stay connected

this post is dedicated to all those who have been separated from some of their friends and loved ones by any form of distance.

when we miss those we love who are far from us, we first tend to look back at our past. whatever happened to us in the past, when we miss someone, we choose to remember only the good things. remembrance of not so long ago, reconstructed memories and faded photographs were the sources of our nostalgia...today, digital photos and old e-mails in our inboxes can also give us the same effect.

and then after reading old letters/e-mails or looking at photos (both digital and otherwise), we'd decide to go online, to write an e-mail, to chat in our YM, or to make a phone call (roaming, long distance, etc). we'd do all these just to ask our loved ones this beautiful question: HOW ARE YOU?, which turn even more beautiful when we truly wait for their response...and we'd sympathize with them when they say that life sucks or we'd be happy for them when they are.

with all the things that we could do now, we were made to believe that TECHNOLOGY has kept us connected. but sometimes it also works the other way around. sometimes we think that we could write that e-mail much later since it could be sent with one click anyway or we'd think that we could call later on because we don't want to disturb them if they're busy adjusting to new life. until one day, we'd realize that they weren't too busy...we were!

there was this foreign commercial on television. everyone was texting and looking at his/her cellphone while walking down the street, while having a dinner date, while watching a theater performance, while at work, and the list went on. the commercial was striking because it spent a long time building up these images of people using their cellphones that one would think it was a telecommunications company's ad. and then in the middle of all these, a voice-over could be heard: the world has grown smaller but not necessarily closer.

it was a Close-up commercial.

but whether it was Colgate, Close-up, or Happee, my point of sharing this particular ad is not because of the toothpaste. it's because of the striking line: the world has grown smaller but not necessarily closer.

has it? i'll let you think about that one.

in the meantime, when most of your friends are far away or planning to live far away, the world actually becomes bigger than how it seemed before and the reality is that staying closer requires much effort. technology helps a lot this way. but in the end, it's the way you use technology that matters.

so make that friendly e-mail and tell your friend how you've been or better yet, ask him/her how he/she has been. you're both probably dying to hear from each other. make that call and tell your special someone you miss him/her even if you've just talked a few hours back because you probably discussed how yesterday was but today's a different day. compose that text message and reply to your close friends' messages that slipped your mind more than once because you were too busy with other things.

or you could let go of your cellphones for a while and spend time with the ones around you at the moment: your siblings, your parents, your friends nearby, your next-door neighbor, your officemates and your boss who are also human... the list of persons varies depending on how you're living life right now.

the world didn't just grow on its own into a busy place... it's the people trying to be busy most of the time. and it's time for us to lessen that busy-busy-busy mode. as the old line goes... stop for a while to smell the flowers.

in my case, I'd just pause and... gaze at trees because I find them SPECTACULAR.

my name as defined

rodel -- [noun]: A human transformer (Robot in disguise) 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

hmmm...this could be the reason why i sometimes act weird...kaya pala minsan feeling ko ako si megatron...then the other day ang tingin ko dun sa muntik ng bumangga sa kotse ko ay mga decepticons.

now my true identity has been revealed...let's transform!!!!

moments to share

at the end of the day, you realize that there are very few people in this world with whom you can share it all - moments of calm, moments of revelations, embarrassing moments when you just want to crawl underneath the ground and die, lukewarm moments, intimate moments, moments of euphoria, moments of disdain, moments when you feel the whole world is against you, moments when you're swimming upstream, moments you never want to let go, moments that come out and seek you, moments you want to keep in your pocket forever, and moments you blow into the air to re-create on a better day.

even though the moments cannot hang on, you're lucky if the people do...and they're there the next day fabricating new moments to weave into your story. i'm blessed to have found a few people i can share such moments with in my life.

have you?

i got a "c+" in Lakbayan

this is cool...i never thought that i've been to a lot of places already...my aim is to get a "b", at least.

My Lakbayan grade is C+!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out atLakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

i got a "c+" in Lakbayan

My Lakbayan grade is C+!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out atLakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

se7en

se7en! tagged by christian

I don't usually do this but it's fun knowing a little something about your friends.

Instructions: Each player starts with 7 random habits/facts about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. as a kid, i was using pacifier until i was in kindergaten. during recess, i would sneak out and put that oh-so-wonderful pacifier inside my mouth.
2. i almost burned our house when i was about 7 years old. i was looking for my marbles under our bed using candle instead of flashlight. the candle burnt the bed and a quarter of our house.
3. i love reading books: fiction and non-fiction, documentary, self-help books.
4. i'd like to go on a back-packing tour in Europe someday with my family.
5. it was my dream to be a talk show host in the likes of David Letterman, Conan O'brien and Edu Manzano, when i was younger
6. Sinigang and Kare-kare are my all-time favorite dishes.
7. I think my handwriting is so bad that i took up computer science in college.

There you go, some boring stuff about me you wouldn't even bother reading. really.

I hereby tag:
-Jhoanna
-Chad
-Pau
-Pette
-Claud
-Chester
-Raech
-YOU - if you read this!

sleepless in bangkok

a few hours from now i am off to Bangkok, Thailand. the last time i was there was when they had their coup last September of last year. i hope they won't have one again this time.

i remember that the time their military was taking over their government, we were at a night market trying to shop fro some pasalubong. their coup was so quiet we only came to know about it an hour after we came back to our hotel. the moment i got to my room i turned on the tv for some whiling away of time, but there was nothing being aired except the Thailand king's exploits. so i decided to go online to check my mails. then i saw that the coup was all over internet.

we were in the middle of a historic event in Thailand, and we didn't even know it. some of my american friends asked me if i don't get jittery about the whole thing knowing that we could be in Thailand longer than we expected because of the instability in the city. i jokingly told them "no, i don't. we get this almost every week in the Philippines." but come to think of it, coups have almost become a part of our society. when we don't like what our government is doing we troop to the streets and shout "resign". well, somehow someway, you'd get used to it.

tonight, i will be in Bangkok again and will be there till Friday. i hope there won't be any hitches this time.

difference between rich and poor countries

i got this email from a blogger i know. i wish i knew who wrote it to give proper credit but i googled and didn't find the author.

read on...

*start of email*
The difference between the poor countries and the rich ones is not the age of the country:

This can be shown by countries like India & Egypt, that are more than 2000 years old, but are poor. On the other hand, Canada, Australia & New Zealand, that 150 years ago were inexpressive, today are developed countries, and are rich. The difference between poor &
rich countries does not reside in the available natural resources. Japan has a limited territory, 80% mountainous, inadequate for agriculture & cattle raising, but it is the second world economy. The country is like an immense floating factory, importing raw material from the whole world and exporting manufactured products. Another example is Switzerland, which does not plant cocoa but has the best chocolate of the world. In its little territory they raise animals and plant the soil during 4 months per year. Not enough,
they produce dairy products of the best quality. It is a small country that transmits an image of security, order & labor, which made it the world's strongest, safest place.

Executives from rich countries who communicate with their counterparts in poor countries
show that there is no significant intellectual difference. Race or skin color are also not important: immigrants labeled lazy in their countries of origin are the productive power in rich European countries.

What is the difference then?

The difference is the attitude of the people, framed along the years by the education & the culture. On analyzing the behavior of the people in rich & developed countries, we find that the great majority follow the following principles in their lives:

1. Ethics, as a basic principle.
2. Integrity.
3. Responsibility.
4. Respect to the laws & rules.
5. Respect to the rights of other citizens.
6. Work loving.
7. Strive for saving & investment.
8. Will of super action.
9. Punctuality.

In poor countries, only a minority follow these basic principles in their daily life. We are not poor because we lack natural resources or because nature was cruel to us. We are poor because we lack the correct attitude. We lack the will to comply with and teach these functional principles of rich & developed societies. If you do not forward this message nothing will happen to you. Your pet will not die, you will not be fired, you will not have bad luck for seven years, and also you will not get sick, but those may happen because of your laziness, your love for intrigue and politics, your indifference to saving for the future, your stubborn attitude.

* end of email *

there is truth to this. example of not following rules and regulations? driving. driving in Manila is like driving in the "jungle" of the world of driving. everyday that i drive my kids to school, go to my office and go on gimmicks at times, i experience nerve-whacking and head-splitting situations on the road. the other day my wife and my kids went to Greenhills to do some shopping for my 15 year-old daughter's clothing requirements....believe me, when you have a teener just like i do, you'd encounter terms we never used before, like clothing requirements.... jeepney drivers were honking their horns out, impatient with each other because of the traffic jam a car caused that clogged the road. and at some point between home and Greenhhills, this jeepney stopped in the middle of the road -- RIGHT SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF IT to let a passenger go down. what kind of road/driving etiquette is that? and then they have the right to get angry when cars at their back honk their horns out!

friends and relatives who come from the U.S. for vacation would shake their heads in disbelief of how drivers in manila drive. they are also amazed by how cars can overtake each other and squeeze in between jeepneys, trucks, and ordinary cars yet get through them all unscratched. i guess if you want a training ground for driving, you can start by training in Manila because if you live a day after driving-- safe and unscratched, you deserve a gold medal and you can drive almost anywhere in the world! hey, you even deserve an international driving license! i am amazed by this too but i, myself, who have lived in the city for years now since still cannot believe how crazy it is out there in the streets.

so i guess for all of us who still find it in our hearts to care for our country, and at least dream that we can be great again (noong high school tayo marami tayo nito...dreams), let's start the changes within ourselves...

terima kasih

"terima kasih" and "salamat detang", were the first words that greeted me when i landed in Bali, Indonesia last week. "thank you" and "welcome" as we would say them in english.

it was a trip i expected it to be, fun-filled and adventure-esq. i spent 6 productive days in Bali going in schools and villages in very remote areas in the mountains, ministering and being ministered unto. this trip was far from the vacation i wished it would be but it was nevertheless an experience.
Bali is known as a tourists' haven with all of its beautiful beaches and resorts combined with its rich culture and of course spicy food. i liked what i saw in Bali. architecture-wise, most establishments and houses resemble that of a Buddhist temple, as 95% of residents in the island are Hindus. there are many poor people but they live in concrete houses and not in shanties.
i've been to other parts of Indonesia but this is the first time i went to Bali. meals are almost always spicy in Indonesia but i never thought that it could still get spicier in Bali. i like spicy food but having spicy food everyday is like killing-me-softly. even fried eggs in the morning for breakfast would have diced chili on top. fried rice is colored red because of chili. even spring rolls for snacks would have chili on its side. believe me, spend three straight days eating local Balinese food and you'd worship the owner of McDonald's for putting up burger stores all over the world. i think the only thing that's not spicy in Bali is water and "teh botol". it is a popular Indonesian drink. Teh botol literally means 'bottled tea'. It is a sweetened jasmine tea and it is usually served cold. in indonesian culture it has been a widely popular fashion to drink this beverage standing on one foot.
i enjoyed going to the schools to minister to the children during the day and going to the villages in the night. the villages are so far away from the city we had to travel three hours by car and walk 2 hours just to get to the village. it was very very tiring but it was all worth the exhaustion. there was a time that we had to spent the night in the very first hotel in Bali...yes, the FIRST hotel. very very old and dilapidated it's just like checking into a haunted house. we were the only guests that night. well..., we had bats for company. did you see "Batman Begins"? when the young Bruce Wayne fell into a well and there were bats swarming all over him? well, when we got to the hotel, there were scores of bats flying all over us. ohh, and did i tell you that the hotel is fronting the beach? well, some sort of a beach. i was just waiting for the mermaids to come out and i would say we're in a movie already.
but looking into the eyes of the children and seeing their need for God made all the dangerous treks worthwhile.

"terima kasih", this is what i have to say to God for allowing me to minister to the children of Indonesia.



next stop...bangkok, thailand. "sawasdee krap"!