A Trip Around Town

It's been a while since I got to go around my hometown of Santa Rosa, Laguna in a bicycle. I've been wanting to ride a bike for the longest time since I missed the thrill of riding one. It definitely feels good to feel the wind going through your hair, get the bumps and bruises the road has to offer and to simply experience a different kind of freedom that a bicycle alone can offer.

I got home pretty early today since both my Friday classes were canceled. Lucky me! Thank you Lord for giving me an early weekend which I shall use to relax after this hectic week. I fell asleep as I was watching the Wolves vs. Wizards game and when I woke up, it was the Heat and the Nuggets playing already with the Nuggets having a pretty big lead. It was understandable since Miami was on a 5 game road trip and LeBron was sitting the game out with a sprained ankle.

Anyway, I decided to visit my grandmother since I was alone at home and I was getting pretty hungry and I figured that there would be some merienda over there. So off I went.

After visiting my mamang, I felt pretty adventurous so I decided to go around more with my bike. I went to visit my grandfathers' graves in a nearby memorial park since I had nothing else to do anyway. I find it pretty interesting that I have three lolos buried in the same cemetery. I guess that's how it really is in the provinces or in my hometown.

I said a silent prayer to each of my grandfathers' graves and after which, I decided to go back home since it was getting pretty dark already. On my way home, I came across these 4 kids who were riding bikes as well. We were in front of the PUP campus here and there were classes going on. As we crossed paths, they were shouting to the students something like "Umuwi na kayo! Wala din kayo mapapala sa pagpasok!"

It's so disappointing how ordinary Filipinos think this way. At a very young age, it seems that all they want to do is slack around and have no direction in life like how a lot of people are in the slums. But I guess that the people who should be blamed for these kinds of problems would be the parents of these people and the parents of their parents. One saying struck me a lot as I watched the new Karate Kid movie which starred Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. As Mr. Han said, "There is never a bad student, only bad teachers."

So I'm thinking. Since I'm an educated person, I'm guessing it's my job to be able to turn the ways of thinking of these kinds of people around in order for this country to develop. It definitely won't happen overnight since this has to be done step by step, little by little. But I promise that I'll do what I can when I'm ready so that these kinds of people would have better lives and it would start in how they think.

Lord, please help me.

Until the next time.

Phim

Here are some photos of my hometown.

-Here's an image of a traffic enforcer near the public market. I'm so lucky to find an image on the net where my grandfather's name can be found. What a coincidence! If you look closely, You'd be able to see an engraving on the beige wall of one of the public schools here. (I'm not sure if it's visible though.) The engraving has the name of my father's father. That wall was donated by my grandparents, Secretary Romeo Arceo Moran and Iluminada Barrinuevo Rico.

-This is the church that me and my family has been going to ever since I was young. Santa Rosa de Lima Parish church.

Never fear

Hello, everyone :) I'd just want to share an entry from the blog of one of the world's best known writers, Paulo Coelho. This entry was shared to me by my mother whom I terribly miss. I hope you're doing good there, Nay. We're fine here. We miss you and we love you.

I hope this can guide you guys in your lives if ever you have any doubts or any problems that are troubling you in this life of ours. Inspirational people such as Mr. Coelho are blessings to us because they are the ones who God sends to us so that we can experience the love that He has for all of us, His children, here on Earth.

2011: Manual for conserving paths

Published on January 1, 2011 by PAULO COELHO

1] The path begins with a crossroads. There you can stop and think what direction to follow. But don’t spend too much time thinking or you’ll never leave the spot. Reflect a lot on the choices that lie ahead, but once you have taken the first step, forget the crossroads for ever or else you will always torture yourself with the useless question: “did I take the right path?”

2] The path doesn’t last for ever. It is a blessing to travel the path for some time, but one day it will come to an end, so always be prepared to take leave of it at any moment. However enraptured you may be at certain landscapes, or scared whenever you have to make a great effort to go ahead, don’t get too used to anything. Neither to the hours of euphoria, nor to the endless days when everything seems so difficult and progress is so slow. Don’t forget that sooner or later an angel will appear and your journey will reach an end.

3] Honor your path. It was your choice, your decision, and just as you respect the ground you step on, that ground will respect your feet. Always do what is best to conserve and keep your path and it will do the same for you.

4] Be well equipped. Carry a small rake, a spade, a penknife. Understand that penknives are no use for dry leaves, and rakes are useless for herbs that are deep-rooted. Know also what tool to use at each moment. And take care of them, because they are your best allies.

5] The path goes forward and backward. At times you have to go back because something was lost, or else a message to be delivered was forgotten in your pocket. A well tended path enables you to go back without any great problems.

6] Take care of the path before you take care of what is around you. Attention and concentration are fundamental. Don’t be distracted by the dry leaves at the edges or by the way that others are looking after their paths. Use your energy to tend and conserve the ground that accepts your steps.

7] Be patient. Sometimes the same tasks have to be repeated, like tearing up weeds or closing holes that appear after unexpected rain. Don’t let that annoy you – that is part of the journey. Even though you are tired, even though certain tasks are repeated so often, be patient.

8] Paths cross. People can tell what the weather is like. Listen to advice, and make your own decisions. You alone are responsible for the path that was entrusted to you.

9] Nature follows its own rules. In this way, you have to be prepared for sudden changes in the fall, slippery ice in winter, the temptations of flowers in spring, thirst and showers in the summer. Make the most of each of these seasons, and don’t complain about their characteristics.

10] Make your path a mirror of yourself. By no means let yourself be influenced by the way that others care for their paths. You have your soul to listen to, and the birds to tell what your soul is saying. Let your stories be beautiful and pleasant to everything around you. Above all, let the stories that your soul tells during the journey be echoed at each and every second of the path.

11] Love your path. Without this, nothing makes any sense.

Until the next time.

Phim

Insomnia

In a few hours I shall be heading to the remaining three months of my second semester in UPLB. This has been the second consecutive night that I have been up at this time of the morning for a reason that I do not know. Maybe I've been overthinking some things or maybe my body clock really is at a different timezone because of my sleeping habits during the holiday break.

I'm expecting this coming year to be a very challenging one. I'm expecting more independence however experiencing more obstacles along the way. Maybe this will be the year that I would definitely feel for the first time the hassles that come along with what is called adulthood. It's gonna be tough but I have a BIG God who always has my back.

Honestly and sadly, nowadays, I don't get to reflect as deep as I had been reflecting on life itself as much as I had before. It's like I've been drifting away from God and I didn't want it to be like this. I need to put God in my center again and I hope that I could accomplish it as soon as possible. (This post is starting to be pretty cheezy and I apologize for that haha) The only reason why I write on this blog is because I want to share my thoughts so that I can inspire others to do what is good and what is right. Also, I don't really write as very often because what I write down are the things that are really are inside me.

In short, I write these things from my heart.

Until the next time.

Phim