Thankful, grateful and blessed

I had always been declaring to everyone who ask of my age that I am 21. Well, not that I'm no good in Math but I just stopped counting since then. I prob'ly should say that I'm still stuck in that era. Forever 21.

I had always felt grateful, thankful and blessed for all the things that come my way even bad ones. Who knew that the bad ones kept us strong and going.

Anyhow, I think it's high time that I share some of the things I had learned along the way. So, here goes:

1. Everything is not about you. - whatever you hear, don't be paranoid. Even if it's about you, act as if it doesn't matter. Learn the art of "kiber". To be honest, I think I had already mastered this. So, even if someone says that I'm dumb, i just let them think of me that way so I can make the next move by evaluating everything that needs to be evaluated and act on it like a thief in the night.

2. Friends are the worst enemy. - I, honestly, am not implying that I have one but I had an encounter with a friend over something petty and I must say that it wasn't worth it at all. Yet, it's not a mistake to make boundaries. If and when friends made one mistake, be cautious about it. If you see a lot of red lights, end it, it's not worth your self respect.

3. Respect and love yourself. - This should always be the case. Before you can spread goodness from within, you should be content that no one, not anyone, can take away the respect and love you have for yourself. 

4. Never compare yourself to others. - True that we have our own hurdles. Some may be similar but it is and won't ever be the same to anyone's. We were brought into this world unique. Even a ruler, if you look at it through a lens that can zoom a million times better than what we have now, a straight line traced through a use of a ruler compared to the same straight line traced through the same ruler is not and will not be the same. Even fingerprints are unique, no matter how many millions, billions and trillions of people there are on earth, it won't be ever be duplicated.

5. You have a loyal friend. - no matter how hard the problems are, trust that there will be someone who will be willing to listen to your sorrows and may be with you through it. If you're lucky, you'll find them in no time. 

6. Have faith. - Have faith that all of these will have an end to it. After all, everything is temporary. God sees every struggle we go through, every decision we make, every good and bad thing we do. Religion alone can't save us but having faith, hope and love, can. Oh, and also remorse.

Be good and kind to whoever and whatever. Remember always that there is karma... and, it is a b*tch..

Peace out.

Latte Art: Frustrating

I may be posting a lot about coffee from hereon and share what I will learn about the coffee industry.

As a beginner in this industry, please don't take it against me if there will be a lot of mistakes that I'll be going through. My only consolation is that I will learn and I'm quite sure that it'll be a lot.

But for today, allow me to express my frustration over my nth attempt in doing latte art through this video. You may click the word video to see how frustrating it has been.

So, now, I'm taking the afternoon off to vent off the frustration somewhere. No more coffee for the rest of the day. 

So, cocktails anyone?

Coffee is definitely life

It took me a couple of months to a year to find the industry that I want to grow old to and that's the coffee industry.

I am an avid drinker of coffee but only limited to those instant ones. Never did I realize that there's more to it than just buying a stick, some cream and sugar which I had been drinking at least twice a day.

Now, the opportunity has come to indulge in this industry and I really have learned a lot ever since we started. Oh joy! And ever since we started, I can now literally take in a dose of espresso and mind you, no sugar to really test my palate of the uniqueness of different varieties and origin of the beans we have.

Anyhow, a part of this experience in this industry is sharing with you our softly opened company, KETTLE AND SHAKER INC.

Kettle and Shaker Inc., located in the heart of Davao City, is a Mindanao wide distributor of the following products:

CONTI ESPRESSO MACHINES

from Monaco

DALLA CORTE ESPRESSO MACHINES

from Italy

LONGBEACH PRODUCTS

SIGNATURE TEA

COFFEE BEANS

Local and Imported

Can be customized with customer's logo

You may want to follow Kettle and Shaker Inc.'s facebook page to see more of its products and services.

Rough and tough times

I rarely write these days. And when I do think about it, it's always sad thoughts that would really be written. And this is not an exception.

I have these friends from when I was very young. I literally grew up with them since their father used to work for my grandparents when we were still little. 

They are going through a rough and tough time the middle part of this year. 

Her daughter and a niece of my bestfriend succumbed to cancer last week. She was just 11. 

Early today, I learned that their brother passed away. Not even a week after his niece passed.

It's difficult to understand why people have to go through rough and tough times. Especially now that the pandemic is still here, it will be easier for people to get depressed and friends cannot visit friends to personally condole with them.

My friend Cliff Berning

I have a friend whom I haven't met personally. His name is Clifford Berning. I call him Cliff. We met online more than a decade ago through this yahoo mail forwarder group composed of Expats who were interested in visiting the Philippines, asking questions of it and getting different information of the Filipinos, the food and the country itself.

I can remember vividly how our friendship started and it was at the wrong foot. We argued on a lot of things especially of his impression with the Filipino women. We would constantly exchange conversations on Viber, him being his usual sarcastic self, telling me that Filipino women are dependent and very practical on a wrong point view (which means asking for money, spending it and giving it away even to extended families) and me proving to him that he was wrong and shouldn't generalize his impression of the Filipinas.

Over the years, the exchange of messages brought our friendship to a deeper level. Conversations became less annoying. We were able to tolerate and accept each other's frankness. And, we learned from each other's experiences as well. 

We would talk of almost anything: weather, jobs, money, Jesus, religion, life, family, vacation, economy and whatnots. Yet most often during these conversations, Cliff would bug me with finding him a woman to marry and he would stress over and over of the "list of qualities" that I should look for before introducing him to some woman. To which I always tell him that he has really high standards and it's very difficult to find someone with all the qualities he is looking for. Viber exchanges like these were constant and they kept on coming until the middle of this year. 

About a week ago, I was ready to introduce him to a friend so I created a chat group and started the conversation. However, his reply was really unusual and it made me suspicious that there was something wrong with him. Just a few days ago, I found out that he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. When he told me, he was still in the hospital. 

He was already discharged as of this blog writing but his speech and his movements has already deteriorated. He mentioned the need of a wheelchair for a walker cannot sustain him anymore. After he was discharged, he fell off thrice in one day and had difficulty bringing himself up after falling. He lost a lot of weight already in just a span of a week, from 126 kgs to 95 kgs as of yesterday. 

He is currently in Chang Mai, Thailand and will most likely stay there permanently. His doctor discouraged him of traveling back to the USA because of the risk of a seizure attack. 

I am sharing this to you to raise money for his medical expense. Chemotherapy is the next step for his treatment. He underwent radiation already. 

I am also sharing his Go Fund Me Page. You can click the words underlined and it will direct you to the page itself where you can make a donation. 

Please help me share his page as I am hoping it will be able to reach his family and friends who can help my friend Cliff. Thank you in advance.

Shattered Dreams

Yes, I had been procrastinating for a few years.
After coming home from a 5 months trip, I couldn't find the inspiration to write a new blog entry.

I felt like I hit a wall, a really hard wall, when hub talked me into agreeing that it was time to go home after our 2nd try at extending our visa. 
It was as if my dream of living in another country ended after having the chance to actually blend in and learning what it was like to live in a totally different place where the culture, people, lifestyle, cost of living, and what's not are the opposite of what we were used to.

We arrived at the end of spring when the cherry blossom trees started saying goodbye while slowly fading away.
Landing at Christchurch and experiencing the really cold breeze made us realize that the clothes we brought might not be suitable for the weather.
The 7 to 8 hours travel to Nelson left us mesmerized to the beautiful mountain view along the way where you can see them covered with snow.

Yet, hub wasn't used to the quiet life and even labeling New Zealand as the land of "The Walking Dead". 
The sun would shy away from the sky at between 8 and 9 in the evening.
Waking up early at 4 and having coffee at the garage in jogging pants, sweatshirts and jackets and still feeling really cold while our bodies slowly adjusted to the 10 degrees temperature was something new.

There weren't too many people and cars in Nelson.
Most of them would turn in at 5-ish or 6-ish.
People roaming around the street can be counted by one's fingers. 
This includes the patients walking inside the aged care, some naked.

Malls open at 7 in the morning and closes at 5 in the afternoon.
Yet, going to the grocery, buying chocolates on sale, ice cream, bread and finding a dollar's worth of either pork skin, pig's head, pig shank, beef shank, chicken liver and chicken gizzard found at the dog food section was pure happiness to us.

Walking, riding buses, and walking some more to get to different destinations was always welcoming and comforting even if I wasn't used to it back home.
Walking became our daily routine everyday after breakfast and dinner, talking and laughing at our experiences in the land where we were strangers.
Feeding ducks at the park and lakes was also one of the activities we always look forward to, wishing we could just grab one or two to cook for dinner.

We had a chance at applying for jobs, taking calls and interviews online yet not one was a match made in heaven.
Hiring process took a lot of time, over 3 months, and our time was quite limited.
And, even though it wasn't meant for us to land a job in NZ, it was an experience that was worth learning from.

When the days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and the time to finally go home has arrived, there's that "sepanx" and empty feeling inside after realizing that a lifelong dream which was in your hands has already started to fade away.
And that feeling of failure after realizing that you're not going to get something that you had always dreamed for your family sets in was heartbreaking. 
My dream for my family was gone, in other words, shattered.
Worse of all, going home without a job to go back to was something to worry about.

But then I realized that closing a chapter isn't really the end. 
Closing a chapter just means that it was time to open a new one.

After 2 years, I realized that coming home wasn't so bad after all.
We had a taste of living the New Zealand dream even for a little while.
Our family's relationship became better.
After coming home, I was blessed with a new job and I must say the pay was better than the old one.
The experience we had taught us a lot: patience, adjustment, anger and frustration management, to name a few.
But we are still blessed.

The dream might have faded away but we can always start a new one.
Maybe... Maybe one day I will be able to reach it.
If it wasn't meant for me to reach it, maybe, it's meant for my children.
There's hope. :)

Harbour City: Dimsum Yum!

I am not what you call a regular blogger nor am I someone who creates one to swoon friends, acquaintances or strangers to support or buy stuff. But dang, I must say that this resto is one of those that you need to dine in and tick off from your bucket list.

To start off, I’m 100% Chinese... but I am one of those who would make use of one of the lyrics from a certain song that “Chinese food makes me sick” as a life quote.. If it weren't for the hubby who loves Chinese cuisines, I wouldn't really be one of those people who would go pick out a Chinese restaurant on an ordinary day. HOWEVER, I must say that this is one of those rare times that I would recommend a Chinese resto to friends or even acquaintances and this is the Harbour City Dimsum House.

Harbour City, as far as I know and as far as the powers of my taste buds can tell, is located at SM Lanang, in the heart of Davao City (to be honest, I rarely go out and check out food establishments which I can say is a must try). We went there at the spur of the moment when mom mentioned going to SM to find something to eat for snacks.

So, while walking around after parking at the basement, we decided to go to Harbour City... AND, we tried these:

Pai Kuat

Pork and Seafood Spring Rolls

Chili Pork and Shrimp Siomai

Bacon Siomai

Fried Shrimp Balls

Steamed Hakao

 

Garlic Pork

We also tried their Beef Sate and Yang Chow Fried Rice. Too bad, we weren't able to take pictures of it.

Well, the food experience at Harbour City Dimsum House, I must say, is a 8 out of 10 for me just because they ran out of halo halo at that time.

By the way, you can click on the picture for a much better view.

Friendship: Do you put a label to it?

Just yesterday, a friend of mine asked me if I put a category to people whom I met which somehow got me to thinking.

Here's what I think, not all friends can become best friends. Even if you put the label as "best friend", you'll never know if the other person felt that way towards you.

There are people who you think are confidants and you consider them as friends. However, when you start to share things that you consider top secret, they shut you off immediately. Others, on the other hand, couldn't stop themselves from squealing.

There are people who you think are your friends but in reality, they're just there for the beer drinking sessions, parties and for freebies.

There are friends who you think are brothers or sisters from another mother. Only you will find out one day that they stabbed you at the back.

Extremely close friends are rare, in my opinion. Even if you think someone is your close friend, but then, actions can make them become acquaintances in the future.

Don't think I don't have best friends and close friends. In fact, I have a lot of them.

I remembered making a status post in my Facebook account a few days ago and it went like this:

"In life, you will meet different kinds of people. Some you may like, some you may not like and some you may loathe. The important thing is you need to know how to dance with the music and avoid people you need to avoid. Remember that in a hectare of agricultural land, not all you till will come out as good crops."

So, yeah, I do give labels although I try my best to be nice. But, not in all situations though.

How about you? Do you categorize your friends?

This year.....

This year, I will remind myself over and over again that I cannot please everybody. That no matter what I do, nothing can satisfy each and everyone. And, even if I try the hardest, I end up breaking hearts.

This year, I will remind myself that through every disappointment, I will learn things and lessons that will be valuable to me. That amidst all the bad lucks that will come my way, there's no other way to go but up.

This year, I will remind myself to be kinder to others. That even if I am not perfect, I am trying my best to be a better human being.

This year, I will remind myself to take it slow. Not to rush and compete with the flow of life, to just enjoy every second of it and go to bed smiling and laughing over everything.

This year, I will remind myself of the things that really matter the most: my family. That everything I do, I do it because of them. That even if work is important, spending time with them is more important.

This year, I will remind myself to let God be the captain of my ship. After all, He's the reason why I exist.

Unhappy yet hopeful

Hey yo!

I know everyone still felt that the  holidays were too short and therefore each one of us hoped and wished to have an extended vacation even just for a little. But too bad, majority of us couldn't spare more holidays because it would be a bad omen to start the new year with too many absences. Such, was my case.

December wasn't really a blast for us. In the middle of it, my father in law was admitted to the hospital, stayed there for 2 weeks and sadly passed away after Christmas Day at the age of 83. Christmas for us was spent at the hospital, chasing the doctors, buying prescriptions and shelling out our cash bonuses for a greater purpose but no regrets though. I was still happy to at least have given than have done nothing at all. And, thank God for it because I now somehow know what I'm capable of and what kind of person I am.

New Year came but there was nothing special for us too. We were grieving after we sent a family member to his final resting place 2 days before New Year's eve. So, it was a quiet New Year for us. My kids and I went to light a candle at St. Jude Parish, watched some Christmas decorations displayed at the City Hall and went home, drank a little, talked to hubby about different stuff and ended up snoring 2 hours after we blew and honked horns.

So here I am, sleeping off a migraine and spending the whole day tucked in bed and somehow coping up with the throbbing pain and literally unhappy about taking a day off from work.

Yes, to be honest, I'm not happy for skipping work. I don't to hear disappointments, complaints, etc. So much for working in a company owned by a relative. *sigh*

Oh well, maybe it's a sign for something. I just have to absorb it somehow and whatever it may be, I think, I have to think further ahead.

Good luck to our 2014! Let's hope this year will go more smoothly than last year and probably end it with something very good! God bless us!

It's 34 days before Christmas!

In the Philippines, Christmas is the most celebrated event of the year.

And, since I'm living in a Christian country, the Philippines, one of the values that was instilled in our minds was to give importance to family. After all, the family is the one you go back to when everyone turn their backs on you.

So, no matter what the distance is, no matter what the hurdles you had and had not conquered, it doesn't give anyone an excuse to say no to family reunion celebrations during the Christmas season.

To everyone in the world, here are the station IDs of the local TV networks in the Philippines:

And since I can't find the newest Christmas Station ID of TV5, I had put their old one instead.

So, Merry 34 days before Christmas!

Bangon Pilipinas

I'm such a balat sibuyas. I get sentimental when I see pictures of the typhoon Haiyan's destruction.

I had been one of those people who cannot stop criticizing the government but amidst my personal sentiments, I still believe that they can do better if they give focus and heart to the issues at hand.

Maybe, the Filipinos are still inexperienced in handling the after effects of a very strong typhoon. Yet, I believe that we get to learn valuable lessons after this, after everyone has recovered.

As the saying goes, "There's always a rainbow after every rain."

So, let me leave you with this revived song that is very applicable to the current situation we're facing now. Let's do our share. Let's help.

Babangon tayo Pilipinas. :)

Come out, come out wherever you are....

Yes, tomorrow marks the 7th day after the strongest typhoon, which was named as Haiyan internationally and Yolanda locally, hit a portion of Visayas.

Social media networks can't get enough criticisms against the government. And yes, I'm one of those people who had been criticizing a lot basing on the response that the government gives to ease the situation in Visayas.

I can't say that we don't lack equipments because we do. We don't have enough high-tech facility that can make the government's job easier.

We don't have enough funds to, at least, give enough food for all the victims from the typhoon.

But the lack of attention on this situation is really unacceptable.

If you're wondering why I can't stop from posting my complaints against the government, then allow me to tell it to you.

• Master plan, rescue missions, reinforcements were late. I don't know why they could put these on hold when these should always be the first step in alleviating the grief of the victims. It's not as if typhoons cannot be predicted. When a typhoon shows up on the weather system, rest assured that the weather people know its estimated time of landfall, the intensity of the rain and wind, also the "possible" after effects of such typhoons. Hence, master plans should be prepared ahead of time from the hourly weather images they see. From the master plan, they can already prepare "possible" rescue missions and reinforcements in clearing the road, collecting bodies and giving out food. It's such a disappointment to see that the first people to arrive on ground zero were the aids provided by international governments. We're supposed to be the first people to respond to the situation. And, since the LGUs aren't available because they themselves are victims, the national government should respond immediately. The question is, where's the national government?

• No supplies until after a few days. It's understandable that roads have to be cleared. What I couldn't understand is why they didn't use the government choppers to drop off goods in different areas even in just a small proportion? 

• Lack of body bags for the casualties. I couldn't blame the people for being so angry about how the government on how they handled this situation. After every calamity, it's expected that the number of casualties will rise. Majority of the Filipino people expected a swift response in clearing all the bodies, identifying them and initiate a mass grave for the burial. It's just so sad that there wasn't even a plan on this. Mass burial was unsuccessful at the first attempt. Government representatives are telling everyone that they don't have enough body bags. Are they just going to stop there and keep on making excuses? I hope they remember that the bodies are decaying already. In my knowledge, formalins will be deemed as useless in preserving the bodies because the water in the body will just eject the chemical. Expect a lot of bacterias in that area because of decomposition of not only bodies but also garbages as well. 

• No alternative evacuation sites. Yes, that's the saddest part. Victims are left sleeping on the streets, at the airports and even beside dead relatives. Tents can be very good alternatives if only they're ready to dispose them to the affected families right then and there. But, according to the interviews, these tents are still not made. Tsk tsk tsk.

I wonder how much the victims will have to sacrifice after the typhoon, after losing their friends and family.

I remembered reading an FB post about an open letter from one of the victims who was pleading for the presence of the President on this situation. Pleading for the President to be at ground zero.

Natural disasters cannot be controlled. These are nature's way of telling people that we contributed to its wrath.

Nobody's blaming anyone for these disasters. But, the presence of the government, they need it the most.

I hope that the people elected would, at least somehow, show that they sympathize with the victims instead of just answering questions, assuring them that they are doing their best, counting death tolls, making statements of donations, etc.

At this time of crisis, even if we're not victims, we feel the need of a reassurance from the government officials, especially the President, by being there at ground zero and showing that they give a damn.

Haiyan na naman sila!

It's really disappointing!

Palpak na nga sa announcements at hindi naibigay ng tama ang inpormasyong "storm surge", hindi pa nagpapakita sa panahong kelangan sila ng mga biktima sa trahedya.

Sa lakas ba namang 250 kph na hangin na nakita na ng pag-asa, pati impormasyong delikado na ang epekto ng "storm surge", hindi pa naibigay ng maayos.

Ngayong tapos na ang bagyo, tapos na ang trahedya, madami ng bangkay sa daan, wala pa ring ginagawa ang mga taong nasa posisyon.

Tumulong na nga't lahat ang iba't ibang bansa, ni anino ng mga opisyal na nagpapa interbyu sa radyo at telebisyon, e wala! NAMAN!

Ke daling lumabas sa telebisyon at mag apela ng tulong, pero ni simpatiya lang sa mga biktima, wala. Ngayon na kelangan nila kayo, lugmok, umiiyak, pinanghihinaan ng loob, walang makain, kayo naman ay parang sabon na kung buhusan, nawawala.

Magsikilos naman kayo at hindi lang pasasa ng pasasa sa pag eenjoy sa mga buwis na pinagnanakawan pa. Hindi lang sa pag aanunsyo na mag rerelease kayo ng 13th month ng maaga.

Punyeta naman! Nakakahiya kayo! Kapwa Pilipino, hindi pa matulungan. Inuuna niyo pa si Napoles sa usapan e wala naman kayong maipipiga diyan kundi "I invoke my right" at "hindi ko alam".

Sana lang sa katagang "Babangon ang Pilipinas" e talagang may ginagawa kayo at hindi lang pabandying bandying sa palasyo, naninigarilyo, nagpapa picture at nagpapa interview lang.

Nakaka HB! Hay naku! Kelan pa kayo titino!

Naway maging aral to sa lahat ng tao. Bumoto naman kayo ng mga taong sa tingin niyo ay karapatdapat ilagay sa pweste at hindi kung sino ang nanay at tatay o kamag-anak.

Matamaan na kung matamaan!

Proposal

If you can relate to the local showbiz couple, Zoren and Carmina's wedding, then you certainly agree that all women, at one point in their lives, wished of having a dreamy wedding. A wedding that even if it's not so extravagant and expensive, it would be special, sweet and with a lot of heart.

But just before a wedding happens, there's the "proposal". Just like weddings, we, women, also want to receive the best proposal a man could give.

So, without further ado, watch this video:

 

The birth of typhoons

For those of you who still don't know, typhoons are born in the Philippines.

Have you ever wondered where typhoons come from? Take a look at the diagram below:

So here's a simple explanation:

Our science teacher had taught us that hot air rises when cold air comes. And, the ocean, being hot as it is, contributes heat by transferring it to the air. When heat is transferred to cold air, then it would literally mean that there will be a lot of hot air that will go up when cold air comes. Now, if cold air comes rapidly, it will push the hot air up in the same manner also. If this cycle repeats, wind will be created. Now, imagine if this cycle will be repeated infinitely, thus, we will have typhoon.

Now, natural disasters can't be controlled. All the government could do is monitor and give announcements, then, as human beings, we should respond appropriately to every warning.

To make this blog entry short, here are a few tips that had been repeatedly given that I wanted to give out again.

• Prepare clean drinking water.
• Prepare easy to open food and food that requires no cooking.
• If you still have an old radio that could function with dry cell batteries, then, make sure you prepare them as well so that you will be updated of the weather forecast even during power failure.
• Charge your mobile phones and if you have extra batteries, make sure that they're fully charged also. You will never know when you will need them to contact government agencies or people that can help you.
• If there are warnings for an immediate evacuation, do not hesitate. Leave your things behind. Don't compromise your safety.
• If water rises quickly, look for a higher ground that's stable. Second floor or roof tops are usually the easiest to access.
• Look for floating devices that you can use. You can always be creative and make a raft out of empty mineral waters.
• If you're stubborn and you insist in staying at your home, make sure your children (if you have any), are already brought to a safe area.

Superheroes don't exist in real life. And, usually, people who pretend that they're heroes are the ones who are facing a higher risk.

Remember, it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Oh, and don't forget to pray.

Oh life!

Wouldn't it be nice if there's just this one day that you would be able to disappear from all your problems?

To be honest, if only someone could beam me up to another country or even just to some place where I don't know anyone, I would gladly take the opportunity. 

It's really hard to be fair in all situation. I can do only so much.

Take this instance when you did a lot of things in the past that's still not heartily accepted by people close to you and now you're trying to patch things up. Yet along the way, there's this crossroad and you're trying to do the best you could to decide which road to take. And no matter which road you choose, one is bound to be deserted.

That's how I feel. That's how I had felt for a couple of years now.

Right now, I really think that the win-win situation is just a piece of crap.

If only Papa God could whisper to me on how to do things correctly, on what I could do to make things easier for everyone, I will right then and there do whatever I could to make things right.

But that's just life. It's not always a bed of roses. It's just, yeah, complicated.

No regrets

The course that we are going to take is something that we should look forward to. Never look back or you might miss a lot of things while you walk to your destination.

If you fall, stand up and be proud of yourself for having the courage to move on.

If there's a missing piece to the puzzle, analyze and solve the problem and be thankful that you're given a brilliant brain to think.

If you go through disappointments, frustrations and heartaches, smile like there's nothing wrong, move on and be thankful for God gave you a heart that can feel joy and pain.

Never regret for it can bring you nowhere near your goals.

Be happy and thankful always that you are still breathing and that there's hope, love and forgiveness that comes with every release of Oxygen from your lungs.

As I always say to people I know, "problems are meant to push you forward, make you strong and see that somehow there's hope to every situation."

By the way, this song is not related to this post. I just felt the need to put this in this post as this is one of my favorite songs. *wink*

The way I feel tonight

Dear Papa God,

Is it too much to ask for extreme patience, understanding and optimism? Because it's literally running out already.

Lately, I had been experiencing a lot of heartaches from someone whom I expected to support me in every decision that I make, be it good or bad. After all, it's for a long term goal. Yet much to my disappointment, my day always start and end with a lot of painful words being thrown at me. Now, I'm not even sure what "through thick and thin" really meant anymore.


I never regretted making mistakes in life, even if it meant falling and standing back again. I never regretted going through a rough road, even at times when the road is full of piercing stones and the only choice I have to move on is to walk without any shoes on.

To be honest Father, even if I had no regrets, I still can't take off the thoughts of giving up and going back to the place where I feel that I really belong, home. If only I didn't have any children to think of or any responsibilities to face, I would be glad to just leave everything behind and go back to where I started.

At times that I'm at my lowest, I try to put on a poker face and smile like there's nothing wrong. At times, I wanted to drown myself with beer just to cover the pain that I feel even if it's just a temporary solution.

Right now, Father, I feel lost, drained and empty. But I am going to choose the greater good: move on and assure myself that I'm doing the right thing.

Please help me understand all these things Father.

Love, Sweepz

Happy Teacher's Day!

This photo was taken from www.imfunny.net.

 This photo was taken from strawberrypearlstudios.blogspot.com.

Teachers are the most patient being in the entire world and this blog post is made especially for them.

Thank you teachers for being our second parents. 

Let's face it, being a parent is really hard. Taking care of our children is never easy and when we're asked, we always say that they're a handful. Being a second parent to somebody else's children is even harder. Imagine controlling more than 40 children for at least 8 hours, five days a week. I'm sure one would go crazy on the first few weeks of the school year.

Thank you teachers for handing down your knowledge.

Teachers are gifted with a super stretched patience, answering all the questions thrown by the students, sometimes students even laughed at mispronounced words and extremely funny answers. Hey, admit it! We had been naughty once. We laugh at our teachers' backs, placed our attention to something else, draw cartoons and God knows what others did during school days. For this dear teachers, I think you are supermen and superwomen of this days' generations.

Thank you teachers for bringing us to where we are now.

Yes, we wouldn't be who we are today if it weren't for you. Year after year, they face different challenges, especially on how to convey with students. Reaching out to each one of the not so innocent faces sitting in front of a teacher's desk is very hard especially since we're brought up in our parents' unique ways.

So, thank you dear teachers for everything. It's just right that you were given the credit even once a year for all the hard work that you had done in raising the future doctors, teachers, engineers, nurses, politicians, etc.

 This photo was taken from doblelol.com.