How else will I call it but that?

My attempt to build up a house of my own I had aptly labelled Dream 2015. It happened as dreamed.

It took me five months waiting and toiling for its realization. It was doubly taxing than anticipated. The cost increased, at least twice, from the original we had set. I had to spend extra too completing the project beyond the structural cost. Additional works included landscaping and customizing design and fabrication of furniture, from dining set to the small sofa and bed. Everything was worth it: from the comfort room’s accessories to pin lights and high-ceiling chandelier and nice, color-coordinated Roman blinds.

I chose minimalist house decors. The paintings are both abstract-geometric and autumn-colors inspired. I have small plants displayed along the cute corners of my kitchen window. I have neutral-colored masks as displays in my attic room. The porch has an accidental accent in the form of an old poso or deep well. Also, I love the lanai seen through wide sliding glass doors and adorned by bamboo poles used as wall accents.

We had a simple housewarming and family gathering to celebrate the birth of this new home a few days before Christmas. I invited our parish priest to bless it with prayers, focusing on a small altar where a cute image of an angel acts like a guard on the way up via the 16-step wooden stairs. This home is now a testimony of hard work I had given to bring this dream into reality. It is small, but it has everything I truly want for a house: a small library at the living area; a reading nook at the second floor attic; a study desk in my room; and a cool balcony where I can see my siblings’ houses from a vantage point and feel fresh air when I need to unwind. The house has wide windows, one of which overlooking the kitchen from the attic. It has all that I adore in a house: wood, bricks, some stone works, lamp posts as exterior accents, a reading corner with a direct overlooking view of the kitchen area.

I love this Dream 2015! A great gift from Him. A blessing I never knew I am deserving of getting. Thanks a lot, Dear God, from the bottom of this well-rubbed heart. May You continue to bless this home with all the reasons for us to be happy, peaceful, and healthy!

So dream on I will. I know this is only the beginning of greater dreams I must nurture and believe in. With God’s help, I will be able to realize them one after the other.

(NOTE: Complete photos of this home are uploaded as series of albums in my FB account.)

The excitement does not simply die down. Like teenage love. Maybe like an adult obsession, too. I am talking about or referring to a personal project I took the risk of embarking on almost two months ago. The original plan was to have a simple place where I could stay when I get too tired of work and I intend to go back to our real home. But the plan got revised and then revised more.

Its story. I am fortunate to have an architect, who is not stranger to us, who responded to my request for a condo-type design on a tight budget. The original cost, following the design, had to be adjusted too, twice. For someone like me who had no prior experience on projects such as this one, and not much resources except for some limited savings, the project came as a surprise or shock. But I had to take the much needed risk, lest I would shelve the plan.

I thought it was the right time. Maybe God would not let me pursue it, if it was not. The planning process was rigorous. I started sending out design inspirations to the architect, which he translated into 3D executions, because I would not be able to understand these if they would come in technical perspectives. I said I wanted small spaces for a kitchen, living area, and attic for a room where I could house an increasing number of my books and other favorite belongings. I also wanted these, I said, to be accented by wood and a few bricks. It turned out he added more, including a small balcony, porch, and a considerable space for lanai and laundry area. Every space is maximized.

Documentation junkie. As such, I even bought a house planner where to draw my initial concepts and document the process. A serious qualitative researcher, I took on the opportunity to draw up a timeline and list down the milestones of the construction process. The other plans I would mark on the planner too, like additional items to be bought, which would also eat up my resources, such as a shower encloser and chandelier to serve as accent from the high ceiling of the attic, which are not originally part of the initial costing. It is a combination of excitement and worry that things will not always be enough. But as suggested by friends, I can always design the project in an installment or staggered fashion. Maybe things will look brighter this Christmas, when generous resources would pour in on time for the season of happiness and prosperity. I want to imagine the landscaping project I will share with my youngest sis whose house faces, quite intentionally, mine, because, we, too, are the best of friends, sharing a lot of common interests.

Dream 2015. I could not wait to write about the finished project next time, matched with actual photos of how this turned out. I know that would be so soon.

June started quite abruptly, like May had still some unfinished business. I did not feel its coming, or, I have not seen it coming. Maybe because I was too preoccupied by things that the previous month had carried over to my work list. There was no transition. There is not much difference between the two months, anyway.

We were at Letran Manila last June 1 to attend a cluster meeting. Then June 2 was spent facilitating a local training. June 3, I had to endure long hours sitting as a panelist for a research colloquium in a nearby institution, where I was invited for the third time now. That was when, or at least immediately after that, I bogged down. I went home feverish: literally sick and tired.

I spent the next four days at home, resting and taking photos of things I can easily upload. That was the only way I can communicate with the outside world. I also read a lot, because I had to do things not related to real deadlines and timeline. I finished Haruki Murakami’s latest. Then, continued reading his memoir, which was like put under the category “in progress” in my list of to-read books. I also went back to Martha Stewart and her “Living the Good Long Life” text.

A Fresh Start. I am ready to go back to work, again, tomorrow, after Mommy’s weekly medical checkup in the morning. I know I missed a lot. There are more to do, I already expect, crying out loud from my desk. Backlogs! Soon, the new academic year opens up and my teaching job begins anew, when I am not even done with my previous graduate school commitments. I hope before that happens, I can be somewhere, yes, someplace where the heat and pangs of summer do not exist.

That should be the coolest nook, where I can read without pressure, sleep without restraint, and rest without feeling guilty or afraid of the things off to come. I still think about Baguio, when the afternoons are too hot and long, there is no choice but to keep myself inside the room, consuming much of the costly electric power, something we dread to see every billing time. I still remember the coolest countries where we can be: South Korea, Japan, China, or HK after the Christmas season.

I hope to find that nook or refuge or home, soon. That is labelled now in my Notes as Dream 2015. Or the Future 2020. They sound like the Asean integration, here and now. Only, it is me who defines its urgency and plans for its realization. And it is the entire universe, God and all His forces, who could fast track the process. They are now written in the stars.

Puerto Princesa was at its usual self when we came. Always ready to welcome visitors. It was a humid afternoon but the warmth of its people was enough to make the feeling extra different. This was our second time here. From the airport, we were fetched by the designated service of Hotel Centro. Little did we know that the organizer of the research event we were about to attend was there, along with one of the foreign keynote speakers, who, we learned later, was also with us in the same PAL flight from Manila. So we were welcomed for the World Research Festival (WRF) 2015 quite early.

Hotel Centro is one of the top-ranking hotels in Puerto Princesa, we were told. It has enough space for select type of amenities, which both international and local tourists can enjoy. That time we were there, the hotel was home for members of the US military taking part in Balikatan exercises, giving us an impression that Hotel Centro is a preferred accommodation among foreign tourists. For a few bucks, dinner could be enjoyed with free videoke around the swimming pool area. Mayana Spa, located within the hotel, offers Pinoy-inspired massage, which I had the chance to try during our second night.

We were there for WRF 2015. The event took place for two days, May 1 and 2. Colleagues presented papers, while I was tasked to deliver a message in behalf of the Colegio, which was a co-host for this IAMURE-sponsored event. The research festival was multi-disciplinary, so it was indeed a fiesta! A research extravaganza. Presenters talked about problems within the clout of their disciplines. Our own presenters dwelled on K to 12, quality management, and sense-making of students’ grades. We were able to sit, too, in sessions that touched on entrepreneurship and outcomes-based education. Plenary speakers were impressive as well as they discussed ecological sustainability, which was the theme of the 4th WRF.

Awards were given in the end. One of our colleagues, Dr. Zandra N. Maningas, brought home three of them in recognition of her quality presentation. If getting to know other researchers around the country and around the globe could be an intangible award, then I could say that would be more lasting than other recognitions we could possibly get. The event was also an opportunity for us to network with other research institutions or to expand our reach as researchers.

We never had the chance to roam around Puerto Princesa because we were rushing up to go home. Just dropped by nearby pasalubong center and ate dinner at the nearest Robinsons mall. Tried riding in their novel tricycles. Brought home the usual ref magnets and a newer discovery, cashew butter. These were enough. Palawan will always be remembered.

The morning sun stares me straight in the eye. The heat is painful. It wakes me up, telling me “it’s time to move on and spend at least 30 minutes of my wake-up time jumping, forcing the body and the limbs to express the lives that they own.”

Summer makes me realize I’ve been spending a lot of time sitting down writing and editing, I have forgotten my body needs exercise that would enable it to use its energy reserves. At my age, I really need exercise. My work keeps me glued on my desk, from late morning to early evening. I am not teaching this Summer, save for the graduate classes I handle every Saturday. You know teaching makes me more mobile; office work makes me a slave of my table and pile of papers I  must review, sign, or decide upon.

I will keep on exercising  physically as long I need it, beyond this Summer season. I must be healthy and remain strong; these paper works must not prevent me from being alive and young (at least the feeling of it!). I must enjoy Summer like when I was not buried in work–free, exciting, seemingly endless.

Staying healthy.  To a certain extent, that would mean eating healthy foods. One Thursday, which we called Freedom Day–literally from everything and everyone–we prepared Greek salad with strawberry-flavored vinaigrette. It was something we saw from a food magazine simply called EATS. We got inspired, we mimicked every veggie it must have and ate it along Revilla staples, such as turon, pancit palabok, and pancit bihon and pork sisig. These were washed down by our special melon drinks.

One thing about Summer, it is a season of foods, better yet of healthy foods because fruits and veggies are at the height of their seasons, too. It is one of the best seasons in the country, minus the agonizingly hot days and the dust and dirt of busy streets. We have yet to go to beaches or resorts, but almost every week, the time is spent preparing foods and eating with the family, made more fun by the bahay kubo specially made for Summer and the videoke thing that we now own!

Before it rains. We must enjoy everything. Soon it will be Fiesta and that means more foods and bonding moments. Of course, I will give more attention to healthy foods–fruits and veggies!–because I want to stay healthy and live long. Before the rain comes, I must write more and weave words to keep me inspired and stay who I really am. To write for myself!

That way, I will enjoy Summer more and more.

While at the barbershop this afternoon to have my twice-a-month hair care, I was so at peace, I had taken a nap longer than I had expected. Maybe the process was so long, it lulled me much to sleep. Today, as a holiday, afforded  me a little leisure time. I woke up this morning so late, it had regained all the strength I had lost because of everyday stress. At least for today, I could take things lightly, but not long, because tomorrow the grinding and roaring of the machine resumes, and that means office work and academic concerns. Reason why I found the time to write now. Writing is like a gauge of how busy I am. But sometimes it is writing that deviates my attention so I could relax and go back to focus later.

March. Soon, it would be March and that is my birthday month. Actually, the birthday month of many of us in the family. So March brings a different kind of excitement that gains a different meaning this year because my sis Che and her family will be going back home after a few months of stay at Australia. They will be spending the Holy Week here and that means a lot of bonding time. Recently, we had a family reunion because our balikbayan  family members Tiyo Wanteng and Tiya Mercy are here for a month-long vacation. They are US-based ever since we could remember, so being here and having fun with us is a very rare occasion, that naturally called for a family reunion. And one thing that binds us together is staple food, passed onto us by generations of food lovers and cooks. Add to it the love for music, loud fun, and never-ending storytelling.

Summer. Meantime, while waiting for less busy days, hopefully this summer, I would just remember those times spent lightly and leisurely with loved ones. Because soon it would be March, then summer, when the days are hot and brooding but fun and interesting, making us remember more and more the vacation months of our childhood, when life was too simple and we had all the time to play and be carefree. Hope we can go somewhere. I love Ilocos trip this time. That would complete summer for me this year. Time would bring us there.

Lately, I take a special interest watching this TLC feature called “Eskimos in San Diego.” You can imagine what this TV program is all about: a reality show narrating the fun and adventure and difficulties of a small group of Eskimos from Alaska who came to San Diego (with the unfamiliar sun and beach site at that!), all in the name of adapting to change and later on adopting the new culture and environs. I love the documentation process — from the food they eat, the change in get-up, to their sudden transformation as city dwellers, a far cry from their igloo and hunting realities back home.

That reminds me how as travelers we also bring in the host place our usual ways of doing things, like eating and food preparation. In other words, our own food preferences. But this is a different story: Just very recently, we discovered at Pagsanjan, Laguna a local resto that specializes in Ilocos foods. The place is called Balai Ilocos. The name is a give away. Here they bring in the host town the foods travelers usually partake in a culturally rich area such as Ilocos!

We are told the place is being rented from an old clan in the town — The Llamas. The house is old, and the way we often call houses of this type: ancestral. With little renovations, the house is able to retain its old, traditional, bahay na bato ambiance. The foods are a great mimic of Ilocano foods too: igado, bagnet, papaitan, Vigan longanisa etc.

We’ve been here twice. Once as a family; then second time with graduate school friends. Short of saying, I recommend this place to food lovers who adore native cuisine, who have special taste for the Ilocano concoctions. The resto structure is a photo op site too! There is also a cafeteria down the old house, for tired travelers who crave for coffee or fresh pastries.

The place accommodates events. I love celebrating my birthday here! I am marketing this resto free of charge. I hope they’ll be able to read this and give me discounts the next time I visit there. LOLz!!! Seriously, this place is worth a visit.

(NOTE: There is a photo album I created at FB detailing the place. It is labelled “Road Trip.”)

They are just the same. Both beautiful. Awesome!

These could describe the sunsets I had seen separately at Beijing, China and Cebu City the last two weeks of this month. Beautiful sunsets then are universal, whether you are in the coolest part of the world or in its hottest. Maybe sunsets are a great equalizer. They remain beautiful and awe-inspiring when the day begins to die and light turns into darkness, wherever we may be.

At the Forbidden City at Beijing, China, I had accidentally clicked my iPhone camera and had this captured and immortalized: one of the most beautiful sunsets I have so far seen. The sun setting at this one historical site of the world, where once emperors ruled and lived as if they were heaven-sent gods.

Then recently at Cebu City, there I saw this beautiful sun setting as backdrop for the massive and modernist structure of the San Pedro Calungsod Shrine. Equally awesome and serene! Our country has its share of beautiful sunsets, too, and it looks different at home, where it feels more reachable and familiar and  clear.

And we’ll forever love these sunsets and get inspired by them, more so when we have almost forgotten that they are just there.

20 September 2014. After the three-hour research writeshop, which I facilitated for teachers held at Ateneo de Manila University, we met Ciel and Owie, two of my Manila-based pamangkins, at UP Diliman campus. The intention was to make a random visit of the Diliman Republic and nearby Teachers’ Village, where hole-in-the-wall eateries may be found.

Bookayukay. Before eating and discovering the foods Maginhawa St. at UP Village offers, we dropped by Bookayukay, a book-sale shop, which, despite its small space, is frequented by students and book enthusiasts alike. When we were there, there were like eight persons, trying to fit in themselves in the limited space there was. But that was the joy of locating books amid the heaps, when bodies almost hit one another, all in the name of finding that one golden treasure, reminiscent of Coelho’s “The Alchemist” (maybe it was just there).

Mine was found  through Ciel: Paulo Coelho’s “Authorized Biography.” Two types were available–the real price and that one discounted, half the price. Of course, I went for the discounted, obviously. That was the only treasure I got because we were really hungry, we crossed the street and found Crazy Katsu.

Crazy Katsu. The place, true to its being a hole-in-the-wall, is small. Its specialty is that of katsu (literally means “shout” in Japanese) cuisine, marked by shredded cabbage and carrots with special soy-sauce condiment and fresh chili bits. Crazy Katsu has variations of this cuisine: with chicken and the other as salad. We ordered both, with individual orders of rice as partner. We enjoyed the servings washed down by lemon drinks. At affordable prices, you can have an oriental meal, a little hot or with a certain amount of kick to make you lose or shed off that stress of a busy week.

The Sweet Spot. In search of some desserts, we found The Sweet Spot, also along Maginhawa St. The place was filled with students and some families wrapping up the day, having some sips of coffee or conservative slice of sweets or pasta servings. Most were just there to enjoy a cool nook and wi-fi perks. We ordered three servings of their special cakes: ube cheesecake, strawberry cheese cake, and chocolate cheesecake, just to do away with that chili taste of the katsu cuisine we just had. We enjoyed the quick Internet connect that enabled us to communicate with Aussie-based Che. Overall, the experience was indeed sweet; we could go back here again.

More. There are many more we could have visited, like the Burger Project, which could be our next in the list. Maginhawa St. is a haven for budget-conscious eaters, but who are in search of foods and pastries that leave much memories, enough to create stories and fill in a blog space like this.

Like Dr. Jack Sheppard of the famous mystery TV series, Lost, we will certainly go back.

We must go back.

When we do, we will eat more and explore more and spend time more knowing the place well.

I haven’t written anything for the last two months here! That’s unusual for moi who would usually spend the weekend reading and blogging and writing much (any given writing project occupies my weekend, at the very least).

Where have all the words gone??? Or, where did my muse hibernate?!

Checking Papers. I am almost teaching full time this semester/tri-mester. I was originally given 9 units of undergrad courses, but an exigency assignment, that eventually stays with me, was added to me at the start of the semester. Plus, I have 6 units of graduate classes. So the weekend is usually spent reading and rating and recording papers. That virtually eats up most of my time, with back aching and head almost bursting as after effects.

Sending off Che and Kids. August, the whole of it, was spent preparing for Che and kids’ trip to Aussie, where they would hopefully be staying for good with Chito. Preparing meant accompanying them to malls and other places such as Tagaytay and Alabang and Cabuyao to do important businesses. Visiting the Pink Sisters and Padre Pio again and saying goodbye to her in-laws. Then we had a series of despedida for them that culminated in our senti send-off at Terminal 2 of NAIA. We hope to visit them there soon!

Sometimes, Reading. Like today when I spent practically the whole day reading Paulo Coelho’s latest. Finished it almost in one sitting. I love this novel: breezy, easy read. This is the first time I have read Coelho with a uni-linear plot or a readable, easy- to-follow story line. Of course I am referring to “Adultery.” Now talk of the town. Its mature, adult theme reinvents Coelho, who would usually talk about esoteric, abstract concerns in his philosophical-cerebral-nebular novels. Here his characters are, quite unusual in his style, named. It pursued a timeless concern: happiness — among characters who are depressed, stressed, alone, lonely, and sad (Linda and Jacob). I wouldn’t dwell on the details. But one thing is certain: this is one of Coelho’s best!

On the side, I am also reading Haruki Murakami’s “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage.”  A beautiful novel about finding the self lost among the others. There are sub-themes too of depression, death, and making oneself acceptable for others, at least to their very limited and conventional standards. Murakami is a personal favorite since I have read his dream-like, Kafka-like, magical realist short stories (a particular favorite is “Sleep”). More on him and his latest novel in a future blog entry.

Meantime …

Let me go back to work and with fingers crossed, I hope I’ll be able to write more often here. Maybe on a weekly basis. I will force myself to write. For words to crop up and surface and be triggered when the time gets tough checking papers or preparing things that matter so I could live and travel and be human. Carpe diem!!!