© 2005 by Pum from Thailand

International Cultural Food Fest @ NTU. It's the Philippine National Dance! "Tinikling", a bamboo dance which interprets the swift movements of birds. See me in that red Balintawak with my partner, Michael. Angelo at the rightmost on the stix.

Picture taken by Angelo using Pum's Nikon D70 SLR. My cheeks so full! Ho-hum!

To all Filipinos in Singapore!

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Which Moxie Are You?

Moxie Choc-full's

Up to the brim

...

Heart-sick.

Hurt throbs.

Monstro jinx.

Moxie Roxy

grants her a gift

...

Hearty party.

Honeylovey.

Spunky mix.

~ 30 ~

Magic Realism

~~~~~ Jan 8: ~~~~~

I'm currently reading the book, "One Hundred Years Of Solitude"... The book reminds me a lot about Burton's movie, "Big Fish". Fantasy-&-reality-intertwined is such a cool concept. Magical and supernatural things & events are taken with such cool nonchalance as the ordinary is presented with such awe and wonder. Most often than not it's the latter that brings out the humor especially in the book One Hundred Years... Anyway, I really think that Marquez is a genius in being one of the primemovers of magic realism. This genre is, indeed, an effective literary style in terms of bringing out the universality of any topic, be it historical or political. Well, I speak for myself here, what do you think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just a thought: I want to be TinkerBell

(well the Julia Roberts version)

The Happiest People of the World (part 2)

Although I haven't confirmed the credibility of this li'l trivia below, I think it's still worth noting. Chanced upon it 5 mins. ago from this site: http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/filipinos.php

Read on!

"Despite the many problems hounding the Philippines, Filipinos still consider themselves as among the happiest people in the world. Results of regional surveys conducted by MTV-Asia, ACNielsen and the Economist magazine have indicated that Filipinos are the happiest people in Asia.

But in the World Values Survey conducted by University of Michigan in 1998, the Philippines was ranked 12th among 54 countries in the world in terms of happiness index. Among Asian countries, it was ranked first. According to the survey, the top ten happiest nations in the world were Iceland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia, Ireland, Switzerland, Great Britain and Venezuela."

To My Best Sistah!

Hi Les, here's my response to the advice you were asking me... For now I guess it is still the same old line that I've said many many times over... but it's still good to reflect upon it! "Guard your heart Les for it is the wellspring of your life!"

Yup! I just think that risking your heart is something very crucial, you may either end up being a grouch if the heart is unjustly broken or you may end up fulfilling your life long dream... Only God knows!

Nevertheless you have freedom to make decisions and carve out your path. In this case it is always good to be wise (not in a "magulang" kind of sense) but I guess in terms of guarding your heart and keeping it safe until God gives you the go signal that... "this is it" or "it is time to give your heart to this special someone I've prepared for you". If only I could turn back time Les, I would have waited for God's "go" before I ever gave up my heart to my very first "love". But you have a chance to choose... & all I can say is you have the power to make it right.

In my experiences Les, you know that I have made some wrong decisions here and there and as far as I'm concern I think it's all because I lacked that sensitivity to the Holy Spirit's prompting.

So for now, my wish for both of us is "to live each day deeper in prayer like we've never ever experienced before". Besides Les, with all the things happening around us, e.g. Asia's tsunamis, earthquakes & epidemics, other things may seem so secondary right?

Consider this: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God & all these things shall be added unto you".

It's been said over and over again in church services but if we really try to reflect on this powerful verse, we will know in our hearts that God will take care of our concerns but we have to seek Him first with all our heart, mind, soul and spirit!

It's so intense don't you think Les? Imagine how you will seek God with your whole being... with your whole heart, mind and soul... It's more than an emotional experience, more than the "kilig" moments whenever we see our crushes...

I want to experience that again because I seem to be drifting away from Him and being preoccupied with other things, I've been guilty of crowding Jesus out of my activities, legit. as they may be. But my prayer Les, for you and for me is that for this year and the years to come we will, hopefully experience God's beauty and make Him our first love! The number one in our hearts! Love you Les!

~Pam~

Get Real & Get It On for "Two Oh Oh Fives"!

Pamcakes in Singapore...

Two thousand five. Another year. Another season. Another 364 days to go.

I'm down to the first day of this year, passed an hour more and 10 minutes or so...

Will this year be totally different from the previous years? 23 years and I'm still counting...

I'm not sure what's so special about this year or every year for that matter.

I don't know why but I just have this lonely feeling right at this moment.

A big part of it is because yesterday was so quiet and rainy and just downright different from how things are in the Philippines when January 1 strikes...

Fact #1 Celebrations for the Chinese New Year are grander around here (as in the Lunar calendar's new year) ....so yesterday wasn't that much of a deal.

So here goes the top 5 "Hmph List" for my New Year:

Major turnoff

#1) No deafening fireworks to scare me and the bad spirits away! Not even one!

#2) No polluted air to turn all those big flat noses to black (hehe!)

#3) No family to share media noche with and eat all those 12 rounded fruits.

#4) No more jumpin' up & down in that desperate hope of gettin' added inches

#5) No overflowing inbox of happy cheers & greetings for the new year!

But of course, I also want to count my blessings! Top 5 in my "Happy Counter":

Happee Mee

#1) Dad bought a webcam yesterday & ' was able to see all 5 of them for New Year

#2) My ever sweet Li'l bro Mateo drew me a picture with hearts & butterflies!

#3) Leslie, my best sistah finally installed her webcam & I saw her too!

#4) Angelo, my mahal, & I cooked seafood pasta & shrimps! We had a happy dinner.

#5) Finally watched my first movie of the year "Meet the Fockers"! oh and....

#5b) I altered my new pants on my own, Thanks to home economics class!

Our Li'l "New Year Celeb for 2005"

Tnx for bearing with the wobbly pic up there. Hope it don't daze u much! heee!

Well, so life goes on and as a tribute to *2005* I'd like to share my friend's entry. I think it's a good one to inspire us to just "Go for It" for this coming year! And since I love dancing, what best title could there be but....

Dance Like No One's Watching

by Nat Casuela

(thanks for this one Nat saved me one entry hahah! Really inspiring! Let's all JUST GET REAL! ... and dance the night away! )

We all manage to convince ourselves to procrastinate the good things in life and delay happiness...
...until the morning.
...until the next paycheck.
...until we finish school.
...until we get to work.
...until we get settled down and married.
...until we have kids.
...until the kids grow up.
...until they get married.
...until we retire.
...blah blah blah blah blah blah.

But why don't we ever realize that although there is a time for everything, what better time is there than now?

Grab each moment and seize every opportunity...
Watch the sun rise or watch it set.
Count the stars.
Climb a mountain.
Dive from a cliff.
Ride a go-cart or a hot air balloon.
Hold hands and kiss in public.
Cry during a movie.
Walk naked around the house.
Fall in love.

Why do we deny ourselves the fun? Why do we care what other people think? Why do we feel guilty whenever we feel happy, just because...
...people are watching?
...our parents wouldn't approve?
...our friends wouldn't approve?
...we haven't finished our homework?
...haven't reached our quota?
...or haven't gone to church?

We all tend to focus more on the problems and challenges we encounter, rather than the process by which we go through these. On our quest to happiness, we don't realize that happiness is the instrument and the pathway to what we so desperately seek for. To become happy, we must be happy.

Conservative individuals argue that doing the crazy things in life would cause them to lose the respect they have earned. Is there really logic in that? Would you respect someone who witholds himself from doing something he wants because of what other people may think, or someone who does something he wants despite what other people may think?

The great minds of the past 21 centuries will never be forgotten because they all defied the status quo and did what they had to do... they may have defied the law of Man (e.g. Nelson Mandela, Andres Bonifacio, the Unknown Rebel who stood in front of 17 tanks in Tiananmen Square, 1989) or even the law of Nature (e.g. Albert Einstein), the Church (e.g. Copernicus, Galileo) or society itself (e.g. Martin Luther King, Helen Keller, Ghandi), and beliefs that have been established for generations... they may have been imprisoned or they may have died for their cause... but in the End, they earned the respect they so deserved...because they stood up for what they believed in. Because they had the guts and the courage to seize the moment and make a difference.

So let's learn, instill and act from what they have demonstrated...

To live for the moment, by the moment.

No matter the consequence.

No matter the drama.

Dance as if no one's watching... Love like you've never been hurt...