I have known Cors online, about three years ago. She once commented on a blog post in my old blog. She used to blog, too. Exchange of comments ensued and we’ve become friends in different social networks.

Last weekend, she emailed me asking how safe GenSan is. Of course, I got an idea that she was coming. She said she was flying in from Dubai to settle POEA matters and she was going to GenSan to meet his Dad who is a seaman and whose ship happened to dock here in the south.

She stayed here for only a night and flew back to Manila the day after.

Despite the busy schedule, we agreed to meet. It’s really exciting to meet someone you have only known in cyberworld. I had an appointed that ended at nine, so she had to wait for me. After my appointment, I drove to the hotel where she was staying. She had been waiting at the lobby, when I arrived. It was not difficult to identify each other as we’ve got photos in each other’s profiles.

There was no need for introductions. It was like we knew each other so well already. We decided to have some drink at a bistro. And boy, was she a smooth talker?

We then decided to walk to Robinson’s Place. I took her to Piyesta, where we had gayuma and sisig. We talked about work, traveling, and some personal stuff.

I also asked her is she wanted coffee. I told her that Blugré serves Durian Coffee. She was excited about the idea and she did love the coffee.

We walked back to her hotel and bid each other goodbye.

I drove home still unbelieving that we have finally met. Surely, that brief encounter of ours is one I’ll always remember.

I had a good laugh after realizing what these three pictures have in common:

Same Face

Sir Nerpy is very like Kaiser and vice versa. They are alike in many ways that students can’t help but notice. Looking and dressing alike is one amusing fact. Kaiser’s impersonation of Sir Nerpy is icing on the cake. Seeing them together in almost the same shirt color and wearing a mailman’s bag in a similar fashion is worth taking a pic.

Same Name

Teacher Eljay is a cam-whore. My folders are filled with her outrageous and emotion-packed poses. But this one is a rare shot, where she is joined by our students, whose name happens to be the same as hers.

Same Size

We didn’t see anything funny when Sir Jasper volunteered to drive for Precious to take care of some important need for a competition she participated in — not until they mounted that poor thing.

We are lucky today that technology has enabled us to take, keep, and share snapshots of events (whether spectacular or mundane), people (whether special to you or simply passers by), and place (whether the usual hangouts or some paradise). We can now make a chronology of our own (or other people’s) life story in photos, which is a treasure chest of memories, we would always wish to revisit.

I have one sad realization, though — memories can only be looked back at; some things can never be the same again.

Image from aclworld.wordpress.com

A few minutes ago, Aethen asked me to view his wall post. He wrote something about taking roads. It said:

Choosing one path means abandoning others – if you try to follow every possible path you will end up following none (I followed many paths in my “younger and more vulnerable years”. But when you are young this attitude is a blessing – if you know when to stop) *reflective mode*

This was my reply:

That’s right. Taking many paths means seeing the world at several standpoints. The more paths you take, the more things you see, the better you learn. But when you discover which path can really make you–and the people you care about–happy, that’s the time you stop exploring and start following that one path. Life isn’t about how many things you’ve accomplished but how well you did what you were supposed to do.

Allow me to share some insights I have learned about taking roads.

Choices

Life offers us a myriad of options. However, we don’t have sufficient time to try all these, so we have to rank these options and do only that which are most important to us. The choices we make are very crucial–they shape our future. What we do today will greatly affect what we will become in the future.

Sometimes, you have to let go of something no matter how much you want it because not all that you want would be helpful in achieving your goals. Having a personal vision would help you decide on which options to prioritize.

Personal Vision

I have always believed that the most successful people in the world today are those who can clearly envision what they want to become in the future. In class, I would ask my students to sit comfortably and imagine how they would look, what they would do, and whom they would work with 10 years from now. I would also tell them: if your personal vision is clear, there is a greater probability that you will attain it. With clear goals, you can make bake better decisions.

Listening

God is communicating with us in so many ways. He uses people and events to tell us His message. This might sound fatalistic but I believe that God is communicating with us through signs and that our senses should be open to listen to God’s voice in everything that we encounter.

In my life, I have never insisted on what I want. I listened. And I am thankful to God for bringing me here.

Patience

Waiting is such a taxing thing to do. I am often compulsive but I know how to wait. It takes time before my patience reaches its elastic limit.

A lot of us grow tired after several failures. Others stop pursuing an endeavor too early because they expect to see the results of their efforts instantly. But life is not like that. There’s a right time for everything.

Defining SUCCESS in your own context

Success is not something generic. There is not one definition of success that fits us all.  Just us we have a unique mix of abilities and interests, we should also be assessed differently. Sometimes, people think of themselves as a big failure because they measure their achievements based on other people’s definition of success. That way, they allow other people to enclose them in a box, which can either be to big or too small for their abilities.

Thanks for reading this post. God bless you in your studies, career, lovelife, business, and in all your endeavors.

A signage along National Highway, GenSan

Let me share some insights I have learned from being a stickler for perfection.

Lesson #1: Do it only to close friends.

Our English teacher in high school taught us that it is normal for Filipinos like us to commit mistakes in using the English language because it is not our mother tongue, so we should not laugh at other people’s mistakes. We can’t help it, though–my classmates were so used to poke fun at errors we notice. We laugh at each other’s errors. It then became a habit for us to always watch out for errors and laugh. Because we are not offended when others laugh at our mistakes, we assumed that others would not be hurt, too, when the same is done to them. We met not just one trouble because of that assumption. There are some things that you better keep to yourself, or to your close friends only.

Back in college, I was in a clique that had the same attitude as my classmates in high school. Errors have been our source of fun. Aethen, was not spared. He has along list of bloopers that we would always recall during our gatherings. Funny moments like that have even strengthened our friendship.

Lesson #2: Consider it an Opportunity to Learn.

Even until now, I still have the same attitude toward mistakes. I never take corrections negatively. I never take it against the person who points out my mistake. I take it as an opportunity to learn.

I consider Sir Gilbert as a mentor. He  was always one of our speakers in our journalism seminar in high school. Now, he is a fellow blogger and I still learn from him.  One particular instance was when we watched Shrek 3D together with SoCCSKSarGen Bloggers. There was a scene when the Pied Piper played a music that sounded familiar. I sang with it and my lyrics was, “Shake your booty, shake your booty, yeah yeah yeah. ” Sir Gilbert sang the correct lyrics, “Shake your groove thing, shake your groove thing, yeah yeah yeah.”

Lesson #3: Be the first to laugh.

I have had several Wow, Mali! episodes in class. There were times when I couldn’t stop laughing at my own mistakes. The kids, too, laugh until their stomachs hurt. Regardless of whether it’s you or them who noticed your mistake, be the first to laugh at it then all the negative feelings associated with hurt pride will be dissolved in laughter. There’s always a better way of saying correcting a mistake without offending the person concerned. Ending it with some laughter, most often avoids the buildup of tension.

I don’t find aiming for perfection bad. Although nobody is perfect, inching closer to perfection is better than staying behind, stagnating.

Here is what she is like:

1. She has a fake American accent. I think she’s just trying to sound smart and  to impress us with how she enunciates the words when she speaks, but she just tries too hard and it just doesn’t work. Every time she opens her mouth, I would have to hold on to my seat, else I might fall, and I would have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.

2.  She’s focused on the non-essentials. Each one of us has his own topic to present to the class every session. The reporter has to show a powerpoint presentation, distribute handouts, and… (drum-rolls please) serve snacks.

She was very happy when she told us that what her students would remember about her is the snack session.

There was one time when a reporter was showing a video clip. While the video clip was still being shown, she asked the reporter to start serving the snacks. Even if I tried to concentrate on the video, there was just too much commotion. She then tolds everyone to focus on the video. How could my classmates listen when they’re so into the food that was being served? She could have waited for the video to end before asking the reporter to serve the snacks.

When she interrupted the reporter once, I thought she wanted to stress a point but to my dismay, she only said, “Take note of that. That’s gonna come out in the comprehensive exam.” She said it like were so threatened about the exam.

After the reporter has delivered his report, she didn’t say anything about it as if she herself did not listen to the report. She didn’t give comments,  constructive criticism, or her insights. She didn’t process what the students could say about the report. There was no intellectual discussion that took place.

3. She never does what she says she wants.  She always tells us that she is time-conscious, but it’s her who always comes late. She also said that as graduate students, the reporters’ presentations should also be better that that of college students. When she explained a powerpoint presentation once, she did it like she was talking to high school students.

I’m reporting this weekend. My presentation and my handouts are all ready. My presentation is quite long so I hope she won’t spend too much time on unessential chit-chats before my report so I can finish everything before the session ends. I’m sure, if she will ever notice something about my report, it would not be about the content and organization. Nevertheless, I will try to present it the best way I can.

Let me begin by saying, this kid was one of  those students who had helped even out the pavement to the guidance office. Not that he’s a troublemaker, teachers just keep an eye on students. Had he been enrolled in a bigger school, where his erratic behavior would have escaped the teachers’ attention, he should have been a hopeless case.

“Lahi ra gyud ang graduate sa science (high school),” he said when I asked him, how he is faring as a college freshman. I don’t know what he actually meant by saying that our graduates are different. He could be referring to the academic training that he got– or, to the guidance afforded to them.

Lunchtime at the faculty office is, to me, the most valuable 50-minute period in school. It is when we, teachers, gather together and talk about what we have experienced in our classes. It’s like we are having an informal mentoring session while eating lunch. We talk about how this particular student or group of students respond to a particular activity. We talk about the changes we notice in the behavior of one student or two. Doing this makes us understand our students better. I get insights about handling difficult students and most importantly, it is during this time that I learn to appreciate my role as a teacher–guiding the students.

Students at this age usually resent being given guidance. This is maybe due to their perception that as they slowly mature, they can decide better for themselves, thus, they need not be guided. This is why I prefer the less intrusive strategies every time I try to help my students.

I have always believed that beyond academic training, we are supposed to train our students to become self-reliant and conscientious problem-solvers.

When this student told me that he is enjoying college now and that, in fact, he has been exempted from a long quiz because he has answered his professor’s previous quizzes correctly, I felt very glad, especially that it came from a student, who everyone must have expected to make a mess of his college life.

I told him that I’m happy for him and that he must keep it up.

What makes me happier is the thought that we did not give up on him. If his advisers had been inconsiderate and recommended his transfer to another school at the first signs of his misbehavior, this kid’s future would have been bleak.

I love my job.

His first contest is the This-Is-Not-Just-For-Bloggers Contest, which, as the name suggests, is not a blog writing contest. It is open for those who have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, and other social networking site.

GandaEverSoMuch.com is probably one of the most influential blogs this year. The blog contains a collection of funny and sometimes emo posts about the author’s colorful life. You won’t get disappointed each time you visit the blog because you would always read something new as the author updates his blog everyday, whether he’s happy or sad, his posts won’t fail to make you smile.

One thing more, he’s giving away shirts that I designed. See it here.

When they were approaching the store, I was eager to see them perform, er, curious about how the improvised fiddle would sound. The other man played the guitar while the blind fiddled his improvised musical instrument, which was made from scrap wood, an empty can, nylon strings, and an old comb to adjust the pitch.

They played Julie Rogers’ Ave Maria and you wouldn’t believe that such music could come from that funny contraption that resembles a fiddle.

I asked them to play it again so I could take a video of it. Unfortunately, in my rush, I forgot that the camera was positioned incorrectly. My bad. Here’s the video:

When they left, I felt something different. I don’t know what it was but I knew I’ve become brave to face all the adversities in my life.

With a wide margin of over 11, 000 votes and getting the trust of about two-thirds of the voting population, Emmanuel “Manny/Pacman” Pacquiao knocked out the champion of a 17-year dynasty, Roy Chiongbian.

It took the COMELEC three days after the election before finally proclaiming the new set of provincial government officials due to delays in the transmission of election returns.

VICTORIOUS: (From L-R) Gov. Migz Dominguez, Cong. Manny Pacquaio, Election Officer Atty. Michael Abas, and V-Gov. Steve Solon

Just before midnight of May 13, Pacquiao was finally proclaimed a winner, together with re-elected Gov. Miguel Rene Dominguez and Vice-Gov. Steve Solon.

Dominguez and Solon and the only Lakas-SARRO candidates elected into provincial government posts; the rest are all from the People’s Champ Movement.

Following are the Final and Official Results of the Election in Sarangani Province:

Congressman of Sarangani

Governor

Vice Governor

Board Members – District 1

Top 3 Only

Board Members – District 2

Top 6 Only

*Photo from Sarangani Province Updates

Following are the Final Official Results of the Local Election in Alabel, Sarangani Province:

Mayor

Re-electionist Corazon Grafilo of People’s Champ Movement won by a margin of 831 votes. It had been a close fight with Ronnel Español of Lakas, who the led the poll for a number of times during the canvassing, leaving the watchers gasping for breath.

Vice Mayor

It’s almost a 60-40 share in favor of PCM’s Vic Paul Salarda in the Mayoralty race, beating then Mayor Hernando Sibugan of Lakas..

Councilors

The Municipal Council of eight members was split equally between PCM and Lakas, with young engineer and re-electionist Mark Senit on the lead.

The council is also a mix of the young, newbies, and seasoned politicians. Marivic Flores, Menandro Dambong, and Moises Alaba are all experienced in the field of politics. Businesswoman Lotis Villarico and engineer Joel Aton of the Southern Philippine Power Corporation are new to public office. Meanwhile, Paul Villamora (son of a former councilor) and Irish Louie Arnado are the youngest ones. Arnado is only 22.

May this new set of public officials bring about change in my beloved hometown.

Visit this link for other election results.

*Provincial officials have not yet been declared because as of this posting, canvassing is still going on in the municipality of Glan. One thing is sure, Manny Pacquiao is really going to be our new congressman, given the wide margin between his and contender Roy Chiongbian’s votes.