I Could Not Ask for More

I went to another trip! But yesterday, I went to a place I really really know, even with both my eyes closed! My family and i spent yesterday visiting my fathers new garden, and hanged out in our favorite hub – the beach! of course.

Now, it’s your turn to witness these beauties! This way please:

First Stop: Crazy monkeys’ dad, Don Domeng’s New Garden! Worms and Bugs, not allowed.

Welcome!

You see here, that’s our dad showing off his huge bitter gourd vegies! haha nice poses huh??

Hit it Pa!

Now to the other crops, there are also other things to find… like…

Hot and... yellow?

Yeah, no photo editing here. It’s all yellow. We don’t really know why it turned yellow, but what the heck, it’s the spiciness we want! the family wants it hot and spicy! And it definitely have a good kick!

See how yellow that is?

It comes in different colors and sizes too!

that's a lot of spice!

And there’s more….

egg plants and cucumbers too!

Seeing these cute purple thingies…. “Tortang talong is for dinner!” Yum!

Second stop: The Beach! and it’s all about nature!

Welcome!

See? how can Manila replace the beauty our small little town posseses huh? What more can i ask for? This is the life!

see how clear the water is?

See a glimpse of heaven!

Save the Seas

From a coastal clean up held that morning, see how many twigs and trash the waves have brought to shore.

Barefoot.

Walking barefooted felt like a foot spa for my feet…

and look! Shells are everywhere!

now this looks familiar...

I wonder where God’s footprints are? haha

look how beautiful the waves can be...

And from the shore, If you turn to your right, here’s what you’ll see…

I told you it's all about nature!

And look! It’s PM!!!

PM on the Rocks!

And my name on the Sand...

And at the end of the day, in every sunset, there is always something new to look forward too, and hopefully something beautiful…

My First Trip in Manila! Piapot lost again!

Good News! I’m feeling better and better. And, I got to travel this day.

I arrived back here in my place around quarter to 8, but still after the whole day of de-stressing, i actually have enough energy left to write! I guess it worked huh? haha

Anyway, it’s not my first time in Manila, but, it’s my first time to actually be in that busy place like an ordinary human being. You see, I’m not used to commuting… and riding jeepneys… and buses. To think, here in the province, the first time i rode a bus to my school alone by myself was in my third year of high school! haha My parents are not big fans of it, and so are we too, so we travel with own cars anywhere. Back in highscool, our car takes me to my school and fetch me after classes, together with my other sisters. Our father actually turned our van into a service for us then. Good thing i get to go to the ‘big’ city with my mentor, because if i was alone, i think i’d get lost! Seriously. hahaha

So there, this day turned out to be a tour for little old me. This time, i get to see the real face of Manila, no private cars, no drivers, just me and my mentor. I actually felt like i was three again, amused with all stuffs that are ordinary for a lot of people, but for me, it’s like i’m in a different world. A lot of people is comming from everywhere, good thing i got a good grip with my claustrophobia and was still able to breath within a mob of people and comuters.

So, in my trip, here are the things I did the first time this day:

1. Go to Manila without a relative. Yeah, it may look weird, but it’s true. I always have my parents with me, or my cousins, or whoever. And, the other reason, i really did not like the place that much before because of the traffic, pollution and the crowd. Though, this day was quite different!

2. Ride the LRT!!! Yey me! Yey me! haha yes! that was my first time to ride the LRT! it was so cool and fast! no traffic and all! except it was kind of hard for me because there were a lot of people. Though, who cares i still rode it! yey me!

3. Go to PRC. This one really wasn’t cool. I wasn’t able to go inside because i have no bussiness to do there so i waited for my moderator to renew her license. Though it was hot and i did not have anything to sit anywhere, i had a good time looking at the long line of people – students, professionals, young, old, older than old, i even saw nuns! haha so i think i did have a little fun while waiting, except when a big guy stepped on my foot! haha

4. Go to ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY! This one i enjoyed the most. Our moderator in the student publcation, and mentor is a student here, and she toured me around! I was really amused in this school. So cool! Everything looked so perfect! hahaha I would really love to study in that place, it’s just that the course i’m going to take is in another university. But still, it was awesome! How i wish the school i’m in, in God’s time (and i hope in my time too!), would grow to become like ADMU! Lets’s pray for that!

5. Eat at the House of Minis inside the Gateway mall. Yeah, this one was really surprising, ironically the food is huge! i ordered for a sizzling chicken and i wasn’t able to eat half of it! hahaha though at least, it made my tummy happy.

6. Ride a jeep (in Manila of course). This is not something new. You read my story with commuting, so this doesn’t sound new either! hahaha anyway, what the heck, for me it is! hahaha

7. Experience being a commuter. Yey me! i survived the whole riding a long. LRT, jeepneys, buses, tricycles, you name it! hahaha and it wasn’t that bad, except for the jeepneys, it was hot, and there was one we rode and actually got off to walk because it was not moving at all because of traffic!

8. Mingle with a mob of people. I hate this. First i can’t breathe. Second, it’s hot. Third, it’s not safe. But, i did it!

9. See things from a different view. With the past weeks being depressed and not myself, with this trip i actually felt my ray of sunshine go back! i was looking at things as if i haven’t seen them before, and i acatually rode on a lot of things i only got used to look at! haha it was very fun! and exciting!

10. Be a three year old again. This is the best thing. Being in Ateneo, experiencing Manila in a different way, shopping in SM Sta. Mesa, oh! it did made me feel like i was a three year old! It looked like everything was new for my eyes!

- There is really nothing big in my trip for a lot of people, but for me, it would still be my first ‘real’ trip in the big city! haha Piapot got lost again to another planet, but what the heck, at least i enjoyed it! A big Yey for me!

Ms. Little Ray of Sunshine

Forgive me if I’ve been gone for a long time. I’ve been busy doing a lot of stuffs that got piled up, even taller than my 5′3″ frame. And to tell you honestly, what made these stuffs even harder for me to do is because I’ve been depressed – depressed because it seemed that i can’t do anything right.

And so my blog was in hiatus, it actually made me stress a lot more because i can’t think of something to write, my work, my thoughts, my brain, everything was in complete blank. But today, I’m tired of being in this phase. If there are things that i have to, might as well get it over with right?

What made me hanging there really is a blur. But one thing is for sure, the stress that I’m feeling really kills me. I think i totally mastered the art of stressing myself! And it definitely, totally, absolutely sucks! I hate it when people expect me to be the person they want me to be, and i can’t do it. No matter how much i try to do everything i can, i totally felt that I’m just messing things up. No, I’m not trying to please them, nor was i doing it because they expect me to do so, but because i too really want it myself, and what made me depressed is that it seemed as though i can’t. And what made me hate myself in this stressful moments is that i kept on doubting my own abilities. Always asking myself if i can do this and that? If i can be the person they expect me too? if i can do better? the ifs that even makes it harder. Suddenly, the little ms. ray of sunshine that i know turned out to be in a calamity situation. I was stressing so hard that i don’t even know what i can do and can’t, that left me doing nothing to help.

I know that there are things i can’t do, things that i actually suck, things that i totally mess up, but there are things that i can still do right? Maybe what made feel so small in this instant is that i looked at myself that way. What made me doubt myself is that i never believed that i can. But this time, no more. A lot of high hopes are waiting for me, I’m not the greatest writer, or the greatest student for now, but I will be. I’m never giving up on my abilities, on myself. I’m never going to doubt what i can do. Because all this time that i’ve been doing so, i found myself shattered. But today, I’m starting to pick up the pieces.

I’m struggling to win, and it’s harder than what i have imagined. But when you love something real bad, that’s when you feel pain and keep on going to surpass. I missed my blog, I missed myself, and here i am again, still coming back.

Ms. little ray of sunshine is waiting to get back on track. It was raining for weeks in my life, but at least, i found my pockets full of light.

Hot Choco anyone?

“Ano September na? grabe di ko napansin.” [It's September? gosh i did not notice.]

Yeah, with all things i’ve been up to the past few days, i have lost track of time… and month. Well, but as I woke up this morning with the sound of Christmas carols waking me up from my deep sleep. And it was really nice, a big smile on my face was painted.:-)

I always have this feeling about Christmas that i can’t explain. Even the mere signs and symbols of this season, the lanterns, Christmas cards, Christmas lights, anything that has a Christmas thing in it, make something in my heart beat as if it was the happiest thing!:-) i don’t know, maybe the child in me never fails to come out when the ber-months come.

I remember when we were still little children during Christmas eve, we are all gathered in our little living room in our old house, mama and papa would always tell stories about the big guy in red with all the gifts he has for us and that we should put our stockings out withe list of the things we want, while my papa would imitate him with his own version of the famous Ho-ho-ho Merry Christmas, and it was really a laugh.

Reminiscing those moments makes me even feel happier today, and better for now i can feel my body restore itself from my old-chubby-cute-and-less stressed self. And as i paint the precious times my mama having our little sister on her lap, papa on her side, ched and I with our apple cut hair, and PM with her skinny self, the three of us with our hot Swiss Miss choco drink and the mess it makes in our faces, what a pretty and happy scene we must have been if i could only go back and take a picture of us.

Christmas this time with the four of us a little grown up, this special time in Christmas eve never stopped, though we added a little more events to be done to celebrate, and our fare share of own stories to tell.

And to this moment, i have realized what Christmas is. It’s not the lights, the cards, the lanters, the Christmas trees, the treats, nor the gifts little children get from their ninongs and ninangs, but it’s what we share with other people, the love, the happiness, the spirit and that special feeling that paints a huge smile in our faces while thinking of Christmas even in the hot summer days, or within the outpour of rain.

And to this instant, how happier it makes me to know what great gift i have been receiving every Christmas, and how i wish it would never fade, wrapped in the fanciest, most precious and priceless thing called family.:-)