What's the Rave?

Hulloh! How is everybody doing?

I've noticed that it seems like I am making a career out of posting a blogpost once a month!

My days are sometimes swarmed with activities that sometimes I just wanna head off the beach and go enjoy the waves while reading a book. 

Last weekend, I attended the District Assembly of Rotaractors and Interactors here in Davao for District 3860. It went well. It's great that they invited Ms. Joji Ilagan Bian to be the guest speaker which proved to be very inspiring among students which composed a majority of the audience.

The recently concluded pre-Kadayawan event "Cycle For Life" and the "Dream Davao" exhibit at People's Park went well. Although with so little time to plan a week-long event we fell short of our expectations. Meaning there were more "something could've worked better" ideas than what we did. But, despite the many "firsts" and recent "learnings", one thing we gained at the event was having the bond. of just having known each other for a month to come together for a specific purpose of calling various individuals and organizations who wants to make Davao better. oh di ba? diretso field. 

Photo: Sorry don't know who took this picture. Pls. contact me lang if this is yours and ill place the credit. thanks.

For RACMPD (Rotaract Club of Munting Pag-Asa Davao), we also had our first ever fundraising bazaar during Kadayawan. We were selling baked goodies and all proceeds will go to our club and mostly to support Kythe Foundation*.

But, Tina, you might ask... all work and no play? Of course not!

In between the busy-ness of many "for the world" events..... I managed to meet up with my College Buds and High School Chums....in between the events I am in (i invite them!) and also having separate get-togethers...

one during the birthday of my godson to which i am the fairy godmama! HAHAHA. and one of our friend is pregggy!!! another godson in the making. Vavavroooom!!

also our high school chum meet-up was simply that.... get together to talk about what's up with our own lives...

How about family??? Sometimes I managed to stay at home one day after the event... and sometimes i'd drag my brother and sister to help me out in the booth which they are supporting me with....and i'd help out with dad and mom with their recent garden... which i will post pictures of soon... :)


it's September.... and more life-changing events which i will impart soon!


*Kythe Foundation - foundation for cancer patient kids.

With so much love,

Tina


P.S. HAPPPYYYY BIRTHDAY To my beloved Aunt... Aunt Tita!!!!!!!LOVE YOU!!!! She reads my blog.... most of the time. :) 

Happy Holidays!!

Merry Christmas!! (I know it's kinda late. And saying Happy New Year would be a bit too early). So... Happy Holidays na lang!!

WARNING: This might be a long post to make up for the weeks I haven't posted.


I know everyone is super busy with all the parties and get-together's, reunions.... because I sure was! But, I can't talk about how swamped my schedule was because that would be sooo boring. Instead let me bask about those sweet precious moments with people that matter......


It started at Cebu (Plantation Bay/Shangri-La)-Bohol with our DXN Family, the first week of December. Although I had to encounter the "Joker's of our life". I know Batman has only one Joker... and a Deck of cards only has 2. But, our family's got 4 Joker's in our life left. But the Joker's are on a different story. I had fun communing with the DXN Family at the trip. Reconnected with friends from around Pinas. Those travel seminar incentives we have are like some sort of leader's gathering/reunion. Huge. with 325 participants and was even recognized by the Mayor (government) of Cebu. :)



Then there's the get together of my HS Buds Matet and Mona. Matet is a Medical Student and they designed this "Adopt A Child For Christmas" Party.. and so we joined in on the fun. And went to the pool afterwards.

Then another dose of DXN Davao Family Pool Party on the 18th. Super Super Fun!

And then on the 21st... the bonding with the Firstborns. Which was an overnight affair. We spent most of our time on Cris's car. Talking... while the rest of the guys did their thing. Hehe. It was fun.. oooh and what a lovely moon it was!

23rd.... wedding bells were ringing. As one of the "Firstborns" got married. Awwwww. Who is next??? :)

Of course on the 24th-25th... was our the time for the biological family. They visited our home on the 24th and there were constant friends who made their annual visit. And our traditional "exchange gift". Yayyyy! Oohh the faces of the kids with their gifts was priceless.

And yesterday(26th)... we went out-of-town to visit my mom's Aunt who was the one who assisted my mom in finishing her studies when our grand parent's separated.

So... yeah... I saw most of my friends this December except my College Buds. :( But, I'm sure one of these days we will all catch up! :)

By the way.. I'd like to extend my deepest gratitude to Ms. N. for the package she sent me! Yes, she sent one of my wishlist for PM's "All I want for Christmas". :)



It's the 2011 Power Planner (Belle De Jour) over there. *points points*

And yes... it was a fun Christmas... since I finally got the set of Harry Potter series that was my High School fancy!! Grabe. Talk about delayed gratification. And mom put me to sooo much drama that time just to surprise me, I cried because I almost thought I'm not having it this year...

See ? You always get what you want... sometimes it is just not NOW. :P

Absolute Vulnerability

Even heroes have "vulnerable moments".

Despite the superpowers and psychic abilities they have... they are human too.


Adrian Tranquili a sculptor shows us the scarcely seen, vulnerable side of our Super Heroes.

Although the outside battles are equally riveting... it is the inner battle that matters most. In Spiderman 3: "The Battle Lies Within".

Everyone can relate to them because it is not just the super heroes who goes through this.

And according to Socrates of the movie "Peaceful Warrior" based on the best selling book The Way of A Peaceful Warrior:

A warrior is not about perfection or victory or invulnerability. He's about ABSOLUTE VULNERABILITY.

And in those moments.... we allow ourselves to be human.....



So... if you are going through something..... always mind the battles within.... because they are the ones that matters most. As within, so without. Life is a mirror. It reflects back your innermost thoughts, feelings and desires.

and always remember folks, a warrior is about ABSOLUTE VULNERABILITY.. and we all have those moments.




Image Source from: Diesel Fragrance

Egyptian Museum

This museum is home to the most extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world. Of course, it should have the most extensive collection since it's in Egypt for crying out loud.

Established by the Egyptian government in 1835. They exhibit more than 120,000 collections. This is located at Tahrir square, Cairo, Egypt.

It's also the first big museum, I've ever been too. Photographs are not allowed inside, so I can’t show what’s inside the museum.

It contains a lot of coffins (made out of granite, limestone or covered with gold), statues, tables, jewelries, the treasures found from King Tutankhamen's tomb, weapons, instruments, chariots, and other stuffs .

Of course this is where you will see the mummies - they have a Royal Mummy Room and you have to pay for another extra to go inside. We did not get to go inside because almost everyone’s itching to get out of the place - medyo mainit rin ang museum plus everyone’s tired.

This is also where one of the scenes in the blockbuster hit movie "The Mummy" was shot.

Great Sphinx of Giza

The Great Sphinx of Giza is a half-human, half-lion Sphinx statue found in Egypt. It is also the largest monolith statue in the world and one of the world's oldest statue.

The Great Sphinx was believed to stand as a guardian of the Giza Plateau, where it faces the rising sun. In the Old Kingdom, it was the focus of solar worship. It's LION form, has long been a symbol associated with the sun in ancient civilizations.

With all it's grandeur in history, nowadays it is facing one of the world's famous franchise - Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yikes. Of all the opponents to face... it's facing a chicken for crying out loud.

Ancient Egyptian Pyramids of Giza

A pyramid is any three-dimensional polyhedron where the faces other than the base are triangular and converge on one point, called the apex.

The base of a pyramid can be any polygon but is typically a square, leading to four non-base faces. - from Wikipedia.

The most famous pyramids are the ones found in Egypt.

There are three pyramids in Giza - there is the Khufu's Pyramid, Khafre's Pyramid and Menkaure Pyramid.

Khufu's Pyramid, is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt and is the only remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb for Egyptian pharaoh Khufu. The Great Pyramid was the tallest man made structure in the world for over 3,800 years. - from Wikipedia

Khafre's Pyramid, is the second largest and the tomb of Pharoah Khafre. The pyramid has a base length of 215.25 m (707 ft) and originally rises to a height of 143.5 m (471 ft) The Pyramid is made of Limestone blocks(weighing more than 2 tons each). - from Wikipedia

Menkaure's Pyramid, is the smallest among the three pyramids and the tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Menkaure. It was probably completed that time between the 26th century BC.

I wasn't expecting to be THERE - for real - but there I am standing right in front on one of the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World and the only surviving structure in modern times. Woot.

April 2008 Trip I

The trip went well (in fact it was great!).

The first part of the trip was spent on four scheduled Leadership Training in different places to be conducted by my mom.


April 12-13 :

The first one was conducted at Malolos, Bulacan. My mom's training is limited to 30 persons only (and that's already the maximum but on some places it would exceed to 35). But this time at Malolos there were only 12 participants (which makes it easy for mom). Less audience is easier.

I also tried a delicacy from Malolos called Inipit *review some other time*. I also visited the ever famous Barasoain Church. I was supposed to take a picture in front but, a wedding was about to take place and so all my plans of being there went down the drain. Hehe. Give way to the bride. :P

April 15-16:

Our second schedule was set to be in Tandang Sora, Quezon City to be hosted by Mrs. Luzviminda's Service Center.

Basically, this group is a great one, most of the attendees are in their youth and they are way beyond people their age already. (Not a lot of youths attend this kind of training though). They are responsive and they ask a lot of questions (which is actually great because my mom encourages questions and clarifications when she speaks). Very interactive. They are also achievers which makes it a plus. Keep it up guys! :)

April 17-18:

The third schedule was held at Willie Mercado's Service Center over at Zamora Street.

Mrs. Lelel was a great host, she made sure we were doing all right and all that. She even drove us at the hotel when our drive wasn't able to make it. I also admired her three kids helping out with their Service Center. You can see they have a tight family bond.

The group here is great as well. Intellectual and Spiritual and so Mom did not have any trouble and actually finished early because they got it just right.

I also admired Mr. & Mrs. Lauron(Crown Diamonds) who attended mom's training. It's quite rare to see a person EARN MUCH and attend trainings. Most people who earn much and are in a high position don't attend trainings anymore. You can see that Mr. & Mrs. Lauron are green mangoes*

April 19

Supposed to be our rest day but mom made time for some of the Network Leaders who weren't able to attend her trainings. It started by 10am ended at quarter to 4 or something.

April 20

en route to Quezon. We took our time getting to the place. Not much in a hurry. I enjoyed the ride.

April 21-22

The last schedule was held at Aramin Resort in Tayabas, Quezon Province. The bond on this group is very tight. Quezon already had it's first batch, which were the "uplines" of the second batch and they bonded during the two nights talking about a lot of things in life. I enjoyed observing their bond here.



April 23


Before going back to Manila we decided to climb the 300 steps of the "Kamay ni Hesus" grotto. Due to the "coding" in Pasay we delayed our going back to Manila by stopping at different places and taking a different, scenic route. I was able to drop by at Lucban, Quezon (to check out the hats once again... but did not get to buy one.. since I don't know where I would store it. T_T), and Lumban, Laguna (the home of the finest barongs).

All in all it was a fun filled trip full of learning experiences. I learned a lot from different people. It's one of the reasons I decided to stay in the Networking Field. You get to understand people more and more and you meet different people and learn from them and at the same time you got to help them out. You give something, they get something. You get something, they give out something.

*Green Mango - mature independent person, attends trainings. leaves their cup empty, eager to learn. coachable. A green mango stays on the tree. It doesn't fall. It wouldn't rot.
*Yellow Mango - immature independent person, don't attend trainings because their cup is full already. they feel they know EVERYTHING. A yellow mango usually falls from a tree and is left to rot. When you stop learning, you start to rot just like a yellow mango.

Cover Girl?

You bet!

I was tagged by Lady Norms while Ate Nona tagged my Dance of Life blog.

I know I posted it a bit late.... (and I'm making a career of posting tags late.)

But, here it is.....



Tagging anyone who wants to do it!

Updates:

• Finally got "The Only Thing Between Us" book by Pamela Santos.
• For the first time I played "Paint Ball" with friends/sisters/brothers.
  

Book Review: Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch

What I Miss: TV Shows

So, I have stated Cartoon Series I missed this time it's the TV Shows. One of the reasons I go home early was because of the TV shows that awaits me at home before. Here are my favorite TV Shows when I was still young...

• Highlander - Ahhh.. I don't remember much about this.. but I remember waiting for this when I was young.
  
• Young Hercules - The young one that starred Ryan Gosling. He was my crush back then... was shocked to see him at The Notebook.
  
• Xena - well... I loved Hercules. expect me to like Xena as well.
  
• Saved By The Bell - Old School! Woo. I really enjoyed watching this. I think this was done during weekdays... like 5:30. By that time, I'm home. Shown at Studio 23
  
• Flipper - One reasons I love dolphins was because of this series. :) I love it when Studio 23 have their marathons of Flipper during Holy Week.
• Baywatch - I love people-saving-people series. This series made me want to be a lifeguard as well. Pero.. malabo. I don't swim. Muwahaha.
• Are you afraid of the Dark? - the Midnight Society... I always catch up with this every Friday at Studio 23. :)
• Rescue 911 - at RPN 9. As I've said I love to watch people-saving-people series... I wait for this every Sunday! And.. I was soo thrilled when we finally had our own 911 Station.
• How Did They Do That? - I learned lots of things from this show and most stories they have are interesting. I even bought a book entitled "How Did They Do That?".
• Just Kidding! - Love to watch the pranks made at Just Kidding! :)
• Seventh Heaven - "When I see their happy faces smiling down at me...Seventh Heaven..."
  

Local TV Shows

• Hirayamanawari - I really wake up early for this show.. Love the values you would get from here... hehe. "Hirayamanawari.. mga pangarap natin.. ating abutin."
  
• Bayani - I like this as well. It's like history class all over again. <3>
• Sineskwela - I love Science. :)
  
• Okatokat -
  
• Calvento Files - Everything's true. The tune they play in every crime is eerieee...
  
• GMIK

and other shows I have yet to remember.

What old TV shows do you remember watching? :)

Photo Source: Retrojunk
(this was in my drafts for 6 months I just decided to post it).

Singapore

After the Malaysia trip we decided to drop by and tour Singapore for two(2) days. If Malaysia has lovely "island bars" imagine my delight when I saw Singapore's "island bars" (refer to the picture at the right).

The bougainvillea flowers they used are just "ordinary" here in the Philippines but they used it to beautify the most part of their city! Wow. Can we not do that in our country as well? Hay. Hay. Lovely lovely. And the trees? Grabe. Salute to the people who landscaped their country. I heard Pinoys did the landscaping? Is it true? Ha? Ha?

We slept right away when we arrived. (Of course we need to recharge after the hectic non-stop travel in Malaysia).


If in Malaysia it's Genting Highlands you must visit, in Singapore it's Sentosa Island. So, by 6pm we decided to visit and watch the highlight show in Sentosa Island which is the "Songs of the Sea". It's an amazing show! They used a musical fountain and interacted it with lasers against the water particles to create 3D images. It was purely MA-GEE-CAL! I wished my sister and brother was with us that time.


We did not get to tour around the Island that much since it's already dark. But they have a nightlife in the island, I guess. Judging from the outfits of the young-uns. Hehe. There's a cable car in the island as well and it's quite different from the one in Malaysia because underneath the cable car would be minus the forest but the sea. But, I will surely try out the cable car when me and my family would visit Singapore for a vacation.

There are different ways to get in and out of the island. Renting a taxi ($35), ride a train, ride the Sentosa Bus, Cable Car, or your own private car.

We spent most of our time in Orchard Road. If you are the type of person who loves to shop, Orchard Road is the place for you. The whole of Orchard Road is filled with shopping malls. I can't name most of them, but all I remember is getting inside. Hehe. There is no trouble if you just use your feet in Singapore since everything is prolly "just-a-walk-away". Unless you are a person who can't stand walking! But, if you are a person who resides in Davao "walk-a-thon" is not a foreign word. In fact everything would be near for you. :) *walang problema pag networker ka!*



I got to visit their National Museum but not the whole of it. The building looks nice noh? :) Very attractive.







If we have the Malacañang Palace and U.S the White House, in Singapore they have the Istana Singapore. If you are on the way to visit the shopping malls in Orchard Road you can pass by the Istana. The home of their Prime Minister.




We took the last flight out of Singapore to Manila so we can fully enjoy our stay at the Singapore Changi Airport. It's like a big shopping mall. They have a wide array of duty free shops and eating outlets. They also have "free internet" which explains my "Greetings from Singapore post". Hehe. They have free massages located everywhere as well.

Changi Airport is the 22nd busiest airport & one of the busiest cargo airports in the world and the 6th busiest in Asia. They have six open air garden areas and during our stay I got to visit the two. I don't know where the other four are located. I only visited their Orchid and Fern garden.

I just have to salute and say thank you to the "smiling customs" in Malaysia and Singapore. They were friendly and not at all imposing compared to the ones in Philippines, sad to say. They would smile and encourage us to come back and even have the decency to ask us if we enjoyed our stay. If we forgot to fill something up in the customs form they would just smile and consult us.

I don't know if you travelers notice this but our customs here in the Philippines always have a serious face. No smiles and everything. Nada. I guess it's different if you are foreign or what? I'll keep this in mind when I go out this November I will look over the customs attending to foreign nationals. They could at least smile a bit and be forgiving to others when they forgot to fill something up. *my mom witnessed a scenario where the custom personnel would scold at a Balikbayan*. Hello! Philippines is our country, we should be welcomed with smiles! They could say "Hi Maam, Sir kumusta ang travel niyo?" or "Hi Sir welcome back to the Philippines!".

There's still a lot to improve in the Philippines. I do hope one day it would improve for the better. Seeing other countries excel inspires me and the desire to see Philippines improving is soooo strong. But, I shan't ask the government to do the improving. It is not a good question to ask because number one I don't think they can answer it and number two the government has matters and "personal agendas" to attend to. The future is not in their hands anyway. The future mga kababayan is WITH US.

So let's stop asking what our country/government can do for us instead let's ask OURSELVES "WHAT WE CAN DO FOR OUR COUNTRY". I think that's better di ba? :)

It doesn't matter if we can't do GREAT THINGS we can do SMALL THINGS in a GREAT WAY! Go go PINOY! Wag antayin ang gobyerno. Hehe. Let's do it ourselves!

City of Smiles

I got back from Bacolod, the "city of smiles" yesterday(August 11). We stayed at Grand Regal Hotel conveniently located in front of Gaisano Mall, hosted by Mrs. Talas a very generous woman and a very great host at that.

Mom and I attended a special business event(August 8, 2007) that was coordinated by Bacolod's Charity Prince Joery Llanera. It was a good show. I had fun.

The next two days (August 9 and 10), mom trained 30 leaders and I had a great time seeing how the training changed their outlook in life. We received a lot of good responses from them and mom said she had a lot of fun with the network leaders. :)

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I never got the chance to tour around the place but at least I got the chance to eat out at two of their best "eating places".

FOOD.

PALA - PALA / HYSKOS


There is an eating place they call "pala-pala" or "tulahan". You get to buy fresh seafood at the back (wet market) and have it cooked at the eateries in front. Just take your pick. The place is near the seashore, that's why seafood comes cheap. The facade of the eateries may look like an ordinary karinderya but oh boy.... their food is great.



TIP: if you want good food, just have it cooked at an eatery where numerous people eat because I'm sure they serve YUMMMYYY food. We ate at an eatery called "Hyskos" twice.

IMAY'S

This restaurant also serves great food. It's cheap (compared to restaurants here in Davao that serves the same food), and very yummy. The interior of the place is good and it has a great service. (Wow! Writing about food made me hungry tonight. *growls*).




I ordered their cheese sticks... and by gum you wouldn't say "bitin" because it's very CHEESY (unlike other cheese sticks I know served in other restaurants here in Davao).





One dish perked my interest was the "porbidang kangkong", because of it's name. It's probably "porbida" because it's hot and spicy. Very Very yummmmyyyyyy..... !!!



I did not get to taste Bacolod's Chicken Inasal which is pretty much popular and Bacolod's known for that... but at least I got to be in two places that serves great food with a low price.

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Till here! Have a great week ahead!!

The Big Day

I've been almost neglecting this blog and all and I'm pretty way behind but sometimes life gets too busy and yes I'm riding the fast train as of the moment with a lot of schedules here and there.





(August 3-4, 2007)
For two days, I've been in and out of Tagum(the new location of the Service Center to be managed by me) to help clean the place up and arrange what my parents planned. Everything looked really great, despite the fact that you had to brush the whole tiled floor which is not a good type of tile because the dirt sticks right away and one has to mop it most of the time to keep it squeaky clean (that was the downside of it all, the tiles which came with the building).

I am sooooo grateful for the support the Legaspi group has given me. Four(Kuya Lauro, Kuya Marlon, Kuya Alie and Kuya Eric) of them went with us to help pull the things out from the old place, mind you that was without pay, it was just pure service. Grabe!



They had fun with the place. People in Tagum are pretty accommodating when they realized there's a new establishment. Being at the heart of the city, everyone who passed by was curious and asked about the establishment and the new occupants which we gladly answered.

When the distributors invited new interested people to visit the place for the opening-slash-orientation most of the distributors were bombarded with questions like "would there be food?", or "naay kumbira?".

Tsk. Tsk. Telling everybody the presence of food would devoid the purpose of the orientation. You would have a place filled with people thinking about free food and not the opportunity that would be laid down for them. We did not say that there would be food for the stomach after or anything fancy catered for them but a few expected there would be. They went out of the office before and right after the orientation muttering a few unintelligible words which would lead to the bottom line that "there was no free food".

We served the prepared snack 30 minutes after the presentation. The food was served for those who were really interested and they were even surprised. It pays to wait but never expect. Hehe.

I was touched when I heard the night before the event that almost all decided to wear pink or shades of pink as a sign of support to me. Awwww.... How sweet. Ate Mari told me, I mentioned it to her once.... I just forgot. But, it was so nice... and sweet of them to wear pink... even the men were all game to wear pink.

Renel and June arrived since they both hailed from Tagum. My friends in ICST wanted to go there and told me they would.... but then they have things to take care of.... pero "thank you sa text message(from Jona and Pearl) and the comment you gave as well Avy." Grabe. I appreciate all those. "Kita kits na lang sa school. Gi mingaw nako sa inyo ba."


Belated Happy Birthday kay Ate Sasha (august3) . Sorrrryyyy. I'm so late grabe.

By August 8, I shall be in Bacolod to assist Mom with her training. Just a few days.. will be back right away.

Enjoy the rest of the week. I will visit your abodes now. Hehe. STAY HAPPY!

The Choice

"The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live"

How was your day???

You get to choose how you start your day despite the circumstances.

You get to choose to enjoy waking up with a smile despite the heat and noise or choose to be annoyed with how your day started.

You ride a jeepney and chanced upon a passenger who is annoying you to bits you can either choose to divert your attention to something other than the passenger or stay annoyed deep inside.

You get to college and knew about the change in the schedule, you can choose to complain or you can choose to accept it.

or if you are working your boss suddenly announces you to be transferred, you can choose to be excited with the change or fear what happens.

A colleague gets into your nerves, you can choose to react or choose to just smile and understand the person.

A friend asks you to go to lunch to meet his/her friends, you can choose to decline or choose to meet new friends.

When you ride a taxi and happened to chance upon an "angry driver", you can choose to ignore it or choose to react once again.

or if you are driving and another car cuts you off, you can chase that car and throw dagger-like looks at the driver when you catch up or just remain calm and understand.

You can always choose what type of day it is today. Is it a good one or a bad one? When you decide to choose how to feel and respond in every given situation, it may seem insignificant but when you look at the big picture it sums your day. In these cases, we know there are no right or wrongs just "simple choices".

The hidden secret of life is that we are a PRODUCT of the simple decisions we make each time.

Do you ever wonder that if we turned right instead of left we could have been a different person? We could have been happier , despite of everything that goes along our way.

Each day we make choices, consciously or unconsciously. We can either choose to be happy, respond, accept, change, improve, offer a smile, say hello, be generous and be every bit of a kind person deep within or we can choose to be sad, react, resist changes, ignore happiness, be grumpy and angry.


So, what type of day is it today?

The choice is up to you!

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BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BELOVED BROTHER PAOLO!

LOVE YOU PAO! (busy lang diod si ate.. boohoo)

yeah, i choosed to be busy... but I'm happy =)

Seeeee......

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after a long day practicing......



there is always a time for a coffee break..... :)

Addicted to you

1. Write about how much addicted you are towards something.
2. Don't forget to include the percentage of addictedness towards those things.
3. As long as the total of percentage must reach 100%...
4. You MUST tag others and continue tagging but please don't forget to explain the rules and please notify the person so that they will know that they have been tagged by you....

50% --> Books. Need I say more? Hehe

10% --> Coffeeee. I always have my daily dose of caffeine every morning.... while reading a page from the book I'm currently reading...

10% --> Cakes. Every party, I go... I'd wait around for the cake to be served. I love cakes.. I wanna try all of them. :P

10%--> Movies. I rarely watch movies... nowadays.. but if given the chance.. I'd be sitting and watching movies all day....

5% ---> Pink, White & Yellow, Rainbow Colors/Pastel Colors... -> Anything with a rainbow design... or with a rainbow color stuff... I collect. Anything pink, white & yellow I collect.

5% ----> Butterflies. I love butterflies.. I love song about butterflies.. stories about butterflies.. I love dresses and skirts with butterfly prints all over. I love butterfly items...

3% ---> Bears. Panda bears... Koala bears... -> I like them!!!

3% ---> Dolphins. I love dolphins as well. I'm a Flipper fan... Hehe... It's where I started liking dolphins....

2% ---->Chocolate. I lovee chocolatessssss. Hehe.

2%---> Yogurt. Love this... yum yum

{ edit - I forgot to tag.. hehe thanks Cat for reminding me... and since... you reminded me... guess what ? You won a tag for addiction! nyahaha. Tagging: Cat, Avy (sori.. do this when you have the time.), and Bam (adik ka din ata eh? malamang sa kape...)

Speaking of addiction.....

I have a picture of a certain plant called "Kachubong/Katchubong". {never mind the spelling} The picture was taken at Salumay Busay Resort and it was my first time to see and touch the plant. (No, I did not try it's whimsical effects)


I heard from our local news station last year that this certain plant is being used as a hallucinogen.

It is said to have extreme effects that leaves a person the inability to differentiate reality from fantasy.

In other places it is called Datura. This plant has different colors.... as well. This is also called Jimsonweed, in the Western part.

A mnemonic for the psychological effects of kachubong intoxication:

"blind as a bat, mad as a hatter, red as a beet, hot as hell, dry as a bone, the bowel and bladder lose their tone, and the heart runs alone."

The most famous account of jimsonweed intoxication can be found at The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda.

"She is as powerful as the best of allies, but there is something I personally don't like about her. She distorts men. She gives them a taste of power too soon without fortifying their hearts and makes them domineering and unpredictable. She makes them weak in the middle of their great power."

Trivias:

• Datura is the plant given to pacify the mentally handicapped brother in William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury.
• In the novel The Sundial by Maarten 't Hart, datura is used twice as a poison.
• Singer/songwriter Tori Amos penned a trance song entitled "Datura" for her 1999 album "To Venus and Back". The song features Amos reading a list of various plants that are growing in her garden over hypnotic piano and rhythms. She consistently mentions datura within the list, as if to indicate it is overgrowing and destroying her garden. The flower, in the song, is used as a metaphor for destructive relationships.
• The psychedelic rock band Bardo Pond named a song "Datura" in his album "Set and Setting". Many other Bardo Pond album and song titles have been derived from the names of esoteric psychedelic substances.
• In the movie XXX the darts used to knock out Xander (Vin Diesel) and that he later uses to appear to kill an undercover policeman are referred to as 'Datura knockout darts' by their creator.

Get more infos: Here, Here and Here.

WARNING: "Self-experimentation is not recommended and must be strictly avoided by anyone who suffers any kind of heart condition. The effects are stimulating on the central nervous system and simultaneously depressing on the peripheral nerves. Symptoms include an increased heart rate, drying up of the mucus membranes, a dry throat and sometimes cramps. At first the effects are arousing, sometimes manifesting as uncontrolled talking or laughing, forgetfulness and indulging in senseless repetitive activities. Vivid hallucinations and delirious illusions may also occur. Occasionally the effects can produce extreme violence and destructive urges. The period of agitation is usually followed by a deep prolonged sleep accompanied with vivid dreams and hallucinations, often of a sexual nature. Upon awakening one might experience a distinct hang-over and a total lack of memory as to what actually happened during the state of altered consciousness."

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Just watched Spiderman 3 yesterday: Short review HERE.