First Snow 2009

Snow came with the morning today. Our window provided a good view of the flurry. Watching snow fall is like watching the rain - but without the sound.



On our way home, we noticed the snowflakes that got caught on my coat sleeve.

It was delightful to see the snowflake and be able to discern its shape and pattern. We spent several minutes just trying to catch snowflakes on our sleeves (and bonnet and gloves), taking pictures of the individual snowflakes.


We tried to take photos as close as we can but our digital camera's macro function could not do a super macro. We had to make do. But we still had fun! And it was a truly amazing experience.

Boston to Baltimore Trip Notes - New York 1

November 26, 2008

00:45, South Station, Boston

I'm sprawled on the floor in this part of South Station where people are supposed to take the buses out of Boston, supporting my back on a large concrete post that had an electric outlet – therefore allowing me to have my EEE PC plugged and charged. We have tickets for the Fungwah bus that leaves at 2 AM. We got ourselves to South Station at around 1230 AM – because we needed to make sure that we catch the last Red train that leaves Alewife, supposedly at 12:22 AM.

After getting off from the subway, we meandered through South Station – it being a major transportation platform – subway, commuter rail, buses to all directions – before finally getting to the bus gates. Getting as near to the boarding gate as possible, no matter how far from the departure time, is a lesson I learned from being left behind by the plane in Hongkong. I never forgot it: Get to the boarding gate first. And then maybe rest, or nap, or window shop – around the area of the boarding gate.

Getting to South Station and looking at the information screens – I realized I had so many choices of buses to take for New York. There was Lucky Star – which also had a trip for 2 AM. The other major bus lines – Greyhound and PeterPan had trips for early morning – but starting at 7 AM, I think. And there was Bolt, and Megabus. I could have tried to look at Lucky Star – it might have a cheaper ticket than the $25 that Fungwah charged - $10 more expensive than their regular rates. I guess I did not Google enough.

A security officer answers a question from a passenger: “No, taxis are the only way out now. The last T has already passed the station.” It is 00:58. About a half hour before, another security officer was going around asking passengers for their tickets – because only passengers with tickets – or those leaving after 12 AM - are supposed to be the only ones allowed within the area.

My alarm has sounded. Got to go. It is 1:22.

7:22 AM, Starbucks – Corner Delancey Street and Allen Street, New York

With the Chinatown buses (the general term referred to the cheap fare buses, having started operating from and to New York Chinatown) seating is always on a first come first served basis.

Make sure you “checked in” with the ticketbooth if you bought your ticket online.

Being sleep deprived, I tried to sleep during the trip from Boston to New York. For his wake up call, the driver blared loud music when we were near the New York bus stop. With Fung Wah, and I think with most of the Chinatown buses – there is no terminal – just a drop off point. You basically get out of the bus to the sidewalk. Much the same feel as going down at BGH Rotunda when coming from Metro Manila to Baguio City.

We arrived at around 5:00 AM! Our ticket for Baltimore was at 9:45 AM. So what do we do now?

“Get out of the way.” The first words I got from a New Yorker on his bicycle in a cold November morning. Still dark. Not the most pleasing welcome remarks.

The sun has not yet risen and it felt creepy walking in long tunnels – turned out we were walking in the wrong direction. But we eventually found Allen Street – the pick up “terminal” for the New York – Baltimore leg of our trip. Getting a sense of the location, the next thing to do was – find a Mcdonald's.

Funny as it may seem, fastfoods have become a sanctuary for travelers in that uncertain zone of killing time before the next bus schedule. But this particular Mcdonald's was not friendly to weary, sleep – deprived travelers. People were not allowed to loiter, so we had to pay to stay there by ordering a meal. Just as well, I was hungry and it would be breakfast anyway. The staff were not fastfood cheery though – no point telling you that you've just made their day just by entering their door. So this is New York, I guess.

Anyway, I made sure to consume the breakfast I ordered as slowly as possible. Logic: as long as there was food on the table, I had a right to stay there. We finally finished the one breakfat meal that I ordered and decided to have coffee in a nearby Starbucks, not because I am a fan, or that it is a habit – but we assumed it was a safe place where people can stay as long as they want and maybe even have free wifi access with their coffee order. Note to the uninitiated: Venti does not mean small. It is the size bigger than Tall.

So here we are. So this is New York. At least one street corner of New York. I have a good view and there are many interesting people to watch.

On the Whale Massacre at Faroe Island

I am not really sure this is Sanctuary material, but I might as well put it here.

A friend of mine sent a forwarded message about a gruesome traditional activity that happens in the Faroe Islands in Denmark. It involves killing a lot of whales. Naturally eliciting a lot of protest - and therefore a lot of forwarded emails.

So, I checked with Google just to make sure this is not just some propaganda thing that wasn't based on anything.

I looked for videos and found one at Youtube. I did not even finish it (because it really was very bloody).

But with further reading, and consulting the ever reliable truthorfiction.com - it turns out the people in the Faroe Islands have some rationale on the activity - not as a rite of passage tradition as mentioned in the forwarded email - but as a communal activity to store food for the winter.

But the activity really is not for the squeamish - as a BBC correspondent/witness had put it.

Here's a link to the objective take on the issue: A Whale of a Killing in Denmark -Truth! & Fiction!

And here's an excerpt from the BBC article that gives another perspective: Faroes' controversial whale hunt

"What, I wondered, did they think of the attempts by animal rights activists to ban whale hunting outright?"

They had no doubts. With 800,000 pilot whales in the North Atlantic and with rarely more than 2,000 a year taken in the Faroes, the whale population was not under threat.

Had I, they asked pointedly, ever gone to an abattoir in my country and seen the industrial daily slaughter of thousands of farm animals?

Ironically, rights activists and Faroese do agree on one thing.

The recent discovery of high levels of mercury, insecticides and other toxins in pilot whales means that whale meat consumption may have to be reduced. Pregnant mothers on the islands have been counselled not to eat it.

Surely, my friends pointed out, rather than attempting to block a traditional and sustainable harvest, environmentalists would better focus their energies on preventing the slow poisoning of the seas, which in the long run pose a far greater threat to the whales, and to us all.
[End of Quote]

Anyway, not that I think there is no issue, I would not personally be involved in such an activity myself - I guess I just need to take a second look. This is also related to concerns for polar bear hunting in the Arctic. Extreme conservationists would call the practice evil, but on the other hand, they forget that it is a major source of food for many of the indigenous peoples in the Arctic.

And I guess in the web of life - humans are the ultimate predators - and we are just doing our job.


--- Excerpt of the forwarded message:
>
> DENMARK: WHAT A SHAME!!!
>
> This happens in Denmark

>
> DENMARK: WHAT A SHAME, A SAD SHAME.
> THESE PICTURES HAVE TO BE SEEN AROUND THE WORLD. THERE IS NO WORSE BEAST THAN MAN!
>
> This brutality happens every year, Dantesque, bloody slaughter in the Faroe Islands, which belongs to Denmark .
> A country supposedly 'civilized' and a EUROPEAN UNION country. For many people this cruel practice is unknown, how insensitivity.
> This bloody slaughter is just to attend Moz to 'show' entering adulthood! It's absolutely incredible that nobody dares to do something to prevent this
> barbarism that is committed against Calderon, an intelligent dolphin who has the peculiarity of approaching people out of sheer curiosity.

Autumn Leaves Collection 2008

Bring them out crayons
Color them leaves
Green.
No...
Red!
Yellow!
Orange!
Maroon!
Pink!
A girl from the tropics
Finds out
That rainbows
Grow on trees
And
then
fall
Like


Stars.

Autumn's Coming

I took a walk from the apartment to the Kendall Square station.
20 minutes
The whole length of Third Street.
Passing through blocks
And trees by the wayside

I would hear my feet
When they touch the concrete sidewalk
Already dotted with
Wonderfully fallen leaves
An exclamation
My thrilled feet
In spite of my four dollar thrift shop rubber shoes
Singing
"Beatiful! Beautiful!"

Wearing Mufflers in August

I loaded the laundry at the basement.
Then mulled whether I should return a phone that I bought spur of the moment yesterday
While I washed the dishes.
And reminded myself that I had to go back to the sink to wash the pans which I left to soak.
I opened the computer supposedly with a purpose,
But wandered to my emails
And saw a string of new mails
From my husband.
Who is sitting a few feet away from me.

It was chilly since yesterday.
I am wearing a muffler made from a shawl
From Cambodia
A gift from a former officemate.

I am made aware again of the passing planes
and the constant whirring of machines around me

It is a quiet morning
Except for all these whirring
And our clicking keyboards.

Splashing at Fountains

I watched as the kids played with glee while water spouted from the concrete ground.
It was one image that I definitely do not get to see a lot at home.
What with our concept of "init at lamig" or "basa at tuyo."
But not all Filipinos are afraid of playing in the rain, aren't they?
I am quite sure playing in the rain was one fond childhood memory I have, somewhere tucked in the recesses of my brain - which has forgotten some things.
I am certain, however, that people from the Philippines associate being wet in the rain with danger - necessitating a warm shower immediately after.
Are we afraid that the water is dirty? That it contains "germs?"

But we don't get to see kids from the Philippines playing in fountains. Our fountains are not meant to be interactive. Here, I think the water is definitely dirty.

Seeing the kids playing by the fountain, even if it is not something that I get to see at home, made me miss home.

Letter to Hotaru on Overflowing Thankfulness

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

-Galatians 2:6-7

Dear Hotaru,

There are many things that apply to me in Galatians 2:6-7, and especially in my current context. I had an essay title running in my mind even before we got here - “Yet again, in transition.” It was supposed to highlight how, yet again, my life gets to be in transition. And in a time when I feel I would like to be settled and rooted. I feel that I've had my share of moving around and seeing places and going yet again to a new environment does not excite me anymore.

But Paul's letter to the Galatians has something for me in that area – to “continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him.” I have sort of attributed the waning of my spiritual life to the many geographical moves I have made. I felt that if somehow I could live in a place for at least five years, I could find myself a good local church where I could build relationships, get involved in ministry, and grow in the faith. Here, I am reminded that I am to continue to live, to be rooted, to be built up – in Christ. I should know what that means, and I could possibly come up with a very spiritual affirmation of its significance in my life. But I use the next line in the verse to explain how the seemingly simple concept of continuing to live in Christ, being rooted and built up in him, is to me at the moment a practical mystery. “Strengthened in the faith as you were taught” - shouldn't this bring me back to my rationale of why I want to get rooted and settled down? Oh me, of little faith! So I conclude with that, and proceed to “and overflowing with thankfulness.”

At this particular time of the month, it is really hard to be thankful for me. At this time of the month, I am worried. I have been worried even before we got here. Here, I am reminded of thankfulness. I realize that I have not been very thankful lately because I have been worried.

It is so hard to be encouraged so quickly by a verse when you are struggling with faith, recognizing that you have been taught – but your faith has not been strengthened. And it is not because I moved so much, I guess. I have not taken it to myself to do my part to be rooted, to be built up, to be strengthened in faith. I have limited God to geographical comfort zones - “If I could just stay long enough in one place, I would probably have more faith.” And realize quickly how such a bad excuse it is.

I am reminded that faith can only grow when it is used. This is my little step of faith today – thankfulness. I may not be overflowing with it right now – but I'll get to that. “Count your blessings one by one...”

One by one.

You, included.

Yours,

Kulibangbang

How-to forward emails appropriately

I stumbled upon a blog by a Don Kishote which he actually got from an email that was sent to him by a friend. I am not an email forwarder, and I have to admit that I do not really open forwarded emails even from friends - except when I really don't have anything to do.

Anyway, when I do get to read a forwarded email, I check it with http://truthorfiction.org/ or http://breakthechain.org/. I have made it a point to call the attention of the forwarder to make sure they first verify information that they forward. And that long list of previous recipients is really annoying - and also dangerous - because it becomes a great source of email addresses for spammers. So think about it first when you forward email because there are two things that you might be doing:
1. You are perpetuating the spread of lies and untruth.
2. You are putting your friends at risk by exposing their email addresses.

Below is the post for those who don't want to follow the link.

Pasabilis: How-to forward emails appropriately

Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses & names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every e-mail address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit. That’s right, all of that inconvenience over five cents!

How do you stop it? Well, there are several easy steps:

(1) When you forward an e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). That’s right, DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. You MUST click the ‘Forward’ button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don’t click on ‘Forward’ first, you won’t be able to edit the message at all.

(2) Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: fields for adding e-mail addresses. Always use the BCC: (blind carbon copy) field for listing the e-mail addresses. This is the way the people you send to will only see their own e-mail address. If you don’t see your BCC: option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that’s it, it’s that easy. When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say ‘Undisclosed Recipients’ in the ‘TO:’ field of the people who receive it.

(3) Remove any ‘FW :’ in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.

(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual e-mail you are reading. Ever get those e-mails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page with the information on it? By Forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many e-mails just to see what you sent.

(5) Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses. A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and email address on a petition . (Actually, if you think about it, who’s supposed to send the petition in to whatever cause it supports?&nb sp; And don ‘t believe the ones that say that the email is being traced, it just aint so!)

(6) One of the main ones I hate is the ones that say that something like, ‘Send this email to 10 people and you’ll see something great run across your screen.’ Or, sometimes they’ll just tease you by saying something really cute will happen. IT AINT GONNA HAPPEN!!!!! (Trust me, I’m still seeing some of the same ones that I waited on 10 years ago!) I don’t let the bad luck ones scare me either, they get trashed. (Could be why I haven’t won the lottery??)

(7) Before you forward an Amber Alert, or a Virus Alert, or some of the other ones floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them. Most of them are junk mail that’s been circling the net for YEARS! Just about everything you receive in an email that is in question can be checked out at Snopes. Just go to http://www.snopes.com/

Its really easy to find out if it’s real or not. If it’s not, please don’t pass it on.

So please, in the future, let’s stop the junk mail and the viruses.

TiongSan Harrison On Fire

April 2 was not a good day for TiongSan Harrison.

BUHAY AMERIKA

This got forwarded to me.
Sharing it here.

-----

Original message from Aizon:
HAY BUHAY AMERICA TALAGA
A friend named "Maeng Ni" posted this.
Lahat ng sinabi niya nakakatuwa at totoo.

Akala ng mga tao na nasa Pilipinas kapag nasa America ka akala nila madami ka ng pera. Ang totoo, madami
kang utang, dahil credit card lahat ang gamit mo sa pagbili mo ng mga gamit mo. Kailangan mo gumamit ng credit card para magka-credit history ka,
kase pag hindi ka umutang o wala kang utang, hindi ka pagkakatiwalaan ng mga kano . Pag wala kang credit card, ibig sabihin wala kang kapasidad magbayad.

Akala nila mayaman ka na kase may kotse ka na. Ang totoo, kapag hindi ka bumili ng kotse sa America
maglalakad ka ng milya-milya sa ilalim ng init ng araw o kaya sa snow. Walang jeepney, tricycle o padyak sa America .

Akala nila masarap ang buhay dito sa America . Ang totoo, puro ka trabaho kase pag di ka nagtrabaho, wala kang pangbayad ng bills mo sa kotse, credit
card, ilaw, tubig, insurance, bahay at iba pa. Hindi ka na pwedeng tumambay sa kapitbahay kase busy din sila
maghanap buhay pangbayad ng bills nila.

Akala nila masaya ka kase nagpadala ka ng picture mo sa Disneyland , Seaworld, Six Flags, Universal Studios at iba
pang attractions. Ang totoo, kailangan mo ngumiti kase nagbayad ka ng $70+ para makarating ka dun, kailangan mo na naman ang 10 hours na sweldo mong
pinangbayad sa ticket.

Akala nila malaki na ang kinikita mo kase dolyar na sweldo mo. Ang totoo, malaki pagpinalit mo ng peso, pero
dolyar din ang gastos mo sa America. Ibig sabihin ang dolyar mong kinita sa presyong dolyar mo din gagastusin.
Ang P15.00 na sardinas sa Pilipinas $1.00 sa America , ang isang pakete ng sigarilyo sa pilipinas P40.00, sa
America $ 6.50, ang upa mo sa bahay na P10,000 sa Pilipinas, sa America $1,000++.

Akala nila buhay milyonaryo ka na kase ang ganda ng bahay at kotse mo. Ang totoo milyon ang utang mo. Ang bago mong kotse 5 taon mong huhulugan. Ang
bahay 30 taon mong huhulugan. Ibig sabihin, alipin ka ng bahay at kotse mo.

Madaming naghahangad na makarating sa America . Lalo na mga nurses, mahirap maging normal na manggagawa sa Pilipinas. Madalas pagod ka sa trabaho. Pag dating ng sweldo mo, kulang pa sa pagkain mo. Pero ganun
din sa ibang bansa katulad ng America .
Hindi ibig sabihin dolyar na ang
sweldo mo, yayaman ka na, kailangan mo ding magbanat ng buto para mabuhay ka sa ibang bansa.

Isang malaking sakripisyo ang pag alis mo sa bansang
pinagsilangan at malungkot iwanan ang
mga mahal mo sa buhay.Hindi pinupulot
ang pera dito o pinipitas. Hindi ako
naninira ng pangarap, gusto ko lang
buksan ang bintana ng katotohanan.

Letting Go

I lost my cellphone recently.
It slipped out of my pocket (I can see it all in my mind), while I was on a taxi, on my way home.
I cried a little over it. I was hoping to use that phone for a very, very long time. It was a favorite. I got that phone with a purpose. I needed a phone that was compatible with my palm, and it turned out the phone was already a model that was out of production.
I took the effort to go through every store in Greenhills just to look for it.
And I found it.
And loved it.
And then lost it.

It was funny, but it was the same feeling I had when I was looking for my palm. It felt like I was looking for an antique item. They were not the latest fads, and the store sellers might have found it weird that I was looking for items that were not very popular anymore.

Anyway, because modern life dictates that I will need a cellphone in order to continue living, I went off to the second hand cellphone shops one rainy afternoon when the queue for my jeep ride was rather long.
I went from one shop to another asking if they had phones less than one thousand pesos. They thought I was asking for a model.
But I eventually made a six hundred peso purchase.

I miss my old phone.

It takes a while to get used to a downgrade. But I have this intention to hold on to my P600.00 prize, as a sort of punishment (my previous phone was the fourth phone Clark Kent and I lost between the two of us in just a year), or look at at this way - a reminder - that it was just a thing.
My friends were very nice about it when I told them about my loss.
"Di bale adda kasukat na nga maymayat." (It doesn't matter. It will be replaced by something better.)

Hey, I got a text message.
My P600.00 phone works. That's all that matters, right?

Sigh.

Bangladesh Impressions

16:12 Mon Jan-21-2008
Dusty. And rundown. That would be the adjectives for my first impressions on Dhaka. But it's also - familiar. It's like what I felt when we were in Aceh - like being in some area of home.
Rickshaws- that would be the image I will have for Dhaka.

10:23 Tue Jan-22-2008
The sound would be - constant honking.
It's morning. At the rooftop restaurant of Ambala Inn. It's cold, actually. Like Baguio's morning chill these days.

00:35 Wed Jan-23-2008
The people do rise at the arrival of a king.

I commented how the people here- the Bengalis, actually, all seem to look the same, and how that makes me appreciate the diversity of Filipinos. I was looking at the different faces of the CHT indigenous peoples I'm working with and remembered how I was so surprised, when I met them for the first time, that they didn't look like the Bangladeshis I had in mind. I look at their faces again and smile, they look so much like Filipinos.

13:29 Wed Jan-23-2008
Oh, and crows. A new found friend said there are two things that you can see in Bangladesh. People and the black bird. Apparently, the government forbids the killing of the birds. Some say when you attack a bird, all the other birds attack you back. They're everywhere. Like pigeons in other parts of the world. Only they're not the kind of birds you play with and feed in the park.

23:42 Thu Jan-24-2008
A garbage sorter singing on a street side garbage heap.

Sudipto, Nmong, Achok, Mathura, Mrinal, and other heroic and admirable Adivasi brothers. Oh yes, and the Bengali consultant, who's making sure everybody thinks indigenous enough. We had dinner at his apartment. He has a German wife with a dragon collection. She had many interesting things to say about dragons. Their driver, jackie, gave us a lift home then picked us up again the following morning so we could get back to work.

The hotel restaurant cook who regarded us as friends when he learned we were Filipinos. He would come to our table with a Filipino greeting, and other Filipino phrases. He had worked in Kuwait, some 9 years ago, and he was the only man and only Bangladeshi with a bunch of women Filipino overseas workers. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant tonight, and he told us he gave us more servings than what should be. He started asking about our husbands, then commented how Filipino wives work so hard. He began naming his Filipino friends, asked us another time if we were going to come back to Bangladesh, then offered if we could take the boy waiter beside him with us back to the Philippines. Or we can give him our address and he could send the boy, then we give him a job.

17:55 Fri Jan-25-2008
Roller coaster rides - whatever mode of transportation it may be. But the most scary is the rickshaw. It's like you'll topple after every bump. The CNG crisscrosses like it does not share the street with another thousand CNGs and rickshaws and cars, and people, who even jostle with the wheeled machines at intersections.

Dhaka, Bangladesh Notes

We're going to South Asia! [It's a work thing though... so either that adds or lessens the hype, depends on you. :)]

I did not try to listen much on the 'stories' and advice that went around the office regarding this trip. First, because I said I would like to spare myself the expectations, and second, the comments made it seem like the place was not worth a visit. As in, "be happy if you didn't get a visa" kind of comments.

Anyway, I realized I needed the information for the very wise purpose called preparation. So now, I'm trying to scour the net for "tourist" information on Bangladesh. But I did not really need to go far. I didn't even google yet. I went straight off to Lonely Planet and found some good stuff from the forum threads. It's nice when people share their own stories.

I still need to find out about the current weather and what clothes to wear though... I should get back to that now.

I hope to write more later.

Cheesy Love Poems 1

I do make these kinds of stuff. I even made a whole booklet with one guy as an inspiration. I compiled all the cheesy stuff I made, did some effort to deliver the stuff to him (I never really knew if he got it), then disappeared from his life ( I think we both disappeared from each other's life - but it's not as if we had some sort of connection). He was one of the best images I ever fell in love with.

This one is not for him or about him. But it's cheesy. I thought you might want to have a read and share a chuckle.

01.09.08
Para kay Superman
(Habang nalulunod sa kalaliman ng kanyang pag-iisip ng mga bagay-bagay maliban sa akin)


Wala naman talagang
patutunguhan
Ang pag-uusap na ito
Dahil pareho tayong
Nakatingin sa kawalan

Ikaw lang pala

Dahil
Pinagmamasdan kita

Pilit umaasang
Nangungusap tayo
At may ugnayan
Sa ating katahimikan

Ngunit magkahawak man tayo'y
Hindi kita maramdaman
Hindi kita kasama

At dito
Sa kung tawagi'y "tayo"
Ako ay mag-isa

Friends, Mirrors and the Soul

There was this really nice message that got forwarded way back, I can't remember when.. and I probably have that message kept somewhere.. I just can't look for it now. But it says that friends are a mirror to our soul and each friend reflects a different facet of us.

Here's celebrating the friendships of then and now... and friends to come... as the soul continues its journey of growth and being found.