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"I was my living my own metaphor. A man sets out on a journey, dreaming of a beautiful or magical place, in pursuit of some unknown treasure. At the end of his journey, the man realizes the treasure was with him the entire time. I was following my Personal Legend, and my treasure was my capacity to write. And I wanted to share this treasure with the whole world." Foreword of The Alchemist 2014 Edition, Paulo Coelho
At four years old, I spent time in a duyan under our mango tree, dreaming to be a writer someday. You see, I grew up in this really small town of less than 25,000 people called Pulupandan (Pulo ng Pandan) and there was really nothing to do. No cable, no Internet. We had a family computer which we gladly shared with almost any kid in the whole block. When my parents gave me some Christmas money, I did not buy toys. I bought books. It was because of those books that I learned how to daydream. And when you daydream a lot, you want to put it on a piece of paper. And so, my love affair for writing began.
