Si Puti At Ang Caravan

Nagmamadali akong umalis kanina ng bahay dahil alam kong medyo masikip na naman ang mga lansangan. Unang araw ng linggo at lahat ay humahangos na makarating sa kani-kanilang patutunguhan. Hindi nga ako nagkamali. Tsk..

Sa kabutihang palad ay nakarating ako sa unang yugto ng aking pagpasok ng ayon sa takdang oras. Lumulan agad ako sa susunod na sasakyan habang nananalangin na sana ay makisama ang pagkakataon. Ayokong mahuli ng limang ulit sa buwan na ito.

Oh my gas!! Bakit may caravan sa daan!!! Male-late na ako!! Medyo nahirapan yung tricycle na mag overtake kay puti dahil medyo double parking dun sa daanan. Kakainis! Mabuti na lang at super pinoy drayber yung nasakyan ko.

Ng kami ay nakalagpas na ay may naisip ako (eto na naman ang mga thought-provoking, mind-boggling ideas ko!):

Naalala ko noong kabataan ko. Excited akong makakita ng caravan na hila hila ng baka. Tapos tingin tingin sa mga tindang native. In na in yung mga mini table and chairs na yari sa kawayan na tanging kay puti mo lang mabibili. Pero ngayong nakita ko siya uli sa panahong ako ay nagmamadali, nakalimutan ko na yung excitement na iyon.

Anu-ano pa kayang bagay ang nakaligtaan ko ng pahalagahan sa buhay ko? Mga bagay na dinadaan-daanan ko na lang? Mga bagay na dati ay nagbibigay sa akin ng kasiyahan ngunit ngayon ay nakakaligtaan ko ng mapansin dahil sa bilis ng takbo ng buhay?

Alam ko may mga bagay na katulad na ng caravan na yun sa buhay ko. Simple things I’ve taken for granted because I’m too busy catching up with other things.

Pagdating ko sa gate 1 ng aming kumpanya ay dali dali na akong tumakbo. I swiped my ID with 4 seconds still remaining. Akala ko talaga late na ako. But i was just on time. Sayang… hindi ko gaanong na namnam si puti.

Sync Ratio

“Four score and seven years ago..”

And so Lincoln started his Gettysburg address. It was quite a long time if i may add.. four score and seven years. If you spend it with someone, you would have probably known every small detail about him.. but then again, there are people who spent a lifetime together and yet fails to understand each other. There are those who have known each other for a short span of time, yet seems to have known each other for a lifetime.

What could you possibly gain in a span of 3 months? What precious thing would you have formed in such amount of time? Could a painter finish his master piece? Could a director wrap up an award winning film? Could a newly grad earn his first million? Would one have established a great nation?

What could you possibly gain in a span of 3 months? I gained a brother.. Jeff. One whose snyc ratio is equal to mine. Well… almost.

A man of many companions may come to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Proverbs 18:24

Princission

Separating the Men from the Boys

I’ve read this book before and last Sunday, I was reminded by its message when I attended the afternoon service. How does a male becomes a man? What do men have that separates them from the boys?

Answer: A life driven by passion yet guided by principles.

Passion without principle makes us emotional and impulsive. Principle without passion makes us stiff and insensitive.

Me? I think I am still a boy. Dictated more by what I feel than what I know to be right, whose mood swings from both extremes at a nick of time once triggered by circumstances.

As a conclusion.. the man and the boy should co-exist. Passion guided by principle.

the men of Club8586.. photo by Kuya Lino

Isang Ligo Na Lang

Since the Regada Festival started in Cavite City way back to-a-year-I-cant-remember, once pa lang ako nakaranas nito, 2001. Wala pa akong silbi sa lipunan noong mga panahong iyon so I manage to experience the said event.

I had a college friend from Novaliches who came over para makigulo. Ano na kayang nangyari sa kolokoy na iyon? Hindi na nagpaparamdam. Nagtampo yata. Anyway, the event was fun! Pumunta kami sa place by group. On the way pa lang e parang sinasabi ng mga taong “Ambabaho na ninyo!! Magsiligo naman kayo!!” At kung anu-anong liquid ang binubuhos sa amin. May cold water, water with soap, water with perfume, water with clorox, water with dye.

Pagdating namin sa place, nandun na ang iba kong friends. So ang dami na namin. The Regada crowd ay parang isang obstacle course. Pahirapan dumaan. So we formed a line and tried to go through them. Pagdating namin sa dulo feeling ko pwede na kaming magsuot ng button na may nakasulat na “I survived Regada!“. So what’s next? Daan tayo ulit!! Bwahaha!!
Pagbukas ng mga sprinkler hiyawan na! Ang sarap tumambay sa ilalim ng mga tubong may leak.. iyong iyo lang ang tubig. Hehehe!!

Ano nga ba ang best attire for Regada? Hindi advisable ang white shirt lalo na for the girls kasi kapag nabasa yun ay makikitaan.. hmm.. ay, I advise it pala! Hahaha!! Basta ang outfit ko laging black shirt.

Tapos kung magdadala ka ng camera ilagay mo sa plastic, pati yung pera mo. Need I say why? Nakaka-miss ang Regada. Bukas may mga friends akong makikigulo doon.. kaka inggit.

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Regada is Cavite City’s water festival. Celebrated every June24, the feast of Saint John the Baptist. It also celebrates the blessings that the people receives from the sea. As the brief description goes: Cavite City is a city surrounded by 3 bays. Water sprinklers are installed along the stretch of the city’s main avenue where performers and games are also held on 3 or 4 stages. It lasts from 8am up to noontime only.

Missed… Interpretations…

Nakalimutan kong matulog!!!

Pwede ba yun? Ganito kasi.. may ginagawa ako tapos bigla akong nakatulog ng hindi ginagawa ang aking mga ritwal. So in that sense, nakalimutan kong matulog. Dinatnan na lang nya ako at tinamaan ng hindi ko nalalaman.

Paggising ko ayun at nakakalat pa ang aking mga ginagawa. Para akong natulog sa dumpsite. Tapos medyo itinuloy ko ang aking mga naiwang gawain. Ligpit ligpit at konting basa and then the thought hit me..

“Why is it that sometimes, we prefer to be identified to something just for laugh’s sake rather than be seriously identified risking to be misinterpreted?”

Teka malalim na naman yata yun ha? baka kantyawan na naman ako ni Bebe…

Pioquinto’s Disquisition

believe me.
we have all felt parched.
we have all lifted callused hands
up to the sky,
chanting self-consciously:

rain me thoughts,
rain me words,
rain me a river of reason.

>>click here for complete poem

Never again would I like to experience that awful parched feeling.

When everything in your being seems to have run dry. When even the drops of tears fail to satisfy the heart’s longing to be refreshed and the darkness of the night seems to take away the remaining strength in your life.

When your mind cries out for reason and yet reason is no where to be found. Where deeper contemplation only yields greater confusion, deeper remorse, greater pain.

When you just wanted to keep on running until your body succumbs to exhaustion and puts you to sleep. For in the stillness of the night, though you lay down on your bed, sleep fails to give her mercy.

May the streams thrive in the desert…
for never again would I like to experience that awful parched feeling.

No Case of Amnesia

Tonight I reviewed my 1996 planner and saw the great amount of highlights representing my failures in my struggle. Lagi akong nalulungkot noon because I am always reminded on how consistent I fail God. Now I realized that it was an unhealthy practice. I thank God that He is not like me, because He said in Jeremiah 31:34…

“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

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