Choices

Life is truly a matter of choices.. La lng, sad lng ko when my brother would have to leave to work abroad again. Laju mn gud kaju cja kay seaman man. But trust God lng mi kanunay for things to go fine.. Makasulti na raba ug 'Nanay' ug 'Tatay' si Baby Patrick mao mas painful if molakaw cja. But ana mn ang life lagi. We make choices and would have to live with those choices. Jia you to us always! I remember that I met their ship M/V Atlantic Spirit in Amsterdam in April 2001. Udto pa ko niadto but gabii na mn sila nakadunggo. I was able to get inside their ship. Car ship mn to. Naay elevator ila barko. Then we bothered our parents by calling them. Morag 3am n mn cguro tos Pinas. Kadyot ra pud kaju ko didto. Nisakay ko pagawas atos sakyanan sa supplies. When I came back to the Hague, I called home again. 7am na, namahaw na gud si Melin ato. I sent him the Phillips CD player this time ug chocolates that I bought cumulative in KonMar. Gihinay2an daw niya'g kaon kay di mn to usual chocolates found in RP. When I was in Singapore in 2005, nagkita pud mis Lucky Plaza. I accompanied them around and ako sila gihatod sa Port of Singapore. La n lng ko pabayara sa taxi kay nakahibaw mn si Uncle nga one month pa lng kos SG ato. Hay memories! We need them as reminders every now and then. Good night!

Christmas 2017

My Christmas 2017 just whizzed by. It started with burying Ate Cecil Abarquez on Dec 20. Then Dec 21 I went to Tagbilaran for a few hours. Dec 22 was bagjo then Dec 23 I went to Cawayanan. Dec 24 we just went to mass and didn't go ila Dodong. Init mn gud kaju nya gihangga si JM. Gidad-an lng mi nila Ate Ica. Then bay ra mi pag Dec 25. Nagluto mi isda nila Ate Ica for lunch. Dec 26 didto mi ila Tiyo Edgar for Ate's 40th day. Then Dec 27 didto mi ila Dodong n pud. Dec 28 down na ko. Nagpahilot ko Nang Lucy. Dec 29 pahuway and Dec 30 I came back to Cebu. Diri na ko Cebu mag new year pohon. Jia you Doki. Things will be alright! ;)

Christian

He must be truly special. How can you ever forget someone that you went to mass with while you were only wearing shorts? And I distinctly remember Bishop Nicholas Chia then saying 'bless the young couples who are here with us this afternoon'. Hahah, saun n mn tawn na oi?! In order to ask for my age he asked me in what year I graduated. I think he made a double take when I said 1996. Heheh.. We had dinner in Clementi Central after that mass on 24 September 2005 which was actually the late Sir Eche's bday.. But he was also the reason why I went to mass 2x during Easter 2006. Coz iya ta lagi kuno ko iintroduce sa iya gf then who was visiting SG that time. Paita lagi ato oi! He once told me on the email that 'mahirap ang pinagdadaanan mo but nakikita kong di ka sumusuko.' Salamat ng marami. 30 yrs old ka man, mukha ka pa ring mas bata kaya ok lng. He was one of my support group when I was having such a hard time in NUS. Mao di ra pud nako sya diha2 dayon malimtan. Merry Christmas to u and ur family in SG, Xtian. God bless!

Holland

My good friend Harry O once told me that the first country you go to outside of your own would be truly memorable. It is Holland for me or formally, the Netherlands. And indeed my first trip outside of Philippines to Holland in 2000-2001 was very memorable. I got a scholarship or fellowship then from the Netherlands Ministry of Development Cooperation in order to pursue a Master's degree at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague. There were 8 of us Filipinos in our batch but only 7 of us left together via Malaysia Airlines on 2 September 2000. Niuna na mn didtos Europe si Fr. Jovic Lobrigo of Legazpi, Albay. He had a Ford Foundation scholarship mn pud. Since it was my first trip outside the country, I learned A LOT from that experience. I was able to visit some places also during study breaks or holidays from school. Unfortunately my father died in October of the next year so I had to go home for 2 weeks to bury him and join my family in their grief. Then I had to fly back to Holland again to finish my thesis and graduate from the program. Gibisita pud diay ko ato ni Manang Bebie, my first cousin who is in Liverpool. Shortly after that she got married to Rod Reyes, also a Filipino in Liverpool. I was able to visit quite many places in Holland too. I made it to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Delft, Utrecht, Nijmegen, Enschede, Friesland and Groningen, Giethoorn, Maastricht, Dordrecht, Voorburg, Gouda, Zoetermeer, Keukenhof, Heemstede. I love Holland. I really do. Thank you Lord for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I would forever be a Dutch ambassador of goodwill. Hup Holland Hup! ;)

Itomon: Ben Mbala

Lately nabalik ako memories with my itomon admirers in Holland with the entry of DLSU into the UAAP Season 80 Men's Basketball Finals. Taga Cameroun mn gud siya. Taga Cameroun baja pud tos Poufon. But at least gwapo si Big Ben kaysa nija. Haha, pastilan. Itomon jud ba ako minyuan, Pinoy o puti? Maglibog jud bitaw ko Lord. Please help me decide. Amen. Update on Ben Mbala: He is signed up by a football club in France. From DLSU he went to Mexico man unta for a basketball contract with Fuerza Regia. But maybe his contract was bought out. All the best!

UAAP Season 80: Go for Great Finals, ADMU vs DLSU

DLSU lost to ADMU in the game 3 this afternoon sa Men's Basketball Finals. ADMU ang champions. They were coached by TAB Baldwin. Defending champions ang DLSU actually. Naa sila Ben Mbala, Kib Montalbo, Aljun Melecio ug Ricci Rivero didto. Underdog mn ta ang ADMU, challengers sila. But cguro they were the better or hungrier team. Coz naghabol mn jud nila ang DLSU. Everytime DLSU would come close or try to break away, itsahan mn nila ug 3pts. Cge lng DLSU, better luck next time. U all put up a very good fight. Nothing to be ashamed about. U're still my team! ;)

Biboy's Scouting

Ganahan mn jud si Biboy ug events sa scouting. Fortunately this time nakaapil xas 6th ASEAN Scouting Jamboree sa Tagum City. One week pud sila didto. Ang amo cousins especially si Tata maoy nagkabuang ug itoy2 kung asa sila aron magkita lagi. Then last NOv 30 sa gabii nagkita ra jud sila. Nakagawas kuno sila Biboy from 8-10pm. Morag didto silas new house ni Ging2 sa Tagum. Ingat sa pag-uli, Boy. Thank God for this wonderful opportunity. Sa sunod na pud. Jia you!

December 2, 2017

Twas a regular class day namo yday sa SU in Dumaguete City. Niabsent ko coz I had my monthly period. Nimeet daw si Dr Indab sa 1030-1200 class nya 4-6pm ang amo klase kang Dr Rivera. I would love SU grad school na jud ani. Jia you Doki!

St Peter

I was fortunate to fully pay my St Peter plan last May 2016. Five long years pud to naho gibayad-bayaran oi. Si Artemio Andamon akong agaw sa Cawa ang nagdeal nho ato nga plan. This time nga wa pa koy kwarta from CHED, I realized nga pwede mn diay ko moloan ato nga plan. But 3-4 wks pa daw processing so sunod n lng. Cge. Jia you Doki, you'll be alright. Wa jud ka pasagdi ni Lord. 3 Feb 2018 Ako pud gifully pay ang plan ni Ate Ica. Paaboton daw ang certificate of full payment pohon after 1 month. Makaloan nas Ate ani phn if need n jud nila. Jia you. I told her to look for a job in Bohol too so that naa sya'y paaboton kada buwan. Makacontribute p cjas ija SSS so that makapension xa ig 60 niya phn. God bless our plans!

Philam Cebu

I went to Philam Ayala Bldg yday. Ako na gibuhat ang steps paras ilang ihatag phn. Moabot ra lagi ng panahona. Jiau Doki! Mora na'g Smart ila opisina. Cge more power! Today, 2 Feb 2018 I checked my bank account and I think mao na to ang ilang gihatag. Generous jud si Lord kanunay, dili jud ta pasagdan. All praise and honor be to you Lord. Amen.

God's Love

Yes, time and again the Lord shows me that He is a very generous God. Nagloan kos SSS today kay 6 units ra mn lagi ako tudluon. When I came home, I saw a letter from Philam. Naa daw ko madawat nga money from them soon. Wow, all praise and thanks belong to You jud Lord. Sakto jud si Ate Ica sa iya message yday not to worry. Good night! Since 6 units ra mn lagi ako tudluon this sem, Madon gave me a birthday gift. Ang ako giutang niya nga kwarta bday gift n lng kuno. Wow, thanks Lord. She's always my fairy godmother. God bless you and your loved ones always Madon! I slept in the house pud of Mam Charlotte Cariño in Valencia, Negros Oriental (next to Dgte) last Monday night. Saun nadugay mn kos enrolment. Jia you Mam!

Svetozar

On my 42nd bday, this friend from Macedonia said he wants to see me in person. Whoaa, sure ka? Dugay na jud mi nagkaila, halos 20yrs na cguro. Wa pa gud ko ato molarga to Holland. Wa mi magkita didto. I was also very young then. Di pud ko magminyo that time oi. I was enjoying the experience gud. Over the years we've managed to stay in touch. Mogreet na sya nako for bday and Xmas. One time I told him I was looking for someone. He said he was with someone then. Karon nga gusto na sya makigmeet, I am with someone na pud. So I laid down my cards to him. Told him that I may not be a prime candidate for marriage at my age. That basin di na ko magka-anak. Di n pud ko ganahan mopujo ug bugnaw nga dapit. Tungod lagis ako piang nga naghatag na nako ron ug arthritis. He replied alrdy. Wala ra diay kuno to. He just wanted to see me coz of our long history of communication daw. Nana daw pud sya son oi. Hehe okay.God bless!

Merkay

Our very own Dora The Explorer nga USc-Econ alumna Merky is in Europe as of the moment. 25 days daw sya didto. Good luck Merks and stay safe. I remember Europe of course from her posts. She was actually able to visit me in Cambodia back in 2010. Sila Vance to ang nagtravel to Malaysia, then to Phuket to Bangkok and then to Cambodia and Vietnam. I met them in Siem Reap then and we travelled back to PP together. I remember that nasiraan mis bus ato padung PP. Ako mn gud cguro ang jinks in terms of travelling. I remember thinking back then of who my 3rd visitor to PP would be. Coz the first one to visit me was Yuka back in December. She stayed for the weekend. We even went to Nick's AWHM Run together. Early in the morning. Gisundan dayon nila Merky. We actually met Nick pa sa may Siem Reap proper coz this was the time I went to watch their football games with Globalteer. Yah, kay Int'l Women's Holiday mn diay ang March 8... So much for memories. Back in PP na mn gud si Nicolas. Morag since 2012 pa ba to. It only goes to show that KH is indeed very much a part of my memories. Didto mn gud ko nahasa sa pagka-OFW. I taught kindergarten gud didto for the very first time. Okay ra mn among Mama sa iyang nakita didto. But I insist on being here in Phils coz ganahan mn ko moeskwela. Mao ni dili nako mabiyaan. Mao bisita2 n lng ako plan didto kung bakasyon diris Pinas. Jia you Doki. Everything will be alright!