The Long Way Up

My two nephews recently got their circumcision done during their vacation here in the Philippines. It was quite a stressful time for me and the adults surrounding them, mainly because the younger of the two boys -- the eight-year-old one -- was getting paranoid about the discomfort and sensitivity of the wound and freshly-exposed skin, and reacting to it like he was being butchered, when in fact what was being done to him was for his own good. Despite our repeated efforts to pacify him, to let him lay still, and tell him that the procedures we were about to do on him would not lead to mutilation or death, he still allowed his fear of pain and of his "demise" get the better of him; thus making the circumcision and subsequent putting on and removal of bandages very laborious, and physically and emotionally taxing for all involved. From the cutting of the skin to the second and third dressings, his screams of "horror" caused my blood pressure -- and those ...

Its history is visible Its grandeur is discernible  Its beauty, inescapable It's Italy ! Desirable! The stature of cathedrals rule The mysteries they could unspool Milano 's structure? Truly cool The city's also worth a drool ' There's nothing common ,'  Como says Majestic lake, and mountain tress A chilly night, I under-dressed Those giant hands left me impressed Then a visit to my great-aunt In lovely Lucca , quaintness flaunts A walled city where epochs haunt ' You will linger ,' this locale taunts Leaning tower, cathedral dome World's best pizza call Pisa home Endless arch ways and streets to roam Endless as its historic tome Breezy Brescia  begged me to stay Lofty castle blew me away Lovely mountains, houses arrayed I adored her all in a day The town of Sirmione wows It is peninsulated now Blue waters are its castle's grounds With many treasures to be found Th...

Up until today, I've really only had a mental list of things that I would like to do while my time on Earth isn't through. People these days call it a bucket list; some, a wish list. These are just some of the things I am hoping I get to do in my lifetime (in no particular order): set foot on every country in the world (this is the general wish; some of the following will be specifics) go to the less-visited portions of the Great Wall of China spend a considerable amount of time in El Nido, Coron and other locales in Palawan, the Philippines go back to Paris and take more time to explore the city (I only spent a little over seven hours when I went in 2016) see more of France -- Normandy is on top of that list take a Southeast Asian land trip that would cover Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the other visa-free countries in the region... and try the exotic cuisine earn a living as, or make a consistent pastime out of being a singer, songwriter se...

I flew into Frankfurt One chilly winter day Knew it would be awesome Now I have this to say Deutschland  is efficient At traffic rules and more Countrysides are verdant With so much to explore Smaller towns like Zo blitz Just made me want to stay Feeling oh so rustic I could have slept all day Marburg , with its castle Set on a mountaintop Offered lovely vistas The wonders never stopped Giessen is historic Destroyed in time of war Heavy bombing happened In 1944 Then there's the town of Mainz Where printing press was born Where flows the river Rhine It left me all lovelorn I got lost in Aachen No net cafes around All ended in relief When my host had me found By Gera , Jena passed My bus from Chemnitz left Eight hours on the road Seared emotional heft Wunderbares Deutschland A charming month has waned There's still more ...

Yeah, so February 14, 2018 is just around the corner, and for sure many of my romance-rabid countrymen are going to go gaga for all things mushy -- flowers, chocolates, dates, cards, candle-lit dinners, proposals and whatnot's. I have no problem with that, really. Especially if the mushy stuff is actually backed by sincere sentiments and concrete commitments. What worries me are the "kids" that speed headlong in to "love" without any concept of what relationship are for (I used to be one of those). Here in the Philippines, one of the pervading cultural malady is the extraneous exigency of finding "forever" -- that special someone who will supposedly satiate all of one's emotional longings. Mr. or Ms. Forever is the one who is believed to never give you up, never let you down, never give you the run around, never desert you, never make you cry, never say goodbye, never tell a lie, and never hurt you . Many adhere to this mindset. ...

I was out to dinner the other night with two friends from Germany and our conversations led us to one of the topics that I don't frequently sound off about: POLITICS. My guests talked about the respective political atmospheres in their countries (the guy is a German; the girl an American) and naturally they asked me about the state of things in the Philippines as well. They were curious about what it was like to have "this current president" rule over the country. I turned to my American friend and told her, "Our president is somewhat similar to your president: they're both very liberal with their use of words; they're controversy-magnets; and their selection as president polarized our respective nations." My German friend asked if I thought President Duterte (Digong for short) was doing a good job at the helm of the Philippines. So I proceeded to tell my guests what I have seen on the "street level" and what I believe the president has d...

A few nights ago we had a health and fitness session during our young adults fellowship. One of the things I took away from that meeting was a quote that our guest speaker uttered: "Trust the process." The fitness coach used this statement in the context of allowing ample time for your body to show some progress in response to the efforts you put into it in terms of exercise, and what you keep out of it in terms of diet. But I want to use that statement to sound off about something that definitely needs the benefit of stages, seasons and phases: RELATIONSHIPS . When looking to get into one, we must trust the process. Many singers and songwriters have given stern warning about falling headlong into relationships. Elvis Presley, in his song "Can't Help Falling in Love" , says "only fools rush in" ; The Supremes sum it up in the title of their 1966 hit "You Can't Hurry Love" ;  and, appropriately, the paternal side of the Ca...

Numbers From the zeros to the ones Combine To become heroes and guns Fractions Are just morsels of the whole Slivers That need the sanction of souls Inches Are too close to see far away Slower Surely much better a rate Crevice Agape can chasms become Distance Just look how far we have come

Last week, while I was at my insurance company paying my regular quarterly investment, I was given their annual giveaway to clients -- a corporate journal/planner. Although it wasn't anything fancy (like a check for 10,000 bucks or a three-night stay in a five-star hotel) I found myself smiling, happy at the thought that I'm getting an unexpected gift. Later on after having left the insurance office, I opened the new journal and flipped through its empty pages. Right there I remembered how much I loved looking at unused pages of notebooks or planners (even ones that weren't mine) and started to think back to the fact that I have two or three journals that I had unknowingly collected and left blank. Why was I excited at the thought of getting another set of fresh pages to use? It's not like I have all the time in the world to fill all of them up. In fact I am at the moment lagging in filling out my current journal, one that I started at least four years ago. S...

During the last Christmas season, I was able to have a mini-conversation with a friend about the definition of the word 'home' . It wasn't really an in-depth, academic discourse but our efforts at giving meaning to the word left us more semi-confused than fully clarified (a dictionary would certainly have given us some well-established and generally accepted exposition of the word). My friend, who used to live in the Philippines but now lives and works in the United States, said she felt at home in both countries, and would miss one when she's in the other. I chimed in with an opinion that home is really where your heart is and that it's actually the people you love that make up home, regardless of location. Adding to that, I expressed that you can be in any geographical location in the world and still be at home. As the discussion went on and I continued to ponder on my thoughts about the matter, a question arose in my mind: What and/or where is ...

It's the eve of the year 2018 and I have quite a lot of time on my hands -- a lot of time in a quiet, secluded, noise-free and firework-fume-free environment. And I've got a lot of things on my mind. This'll be the first time in a long time that I'll be spending the coming of a new year on my own (the last one being the transition between 2012 and 2013). I don't mind being alone as much as I mind being lonely. The former has been my condition since 2012 when the last members of my immediate family (my mother and nephew, Amir) finally moved to New Zealand for good. The latter is a condition that visits me every now and then with varying degrees of manageability. But this is not a blog entry about loneliness. A year ago we had this discussion in our young adults' fellowship called Alone But Not Lonely . And for the most part of the last five years I have been alone... but not lonely. And 'lucky'* for me that's what I like ! (*used for effe...

Aside from having an eye for beauty, I happen to be gifted with an ear for beauty as well. More specifically, I have a sensitive ear for tunes, rhythms, harmonies, melodies and all sorts of sounds. This gift totally lends itself quite easily to my interest and passion for singing and playing music, among other things. However, the downside to this sensitivity to sound is the accompanying sensitivity to the volume of said sounds. It could be the random blaring of vehicle horns; the boisterous prattling of inconsiderate people; or the completely avoidable banging of tables and chairs by some random fast-food service crew who seems to lack much needed training in proper in-store decorum. Unwanted noise annoys me. I somehow let this truth slip out on my Facebook account when I finished the prompt  "My favorite sound is..." with "...silence!" I don't mind people having their conversations clamorous and incessant. They're entitled to do that. What an-noise ...

I once had this series of blog posts on my now-defunct Multiply site entitled "Confessions of a Good Monster." At the time, I thought the idea of semi-exposing my faults, flaws and weakness was a novel literary undertaking. I felt really 'cool' being able to do that especially since my 'confessions' were inspired by the release of Jars of Clay's then-latest album, Good Monsters. In those blog entries, I expressed my naive understanding of the existence of both good and evil inside my body, my whole being, making a show of my own internal struggle. Among the struggles I wrote about were my inclination towards being judgmental and my proclivity towards fleshly things (if you catch my drift). I guess you could say I was snitching on my 'evil side'. If memory serves me right, I think I wrote about ten of these good monster confessions. Flash forward to today. No longer as naive as I was regarding my view of the sinful flesh and the regenerate m...

Another mile, another while Usurped the joys of child-like style Another tick, another nick Unplugged the verve of lifelong guile Another sigh, another die Unleashed into the silent sky Another ounce, another pounce Until demeanor worn denied Another miss, another dis Unintentionally dimissed Another fort, another tort Unnecessarily amiss Another vibe, another gibe Unstable words to be transcribed Another hunt, another punt Under the influence imbibe Another plot, another knot Unraveling what time has wrought Another test, another quest Until tomorrow's woes are naught

If I had it my way, I would probably end up living out in the boondocks like a hermit and avoid as much human interaction as I possibly could. That's a part of me that I know may never actually get to be lived out. Good thing, too, because I know I have been called to interact, live with and shepherd people into the Kingdom of God. My life is littered with a lot of paradoxes: a love for writing weighed down by frequent writer's block; a love for singing on stage neutralized by an aversion for crowds; a friendly demeanor opposed by this isolationist tendency. And that is one of my biggest dilemmas. In last decade of my life I have been ushered into this position of having to address multitudes, correlate with groups of leaders, and mentor several fledgling and maturing followers of Jesus. Part of me embraces this challenge. Another part wants to dismiss it altogether. Handling people is a fine art. It takes skill. It requires wisdom. It takes a lot of patience... and a t...