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My Top 10 best picks

I realized that I have been writing in this blog for the past 5 years of my life. I have written so many things on so many topics. I decided to highlight some of the articles that I think are best picks for me. Somehow, I believe by doing this my critiques will understand how this blog exists and be enlightened. Here are the top ten:

1. In my old blog I particularly like almost all entries (but I have to have favorites), it is not bookmarked so you will have to do the searching. I like the entry on my squad leader who became the class goat of 2003, its on the bottom part. Then those that I wrote in memory of my mother, and finally my confession on what really happened when I got discharged. And then there was this prediction I made that saying that I will go back to PMA.
2. May 2005 is a good one because it chronicled my struggle with Calculus. How I hate the fact that I am having a hard time coping up with the subject. And then declaring that I passed it
3. I like this one because there is so much energy and I know I was speaking from the heart.
4. This one is about my fondness for letters. I'm sharing my love for letter writing.
5. This blog entry brought in opinions but not as rude as the one coming out right now.
6. There is irony in this entry about the Naga trip last February but I like it just the same. There is something more in this story you can just look for it starting from the January entries of this year.
7. This is my testimony as a Christian
8. The very much loved Prosti Story this one was the original version of the one published in the Corps Magazine last June
9. Aptly titled My Frustrations, but as I always said it does not mean that I hate it here, can you blame me for being frustrated at times?
10. And finally the July and August entries that brought in several critiques.

Well, somehow the entries I highlighted are different in a variety of ways. All in all the blog is a journal of the last 5 years of my life, it wasn't easy but it was a very worthwhile learning experience. I think the blog allows me to reflect on the things that have happened and be thankful that I am still on my feet with head raised high. I am able to appreciate everything and continue to be hopeful of the things that are still to come in our lives.

A message of Hope

I started to write something earlier but it just didn't make sense so I am writing all over again. I think the things that happened to me this past days are quite exciting so the story begins.

Rain has not stopped since several days ago but life continues. Last Saturday, we were host to the opening of the Baguio-Benguet Educational Athletic League (BBEAL) and people were just everywhere. Unfortunately, I was not able to witness the event as I was involved in another activity, I was a contestant for the Impromptu Speaking Contest representing my company. There was also a debate tournament so that occupied me for the whole day. Again there were other guests and somehow it was a different atmosphere since there was practically no duty for the whole day. When I went back to barracks that night I was tired but was greeted by a pleasant surprise, I received copies of the Starfish Magazine from my friend. As I was about to sleep, so many thoughts lingered inside my head realizing that I had to do something. That something will be my blog today.

The Starfish Magazine is published by the Ayala Young Leader's Alliance. I believe the initial intention of the magazine was for it to become a mouthpiece for those who have attended the Ayala Young Leader's Congress. When I talked with my friend the last time I was in Manila, he said that it is now a magazine that aims to empower the youth. It is in fact the first magazine to become one. Just like before, it featured articles about lives of real people, going through tough circumstances and coming out of the situation better and even using their life to inspire others. I remembered something that Randy David once wrote saying something about our only hope is to cling to hope; I guess the magazine just provides hope. It highlights people, ordinary people actually, that went out of their way to do something and make a difference. In the issue I received, there was this story of a Pastor, who ran away from his hometown in Davao at 13. He met and experienced the cruelty of life finally giving up and returning home. There he met God, lived a new life and became a pastor. Now, he is a missionary in Cambodia sharing his life bringing a message of hope, a message that he learned when he was faced with difficult circumstances in his life. That is the message of the magazine... a message of HOPE.

Last year, I was part of the Academy's information drive. The goal was to advertise PMA to all places to attract prospective cadets. In the schools that I visited there were all sorts of question, questions that some may consider useless but were intriguing. I wondered why almost all of them just felt that going and surviving in PMA is hard. And then I went on to become a Squad Leader, with plebes that are young, very young if I may say. One of them was a seventeen year old from Cagayan de Oro City. Every now and then I find him at the brink of crying obviously trying his best to cope up with the difficulty he is experiencing. Then one time out of the blue, I thought of letting him see my pictures when I was a plebe. I could see how fascinated he was when he saw my pictures doing what he was doing. I told him stories of how I coped up with my own plebehood and told him that it was just a matter of time and soon everything will all be over. I guess in all this experiences, there was something that stood out, it was obviously the message of Hope. in the schools that I went to during the information drive, the students were in awe of what we were telling them yet there was this feeling that you were doing something to their spirit. I felt that as I was telling them everything about PMA, I was also giving them that hope of being someone better that who they are or being great. With my squadmate, I could sense that although he was still going through so much hardship, his spirit was renewed. Although he still cries now, you can see his enthusiasm in trying to do his best to cope up and I think it is on the belief that all will come to pass. I was being a carrier of hope.

I for one would say that I am in a position better than many people out there. I have free education, a bright career in the future and other privileges. But I also know that not many can say that about themselves. I heard of people who gave up on life (like Jopay the prostitute), people who compromised their principles because nothing good is just happening. I realized that the contribution I can do right now is to deliver the message of hope. It is a message that does not need anything but only a sincere heart that has endured the realities of life and came out a winner. I learned that the most basic thing we can do is to give out this message to renew their spirits. Each of us can do something it may be small it may be big but right now I know that the message of hope is one of it.

We will have an effect on people even without trying. I am praying that our effect will be something that will give them hope and renew their spirits.

My Great Vacation

There are so many things I thought of blogging today. After swimming 750 meters on a very rainy day with fog all over things just made sense and suddenly my mind was clear and I am ready to write again. I went back to my room to find the Philippine Star. I was able to read Jessica Zafra's column about the trips that she did with her sister who was married recently and I remembered the trip that I took a few years back. Me and my dad fondly called it the Great Vacation for it was spent inside a van, across 16 provinces, 6 barge rides and thousands of kilometers.

Daddy had long been talking about doing something. Like me, he is not the type of person who enjoys staying at home. Even if he has no money, he'd rather see new places than be a home buddy. The year was 2003. It was summer and we embarked on our grand vacation. Our team was basically everyone in the family. My father, me and my other 5 siblings, my step mother, our driver and one house help. We all cramped inside our van, with me as the navigator seated in front, we travelled across the country for a great adventure.

From our house in Makati, we went south, passing through Laguna, Lucena until finally reaching Legazpi City by eight in the evening. We had dinner at the Provincial Headquarters where Daddy's classmate was Provincial Director. Originally, the plan was to sleep over and then proceed to our next destination so that we can see Mayon Volcano at daytime. But my stepmother was excited. She wants to reach Samar the next day so after taking a little rest, we started travelling again towards Matnog, Sorsogon where we will take our first barge to Allen, Samar. By morning, everyone around us were already Waray-speaking and we encountered our first problem. Something in the brake of the car got damaged and it was unsafe to travel. Still very tired, we slept inside the van while waiting for it to be repaired. After about 3 hours, it was finally fixed and we headed towards Catbalogan. In Catbalogan, we were greeted by a family friend that was originally based in Cebu. They gave us a sumptous lunch and then we went on our way to my stepmother's hometown, Motiong. The thing that caught my attention going there was the big shell that stood in the middle of the road like a monument or something. I learned later that in that place their industry was the cultivation of that shell (its a tahong actually... a BIIIIIG tahong). In Motiong, we finally were able to get some good night's rest where we were able to lie down a decent bed. We also had the opportunity to take a dip at their spring. It was really fun and I saw a cross dressing gay who was more beautiful than my sister (forgive me sis, that's the truth). We then travelled to Leyte passing through San Juanico Bridge. We visited some sites in Tacloban before finally heading to Ormoc to catch the barge going to Cebu. We spent the night aboard the barge and we were able to meet another family who was also travelling across the country in their van. I just realized that our idea was not an original one, who knows who else were using their van to travel across the country. In Cebu, we finally touched down to familiar territory my father being assigned there for the longest time and speaking a dialect that all of us speak. Since Cebu was no longer that interesting, we just took our breakfast and proceeded to Toledo City. From there we took another Barge going to San Carlos City, Daddy's hometown. We spend several days in San Carlos meeting our cousins and of course, hanging out at my uncles restobar, we got drunk, had some fun and then we were off again, our next destination, Boracay.

Leaving San Carlos was a whole new thing. We had more people and we were now in two vehicles. Apparently, our other relatives also want to go to Boracay so they went with us. Our team now had my other brother who was already in San Carlos, my three cousins, my Aunt and my Lolo. We left at dawn towards Bacolod arriving 2 hours later while the sun was still not out. I haven't been to Bacolod since I was in Elementary so it was surreal to go there again and listen to Ilonggos around me. We took another barge to Ilo-ilo and then started our way towards Ibajay, the Home of my Ancestors. It is interesting that in this place one baranggay is mostly composed of people who bear my family name, the baranggay can actually be renamed to our family name and noone will complain. We said our greetings to the close relatives we have there and then we went to Malay, Aklan our springboard to Boracay. It wasn't the first time that we went to Boracay, having relatives from Aklan and Daddy being assigned as Batallion Commander based in Aklan, we took advantage of it. We swum, went sightseeing on foreigners sun bathing topless (we even saw one group of Japanese women swimming naked) and of course roamed around like no other. After a two days, we went back to San Carlos to attend my uncle's festival in nearby Sipaway Island (its Refugio Island in the map). It was from there thatI realized how fun it is to take pictures. There were just so many things that the camera can capture. I was interested but did not know anything about photography. I enjoyed taking the pictures only to find out that the picture I took lack the skill of a good photographer. From that initial experience, I vowed to learn about the art and two years later I was the official photographer for my uncle's body painting contest (you can go to this site to find some of the picture I took including my uncle's talent). The festival was fantastic, with live bands, an adventure race and a whole night of dancing and getting drunk. The next day we were so tired but happy of course. I chose to be left there while the rest of my family, went back to Manila through Mindoro, Batangas and back to Makati.

I do not know if I gave justice to how wonderful that trip was. It took me and my family to different places, places that we've never been to and had fun. It was a period where we bonded as a family and had a grand time spending time with each other and enjoying the beauty of the places we've been to. When I have my own family I would want to take another trip like that. The immediate plans that I have right now with my cousin in San Carlos is to travel around Negros. I'm hoping that if I can go on break by October ( I wish, please pray for this people) we might just do this one. For the meantime I will have to end this entry now and wait for something to happen again to put me in the mood to write another of my wacky ideas....

Amusing Blogs: Bananaspin

Hanna is my friend. I guess even if we only saw each other for about 5 times we are by all means friends. Her blog is Bananaspin, she does not update as often as I do but she does write some interesting things every now and then. Like this time she wrote about her Discovery Weekend with her soon to be husband and somehow I just can't help it but cry. Not because her story is so sad but because her story is so good that I wish I had the same. Amusing is not exactly the word to describe her blog, it's more like my blog, very personal, straight from the heart. Just forgive my choice of word because I have always used Amusing as a safe way to say that there is something in this blogs that I feature. Nonetheless, Hanna is a great person with a big heart and her blog reveals that... enjoy reading