Quezon's Hidden Treasures

I was suppose to be in Mountain Province last weekend. Me and my college friends planned that trip a month ago but a week before the travel date, they decided to cancel it (much to my dismay). I have already filed my vacation leave, and my mind and body are already programmed that I will be out of my usual routine for the weekend so learning that the trip will not push through did not made me happy. Because of that, my wanderlust self thought of something to overcome my urge to travel and so I come up with a "Trip to Quezon Adventure Proposal". I was actually not expecting anyone to agree with the proposal since that is usually the case whenever I plan an "out of town" (LOL), but to my surprise two of my closest friends back in college wanted to join my madness. Below are the pictures from our (mis)adventure in Quezon. 

My Travel Buddies

Me in the JAC Liner Bus with On-board Wifi

Puting Buhangin A.K.A. Lukang Beach

AWESOME BEACH IS AWESOME

The beach is all ours

Detached from the world

Kwebang Lampas

Inside Kwebang Lampas

This is where we stayed. Villa Anita Resort. Highly recommended!

Our Ride, seriously.. :)

On our way to Borawan

Borawan

More Borawan

Shells instead of Sand

The Palawan part of Borawan

Dampalit Beach

And that wraps up our two day trip to Quezon's hidden beauty. Hidden because most of the places that we went to are undeveloped and we are usually the only visitors. Maybe its because of the Panagbenga season that is why most of the tourist are up north but Quezon is worth discovering. I will definitely come back here again.

ITIL v3 Foundation Experience

Something I wrote a year ago when I had my very first Industry Certification.

Kahapon ay pumasa ako sa ITIL v3 certification exam at habang papauwi na ako at masayang naglalakad sa may Recto ay napansin ko ang mga batang gusgusin na naglalaro sa daan, ang mga iskwater sa may LRT, ang sandamakmak na basura sa paligid, ang maitim na usok mula sa mga sasakyang nagkukumpulan dahil sa trapik. Naisip ko kung ano ba ang naitulong nung ginawa ko. Ganun pa rin naman ang lahat bukod sa isang piraso na papel ng kalukohan na hawak ko. At naisip ko yung nakalagay sa ilalim ng litrato ko sa yearbook ko nung highschool. Hindi abugado, doktor, engineer o feng shui expert kundi, "To make a big difference". Yan ang gusto kong gawin pagtanda ko. Naisip ko kung tama ba ang landas na aking tinatahak. At naisip ko kung mababago ko ba ang mundo sa ginagawa ko, sa walang humpay na pagaaral, pagkita, paggastos at pagkamatay. At sa aking pagiisip ay nakita ko yung mga itlog na kulay orange na pinagkakaguluhan ng mga estudyante ng FEU at pagkatapos ay naisip kong gutom na ako. Bow.

The UST Incident

Too much for being happy, I hit a minor bump last Saturday. 

So my next class in John Robert Powers is "power dressing" and we are asked to bring a set of corporate clothes and a set of formal clothes. Well, most of my clothes are in Bulacan and I am in Alabang and going home would be a hassle. Also, I am trying to be more frugal so buying new clothes is not an option. So I asked my cousin who is staying at our house and is studying in University of Santo Thomas (UST) to bring my clothes and meet up with me. UST is almost halfway between Alabang and Bulacan. 

And there we are in UST on the afternoon of January 14.  I decided to treat my cousin as a sign of gratitude for all the trouble. We ordered food in Greenwich, still inside UST. I ordered this soggy carbonara and she ordered a cheesy baked macaroni. Then in the middle of our meal she started to open up and tell me stories about her new boyfriend. I already knew about this from her facebook account but I pretended not to know. And as we are talking, I noticed this girl at my back who is acting suspicious and is sort of lurking around us. Then I saw that the zipper in my bag, which is beside me, is open so I closed it. I for a split second thought that she might do something with my belongings but I trashed that thought cause I think to myself that my cousin is in front of me and she would see it if this bitch would try to get my bag. But I was wrong, the next time I glanced at my red bag, it was gone. Fuck. Phone, IDs, 3000 Php worth of cash, my comb, my toothbrush, my mouthwash, my red eyeglasses.. Gone. 

Me and my cousin tried to look for her but I gave up after 5 minutes of searching cause UST is so big and I know that we will not find her and the next logical thing to do is to have my ATM cards deactivated. While contacting different people, I was still able to smile and laugh. It sucks but I realized how unattached I am to material things. I did not shed a single tear, although I want to bitch slap that girl. Anyways, good thing my keys are on my pocket so I could still go home. And on the train in my way home, I even let an old woman have my seat. Wow. No matter what wrong has been done to me, I refuse to let it affect how I deal with other people. I actually felt lighter without all the material things that I always bring with me to make me feel secure. I don't want to say that this is a nice experience because being robbed and having to pay for different fees to be able to have my ATM cards and IDs replaced sucks big time but this incident taught me one significant thing.
"To invest in intangible things like friendship, love, travel experiences, improving your talents, instead of material possessions because the latter could easily be taken away."

5 Regrets in the Death Bed

So according to a nurse that worked in palliative care (specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses as per Wikipedia) these are the 5 most common regrets people realize in their death bed.

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

BOOM! I am guilty of all 5. These regrets pretty much summarizes the goal of this blog. So when that fatal day comes, I would have no or just little regrets.

I am sure these regrets doesn't mean that we should just quit our job tomorrow and go cray cray out in the real world. Being unemployed and homeless is not fun. But I do believe these five should inspire us to gradually break away from the things that makes us unhappy.That each day, little by little, we should make an effort to "live a happier life". No, not one drastic change but a step by step transition.


SOURCE: Nurse reveals the top 5 regrets people make on their deathbed

P.S. I  have an appointment with John Robert Powers Alabang tomorrow to work on regret number 3.

2012

Its 2012, the year of the mighty blazing dragon and like every other year, everyone have high hopes at this new beginning including me (much to the dismay of my non-conformist self). As mentioned in my previous entry, this year's theme will be "live like its the end of the world" (not to imitate Jay Sean and Nicki Minaj). To stop living life based on the standards of other people, to do what I have long been setting aside in the future because the future is now.
So here is my tentative bucket list:
January - I'll play my first song in my guitar.
February - I'll get a heart tattoo
March - I'll travel to another country
April - I'll have my abs ready for summer

So anyway, this pic is the meal I had to welcome the new year, and 2012 will be just like this image. Crazy, fulfilling, unpredictable and sweeeet! Cheers!

1st: Be a Rockstar

So according to the Mayans everything will perish on my 26th birthday. Well, maybe they just ran out of space in their calendar but the truth is the days of my existence is running out and I might be dead tomorrow so with that in mind, I intend to spend 2012 like its really the end of the world. And also, I might get married in 2013 so I need to do what I gotta do before that. =)
 
So here is the first one for my bucket list, I want to be a rockstar so I bought a guitar as a starter. I will be uploading a video of my first learned song soon. =)

Hey Day Dreamer

Age 6 - I thought by the age 25, I'd be a supermodel, beauty queen, and famous actress.

Age 8 - I thought by the age 25, I'd be an astronaut, discovered a new galaxy or found a new planet for humans.

Age 12 - I thought by the age 25, I would be a billionaire, have my own island, traveled the world.

Age 15 - I thought by the age 25, I would have bought my parents a big new house at a famous vacation spot and a kick ass car and provide for all their needs.

Age 18 - I thought by the age 25, I am already in another country (New Zealand) earning more than most of my friends.

Age 21 - I thought by the age 25, I would have my own car and a stable job and a clear career path

Age 25 - Time to stop dreaming about the future and to start make things happen in the present

Funny how dreams deteriorate as we grow older and be exposed to the mediocre world. With our parents and the society telling us to conform, our idealism together with our capabilities shrink little by little each day.
I have dedicated the past 25 years of my life to other people, doing what they want me to do. Today, I will start living each remaining day of it for myself and my bucket list.

Bente Singko

Limang araw pagkatapos madagdagan ng isa na namang taon ang aking edad ay naisip kong dapat pala ay naghanda ako ng kung ano mang espesyal nung araw na yun. Una, para may maipost ako sa facebook at ikalawa, para sikat ako sa mga friends ko. Siguro isa pa, dahil sa opisyal na akong "tumatanda". Ageing, ibig sabihin kumukulubot ang balat, napapanot, at humihina ang mga internal organs. Nagsisimula daw kasi iyon sa edad na 25 ayon sa commercial ng Ponds.

Tapos bigla akong napaisip.

Ay pota, tumatanda na ako, baka bukas mamatay na ako. Masasabi ko bang masaya ang buhay ko? Nagawa ko na ba yung mga bagay na gusto kong gawin? Yung mga bagay na pinapangarap ko, yung mga bagay na magpapasaya sakin? 
Hindi. Hindi pa lahat. Actually wala pa nga sa kalahati kaya eto.

Ang pangatlong blog na sisimulan ko para sa "paghahanap ng kasiyahan". Katulad ng pagenter ng password, sana sa ikatlong subok na ito ay tumama na ako. Kasi baka malockout na ako mula sa kasiyahan ng buhay pag hindi pa din. Naway matagpuan ko na ang tunay kong ligaya. Tara, sama ka.