My Sun Shines Back

Yep, for those who have been reading my blog for the past 3 years (?) I’ve been doing this,

The subject pretty says much everything...

After a year of temporary estrangement,
A year of attempts at platonic love,
A year of ‘just friends but with benefits’,
A year of trading hints at a possible reconciliation...

I’ve come to the conclusion
that my life is not as bright,
without my Sunshine...

So, a few weeks before my homecoming...
After Sunshine took the step in popping the elephant-in-our-room question...
I made the decision, without much hesitation...
To go back on that Sunshiny road once again...

And for once, I took to heart and actually lived up to my blog’s byline...

No Explanations, No Apologies, No Regret!

The Return of the Material Comeback

It goes without writing, I have been lazy on my blogging...

Funny that just when I seem to have so much more to say, so much more stories to tell and so much more to recount, I have suddenly become mute...

It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words & that’s pretty much what I have posted to try & make up for my only 3 blog entries in one whole year! I have managed to pick what I think are the best pictures that have been taken of me in all the places I’ve been in the past the past 11 months.

But I realize that that’s not enough...

In this day & age, a picture is only worth a thousand words, when there’s at least a caption that come with it... ;-)

So slowly, I’ll update my photos...

So soon, I’ll start blogging again...

Thanks largely in part to my much-awaited, long-saved-up-for, ‘Katas ng Dagat’ notebook... (I also have my own camera now! No more free-loading cam-whoring!), I can hope now to be more active again in my once-active bloggery.

Now, if only I can finally figure out where the best, easiest & free-est wi-fi place is, then I’m set!

Yup, no paid long-term internet account for me, my dear...

After all is said & done, on some levels, one way or another, in some matters, in this Material World...

I’m still your typical, practical & mostly uncompromising cheapo!

Material Boy or not...

And that my friend, is something I’m not entirely ashamed of... ;-)

9 Down, 3 Going...

Time goes by so slowly for those who wait…

I have been sailing for the past 9 months and it’s been a quite some time that I realized the paradox of the whole experience. I’ve been out to the world, and yet I’ve been so much out of touch from it that I no longer know what’s happening out there. For God's sake, I don't even know what's happening to Her MADGEsty!!!

By the time I get back home, which I am earnestly hoping to be sometime September, I have a lot to catch up on. Who’s new, who’s hot, who’s not, who’s just arrived, who’s gone, who’s with whom, whose without…? Lots to tawk over cowfee, ha!

Anywho, for those at the very least interested, I’m doing fine. I’m doing great. I’m doing fab, actually! As of last count, I’ve had the chance to set foot on 20 different countries and have seen and experienced things most people won’t get to see in a lifetime.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not bragging. That’s not my thing (my friends’ eyebrows are raised at this point!). I just find it so amazing that a year ago, the only places my tired old feet have wandered in are the streets and sands of my beloved country. It’s a lovely place, mind you. But now I am aware that there’s so much more out there.

Movie scenes, book pages and magazine editorials don’t do enough justice to the beauty of the different countries I’ve been fortunate to be in and I doubt that the pictures we managed to take will convey the experience my newfound friends and I were blessed to have.

Yet it’s not without much sacrifice. I wrote ‘I have been sailing…’ as if we’re having a leisurely vacation but the truth is, life as a seafarer are much harder that anyone could possibly imagine. Long work hours, difficult guests, challenging situations and the occasional bouts with nausea when the seas are rough… I could go on and on. Most may think (I did) that money grow on trees when you work in a cruise liner. But nothing could be farther from the truth. We earn good, alright. But marine life is no joke.

Before I start sounding like I’m complaining (I’m not!), let me post some of the pics I have of myself and my friends in our continuous adventure aboard (and off) our now-beloved ms Rotterdam…

Please click here for my Pics from Multiply

So, all things considered, I’m having a lovely time with so many lovely people in many different lovely places.

No time left to whine… ;-)

OLDer... COLDer...

It´s been months since I last took the time to write an entry here... and what a few months I have had!!!

Since my last blog post, I have been to places I never dreamt of being in, seen things I only saw in movies and in my dreams.

Now they´re just a part of my daily grind.

A welcome distraction to my new life as a seafaring workslave...

It´s such an exciting time, yet bittersweet at times...

Spent the holidays away from my friends and family for the first time...

Spent my birthday with relative strangers (though they´re becoming good friends now)...

Funny that I only had the audacity to admit my weakness and cry, when the season was supposed to be merry and happy...

Well, I chose to be here and I have no regrets...

The benefits far outweigh the drama...

I hear more hoorahs than huhu´s...

I feel more chaching than tsk-tsk...



Anywho...



You might wanna check out my pics of my recent travels... here they are...



CHECK OUT MY CRUISE PICS!



Enjoy!

I'm an Oh.Friggin'.W.

Filed under Self Travel Work


The DIVA has left the building...

I have waited for this for almost a year, and I have very much anticipated the time when I can finally write about it and now the chance has arrived...

I am finally leaving to pursue a new career as a seafarer. Like what I wrote about in previous entries , I have applied for a Front Desk position in a luxury liner and now, I will actually do it.

In the months that I waited and waited, I had drafted many blog posts in my head imagining how I'll summarize my arduous application process and express the excitement and anxieties I feel once I am definite to fly off to see the world.

Yet now, all those drafts seem futile. No words can explain my current state of mind and I dare try no longer.

So, I will just state the fact that I am now officially an OFW as I am finally leaving this Sunday to Turkey (via Amsterdam) where I'll board the passenger ship which will take me to a 10-month cruise to Europe, the Mediterranean and South America.

My new work may prevent me from accessing the internet for some time and I won't be able to update this blog...

But I'm sure once I do get back on the keyboard, I'll have more to talk about and show more photos of my adventure...

Until then, wish me luck and bid me adieu...


My ship has sailed!

A Message From The Past?

Filed under Self Life



the measure of true love

is not when it's lost

it's how it lives in your heart

that it may come and go

yet it will remain embedded in your soul

all forgiving

all encompassing

all consuming

that to lose doesn't mean

losing a part of you

rather, to lose means that there's a part of you

that is set free

and letting go of that

wandering soul

that used to be a twin of your very own

to roam

and finally find its own place in the sun

is what makes you the better person you could be

maybe loss is the only way

to bring you somewhere

you are really meant to be

bringing you to

the one

you are truly

meant to be with



I have recently given up my apartment to go back and stay with my family in Imus. I was rummaging through some old stuff stored in my room trying to figure out how to clean up some mess I have collected through the years and make my old room habitable again.

I chanced upon an old organizer I had since college and found a small paper with a typewritten poem on it. The same poem as above.

Like a scene plucked from a J.K. Rowling book, I felt an odd feeling while reading the poem trying to remember where I got the note, who gave it to me and when I got it. Hard as I try to pick on my middle-aged brain, my memory just failed me.

Then suddenly, I had this funny feeling that I could have been the one who wrote it.

Through the years, I have had momentary phases of inspiration when I would just write poetry at random. But I never got the habit of collecting and keeping them for posterity. And most of these poems, I can no longer remember.

In any case, I just thought of sharing this poem in the hope that someone out there would also find inspiration from it.

With all modesty, I can safely say that I have definitely come a long way since that time when I most likely needed to hear the message of this poem. Suffice it to say, I have learned to live by it... without me consciously realizing it!

Hell, maybe I DID write it!?!? ;-)

'Earth' Gone Madge

Filed under MADONNA


Almost one whole year since her last live performance onstage, MADONNA has once again become the major highlight of a global event, this time for the worlwide series of concerts that is Live Earth, and gave a spectacular performance.



Hey You


Ray of Light


La Isla Bonita / Hung Up


Sure, her performances (except for Hey You which she debuted in Live Earth) were just re-hashes of her Confessions Tour numbers, but it's always great to see Madonna at events like this.

Back Without A Gall!

Filed under Self Health Friends


It's good to be back!

After almost a week in the hospital and about three weeks of quasi-house arrest for my recovery, it's good to finally be out with my friends again and be back at work (the latter's the one downside of my 'liberation').

Like what I mentioned in an earlier post, I had to go under the knife for the second time and this time it's for an Open Cholecystectomy (Gall Bladder removal). The whole experience was just like a replay of my first surgery 3 years ago and it went without a hitch. Thanks to my ever-reliable and ever-so-charming Dr. Padlan.

Much thanks also to my ex-Sunshine for being the one who stayed with me during my entire stay at the hospital. This post-relationship friendship we chose to have has never been better!

I also am glad to have friends who took time to visit me (or simply texted) while I was in Makati Med for making it a little more worthwhile (admittedly, I enjoyed my hospital stay!).

My recovery was a bit of a challenge though. I already expected the difficulty in doing some of most basic things like walking or moving around (hell, laughing was really a pain for a few days and sneezing was like a punishment!) but I really struggled with the diet I was forced to be in. For a certified carnivore and grease-lover like myself, it was difficult to ignore my food cravings and just settle with fruits and some bread (I still can't take eating vegetables just yet).

But gladly I am doing much better now and just a few days before my return to work, I already was able to go the White Party in Malate last Saturday. Though the party was a big letdown, being in the company of my friends after my hiatus was a nice way for a 'comeback'.

A few days into my 'officecoming', I had the chance to meet a new friend from SanFo (hello Yves, thanks for a lovely time!) and I also got to see my first movie in a long time ("Transformers" was a blast!).


So overall, it was a nice month of surgery, recovery & a comeback!