Random Thoughts: There Is Always Something To Be Thankful For Everyday – A Special Thanksgiving Post

I woke up today in a messy room and bed disoriented on what day is today.  I look at the calendar hanged from a distant wall but it made me more confused. Not that I’m suffering from an early stage of alzheimer’s, it’s just that for almost a week now I am working on night shift because I need to complete a training course for my new job appointment.  I haven’t been getting enough sleep probably because my body hasn’t been adjusted to the new schedule plus, I came from a company party last night. All of these factors made my body clock turned upside down.  I also have cough and cold since yesterday, probably the effect of fatigue and lack of sleep.  Sigh…I am stressed and sick I know.

As I attempted to call someone’s name, I realized there’s silence around the house.  Ah!   probably everyone already left.  As I look at the wall clock to check on time, I instantly confirmed that I’m alone at home by this time of the morning.

Walking out of bed I caught the view of stack of old boxes from the store room just outside our room. I saw the boxes as if they's are giving me an accusing look and telling me “waiting for you”.  They are the Christmas tree and décor boxes that has been waiting for me to set-up since mid-November (the usual date that I used to set them up).  And it is just 28 days before Christmas.  Sigh… gotta move my fat **s soon!  Yes I’m stressed, sick, alone at home with lots of clutter and behind with a lot of things.

As I go down and straight to the kitchen I saw more clutters.  Obviously, our family schedule is so messed up (specially mine) that no one is available to tidy up the house.  The funny thing this is that in spite of all the clutters it doesn’t bother or annoy me at all.  The untouched batch of hubby’s shoes in the stairways (he never learns to organize his shoes in the shoe racks) instantly reminds me that today is Friday because he is yet to be back tomorrow, Saturday from an out of town trip.  Sonny boy’s necktie which is obviously lazily thrown at the back of one of the dining table’s chair reminds me that he’s wearing casual outfit today and he’s done with his OJT interview.  The (not so) little girl’s rubber shows reminds me that she’s wearing her leather shoes today with her regular school uniform therefore it’s not PE day today.

All of these made me smile plus the sight I found in the kitchen table (which has more clutter than everywhere else).  Pandesal, ham, cheese and a (broken) sunny-side-up egg is waiting for me.  Aaah just in time for my growling tummy!  As I prepare my coffee, some thoughts made me smile the more.  I suddenly felt the kisses and whispers while I was asleep early this morning… those sweet kisses and whispers of "love yous'" while telling me that they need to leave for school. 

These all made me smile.  In spite of all the clutters in our lives, there will always be something to smile about or to be thankful for. Some things which are more important than being stress, sick and worried.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!  I know that this is an American tradition and is not an official occasion in the Philippines.  But heck at least it reminds us to be thankful for our blessings even the simplest ones.  Isn’t that by just waking up this morning alive is something to be thankful for?  So HAPPY THANKGIVING to all of you!  Whoever and whatever. Cheers!

***

But wait… What is that blazing red light blinking at the side of my home desk?



Oh jeez!  it’s my mouse!  Tsk tsk tsk…

Thank You Is The Order Of The Day And A Special Greeting Too–To One Super Guy Named Mario

I’m ignoring the fact that it’s already mid October because I’m supposed to post this last September.  And as usual alibis alibis blah blah…. STOP!

Anyways, as I mentioned from my last post that “I have been wanting to write about for months now and this is to say an official and BIG THANK YOUs to a number of good people that I am blessed to encounter with in cyber space.”

Here’s one super guy who never fail to surprise me as in an out of the blue SURPRISE!  He did it
again! Yes that surprise when one day I found my name tagged in some social media posts with this!

A doodle! 


Aaaaw! Isn’t that sweet! It really made my day (mas kilig pa sa AlDub ha ha).

Wait there’s more!  He did not make only one doodle but a LOT of doodles!  And to top it all, he posted them on his blog! 

I’m really amazed with this cause I already know that apart from he’s being one good looking guy (chos!) he is also one good blogger/writer.  But this artistry is wow!   I’m really really amazed with his keen for details.



I said that because I totally “dig” what’s behind the doodles that you made for me.  I read your thoughts Super M! and let me share those thoughts to the people reading this.

1. Characters wearing shades – these are ME!  My blogger friends knew me as someone who always wear shades  which I think is really funny.  (The reason behind the shades by the ways is that my eyes has a bad case of astigmatism.  Sudden exposure to light and sun can make me instantly dizzy.)

2. “Tse” by the lady at the right – Exactly me. An expression that I replied to Super M when he first joked that I just share the doodle of another blogger whom I share the same first name initial “B”. 

3. “Peyborit” (Favorite) – Well, Super M “claims” he’s my favorite ha ha. Oh well...

4. “Run” – As most of you know I have a passion for running.

5. “BM”  and the “eggs” - is of course for “Balut Manila”

6. “Blogger Celeb” written upside down at the bottom near the edge – is for “Celebrity Blogger” that they call me which amuses me until now.  (Ikaw ang nag-pauso neto Super M no?)

7. The  "positive chaos" of people and things around the whole doodle – is how my life and blog is.  It feels and look so hype, so full and so everything. 

The details is so unbelievable and I really love them.

So BIG THANK YOU to you Super M!  As I’ve said people like you is one of the reason why I can not give up on blogging.  I would also like to send my special greetings for you.  This is not a belated one cause I knew that it was your birthday (am not posting the exact date here), but I didn’t greet you in any of your social media profile because I want to make this special greetings from my own home.

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY Super M!  I wish you all life’s wonderful blessings.  I have one more wish though… apart from your doodle craze post, I hope you will find the time to write again a post that is something like my "peyborit" post of yours. Umuulan kasi while I’m writing this.

Again THANK YOU and Cheers!

***

To know more about Super Mario, you may check him out here: 
Blog: UNPLOG by Super M – mind you people he’s one GOOD writer
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Instagram
Twitter
(TIP: Ladies, as far as I know - he’s single wink*)

Thank You Is The Order of The Day– To One Fine Lady From Norway

Since it seems like my blogging mojo is a bit back, let me prioritized what I have been wanting to write about for months now and this is to say an official and BIG THANK YOUs to a number of good people that I am blessed to encounter with in cyber space.

Let me start by saying a HUGE APOLOGY and THANK YOU to one sweet blogger friend who thoughtfully responded to my published post back in January of last year -  “A Book is Added to My Wish List”.


It caught me by surprise when one day around March last year (my birthday month) I received a registered mail notice from my local post office.  You see this kind of registered notice doesn’t say much about what’s on the parcel so you don’t have a choice but to actually check at the post office what this is about.

If you have been following this blog you will know how much I hate dealing with government offices. Their “system” never fails to drain the very minimal bits of patience in my body.  But I didn’t have a choice then so I summoned my guts and gathered the remaining stock of my patience and checked about the package.  As as I expected I ended up very annoyed and upset because all along I knew that the parcel is supposed to be delivered to my door step and yet for their God-forsaken-reason they turned it into a “mail-for-pick-up-parcel”. I was upset because my annoyance about the situation had taken over my excitement for the parcel.  It sort of ruined the surprise factor feeling when you received a surprise from someone.  Know what I mean?

Then probably out of my disappointment I messaged the sender to simply let her know the parcel’s delivery status.  However, when I went back reading our convo on a later date to collect some delivery details, I realized that all through out our convo I really sounded disappointed about the parcel which I am really not.  I don’t think it was ethical on my part to even bother the person who sent me the gift.   Jeeez I should have slapped my own face!

It was not my intention to sound upset to the person who sent the parcel. however, I  feel like I really did (sigh).  What was I upset about was the situation where I am trapped between rebelling against the postal system but at the same time I can’t just ignore the parcel because it is very important to me not because of it’s material value but because I know that it was specially sent to me and those special thoughts are included in that parcel.

To make the story short, I was able to collect the parcel after some time when my head cooled down.  And when I finally got it I was really overjoyed and my plan was to write a special thank you post to surprise back the sender.  But… in my intention to make the post a special one.. it resulted to a much-delayed post until it dragged on to my blogging hiatus days. The “surprise thank you” almost did not happen… until now.

So I would like to say my HUGE APOLOGIES and THANK you to one fine lady from Norway who has always been very kind and thoughtful not only to me but to everybody I know that she knows.  




THANK YOU Joy for your thoughtfulness of responding to my post.  I am so sorry that I failed to thank you immediately or even confirmed with you when I already received your gift for the reason that I already mentioned.  And I really hope that I did not offend you in any way when I messaged
you about the delivery status.  I am feeling guilty ever since.  Please know that I appreciate this very much and  words can not express how much this gift means to me.  THANK YOU!



By the way, Joy ordered and sent me these books through Amazon.com and it’s supposed to be a door-to-door delivery but those bozos from my local post office managed to put their hands on it.

The 36th Manila International Book Fair (2015)

Time really fly so fast!

It’s our favorite time of the year again and I want to share it with you so you can save the date as well!. 

Oh wait I just realized that due to my over business last year I was not able to share our 2014 MIBF experience.  Well forgive me, it’s part of my unsuccessful "365 Day Blogging Challenge".  And ok I will really try (no promises though) to share something about our 2014 MIBF experience one of these days but for now, I’m inviting you all to this annual event and see for yourselves why am I sooo excited about this!

The 36th (BIG WOW!) Manila International Book Fair (MIBF 2015)  is happening on September 16 to 20, 2015 from 10AM to 8PM at SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex.

They have around two hundred numbers of exhibitors on the list  (Yes I counted them ha ha) and an exciting schedule of special events that you can find  here.

See you all at the fair!

Sunday Thoughts and Photographs: Calm and Serenity By The Bay

Yesterday Saturday was a mad day in the main avenues here in the city  and I myself was not spared from the chaotic experience.  Coming off from the last day of work for the week and carrying two boxes of pastries for my family, I dashed out of the office building and took a public transport with much excitement to start bonding with my family starting on this Saturday afternoon.  I’m already imagining the scene of me sitting relaxed with my family after taking a refreshing shower and enjoying a movie while indulging with the sweets I brought home.

But that was far from the reality because the vehicle I’m on is not moving and it has been over 30 minutes.  I told myself  "relax, at least you’re in an air conditioned transport".  However, the 30 minutes dragged on to an hour, then two, and more….  to think that my regular commute to and from work on ordinary day is just 15 to 30 minutes only.  But today…tsk!

Being used to running and walking long distance I was tempted to walk the way home but it was raining and I’m wearing work clothes that are not that comfortable to be walking with, plus that I’m carrying two boxes of pastries.  There is no way that my small umbrella can totally cover me and the pastry boxes that surely will not stand the rain.

I arrived home very tired and pissed (sorry for the word).  All the good mood and excitement gone specially when I see in the news what causes such traffic.  I don’t want to touch that matter on this venue anymore because forgive me, I had done so much social media ranting for this incident.  By the way, my husband and son arrived home later complaining the same traffic experience.

Today so as not to add anymore annoyance to our weekend my family and I cancelled any plan of going out and decided to stay home the whole Sunday.  The blessing to this is that it gave me the time to write some of my thoughts and do one of my favorite leisure which is going over our random family photos.

Probably fate felt what I needed at that moment that I chanced upon these photos.  Let me share them with you.  The photo captions are product of my current state of mind which is really longing for calmness and serenity.

The patient cats




The Fisher King



The Fisher King and the Patient Cat



The Serene Harbor





The Silent Lamps 





Anchored and Mirrored





I took these photos using my young daughter’s new mobile phone, a Huawei/Honor 4C model and were randomly taken while I was  running around the bay one rainy Monday morning.  I was testing the quality of the 13 mp camera of the phone so these photos were posted without filter. 

What do you think of the quality of these photos?  And does this gives you the feeling of serenity and calmness as well?

Gone in 14 Minutes! Lebron James Rise Tour

Photo is from the email confirmation sent by Nile Philippines for the ticket claiming

And I’m definitely coming!

Remember my disappointment some two years back when my idol Lebron James came to visit Manila for the first time and I was not able to see him because I failed to get a ticket in spite that the tickets were for free?  Well this time I got lucky!  I am finally going to see my idol Lebron James in person! 

Thanks to the people behind this tour who thought of  a different way of getting a ticket to James live appearance compared during the last visit.  They were probably overwhelmed from the humongous turn out of crowd during the first visit when the fans stayed overnight just to secure a ticket that will be distributed the following day at Nike Park in Bonifacio Global City in Tagig City.  How can I forget those people who endured the heavy rain and camped outside the Nike Park.  I even befriended some of them.

This time the organizer provided a link where fans can get tickets. The registration is supposed to be from 9AM to 11:59PM on 14th August but guess what!  The registration closed 14 minutes after it opened!  Yes it was a freaking FOURTEEN MINUTES only!

I was at work during the designated registration time so what I did is to give (STRICT) instruction to my son that he should be online before 9:00AM and if he won’t be able to secure a ticket would mean a “No allowance for a month from me!’ Ha ha ha kidding.  My son is also a James fan so I’m sure he will do his best to get the tickets.

So lo and behold we have two tickets! 



The idea is to get at least four tickets for the whole family.  But my sonny said that after his first successful registration there was an instant message that the registration is already full.  This was confirmed later by the people of Nike Park in Glorietta, Makati who emphasized how lucky we are to get at least two tickets. They were in fact very impressed that we were able to secure tickets.  They said that there are still a lot of people who are inquiring how to get tickets and most of them are willing to buy with a tempting price offer. Just like the first time huh!

Our tickets are “General Admission” but nevertheless I’m still happy about it.  Thanks to my angel who probably has one of the “fastest fingers” among the Lebron James fans ha ha. 

Obviously I’m very excited for this event that it motivated me to post again on this “home”.  It amused me big time that this event broke my blogging hiatus.  Well I hope the “breaking” will continue after the show and post another one so I can share my Lebron James experience with you all!

***

Basketball Superstar Lebron James is arriving in the Philippines for the second time on August 19, 2015 to take part in the Nike Rise training camp where he will mentor young Filipino basketball players. The announcement of the final “Rise” team is on August 20, 2015 at the MOA Arena.

Sunday Quote and Photograph: Father and Sunset

A father will always be there to make sure that you wake up to a beautiful sunrise,
And stays with you throughout the day to lead you to the most beautiful sunset.

Happy Father’s Day to all you GREAT FATHERS in the world!

~*** ~

Photo was taken at Station 1 in Boracay Island where my family witnessed one of the most spectacular sunset.

Sunday Poem and Photographs: Say Hello To An Old Friend

As you walk along the winding path of the Esplanade
That embraces the gentle curve of the Iloilo River
Say a silent prayer for the long-lost loyal friend
That we had covered with filth and almost forgotten

When it went out to meet the sea each day
Bearing the heavy burdens of our wasteful rituals
We feared that it would never return, in anger and
In protest against our reckless ways

Sing Paeans at the top of your voices
To those who brought back the River to life
To those who remembered a friend from days gone by
To those who cared and saw the beauty beneath the grime.

A once dying river now glimmers with hope sublime
It still goes out to sea by the moon in its appointed time
It silently gathers the wealth of the waters
And comes back faithfully in fair of stormy chime.

Say hello to a long lost blogger… and that’s me.
It’s been a while since my last post. Well believe it or not I was about to make a series of posts starting to my earlier summer escapades and also my annual Vicita Iglesia traditional post when suddenly my home phone and DSL went gone for the _nth time just right after the Holy Week break.  It just came back in the first week of June at the very night that we are leaving for an out of town trip and believe me I was no longer surprised when it’s gone again when we came back after a week !  Wow! Isn’t that amazing?
Anyways, I will just release my frustrations about my ISP provider on another cover so as not to cloud the reason that inspires me to create a blog post at the first chance that I had. 
Let me share with you a beautiful poem I found while strolling one Sunday morning in  the Esplanade of Iloilo City during our recent vacation.  I’m sure you will find the wordings as mesmerizing as the place where I found it. 
I just want to give credit to the person who wrote this poem and a BIG kudos to the people who really did a good job in bringing back the Iloilo River.  It is such a huge gift to the people of Iloilo. 
The place is so awesome so I will be sharing more photos and hope additional information about this place in the coming days.
Meanwhile, have a blessed Sunday everyone!

Hello March!

No I’m not asking March to “please be good to me.”  Instead, I will be good to March and for the rest of my life.

Most people usually set goals and (unfulfilled) promises at the beginning of the year, while the weird me have this habit of setting them when my favorite month comes in..  It’s simply because March is my birth month and I thought it is just logical aiming to be even a bit better starting in the month a year is added to one’s age. 

So this “Merry Month of March”. the vampire me is celebrating a great milestone that a living human should be proud of!  I will be celebrating the half century of my existence in this world with you mortals!  LOL!

Of course there’s a lot of “going-ons” in my hyper-active old mind which revolves around the word “mature-fun”. I hope that I can share the worthwhile things with you and keep the unworthy parts to my rising archives.

But first, I need to find back my blogging and running mojo.  Hmn… for blogging, I hope this post is a sign that I found it back.  For running, oh yes I definitely did!



Actually, I know I’m not making sense on this post ha ha.  I just want to post this awesome picture that my friend captured while I was enjoying the beautiful sunset in Agas Beach in Puerto Galera.

Hope you will join me as I go back blogging either talking sensibly or senseless.  After all that is what life is made of… senseless and sensible.

Sunday Song and Photographs: What A Wonderful World

I see fields of green... red berries too... and i see them bloom... for me and you... and i think to myself… what a wonderful world.

Sigh… I made up those lyrics referring to the song “What A Wonderful World”.  The words I used were inspired by the fields of lettuce and strawberries at La Trinidad, Benguet in Baguio City where my family spent the Christmas holiday.

I was in a sad and uneasy mood actually while I was writing this.  It was after being awaken by a strong earthquake at past 3AM on a Sunday.  I’m sure people from huge part of the Philippines specifically from Luzon felt the same uneasiness that I was into. It was one hell of a shake!  The kind of the most unwanted feeling that anyone would want to wake up with specially on a Sunday.  That kind of shake takes me back to the horrific memory of the July 16, 1990 earthquake, one of the most horrifying experience in my life.

It also immediately took me back to the horror it brought to Baguio City, one among the hardest hit by that horrific 1990 earthquake.  That thought gave me a shudder because it was just some two weeks ago that my family was in Baguio, City.  It is just sad that while I’m still savoring the still-fresh happy thoughts from that family vacation then it was suddenly replaced by a shivering  thought.  It was a will power to positively hope and pray that no one’s got hurt.

The electricity didn’t go off and the phone lines and cellular signals were still up = all’s good so far.  Thanks to technology the bits of news came automatically on the social media feeds.  Unlike before that you still have to wait for hours to hear the details from radio or television.  It was immediately reported as a 5.7 magnitude but later confirmed as 6.0 with epicenter in San Antonio, Zambales, Luzon, Philippines.  And thank God as I’m writing this there was no casualty reported. (By the way I remember posting an article on "What to do during an earthquake" which I think is advisable to read from time to time.)

***

The photos were taken at Strawberry Field in La Trinidad Benguet, Baguio City Philippines which I initially posted on my Instagram account.

The song “What A Wonderful World” has a lot of versions and covers but nothing beats the original version by Louis Armstrong which was released in 1967.  I realized I haven’t heard an unlikeable cover so far but in spite of the hundreds of version, it conveys no other message other than "what a wonderful world God has created for us”.  All what we need to do is to take care and appreciate it while enjoying every moment of our existence to this wonderful world.

I also wanted to share the original lyrics of this beautiful song.

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and for you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white

The bright blessed the day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by

I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
But what they're really saying is I love you.

I hear baby's crying and I watched them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.
Yes, I think to myself what a wonderful world.

THANK YOU GOD FOR THIS WONDERFUL WORLD!  A blessed Sunday everyone.