life without limbs

You may have realized that I've had time in my hands for the past few weeks. Hopefully I'd be able to get "toxic" for the next weeks. Aside from photography, the internet have been my haven. Browsing through different blogs, I've discovered this video from one site. 

Nick Vujicic: life without limbs

A gentle reminder?

An hour ago, I arrived at my apartment and was greeted by an accident scene. It was just a few minutes fresh and the rescue team just arrived. My first instinct was to place down all my things and help. It reminded me too, of how I'm not tied up by rules and regulations anymore. Ate Cora was smiling as she found me wrestling with helping or not. In a little while, there were a crowd gathering and media scampering towards the scene.

It was a head-on collision between a jeepney and a van. The van being on the wrong lane. Of the 2 drivers, the one who drove the van was in a more emergent condition. The "usiseros" told us that the driver looked like he was drunk or dazed and the paramedics thought that he had a fracture in his extremities.

A few minutes after extracting the driver, a second ambulance came and carried the less critical. That few minutes was also when the traffic started to build up. The victims were lucky that the response was fast.

It was a gentle reminder of drinking and driving. There is more than just your life that is affected.

It was a gentle reminder for me too. Had I chosen to alight in front of my apartment building, I could've been involved. Had I been a few minutes earlier, I could've been involved. It could've been me.

Time

Author Unknown

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who has failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who has given birth to a pre-mature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE DAY, ask a daily wage laborer who has kids to feed.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who has missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who has avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND, ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you
shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time ...
and remember that time waits for no one. . . Yesterday is history
Tomorrow a mystery Today is a gift That's why it's called the present!

Congratulations

Congratulations to the board passers. (Physician Licensure Examinations February 2009)

Cheers!

Filipino Cuisine, Nationality or Identity?

A brief background. Anthony Bourdain is revered when it comes to food and everything that surrounds food. He is the host of No Reservations which showcases a variety of cuisine. I'm not going to speak like I have known of him and the show for months and months. I have learned of him when Marketman wrote about Anthony Bourdain visiting the Philippines. Marketman being involved was enough to pique my interest in the episode which aired February 16. Having no cable, I had to wait for blogs to come up with their reactions and of course the ever reliable youtube for the video. Hearing that the lechon came out number one in AB's heirarchy of pork was enough for me to be proud of the Filipinos behind this episode. What I didn't expect was the whole lot of reactions that stemmed out of the episode. While some of them are true, a lot of the comments were unwarranted. I won't write them here. One comment though was enough to cause a deluge of reaction that I wasn't able to read (some of them were deleted by marketman) and another post by Marketman.

Here are my reactions (edited to some extent) to some of the comments:

1. Reading through the comments from AB’s blog reminds me of what happened to the Philippines which I’ve learned in history class, where the government had to build walls and paint over them to cover the shanties.

2. If AB really liked to showcase the “lively” Filipino, I think his research would have shown the countless fiestas the Philippines have, and he would have gone to one. Could it be said that there are also the “timid” Filipino? We have are term “Maria Clara”. Isn’t that part of being a Filipino?

3. Kudos to Augusto for having enough Filipino Pride to send his videotape and represent the Philippines. If I was a follower of AB, I wouldn't even think of sending a video or if I did sending another after I have been rejected.

AND who would be comfortable in front of the camera and having relatively strangers around you watching and listening what you do and say? I know I wouldn’t.

4. Honestly, the reactions and Calfran’s comment, made me think if I could represent the Filipino heritage well. I can’t. It also made me think how very much of a Filipino I am. I’m writing in english and that says something.

P.S.

I'm laughing at myself now. And here we are Filipinos, couldn't agree about something and endlessly criticizing someone who's brave enough to call himself one. No wonder, the Philippines couldn't move forward as a nation.

I do agree with Calfran in that when AB said "“the problem is is that Filipinos are too damn nice…to forge an identity". It hits you in the gut. But I'm not going to blame other people for this. I blame myself.

capture a heart

February 14 is a not so special day for me, popularly renamed as single awareness day, I tend not to celebrate it at all. As I previously posted, a group I belong to, flickristasindios decided to celebrate this day with children from Payatas. Nothing more to keep me dusy, I decided to postpone my trip back home and celebrate the day with them.

The activity started with a prayer and then Sir Jun introduced his "hearts" to the children. I started to take his photo but as he started to talk, decided to listen instead. He opened his narrative with the concept of this day being a day of hearts, of love. Proceeding to show the children of different hearts, I forgot to take photos.

I am always entranced when it comes to children singing songs and seeing them gleefully participating. After a round of songs, the children were given not just a meal, they had 2nds and 3rds too.

One of the children I noticed was Angelito, a 1 year old boy, who wouldn't smile. I wouldn't fault him as seeing him, I could see mouth sores, and probably with the size of his belly he would have worms. I gave the multivitamins to his mother and was satisfied that Angelito was smiling more after a while.

Being sponsored by a photography group, the day didn't end without a group shot. :P

Other Photos here:

capture a heart album

A timely distraction

In an effort to divert out attention from our predicament, my friend wanted to watch ANY movie. "Gusto ko manuod ng sine." She said with finality. And true to our theory that the most likely gimmick to push through are the unplanned ones, off we go to watch Marley and Me. It was a pleasant surprise. It wasn't a movie that centered on Jennifer Aniston nor was it a movie about a dog. It is not for people who love dogs. Its a movie for people who've raised, cared, nurtured a dog for a part of their life. This I dare say, anyone who have NEVER cared for a dog won't relate much to the movie.

The movie is based on an autobriography of Jenny and John Grogan (Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson) which spans from the couple as newly weds to their life as parents of 3 children. It follows John as an aspiring journalist unexpectedly finding success in being a columnist. Marley, playing a key part in their lives. The film effectively showed the relationship between Marley and the family without having one character dominate over the other. Yes, it wasn't just any other Jennifer Aniston film.

It's not that I am a big fan of "feel-good" movies, but because I can recognize myself in some parts of the movie, that I was glad of our unplanned gimmick. Maybe one day I can say that, as John said in his job interview, "I surprise myself" too.

Capture a Heart

Flickristasindios is a group of people bonded together because of photography. An active group in flickr with their regular photo shoots, regular walks and HMTs (Happy Mamam Thursdays), the group is organizing its 3rd Outreach Program: Capture A Heart in conjunction with the Philippine Red Cross. On the 14th of February, a feeding project will be held at the Payatas Area, Quezon City. 

moving on...

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

-=Thich Nhat Hahn=-

Last thursday, I joined a group of photographers assist Sir Ryan take photos of patients who've gone through the ails of cancer. I just wanted to observe and didn't expect to be one of the people to take photos. As I walked into the conference room, I took a really really big step back. It was a sea of people, and wheelchairs. It was overwhelming as i've avoided crowds for these past few days. I am glad though, I've met new friends. Learned a lot about life. I have known of people with cancer, but as patients or cases, not as someone who is going through or have gone through difficulties. One thing I've noticed was that it was hard making them smile, they had this aura of something I can't quite explain. Perhaps I'd never be able to understand until I've walked  beside them or in their shoes.