Whatsapp

There are now 70 people in our batch group chat and 10 in our class group chat. Mostly taga-LRD ang active sa batch group chat. Xempre kay LRD man si Toms ang creator. Good luck to us all!

Reginald

He planned to come here but Covid-19 happened so I guess it's not meant to be. I told him to come here. Mao lagi pud daw iya plano. Baw lagi. He told me to come to Nairobi after I obtain my PhD. Teach daw ko didto and join UN bodies. Tan-awon n lng ni Lord kung unsa ug kinsa jud. I keep the faith always.

Research

Mao ni ako gikabusyhan this time. Online oral defense sa amo IS students ig Friday phn. Dry run daw mi tomorrow at 3pm. Ang akoa pud 2nd draft morag gamay polishing n lng kuwang coz Dr Rivera texted me man this afternoon to work on the revisions for colloquium. Wow, thanks po Lord. At least naa jud koy agi sa quarantine diay. La gud ko modawat ug summer load so that makatrabaho ko ani ako research. Jia you Doki. At least morag one sem ra ko madelay phn. Di ko gusto madugay pa coz na'man sijay return service lagi. I pray for the best always. Ang ako Globe wifi nicooperate n mn. I dunno but for some reason mokusog diay sija kung gabii. Buntag naa till mga 9 or 10am then mobalik n pud ig 3pm. Basta naka-Zoom n ko with ISS batchmates. Happy n ko ato bujag. Here's to more Zoom meetings n lng phn. Jia you to us!

NS

Today is his birthday. I greeted him on his email yday and today. Sakto n jud cguro pud to oi. Syaro masuko pa sija naho. I felt bad he didn't meet up with me in PP in March last year when I visited so during his bday I greeted him a day early and made the alibi that I was busy preparing for my trip to Hawaii. This year COVID-19 happened and I already said sorry to him last February so why not? Cguro naman I have restored the friendship this way. Madam Shirley once said gud that we are good friends daw and indeed it's true. Jia you to us! Incidentally, yday pa ko kadumdum that bday diay ni Coach last Sunday. I greeted him belated happy bday n lng. Nibawos pud sya ug 'salamat mam'. Cguro happy na siya with his new gf. I wish them all the best.

ARD 2K

I belong to this class at the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague, Netherlands. There were 20 of us in the class. Sadly, si Lucy Kirimi from Kenya passed away last July 2010 so 19 n lng mi. Di p jud nako macontact ang tanan. Back in June 2020 when Sandra Nijhof posted that Ate Bebeth Padre wants to get in touch with her batch, I reacted by saying wala pa sila group chat or something. Coz I said I am fairly in touch with about half of my classmates. Then she said gusto ba daw mi mag-Zoom meeting kay motabang siya organize it? And that's how it all started. The first ARD Zoom meeting was last June 28, 2020 at 1300 GMT. I was supposed to host it but la ko kasulod sa meeting room. Pati si Max Spoor wa nuon pud kaapil. Nadayon sila coz Giri made another meeting code. So sila Lava, Giri, Any, Sandra and Salvador were there for the first ARD zoom after 20 long years! In the next Zoom meeting the Sunday after, sila Lava, Julia, Giri, Esteban and Moi were there. Missing n pud ko. Anyway, a WhatsApp group has been created for our class and I'm quite active in it. We really hope we could reach far more people. Jia you to us always!

Quarantine

I have been here in Bohol since the start of the quarantine last March 15, 2020. Moadto n ta ko Cebu last June 16 but nahadlok mn ko mao dia pa kos Bohol. I am using Ate Ica's old faithful laptop. Di n pud ko magmahay sa ako Globe Prepaid Wifi kay naka-Zoom mn ko with ISS batchmates last Friday night, July 10, 2020. Lingawa lagi ato kaju! There were 27 participants in the 1st session and 23 in the 2nd session! We agreed to meet online once every quarter. A WhatsApp group has been created for the batch and for our class in ARD 2K too. Kayagaw lng agi didto. Saun, 20 long years have passed gud and that was the first time we saw each other online. God bless all of us! The participants in the Zoom meeting were: Toms Thomas as facilitator, Sandra Nijhof from the Alumni Office, Ali, Ejaz, Lava, Shiv, Sanjay, Vinati, Michelle, Ceci Condo, Cecilia Ramos, Cristina, Juan Pablo, Julia, Rosario, Jairo and Nidia, Gillian, Kai, Lily, Reti, Dias, me, Tariq Nazir, Jacinta, Harriet, Arjanne Rietsma, Sharmini, Sylvester (Sly), Cynthia, Juliet. Whew! The agreement was we meet once every quarter. Hope madayon jud. God bless us all!

Lakorn

There's another series ni Nadech Kugimiya that will be shown on GMA NewsTV starting March 16 afternoon phn. Hapon cguro mga 2pm. It is called Hidden Love (Winds of Hidden Love -Lom Sorn Ruk in Thai). It is a story of family, treachery and loyalty. Duha k igsoon or twins bale sila and their father owns a medical company. Naa may brother sa gawas nga gusto pud moilog sa post mao patyon ang isa k anak laki. Ang anak laki nga tuas probinsya maoy mopuli sa anak nga naas siyudad. And the rest is history. Nana pud gifeature nga bukid nga part sa Thailand with this series. Hahahy, moadto n mn kaha jud ko ani didto phn. Jia you Doki!

COVID-19

There has been a community transmission of COVID-19 here in Philippines already since last week. As of this writing, 49 cases na ang Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila but na'pud taga-Dumaguete ug Cagayan de Oro. Nag-emergency meeting daw ang among deans so waiting mi for announcement kung masuspend amo klases or ishorten amo klases this semester. Jia you to us! Since January 3rd week p ni sya nga virus nikuyanap since nanglakaw ang mga mainland Chinese during Chinese New Year. Taga-Wuhan, China gud to ang first 3 cases diri, namatay gani tong isa k laki nga 39 yrs old. Wala jud nakahibaw till when ni nga virus maresolve. The DOH is estimating 3 months. Hopefully by then mahuman n jud ning virusa ug kuyanap sa tibuok kalibutan. Jia you Doki!

Bangkok October 2020 Pohon

I am planning to be in Bangkok in October pohon to visit Mary and take her to Siem Reap. Gusto pa pud ko moadto ug Myanmar ug Laos ug Hanoi and Halong Bay phn Lord so planohon n pud na ug tarong. It will be my 2nd time in BKK phn. The first time was with Ate Jing back in Sept 2008. I already told my Thai fellow ISS alumni that I will be there phn. Excited bya tos Achara nga moadto ko'g BKK before. Wa lng mi magkita. This time I hope to see her with Nipapan and A pud if makontak nako siya. Si Pim is in Seoul man diay so di to sya maapil phn. I am also looking to connect with a Thai academic coz I want to do an affiliation there so that I can see Thailand's agriculture for myself. Not just as a tourist. Si A is with Thammasat University mn diay. But Kai said she'll try to contact some fellow NL alumni daw. That's a good start. Thanks Kai and see you all in BKK in Oct phn!

My PhD Research

2/28/20 I just submitted the first draft of my proposal for PhD research. It is about the role of local experts in the urbanization of Cebu City. I think I made good in it so I will just wait for comments from my supervisor, si Dr Rivera. Jia you Doki, keep the faith! Due to the Covid crisis, and since senior citizen n mn pud si Dr Rivera, May na nako nadawat ang iya comments on my 1st draft. Then I worked on my new draft till June 27, 2020. Last week mga July 15, 2020, Dr Rivera contacted me and told me to finalize my draft for colloquium. Salamat tawn Lord. At least na'koy agi sa quarantine. Amen.

Choice

The character of Matnee in The Crown Princess is the chief's daughter and only child in a remote village in northern Thailand where Lieutenant Commander Dawin took Naree to hide out for safety. In the series she eventually chose to marry a guy that she said she had to marry and not someone she wants to marry. Coz she has a responsibility man daw to their village. Kasakit pud oi. But this is true about life. Sometimes we make choices that we have to, sacrificing our own happiness. Joyce told me once that in the past, ako mn daw giuna ang uban so it is time n daw pud to pursue my own happiness. Nalain bya ko ni Joyce when she dropped me when I visited KL in October 2017. But I think na-okay na mi after she told me of Nev's demise last end January 2020. Nakauli mn pud ko gikan sa KL due to Sunil's help. God bless us all Joycie!

Brokenness and Healing

There is a saying that goes, "You have to be broken in order to be shared". Of course I understood all of that. I became broken in Singapore coz duha lagi ako pildi didto in 2005-2006. But again, SG was the culmination of my so many mistakes in life. Jayeel called it a constellation of mistakes gud. Anyway, forward to the present. I am almost finished with my PhD studies at SU under CHED scholarship. My very good friend Marge gave me this advice: Take care of yourself more and love yourself more. So that pag dumating na siya, di sya ang bubuo sa yo bagkus magiging kasama mo sya sa lahat ng bagay dahil buo k n. Love it! Love you Marge! Hope to see u in PP again one of these days! :)

Musings

From my obsession with Nadech Kugimiya and Yaya Sperbund this time, I came into contact with the lyrics or message of a song they once sang together in an open-air concert. Theme song diay to from their series in 2012 called Thoranee Ni Nee Krai Krong: Don't chase people. Work hard and do your thing. The right people will come into your life at the right time and stay. So mao nay ako buhaton. Tutukan ug humanon ko ni ako PhD so that ig human phn, ireward ra ko ni Lord. I keep the faith! Amen.