The links to the past

In our journey towards the so-called life, we experienced different emotions. We encountered sweet successes and bitterness of failures. Everything that happened to us in our expedition is always associated with things. These things will always remind us of our previous experiences. And these things will serve as the links towards the word “PAST”.

It’s been almost a decade since I last entered this University – my Alma matter where I took almost half of my school years. I slowly step my feet ahead so that I could feel the atmosphere of the place. There is a quite minimal change in the school but it is overlapped by the same old face I once saw ten years ago.

From Lepanto gate where I entered, I walked fairly slow but eventually came across Batibot. Batibot is still Batibot. I can’t help but to smile whenever I see the usual place of CAS’ students spending their vacant hours chatting with friends.

A couple of steps, I saw the Carmel Café – a small yet very famous place for coffee lovers. Unlike Batibot that is occupied by most of the Broadcasting majors, Carmel is the place in the university where the girls of our batch dwell.

Coffee, shomai, foods. These are some of the things that take me back from the past. The coffee lover Joba always sip her drink while the rest, especially Khem, consume her favorite shomai. I wonder how the petite Choco Mucho was always being divided into ten. Foods are part of our class. And foods are one of the factors why the bonding is concrete, even through the years.

I moved a little farther as I saw and take a break at the playground. I watched all the people who passed by then I saw a thing that completely set the purpose why I entered and finished my studies a long time ago. The thing was no other than a newspaper.

As I scan the newspaper, I unexpectedly saw the name of Joba and Khem in an advertisement. I’m surprise to know that the leading coffee shop – Caffeula Mare, who recently beat the international Starbucks, is owned by no other than them.

Just when I am about to stand up, I saw Jocel walking together with Robelle. I called their attention and started chatting. I am informed that Jocel continued his business at Avon and is now enjoying the managerial position.

Due to her job, she has a constant communication with our fellow classmates. She told me that Farrah settled with Ronald after getting successful in their Professional English and Math Tutorial center at Ortigas.

Babylene, on the other hand, became a famous singer/song writer in a well-known band nowadays while Riza pursued her online career, writing blogs, current events and columns in the most prestigious international company.

Due to their passion in the call center jobs, Em and Kath still manage to prolong their stay that earned them the highest rank official in their office.

Jocel also told me a thing that really surprised me a lot. She said that Malaya became an activist shouting for youth’s right towards the suppressing hands of the government. A shocking revelation that I didn’t foresee in such a silent-type of lass long time ago.

I asked for the cellphone number of my buddy Eleazar for me to have a bonding minutes through Dota games but Jocel said that the soft-spoken lad’s mobile phone was being snatched while walking drunk at Laong Laan (for the nth time). He, by the way, became a successful lawyer handling libel cases of journalists.

The chat lasted for several minutes. Jocel bid farewell to me and said that she has a meeting with her bosses but before that, I asked for the number of our professor Maaliw. She gave it to me and finally said goodbye.

I hurriedly called Sir Maaliw. We talked and updated each other’s lives. I am informed that he continues to do research and proposes to have a get-together party this coming December. I immediately confirmed and tasked to do the planning. In the middle of our conversation, the bell rang and the group of noisy students began to hang around the place that opted me to say goodbye.

After a while, my daughter approached me and asked who I was talking with. I said that they are the part of my college life. That they gave me cheers and laughter in my whole stay here in this university. That even years passed by, I will never forget them.

By the way, I am married to Aizzarey, once a sit-in in our class.

Margins of Hope

 

Season 70 of the UAAP finally comes to its end. A tough one year of hard court battles took place. The immeasurable cheers and happiness were felt by some but most absorbed the bitterness of failure – the agony of defeats.

 

“Some things are really not meant for us”

 

I can help but to murmur this phrase everytime I saw defeats. Well, I really stand on with this idea. If things are really not meant for us, then, even if you work hard, it would slip out of your grasp no matter what.

 

This ideology came after a series of failures this season. What the factors why the Red Warriors, who enjoyed the 14-0 immaculate marking in the eliminations, were still being beaten (twice) in the finals? Why is that the powerhouse Red Princes (our highschool chessmasters) unable to produce another title in history? Why is that the Dragon Girls powerlessly defend their back-to-back title across their names? Why is the Red Smashers came frustratingly VERY short (as in a point differential) against eventual champion DLSU – which a win by the locals against them will earn the trophy? Why is that BC-JO team (Broadcast and Journalism – my team) was hindered in capturing the most elusive intercollegiate trophy in four years despite the complete and competent rosters?

 

The emergence of top-caliber foes this season? Luck seems to be in the opponents’ camp? Injuries plagued the locals? Biased calls from the referees? Small population of supporters? Lack of sleep? Short of nutritious foods? Had a quarrel with his/her lover before the crucial head-on? Family problem? Death of fingernails? etc. etc.

 

These were some of the hundred factors why the locals were unable to produce good, or should I say, better outcome. But to sum it up, one thing surely is compatible with the defeat our players underwent. It is simply because, this time is really not meant for us.

 

With these happenings, I proved to myself and to some who argues with me, that life is undeniably like sports. Sometimes you win but most of the times, you lose. That the highway of success needs improvement of actions. That in order to win every battle, you must first have the attitude to win – or in other hand, have the attitude to accept defeat.

 

 

 

 

In our journey towards the so-called existence, we deemed that the road we are traveling in is unfair. The blind spot towards the path will lead you to surprising occurrence that may escort you to frustration. Every single individual experienced those things. Defeats are just the part of our whole expedition. If you did not stand right after you fell, well you’re a totally a loser. But if you stand proud and hope for a better future, indeed, your existence is essential to everyone especially to yourself.

 

Everyday means a lot of hardwork. The day starts when the sun rises and ends when it settles down in the west. Every one of us underwent the darkness of the night, the upside-down of hindrances and trials. But if you chose to close your eyes and let your world stop revolving, then you will surely never see tomorrow. Just like the ray of sun in the east, tomorrow will always bring you to a new hope.

 

For everybody who was wiping their tears in frustration, then thou shall not continue it because who knows, tomorrow will be your time – as tomorrow begins in the east.

 

Help me….

Help me….

Honestly, I found a hard time in configuring out what my craziest experience was. But after a long time of brainstorming, I finally got a story to tell. The story goes like this….

My experience took place at Gym 1 of the university. I had my PE 101 or perhaps the physical fitness subject for freshmen. This subject includes a lot of body-drenching and sweat-taking exercise such as running 10 times back and forth from first floor to the second floor of the gym. The daily routine of exercise every Monday and Wednesday kept us from absorbing later lessons since the subject was held in the early wee of the day.

I am a freshman that time and I don’t really know who were my classmates then (though we were in a block section). One morning, our professor told us to run for 30 mins or approximately 10 times up and down the second floor before we start the main event of the subject. This usual practice served as our warm-up.

The arranged line composed of students suddenly dispersed and goes for a run. After two times of running up and down, my legs became numb while leaving me short for breath. However, one thing bothered me a lot. It was my fat classmate who surprisingly (for me) run and able to overtake me all the time.

Because of that person, it pushed my faith and became inspired to the extent that I even run alongside him and everytime he sprint in turbo, I chased him. That goes for the entire time of the subject.

After the subject, I catch my breath in fatigue. I’m too exhausted to the point that I almost got wasted infront of our classmate. My legs crumbled and my vision became dizzy. I knew that this would happen because I’m not the sporty kind of person who has a long endurance towards sports or even for exercise.

The result is, I begged my other classmate to assist and accompany me to the clinic for some rest before moving to the classroom.

The next week, I discovered that my fat classmate together with his group of friends is a constant player in his highschool as basketball varsity. All I did was to smile in shame after knowing that. Duh! Arrogance may yield to death, actually. hehe

Handsome?! DUH!!!!!!

I had this professor in English 101 wayback in my first year, first semester of year 2004. He is the type of person that always mock me every M-W-F. He always finds and in every possible way hit out the joke straightly to me. At first I took the jokes slightly ‘coz of its nonsense ideas that came out from his stinking mouth. However, as the days passed by, his thoughts became more and more foul. I ignored him as much as I could but one day there is this instance that burst my controlled emotions. The story goes like this.

Being with a surname that starts with the first letter of the alphabet, I am seated in front of the class and in the whole semester I am place directly in front of the professor. (He always showered me him the blessing of his ideas – the shooting saliva). There is a classmate of mine who approached and asked some questions to this big professor. While my classmate is having some queries, I played around with the little fats of her arms. Disturbed by the things I did, my professor irritatingly ask what I am doing. The professor even asked my classmate if I am courting her due to the closeness we’re engaging. She immediately said no. Discontented from the answer my classmate said, he even throws disgusting words that angers me.

“Wag ka magpaligaw dyan ah, bobo yan.”

Every words that came out from his mouth irritates me a lot to the extent that I even replied to him with a serious tone. I said “Gwapo naman!”. Since I am confident that I am performing well in his subject, I dared him to check all my quizzes and long exams whether I commit failing marks. With that, he returned to the normal course of discussion.

After a fruitful first semester of my opening year in college, there came the second semester. I am glad to know that in my English 112, he (referring to the irritating professor) is not anymore our class’ professor. However, fate redirects us to him after our permanent teacher had to leave for a day due to a seminar he attended. To our surprise, the old hag entered our classroom.

After a while of teaching he saw me at the far right side of the room. The glittering eyes of that old hag shone upon me while trying to figure out my name.

“Sino nga ba itong gwapong kamukha ni John Lloyd na bobo naman?,”

That is the first time my sight became black for a second. What my mind is telling me is to approach the old hag and punch him to death. I stood in anger and tried to step my foot ahead but the tight grasping hand of my friend hindered me to do such thing. He even accompanied me back to my seat while telling me to keep my composure. We even let the professor leave the room before we head out to our new room in order for me to avoid further trouble.

The following week, I discovered that he is a gay. He was just playing prank on me to get my attention but in a foul and annoying way. How do I discovered? I simply let my father argue with the hag for some clarificationd of what he did. Haha lintik lang ang walang ganti.

    

A FAR FAR AWAY STORY OF FARAWAY

Faraway woke up one night feeling tensed and exhausted. As she stares at the blank sky, tears suddenly fell from her innocent blue round eyes. She started to recall her dream b ut perhaps a nightmare that haunted her since childhood.

A clown with dark makeup holding a scythe constantly runs into her nightmare. Every dream comes with different settings and occurences but one thing remains untouchable, the open land behind their dirty kitchen outside their house.

Living in the rural area of Antipolo, where their house is just near the cliff of the mountain, the vacant land is the sole spot in the area where no one dare to occupy due to ghostly rumors. But ever since Faraway’s family moved into the place five year’s ago, nothing extraordinary happened except for the nightmare Faraway is dealing with every night.

Still staring at the blank sky, Faraway suddenly feel the wind blows directly underneath her pores. Feeling shivering, she walk past her bed and went down to get a cup of hot coffee. She went straight to the kitchen and rapidly prepare for the warm beverage.

She sipped the coffee quietly as she head towards thier living room and sat on their soft sala setwhile watching tv. After a few minutes, the cup was empty but the coldness of the place is still in her like a following shadow.

All of a sudden, the television shut off and Faraway face an unyielding darkness and from behind, a man with a gloves grabbed her tightly. She struggled and forced herself to run away from the man except that her feet became numb together with her little tiny voice which slowly hushed into the emptiness.

Six, seven, eight meters form the sala, she was towed by the sturdy arms of the man who was heading straightforwardly at the kitchen. When a glimpse of light shattered in the face of the man, it was no other than the clown with the fearsome look.

Faraway strived hard to recover her voice but everytime she shouts, a deep reconciling feeling of fear and weakness troubled her. She can’t do anything. She was frozen in fear.

The man continues walking and just stopped when they reached their apparent spot – the cliff of the mountain. The clown stood infront of Faraway’s paralyzed body then shoved her forward until she falls from the cliff.

At that moment, Faraway miraculuously recovered her voice and was able to shout for help. But it was too late. The girl was already drowned in the emptiness of herself. She felt alone all this time. No one cares. No one loves.

Faraway woke up one night feeling tensed and exhausted. It was just a dream. Tears suddenly feel from her lonely eyes as she stared back at her mom which is staring at her while crying. Faraway hug tight her mom and whisper ” ILOVEYOU”. She prayed thoroughly and went back to sleep.

Start of Everything

It is just the start of everything. And I hope to end those things I started with same face – smiling. ^^