incessant rambling

just to set the record straight, am a catholic, i do my sunday mass, completed a number of novenas, pray for my family, friends, enemies and partner every night, i ask my angel to look over me every morning, engage in healthy discourse about my faith, i believe in the One True God, my family is very religious (ask my great grandpa, he's a spanish friar), i have a number of cousins who are priests, nuns (throw in a couple of NPA rebel commanders and some PMA military officers) i don't want to be born again, i prefer to be THHHHIRTY SOMETHING am perfectly happy with being catholic though not necessarily in agreement with everything said in the lectern what i'm not is one who follows blindly like the sheep .

i was having a conversation with erich about the pope and the recent events surrounding his speech. out of the blue, erich mentioned: erichjao: i never really liked the way he looks erichjao: i've always had this name that pops up when i see his face erichjao: judas iscariot erichjao: funny but its true i thought it was just me who had this feeling about the way the pope looked. i'm the last one to judge anyone by the way they look, but there are emotions evoked that seem to come out of nowhere. then erich said... " jeez, i've always told ruby that the end of the world is at hand... oh i don't mean just around the corner but its nearer now than ever. " let's hope he is a madam auring or madam rosa protege. puro chika, walang katotohanan, walang kabuluhan dahil ang reporter ay natutulog din. add on... popped the same thought to my friend cybs, sabi nya... "Actually, rumor has it that he's the devil incarnate!" I told her.. "but you know

am treading on dangerous ground. someone once said that when having a discourse among acquaintances, avoid topics of religion and politics. there is no greater struggle waged among men and countries in the name of politics thinly veiled with religion. over the weekend, raw emotions have emerged among the muslim groups over a speech delivered by the current pontiff, pope benedict xvi, that purportedly quoted emperor manuel ii paleologos of the orthodox christian byzantine empire (the seat of what is now known as modern day turkey) saying: " Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached. " ( for those inclined, click here for a copy of the speech in pdf format, courtesy of bbc ) this is part of a discourse related to the concept of "holy war", of religion and of violence - a topic that the current pope is known to have a very strong stance. it is un

just got off from a conversation with an old friend. we used to have our sunday brunch after gym, then hit seattle's best in the mega strip for coffee and talk about life. fast forward to the present and our conversations are held between polar timezones. thank God for technology. we laugh in turn remembering the things we did as young(er) men, then getting all serious trying to assess where we are right now. at that point he was engaged to be married while i was in between relationships. he's now dating again whereas am getting settled with my partner. talk about reversal of roles. ever had a pal who shoots you down when you get too high up on your saddle? a pal who picks you up and consoles you when the echo of hitting rock bottom seem to ring between your ears? he does that for me, and he bloody knows that i'd do the same for him. despite all of our accomplishments, we are still at that point in our lives where our linear lives hit a crossroad at every turn. purely out o

an acquaintance sent me a text message: " saw you today, called to say hi but you were busy swinging from one tree to the next. " my initial reaction is to simply delete the message. but at one point one gets a bit tired of snide remarks, though sent as a joke, can be rather demeaning. specially if that someone barely counts as an acquaintance, much more, a friend. i replied.. " i heard the call, just didn't want to say hi to the fat (pause), ugly (pause), elephant. " another possible reply would be... " i didn't know elephants had thumbs and fingers! it's amazing how you can text! " he stopped texting, and am glad to be rid of another annoying asshole. ouch.

open my passport and you'd see stamps from all over asia: malaysia, thailand, singapore, vietnam, japan, hong kong, sri lanka, india and you're bound to form a false impression that i must be having a grand time on vacation. i am getting close to becoming an expert in international airport interiors, that and hotel rooms, office boardrooms and the semi-catatonic state of catching precious sleep from one meeting to another. people have the mistaken notion that travelling internationally = glamorous lifestyle. it may seem like that, but at one point you wake up in a hotel room and you can't even remember what time it is or where you are and you get the feeling that there is no place like your own bed. note: the picture above is an architectural detail of the interiors of KLIA, the one on the right side is myself on board a cx plane, unsure of where am going...

huuu.... haaaah, yeah! you can do it! harder! faster! rock that hip. wooooh! for your information, i just finished a session of step class in cebu holiday spa. i admit, that previous line reads like a blog from a pervert. if you insist on doing the comparison (i have very little resistance, and since YOU insist...), it is very much like sex. wobbly knees and sweaty body. darn. need a cigarette. in any case, i walked towards the water fountain to get some much needed h20 and one of the guys running on the treadmill like a hamster called out... "is that hard? girls like that class..." you get the drift, this fellow is insinuating that the step class is meant for girls and sissies. that and the fact that it is a no-brainer class. duh. scientifically, women have a higher tolerance for pain (that's why they are the ones who give birth, not guys. Believe me, uranus is not that big, a?%$?le, and i don't mean the planet). furthermore, the step class improves your eye and hand

The following is an excerpt from Paulo Coelho's blog Warrior of Light . "Pay attention to your allies A warrior does not associate with anyone who wishes him harm. Nor is he seen in the company of those who want to “co nsole” h im. He avoids whoever is only at his side in moments of defeat. These false friends want to prove that weakness has its rewards. They always bear bad news. They always try to destroy the warr ior’s tr ust, under the disguise of “solidari ty”. When they see him injured they break into tears, but deep in their hearts they are happy because the warrior has lost a battle. They fail to understand that this is a part of combat. A warrior’s true com panions are at his side at each and every moment, in times both difficult and easy." -------------------------------------------------- i have a story about a group of girl-friends who claim to be great friends. they do the party circuit, hang out in bars, do the usual get together lunches, host parties, date

"uy tol, anong ginawa mo last weekend?" "la masyado, had visitors come in saturday, sinundo ko sa airport tapos met up with an old old friend on vacation tsaka mga barkada nya..." "girls?" "mas marami girls sa group..." "meron ba tall, pretty and kind?" nakow po, umandar na naman ang pantasya nitong bata na to. para sa di nakaka-alam, basahin ang Elepantasya Serye entry ko.. "oo." "nakow ba't di mo naman ako tinawag?" at this point di ko alam kung anong isasagot ko, pwede ring "di namin kailangan ng mascot" o di kaya, "kaibigan ko sila, at bilang kaibigan kailangan ko proteksyunan ang kanilang kapakanan." pwede ko ring banatan ng "ba't ganun, pag kaibigan ko gusto mo makilala, pag ikaw me bisita di ko man lang nakita ang mga anino?" ngumiti na lang po ako sabay sabi... "ay nako tol, maglaro na lang tayo ng badminton." ayoko po makapagsalita ng masakit, kaya eto sinusul

once upon a time i went to manila for a short trip. it was horrible. i don't like the smoke, much less the traffic. i mean, i can actually conduct a conversation with the passengers of a car creeping along edsa from the airport to makati. the only other entertainment would be to stare at huge billboards of flash-in-the-pan actors and actresses that cater from tsinelas (slippers) to dragon katol. that or open your window and get a high from the swirling carbon dioxide that cars and busses belch like anything. side note - manny pacquaio has literally made pakyaw (hoarded) all of the endorsements. it would be interesting if he were to promote TRUST condoms. slogan... " isang round ka lang ! (one round you only! - ugh, this literal translation sounded off, waaaaay off.)" getting back to the main gist of this entry, night came upon quickly enough and vampires started to roam the streets - suckers who can easily hypnotize you with alluring eyes and drain your wallet of cash. oh

after a long flight from manila to bangkok, my first thought was to hit the inviting bed and take a couple of zzzzs when the phone rang. ho hum, the usual call from the hotel, welcoming guests... " good evening sir, would you like girls to your room? russian, chinese and thais... very young, very nice, very good! " for a moment i thought they were promoting the international cuisine in their restaurant. blame it on a tiring trip, but after a couple of seconds i realized they were offering an extra kind of room service. let's put it this way, if i wanted to eat anything raw i'd be hitting a japanese restaurant. politely, i declined the offer. the phone rang again and i was getting irritable of having to prolong the agony of burying my face in the soft pillows. " did they call you about uh... you know... uh... " my travel mate was stuttering on the other line. i guess he was a victim of the same call. " yeah.. and don't act so naive about this one, th

last night i got a text message from an old friend i recently bumped into. he asked if i can help him and his wife land a job in a call center. it should be easy for me since am into manpower sourcing. should be. but the reality is i don't want to endorse someone just on the strength of having old ties. it's my name on the line. i certainly don't want to run him through the process of doing a pre-interview to check competencies. what if, what if he doesn't make it? do i have the right to tell him that he probably won't make the cut? maybe he will, maybe he won't, but that's one thing i don't want to risk finding out. i did the best thing, told the fellow that the companies process walk-in and he can probably get his interview and assessment within the day. should be the end of the story. but like a terminal case of bad sequels, he asked if he can place my name as reference. ok... let's review the facts, haven't seen the fellow in about two decade