One rainy night in July

"If you have love in your life it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don't have it, no matter what else there is, it's not enough."

Date: July 27, 1995
Place: Along Rizal Avenue, Caloocan City

It was one of those rainy days when he would fetch me from my university. You see, we came from different universities. He was taking up Marine Engineering in a school somewhere in Quezon City while I was taking up Accountancy in a campus somewhere in Manila. He was a working student then. But that never stopped him from finding time to fetch me everyday. For almost a month, he had been my usual sundo. He'd help me out in solving my Business Calculus assignments (Math subjects were my waterloo which on the other hand was his forte). I was always amazed at how he managed to solve those equations. Amazed as well as how he can juggle work and studies like it was in just playing balls. No, he did not got me with his looks because he is not goodlooking, ( I always tell him that till now *grin*) but it was his ways in life that made me realize his difference from all the other men that was courting me during those times. That day was a different day because as we ride that jeep traversing the traffic-jammed Rizal Avenue, he caught me by surprise when he asked me, "Mahal mo na rin ba ako?". I eventually thought it was just one of those talks that we normally have. I smiled without answering back. I was so sure that he actually was not waiting for any answers at all. We continued exchanging stories of how each of our days in school went. Bigla nyang inulit ang tanong nya, "Mahal mo ba ako?". Thinking that it was just nothing, I blurted out, "Ano sa tingin mo?". To which he quickly replied, " Mahal mo ko!" sabay hawak sa kamay ko(dinaan ako sa bilis!). He then enumerated the changes of that night will bring in my life. Ako naman parang tinuklaw ng ahas kasi di na ako nakakibo. It was only when I was all alone in my room that I came to realized na may boyfriend na pala ulit ako!

Fast forward to July 27, 2007. Today marks the 12th year from that simple beginnings we had on that night. We have battled our way to still be together until now. Twelve years after, I can say buti na lang sinagot nya ang sarili nya nung tinanong nya ako kung mahal ko sya. Kung hindi, malamang I am still not a mother and I am still single. I would have not known that, yes, there is indeed a thing called blissful marriage.

Happy 12th year anniversary to my forever boyfriend. I love you and I will always will (though sometimes I tend to be "masungit" sa iyo). It's just the way we women are. Thanks for being here with me in times that I am happy but most especially in times when I am hard to understand.

Not so ordinary Sunday

Hubby and I were aboard our ever reliable motorcycle traversing the MacArthur highway today. My attention was caught by six MMDA workers pounding a part of the sidewalk near the footbridge located beside the Cosmos plant in Malabon-Valenzuela boundary. Under the scorching heat of the sun, the men are working hard in clearing the streets that a lot of commuters pass by daily. Considering it was a sunday, I could not help but comment about what they were doing. I even told my hubby that it was such a pleasure seeing some government workers fulfilling their duties even on sundays. To which hubby commented, "Ibig sabihin nyan nagtatrabaho din si Bayani (Fernando) kahit sunday." I asked back, "Paano mo naman nasabi yun?". Eh kasi daw he has to monitor the works of this men even remotely (via cellfone). What shocked me more is seeing more of these MMDA men as we traverse Rizal Avenue in Caloocan City. Hay sana, ganito ang devotion ng lahat ng government employees sa bayan natin. I know, they are paid for overtime work but hey, let us give credit to where credit is due. Hindi mo naman pwede pilitin ang mga tao kung ayaw nilang pumasok especially if it will be just overtime work. Also, this simply means one thing, that our government is exerting effort in doing their part in making our country a better place to live in. So , I believe we have to do our part as well.

Or should I say Bayani Fernando is doing a job well done chairing the MMDA?

A learning from long ago

We are about to move to another house in a few days from now. As part of the moving, there was a lot of cleaning and gathering of things that we should bring to the new house. This is why I stumbled into this old poem that I wrote on my diary in high school. As I read each line of this poem, it came to my mind that the reason why I wrote this in that diary long ago was because my mom and I were on some sort of misunderstanding. I, being the hard-headed teen I was then, would like to somehow give this poem to her as a part of my mother's day gift but I never had the courage. reading the poem now gives me more insights on being a mom and how I should handle all my little Jian's mischievousness at times. I'm writing this down right now, so as to share the lovely verses that was written by Kahlil Gibran.

On Children
An excerpt from "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said,
"Speak to us of Children".And he said:

Your children are not your children,

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but are not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,

which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them,

but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your chilren

as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and

He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far

Let your bending in th earcher's hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies,

So he loves also the bow that is stable.

As I was growing I have always been given rules to follow. I grew up in house that kids are not given the chance to speak their mind out. My parents,having been bought by their disciplinarian parents, have always believed that in raising a child one has to be stiff and should always imposed punishment for broken rules. Yes, napapalo po ako nun dahil sa katigasan ng ulo ko. I have always been in some sort of argument with my Mama, especially during my teenaged years. I have always been the kind who would always stood for what I believed is right even if it means that I will be alone in my beliefs and would have to contest that of my parents understanding. Blame it on my Papa who, during my elementary days, made me realized that in order for others to respect you as a person you have to be true to what you have promised. Now that I am mother to a very smart boy, I begin to understanding the feelings of my Mama then while we are growing up. I am actually, at times. sounding like her. I guess I should have to be reminded as well that children are born with their own mind. The reason why they have to be with us is because they need our guidance as their parents.

Building Bridges

I work in one of the contact centers in Makati and daily I go out my way from far-flung Valenzuela City bracing all the traffic and the oddities of a metropolitan traveller. I have been passing the same roads since time in memoriam. We have never lived in any other place so that explains why I have always been "at home" with all the roads that I pass by. Well, some months ago ( if memory serves me right, this was last April) the Tullahan bridge which connects Malabon and Navotas was closed for reconstuction. This was after six years of declaring the bridge as unsafe for motorists. Major traffic rerouting was formulated as part of the project. The problem is commuters (including me) will have to cut their trips from Valenzuela to Monumento. We need to shell out additional amount since the trip is cut into two. The usual fare of 10 pesos shoot up to 14. Kawawa naman mga estudyante! ( or should I say, kawawa ang mga magulang na nagbibigay ng mga allowances nila.) But my biggest fear amongst all these is the fact that the makeshift pedestrian bridge that DPWH made a few months ago was made of coco lumber. Yes, you read it right, COCO lumber. A few weeks ago, the Tullahan bridge was at the top of the news again because of an accident that happened one rainy night. The footbridge collapsed and caused some people to get hurt (one of them was our ninang). DPWH is pointing fingers again regarding this matter. They are saying that the volume of the water plus the trash was the culprit of the accident. After some time, they were able to provide steel footbridge on one side of the construction site. This was the bridge that I crossed over yesterday. This was the first time that I was able to crossed Tullahan on the left side. The other footbridge on the right side was permanently closed since San Miguel Plant was the owner of that small piece of land that serves as the location of the second footbridge. They said it was just "on loan " for public usage. Traffic was congested yesterday ( as usual), the reason why I have also expected the big volume of pedestrian crossers. True to what I was drawing up in mind, sobrang dami ng tao that time. It actually took me five minutes to be able to cross the footbridge. Ang nakakatakot nagswa sway ang bridge habang naglalakad ang maraming tao. Hindi lang yun, you will hear creaking sound as well which will eventually make you think na mukhang magigiba ang bridge na dinadaanan mo. People are panicking as well, mas madami kasing estudyante that time ang nagdadaan. True, the bridge was made up of steel right now, (or should I say steel railings) but what will caught your mind is the flooring that they used. They used the same plywoods from the dilapidated footbridge and what holds the bridge in its middle were just nylon wire which look too small for such big job as holding some 100 people all at the same time.

Hay, sa totoo lang mukhang mas matibay pa ang mga hanging bridges na nasa gubat kesa sa footbridge sa Tullahan.

Jian's Birthday Wish

My kid is about to turn 5 in a couple of weeks. Just like any other kids, he has his own wish list. On top of the wish list (to our amazement) was to be able to see baby 2 na daw. You see, Jian has the notion that I actually have a baby inside my tummy. We never gave him the idea, it just came out of his own thoughts one day after seeing one of her tita having a bulge on her tummy. He curiously asked me,"Mama, bat malaki tummy ni Tita Nora?". To which, I quickly answered, "May baby kasi sya!". Much to our amazement, one day, he begin to talk about us having a baby soon. He would even tell my inlaws that it is going to be a baby girl for us and that he would want to call her "Princess". Yesterday, he was even asking me why my tummy is still small, and when will our baby be coming out. These are the times that I am completely caught in awe. I was diagnosed to have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome some two years back, and has been taking medications for that matter for almost a year now. My OB told me that I could actually get pregnant even immediately if I would like to take those fertility pills. The problem is I am afraid to take those pills and would like to be preggy the normal way sana. But then, Dada and me are taking this option now into our considerations. And we decided that it is actually high time to have a new baby in the family. We do not want Jian to be frustrated on not having his dream brother/sister. Haynaku, I just hope things would turn out right and that God will be our guide in what ever decision we made.

BTW,I have already made my appointments to see my OB tomorrow. Hope she can enlighten me regarding this matter.

Conversations with Jian

It was one of those nights that Dada and Jian was still up when I got home from work, it was around 1am. The very first thing that went out of my tired mind was to ask my kid why he hasn't slept yet, eh madaling araw na? To my awe, he answered,"Eh antay ka namin ni Dada eh, miss na kasi kita!". Oh well, he got me there. Tired as I was, I went on my usual before-going-to-bed routines. I can hear them talk and talk about what Jian did in school for that day. When all of a sudden, Jian bursted to Dada, "Basta, Dada ayoko mag abroad ka!" and the rest of the conversation goes like this

Dada: And why?
Jian: Eh kasi hindi na tayo magkakausap.Dada: Tatawag ako everyday.
Jian: Eh, di ba mahal yun?Dada: Basta, tatawag pa rin ako everyday.
Jian: Eh hindi naman kita makikita?Dada: Sa computer makikita mo ko, papakabit tayo ng broadband.
Jian: Eh hindi naman kita mae embrace.
Dada: 'Di yakapin mo ko sa computer.
Jian: Eh, hindi naman kita mararamdaman dun eh.

This is where I butt in the conversation and told Jian how tired Mama was and asked him to massage my back. Effective naman nakalimutan nya for a while na mag aabroad si Dada.

Long Live Sexy Pinoy Moms!

I have enjoyed bloghopping today and there was an article that caught my attention. I read from the SexyMom that she have been accused of being an embarrassment to the country just because she was a "sexy" mom or was using such a monicker.

Some questions popped into my mind, "when does being sexy become an embarrassment ?" and "kelan pa po naging decent ang accusations and threats". I myself is a mom and I could tell the world that I have never felt most sexy in my life than when I became pregnant and became a mom. I believe that being sexy does not have to mean being a sex goddess or having an insatiable sexual appetite. Being sexy is being confident on how you look and how you carry yourself. It is more a state of mind, well, after all, the mind is actually where all sexual activities starts, right?


As per the definition of sexy , I see no problem in using the word to describe a mom or any Filipina for that matter. Maybe some would raise an eyebrow on this, well then, but maybe a lot would find it interesting that the Filipino moms are finally coming out of our cocoons and are more straightforward than there ancestors. Blame it on the current trend of globalization. We even send out contetants to all sorts of beauty pageants who paraded international beauties wearing skimpy bikinis. Gone are those days of projecting the "Maria Clara" image (which I believe was not so Filipina at all). The Filipina Moms of the 21st century is one who can confidently speak her mind out and yet take care of her family as well.

Let us always remember the old Filipino saying "Linisin mo muna ang sarili mo, bago molinisin ang bakuran ng iba." A saying that still holds true to this day.