Delivering Deliverance: I am delivered

Bible by IkeTacata (mutyang.deviantart.com)

“…and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out” (Luke 8:2)

Last night saw my deliverance. Deliverance from everything and anything that holds me back from advancing in God’s Kingdom. I feel freer, lighter and I must admit, I feel as if I’m a new child again.

Being under the influence of demons, I’ve been doing things I never wanted to do – for so long, and I praise God for giving me a chance to be relieved of outer influences.

Demonic influences is not new. In the Bible, we can find references to this. In Mark 5:5, a man from the tombs met Jesus. He was “with an impure spirit” and he would cut himself with stones. Another instance can be found in Luke 13, and as quoted in Luke 13:11 (NIV),”and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.”

Physically, there are manifestations of demonic influence, and deliverance is very essential to free someone from it. What I experienced last night was beyond words could express.

I will dwell on this topic in the future, but for now, due to time constraint, I happily settle to this peace I am experiencing in my heart.

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More than a bird's nest: El Nido wins PATA Award

Just in case you live inside a box, you probably already know we live in a tropical country where it rains during summer season and it’s freakishly hot during the cold months.

I am not scientist (but if you will count my four years spent in a special science high school, I am) but the relation of the sun to great beaches is kind of high. (I speak from the perspective of a science student who majored on theater and arts.)

Recently, I chanced upon a news article saying that El Nido’s Be G.R.E.E.N. campaign won the prestigious PATA award.

Ok. What’s PATA? Check the meaning of PATA here. What’s El Nido? Check El Nido here.

El Nido remains one of my most desired places to visit. I’ve visited Palawan last year but only got as far as the jeepney terminal going to the Underground River or the boat to El Nido.

Now, I am torn if in saving Pxx,xxx.xx, I will climb Mt. XXXXXXXX or visit El Nido.

For the article about El Nido’s Be G.R.E.E.N. project, check the link.

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We live in a world of biodegradables

Kenneth Cobonpue: World's First Biodegrable Car

It’s more beautiful than the Batmobile – a testament of how truly amazing Filipinos are. But sometimes, I am slightly bothered by our tendency to overreact whenever we hear of Filipino achievements abroad. Let’s say for example, a certain designer gets the Hollywood nod for creating avant-garde furniture pieces. We become aware of it, and the awareness wells into increasing enthusiasm, then a buzz is escalated into full-blown news that ring in our media sphere for weeks. I have nothing against us celebrating our Filipino achievements, but are we that intimated as a nation that simple things make us giddy? Like me! Other nations don’t do it. Maybe because they already know they’re good. I just hope we know we’re that good. Or we do. We’re just too humble to act it out. Or I don’t know. I don’t know.

Kenneth Cobonpue from Inquirer.net

And this is not about a small thing. When I read the news, I even felt like I was transported in another universe. It looked completely alien and otherworldly.

Imagine yourself creating a masterpiece that makes people’s hair rise. I am convinced our talents, when pooled, can create a new world.

I have a question though. Was this created with Manila in mind? Because I simply cannot drive this car around without feeling my carbon exposure meter shooting to the heavens. And by “biodegradable," does it mean the design disintegrate during the flood season? Like paper?

There’s talk about installing electric motor power into it. So it was not made with the idea of it actually performing transportation functions?

It doesn't matter. I love KC. I love Filipinos. I love cars. I don't own one. I just like saying it.

For the article on World’s 1st Biodegradable car, please click on the link.

Image source.

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Sleeping in an Airport - We have the worst airport in Asia (You didn't know?)

Sleeping in an airport

Do you sleep in airports?

It’s official. We have the worst airport in Asia. After years of denial, someone finally realized it’s no use hiding it. It has circulated the web last week and each time I encounter a link to the news, I close my window, turn off my laptop and walk away.  

No I don’t, but you get the idea.

I live near the airport. In Parañaque. Commuting, it’s around 30 minutes inside a jeepney, 20 inside an FX. Unless you’re me, you take the FX. Driving, it’s just 7-10 minutes. If you’re Tto Brt, it’s just 3 minutes.

As a child, I would be fascinated by planes flying over us and be amazed at the hugeness of these planes. As an adult, I get irritated by the noise. Planes cutting you mid a conversation are just annoying. We don’t really live near enough to experience hearing the sonic sound of airplanes during breakfast. But we see planes every time we drive around Parañaque. I have a friend who lost her best friend because one commercial plane decided one day to just skip the runway and land on her best friend’s house.  They live in an exclusive village near the airport runway. I hear these tragic stories every time. One time, before takeoff, a couple of grass self-combusted in the runway and had the entire takeoff operation paralyze for a while.

NAIA voted 5th worst airport in the world

All my life, I’ve been exposed to the killer traffic near the airport, and as I wait on the vehicle to move another inch, wonders of how the foreigners view the Philippines seeing the first things they see outside Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) engulf me. I mean, sitting in the comfort of an airconditioned car, I am already appalled at the scenery, how much will an excited foreigner make out of it?

So the news that we have the worst airport in Asia is kind of, well, not new. I haven’t been to Terminal 1 yet but Terminal 2 is bad enough in the arrival area (I like the departure area, sorry). And I just looooove Terminal 3. It’s new. It’s cold. It’s... new. I love it, but maybe because the budget airlines are there (hee hee) and the cheapness of it all made the big difference.

People in the website http://sleepinginairports.net/, the site that released the airport rankings, were complaining of bad comfort rooms and services in Terminal 2. Terminal 2 suddenly is equated to NAIA itself, so people don’t really know other terminals exist. But that does not have any bearing. They still think our airport is hideous. I don’t know the real score, but if it’s in Terminal 3, I would. I have 2 friends from the sanitation division and I know they do not sleep until all the bowls and sinks are squeaky clean. I know 3 people from the maintenance division and interviewing them, they gladly made out their own version of professional evaluation of Terminal 1. They are the people behind keeping the water drops from leaking into the bunbunan of important international officials upon arrival. I salute these people.

What does the government do about this? I have no idea. I tried googling reactions from the government’s side, but found nothing. Hmm. I didn’t try enough, I know.

If you want a real laugh, try reading http://sleepinginairports.net/. It’s very entertaining, and informative. You’ll get the feel of different airports from different people – who sleep in these airports. I think I will contribute something for Clark (DMIA).

Have you tried sleeping in an airport? I have. It’s super nice.

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Ruminations on Mood

From Brainless Tales

It shifts shape like soft clay and the moment you think it has taken its final form, you will find yourself losing its materiality again.

It has its own phases, pretty much like the moon, and it’s so hard to comprehend, like you are cursed to think and think about it. Mood is a tenacious term and ‘tis sad to think I belong to the gender that carries it randomly as the channels on your cable tv.

Someone told me as a girl, I am bound to reflect the age-long discrepancy between man and woman, and mood – mood swing – is the single most repulsive thing men don’t understand in us.

I guess it’s a fact, but I know it’s not a truth. I am not a moody person. I don’t let others suffer from my own suffering, experience hardship when I feel hardship, experience pain when I have pain. Though I would often be affected by, let’s say, profound things like a dead rat outside our house this morning, which was revolting yet the sadness of the reality that its life has ceased to exist subsisted in my daily memory.

The apostolic response requires people not to act according to one’s situation but according to God’s directives. We are not supposed to be swayed by circumstances, be depressed by problems or just be plainly affected by anything. Our response to things is the shaper of our environment, having been granted the power to do so. This entry is all about that. I don’t like to affect people negatively, but to impact lives in the right way.

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When Something Moves Us All

Jeep from mutyang.deviantart.com

I am sitting at the edge of a midsized jeepney. On my way to EDSA MRT, I am secluded from the traffic noise through the ear plugs that deliver me Matisyahu. On my hand is a book I’ve been reading for days for my 70-book challenge. I am more than ever keen on finishing it this weekend to the point of blindness. A woman sits across me, eyeing me for some strange reason and I eye her back. A couple more of insecure stares and I lose her completely between the prose of my favorite author.

The jeepney stops its nth stop from the corner of Heritage Hotel to the station. We impatiently wait for the next acceleration when a kid enters the jeepney and hands out small white envelopes for the passengers. A soiled envelope lands on top of my book and I hide it between the pages so I can continue reading. He’s one of those Badjao beggars who sing songs in an unknown language and get donation via those white – or brown, I can’t tell – envelopes.

Call me heartless, but faced with these circumstances, I do not easily oblige a moment of charity unless I am lead to. There is a clear argument here though, and I am not about to embark on a lengthy litany on charity and poverty. What I want to talk about is the Orwell-ish event that took place after the envelopes were given to us.

He sits on the entrance facing the oncoming traffic behind us. This is common. Badjao children normally sit there, but this child is different because he has no musical instrument with him. Typically, these kids bring makeshift drums and other percussion instruments that are beyond naming. Though not looking, I am actually very interested in what the child will be doing next. They commonly have good voices. Perhaps an oceanic serenade is about to be performed. 

He claps his hands. Reminds me of an episode in Party Pilipinas while I wait for possible scripts written by my friend, Rsh – if not for her, I would never have known such a show really exists. The child mutters a couple of random oh, oh, yeah, yeah.

OK. It’s becoming more and more interesting. I still bore my eyes into the book pages, but I am not reading anymore.

More oh’s and woah’s, and the rhythm of the clap is suddenly becoming more and more familiar.

I’ve heard it somewhere. I scan my brain for possible ethnic songs I can still remember. Pinikpikan, Kadangyan, even those I’ve heard from my Igorot and Kalinga friends, I try to hum.

The child ends my stupor and utters the very words my past-evoking methods fail to provide.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. I know you love me, I know you care…”

If I could fall off my secured seat, I would have. The other passengers seem to secretly be bothered by it. Maybe in our collective desire to play normal, we really couldn’t do it. The child continues his song. I am laughing so hard, my smile leaks off my hanky. The girl I earlier had an eye war with plays dead. She doesn’t move an inch. The rest of the passengers shift their position, in an attempt to stay comfortable during such trying circumstances. Justin Bieber rings in our ears like a soundtrack of a movie I cannot recall. There’s more traffic outside, more people carrying morning burdens on their way to work. More and more people trying to get by their day, and in a world full of earthquakes and tsunami, we are enslaved by a Justin Bieber magnum opus rendered by an innocent Badjao kid. He finishes the song in less than two minutes, probably skipping the bridge if there’s a bridge. He stands up, collects his envelope – all of which are empty.

He alights, unmoved.

Perhaps he knows. Wrong song.

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Reading Challenge 2011

Since I’ve started writing for these business magazines in SG and HK, I need to brush up on my writing skills. I can only do that by practicing and reading a lot. By lot meaning not just blogs of people I follow and love. The challenge must be an assortment of some sort (sort of), with different books from different eras and different genres.  Maybe I’ll try to buy some new titles. Booksale, definitely. Kindle makes everything better and easier for me. I have 5 more books I saw untouched in my bookshelf. Those will be opened soon. I have other books with friends whom I will have to remind so these books will be returned properly. I still have books from friends. No need to remind them now. I’ve done only 8 books now. Not bad for a month. I’m on to 62more.

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KINDLE FOR PC: A Feel for the Real Thing

Kindle for PC is almost like the real thing

Welcome to the future.

Call me a late bloomer, but it’s my first time to actually say it.

I’ve registered 70 books in GoodReads last week to be read the entire year. I originally wrote 20 books, but it was unforgivable, if not primitive. The problem is, I don’t have books anymore having stopped buying for two years now. So I only estimated an average of 1 book per two weeks. Not bad considering I can only read in trains and jeepneys because my quiet time is dedicated to Bible-reading. This leads me reading only old titles and opening the anciently stocked ones that have never been opened since their moment of purchase.

But it’s still not enough. I have to get more.

JsP bought a Kindle last January. He has been posting stuff about it in twitter ever since. I had no idea what a Kindle was. I actually thought it has something to do with flames and some artsy-fartsy video thingy (Jyp being a videographer and a good one at that), but when Stn started talking about it as well, alarm signals about books rang somewhere in my subconscious.

Kindle options for readers

I still don’t have a Kindle (the machine) if that’s where you think this is leading. I am actually gonna talk about the Kindle software for PCs which I downloaded after learning from Stn that it actually exists.

It’s heaven. It’s the new, er, thing. It’s nice to read books and get to choose the color of the pages and letters (Kindle only has three options: white paper, sepia and black and white, needless to say, those suffice) and the number of lines per page and the font size and the kernelling and the... I can go on forever.

Scrolling is easy with the arrow keys. I can bookmark without having to buy bookmarks! I can highlight without buying highlighters. And I can erase them! (I think... Though, I’ve never tried it yet.) I can scan words and right click on a word to see the meaning of a certain word! Huwaw! I don’t have to carry a dictionary with me (as if) all the time or pretend to know a lengthy word that will make me look smart if dropped in a conversation. I just have to be connected to the internet.

Portability is nothing like the real thing. It’s currently installed in two PCs for me, and the other one is in my laptop, which is a 15-inch one that I obviously don’t feel like carrying with me all the time.

Kindle Paper

Kindle Black and White

Kindle Sepia

Kindle for PC can be downloaded for free so there’s no need to hack or steal or scour the world wide web for pirated stuff. Amazon gives the readers three free ebooks to start with. I was glad they gave Pride and Prejudice for free (though I can easily get it from Project Gutenberg anyway). Speaking of which, you can download Kindle books in Project Gutenberg. They have options for Kindle users.

Three free ebooks upon downloading Kindle for PC

Kindle currently has three models. I am salivating over Kindle DX ($379), but it’s too hefty for me. It has a 9.7” screen, something its predecessors don’t have, but basically, the functions are the same. Kindle Wi-Fi ($139) has no 3G functions, so there’s no connectivity unless you read in hotspots. Kindle 3G ($189) has 3G.

Converted to peso, I am saving up around P9000.00 at most for WiFi-3G. I still have PX,000.00 to go, since the anniversary of the church is upcoming and I have to buy everyone Amber Pichi-Pichi. Hehe.

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Prayer List #4 (2011) - HAWAII

This has nothing to do with Alx (not the well-bred AlD, but Alx, the crazy guy) - well, it does, since I'm gonna be stretching his hosting skills to the highest level - but after seeing Jke's pictures (and stories) of his Hawaiian escapade last May, I've always had this curiosity about Hawaii.

I remember meeting a guy from Hawaii in Podium last year - Jeff, I think was his name, and he was nice and very friendly. I've always thought people from Hawaii are friendly, like Filipinos, and when I told my mom about my idea of spending the rest of my savings and future income for a trip that cannot and will not and should not stretch for more than one week, it was not apprehension I saw that registered in my mom's face but pure disbelief.

"You can't be wasting that much money for a few days vacation right?"

Wrong.

"Well, you can always find our relatives there."

It was her way of saying, "Being me home a pasalubong, OK?"

I think I want to go. I think. Alx never fails to prove it to me. He's like a virus. Unwanted and sickening.

One thing though. I checked the website. I have one small (not really) problem. Je n'ai pas de visa. It's much more expensive than Schengen, mind you. I paid P3500 for Schengen. The American one costs around P6000!


I think there's a correlation between the number of Pinoy TNTs in America than the whole of EU combined. I hope it won't be that stressful.


I'm still praying for this. I don't know if this proves to be a good investment. I'm still hoping Hawaii Five-O will give me the answer.

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Cheap Transpo to Boracay

Boracay Frisbee

For those trying to get the cheapest way to go to Boracay, please note that it is not impossible with gifts of patience, wit and internet connection speed.

I booked my flight during the peak of a seat sale in Cebu Pacific. That’s an advantage in planning all your trips. Normally, they have seat sales during holidays like Xmas, New  Year, Chinese New Year, etc. For promos, like their page on Facebook and follow them on Twitter to get updates. Last December, they had this crazy Piso Sale for domestic flights. I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t make up my mind on what seats to buy and to where. The moment I got in, all the seats I wanted were gone. So you better have dates in mind and places to go as early as now. The next Piso Sale could be anytime soon.

Every single person I was going with in this flight already had their tickets booked and was waiting for my final decision on my itinerary.  My friend, Edl is a flight attendant in CebuPac and was calling me frantically about their flight schedule and was asking me if I could join. She called me during the final hours of the seat sale. It was cheap and logically, she wanted me to make up my mind fast because the seats were being taken and the prices surging. It was during the CebuPac seat sale that I bought my tickets in PAL.

I prepared P2300 for my tickets. I failed to pay on my first month so I had to pay the surcharge of the credit card company for another few pesos. My friends paid almost P3500 for their airfare. Teehee. My best friend hated it. I told you, patience is a virtue. If it doesn’t get you CebuPac seats, it gets you Philippine Airlines. For the rest of the transpo allowance you need to know, I made a rundown of all the expenses you might incur. This is if you are:

• Travelling alone
• Landing in Kalibo
• In a hurry but wants to travel cheap

Airfare	P2500 – P3500
Taxi to the airport	P120 – P200
Tricycle from Kalibo to jeepney/shuttle terminal	P80 – P100
Shuttle from Kalibo to Caticlan	P100
Boat from Caticlan to Boracay	P120 (unless you’re a         local – and I am! I mean, I          was…)
Tricycle/Single motorcycle to your station of choice	P20 (single) / P20 per seat         for tricycle
Total (one way)	P2940 – P4040

Going back? I don’t know. Just pray. I said going to Boracay, not going to Manila.

My friends took a special shuttle from Kalibo to Caticlan. Like I told you, if you are travelling alone (frugally) you cannot rent one whole shuttle to yourself, unless you’re uber rich, at which case, you’d have bought an earlier flight straight to Caticlan instead of Kalibo.

CebuPac also offers flights to Caticlan, just look for them in their website.

Part 1: Manila to Kalibo Flight

Part 2: Kalibo to Caticlan

Part 3: In and around Boracay

Part 4: Boracay to Manila

Extras: Jet Ski Experience

           Cheap Transportation to Boracay

           Boracay: Then and Now

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Paris, Je T'Aime (2006) - I am more in love now

I don't write movie reviews. Be it far from me to watch tons of movies and write about them. I like reading reviews though. They're useful sometimes. But on rare occasions, I cannot keep my thoughts on a movie I like to myself. So here goes...

It started with my love affair with the French language. Having finished two levels of the basics and moving on to the subject-verb part, I decided my ears need to hear as much French talkies as I could. I looked for any French gospel songs, but found little (only in youtube). So I was pushed to challenge myself to watch French films without the subtitles.

OK, OK, two levels of the basics, which account for almost nothing, I cannot simply jump into a non-subtitled movie-watching experience. But I had to. I had the urge to do it, being who I am. So I posted a stat message in FB (so that's how FB could be useful!) and asked a few friends to recommend any French films pour moi.

The winner: JsP with Paris, Je T'aime.

One word for the movie: Paris.

It's beatiful, it consists of short films so I'm not obliged to sit through it that long (I can stop and sleep anytime without feeling cut off or something). I watched it in two sittings with a two-week interval, so it was nice. It ended in a song by Feist - one of my favorite secular (French?) artists - and a consolidation of the different shorts in the end.

Beautiful.

Now, I am more convinced to go to Paris. Paris, Je T'aime!

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Boracay to Manila (Part 4 of 4)

Last shot before walking away

Morning: Prayer, “jogging”, lots and lots of photos

I started the day right. Woke up at 4:30 to pray. Somehow, the effect of the wind blowing against my face (I was asked to pray at the veranda for noise elimination reasons) made me feel closer to God (of course, it’s an exaggeration), but the fact that I was enjoying my nth hour in Boracay made me fill 10 minutes of my prayer with thanksgiving.

Ch and I wanted to jog early. I told her I’d wake her up at 6. I finished prayer a little before that, went back to my side of the bed and slept. We woke up at around 7. We did not jog.

No decent breakfast for us.

“We should eat brunch. It’s cost-effective,” I suggested, mentally accounting the remaining money I had in my wallet.

We took early morning photos and enjoyed it until the rest of the gang caught up with us. We made a dash back to the hotel and took a swim. GnA and Pau borrowed a bench somewhere so we didn’t have to rent one.

I couldn’t leave Boracay without any activity. I had to at least try something. I wanted to try them thrilling ones, where I could fly, be flung above air or be thrown off deep waters.

Apparently, the group had the same thought in mind. Their ideal Nki activity: sailing.

Ch shopping

I expressed my appreciation for it, but had inner reluctance. If you have been reading my Boracay series, you would know I did sailing before and being being Jeo’s daughter, I did quite some sailing. But being with friends would be different. Plus it would cost me P120. I would feel its importance in my life.

We sailed for an hour. Ch, GnA and I jumped into the water. The waves were becoming more and more enormous, so we decided to climb up the boat. By then, I was tired.

Andok's!

The group broke into smaller groups. We took a hearty meal in Andok’s, which offered cheap but decent meals. Edl and the rest ate somewhere else. The couple, Rlf and Mnq went with Ch and I. After that, another decision to split was reached. Some wanted to get a massage, some wanted to walk around (I think), and we wanted to swim some more. Mnq, Ch and I took the plunge and swam for around 30 minutes when GnA was making hand signals to us from the shore.

He was dying to ride the Jet Ski (not his first time) ever since he got there, but it was too expensive and he had no one to split it with.

“If, really, I have enough budget for that, I would go with you,” I apologetically shouted back from where we were swimming.

 Apparently, he had planned everything and negotiating with me and Ch, we went with him. The entire Jet Ski thing is written here.

2:30 pm and we were inching towards our final moments in Boracay. Ch and I went together to shop pasalubong. I don’t mind buying people souvenirs of the place they didn’t go to, but I tried withdrawing from my bank and couldn’t get any money out. So I had to choose carefully the people to give anything to. I only chose five, myself included.

Ch and Mrv on our way home

I need moneeeeeey

Final moments: Wrong ticket info, flying shuttle, back in Manila alone

Edl was strictly adhering to the schedule. Being an FA herself, she knew how to estimate time. I obviously don’t have that. She insisted we leave at 3 pm to get to Kalibo Airport on time. I declared myself free from that hassle since I was flying back alone, approx. 45 minutes later than them.

God knocked me in the head and instructed me to check my ticket again.

They were all scheduled to leave 7:00. I knew my flight was at 7:35.

Wrong. I checked the ticket – thank God I did – and saw the time to be 18:35.

“Mrv, 18 minus 12?”

“16?”

I shivered. Suddenly, it was SG all over again. I whispered my time to be earlier than expected.

“You said you’ll leave later than us!”

“I know, I know. I thought as well.”

Getting my Bible to pray

I prayed to God. Spoke in tongues as discreet as possible. It was 3 pm and time for my afternoon prayer. I prayed hard. I was setting the right atmosphere even while we were in the tricycle.

I only exposed it when they overheard me talking to the shuttle driver to let the van fly as high as he could because my flight was at 6:30. Pau didn’t like it, but we had no choice.

Montenegro boat

I was last to check in. I got in the boarding area ahead of everyone and settled my emotions down. I was confident I was going to make it anyway, but I vowed to myself never to miss details of my flights ever again.

I commuted home. I was broke already, and had no budget for a taxi ride. I texted Ch I arrived in Manila, told my folks I was coming home, and took a longed for sleep on my ever beloved bed.

We flooded the news feed in FB the next day.

Part 1: Manila to Kalibo Flight

Part 2: Kalibo to Caticlan

Part 3: In and around Boracay

Part 4: Boracay to Manila

Extras: Jet Ski Experience

           Cheap Transportation to Boracay

           Boracay: Then and Now

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