Mid Life Thoughts

Sleepless Nights and Coffee... or is there something else?

2012-01-11T01:47:00.000-08:00

For several nights now, I was having trouble getting a good night's sleep. I normally would sleep at 10 pm like clockwork. But these past night I would toss and turn desperately trying to get that badly needed rest. Or I would doze off only to awaken at around one in the morning ...

Caffeine after effects? I realized I consume about two to three cups of coffee at the office. But having done my research on the effects of coffee, I realized it wasn't the coffee that was causing my sleepless nights. It was something else. And the realization caused even more sleepless nights.

IS IT OK IF I CALL YOU MINE ? By Paul McCrane

2011-12-06T19:09:00.000-08:00

Lyrics | Paul McCrane - Is It Okay If I Call You Mine? lyrics

Would We Know Each Other in Heaven?

2010-11-19T00:17:00.000-08:00

"Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven?
Would it be the same
If I saw you in heaven? "

A very beautiful song, Tears In Heaven , by Eric Clapton. I understand he wrote this song for his 4 year old son who died in an accident, I think. It would be comforting indeed knowing that we all would be reunited in heaven with our loved ones.

Last couple of Sunday, the gospel was about a woman married seven times and Jesus was asked by the Sadducees whose wife will the woman be at resurrection and Jesus answered "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven "

This is the priest's sermon. In heaven, we would not recognize our loved ones. So treasure them well while on earth for in heaven, we all would be like angels. Your children? Yes, while on earth. In heaven , they are no longer your children.

I felt let down. I was hoping that in the afterlife, I would be reunited with my wife, children ,parents, even friends...

Zamboanga... just a passing thought

2010-10-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

Zamboanga City just celebrated it’s annual Fiesta Pilar in honor of the miraculous Our lady of the Pilar of the legendary Fort Pilar , which was held October 1 to 12. Legend has it that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a Spanish sentry guarding the Fort during the 17th Century , and alerted the guard of approaching danger. This gave the the Fort time to prepare and save its Christian settlers against an invading army of Moro pirates.


At the tarmac of the Zamboanga International Airport sometime in 2006.

Anyway, Zamboanga City due to it’s hispanic influence, speaks the Spanish creole language Chavacano . That’s the reason why Zamboanga is called Asia’s Latin City. I have always prided myself of having been born and raised in Zamboanga. Much of my happy memories of youth was in Zamboanga.

Zamboanga, today, despite the bad publicity it gets from the media ( due to Abu Sayyaf kidnappings), is still a nice place to live and visit. The city itself is safe and I would say, even safer compared to urban Manila or any urban city in the world, for that matter.

The latin city is also home to the US Forces who have undergone some military trainings with the Philippine counterpart against terrorisms.

A foreign tourist would have no difficulty navigating the urban streets of Zamboanga because almost all of its populace understands and speak the English language. Yes, it is safe. Just don’t go venturing out of the city limits.

Life is like rainy days...

2010-10-11T15:19:00.000-07:00

A rainy day

"It is raining still... Maybe it is not one of those showers that is here one minute and gone the next, as I had so boldly assumed. Maybe none of them are. After all, life in itself is a chain of rainy days. But there are times when not all of us have umbrellas to walk under. Those are the times when we need people who are willing to lend their umbrellas to a wet stranger on a rainy day. I think I'll go for a walk with my umbrella. " - Sun-Young Park

The stray cat who came to stay

2010-09-29T01:15:00.000-07:00

For the past few days, we had an unlikely guest who decided to make our home her home.Normally, my wife would have shooed the cat away, as she was never fond of these furry feline creatures. Besides, she has asthma and the cat would likely trigger her attacks.

Muning the Cat in a pensive mood

But we have other unwanted guests too, long before the cat came. Mice and rats. they would daringly dash across the room while we were watching TV, mice would even make the kitchen counter top their playground. And believe me, rat poison, rat traps, glues, etc, we tried them all to no avail.

My wife has had enough. When the cat came, she decided to let her stay. And voila! Just a couple of days later, we noticed a decrease of rat and mice activities. After a week or so, zero rat activities.

What did the cat do that made the rats disappear ? I actually saw the cat in action one night ( my son JJ saw it too) . But I'm not going to tell what I saw. Too disgusting for the squeamish out there, sorry. Hint: A cat, even a domesticated cat, is still , after all, a predator by nature.

By the way, JJ nicknamed the stray cat Muning.

Hmm... reasons not to cut down on my coffee

2010-09-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

A Cup of Coffee

Just had my usual morning fix... coffee. Was considering cutting down all together my consumption of coffee. But just can't seem to live the day without a sip of that delicious steaming hot coffee mix in the morning. One consolation, though, was the label printed prominently on my favorite coffee sachet which read : Contains 300mg of Antioxidants Per Serve .

Antioxidants are supposed to enhance the immune system and may lower the risk of cancer and infection. Research also claims that regular coffee consumption may be good to the heart. All in all, here's what I found on the net: Coffee may reduce the risk of the following :

- Parkinson’s Disease
- cirrhosis of the liver
- gallstones ( I currently have gallstones, too bad )
- kidney stones
- type 2 diabetes
- heart disease
- may delay the onset of multiple sclerosi

- Alzheimer’s disease ( memory loss)

This is contrary to traditional belief that coffee is bad for the health. However, research also shows that
drinking a lot of coffee can affect the absorption of calcium and increase the risk of osteoporosis It is also a mild diuretic ( because of the caffeine) and may increase the risk of dehydration. Caffeine has been found to raise the blood pressure which can be dangerous for those people with chronic hypertension. And for those with heart disease, it increases heart palpitations.

Now, really, I am confused. Is it good or bad?

I think I'll have to ponder on this over a hot cup of coffee.
Stay well, everyone.

"ber" Months and Pine Trees

2010-09-05T23:26:00.000-07:00

" Ber na! " ( It's already ber !) This is just a phrase too familiar to Filipinos. "Ber" pertains to October, Septermber, November and finally, the much anticipated month - December. It is within these months that we hear random Christmas songs on the radio and Malls.

For me, the "ber' months almost always evoke nostalgia of Christmases of my childhood... and of pine trees. Our christmas tree was not made of plastic unlike today. We had a real pine tree for Christmas back then. I would go with Dad to get our pine tree somewhere outside the city. My dad would put the tree at the back of the pick-up truck and making sure it was fastened securely, we would then head back home at Dolores Street.

The tree was tall that it literally almost touch the ceiling. We would put a golden star at the tip of the huge tree and decorate it with shiny colorful christmas balls. Then my mom would sprinkle the branches with cotton to simulate snow. And for that final touch, adorn the tree with christmas lights.

It 's not just the tree that I anticipate with excitement during those times. It was the thought of presents that I eagerly awaited. I would have my clean and largest socks that I can find to hang at the tree for Santa Claus to fill with gifts. No, actually, as I remember it now, I would hang the sock at the window so as to make it easy for Santa to drop in my gift. I reckon that with the window grills, Santa would have to figure out how to reach that sock at the Christmas tree. Just wanted to make life easier for Santa .

Christmas would not be Christmas without the familiar " O little Town of Bethlehem", and other traditional Christmas songs, which are seldom played today.

But anyway, the "ber" months in my adult life, had also come to mean the expectations of a coming Christmas bonus. :)

Times may have changed. But still, whenever the "ber" months arrive, I still get that anticipation feeling , that excitement of approaching Christmas, just as I had back then.

Time Out

2010-09-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

So much racial hatred and tension lately judging from user comments on the internet regarding the Quirino Grandstand hostage tragedy.

Maybe it’s time to call time-out. Have a coffee break or something. Go watch Disney channel for a change of atmosphere and ambiance. Or maybe Discovery Channel, oopss… Discovery Channel Headquarters near Washington, D.C. has been a scene of hostage drama a while back. Click here , for details. It ended up well, though. No hostages killed. Only the hostage taker (Chinese!!??) . Anyway, I still consider it a tragedy, even if only one life has been snuffed out of existence. One less bad guy, though.

Maybe it’s time for a real time-out and coffee break or something.
Now, how do I do that? :(

The Aftermath

2010-08-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

The hostage taking tragedy surely has put the Philippines in the world map once again. And admittedly, another black mark on our ittle nation.We all blamed the police and our government in their inability to control the situation, thus leading to tragic deaths of the HK nationals. Nobody wanted these to happen. But it did. But it saddens me to hear of fellow Filipinos humiliating and ridiculing our very own.

Browsing thru the internet, I could see and feel the anger by the Chinese. Mostly directed to the Filipinos. While I understand their anger, what troubles me is the way Filipinos react to their own, to the point of ridiculing their own country. We may have a lousy Police Force in the planet, inept government officials, but hey, crabbie, THEY ARE OUR police force and government officials. We may be a poor under developed country in the whole of Asia, but that doesn't give the Chinese, or any foreign nations, the right to push, bully, dictate and judge the Filipino nation as a whole because of that tragic incident.

Our President has already expressed sympathy over the tragedy. But they want the Philippine government to express a public apology to the Chinese government. What arrogance! The Chinese are, by the way, are not exactly a role model in human rights. I shall not go into details here. And the Chinese does not hold the monopoly of being the safest place to visit in the whole world. Filipino tourists, (yes, OUR VERY OWN) has been attacked and killed in one of the supposed safest place in China -- Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It was 2005 when SHELL executive Emmanuel Madrigal and his family were attacked upon alighting from a tourist bus by a knife wielding man named Wang Gongzou. Emmanuel Madrigal and his daugther died in that attack.

Did the Filipino nation expressed indignance over the tragedy? Did we demand an apology from the Chinese government? And did the Chinese offer a hint of regret over the tragic incident? Did they apologized for their inability to keep Filipino tourists safe from attack? Did we issue a travel ban because of that incident?

And the Chinese government has the gall and temerity to blame us over the Luneta tragedy! The have the gall and temerity to ask for an official apology! What really bothers me is the way our OWN media has been acting like they were the representatives of the Chinese. Not one media organization, as far as I know, has attempted to defend our sovereignty as a free independent nation.

But at least one Filipino lawmaker , Sen. Pangilinan, has the patriotic sense to defend our sovereign nation against giant China : " ... we are both sovereign nations and trust that China in the final analysis will respect Philippine sovereignty and not bully a small nation like the Philippines despite the recent hostage taking tragedy involving their nationals".

Hostage at the Luneta!

2010-08-24T22:02:00.000-07:00

I was at the office in the afternoon when I noticed a ticker breaking news scrolling at the top of my computer monitor saying something about a hijacked tourist bus at the Quirino grandstand area. I clicked to briefly read more. A dismissed Police Officer was holding hostage a bus full of Hong Kong tourists and that some hostages were already released.

It's going to end well, just like that previous hostage drama in 2007 ( a school bus full of schoolchildren held hostaged by an engineer), I thought. So, I resumed my work.

When I got home, we were glued to our sit as we watched the whole hostage drama unfold on live TV. It was a reality show which extended beyond the usual TV Patrol news schedule on ABS CBN. GMA 7 likewise, was covering live. Heck, CNN, BBC, the whole world was covering the whole hostage drama live!

As the whole drama dragged on, we witnessed , to our dismay, how the PNP SWAT assault force clumsily 'assaulted" the bus. It was an attack and retreat sequence found only on comedy films. The Police should see themselves in these footages and be ashamed of themselves. It seems an eternity before the SWAT finally signalled that it was all over. The hostage taker can be seen half dangling from the front door of the bus, apparently dead .

Well what happened next can only happen in the Philippines ( as they say, only in the Philippines! ) . The bus was instantly and literally swarmed with kibitzers and media , even before the medics, ambulances and other emergency personnel. What happened to the Police cordon ? It was chaos out there. But very typical pinoy, if I may say so.

Speaking of P-noy, where was he the whole time? I was expecting our President to at least appear on TV, if only to assure us that everything is under control. In my opinion, it is times like this that the people needs to see a visible head in authority. His low profile policy did not seem appropriate in this type of national crisis. Even avid supporters ( that includes me) at the office was disappointed for his lack of visibility during the siege.

To date, at least 8 foreign hostages and 1 hostage taker confirmed dead . Tragic.

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, circa 1968

2010-08-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

I used to play this LP allbum In-A- Gadda-Da-Vida by the Iron Butterfly ( no CDs yet at the time ) on our Hi Fi Mono , with the volume set almost to it's maximum. The sound was great. It was almost like a live band was playing in the living room. The Hi Fi Phono Amplifier( as my dad called it) was assembled by him and encased in a beautiful brown varnish cabinet box, also built by him. Today, we call it "Stereo Component" by notable brands such as Sony, Philips, Samsung and a host of other china sounding brands.And in contrast to the 70's Stereo and Quadrophonics , today's audio equipments are smaller and tinier.

But back to the Iron-Butterly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. I used to love this piece. And still do. I listen to this in the privacy of my earphone at the office. When driving alone in my car, I listen to it while cruising or at traffic snail pace, whatever.But when in the company of others, I automatically switch to "Bossa Nova" mode. :)

Anyhow, for the benefit of those not yet born when this Album made it to the charts, here's a brief description of this song's genre: This is a psychedelic rock song made by the Iron Butterfly in 1968. This also falls under the Heavy Metal genre. The title of the song was supposedly In The Garden of Eden , but during the making, recording and rehearsal of the song, Ron Bushy, the drummer, reportedly asked singer Don Ingle ( who was said to be intoxicated or high at the time ) for the song's title. The drummer couldn't clearly distinguish Don Ingle's slurred reply, and wrote it down. Hence, the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. The title struck and made it to the charts. Oh, by the way, the song lasts for the entire 17 minutes or more and occupies the entire length of the other side of the LP.

My original LP album of this classic heavy metal rock sadly, however, was lost when our family transferred from Zamboanga to Manila in the 70's.

A Blast From The Past

2010-08-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I got a double pleasant surprise of my life. And thanks to facebook. First to surface was Jeff ( not his real name, and all names written on this subject matter has been changed to preserve the privacy of those concerned . ) After more than 15 years, it was a surprise. His message was short and poignant. He was saying hello to the 4 Strong Winds ( College days buddies composed of myself, Jeff, Charlie and Trishia )
Jeff was the "philosopher" of the group. He was a thinker. By that I mean, he would view the world on the basis of its purpose. That we just don't exist for nothing. There has to a meaning, somehow, unfathomable as it may in our own feeble minds. He was always searching for something . He would thus turn to religion for answers. I think, with his personal relationship with his family in a roller coaster sort of, he was living on the edge. His ties and friendship with the group, I think, was what made him stay sane. but everything change. Nothing lasts forever. Soon, we all have our own separate ways after college. The last we heard of him was that he was living life as a hermit .

Then only a couple of days later, Charlie surfaces thru Facebook. A coincidence? Charlie was hungry for news about our group ( just as I was) in College. He asked about Jeff and Trishia. Now, Charlie was the "intellectual" among the group. I would always remember him with the "Elvis" style sideburns. I think, without him knowing it, he was the leader of the 4 Strong Winds. He was the diplomat. His friends and influence extends beyond the "group". He now resides in the United States. We would now be regularly updating information thru facebook. Jeff has not replied yet. Charlie I think is still awaiting friend confirmation from Jeff.

Only one member of the group remains unaccounted. Trishia. She was the "muse" of the group, long even before the korean 'F4" telenovela was created.. She was the sweet young lady "Jan Di " . But unlike "Jan Di" Trishia was soft spoken, naive and a conservative one, I would say. She was the "rope" that tied the group together. The 4 Strong Winds would never be complete without her. Now, I think, if ever, Trishia would be the key to Jeff's coming back to the real world. But Trishia is nowhere to be found.

But this isn't a telenovela, where everything ends well. But again...

Morning Coffee Ritual

2010-06-21T07:18:00.000-07:00

We all have our own peculiar morning rituals. But one of the universally accepted and well known morning ritual is the coffee . It’s a classic morning ritual that we’ve watched on American movies and TV series. The hero fumbles his way into the kitchen and pour himself a hot brewed coffee from the coffeemaker ( a standard fixture in any American kitchen , or at least in a Hollywood kitchen setup ) . Curiously though , I seldom see the characters pour water into the coffeemaker nor do you seldom see them plug on the coffeemaker. Oh, well. It’s just a movie, after all.

I love the smell of fresh brewed coffee in the early hours of the morning . But I don’t have the luxury of time of brewing coffee. My early morning ritual is a shower at 4:30 in the morning before rushing off to work.. My shower is a quick one. Five minutes. Followed by my daughters and wife. JJ ( the eldest son) showers before going to sleep at 2:30 a.m.! I am beginning to think he’s an owl.

It’s at the office where I begin my morning coffee ritual. We have a coffeemaker at the office. But never did like the taste. Maybe because the coffee had been left for the whole night and then reheated in the morning. I don’t know. Anyway, my favorite is the 3 in 1 coffee sachet . Any brands will do. They all have the same strong coffee aroma. As I said, this is where my morning coffee ritual begins. I arrive at the office, open my drawer to get my cup ( my office mates leave their cups at the coffee room area while I prefer to have my cup close by) and proceed to the coffee /pantry area and pour hot water and the coffee into the cup. I return to my cubicle and rest my cup of coffee at my desk while I power on my PC, do a quick browse on my emails . After 15 minutes, my coffee is half empty. I go down to the canteen for my breakfast, then go back to my cubicle. By then, my coffee is by now cold but it remains at my desk until the afternoon. It has always been that way .

We all have our own peculiar morning coffee ( or tea, if coffee is not your thing) ritual. Once you’ve found the right mix of action and stillness, sound and silence that gets your day off to a perfect start, you’ll never want to miss out on your own peculiar morning ritual.

Nothing But The Internet Is Working

2010-05-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it's been 3 years since my last post, and so I decided to post at least something , lest it be construed that this is a static page...but as if somebody cares. Does somebody even know that this blog exist?

Anyway, I've got time to spend today since the office is a mess right now, with partial lighting, boxes everywhere , partially demolished walls , half of the office furniture and records had just been transferred to our new office location at the other building. Thank God the internet is still working. It seems it's the only one still functioning at the office. But nobody's complaining.

One Fine Morning On My Way To Work

2009-11-19T18:41:00.000-08:00

When words are hard to come by, an old tactic ( and effective too) is to post photos of which I have done here. These photos were taken just outside of my office. It was a cloudless beautiful sunny morning in contrast from the previous rainy and stormy days.

Camanchile Drive

2007-06-25T21:37:00.000-07:00

Except for the corner street sign that says “Camanchile Drive”, I would not have recognized the street where I grew up. In fact, missing the street sign, I walked past it a couple of times, my direction a little bit disoriented. It was only the sign that assured me that I was on the right street. The familiar landmarks that I knew then were gone.

Upon entering the street was the ( or used to be ) Villarosa house. It was a semi bungalow with a nice den at the basement. I used to walk past this house daily on my way home from school. It would be about 4 to 5 pm and I could hear the Ray Conniff Singers from the den. Or once in a while, Santana’s Oye Como Va. The Villarosas had nice “sounds” down there.

A big Acacia tree greets you a few meters away. It was so huge that it blocks the sun and offers a welcome shade for those traversing this road. That was the landmark that I grew up with. But to my disappointment, the tree was no longer there. Instead, a big tall cold concrete wall stands in its place. The wall extends almost at the end of the street where you could see a busy highway… Veterans Avenue, I think.

Just past the Acacia tree was the Smoyer’s Compound. It consists of rows of apartments where we lived for a while and a moderate sized pineapple plantation. Or was it papaya? I’m not quite sure now. Those were several years ago, like 20 to 30 years . Memories had a way of playing tricks with your mind sometimes and I could not even remember the particular street where we lived. The apartment’s gone now, so is the mini plantation. And yes, the big ( and scary during my time) balete tree fronting the apartment. A half finished open basketball court now stands between where the balete tree and the apartment once stood.

At the far end of Camanchile Drive , at the right corner also once stood the Manuel residence. A bank now stand it its place.

Just at the back of the Manuel residence along Veterans Avenue was the Cuyugan’s Hotel. Actually a cluster of cottages. As I approached the gate
I noticed that it was locked with a chained padlock. The gate itself tells the whole story. It was rusted and I could see unattended grass.inside the place. Some cottages still stood there although I could not tell if people still live there. From my perspective, the place looked abandoned. Although I could hear a dog somewhere.

I walked all the way back to the Astoria Hotel. It was a 15-minute walk. I wanted desperately to feel the old Zamboanga I once new …

But things change. Nothing really last forever. Only memories.

A wish to step back in time

2007-06-18T17:54:00.000-07:00

A Lament to Time ( Why must it all end ? )
Wish you were here
just like the times
when everything else was young...
nothing seems to go wrong
for everything was
bliss
Wish I could go back
to the
time of innocence
of youth's fresh and
ecstatic fervor of going
through life's unending zest...
Why must all good memories
end ?
Why must it all end ?
Why end
at all ?

Romblon : In my hotel room

2007-05-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

Just finished taking pictures of the town's Cathedral ( St. Joseph ) which was built by the Recollect fathers in the 15th century. This church has stained-glass windows and a collection of antique icons and religious paintings. Was also able to take a shot of the town proper from a vantage point in Fort San Andres, an ancient Spanish fort, atop the hill overlooking the town proper.

My hotel room

Self shot with the camera on tripod

The St. Joseph Cathedral

The view from Fort San Andres overlooking the town proper

Reminiscence ( Part 2 ): Horrors of War

2007-03-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

It was in the 1970s when pockets of Muslim secessionists began their armed rebellion against the government .For us Christians, we consider them *savages”.For indeed they were. Nobody , I think, could really fault us for such perception for they beheaded and mutilated Christians . I remember passing by a morgue one afternoon after school with many people milling around , some with tears in their eyes, others hysterical, others simply watched silently in horror as dead bodies were unloaded from a truck . There , from survivors’ account, were tales of horror and rage. I learned that a passenger bus was stopped by armed men and separated Muslims from the Christians and then began to massacre the Christians. Some were beheaded, others mutilated.

The Muslims referred to Christians as Filipinos, which only showed that they never considered themselves Filipinos.

But that is altogether a different story which I would recount in my later memoirs( But I never did ).

Reminiscence ( Part 1 ): Pass In Review

2007-02-21T20:33:00.000-08:00

Image scanned from my BEACON 69 Grade School Year Book

The Ateneo has large fields with green bermuda grass . The field at the back of the school was where the PMT( Preparatory Military Training) and ROTC ( Reserved Officer’s Training Corps ) made their pass in review and weekly parade drills ( I miss these, particularly ). Ateneans were proud of their military uniforms. Most often I would sit under the big Acacia tree and watch in awe the cadets pass by during their marching drills. I imagined myself in one of those crisp gray Air Force uniforms and indeed, several years later, I was donning the much coveted Air Force gray uniform with the rank of cadet 2nd Lieutenant. A year later, the gray uniform was discarded in favor of the green fatigue jungle uniform and PHILCAG hat.This was the kind of hat worn by Philippine Troops then in Vietnam in support of the U.S. forces.

( Picture above was scanned from my 1969 Beacon yearbook )

1969 BEACON YEARBOOK

2007-02-13T14:21:00.000-08:00

In the afternoon, I decided to help out the wife by cleaning up the bedroom.

The bedroom closet is a mess, with assorted debris (mostly my own) accumulated through the years. About 20 minutes sort later, I found my 1969 Beacon Yearbook (ATENEO) still in one piece, though the hardbound cover edges had been eaten by mice or ants or something. Funny how time flies, huh? I looked at my grade school class picture and remembered those familiar faces .Hey, that’s me ! I looked funny. But so did my classmate’s faces. Why do old pictures always looked funny and horrible?

Too bad no 1973 High School yearbook . It was the year of Marcos martial law and publication was prohibited then.

Got to go and continue with the cleanup. I guess I’ll scan some pictures from the yearbook and post it later.

The Principal : Antonio L. Rodriguez, Jr. ( 1939 - 2006)

2007-01-16T22:03:00.000-08:00

Today I received an e-mail from the Ateneo de Zamboanga Alumni Office announcing the demise of Antonio Rodriguez. The name sounded familiar until i realized that he was my Grade School Principal in Xavier way back in the 60s when we temporarily migrated to Cagayan de Oro. I didn’t know till now that he was a native of my hometown Zamboanga City.

Part of the email :

Dear Alumni/ae,

I would like to share with you an email received from Rene Michael Baños, our alumni coordinator in Cagayan de Oro City advising us of the demise of Antonio Rodriguez of HS Class 1956, our golden jubilarian during our last Homecoming 2006. The late Tony Rodriguez was also the recipient of a special award in Cooperativism. He was not able to get his plaque in person as he was airlifted to Manila for acute pneumonia.

We also learned that his body was flown to San Antonio, Texas.

Baybee M.

As a kid then in Xavier University , he was one of my favorite Principal . I remember approaching him one day to inform him that I would be transfering to Ateneo de Zamboanga ( it was in the middle of the school year) because my father was reassigned back to Zamboanga City.

His demise deeply saddened me , as he was part of my past faded life. One by one, I see them, all of them, who had somehow made an impact on me in my later years, fade from this reality (or is it?) we call life. Then the realization that all of us, with no exemption, are headed the same way --- into oblivion. As Christians, we are taught to believe of the afterlife. Some say that we don't really die at all . Our consciousness lives on. Some believe that once we die, it's the end. the only consolation that one can really count on is when we have lived our life as we should as a Christian, or as a Hindu or Moslem , whatever, then we can at least be consoled that we would be remembered by those we left behind, and not fade into oblivion and forgotten.

Vaya con Dios, Mr. Principal ! Farewell Sir ...

Random Thoughts: The Catcher in the Rye

2007-01-14T21:45:00.000-08:00

The Catcher In The Rye was such a book that would forever be etched in my mind .it may have influenced the outcome of whatever decisions (and indecisions ) that I may have made in the course of my journey through life.

Reading books had been my pastime in those years when one was impatient of the years and the years do seemed slow to come by. I became one with the lead character and my life seemed like chapters in that book.

In those years (1970s) it was (reading books) the only pastime, second only to Hollywood movies, that would remedy and satisfy boredom . Internet as we know it today has not been invented yet ( or at least has not been made for public use, yet) . So I would pour over books at the Ateneo de Zamboanga library and got to intimately know Perry Mason and his cases and other books of different genres. But it was Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye that became one of my favorites.

Among other things, you'll find that you're not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You're by no means alone on that score, you'll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You'll learn from them - if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It's a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn't education. It’s history. It’s poetry.

That last paragraph is not mine. It's a qoute from the Catcher In The Rye, Chapter 24.

Bagacay Resort Picture at 5:30 A.M.

2006-12-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a photo I took of the resort before the storm. A place of tranquility.

Surviving Senyang's Fury

2006-12-10T18:52:00.000-08:00

In the darkness of our room we could hear the howling and whistling of Senyang's wrath . It was almost 12 midnight and any plans of evacuating to safer grounds was now out of the question. I held the tiny flashlight I bought at a local store ( Novo's I think) occasionally turning it on for assurance. The worst fear we had then was a tsunami... what a perfect place to be stranded! The once perfect paradise resort we always have dreamed about now was a fear factor experience. Occasionally Butch would blurt out a nervous joke to try to ease the uneasiness we all felt, I'm sure.

Amid sleep and consciousness occasional drifting in between, i realized it was approaching morning as the once total darkness enveloping the room now hinted of some distant light. I felt a sigh of relief. Though the storm was not over, we survived the night and welcomed the morning with a sense of hope.

Stranded tourists

2006-12-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

Cottage area overlooking the beach. This is our R&R place.

We've just barely recovered from Reming's fury when another storm is just about making its presence known while writing this blog... stranded tourists, I'de like to call ourselves , its barely just about more or less 16 days before Christmas and already I am missing my family ... Calbayog is such a lonely place at this time of the year, I'm pretty sure that Butch and Rod would agree... even over a dozen consumed beers notwithstanding. Add that to the beautiful sunset over Bagacay Resort.

Now , if only we could meet Monday's deadline to submit our audit report ... that would be our passport to home!

Alma Mater Revisited

2006-11-10T18:34:00.000-08:00

The Ateneo de Zamboanga University , Nov.10, 2006

Visiting my old alma mater always produces a lump on my throat and some butterflies on my stomach. It’s like traveling back in time with now not so vivid memories of one’s youth. So I took these photos for posterity for I may never have the chance to visit Zamboanga again. One can never tell.

The guard at the gate (near the Chapel) told me to proceed to the Alumni Office. They gave me an Ateneo Alumni identification card valid until December of 2007. But that’s about it. I was on my own. Where were my high school buddies? During my short 4 days stay in the city I’ve tried to locate Boyce Lorena, Tony Caoile, Tom Araneta , but my efforts proved futile .

I’m looking forward to visiting my once hometown again next year, God willing.