bisayang dakô

Play with words

2011-08-14T14:48:00.000+04:00

Past one am and still can't sleep,
tried jumping fences and counting sheep,
yet sleep remains an elusive mystery.

My weary soul, now restless and in despair,
tries to conjure this simple rhyme,
hoping it'll sing a rapturous lullaby

barely there mosaic

2011-04-26T06:46:00.000+04:00

my current laptop wallpaper.

solitude

2011-04-25T06:25:00.002+04:00

spent easter sunday at the beach yesterday.

brought rilke. there is something about his "letters to a young poet" that resonates, as if through the beautifully written lines he is speaking directly to me.

reading this, always brings calmness, and the timeless realization that, yes, opinions of others do not matter. that yes, i have to live my life in order for me to enjoy it, that yes, i am a repository of treasures of experiences; that i only have to look within, even if i am imprisoned within the confines of suffocating walls.

this book will always be with me. its frayed edges a testament to late night reflections, its brown pages speaks of time spent mending, time and time again.

until the next onslaught.

easter

2011-04-23T20:30:00.000+04:00

happy easter!

(i was trying to be familiar with the powershot super macro setting, and this is the result.)

earth day 2011

2011-04-22T23:54:00.000+04:00

earth day.

saving the earth, 1 plastic bag at a time.

another feeble attempt

2011-04-22T21:59:00.000+04:00

tinkering the different settings of canon powershot sx200

anarchistic

2011-04-22T17:37:00.001+04:00

how can the value of human life be so insignificant...?

queue

2011-04-21T19:46:00.000+04:00

imagine the drivers suffering under extreme summer heat, waiting for their turn to discharge cargoes..which can last for days...

lines

2011-04-21T19:41:00.000+04:00

my feeble attempt at photography, using a 3mp canon powershot

Set Fire to the Rain - Adele

2011-04-21T07:31:00.004+04:00

I let it fall, my heart
And as it fell, you rose to claim it
It was dark and I was over
Until you kissed my lips and you saved me
My hands, they were strong, but my knees were far too weak
To stand in your arms without falling to your feet

But there's a side to you that I never knew, never knew
All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true
And the games you'd play, you would always win, always win

But I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your face
Well, it burned while I cried
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name

When laying with you I could stay there
Close my eyes, feel you here forever
You and me together, nothing is better

'Cause there's a side to you that I never knew, never knew
All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true
And the games you play, you would always win, always win

But I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your face
Well, it burned while I cried

Copied from MetroLyrics.com

hapless Red

2011-04-18T21:01:00.002+04:00

Iceland...

2011-04-18T20:40:00.001+04:00

Ice land in the middle of a desert.

so much has happened

2011-03-24T14:40:00.002+04:00

So, it’s no surprise that my last post is dated October 2010. I have been trying to psych myself up to create some meaningful opinion about something, to no avail.

Been really busy with work, with the new boss hovering over my shoulder waiting for any chance to give me work.

So much has happened.

Chaos in the Middle East, tsunami in Japan, flooding in Australia, hunger, poverty, corrupt politicians in the Philippines. So much has happened and still happening, one wonders will we ever catch a break?

Still, after pondering all these, I can’t help but think, life is a cycle. Surely there are a lot of good things that happened, and still happening all around us.

I believe, man is so resilient, we will bounce back in no time, build our lives anew in due time.

Chili Crab

2011-02-21T16:15:00.002+04:00

I used to live in this place near the sea. Every other day our fisherman neighbor brings the freshest of catch: crabs, lapu-lapu, prawns..etc. Here's one of my favorite dishes to experiment with using crabs or prawns.

Chili Crab

Ingredients:

3 pcs large Crabs
2 large Onions
3 cloves Garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon ginger, cut into strips
Red chili to taste or chili sauce
Olive oil
1/2 cup ketchup
Water
2 tablespoon lemon juice
Leeks for garnishing
Salt to taste

Clean the crabs, cut into half. Saute the garlic, onion, ginger and chili. Cook for 1 minute add crabs and still until the shells turn orange in color. Add the ketchup, lemon juice, water and mix. Cover and cook in slow fire for 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the leeks and let it cook on top of the crabs, stir before serving.

The Adventures of D, the Accidental Super Girl Wannabe

2010-10-01T10:20:00.000+04:00

Amazing how funny things can become for some people when they’re perfectly normal for some. Take D, my colleague for example. The things she says just leave you thinking if they’re jokes or part of who she is. It makes her frustratingly adorable at times though.

I will not talk to him.

Sup: “D, call G and tell him we are sending the papers by courier”

D: “No”

Sup: “What?”

D: “No”

Sup (disbelieving): “Why wouldn’t you call him?” (The guy at one time raised his voice while speaking to D)

D: “I don’t like to speak to him”

Sup: “Rox, please tell her she has to call and deal with him, she cannot avoid him forever”

Me: “Yes D, you cannot avoid him forever, you are bound to speak to him somehow”

D: “Still no”

Hehe.

Seriously, you need to look for me.

Last week she told me, that she’ll be going to the washroom and if someone is looking for her, just inform them she’ll be back in a few.

So, I continue working oblivious to the fact that she was gone for almost 30 minutes. I thought she got held somewhere and since I was busy, I was not really paying attention to her not being there in the room.

After a while, she came barging in saying, “What is wrong with you!”

Me: “Huh?”

D: “I said what is wrong with you”

Me (confused): “What is wrong with me, what?” “What did I do?”

D: “You did not look for me”

Me (in daze, thinking, is she kidding?): “Why would I look for you, you said you’re in the washroom”

D: “Yes, but I was gone a long time, what if something happened to me in there?”

Me (incredulous): “Now what would happen to you in an office washroom?” “Drown?” (couldn’t help myself)

D: “No…but still, you have to look for me if I am gone longer than expected (matter-of-factly)”

Me (still not believing if she’s serious or not): “So, how many minutes after should I start looking for you? (I was really, really holding myself from laughing so hard), uhm, 10 minutes?”

D: “Maybe 15?”

Hehehe.

You’ve got mail

Staff (on the phone, at least from what I can overhear): “Did you send the file to my gmail account?”

D: “Yes I did, didn’t you get it?”

Staff: “No”

D: “Wait for a little bit, then have a check”

After 3 minutes the D’s phone rang again

Staff: “I still didn’t get it”

D (frustrated): “But I sent it to you , please check it again (while opening her sent items). This is your email right? (As she proceeded to spell the email address) _ _ _ _ _ _ @jmail.com?”

D: “Ah g? not j? Ah ok I’ll send it again. Sorry”.

Hehehehe.

Red and Blue

2010-09-27T06:16:00.000+04:00

Oh, the case of an inverted flag.

During the meeting of Pres. Obama with the ASEAN leaders in New York, it was noticed that the Philippine flag flown upside down, meaning the red stripe was on top and the blue stripe was at the bottom.

Regulations dictate that flags are flown inverted only in times of distress or as a sign of protest. Or in time of war. Hmm.

The US Embassy has since issued an apology saying it was “an honest mistake” and the DFA spokesperson Ed Malaya said that the incident should not “detract from the true significance of the summit”.

But still. Utmost care should have been undertaken by the organizers such as checking more than once if flags to be flown during the meeting are in correct position. Had it been the other way around and the US flag was done the mistreatment, what would have happened? I can only imagine.

At yours own

2010-09-26T14:08:00.000+04:00

Living in this place for more than two years now, I am still taken aback by the sometimes confusing signage. They do make sense, if you really think hard. Just stop and read for 10 seconds.

Spoken English here is confusing. Some people may pronounce a certain word very differently from what you’re used to. Some may use words that are on the brink of obsolescence, that you need to Google them to be enlightened.

I constantly remind myself to be on guard all the time, and not succumb to the ways of the weak. One time I had to slap myself in private just to snap out of it.

Bits

2010-09-26T06:36:00.000+04:00

So after a long while i'm back to blogging again. Recently my life has been uneventful, hence the silence of this blog.

I have been really busy with work. A new manager came, so i expect a lot of changes in the existing processes, policies need to be "tweaked". Hmm what was the statement he used...? "I need to dig deep into the policy in order for me to know what changes need to be made".

Summer is just finishing in this part of the world. I expect my sinusitis to kick it up a notch in terrorizing me, because of the weather change. But the very welcome change is, no more sweltering days!

I am planning to go home for Christmas, yet my leave has not been approved yet. After all that drama two departmental meetings ago, i have lost my interest.

The Peso also strengthened against the US dollar which is a great thing for Pinas, sad for us working abroad because exchange rate also dropped. We were joking last week in the office, if this continue and drop steadily, all OFWs might be able to go home at last *wishful thinking*.

Bye for now, time to go to work.

how to turn off google buzz

2010-02-18T06:02:00.001+04:00

like the rest of gmail users, i woke up last week with google Buzz invading my inbox. what's worst when i tried it, it automatically added all my contacts.

today i'm turning off google Buzz to "infinity and beyond".

here's how:

1. log in to your gmail
2. in the main page of your inbox, scroll down to the bottom
3. there's a link that says "turn off buzz" just above the privacy policy
4. click that and choose "Do not show these lists on my public Google profile"
5. also click "Do not show Google Buzz in Gmail"
6. and ... to turn off permanently click "Disable Google Buzz"
7. save changes.

The Burj Khalifa

2010-01-22T07:42:00.001+04:00

the "dancing fountain" outside burj khalifa

the burj khalifa in early evening view

during one weekend, we took pictures of this amazing architecture, the burj khalifa. it was one weekend worth remembering.

sights around the UAE

2009-07-10T09:05:00.000+04:00

these men are selling phone credits. and now during the peak of summer, they stand around the same spot hawking phone credits saying... "balance, balance, balance" in monotonous repetition.

the image on the right shows how flats and rooms for rent being advertised. municipality workers have tried removing them time and time again, with little accomplishment.

another friday afternoon

2009-07-05T07:40:00.000+04:00

one Friday afternoon. travel from one emirate to another.

Michael Jackson

2009-06-28T07:25:00.001+04:00

your music and your memory will live on.
you are one of the greatest musicians this world has ever known.

we laughed with you.
we cried with you.
we danced with you.

you showed us how a simple song can transcend beyond words.
you have given enough.

thank you for the gift you shared with us.
so long michael.

Hayden Kho and Katrina Halili

2009-05-26T21:34:00.001+04:00

Oh men, this Hayden Kho Scandal in the Philippines is getting out of hand.

Complete with Senate inquiry, PDEA inquiry, interviews left and right, and above all, dvd copies of those crappy homemade sex videos selling like hot cakes.

Welcome to the Philippines!

Underdog from the Slum

2009-01-29T18:51:00.000+04:00

Slumdog – according to WikiAnswers, the term slumdog means "underdog from the slum".

I’ve seen the movie Slumdog Millionaire and all I can say is that, it purveys a message of unflinching belief in the goodness of man. True, it shows a part of Mumbai’s well-known slum area located near an airport, and most of the actors are amateurs coming from the same neighborhood. Yet, it is a well-acted film lacking of falseness to which is prevalent in some of the well-funded movies.

I watched the film without reading through the myriad of reviews and citations, awards just so I can stand through watching a film garnering 10 Oscar nominations. I got burned with “Unforgiven” you know.

It was shot amidst the squalor of Mumbai, yet, you wouldn’t notice the poverty, the heartache, because the characters never felt it. The film is oozing with such positive vibe that I was ready to dance when the credits started rolling. True to Bollywood fashion there’s a song and dance number at the end.

Your heart goes out to Jamal "the chaiwalla" for his unwavering devotion to the one girl he dared loved and your compassion goes out to him when you feel the pureness of his character because he never dared venture to vile ways just to survive. It’s not an option for him.

Kudos to the people behind this film. Sadly, all the recognition it's getting is tainted by this.