Sunday, February 26, 2012

Just Sharing

Consider these thoughts:


21 Suggestions for Success by H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Excerpts from Oh, The Places You Will Go by Dr. Seuss


"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself inany direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know.And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go." - Dr. Seuss



I
am so "self-help-y", I know. Haha! But I am so in love with words I can't help but share them!!

The Reader

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul! 
-Emily Dickinson 

When I visit malls, I have a very short and simple list of agenda:
1) Pay Bills
2) Withdraw/Deposit from/to my savings account
3) Visit a Bookstore (National Bookstore, Powerbooks, Fully Booked, Best Seller) and actually purchase a book

Agenda number 3 is the only agenda I get to do frequently. And as a twin endeavor to my Project 12 Stories, I am also into the project of reading at least one book a month. Again take note of the qualifier: AT LEAST.

Last December, I made non-stop visits to the Christmas Bazaar in UP where several stalls sold second-hand books still in mint condition. Some of the titles I bought are: Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, About a Boy by Nick Hornby, Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert and Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. What topped my 2011 Christmas wishlist is a book on Children's lit, Eloise: The Ultimate Edition by Kay Thomson. I have yet to read all of them but just the thought of having these books on deck, ready to make me close-to-Einstein-and-Plato smart make me feel...smart, already smart even without going through their pages just yet.

Current Reads!!!

In January, because it is the month of resolutions, I read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. In February, because it is the month of love, I read The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, thinking it is a light read on love but instead I got treated with history, philosophy, life and love. Currently, I am reading When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. I am thinking of reading more of his books. 

No, I won't be doing book reviews because I do not know how to and I simply do not want to. I keep a list of books that I read so I'll know which ones/type really capture my interest. 

Next in my reading list are the following:

1) Oh, The Places You will go by Dr. Seuss
2) The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner
3) Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
4) The Lady and The monk by Pico Iyer
5) A Year in Tibet by Sun Shuyun
6) How to be Good by Nick Hornby

And the list will get longer.
When I get to build my own house, I hope to have a library and inspired by Fully Booked flooring which tiles are designed with excerpts from Machiavelli's The Prince (so cool di ba?), I will design mine with that one book which moved me. I have yet to find it but for now Eat, Pray, Love still tops my list.

So Far, So Good

I'd like to think of myself as extremely popular and many are dying to know what I have been up to. So to my gazillion followers and die-hard fans, here's what I have been up to: nothing much. Haha!


Today is a lazy Sunday and the first time this year, that I have downloaded pictures to a borrowed laptop from my brother, actually opened Microsoft word application and started typing my heart away. I miss the feeling of wanting to do something so bad - good things that I want to do so bad - write, blog, look at and appreciate pictures, take photos, indulge in tambay time in a coffee shop (Chatime tea house actually as my beloved Coffee Bean in Eton is full of lazy lover of Sundays - like me!).



When 2012 started, I was up to the challenge of coming up with 365 beautiful stories of life, my attempt to making each day count and meaningful. But I am shamefully lazy and I have a routine. A ritual of waking up at 6:30 in the morning everyday-bath-hurried breakfast-hurried brushing of teeth-MRT-office-lunch-office-apartment told 365 times does not really make for an interesting plot. So I downgraded the feat a bit to 12 stories - a wonderful story experienced and shared each month. Also, my economics degree impressed upon me that "scarcity" creates "novelty", the lesser the supply, the higher the price. Play hard to get and master the art of pakipot moves: the less of you, the more mystery - the more mystery, the more you are wanted. So 12 instead of 365 - the sole legit excuse to blog laziness. (Definition of "Tina-tamad":noun, a believer of quality over quantity or in other words di naman nagkakalayo ang 12 at 365, puwede na yun!). Seriously now, I think everyone owes himself this: at least 12 stories for himself to share, at least 12 breaks from his routine, at least 12 things to look forward to, at least 12 reasons to love life, at least 12 excuses to summon a dying blog to life. Take note of the qualifier: AT LEAST


JANUARY 

The Manila Ocean Park:  Photos by Alan David

My neck hurt with the extreme stress of not having done something
non-routinary. The month will come to a close and yet I have not gone out of town, have not enrolled in a new class, have not met somebody new. Conceding that I will be stuck in the city, I decided to show the city some love and visited one of its non-mall attractions (I hate going to the mall!!): The Manila Ocean Park. The park has beefed up its offerings to the public and so much has changed since my sister celebrated her 18th birthday there. Isabel is by the way 20 years old now so it has been 2 years since my last visit. I particularly enjoyed the Musical Fountain Show. It brought out the kid in me ooohhing and aaaahhing to Nemo being projected on H20 Hotel and colorful dancing fountains reaching out to high heavens. I am so inspired to be on the lookout for other city attractions and Manila extravaganzas! A re-do of the Binondo food trip, a re-visit to Intramuros, PBA games, museums, art galleries, fairs, concerts and many more activities not done in malls!

FEBRUARY

Beautiful Baler. I took these photos!! My camera still works!!

Sometime in September 2010, I went for a solo trip in Baler. I could not stand quarter life drama that time that I needed to step out, to be somewhere not familiar and to have some quiet and slow time to think about the things I want to do next. It is refreshing and bordering spiritual to travel solo. I am thinking of doing it again this year. Then in 2011, my quiet and slow time in Baler was replaced with a dancing-in-the-rain and heart-thumping-concert experience through the Surf and Music Festival. In February 2012 this year, one of the most important people in my life decided to celebrate his birthday in Baler and I chose to  celebrate it with him. My third visit in Baler is the first time I went out of the Sabang Beach and actually visited other Baler attractions: the something-hundred year old Balete tree, the Baler Museum (my second time) and President Quezon's mansion. This won't be my last visit as I hope to hone my surfing skills and work on my surfer abs!

Photos by Malaya De Mesa

Aside from being the month of love and birthdays, February is also UP Fair month and I allowed Malaya to bully me to watch this year's HIMIG-sikan. Up Dharma Down, Parokya ni Edgar and Urbandub never fail the crowd year after year. But the highlight of my UP Fair night was not really the concert or the UP Food (think isaw, barbeque, sweet corn or shawarma!!) but believe it or not, it's the long ticket line and getting crushed and squeezed with eager kids while listening to a UP student-concert organizer marshalling the crowd, an arm raised high up in the air with an arnis stick, shout: "Ito ang lehitimong pila! Ito ang lehitimong pila!". The beauty of Tagalog words uttered with conviction. He could have done well with "Dito po ang tamang pila", but being a UP student that he is, smart, thouroughbred and subversive, an ordinary "Dito ang tamang pila" will simply not suffice. The university has its standards - I miss college life! 

2 out of 12 promised stories.
I owe you 10 more.

Happy Sunday!=)

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Tibet Dreams

Images from Google

It just hit me. I want to go to Tibet. Or maybe after reading a feature on Georgina Wilson and how she has gone to the country of my dreams -  that rekindled my feelings on Tibet being the country of my dreams.

Dreams.

I am solely responsible in fulfilling my own dreams.
Some will inspire me to achieve them.
Others will encourage.
A number will provide me the opportunities.
There will be roadblocks – many of them.
But at the end, I call the shots to what I allow to happen in my life.

I am responsible for my own dreams.
And it is my duty to fulfill them.

I started the year slumped with work, haunted by responsibilities and loaded with frustrations over a long list of unfulfilled personal to do’s and checklists. 90% of my time is spent on work and while I am ever grateful for the endless learning opportunities my work is providing me, it has robbed me of… me. I found myself settling and waking up every morning with the sole agenda of working. And there’s nothing beautiful with it. There’s family. Friends. Loved ones. Loved One. Books. The Ocean. The mountains. Friday nights spent drinking. Saturday movie dates. Sunday me-time on a coffee shop reading beautifully written Sunday features. Vacation leaves spent in an unfamiliar territory or somewhere wonderfully familiar. Life is beautiful. Life is short.

Two things nudged me into checking my life’s balance:

a) The ugliness of my passport picture – God, the hairline! God, the eye bags! God, the pimple-ridden skin! That Tuesday afternoon when I applied for my passport renewal debunks the biblical claim that mankind is made in God’s own image and likeness. There’s nothing godly with a stress-looking corporate poser and God (again!), I used to be hot, this is unacceptable. Something needs to be done. Fast. Now.

b) Tibet. I do not know anything about Tibet, not a bit about its history, nothing about its current affairs and georaphy. Give me a map of the world and I cannot even pin point where the country is. I’m completely Tibet-illiterate. What I know only is that I want to go there and that is enough for me.

I close my eyes and think of Tibet.
I see yellow. Sunlight Yellow. Monk-robe yellow.
I see mountains and houses made of rustic stones.
I see color. Radiant colors on an old lady’s garments. Handcrafted head dresses.
I see children. Smiling children with silky black straight “Dora” hair sitting on the front porch.
I see culture. People Dancing. Food. Animals carrying baskets. 

I do not know anything about Tibet but I zeroed in on the place because I just know that it is beautiful and one of the reasons why I was born is to see and experience the place. Tina’s Tibet Tales. Tina and Tibet. Traveling Tina in Tibet. Tina’s Tibet Tambay Stories. Tibet loves Tina.  Tina loves Tibet. Tina’s Terrific Tibet Thoughts Today!!!  

I think I will even change my name from Tina Bacud to Tina Tibet-cud (wahaha!! Walang basagan ng trip!)

Oh Tibet, Ikaw na!

I dream of Tibet.
And it is my sole responsibility to make that dream happen.

So help me God.