Happy Diwali!

Unique cultures in Asia interest me a lot and Indian is on top of my list. I know India isn’t a popular choice for many Pinoy travelers and I wonder why. Why not? The fact that the renowned yoga and kama sutra originated there is compelling enough for me. It’s one of my MUST see places.

So when I heard that they will be celebrating their festival of light in advance (2weeks ago) here in Auckland, hubby and I were there - needless to say hehe...I'm not sure but it seems like we were the only Pinoys there (snob ba?! hmmm) and of course, there were many Caucasians and other Asians too.

I enjoyed tasting an array of Indian dishes which are mostly vegetarian. I like vegetables, curry and spicy cuisine so you can also expect me to like their dishes too; although there was this drink (I forgot the name) that I found awfully bizarre but worth-tasting anyway. Their bright and colorful costumes (saris, salwars, etc.) gave the festival more vivacity. Their women look really fabulous in it. Now, I acknowledge the fact that many of them are really gorgeous – eyes, nose…pang-Miss Universe jud!…And oh! their distinctive dances truly entertained me too to the point that it made me consider learning it. Mind you, it might look easy on TV (and sometimes funny) but when you look closely, the moves are quite intricate. Look at this sample video; I dare you to do the moves with all the facial expression and grace ha?! hehe…

Anyhoo, here are some photos during the festival


Happy Diwali!

Shalom, Shantih, Salaam, Kapayapaan...Peace Yo!

It seriously irks me when someone becomes extremely religious as if he/she is saying to your face: “I’m absolutely righteous and you’re not!” – just because he/she never misses a mass, always prays and does all the religious rituals beyond imaginable. Mind you, attitude like this made religion to have caused and still causing wars since time out of mind

Don’t get me wrong, I am not atheist and have nothing against religious people in general BUT the close-minded and self-righteous doctrinaires ggrrrrrrr…for crying out loud!!!

Yes, I was born, raised and have remained a Catholic all these years but I am certainly NOT dogmatic about it…simply because I don’t believe that there is one ‘rightful’ religion for all.

If truth to be told, I’d still admire you albeit you don’t go to church yet you go out in the real world and do genuinely good to your fellowmen. For me, righteousness is all about the quality of goodness in your deeds and NOT on quantity of how often you go to church and pray.

Nonetheless, who will define goodness? Perhaps this is the reason why we created religion in the first place. It is like an organization wherein we try to share and unite our beliefs, principles, etc. so we may have an orthodox of goodness and may set rules for the common good. In analogy, religion is just like a government in one way or another. And just like the government, the trouble begins when one party harasses another party…and worse comes to worst, a war is triggered.

Why is it so hard for us to harmoniously co-exist with all our differences???

During my college days, I remember to have attended several gatherings of Focolare movement wherein we advocate UNITY and PEACE regardless of religion. There, I met believers from various sectors: Catholics (nuns were there too), Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, and even the agnostics…all were united towards universal brotherhood. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we can all do that?

If you’re with me, sing with me now:

*(1st stanza omitted)

Imagine there's no countries, it isn't hard to do.
Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion (dividing us**) too.
Imagine all the people, living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope some day you'll join us, and the world will be as one.

Imagine no possesions, I wonder if you can.
No need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man.
Imagine all the people, sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope some day you'll join us, and the world will live as one.

*I omitted it because I still like to believe that there’s heaven and living only for today takes away life’s meaning or purpose, don’t you think?
**Religion is OK as long as it doesn’t destructively divide us

My mortal ENEMY grrrrr...

It's time to declare WAR against my mortal enemy!!!

Actually, I should say enemies because they’re one heck of a big pesky family forming a formidable coalition and have been harassing me since time immemorial. My lasting scars are the proof to that. This f*** family thrive beneath those endearing and unsuspecting creatures. They’re soooo sneaky that you can’t foresee their impending nastiness.

I thought they won’t bother me here in this paradise-esque land… far from where I first met them…but alas! they’re here!!! #$&*@(#&!!!! I can’t seem to stop myself questioning WHY???? Why here? Why me??? (For the record, they don’t bother hubby. Not at all!) Am I that appealing??? Gosh, that’s totally unflattering!

The hardest part is I can’t just ignore nor forget about them because they are the kind that propagates their lowly species and can seriously devastate the humankind. Their malevolence actually caused the Bubonic plague or The Black Death which killed hundreds of millions of people several centuries ago…and their kind is still enduring up to now. Eradicating them is a long and tedious endeavor. Nevertheless, I shall carry on with my extermination plan.

**itching everywhere** Grrrrrrr...I’m just soooo pissed right now that I can hardly wait to detonate that flea bomb and scream fire in the hole!!!

Those buggers!!! They have surely awakened my wicked instinct to KILL!!!

Strike a pose!

This is a result of having not much to do on a cold and rainy day. Theme: nabiyaan si lola sa trisikad! lol

Shilly-shally (Shinallan bah???)

Last night, the movie Lions for Lambs triggered my introspection about many concerns – politics, war, and most all – the issue of making a decision. This is one of the many lines that got me into thinking:

"Professor Stephen Malley: The decisions you make now, bud, can't be changed but with years and years of hard work to redo it... And in those years you become something different. Everybody does as the time passes. You get married, you get into debt... But you're never gonna be the same person you are right now. And promise and potential... It's very fickle, and it just might not be there anymore."

Promise. Potential. Fickleness. Decision. Ahhhhh….bull's eye!

I’ve been here and there in all the four corners of my mind and my brain is going into overdrive as to where am I going. My fickle-mindedness has been annoying me since time immemorial that’s why I’m dragging my feet heavily because I don’t want to jump into a decision unless I’m pretty sure that I left no stone unturned in coming up a choice. This is major, major, major! Whichever way I go, I’m going back to square one.

To some extent, I can say that having no choice is easier because you have to do what you have to do…but I’m not complaining. It’s just complicated but still, having options is without a shred of doubt, favorable.

Darn! It’s tough to be at sea and in uncharted waters. Sink or swim. Of course, I’m choosing the latter but I’m in a quandary of doing butterfly, freestyle or breast stroke. As of the moment, I’m just floating and going nowhere. Tagai ra gud ko ug salva-vida beh! Kakapoy bya!

I know I shouldn’t shilly-shally nor dwell on this floating status for too long. Unsa may akong gihuwat? Pasko??? Hinoon, dool naman…Seriously, I’m incredibly guilt stricken for choosing the easiest way – that is, doing nothing! tsk tsk

Somebody…stop me!

O-Hole

I always hear that NZ has a great deal of ozone depletion but I haven’t really bothered to look at the reason why. My languid mind just hurriedly hypothesized that the world’s pollution resulted it. Been a bit passive about this matter until this morning when I read the news:

"Ozone hole biggest on record this year"

Instantaneously, it ignited my curiosity…BIGGEST hole as in??? I googled about the matter at once! I’ve learned that ozone hole is actually a seasonal incident that occurs in the earth's atmosphere above Antarctica. And since it's practically our neighbor, NZ is also affected. This is how our planet looks like on September to December (spring to early summer):

Despicably, this can cause:

• Skin cancer
• Eye damage such as cataracts
• Immune system damage
• Reduction in phytoplankton in the oceans that forms the basis of all marine food chains including those in Antarctica.
• Damage to the DNA in various life-forms

What instigated this?

Correct if I’m wrong, I think my hypothesis is apparently accepted at 0.05 alpha hehe (I dread statistics). I only have very limited knowledge of chemistry but I can see some carbon chuchu that must have initiated this. My low-voltage brainpower cannot reliably decipher the mind-boggling jargons that detailed the phenomenon so read here for more info if you’re keen about it. If you happen to translate those lingoes into a layman’s term, please do share it. I certainly need a brilliant mind like yours to tell me WHY that “hole” happens here when I know for sure that NZ is an environment buff: our garbage won’t be picked up if it’s not properly segregated in the color-coded bins; cars should pass a strict emission test every 6 months; you can also see the very obvious green surrounding and smell the clean air – I should know how pure the air is because I used to have upper respiratory problems (triggered by fumes and dust in Pinas) that didn’t bother me since I arrived here (TG). And Antartica? No person even lives there! Don’t tell me the penguins are the culprits. Baloney!

For crying out loud! WHYYYYY isn’t the hole directly located over the regions that emit most of the smog like Peru, Russia or China (based on National Geographic’s 10 Most Polluted Places). This is like paying for someone else’s debt! It’s soooo unfair I should rant and rave!!!

The scenic beauty of NZ is indubitable and whatta shame if we can’t fully enjoy the outdoors because that o-hole inevitably concerns us too. Haaayyyy sunscreen and dark sunglasses galore nalang mi ani but what about the other life-forms here???

Grrrrrr…**at wits’ end**

My swallowing blues and first ambulance ride

Last week, after taking a large tablet, I felt it “stuck” in my chest. I have had a tablet-gagging experience before but not like this. This time, it was intense and progressing... As time passed, the pain increased and radiated to my back; it hurt when I moved, shallowed or inhaled. I tried to stay calm, breathed deeply…Yet, despite the attempt to compose myself, I felt my heart beating fast, really fast. Fright was overriding me already. In my mind, I thought of calling emergency if it won’t get better after 10 minutes. At such bad timing, the cordless phone was dead; the battery went out because it wasn’t placed properly overnight. My mobile got no enough load to call either (I rarely use it now). I needed to walk out of the house and get the other phone in our stock room. Slowly, I managed to get it. All the while, the pain endured and so I decided to call 111. Talking made me more uncomfortable so I hang up the phone without much ado and quickly called hubby too. I briefly told him about my condition and said “I love you” which got me really teary-eyed. I questioned: Is this it, Lord? To my surprise, I didn’t panic nor resist. Call it faith or whatever, but the thought of surrendering to His will made me at peace. After 10 minutes, the ambulance came. They monitored my vital signs on our way to the hospital. My legs were wobbly but there was a great relief because oxygen in my blood was fine and my heart was beating fast but steadily. I reckon that I might have choked big time.

To cut to the chase, after 2 hours (definitely, not a short while) of pain, and x-ray exam, the pain gradually vanished. The doctor said it was kind of strange but the good news was: I’m alright…still alive and kicking =) Thank you, Lord.

Another similar but less painful incident happened again tonight with the same tablet. **darn!** Certainly, it is happening while I am writing this but I calmed myself and am waiting for it to disappear so I can have a goodnight sleep. It’s past 1am already =( **sigh**

Goodness! I guess I am ridiculously babyish or freaky to have a tablet-swallowing problem at my age. Oh pleeeeaaasseee don’t laugh at me. I’ve been trying to subjugate my psyche because I know it’s all in the mind – just plain neurosis. I’ve just read about “phagophobia” or fear of swallowing (a psychogenic dysphagia) and I think this is its milder kind. I learned that when I get nervous, the muscles of the neck and throat tense up too thus, enabling this gag reflex.

For many years, I’ve been inconsistent in my attempt to overcome this fear huhu. I can’t recall why or what triggered this trouble. This silly part of me is sooooo enduring tsk tsk

Tomorrow, I’ll try that banana trick. I hope it will work hhhmmmm…**crossing my fingers**