For Dad...

December 12....

For many people it's just another ordinary day.

For me, December 12 is my Dad's birthday.

We celebrated the day by going to the 700 am mass at Magallanes and visiting his crypt, afterwards we had breakfast at a nearby Pancake House, for dinner we ate at Kamameshi House (one of his all time favorite places; he was still alive when we last ate there) .

Funny thing is, we ate at the same table area my family always ate at, it seems as if we have made a permanent reservation on that particular area. As much as I enjoyed the food, it was not complete, because Dad was not there, physically at least.

I guess that we still celebrate Dad's birth because we still miss him and believe strongly that even if he is no longer with us physically, he is with us in spirit. The very memory of the love my dad had for my whole family continues to inspire all of us, and in a way makes us all miss him.

I guess such applies to all those who have ever lost a loved one.

We try to replicate expericnes we had with them when they were still here, only to have a semblance of the actual experiences. Be that as it may, we still continue to do such things because we know that we need ways to connect to the past experiences we had with them. Arriving at a semblance of the experinces of past should never be looked at as a failure, because such reminders, no matter how small are still aspects of those people. And every little bit counts...

In God's Time?

I.

I guess that it is safe to assume that a lot of us pray for something we want or need. However, I am sure that there are times that we feel that God does not seem to answer our prayers. Prayers that we have been repeating over and over, some prayers go on for years without being 'answered'. This often leads us to question whether or not God is really on our side or maybe even question his very existence.

I somehow recall a song my parents would sing in their prayer meetings which says that "He makes all things beautiful in His time." But, what exactly is God's time? Can we, as humans, actually perceive God's time which is actually theoretically timeless?

We must also look at whether or not God really answers prayers. A lot of cliche answers rush to my head in response to such a question, answers which can immediately be deconstructed by seemingly more convincing ideas. For example, the most famous of all answers, "God has a reason for everything." Which can ea silly be shattered by seeing all the human suffering there is in the world.

II.

However, we must have a more mature understanding of what prayer really is to be able to unlock what God's time is.

In my own experience I have come to learn that prayer is not necessarily answerable by a yes or no. Prayer can also lead you to discover God's plan for you. Indeed He will make all things beautiful in His time. Amazingly, His plans seem to be better than your own plans for your self. In fact he gives you more than what you pray for, all you need to learn is to be patient...

I have learned that the answers to my prayers lie within my my friends both old and new, and my family....

III.

And how about all the suffering in this world crap? Look at the mirror closest to you, part of the answer is there...

Friendship

“Ang galling talaga ni Lord, he leads us to people whom we have to meet.”

A few a days ago, a friend of mine made the statement quoted above, it may not be her exact words, but the message is more or less intact. I may not have told her, until now, given she reads this post, that it got me to think about the people whom I have in my life.

Her statement somehow connects to something my dad always told me:

“All things happen for a reason, believe in His plan for you, eventually, all things will fall into place.”

His plan for us, whenever I hear these particular words, I often have images of achieving my dreams, getting the things that I want and need.

However, I sometimes forget the important people in my life, those who were always there for me, those who made life more enjoyable. Right now, I cannot imagine how it would be like without them In the end, I know now that you can never really truly achieve your dreams without the important people in your life to share it with.

As an aftermath of the Glorietta explosion:

Yesterday’s events reminded me how uncertain life is, especially after reading about the two ladies who were killed right after getting out of their cab. I can only imagine how it would be like had those two been people who were important to me…

For the people I have in my life right now, I am truly thankful.

To those whom I have hurt I am sorry, I promise you I will learn to better...

Despite of all my negatives…I thank you for being who you are to me…

Repost this or Else.....

How often have you come across a post that instructs you to re-post it within a certain number of hours, failure to do so will result to terrible luck for so many number of years? How often have you found yourself believing the post?

To be honest, I have done my share of re-posting such messages, not because of the warning, but rather the reward that comes with posting it. Imagine, just by re-posting this message, the girl of my dreams will finally fall for me too! Realistically speaking, you can classify this as a vain hope or expectancy.

I would have to admit that part of me wishes that the posts would actually have some sort of magic, that would somehow make the promises the Posts make come true. But another part of me somehow knows that life does not work that way; the way things happen in life is actually better.

In a way, the act of re-posting such can at times reflect our own fear of living, we re-post because we feel that we are inadequate to be able to accomplish things with the skills we possess.

(The the sceptic would argue that the same goes with prayer, but I beg to disagree, the act of prayer is a liberating act, the act of re-posting enslaves.)

In the end,it is not the act of re-posting that makes us get what we want or need. There can be no rational explanation to connect the two. There can be no rational explanation as to how breaking the cahin can kill the people whom you love or bring you years of bad luck.

In the end, you simply must live, and roll with all the punches life throws at you...

Bobong JP

Right now, I am just running on two cans of Bacchus Energy drink and around 6 pieces of Ciello's Mini Donuts, my body may be active, but my mind is a wreck.
I know this because:

1. Ateneo-La Salle later, but I do not seem to care...
2. I am not too sure if I speled bobo curect...
3. I am starting to hallucinate.
4. uhhhh...uhhhhhh....uhhhhh

All this from serving as Hotel-ops for around 20 hours. But, is all this worth it? I would have to say yes. Our Barristers go through a lot, and I believe that we should help them as much as possible.

Hopefully one day we(me and the many people in my head) would be lucky enough to be an Arellano Barrister, and hopefully make sir Bubut poorer by around 1 million.

Animo La Salle!(beat Ateneo!)
Hail to the Chief !
(Animo Arellano Barristers!)

Bobong J-lo signing offfffffffffffffffffzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

First Time

I finally understand the exhilaration musicians get whenever they perform on stage, last Friday I got to play rhythm guitar for a friend of mine in a singing contest. You cannot imagine how tense I was days before the performance, during practice I kept on forgetting the chords of the song, or I would get lost in some points of transition. Thankfully though, we played quite well.

My first “gig” if you can call it that; finds its origin in a promise I made to Fred, who asked me if I would play for him should he join the said contest, I said “sure, why not”. I never actually thought he would join, but a promise is a promise.

When I said yes, I actually had several other reasons why I said yes, standard reasons being anything for a friend, (being connected to the earlier a promise is a promise), aside from these and others I will not mention.

In the past I have always found reasons to escape the chance to perform on stage. I have always also found the excuse not to practice playing the guitar. To be honest, I have always set aside practicing the guitar, because I was always afraid that I would never reach the level of playing I aspire to reach: The very fear of never reaching your dreams cliché.

I am glad that I did not attempt to escape from this performance, because aside from having fun, it made me develop a deeper love for performing music. I hope that my first time will not be the last…

Rock on!

Hangovers.....

Since we had no Property today, Garry,Ia,Vince and I decided to go to Malate last night to celebrate the fact that Midterms are almost over. To celebrate, we did probably one thing most law students love doing, drinking and having a blast.

I also finally had the chance to indulge in the one think I have been craving for these past months, smoke a fine cigar, while downing a beer. Yup, I may not smoke cigarettes but I love cigars, makes me feel like a mafioso. Aside from increasing my chances of getting cancer (liver or lung...) I had fun sharing jokes, hearing and sharing some revelations (I blame the alcohol).

I just love moments where I do not have to think about my studies, such moments when the stress that I face each day at school, seems to melt away. This happens whenever I have the chance to unwind with friends, be it in a bar or coffee house or mall, or nice family get togethers be it over dinner or on the occasions when we watch a movie together.

As I return to reality, I can only hope that one day, all that stress will payoff...

(I have this nagging hangover now, but I do not care...it is but a small price to pay for having a great time... just like the caffiene crash you get after a nice cup of coffee over a great conversation...)