marquee 2013

Lost!

2011-07-05T07:41:00.001-07:00

Lost in the sea of people
I got No one to cling on
Lost in the ocean of emotions
I am not sure of what to feel

A figure came my way
I thought the puzzle would be solved
It turned out another part was opened
In which I see that many pieces are still missing

The figure that I thought would complete it
Was a shadow of the pieces left unconnected
Now my puzzle is bigger
Confusing than I could ever imagine

The Pain Reliever

2010-08-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

I stood steadily before the coffin of my best friend. I was wearing a blank face and tears suddenly fell on my face. I was not really crying. I am not sad about the fact that she is already gone, actually I am happy. I am happy because finally my dying friend is finally at rest. I turned away from the bronze coffin with silver edges. I sat down staring blankly at the floor when a tin foil wrapper of a capsule caught my eyes; I stood up quickly and excitedly picked it. I examined it thoroughly then I realized it’s the same pain reliever my friend used to take whenever her heartburn strikes. I hold it tightly and returned to my seat. I was looking around, keenly observing the people in the funeral parlour, I’m looking for someone actually I just don’t know who that was. A man standing before the coffin caught my attention. He stands there meticulously observing the body lying on the box of eternal life. He wears a white coat paired with denim jeans, his hair properly done and he stood smartly. He feels the coffin through his hands and he slowly turns away from the coffin. But the direction of his head shows that he is still observing the body. He raised his head, a memory flashes into my mind.

“Just calm down, everything will be alright” I said to my friend as I held her hand tightly while rubbing her on the back to comfort her. “I’ m afraid, what if... “Sssshhhh” I interrupted. The door opened and a man of good posture entered the room. It was the doctor. He wears his long medical gown with the stethoscope around his neck. He was holding a long brown envelope. He gave it to me and commanded me in a gesture to open it. I took a deep breath at first I was hesitant but when I saw her facial expression permitting me to do so, I opened it with my heads up looking up to the ceiling, no to the heavens. I looked at the files. It says that her heart disease is severe. I confided her. She stood up and ran away. “Thank you doctor, please excuse me” I said. I hurriedly followed her outside.

“If ever my heart aches severely you must only buy a pain reliever from this pharmacy. Let the guy with the clean cut hair serve you. The moments he entertains you, say these words “I need a pain reliever for the heart”. He will give to you what you want even if you will not present the prescription.” She said in a calm voice. She walks slowly as if she was floating. Instead of following her, I headed directly to the pharmacy to buy the pain reliever she asks me to. I said the words she wants me to say. I observed the man detail by detail. He is a man of good posture, he is neat. The uniform fits his complexion. His name tag suggests that he is Mr. Ian Flores. “Is this right?” He asks gently. I was surprised because it was the medicine I intended to buy. “Yes” I said surprisingly. I paid it then I directly went in the car. “Did he entertain you?” she asks with a blank expression. “Yes he’s kind” I said in response as I handed her the pack of medicine. She smiled. It was the same smile I have been witnessing every time she will take that medicine. I just smiled back instead of giving her the usual insult.

We arrived at her pad. She has been living alone for five years. Her parents migrated when her sister grant her parents petition. I put the groceries in the tall silver French door fridge. After doing it, I went to the sala where she was calmly sitting as she examines the medicine I bought her. When she was holding it I feel that she was happy. I can’t figure out why. I just observed her.

“How I wish there is a pain reliever for the heart” she said in a monotonous voice. “Well, you’re holding it” I said confidently. “I mean the one that will really cure the pain” she commented back as she stands on the doorway while holding the medicine near her heart. “Isn’t that effective enough?” I asked. “ Never mind” she said turning away. “Bye, I’ll be here tomorrow at 9 am I have to pick up the files at the office” I said as I head to my car. When I got into my car, I took a deep breath and stared blankly to the stirring wheel. I was confused. I am clueless of what she had said. Actually my confusion started when she asks me to buy the medicine from the pharmacy. With the directions she has given me to the response I got from the pharmacy attendant and to the statement she had said. I turned on the engine and drove at my usual speed.

I arrived at her pad at exactly 9 am. She was still in her bedroom. I went to the kitchen and found no signs of her that she had her breakfast. I opened the fridge and took the cereals, the loaf bread and the box of fresh milk. I prepared everything and I went to her room. “Breakfast’s ready.” I said in an inviting tone. “Good morning” she replied as she stretched her hands and yawn. She stood up and followed me to the kitchen. We ate. It’s the usual routine we have together.

“About last night” I said starting a conversation. “Why, what about it?” she asks me back as she takes a sip of the milk. “About the pain reliever” “Ah that? Never mind that” she commented as if she doesn’t want to talk about it. I respected it. I looked at my wristwatch; it is 10:30 am. “ I have an appointment by 11 am, I have to go.” I said as I take the last bite of my bread.

The usual routine continued for nine months. “Breakfast’s ready! Come it’s bacon and eggs this time!” I said in my usual inviting tone. There was no response so I got near her, I tickled her but there was no movement. Her skin was cold. My heart pounded. There was no pulse from her, no heartbeat and no single breath. I stayed as calm as I could but my tears keep falling. She’s gone.

Those are the hurtful memories that flashed when I saw Mr. Ian Flores. He sat down with my friend’s parents. But the mother stood up and walked sarcastically. She walked fast with her eyebrows raised high. “Wait, Im so sorry tita” Mr. Ian Flores uttered as he tries to held her back. “Leave now, we don’t need you here” she said in an angry tone pushing him away. She walked away from him heading to the CR. Myla, my friend’s beautiful sister offered him a hand. “Go now... you have no place here anymore. You’re no longer connected to us the moment you broke her heart” she said in a low voice but with obvious anger in it as she looks towards my friend’s coffin. I keenly observed them. He walked away and Myla got near me. She explained to me everything. My friend and Ian is engaged for two years before they migrated to Canada.

I head to the coffin slowly feeling her and I said “There is no medicine proven b science to cure the pain in our hearts but it’s only us who can cure it. In time everything will heal.”

Divided by Two

2010-08-11T18:38:00.000-07:00

I arrived home last night at 7pm, the rain started to fall, and the wind is calm but breezing cold. The house was peculiarly quiet and the bulb on the garage was not turned on. I walk calmly with my face on the ground and my mind running (i really don't know what I was thinking about, all I know is I am thinking) not minding the rain nor the coldness of the wind. I stopped at the doorway like I always do, taking a deep breath before opening the silver screen kitchen door. I put my pointed black shoe off and put it on the shoe rack. I entered the house, I was expecting a yell coming from my hyperactive cousins 5 and 7 years old, and a Justin Bieber music played loudly from the phone of my music lover cousin. But I was disappointed, I was welcomed by no one but the disturbing silence. Nobody was at home, I hurriedly went to the master's bedroom expecting a folded note, to notify me there whereabouts, but i found none, I got no clue of there whereabouts. I went directly to my room, took off my peach polo and black pants. I put on my favorite apple green shirt with the word "ATHLETICS" on it, I paired it with a blue floral short. I went to the unusually peaceful kitchen and ate my supper. It was pork adobo and rice.

After eating, I turned on the TV and switch from channel to channel to find a good show to kill the time while waiting for them. I ate a toasted bread while watching "Glee". But I find it boring, so I went to the laundry area and washed my pants which was soaked for three days. While silently doing it, a face suddenly appeared in my mind and that is the face of the person I was trying to forget. I paused for a moment and said to myself "just a little time and I will get over this person". But it sees that I am battling with my self. The other half says let go but the other contradicts it saying hold on let time heal the wounds. I urgently stopped and went back in to the house, turned off all the lights. I went to my room, got my mickey mouse pillow and covered my self with my checkered blanket. I want to empty my mind but the more I try, the more he gets in. I excitedly stood up and quickly turned the TV and watch a film to distract my self. But the cd tape left is about a person begging to be loved, I turned it off and turned the radio on instead. I listened to the music played by the fm tation. I unconsciously fell asleep. In my sleep, I dreamed of him, he is inviting me to go with him. We walked and talked, but I struggled to go afar. He hurriedly followed me and said in a loud voice "Wait, why are you running? Let's give this a try" I paused and refused. He held my hand tight that I could not escape, until I woke up, it was my favorite cousin squeezing me.

Moving On

2010-08-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of moving on. Technically I am single but my stupid heart already belongs to someone I can't even call mine. I know that I don't have the right to complain about the pain that my heart feels now. He does not belong to me. He doesn't even know it.

The first time I saw this person my heart beats faster. It's as if the time had stopped but my heart beats even faster. I never saw anyone but him. He overshadowed the things and the persons around me. I see nobody but him. Whoah! What a feeling! This is a familiar one. This is what I felt the first time I fell in love. But this is even greater ( and the worst). I hoped and wished that one day he can notice me the way I wanna be noticed.

I always do some crazy stuff just fro me to be noticed. I shout loudly, I keep quiet disturbingly and sometimes just ask favors from him. Even if I knew that it's a one in a million chance (if there is) that he will notice me the way I wanted to be. At first I took it as an inspiration. I can do things extraordinarily and sometimes I can be the best that I can be. Every time he watches me (or am i just assuming that he is?) I see to it that I am at my best, I am perfect! I see to it that my polo is properly buttoned and pressed, my hair perfectly done, my face exquisitely presentable and my self astonishingly framed. I see to it that he sees the best in me, and the best in everything I do.

Later, I realized that I might be obsessed with him already. I am so engrossed with he thought of doing things to impress him. I'm not even sure anymore if I am striving because I wanted to or because I just need to do it for him. The sad part is he is committed to someone. Someone owns him and I can see it that they're happy . I was torn apart. It's as if a knife was plunged into my chest and reached my heart. It's like my chest was ripped into shreds and m heart pounded in a mortar and pestle. It is so broken, torn into several tiny useless pieces. Right now I can say I am in the gloomiest part of my life. And the problem is I've got no one to blame but me. No one but my stupid heart! No one but my foolish feelings! It could have been better if I was committed with someone and that person has cheated on me, at least i have someone to slap and someone to quarrel with. But this, this is very absurd. I got hurt by myself! I am a hopeless case, why do I go on? Why do I always fall for the wrong person?

As I have said I am in the process of moving on. In the process of healing the wounds my stupid feelings had caused me. But how can I do that if I always see him and I'm in contact with him (contact's not the right term though). Nonetheless I will try. how I wish mending a broken heart is just like gluing a broken figurine and after that it's whole again, just like the figurine before it was broken. But my heart is shattered and torn apart! I guess in time this will heal, maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow but some other time. I'm sure this will heal, as they say it takes time to heal. If ever that time comes that the shattered pieces of my heart will soon be one, one fact remains I have loved and got hurt by my self!

My Kabagang

2010-07-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

Telephone

2010-03-28T02:25:00.000-07:00

Vanilla Twilight

2010-03-28T02:04:00.000-07:00

Summer Hot Spots

2010-03-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

Baguio City

Baguio City is located some 1,500 meters above sea level, nestled within the Cordillera Central mountain range in northern Luzon. The city is enclosed by the province of Benguet. It covers a small area of 57.5 square kilometers. Most of the developed part of the city is built on uneven, hilly terrain of the northern section. When Daniel Burnham plotted the plans for the city, he made the City Hall as a reference point where the city limits extend 8.2 kilometers from east to west and 7.2 kilometers from north to south. It is the highest major Philippine city in terms of elevation.

The city is known for its mild climate. It is because of this that Baguio is nicknamed the "Summer Capital of the Philippines". Owing to its high elevation, the temperature in the city is 8 degrees Celsius lower compared to the average temperature of the rest of the country. Average temperature ranges from 15 to 23 degrees Celsius. It is usually lower during the late and early months of the year. The lowest recorded temperature was 6.3 degrees Celsius on January 18, 1961. This is in contrast to the all-time high of 30.4 degrees Celsius recorded on March 15, 1988 during the 1988 El Niño season. Baguio seldom exceeds 26 degrees Celsius even during the warmest part of the year.

Boracay

WHERE YOU WANT TO STAY ON BORACAY ISLAND.
The Boracay Beach Resort is located at the heart of Boracay Island -- midway along White Beach between Boat Station 1 and the island's newest center, D'Mall. Our beachfront location makes the Boracay Beach Resort a quiet respite from the island's bustling party scene, but close enough to its heart for those who want a complete Boracay experience.
SWEET SUITES!
Our resort frontage was designed by international architect Mike Batchelor. Our oceanview suites offer a stunning 180-degree view of the world's best beach. You can entertain guests in your very own living area, have breakfast on a veranda overlooking our inside garden, or sit out on the patio and be mesmerized by the island's fiery sunsets.

PERSONAL CARE.
The Boracay Beach Resort is the only establishment on the island with a personal butler or maid dedicated to every suite room. We're here to cater to your every whim so you can enjoy the island to the fullest.

Tagaytay

The city of Tagaytay is a tourist attraction for local and foreign visitors. It is a vantage point of Taal Lake and Volcano. Tagaytay also offers a view of Taal La ke - a lake within an island within a lake.

Tagaytay is an hour and 15 minute drive from Manila via the South Luzon Expressway, or may be reached via the Coastal Road Expressway and the Aguinaldo Highway. If going through the South Luzon Expressway, take the Carmona Exit and drive down through the Governor's Drive and Silang up to the entrance of Tagaytay City. Or through South Luzon Expressway, take Sta. Rosa exit going straight to Tagaytay City. There are two possible ways to get to Tagaytay via the Coastal Road: Taking the Coastal Road to the Aguinaldo Highway and continuing south, and using the Indang and Mendez Roads in the Trece Martires City and Amadeo areas. If coming from the neighboring town of Ternate, Cavite take the Naic Road and drive straight to Indang and Trece Martires City. From Batangas, the best way to reach Tagaytay is through the new circumferential road. From Laguna, you may enter Tagaytay through the Carmona exit. There are buses that ply to Tagaytay from Manila on a daily basis. Several bus companies have their terminals in EDSA, Pasay City, and at Baclaran, below LRT, Manila.

Dumaguete City

Places To Go

* Dumaguete Belfry.

The city's most popular architectural landmark. It was built in 1760s and 1870s to warn townfolks of attacks by maurading pirates.

* The promenade along Rizal Boulevard, facing the Tañon Strait.

* Dumaguete Cathedral and a monument to José Rizal in Quezon P ark.

* Dumaguete is best known for Silliman University.

Wednesdays at Malatapay Market

Zamboangita, Negr os Oriental

In the municipality of Zamboangita, Barangay Maluay, is Malatapay Market -- known for its beachside restaurants that cook the freshest seafood catch of your choice. They also have lechon (roast pig), grilled pork, and pork barbecue.

Malatapay is also famous for its tabo (or market day). The locals and other people from neighboring towns gather around in this spot every Wednesday to sell their fruits, vegetables, grains, livesto ck, and plastic wares from sun up till sundown. These vendors are all in healthy competition so haggle if you must.

Wednesdays at Malatapay are crammed full not only of people but of a variety of produce. It’s busy and chaotic, but ultimately loads of fun.

Zoo Paradise of the World

Zamboangita, Negros Oriental

The Zamboanguita Zoo was heaven on earth for its late founder, Dr. Eleuterio V. Tropa, who always walked barefoot around his spread. He led a unique trail of conservation and environmentalism movements, had followers who obeyed as well as greatly revered him.

Less than an hour’s drive from the Dumaguete City proper, this Zoo Paradise holds the collection of Fr. Tropa’s memorabilia, stuffed wild animals including that of his huge pet orangutan and lion, and of course, live animals enclosed in perimeter fences or cages.

Surrounding the zoo are i pil ipil trees, known for their natural healing properties that the Fr. Tropa’s followers still use for medicinal purposes. Hi s descendants and supporters reside within the zoo’s grounds even now.

Twin Lakes of Balinsasayao
Sibulan, Negros Oriental

Tucked away in the remote hills of Sibulan are the Twin Lakes of Negros namely Lake Balinsasayao and Lake Danao. A good 45-minute drive on a winding road will lead you up to the extensive rainforest ecosystem that surrounds the lakes.

This portion of Sibulan is said to be the home of a remarkable number of 180 species of trees, 113 of birds, 27 mammals and 49 reptiles and amphibians, making it deserving to be dubbed a Natural Park.

Activities like kayaking, horseback riding, and trekking can be done. They have picnic cottages, restrooms, snack sho p, camping grounds, and a souvenir shop.

The serene, placid waters of the Twin Lakes make you gaze at it in awe. It emits an aura of being in a lost civilization – what with the sound of crickets and frogs that punctuate your every sentence.

Bais City
Dolphin and Whale Watchin g
Bais City, Negros Oriental

The Bais City Tourism Council generally oversees and organizes the tours. The cruises take you out to Tañon Strait, t he natural habitat of dolphins and pygmy sperm whales.

Out in the sea, the boat comes to a stop and the guests are told to clap their hands or whistle to encourage the dolphins to play. True enough, you could view them leaping in the air in pairs or groups. Children can only squeal in delight. Meanwhile, the whales prefer to emerge when it is calm and quiet.

The dolphin and whale watching package tour usually comes with lunch consisting of seafood and traditional Filipino dishes. It is served right on the boat for that unique, worthwhile experience. If you plan your own trip and rent a boat from for your dolphni and whale wathing trip on the pier in Bais, then make surer you have packed a lunch and plenty of drinks. for lunch you c an bring fish and meat and have the boat crew BBQ it for you while you swim and enjoy the sun.

Central Azucarera de Bais
Bais City, Negros Oriental

Central Azucarera de Bais wa s the first sugar mill of the Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas SA (or Tabacalera) in the Philippines. Established early in the year 1918, it became the gateway for the province’s sugar industry. Up until the present, CAB continues to be fully operational.

The CAB staff houses are reminiscent of the Spanish culture. The architecture is greatly influenced by it, a standing m emory of a bygone era.

Bird Sanctuary and Mangrove Park
Bais City, Negros Oriental

A short boat ride and a walk through bamboo pathways are all it takes to reach this park.

This protected sanctuary is inhabited by a diverse collection of bird species and other wildlife. Here, they continue to nest and propagate amid a 400 hectare mangrove forest.

Negros Oriental is a province laden with natural resources. It is blessed with an exquisite blend of both land and sea bounties, making it a sought after vacation spot and eventually, a place of residence.

Manjuyod White Sand Bar
Manjuyod, Negros Orient al

During low tide, a 7-kilometer stretch of pristine white sand seems to float right in the midst of Bais Bay’s sparkling blue waters. Known among the locals as White Sand, this strip of beach is a popular destination for families on vacation. It is also a stopover point for dolphin and whale watching cruises of Bais City because of its proximity to Tañon Strait.

There are several cottages dotting the strip, all of which look like pretty little houses on stilts. This is so because during h igh tide, the water could rise u p to its floors. They can be rented for the day or for overnight stays.

Mabinay Caves
Mabinay, Negros Oriental

Approximately 87 miles northwest of Dumaguete City, Mabinay has a hilly and rugged terrain. It takes about 2 hours travel by bus.

Mabinay has a total of 22 caves. The most popular ones are Pangligawan Cave in Barangay Lamdas; Pandalihan Cave and Mambajo Cave in Barangay Paniabonan & Crystal Cave in Barangay Bulwang. The O dloman Cave, one of the longest caves in the Philippines is also found in Mabinay. It was discovered by a team of 15 Dutch explorers.

These caves have very interesting rock formations and have been deemed safe by both local and foreign enthusiasts. Cave guides can be hired for as little as a thousand pesos a day.

Tirambulo Highland Resort
Mabinay, Negros Oriental

The Tirambulo Highland Resort is nestled in Barangay Paniabonan in the town of Mabinay. It is an extensive spread of grass and thick rows of trees with a giant man-made lake in the middle of it and 6 other smaller ones around the resort. Surrounding the lake are several fishing spots where you can actually throw in your hook for some freshwater catch. There also is a camping area and a conference hall. They also arrange for cave tours.

They have native cottages for rent ranging from P800 for double occupancy; P1400 for four and P1500 for seven. The restaurant serves authentic Filipino dishes and delicacies.

Pamplona Golf and Country Club
Pamplona, Negros Oriental

Only an hour’s drive from Dumaguete City, Pamplona Golf and Country Club is an 18-hole golf course in the midst of a lush coconut plantation. With all basic amenities such as a clubhouse that serves snacks and refreshments, golf carts for rent at P600 per round, 3 cottages rent with a minimal daily rate, caddies and umbrella girls that you can hire for the day, and a pro for quick lessons.

Pamplona Golf and Country Cl ub has well kept greens and fairways, hosting at least 3 golf tournaments in one year.

Lake Balanan
Siaton, Negros Oriental

An unspoilt natural beauty that has been preserved by time, Lake Balanan is nestled between the mountains of Siaton. At present, development projects are ongoing at the site. In addition to a restaurant, a few cottages and a swimming pool, a guest inn is being constructed for those who might want to stay for a day or two.

Activities include taking a banca ride, fishing, camping or simply having a picnic for the day. Lake Balanan’s tranquil waters teem with fish and a peaceful boat ride is a fantastic way to while away the time.

Canlaon City

Canlaon City, located north of Dumaguete City, is home to the famed Canlaon Volcano. Many avid trekkers and mountain climbers consider Mt. Canlaon as one of their top destinations.

Quipot Falls
Canlaon City, Negros Oriental

Located 5 kilometers from the Canlaon City proper, Quipot Falls drops from a 100 feet high mountain range and cascades over big rock formations down to a wide and deep river that is ideal for boating, fishing and swimming. It is well known in Negros Oriental for its odd bottle shaped waterfall. Its tributary rivers are the rivers of Binalbagan, Malaiba and Linothangan.

The municipality of Canlaon is located 168 kilometers from Dumaguete City and is also home to the highest peak in the province, Canlaon Volcano.

Oldest Tree
Canlaon City, Negros Oriental

The Balite or Lunok Tree was known to have first evolved in the year 678 AD. Historians, botanists and scientists have proclaimed it to be the oldest and biggest documented tree. It has lived 1328 years as of the year 2006. Tucked away in the remote hills of Barangay Aquino in Canalon City, this large sized tree can be seen from the water reservoir dam and the OISCA farm. It is an ideal stop over during a nature trail hike especially because the environment is cool and it also has cottages nearby. In the evenings, the tree is lighted up by a thousand tiny firefly lights akin to a Christmas tree.

Two Waterfalls of Sudlon
Canlaon City, Negros Oriental

In the northeastern portion of Mt. Kanlaon at Sitio Gaboc, Barangay Malaiba and approximately 6 kms from the city proper is a stunning pair of waterfalls only 120 meters apart from each other -- better known as Sudlon 1 and Sudlon 2. It is fenced in by two hills covered with lush plants and vegetation. The name “Sudlon” is derived from the Visayan dialect that means “to go inside”. True to its name, one has to literally get in between the two hills to be able to find the secluded waterfalls.

The cool and tranquil waters of Sudlon cascades down from a 25-meter peak and into a wide basin that is great for swimming. For nature lovers and avid photographers, the Sudlon Waterfalls is an enchanting vista especially when captured when the sun peeks through the surrounding forest trees. It is only a 20-minute hike from the nearest Barangay of Canlaon City.

Mt. Makawiwili Ridge
Canlaon City, Negros Oriental

Also dubbed as a “saddle in the sky”, Mt. Makawiwili Ridge is nestled 8,000 feet high in between two mountain peaks. It is officially the observation platform from where scientists, tourists and locals could study and observe the movements of the legendary Canlaon Volcano. It is usually where a team of trekkers or scientists set up camp because it is a very ideal spot for VHF or UHF relay posts and it also provides great visual adv antage for observers of the volcano.

Mt. Kanlaon
Canlaon, Negros Oriental

The stately 2600-meter high mountain draws the boundary between Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental and is the highest peak in the Visayas Region and one of the five highest in the Philippines. It has been declared the most active volcano in the province, constantly emitting signals, its last eruption though mild being only this year (2006).

At the base of Mt. Kanlaon and 9.5 kil ometers away is Canlaon City, the last town to the west of Negros Oriental. Mt. Kanlaon continues to be a lure to adventurers because of its awe-inspiring majestic crater that is 400 m deep and 100 m wide. It usually takes three days to fully explore this mountain but aside from camping grounds there are also available pension houses for a more comfortable stay.

Lake Sebu

Lake Sebu is a natural lake located in the municipality of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato and within the Alah Valley region. The Philippine government has recognized it as one of the country's most important watersheds. Lake Sebu is one of the many bodies of water supplying important irrigation to the provinces of

Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato.

The villages around the lake have been

turned into an independent municipality called Lake Sebu after being a former village of Surallah.

The T'boli and Ubo tribes have been the traditiona l dwellers of the lake. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources have recognized, through Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2, Series of 1993 , the claim of these tribes that the lake and its surroundings are under their ancestral domain.The Department of Tourism and the local government unit of Lake Sebu has promoted the lake as one of the prime eco-tourism destination in the municipality

Aristotle's Theory of Happiness

2010-01-31T02:31:00.000-08:00

Aristotle’s Background

Aristotle was born in Stageira, Chalcidice, in 384 BC, about 55 km (34 mi) east of modern-day Thessaloniki. His father Nicomachus was the personal physician to King Amyntas of Macedon. Aristotle was trained and educated as a member of the aristocracy. At about the age of eighteen, he went to Athens to continue his education at Plato's Academy. Aristotle remained at the academy for nearly twenty years, not leaving until after Plato's death in 347 BC. He then traveled with Xenocrates to the court of his friend Hermias of Atarneus in Asia Minor. While in Asia, Aristotle traveled with Theophrastus to the island of Lesbos, where together they researched the botany and zoology of the island. Aristotle married Hermias's adoptive daughter (or niece) Pythias. She bore him a daughter, whom they named Pythias. Soon after Hermias' death, Aristotle was invited by Philip II of Macedon to become the tutor to his son Alexander the Great in 343 B.C.
Aristotle was appointed as the head of the royal academy of Macedon. During that time he gave lessons not only to Alexander, but also to two other future kings: Ptolemy and Cassander. In his Politics, Aristotle states that only one thing could justify monarchy, and that was if the virtue of the king and his family were greater than the virtue of the rest of the citizens put together. Tactfully, he included the young prince and his father in that category. Aristotle encouraged Alexander toward eastern conquest, and his attitude towards Persia was unabashedly ethnocentric. In one famous example, he counsels Alexander to be 'a leader to the Greeks and a despot to the barbarians, to look after the former as after friends and relatives, and to deal with the latter as with beasts or plants'.

Plato’s Theory of Happiness (Summarized)

" He finally finds happiness by ascertaining the specific function of man. In the case of flute players, sculptors, and all craftsmen - indeed all who have some function and activity - 'good' and 'excellent' reside in their function. Now the same will be true of man, if he has a peculiar function to himself." - Aristotle
In his theory, he (Aristotle) stressed that man can only attain or acquire happiness if he can determine his function in life. In other words, knowing one’s self, playing our part and doing what we must do in accordance to the function that we are to do, are the only ways in which happiness can be attained by us. He (Aristotle) also cited in his theory that we do does are the things that makes us human but not those that would separate us from the rest. But on the other hand he suggested that the only way we can do better with our chosen function is to do it in an extraordinary way; thus, we are required to walk an extra mile. For example, if you are a teacher, it is expected from you that you will teach your students, so that they will be academically trained and fed. But actually, a teacher can do better than this. One of which is to train them (the students) to be productive and responsible citizens of their country.
In addition Aristotle also stressed that the function of human is activity of soul in accordance to reason. Meaning that as humans, the origin of our actions is the soul guided by certain reasons. If one could do the two types of reasoning (both practical and theoretical) and following reasoning, he would be the happiest person.

Why Aristotle did came up with this?

Aristotle analyzed the nature of the soul. Aristotle saw the soul as existing in three parts, each of which had a specific function: a.) Nutritive Soul (vegetative soul) - found in plants, animals and human beings; responsible for growth and reproduction; b.) Perceptive Soul (sensitive soul) - found in animals and man; responsible for perception via the senses; and c.) Rational Soul - found in humans only; responsible for thinking.
"it would be absurd if the end were amusement and if trouble and hardship throughout life would all be for the sake of amusing oneself." – Aristotle.
He (Aristotle) came up with this theory (in my own viewpoint) structured this way because he believes that humans are not petty, if given the chance they would always walk the extra mile. He would not be contented on doing what gives him pleasure but rather what could make others happy.

Motivation

2010-01-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

Motivation is the activation or energization of goal-oriented behavior. Motivation may be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but, theoretically, it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation. According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in the basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired object, hobby, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, morality, or avoiding mortality.
Motivation is of particular interest to Educational psychologists because of the crucial role it plays in student learning. However, the specific kind of motivation that is studied in the specialized setting of education differs qualitatively from the more general forms of motivation studied by psychologists in other fields.
Motivation in education can have several effects on how students learn and how they behave towards subject matter. It can:
1. Direct behavior toward particular goals
2. Lead to increased effort and energy
3. Increase initiation of, and persistence in, activities
4. Enhance cognitive processing
5. Determine what consequences are reinforcing
6. Lead to improved performance.
Because students are not always internally motivated, they sometimes need situated motivation, which is found in environmental conditions that the teacher creates.
These are the two kinds of motivation:
• Intrinsic motivation occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it either brings them pleasure, they think it is important, or they feel that what they are learning is significant.
• Extrinsic motivation comes into play when a student is compelled to do something or act a certain way because of factors external to him or her (like money or good grades).

Student Motivation from http://www.priceless-teaching-strategies.com/teaching-strategies blog.html
Motivation is a necessity so that learning becomes a continuing, improving, interesting and hopefully enjoyable process.
I say "hopefully enjoyable" because although you as a teacher try to make learning fun, your students should understand that learning is the goal, the fun part is just nice to have.
As I'm sure you know, most people can be intimidated when it comes to doing or learning something new - they would just prefer to maintain the status quo, it's easier.
You as a teacher, must develop and encourage classroom motivation, i.e. think of and find ways to motivate students to reach their potential, their goals and their dreams.
However, having said that, students must also share in the responsibility by doing some things for themselves, such as:
* Set realistic goals for themselves, (based on their desires, not on what others may say) and thus become more motivated to attain their goals.
* Understand that achieving one's goals takes work and may involve some risk. Learning is work and can be risky to your self-esteem when you try something new, admit you don't know something and have to ask for help.
Create Student Motivation in the Classroom.
There are so many ways for you to develop classroom motivation:
1. As mentioned above (but worth repeating), encourage them to set goals.
2. Give students more control - a chance to create their own personal choices. Establishing their own rights is a very resourceful motivational technique. I'm talking about students choosing their own ways (with your agreement of course) of completing assignments, learning new or complex tasks, etc.
3. As much as possible relate assignments and class projects to real life situations.
4. Practice the assertive discipline (positive discipline) techniques
5. Of course most teachers will come across students who will be very difficult to motivate
and who will not care about what happens in school. You have to create incentives. There are ways to motivate students such as these.
Doing unique activities, creating situations where they can work in small groups, creating a reward system are just a few ideas.
Teaching in primary grades is quite different than in junior grades and so is student motivation. Read about the reward systems that I have set up for students in primary grades to motivate them to learn and for students in junior grades to increase their level of motivation;
BUT please keep in mind that the reward system should be treated as a reward for finishing a task not for just participating.
Want some of my helpful suggestions on Classroom Awards as well as many very useful and colorful certificates, awards and school passes without having to design the them from scratch?
6. Having students help with some of the many jobs that need to be done in the classroom, will not only make your life as a teacher easier but classroom jobs are also a great student motivational tool.
7. Games are fabulous classroom team building activities which are great for creating motivation in the classroom. It's amazing how it does wonders for students' self esteem and camaraderie. Read about a few of the motivational classroom games that I found successful.
8. Another of my favorite classroom activities for team building was a classroom meeting that I called Special Talk and Student of the Week . My students loved it! This is another excellent student motivational tool.
9. Read about two very successful classroom contests that I implemented, that my students loved and were invaluable in motivating my students and helping to establish discipline in my classroom.
10. Motivating students to read has always been a challenge for teachers. Motivating students to read doesn't have to be taxing and stressful.
Two important thoughts to keep in mind as you finish reading this page:
1. Always display care, concern and encouragement for your students.
2. Never give up on any unmotivated students or they will give up on themselves.
Teacher Motivation from http://edtech.wku.edu/~swininge/teachermotivation/index.htm
Teachers are almost always exposed to content about student motivation, as they should be. However, very few teachers are provided with any instruction on teacher motivation, i.e., how does one get motivated or maintain ones motivation for teaching?
As an Educational Psychology professor I was challenged with this omission. I teach aspiring teachers about student motivation and I have a plethora of resources to draw from on the topic.
Every Educational Psychology text has one or two chapters on student motivation. However, I have yet to identify an Educational Psychology textbook (or any Educational textbook) that has a chapter or even a section on teacher motivation.
Over the past five years I have offered my students a limited presentation on teacher motivation. Most of the content has been borrowed from my experiences with teaching of psychology resources and teaching in higher education literature. I encourage students in my classes to:
-join a professional organization and attend professional conferences.
-stay abreast of new teaching methods and research by regularly reading professional journals.
-schedule brown bags with their peers to discuss teaching ideas and issues.
-identify a mentor who is open to discussing teaching ideas and issues when needed.
-identify some inspirational aids so that you have something to re-energize yourself with on bad days or when you are in a slump.
-engage in self-reflection about your teaching and subsequently set goals for improving your teaching.
-have your teaching evaluated periodically by administrators and peers.
-solicit regular feedback about your teaching from your students.
-view teaching portfolios, additional education and certifications as opportunities to improve and not a dreaded task to be completed with the least amount of effort possible.
-last, take the theories you were taught to apply to student motivation and apply them to yourself.

Because some of what I recommend has to do with identifying resources I have endeavored to create and maintain a website with lists of:
-Professional organizations related to teaching
-Journals on teaching
-Sources of inspiration for teachers

The Mastery of Motivation
By Heather Skipworth Craven
"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll remember. Involve me and I'll learn."
- Author Unknown

It is that time of year when one stops and cannot quite fathom that half of the school year has passed. It is also the time of the year that the winter doldrums firmly set in and we find ourselves perhaps in as much of a slump as our students. So how do we as teachers persevere in the mastery of the ongoing challenge of motivating our students?

Motivation is defined as the act of giving somebody a reason or incentive to something. The cause or driving force behind something that somebody does. I believe that success is the end product of consistent and appropriate motivation.

The word success is defined as (1) achievement of desired aim, the achievement of something planned or attempted; (2) attainment of fame, wealth and power (Encarta World English Dictionary). I thought the second meaning of success was rather ironic.

Coincidentally the day I looked up these words, I also came across a powerful point in a daily devotional series I study. "There are many things that fame, power and wealth can do-and there are many things they cannot do. They can buy happiness, but not joy. They can buy control of people, but not what people think. They can buy cars and airplanes, but they cannot keep them from crashing. They buy pleasure, but not peace or purity. They can buy education, but not integrity or honor. They buy lots of things for children, but they cannot keep children from hurt of addictions." (Progress Magazine Daily Devotional Series, 9/9/00)

There are several important variables that can affect our student's motivation.
• Goals
Students need to have clearly defined goals and direction. What are they working for? What are they striving to master and why?
• A Plan
This can be either general or specific, but students benefit in knowing how they are going to attain their goals and what the process looks like.
• Charting Success
It's important to come up with a method of charting progress and recognizing success. Showing students how far they've come has a profound impact in motivating them to continue.
• Flexibility / Creativity
Providing a classroom environment that is flexible and encourages student creativity is highly motivating.
• Real Life Application
It is vital for a student to be able to relate learning to his own life situation. Helping a student make those real life connections and applications are extremely motivating.
Motivation and success are defined in many ways to different people. As educators we CAN instill and motivate in our students a positive attitude and help them become invested in their own learning. If we keep ourselves motivated as well, we will able to nurture and motivate our students’ natural ability to learn and succeed.

What do students want (and what really motivates them)?

Educational Leadership
Sept 1995
Richard Strong, Harvey F. Silver and Amy Robinson

Students who are engaged in their work are energized by four goals - success, curiosity, originality, and satisfying relationships. How do we cultivate these drives in the classroom?
Ten years ago, we began a research project by asking both teachers and students two simple questions: What kind of work do you find totally engaging? and What kind of work do you hate to do? Almost immediately, we noticed distinct patterns in their responses.

Engaging work, respondents said, was work that stimulated their curiosity, permitted them to express their creativity, and fostered positive relationships with others. It was also work at which they were good. As for activities they hated, both teachers and students cited work that was repetitive, that required little or no thought, and that was forced on them by others.
How, then, would we define engagement? Perhaps the best definition comes from the work of Phil Schlecty (1994), who says students who are engaged exhibit three characteristics: (1) they are attracted to their work, (2) they persist in their work despite challenges and obstacles, and (3) they take visible delight in accomplishing their work.
Most teachers have seen these signs of engagement during a project, presentation, or lively class discussion. They have caught glimpses of the inspired inner world of a child, and hoped to sustain this wonder, enthusiasm, and perseverance every day. At the same time, they may have felt stymied by traditions of reward and punishment. Our challenge is to transcend these very real difficulties and provide a practical model for understanding what our students want and need.

Goals and Needs: The SCORE
As the responses to our questions showed, people who are engaged in their work are driven by four essential goals, each of which satisfies a particular human need:
* Success (the need for mastery),
* Curiosity (the need for understanding),
* Originality (the need for self-expression),
* Relationships (the need for involvement with others).
These four goals form the acronym for our model of student engagement - SCORE. Under the right classroom conditions and at the right level for each student, they can build the motivation and Energy (to complete our acronym) that is essential for a complete and productive life. These goals can provide students with the energy to deal constructively with the complexity, confusion, repetition, and ambiguities of life (the drive toward completion).

Rethinking Motivation
The concept of "score" is a metaphor about performance, but one that also suggests a work or art, as in a musical score. By aiming to combine achievement and artistry, the SCORE model can reach beyond strict dichotomies of right/wrong and pass/fail, and even bypass the controversy about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, on which theories of educational motivation have long been based.
Extrinsic motivation - a motivator that is external to the student or the task at hand - has long been perceived as the bad boy of motivational theory. In Punished by Rewards, Alfie Kohn (1995) lays out the prevailing arguments against extrinsic rewards, such as grades and gold stars. He maintains that reliance on factors external to the task and to the individual consistently fails to produce any deep and long-lasting commitment to learning.
Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, comes from within, and is generally considered more durable and self enhancing (Kohn 1993). Still, although intrinsic motivation gets much better press, it, too, has its weaknesses. As Kohn argues, because intrinsic motivation "is a concept that exists only in the context of the individual," the prescriptions its proponents offer teachers, are often too radically individualized, or too bland and abstract, to be applied in classroom settings (See "Punished by Rewards? A Conversation with Alfie Kohn).
Perhaps it is the tradition of separating extrinsic and intrinsic motivation that is flawed. Robert Sternberg and Todd Lubart recently addressed this possibility in Defying the Crowd (1995). They assert that any in-depth examination of the work of highly creative people reveals a blend of both types of motivation.

Knowing the SCORE
After taking into consideration the needs and drives we've mentioned, our model poses four important questions that teachers must ask themselves in order to score the level of engagement in their classrooms.
1. Under what conditions are students most likely to feel that they can be successful?
2. When are students most likely to become curious?
3. How can we help students satisfy their natural drive toward self-expression?
4. How can we motivate students to learn by using their natural desire to create and foster good peer relationships?
Much of what we will discuss is already taking place in classrooms across the country. The point of our SCORE model of engagement is first to help teachers discover what they are already doing right and then to encourage the cultivation of everyday classroom conditions that foster student motivation and success.

Convincing Kids They Can Succeed

Students want and need work that enables them to demonstrate and improve their sense of themselves as competent and successful human beings. This is the drive toward mastery. But success, while highly valued in our society, can be more or less motivational. People who are highly creative, for example, actually experience failure far more often than success.
Before we can use success to motivate our students to produce high-quality work, we must meet three conditions:
1. We must clearly articulate the criteria for success and provide clear, immediate, and
constructive feedback.
2. We must show students that the skills they need to be successful are within their grasp by
clearly and systematically modeling these skills.
3. We must help them see success as a valuable aspect of their personalities.
All this seems obvious enough, but it is remarkable how often we fail to meet these conditions for our students. Take skills. Can you remember any crucial skills that you felt you did not successfully master because they were not clearly taught? Was it finding themes in literature? Reading and interpreting primary texts? Thinking through non-routine math problems? Typically, skills like these are routinely assigned or assumed, rather than systematically modeled or practiced by teachers.
So how can we help students master such skills? When teaching your students to find themes, for example, deliberately model interpretation. Ask your students to give you a poem you have never seen, and then interpret it both for and with them. If they are reading primary texts, use what we call the "main idea" strategy. Teach them how to find the topic (usually a noun or noun phrase), the main idea (a sentence that states the text's position on the topic), and reasons or evidence to support the main idea. If students are concerned about writer's block, remember that perhaps the most difficult task of a teacher is to teach how to think creatively. Model the process of brainstorming, demonstrating that no idea is unworthy of consideration.
These are not revolutionary ideas. They simply illustrate how easily classroom practices can be improved, thus increasing the chance that your students will succeed.
But what of the criteria for success? Teachers define success in many ways. We must not only broaden our definition, but also make sure the definition is clear to everyone. In this way, students will know when they have done a good job, and they will know how to improve their work.

To achieve this clarity, we can present examples of work that illustrate high, average, and low levels of achievement. Such exemplars can significantly motivate students, as well as increase their understanding of their own ability to achieve.

Arousing Curiosity
Students want and need work that stimulates their curiosity and awakens their desire for deep understanding. People are naturally curious about a variety of things. Einstein wondered his whole life about the relationships among gravity, space, and electromagnetic radiation. Deborah Tannen, the prominent linguistic psychologist, has spent years pondering the obstacles that prevent men and women from conversing meaningfully.
How can we ensure that our curriculum arouses intense curiosity? By making sure it features two defining characteristics: the information about a topic is fragmentary or contradictory, and the topic relates to students' personal lives.
It is precisely the lack of organization of a body of information that compels us to understand it further. This may explain why textbooks, which are highly organized, rarely arouse student interest. We have stimulated students' curiosity by using a strategy called "mystery." We confront the class with a problem - for example, "What killed off the dinosaurs?" - and with the actual clues that scientists or historians have used to try to answer that question and others. Clues might include:
* Mammals survived the changes that killed the dinosaurs.
* Chickens under stress lay eggs with thinner shells than do chickens not under stress.
* While flowering plants evolved, dinosaurs increased in population and in number of species.
* Some flowering plants contain alkaloids.
Students then work together in groups, retracing the steps scientists took in weighing the available evidence to arrive at an explanation. We have seen students work diligently for several days dealing with false hypotheses and red herrings, taking great delight when the solutions begin to emerge.
As for topics that relate to students' lives, the connection here cannot be superficial; it must involve an issue or idea that is both manageable and unresolved. We must ask, With what issues are adolescents wrestling? How can we connect them to our curriculum? Figure 1 illustrates some possibilities for adolescents.

Encouraging Originality

Students want and need work that permits them to express their autonomy and originality, enabling them to discover who they are and who they want to be. Unfortunately, the ways schools traditionally focus on creativity actually thwart the drive toward self-expression. There are several reasons for this.

First, schools frequently design whole programs (art, for example) around projects that teach technique rather than self-expression. Second, very often only students who display the most talent have access to audiences, thus cutting off all other students from feedback and a sense of purpose. Finally, and perhaps most destructive, schools frequently view creativity as a form of play, and thus fail to maintain the high standards and sense of seriousness that make creative work meaningful.

How, then, should self-expression be encouraged? There are several ways.
* Connect creative projects to students' personal ideas and concerns. One of our favorite teachers begins her study of ceramics by having students examine objects found in the homes of a variety of ancient civilizations. She then asks the class to design a ceramic object that expresses their feeling about their home.
* Expand what counts as an audience. One of the most successful creative projects we have seen involved an audience of one. Each student in a middle school class was linked to an older member of the community and asked to write that person's "autobiography."
* Consider giving students more choice. The medium of expression, for example, is often as important to an artist as the expression itself. What would have happened to the great tradition of American blues if the early musicians were forced to adhere to traditions of European music? This is one more argument for instructional methods that emphasize learning styles, multiple intelligences, and cultural diversity.
* Use the "abstracting" strategy to help students fully understand a genre and to maintain high standards (Marzano et al. 1992). Too often, students prefer video art to a book because they perceive it as less demanding or requiring less commitment. Teaching students to abstract the essence of a genre will change their perceptions.

Begin by studying examples of high-quality work within a genre (the science-fiction story, poster art, sonnets, frontier diaries, television news programs, and so on). Examine the structure of the works and the standards by which they are judged. Then, ask students to produce their own work in that genre that expresses their own concerns, attempting to meet the high standards embodied in the original work. Finally, have the students ask themselves four questions about their work: How good is my technique? Does my work truly express my own concerns? Does it demonstrate my understanding of the genre in which I am working? Does it successfully relate to its audience?
Some people worry that the stringency of this model might actually block self-expression, but our experience is precisely the opposite. Students' drive toward self-expression is ultimately a drive to produce work that is of value to others. Lower standards work to repress, not to enhance, the creation of high-quality work.

Fostering Peer Relations

Students want and need work that will enhance their relationships with people they care about. This drive toward interpersonal involvement is pervasive in all our lives. Further, most of us work hardest on those relationships that are reciprocal - what you have to offer is of value to me, and what I have to offer is of some value to you. In general, unbalanced, nonreciprocal relationships prove transient and fail to generate much energy or interest.

How does this insight apply to life in the classroom? Consider a student's perception of homework. The only relationship that can be advanced through the typical homework assignment is the one between student and teacher. And this relationship is essentially unbalanced. Students do not feel that the teacher needs their knowledge, and the teacher, with possibly 145 students a day, probably isn't seeking a deep relationship either.

But suppose student work is complementary: one student's job is to learn about tortoises, another's is to learn about snakes, and a third student is boning up on lizards. After they do their research, they jointly develop a poster comparing and contrasting these three reptile types. The students actually need one another's knowledge.

Annemarie Palincsar Brown has applied this "jigsaw" strategy to inner-city students using in-classroom computer networks (Brown et al. 1993). She found that it significantly improved their motivation, reading, and writing. Elizabeth Cohen (1994) builds reciprocal groups by asking students with different talents and abilities to work on one project that requires all of their gifts.

Orchestrating Classroom Performance
As teachers, the first thing we should try to "score" is our own performance. Different people value the four goals we have discussed to different degrees in different situations. Which ones are particularly important to you? How does this preference affect the way you run your classroom? By observing and understanding how classroom conditions can create or repress student engagement, we can gradually move toward a more successful, curious, creative, and reciprocal school system.

All students, to some extent, seek mastery, understanding, self-expression, and positive interpersonal relationships. But they are all different as well. Imagine what could happen if we engaged our students in a discussion of these four types of motivation. What might they tell us about themselves and their classrooms? Could we actually teach them to design their own work in ways that match their own unique potential for engagement?

Last, we can score the change process itself. What professional conditions block teachers' motivation? We can redesign staff development to promote understanding and respect among school staff members.

By seeking to break down boundaries between teacher and teacher, teacher and student, student and the learning process, we will learn what students want and need. As a result, more and more teachers may go to bed at night remembering the images of wonder, enthusiasm, and perseverance on the faces of their students.

Your shoes can't be mine

2010-01-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

Every day of our life is like going to a classroom and by the end of the day we learn something. But the difference is that, if in real classrooms teachers are the only one making the lesson plan, in reality it's not! It is all of us, we try to make a plan for us to meet our objectives, but you'll be surprise because the more detours you'll have the better lesson you'll learn!

Here is one thing I learned "no person gets to get in other person's shoes, thus, making us unable to understand and misinterpret others. And sometimes being sensitive makes us look insensitive". True indeed, we try to understand others but we just can't! And sometimes the more we think of them, the more they get irritated. We try to be sensitive so that we can help others, but sometimes situation requires for us to be numb! It's the thought that counts though. But for me I'd rather annoy persons of my sensitivity that kill them being ignored. There are just persons who can't appreciate things you have done to them, instead they seek faults from you!

Another thing I learned "things change when you least expect them to." Just like now I try so hard to squeeze my brain for thoughts to sahre but it just wouldn't come out. As much as I want to prolong this article, I just can't I'm running out of sensible things to say!( Just focus on the paragraphs before this.)

Where are you now (HONOR SOCIETY)

2009-12-28T08:21:00.001-08:00

This song is so meaningful that I can't help but listen to it. It really compliments the feeling i have right now! I'm longing for you all enjoy!

I thank you for coming into my life. If I have not met persons like you I may be the weakest person in the world! You showed me how to be strong. Thank you and I love you!

Cave of Life..,

2009-12-28T07:05:00.000-08:00

Life as we know and as I often said is a journey. Well, through my journey I have learned something (which I think isn't peculiar at all.). I learned that life's journey is just simple and not as complicated as it seems. It does not really require the so-called higher order thinking skills (occasionally may be).

First, life is a journey of a man in a very dark cave. Simply because I'm in the dark part of my life (well not really as dark as dark, I guess you know what I mean). I'm in the middle of the ocean of confusion, swimming in the sea of doubt. I don't really know when this dilemma started but all I knew is I woke up one morning with this unusual feeling of emptiness! At this point in time I'm traveling in a dark and gloomy cave. I can't see a thing and uncertainties are laid before my eyes. I keep on stumbling down due to the fact that I am bumping objects those that can hardly be seen due to too much darkness. But I'm certain of two things though, and that is I' m on a journey and I'm gonna be at the finish line.

Second is that you can't feel the essences of life unless you're on the opposite side. With this I mean that one can't appreciate the beauty of being in the peak of something unless he is below it. It's like the feeling of being lived, you can't really appreciate it unless it's lost. Or simply having a dozen of doughnuts, you can't really say it's sweet and mouthwatering if you still have it.

Third, life is like a pageant. It is composed of many portions namely: production number, festival outfit, casual wear, sports wear, talent portion, formal wear competition and question and and answer portion.

Production number as we all know is the part where candidates are glanced by the audience for the first time. This is where they introduced themselves. This can be equated to the moment you are brought into existence to the world;
Festival outfit competition is the part you show to the world how beautiful an indigenous clothing will be provided it is carried with constant projection. It's like making life more beautiful through doing the extra thing and going the extra mile;
Casual wear competition is the part where you show the real you;
Sports wear competition is where one gets to show how adventurous life can be;
Talent portion is expressing who you are;
Formal wear competition is more than just the suit or the dress but rather attitude.

The question and answer portion highlights the competition for this is the part where on gets to answer tough questions. It's like facing life's difficulties and trials in which in that moment you have to answer the call of life. It's can equate the part of life wherein you need to make moves to make life better or worse depending on the answer

Finally, life only needs common sense!

Eagles players honor Michael Vick with award for courage

2009-12-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

by Chris Chase

According to Philadelphia Eagles players, the most courageous man on the team in 2009 was one who started the year serving time in prison for an act of extreme cowardice.

Today, the Eagles announced that Michael Vick was the 2009 winner of the Ed Block Courage Award, an honor given to a player who shows courage in the face of adversity. Vick's teammates voted for the award, thus demonstrating how tone-deaf and out-of-touch NFL players are with reality.

According to the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation Web site:

Each year, the Ed Block Courage Awards honors those National Football League players who exemplify commitments to the principles of sportsmanship and courage. Recipients are selected by their teammates for team effort, as well as individual performance.

The Ed Block Courage Award recipient symbolizes professionalism, great strength and dedication. He is also a community role model.

One recipient is selected from each NFL team, usually for things like coming back from injury, doing good work in the community or long, dedicated service to a franchise. I'd be surprised if the award's founders intended for the honor to be given to someone doing community service as part of the terms of his parole or for showing courage in the face of reporters asking legitimate questions about federal crimes.

The Eagles' vote is not only a slap in the face to the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation, but to the other 31 players who won the award for their respective teams. Some men are truly deserving of the honor, like Ravens safety Dawan Landry (notes) who was nearly paralyzed last year, but has come back in '09 with four interceptions and a touchdown or Mike Furrey (notes) of the Browns, who does extensive volunteer work in his community. Adding Vick's name to the roll makes the award seem illegitimate and meaningless.

Apparently Philadelphia players confuse Vick handling dogfighting questions and booing with a measure of class as some sort of courage. That Vick only got a chance to show this mild courageousness because of the extreme cowardice it takes to murder helpless animals isn't something that crosses their mind. They confuse Vick's desperation with some sort of integrity.

I'm all for second chances and find myself rooting for Vick to redeem himself both on and off the football field. He's served an appropriate sentence (and then some) and I see no reason for him to keep paying for his past transgressions. But I also see no reason to celebrate his character.

Michael Vick (notes) is very much a work in progress. A few years from now, I hope he will be deserving of such an honor. At this time, however, he has only just started down the path to redemption.

The Best Tech Deals after holidays

2009-12-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

The Best Tech Deals After the Holidays

2009’s Top After-Season Sales and Bargains

By Nick Mokey, Digital Trends

Photo: Getty Images

Courtesy of countless post-holiday retail and online sales, Dec. 26 can be the one you score an incredible after-season deal. With consumers gorged to their limits and stores still chock full of overflowing merchandise, retailer desperation reaches a peak, and discounts can easily outstrip the pre-Christmas sales.

Looking to use this opportunity to snag that shiny new smartphone, laptop or HDTV? We've compiled tips to help post-holiday binge shoppers stuff their empty stockings full of today's hottest gadgets and futuristic accessories for a fraction of what they would have cost as little as 48 hours sooner.

Shop smart — buy the gadgets and consumer electronics everyone else isn't.
After-holiday sales typically depend on desperate retailers trying to unload stock that didn't move before Christmas. While that means you won't find hot items that sold out early (i.e. Barnes & Noble's Nook eReader) suddenly under deep discount, you can discover plenty of great deals on equally exciting high-tech gifts that others may have overlooked.

"Look for products in categories that haven't been selling as well, for example desktop PCs or digital music players without Apple or iPod on the box," says Digital Trends' own technology analyst Scott Steinberg. He also recommends keeping an eye on highly-competitive categories where prices reliably drop just weeks after a new product comes out, like CDs, DVDs, video games and Blu-ray discs. In addition, Ben's Bargains' content manager Ken Hoo says that sales of navigation systems have reached a standstill this year, leading to superior pricing for today's shoppers.

Look to retail stores for premium discounts.
Online stores offer many of the best deals in the run up to the holidays, but afterward, brick-and-mortar stores face far more pressure to move stock from their cramped aisles.

Call ahead to make sure retailers carry the item you're looking for. In addition, don't quit looking just because you've found the right item at a single outlet. Even if you end up finding multiple vendors that offer the same price, some retailers offer added perks like free delivery, complementary accessories (e.g. carrying cases and magazine subscriptions) and cash back in the form of store gift cards.

Hoo also believes that traditional retailers offer shoppers the best shot at deals in the days following Christmas, but urges them to buy with caution. Many clearance items may take the form of returned items, factory models or refurbished goods, which aren't always in the same shape they originally arrived at the store in.

Use the Web and online resources to discover the best deals.
Even if you don't utilize the Web to purchase high-tech gadgets and appliances, it's imperative that you seek out its wisdom when doing supporting research. Picking the right bargain isn't as hard as it sounds, with an endless variety of user-friendly deal-hunting sites and resources at your fingertips. These tools can help you cut through the clutter, find the best savings, and know what you're getting yourself into long before ever setting foot inside a local retailer.

Begin shopping the day after Christmas.
You're best off braving stores the day immediately after Christmas, when sales will be going on strong, but shelves won't yet be entirely picked over. "Retailers are not going to wait," says Hoo. "They want to have all these sales out there where they're ripe for the taking."

Steinberg agrees that sharp consumers will act immediately. "Rather than wait until the New Year to shop, you'll find better deals in that window after Christmas and before January," he says. From a retailer's perspective, that's the magic hour to sell, sell, sell, before year-end accounting books swing shut like jail cell doors on the first of January. If you can hold back from buying before Christmas, that's when retailers are going to try to goose those numbers, and if you're there to help them, you stand to be handsomely rewarded.

Don't wait for "the next big thing."
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in early January is Ground Zero for announcements on an array of next-generation gadgets that manyk shoppers hope will push down prices on current-gen goods. Don't be fooled, however: These unveilings won't deflate current market values anytime soon. Unless the item is question is about to ship or presently hitting store shelves, current prices won't budge.

"These announcements let people know that certain devices will be coming, but usually prices will only drop after a product is actually released," says Hoo. "That's when vendors want to start clearing older models out."

Says Steinbert: "Smart shoppers will hit the ground running and take advantage of post-season sales to stretch their holiday cash further. Act now or forever hold your gift card..."

Source: http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/318/the-best-tech-deals-after-the-holidays/

Christmas far away

2009-12-21T04:35:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas time again, but it seems that's it's so far away for me. I can't seem to feel it's presence. I don't know but it seems that my heart is filled with sadness and sometimes it's just empty. My heart is always pounding through my chest and it feels so horrible, I am sure it's not joy but rather a feeling I can't define!

Right now I am trying to figure out the reason for this feeling within me! I just hope that before the 25th of this month (December), I can figure out why! It could be that I'm just insecure, or my heart is still not open but rather locked which I think makes me hard for me to grasp happiness and joy nowadays!

Save A Paper, Make a Difference

2009-11-30T01:03:00.001-08:00

Every country in this planet has its own institution of learning. These institutions are quite helpful in generating knowledge in the young minds.

These institutions or also known as the school, is somewhat like a training ground for every individual in which we are taught here how to read, compute, talk and most especially write.

Books are being produced for us to be guided in developing our reading skills. Activity books for mathematics for us to be able to solve are also made. And especially papers are being produced so that we can write on a nice surface. For these materials to be produced, trees are being cut approximately thousands of trees. If we continue on using paper to enrich our knowledge, there is a tendency for the trees to be extinct. This will cause a major problem in the stabilization of our precious mother earth.

We are now facing global warming, every individual has their own way of saving the earth. Some said we must recycle or reuse things,some would suggest reforestation these are indeed fabulous ideas. However as a concerned citizen I do have my own suggestion and that is to stop producing books and papers. We are now in the so-called year of keyboards and monitors why not use these high tech tools in quenching our thirsty minds? I am not implying not to use books and papers in our pursuit of education. My point is simple yet clear, utilize the tools brought about by the advent of technology and let mother Earth flourish and bloom to its fullest beauty.

Fellow life forms in this planet please do save a paper and let the forest become greener so that the earth our only home will become a better place to live on.

Taken for Granted

2009-11-30T00:45:00.000-08:00

We people are not that good of appreciating things, that's on thing I learned a few days ago. Simply because we tend to take for granted all the things we have. Like electricity, food, air, water and land. As far as I know they were created to answer our needs and help us survive but COME TO THINK OF IT we are abusing it, we are using it to our own pace to the extent that we are not looking at it's consequences!

Oh come on people, have you not felt the signs yet? The world is about to end, but what are we doing? Instead of doing things to save it, we are even contributing to its destruction! When would be the time for us to do things right, I mean do the right things? There is no other time but now!!! I have done so many foolish things before which had contributed to mother Earth's doom, but here I am begging, let's save our Earth now. This is our only home!

The Voice Within

2009-11-26T23:54:00.000-08:00

I am the kind of student who always gets to get the attention of people. In short I make a way to be on the limelight. Guess what? I always succeed. Many people would think that I might be the happiest and most secure person in the world. My life may look perfect in their eyes, but what they do not know is that it's the contrary.

I can easily gain friends and has the guts to entertain people, but unfortunately there is this part of me that longs for something. Even if I'm with many people I still feel alone. I really can't figure out the reason but deep inside I'm unhappy. And sometimes I tend to make fun out of other people just to make myself laugh. I know that I have been posting many positive articles as to how we should face life but beneath those lines are my insecurities and frustrations. Life is never cruel to me but I'm being cruel to myself.

There is this one person who said to me after he had read my blog, he said "you know?how I wish to be like you. Full of life and full of positive energy". But what he does not know is that those posts are intended to cheer me up and lighten my insecurities in life. I may have given the best pieces of advice to those who are weary and insecure but what a contrary, I can;t even let those pieces of advice sink in to my system.

Honestly I'm so lost! It's as if in a dark cave longing for a light, thirsty for something I can't even identify and hungry for things I wish I had.

Thank You Friend

2009-11-17T19:27:00.001-08:00

I thought i was perfect,
That needed nobody.
And I didn't expect
For you to come my way.

You bring the light,
In my life that is so dark,
And I learned to fight,
Knowing your on my back.

Thank you friend
For being there,
And showing that this is not the end,
And life can be better

You taught me to be strong,
And to stand on my own
Even when things go wrong,
You've told me that I can go on.

You are really a treasure,
Worth keeping
My friend I'm sure
That you'll not be leaving.

Love at First Dance

2009-11-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

It started with a dance,
Accompanied with your glance,
I was so nervous
Because my feelings are becoming obvious.

It feels like floating in the sky,
Every time you'll greet me "hi!"
With just one smile
I can walk a hundred mile.

My days are even brighter,
And my burdens became brighter,
Because of the comfort you give
The pain I felt was relieved

I hope that you'll accept my love,
That's as pure as a white dove,
I hope you'll not deceive
The love I want to give.

Letting Go..,

2009-11-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

In our lives, change is constant
Love and weather changes.
Life dies and feelings fades, but we have to let go.
The Earth may be round but the horizon is clear,
To move on we must let go.

Things are found, things are lost.
We tend to worry that much to the things we value a lot.
But we forgot that those were never ours. only lend by the Lord our God.

Love was felt and now has fade
Our hearts was hurt and mind puzzled.
But we will move on
As we let go of things that bother our thoughts.

Life was made to be lived the right way
Though sometimes detour happens, but it still goes on.
Letting go means to go to the future
And leave the past.

A True Friend's Breeze

2009-11-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

Sitting on the bench, with a wine glass softly gripped
I felt alone, and then my mind suddenly dripped
To a memory of a friend whom I knew
From a long time ago who was then in my life so new.

As I take a sip of the wine on my hand,
I suddenly felt the breeze of a friend who once held my hand
To shout out loud the feelings I have inside
And for my fear in life's hurdles to subside.

Her breeze seems to caress me in my lonely times
And lifted me up in my weary times.
She made these rhymes in my mind
As I try to reminisce a friend, who was one of a kind.

A true friend's breeze is unique
Bearing such characteristic.
Back then I was shattered, and she made me whole
And held my hand and pull me out the hole.

Despite Imperfections

2009-11-12T02:24:00.000-08:00

"Don't judge a book by it's cover". This is the common quote we hear especially when we defend others imperfections. Just this afternoon in our R. E. class we were task to list the name of persons under the personality they belong. Everyone did that of course.

But to my surprise just when I thought I already know my self, I realized I do not really know my self.

"Some characteristics listed on the board are very impossible for me to have", I said to myself. But the flattering part is that those characteristics which I thought I don't have was possessed by me according to some of my classmates. There is this girl who hit the very soft part of my heart, basically because she described me as not a discriminating person which I thought is not true. But when she continued, I realized that though I'm not perfect I'm still considerate. And being described as humble, I am now challenged to live that life and be revered the right way. This situation did awaken me and instilled in me the thought that it's not because we carry ourselves and live our own life we know ourselves a hundred percent. There are some thing within us that we are not aware we have, this characteristics are only seen by the people around us and we may not be able to know that we possess those until they tell us. It was so flattering but challenging. By this I mean, that because of that event I am now summoned to be a better me. In other words, this served as an instrument to live my life the right way.

In conclusion, I can say that you're not out to please anybody but you'll be surprised when you will know that people feel blessed and fortunate because of your presence. Do not say that you are the worst person in the world, because despite imperfections, some people can appreciate the perfection you have and you do in your own pace. In other words, you can only know and measure yourself when people will give you the statistics and standards of measuring oneself.

Life after Death

2009-11-10T18:56:00.000-08:00

Life after death may be a great question each of us asks. Well, a while ago in my HUM2 class I was enlightened with an idea given by our instructor. It was not a literal explanation but rather an analogy. By this I mean he compared death to sorrows, hopelessness and problems; he referred life to hope and happiness.

That idea eased the burdens that I am carrying because right now as I am trying to furnish this post I am preoccupied with certain things that bothers me. Life on earth is like the life of a phoenix, after having lived certain years of a healthy life he faces a challenge that weakens him, thus causing him to die. He turns into ash, but on a certain time he rises again carrying with him new strengths and new tactics to help him survive in this cruel world.

We all know that life is full of challenges. We can never avoid it, it is inevitable. The only option we have is to face it in an optimistic way in a sense that we consider some points that things does not always go our way. Sometimes we tend to feel hopeless when in fact hope is just around the corner. You know it is easier to give pieces of adbice as to how one should live life, but I myself needs one. But the only thing I do to make my life worthwhile is that I always pray to God for me to be enlightened in my daily struggles in life. Hopefully all of us should have the gift of peace of mind so we can make the world a better place to live. There is a speaker who once said that we must acquaint thyself with God. True indeed we would be nothing without God.

I know that problems may cause us to be weary but remember, there is no such thing as hopelessness it is only a notion. The truth is we are always endowed with hope all we have to do is live with that hope so that we can rise like a phoenix. Do the things we must and attain success. As it is said successful persons are those with bruised knees.