“The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.”


i learned why rain forests are called rain forests this afternoon.

it was after a sudden downpour of hard rain, the one that gives you a sudden chill once it's particles hit you.

immediately a sunbeam appeared and cast a bright rainbow in the horizon beside the mountain. we were forced to get out of our seats in the meeting to catch a glimpse of the magnificent sight. some of us took photos but were unable to capture it in their digital cameras.

it would have been fun if the rainbow was also seen by jeanie and the rest.

too bad...

help me make it through the night

it's really weird that i'm sitting here in the foot of a mountain enjoying the apparent comforts of wireless communication technology.

it's no secret that i'm really not as hyped to enjoying the trip nor the scenery as i should because i'm here in a state that could be best described in the line of an old ataris song called my hotel year which goes like:

"Alone, unknown... Yet fearing nothing but ourselves
Could be scarier than any crowded room.
I'm more alone with you than when I'm by myself. "

anyways it might just be an emotional outburst from my sick head that longs for the people i care for the people i love. i won't be here on my birthday, i'm almost broke and have a lot of idle time to kill...

...i'm missing jeanie. i miss my parents. i'm looking at the friendster profiles of everyone i love and have so far accomplished nothing but miss philippines all the more...

i won't be spending my birthday in manila as i have always done ever since i was born.

i can't be with my family; i've missed church; i miss my friends; my band and the pollution of the philippines, the slow moving jeepneys, the bad assed cab drivers, the noisy kids and everything in between.

it's almost midnight in manila. hopefully i'll make it through the night.

Some thoughts on the Feast of St. John the Baptist

I wonder...

Today is Manila's Foundation Day. June 24, which also happens to be (according to the Roman Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar), the Feast of Saint John the Baptist, which is celebrated in various areas in the Philippines, highlighted by the traditional practice of people going out on the streets, dousing water at unsuspecting passersby, to symbolize the act of 'baptism' by which John the son of Zecariah and Elizabeth gained the name Baptist.

Here are just some thoughts that came to my mind right after I was drenched with septic water by an over-zealous crowd on the boundary area of San Juan and Manila:

  • John's baptism was of repentance, a call to the nation of Israel to repent as the Kingdom draws near upon the arrival of Christ.
  • If that is so how could a bunch of unrepentant sinners administer such a baptism to unsuspecting people who do not want to be baptized?
  • John's baptism is of water in the Jordan River. The baptism I got was with foul water from the drainage.
  • Lastly baptism is a matter of choice, as in the case of John the choice to turn away from sin. Thus, you can't baptize anyone who doesn't want to be baptized.

It’s sad to note that tradition as an act without proper understanding is done by people for keepsake.

pondering time and soteriology...

Living in your letters...


I was rummaging through old notes that I've kept dusty in a battered Fido Dido box. I was looking for a long forgotten song that I wrote almost a decade ago.
I didn't find it there.
Instead I came across old letters, from Jeanie, my family, some friends from school and at Grace Bible Church. It's funny how a heart poured on a piece of paper could make you burst into tears...
As I am now...
It seems that letter writing is a long forgotten art that I need to re-discover...

Yoddelling at the top of Mt. Pinatubo

A few weeks ago a handful of Greenpeace volunteers and a TV crew from GMA 7 climbed the top of Mt. Pinatubo and here's their story...












Yoddelling at the top of Mt. Pinatubo






A few weeks ago a handful of Greenpeace volunteers and a TV crew from GMA 7 climbed the top of Mt. Pinatubo and here's their story...