Badly Bruised

Look at that, it looks like I've been ran over by a motorbike. :-( Huhuhu. I got this after our blood test at the office. Last year I got a big bruise also but this one looks horrible and it feels uncomfortable. I will find out with the doctor if this is normal. Either the nurse didn't do it right or maybe I have a blood disorder? Oh my God, this better be not leukemia, I don't wanna die soon.

Bundle From Heaven

Wow! I got great news today (which is a welcome treat after a very stressful weekend at 8F). Our ate in Chicago just gave birth and the baby girl weighed 6 pounds. She will be named Sofia Alexis. Spunky! Another girl with a boy name in the family, which sounds cute as long as they don't name my nephews after a girl's name. Hehehe! :-)

Which reminds me: I'm now the last sibling in the family with no legacy to leave behind in the future society.

Makalandi nga...

Joke! :-)

Weekend in Anawangin

I am thankful of the leg press-leg curl-lunges routine I do at the gym because it gave me endurance and strong footwork to walk an arduous 5h trek up the mountain of Pundaquit all the way to the cove of Anawangin in Zambales. It was no joke to start at 4am pitch dark and the terrain ranged from sandy to rocky along unbeaten path up to the trail of precipitous slopes. I didn't rant because I was just a tag along and I was also new to the group. It's amazing how hiya can preserve enough energy and maintain inner strength within. In the dark, at some point, I was frantically struggling to go on and on without stopping. It was weird having no idea at which direction and point we were going to. I just followed and followed. If you are an impatient person and a control freak which sometimes make us one in this modern world, it can get a little uncomfortable. But I reminded myself that this was an adventure: it's exciting, out of your comfort zone and back to basics. You only have yourself and your attitude to carry on.

Our guide was patient. I asked him about the history of death by accident in the area. There were unguided bunch of adventurers who were taken by the strong swift of the river (which was already dry when we passed by) and also that camper who drowned at the beach. But how I wished the guide was more talkative. When we reached the crest overlooking the hidden valley with a pyramid hill at the center (Hench called it Yema Hill and for me it looked like a tomb of a pharoah), the wind was howling demonically as if inciting us to fly. The eerie view was breathtaking! But I was not about to be taken by the mysticality of it all: pyramid, tomb, wild black bull(?) roaming freely down the slope and people as sacrificial lambs to this paradise. The sun was beginning to shine behind the peak of the mountain. Finally, some light in the dark! We stayed for a few minutes to rest and take photos. It was beautiful. But our destination was not over yet. After a great reluctance, we descended, walked into the woods and eventually reached the shore of Anawangin where we happily pitched our tents along with other campers some who came via boating (ayunamampala!). I wished we didn't come on a long weekend though because too much people destroys the idea of being deserted in a paradise. Oh well, they probably felt the same way.

Photos by Hennessé and Cohrs

E-heads rock!!!

I was there!
These were the best moments of my rocking good time....

Here she comes - the golden island señorita

Here she comes, do you know her name?
I need to get away from the city
I need to get away from the work
I need to get away from the traffic
I need to get away
Got to get away
I just wanna be on the beach. Sunburn!

Enjoy summer!
Definitely wear sunscreen. :-)

Disappointment

I am frustrated. But I just cannot be reckless again and create a stir by passionately expressing myself against this mediocrity especially when I have the tendency to get agitated when I feel wronged with my causes. Because I've learned my hard lesson not long ago. Once ignited, words can be swords. It was so upsetting when my point was not taken in a way I envisioned it with my grand intention and how I ran out of patience and courage to explain while I grieved my indiscretion in silence save the one soul who listened to my version of truth. I still feel constipated when I am reminded of that disgrace. Now when I encounter the same distress, I just wish I can do auto-mode apathy. Why bother?

Aum... aum... For harmony and health, I need to practice more yoga.

Straight from German island called Usedom

Do you dream of looking into Celtic electric sheep's eyes?

From Teardrop Island

Anna Molly and Annabel Lee

And yet the Incubus mania continues....
Check out the parralelism of Anna Molly in Edgar Allan Poe's Annabel Lee.

Anna Molly
A cloud hangs over this city by the sea.
I watch the ships pass and wonder if she might be out there and sober as well from loneliness.
Please do persist, girl it's time we met and made a mess.
I picture your face at the back of my eyes.
A fire in the attic, proof of the prize!
Anna-Molly, Anna-Molly, Anna-Molly.

A cloud hangs over my head and mutes my happiness.
A thousand ships couldn't sail me back from distress.
Wish you were here I'm a wounded satellite.
I need you here, put me back together, make me right.
I picture your face at the back of my eyes.
A fire in the attic, proof of the prize!
Anna-Molly, Anna-Molly, Anna-Molly.
I'm calling your name up into the air.
Not one of the others could ever compare!
Anna-Molly, Anna-Molly.

Wait... there is a light... there is a fire defragmenting the attic.
Fate? Or something better? I could care less, just stay with me for a while.
I picture your face at the back of my eyes.
A fire in the attic, proof of the prize!
Anna-Molly, Anna-Molly, Anna-Molly.
I'm calling your name up into the air.
Not one of the others could ever compare!
Anna-Molly, Anna-Molly.


Annabel Lee
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.