The Long Way Up

The chase between May Day and James Bond in A View to a Kill. Lois Lane hiding under the elevator in Superman II. The premiere target of the nanobots in the first G.I. Joe movie. All these transpired in one of France's best-known landmarks: the Eiffel Tower. Over the years, the motion picture industry has utilized this iconic structure in various ways and in different genres, yielding distinct results. There's just something about this tower that brings filmmakers back to its beauty and grandeur. Having said that -- and having seen Gustave Eiffel's masterpiece in person -- I can conclusively say that there is an awe-inspiring, enticing and captivating quality to this Parisian landmark that even the most artful depictions could never convey. As I made my way down the stairs of the Palais de Chaillot and onto the greens of the Trocadéro Gardens, the physical and figurative enormity of the Eiffel Tower became more and more obvious. All the years of wishing, hoping...

Expectancy was escalating as I was nearing the Eiffel Tower (the Holy Grail of this crusade). It may have been the years of seeing this world-famous landmark on the silver screen that fueled it; or it could quite possibly have been the factual and fictional stories that were perpendicularly, adjacently or tangentially related to this architectural and engineering wonder; or perhaps it might have been the months-long preparation for this Europe trip; or the combination of all these that raised my adrenalin levels to the maximum. It was supremely phenomenal. After leaving the convenience store, I headed further up Avenue Poincaré and landed on the six-way roundabout of Place du Trocadéro, where my first sighting of the Tour Eiffel occurred. I had to stop for a few minutes to take some pictures (of course) and to just take in the view and the 'dream-come-true' moment of seeing the landmark with my own eyes. Everything from then on became a series of one breathtaking expe...

On my way up to the main tour stop on this dream trip, I got momentarily caught under a light, mid-winter rain. It didn't dampen the whole experience, though. In fact, it enhanced the mood of my tour: "a rainy Monday afternoon in Paris" sounds like an idyllic and romantic turn of phrase that you might read in a Nicholas Sparks book; the experience of it, however, is something not even my four-decade worth of vocabulary can succinctly describe. So, as I stood under the canopy of the bus stop on the corner of Avenue Raymond Poincaré and Avenue Poch, waiting for the drizzle to die down, I took a moment to absorb the reality of me finally being in Paris: walking its streets, seeing its sights, and showered by its rains. I felt a mixture of incredulity and gratitude flooding my senses. I remember a bus stopping to pick up a local girl. I remember looking up at the sky to see patches of grey clouds floating against the blue Parisian sky. I remember  thankfully and ...

There's not that many moments in my life that I can categorize as " dream-come-true " moments. It's not that I haven't experienced great things in my life; it's just that I've only ever wished for a few great things to happen to me... and not all of them ever came to pass... except this one! On February 8 of 2016, I got to experience the lengthiest walking tour I've ever been on in my entire life in the city that I have always wanted to see since I was a teenager: PARIS ! Lengthy because I've spent most of my stay in Paris on foot: a total of seven and a half hours of walking around to see the major landmarks that I wanted to see. (Now I'm regretting why I didn't decide to spend a night or two there when I had the time and the money to do so... 2020?) Anyway, this short tour of the City of Lights and Love was one of the most anticipated stops in my European trip, which lasted three months. Right from the moment I boarded the ...

I have been really out of it for quite a while: writing! Another slump I guess. There seems to be no inspiration these days. Even when I sit in front of my computer and try to concoct something, nothing is expressed. Some great ideas do flutter by but I seem to have a hard time getting them to coalesce. However, I do have a thought I'd like to freely pour out here: waiting for something that you know is going to happen is really a challenge. Especially if it's something that you have been eagerly anticipating for years; something that you have been longing to embrace as a fresh start or a new leaf or another chapter; something that has been promised to you that will come to pass. Add to that the helpless feeling of being uncertain about timings and movement. I mean, sometimes I get the sense that things are accelerating toward fulfillment and completion. Other times I get the sense that things have come to a screeching halt or a complete stop (which is basically the ...

My job / vocation is not your typical 9-to-5. Sometimes it feels more like a 7-11 in the sense that in certain seasons, one work day can last way beyond the setting of the sun. Like right now. We've had two fathers of our congregation members pass away in the last week and everyone on staff has had to pull double duty where needed. Along with that, we're hosting a pastoral conference in five days, which has also stretched our work force thin. Then there's the two weddings happening a day part of each other this week. So, the expression "when it rains, it pours" is suitably applicable here! However, we also get to experience varying states and degrees of downtime. Dog days , if you will. These I look forward to... except when I've had too much of it. In which case, I start looking for things to do. But on its 'natural' ebb and flow, the downtime can be very helpful in recuperating from a season of hard work and emotional toil. Sometimes, being ab...

The longer one lives on this planet, the more they learn about themselves and others. In my case, all forty-two-and-a-half years of my life have shown me that I can't stand being around a lot of people for long periods of time. That's not to say I do not bear the discomfort of it, which I do; I'm saying if I had it my way each time I would choose to spend most of my time with fewer or no people around me at all. #IntrovertProblems . 😔 The reasons why I prefer to be by myself are as follows (these might not be all of them): - I get to avoid unnecessary chatter. Sometimes people talk too much about things that aren't really that important. Sometimes I feel too much talk is just adding to the noise. - Silence. Yes, it is connected to the first reason. Silence for me is such a priceless commodity that's getting more and more hard to find in a crowded metropolis like Cebu. Noise pollution comes from sources other than people, too: vehicles in traf...

It's really hard running into people with a very fixed, one-sided view of things that are very intricate and multi-faceted. Really hard! I can't understand -- if we're feeding off from the same source material and being taught by the same teachers -- why some people still choose to cling to a piece of the pie and insist to everyone else that their piece IS THE WHOLE PIE! This is probably the reason why the body of Christ is as fractured as it is today: too many people upholding one biblical truth and taking it to the extreme... mowing down other truths AND PEOPLE in their wake. I once taught about this during one of our services, echoing what I have learned from my pastor (and from other pastors online and off) that there is a danger in going to extremes when it comes to scriptural principles. The Word of God is so rich, so powerful and so full of many beautiful facets of spiritual life that fit together to make a whole. Human as we are, we have a tendency to p...

At the outset of my 27-day vacation in Manila last March (to spend time with my brother and his family from New Zealand), I told my nephews and niece that I would take as many photos and videos of them and with them as I could. My 12-year-old nephew asked why. I told him, "You know, when the vacation's over and we've all gone back to respective corners of the earth, these photos and videos will be all I have of you." You know the expression "time flies when you're having fun"? It always proves true whenever quality time is spent with the ones dearest to you. That pretty much sums up my time with my three favorite KiwiPino kids. I'm glad that I did take all the pictures and videos I could of them and with them. Almost a month has passed since we've all parted ways and gone back to our corners of the globe, but every memory of the time spent with my family still lingers lovingly in my heart and mind... and more so on my phone. Pict...

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...