Bora

di ako mapapagod na ilako ang turismo sa pilipinas sa sinuman sa mundo.

di ako mangingiming banggitin sa bawat talakan 

ang taal na ganda ng aking bansa.

di ako mauubusan ng salita kapag ganda ng aking bansa ang paksa.

di ako mawawalan ng ideya kapag may nagtanong sa akin 

kung saan maiging pumunta sa pinas.

di ako manghihinayang na isingit sa bawat komento 

ang mga katagang, "visit the philippines!".

di ako magagaralgal sa pagsasabing, 

ang pilipinas ang isa sa pinakamagandang bansa sa mundo. 

di ako titigil sa tuloy-tuloy na paggalugad at 

pagtuklas ng mga nakatagong lihim na ganda ng pilipinas. 

isa lamang ang ganda ng paglubog ng araw sa boracay 

sa milyun-milyong dahilan. bora!

Pangulasian

kailangan eh. nararapat lamang. 
at bakit naman hindi?
paraisong maituturing.
walang pagsidlan ang ngiti 
kapag ika'y tumuntong 
sa maputing buhanginan nito.
tila isa itong eden ng kagalakan
para sa pamilya't barkadahan.
o pangulasian, 
kailan tayo muli magkakadaupang-palad?
kaya kailangan at dapat lamang na magsulat muli tungkol sa 'yo.

panghalina

madalas kaysa hindi, inaayon ng tadhanang masumpungan ang mga bagong lugar... mga lugar na mag-iiwan ng malaking ngiti sa iyong puso. gaya ng cagbalete. ang payapa, maputi at malawak nitong dalampasigan ay may taal na panghalinang mag-aanyaya sa iyo tuwina... balikan mo akong muli.

bunga

serenity. boracay. punta bunga beach. the best.
ang bunga ng pagpupunyagi.  

salamat po

The greatest test of faith is when you don't get what you want, 

but you are still able to say, 

"thank you Lord."

downton wars

dame maggie smith with a lightsaber!! rock on, dowager countess!! 

Batad

bring me back to this great place. 

Pagudpud

the gathering storm.

 

serena

was it the enormity of the stage where she was? or was it the huge pressure of making history? or did she underestimate her opponent? these are the questions hovering behind serena williams' surprising loss to roberta vinci in the semifinals of this year's US open.

serena's riding high this year, ripe to match steffi graf's calendar grand slam in 1988 and equalling graf's 22 slams. she of course won this year's first 3 slams – defeating maria sharapova in melbourne, lucie safarova in 3 sets in paris and garbine muguruza in london. she's on 33-match winning streak in slams from last year's US open. she also has won titles in miami and cincinnati this year. she now has won a total of 53 matches and only lost 2 this year (to petra kvitova in madrid and belinda bencic in toronto). in this year's US open, her first round opponent retired, beat kiki bertens in straight sets in the second round, lost the first set but won comfortably against bethanie mattek-sands in the third round, won easily against madison keys in the fourth round and outgunned her sister venus in 3 sets in the quarterfinals.

but against robertavinci in the semis, she seemed flat and not her usual self. she of course won the first set, 6-2, roaring back to take 5 games to close it out. in the second, vinci found her groove, breaking serena's serve for the first time and eventually gutting and winning her first set against serena, 6-4. in the deciding set, serena went ahead, 2-0, but vinci broke back and held at 2-2. the 32-year old from taranto, italy would go on to break serena for an advantage at 4-3 after a fantastic rally and hold to 5-3. serena won the next game, 4-5, and got vinci to serve it out… which she did, dashing the younger williams' hopes of sweeping the 4 majors in the same calendar year. serena produced 16 aces and 50 winners but committed 40 unforced errors. vinci forced serena to commit more than 20 forced errors.

prior to US open 2015, roberta vinci has never been beyond the quarters of any slam. in fact, she lost in the first round of a slam, 23 times. in her 4 previous matches against serena, vinci did not win more than 4 games. but in the semifinal match, vinci was the steadier player, dictating points and not committing a lot of mistakes. she simply refused to commit errors, gamely faced serena and smiled a lot even when serena's serves and winners go past her. even when she loses to flavia pennetta in the finals, she will forever be etched in the history of most stunning upsets.

no calendar slam for serena and tennisdom this year. while williams said that she did not think of the grand slam and records, she of course had her sights on it. after all, she's playing well and dominating the circuit and nobody has ever came close to challenge that. not even sharapova, simona halep or kvitova. she's head and shoulders above the competition and winning the calendar grand slam will truly cement her place in the history as the greatest player ever. had she won the title, she would tie graf's 22 slams and would have ended the debate on who's really the greatest. but it was not to be. certainly, there was a huge pressure on her. everybody expected her to win, including vinci. vinci played well to win the match of her life but serena's been in these kinds of situation many times before and pulled through, even snatching wins when she really was down and not playing well. as rennae stubbs said, she's one of the greatest competitors ever and hates losing.

so what really swamped serena's chances of completing the slam? it was the combination of immense pressure, looking way ahead and most probably, not taking vinci seriously. in her career, serena always had problems with lowly, unflashy players who seemed to not have any power to bang away with her. think of emilie loit, alina jidkova, tiantian sun and monica niculescu. she lost to unknown and lower-ranked players such as garbine muguruza, alize cornet, jana cepelova and virginie razzano. with roberta vinci, she seemed to be telling herself that "you cannot lose to this player" or "you're so much better than her", thought of which confounded her as the match went on, vinci not folding back and continuing to play well, win her service games and breaking serena's serve once more. serena's frustration resulted to her becoming tentative, slower to react and seemingly not anticipating well. errors came rushing in and in no time, she was out of the tournament. as many pundits say, that's sport for you. even the greatest champions get perplexed and run out of ways to pull off a win sometimes, especially when you take your challenger too lightly.

i'm a fan of serena williams. she's one of the greatest players ever to play the sport. she's brought in great difference and with her talent, skills and personality, put tennis at a higher level as a whole. she probably would equal graf's 22 slams next year or even margaret court's 24 in the next few years. but the calendar grand slam is not hers. i would like to see another player achieve that… a more gracious and sportswoman who would not use steely stares to intimidate opponents and only let her racket do the talking.

till next grand slam season, tennisdom!

Siquijor

Isla del Fuego.

Ayutthaya

glorious past.

upcat questions

rejected upcat questions... from our taga UP Diliman group on facebook:

1. Anong circumference ng mukha ni Charice at ano ang diameter ng panga nya? Show your solution.
2. Bakit pa tinawag na 2nd home ang School kung bawal rin matulog?
4, Kapag ba ang buntis, pinicturan, makukunan? Ipaliwanag.
5. What’s your point? Paki-locate sa Cartesian Plane.
6. Hanggang saan aabot ang bente pesos mo?
7. Kung walang kamay ang mga ibon, then why do birds suddenly APIR? Ipaliwanag.
8. Bakit mo pinagpipilitan sarili mo sa taong ayaw sa 'yo? Defend your answer.
9. Alin ang tunay, Royal True Orange o Minute Maid with Real Pulp?
10. Where do broken hearts go? Can they find their way home? Cite examples based on experience.
11. Mas madali raw hulihin ang manok kapag nakatali,ngunit bakit pa ito kailangang gawin kung nakatali na nga ito?
12. Gaano kaitim yang kili-kili mo? Explain using the fifty shades of grey.
13. Paano mangulangot si Wolverine? Explain and illustrate.
14. Bakit wala paring tatalo sa ALASKA? Explain briefly, No Erasure!
15. Ano ang cultural explanation ng pagkembot ng reyna habang pumapasok ito sa bulaklak?
16. Should I give up? Or should I just keep chasing pavements?
17. Bakit double U ang tawag sa W? Bakit hindi na lang double V?
18. Kung bibigyan ka ng pagkakataong gumanda, anong karapatan mo? Defend your answer.
19. Kailan grumaduate ang Graduated Cylinder? Expound. Show history.
20. Bakit square ang box ng pizza samantalang circle naman ang pizza? Elaborate.
21. Nasaan ang corn, sa corned beef?
22. Gaano kataas ang lipad ng Whisper with Wings? Demonstrate.
23. Pwede bang lagyan ng ballpen ang Pencil Case?
24. Who let the dogs out? Explain briefly.
25. Sinong kumagat sa Apple logo? I-explain bakit hindi niya inubos.
26. Pag na-ban ang plastic sa Pilipinas, kelangan mo na ba matakot at magtago?
27. Kung 20 yrs old na si Mahal. Niregla ba siya? Illustrate her pubity stage according to Darwins theory.
28. Only Belo touches my skin, who touches yours?
29. Ano ang meron kay Brand X at galit na galit ang ibang brand sakanya? Defend your answer.
30. Kapatid ba ni Swiper the Fox si Megan Fox? At pinsan ba ni Megan Fox si Mozilla Firefox?
31. Ano susundin mo, sigaw ng puso mo o sigaw ng nanay mo?
32. Jumbo hotdog kaya mo ba ‘to? Explain your answer into 10-30 sentences.
33. Choco na gatas or gatas na choco? Nakakabusog o Nakakalusog?
34. Hot pa din ba ang hot sauce pag nilagay mo sa loob ng ref?
35. Saang direksyon papunta ang One Direction?
36. Bakit laban ang hanap ng batang bonakid?
37. Nakaligo ka na ba sa dagat ng basura?
38. Kung si Corazon ang unang aswang, pang-ilan ka?
39. Sa huling pagkakataon, tatanungin ulit kita. Showtime or Goodtime? Tandaan mo meron ka ng X.
40. Ano ang mas tama? AMALAYER or AMABEE? Explain.

downton abbey

it's the final season of downton abbey.