Nope…there is no silver lining…yet…

I want to share with you quite a few things that happened to me this past month. There were several big bumps on the road which happened so fast that I did not even have the time to react or think. They just kept on coming like unstoppable, unwanted invaders. In just one month these things happened to me and our family: First, my mother decided to sell our only private family car. I haven’t told anyone about this maybe because until now I can’t accept the fact that our family is in the middle of a crisis. The realities of the financial crunch has never been actual until now – when it not only bit us to the core but definitely crushed our spirits. It hurt me when I came home one day only to find an empty garage – gone is a good friend which escorted me from Los Baños, to Manila, to Bicol, to anywhere and everywhere. No more road trips for us.

Second, my visa application for permanent migration to Australia has been denied. In a way, I was expecting it and did not come as a shock. But still, from time to time I can’t help but think of “what-could-have-beens”. I could have been there to take care of my good aunt who recently became a widow. I could have been there seeking better opportunities. Then it hit me hard – the revelation that I am no different from other Filipinos who have given up the hope that our own country can give us a good life. Must greener pastures always be the bottom line? It makes me sad to think that most of us have been reduced to nothing but mere money-making machines. This is alienation at its finest.

Third, and probably the most difficult and painful, was the consecutive incidences of theft at our own house in Laguna. It happened to us a few times already. We’ve lost cellphones, money…and just yesterday, I found out that my one and only laptop got stolen as well… It was only a second or third-grade notebook, not a pricey and shiny one at that but all my important files were there. All my memorable photos and music were there. How can I explain this to my mother? – who, despite her notorious reputation of being “kuripot”, generously spent a part of her retirement money to buy that laptop for me,  just so I can finish my college manuscript on time. Over the years, I’ve come to teach myself to refrain from being too attached on material things – because I know that just like an ice sculpture, they are only fleeting and momentary. But my laptop, it was a really a valuable possession – not because of its functional use but because  of its sentimental value. I really feel like a good friend of mine just died. By the way, I misplaced and lost my cellphone too – my good ‘ol phone for 4 years…Sigh…

My eyes are swollen and painful from crying, my blood pressure skyrocketed and I can’t help but stare blankly into space – overwhelmed by the disbelief that all these happened to me… call me an attention-seeker or a drama queen but I am really begging for your sympathies right now. Please please pray for me 😦 A pat in the back and a hug won’t hurt as well. I will gladly welcome  and appreciate them. I just need some source of strength right now…praying that this streak of bad luck already ended yesterday.

On Monday, I hope all goes well with my interview for my MA application. I’m fervently wishing to God this will be my silver lining…

I just can’t contain my praise and adoration for the Lord right now so I really have to blog about it! The past few weeks for me was a struggle. Almost all aspects of my lowly existence were a mess! There were family problems, work problems, money problems and a whole bunch of glitches along the way. But God is indeed faithful and generous. I am not a diligent Christian and I am certainly not an obedient one, but everytime I immerse myself in prayer, God never fails to show His unconditional love! Truly, truly, He knows exactly when to take charge and so I believe that we must know when to surrender our anxieties to Him as well. Sigh…My heart is just more at peace right now than the weeks that passed…swollen with gratefulness and reverie for God’s amazing grace! 🙂 🙂 🙂 PTL!

Here are the photos from Reb’s camera 🙂 Thanks again to Jaja and Reb for sharing this trip with me…

(Biscocho Haus, Jaro – sarap ng Banana chips dito 🙂 )

(Me and Jaja, Jaro Church)

(Guimbal Church)

(Plaza Libertad, Iloilo City)

(Guimbal Watchtower)

(Ted’s)

(Airport, Iloilo – see the view below )

Wow! it’s been ages since I last updated this blog! I almost forgot my password and was surprised to see that WordPress upgraded the interface of its users’ dashboard (it’s way better now!). I really have no intention of posting anything anytime soon because since I got back to work I’ve been heck crazy and busy doing my projects! To be frank, I don’t even have the right to blog nor engage myself in any kind of leisurely activities these days. I’m supposed to summarize tons of data, tirelessly make piles of presmats and incur kilos worth of eyebags in order to finish this one big project I’m handling. This is the life of a struggling worker like me (pathetic I know). As a matter of fact, I ought to be working right at this very moment, but the “itch” to organize my files and data got easily extinguished once I saw in my folder: Triad’s photos in Iloilo. This little trip of ours happened last week of November ’08 and until now I haven’t posted any of our pictures yet! This is the first time that Me, Horeb and Jaja went out of town together 🙂 and we really had sooooo much fun! Despite the frustrating and depressing mishap that we encountered in the airport (which I bet we will never divulge to anyone because it’s beyond the word “embarrassing”!), the trip was worth every drop of our pennies :). I’ll post the pictures taken from my camera here first and hopefully in the second part of this blog I’ll post our photos from Horeb’s camera.

(The Night before: sleep-over at Reb’s house – excited hehehe)

(The longest wait of our lives…)

(In our dingy motel room, ready to discover Iloilo… in 1 day?!!!)

Would you believe we really took church-hopping seriously? Yes we did! The Baroque churches are more than beautiful in their own exquisite way. The facade of each church a product of years and years of preserved history and culture.

(Jaro Church)

(Molo Church)

(Guimbal Church)

(Miag-ao Church: A UNESCO World Heritage Site)

(UP Visayas – Oblation)

(Beach near the Guimbal watchtower)

Hello highschool friends! Our reunion/inuman last week was a BLAST!!! Again, thank you very much for coming. We were quite few but it was so much fun nevertheless!!! I really missed everyone from our batch 😦 I hope we can do this more often 🙂 (pati inuman???) Hehehe. Alright, you can click here for more of our photos. You can also visit Vince’s friendster account for our photos from his uber high-tech DSLR camera 😀 Sorry Vince I have to grab one photo and post it here. Thanks a lot for the shots! 😀

My job has been keeping me busy these past months that’s why I seldom have the time to post a new entry. But guess what? My blog is still alive and kicking!!! hehehehe. Anyways, here are some photos I took when I was in Davao for a provincial fieldwork. Davao is amazing! It liked it so much I want to look for a job and settle there immediately! I was really busy doing work and didn’t see much of the sights and sounds that Dabawenos boast of; but I couldn’t let this trip pass without paying a visit to one of Kublai Millan’s monumental creations – Davao’s People’s Park! I fell in love with Kublai ever since I saw his pieces featured on various travel and lifestyle shows here in Manila. Too bad I didn’t see him roaming around the park! Hay sayang talaga! Enjoy the pictures! (sensya na low light na nung kinuha ko to and my camera is so poor I had to edit the pictures just so I can fill some light on the dark images tsk tsk tsk)