November 7, 2013, Manila Time. We knew he was coming. The Angel of Death named Haiyan or Yolanda in the Philippines. It was like an apocalypse saying "in the hours to come I will sweep upon your land and reap souls by the thousands."
Who could prepare? Nobody. Nothing could prepare us for this. Everyone in Samar and Leyte lost someone they knew.
Yet, it seems like we've been given a warning before. I saw a video on Youtube of a man and another of a woman who both
predicted that this would happen. Below is a video from four years back
of a prediction made by Cindy Jacobs.
And this is another video which I just saw today of an Indian prophet named Sadhu who predicted the tragedy in Samar and Leyte:
God spoke to them to warn us of this tragedy and also to
give hope that after this an anointing of our land would follow. Whether
or not this is true, all I can say to God is this---I don't understand
why, but I have faith and trust in Your plans for my beloved country.
As I prepare a compilation of video clips and images that struck me I can't help but cry. Here I am in the comfort of my home, watching my baby play. I am safe and my family was spared, but that doesn't mean that we don't share their pain. The tragedy is felt everywhere in the Philippines and the whole world.
There was a picture of a father carrying the body of his lifeless daughter, another is a woman on her knees crying and dead bodies were piled everywhere. There were images of newly orphaned kids wet and crying and in another photo-- a boy with a wounded face amidst debris they once dearly called home.
Yesterday I heard Susan Boyle's version of You'll Never Walk Alone and in my mind I saw the pictures of survivors of the typhoon and the overwhelming help we got from all over the world. Kindly see the video below that I created and uploaded on Youtube as a tribute to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda and to the International Community who came to our aid. You'll see pictures of survival, courage and faith in God. This is a story of humanity and that how different we may seem we are one. We breath the same air, we see the same stars at night and feel the same kind of joy and pain.
I made this so that when we get through it all we will feel proud at recalling how we survived this nightmare. At the same time for all the Filipinos to remember that in our time of
need, our brothers and sisters from different countries helped us and
was with us on our grieving.
* Please note that I do not own any of the
materials used in my youtube video.You may see the credits page for the original
sources. Neither do I own the other two videos and picture used in this blog post.
Like Lexi, I was fiesty and rebellious. Brutally honest and crazy like Nina. After all I was just like Kaye --young and carefree. I used to put on make-up while working and had a mirror on my monitor (like Jane). I was unsure on which path to take (Gerwin, at one time). But I tried my best to be strong (Ayie) for my dreams because I couldn't depend on anyone but myself (Dax) until I decided to give my all (Rommel) and tame myself (Cecil).
I digged around my old blogs and now I find myself meeting my self seven years ago. I must have been one tough employee to manage:
" Wednesday, August 18th, 2004 6:24 pm
Purple Angst
How I hate the world today! How I hate the way the keyboard makes me feel stupid. I hate the cold air that make my fingers numb. I hate the rain outside--it will drench and put dirt on the edges of my pants. I hate the callers I got today! I hate the Q.A., I hate my age, I hate the friendster addicts! i hate the stinging pain on my back.
I hate the way i hate the things I used to love.
I hate him.. I hate spaghetti, I hate the stars... I hate these thoughts that wouldn't keep me still. I hate the way time pushes me, when all i ever want is to just breathe for a moment and feel myself.
I am young but the world doesn't seem to be for my age today. Just today....
Maybe I should go get myself a drink and sleep.
"*ring...ring* that's the landline, as it breaks the silence downstairs. I hear it, but I don't give a damn. *ring...ring* that's my cellphone. "Hi...me pasok ka today, right?" that's my supervisor in his calm voice. My conscience bugged me. I have the most patient, and the most understanding boss in the planet. "Opo...papasok na po..." my voice sounds sleepy. I told him I am not feeling well. I don't lie to him. If I don't feel like going to work, I tell him straight out. And today, it's true that I am not feeling well...my soul is sick. I realized it's an hour past my shift. I slept a few minutes after that...woke up and screamed "AYOKO NG PUMASOK!"
Have a read at the link above for the full blog if you like. For I was just like you at one time.... Just sharing these with you so you would know that I know how you feel and when say I understand -- I REALLY DO. ;-)
But you can get ahead and turn things around.
For at one point in my not so recent past...I was famous.
September 15, 2010. I got my certificate in Basic and Advance Chocolate Molding. I can now make 3-D chocolate figures, chocolate lollipops, chocolate truffles, chocolate cornflakes, bonbons, etc! I hope I could get started with my own chocolate designs for my business.
It's way past my shift and I am still here at the diner singing a happy love song over and over.... and it makes me want to write a poem about how I feel today.
Like sunshine
and marshmallows
And freshly squeezed orange juice
Like the smell of the dock At the back of my grandfather's beach house On a Sunday...
Like pink, red, orange and blue dragonflies I used to catch at the playground
I kept them safe in between my sweaty little palms Like hugs from Yumpkin
And a spoonful of Mama's yema
Like staying up all night talking With your best friends in a tent
Or jamming with Utoy while eating manga't bagoong
On a summer at home
This is how I feel today And I know it's not just because of the chocolate cake...
Thank you for coming at the right time in my life. For treating me with respect, kindness and unconditional love. I have never felt this special before.
I am glad I waited for the right guy. You are the best!
I am alive again! =) A few years ago I killed myself through cyber suicide. Now what have I been doing in my cave all these time?
Studying.
I was studying about happiness. About power. About love. About God. And mostly about myself.
I got me a cute classmate named Yumpkin (a shih tzu - it's her 9th month today). Though I tend to think that she got herself promoted to teacher while I have been permanently designated to being her student.
What can you learn from a silly, playful puppy? A lot.
A lot about cleaning after her mess. About forgiveness after she ate 4 pairs of your best shoes and the TV wire. About patience when she wakes you up in the middle of your sleep so you can take her downstairs to pee or poop. About taking care of another creature whose life is wholly dependent on you. About loving as you forgive her little mistakes for being too young and too dependent on you.
I learned about power as she obeys me when I say "Stay!" and in the same way I also learned to be obedient. I learned about a God who was kind enough to send me a dose of laughter to get me through my days through Yumpkin. That happiness is a choice.
That I am thankful I am me, for despite all things, I am still capable of love and kindness.
When you're with me baby, the skies will be blue for all my life... :-)
The lady next to me was singing this beautiful song. Always, when I am about to give up, the universe gives me a little nudge to remind me to have faith.
I will be writing again here soon as I just bought a new laptop! Soon I will get internet connection at home, but for now, I will be content sitting at Starbucks drinking tea, while posting my life on the web.
This movie reminds me of Mama and Papa. I have written so much but not much about them.
I just can't find the words. It always makes me cry when I think of them. I miss them a lot.
I'd like to tell them that each day I try to be someone whom they can be proud of.
When we are young, we need our parents to take care of us, but when we are older, we need them for support as we try to find our place in this world.
I like the part when he saw his daughter again. I was never really as close to Papa as my Ate Karen was. We always get into an argument because he was so strict with me. I thought it was just favoritism, why he was always so lenient with Ate Karen, but now I understand that he was like that to me because I needed it.
I was naive and still gullible most of the time you know. He knows that although I am a bitch I am just a child.
He likes surprises, and I got this from him.
He was very thoughtful and we used to plan surprises for Mama a lot of times when I was in High School. Sometimes, we'd buy a gift or a card, or sometimes we cook up some tasty dish and we fetch Mama from school for lunch.
My bestfriend just made me cry today. I don't like crying. It smudges my mascara, swells up my nose, and makes my eyes smaller than they already are that I can barely see the letters on my keyboard.
But this is not about me. Yet in some ways it is--as it is about everybody. And from a philosophical standpoint, I know it's no use discussing it. Who ever invented love needs to be put in jail for serious criminal offenses. But you cannot put God in jail, can you?
Do I really think that watching my missed episodes of Full House on youtube will give me the answer? She is expecting answers from me, but I could only cry with her. I think this is what parents were created for-- for you to ask them on things like this. They've been there, done that and screwed it up a hundred times. I am sure they do not want us to count our mistakes in the same way that they did. They were once just like us.
LOST.
When I was in kindergarten, which was the year before I became a brat, there were times when I got pushed around by my classmates who were a year older than me. And when I tell my parents about this, they start to shout and threat me that they'd kill them. And now I bet they're just kidding,but to me back then, they were real threats. So most of the time, I'd keep mum about it, until I learned how to make my classmates cry. There are some things you learn about survival when you're little, but you either forget about it or you just grow up that you realize it's better to get hurt than to hurt people.
As you grow older your threshold for pain increases and you learn to shrug it off as though it doesn't hurt. But you'd get hurt a lot more as you wait for the people around you to grow up too. I've used the word hurt a lot but it doesn't even compare to the number of times we've felt it, right? It justifies the redundancy.
It's the disadvantage of being the bully first. You'll also be pushed around by people you first bullied around when you have had enough of being the bully. When I use the word bully here, I need not explain that I use it figuratively. In the end, what comes around, indeed goes around.
If Mama and Papa were alive today, they've probably been in jail already for killing or at least attempting to kill or threaten all of the people who hurt us. Losing someone you love can shake us to our very core, and yet it is embarrassing to talk about it.
My best friend’s parents are as loving and protective as any parent would be. She wouldn't open up to them for the exact same reason that I would tell Mama and Papa about everything except for my heartaches.
But what I'd like to tell her is that there are no right nor wrong decisions. I don't want her to think that I don't care for her, but that's just the truth. Specially in love. I've learned by far that you cannot play smart with it.
When I was in college, I got a 4.0 in Math 11, and I partly blamed my neighbors who were drinking that night. Not that they were so loud, but because I eavesdropped in their conversation that I wasn't able to concentrate on Algebra. I'd have to admit though that though I failed in my Math Finals because of them, they gave me something to think about which would eventually help me deal with my adult dilemmas later on.
One guy was having problems because his childhood sweetheart suddenly made an appearance and though he's still not yet "married" with his girlfriend, they now have kids. The oldest man in the group said that he should choose the one who seemed like the air to him. She who doesn't give him anything, and yet fills him with life.
For a long time I held on to this belief, but as I grow older, I realize that if you really get to know a person, this feeling which I thought was exclusive to one person, is not so.
You'll feel this to anyone you fall in love with during the first stages of love. And it fades through time. If people would think of love this way, there would always be pain, and our search would be endless. One relationship after another. For the truth is that true love is always a decision and never solely the wonderful feeling we thought it to be. Sadly, it fades, but if you still want to love the person and treasure him or her for the meaning he or she has brought into your life, then that I can say is what true love is.
Do you really think that your parents still feel romantic towards each other? But in some ways they love each other deeply, right? It is the disadvantage of being young. At our age, not many of our peers are ready for this kind of love no matter how mature we deem ourselves to be.
As I was in the MRT station on my way to the office earlier, I was the only woman in the coach crowded with men. And I tried to observe them. They seem neat, okay. Shirts tucked clean. Pants are ironed. Hair washed and combed. You would have to thank their mothers for teaching them this. At least they look clean. But in truth, I pity them in as much as I envy them.
I feel sad that they cannot love as deeply as women, no matter how much they claim to be. Women are naturally emotional and that's why it doesn't come as a surprise to us that we always find ourselves at a losing end when it comes to relationships. It is both a gift and a curse that we are created to be this beautiful, sensitive and fragile creature. Most precious things are fragile indeed.
Yet, I envy men sometimes. Most of them can be happy with just sex and alcohol. Though when I say this, I am not generalizing. I'd have to make an exception for someone I personally know. But this doesn't go to say that men are bad. I think they just know how to live more than we do. Sometimes I feel that it's unfair that we feel so much. In my next lifetime, I definitely do not want to be a woman again.
As for my best friend, she just have to let go. If someone doesn't love you anymore, you shouldn't keep him to yourself. It's gonna be hard for her. They've been together for more than 6 years. But women need to understand men as they are and not as we want them to be.
It's sad, but it's true. ****, I cannot help but cry for you.
Whether you decide to wait for him or let go, I know that you'd definitely cry a lot longer than I wish you would.
If I were Santa Claus, or someone powerful and magical, even if it means that I don't even get a chance to be with the one I love, I'll make sure that there will be no goodbyes.
O ayan, papaka-self centered muna ako at kakareerin ko lahat ng quiz dun! hehe
Pero totoo to. Type A konti, pero maski parang carefree ako, ang totoo mdami ako plano at pangarap sa buhay. Charing! Anong kalokohan ito?! :-) Gusto mo mag-business? Idamay mo ko, at idadamay kita sa mga raket ko. ;-) Life is good!
I got this from this site:http://www.blogthings.com/howhappyareyouquiz/
After all I went through this surprises me. I guess it's just a matter of time and perspective. I am still the type of person whom I know I'd like to spend the rest my life with--and I know a lot of people think of me this way too.
Labing isang taon ko syang hinintay. Yun pala, it will only take him six pesos sa text to break my heart. Six pesos. Anim na text. Di na daw nya ako mahal.
Masakit? hindi... hindi na nga ako makaramdam. Parang namanhid na ako. Nasanay na. Namimimiss ko nga nung bata pa ako. Madalas kase ako mapalo kase maldita talaga ako maski nung maliit pa lang. Gusto ko maramdaman yung pisikal na sakit at umiyak ng malakas sa bawat palo ng tsinelas. Si Papa nun galit na galit. Ayaw nya kase na umiiyak kami. Gusto nya strong kami. Pero pag sinasabi nyang "sige..iyak pa, me palo ka pa!" lalo kong lalakasan ang iyak ko. Sobrang tigas talaga ng ulo ko. Namimiss ko si Papa, sana andito pa sya at pwede pa ako sermonan. Swerte na lang ng ex ko wala na siya, for sure iha-hunt siya talaga nun.
Bakit mo kase minahal?! Yan ang sabi sakin ng dalawa kong kaibigang guys na gago. Pwede bang hindi. Masyado kase akong totoo--masyadong vulnerable.
Parang usapang lasing na to ah! :-) ayoko na nga. libre nyo ko ng tequila, para mas masaya.
Eto ang walang sense na blog, pero alam ko me makakarelate din dito pag nabasa nyo.
Puntahan nyo na lang to :www.lettersforjosephus.blogspot.com kung gusto nyo magusyoso.
For now, feeling jaded talaga. But I know in time "when that which is perfect is come. Then that which is in part shall be done away. For now we see through a glass darkly, but then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know fully, even as also I am fully known"
Her only dream was the roof. How I wish mine could be that simple. And though I have done my best to protect her like a baby, I couldn't beat her cunning ways of sneaking past me so she could go where she wants and whenever she wants it; no matter how bad the weather is and not even if my sister and I had just spent almost an hour grappling with her just to give her a bath and blow-dry her fur. She was the joy and the ultimate stinking master of the house.
I was in the office when I got a call from my cousin saying that my cat just died. Some people who haven't had pets couldn't understand why petowners cry when their pets die. The grief is no different to what you feel when you lose a person. I think of the times I hugged her when I was alone and scared. The times I played with her like a child again, and during those times when dough was short and I ate instant noodles just so I could buy her cat food because she wouldn't eat anything other than that.
She's has definitely gotten much farther than the roof and we miss her terribly--Sipao Tubby Elf.
I am two years young for it...but *sigh* well this could be it.
My fucking customers are waiting for me! That's what my mind tells me each morning, so even if I get up early, I come late for work...for no less than 2-3 hours. And it's not good. But it feels good. They say I'm astig coz I don't care. That I don't care that I get a warning for my schedule adherence. That I don't care if I violate company rules on proper call-in procedure and attendance. That I don't care if I come late and sit beside my supervisor.
But hell they're wrong. I care a lot. About Filipinos, about the economy, about politics, about the future, about racism and a lot about the things I cannot do anything about. It's sad that as much as I want things to change I just can't. It's beyond my control.
My shift starts at 8:30 am. I am up at 6 am and was holding my shampoo in my right hand, when I decided that there is no need to hurry. I dozed off with a smile thinking that my yelling customers are waiting on the queue for a technical person to help them with their computer. Why don't they just throw it out of the window. That would be a lot simpler and easier.
Once the call gets into your CMS (phone) be ready to have your ears or head bitten off. Let them wait. Let them wait for the "brown monkey" (although I am far from being brown)to pick up. Let the brown monkey hear their rants. Let the brown monkey swallow the insult that comes from being born into a third world country. They will eat your soul up like a demon and that's exactly what the management wants--to sit mum and accept every bitter comment about your nationality and to reply with the sweetest and most polite tone you could manage. When all I wanted to do was scream "PUTANG INA MO!GAGO KA PALA EH! ISA KANG MALAKING TAE!." That's how my company makes money to pay me so I can pay my bills....
How they measure your intelligence based on your origin. I bet more than half of the assholes I get to speak with everyday did not even finish college nor high school. It's all about the money. If I were an English born, with Harry Potter-accent would they treat me the way they're treating me.
Where did it all start? Why did Marcos hoard all the money?! Why did Erap get into so much trouble?! Why did Arroyo admit that she talked with Garcilliano? Now, not only the whites are judging the Filipinos based on our leaders. They're probably thinking that the Filipinos are stupid for choosing these leaders.
*ring...ring* that's the landline, as it breaks the silence downstairs. I hear it, but I don't give a damn. *ring...ring* that's my cellphone. "Hi Lon...me pasok ka today, right?" that's my supervisor in his calm voice. My conscience bugged me. I have the most patient, and the most understanding boss in the planet. "Opo...papasok na po..." my voice sounds sleepy. I told him I am not feeling well. I don't lie to him. If I don't feel like going to work, I tell him straight out. And today, it's true that I am not feeling well...my soul is sick. I realized it's an hour past my shift. I slept a few minutes after that...woke up and screamed "AYOKO NG PUMASOK!" In my mind there is a mocking voice singing "your customers are waiting..get up girl...the customers are waiting..get up."
I dragged myself down the stairs, picked up my cat, and stared into the wall in the kitchen. After a while of knowing that a blonde somewhere in the US is losing his/her patience on the queue in the phone line in the office,probably screaming at their kids right now or tapping the counter looking aggravated with their brows knitted together. I smiled and went for the bathroom and took a long bath, playing with the faucet and making bubbles..."the ****** ********* are waiting...." And I'll make them wait some more.
I guess it's what they call quarter-life crisis. Although I am a just a few years short for that. But it's the same anyway. I get to think about my values. (Whew! Like I never thought of it before). About my priorities, about work, about what i intend to do, nd what I really wanted to do. Is this what I have always dreamed of? I get paid, but I am not happy. I never thought I felt this much about being a Filipino. Never had I thought that Nationalism would strike me at this age...why didn't it come when I was in college? Maybe it's because I didn't care back then..because I had no reason to care.
The background music plays..Why Does it Always Rain on Me? by Coldplay. And I see myself, like on a video. Top view. Medium shot. My hands are typing fast on the keyboard as though time is pushing me and the safety of the planet depends on it.... My Life.
One thing's for sure, I don't want to spend my life this anymore. It's like a new revolution. But I am not Rizal. I don't even have enough money. I may not even have the courage.
I am not sure if I deserve these thoughts...coz there's nothing much I can do about it.
Sometimes, it surprises you when people change. But what we don't know is that sometimes, people change not just on their own but because you pushed them. There was a story I read before about a crooked tree, that grew the way it was because it was following the sun.... I am not sure if I would like to grow like that.
