tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461Fri, 08 Jul 2016 22:22:45 +0000loverelationshipsdistancefalling in love againlong distance relationships60's70's80'sCE november 2011 Board ExamCSC topnotchers november 2011 CE board examFilipinoINTPINTP femaleINTP personalityMBTIMyers-BriggsPaulo CoelhoPhilippinesSAFSad is beautifulbreak upsbroken heartchange is comingchildhoodclassical songscouplesdigongduterteex-boyfriendex-relationshipfallen 44familyfriendsfriendshipfuckyouquiwtpgirlshomejerkslovestorymamasapano massacremanila hostagemanila mayhemmarriagemax jim triamayor rodrigo dutertemenmoving outmusicnatsukashiinice guysnice guys finish lastold songsoldies but goodiesoldies songspastphilippine elections 2016presidencyrazbliutorodrigo duterterolando mendozasadnessshortstorystrangerweddingwhy girls go for jerkswoman's worthwomenThe world of a philomath; a sapiosexual; a cage in search of a bird.http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)Blogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-4465823067230935204Sat, 21 May 2016 08:55:00 +00002016-05-21T16:55:32.051+08:00 As much as I dislike saying goodbye, I must say it at this point. Quintessence has been the home of my thoughts for a good 7 years. It has sheltered my musing, memories turned into symbols - the good and the bad. But we grow and we change and we move forward. This is not me saying that I am not pursuing my passion in writing anymore. As a matter of fact, I have already created a new blog calledhttp://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2016/05/goodbye-quintessence.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-7763702094412576876Sat, 09 Apr 2016 06:56:00 +00002016-04-11T23:49:37.373+08:00change is comingdigongdutertemayor rodrigo dutertephilippine elections 2016presidencyrodrigo duterte I have never publicly voiced out my support for any of the presidential candidates since the election campaigns started; politics is not one of my many interests. However, since voting for my country's leaders is both a privilege and an obligation and being a part of a representative democracy, I reckon I need to state my reasons why I'm supporting and voting who, no matter how less of an importhttp://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2016/04/why-im-voting-for-rodrigo-duterte.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-7258927134289544524Sun, 04 Oct 2015 15:49:00 +00002015-10-05T13:54:46.926+08:00Sad is beautifulsadness To Chuso, my second self. It is not very often that we find someone who can openly admit that he is sad or lonely. Oftentimes, we hear people celebrate their happiness. Humans tend to exercise their discretion in favor of expressing their joy publicly because somehow our society attributes happiness to success, and nobody wants to be thought of as a failure. Therefore, I believe that it http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2015/10/sad-is-beautiful.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-7838213034181772050Sat, 31 Jan 2015 07:16:00 +00002015-02-01T09:27:53.566+08:00fallen 44mamasapano massacremax jim triaSAF I cannot possibly describe Max Jim in one word because he is a mix of everything; he is a person of different personalities; he can adapt to every situation you put him into. However, there is one trait that stands out above all and perhaps everybody who knows him can attest to it: Max is a very straightforward person -- he will never feed your ego. When you ask for his opinion, he will frankly http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2015/01/psinsp-max-jim-r-tria-classmate-friend.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-2271247130655966967Thu, 18 Dec 2014 17:28:00 +00002015-01-14T21:08:54.513+08:00 Dear Would-Have-Been Mom and Dad, At some point in my life, I have wanted a pair of parents like you; the more liberal kind; a pair of parents who would let me do things my way. Back then what I wanted was to always be away from home, not that I didn't like my family; I just liked being with my friends more because they understood me more. What I wanted to do was stay out late and come back http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2014/12/to-parents-i-never-had.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-4304171943589238107Mon, 24 Nov 2014 22:32:00 +00002014-11-25T08:48:34.139+08:00 The sky stopped pouring down its celestial tears; the seemingly endless canopy of clouds started to unfold, showing the faint, intermittent gleams of the distant nocturnal lights. The city was asleep -- cradled, lulled by the tender metropolitan winds. Eyes do have their own tongue. They speak in a language only intelligible to those who possess them and those at whom they gaze.The stranger's http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2014/11/chapter-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-7796261722767712655Thu, 18 Sep 2014 06:11:00 +00002014-09-22T21:58:59.187+08:00lovelovestoryshortstorystranger I dedicate this post to two brave souls, Ate Juriz and Kuya Bobo, who fought their way through grief when heaven chose their little Lucas to be one of its angels. And the God of Rain pleased that the skies weep today. I could hear the rain beat down against the tin roof of the train station like glass beads loosed from a string. I was among the crowd of hopefuls waiting patiently; praying to http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2014/09/my-first-narrative-attempt-just-another.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-5914307134556647975Sat, 13 Sep 2014 17:23:00 +00002014-09-15T21:12:58.898+08:00 Most girls will sell themselves out procuring an image of a "great catch". They will pull off a sublime representation of themselves to make men swoon over them. Well, that is very unlikely to happen in my post. In the next 10 minutes, you will read about the not-so-very-nice part of me and if you can't handle them, then you really should never date me (or anybody like me). 1. I AM http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2014/09/11-reasons-why-you-should-not-date-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-905663565379506874Wed, 30 Jul 2014 13:08:00 +00002014-07-31T20:30:44.981+08:00INTPINTP femaleINTP personalityMBTIMyers-Briggs For the week past, I had been troubling myself about finding answers to my personal dilemma - being out of focus, being forgetful, constant daydreaming. They may seem harmless to someone whose job doesn't require attention but for me who works in the nursing field, they distress me so. And so I thought I have ADD or some other psychological problems that induced me to considering going to a http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2014/07/in-life-of-intp-female.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-6123745126298419364Wed, 09 Jul 2014 18:55:00 +00002015-05-08T11:11:04.283+08:00 Filipinos have been hurled insults at since time immemorial. We have been termed monkeys, maids/slaves; they call us short, flat-nosed, poor, coming from a third-world country; one even called us immigration pests. Seriously, does any of them still tick you off? Shouldn't we be numb about these things? Believe it or not, I am. Most Filipinos when thrown insults at would snap at once and react http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2014/07/filipinos-keep-calm-and-faetem-kok.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-2098081826886269902Wed, 21 May 2014 23:35:00 +00002014-05-22T07:37:49.973+08:00 A few months back, one Goodreads user from the U.S commented on my review of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights which flattered and offended me at the same time. My review went like this: "It has become a habit of mine that every time I finish reading the last page of a good book and close it, I remain holding it in my hands, stare at it for some time, muse over its plot and characters and http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2014/05/yes-english-is-not-my-first-language-but.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-4492278595909911056Tue, 22 Apr 2014 09:13:00 +00002014-04-22T17:25:54.100+08:00 My first venture in poetry. Had it not been for my father's adamant urging and the vote of confidence he has given me, I wouldn't have dared try to write poems. :) I devote this poem to my hometown, Virac, whose soil I itch to trod again. Yester Refrains whenever i feel reminiscent memoirs of my juvenile past a brief flash of my days nascent come scrolling by very fast the scent of the dewyhttp://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2014/04/yester-refrains.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-7831628436802856572Sat, 15 Feb 2014 17:15:00 +00002014-02-16T02:06:51.169+08:00 <!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-PH X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2014/02/11-things-i-know-at-25.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-7116527820756596588Sun, 26 Jan 2014 09:27:00 +00002014-01-26T17:32:43.238+08:00 Saudi Arabia. When one reads or hears it, either one or more of the following comes to mind: 1. Desert/hot/camel 2. Terrorism/doom/death. 3. Bad body odor 4. Men wearing long beards and women covered from head to foot. I have had both the pleasure and displeasure of living in Riyadh for over a year now. And let me tell you, Saudi Arabia is not all that bad. I admit, I was expecting the worst of http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2014/01/16-things-about-saudi-arabia-that-you.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-7003621672628156432Sun, 19 Jan 2014 19:28:00 +00002014-01-20T16:35:28.848+08:00 Among a horde of tourists, I lie down the Ipanema beach, sipping a glass of ice cold caipirinha while the sound of Bossa Nova make love to my otics. I can see Christ the Redeemer magnificently aloft the Corcovado mountain. I can see hand gliders fly like feathered vertebrates. On my left, nestle Paulo Coelho's Brida and on my right, my Brazilian lover I'd like to call Marcos. Today, I am in http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2014/01/imagination-rio-dejaneiro-brazil.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-5722506827340121531Sun, 19 Jan 2014 19:09:00 +00002014-01-20T03:09:48.690+08:00 From my hotel room window, I can see the Obelisk perched at the Plaza de la Republica, weathering the resonant honking of cars and the melodious buzzing of the "porteños". I had a long day strolling down the cobblestone streets of the city as my eyes feasted on the monumental architecture of "The Paris of the South". Now, I close the blinds and sit atop my bed, remembering the Argentine I met http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2014/01/imagination-buenos-aires-argentina.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-7357280090125153754Sun, 19 Jan 2014 18:55:00 +00002014-01-20T02:55:34.301+08:00 Standing on the freshly mowed grass of Champ de Mars, I gaze at the Eiffel Tower with a shit-eating grin. It was an hour ago when the plane landed in the City of Light and I immediately took a cab to where this iconic structure of Paris superlatively stands on her feet. Eyeing La Tour Eiffel is like watching my dreams come to life. It is the metaphor of my dream to trod tens and tens of http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2014/01/imagination-paris-france.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-4342889524909923293Fri, 27 Dec 2013 10:07:00 +00002013-12-27T18:51:01.250+08:00 Dear Critics, The nature of your pointing out my mistakes, of noting my flaws, of your biased judgments has very well destroyed me. But all the same, the very nature of it has molded me back into a stronger person. We all know I am not perfect as all of you are. As all of us are. But why waste so much time in trying to point out other people's faults?  What satisfaction do you get everytime http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2013/12/dear-critics.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-6341306406373414093Sat, 26 Oct 2013 11:22:00 +00002013-10-26T20:00:38.899+08:00 There are two classes of things: those that are under our control and those that are not. Under our control are opinion, choice, desire, aversion and, in a word, everything that is our own doing; not under our control are our body, our possessions, our reputations, our offices and, in a word, everything that is not our own doing. That is a part of the first chapter of Enchiridion of Epictetushttp://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2013/10/what-epictetus-taught-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-3352323893818145160Sat, 16 Feb 2013 16:53:00 +00002013-02-17T03:10:35.295+08:00 While my mind is adrift to a place unknown by name, a feathered creature broke my glass of imagination and came to view. As fleetingly birds stay in a place, I expected she'd flap her immaculate white wings and take flight. But she stayed. Even amidst some provocations, she sat there; on that clay colored solid mass I call wall. I kept my eyes on her for some time and in the process, I http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2013/02/birdwatching.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-7115967920397025976Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:48:00 +00002013-10-27T17:48:47.121+08:00 You should date a girl who reads. Date girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes, who has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve. Find a girl who reads. You'll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2012/11/date-girl-who-readsor-better-yet-date.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-13018554502708232Fri, 05 Oct 2012 18:24:00 +00002012-10-10T18:49:46.623+08:00 If you are going to trace my life as you see it now, you will find it as spiritless as a rock and as pallid as a dead man's body; yet I'm certain to say I am happy. Well, I may appear to be guiled by the idea that everything in my life is neatly fitted and placed where they should be even if I know very well that it is far from being the case. However, there is ONE thing that saves me from thehttp://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2012/10/readers-will-always-know.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-2454788074070779690Mon, 09 Jul 2012 14:01:00 +00002012-07-10T00:47:27.988+08:00 I don't quite understand why people regard me as a "loner" just because I dine out alone or take a solitary walk downtown. Often, I get playfully mocked at or get disfavored for my "solitariness". It's as if being alone is a terrible disease. What's wrong with enjoying the company of yourself? Being alone doesn't mean being lonely. If there is one thing I realized with having myself exclusively http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2012/07/soledad.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-7575113921666320547Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:44:00 +00002012-06-23T22:57:10.892+08:00 Can be summed up in 17 things.... 1. PAYAG-PAYAG/HALONG-HALONG. "Dai kamo maggibo ning payag-payag. Mabagyo." Nagilumduman ko, ini ang pirming pigatalam kaito sako ning mga gurang, pero dai man sana nangyayari. Mahilig ako kaito maggibo ning payag-payag. Gapakua pati ako kaito ki Tata ning anahaw buda dahon ning niyog. Inanong ugma ko pag igwa akong nahanap na tadang tabla o mga retaso ning http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-childhood-in-catanduanes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611602750201559461.post-9038476266721712888Sun, 11 Mar 2012 04:45:00 +00002012-03-11T13:00:20.379+08:00 Have you ever felt that feeling that you wanted something so bad but you ended up not doing it because you were afraid of the outcome of your actions? Have you been in that confused state where you wanted to make something happen but then a part of you didn't allow you to and eventually, you decided to let the chance slip through your fingers? I can assume you have. Each of us has this what I http://magnumrazi.blogspot.com/2012/03/dear-peter-pan_11.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cynthia Pena)1