The Miracle of Birth

we were expecting her to burst into existence on February 2009, on its 3rd week to be exact.  on her scheduled check-up,05 February 2009, my wife, wila, was told by her OB Gyne that she was already due to deliver. 

wila just came from divisoria, running around buring stuff for her client... on her way home, she passed by the clinic of her doctor.  she was no longer allowed to go home... apparently the water bag was already tore and water in her womb was slowly diminishing... she called me up and after rushing through the work at hand, i hurriedly went to the hospital where she was to give birth.  her doctor just gave me a list of things to prepare.  i called up my brother and soon he was there to help me out... he went home and prepared the things...  that was 1530hrs.  by 2000H, wila gave birth to laya.  her doctor showed her to me; she was a mere 5.5 pounds.  so little but so angelic... just like her kuya, amos.

Sad Day for Mountain Biking

i was supposed to do a quick ride that morning, well, just to let my thigh muscles relaxed after a long ride two days ago... to do this, i thought of assaulting shotgun, a favorite destination that will surely shock the whole out of me. beside, shotgun is just a few kilometers from home.

before leaving, my wife reminded me to be back before 0900H, since it's easter sunday and we need to participate in the church celebration... oh yes, its easter sunday, so i expected a very wonderful quickie.

i started pedaling at around 0630H, i was in a hurry to reach the shotgun's trailhead so the heat of the sun wouldn't catch me up as i rode that uphill. and then as i started the ascent, a truck filled with garbage overtook me, first strike... dust and smoke made the road partly invisible for a moment; but that was okay, had those dose several times already... but the foul stench of garbage and wastes almost made me dismount and simply collapse. the good thing is, it is easter sunday and i know that there'll gonna be a resurrection at the end of the road... so i continued on.


after reaching the sharp curve of the ascent somewhere on the middle of the whole shotgun's stretch, i need to dismount and rest a little... cleaned my nose and got ready to ride again... when another truck passed me by with all the stench, second strike... where are they heading? i wondered.
well again, its easter sunday...

quickly, i mounted my bike and pedaled hurriedly, another truck might overtook me again, i couldn't bear any longer, so i thought. reached the top really quick and started the downhill portion... and on the last uphill stretch of the road, i suddenly heard a truck's engine coming now from atop... heading towards me as i was uphilling, dust & smoke enveloped me again, but no foul stench... now i am almost certain... another one coming down... they were fast in unloading the garbage... where are they dumping those wastes?

and then as i was about to reach the top, another truck passed by with all those stinky matters and alas, they are dumping now the garbage to that "sanitary" landfill, third strike... IT IS A SAD DAY... ON RESURRECTION DAY!!!

Mountain Biking

mountain biking is now becoming popular in the philippines... and maybe considered as an "in" thing in the sports and hobbies lists.

i started pedalling as early as the highschool days when my uncle bought me a bike, which was then called "semi-racer". however, since i graduated from highschool, took college and started to work and got married, this span of more than 20 years, i totally forgot about biking. until one day, a friend told me about his addiction to mtbiking... in 2008, just before my birthday, my loving wife asked me what would i want for a gift on my birthday... i told her, "what about a bike?"

she bought me one, a mall bike, steel bike but good enough for exercise... i used that bike for more than five months... did some road riding until i finally got the feel of biking again... and then i bought a decent mountain bike... good enough to hit the trails... and this present rig has already 3000 kms under its belt...

i do bike commuting 3 times a week and a trail run on weekends...

the story of the universe (part one)

it has been said that the universe is in constant process of becoming, that creation is still going on. the Judeau-Christian scriptures has it that God created the universe from absolute nothingness represented by the symbolic term "darkness", until He said: "Let there be light"! in six days, creation was done in such a magnificent beauty and "everything was good". and so it was, and still is.

and then, science took the center stage.

everything has a beginning. and it is universally accepted that every perception on the origin of things is influenced by one's socio-cultural, religio-philosophical backgrounds. it is for this reason that as there are as many cultures in the world, there are as well as many stories of creation and origin of things. this diversity however talks of common origin ...

Sea Turtle

Last night I had a dream, my son and I were walking along the beach when suddenly a sea turtle appeared asking for help. The poor sea creature was badly hurt that it couldn't even moved its shell and was drifting by the waves. Astonished rather than moved by mercy, my son approached it and ask: "what are you, a dolphin or a penguin?"

sometimes it is really hard to figure things out especially if the moment does not fall within our so-called comfort zones. we seem to avoid those that made us uncomfortable, uneasy. we seemed to be rather preoccupied with the things that remotely affect us, like the headlines about holywood stars. we simply pass off those things that really matter.

the way i see it, this is one of the most problematic aspects of making people turn their heads and hearts for the environment. how do we encourage people to be aware of what is really going on and participate in the tasks of nurturing the planet. as long as we avoid to confront the issue, the tidious battle for the planet cannot move forward. we may have al gore and other other influential people who tirelessly advocate the environmental concerns, but they can only do much. There may have other "inconvenient truths" produced, published, and they may even win academy awards or nobels, but until they are unwritten and put into something real and effected, we may have to expect defeats. until we turn our gaze towards the very soil we are standing and carress it with our own hands, we may have to expect other sea turtles adrift by our shores begging us to listen.

it was sunset in anilao, batangas and nature showed its majesty.

for a moment, i allowed myself to be captivated by its splendor. i was grateful that at that moment i was with my friends and family. the view was something that i would cherish the rest of my life.

there is always a moment in my life that nature simply takes over and i just hope that this sense of oneness will never escape me.