Simple Joys

- Laughing so hard it makes me cry
- Making people laugh
- The smell of coffee
- Long comfortable silences
- Waking up Sunday morning to sikwati, champorado or taho
- Sleeping in
- My pet dog welcoming me home after a long and tiring day at work
- Finding extra money in my pocket
- Bookstore air
- Popping bubble wrap
- Singing out loud while driving
- Watching Friends reruns
- Hearing my favorite song being played on the radio
- Listening to the waves of the sea
- Receiving handwritten letters
- The sound and smell of rain

Zip. Zilch. Nada.

I'm having a literary dry spell. I can't seem to think of any thing to write about. Just goes to show how boring my life has been lately. No happy/exciting things, no life-changing news (there is actually, but I choose not to busy myself with it yet as it has not fully sunk in. I still have 2 months to go anyway.), and no First Thing too.

I hope things pick up in the next week before another month ends. Sigh.

Daily Affirmations

Lately I've received news about some major changes that's about to happen in my life. And with the news came feelings of anxiety, insecurity and self-doubt. (Although I think I am much more excited than worried, about the prospects of doing new things in a new environment. Yehey!)

I guess I have a few things to learn from this kid. I should start doing this tomorrow morning, haha! :)

I Got Inked (and Irked)

The whole family was up by 5am as we were all raring to vote. We got to the school by 6:30am and noticed there weren't many people there yet. I got priority number 17, so that's not so bad, I was still included in Batch 1.

By 7:30am, our batch was called inside the room and I felt relieved because I thought we didn't have to wait that long. Apparently, we still had to wait until the teachers brought out the ballots from its sealed box, while the pollwatchers, well, watched. Voting was supposed to start by 7am but the teachers had to wait for the pollwatchers (each political party sends its own pollwatcher/s to every precinct) before they open the ballots. This already irritated some of us, because isn't it their duty to come in earlier than the voters and all the preparation should have been done before any of us got there? My dad says sometimes it's their tactic- to come in late, which subsequently delays the start of voting. Nice.

But this was still tolerable. After a few minutes, Voter #1 was already called. It took the teacher-in-charge (who I'll refer to as T1 from now on) several minutes to give her the ballot. Same thing happened with the next 3 voters. Thirty minutes have passed, and only 5 people have been given ballots! And, once a voter is done, it's still T1 who assists him in feeding his ballot to the machine. A few people (mainly members of my family, hehe) voiced out their protest to this very inefficient process. I mean, why would it take several minutes to hand out a blank ballot? And why are the other teachers not doing anything?! Their answer? It's the COMELEC's process, T1 is the only one who can go near the PCOS machine. T1 even retorted, we have different lists to check as you belong to different precincts so "di na madali-dali" (this can't be rushed). Pardon my French, but WTF?!

Then, to make matters worse, the lovely teachers decided to prioritize the senior citizen voters. (I'm sorry, I love teachers, but this is one instance where I think their common sense was thrown out the window) Once a voter from our batch is done, they let one senior citizen in. This delayed handing out of the ballots even more. This is in no way to disrespect our elders, but I just think this is not fair. We have made an effort to come in really early so that we can finish early, shouldn't the 'first come first served' rule apply here? It's not as if the people they called in were ailing. My mom blew her top when an elderly couple (of good health, mind you. They just had the good fortune of being 60 years old) was let in, even after we complained of the long wait. She said that if they were really prioritizing senior citizens, why didn't they let the old man included in our batch go before all of us. He was older than they are and was even having a hard time walking.

Amidst all the chaos, the school principal (I think) finally stepped in and told T1 to just hand out the blank ballots and she also asked one of the other teachers to help in checking the voters' names on the list to speed things up. This caused everyone in the room to applaud. In hindsight though, I think that handing out the ballot prior to checking a person's name on the voters' list is a bad idea. What if, after feeding the ballot to the machine and getting a confirmation that your vote has been counted, your name is not on the list? Would it invalidate the rest of the votes?

Anyway, I finally got to vote and was finished by 8:30am. It took me a mere 5 minutes of the whole 2-hour ordeal to shade the 'bilog na hugis itlog' beside my candidates' names. Now I understand why some people get frustrated and just opt not to vote. The heat, the waiting, confusion and chaos are probably too much to take. But for me, after all I've been through, I would still gladly do it all over again. I think this is just a small sacrifice that every Filipino should make to show one's love for our country.

And oh, before I forget, this is my First Thing # 13. It's my first time participating in an automated election, and my first time voting in Cebu.

Oh my vote!

Election Day is just a few hours away, and I can't help but feel anxious for my country.

This is the first time we'll have an automated one and problems have been surfacing even as of this writing: machines not working, power failure, and security threats. Despite these, the COMELEC has assured the public that it's all systems go for tomorrow. I sincerely hope that they are right.

But amidst all the brouhaha, what gives me hope is that I think Filipinos are now more concerned with our government's future. More and more Pinoys are making themselves aware of our country's issues and are being less apathetic to our current situation. I know of people my age who will be voting again after a long time,(myself included, as I have not voted for the last 3 elections. Yes, I am very ashamed of this.) or for the very first time, and I take this as a very good sign.
I say, awareness is the first step to making positive change.

Others have even taken on a more proactive stance by taking to the streets and campaigning for their bet, by sharing vital information about each candidate and help us make informed choices, or by simply wearing their candidate's color. I have never seen the country, since the 1980s, be filled with people who wear
their political hearts on their sleeves. And I think this is the beauty of democracy. Every one is entitled to make their choice, and not be condemned for making that choice.

So I'm urging every one reading this to please pray for our country. May our democracy be protected, and may this election bring out only the best in everyone. May peace reign throughout the country and from this, may the rightful leaders we need and deserve emerge victorious.

Up in the Air

The next set of my First things have one thing in common- heights. After doing these, I had a sudden realization that I might have been more of a bird than a fish in my past life. Other than the fact that I do not know how to swim, maybe the reason why I'm more comfortable in the air than underwater is that I love the adrenaline rush! I just love that funny sensation I get in the pit of my stomach when I lean over the edge of a building or how my knees get a tad bit weaker when I imagine myself falling off a cliff. I don't know, I'm just crazy that way.

Anyway, here are the blood-pumping things I've done lately, in chronological order and degree of difficulty, hehe.

First Thing #10 - Do the Skywalk and Ride the Edge Coaster.
These two attractions have been here in Cebu for like two years or so already, but I have not really gotten around to doing them until last month.

My friend and I went there in the evening, which I think is a good idea if you're a bit of an acrophobe because you don't see much down below and you're distracted by the beautiful night lights of the city.

Between the two though, I prefer the Edge Coaster because it gave me more thrill (and more laughs too, because my friend kept shrieking the whole time!). In Skywalk, you basically walk along a glass path on the side of the building and pose for some pictures. That's it. But with the Edge Coaster, you're seated in a coaster at the edge of the building (I wonder where the Edge Coaster got its name) and you can tilt this to like 55 degrees or something so you can see the busy streets below you. Exciting!

Good thing I did these before the next two things. Else, I would have been sorely disappointed. You'll see why.



First Thing #11 - Ride the Suislide.
A few friends and I decided to go to Bohol last weekend to go on an extreme adventure. We've planned this trip for months and the 3 main activities on our agenda would be the Suislide, the Plunge and caving.

I have tried the zipline before so I wasn't too keen on taking the Suislide. I mean I didn't get scared or anything, I just wanted to try something new that's why I had my eyes set on doing the Plunge. But when we got to E.A.T. Danao, I found out that it's not like the usual zipline where you're in a seated position and hold on to something that looks like a bike's handlebars. Instead, you'll be hanging facedown and travel from one hill to another (think Superman). Now, who would resist the chance to be able to 'fly' for even just a few minutes? Not me!

The ride was more relaxing than scary. Since you're just lying facedown, you get a bird's view of the hills, trees, and the river below. I think anyone, even the faint-hearted, could do this. If you're really scared, you can do this with someone since it can allow 2 riders at the same time. But I suggest you do this alone. Superman trumps the Wonder Twins, right? ;)



First Thing #12 - Take the Plunge.
All I can say is, this is the best ride yet! Nothing beats the heart-pumping and head-throbbing adrenaline rush you get from being dropped from the edge of a cliff with just a harness stopping you from falling to your death.

Okay, okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration. The Plunge is safe as safe can be and the operator guys look like they really know what they're doing (thank heavens for that, right?). So, if you can get past the fact that you'll be hanging and swinging from a few thousand feet above ground, then this ride's for you.

The Plunge is some sort of version of a bungee jump. They put the harness on you, and then you're asked to walk to the edge of the plank and sit down (pretty much like how the pirates make their captives jump off the ship). Then you're slowly lowered to a couple of feet (you can do this in a seated position or head-first and upside down), then dropped to a free fall, and finally swung like a pendulum.

I must say, this gave my lungs the much-needed exercise and I was able to finally release some pent-up emotions. The free fall was the best part for me because for a split-second you wonder what would happen if the harness broke and you actually fell down to the ground. But before you can push the image of your mangled body out of your head, you find yourself already swinging and shouting like Tarzan. Aaaah-aaah-aahhhh!!!



Hopefully these four things are just warm-up for my ultimate goal: skydiving! I'm really praying that the universe (and my wallet!) conspires with me on this one, and let me do this before I get too old or too scared.