Through The Fog

Have you ever wished you could ride through the clouds? This cluster of suspended tiny droplets of water is one of my favorite nature forms and even though I'm no longer a kid, I still childishly wish I could ride the them. :D

Recently, I and 3 of my friends (Janna, Lulu and Kuya) spontaneously decided to drive up to the highlands of Tagaytay City, Philippines despite the thunderstorm warnings...greatly because we wanted to rid (even for once) of the usual weekend routine that we have in Manila.

As we entered the city, we were welcomed not just by the cool feel but the thickening fog as well. It could have seemed a little creepy that time since reduced visibility while driving is dangerous plus Louize reminded us of the weird movie The Road (where there's fog in almost every scene). But in my inmost being, I was celebrating because this was the first time I'm literally surrounded by fog. :) I felt like my childish wish "ride through the clouds" was happening right there and then... Only that fog is a type of stratus cloud which is low-lying.

[caption id="attachment_394" align="alignnone" width="470"] Foggy Tagaytay Trip with Louize, Janna, Kuya and Toby ^_^[/caption]

Can you imagine the thrill of driving at only 20% (or less) visibility in the absence fog lights? Good thing Kuya's a gooooood driver and of course our confidence rests on God's loving and protective arms :)

How can unplanned trips be more exciting, right? ^_^

Project One Thing for Eca

[youtube=http://youtu.be/F5EUfb2wHEA]

This Project One Thing simply collates "that one thing" that each participant in the video see in ECA. It's funny I wasn't able to include my own thoughts in the video. ^_^ So here's my 2 cents about ECA's 1Thing (and more)...

ECA IS SO CHILDLIKE

[caption id="attachment_373" align="alignright" width="223"] I and Eca in our university uniform back in 2008. :)[/caption]

I've known her for 7 years (oh my gosh, that's too long!) to conclude that Eca is so childlike...and that entails the following traits:

Petite as a little girl. I need not say this because it's physically what we see right away, right? She's often mistaken as a highschool girl but I think that's a compliment and an asset since she works for the young people :)

Source of joy in a crowd.  Her energy level is just  unmatchable! She's just like a child who has gotten to eat chocolates and sweets making her hyperactive! As many of the people in the video said, her joy is so evident that people around her get infected. :) It's a good infection anyway.

Appreciates even the smallest learning. When she learns something from anything/anyone, even if it's as plain as how to properly clean her nails, she share'll share it with great enthusiasm! Haha

Stubborn. Of course being tagged as child-like would  definitely include this. Thank me Eca for not using the more appropriate term "BRAT". I guess we could blame your BELIEF theme for that.  If she wants something, she has to get it and it has to be NOW! (Shempre lalaglag din kita ng konte hehe)

[caption id="attachment_371" align="aligncenter" width="300"] We trip at times to wear similar outfits ^_^ Isn't that cool? :P[/caption]

A good friend. Any of you remember your childhood friends...when you'd vow to each other that phrase "friends forever"? Well even when we didn't vow it, God has like bound us to be friends forever. As I've said before, few among us find a friend who will really stick it out with you no matter what. So rare a friend is she that you could treat her no less than a treasure :)

Dependence. What is a child without her parents? I bet a kid would barely survive a day without a parent. That's exactly how she is in her relationship with God. She knows that she can't make it through anything without Him ;)

HAPPY 24th birthday Eca!!! Kelangan pa ba sabihin "I Love You"? Di na diba? Kita mo naman na eh ^_^

[caption id="attachment_372" align="aligncenter" width="470"] No, we didn't talk about wearing similar skirts, did we? We're all child-like after all :][/caption]

Dear Chu

Posting this Birthday appreciation letter I wrote for Carmen 1 year ago :)

Dear Chu,

You know that you’re one of the very few closest friends that I’ve allowed to really infiltrate my private life (and my heart for that matter). You know the depths of my heart next to God. Thank you for digging into my thoughts and allowing me to understand what they really mean. Trully, you’ve known me. You know what my actions mean. You recognize the feelings my expressions show. You discern even the things that my own heart is trying to keep from myself. Sometimes I can just wish that you make decisions for me. Haha. But of course I won’t let you, because you make decisions very slooow.

Thank you for the countless nights and overnights we’ve spent together, whether talking (your talking to be accurate), listening (that’s me), watching something that puzzles our heads, or just sleeping to regain strength from whatever fun activity/hang-out we had for the night. Thanks for sharing your room to me... It has kind of become a "city of refuge" for me. :)

You can speak words with tones that can pierce my soul yet I won’t get offended. But I’m thankful, too that we have that kind of special treatment to each other that most people cannot understand. ^_^

And of course how can I forget to thank you for having a great part of the change that happened to me over the years? I think I mean physical change. Haha I won't elaborate. ;) Well thank you for letting me better appreciate my femininity. :P

Thank you for almost four years of sincere friendship. We’ve been friends through our worsts and bests. I dearly pray to God that He’ll extend greatly our time together and that you will be always just around. Although I know that reality can bring us apart, let’s not allow distance to separate our God-bridged lives. I’m happy that someday in heaven, we can just sit together while enjoying the presence of God.

There surely are a million more to thank you about but let's just reserve that for the future. Love you Chu! When I marry, you’ll be my Wedding Planner-Organizer. YOU HAVE NO CHOICE. :P But ofcourse, your wedding first. ;)

P.S: I didn’t want to let your birthday pass without me giving you a personal surprise. Hope you like the collage. I’m sure you will... Ganda ko eh. Hahahappy Birthday ulit! See you!

-Jonai

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)

"He used to be a doctor once, but gave it all up to peel potatoes."

                                                                     -Bruno

 

     A good one but  I rate it 7.9 because the ending left me hanging.

Here's the IMDB summary:

     Set during World War II, a story seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.

[caption id="attachment_338" align="aligncenter" width="470"] The Boy in the Striped Pajamas[/caption]

     Last night, I wanted to have an outlet of my suppressed emotions for the past days (I think I'm very good at it) and so I searched for a drama movie I could cry over and played it as soon as I got home from work. The impression that it's a story about the friendship of 2 innocent 8-year old boys made me excited even more as I knew that this would be a CLEAN movie (very few nowadays).

     A Nazi family was forced to move out from a good home because the father's duty calls them to stay in a place near a concentration camp of captured Jews. Imagine how non-conducive for growing up that guarded place could be for Bruno, the typically adventurous boy who is the center of the story, and his 12-year old sister. They are kids and they may not be the captured people in the movie but they were not free.

[caption id="attachment_312" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Bruno and Pavel's conversation. I think the old man died because of the beating. :([/caption]

     There was a servant Jew (Pavel) in their new place--an old thin man, barely walking normally maybe because we wasn't really part of the food allocation in that 5-storey mansion. Bruno, in the only conversation he had with this man while he was peeling potatoes, found out that Pavel used to be a doctor before he was captured and forced to serve in that Nazi mansion.

     Stop right there! I got my chance to cry when I pondered that that could really be relative to the calling of my life.

What plan has God been investing on my life that I missed out on because of my slavery to the enemy? Is what I'm doing right now THE BEST THAT THERE IS or just something to HELP ME SURVIVE?

     I could actually just stop the movie right there and meditate on that question.

 

[caption id="attachment_314" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Bruno DARES to explore![/caption]

     But moving on. Bruno, in his quest to find friends (or at least other kids in the area), daringly set out through a forbidden exit in the mansion (because they literally weren't allowed to go out). As he walked through some distance, he reached an isolated side of the concentration camp fenced with electric barb wires and saw an also 8-year old Jewish boy wearing Pajamas (and so the title) alone on the on the other side of the fence. They consequently became good friends that even as they faced one last serious  trouble in their life, they stuck together.

[caption id="attachment_313" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Schmuel, the boy in the striped pajamas[/caption]

 

     The story's ending left me hanging (or maybe I just didn't like how it ended that I wanted some more events to happen) that I even got to dream of it in my sleep to end it myself in my subconscious mind. This is not a summary so to know the good yet shocking ending of the movie, you have to see it for yourself ;)

     I still haven't move on :(

Grasping for Breath

Last Summer I got to snorkel somewhere in the bays of Negros Oriental, Visayas, Philippines. Here's a life analogy I realized from my first Snorkeling:

[caption id="attachment_298" align="aligncenter" width="470"] You only go to a battle or adventure when you have the right gears![/caption]

Sometimes I'd struggle to breathe (because of the pressure or whatever) and I start to panic when I see that Im so far from the shore and water beneath me is soooo deep and I know that Im not a good swimmer. But realizing that "Hey, I wear a LIFE VEST. I can't sink!" makes me get my peace back, take off my mask and hose to breathe with my nose again.

Im so overwhelmed to understand how that life vest is such a lifesaver. Just like JESUS. Even when you get into the deepest situations, even the ones that could take your life actually, you just have to remember that JESUS is the ultimate saviour. You can't sink if you have him.