My Brother's Birthday

Recently was my brother's birthday. He just turned 21, that means he was a debutant. The Philippines debut ceremony indicates when a young person reached maturity, which is age 18 for girls and age 21 for boys. Unfortunately, there was no ceremony for my brother on his special day. But at least he experienced being inside the cinema and got to watch the X-Men Apocalypse movie. I think he liked it, and it was the first time that he enjoyed a real movie theater. I treat him for lunch after the movie. Then I showed him the Robinson Mall since it's his first time to be there. Being a province person, he usually didn't care much about the city life, but I always wanted my brothers to experience something that does not exist in our hometown, to let them feel what it is like being in the city.

After I showed him around the mall, I decided to take him to the terminal so that he can go back home to the province. When we reached the terminal and I was ready to leave, he said: "Big sister, thank you for everything you did for me" and then he smiled. I told him not to worry about anything and that I did it because he is my brother and I smiled at him. Then I left and he went back home. It feels good being able to spend times with family in the city once in a while.

Basketball

I'm not into basketball yet I got a crush on Stephen Curry. Well I'm not saying I know nothing about basketball, since we learn it in school, and basketball has been known one of the world best sports since it started. But I only know few famous player from the basketball world. Those I know are: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry. Those are some of the world's best basketball players. There are some more but I couldn't name them as I don't really watch basketball. About Stephen Curry: he is just too good at basketball. I admire his style of playing. I even watch his basketball videos. I think he will become legendary like Michael Jordan. I believe in his ability. Go, Stephen, we are here for you!

Life in Cacatmonan

I want to tell you a little bit about Cacatmonan. It is a small barangay located in the middle of the mountains. Most of the people that live in that place are down to earth people, contented with their quiet and simple life. I have many relatives there. They have a little bit land with pineapple plants and some other plants that they can harvest during the year. They use the fruits for their own food and even sometimes sell it to the market in order to make money. Hence there is only one sari-sari store in the barangay which is owned by my uncle, the barangay captain of Cacatmonan. If you need special things, it gets difficult to buy since the sari-sari store has only a limited selection of goods. The houses are tiny yet clean and organized. They have electricity and TVs, and of course the young people have cellphones. Young filipinas are so addicted to cellphones. They have a sports court and a small barangay hall that is used for community events. Still, compared to other barangays, lots of facilities are missing, such as a hospital or a school.

The major problem living in Cacatmonan is the school for the children, because there is no school building. Most Cacatmonans sent their children to their relatives to larger towns so that they can attend school. Some people moved from barangay Garawon to Cacatmonan after the typhoon Yolanda because Cacatmonan is at higher location and not so close to the sea. The sea can be dangerous when there is a typhoon, and it can wipe out houses that are too close too the coast. That's how it is living in Cacatmonan.

Fiesta in Cacatmonan

Yesterday afternoon I visited Cacatmonan to see how their fiesta looks like. It was quite far. I had no idea I'd be walking through these high mountains for about an hour. The way was always going upwards, and at the middle of the mountain my knees were shaking from exhaustment and I couldn't move anymore and had to take a rest before going up again. When we reached the very end I was breathless I rested a bit to catch some air and so to get my enerygy back because I was very tired. Luckily going up to Cacatmonan is hard but going down is not really so tiring.

The fiesta went well. We ate at some house of our relatives there. When the night came, me and my brother had nowhere to sleep because too many people came and most of my relatives' houses that we hoped to sleep was crowded already. Lucky one of our cousins still had a space left for us to sleep. When the night came we went to the court and watched the people dancing. We did enjoy our visit but I don't think I'd be going up there again by foot, as it was very tiring.

Long hair

They say girls with long black hair are the attractive ones, but why I'm seeing girls with long black hair yet I don't find them attractive even with pretty faces. ☺ Well some guys like girls with long black hair even if the girl is not pretty. As long as she has that shinny long and black hair then the guy is fine with it. But some guys are way too picky: they want their girls to be perfect but it's not easy to find a perfect partner. A good relation comes always with compromises. Sometimes a pretty girl has a bad attitude, and in the long term that is worse than the looks. Well most guys nowadays don't seems to care about attitude, they prefer the outside looks. But girls are the same, they prefer the handsome guys even when the guys are bad.

Fiesta in Hernani

It's 7 days before the fiesta here in our baragay. This is the third year that the fiesta is different than the previous fiestas. After typhoon Yolanda, the fiesta changed and became less glamorous compared to the years before. The court is not renovated since the typhoon happened and the houses are not as huge and as many as it was 3 years ago. Therefore, the people that live in the  barangay are not even excited about the fiesta anymore. Still they decorate their homes and cook food as it is the yearly tradition. Relatives, and even people you barely know, will come by and visit your house and eat and that's ok. That's how it is.

June 2nd and 3rd are the fiesta dates and June 3rd is also my father's birthday. Anybody can come, I'm inviting you all, but don't expect me to cook for you :-)

Jollibee

It is just crazy how people love Jollibee here in Borongan City. Whenever I come to this place, it is always crowded. A lot of people and family go to the city just to eat at Jollibee. I don't think this branch here will ever be going bankrupt at all. Too many people come, too many money flows over the counter. I have been here few times, but often I did not dare to order as I hate waiting. But now I ordered something and it took me so long to finally get my orders. I waited for about half an hour and spend that time to write this blog post. I was so hungry! Finally the wait was worth it, since the Jollibee food is good. I just hope they would not think of opening a McDonalds or Mang Inasal at this town so that Jollibee won't get bankrupt. So I am sitting here in the restaurant and write this blog to let everyone know that Borangan City has a Jollibee branch. Come here and taste it!

20 days until school

The college will start in June 13th, hence I still have 20 days to relax and to calm my brain before then. I'm thinking of doing some fun activities, like hiking, climb up to the trees or maybe climb up to a high rock and take photos. That's what I did when I was at my teens, I am used to climbing trees but when I was young, I had no photocam to take picture. I am still capable of climbing any high trees, even coconut trees. Sounds creepy but I'm not scared of heights. Yet I don't like bungee jumping!

I just want to enjoy the remaining days before the classes start because for sure I'm going to be busy later. Maybe it gets a bit stressy since I am not anymore used to school. As of now I want to just calm myself and relax.

ALS

Today's good news is that I will have my Alternative Learning System certificate in about couple of days. Perfect timing! I made a call earlier today to one of the teachers that handle the ALS certification. She answered my call right away and I thought she wouldn't remember me. So I confirmed to her that I am the person who left some money for the LBC payment to get the ALS certificate. I sent her my full name and she promised to send me a message for the info once the paper is on its way to Tacloban. Problem solved for the college enrollment requirements! All I have to do is wait for it and then pass it to my school.

Rain at night

Tonight is so cold! I'm freezing like a frog right now. Okay, I don't know whether frogs are really freezing. Maybe I am freezing like ice cream! No, that sounds too nice, ice cream is yummy. Freezing like a naked sheep in the Himalaya? I don't know what's the best expression. Gosh, I am just freezing.

I wonder why it's raining very hard tonight? Maybe there's a typhoon coming but I hope not. On other days, it is always too hot, but tonight this rain makes my night so great, I feel like I have an aircon at the moment. I think I can sleep peacefully tonight with this kind of weather. Well I hope this rain will stop anyway, because this place can't take a lot of raining. I don't want to see flooding in the streets tomorrow. The water might get higher when the rain does not stop. To rain once in a while is not a bad thing but when the rain does not stop for couple of days then the people that are living here could be in trouble. I like that it is raining now but I don't hope for it to continue raining forever.

Province or City

If I have to choose where I will live and the choice is between province and Manila, I would choose province. Here are the facts why it is better to live in the province:

First, the food is always fresh. You can eat fresh seafoods, and fresh vegetables. Second, I want to be close to my family wherever I am living in the province, so that I can just go home easily to be with them. The things that's good in Manila is that you can just go to the malls whenever you want as long as you have money. You can as well party at many places if you love to party. There are lots of interesting places in Manila and lots of things to do in Manila. You will never be bored if you live there. But I was born a province girl so I will always choose province over any city.

Duterte

His Excellency, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the 16th President of the Republic of the Philippines. Now that he is the newest president of the year I assume that he will do what's right for the country and to his people. I am one of those who voted for him because I believe in him and in his advocacy to make the country even better. Let's see what he got! Let's see if he is really different than the rest of the politicians, Davao, once the "murder capital of the Philippines, is nowadays one the of the best and safest cities of the Philippines and as a major there, it was under Rodrigo Roa Duterte's leadership. He ruled in the city for more than two decades, and now it's time for him to bring that to the whole country. Good Luck to the 16th president!

Captain America Civil War

The latest movie that I have watched was Captain America Civil War. This movie was fine and worth to be seen. But I have some critics: I did not like how they'd become enimies at the middle of the movie and back all together as friends at the end. I hated the scene when everyone fights with each other when they were supposed to be one. I'd say the idea of the movie wasn't really that good. The director could have thought of better ideas when they were filming the movie, or could have created another enemies. It could be better than to make all the Marvel heroes fight with each other.

Don't get me wrong! Since I watched the first Marvel movie, I became a fan of Marvel movies. I love Marvel movies so much but I have to disagree to the storyline of this movie.

Not a loner

I am not a loner, but sometimes there is that day when I want to be alone and don't want to be distracted or bothered by someone. Sometimes I go to a place where no one is around. I often do that when I feel irretated or something. Just like when I've been in a not so good conversation with my family. To stop myself from being mad, I simply go to the seasides and sit there and look around and think, and sometimes after I calmed down I smile, thinking that things will be ok. Then I feel relieved.

Some days I am in a bad mood and do not want to be around with anyone. The simplest thing to do when you're in that mood is to be alone to avoid a fight with somebody because when are in a bad mood we sometimes say inappropriate words that we later regret.

3 years after typhoon Haiyan

Three years ago, typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, taking away thousands of lives from their family. There were those injured people crying because of pain, agony and their loss. Afterwards, some had died because of hunger. Thousands had lost their homes. People were desperate 3 years ago. It was the disaster that we will never forget. That was then.

I am now in Tacloban again: Now seems everything is back to what it was before the typhoon. Building has been renovated and so are the school buildings. The loss of lifes has been somewhat relieved by newborn children born after the typhoon. Things can be gone and can be replaced by new ones. Life continues even after big disasters, and this is good. It gives hope!

Presidential election

May 9th: No no no, it is no fun at all, this election! I am waiting in line, being roasted under the sun. Waiting already since hours. I can feel the heat on my skin. I am hearing people gossiping arount. I even smell strange people odor. Is that myself who is smelling? Oh well, I did shower before I came here.

Lots of people are here, waiting waiting waiting. You have to wait until it is your turn. I am still eager to vote, but all this waiting in the heat is no fun. I hope it is my turn soon. My dad can't write or read so I did help him to vote. I did the shading and signing for him.

Before election

May 5th: I can't wait for the election day to come! The election here in the province is kind of exciting. You wonder why? The election day is on April 9th: that's the day where you can choose who to vote for president, vice president, governor, vice governor, mayor, vice mayor and a lot more. Why is it fun to vote here in province? Because of the corruption! No joke, it is because most of these candidates give away money in every election. Isn't that fun? At least you have a reason to stay in the heat while voting. That's how it is here in the province: in order to win you'll need to give away money to a huge amount of people. This increases your chance that you get elected, because most people are poor and vote for whoever gives money to them. If the majority likes you and your services, then giving away money is just a bonus. But if you are just a nice and competent candidate without money, then you're still far from being elected. That's the fun of the election! ;-)