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,...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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Boracay to Manila (Part 4 of 4)

Last shot before walking away Morning: Prayer, “jogging”, lots and lots of photosI 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...

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