Hot Ramadan

Ramadan. This is a Holy month for our Muslim brothers and sisters, when they fast (refrain from food, drinks) during daylight. It is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan)


For us Christians here in the Middle East, it means less hours of work - we work for 6 hours a day only. It also means getting home earlier and more "me/us-time". For the past several years, my husband and I have been taking advantage of this time to jog, play, exercise in the evening. But since this year's Ramadan fell on the summer month of August and the weather isn't that inviting, we end up slouching at home and watch as much movies and series that we can.


This time, I was able to bond again with Harry Potter and friends. We had HP movie marathon for three days. Very nice. 


We also get to watch "mushy" films, which also makes us a mushy couple at that! 50 First Dates.500 Days of Summer. Korean movies. And there's still lot of movies in the line up. But for now, we are watching "Slum Dunk".


Slum Dunk. I got introduced to Sakuragi Hanamichi. He's funny. He's kinda cute. And he's got lots of determination inside himself.


He started his passion for basketball for the sake of his infatuation with his school mate Haruko. He wants to impress her. So he took so much effort in learning the game. But basketball is not that easy. How do you play basketball if you don't know how to dribble, pass or shoot? So what do you if you do not know something. You strive to learn. And that's what Hanamichi did. 


It does not matter if you win or lose, as long as you did your best. 


Much like the "end justifies the means". Slum Dunk might just look like another cartoon. But I saw more beneath. It's about a dream. A dream to soar high. And it is about getting to that dream. The road may not always be smooth and straight. There are curves and bends, and bumps. But still, with the right direction, you will reach your destination.


Two weeks til the end of Ramadan. More time to spend watching movies. I love it!!! ;-)

M T B - Part 1

M. T. B. 


"Magandang Tanghali Bayan"?
Hindi...


"Meant to be"... ay siya, "meant to be" daw. Ano nga ba pag meant to be? "Destiny"? Eh ano ang destiny? Yung pang-meant to be. Ay ang kulit.


Recently, nagmo-movie marathon na lang kami pag weekends. Kung anu-anong pelikula. Madalas mga pelikulang nakaka-werla. Kagaya na lang nina Popoy at Basha. Ano nga bang kamandag meron ang "One More Chance" at ang daming gustong manuod nito kahit paulit-ulit? Kahit alam nilang paulit-ulit ding lang silang mapapaiyak, sige lang. Nuod pa rin.

Classic pinoy. Ganyan mo na maii-describe ang love story nina Popoy at Basha. Na-in love, nangailangan ng space ang isa. May na heart-broken. May suicidal tendency pa naman. Mabuti na lang hindi natuloy. Hay, tadhana. Bakit kaya? Na-realize ang kahalagahan nung isa nung "masaya" na ang isa sa piling ng iba. Papa-cute. Aasa. Ay naku, buti pa sa sitwasyon ni Basha, napabalik sa kanya si Popoy. O siya nga ba? Eh naisip mo ba kung ano ang naging kasunod ng istorya nung nag-roll na ang credits ng pelikula?


Scenario 1:

Si Popoy, hindi na natuto. Nagbalik sa dating gawi. Ayaw ba naman pakainin si Basha ng balat ng fried chicken, eh yun ang masarap? To hell with you, Popoy. Naghanap si Basha ng ibang lalaking makakapagpabata sa kanya. Yung papayag na kumain siya ng balat ng manok. Buhay na manok... Joke! Well, as for Basha, ayun hypertensive na habang si Popoy nagpalit na ng profession from engineer to doctor.

Scenario 2:

They lived happily ever after. Ikinasal, bumuo ng sariling pamilya. Nagkaanak. Si Basha, kahit nalosyang na sa panganganak at pag-aalaga ng mga bata ay labs na labs pa rin ni Popoy. Ayiiii...

Scenario 3, 4, 5,... and so on:
Marami ka pang pwedeng ilapat na story pagkatapos ng balikang Popoy n' Basha. Pwedeng galing sa sarili mong karanasan, o nakita mong pinagdaanan o pinagdadaanan ng taong malapit sa iyo. Pwedeng nakasakay mo sa pampasaherong jeep sina Popoy. At duon mag-umpisa maglaro ang iyong imahinasyon.




So, meant to be. Ano nga ba pag "meant to be"? Ikaw ba ang bahalang gumawa ng iyong destiny? O nakaukit na yan, kahit hindi ka pa pinaplano ng magulang mo? 


Ay naku, maraming movies at true to life stories yang "meant to be". Nawerla na ako sa kakapanuod. Yung iba, sa part two na lang. Ng kwento ko. 

S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E! Gotcha!

LIFE. Does it surprise you too? I guess it's life's "nature" to "surprise" each and every person in it's own special way. Besides, why do we call the current on-goings "the present" if it does not have with it surprises? Presents are meant to surprise, and please us, ain't they?

Ok, you are bored to death at your current work. You've been willing to get out of there and find something much, much better. And all of a sudden, without any premonition you get a call from a prospective employer who gives you an employment opportunity of a lifetime. Whooohaa!! What a pleasant surprise. Goodbye, boring and non-rewarding job... hello, great-paying, ultra-supah good multinational company!!! Yeheeyy!

Or maybe, you really know that you're losing your job. And you ask: "Oh, life! Why do you have to be so rude to me?" And just about you are losing faith, you land on a perfect job opportunity! Yiiihhaaa! That's what I call a great coincidence!


More so, you may be one of those people who thought that they've got the best boyfriend/girlfriend in the whole universe. Only to find out after marriage that he/she has the tendency to break your eardrums with his/her loud snoring? Well, maybe you can just put on your earplugs and you'll get through the night.


That's life. It has its twists and turns. Ups and downs. Opportunities and disappointments. They all come together. Like good and bad. Yin and Yang. Julio and Julia. Kenneth and Arlyn (well... hahahaha)... The truth is there's no way we can move forward through life without bumping into its good and bad surprises every now and then.


So how do you deal with it? It's so easy to tell someone, "It's ok, you can do it.". But when it's your turn to beat the odds, how do you react? Actually, I really don't know sometimes. I'm still trying to formulate the best way to beat my worst fear. I am yet again to convince myself that there is actually sunshine after the rain. Or that, the best is yet to come...


And right now, I am praying... praying hard that I won't have to face this worst fear very soon.

here i go again...

All right. Here I go again, starting off with something though I don't know if I can get going with it. Well, what's with a dash of self confidence and a lot of hope? I know I'll get to something.


Oopps, I can't get any ideas coming. Whooossshhhh!!! Everything's been wiped off the tip of my tongue and shoved at the very end of my brain. Alas! Nothing is here. Oh-ohhh... I'm panicking! I can't believe it! I'm panicking!!!! No, no... I just need to pull myself up together and I know I'll get there. Now, that's what I call - Fighting Spirit! 


What I'm trying to say is... I have been pre-occupied with a lot of things, I'm beginning to lose the life I used to live. It's drifting away... Sometimes I can't even remember the way things used to be. My life is a little bit of this, and that. More topsy-turvy than I can imagine. Or has it become so plain and monotonous? Maybe yes, and may be no.


For now, I am trapped in a life without my son. Well, at least, him away from me. And I go to work I don't even know if I love. I think I need an inspiration. Ahhmm, I know I am inspired. But am I motivated? They're supposed to be the same, right? 


Darn! I just knew this would be coming. Me blubbering nonsense again and again. I just hope next time I'll make more sense. C-U-T! Time out! BFN...this is really not going to work.