Awesome Philippine Skies

Wherever you are in the world, God's canvas is simply awesome.

A couple of days ago, our Philippine skies spread a textured carpet of clouds that gloriously highlighted the beautiful sunset. If only I had a better camera.

I could almost hear a host of angels singing, heralding the birth of the Messiah. Driving home as the sun dipped deeper into the far horizon, flecks of fuschia glistened westward, but it happened so fast the pink clouds turned a hazy purple as I finally found the perfect parking space.

The night before that, this same blanket of shredded clouds shrouded around a shy moon, which at one time was framed with soft edges that looked like a watchful eye. To me, it seemed like a reptilian eye because of the scaly effect of the softly-lit layered clouds. To my daughter, it was like the Eye of God.

Awesome. Truly awesome Philippine skies.

Philippine Driving Techiques by Evil Women Drivers

Philippine driving takes another dimension if you are a woman driver. While making a stupid driving mistake, you can always hear the other driver mouth the words, "Ah, kay babaye!" ("Oh, it's a woman!") rather condescendingly. When situations like this arise, take it to your advantage, as well as with other evil-woman-driver techniques:

Philippine Driving Technique No. 1 - Look innocent. There's no forgivable sight in Philippine highways as a woman driver. Even if you know you can drive better than a man, you can still pull through a driving mistake by pulling over an angelic look. A smile can go a long, long mile.

Philippine Driving Technique No. 2 - Go around the red light. You can do this when trapped in an intersection with a vacant lot or a gasoline station around the corner. As soon as the red light is on, make a right if the corner gasoline station is to your right, drive past it, and go back to the main thoroughfare. Do the same to a left corner gasoline station.

Philippine Driving Technique No. 3 - Drive through the long queue. If it's especially long and torturous on your side of the lane and it's so free as a bowling alley on the opposite lane.

Philippine Driving Technique No. 4 - Never follow a jeepney. It's notorious stops at every corner and shoulder where a passenger alights or awaits at their own bidding can make you crazy stopping at every five meters or so as well.

Philippine Driving Technique No. 5 - Never give way. Stick your nose as close to the next car or else you'll get cut for a long, long queue of cars. In these streets, there are no gentlemen nor ladies.

Well, for evil women drivers only. But sometimes, when driving in the Philippines, with all the pandemonium going around on its streets, these driving techniques may, although not safe, may come in handy.

Ice Skating in a Parallel World

Ice skating! The last time I did it was when I was single and shameless -- ice skating wearing the thinnest (at least long sleeved blouse) and slacks and the burning desire to ice skate no matter what. That was at SM Megamall in the early 90's.



This year, I went ice skating again, rather by force, by my daughter who wanted to do it with me, on her Day Two of ice skating. At least this time, a friend (Ruel A.) has forewarned, thus forearmed us, about what to wear when ice skating -- including our very own socks.



It was at the Mall of Asia when Bea had her first taste of ice skating. I had to decline and let her go ice skating with Ruel and his daughter Yuki while I go somewhere else.



Of course I lingered for a while, watching Bea's first few steps on the ice. From my view several meters away, a sudden rush of flashback overwhelmed me as I saw my daughter fumbling and tumbling in her ice skates, like a baby taking her first steps. Unmindful of the other ice skating figures from the neophytes to the pros, Bea struggled with her very best as she tried to pull herself up along the metal bars on the rink side. She stumbled, she fell. My heart rushed out to her, but I couldn't help her, and she must stand up on her own.



Suddenly, I saw the whole skating rink as a microcosm of the world populated by ice skaters from all walks of life. And there, of all the people ice skating about, is the one person I love, the one person I will always have in mind. She has a story to tell that nobody else would really care about. And each one of them have their own life stories nobody else would really care about. Except for the one who parents for them. For the one who loves each and every one of them.

I cried insanely by myself as I pondered upon this thought among a crowd of watchers -- parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters. I wondered how God must be looking at each one of us. Only He knows each of our individual stories as we go about ice skating through life. Only He cares for each and everyone of us. Because He made us. We are His.

And there we go about, ice skating in this icy cold world, minding our own businesses, sometimes forgetting that He allows us to fall so that we can stand up on our own, stronger this time, to face the world with more confidence in Him as we go on, ice skating.

What to do When Eating Out Turo-Turo Style

You might want to try eating out turo-turo style at a local carinderia or diner.

For those who are not familiar with it, here are some of the tacit rules on what to do when you're eating out turo-turo style.



Turo-turo Style Eating Tip No. 1. As nobody greets you at the door, you just walk straight up to the counter where the specialty of the day is written on a big menu overhead. Make you order at the friendly lady manning the counter by reciting the desired dishes or simply point want you want from the array of ready-cooked dish or dishes. That's the essence of a turo-turo (literally, point-pont) diner.



Turo-turo Style Eating Tip No. 2. If the carinderia is especially crowded but you still would want to eat there anyway, have a companion reserve a table by occupying the next empty one. If all tables happen to be full, follow the share-a-table-win-a-friend rule. Ask the occupants of a table with vacant seats if you (and your companion if any) can join in, and if the seats are not taken, they will customarily acquiesce. If there are no vacant seats but there is a batch that are almost done eating, it is perfectly okay if you stand behind their chairs and obviously wait for them to scram. If your table is secured, go back to No. 1.



Turo-turo Style Eating Tip No. 3. Follow the signs posted conspicuously at the counter.

• "Pay as You Order" means you pay for your order at the counter before you cart away your food tray (sometimes there is no tray). Still tradition has inculcated in the Filipino mentality to "Eat Now Pay Later", so depending on your choice of carinderia it's also okay to not pay for your meal until you are down to the last morsel. The counter lady's memories are sharp enough to note which table you are and won't take her eyes off you until you've paid up.

• "Self Service" means there are no waiters to serve your food, just bus boys. You get your own eating utensils, ask for tissue paper, and get straw for your drink.
  

• "Share a Table, Win a Friend" applies to a scenario described in No. 2.

Turo-turo Style Eating Tip No. 4. Because of the situation described in No. 2, consume your meal fast enough in order to give way for the next customer/s. If the other tables are clear, you are no longer obliged to leave and can while away your time for as long as you like. You can watch an entire show on their cable TV or even ask that the channel be changed to your favorite program.

Turo-turo Style Eating Tip No. 5. Because of the self-service rule, you are not expected to give a tip. However, there are some carinderia where you are once in a while besieged by beggars. It is not advisable to give them money or even your left over food, because once you've given one, two or more beggars will show up at your table with equally practiced hungry looks, ready to claw everything off your hands.

Eating out turo-turo style can be fun and exciting, never mind the occasional annoyances that give a new dimension to the experience. For as low as PhP50.00, you can already have a satisfying meal.



Now you know now what to do when eating out turo-turo style.

New Moon in the Forks of the Philippines

New Moon and Twilight fans: there's a place in the Philippines that closely resemble Forks!

It's a small secluded mountainous area almost constantly under a cool blanket of fog and rain, dotted with pine trees and shrouded with mystery.

Sounds like vampire haven!

You can almost imagine Edward Cullen emerging from among the caucasian denizens or visitors that pilgrimage to this mountain hideaway. Or Jacob Black showing up from among the culturally rich native inhabitants of this scenic spot. Incidentally, it is famous for its amazingly preserved coffins ceremoniously niched in the sacred chambers of its limestone cave walls.

Where else but in Sagada, Mountain Province, Philippines. While there are no vampire/werewolf stories that abound here, there's a lot to discover in this hard-to-reach place that's truly worth the bumpy six-hour bus ride from Baguio City (not yet counting the other six-hour bus ride from Manila to Baguio).

Follow my blog by clicking here for a closer look at this truly stupendous spot where you can almost feel like New Moon in the Forks of the Philippines. http://joandarling.wordpress.com/2009/05/01/sacadas-in-sagada-2009/

Autopilot

Autopilot, that's me sometimes, lately, most of the time, my mind preoccupied about a lot of things.

Adam Sandler's movie Click comes to mind whenever I'm in this autopilot thing.

Not only while driving but in doing my usual routine, my mind drifts off elsewhere while I mechanically go about, unknown to other people around me, in autopilot fashion.

I remember Lea Salonga admitting that even on stage as Kim in Miss Saigon, she sometimes unconsiously switches on to autopilot mode. While singing and emoting, her mind would drift off to her grocery list and other stuff.

And I suppose it's not only me or Lea or Adam, but all the other people must have had, at some point, experienced switching on autopilot.

Peace!

Peace to all! No offense meant here but it seems that this is the only crucifix sculpture in the whole wide world where the image of the crucified "King of the Jews" is depicted as making the peace sign.

In the Bible, Jesus was crucified, was challenged to step down from the cross but did not because He had to do what He had to do -- to die. There is nothing in the Scriptures describing the crucified Christ miraculously unnailing one of His hands and making the peace sign which is a more familiar image in other artworks but not on the crucifixion.

Furthermore, another "miracle" in this sculpture was never described in the Bible: that the Man who walked on water did not miraculously stick His back to the cross while one hand was freely hanging.

Just an observation. And I say again, peace!