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the wonders of divisoria! i went down to divisoria this weekend and i had a blast! i got there around 9am where the multitudes that visit the shopping mecca that is divisoria has just started to build up. divisoria is the place to go for anything and everything -- i tell you they sell anything you can think of. first of all, you have to go there in comfortable clothing -- you don't dress up when you go to divisoria. oh, and leave the bling behind -- you can't wear flashy jewellry lest you attract the wrong attention. be prepared to get your feet trodden and trampled so put on your grubbiest pair of sneaks. you have to have a list when you go there because you will get sidetracked into buying just about everything that you can see. next, you will need a budget -- if you have a target in mind then stregthen your resolve and do not falter. if you are out for a bargain then be prepared to haggle -- oh, the joys of haggling best adrenalin rush you can get without doing death defying...

The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry, live simply, expect little, give much. -- Barney O'Lavin and with great determination i shall achieve happiness...

i went home to the province and it was another one of those gastronomic weeks -- non-stop eating fest -- for real! it starts with the most important meal of the day -- at least for some people -- breakfast! moi of the "aliping sagigilid" and therefore have-no-time-for-breakfast-unless-i-go-on-halfday-leave breakfasted in style everyday i was home. my sister indulged my every whim. i'd wake up and she'd ask me what i wanted for breakfast -- service deluxe! and then of course there was the pool party at my aunt's abode where we had barbecued chicken and pork chops -- juicy! the next day was lunch at my late lola's house where the table was laden with chicken and fish and beef and vegetable galore. after a 2 hour respite we were again munching on picnic staples of chips and ham sandwiches and the all important coca-cola at the cemetery. my aunt commissioned my sister to bake the bestest brownies i ever had before -- with hersheys dark chocolate -- they were absol...

to all you pablo neruda fanatics out there -- sigh! Tonight I can Write NERUDA Tonigt I can write the saddest lines. Write, for example, 'The night is shattered and the blue stars shiver in the distance.' The night wind revolves in the sky and sings. Tonight I can write the saddest lines. I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too. Through nights like this one I held her in my arms. I kissed her again and again under the endless sky. She loved me, sometimes I loved her too. How could one not have loved her great still eyes. Tonight I can write the saddest lines. To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her. To hear the immense night, still more immense without her. And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture. What does it matter that my love could not keep her. The night is shattered and she is not with me. This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance. My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her. My sight searches for her as t...

a friend of mine sent me this mail -- which i am copying verbatim -- a few years back. it is uniquely profound i must say. i have been reading this diary of a 27-year old, Etty Hillesum, who died in a jewish concentration camp in Auschwitz. an adult anne frank actually ...'been reading it for months but i can read it a phrase at a time lang since it is quite profound...here's one of the passages.... 21 October, after dinner It is a slow and painful process, this striving after true inner freedom. Growing more and more certain that there is no help or assurance or refuge in others. That the others are just as uncertain and weak and helpless as you are. You are always thrown back on to your resources. There is nothing else. The rest is make-believe. But the fact has to be recognized over and over again. Especially since you are a woman. For woman always longs to lose herself in another. But that too is fiction, albeit a beautiful one. There is no matching of lives. At least not f...

i could probably write a book about my nephews and nieces. kids these days -- they just amaze me. wonders never cease with them. we were on our way to zeggy's (another niece) birthday party. jake, my ever smart alecky niece, and my nephew gian carlo were discussing, very seriously, gian's favorite topic -- dinosaurs. they were both maybe around 4 at the time. gian: (very matter of factly) all the dinosaurs are dead now. (there was a time when he believed there were dinosaurs still roaming the planet -- poor kid.) jake: they didn't die -- they perished. (quite an extensive vocabulary for a 4 year old -- don't you think?)

i was reminded of an incident that happened a couple of years ago. my niece jake was probably around 5 years old at that time. i get a kick at being the "know-it-all aunt" -- to my utter self-denigration as it always is i'm afraid. she called me at work and this is how our conversation proceeded: jake: auntie can you please come home now? moi: i was just on my way out. i knew you'd be home. jake: how'd you know? moi: oh, i know because i'm psychic. jake: psychic? what's a psychic? moi: i psychic is someone who sees into the future and can generally sense things before they even happen. jake: ok if you're a psychic what am i wearing? moi: umm...ah -- you're school uniform? the kid got me there -- she got me there good. i didn't even see it coming. she's around 8 in this picture

a friend of mine, who has joined the ever-growing filipino diaspora, sent me this thought for the day: LIFE . I believe life is a series of near misses. A lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all. It's seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It's seeing what other people don't see and pursuing that vision. the things i pick up on are "accepting responsibility for your future" and "pursuing that vision".

my grandmother passed away recently and the refusal of some church officials to allow my lola's last rites and burial mass to be held at the cathedral in laoag embroiled the family in a "battle" with church figures. the family regretably accepted the church's decision but then we were outraged when they went ahead and allowed another's funeral mass to proceed. the turnabout in their decision was allegedly because the deceased was a loyal supporter of the church (generous in monetary terms) and Fr. Jack in general. This prompted my cousin to write a letter to Fr. Jack, the Vicar General of the St. William's Cathedral. Her letter is copied below: 15 August 2004 Fr. Jacinto "Jack" Jose Vicar General St. William’s Cathedral, Laoag City An Expression of Disgust re Herminia A. Pichay-Monroy Funeral Mass Dear Father Jack Jose: This is to express my strong personal disappointment and frustration at the decision of the church council and management, to not al...

I distinctly remember Mr. Rogers. He was this smiling, gentle old guy on Saturday TV. "At the center of the Universe is a loving heart that continues to beat and that wants the best for every person. Anything that we can do to help foster the intellect and spirit and emotional growth of our fellow human beings, that is our job. Those of us who have this particular vision must continue against all odds. Life is for service." - Fred Rogers, Television's "Mister Rogers, 1928-2003 I remember an episode where he was tying his shoelaces. To this day I tie my shoelaces the way he does.

i just finished reading paolo coelho's novel called "eleven minutes". i didn't get it actually -- the title i mean but it is explained on page 86 of the book and i quote: "...the amount of time spent actually having sex is about eleven minutes. eleven minutes. the world revolved around something that only took eleven minutes." my cousin introduced the book to me. i read the first few pages and i was intrigued. this is how it starts: "once upon a time, there was a prostitute called maria." at the first opportunity i went out and bought myself a copy not because it's about a prostitute but because a guy who wrote "the alchemist" can write about something -- well to put it mildly -- sordid. mr. coelho explains why he wrote this book in the dedication, which goes: "...some books make us dream, others bring us face to face with reality, but what matters most to the author is the honesty with which the book is written." i found th...

Can somebody please help me?! -- i don't remember where i read this from: "Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life. Well, valuable, but small. And sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So goodnight, dear void."

a friend of my uncle visited the house (in laoag) recently and he relayed that he saw my grandmother by the altar, my grandfather was seated by the piano and my aunt was by the stereo. at first i was comforted with the thought that they were with us but then i wondered. i was told once that a soul has 2 chances to "go towards the light" so to speak, on the 9th day and then on the 40th day after their death . what did my uncle's friend see -- their spirits or just a remnant of their old selves -- a memory perhaps? were they not able to crossover? i asked my sister the same question and she said maybe they just miss us. it made me cry of course. i recently saw an oprah episode where the guest was sharon stone. they briefly discussed her near death experience and she described death as something so near -- just there. she said that she felt her soul leave her body and then she felt a deep sense of well-being and calm that she was comforted. maybe it was her anuerysm talking ...

this is a quote from the Chronicles of Narnia written by C.S. Lewis which for me captures the true essence of eternity: "For us this is the end of all stories...But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world...had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever and in which every chapter is better than before." how great for my lola at last her story can begin...

This is my response to a necrological service for my grandmother who passed away just last month. Good evening! The family thanks you for sharing the beautiful service with us. And we thank you for your presence here tonight in -- I don't want to say "in our time of grief" because although I am saddened with lola's passing -- I feel that it's a time for us to celebrate her life because she lived the fullest of lives. To start with she married a very handsome and dashing man in my lolo. She gave birth to 7 remarkable individuals, who in one way or another have enriched my life and the lives of others. She saw 16 grandchildren grow up to be somewhat "responsible adults" -- we try our best. And she was around to see 18 great grandchildren who gave her cause to smile, to laugh and to sing. I have a treasure throve of memories of my lola all of which I will always cherish (for the rest of my life). There's one that I'd like to share with all of you to...

i wrote this a few years back. a friend of mine reminded me of the article because he was waiting for his guy who was running late. i have since added a few from the list below but i've yet to meet my prince. i do hope he's still out there! ;D Dear Prince Charming, Here's the deal. I'm single, gainfully employed, not entirely unattractive, smart, likeable, and last but not the least charming. So what's the problem you say? See the problem here is -- no one's biting. I've been on this good earth all of 27 years and I have yet to meet the ONE for me. I'm beginning to think that finding Prince Charming is Mission: Impossible! So I'm going to make this easy for everyone concerned. I've listed down (not necessarily in order of importance) the qualities I'm looking for in a man. And they are as follows: 1. Dependable a.k.a. responsible a.k.a. employed. A dependable man for me is someone who is motivated and driven to succeed in all endeavors be it...

i wrote this down in 2000 -- i don't remember now where i got it from exactly. very good points to live by... 1 - Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different, each of us is special. 2 - Don't see your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you. 3 - Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless. 4 - Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life. 5 - Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying. 6 - Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave. 7 - Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find. The quickest way to receive ...

i found this in my outbox -- waiting to be sent out to friends in the year 2000 -- thought i'd just post it instead, albeit 4 years late. Chat Abbreviations Through the technology of Instant Messaging, people have coined a handful of online computer acronyms that are used to abbreviate common phrases or actions. If a jumble of capitol letters has ever confused you, then you are in the right place. Because we know that not everyone is yet familiar with these terms, we have created an online AIM Acronym Dictionary you can use for reference. Below is an alphabetical listing of online acronyms and the corresponding definition. Feel free to send this link to anyone you know that is new to online chatting so they aren’t confused when someone says "I GG, TTYL." AFK - Away From Keyboard BBL - Be Back Later BF - Boyfriend BRB - Be Right Back BTW - By The Way CYA - See You Later FYI - For Your Information G2G - Got To Go GF - Girlfriend GG - Gotta Go IC - I See ILU - I Love You IMO...

with everything that's going on in the world i take comfort in these words: nothing is higher than these mysteries. they have sweetened our characters and softened our customs; they have made us pass from the condition of savages to true humanity. they have taught us how to die with a better hope. -- cicero

that would explain it really. Scorpio Your sign is that of intense Scorpio, the eighth sign of the zodiac, best characterized by passion, intensity, and emotionality. You are considered to be the most powerful and extreme sign of the zodiac, because you deal with the process of fundamental transformation on all levels. Pluto is your ruler, Scorpio, and is known as the planet of permanent change and transformation. It is also associated with sex, the life cycle of birth and death, and regeneration. You are the second of the three water signs. Pluto's influence makes you a charismatic, yet enigmatic person. While you may appear serene on the surface, you contain a magnetic intensity and powerfully hypnotic personality, belied only by a penetrating stare of deep intelligence. Scorpio, you rule the eighth house of the chart, which is associated with other people's money, possessions, and values, as well as wealth received through inheritance; it also describes how and to what exten...