Sky is not the Limit!

This photo was taken during my first Skydiving experience. The moment I jumped out from that plane, the first word (it’s not even a word) that came out from my mouth was “aaaaaaaaahhh!!!”. Perhaps it’s the reason why “A” is the first letter in the Alphabet and the first vowel sound as well. Why am I saying this? You may think that there’s no essence in this but what I’m trying to say is that “Every single thing created, generated, produced, manufactured, invented has a purpose”. Even a fortuitous invention makes a motive in our lives whether it’s good or bad. Good makes it very useful, Bad shows us our mistakes and learn from them. No one creates something just for nothing. Even a jellyfish that has no brain gives life to this world.

When I was young, I never knew what my future would be. Never even imagined that I could do these things now. Skydiving, scuba diving, wake boarding, surfing. I haven’t thought of these when I was at the age of 9. It’s insane to think about it now when at that time I only dreamed to have a beautiful family. Now I realize that as we grow older and bigger, we think more, envisage more and do more. Well, I guess only to those people who aren’t scared to do the petrifying imaginations can do these.

I never knew what my purpose on this earth. I still don’t know it until now. But when I got into that plane, jump out and survived one of the scariest thing a human can do, I told myself, I really have a purpose on this planet. I didn’t die. It wasn’t my time. Fortunate maybe termed for this but being fortunate even has a reason. I may not know what’s the logic of my being here, but I will continue living inspiring other to reach things as high as they can imagine or even more than they can visualize. I may not be a very exemplary human being alive, but I play a pivotal role in the operations of this society. I just have to keep working hard for it until I reach it. Sky is not the limit. Astronauts have reached beyond that level so why can’t I, why can’t you?

Photo Credit to: Terry Walker (SkyDive Instructor), Bantayan Island, Cebu

Save Money to Save Life

Surrounded with these new technologies, the high quality fashion, collection stuffs as a hobby, clubs and beers, it is hard to cease the temptation of spending our money for the things we want to have. Undeniably, buying these things for ourselves is one of the reasons we save money yet in this generation our responsibility is not only saving money but saving a life as well.

One most common factor in suicide is related to money problems. People may think that they can never have a chance of surviving or providing the needs of your family without any source of money. This social pressure a person can have will eventually develop into a depression and so people decide to end their lives as a solution of this problem.

We don’t want to reach at this extent of situation. To avoid this, we need to start planning on how to save our lives by saving our money. Here are some guidelines for you on how to save your money.

1. If there’s anything you want to buy, don’t think once or twice. Think as much as you can. Don’t think of how much you want that thing but how much you need it. Think of what’s going to happen if you’re not going to buy it. For example, you want to buy a new television in your bedroom while you have one in your living room already. What will happen if you won’t buy it? Another example, you are planning to buy a new phone since you’re old one has already shut down and there’s no other way for it to be fixed. How much do you need to buy it?
2. In any way possible, never spend more than what is enough. It’s one temptation we come across especially when we eat in a restaurant. We order a lot of food because each looks appetizing and we end up not finishing everything. One way to avoid this is order a little and if you need more, then you can order again.
3. Always set a goal for the savings you want to reach every end of the month. It is a very beneficial process of saving money. A goal helps us to aim and get to a destination we aspire. Once you reach that goal, you will feel relieved. And the next time you have your goal, aim higher that what you’ve saved before.
4. Think of any ways to reproduce the money you saved. Business and investments are the best option for this. These could be critical most of the time but there’s always a risk for everything. By the time you succeed with your business, you can both have time and financial. Time bank deposit is also another way to reproduce your savings.

These are just a few of the many methods you can follow on how to save your money. Opening a bank account is also an additional way for you to keep a record of your funds. We can never speculate any disaster that may come along. Catastrophe, health issues, economic recession are just one of the numerous problems we can possibly encounter in the future. Always remember, save your money to save your life.

If We Aren’t Different. . .

What a beautiful world! Composed of assorted creatures, colorful and just incredibly wonderful. If a person could only deeply think about it from the heavenly bodies to the darkest depth of the oceans. It’s all mind blowing how we end up existing in this world. I believe in the potential of science discovering new creatures, formulate and obtaining solution and inventing new stuffs. Yet, I believe that it’s not just science alone. There’s really a higher being behind all these beautiful creations.

When I was young, I used to stare at the stars at night and have always fantasized of becoming an astronaut just to get a glimpse how beautiful it is out there. While gazing at the stars, I asked myself, how could this all happen? Growing up, I started to probe concerning the beginning of the earth. I recall being taught that there were only two people in the beginning, Adam and Eve, and they had 2 sons, Cain and Abel. Then I pondered, how come we’re billions of people now? I asked my religious teacher back in my elementary days. She couldn’t give me a satisfactory and reasonable answer. Seems like she didn’t know how it all started as well. So I explored the Bible on my own specifically the book of Genesis. I was shocked that Eve had a lot of children that weren’t mentioned during my religious class. And so that’s how we were multiplied. But was it really how we proliferated?

From this one creation, human, out of the billions of creatures on this planet, beautiful isn’t enough to describe all of these. From my point of view, as of now I’m convinced that we weren’t made from a single cell and just increased rapidly over a billion of years. We are made separately just like how humans make different different type of phone. They have different brands, different sizes, colors and features. Creatures were created separately too. Flying creatures, crawling, swimming, walking jumping. We are all different.

Our differences cause wars against each other. Skin color, size, language and especially religion. We fight because we want it that there’s should only be one religion in this world. And the reason is for us to be saved. But this war doesn’t save us at all. It ends our life to fight for what we believe is right. Some people kill themselves for the sake of their gods. Some kill others if they don’t believe in the same thing.

Racism is another thing that separates us from one another. Talking about employment, we can’t deny that race matters. One of my experience with this kind of situation was when I was working as an ESL teacher. I, as a Filipino, receive the minimum wage declared by the government while on the other hand, a Dutch teacher, who I can honestly say, had a lot of grammar errors in English. He even speaks very slow in English but he earns thrice as what I earn. And why is that? Because he’s a foreigner and back in his country, he receives considerable amount of minimum wage.

But what if we aren’t different? How would the world work with every little thing the same as the other. For humans, what if we all have the same skin color? Yes right now there’s racism because of our skin color. But there’s appreciation too. Some people loves to be white and some loves to be dark. Some people wanted to have black hair, some wanted to have it dyed. Same goes as to animals, some loves Chihuahua, some loves St. Bernard. Some loves reptiles and some loves the fishes. Even in nature, we want different things. Some loves it to be in the mountains and some loves it on the beach. We are different in every single detail. It could be an unfavorable thing in some other ways but imagine if we won’t have differences.

I sometimes think that we aren’t living in a rightful way or in a just world. Seeing the poor children on the streets on my right while on the other side, people are wasting money on beers and chips. I feel sad and awful and terribly annoyed by those people who are just wasting money with useless materials. But if we aren’t different, if we all are rich people, will there be feeling of wanting to help the needy? Will there be people called generous if every person doesn’t need anything from another person? I doubt we can say I respect your decision if we have the same decision. Respect is an act of appreciation of the rights of others, way of living and their verdicts. We will never have the feeling of gratitude if we aren’t admired despite the things that make us unique. How do you see an underwater world with the same species in every corner? A forest with only one type of mammal?

Envision a world with an entirety that’s the same. The same face, size, shape, color and religion. It’s very boring, if we aren’t different.

CAMOTES ISLANDS “Sweet Potatoes”

It was an instantaneous verdict for all of us to go on a trip on this beautiful group of islands. This island was named after a root crop called “Camote” or “Sweet Potato” in English. It happened when the Spaniards came to this place and the local were gathering the crops. So it was then named Camotes Islands.

Two of my friends, Jeanne and Janine, were residents of this place and so it wasn’t that hard for us having our journey. It was all smooth and easy except for the weather. It was a bit rainy when we arrived there but still we were able to visit most of the beautiful spots of this group of islands. As seen on the map, it is located on the east of Cebu. This place is divided into four towns named Poro, Tudela, Pilar and San Francisco. Once you step into the fine white sand of these islands, you will be heartbroken to leave from here. The majestic clear blue water of the beach will reflect the beauty of yourself and deep down you’ll be astonished by it’s resplendent treasures. The reverberating sound when you’re inside the caves of these islands will make you audition to any singing contest believing you have a really mesmerizing voice. The enchanting lake, the historical churches, the heritage house and very delightful people. You can’t imagine how these innumerable things fit in such a small place.

I was travelling with two other friends who are from Denmark, Natascha and Amira. These very young and very tall amazingly gorgeous ladies travelled around the world with the same purpose as mine, to see the beauty of every little bit of this massive creation. Perhaps, it’s one of the topmost reason for every traveler worldwide.

HOW TO GET TO CAMOTES ISLANDS FROM CEBU CITY

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

The Lesser Evil

Twenty four years on this planet. Mature enough to choose which is right or wrong, which is evil or not. But how do we really know which is which? I’ve seen evil and good deeds on earth but what if you are to choose who is right or wrong without even knowing the person personally. I’m talking about politics here.

Honestly speaking, I haven’t voted ever. Not because I’m lazy to fall in such a long line but because I don’t see the point of me voting or choosing people that I haven’t met or known sincerely to rule this country. For so many decades that have passed, we’re still enduring the agony of this corruption. Corruption, I’d say, is not the problem but the result of the problem. We are tampered with the pseudo grandiose soliloquy of these people we scarcely know in our lives. And with the hollow words they say, we are dazzled and make us choose whoever speaks well, dresses well and offers more. When I say offer, it’s not just the infrastructures but also the monetary amount given or used to buy the votes of the citizen.

This whole thing makes me grieve for this country. I won’t say it’s useless for everyone to vote coz it takes one to know one. What I mean is you will know the person through other people and most importantly through yourself. But would you believe what the other person say about the other person when that person who said it is a total stranger to you? Confused? Let me give you an example. Mr. X says that Mr. Y is such a good person, so generous, so helpful and kind. Mr. Y is a stranger to you and so you need another person to describe what kind of a person he is yet Mr. X is a total stranger to you as well. How will you know if Mr. X is telling the truth when you barely know him? And even if there’s Mr. Z describing both of them as really virtuous people, if you don’t know Mr. Z, you still won’t know the truth behind this characterization.

And so this is my preeminent justification on why I don’t vote. People say it’s a right to vote. Yes of course. But isn’t it my right not to vote as well? They told me that not voting will further destroys the country. Well, it is impossible for everyone not to vote. Even if there’s only a thousand people left in this country, at least one would still choose to vote and people have their own reasons why or why not. But I don’t think my decision not to vote will further destroy the country in any way possible. Let’s say I am going to vote. My friends told me just choose the lesser evil (which is extremely absurd). Like I said, if I don’t know any of the running candidates personally, I will never know the veracity of what they say or do. So if I vote, it’ll be like singing eenie meenie miney mo method of choosing who to run this country. Since I don’t know who’s the greater or the lesser evil, it’s possible that I could’ve selected the greater evil. Every vote counts, they say. So in this situation, my vote will be added to the wrong person.

Now tell me, how does my decision on not voting destroys this country? Respect.

MALAPASCUA ISLAND “The Unfortunate Christmas”

Malapascua Island is one of the most famous diving spots in Cebu. It’s name was derived from the Spanish words “Malas” which means unlucky and “Pascua” means Christmas, unlucky/unfortunate Christmas. The Spanish arrived to this island on Christmas and encountered a very bad storm and that’s how the name Malapascua is originated. I got the chance to visit this fascinating island through my briliantly gifted friend Nicolai Lawton. You can check his facebook fan page Nicolai Lawton if you wanna know about him. I’m sure the moment you hear his voice you will be head over heels with it. He’s a very great guide around this island as well.

 

 

On this island, thresher sharks are on the most wanted by people to dive for. Aside from these thresher sharks, you will see a lot of other bizarre creatures. One of these spectacular creatures I found was a coconut crab. It was just beyond extraordinary! I’ve seen a lot of crabs since birth since it’s one of the main dish during the festival in my mom’s hometown, Bohol. But this one just took my breath away. It’s called a coconut crab scientifically called as Birgus latro and it’s known as the largest land living anthropod in the world. Ain’t it amazing?! Apart from the enormous crab I found, there are still a lot of giant creatures residing on and under this island. This world is just full of mystery and no matter how much facts we discover, the total truth perhaps is impossible to find. There’s always an extinct creature we track down and there’s always a newly discovered peculiar living entity. These beautiful creatures roving around this planet is just one of the main reasons I wander. I don’t wanna be stuck inside a box not knowing what’s behind the wall I’m leaning on. Like what the great Sir Isaac Newton said, “I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”
Going around the island with my talented friend Nico, I was able to see a Japanese Wreck Marine Sanctuary. They say it’s like a ghost ship coz a lot of people who dived there had goosebumps though I don’t remember having one when I was there? There was really not much too see in the ship but a few different species straying around.

Cheers to this amazing friend of mine who sponsored my accommodation on this island! He sings every night at Legend Resort in Malapascua. You should really check him out and I was able to jam with him when I was there. What a huge crowd he had that night! Well I bet he always has a huge crowd everytime he sings. He was able to get it to the blind audition of The Voice in the Philippines. He may not won there but his talent is greater than any award he could have.

How to get to Malapascua Island:

From North Bus Terminal, grab a bus going to Maya port and from there get a boat to Malapascua. Bus fee is 150php – 180php and operates from 3am until 4pm. It takes 3-4hrs trip from the city to Maya port and the boat trip is only until 4pm so you better get a bus before lunch time. Boat fee is only 70php but be careful, they are very tricky, they tell you that it’s more than for so many alibis like there are only few people so more fee is needed for gasoline or boat transfer fee or tips so just be careful as much as possible.

There aren’t a lot of cheap places to stay on this island coz it’s mostly hotels and great resorts. The cheapest that I know is beside Legend Resort which has no name on it. The cheapest room they have is 600php/night for 2 persons. The rest of the hotels range from 1,500php – 10,000php.

BANTAYAN ISLAND (The mini-Boracay of Cebu)

This island is called Bantayan island. Located on the northern end of Cebu province. I didn’t have any idea how it looks like before I came there. It was love at first sight when I saw this island. The clear blue water around this island. It was just beyond my imagination. I wasn’t a beach person before I went here but when I saw it and felt it, indeed it was true love! And though it was terribly affected by the Typhoon Haiyan, the beauty is still preserved. 😀

I was able to go to this place because of a benefit gig featuring my friend Kitchie Nadal (a Filipino singer and song-writer). Everyone were mesmerized by her enchanting voice. That when she found the love of her life now. On that event, an International Volunteer Organization called YPDR “Young Pioneer Disaster Response” was there to support the benefit concert. I was able to make lots of friends from that organization and decided to be part of them as well. There is not a single regret I decided visiting this place. And it wouldn’t made possible without the help of my friends and the producers of the event Janice and Eli. These two amazing people were just super kind to take care of everything, from the transportation to our accommodation at Kota Beach Resort and the mouth watering food they offered us.

Aside from the benefit concert we did for Kitchie Nadal, I together with my friends (Kate, Angelina, Chain, Philip, Sandy and Anna) did some painting for new boats donated to those who were affected by Typhoon Haiyan. Most of them lost their houses and every boat they had was washed away and shattered by the typhoon. The boats were the main mode of transportation for their livelihood, which is fishing. It was a very unforgettable experience for all of us. With the simple things, we were able to help a lot already. A single drop of help can change a million thirsty lives on this planet. I may not have enough money to offer to them but only I can give to then the best of what I have even if I don’t have the best of everything.

Not just the fun with my friends, not only I was able to listen again to the beautiful voice of my friend Kitchie Nadal, the best part was I and my friends were able to put back the smiles on the people’s faces after the calamity that occurred to this island.

How to get to Bantayan Island:

From North Bus Terminal Cebu City, take a bus going to Hagnaya Port and from there there are ferries that goes to Bantayan island from 6:00 am – 4:00 pm hourly. Bus fee is 150php – 180php and ferry is 170php. You’ll then arrive to Sta. Fe port of Bantayan Island. You can choose to have tricycle or single motorbike to take you to whichever hostel/hotel/guesthouse you booked. You can rent motorbikes as well if you wish to.

These are the guesthouses/hotel resorts I’ve been to so far.

Onde Guesthouse: Ranges from 350php – 1,000php

Kota Beach Resort: Ranges from 1,000php – 3,000php

Micky Santoro Hotel: Ranges from 1,200php – 1,700php

What About Them?

I grew up as a Christian Catholic and used to believe that it’s the only religion in the world. I remember going to a mass every Sunday with my family but didn’t really know why we go there. Then I learned from school that if you don’t go to church, you’ll go to hell. And listening to the stories about hell is indeed petrifying so I and my family go to church.

As I grow older, I learn more and acquire more knowledge in every bit of something. Perhaps I was at the age of 10 when I met people with a different religion and then I began to ask “why?”. Why are there different religions in this world knowing and what was taught to me is there’s only one God? I had few muslim classmates back in my elementary days and I discovered the differences between Islam and Christianity. They don’t eat pork at all. They don’t eat chicken unless it’s killed through cutting the neck. Again I asked “why?”. They told me that pig/pork is the dirtiest animal on earth and there’s a poisonous part of the chicken which is located on the upper neck so they had to kill it that way. From then on I became a little bit aware of the variations of our customs. Different clothes, different prayers.

 

But what I couldn’t comprehend back then was the distinction of the God I know and the God they believe in. It kept on running in my head but didn’t really have a chance scrutinizing through it, maybe because I didn’t have enough resources that time and wasn’t really focusing on it.

Years passed and unknowingly I was already in college and still haven’t found the answer. By that time I was exposed to a vaster and various crowd already. Not only I met people who believe in Islam, I also met people who believe in Hinduism, People who believe in energy as their God and other different religions. When I was in Elementary I though there’s only one, High School I thought there were two (Christianity and Islam), but now, I couldn’t even count all the religions in the world with my fingers and toes.

I then started my journey in searching for the truth. I wanna know the truth not because I wanna be saved. Countless thoughts ran into my head, “Is there really a saviour?, Is there really heaven and hell?, Who will save us all? Jesus, Yahweh, Elohim, Allah, Vishnu, Shiva?”. I wanna know the answers for so many reasons. I wanna know because I am a very inquisitive person. I wanna know because I don’t wanna live my life not knowing even if i have an overflowing chance of ferreting out the truth. I wanna know because I don’t wanna judge others saying that “My religion is the true religion and nothing else! And you can only be saved through Jesus! Other else will go to hell!”. I wanna know because I don’t know like a child who keeps on questioning a teacher “What’s this, what’s that?”. Inside me is constantly asking “What about them?”. My friends who aren’t Christians, them who don’t believe in any God, them who grew up knowing only one religion and died without knowing the real religion, them who ate pork out of hunger and there’s nothing else to eat, them who killed out of self defence, will they be punished after death for all the sins they have committed, or will they all go to hell because they didn’t believe in the true religion? And what about the creatures on the other planets? Do they have religions there as well? Do they have a saviour?

I’ve met a lot of people in my life and though I feel like I might offend them, I still ask if they believe in any God or not at all. I couldn’t count the times that I end up arguing with some friends on account of this topic. I talked to my Christian friends, Muslim, Hindus, Buddhists, Scientists, Agnostics and even Atheists. We all had different opinions from the creation to evolution to the big bang theory to a single cell transformed through environmental circumstances. Some responded with short explanations and some were detailed. Some weren’t able to answer to my questions and some just didn’t respond at all. I had a tough juncture having this discourse and had an intellectual tete-a-tete as well. But at the end of our conversation, I do respect their standpoint in life as thoughtful as I could be.

Some say it’s not by deed but by faith. So what about those who are heavenly good people but don’t believe in any of it, what about those who say they believe but do nothing good to others? Who will be saved? Some say no one knows because only God can judge us but then how come you know that your religion is the real one? Saying that it’s the real one means you should accept all the facts written in the book you believe in. If you say that no one knows and only God can judge us then, you’re saying that it could be not the real religion at all.

People are different. In color, weight, height, language and even our genome can never be the same with another person. So as our beliefs and practices. Imagine if this world has the same creatures in every side of the world. One religion, one color, one language, and just the same as everyone else. Think about it and imagine. For me, it’s all meant to be diverse so we know how to appreciate and respect and to love one another despite the differences we have.

With all these confusions I have on my mind, there’s one thing that I believe which is as plain as the nose on anyone’s face. There’s is a creator, a master of the universe, a being that’s higher than a human being or any life form in this creation. I maybe blinded by fear and struggled to believe but with all the unclear moments of my life, I’ve seen and felt things that were unforeseeable and until now I couldn’t explain. Then I wonder, what if one day I will know the truth, I will know everything and there’s nothing more to ask. By then, I will no longer seek for the truth, no longer attempt to search for something coz I know everything already. A deeper realization came across to me. That I am just a human and not God. Only God knows everything. Only God knows the truth.

I believe in God because I don’t want to be the highest form of being on this macrocosm. Not that I don’t want to be but I know that I am not and will never be. I get sick, I feel down, hurt and eventually will die. And it’s the proof that I am just under a higher being who created everything. I believe in God because I believe in evil and God is the good side although I believe that He created evil to test us. Why test us? It’s the same as having a test in school. Why do we have a test in school? Test is difficult and frustrating. It is to measure what we’ve learned from all the lessons taught to us. And if we fail, we undergo to the same test all over again until we pass. Same as in life, we undergo a lot of tests for us to learn how to become stronger how to overcome it all until we reach our highest point.

This is the story of what I believe and I don’t know if I will be saved but if not and if you say there’s only one way to be saved, let me ask you this, “what about them? “.

 
Photos taken from trip in Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines.

We may be young but like you, we also have a tongue.

For you who are reading this, you’re lucky to have been able to read this. And why is that? Because you can read, because you know how to use internet and because you are exposed to this digital world we have now. We were once young and truly there’s no doubt that we came to the point that we, even when we’re just a kid, wanted to be heard and to decide something on our own. Yet this world doesn’t allow it to work in that way. It aint fair for each one of us, it never was and perhaps never will be. Unless, a movement towards a betterment will be inculcated into our minds and hearts. So for you who’s reading this and complains coz it aint fair, well, if you can buy shampoo for your hair, think about these kids and tell me what is fair.

They say it’s a third world country we’re living in and poverty is still one of the main problems here. I’ve travelled to a lot of places already around the Philippines but I don’t think poverty is a problem but rather a result of a very big problem. Avarice. The hunger of these greedy people that are taking over us through their governmental supremacy is the main problem. Though I cannot judge, this is what I’ve experienced, and this is what I conclude. The rich people make the average people work hard for them to be richer and offer a bit to the poorest just enough to make them survive but remains uneducated and use them to be more powerful. How? Elections. Make the poor people remain uneducated and tell them things that make them think is right, use the media for false information, blind them with the small amount of money from the embezzlement of the government’s fund and make them vote for them. We always complain. People are just never contented. If the richest don’t even get satisfied of what they have already, how much more are the poor? Seeing these poor kids, not having a proper shelter nor clothes, yet can produce smiles like these, makes me realize that it really aint about the money at all.

It breaks my heart seeing these kids on the street knowing only how to ask money from other people or worse how to steal. But with the simple things in this world, I learned from them how to love truly. Even with the little things they receive, they share. And in this cruel world, they are still capable to show a genuine smile.

According to my country’s National Hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal (not to mention a very far relative of mine), “The Youth is the Fair Hope of Our Motherland”. I believe it’s true yet I believe it isn’t happening. Why? Because people nowadays don’t care at all about these youths. We may see them as just an annoyance everywhere who have nothing to do but beg for money. Think profoundly. If you say that it’s the only thing they do then what other options do they have? Work? In this country we require at lrast a High School graduate to have a decent job. Study? They couldn’t even have enough money for their nourishment, how much more for education? Unless, the people in this country make a move, a change, a transformation to a better world, unless we listen to their needs, the only option they still have up until now, is become a slave of poverty and end up in either being beggars or thieves.

“How?”

And even just for a while

Along with this very long journey

Show me how to smile

Show me what’s real and what’s not

I just wanted to be happy

And I don’t think it’s a lot

I hear the sound of music

But I don’t hear the harmony

And it’s making me sick

Show me what’s love

Coz all I see is melancholy

And there’s nothing else i can think of

I don’t know how, I can’t hear and I can’t see

~ Cien

“Street Children”

WISH
Clear blue sky
Oh! We want to fly
For we are always in low
Because of this bitter blow

PARENTS
Where are you mom and dad?
Why you have left us in this bloody flood?
We don’t understand, We are the gift from above
Sadly, we are in the street living from other’s love

OBSERVE
Look around you
Their actions were few
Too blind to see,
Is this the reality?

ACTIONS
Peace on earth, a better world
Not in action, only a word
A goal for the common good
Yet, their heart is not in mood

HELP
Tender, loving care
This is our little dare
Is this too much or just fair?
Help us! We are too young for this nightmare.

~Kristofferea Carollus Casamanea

 

Here’s a video I made from the Feeding Program I volunteered in Cebu. I hope this will inspire you to help other people who are in need as well, especially the youth.

We’re Under the Same Sun

Living in a tropical country composed of 7,107 islands should definitely make you know how to swim. Oh well, I didn’t, not until I was 22 years old. I remember I and my family used to go to the beach near my hometown like three times a month and I remember being taught how to swim but I just didn’t learn how to. I almost drowned like four times my entire life and because of that I didn’t go to the beaches that much.

How I become a beach lover? Influence and realization. I meet a lot of different people because of work. Then, I became friends with these people who are so in love with the ocean. For so many years I haven’t gone to the beach coz I was surrounded by people who are so conscious about the skin and so was I. Then one day, I was invited to go to Bantayan Island to organize a benefit concert for the people there after the Typhoon Haiyan.

It was a long way going to that island but seeing this island for the first time, i remember the millions of “wow” coming out from my mouth. Indeed, it was love at first sight! The clear water reflecting the blue skies, the refined white sand, and even with the destroyed houses and trees, the island is still undeniably and impressively beautiful.

I never seen such an island since I was born. Maybe because I wasn’t exposed that much and I grew up in a place where I see things just the same the whole time. Like a rotation. I’ve been to many places before this, I’ve seen beaches, hills and waterfalls but it’s always the same for 20 years of my life and then suddenly I’m exposed to a new world. I grew up believing that this world is magnificent, the whole universe actually. I’ve always wanted to be an astronaut when I was young and seeing photos of the stars and planets and the colorful particles in the galaxy, all I see was beauty. But I was wrong, this whole thing is way beyond beautiful. I’ve only seen an angstrom of everything yet but with the little things that I’ve seen, there’s a lot of beauty already.

From that day on, I started travelling around the Philippines and have seen more islands from the north to the south, west to east. My country is divided into three stars which are called Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao under the same sun. This is the representation of our national flag. I’m a very proud creature living in this bewitching country. It may be dangerous at some place with some intolerable human beings but I guarantee you, repugnance is the last thing you’ll ever feel here as long as you take care of yourself too. 🙂

This tiny world is just a dot of beauty from what’s out there actually. Believe in what you see but the invisible thing is a more powerful entity. And this may not be a perfect world for all of us but I believe it can’t be obliterated and even the best Physicist, no matter how hard he computes, the end can’t be calculated. See it this way or in any other way but the most important thing is what we have today. Don’t you worry my friend coz I’m telling you life here maybe fleeting but life after life doesn’t end. Life is hard but take it easy. For sure you’ll get sweaty but as hard as it can be, just continue living and always be happy.