glimpse of busay!

Second helpings…

After the momentous first day of duty, we realized that this day is GIGANTIC in proportions. We were so unprepared for what we encountered that our mouths dropped open in surprise, along with our lungs, as we saw the steep road downhill. ARE WE REALLY GONNA GO THERE? Of course, we have to. We were excited to see what’s in store for us today that we embarked on our adventure with wide grins and laughter in every step…NOT! We were too breathless and cautious of rolling downhill to even care! Alright, so maybe our shoes aren’t up to do the job but we had on heavy bags plus the CHN kit which was useless, btw.

With every downhill, there’s an uphill, a very UP-hill. We’re climbing to glory and the end of our journey, the sitio is just on the other side of the hill…not! We have to find the river which leads to the place…and it’s not appearing! Does this river exist? Or is it just the figment of our guide’s imagination? But the view was wonderful and so we trudged on like little Dora’s without Boots and a stationary backpack to go. The houses we passed by were pretty examples of great architecture…I’m way overboard but you’ll have to see it to believe it! It seems that every house has a car! You must be rich to live in a place like that! (or else, surrender yourself to riding the habal-habal) The houses became lesser as we went on and finally, finally…we see a, wait a minute is that a stream?!? Or a very minute example of one. But we see that it leads to our sitio! FINALLY! WE HAVE ARRIVED (after hours-it seemed like hours-of grueling walking, trudging, complaining, sweating, panting)

We rested at the main square (?!) of the area, but surprise, surprise…our CI pointed to a vertical, I swear it’s vertical, climb and said that we have to do an ocular survey of the whole area. We groaned aloud. Will our feet be up to the job? Of course, it is! That’s what feet are made for, climbing vertical places. As we climbed, we looked like hunchbacks doing mountain or more like wall climbing, only we don’t have the right equipment. Along the way we met a chicken, and the damned thing flew right at us! We screamed and held the person in front of us before we toppled over like dominoes towards the foot of the hill. We reached the top and climbed down again. We survived! (thank god!) and we’re still alive (barely).

After resting again, the time of reckoning has come, the way back is faced with two choices of transportation, each as perilous as the other. First, walk and Second, ride the habal-habal. Well, of course we’re not stupid! We’d be triple dead if tried walking that route again! So we rode the infamous habal-habal for only p10 per person! The mounting part was a bit difficult and I was assisted by my-almost-soon-to-be-crush, sV. He is such a gentleman! And btw, he didn’t even sweat it out the way we did during the perilous climbs! He looks so cute! Desperaux kind of cute.

The end of our second morning arrived quickly, but I really wanted to make the moment last a little longer (the sV moment! not the climbing part!)

And, btw, we will be doing that every day for 5 more weeks.

Survivor style much?!

Hope to survive all the way…

xoxo

first day firsts!

COPAR! Ready to go and conquer it all!

I’m writing this on the second day so my memoirs of what occurred may be sketchy…Events on the second day managed to outshine whatever things we did!

Busay is wonderful! It’s like this mountain with perfect road conditions and the view is magnificent. To see the whole city of Cebu lay out like that is amazing…makes your feel like you’re on top of the world…or of Cebu!

Aside from that, we also saw magnificent houses of the rich…we were filled with envy! One day, we’re going to own one just like that, or maybe even better than that!

It was my first time to be up there! Also my first time to walk with sV and even ride next to him on the jeepney!

Hmmm…I can’t recall most of what happened so I’ll let the pictures show say it all (or some of them, anyway)

Triggered by a song

I want you to love me, but I don't think you will.”
I wander around as I repeat this to myself
It’s the only answer I have, even if I’m scared of getting hurt.
I’ll say “I love you” to the one I love
Do you love me or not?
I don’t care what the answer is, I just need to know!
No matter how badly I desire to be with you
There are many unchangeable things in this world
and my love for you
can’t be stopped by anyone
As 1000 nights pass, I long to tell you
I have to let you know
“I want you to love me, but I don’t think you will.”
I wander around as I repeat this to myself
It’s the only answer I have, even if I’m scared of getting hurt.
I’ll say “I love you” to the one I love
Putting these feelings into words is so scary
but I’ll say “I love you” to the one I love
The happiness we chance upon in our lives can’t be expressed in words
That’s why we can only smile
Why we sing “do re mi” among the vivid autumn colors
With winter at our backs, and the spring sunbeams peeking through the leaves
as to protect someone who’s just been reborn
As I looked at the road I’d traveled and the path ahead,
my eyes were filled with cowardice
I wanted to look into your eyes, but was afraid I wouldn’t be honest
I didn’t want to know that you didn’t love me
and live the rest of my days alone
That day, I kept on loving you without getting hurt
As 1000 nights pass, I long to tell you
I have to let you know
“I want you to love me, but I don’t think you will.”
I wander around as I repeat this to myself
It’s the only answer I have, even if I’m scared of getting hurt.
I’ll say “I love you” to the one I love
Even if my feelings aren’t returned, I can say “I love you” to the one I love
And that’s the most beautiful thing in the world

The first step towards healing

Every beginning isn’t easy. I know. I always begin something but just end up there. Begin something again, then give up when I get tired. I need to start anew, this is not just a typical “want” but a dire need to let go of something which has been like an anchor to me. Anchoring me to one place, never letting me go. Loving someone is never easy, I know I'm not suppose to give up since there’s always this one little chance that we’ll be together again, but i know, and he knows that it will never work out. Distance can do more than separate people physically, the emotional binds we have shared is fragile, and with the absence of closeness it tends to break. Painfully so.

This is my first step towards healing. GIVING UP.

q’s i like to share…

It’s a slow night (translated: I’m slacking off again…) So I got this idea of putting together these quotes from various colorful characters I’ve encountered in books. These quotes made me sit up and take notice of much about anything. So here goes…

You don’t have to be anything other than what you are.

• So true…There’s no one else in the world like you! So why bother being somebody’s copy?!

Life is too uncertain to waste time.

• But sometimes, it’s fun to waste time too…

Moments of lunacy can occasionally lead to positive results.

• Absolutely. But only occasionally since crazy stunts aren’t really accepted as normal behavior in society. (As if we care! We do it all the time, if only to spite those stuck-ups…lol)

There’s very little you can’t have, so long as you dare reach for it.

• *sigh* ^thinking romantic thoughts^

You must learn to ignore what people say, you’ll be happier that way.

• Yup…You have your own personal conscience anyway (as long as it’s still working)

Morality is only for the middle class. The lower class can’t afford it and the upper class have entirely too much leisure time to fill.

• Spoken like a true snob! This Q is from one of my favorites, The Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas. It was true in their time…

It’s bad form to eat something after you’ve saved them.

• This Q cracked me up, it was referring to a duck!

Never do an enemy a small injury.

• Machiavelli…so evil, yet somewhat enticing!

When the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be.

• Another Machiavelli Q which is pretty inspiring. But I bet he wasn’t thinking of any good thoughts when he wrote this one up.

Be there with me, and when you close your eyes, my arms will be around you.

• I love this quote, it’s just so sweet and romantic…^insert mushy thoughts here^

"I'll think about it tomorrow. if I think about it today, I'll go crazy."

• Scarlett O’Hara. Too true.

“Standing up for yourself is a lonely business,”

• Blair, Blair, Blair. From my favorite Queen B.

If the shoe fits, wear it.

• Blair-rite wannabee

her knight in shining Armani!

• I want one!

a great moonstruck creature whose every hope of happiness was absurdly precarious

• So me…

I trust you, it’s everyone else that I hold in suspicion

• LOL…this one is classic!

They did what friends do when all else has failed… they sat with her in companionable silence… and let her know they cared.

• It makes me love my BFF’s even more. Even if we’re scattered all over the Philippines. I mean, Boys come and go but BFF’s stay forever!

I’m not nearly the villain you think I am.”

• Another classic Q. Can it be interpreted both ways? Like one, he is more of a villain than what you originally thought or two, he is less of a villain?! I think this is a Chuck Bass Q.

'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.'

• Rhett’s parting words to Scarlet. Ugh, I hate endings like this!

‘Never try to turn back on a new road—you don’t know what adventures await you.’”

• SURE!

"I have complete faith in your criminal abilities,"

• Another classic! Q’s like this just cracks me up!

Sometimes you need to step outside, clear your head & remind yourself of who you are & where you wanna be.And sometimes you have to venture outside your world in order to find yourself. As for me, I'm happy right where I am. I only wanna be with you. xoxo

• GG…so inspiring! One of the few…very few.

As much as a BFF can make you go WTF, there's no denying we'd all be a little less less rich without them.

• GG again, she’s so slutty yet witty!

XOXO

nothingness

Today, i feel like i am inside a water tank, with the water all around me, suppressing my breathing, limiting my movements, making everything move slowly. It feels like i am waiting for something momentous to happen to me. I feel neither happy nor sad. Content nor wanting. I am suspended in animation. Waiting, for something i do not know what.

Sore feet

It all happened because I had to be present or else I'll get sanctioned. And nobody ever wants to be sanctioned for 16 hours of duty…and lose precious vacation time. So, we all went there in time, but what we didn't know was that it was going to really start at 2pm.

So, we waited, and waited, and waited.

While waiting, we were eating, and eating and eating.

And of course, we took pictures, and more pictures.

That was the best part, the only part that mattered. The rest of the procession was a blur of heat, odor, angst and foot decay. (Seriously, my feet felt like it was slowly and painfully being removed from my body.)

It was our first time so we didn’t know that we have to stop every once in a while for something God only knows why. It was really a procession…in the truest sense of the word.

Next thing we knew, we were being scolded by some scary looking men in fatigues, we really couldn’t hear them over the noise of the band and the crowd so we just looked mournful and moved away. Apparently, we have to let the caro containing the Sto. Nino to pass first before we move on.

 

What was supposed to be a solemn procession turned out to be something very weird since the band, situated in the middle of the procession line, was playing some sort of death march tune. It felt like we were really going to our impending doom, what with the state of our feet and inner turmoil we are experiencing.

The route was so long…and the line was moving so slowly that it ended at around 5 or 6pm. It was like a hunger strike, no wonder people in Cebu don’t usually go for strikes unlike people in Manila, we have better things to do than walk and clog up traffic. My stomach was growling one-thirds of the way, it was still so far from the final destination. I was instantly appeased by a billboard of a McDonald burger, unfortunately, there wasn’t any store in our proximity.

Thankfully, we finally arrived but our feet were throbbing with pain. Every time we take a step, pain shoots up to our legs. We were crippled. (melodrama…)

I hope to not try it again, ever.

xoxo

Losing my marbles

It was probably because of the past experience of having someone being mugged right next to me in the jeepney. Or maybe starvation (I haven't eaten since last night and just on my way to eat) Or maybe paranoia. In the words of Ronald Weasley, "You're mental!"

The jeepney stopped to let this guy come aboard, he was grinning slyly and looking like a cat that just ate a canary. I was nervous. He looked like a mugger and my brain was going into hyper-mode-paranoia, I was already envisioning him taking out this knife, pointing it to all the passengers and asking them to give him all they got. The bad part was that he sat next to me, which again fueled my already churning imagination. He was just going to do me first! Already, I was thinking of ways to avoid it like crying and telling pathetic but pitiful lies so he could spare me, pretend I’m deaf, dumb and blind or just simply walk out of the jeep while it’s still in motion. So while I was thinking about all these, his hand went into his wallet and he took out something and quickly handed it over to my side. I jumped out of my skin! To my relief, it was just his fare, which he was giving to the conductor right next to me. I was so glad my stop came and I went out gratefully but when I was doing that, he appeared to be standing up too! He just came in, why he would want to go out so quickly? Unless it was to follow me and kill me! Maybe he was a serial killer! (at this part, I thought I was really going to go crazy and confront him right in the middle of the street.) But I was getting hungry and had no time for my imaginations so I looked to make sure he’s not following, which he was not doing. He was not even out of the jeepney! Apparently, he was just going to sit near the end portion.

(Or maybe he was just trying to spook me).

Paranoid, I am.

book-bugging

So it’s not every day that I get to read a book about fun singletons enjoying their independence in the free world (read US and Europe). Would I be like one of them, one day? The Philippines has a much different setting since we’re all about catholicism’s and we-must-be-demure type of women. It seems so restricting that we won’t be able to fully express ourselves because we have limitations. And when we gain enough courage to step out of the box, we are judged and demeaned by society. And to what standards? The ones which are based on how pure and fine our characters must be, how we must remain good always and all those bs which btw, does not work anymore! Notice the fact that we’re already in 2009! I mean, such things may be the reason why our country is in such a rut right now. It’s so annoying! It’s like, if we don’t become what society wants us to be, we are treated like pariahs!
(this is duly influenced by books I’ve read, news I’ve read and watched, lectures from intelligent human beings and my personal opinion)