I Kissed Lolo Farewell

When I entered the ICU and saw him laying on the hospital bed, I thought he was just sleeping.  I looked at the ECG and there were numbers  and zigzag lines displaying on it, to be honest I really don't know what those numbers mean, all I know  that those zigzag lines indicates that he is still alive.  Few minutes later a priest came in  and gave him a last rites.  I looked back on the machine and the number went up from 77 to 102.   "He's alive, thank God.", I said to myself.    Minutes later the line went straight and the numbers were gone.  The doctor went in and checked him again.  The nurse outside the room gave a piece of paper to the one who was checking his heartbeat.  "Time of death 12:30 noon today."  Tears fell from our eyes when we hear those words.  I thought he was okay... that he'll be fine and be home after a day or a week...My uncle came in and asked the doctor for an explanation on what cause his death... I was deaf for awhile but there was one thing that the doctor said that I could still remember, "His seven years after his heart bypass surgery was already a bonus for him." 

Seven years... what happened to those seven long years?  I tried to look back on the things that took place seven years ago, and yet I can't remember the last time I hugged him,kissed him and spend more time with him?  I really can't remember...I was so busy with my so called life and forgot to value the people who was with me all through this years.  I was comfortable with the idea that he'll be there in his room resting and would just smile at me when I get in and pay him some respect.  Or he'll go to my lola's (grandmother) room and checked her if she's okay.  Yes, I took him for granted.  I gave him a part of my time and when I should have spend more.  I should have been on his side...

Lolo, 

Sorry...
Sorry for not being there for you.  I was so stupid and selfish.  I'm sorry.  I thought you'll be out after a week like you always do.  I never thought you'll be gone so soon...I'm sorry.  If I could only bring back the time and spend it with you, I'll do it.

It's so stupid to think that during your wake I found time but when you are still alive I was not there beside you.

I'm sorry...
  

To Travel or To Travel?

Nyl and I have finally booked a flight for next year through the help of his friend Darymel who is currently at Manila today.  He informed Nyl that Cebu Pacific Air have offered a P1 Fare Promo for 2013 to all domestic flights here in the Philippines.  Good thing he was checking the internet that time.

P1 fare is a promo offered by Cebu Pacific Air.  Well, it really doesn’t mean that you only have to pay Php 1.00 for your trip but it means paying less than the regular rate.

So as soon as Nyl received the information, he sends me a text message about it and few minutes after he called me if it was okay.  To tell you honestly, we have been planning to take a vacation outside our city and try to take a plane (which we haven’t tried before), but we have not made any decision yet since we have set our budget to other stuff.  But next year we are putting our plans into reality - we are going to take vacation to Manila for three days.  So Darylmel booked us a flight and send us our confirmation number.  The next problem was paying it.  Credit card?  We don’t have one.  We felt that if we get a credit card it would only tempt us to buy and avail the things we want and drown ourselves into the ocean of debt.  So we decided to pay it through BDO or through SM payment center. 

Believe me…paying the ticket was not that easy. 

It was almost 6 in the evening when we arrived at BDO SM.  When we asked the teller, she informed us that their cut-off was until 5 PM in the afternoon.  Yes! We don’t have any slight idea since this is our first time to go through this so called payment process.  So we decided to make our payments through SM Payment Center which happens to be on the second floor of the mall.  When we arrived there, they were looking for a print-out.  What?!? We didn’t have any idea about it.  So we went to the third floor where Netopia (an internet café) was situated.  When we were about to save the files everything went off… block-out.  Gosh!  Good thing the mall has a generator so the power went back and we were able to print our itinerary receipt.  So finally we went back to the payment center and paid our tickets.  I have to admit that at some point I wished I had a credit card.

Gosh! This is it…Our next step is to save and plan for our trip.

Harvest Time!!!

Before attending a mass today, I helped my little sister harvest our lanzones fruits.  We have been waiting for this day since we can't harvest the fruits until it ripens out and until our mom tell us do so.

So after placing the fruits in a basin I went inside our house and gave it to my mom...okay, I took some and place it in a plastic bag and hid it in my bag for Nyl since he'll be here in the afternoon. : p (my mom knew about those lanzones, she saw what I did).  After it, I went out and attend a mass.

Our Lanzones Tree

Well, for those people living on the other side of the world, Lanzones is a fruit tree that grows throughout Southeast Asia.  Here in the Philippines, Camiguin is known to be producing a sweet and juicy variety of Lanzones, they even have a Lanzones Festival in their place.  

If you're asking me if we have the same variety of Lanzones that can be seen in Camiguin, well the answer is I DON'T KNOW.  Hehehe! It just grew one day at our yard since we are used to throwing any fruit seed at that place after eating.

'BER' MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Santa Claus,

I think I've been a good girl for the past few months (just don't believe what our company's sales personnel told you they just hate me because I'm so strict when it comes to company's policy *wink*), so does it mean I'll be receiving a gift this coming Christmas?  I know you're going to be busy starting today since you'll be preparing a lot of gifts for kids (and young at heart) who were good this year so to make your job easier I have listed two of the things I want to receive this year....Mwah!!!

1.  Camera - a digital camera would do but if you want to give me a better one well, I'm open to accepting a DSLR. 

2.  House - Santa dear, December is just around the corner and as one of the Sendong survivor, we really don't feel secure when we experience heavy rains at nightsince we went back to our place , so please a small house would do.

Promise, I'll try to be really GOOD until the end of this year...

Love,

Lai : )

I Love You

There was a couple who were married for quite a while.  And like other married couple their marriage went into some tough times.  The husband had an affair with other girls making him cold towards his wife and yet his wife still remain at his side hoping that one day everything would return the way it was before.  At that time they stop showing affection and also stop saying I love you towards each other.

One day they decided to migrate to other country hoping that they could patch everything up; if not for them at least for their children.  Well, at that time the husband realized how much sacrifice his wife did for their family he then did try to do his part.   Years gone by and everything went well but deep in their hearts they still the have that emptiness.  One day the husband was admitted to the hospital due to a certain illness that causes his health to deteriorate.   At that time the wife was on his side.  One day, the wife whispered him the words “I love you”; the three words that they failed to say to each other for years.   Though weak, the husband wrote his responds… “I love you” and then closed his eyes.  

Too late?  Yes indeed.  Well, some may say that it is better to be late than never.  But wouldn’t it be nice to say it when they still have time to fill up the empty space in them?  You might also say that their action was enough than saying those words, but believe me, it’s different when you do something to the people you value the most and at the same time let them know how you really love them.  Just like in John 3:16, Jesus told everyone how much God loves his people that He gave his only begotten Son.  If this words were not told to us, will we be able to understand why He undergone such pain that He even allowed to be crucified just for us. We will be puzzled or we won’t put value on the things that happened to Him.

So while you still have the time or while the person is still beside you, let them know how much you love them not only through showing them how you feel but also through saying those words.  Others may feel awkward at first especially when they are not used to say those words to them.  But it is better to deal with that awkwardness rather dealing with regrets in the end.

The Book That Stands Above All Other Books

Have you ever read a unique book that stands among the other books?  You might be wondering what book I am referring to, well I'm talking about the Bible.

Before I continue let me just clear things up, I haven't read the entire Bible YET.  Well, there are verses and parables that  I am familiar with but I haven't reach the point wherein you just give me a chapter and verse and then I could give you the message it contains (though I really want to).  But, I am taking some baby steps now and hopefully before I turned 27 next year I'll be able to finish reading it. 

Well, back to the topic...

A sister in Church of my employer gave me a booklet explaining the uniqueness of the Bible among the other books.  Actually while I'm making this post I have the booklet in front of me hoping I could share it with you guys. By the way, the article in the booklet was taken from series of gospel message given in Moscow and St.  Petersburg, Russia in 1992. 

So what makes the Bible so unique among the others?  The booklet gave it reasons of uniqueness.   The first reason Its record of authenticity.  Second,Its wisdom and profoundness.  Third, Its Ethics and Morality.  Forth, Its influence and lastly Its Nature.

• Its Record of Authenticity
• The Bible holds countless references of actual events, people, and places.   Long before human discovered that the earth was round ( Isa 40:22) and that it hangs upon nothing (Job 26:7) it was already written on the Bible.  It speaks about the creation of the man, the universe and the earth(which has more valid explanation rather than the theory of some scientist).  Everything that had happened in the past, that is happening in the present and will be happening in the future were already written in the Bible.
• Its Wisdom and Profoundness
•  This is the only book that doesn't change as time pass by;  it always remains the same from the day it was written til this very day.  It contains the super wisdom concerning man's relationship with God and his fellow man.  It covers all kinds of knowledge. 
• Its Ethics and Morality
•  The Bible contains high standard of ethics and morality.  It describes proper love as a human virtue.  It defines love in the extending of forgiveness even to our enemies.  It even describes the love of our Heavenly Father for us in which He give up His only begotten Son in order to save us from the world(John 3:16).  It speaks of God's righteousness,  holiness, faithfulness, sincerity and of humanity.  It speaks about family and marital relationships.

• Its Influence
• Many great man who have read the Bible have been inspired to  believe in Christ and have changed their lives.  It is a source of teaching and revelation wherein Christians are convicted, corrected, instructed about righteousness and equip him for every good work.

• Its Nature
• Everything that has been  written in the Bible is divine in nature because it is God-breathed ( 2Tim 3:16).  He have spoken to us through His Spirit which goes into and out from the writers. 

So for those who would  like to know the truth  and wants to know their purpose here on earth all they have to do is to read the Bible because the answers are already written on it.

And I Thought I Could do More if I Were Rich

There was one post on my Facebook wall today that caught my attention, it has a caption "Bai Fang Li: A Rickshaw Operator Who Gave Much To Orphans".  I was too curious about it that I tried searching his story on the net.  Well, as expected there are different version of his life's story on the web but one thing for sure he was a rickshaw driver that was able to send more than 300 orphan and poor children to school.  How?  Through the money he earned as a rickshaw driver.  Can't imagine how he did it with the type of work he has but he made it possible. All along I thought I needed to be rich to be able to send a number of children to school. I was wrong.  His story made me realized that with little that I have now I can still make a different in this society.  

I just need to believe on it and do something to make it possible.

If I Were A Rich Girl

So I admit it,  I'm one of those people who would look at the lottery result for the day and  wished I won the mega jackpot prize(even though I didn't place a bet on it) , and daydream about the things I would do if I were rich.  

The first thing that always comes into my mind if given the chance is to give my parents what they always wanted - both material and non-material things.  I'm not a perfect daughter, I admit it.  My father and I would always have a misunderstanding over small things but it doesn't mean that I don't love him.  I have been praying for the day to come that everything that he always wanted for my life to happen would come to reality so he would be proud of me.  Well, back to the topic, so once I have provided my parents what they want my next priority would be my siblings.  I'm going to give them enough money to start their own business or for their savings, who knows how long I'm gonna be rich so while I still have the resources I'm gonna help them with their dreams too.

 After providing my family what they need I'm going to buy a property.  About 2-5 hectares of residential land would be enough for my ambitious dream.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not planning to build a subdivision wherein I'm going to sell it afterwards.  Well, it's true that I'm going to build a number of houses there but it's for humanitarian reason.  I always dream of providing a home of their own to a family who deserve to have one in return they have to do something good for others too.  It's like the movie Pay it Forward. I also wanted to send some deserving students to school where they could start achieving their dreams.  

 You might be wondering why I always point out that the people I wanted to help are those I consider deserving individuals.  Well, let’s face it who wants to spend his/ her money to those people who doesn't do anything but lay down under an apple tree and wait for the apple to fall down?   Get my point?

As for myself I just want to have a house of my own and also to travel the world.   Well, these are just few of the dreams I wanted to happen when I get rich.  I don't know when that day would come into reality but as of this moment I’ll just do the things I can in order to make the things I would do if I am rich into a reality.  And be thankful for the things I have now.

Fun Run 2012

Yes! I made it!   I was able to complete my 5k run today during the 2nd Ficco fun run.   Though Nyl and I were a few minutes late and started running together with the 3k runners, we were able to catch up with the rest of the 5k runners who run ahead of us.  I have to admit that at some point I almost take a turn back when I reached the 3k turning point but I didn't.  I always remind myself at that time not to give up and I can finish the entire 5k run - and I did it.  I'm so proud of myself. Hehehe!  

Well, these are some of the photos taken by my office mate Roy, who also joined the fun run.  Just too lucky to be able to catch up with them since I haven't brought a camera during the run.

At the Marcos Bridge.Going back to the starting point.

At Velez Street

At the finish line with Roy's girl. 

With my office mate Roy and behind him is my talkative Nyl. 

By the way, there are other fun run events coming up this year.  To name a few:

Kagay-an Festival Marathon

RACE DATE: August 19,2012

START/ FINISH: Paseo del Rio, CDOC

REGISTRATION: La Cabana Spa

                        CHAM's Convenience Store

Run for Justice 

RACE DATE: July 29,2012, 4:30AM

START/ FINISH:Kiosko Kagawasan Divisoria CDOC

REGISTRATION: Hall of Justice Lobby CDO

                            North Concourse, Limketkai

By the way, a fun run is, it's a friendly race that is held to raise funds for charity.  In other words, it is an activity that hits two birds in one stone:  you stay fit through running and at the same time help raise money for charity.

So to the next fun run event, I hope to see you there.

Updates

It has been a while since my last post. I was busy and at the same time lazy lately that I didn't find the interest to post something on my blog. So just in case you are interested to know me, these are the things that happened for the past few days. 

June 16,2012. I attended Nyl's mom Funeral. I have to admit that I really don't know what to do during the wake of his mom or even when his mom was confined at the hospital. I now realized that just by being there at his side and giving him moral support was enough during those time. 

Photo taken by januaryfebro.com

June 17, 2012.  I had the chance to visit my grandparent's farm together with my family.  I was so happy to see that the corns which we( Nyl and I) financed, looks healthier than I expected.  I'm just hoping and praying that we will have a good harvest this coming September.

June 25,2012.   We had a small dinner at our place that day in celebration of my 26th year of existence : ) Well, it was just a small gathering for Nyl and my family since I'm not fond of organizing a big one for myself.
June 26, 2012.  Had a lunch with my office mate at Greenwich which was sponsored by our dear supervisor.  Thanks Maam Vics!

Tomorrow I'll be joining a fun run organized by FICCO (it is a cooperative here in our place).  I just hope that I'll be able to reach the finish line especially that I haven't run for quite a while.

Simple Recipes

Yes! I just celebrated my 26th birthday last June 25 and well, only few knew about it since I removed my birthday information on my Facebook account(it really works if you don't want to broadcast how old you are hehehe). Anyway, on that day I decided to make a fruit salad  for my family ,so I bought the one gallon of fruit cocktail, one can of condense milk and 2 boxes of nestle cream which was about Php 280.00 all in all.

Actually making a fruit salad is as easy as one, two, three ... All you have to do is to follow the steps below:

1. Drain the syrup from the fruit cocktail.  
2. Place the drained fruits on a bowl.
3. Mix all ingredients, the cream, the drained fruits and the condense milk.  You could also add some cheese, sugar palm ("kaong"), nata de coco and some raisins if you like to add more colors and taste to your salad. 
4. Then after mixing all ingredients in a bowl, let it chill for awhile and then you could serve afterwards.  

Easy right? I was planing to take a picture of my work unfortunately there was no camera available.  I'll just make another one and take a photo of it soon.  By the way next time I'm planning to make a mango float since it is easy to prepare too.  All you need are a few pieces of ripe mangoes, ten pieces would do,a box or a pack of graham crackers, two box or can of nestle cream and two cans of condense milk.  For those who have no idea on how to prepare such desert all you have to do is to follow the steps below:

1. First peel the mangoes and slice them into thin pieces.  Set it aside.  
2. Crushed the graham cracker and layer it in a square pan, or you could just put the graham directly on the pan without crushing it.  
3. Mix the nestle cream and condensed milk in a bowl.  
4. Put some mixture of it on the square pan just enough to cover the layer of graham then put another layer of mangoes above it.  Just repeat the procedures until you have used everything.  
5. Just like the fruit salad, let it chill.  I suggest it would be best to have it chill overnight.  The the following day you could serve the frozen mango float to your family or guest.  

Another easy recipe, right?  I hope you could find some time to try making it with your family and friends.  Until next time. If you have other ways on how to make a fruit salad or a mango float just feel free to post it on this site.
'til next time...

It is more fun in my wake...;p

Recent events in my life has made me realized that death will surely come to us.  We really don't know when, where and how we are going to die... one thing for sure we are going to die and bid this earth farewell.

With these thoughts in my mind I have come to the decision that I should make my demands on how my funeral would be like. hehehe!  Like I said, we don't have any slight idea when that day would come to us.

So to start my demands...

1.  If I’m declared officially dead on the hospital (hehehe! what a term) and there are some organs that could be useful for others then I’m willing to donate them to those kids who needs them.

2. My casket should be closed unless my family could find the best make-up artist who could make me look like I'm just sleeping like a princess then they could open it for viewing.  If not, my casket could only be opened on the last day of my wake and during my funeral mass.  Hey! Who wants to look dead when they already dead? Get it? Hahaha!

3. I really like to take pictures this is why I have made up my mind that during my funeral there should be a photobooth, wherein the lay-out of the printed photo should have a caption "It's more fun on Melai's wake".  Everyone who visits my wake should have their pictures taken.  I'd like a wacky pose please. HEHEHE! Yes I’m a little crazy, I admit it so do it.  Hmm…on second thought renting a photobooth would be quite expensive.  I think it would range up to Php 3,500 for 3 hrs. So…

 24hours per day / 3 hrs = 8 x 3500 =Php 28,000.00/day x no of days of my wake

 Gosh! There’s a lot of zeros there, my parents would kill me the second time around. Hahaha! Okay no more photobooth, they could print a tarp place it on one corner and hire someone who could take a picture of every guest or I could ask my friend January to do it for me. Hehehe! That would be cheaper that renting a photobooth.

I was also planning that there would be a video played during my funeral.  A video made by yours truly and it would be about thanking my parents, my friends, my lover etc and saying sorry for those I have done wrong.  But I realized it would be useless…  If we want to thank someone or say sorry to someone we should do it while we are still alive.  Right?

Well, these are just few demands during my wake and I'm still thinking what to add on the list.  Hahaha!!! Call me crazy if you want, I really don't care because for me my demands would seems like helping the ones I left to overcome their grief over my death and remind them that my death would be a celebration... a celebration as I return to my Father's home.

Farming 101

My boyfriend Nyl and I have decided to invest on farming this year. Hey! we're not planning or preparing ourselves for marriage, which most of our relatives and friends think but because we feel the need to put our money where we could earn.

Anyway, so we rented my aunt's farm for Php 15,000 which is good for 2 years and deal Uncle Siano,our close family friend, to assist us especially that both of us has no knowledge with this kind of stuff, and also to look out for our crops while we are on the city; in return he gets 5% of our net income.  After closing a deal with Uncle Siano, we asked him about the things we needed to buy and the cost for the labor( from land preparation to planting the corn seed).  He suggested we should used Round-up Ready corn seed so we won't have a hard time dealing with the weeds since all we have to do is to spray a herbicide. The next day I started calling our local stores and look for the one who has the best price.  I never thought that we need Php 17, 280 just for the materials alone and another Php 6,900.00 for the labor (just for land preparation and planting alone) , gosh! to tell you honestly our money wasn't enough.  I told Nyl about it and he decided to withdraw his saving from OIC, a cooperative bank, but we are still short.  So, I decided to avail a salary loan from SSS and ask my mom for help. hehehe!  I thought we could stand up on our own but in the end of the day I always run to my parents for financial assistance. hehehe! Lucky for me, she was able to lend us the amount we needed.

This morning, she and my dad helped me in purchasing the materials and brought it to the farm, how lucky am I? On Monday, Uncle Siano will start planting the corn seed. I wish I could participate on that day and get my hands dirty, but I can't I still have work to do.  For now all I can do is to work and save so we can have the money we needed for the upcoming harvest, which is three months from now.
So for those who wants to invest on farming, like us, or any kind of business just remember to save first for your capital before engaging yourself to it.