mY jOuRnEy

I had an affair with Mr. C.G. There, I admit it. (What is with the rainy days that makes people go “confession-holic”? Or was it Usher’s song Confessions that I heard on the radio yesterday that triggered all this?) I was with him during long commutes to and from work, during lunch breaks, during short breaks, in between press release assignments and other writing assignments, and even before going to sleep. He was a welcome distraction during a time I desperately needed one. I accidentally met him while looking for book 2 of the Mike Essex trilogy Tethered Twins. He was intimidating and totally unreadable at first yet he was also very enigmatic and intriguing and almost perfect and yes, I succumbed to the temptation because it was all too easy to succumb to. Even if I wasn’t with him, I found myself smiling just thinking about him. He is everything but boring and being with him was a very welcome distraction indeed. He showed me the perks of the “high life” that ...

We all live very busy lives; and even if we don't, we are so caught up in our own little world that we fail to notice life's little surprises. Here is a perfect example - - - if you didn't notice it today. When you opened your internet browser and googled something today, did you notice this little add-on fun from google featuring the "football craze"? It may sound really cliché but it is true, no matter how busy we are, we should still take time to smell the roses. Or in this case, take time to check what the google people have in store for us! It just might make you smile. ;-) nmed @ 06/23/14 1:30pm

Mr. Murphy of Murphy’s Law had a full-blown party at my expense yesterday! 1. I rode a jeepney with a different route because I couldn’t find jeepneys for the exact route going to Colon. 2. The alternate jeepney I took only gave me half-a-butt seat that I uncomfortably clinged to until we were in the Ayala area and 2 people got off. 3. The route was way longer than my original route and there was heavy traffic during the entire trip. 4. Someone gave me a hard time at my previous office and I had to literally do some begging just to get my papers processed and my check released. 5. I was unable to get my check en-cashed because the banks were already closed and the money changer just happened to be on half-day. 6. My feet were already killing me with all the walking in heels – not even high heels, just almost flat heels yet there was a great deal of walking needed. 7. There were no jeepneys available because there was mass ...

(I sent this article to a newspaper but didn't see print, and so it is gracing the pages of my blog) For someone who has a very sensitive stomach and needs to be careful of what she eats, I am ironically quite fond of eating street foods. Whenever I get the chance to walk around the busy streets of Colon, I always have this tendency to stop and check out what people are selling and patronize most of them – from fried chicken, to puto, peanuts and what have you. My latest favorite is the tempura and “kwek-kwek” which they now serve with sliced cucumber and/or “guso” on the side. I first discovered this when I went for a vacation in Davao some years ago. We were just walking the streets somewhere near their Chinatown and saw a street full of people and we just had to check it out for ourselves. That’s when I saw their “kwek-kwek”, their unlimited cucumber on the side, and their grounded salt with chilies. There and then I fell in love with this street food. When I went back ...