?

Could a robot ever love you back?

And now, introducing Heart Robot.

Heart Robot has a beating heart, a breathing belly, and sensors that respond to movement, noise and touch. Cuddle him, and he seems to soak up the affection. His limbs become limp, his eyelids lower, his breathing relaxes, and his heart beat slows down.

If I haven’t learned about Heart Robot, I would say the thought that robots with feeling is absurd. A couple of decades ago, the majority of humans pictured any robot to be heartless and just a machine who wouldn’t understand feelings. They were just programmed to function according to the serviceability needs. I grew up watching Voltes V, Mazinger Z, Voltron, Daimos and to me they were just junks of steels and useless without humans navigating them. In the film I-Robot there was this one robot who functioned differently. This robot behaved like a human being. Will Smith found him unique. This was out of the ordinary. Almost absurd. Because of this breakthrough, movies like WALL-E about a robot being in love with another robot make sense. No one will contest anymore that WALL-E can fall in love. The question is: how much feelings can a robot get? To what extent can a robot behave like a human being? It is a fact that machines can function a million times greater than human can. They can be faster, stronger, more efficient, more systematic and more intelligent. Isn’t that there is a danger if a robot can have feelings too and almost like human beings. Acting like human beings can mean that they can have all the good feeling and the bad feelings. How about pride, envy, greed, frustrations, anxiety, hatred, selfish desires? A robot programmed with superpowers and feelings can aspire to compete with man. And here is when we need the Transformers or Neo Anderson. I mentioned about aspiration and this makes me think about the movie AI. AI, like Pinochio, wanted to become a real boy. And how about the movie Bicentennial man? Bicentennial man, who was an android, petitioned the World Congress to recognize him as human but is rejected on the grounds that so long as he is in effect immortal, he cannot be human. Movies like these conceive of possibilities. And because of Heart Robot the reality of these possibilities is more achievable.

Father's Song from the Movie August Rush ( A Capella)

2009-04-06T17:38:00.003+08:00

This melody is so stirring that I need to do this.

fathers song2 from the movie August Rush ( a capella).mp3 - jonsaint

Freehand Drawing Lesson for JC

2009-03-24T05:49:00.003+08:00

I came up with a freehand drawing lesson for JC. I was a lil bit rusty so I got to oil down.

To view more of the lessons, I came up with a playlist:

http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?pi=0&ps=20&sf=&sa=0&sq=&dm=0&p=28171C0C45D88F23

Inspiring Nick

2009-03-21T06:02:00.001+08:00

Watch Nick and know the spirit of being happy.

Two Years in NZ

2009-03-18T17:06:00.003+08:00

This is the date when my feet have touched the ground of NZ for the first time two years ago. It was in Auckland International Airport. I almost kissed the ground but I was just cautious because of my vague knowledge of the NZ culture or policy regarding being intimate with NZ airport asphalt. I still had freckles then due to the chicken fox I had almost a month earlier in the Philippines which made me delayed my flight by almost one month. Well, no one dared to ask about the black spots because they indeed looked like freckles. Edwin fetched me. It was Sunday so we attended the mass in Balmoral together with his family before he would bring me to Allen’s place where I would be residing. It so happened that it was a Filipino mass and it was just like home in the midst of my excitement to taste a little NZ life. We had lunch in a steak house where I saw Maoris for the first time. And then he brought me to Allen’s. And the rest were the continuous blessings upon blessings until I found myself with my wife and my son in Christchurch.

What am I thinking right now that I am two years old? Well, I am grateful. The fact that I am here in NZ is a blessing. The fact that I was given opportunity to have tasted NZ experience for two years is a blessing. I have given my family a better option to build a future. My wife and I have the same mind when it comes to what’s best for our son. The primary reason of our flight to NZ was really our son. In fact almost all our decision making have been be based on what’s best for him. If not for my son, I would not be here in NZ. Both of our strength (my wife and I) are coming from our son who was given by God as our mission. I believe JC has special place in God’s heart and JC is the reason why we had so much blessings. All we have to do is to use the blessings to fulfill our mission. I know that there are more blessings to come in order to accomplish the greater glory. Why am I here in NZ? NZ is a blessing. And here is where both my wife and I would fulfill the purpose of the blessing.

One of my favorite songs is “He Who Began a Good Work” by Steve Green. God has started something in me and my family. The continuous manifestation of His Love by means of giving me a job, giving us residency, giving us true friends, giving us spiritual growth and maturity is God saying to us that there is more to come and He is not through with us yet from where He started. There may be some trials along the way. But there is no reason to stop because as the song goes, “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.” It is only two years. God is still warming up. There is more to come. But it is up to us if we want Him to go ahead. God will know if we want Him to go ahead by continually showing our appreciation to what He is doing for us. It is very important that we have a thankful heart. Saying Thank You to God will make Him never cease to give more. There is no reason to complain and be weary. The abundance of God’s grace will never be tasted in two years. There is more to come.

I am grateful for the two years that my God remains faithful to the point that He is showing me a better path by continually breaking me to maturity and to the point of giving me a better spiritual sight.

The two years are for His Glory and Honour!

Sunscreen Song

2009-03-01T06:47:00.002+08:00

The Sun Screen Song
Baz Luhrmann
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.

Mula Noon Hanggang Ngayon

2009-02-14T06:44:00.000+08:00

mula noon hanggang ngayon (A Capella).mp3 - jonsaint

You an I

2009-02-10T02:08:00.002+08:00

you and i will travel far by jonsaint (A Capella).mp3 - jonsaint

Book Covers

2009-01-16T07:15:00.001+08:00

“So you are Jet! At last I finally met you. I have heard so much about you”

“Ah Okay. Which one have you heard? The good or the bad.”

“Both. Hahahaha.”

“Hahahaha.” I laugh frantically.

Somehow, it is flattering yet at the same time scary knowing people are talking about you. I mean, how well do you know a person by relying only on second hand information? It is okay that people believe on great stuff people say about you provided it is true. But if it is not true and you are not able to deliver the expectation, it is frustrating. It is not okay if people talk bad stuff about people whether it is true or not. Most of the time the person who was maliciously talked about would be the last one to know. Celebrities are being talked about 24 hours a day and yet they have an access to the wicked network like media and press conference where they can be aware of the controversies and where they can defend themselves. An ordinary person has less access and most of the time clueless.

“So you are good in playing Basketball. I saw you play. I thought you couldn’t bounce a ball.”

“What gave you that idea?”

“Coz he told ….. Never mind.”

I am not sure how immature one should be if one relies on the information of an unreliable person. But if one choose to believe the unreliable information in order to strengthen the reliability, one is part of the diabolical scheme to put down other people, thus one is not immature but evil. Some people put the scheme as part of the game in the political arena most evident in the workplace. But it is just shrouding the immorality so as to able to wash hands. Washing hands does not put you on a clean slate.

So what are you? Mature? Immature? Or Evil. Sometimes I am immature when I absorb the second-hand information without facts to support it and without faith with the source. At least, I am not evil in believing just for the sake of adding more logs to the fire. On the other hand, sometimes people have a difficult time convincing me that I have to be careful dealing with a certain slimy person because I prefer to figure it by myself which in a long run puts me on a delicate situation where I might be victimised. Trusting others in order to know how reliable what they say are does not happen overnight. Sometimes I wish that I have trusted them earlier in order no to go through being slimed at. But that’s how it works: rely on facts or trusted source.

How well do you know me? Is it based on what others say or on a personal association with me?

I wrote an article in a magazine entitled “Deeper Look”. Do you believe in love at first sight? I rather believe in love out of knowing deeply. Deeper look is what it takes to appreciate an abstract painting. An abstract painting might be just a mess of colours in a quick look. But in a deeper look you might see the life of the painter. How do you find the right one? It’s not all the time on the instant glow in your eyes but in a series of bonding and getting-to-know moment. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” might be an underrated cliché. Your cover or outside impression might have been darted with slimes by a slimy-good-for-nothing-asshole, but what is important is the content of your book. It will just take others to open your book and learn who you really are. Yet you don’t have to prove anything.

A Place To Hideaway

2008-12-30T17:47:00.000+08:00

a place to hideaway by jonsaint.mp3 - Jonsaint

Why do we stick?

2008-12-30T11:45:00.001+08:00

I realize that friends of mine have to be friends of my family. That’s how it goes. Me and my family are just one. Our friends understand our situation and that was how we know they are the winners to our hearts. We found our circle friends. They found us. How do I define true friends? I might have no answer. All I know is that we respect each other. If that’s how you describe true friends, I am buying it. Definitely we are not an organization, association, company or league. I don’t even know how we got closer. All I know is that once in while we talk, we barbecue, we dance, we play, and we do all sorts of things that cultivate the circle. Why do we do that? I don’t know. If there is a reason, it should be good and it should not be categorised as ulterior motive. Why do we stick? If you find that being with them does not hurt and sometimes gives you enrichment, you got to stick.

This is Way of Saying THANK YOU

2008-12-26T09:22:00.001+08:00

This is a way saying THANK YOU to all of our friends who touched our lives.

Procrastination

2008-11-02T06:50:00.001+08:00

Procrastination is snatching your thought from what is more important.

Signs and Symptoms of Stress

2008-10-28T10:02:00.000+08:00

The first session of the Seminar on Managing Stress is interesting because it directed me to a knowledge of whether I am stressed or not. Symptoms of stress are enumerated and for sure I have a couple of them. Hey! Hang on! Am I really stressed? I can just say to myself that I am not stressed and I am doing fine. Symptoms like these would just give me a wake up call that maybe I am. Regardless of the authenticity of these symptoms, having one or more of these traits would make my performance poorer. Whether I believe that these are authentic symptoms or not, regardless of the identification of the symptoms, I would accept the fact, given the big adjustments and the hang-ups of several changes after I moved in NZ such as culture, language and accents, weather, work relations and styles, that I together with all the pinoy immigrants are prone to stress. The level of stress depends on how you behave with changing circumstances. The enumerated symptoms can be beneficial after all serving as red flag to say that you ought to take care of your outlook and behaviour.

Patterns of eating and sleeping
Smoking or alcohol consumption
Short-temperedness and irritability
Anxiety, depression or mood swings
Absent-mindedness and daydreaming
Tiredness and lack of enthusiasm
Susceptibility to illness

The Cross at The Tank

2008-10-11T07:16:00.004+08:00

While visiting and taking pictures of several of pumping stations and water reservoirs in Ferrymead Zone as part of the data collections in coming up with a water supply model of the zone, I found an interesting subject behind Mt Pleasant Reservoir. This was an accidental art which is worth to take a deeper look. I took a picture and gave a special touch on the image.

Rainbow's End

2008-10-06T17:44:00.004+08:00

While walking from the car park to Christchurch City Council, It has been a frequent practice for me to give a good-morning greeting to Mr. Charlie Chaplin standing on the brick footpath of Tuam Street. The man whose footsteps have been followed by Dolphy, Jackie Chan, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr and hundreds of comedians in the world is always found standing together with his legendary moustache, black baggy suit and cane at the corner of Tuam and High Street. Seeing him standing there with a subtle drollness in the face is sort of bringing me to the black and white movie era. I wish that I would have chance to take a picture of me and Charlie on that very same spot. I thought of bringing a camera and a tripod and making a quick shot during one of those sauntering in the morning. But somehow I was held back by shyness and prudence. I think that it would be less inhibited when I have someone to take the sought-after picture. I need a volunteer!! Charlie is somewhat the welcome doorman for an establishment which looks like a movie theatre. Well I always presumed that it was a movie theatre because the setup suggested that it was a movie theatre. On the external walls of the building are several display windows of movie flicks which have Now Showing and Coming Soon signs on top of them. The entrance is a small version of London theatre. Not giving my good grief on the real surface essence of the establishment, I would just think that it was a movie theatre. The impression of the establishment as a movie theatre has been always in my ignorant understanding until I gave it a good probing gaze. “What the…..” “Now Showing in your own living room.” The establishment turned out to be a film library. I thought of checking out the place. Entering Alice in Videoland, the name of establishment, brought me to numerous high shelves of DVDs on my way to more high shelves until I found the counter which looks like a ticket outlet. At the first glance and in the serious scrutiny I discovered that this is not just an ordinary video rental compared to Videoezy and Blockbuster. It has interesting categories of films. To name a few of the interesting ones: Best Picture Awards, Greatest Films of All Time, 1001 Movies (You Must See Before You Die), Best of the Decades, Films of the Year. It is indeed a film library where you can find all sorts of films you may never imagine you will find again. It claims that it is A RAINBOW’S END for discerning movie lovers. Hmmmmm. That caught me. I immediately figured how to register as a member. To assess my fancy to this new found film haven, I thought of movies that I have wanted to watch again but have failed me in my search for them. In the list which surfaced immediately in my mind then were Field of Dreams, Dad, Boy in a Plastic Bubble and Goodbye Girl. Well whadya know!! They were available. Impressive! I thought of my dad who has been dying to see one movie that he never failed to ask every video city in all corners of the Philippines. The Spy Who Came In From the Cold. I always rolled my eyes every time dad asked the Video City personnel about this movie as if it is gonna happen someday. I gave it a try this time here in this film library. Well! It is available. This is crazy! I can’t wait to tell my Dad. I have refrained from being a movie geek till the day I entered the edifice in the corner of Tuam and High Street. The discovery of this film haven has awakened the veins in me to get to like great movies again.

August Rush

2008-10-03T08:23:00.002+08:00

I won’t tell you how wonderful the movie August Rush is. Many people have reviewed it and they are unison in saying “ IT IS A DARN GREAT MOVIE!”. I was watching it with Claire and she continued crying in every significant moment in the movie. Would she think that it was a remarkable movie? Well yeah. She liked it to the point that she rushed to phone Gemma and to tell her how great the movie was while the ending credits were still rolling in the tele screen. Can you beat that? Though some reviews would say it is just a fiction. For me, it’s not a fiction but a hopeful possibility. Anyone is destined to be great for a special reason. The kid was remarkably gifted and he believed that his special gift would draw him closer to his missing parents.

Several touching moments were some of the important ingredients in the movie: Louie chasing Lyla while her father dragged her to his car; teary eyed August while being interviewed in the orphanage; August playing music for the first time; August listening to the church choir; Louise met August in the street not knowing that they were father and son; and of course the ending which I should not tell for the sake of those who haven’t watched it.

I haven’t seen a movie so well written for long time until I saw this. I must admit that I am an enthusiast of movie phrases that would touch the essence of my being.

Here are some of the phrases that I caught in the movie.

(The Wizard played by Robin Williams discovered the unbelievable talent of the boy in music. He was telling him that he’s bigger than playing in the street. They were trying to come up with the boy’s name.)

Wizard: What do you want to be in the world? I mean the whole world. What do you want to be? Close your eyes and think about that.

August Rush: Found.

(Unknown to Louis and August that they were father and son while Louise saw August playing in the street. They played music and chatted. August mentioned that he was about to have a concert sponsored by the prominent Julliard School of Music but he backed out in the last minute because he was not taking the risk of being discovered as the orphan who escaped. Louis said that if he would be playing in that prestigious concert, he would not pass the chance. August asked what he should do.)

Louis Connelly: [Louis explaining not giving up music to August] You never quit on your music. No matter what happens. Cuz anytime something bad happens to you, that's the one place you can escape to and just let it go. I learned it the hard way. And anyway, look at me. Nothing bad's gonna happen. You gotta have a little faith.

I must admit that the movie August Rush belongs to my list of Greatest Movies. Thanks to Dom and Gemma who shared this movie to us.

Garden City to City of Sails

2008-09-10T14:29:00.001+08:00

I had a hang up at first in first walk on the roads after a year of not visiting the city of sails. I got used to the flat surface of the garden city where I permanently settled. Arena Hotel where I checked in is situated in Beach Road and I got to walk a few meters to reach Auckland University for a water modeling seminar. The map told me that it was just transferring from one road to a parallel road and off you go straight to the university. What the map did not tell me is that the trailing road got a few meters higher than Beach Road. Hilly roads were alright and I got no serious rheumatism complaining about it but the realization that I got used to the flat surface of Christchurch made me more and more foreign to other cities of NZ. Seeing Auckland again made me miss it.
“Wait till you see the severe undulating surface of Wellington”, mentioned one of my colleagues in the seminar who works in Wellington. Hmmmm. I felt more foreign.

Don't Stand in The Way

2008-08-26T15:58:00.001+08:00

I don’t need to dwell so much on the ill deeds that people has done to me in the past. I don’t need to bring them out always and continue to live with a grudge. Life is happening and if I drag the load of anguish all the time, I am slowing down the pace and I might end out losing the race and not getting the greatness that I deserve. Forgiveness is wonderful healing power. This will just bury the hatchet and continue evolving with what life has to offer. To some people, time is an important factor to heal. Time will heal. Give it some time. But for goodness sake, get out of your bed of bitterness and see the sun rising! Learning from the past is a proactive way to deal with the ordeal. It is a mistake when you let others hurt you. It is stupid when you let others hurt you again. I am moving forward. I want to live a peaceful life. I don’t need that pain. Learning from the past should give me more knowledge to segregate the wheat from the weeds. I have more idea what kind of people I should avoid and what kind of people I should stick with. I am doing fine in prioritizing what is essential. I should yell “back off” to anyone who’s gonna prevent me from doing the essential. Back off to those who tend to pull my legs down. Back off to those who drag me to the arena of losers. If you wanna stay there, just don’t drag me there. Back off! I don’t care if some people are bothered when I am living a wonderful life. I don’t have time to nurse their annoyance by losing my greatness and be where they are comfortable. No way! I am gonna go up no matter what they think. My energy is only dedicated to attain my choice of life. My choice is to live a simple and joyful life. Don’t stand in the way.

Charity Begins at Home

2008-08-20T04:39:00.001+08:00

Charity begins at home. I got to look after the welfare of my beloved before I take notice of the needs of others. Looking after anyone’s needs requires being equipped with it. Am I strong enough to carry others’ load? Am I knowledgeable enough to answer others’ questions. Am I mature enough to handle certain issues? My son is still small. He has a long way to go. I have to be equipped for a long time. Taking care of my family is taking care of myself physically, emotionally and spiritually. Once the joy has been established at home and its richness surpasses the essentials , the family should be one to dwell on paying forward beyond home.

What I Used To Play When I was a Kid

2008-08-19T07:11:00.000+08:00

I have been hibernating and have been doing well with it. I have not been blogging. I have not involved myself with any activity with whatever Filipino Org we have here in Christchurch. I am successful in detaching myself from any association in my pursuit to dedicate myself with my wife, son and career. Mel from Auckland, an old friend way back when we were still in the Ligaya Community tried to catch up with me through email. He asked me if I already have a support group here. I told him none formally. But I have my family and close family friends who get in touch regularly. I told him I am happy with this setup and I told him I don’t intend to complicate myself in getting tied with certain group and be branded as one of those enemies of the other. When I was a kid, I used to play Kampu-kampo with other kids. Kampu-kampo was a game where two groups owning territorial bases compete with each other by capturing enemies and bringing them in their respective bases. It was physical game which required tackling and pinning the enemies to the ground. We did not have any shirts on so that we can be slippery with all those sweats in the body. To save the captured colleagues is to touch them in any part of their body once the enemies’ base is penetrated. Kampu-kampo was a fun game. But we got tired of it when we got older. Growing up from what we used to play was wonderful moment in order for us to venture another level of activity which suits our maturity. I got tired of Kampu-kampo. I got to tired of pinning others down. I got tired of being pinned down. If I would invent a game, I would like to name it as Kampo-Ko-Kampo-mo. It’s a game were in you can hop in from one territory to the next and I don’t have to worry being trapped inside. The players of the game would not have to pin down each other to earn points. They outdo each other in lifting up one another to earn points. Kampo-Ko-Kampo-mo is not a kids’ play. The other is.

Living Together

2008-07-30T19:03:00.000+08:00

Indoord and Outdoors

2008-07-29T16:50:00.001+08:00

We had a not-so-eventful weekend due to a bad weather. Boring? No. I always think that no matter where I am, no matter how limited my resources are, no matter how I end up being in an inescapable situation, it is always my call. Taking charge in the moment would make the moment worthwhile. No I would not admit that I got a boring weekend. I always have my right brain to play around with my random thoughts. Playful mind's eye even when I am sitting on my favourite couch would fill my weekend with excitement. Yes I found my way to have a blast last weekend. Yes I miss a lot of things not being outdoors. However, I thank God that I found what I’ve missed when I was indoors.

Another Cartoon of Me

2007-09-15T04:06:00.000+08:00

One Year

2007-04-16T06:32:00.001+08:00

I have been blogging in Blogspot for more than a year now. Well! Well! Well!

Skyline Skyride in Rotorua

2007-04-12T02:45:00.000+08:00

"Do you wanna ride the Gondola?" Ruth asked me when we were on vacation in Rotorua.

For me that was very interesting. When I think of Gondola, what comes to mind is the romantic boat in Venice, Italy. They have them here. Great. Finally I would ride a gondola.

And so the Palines Clan and I went to Skyline to ride the Gondola. When we reached skyline I tried to take a look beyond the ticket line and I haven't seen any canal or any small boat. All I could see was the mountain and cable cars.

And so I learned that gondolas are cable cars in Rotorua. Take a look at this video!

Gondolas or cable cars would bring us on top of Mt Ngogotaha where we had the extensive views of Rotorua City, lake, geothermal activity and surrounding hinterlands.

The kids were so excited to ride the Luge which they have been mentioning on our way to the Skyline. What is Luge?

The Luge is a fun ride for all ages. A World 'First' proudly designed and built in Rotorua, the Luge is a fun filled gravity ride on a 3 wheel cart. The unique braking and steering system provides the rider full control and allows them to travel as fast or slow as they wish.

Three separate concrete sealed tracks wind down through the redwood trees: The Scenic Track, the Intermediate Track and the Advance Track.

Examine how exciting the Luge Ride is.

I was intrigued to try Luge with the persuasion of Bong and the rest of the gang. Since this was my first time I had to take the scenic track. A scenic track with viewing bays at great locations for taking photographs allows a leisurely trip down while enjoying the panorama.

Take a look at this!

It was fun. After I reached the bottom, I would return to the top of the mountain using the specially designed chairlift. Check this out!