IngliseraKuno

I was not aware that flights to Tagbilaran are almost always delayed. The reason they tell us is 'air traffic'. I do not know a thing about that except that it wastes precious time. The landing was not 'landing', the plane bounced on the runway. I wanted to slap the pilot. Anyway, we arrived safely so the landing, I can forgive him for. I was told landing was that way in Tagbilaran, a 'wind thing' they said. One cannot hide disappointment with the way the airport is upon arrival at Tagbilaran. It looks like a bus station with a luggage carousel. Got me thinking, Bohol is a popular tourist destination, why was the airport to the place not developed? Our ride to Panglao from Tagbilaran took about 45 minutes. There was nothing special to see around along the roads: just motorcycles cutting their way through any inch alongside vehicles, people walking, but Aidan did see a smart signage of a bakery, 'OurDeliBread'. Whoever thought of that is a genius. The rou...

I was in Bohol more than ten years ago. I faintly recally the Chocolate Hills to have looked picture-perfect then, like I was standing in front of a postcard. I remember the two hundred or so steps up the view deck I had to climb, for the best view of the hills. I labored to climb up with my colleagues because it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I did not know when I would be back. The climb was worth it then, the view was glorious.  I was back years later, now with two grown children. We went on the same basic tour offered tourists of the countryside, and the islands. The Chocolate Hills part of the countryside tour, so are the: man-made forest, the natural habitats of the tarsiers and butterflies, the Loboc River Cruise, the Baclayon Church, and the Blood Compact Shrine. We had a pretty and cheerful tour guide named 'Koykoy' who really knew what she was doing. The minute she boarded the bus, she had us, just with her 'Good morning!'. She started off with the Boho...

I asked a friend of mine who she was voting for and she told me. I was taken by surprise by the choice so I immediately asked, why? She just shrugged her shoulders and said, 'para maiba naman.' I wanted to retort, 'ang alin?' But friendships are important to me so I stopped right there and smiled. I do not engage in arguments about religion or politics, it cheapens me, far as I am concerned. Discussions, yes, but even that I get passionate about sometimes I blurt out words unguarded to my regret. I guess there are personal reasons for our choices, not just of leaders, but of each step, every turn, in our lives. Hindsight my choices were wrong, mostly. These put me in desperate situations, because at the time the choices were made, these presented both the immediate and long-term solutions to the pressing problems. Like in the movie 'Sophie's Choice', when Meryl Streep's character was asked to choose between her two children in the middle of war, the opti...

When I introduce myself to callers in my office, I extend a firm handshake and say, 'Christianne, po'. Not that I do not want to be called, 'Ma'am'. My staff calls me that everyday, even after hours. Goodness my kids and our kasambahay call me 'Madame' when they talk about me behind my back (they don't know I eavesdrop). But 'Christianne, po' is my way of saying, 'hey, we are equals here and now, until we get down to business. then you can call me Ma'am', when it is called for.' Humility is one virtue Lolo Panieng taught me. But his was the real deal. His life was dedicated to public service. He taught me that humility is not said, it is acted upon. And most importantly, it is not acted upon for others to say, '...awww she's so humble...', but for yourself: that you are sincerely acknowledging you are human, so that you can reach out, you can serve, the best way you can. All his life he was called by everyone, 'Tan...

Galit na ako.  I feel uncomfortable when I look at the news and much is said about other people's miseries. Like they have the monopoly of pain in life. I have always thought that all of us have miseries in our lives, except that perhaps the difference lies in perception. We all have the same basic needs, food and shelter. Many claim that there is hunger in a particular place in the world, and that this need to be addressed. But I see hunger everywhere, not in massive scales but still, hunger. I have personally experienced putting together coins to buy a decent meal, or walked from the office to home just to save the fare for food. When I tell this story about me, my friends laugh and tell me I exagerrate. I don't. In the province, there are children who tap on glass windows of fastfood places to ask for food, even the chicken bones the customers leave on their plates, that would be enough. Or even my 'hilot', she scrapes for food working on menial jobs here and there. ...

She said, 'there is nothing that you have in your life now that did not require a trade-off'. I looked up from my tablet (I was again on fb instead of focusing on the discussion) and looked at her, our speaker. She is this sweet little woman of Chinese ancestry, (I presume) who stood in front of all of us with the confidence, wit and intellect I can only hope I have (even half of all she has in her is a dream). I was in a wellness camp, in an attempt to discover my work-life balance and perhaps tighten some bolts and screws if needed. So that statement she casually said made my attempt take off. I was waiting for a push, and there she said it.  She is right. Many among us in the audience resisted the idea she brought up: there were reactions here and there: 'oh no, I am perfectly all right, I did not give up anything to be where I am...' Or, '....not really it depends upon how you manage your time, etc...'. That is how managers are, I guess. Our default settings...

A week before the elections, social media was at its most vicious. We were in a wellness camp, and I had a few days with my kids, so I did not mind that at all. Chill lang. Never mind that there were election-related threats here and there, or it was so humid I could not breathe. I wanted that week for 'now', I lived in the present. Which was a balm to my tired mind and body. Getting old has its rewards;  one no longer is under the 'tyranny of the should's' (Ana explained that to me one time.) The older I get, the better I am at letting go of the things I thought I should do, or continue to do, even if I am under no obligation whatsoever to do these. I always took pride in doing more than I should when I was younger,  which really in retrospect, made me look more like an idiot than a hero. Not to mention the other stuff this tyranny I imposed upon myself took from my otherwise normal, healthy 'being'.  This week was exciting and a wee bit scary. At the back ...

Dear God, I don't know what exactly you are telling all of us now, but as my daughter Ana Isaiah Castillejos Suguitan told me a couple of days back, there are two very simple words in the dictionary which will spell how our lives turn out: 'expectations' and 'acceptance'. Simple, she said, but the two most difficult words to give justice to. And so, having always been guided by this verse (since my father passed) from the Bible, in Isaiah, particularly, which goes (paraphrased) 'for My thoughts are not your thoughts, says the Lord', I say these, in my prayers.  I lift up all to You: my grief, my skepticism, this blow to my pride and my values. I rely fully on your Grace, that you lead this nation into wholeness again. I am a mere speck in the larger picture, my pride and my values may not be like the rest. Perhaps I may, or may not be as relevant to the days to come. But I commit to be the person You direct me to be, to be part of the rebuilding, for the goo...

Along the boatride to the islands, our boatman stopped and nonchalantly said we were low on fuel. We were in the middle of nowhere, and waking up from my trance (the sea does that to me), I panicked. For one thing, I do not know how to swim. My two kids do, though, so it was safe to assume they will rescue me if I drown. Turns out it is a normal occurence among the boats as the trip took quite long. After a few minutes of my heart pounding, the sound of the boat's engine restarting, I welcomed.  Not long after the 'middle-of-nowhere' panic, the dolphins were in sight. Goodness seeing them in their habitat, swimming up and down the waters, was pure joy. I squealed in delight. Took a video. Then squealed again. There was something about seeing the dolphins in their natural habitat. I recalled a visit to a park where they were enclosed in glass. I flinched. Kuya Boatman brought us to a site where we can watch turtles from the boat. He suggested the kids take a dive to see the ...