Thursday, March 24, 2011

Hibernate

Hanep


Pikon na pikon na ako ..


Nagugutom pa. 5 minutes more, and I'm off.


Ayoko maghintay ng ganito katagal dito sa UE.

Damn. Hindi ko maintindihan 'ung kailangan niya gawin kasi 'pag kasama niya ung lecheng grupo niyang 'yon e nakakalimutan niya ako.


What else is new?

Uwing uwi na ako. Damn this day, so much. Damn you Calvin because I loved you this much. At nagpapakatanga ako kahit hindi dapat, bumaba ako sa standards ko dahil sa iyo.


I hate you for making me feel like this. It's remorse.


Gusto kong umiyak. Umiyak ng umiyak. I think I need a fucking space for all of this.

Kung pwede lang na hindi muna kita makita .. Gagawin ko.


Gusto ko muna tiisin na hindi ka makita.


Hibernate muna ako.

Selfless Love

Love is a feeling. It’s not a thing that you can buy elsewhere. It’s like a sprout that can grow from the bottom of your heart. Love can do magic to people. It can tame the ruthless spirits, give hope to the penniless people, and provide strength to those who lack of vigor. But love isn’t present anymore in our hearts; we just see love as the cause of the spark between two people. We see love only inside on the circle of our own families. And mostly, we just see love when we see things that may bring happiness to our own selves. Love, in short, should be selfless. But seeing the current condition of ourselves and of our country, love is indeed selfish now.

Bombings everywhere, gunshot killings, robberies, and inhumane activities; they are all born out of love. They are just a piece of the whole discouraging deeds of the people who seem to forgot that life is the most precious thing that God has given us. It’s like that those people who can do such evil things were not aware about the feeling, about the feeling of love. If they just know what the real meaning of love is, to say that the real meaning of it is to dedicate one’s self not just for another person but also to everybody, then at least they would be hesitant to do such horrible things, right?

But as we see, they all happened. And they will continue to happen anytime and anywhere. We are not safe alone with the word love. We cannot be save even thought we value the lives of everyone that we might encounter on our daily life. Some of us may show a pitch of our selfless love to others, but those others may not be so generous to do the same. There are a lot of things that may hinder anybody from being selfless, but there are also a lot of reasons that may push everybody to cultivate real love on each other’s hearts. So everyone spread the word. The real sword and shield against evil is love. May this wonderful occasion enlighten your hearts! Happy Valentine’s Day!


(This is my Editor's note on our magazine issue for Valentines Day)

Multi - Medication for Hypertension

One medicine is not enough to cure a fatal illness, but two or more may do.
Hypertension is one of the major causes of casualties in the Philippines, and according to the data collected by the Philippine Society for Hypertension, 8.6 million Filipinos are hypertensive. And among this great percentage of hypertensive people, some are also suffering from kidney implications, diabetes, and heart ailment. An enough insight to call for further studies and more enhance medications to reduce the risk of this night creeper from causing greater damage to patients.
In response with this calling, the International Verapamil SR/ Trandolapril Study or also known as INVEST, a group that initiates studies among hypertensive people, surfaced out the result of their studies. INVEST’s goal is to find out the impact of using different medications at once in achieving the target blood pressure level, plus lessening the percentage of the effect from some implicating diseases. The result, according to Dr. Rainer Kolloch, a professor of Medicine at the Gilead Medical Center, University of Münster in Germany who held his lecture at the Garden Ballroom of the Edsa Shangri –La Manila recently, only 15 % of their patients who used only one kind of medicine were to achieve blood pressure goal. The remaining 85% of their patients used two or more drugs in achieving their blood pressure goal.
This only shows that many people believe that single medication isn’t enough for them in securing their health. Still,even though experts advise people to depend on multi –medication, hypertensive people should also seek doctor’s advices because hypertension can have different implications depending to the patient’s real condition.

UE held NSTP’s Sixth Convocation

About six hundred University of the East’s students marched off their way to the UE Theatre as they attended the sixth convocation in compliance for completing the program of the UE National Service Training Program (NSTP) last March 19, 2011.
With the theme “New Power, New Responsibility, Same Spirit of Service”, the program was graced with the presence of College of Arts and Sciences –Manila (CAS –Manila) Associate Dean Rene S. Salvania who also served as the guest speaker for that event. He encouraged the NSTP graduates to take on the responsibilities of being the initiators for change in order to build a strong and orderly community.
Among the activities that the NSTP established this year are the college –based outreach programs in different communities, livelihood programs, dental missions, poverty alleviation campaign, and leadership training program for both faculty members and some selected NSTP graduating students.
Everything was made possible through the efforts of Office of Extension and Community Outreach (OECO) staff and its director Rogelio Espiritu. (Kneesaa Iahtara T. Tan)

Preparations Matters Most

Japan is one of the most powerful and industrialized country not just in Asia but also around the world. But recently, they have lost thousands of lives from the raging claws of disastrous earthquakes, tsunami, and now the radiation scare brought by the explosion of Fukushima nuclear power plant. Japan had suffered enough from all of these dismal catastrophes. And now, our beloved country’s already preparing for the possibility that one day, we might land on the same fate experienced by Japan. The question is, if that would happen to us, will the preparation of our country for the likes will suffice our hope to survive?
The preparations of our country in line with this kind of disasters are just few to mention. We may have some of the high technology equipments (courtesy of donations of bigger countries) that would help us rescue lives in times of unprecedented disasters, or we may have offices that would cater on giving relief goods and rescue operations in times of need but those were not sufficient. The Filipino people were not prepared to different kinds of disasters that may embrace our country one day. They do not know what exactly they need to do when desperate times calls on them. We lack for disaster management trainings that are badly needed to be taught to our fellow countrymen. Only in schools and workplaces those training and drill were held, the common people were not yet privileged to undergo such. With these facts, we will not be able to survive if the Japan tragedy happened to us right as of this moment.
What we need now is an enough preparation against the havoc that natural disasters may bring to our country. Natural disasters are inevitable, and can bring down everyone to their knees. We may not be able to predict to how many from us we’ll be able to survive physically and financially after bowing down to the wrath of Mother Earth, or we may not be able to say if our enough preparations can be a good shield against it, but one thing is sure. Remember the saying, ‘if you fail to plan, you plan to fail’? That applies to our current condition, if we fail to prepare, then we prepare to fail. Regrets are always on the last part of every scenario in life, so if we don’t want to regret, we may at least do our best in strengthening our hopes to survive the likes.

Preparations Matters Most

Japan is one of the most powerful and industrialized country not just in Asia but also around the world. But recently, they have lost thousands of lives from the raging claws of disastrous earthquakes, tsunami, and now the radiation scare brought by the explosion of Fukushima nuclear power plant. Japan had suffered enough from all of these dismal catastrophes. And now, our beloved country’s already preparing for the possibility that one day, we might land on the same fate experienced by Japan. The question is, if that would happen to us, will the preparation of our country for the likes will suffice our hope to survive?
The preparations of our country in line with this kind of disasters are just few to mention. We may have some of the high technology equipments (courtesy of donations of bigger countries) that would help us rescue lives in times of unprecedented disasters, or we may have offices that would cater on giving relief goods and rescue operations in times of need but those were not sufficient. The Filipino people were not prepared to different kinds of disasters that may embrace our country one day. They do not know what exactly they need to do when desperate times calls on them. We lack for disaster management trainings that are badly needed to be taught to our fellow countrymen. Only in schools and workplaces those training and drill were held, the common people were not yet privileged to undergo such. With these facts, we will not be able to survive if the Japan tragedy happened to us right as of this moment.
What we need now is an enough preparation against the havoc that natural disasters may bring to our country. Natural disasters are inevitable, and can bring down everyone to their knees. We may not be able to predict to how many from us we’ll be able to survive physically and financially after bowing down to the wrath of Mother Earth, or we may not be able to say if our enough preparations can be a good shield against it, but one thing is sure. Remember the saying, ‘if you fail to plan, you plan to fail’? That applies to our current condition, if we fail to prepare, then we prepare to fail. Regrets are always on the last part of every scenario in life, so if we don’t want to regret, we may at least do our best in strengthening our hopes to survive the likes.

Women on RH Bill

            Every month of March, the whole world celebrates the International Women’s Month. Women are always given this recognition because of their importance in our society. We all know the sensitivity of the role they portray, and that is serving as the carriers of the next generation. Without women, there will be no off springs; there will be no future doctors, nurses, educators, writers, leaders, etc. In short, there will be no person to occupy our country in the future. There will be shortage of human if there are no women in our society.

            That’s why women should be given enough considerations in our country. Their rights must be given to them in full amount. Here in our country, do we have laws that would protect the rights of the women? Yes and no. Yes because we have the Magna Carta of Women or simply known as R.A. 9170 which aims to eliminate discrimination against women by recognizing, protecting, fulfilling, and promoting the rights of Filipino women. No because we still don’t have a reproductive health bill that would mostly guarantee the Filipinos especially the Pinays in full access to methods and information on birth control and maternal care.

           Why is it that so? Many are against with the approval of the RH bill and one of them is the Catholic Church. It has been proven in ages that the Church is against the utilization of contraceptive pills and condoms in compliance with family planning. They still want to pursue the use of natural planning and calendar method among the Filipino. They have their biblical reasons to why they don’t want to consider the use of artificial family planning. According to them, the use of condoms, IUD’s and contraceptive pills mean abortion, and abortion is against the word of God.

           But what about the health of the women, this is one of the goals of RH bill; to protect women from unwanted pregnancy, sexually –transmitted diseases (STD) and those that may bring hazard to women during pregnancy plus the fact that RH bill also aims for population control. In our country, there are many people especially women who are hiding in the dark because of STD. We cannot deny it, but their number is getting bigger each day, and the reason for this is the unprotected sex, which we all know, is being promulgated by the Church in the mind of many Filipinos.

           We are not saying that the Church is teaching us the wrong way of growing our country. But look at the current situation of the Philippines; we are over populated, and poverty –stricken. Our resources are already limited to a few being. It would not suffice anymore the demands of every Filipino here in our country. With this fact, Filipinos are forced to work abroad in order to get hold of greener pasture. But it seems the greener pasture is already being swept away by both natural and ‘man –made’ disasters, just look at what happened to Japan, Chile, China, and New Zealand. Middle East countries are already in the boiling point for war against the prolonged supremacy of their own leaders. Then, we also have the United Kingdom and the United States of America who will initiate a war against Libya. The greener pasture is already fading out its colour.

           If the controversial reproductive health bill will be implemented, then there will be a greater possibility for our country to rise from its toes with heads held up high. With the controlled number of population, there will be also enough spaces for the next generation. Out –of –school youths might lessen in the future, and also, crime rates, because poverty will be concluded to minimize if there will be population control. In additional, our society will be protected against the invasion of the killer HIV, AIDS, and other kinds of STD. With this, we can grow our beloved Philippines the way we wanted to.

          RH bill is not just about women, actually. It’s about the concern of the whole country. But like Mother Earth which needs enough caring so it can continue to nurture its own inhabitants, the women of our society needs proper caring too. Women are part of the components that comprise our country. So if we are really concern with our future, the law makers should begin implementing the reproductive health bill. What our country needs is a concrete idea of survival in everyday demands of life, not the abstract ones that our Church is trying to take care of. Happy Women’s Month to all women out there!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Mga bagay na nakapagsaya sa akin (at patuloy na nagpapasaya sa akin)

Halos labingwalong taon na rin akong naninirahan sa mundong ito. Sa loob ng panahong ito, nagawa ko nang makisalamuha sa iba’t –ibang uri ng tao mayroon sa aking paligid. Nagawa ko na ring mamasyal sa iba’t –ibang lugar dito sa Metro Manila at sa ilang karatig –probinsya. Bukod dito, nagkaroon na rin ako ng mga bagay na animo’y kabute na bigla na lamang susulpot mula sa kawalan at gagawa ng pangalan sa ating bagong henerasyon. Sa tantiya ko, maaari ko nang ipagmalaki sa iba na ang eksistensya ko dito sa mundong ibabaw ay naging makabuluhan na dahil na rin sa mga materyal na paraan na nakapaghatid naman sa akin ng imateryal na karanasan.
Pero hindi ako materyalistik na tao, ‘ika nga ng mga taong lubos na nakakakilala sa akin, mababaw raw ang aking kaligayahan. Masaya na ako sa mga simpleng kabutihan na nagawa sa akin ng ibang tao, pero lalong mas masaya ako kung ako naman ang nakagawa ng kabutihan sa iba. Kung mayroon man akong pinapahalagahan na mga bagay, karamihan sa mga ito’y nagdulot sa akin ng saya at mga karanasan na hindi ko makakalimutan.
1. Ang aking higaan – Sa araw –araw na ginawa ng Poong Maykapal, palagi na lamang akong nakakaranas ng kapagalan. Palagi na lamang tambak ang aking mga gawain sa paaralan. Pero nauunawaan ko naman kung bakit ganoon na lamang kung bigyan kami ng mga pagsasanay, at iyon ay para lalo pa naming mapaghusayan ang aming napiling propesyon, ang pagsusulat. At sa bawat pagtatapos ng isang araw ng mga gawain, nariyan palagi ang aking higaan para saluhin ang aking katawan at para na rin mabigyan ko ang aking sarili ng matiwasay na oras para makapagpahinga. Kapag ako’y nakapagpapahinga sa aking higaan, ako’y lubusang nasisiyahan.
2. Netbook –Trendy ka kapag mayroon kang netbook, pero hindi ito ang aking dahilan kung bakit nasabi ko na ito’y isa sa mga bagay na nakapagpasaya sa akin. Ang pagkakaroon ko nito ang nagbigay daan sa aking mga ideyang nakaimbak sa aking isipan upang mabasa ng lahat, at kung maaari, ay kapulutan din ng aral ng iba. Sa pamamagitan din nito, nailalabas ko ang aking mga saloobin na hindi kayang imutawi ng aking bibig.
3. Sapatos –Maski anong klase ng sapatos ang mayroon ako, masaya na ako. Hindi ako mahilig tumingin sa brand name sapagkat ang mahalaga para sa akin ay masapinan ang aking mga paa na kaagapay ko para makarating ako sa iba’t –ibang lugar.
4. Bag –Ayoko sa lahat ay kung pumapasok ako sa aming paaralan na kulang –kulang ang aking kagamitan. Kalimita’y hindi nabubuo o hindi nagiging maayos ang aking araw kung saka –sakali man na may maiwan akong kagamitan. Dahil dito, talagang mahalaga sa akin ang aking bag, at kapag dala –dala ko palagi, alam ko sa sarili ko na wala akong nakalimutan, at dahil doon, masasabi kong masaya na ako.
5. Cellphone –Para sa akin, mahirap mabuhay sa loob ng isang araw kung walang cellphone. Isa itong kagamitan na itinuturing ko rin na karugtong ng aking buhay. Medyo abala kasi akong tao, at kapag wala nito, pakiramdam ko’y pilay ako. Bukod doon, ang cellphone ay isang midyum para sa akin upang maidugtong ko ang aking sarili sa mga taong mahahalaga sa akin, mapasaaan man sila naroroon.
6. I.D. –Nagtataka ang karamihan sa aking mga kamag –aral kapag madalas kong suot ang aking school I.D., sa kolehiyo kasi, parang naging ‘trend’ na ang hindi pagsusuot nito, dahil ayon sa kanila, tanging mga nasa elementarya at hayskul lamang uso iyon. Pero ako, mas gusto ko suot –suot ko ang aking school I.D. sapagkat ito lamang ang nagpapatunay na isa akong estudyante na hindi kailanman nagbago ang pananaw ukol sa pag –aaral magmula nang ako’y unang mag –aral. Ito rin ang nagpapaalala sa akin na minsan ko nang nalagpasan ang mga hamon noon sa aking buhay.
7. Pahayagan¬ –Ang pahayagan ang naging isa sa mga kaagapay ko para makasunod sa kung ano ang ‘uso’ o napapanahon sa kasalukuyan. Sa aking napiling propesyon, ang pagiging ‘updated’ sa mga balita sa kasalukuyan ang isa sa mga pangunahing sangkap ng aming pagtatagumpay. Kaya sa aming paaralan, naging tambayan ko na ang aming Filipiniana library dahil dito ako kadalasang nagbabasa ng iba’t –ibang pahayagan. Ang nilalaman ng isang pahayagan ay nagsisilbing nutrisyon sa aking utak na kapag nalalamnan naman ay nagdudulot sa akin ng kasiyahan.
8. Relos -“Relos sa aking kamay, lagi kong titignan, upang hindi mahuli sa pinapasukan.” Ito ang palaging nasa isipan ko magmula ng ako’y nasa mababang paaralan pa lamang, mahalaga sa akin ang relos (miski ang orasan sa dingding) sapagkat ito ang nagsasaad sa akin ng oras, at umaagapay sa akin upang magampanan ko lahat ang aking gawain sa tamang oras. Masarap kasi sa pakiramdam kapag natatapos ko sa itinakdang oras ang isang bagay na iniatas sa akin para gawin.
9. Panyo¬ –Normal naman sa isang tao lalo na sa isang babae ang pagdadala ng panyo sapagkat nangangahulugan ito ng pagiging malinis sa katawan. Ngunit sa akin, ang panyo ay isa lamang munting tela na naririyan palagi sa aking bulsa upang bigyan ako ng kapanatagan ng kalooban sa tuwing ako’y nalulungkot at nag –iisa.
10. Rosas –Sa totoo lang, isang beses pa lamang ako nakatanggap ng rosas sa tanang buhay ko, at ito’y naganap noong nakaraang pagdiriwang ng Araw ng mga Puso. Lubos akong nasorpresa ng bigyan ako ng aking minamahal ng rosas. Iyon ang kumumpleto hindi lamang sa espesyal na araw na iyon kundi pati na rin sa pagiging dalaga ko. Hanggang ngayon, nakatago pa rin ang mga talulot ng rosas ng kanyang ibinigay sa akin.
11. Graduation picture – Isa sa mga nakapagpasaya sa akin ay ang litrato ko noong ako’y magtapos sa elementarya. Sa tuwing tinitigan ko iyon, parang nais kong bumalik sa pagiging bata, pakiramdam ko kasi napakaganda ko pa at napakaamo pa ng mukha ko noon. Wala pa akong iniintindi problema noong mga panahong iyon, tanging ang nasa isip ko lamang ay mag –aral ng leksyon.
12. ALS Score Card –Hindi ko alam kung score card nga ba ang tawag doon, pero ang ALS o Alternative Learning System ay isang programa ng ating pamahalaan para sa mga lahat ng Pilipinong nais makapagtapos ng pag –aaral kahit na nalipasan na sila ng panahon. Kanina, nabanggit ko na ang college I.D. ko ang nagpapaalala sa akin na minsan ko nang nalagpasan ang mga hamon sa aking buhay. Sa totoo lang, karugtong ito doon sa sinabi kong iyon. Nakapagtapos ako ng hayskul dahil na rin sa ALS, pero hindi ako nahuli ng taon sa pag –aaral. Nagkataon lamang na nagkaroon ng problemang pinansyal ang aming pamilya ng mga oras na iyon, at napilitan akong huminto sa pag –aaral. Ngunit dahil sa matindi kong hangarin na makapagtapos sa takdang oras, sumailalim ako sa programang ito na siya ko naming napagtagumpayan.
13. Sertipiko mula sa aming leadership training –Nitong nakaraang Pebrero ay nagdaos ang aming paaralan ng isang leadership training kung saan ang mga kalahok ay mga piling mag –aaral na nasa kanilang huling semester sa NSTP (National Service Training Program) kasama na rin ang mga instructor ng NSTP sa aming paaralan. Sa tuwing tinitigan ko ang sertipikong nakuha ko mula sa paglahok dito, palagi akong napapangiti at tinatanong ang aking sarili kung paano ko nalabanan ang aking takot sa heights. Isa kasi sa mga adhikain ng aming pagsasanay na iyon ay malabanan ang takot sa pamamagitan ng mga nagsisitaasang Zipline at ‘ung tinatawag nilang Rapelling. Sa buong buhay ko, noon ko lamang naranasan ang kakaibang fulfilment ng matapos ko ang naturang mga aktibidad.
14. Handmade Bracelet (mula sa mga lumang magazine) –Minsang lumahok ang aming paaralan sa isang ‘fun run’ para sa Ilog Pasig, ito ay ‘yung noong nakaraang taon. Ang token na ibinigay para sa mga lumahok sa naturang programa ay isang handmade na bracelet na mula sa mga lumang magazine. Sa dinami –dami ng lumahok sa naturang programa, hindi lahat ay nabigyang ng naturang ‘token’ at isa ako sa mga hindi pinalad na iyon. Pero pagkatapos ng araw na iyon, ang aking malapit na kaibigan isa rin sa mga lumahok sa programang iyon ay binigyan ako ng katulad na bracelet, ibinigay niya sa akin iyon bilang tanda ng aming pagkakaibigan. Ngayon, palagi ko itong isinusuot dahil talagang nasiyahan ako ng husto noong mga panahong iyon.
15. Ang aming bahay –Sabi ng aking mga magulang, mahalaga sa isang tao ang kanyang sariling tahanan. Kaya, masasabi ko na lubhang mahalaga at talagang napapasaya ako ng aking sariling tahanan. Narito sa loob ng aming tahanan ang aking mga kalakasan gayundin ang mga pilit kong itinatagong kahinaan. Narito rin sa loob ng aming tahanan ang pangunahing nagbibigay sa akin ng lakas at lubos na kasiyahan, ang aking magulang at mga kapatid.
16. Ang aking ‘singko’ –Nakakahiya man na aminin, ngunit minsan na rin akong nagkaroon ng isang nakakahiyang marka sa transcript, ito ay ang aking ‘singko’ sa College Algebra. Nasa unang taon ako noon ng kolehiyo ng matamo ko ang naturang marka, pero sa tuwing nakikita ko ito ay labis akong nasisiyahan sapagkat kung hindi ako nagkaroon ng naturang marka, hindi siguro ako magtitiyaga na mag –aral ng mabuti. Lalo na ng mga asignatura na minsan kong inisip na wala namang halaga sa akin.
17. Ballpen at Papel –Makabago na nga ang ating henerasyon ngayon, nariyan na ang mga desktop computers at laptop, gayunpaman, hindi pa rin nawawala sa akin ang isa sa mga una kong naging kaibigan sa pagsusulat, ang aking ballpen at papel. Dati –rati, nakakailang ‘scratch’ na papel ako bago ako tuluyan makalikha ng isang komposisyon. Pero ngayon, uso na ang laptop at computer, hindi ko na kailangan pang mag –aksaya ng papel at tinta ng ballpen kapag puro ‘drafts’ lang at ‘scratch’ ang ginagawa ko.
18. Ang aking mga ‘obra’ –Sa tagal ko na rin siguro sa pagsusulat (ng kung ano –ano) ay maaaring makabuo na ako ang isang libro na kalipunan ng aking mga obra. Iyon nga lamang, halos wala na akong oras para tipunin pa sa iisang kwaderno na lamang ang lahat ng aking mga naisulat na, pero sa tuwing nakikita ko ang mga ito kapag ako’y naghahalungkat ng mga lumang gamit ay palagi akong napapangiti.
19. Medal –Hindi naman sa nagyayabang, pero noong elementarya ako, hindi nawalan ng isang taon na hindi ako nag –uwi ng medalya sa aming tahanan. Minsan nga iniisip ko parang ang galing –galing ko pala noong bata ako, sapagkat nagagawa kong mangibabaw sa maraming bagay.
20. Jacket – Damit panlamig na madalas kong dala –dala saan man ako magpunta. Mahina kasi ang aking katawan sa lamig, kaya kapag ako’y nasa aming klase, madalas akong nakasuot ng jacket. Pero mayroon akong jacket na talagang ‘memorable’ sa akin. Minsa’y nagtungo ako sa Tagaytay, ngunit wala akong dalang jacket. Unang beses ko pa lamang kasing magtungo sa lugar na iyon kaya hindi ko alam na malamig pala doon. Halos hindi ko kayanin ang lamig sa lugar na iyon, mabuti na lamang at may isa akong kaibigan na may extra jacket ng mga oras na iyon. Ipinahiram niya iyon sa akin at hindi na muling ipinasauli pa.
21. Ang aking cabinet –Sa tingin ko maaring maihalintulad sa isang ‘news morgue’ ang aking cabinet, dahil na rin sa dami ng papel, dyaryo at libro na nilalaman nito. Mahilig kasi akong magtago ng mga papel o mga ginamit ko sa paaralan kahit alam kong malabo ko na itong mapakinabangan ulit. Minsan nga’y nagagalit na ang aking ina kapag nakikita niya na palaging nagugulo ang cabinet na ito, paano’y madalas ko itong halungkatin kapag nais kong magbasa ng mga luma kong komposisyon.
22. Sing –sing –Isa sa mga bagay na nakapagpasaya sa akin noong nakaraang taon ay ang sing –sing na ibinigay sa akin ng aking minamahal. Couple’s ring ang tawag doon. Wala naman ibig sabihin ang sing –sing na ibinigay niya sa akin, ito’y isa lamang regalo mula sa kanya noong nakaraang kapaskuhan.
23. Ang una kong obra na nailathala sa pahayagang ito –Nasa unang taon ako sa hayskul noong suwertehin akong makapagpalathala ng isa sa aking mga obra dito sa pahagyang ito, sa Bagong Sibol. Sa totoo lang, hindi ko na rin matandaan kung ano ang pamagat noon sapagkat nawala lahat ng kopya ko ng mga iyon, ngunit ang natandaan ko lang ay ang dalawang pang sumunod na tula at maigsing kuwento na nailathala rin dito, ‘yung Huling Pagkakataon at Si BabaChiChi.
24. Regalo sa akin ng aking matalik na kaibigan –Isa sa mga bagay na nakapagpasaya sa akin ay ang regalo sa akin ng aking matalik na kaibigan na si Crystal. Magkaklase kami noong hayskul ngunit hindi na ngayon nasa kolehiyo na kami. Kahit na magkahiwalay na kami ng pinapasukan, nagkakaroon pa rin kami ng komunikasyon sa isa’t –isa. Noong kaarawan ko, nais niyang makipagkita sa akin upang ibigay ang kanyang regalo, ngunit hindi iyon matuloy –tuloy hanggang sa maibigay niya ito sa akin halos ngayong taon na lamang. Masaya ako sapagkat ni minsan ay hindi niya nakalimutan na batiin ako sa aking kaarawan at higit sa lahat, ipinaramdam niya sa akin na mananatili akong mayroong isang kaibigan na pupuwede kong takbuhan sa oras ng aking pangangailangan.