di bati

panalo sa katatawanan ang satirong hatid nito.
panalo sa patawang birada sa mga pulitikong nagnais na tumakbo sa panguluhan nitong nakaraang taon. 
panalo si kaladkaren davila.
pinakapanalo si senator meriam!
panalo!!

Yuri

Yuri!!! 

fedal

it was such a priceless moment... when two of the greatest teamed up in a doubles match. what a show, one of the great moments of this season. roger federer and rafael nadal!! vamos fedal!

irreversible

the hardest movies to watch more than once... i've only seen three: irrerversible, schindler's list and the passion of the christ. i really need to see requiem for a dream, boys don't cry, we need to talk about kevin, american history x and dogville. 

Calayan

a network of reflecting pools.


Calayan Island, Calayan Group of Islands, Cagayan
March 2017

ka-DDS

like many said, if you want to be in an interesting chat about politics (and on almost anything under the sun but mostly politics), hop on a taxi and engage in a friendly conversation with the driver. some said that taxi drivers are the true pulse of the nation. arguments (especially if the gentleman has entirely different views compared with yours), intelligent banter, a little bit of friendly tease and of course the pinoy way of personal and one-on-one heckling – all these will make for an out of the ordinary commuting. i commute daily, used to be via regular taxis,  until the shared economy finally got me into the bandwagon of these 3rd platform babies or in my ICT industry analyst lingo, early disruptors. these days, most of my daily trips to and from the office are divided between uber and grab. i must say that the conversations are not that colourful anymore since most grab and uber drivers are not that into politics, may be on the quiet side, or are too busy waze-ing their way in a colossal maze called metro manila.

on my way to my satur-date with the emmanuel charismatic community this afternoon, i got into a regular taxi and this manong driver immediately talked about jinggoy estrada's freedom from incarceration. he continued to say that in the first 15 months of this current administration, all he saw were crooked and high profile individuals getting pardoned, acquitted of any wrongdoings, reprieved from facing the full tune of the law, getting undeserved amnesty and one even being allowed to be buried in the libingan ng mga bayani with full military honors. he of course was talking about gloria macapagal-arroyo, sandra cam, janet napoles, drug and gambling lords and of course, the dictator ferdinand marcos. all these happen while innately good servant-leaders like vice president leni robredo, ombudsman conchita carpio-morales, chief justice ma. lourdes sereno, senator risa hontiveros, judy taguiwalo, gina lopez (isn't it a wonder why dutertards and pdut's allies for the most part attack leaders who are women??), get whacked by fake news mongerers, figuratively dismembered by powerful individuals who want to remove them from office or dismissed by duterte's allies who certainly want to protect their own interests and push their own selfish agenda.

all these in manong's own words show "a sad and sorry state of the country, far from what seemed to be exciting and promising because of the sweeping changes duterte championed during the campaign in order to win the elections". this manong driver did not hesitate to say that for the most part of the last 18 months or so, he was a fervent ka-DDS and would gamely slot in convos to defend duterte from anyone who has different ideas about the sitting president. but with how the last 15 months have transpired and with the recent developments, his strong belief on duterte is slowly starting to wane. he now doubts whether duterte will be that "best-ever president" as it's now becoming clear… his "idol" is not delivering.

he said that he has yet to see what pdut has pledged to do. all he heard were duterte's resolve to clobber anyone who tries to disagree and criticize his moves. what he has so far seen were duterte's moves to pay his powerful financiers back, his end of the political barter, in order to recompense the immense capital outlay these twisted individuals/families have invested in and provided for him. manong driver also said that it is now becoming apparent that pdut has no firm grip on reality and is using his tough demeanor to worm his way out of his many wide-of-the-mark pronouncements and actions. and to make matters worse, it's starting to dawn on this ka-DDS that duterte has no clear vision for the country, except his myopic war on drugs, his denial that his war on drugs are actually anti-poor and his even bigger crusade against his critics. it is now becoming evident to this ka-DDS that duterte is no different from the traditional politicians the filipinos loathe. he's as what the term says, trapo… conventional politico bent on nothing but to protect himself first and foremost, his so-called allies and will continue to do so since they do not have genuine and sincere concern for the country and its people.

with talks on duterte contemplating a martial law declaration and the aforementioned missteps by this administration, i could not help but to ask manong, "are you now regretting voting for duterte?" i can sense that the rabid ka-DDS in him wanted to kick me off the car as if i'm antonio trillanes but to my pleasant surprise, he said that he's at that 50-50 point. he still believes that he voted for the right candidate among the 5 presidentiables. but at the same time, it's becoming hard to swallow the fact that his candidate is slowly becoming a disappointment because of his several facepalm moves, keeping inept, bungling and unclean individuals like vitaliano aguirre, salvador panelo, mocha uson in his midst and having no clear accomplishments yet after 1 full year in power.

no gloating on my part though. what i'm glad is the truth that there are some reasonable ka-DDSes, those who look beyond the absent partylines and not mockingly brand those who voice different opinions as dilawan. these are the individuals who are gradually able to become conscious of duterte's erroneous steps and are not afraid to point these out. these are the persons who realize that fanatical belief of one person is a dangerous thing and believing that duterte is a heaven-sent saviour is 100% false. i hope that there are more of the likes of manong driver – those who slowly understand that politics, power, administration, governance are not about a single person… that it is about the good of the country and all pinoys.

our short but worthy of note convo ended on a good note – both of us are still full of hope for the country… that the philippines is a great nation and the filipinos may have a lot of things to work on but once we finally get our groove on, we can grow and prosper together.

salamat, manong and god bless the philippines.

deathly hollows

one of the best moments in the entire harry potter series was on the deathly hollows... this very good video explains it in great detail.

Boracay

I would enjoy a shoulder massage. I would enjoy a week lying by a swimming pool in the sun, sleeping. I would enjoy a large gin and tonic, as long as I didn't have to do anything after I drunk it. I would enjoy some chocolate. 

- How to be Good by Nick Hornby



White Beach, Boracay
Malay, Aklan
August 2017

tennis ambassadors

lindsay davenport and kim clijsters! how i miss seeing them playing, winning championships and lording the rankings... without the steely stares on their opponents nor the air of intimidation. both of these two champions do not resort to gamesmanship, gimmicks and name-calling. they do not boast of any of their achievements and are always gracious in defeat. kim and lindsay are the embodiment of true champions who are also nice offcourt... they belong to the rare breed of tennis champions who know that rackets do the real talking and everything else is not necessary. two great ambassadors of this great sport... thanks, kim and lindsay!

ang biktima

ay sus! ang "inapi at patuloy na inaapi" ay heto na naman sa kanyang katangi-tanging palabas. kagila-gilalas, kamangha-mangha at talaga namang puno ito ng pait, pagmamataas at katunggakan ng pag-uugali.

kumbinsido na talaga ako. sa pagsapit ng tag-ulan, simula na ng kadiliman ng mula rito. sa tuwing mamumuo ang masamang panahon sa banda ng dagat pasipiko, siya na ring simula ng panggagaliti nito, kapara ng mabilis na pag-ikot ng malalakas na hanging magdadala ng ulan. sa sandaling magdala ng pag-uulan ang habagat, heto na naman ang di na natapos na isyu mula sa kanyang pusali. kapag nagsisimula na ang pagbaha sa maraming lugar sa luzon, masama na ulit ang birada nito sa mga tao sa iyong paligid… ay hindi pala sa lahat, sa iilang mga indibidwal lamang, 'yung sa tingin nito ay may utang na loob sa kanya.  

naitanong na kaya nito sa kanyang sarili kung bakit lagi siyang nasa gitna ng awayan, samaan ng loob at paghihiwa-hiwalay ng mga magkakaugnay? sumingit man lang ba maski minsan sa kanyang kukote na usisain ang sarili, magmuni-muni kung ano ang mali sa kanyang sarili? sa kanyang gabi-gabing paghimbing, sumagi man lang ba sa kanyang isip na baka siya ang problema kaya't sa maraming pagkakaton sa loob ng maraming taon, lagi itong may nakakasamaan ng loob? di kaya ito nagtataka kung bakit tila karaniwan na ang pagkakaroon nito ng bagong kagalit o katampuhan o kaaway?

bakit ba kasi pakiramdam mo ay kinakalaban ka ng iba? bakit lagi mong pinangangalandakang tama ka at mali ang iba? bakit pakiramdam mo ay may karapatan kang magmataas? bakit buong pahimakas mong dinidemanda na umayon sa iyo ang lahat? bakit? hindi ka ba talaga napapagod sa iyong gawa-gawang mga hilahil?

nais ng maraming unawain ang iyong disposisyon. pero hindi ito sa lahat ng pagkakataon. tandaan mo, lahat ay may hangganan. 'ika nga, ang pasensya ay nauubos din. sige ka, baka di makapagpigil ang iba, baka ibuhos sa iyo ang galit at di mo kayanin kapag winasak ka ng mga masasakit na salita mula sa mga ito! di ba nga, minsan mo nang hindi kinaya? kapag napuno na ang salop, baka lalong di mo kayanin ang pagtutulad sa iyo sa mga mabalasik na personalidad na iyong kinamumuhian! ito na yata ang isa sa pinakamasakit na maaaring sabihin sa iyo dahil muhing-muhi ka sa mga ito pero tila nagiging ikaw na ang mga ito base sa iyong inaasal at iginagawi nitong mga nakaraang panahon.

iyong pakatandaan, hindi ka ispesyal, hindi lang ikaw ang anak ng diyos at hindi mo dapat pagmataasan ang iba, maski pa naungutan ka ng mga ito magkaminsan. hindi porke may utang na loob sa iyo, kailangan ka na nilang ilagay sa pedestal at ipagbunying parang isang bayani. hindi maaaring ipilit na ikaw ang ayunan, intindihin at bigyan ng atensyon. wala kang monopoliya sa pagiging tama… sa totoo lang, maraming beses ka nang pumalpak. huwag na bastos ang pagsasalita kahit pa may punto ka, anumang mabuti kapag sinabi ng pabalagbag ay nagiging masama at umaasim. tanggapin mong sa bawat gulo o awayang iyong kinasangkutan, may mali ka rin sa mga ito at sa mga sitwasyong ito, anumang sinabi o ginawa mo, maaaring reaksyon lamang ng ibang partido ang ikinasama mo ng loob. at saka, walang umaapi sa iyo. ikaw nga itong nagmamalabis.

hindi puwedeng laging tungkol sa iyo, hindi lang ikaw ang karakter sa mundong ibabaw. sana'y maunawaan mong ang lahat ay nasa gitna ng ibang porma ng unos, ang iba nga ay may mas matinding pinagdaraanan. kung wala kang matinding suliranin, itigil mo ang kangunguynguy, pagpapabrika ng mga isyu, paglalagay ng malisya sa mga bagay-bagay at pag-akap sa mga negatibong asersyon. huwag mong hayaang tuluyan kang ulaulin ng balighong emosyon.

dapat kang matuto sa kamalian ng iyong mga kinamumuhian at iwasan ang mga ito. di tulad nila, may panahon ka pa upang baguhin ang iyong sarili. gusto ng marami na muli mong matagpuan ang iyong dating sarili… 'yung walang dawag ang emosyon, 'yung walang bahid ng malisya ang bawat salita, 'yung walang pagmamataas sa bawat gawi, 'yung walang pangungunsensya, 'yung walang kabalintunaan, 'yung walang dramang pabiktima, 'yung dating magiliw at puno ng positibong pagtingin sa mga bagay, 'yung dating ikaw.

GoT symbolisms 2

the starks


the lannisters


the greyjoys


the boltons

GoT symbolisms

the tyrells


the targaryens


the baratheons