LIVING LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE

If

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,

If you can overlook it when those you love take it out on you when, though no fault of yours, something goes wrong,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct him/her,

If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,

If you can face the world without lies and deceit,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

If you can honestly say that deep in your heart you have no prejudice against creed, color, religion, gender preference, or politics,

THEN, you have ALMOST reached the same level of development as your dog.

A Blessing-Magnet?

A year ago, I was just counting my days as a Consultant in ADB. Although my mind was set to finish my graduate studies, hindi maitatago ang kaba and takot because it was the first time wala akong mailipatan na work. I have a townhouse to pay monthly, I have kids to send to school, I have my fixed expenses... bottomline, san ako kukuha ng pera?

No regrets, sa nakaraan na halos isang taon ko nakita at naramdaman ang totoong mga kaibigan. Sa panahon na yun bumuhos ang napakaraming blessings --- na-appreciate ko ang parents ko, mga kapatid at ang mga taong katulong namin sa hanapbuhay. I never felt closer to my kids and no amount of money could equal the satisfaction of spending time with my kids and mga pamangkin.

Eto na yata yung period na napakaraming nagawa: meron na akong MS Degree (hindi na kokontra si Volt!), laging kompleto sa tuog at kain (wala na nga kasya damit sa akin), konti lang nabili ko shoes (2 or 3 lang nga eh), walang international travel (pero dami domestic, not the usual places and I was paid to go there), true friends (alam nyo na kung sino kayo), new friends (ramdam nyo naman hindi kaplastikan di ba?)...

Highlights pa:

- Got hired in a high-paying job but turned it down, hindi ko feel ang makakasama ko sa work. Those who were privy to my US-AEP days know what this is about. I buried the hatchet BUT mabuti na din yung huwag na lang than have an axe to grind.

- I was (am?) an "other woman" - cannot, will not and shall not elaborate for the sake of the parties involved. Pinakamahalaga nag-enjoy, nagkaintindihan, and naayos.

- Inaway ako ni Manny sa Puerto Princesa - nawala ang poise ko dun! Sobra. Pero okay lang, nagkaintindihan naman kami and alam ng lahat kung ano ang totoo dahilan. Sa totoo lang, natatawa na lang ako nakakalasing pala talaga ang Cali (Oiiii, walang friendster account si Manny at wala direct access sa blogs, ang mag-tsika, aawayin nya sige!)

- Loan approved for my property in Fairview. Six more months...

- Senior Lecturer at THE University of Philippines, teaching THE ChemEngg 32 subject (Industrial Stoichiometry).  Never in my life I imagined magtuturo ako! No, hindi bumaba ang qualifications para makapagturo. Nagkataon lang nakita ako ni Doc Ernie pakalat-kalat sa UP, so ayun binigyan ako ng teaching load. Ganun lang. (Face value? hahaha!)

- Ako si Mechora Aquino, a.k.a "Tandang Sora"

- New car for Cynthia (on top of the newly renovated farm house and literally, fruitful ekta-ektaryang manggahan), GTZ Contract for Voltaire (Shutaks prend, I really miss you nah!), sandosenang raketship para kay Daisy, new baby for Sheila D, Ed O., Rica L., promotion for Sheila B, well-being for Tito Geri, seksi and boy-magnet pa din si Jov, bonggeysyus pa din si Au , madami hindi mamemention dahil sa space and timw limitations. Basta ang important dun lahat tayo blessed!

- etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Pumasok ang 2008 ang pera ko sa bank pang-minimum maintenance balance lang. Ano ang halaga ng pera kung wala ka naman kaibigan, kapuso at kapamilya? Meron nga dyan Php250,000 per month ang sweldo pero (ooopppssss!). . .  Okay pa din, nairaos na ang tuition ng kids, braces ni Kyle at wala naman utang. At, nagpa-rebond pa ako ng heyr!

Sa ngayon, eto naka-upo na naman sa ADB. Salamat sa iyo, Daisy --- maraming, maraming, maraming salamat for believing in me. You are such a blessing to me. Alam ko mas madami blessings kapalit dadating sa iyo. Sana dumami pa ang lahi mo sigurado napakasaya at maayos ang mundo.

Ang kulit, pero nag-uumapaw talaga ang blessings. Kung minsan nakakapagtataka din. Reap what you sow ba? Ewan. Admittedly, maldita at hindi ako santa. Sabi nga ng nanay ko tamad-tamad at tulog-tulog lang ako. Hindi din halata na mabait ako. Hindi ko din maexplain. Amazing!

I'll end with excerpts from Bo Sanchez's article, "How to be a Blessing-Magnet" (click this link for the complete article). Believe me, the strategies really work!

How to Be a Blessing-Magnet:

6 Strategies on How to Be Positive in A Negative World

1. Feel the Love. Receive the love from the people around you, no matter how small or imperfect. Celebrate every little gesture of love you receive. Make it a big thing! And you'll discover that you'll receive more and more love.

2. Be Grateful. Give thanks for every small blessing you receive. Before going to sleep, count at least 5 blessings you received on that day. Be grateful even for the bad things you received on that day, knowing there's a blessing inside. Gratitude attracts more blessings to come your way.

3. Trust. Yes, do all you possibly can! But at the end of the day, stop worrying. Surrender and trust God instead. Believe that the best is yet to come.

4. Have a vision. When you have a detailed graphic, exciting vision burning in your heart, you can't help but be positive. That powerful vision in your imagination will attract all the blessings you need to fulfill that vision. You'll be surprised. The blessings will just come, rolling down at your feet, begging that you receive them.

5. Love yourself. Be deliberate in loving yourself. Respect yourself. Don't belittle yourself, don't limit yourself, and don't call yourself derogatory names. Meet your needs. Aggressively care for yourself. When you do, others will respect you, love you, and meet your needs as well.

6. Love others. Whatever love you give, you receive it back multiplied. So wake up each morning because you want to love. make love the purpose of your life. When you make love the reason for everything that you do, even if there are dark storm clouds around you, the sun will always shine in your heart.

Pisay

Pisay will be shown February 20 –27 exclusively at the following SM theaters:

SM North Edsa Cinema 8, SM Megamall Cinema 9, SM Manila Cinema 4, SM Southmall, SM Fairview Cinema 6 and SM San Lazaro Cinema 6.

Daily screening: 10:30am; 1:00pm; 3:30pm; 6:00pm and 8:30pm. A premiere will be held on February 20.

Arrangements for Block Sales can be made through the Philippine Science High School Foundation, Inc. at the 2nd flr. Science and Humanities Bldg., PSHS, Agham Road, Diliman, Quezon City, 063-9240655 (telefax), and 0922-8558420, at special discounted rates of P100.00 per person.

SYNOPSIS
“PISAY”, directed by Auraeus Solito PSHS ’86, with the script written by Henry Grageda, PSHS ’86, a finalist at the 2007 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, is a story about eight students who makes it to the premier science high school during the politically volatile 80’s in the Philippines as they come of age in a time filled with excitement, conflict and change.

These students find the world outside, with the chaos of the end of the Marcos dictatorship erupting into the People Power revolution in 1986, being replicated within the school as they struggle to graduate, contend with teachers, classmates, family, school officials, and a new classification system to segregate students into two groups based on their academic ranking. It chronicles their journey of self discovery as they go through the joys and pains of adolescence.

Continue...

How big are you?

Does size really matter?

Find out here. (click the link)

I must have done something good

I lost my cellphone in NAIA last Saturday. Until now, it's still baffling because I was so sure it was inside my *pink* bag (I was wearing pink shoes, by the way).

I don't use my phone in public places unless I need to meet someone or I am waiting for an important message. I usually place it inside the most secured pocket in my bag*. I just keep it on almost-max volume so I know if somebody is calling or has sent a text message.

It was early in the morning and there were only a handful people in the airport  counters. I just stood behind the queue and  let my companions do the check-in tasks. My companions and I then went through the usual security protocols and decided to have our breakfast near the designated waiting area. I only noticed that my cellphone was missing when I reached for it to send a text to Nanay.

Read more...

Landline - anywhere, anytime

Yes, trulili... possible.

Nag-subscribe si Nanay and kahit san sya pumunta ngayon may dala sya landline number. Actually, hindi ko pa nabusisi pero ang gamit nya na handset Nokia 1110i. I tried kanina umaga calling landline numbers and totoo nga, may landline ka anywhere, anytime, anyhow.

For more info: Bayantel WIRELESS Landline

Ritwal (unang yugto)

Ang paliligo ay di lamang simpleng paliligo.

Ang pag-aayos ay di lamang simpleng pag-aayos.

Bawat kilos, bawat galaw, may hakbang.

May mga ritwal.

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature,

But beautiful old people are works of art.

Haler, ang seryoso! Ang haba ng intro.
Ano na naman itish pauso ko?
Wala lang, akin naman ito.
Kung hindi interesado, huwag manggugulo.

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DA HEYR

Salamat sa pagbabawal ng pagdala ng liquids and gels sa eroplano, diskubreshi koistch atish FOLLOW ME GREEN TEA SHAMPOO and CONDITIONER sa Singapore during vacationbelles ng byuti namin nina Cynthia at Marcy last year.

Grabe, da straight talaga da hair! --- Hindi lang mukhang ni-rebond, may free cellophane pa. It's so mura lang ha, as in SGD8.80 ang 750mL, so that's (compute, compute, compute) more or less pero less than a few sentimo sa Php 282 pesos. Der sa fictyur are onli 400 mL ( halagang SGD4.65 o tamataginting na Php 149 pesos ever each ha).

Da WELLA products, givsung lang ng mamichi-in-law itish. Accordingly, wala pa available ng "Back to Basic" line ditish sa lupang hinirang. Na-browsing koistch lang yung "System Professional" line pero dehins koistch knowsy san nya getsing basta ang imfortanti meron akoetchi supply.

Rarely ever koistch ginagamit da Wella products becowza meron pa da Follow Me. I will asking my sons to comment, sa bilis nila makaubos ng supply, gusto koistch isipin iniinom yata nila itish while doing their own rituals.

Caption (L to R): Wella Back to Basic Green Tea Texturizing Lotion, Wella Back to Basic Wild Berry Volumizing Shampoo, Wella System Professional Shampoo and Conditoner, Follow Me Green Tea Shampoo (Volumizer and Revitalizer) and Conditioner

Knowing ever koistch I will run out of friendships to buy for me sa headquarters ni Merlion, with my blissfully jobless status equating to no-vacation-via-Tiger Airways for the next six months, and the subtle maldita-supladita me, surelily mauubos din ang supply.

Kahit wala ng hulog ng langit basta I still choose to be beautiful ever, da best ang da PALMOLIVE  (itish ba yung may commercial so long ago na dried dahon pag sinabon ng Palmolive soap nagiging frish?). I specially like the "Aromatherapy" line becowza mabango talaga itish. The Palmolive Silky Straight naman, I use after magbabad sa pool and i-marinate my hair sa chlorine-treated water.

Caption (L to R): Palmolive Aromatherapy Shampoo and Conditioner Romance enriched with rose petals and bamboo extract (Sensual for romantic mood daw), Palmolive Aromatherapy Shampoo and Conditioner Romance enriched with essential oils of green tea and mandarin (Energy to revitalize and uplift the mood daw), Palmolive Naturals Silky Straight with milk protein and coco cream (long lasting, pramis)

DA FEZ

Noong taong 2003, dahil siguro sa subtle lang naman na kamalditahan koistch umuwi ang byuti koistch from Clark with pimple na tinubuan ng fez! As in may I cry cry cry my heart out talaga ang drama koistch. Eh panu naman kelan tumanda akoetchi saka pa nag ka-pimples! And talagang super scar sila ever. As in isinisigaw sa mundo, dumaan sila sa fez koistch!

My ever dahling mamichi-in-law was once a sikat Dermatologist. Malas koistch lang dehins na sya practisung. Hindi koistch naman ma-locate ever ang mga friendships nya na dermatologists din (hmmm, baka nasa ibang dimension na). Kaya naman lahat na yata ng pwede nya pa-try sa akin, na-try koistch na. Pero sad pa din, love talaga ng informal settlers ang lokeysyun nila.

May I fly my byuti to the US in 2004. Sa pakikialam sa paliguan ng isang kaibigan nadiscover koistch ang (drumroll please!) ---- ST. IVES APRICOT SCRUB. Hindi totoo na walang himahlah(!) becowzsa in one week, nag-decrease ang populasyon nila. Dahillllllll sa St. Ives naglaho ang mga informal settlers sa fez ng lolah nyo.

Da MARY KAY wala pumapansin sa paliguan. I think bigay itish ng akingnechi sisterette na nasa Dubai ngayon na binigay din sa kanya ng sisterette ng dyowangski nya galing sa lupain ng malaking mansanas. Sayang naman ever so ginagamit koistch as alternative facial scrub kahit pa nga mask daw itish (eh kasi naman, ala ey hindi naman natigas!). Hindi nga lang kahali-halina ang halimuyak pero okay na, libre naman itish.

Oi, sey nyo, maganda ang AVON's Anew ha. Lalo na kapag puyat ang byuti and nababad ang fez sa arawan. Gamit koistch after mag-swim or shower after sauna. So when your raketering opismeyt meyk alok-alok you ageyn of Avon products, gets and try na. Pero tell her, it's becowzsa opismeyt kayo kaya ka supportive ever sa kanya. Cge, bahala you alukin ka pa nyan to try the whole regimen, ala ey makatitipid ka pa magpa-diamond peel kay Tita Vicki.

So what, coconut? Napapagod na ako mag-type hahahaha.

End muna, next time ulit. Ritwal muna.

 

The Before (2004) and The After (2007)

Go figure!

Six ways to spot a workplace psychopath

Manila Bulletin (March 25, 2007: Section K-3)

(click images to enlarge)