Sunday, May 3, 2020

General Cleaning

Today, I had this very intense desire to clean my room. So intense that upon waking up, I put out all of the beddings in the laundry area to soap and wash. Then, I prepared all the cleaning materials that I needed to clean each nook and cranny in my tiny room. I prepared cleaning towels, my very own cleaning spray: 10% distilled vinegar, lemon essence from lemon peels and slices with 80% water in my spray cleaner, rolling dirt remover and room cologne spray (I usually spray room cologne to make it smell fresher after cleaning.)

Of course, I regularly clean my room however it is just that today, I really feel the intense need to clean each wall, each corner, each little dent in my room. With careful planning, I started to rub each wall after spraying them with my own home-made cleaning spray. The layer of dust is not that bad, though I can see some webs stretching from the corner so I cleaned them off. As for the floor, each square of the rough tile must be rolled on first with the dirt remover then I rubbed it with wet towel. I spent the whole morning doing this, and after some time I could see the improvement that I am making step by step.

When there are far corners that I couldn’t reach, I normally use the cleaning stick of my mom. I put the towel on the other edge and then I wipe the ceiling and the corners of it, there is really some inexplicable satisfaction when the target clump of dirt come off neatly from the surface after careful nudging. Of course, after the area is cleaned, I spray another generous amount of my home-made cleaner to make sure that it is disinfected and that it will stay dirt-free for long.

There are many stocks of paper, books, file cardboard boxes and storage containers in my room that I neatly arrange in the small space I am provided, I usually wipe them all clean too when doing general cleaning. Most of the things have labels with dates or general names so I can easily identify them and group them effectively, yes, I know, some of you will say that I have this weird urge to label things around me. That’s right. Tagging and labeling stuff around me is truly important because it means that I really put a lot importance on that object and that it is part of something greater, maybe a month-long project or a year-long endeavor. But I want to make it clear that not everything can reach that part of labeling and tagging, I filter a lot of things first by deciding whether it is important or not, then if it passed the intense scrutiny, that’s the only time that I will honor the object with the label. I am ruthless when it comes to deciding what is deserving to get a space in my room, what will be included in the system, what will stay in my personal space, if in the end the object gets to be inducted in the system, then it means it has proven its worth. And if otherwise, then it will be put to a recycling box where it will be sorted, which is another system on its own, so I will discuss it next time.

After cleaning my whole room, my favorite part is to spray the room cologne. I usually combine scents, it can be the usual bottle of cologne that we can buy from the stores or it can be an essence from flowers, leaves or oils that I usually purchase from eco-stores or organic shops. It depends on my mood.

Today I am feeling a bit intense so I used the usual store colognes usually the bottle of cologne with colors: blue and green, because they smell nicely pungent for a long time.

I finished cleaning by the time my parents invited me to eat lunch. It took a long time but I am happy with the result. Happy Sunday to all.

Sunday, April 26, 2020

Beloved Postcards sent to me by Friends

Today, I am writing about my favorite postcards sent to me via snail mail.

Have I mentioned before that I love writing letters and receiving letters, but in old-school way? Yes, I love sending and receiving snail mails. For those very young to know, before the age of email, there was such a thing as sending mails through post office, all you have to do is prepare your letter, bring it with you to the post office and buy some stamps. Ask the post office staff how much it costs to send your letter domestically or internationally, and then paste the stamps equal to the amount it takes to send it to the recipient, on the envelope and just drop it on the box clearly labelled: domestic/local mail or international mail. There congratulations, you have posted a snail mail. Of course, unlike the hyper-speed function of email, your snail mail will take a while for your friend to receive it. In my experience, usually my letters to Japan arrive within 2 weeks and to China almost a month. But domestically, my letters usually take 2 to 3 weeks to arrive. I was surprised really that my friend in Japan received the letter I sent earlier than the letter I sent to QC. Interesting isn't it?

Through the years, my letter boxes have been filling up with a lot of letters. Usually from friends here and overseas, then acquaintances and of course most of them now are from students.



This is a picture of some of the letters I have collected through the years.


Not all of them were sent through snail mail, some of them were personally given to me. I take good care of each of these letters because I know the senders really put a lot of effort and thoughts in making/writing these compositions.

Now, I am going to show some of the best post cards I have received from my friends.

The first one below is a picture of two pandas eating bamboo contently. I used to dream of becoming a panda nurse, I think it must be a great job to interact and take care of pandas all day, to play with them, hug and carry them. You can see in the postcard that these two pandas look like they are communicating while eating, facing each other and even maybe sharing some bamboo, they must be best friends or maybe lovers. They just look so happy.


This next one is cherry blossoms tree in winter, with a number of Santa Claus under it. It evokes the feeling of childish awe. It is such a big tree and it seems like it is a pseudo-Christmas tree but its foliage is pink, and it just gives off that bright, light vibe. There are a lot of movements in the photo provided by a number of Santa Claus in their full costume, it seems like they are preparing to bring their gifts to give away and they are huddling together to reach a consensus. It feels so nice because they seem so busy, just like my family whenever we gather together for a reunion to celebrate the Noche Buena.


Ah this one is of course Oblation of UP Diliman, sent as a postcard by Romina. I love the color and how it was framed. We can see the edges of the Administration building. We can see some of the pillars of the building, proudly rising to the high-ceiling. There was this urban legend in the campus that we should not take our picture with Oble while studying, because it will mean that we will graduate late. So I spent my whole college life avoiding going near Oble, I learned to admire him from afar. Tip: the best view of him are from (1) the vast patch of green near College of Mass Communication and (2) from the sunflower garden along the acad oval. But now, no more avoiding, I can have my picture taken with him anytime, I have my Sablay already.


This one below is a nice cut-out post card sent by Steph. She chose well. I love it. But I didn't have the heart to cut it because I just love looking at it. The best part of it is its material, it is an artificial suede fabric on the other side and a laminated smooth cardboard on the other. From time to time, I just like touching it.


Lastly, this one below is a nicely shaped postcard from Tokyo. I love the angular feel of this structure. And the color combination. It feels like it is strictly symmetrical. Balanced, however it also feels too rigid and suffocating. Also, the hard and angular lines that we can see all over this structure makes it feel so solid and sturdy.


Hopefully, I can make another post about favorite cards given to me by my friends and students. Maybe next time I will make time for it, but anyways, thanks for reading and see you again.

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Meron kaya nito sa mga tindahan?

So here is another one of the songs I have been listening to since this morning. A friend said that the video is artfully done, I agree. Of course, aside from the jagged, beat-y melody, the lyrics is just poetic. This is probably one of the best combination of video making and good music. Enjoy!


Coin-operated Boy ~ The Dresden Dolls

This bridge was written to make you feel smittener
With my sad picture of girl getting bitterer
Can you extract me from my plastic fantasy
I didn't think so but I'm still convincible



Saturday, April 11, 2020

Something about April

.... and blogging.

April, oh the month of April, almost five years ago, I published the very last entry in this blog. And then life happened so I wasn't able to write for a long time. Until now.

Yes, I am now trying to revive this blog which I have been neglecting for so many years. It doesn't deserve this kind of treatment. As you can see my dear readers, my very first entry here was in year 2011, wow, almost a decade ago, those early years of raw emotions, rants, young-ish view of life, heartaches, failures, disillusions and more. It had been a place of my intimate thoughts. A space to pour out emotions. A small digital vault where I can write about what moves me, touches me. It means so much to me that I can't really let it sink beneath the frame of my life now.

So I am reviving it.

💗

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Hello Blogging, I missed you


Why have I been absent for the longest time?

Life had been really busy for the past few months and I think this trend is going to continue for quite a while. Tight daily schedules are getting tighter, responsibilities are getting deeper and heavier, and if I am fortunate enough to have a few minutes gap or break, I try to utilize it to update my different life lists (really I have a lot) ~ more and more I realise that time is really unforgiving, it will never wait for anyone, even for just one second! Hence, writing was pushed to the back seat, until finally (thank goodness) I had the time to pull it out from the pile of stuff that covered it for months!

Lately, most of my students are complaining about being so tired. I suspect it has something to do with the weather, it was reported that March 2015 was the hottest March since record keeping began in 1880. Ugh, I really hate to think that it will get hotter but common sense suggests that it will be the trend as it is just the beginning of summer season, so I have to bring more water every single day to rehydrate! Most importantly I have to recycle and conserve water and be more active in doing recycling.

Busy April

Right after Holy Week my brother and my sister-in-law had a thanksgiving buffet for their coming baby! So here are some pictures from the event.
My big family
Dad, me, mom, Tita Beth and Tito Ding

Mom, kuya, me and dad

Mom, me, dad, kuya and Ashley

As for volunteering ~

I have been spending my Sundays in Helping Land Tondo, Manila to teach kids in Project Pearls' summer program. I have cute kids here and they are very sweet.

Meet my students:
Kids at work

John-John, Dannyboy and Angelica



Lovely


Creating characters with clay
Kids and teachers

I am planning to spend my Sundays with them until the end of May :)

And yes, we were warned that life changes every single moment and nothing is permanent. But sometimes these warnings were just a bunch of words until we stop and really think about the changes we've been going through in our journey in life. Personally, I never know that teaching will really make a big impact in my life. And a very positive impact. I used to think that I will spend my life video editing and writing articles or making digital presentations but now I believe I found another trail that opens to more possibilities of serving and helping people. Must love teaching!
Preparing for (breathing deeply) SpEd. 

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Sound bites 101

Sound bites
Situation: We had a discussion about the word 'belong'

Me: (Introducing an example sentence using the word belong) "This eraser belongs to me."
Student: Mmm, I belong to (the) eraser.
Me: No, the eraser belongs to you not the other way around.
Student: But why?
Me: Because you bought the eraser, you have power over the eraser. You own the eraser. The eraser has no power to own, it has no power over you. Is it clear?
Student: Yes, clear.
Me: Ok, please use belong in a sentence.
Student: I belong to the eraser.

Thought bubble: Is it another one of those existential statements? Why do I have a feeling that it is beginning to be a Philosophy class.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Changes and revisions

Inumpisahan ko ang linggo na nakaplanong dalhin sila mami at dadi sa Cafe Mediterranean, kasi nag-request sila to eat out on family lunch this Sunday. Eh, my tendency is to spoil parents kapag gusto nilang lumabas, oh well paminsan-minsang request lang naman nila ito, so why not bring them to some healthy and yummy place. Pero pagkatanggap ko ng allowance from my work, naku, mukhang i need to revise my plan.

Haha! So I have to rethink things again. Mmmmm.

So, by the way, am enjoying my life here in my tiny little dorm. Habang rush hour sa Makati last night, I looked out my window and marveled at these skyscrapers mushrooming around.