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Words with Friends.

The lake at the crater of Mt. Pinatubo, on a trek with friends.

This post is a toast to my good friends for almost 20 years, those whose ancestry stems from the words of Pumbaa and Timon.  I wrote this post as my childhood barkada celebrate the wedding of one us, Dette-dette, the true bohemian who once swore against the formality of marriage.  And also, I'm writing this post because it's my friend Gigi's birthday today. 

Memories are rushing in quickly and I cannot keep up as I type this with fresh lemonade at my reach in a high humidity location. Everytime I pause to drink the liquid,  a unit of memory fleets away from my mind and I could no longer claim it. It's like remembering a tune but never the song name. Painful. 

I remember my friends picking me up at my house and we would pick up our other friends living in my neighborhood,  and then we would play pranks and ring doorbells of our batchmates' houses nearby -- wala lang for the fun of it and I realize now the first common thing that binded us was our same sense of humor, and then at school, we would stalk people for no reason at all, calling out their last names and when they see us, we would whisper to each other and run away - with some streak of dementia right there, I'm surprised we were not institutionalized in our adulthood, and then I remember us discretely passing notes during class hours, notes containing profound lyrics of Bon Jovi, Tears for Fears and Claire Marlow, and our thoughts about our crushes -- yep, no texts, pure paper, oh was it so renaissance and so poetic  back then, and then we would exchange shoes among each other and we would go home with our shoes mismatched because we forget to return it back, and then we would huddle around to cover any of us whose skirt has some stains due to those womanly monthly visits and I remember my friends would ride the taxi with me going home during school hours so I could change my clothes, and then I remember how proud we were when one of us got an "x" for disciplinary behaviour, first woman in a star class to "achieve" it, and I remember how we shared the love for books and us talking about Sidney Sheldon, Mario Puzo, C.S. Lewis, and my god yes, how we cried over Danielle Steele, and then how we talked for hours on analog telephones (my friends even have 5 digit numbers back then) and I remember how we were touched so easily with each other's recollection letters.... 

Oh we do make sunggod, we fight like sisters albeit zero physical, and as we grew older, we found our own voices, carved who we are to the person we were meant to be, and all of us became stronger, more independent and our disagreements became more colorful, our physical distances much farther.  But we still look for each other - for friendship and comfort or whatever thing that binds sisterhood, as if we have no choice but to find each other.    With my friends, I found out that love, in its purest form, overcomes differences. No joke.  

As we were preparing for the wedding, it made me realize to trust more in the goodness of each other, to communicate better, to communicate often (thanks WhatsApp!) - no matter how trivial, because in the end we cannot judge what is significant.  Thanks to Fe's leadership, my god, how this woman can manage -- she coordinates with people of differing sets of opinion just to come up with one gift and one message :).  

To make up for me not much of help, here's the collated pictures of us hiking through Mt. Pinatubo crater during those days when the trail was still unmarked, when endurance was not in our vocabulary, and when we fought hard, clearing our schedules so we could  always meet (I hope we still do).  We were missing Jenjen and Gigi.  This was circa 2009.  

I chanced upon Patty Laurel's blog and what she wrote struck me, and I literally nodded my head in agreement while reading it, dumped my laptop and jumped off my couch, raised my fist in the air and shouted, hell yes, woman, I hear ya! 

 I grew up in the 80s-90s, in the era of patintero sa kalye, biking around the village, and wholesome sleepovers. We didn't have Xboxes and Ipads, we had empty streets and chalk and we played piko until sunset. We didn't have Facebook, we had slambooks and answered "What is Love?" with "God is Love." We didn't send each other one liners via text, we actually sat in the park and talked for hours. Back in the day, uso ang totoong kaibigan. And by friendship, I don't mean random people you bump into in Republiq and tag on your photo. Those aren't your friends, those are just people you happen to know by name. If you have people around you who you can share honest conversations with, people who will love you unconditionally with no judgments, people who encourage you to do better in life, who lift your spirits and make you feel safe---then invest in these FRIENDS. It's not about the number of friends you have, it's about the quality of friendships you're able to keep.

Living More With Intention.

I'm writing this in candle light.  I decided to no longer use electrical lights past midnight. Yep, no TV, no lamp, nothing within the vicinity of where I am.  It's beginning to help me write more or recall memories and my God, the ambiance!  Of course this decision is not really thought out.  This candle better not emit a lot of smoke, else I will get booted out of this dig. 

Three discoveries:

• Journalism will never go away.  The medium of journalism may change - whether that's found on paper or on the web  but we need credible source of information, verified, fact-checked, and written well.  That totally eliminates practically all bloggers. So this means I'm not yet sold on full-on citizen journalism. Watch Page One: Inside the New York Times documentary. Really good movie, it made me think. 
• Based on reading travel blogs, those people who love to travel are foodies at heart. Or is it the other way around?  I love both and while I continue to write about my travels,  I decided to share a little bit of my attention to making food.  Here's my must-dos to make for 2012:
  • Learn how to make an ice cream from scratch (from scratch my foot, I need to buy an ice cream maker, eye-ing this). 
  • Make a mean lasagna.  [Done this, just this weekend! Will post about it soon!]
  • Bake a cake I can call my specialty.  I need a mixer machine! The last time I baked muffins using a manual whipper, I could not lift my arm for days. 
  • Bake a loaf of bread from scratch.
  • Make a salad with grains on it.  I'm not particularly fond of salad but I want to make one but it has to incorporate a little bit of my rice or grain-loving self. 
  • Learn to cook brussel sprouts.  Brussel sprouts are amazing and typically it's steamed and being relegated to a side dish.  I, however believe that they deserve a spot in the main dish kingdom!
• Raw leather bracelets are awesome, especially if they come customized.

Discovery comes in many forms, be it from the world around you or from within yourself. 

Motorcycle Diaries.

You could live a life like that because people adore you. Somehow it almost became expected for big actors to have a certain arrogance.

People pay us an enormous amount of money for us to do what we do so I think we should be there on time and do our work. Sometimes the more money they get paid, the less they care about their behavior, that’s true. It is a kind of embarrassing attitude if one thinks that he is the next royal, the next prince or princess of Hollywood. But those kinds of demands are embarrassing to me.

I will forever support Ewan McGregor, because of this.  He will not take me - as a paying audience -  for granted.   Read the very short interview here. 

 

River Runs Through It: Faves in Estados Unidos - Part Three

• Swimming Holes!  I found out about this online while we were figuring out what to do on a weekend that does not involve walking and burning in the sun (all together) at the same time beat the heat that has now veered towards 100 degree F (so american! okay, that's almost 38 Celsius)! And we really do not want to swim in a pool and we are in an inland city with no beach in short-driving distance.  

Inspired by Stand by Me, we thought, hey, can we just go somewhere, find a river and jump, and find dead bodies and then be emotionally damaged forever?  I want to swim in a river with  no entrance fees, one that is super untouched, where we just go there to take a dip, soak Mother Nature in, no buildings in sight, we should  not care if there is a lifeguard, ideally there should not be a life guard, just a swimming hole out of wilderness. 

With only the latitude and longitude in hand and some description from some kind stranger who posted it on the internet,  and despite the "Off Road" signal bleeping on the GPS (could no longer detect the road we are in)  ...

 

...we found it.  It was what I have imagined - unguarded with sunlight streaming through the trees.  We found it!

 There were few adventurous locals with us, jumping on the river - gliding with tubes with the river current, some just lazing around.  some diving with their head first - (I will totally not forgive that guy if he brought in an ambulance  in that very virginal spot),  all just chilling. It was a good day.  It was a great discovery.  We were heroes!

No dead bodies though.  

Yoga! Hotta!

So I discovered Atlanta's version of Bikram yoga and it's incredible how I could have missed experiencing this before. I've never done Bikram in Manila, no matter how some of my friends have invited me to do it and it's been in my list to do ever since. What is Bikram yoga? Basically it's yoga in a heated room, designed that way to rejuvenate the body. According to the discoverer, when you exposed the body to heat, it makes it less susceptible to injury and makes your immune system better. And your heart tend to race more, so your heart pumps more blood, and I guess it's like exercise for your internal organs.  

I tried this out today at Red Hot Yoga, in the Buckhead Area in Atlanta.  I can count the few times in my life that I perspired and this experience tops it.   Just to compare, I ran an aquathlon and I did not perspire :).  And no siree, in this case, I did not perspire right after the practice, I poured sweat the whole friggin' time I was inside the studio.  We're still on breathing exercise and I was already perspiring, can you believe it, me with a body that already declared since its birth that sweating is an absurd activity, a once in a blue moon function.  

By the middle of the session,  I'm dripping of sweat, my  mat was drenched! It was glorious! I drank water after each pose, and at the beginning of each pose, my head goes something like: I'll be dead by the time I finish this pose.  And see, there was pain in those poses, you stretch your groggy muscles until it awakens, and you can feel it crying out loud.  Of course there will be pain.

Blood rushed through my head when I bent myself forward from hips down.  When I came back up, oh god, death at my door. But then again, the human capacity to stretch itself to a point of breaking without breaking - it is amazing.  It's like re-birth everytime. 

At the end, I was so thirsty, I felt like I can down the whole sewerage system  of Atlanta. But also I felt energized and weirdly flexible, like I can bend myself to kingdom come, like that spoon in The Matrix. It was kick-ass adrenalin rush.    

I'll be coming back, of course! I truly believe that deep inside of us, there is a little sadist wanting to be fed.  Namaste. 

Faves in USA - Part One.

I'll start a new list: Things I love about this country as I discover it. 

1. As part of my american culture assimilation,  I thought enjoying country music (I appreciate it but I'm not a fan) would be the hardest, but that genre is all american and I have to at least attempt to fake-enjoy it and see how it goes.  So I started the easy route and have made this affirmation, surprising even myself:   I'm beginning to  love Taylor Swift.   But here's why I like listening to her:  She sounds honest when she sings her songs.  Here's my current favorite song of hers, because it sounds perfect for spring:
   
   


2. Another great example of convenience - Online shopping reached its new heights this week.  Latest purchase below but tell me, how could anyone resist nude-colored sandals/shoes? I bought this with 50% discount at ruelala but I link you all to Amazon only because image below is hosted by them teeheehee!

   

Thoughts from my Feet.

It's Sunday and this is what I do, I want to blog but I stare at this empty text box and I'm stumped. It's been like that for months.  I researched for cure (typical, control-freak, needs to solve immediately) and websites said, all I just need to do is write. Write, write and continue to write. Do not fail, be relentless.  So here goes and if you kind of feel I'm blabbering, that is a symptom and also the cure.

Thoughts in my head right now that sooner or later I will go ballistic and retarded enough to turn this into major projects to try.  a) How to prepare for major rock climbing? (I already challenged 4  people in the office for a novice wall climbing - will tell if fit once tried)  b) How to prepare for a backpacking trip in Utah (did anyone see 127 hours? I saw the trailer and I know I will love  Utah!)?  c) How to find a good fitness regimen?

Let's talk about the last one. I know already what I cannot and do not want to do.  I cannot for the life of me, do gym. I've done it before - a decade ago, and the only habit that stuck with me was going to some regular spa/massage which is next door to the gym. The huffing and puffing does not fit my lifestyle.  So instead, years ago I found yoga and yoga is perfect for me, it's calming, does good for me both physically and spiritually and it's non-evasive. However, I could not find a good teacher here in Atlanta and I'm hoping to start on my own - on a daily basis, coming up with my own routine.  But I guess, the most major of questions  - how do I wake up in the morning with enough gusto to roll down my mat?  The answer: Rose, look down, and your belly says hi.  Your stress  says hi too. 

So that's it - I wish for myself resilience and persistence and I wish for everyone the same.

My favorite event this week: Watching Manny Pacquiao vs Shane Mosley Fight at a viewing party - Chocolate Bar. I love that experience of watching a good fight/sports with strangers, it makes people connected. I'm still not a fan of boxing though, for obvious reasons.  On a side note, 3  people in the room were rooting for Mosley while everyone's for pacquiao.  I feel like a hero, being a Pinoy, and by race associated to Manny. He does that, makes us feel like heroes and champions with his wins. 

Sorry, no decent picture, it was a bit dark.  But here's a picture of me and Luan taken by Jan - I love the fact that we ordered a coffee and they serve it french pressed.

How To Prepare for Monday.

My favorite time on weekends:  A non-bubble bath with a good book (I got my library card zipadeedodah!).  

I bought this cool japanese bath salts to detoxify my skin (burnt from the sun, from lack of sleep and as my friend Dd used to say, if something is not perfect, it looks lived).  Best time to do this: afternoon before the sun sets.  

My Sim-City.

Let me share something about my neighborhood here in Atlanta.  As I've shared, I adore my place, it's tiny but it's cozy and homey.  I started buying some decals so I could spruce it up to make it a place that reminds me of home. At the outside, part of its charm is its nearness to malls and you may think that sounds funny as I don't have any enthusiasm to go to malls for some time (years) now, I realize I like convenience when it comes to living in one place, and I am inclined to be secured knowing everything is within reach.  

There is a gallery which I have not gone to, yet.  I think I have to check out the High Museum of Art first. To be honest, I prefer contemporary art, I get lost sometimes trying to understand renaissance/medieval art, maybe I'm not the artsy that I hope to be. I have dreams of participating in this show and I plan to visit New York next year for this one.  I think I'm the 'art that moves' kind of person.  I'm literal that way, hehehe!

There is a park nearby where it sometimes holds fairs or some exhibits and because today is Easter weekend, they got something for the kids! 

Right beside it is a very convenient movie theater! I watched Eat, Pray, Love here. 

Lunching/Dining in open area, I like it. I have not eaten yet at The Grape, hmm..it's not yet in my To-Eat place here in Atlanta - it looks expensive. Old Navy is right across The Grape which is my dependable store for cheap but nice-fitting shirts.  Not in picture is Target which is a block away from Old Navy, nearer to my house. 

And finally, it has H&M, favorite clothing store right now.  The neighborhood also has The Gap, Body Shop, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, good restaurants like Tin Drum (I got a discount everytime I eat there for being a nearby resident, woohoo!), Cheesecake Bistro, coffee shops including the ubiquitous Starbucks (when Pogs was here, he stayed there for a week!),  among others. The area also houses exhibitions right now - one of which blew my mind away: Dialog in the Dark (interactive exhibit on how to live like a blind person). 

So there goes my neighborhood! I hope that effectively serves another campaign to encourage my friends to visit me here.  The place tempts me  to spend money for things I don't really need but hey, if I cannot be tempted with huge nearby malls in Manila with gazillion shops inside, I'm sure not this little square beside my house.  Hmm...okay sige, I might allow myself to shop once in a while as long as I don't exceed my budget :).

Postscript: Thanks to Yayie's suggestion, I got myself a brand new camera - a Lumix LX5.  It's powerful, and I love the pictures it makes (see above).

Crab Fire Resolutions

I got some new delivery today - a handmade jewelry! I love etsy, it's the online store that I go to , just to browse around without intention of buying.  It's a beautiful store, full of handmade, funny,  pretty objects and I always end up either tagging a favorite to buy for next time, or actually buying some thing.  

It arrived looking like this -  simple and nice and when I opened it, there is a handwritten note from the creator thanking me for my purchase.  I think it's charming that sellers take the time to leave messages, it makes it personal.  I think when you create something there is a already some form of connection with the object (doesn't it? It's a transfer of creative energy)  and I guess handwritten notes is kind of like a gentle handover of a personal work of art to someone. But of course, I always make everything melodramatic.

Here's a picture from the etsy website of my seller Addie of my crab fire agate bracelet with russian jade. Addie  said she cleansed the stones prior to sending it to me. May sound wacko, but I do believe in energy residing in natural objects. 

According to Addie:  "Like all agates, it has protection energies. It can aid memory, including recall of past lives. .... In addition it can help with manifestation of one's desires, and brings good luck. Carnelian can help ease or remove sorrows. It also helps stabilize energies in the home. It is sometimes called the "actor's stone". Carnelian is associated with the root and sacral chakras. Physically, carnelian has been used to heal open sores, rejuvenate tissues and cells, rheumatism, kidney stones and other kidney problems, gall stones, colds, pollen allergies, and neuralgia."

Maybe next time for diabetes :).  I'm wearing my new bracelet now and I don't plan taking it off. It's hemp so it's durable and besides, I want all possible support for good luck!