A Grinch's Wish for Christmas

This might just be the bleakest Christmas ever -- Pablo devastating the Mindanao area with hundreds of people who died, children killed in mass shooting and my own internal turmoil. 

I was reading an article about all those who died in the Sandy Hook shooting and goosebumps were trailing my whole body. So many wasted lives -- kids who lit up their parents' lives, a therapist whose boyfriend was supposed to propose to her on Christmas Eve, kids who lost their parents. It is really saddening.

And then there's Pablo. It was only a year ago when Mindanao was brought down by typhoon Sendong and once again,  at almost the same time, they were not spared. 

Mindanao is close to my heart. My uncle and his family used to live in Agusan Del Sur for so many years before they relocated back to Pulupandan due to security reasons. 19 people died from that municipality and hundreds more in Compostela Valley and Davao del Sur. As of Saturday, there was still no water nor electricity. Most of the people are still waiting for relief operations (if you still want to donate, please check out this entry. I have included some sites where you can donate). Some private companies have also extended their help to these afflicted areas. 

It all seems surreal. 

As much as I want to, I could not feel my Christmas spirit. Not that I really like the season ever since. I hate Christmas traffic and the jam-packed malls. But at this moment in my life, I detest it a little bit more. This was supposed to be a season for family and for reconciliation. For thanksgiving and  well wishes. I am too deep in my black hole to feel any merriment. 

Soo, dear Christmas. What can we offer each other? 

For me, all I want is a pinch of peace, an ounce of hope and a little speck of happiness.   I do not want to be a green-eyed Grinch anymore. 

How about you? What can I offer you? 

xx,

Corporate Junkie

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On Cravings: Pino Resto Bar

Before the lazy virus attacks me again, I am maximizing the things which I wanted to write about for some days now. 

There is a fairly familiar resto which was introduced to me by a close friend several years ago. This is where we used to hang out whenever we had heartaches and problems to mull over. 

The place is not only cozy, it actually served really, really good food. Their bagnet menu is to die for. And yeah, the giant margaritas!

Anyway, back to this cozy little haven. The place is called Pino Resto Bar. The first branch is located in Malingap St., Teachers' Village, Quezon City. I haven't been there for a long time though ever since my friend left the area. 

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On Cravings: Basix, Dusit Thani Manila

I am not a foodie. However, I like certain kinds of food - steaks, pork, Japanese food and despite the fact that it is not good for me, oysters.

Last week, I got invited to a victory party and they were hosting it in Dusit Thani Manila. And once again, Basix did not disappoint. 

Basix does not only serve these favorites I mentioned above, they also offer a wide variety of desserts for any of you who has a sweet tooth. 

Maguro sashimi always make my day. Ahh, and miso too! 

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On Writing: Eeyoric

In the silence of the room, I got to acknowledge what I really feel.

I feel void. Confused.

Confused because I do not understand what is going on around me. Despite wracking my brains, I could not understand. I am so confused and flabbergasted. I do not know why the tables are turned towards me.

I am not washing my hands. In fact, I do apologize for the hurtful words that come out of my mouth. I apologize for the profanity. But I am not sorry for what I feel.

Sometimes though, you just get to the point when things just kick off to its boiling point. I am sick and tired of the situation, like listening repeatedly to an annoying soundtrack, and the only person who could stop the music does not want to end it. And then, without even thinking, hell just breaks loose because you just can’t take listening to that awful noise anymore.

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The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him

Forever in the next.

Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

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On Writing: A Love I Never Had (A Repost)

September 3

Tomorrow I will see him. I don't know how I could face him. I don't know how to stand the hatred that I will be seeing on his face -- the betrayal, the pain that I have caused. My stomach is twisting into tight knots and my chest is constricted I could faint now.

I lay on the bed and saw his picture on my side table -- a silly smirk across his face as he was pinning me down because he wouldn't give me some of his ice cream. Tears began trickling.

September 4

Today, after a year, I will be ready to come in terms with the person whom I have had the longest grievance with.

I dropped by a flower shop and grabbed some white roses. He would like it, hopefully. He always did. He has some of his weird innate kabadingan as I always tell him. I drove to our meeting place and sat down on the cool grass. I looked around and he wasn't there.

Maybe he decided not to show up. I sighed as tiny shards of ice prick my whole being.

Then the stirring of the wind. And he was there.

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Scary Typhoons are well... scary.

Living in the Philippines is a love and hate situation. This country boasts of a plethora of varied and wonderful flora and fauna, rich heritage and history due to the influences of many cultures who have set foot on this land and of course the 7,107 islands that you can explore.

However, we are also faced with a lot of uncontrollable challenges especially when typhoon season happens. For this year, it was estimated that 31 typhoons or bagyos will hit the country. 

Currently, we are being challenged again by Typhoon Pablo (internationally known as Bopha) which devasted the Visayas and the Mindanao regions. 

I empathize with the flight of those who are afflicted -- I have been in a similar state when Ondoy happened in 2009, leaving Manila in great destruction. Personally, my apartment was out of electricity for almost a week, the waters reach knee-high level inside the house and we were stranded inside our residence because of floods in the surrounding area.

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Reminiscing the Ramen Experience

Last February, I was able to visit Japan for the first time. Together with some media friends, we visited the CP+ expo in Yokohama (more on the trip in the next posts). 

Before heading to Yokohama though, we visited this ramen place in Dazaifu in Fukuoka. I have never really liked noodles and I was a little bit disappointed when I knew that this was lunch already. The place was in a very small area. It was very surprising though that people literally were making a beeline outside of this restaurant!

We arrived inside and sat at the noodle bar which faced their kitchen. Since we did not know any Japanese and the waitress did not know any English, we communicated through sign language. She just asked us to choose the kind of noodles and the spiciness that we want and point our option on a menu board that she was holding (the noodles were categorized into stiff, soft, or something like that).  After that, she disappeared. 

All the Japanese variations plastered on the wall.
Of course, we had no idea what they meant.

After several minutes, this was presented.

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The Coron Island Tour - Part II

Coron / Busuanga has become one of my earmarked vacation places. The crystal clear waters, the flourishing flora and fauna -- it is really a great place to relax. I have previously blogged about the first part of our Coron Island Tour which happened on the second day of our trip. For the first part of this tour, please click here.

Our next stop was the seven islands known as the Siete Pecados. I have a vague memory of these islands; I remember back in 2000, when ship travel was still the more common way of transport from Bacolod to Manila, this was included in the route and I often counted these seven islands.

According to Andrew, our tour guide, Siete Pecados means seven sisters. Based on a legend, there were seven sisters who left home on a stormy night and were never found.  Their family seached and searched to no avail. One day, their parents prayed to the gods to let them see their daughters once again. Days after, these seven islands sprouted out of nowhere. 

So that's how the story unfolded and became part of the local history.

Anyway, going back to the trip -- the following pictures portray the seven islands. I wasn't able to bring a camera with a lens that is wide enough to take a picture of all the seven islands together so please bear with me.

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The Coron Island Tour - Part I

"The newt play the flute, The carp play the harp, The plaice play the bass, And they soundin' sharp The bass play the brass, The chub play the tub, The fluke is the duke of soul. The ray he can play, The ling's on the strings, The trout's rocking out, The blackfish she sings, The smelt and the sprat, They know where it's at, And oh, that blowfish blow! Ha-ha" - Sebastian, The Little Mermaid

A lot of people who I have talked to seemed to be pretty curious with our Coron trip. I think people have been wanting to go but some might have thought that Coron is only for divers because it is, in fact, very popular with its wreck and reefs dive spots. Truth be told, this was also my hesitation at first, but to set the record straight, this island is for everyone who wants to relax and have a good time. For beach-lovers, this place is heaven.

On our second day at Coron, we have decided to go on an island tour. It was only practical for us to get the package offered by El Rio. The itinerary was: Barracuda Lake, Kayangan (for some, it's Cayangan) Lake, Siete Pecados and Maquinit Hot Springs. Looking at several tours offered by the resort, there still seems to be a lot of places which we could have gone to such as the Calauit Safari Farm, Culion and several other islands. But due to lack of time, we settled with the Coron Loop Tour instead.

Boats for the tours leave the Coron wharf. There are several tours leaving towards the different scenic spots the whole day.

On the way to Barracuda Lake.

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