Walking Miracle

Tuesdays are coding, so I usually hitch with my Dad in the morning.  During these car rides, as I maneuver through caloocan to ortigas, Dad likes to fill in the morning with either curses about Gloria... or wax poetic about his young policeman days. In the 80s, Dad was a fearless sergeant who chased crooks in Quiapo and other parts of Manila.

This morning, he recounted how he got shot, and survived.  I wasn't able to fully appreciate that my dad is a living, spitting, cursing miracle until now.

On June 1988 he chased a holdupper notorious for stealing money of the stores in Quiapo.  He thought the man was working alone, so when he cornered him, he was surprised to hear gunshots. Dad acted quickly and used the holdupper as a human shield. Shots were fired at his back, at his front, at his side.  Dad wrestled the holdupper and managed to shield himself for a while.  Only for a while.

One bullet hit my Dad's skull near his ear.

Another hit his arm.

Another hit his back.

And with a final flourish, the henchmen of the head holdupper fired the gun at my Dad's chest.

Next thing my Dad knew was waking up at the FEU hospital.  A cop friend of his said that when my Dad was rushed to the emergency room, he was left in a corner on a stretcher because the doctors and nurses said he was a sure goner from all the bullets in his body.  He was left to "bleed to die".  But one of the merchants who Dad helped recover money from the holduppers came and paid a handsome amount to the doctors. Only then did the doctors did what they can to resucitate him.

How did my Dad survive those bullets?

Even the doctors don't know.  They were surprised why the bullet merely grazed his skull.. and why the bullet on his chest wasn't that deep.. And why Dad was living at all.

My Dad is wont to say that his faith, and the tatoos on his body that inscribes the name of Yahweh, saved him.

My Mom is wont to say that Dad is given a second chance because he has a lot to make up for.

I don't know who  those doctors in FEU are.  I don't know the name of the holdupper who shot my Dad (last time I heard from Dad, the thug was jailed once and bailed out... he's still out there somewhere).


I do know that Dad is not the definite picture of a pious man.  But his faith is something that even now I have a hard time believing.

Happy 65th Birthday Daddy.
  

Insights from the Soup Kitchen

 Location: Typhoon Ondoy Victims, Pasig

 Evacuation Center @ ULTRA

October 5, 2009

Knowledge Channel Soup Kitchen 

1) 95% of the kids and adults i saw don't have slippers

2) A lot of the kids are resilient. Staying at the evacuation center can be like a prolonged picnic..., with many new friends to make, and eating on the floor with a bigger family - about 3,000 members in the new family.

3) It's the moms who are really stressed. They constantly worry where to get the next meal for the family (or for her infant), how to treat their sick children, and how on earth are they going to rebuild their homes again when there is nothing left to start over with.

4) Children don't hold back in expressing their happiness. So when they smile at you, you feel that they are the ones bestowing you a gift, and not the other way around.

5) There is still so much to be done. It's overwhelming. But the things you cannot do should not stop you from doing the things that you can.

6) Being interviewed on the spot is not as easy as it looks. =)

7) It is a humbling experience.  I know deep down it could have easily been me, or my family, in that evacuation center.  Everything I have could be wiped away in an instant.  I don't really own anything.

tough lessons

lessons i am learning recently:

1)  It will take time for parents to truly see the "adult" you

I just had an awkward but honest conversation with my mom.  We are not the type of family that talks about thoughts and feelings, so those two minutes of talking felt like having constipation  -- its gruelling, but I'm glad for the release.  She doesn't approve of some of my life choices, but she already knows that I'm not seeking her approval.

2) when it niggles, pay attention

I had a niggling feeling that i was forgetting doing something last week. I got sucked in the vortex called "everyday urgent tasks" and promptly forgot about the niggling feeling. Turns out I forgot to email our foreign resource person that our event is re-scheduled (for the Nth time).  Now she has a flight going here, and the event aint happening. damn.  pay attention.

3) recognize the silver

I appreciate the random kindness of my officemate. i didn't ask for it, but i got an assist that i needed.  =)

UP movie review

Things I learned from UP

1) Dogs, no matter how trained in the arts of nefarious plotting, will simper for a ball.

2) Eager beaver scouts never give up. They sure come in handy when you are lost and alone in a rainforest.

3) Discovering a lost paradise isn't the greatest adventure -- but doing mundane things with someone you love is.

4) Missing someone who left leaves a blank space for you to fill


Recommendation? Watch this film. It is deceptively simple, but the emotion it evokes run deep.

Andanita Escape

I have avidly scoured blogs for a cozy place to stay in Tagaytay. I have been gambling on blog reviews lately. Sometimes trying out blog-recommended places turn disappointing, but sometimes I strike the goldmine.

Several blogs point out to a small yet scenic place called Andanita Lakeview Hotel. It’s an Indian-Mediterranean “bed and breakfast” type with six themed rooms ranging from Spanish to Morrocan. The priciest room is the Maharashtra presidential suite at Php 10,000net, the most affordable is Glorious Athena at Php 3,630net. Room rates include massage for two (either foot or back) and breakfast. You need to add Php 500 to upgrade to a full body massage.

Room with Hieroglyphs

I chose a mid-range room called “Cairo’s Kingdom.” From the website photos I thought the walls painted with hieroglyphs and Egyptian characters looked cheesy and pretentious. But in reality, the wall was not so disturbing. The 22sqm room was small, with the queen-sized bed occupying most of the room. The mattress was feather soft and covered with a thick comforter. The small window offered us a view of sparse pine trees and drifting clouds – you’d have to pay an arm and a leg to get the Taal lake into your window, so being in a mid range room we get a mid range view. But if you want a spectacular view, better step out of the room and go to the restaurant or the viewing deck where you can stare at the taal lake horizon all you want.


Steaming from the Ears

The restaurant is above the rooms. Lots of stuffed and squat couches, circular sofas strewn with throw pillows, low wooden tables, fuchsia and orange linens hanging from ceiling to floor – the whole places tells you to sit and laze about. But the unobstructed view of the drifting clouds and the Taal horizon is what makes dining at Andanita a great experience.

My instant favorite is the Roti Channai.. a circular pita-like bread that is served freshly baked and wrapped in cloth. We chose a spicy curry dip that contrasted well with the subtly sweet roti.

The extra long grained rice is called Biryani and we paired it with Rogan Josh – lamb stewed in a creamy and spicy sauce. It was okay, not sublime as some reviews said, but it was definitely something new and minty spicy. The zing of the spice feels cooler on the tongue because it seems to come from small ground herbs mixed in the sauce of Rogan Josh.

The drinks we had: lemon grass and mango shake was too sweet for our taste.

Breakfast
I love the Indian Chai Tea.. I can see the sprinkles of cinnamon on top, but the mildly herbal and milky taste is what I love. The French toast was not my best order, but the Longanisa Meal was more satisfying.

Tiny Fingers

I upgraded our free back massage to a full body Pilipino Hilot, and I must say it was worth it. Their real specialty is the feet massage. I know fingers were used for kneading, but it felt as if tips of several chopsticks were pressing against the littlest muscles in the sides of my heel and the balls of my feet. It was amaaaaazing how the masseuse sought out my little sore muscles and hit them right on with firm pressure but quick strokes so as not to make me cry. They applied the same technique with the rest of my body. I was just taken aback to the detail and time they spent on the feet.

I got the information on their facilities and booking here.

Overexposure to Pure Awesomeness

Kung Fu Panda Movie Review


"He was so deadly that his enemies would go blind from overexposure to PURE AWESOMENESS.
There is no charge for awesomeness. Or attractiveness.
It mattered not how many foes he faced; they were no match for his bodacity."
From Kung Fu Panda



Only a few animated movies could make me watch twice. Kung Fu Panda gets in my list and shoves away Shrek.

Plus Points:

• Stunning background visuals that range from watercolor strokes to capture ancient china and crimson paint and wood with cut outs for the dream sequence.
• Zen realizations (what is the secret ingredient)
• Well delivered punch and lines
  

I was laughing so hard I felt tears in my eyes. It was also great that the movie crowd was laughing at the same time.. a good sign that my sense of humor isn't out of whack after all..

I will definitely buy a DVD of this. I am surprised that there are some unsatisfied reviews of the film. And unsurprisingly, a lot of very satisfied reviews as well .

David Cook Wins

Sometimes it is a choice between doing what you like, and doing what you think people will like.

I have never posted about American Idol in my whole bloggin history, cuz I didn't care much for it. But after watching filipina Ramiele Malubay getting in, i found my self watching almost the whole of season 7, right until it was a battle between David Archuleta and David Cook.

Archuleta is candy sweet and brimming with positive messages. His vocals are velvet. It also helped that he looked like someone Menudo would've recruited back then, side by side with Ricky Martin shaking their bon bons.

So, back to Cook. I am glad he won. He wasn't the obvious choice as painted by the judges during the showdown. Cook's voice was gruff deep and he had a penchant of doing obscure covers of mainstream songs. Which, I think, was a risk. Since almost always listeners are more critical if the cover version veered away too much from the original.

Cook became the exception, especially when he veered away from Mariah's style (thank God) when he did "Always be My Baby" and made it into mellow rock. It suited him just fine, cuz he's not Mariah. He's David Cook.

As I slide back into my corporate humdrum work mode, I am reminded again if I still have originality, and if it really matters to me now.

I'm sure when I get home, I'll be trying out the chords David Cook struck, and see what I can do with "Always be My Baby."


Want more? see this

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