The Top 10 Moments of my 2011

2011, a year that surely would not be forgotten. Another year had passed, blessings that had been given, problems that had been hurdled but as this year ends another one opens. 2011 is unlike any other year for me, this year has been a test in friendship, a test in faith, and a test in life.

So without any delays and dramas I present to you the top 10 moments of my 2011!

10. COMMUNITY SERVICE

My students, I'm seen at the far left in front wearing a jacket

This happened in early 2011, Feb.3 and Feb 11 if I'm not mistaken. I was asked to teach young students from my college's adopted school. I quickly said yes to the offer because I do love teaching kids (I think it's my hidden talent) and I like the idea of educating people. At first I didn't know what to do, what to say and how to act with them but once I said my first joke and they all laughed, I knew we will be having a great time, and we did! Not only did we had fun but they learned how to operate Microsoft Word and Excel in the computers.

After the real activity I asked them to make  another activity but this time for me, I asked them to write about their dreams in life and yes, it made me teary-eyed reading their hopes and I hope that someday I could return their papers and say "Hey, you made your dream a reality".

09. On the Job Training (OJT)

Training at PhilStar.com

This experience made my confidence level either go ground zero or sometimes shot up to the sky. I learned how to be a street smart and it made my "travel arsenal" a lot better because I now knew how to talk with people in places I've never been into, how do I blend in with people and of course, how to enjoy while at work.

08. The Big Binondo Food Wok

I've always wanted to try this since 2009 and the opportunity finally came when I suggested to make a special article about this in our campus paper, I decided to feature this and to make things even better, I've got someone with me. Niki came with me in a rainy and wet edition of the Binondo Food Wok, we had fun with food and everything and the experience was nice. The tour guide even gave us their free food map of Binondo and I would Love to go back there on my own or with a group to just eat.

07. Heller Baler

Wow, I didn't even think I would be able to go to this place in my lifetime but opportunity rose and I grabbed it! To make things even better, it was a family trip so lucky me it's for free! I didn't have to drive nor buy things but I just had to look at the beauty of Baler, Aurora. I also liked how they kept its history and how nice the beach is and how cheap accommodation and surfing was.

6. Kuya Christian's Homecoming

For more than a decade, he left me and my cousins here in the Philippines when we were still young, just 8 years old and after 12 years he came back as a Navy Pilot for the US Navy. He brought his daughter Nana who speaks a little Spanish. We had fun going around Tagaytay and Subic and just enjoying our summer reunion and also the late night drinking and going to bars and just getting crazy. He says he'll come back but this time together with his family.

5. Street Art Philippines - Stop Motion video

Stop-Motion is an old trick in the media industry but what makes it fun is the process of making one. Two of my friends are Graffiti artists and I thought why not make a video out of it while they do their thing? And so one afternoon we all gathered and with my tripod and camera I just started taking photographs while they paint and some of my friends started joking around and do stuffs and experiment along the way and so when we finished, I had to combine 1,400 photos into a 4 minute song by one of my favorite bands - Coldplay.

4. Enchanted Kingdom with DOMNET

Domnet by the way means "Dominican Network" and it is a youth group for all Dominican Educational Institutions around the Philippines. I met them about 3 years ago and it is nice every once in a while to take a trip with them even if I've been into Enchanted Kingdom for at least 8 times, it's not the destination that's important but the people you are going there with.

What's more fun is that I didn't know that we were heading to Tagaytay afterwards and so that was also kinda crazy. I miss them and Domnet will always have this special spot in my heart.

3. Puerto Galera 

After 5 years I returned to Puerto Galera in Mindoro, Philippines where I almost died while hiking from our trip to the waterfalls. This post Christmas trip of 2011 is my last travel for the year and when I arrived at Puerto Galera, new memories are made and will be kept and this is just a perfect vacation getaway to fully replenish my mind from all the hassles in the metro.

I made a music video out of our trip to Puerto Galera to sum up all the fun we had.

2. The Coffee Club

The Coffee Club consists of Andro, Kookoo, Japy and Tobs - My close friends in High School who I keep in contact very often every weekend to drink coffee with and just chat about our week's activities or sometimes just sit and bum around in one house. They're like my vent, they're family to me.

1. The Return to Palawan

After 4 years! It's been 4 years since my promise to return to Coron,Palawan - The place where I my Heart is, the place I fell in Love with. I saved money for months just to get into this trip! And in my return I really enjoyed every bit of it, I saw the place in a different perspective and it looked more beautiful this time! I'd never deny a third visit to this place.

So what does 2012 have for me?

My first Stop-Motion video: Street Art Philippines

Graffiti artists are often labeled here in the Philippines as vandals. To me, having a few friends who do street art is not vandalism, well ok it is one part defacing a wall or structure but at one part it is also giving life to an old abandoned wall. It's the thin line between art and vandalism.

People will always be debating about this because we live in different times, old folks grew up in a time when walls are left as it is while us, the new generation in our 20's or younger than that, feel that walls are part of a canvass for artists to paint.

I'm a frustrated painter, it's something that I always want to do but just can't. Today I'm an amateur photographer focusing on people and travel. I also write songs that I record personally (it's where I rant out what I feel).

I have two friends who have long been into Street Art, maybe for about 3-4 years already and I wanted to capture how they would change the face of a wall into art form. Here's Kookoo and Soye doing their thing while Japy, Clari and I play around with the camera.

The Stop-Motion video I made consisted of 1,400 photos that I stitched together to create a video using a Nikon D3100. I hope you'll like it.

When Hurt: Wander and Start Over.

I've been thinking about posting my personal thoughts about what's going on around my life lately and I think it's good to vent out emotions and random thoughts. This November is something, it's different. It's Heartbreaking and an Eye-opener at the same time. What a month this has been so far, I wonder what other surprises life has to offer this month.

Everyday people get hurt, there is no one in this life that didn't experience pain in their hearts, may it be from separation, death or just pure anger from one another. What's different is how people cope up and hang on with life and continue to live on despite feeling the pain. 

I can say that my heart has been battered too much for my age, both physically (My not-so-healthy lifestyle with alcohol and liquors) and emotionally (my frustrations in life and the many many many girls who broke my heart). At the age of 21 I feel that I've accumulated the pain of a 50 year old trying to be happy and contented with life, the continuous search for meaning in life.

If you say to me that you've never been hurt then you are a liar. So friends, readers and co-bloggers and to anyone who are reading this as an accident, I present to you how I live the life of constant pain. These are steps to pick yourselves up when you feel down.

WHEN HURT - It's not just about Love that breaks my heart but also about Life. We do know that life's really unfair but have you thought that Life might be picking on you? I've been thinking about that for almost half of my life. People getting into my skin, people whose skins are those that can be bought in a supermarket.

I'm a sensitive man when it comes to other people's emotions and intentions (Yes I sense people who want to stay, people who chose to stay, passers-by and people trying to get close to get what they want from me) That's a gift from above that I possess and I thank him for giving that. I feel it when people are just trying to be plastic or if they're hiding something and I feel it when I am unwanted.

When we get hurt, the light in our life goes dim until it is out and we find ourselves crying.

It hurts to be unwanted especially if the people you Love are the same people who doesn't want to be near you. I've been in a depressing mood this November. One reason is breaking this heart of mine once again, oh how Love truly plays me and sometimes I wonder if I did anything wrong to be cursed like this in the aspect of Love life. 

Another heartbreak is that one of my High School true best friends is leaving the country to migrate in the U.S. - He's been like my "share and talk about your problem" partner ever since in High School. He was always there every time my heart breaks, always a call away and we'd have our few beers and a shot of Jack's on the rocks in our late night get away in near quiet and cozy bars where we could really talk about Love & Life altogether. 

One of our late night food trips. The last of the strip is my favorite.

I'll always remember how he would tell me things to make it alright, how much he believes that there is someone for me and all the past who broke this heart of mine were merely lessons in life so that if I finally meet this person to spend the rest of my life with, I would know how to take care of her Heart - And I believe that's true. If I could summarize our friendship, it'll be like "When one's in need, the other rushes in to keep the monsters away in our dreams." - Thanks Tobs! I know this won't be the last time I'll see you. Maybe someday call me and will be back like Wimpy Kids.

Every time I get hurt I drift away from people, I'd always like to be left alone, just me and no one else. It's like falling down to your knees and you got cut  by a sharp rock, if you get up to much you'll feel so much pain then you fall down again. - I don't want to be like that, when I fall down I just stay right where I fell and look at the scar and ask myself "why?what happened?". I mend the scars of my Heart by looking back and how did it end up like this because looking back at the moments can really clear things up and you will know the REASON why it ended like that.

STAND UP AND WANDER -  Now you know the reason why you're bleeding, you stand up! You will cry and shout and feel like you're being dumped with shit on your head BUT let me tell you this, YOU CAN"T BE THERE FOREVER! Take all the time you need to gather strength and courage, shed tears and drink all kinds of alcoholic drinks and then when you feel a little numb with your scars, stand up and I guarantee you can stand for yourself now.

I Love to Travel. Anywhere! It makes me think about things in my life.

Now the scar feels a little numb, wander around and this time I meant "wander" literally! GO around town or places you've never been before! See you things because in wandering we REALIZE, fellas when I feel lonely I go to quiet places alone, I study in the heart of Manila and oh boy the city still has its secret corners of serenity. Just like the museums around Intramuros. I frequent these places even if I've seen it more than 5 times because each time I go there, it's a new loneliness that I bring with me and each time I reflect on my problems. It's where I realize things and channel my energy to focus on new challenges that I face.

If I couldn't wander physically, I do it mentally! I write short stories, poems and songs! I vent out my emotions with a pen and paper, sometimes together with a guitar. Most of the time I listen to music that relaxes my mind such as musical scores, acoustics, jazz and more recently, I've been listening to a lot of The Beatles and John Lennon's records. No matter how you wander after standing up, what's important is to BE HAPPY during this time, accept the reality and make each day a beauty! Wander and wander and before you know it, you are ready to start over.

STARTING OVER - You are ready to start over when you wake up and feel like it's a new day, like the first day of autumn. I feel I'm ready to start over when my questions have all been answered, like epiphany. Starting over is a journey of life, "starting over" to me means a new direction because we've hit a dead end road in our lives and that's why we have to go back to the road we've journeyed and find a new way towards the path of happiness and contentment. 

Channel your energy to your goals in life.

Starting over is a healing process, it is good because starting over means you've wept and forgiven people! It is good because you still see that there is beauty in life! It's good because it OPENS OPPORTUNITIES. It is great because YOU CHOSE TO CONTINUE THE JOURNEY.

No matter how hurt you are in the past, when you get over it you'd always end up laughing at your silly actions before and that's also good because you've grown up. 

To end this blog I'd like you to get your earphones, turn up the volume, close your eyes and listen to this song that ALWAYS MAKES ME SMILE and think that LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL together with those lessons. This song is about Life and Love.