Double Rainbow!!!

Have you ever seen a double rainbow?

I have seen one today and it is amazing! It is my third time to see a double rainbow and I still feel awed every time I see one. I realized that it is not really a rare occurrence but then it is not ordinary either!

The first time I saw a double rainbow was when I was in a ferry boat going to Calapan, Mindoro. I had never heard of a double rainbow nor knew that such existed so that I was really excited to see one and the drizzle plus the sea and the islands we were passing through added beauty to the site! The rainbow didn’t stay long enough though and I did not see the whole ark of both rainbows but I couldn’t help myself from talking about it for the next few days!

The next rainbow I saw was in Texas.

I was with a tour group that came from a 10-day fall foliage tour from the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee and we were already headed back to Texas. It was an early afternoon and there were just a few of us left on the bus since some already disembarked on other stops… the sky was clear… actually the sun was very bright when suddenly it turned very dark… as in night dark… then followed by really heavy downpour… the change was so swift that we all became alert. Then eventually the rain stopped and it turned bright again and in a while there appeared a rainbow.. the colors slowly getting more distinct... a few more seconds and another rainbow appeared on top though not as distinct and bright as the first rainbow. It was fantastic! We were all glued to our window looking at it amazed and considering that the terrain we were passing through were flat, we can see the rainbow’s end almost touching the ground… a full double rainbow!

And now, another one. This was really unexpected. It was 6:45 am but it was already bright. I was walking toward my ride when I felt just one drop of water. I tried to see if it was going to rain but no sign... anyway I continued walking and crossed the most dangerous pedestrian crossing in my area, I always say a prayer of thanks every time I cross that and when I was on the other side, that’s the time I saw the double rainbows! Wow… a double rainbow on a clear day??? Too fantastic… I felt so happy that I told the girl walking towards me about it. I was in a hurry so I took a taxi and I remain glued on my window watching that rainbow. I still could not contain my joy and told the driver about it.. it is unusual and I wanted to share my excitement. Of course he didn’t look long since he was driving. I could see the outer rainbow slowly disappearing, there will be parts when there were obstructions but the rainbow will pop up again.. the inner rainbow was there till I got off on the taxi in Sto. Domingo church. I don’t usually take taxi but I was late for mass yesterday and I did not want to be late today!

I was walking towards the church and I still felt happy…then when I was inside and got near the altar, I saw the Psalm on the wall for that day "The Lord has done marvels for us". I smiled again…He has indeed… I felt blessed!

United Nations

October 24 is United Nations Day. The U.N. is now celebrating its 60th anniversary. I remember how we used to dress up in different costumes in school as we celebrated that day. It still goes on till this day as I see students dress up in different costumes of the world and parade around their school. I just don’t know if they do it in other countries especially war-torn countries…probably not.

But one can still hope that there will come a time when the UN is not just an organization but a reality…where people allow and help other people grow and develop into the best they can be… when bias and hatred of another race is gone.

I remember an African folktale I read in the Book of Virtues a long time ago. I had to get the story from the book which seems very appropriate for this day. A story on why Frog and snake never play together. On why two children of different species who had too much fun together learning and teaching each other would suddenly withdraw from the other… all because their mothers says so.

Yup… because their elders tell them to be wary, even hate the other!

It still happens today. Some parents teach their children to form bias by stereotyping other people and culture… some government leaders tell their people to go to war…
some religious leaders tell their followers it is okay to kill to protect their faith… so hatred and war remains.

It will be great if we don’t just imagine how the world will be if there was peace… but actually live in peace in harmony!

Why Frog and Snake never play together

Once upon a time, the child of the frog was hopping along in the bush when he spied someone new lying across the path before him. This someone was long and slender, and his skin seemed to shine, with all the colors of rainbow.

“Hello there,” called Frog-child. “What are you doing lying here in the path?”

“Just warming myself in the sun,” answered the awesome new, twisting and turning and turning and uncoiling himself. “My name is Snake-child. What’s yours?”

“I’m Frog-child. Would you like to play with me?”

“So Frog-child and Snake-child played together all morning in the bush.

“Watch what I can do,” said Frog-child, and he hopped high into the air. “I’ll teach you how, if you want,” he offered.

So he taught Snake-child how to hop, and together they hopped up and own the path through the bush.

“Now watch what I can do,” said Snake-child, and he crawled on his belly and climb into trees.

After a while they both grew hungry and decided to go home for lunch, but they promised each other to meet again the next day.

“Thanks for teaching me how to hop,” called Snake-child.

“Thanks for teaching me how to crawl up trees,” called Frog-child.

Then they each went home.

“Look what I can do, Mother!” cried Frog-child, crawling on his belly.

“Where did you learn how to do that?” his mother asked.

“Snake-child taught me,” he answered. “We played together in the bush this morning. He’s my new friend.”

“Don’t you know the Snake family is a bad family?” His mother asked. “They have poison in their teeth. Don’t ever let me catch you playing with them again. And don’t let me see you crawling on your belly, either. It isn’t proper.”

Meanwhile, Snake-child went home and hopped up and down for his mother to see.

“Who taught you to do that?” she asked.

“Frog-child did,” he said. “He’s my new friend.”

“What foolishness,” said his mother. “Don’t you know we’ve been on bad terms with the Frog family for longer than anyone can remember? The next time you play with Frog-child, catch him and eat him up. And stop that hopping. It isn’t our custom.”

So the next morning when Frog-child met Snake-child in the bush, he kept his distance.

“I’m afraid I can’t go crawling with you today,” he called, hopping back a hop or two.

Snake-child eyed him quietly, remembering what his mother had told him. “If he gets too close, I’ll spring at him and eat him,” he thought. But then he remembered how much fun they had together, and how nice Frog-child had been to teach him how to hop. So he sighed sadly to himself and slid away into the bush.

And from that day onward, Frog-child and Snake-child never played together again. But they often sat alone in the sun, each thinking about their one day friendship.

--an African folktale taken from The Book of Virtues pages 284-286.

Reason... season...lifetime!

REASON…SEASON…LIFETIME

When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty,
to provide you with guidance and support,
To aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
They may seem like godsend, and they are!

They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part,
Or at an inconvenient time,
this person will say or do something
to bring the relationship to an end.

Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met,
Our desire fulfilled, their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered.
And now it is time to move on.

Then people come into your life for a SEASON.
Because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh.
They teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons:
Things you must build upon in order to have
a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
And put what you have learned to use in all other relationships
and areas of your life.

It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

I consider that poem special but I haven’t really been thinking about it until Rolly, myepinoy, commented on it when he saw it in my ksite and again after someone talked to me in icq.

Actually she asked to be included in my list but since I did not know her, decided to ask why. I figured it was also a subtle way of declining. I wasn’t really waiting for an answer and immediately closed the message box but she responded before the box closed and something caught my eye… Christian and abuse…

There is nothing in my profile that describes me except that I am Filipina and I got curious as to why an American woman would ask to be authorized. And though I did not authorize her, talked to her for a while. She was having problems with her marriage and needed someone to talk to. She says it was probably kindred spirits that brought her to me. I don’t really know but since it was my lunch break decided to let the talk flow… I said whatever came to my mind… I was glad to listen and shared some views but thought it was just one good act for that day.

However, after a few days, I got a message from her again and this time we had a longer talk, it was not just on her husband but even her child and some issues in her past. I would not want to sound like an expert… far from it! So I told her that I am not even married nor do I have kids of my own (I would be lying if I tell her I have no kids since there are so many kids, almost of all ages, in my home…they just did not come from my womb!) but she was still glad to talk to me and listen to my views and was thankful of our talk. Of course I wish her well and I don’t know if we will be talking again… maybe her need has already been answered by our short talks and that is the reason she found me in the net.

Talking to her also reminded me of the talks I had with my icq buddies before especially Pete.
Pete and I don’t talk anymore… the season of our roller coaster talks have ended but I would not say that our friendship has really ended...

People come into your life for a reason and a season… but if you have allowed them to touch your life… no matter how short your time together, I believe that the joys and the lessons learned remains with you for your lifetime.

There are some parts of the poem that was not included in my post. I’ve always thought that it was not complete. But I’ve found the original poem and I realized that I missed out the most important line. Some of my buddies would no longer be able to hear it but I hope that the kindred spirits that brought that woman to my screen will also bring it to some of my buddies…

THANK YOU for being a part of my life!

Philippine Porn

I have come across Kevin Sites’ Reflection from the hotzone and have read on poverty porn, a term used by some African Journalists for stories or images of intense suffering that are designed solely for emotional impact, but that often have the effect of shutting people down rather than helping them step up.

The thought on Philippine Journalism suddenly flashed to my mind. I have seen so many news and images that doesn’t really help much… or should I say, doesn’t really help at all. Oftentimes they are sensationalized to make the stories sell or to push for their own personal interests… they are not just Poverty Porn but Philippine Porn. They are creating a bad image for the Philippines and the filipino people yet they are not really doing anything to help out.

There used to be a time when I could not sleep without watching the news. I would read the newspaper almost from cover to cover. The day doesn’t seem complete without it. Now my readings and viewings have become selective. Oh, I am not really looking only at good news for you can’t really run away from reality. It would be foolishness to shield yourself from reality but you must keep your sanity too! So you have to create balance… you try to read and watch only those news that could make a difference. But sometimes you can’t really help it… you are drawn to the news for our journalists really know their market well!

I have no control over the news…how it is told…so I do my own censorship! Oh, I get tempted too and read useless articles but I try my best to avoid them.
Don’t ask me about the news anymore… I am not as informed as before but it doesn’t really matter since I try to focus on matters that I think are more important to the life of this Filipina.

Remembering our old volkswagen

I was walking towards my home tonight when I saw a Volkswagen parked in front of our gate. I wondered if it was our old car. Of course it can’t be since we already sold it last year but still I wondered… and as I was nearing I could see that it was yellow… darker than the shade of our old car and a 1500. Ours was a 1972 1600 Beetle! It was not our car but I suddenly missed it. We had it for 32 years and it was part of the family too… even my toddler nieces and nephews draws a VW-beetle when you ask them to draw a car.

I remember the first time we rode in it. Papa was really happy! He fetched us and we proceeded to fetch my mother. It was running very well when we went to get mama but when she got inside the car… it would not start anymore. We commented that our car was probably female and she got jealous of mama!

That car saw the birth of my 2 younger siblings and the family had great times going to Parks and Wildlife, Luneta and Tagaytay on weekends. It was in our 1972 Beetle where my father started telling me stories! I usually went with him when he fetched my mother on her night duty and he would tell me stories along the way…stories from his childhood, his experiences when he was overseas and the books he read. It was the same when he was selling real estate when I was in college and he would ask me to accompany him on his trips, he still told me stories and this time I had stories to tell too!

I remembered how it played an important part in saving the life of my brother. He was stabbed and his friend brought him to the hospital and called my parents. It was late and they drove to the hospital fast. When they got there, they noted that he was just lying there and the doctors were not paying much attention to him. Then they saw one of the attendants talking on the phone. Both of my parents worked in the hospital before and they felt that the man was already talking to a funeral parlor, probably hoping for a commission if my brother dies. My mom immediately talked to the doctor and said that she worked in the nearby hospital and would like to transfer him there. They were able to transfer him on time. The surgeons in her hospital worked fast on my brother. Even if there were so many stab wounds with one almost hitting the heart, he survived thanks to the doctors, my parents and also to our car!

Though I would say that our car was goodlooking, it was not perfect! Sometimes it would stop in the middle of the street. It happened a few times with my father and he would immediately tell me to go out and push! Ahh, I think sometimes my father forgot that I was a girl... but of course he had no choice since I could not start the car if he pushed. When my father was gone and it was my younger brother driving , it would also sometime stop and he would ask me to motion other cars to avoid us while he open the hood of the engine and suck gasoline from one of the tubes there for it to be revived (now… I don’t really know if it was necessary or my brother was just acting weird…but it actually worked!)

I think the scariest yet funny experience we had with our car was when it stopped in the middle of an intersection of a busy street with my mom, my 2 siblings and I plus my nieces and nephew. It was late and there was no more truck ban… my brother fixed something below the car then went back front and asked my sister and I to push, the stoplight has already turned green and we were still not moving and there were these big trucks honking and passing us by! Oh I was scared and was in a hurry…there were some guys in the sidewalk but they were not helping...they were just looking while we were pushing. Finally when the car moved and my sister and I were left in the middle of the street, some of those spectators actually clapped and shouted…they were mocking us, I think. So what did I do??? I made a dramatic bow…waved at them and took the hand of my sister while we run towards the car telling my brother to drive fast!!!

Ahh.. those were weird times but I would always smile when I look back at it. I did not want to part with that car, even if we don’t use it often anymore, I like seeing it around. But it was not really safe and it was eating space… and I was outnumbered!

I miss that car. Maybe someday I’ll be able to see it again! I hope the owners are good mechanics and they would take well care of it. Or maybe, it will have a life of its own and run away from her new owner and come visit me…
I think that would be cool!

Fabulous Filipina!

I came across myepinoy’s site on Filipina topping the search in technorati. Unfortunately, he says that those who made it to the top sites were sh*t sites and was asking for people power on the net either by (1) visiting them and flooding their sites with a long nasty, non readable or non-sense comments to eat up their bandwidth, or (2) using the tag of Filipina every time you post in your blog.

I find the second alternative to be better as I would not want to visit the sh*t sites. Visiting means that I will see their content and feel disgusted... that would only ruin my day!

Actually there is already a campaign on improving the Filipina image in the net. It was really in full force last May but I guess it should be a continuing effort.

Filipino and Filipina bloggers should not only try to write good articles about Filipinas but try to incorporate the word Filipina in their blogs as much as they can and link to good sites like the Bagong Pinay.

All Filipina bloggers should continue on showing the world how fabulous Filipinas are by being proud to be a Filipina!

Breakfast at Chowking

I attended the mass at Sto. Domingo church and decided to have breakfast at Chowking Banawe before going home. I rarely eat meat so Chowking could provide more choices than the McDonald’s also in the area.

Anyway, I was silently enjoying my breakfast while glancing at the poster beside me reading the contest on texting your experience at chowking when I saw a lady and a teenager coming up the stairs. She was having difficulty going up the stairs!

Anyway, the minute she entered the glass door, she shouted “Papatayin nyo ba ako?” (are you going to kill me?) while raising the chowking plastic bag for her take out order. Of course I was shocked and stopped eating for a while, wondered if she found something in her food… she then said “Where’s your supervisor” and took a seat then demanded for a cold water. She was talking at the top of her voice saying that she is having her weekly dialysis somewhere nearby and this is the fourth time the store did this to her… that she found it hard to walk going to the place and what if she fainted along the road… are they going to answer for that? That the previous times she ordered she had a congee that tasted like spoiled and that the lomi she bought last time did not taste good and now they are giving her something that is not complete… SHE HAS NO CALAMANSI (Philippine lemon) and SOY SAUCE IN HER PANCIT (noodle)… don’t they check what they give for take out orders???

I almost laughed when I heard that and took a glance at her! Okay just a quick glance since I did not really want to meddle though I felt like giving her some piece of advice. Imagine saying they are trying to kill her for not giving calamansi… then saying that it was the fourth time such happened and she still kept ordering from the place even if she is not content… anyway…the supervisor was kind and attended her and kept her cool. Good thing also that it was early so that there were really not many customers. The supervisor asked what she wanted and I think took note of her preferences or limitations, remember she said she was having weekly dialysis, so that they would know next time she would send someone for her order…

While this was going on… I was reflecting on her and pitying her a bit. She is undergoing dialysis so that I am sure she does not feel comfortable, fear is probably creeping or engulfing her own being that just a little something and it becomes a big thing…imagine saying that they are trying to kill her just because they forgot to put calamansi with her order! I also pitied the boy that was with her because she kept on shouting at him and I admired the supervisor for keeping her cool and calming her in the end.

I took another glance at the poster… can’t recall anymore but it says share your thoughts on the food and the experience and you might win the prizes indicated, there were also pictures of the previous winners… I checked on their covering period… ahh promo is up to September 30 only… it is already October 1… I wondered if the customer has ever seen that poster… and I wonder what Chowking management would have thought of if ever she texted such entry…

Oh well just random thoughts that was going to my mind… in the end everything went well… I cleaned my plate of seafood chowfan rice and tofu , the lady got her calamansi and calmed a bit which is good for the boy since he doesn’t have to bear her anger… and I am sure the store supervisor will have a story to tell her friends.

Sometimes eating breakfast in a fastfood restaurant could be interesting!