Category Archives: musings

musings

udpate on dad: upon receiving his biopsy results done in cebu, he immediately had himself confined friday afternoon of june 22 for a saturday operation the next day. the procedure went without a hitch and by 3pm, june 23, dad was wheeled back to his room. recovery took a few days and by wednesday, june 27, dad drove us out of the hospital back to the house haha. i guess he wanted the operation to be done immediately so that he’d be home comfortable esp that my birthday was coming up. he’d rather be home than in the hospital.

my dad’s still not cancer-free but we’re expecting a decrease in prostate size soon and hopefully the cancer will be manageable for further administering. for now, that’s good news 😀 thank the Lord.

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musings

my dad is sick, his prostate is enlarged and it’s cancerous. recently he had a colostomy done in cebu. at the very least he’s out of the catheter. now he’s scheduled for another operation by next week, to stop hormones from feeding into the prostate, thus hopefully reducing the enlargement and preparing it for radiation or whatever.

im rather hopeful, im always hopefully blind anyway. i dont think im gonna lose my dad, not yet. but we need all your prayers. the more God hears, the more he may decide in our favor. He is a merciful God, my faith in His will is great. thy will be done 😀 cheers to all.

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musings, travel

how much of the philippines have you seen?

i love to travel. when i get the chance i go and take the bus, the boat, a broom, see the sight of unending greens, a blur of leaves, a neverending possibility of life unfolding before you. a life youve never had, a way of living youve never experience. a chance to be a part of things greater than yourself. taking a crap in dugout holes. bathing in the middle of the street. walking in complete darkness and being on the lookout for leeches. waking up to the beautiful view of lakes or the sea air in your face. drinking under moonlight in a shack out in siargao. internet on an island ! walking in your flipflops in venice. eating halal chicken in quiapo. washing your clothes in the river (ergo white water rafting). the world never fails to fascinate me. God’s gift to all.

have passport. will travel.


My Lakbayan grade is B-!
How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out atLakbayan!
Created by Eugene Villar.

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musings, travel

trip home and back and home and back

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black saturday april 7 i traveled to hometown cagayan de oro with titatems and tito-ed to visit the clan. from thereon i stayed until after laya’s birthday on may2. i decided to paint my room dark gray while i was there and purchased a new mattress and two-tone deep red curtains. i would have scored the facing room wall myself to reveal its original cement surface but given that i couldnt even finish a foot area in an hour, i dropped the hammer and went to the mall instead. i ate my way through my vacation and gained a few inches on both sides of my face. food is always an abundance in the provinces. glorious food.

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carlo flew in cdo for a few days before we headed to zamboanga for the TNT event there. ate seafood like the ocean would dry up the next day. and we stayed at the astoria in zamboanga ! hehe. a regular hotel but one of the best in the city. was great to reacquaint myself with zamboanga as i had major fun the last time i was there.

after laya’s birthday carlo and i flew back manila for the last leg of talk and text gaaniversary. waited for tito omar and tita tina’s arrival from hawaii on the 16th. went back home cdo on the 17th as escort, guide, photographer and videographer, bellboy, bellhop and grocery packer. astig.

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we had tons of fun, vegging out in the hotel and talked about what is good and bad with the phils, the US, and about family history (gossip). pic below was taken at home, first night of the fellowship of the ring, involving tons of canned goods, a roasted pig and videos from my grandparents’ 50th anniversary.

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i flew back to manila with them to attend tita tina’s uncle’s 50th birthday in manila hotel by the 23rd. got a coat and a tie and i was set.

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afterwards we headed to bataan to see tita tina’s family. took a dip in the mountain spring overlooking the whole of bataan in my underwear. they followed suit of course.

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ate lots of mangoes and more seafood. one morning i weighed in at 60kls. by the evening i gained another kilo. the horror ! hahaha then it was back to manila and more shopping before they flew back to hawaii. talk about jetsetting! did i mention i love to travel? 😀

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musings

retro fit

as i fix this wordpress account i begin to read up on my old blog entries and it’s a bit disconcerting how i now hate my writing style some years back.  too much talk ! too many words, too many mistakes.  there is beauty in less talk, grace in the minimal, elegance in the … see, too much too soon. i must stop!

stop. my past comes to haunt me.  cheers!

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filmmaking, musings, travel

blogging in january

it’s almost mid january. we’re halfway through shooting brillante mendoza’s film with seiko currently titled “foster” with the magnificent cherry pie picache in the title role. i still work as prod designer for mendoza here and next month i will be looking for greener pastures somewhere mundane. im looking forward to another short break (i hope) in mindanao or a trip to batanes with tita tems, if my funds allow me. tita tems got pictures from architect-friend joven ignacio of batanes as he is doing a study in the area. the pictures are magnificent, an untouched virgin piece of land, almost nomadic in nature and totally lord-of-the-ringish new zealand quality to it. complete with goats running on fields and the ocean surf breaking the silence of the overcast afternoon. i got all that from a friggin piece of snapshot. crazy ! 😀

had an amazing vacation last christmas. dropped by dumaguete before the xmas break to visit His magnanimous faisal alih and the royal family. a fun 2 nights of unwinding and piano-playing, videoking, walking down the beach and merienda-ing at the famous sans rival cafe.

then i surprised my family by arriving unannounced in mindanao. haha. cuzins (pamangkins actually) came over mindanao to enjoy the company of the locals and the environment. cuzin ace wrote out a wonderful plan visiting key sites in camiguin for an overnight trip. our third day was spent washing clothes in the rapids of the cagayan river ergo white water rafting 😀 my first time. totally amazing, ubber fun. of course i love the water but i havent really trekked down a river in a long time (last time was when we were kids in GUSA in the 80s). exciting three days there, the next time my cuzins-pamangkins come over we’ll try going up lake sebu in cotabato.

crazy this so-called life. love it ! cheers !

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laundry therapy, musings

the storm

two days ago manila was hit by the worst storm in 11 years. and i had to be at the office at the time. edsa was practically deserted. the office was turning into a jungle right before my eyes. walked out at 3 and decided to take a hike from mandaluyong to cubao. walk therapy.

when i got to araneta center, decided to stop killing myself and took the bus to philcoa. forgot to get off from too much thinking about too much thinking and missed my stop. got off vanguard instead and despite legs hurting had to walk across devasted UP to get to vinzons. no jeep in sight. at katipunan only resto open were jollibee and shakeys. had to wait in line for hours. thankful for dinner at joven’s with tatems. laid down but couldnt sleep from thinking too much about thinking too much.

lights came back at 11pm and tried getting online in vain. slept again and took temporary solace listening to sad love songs from elton john’s aida.

“sometimes in my darkest thoughts,
I wish I’d never learned/
what it is to be in love
and have that love returned”

-radames and aida,
“written in the stars” aida

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laundry therapy

laundry therapy

yesterday i did my laundry. whites first. then a mix of greys greens and maroons. the blues was next before the batch of underwear. occupied myself with laundry and missed lunch. went to church and learned i wasnt liturgist that evening. dressed up for nothing. dinner buddies were not available. went home to eat pancit canton, checked mail then slept at 10pm.

“hey rod, nicky, can you help us settle something?”
“certainly!”
“whose life sucks more? brian’s or mine?”
“ours!”
– brian, kate monster, nicky and rod, “it sucks to be me” avenue q

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laundry therapy

didnt have time to do laundry. brought 14.8 kilos of laundry (half of what i needed to be cleaned) to barangka for washing. got it today (after 2 days). my clothes now smell of fabric softener. but my life remains hard and in need of a fix.

“dont breathe too deep/ dont think all day/ dive into work/ drive the other way/ that drip of hurt/ that pint of shame/ goes away/ just play the game.”
– mark cohen, “what you own,” rent

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