one DAPSILOG please!!!

Sept 26,2009. I am one of the many who got stranded by this typhoon Ondoy, where East Rizal is declared to be in state of calamity. The sudden flow of water is now being compared to a flash flood that hits Marikina, Cainta, Taytay, Antipolo and other cities nearby.

It was a humbling, scary, life-threatening situation for me. Mahirap sumugod sa baha ng nag-iisa, kaya kinailangan ko ng supporta ng ibang taong tutulong saken papunta dun. It started at around 1:00pm when we walked from Floodway going towards Ever-Junction, kung saan hanggang bewang ang baha. The struggle began when we are about to pass St. Joseph subdivision, dun malakas ang agos ng tubig, the pressure from the creeks inside the village is too much to handle. I am one of the many who attempted to pass, almost die after maanod, but some good samaritans assisted you and keep you alive. I owe my life to God and to the people He used to save me.

We decided to stay in the 2nd floor of a commercial building waiting for any form of rescue or at least mapababa ang tubig baha. Wala kameng makaen dun, walang tubig, wala ring maayos na matutulugan, basa ang gamit, mabuti na lang ang matibay ang phone ko para makacontact sa bahay at ipaalam na ok ako. When I heard my mom's voice, dun ako bumigay...I cried and very scared about the near death experience, I'm like an inch to death. Im scared that my family is not ready when it happens.

The cliche na makabitaw sa lubid is deadly, dahil once it happened, mamimili ka na lang ng kababagsakan mo: manhole or pasig river. Isnt it ironic that in times of trouble, parang napakadali nateng makipag communicate with strangers...dahil at the end of the day, sila ang kasama naten sa hirap, we feel the exact same trauma. I met Paulo, Bryce, Aloha and Lany and we share the same sentiment about this disaster. Lahat din kame ay galing sa trabaho. Sa panahon kase na wala kayong gagawin kundi mag antay, magiging napaka interesanteng makinig sa kwento ng buhay ng ibang tao....dahil baka sila rin ang huli mong makita at makasama.

Sunday na ng sumubok ulet kameng magpunta sa Ever Gotesco mall dahil hinde namen alam kung kelan dadating ang rescue or kung meron pa ba talagang dadating ganitong short na rin sa pagkaen. Ang pangalawang attempt ay masasabe kong mahirap, pero naisip ko kung hinde namen susubukan hinde namen malalaman kung kame ay nagtagumpay. With God's grace, nakalagpas na nga kame sa malakas na agos sa St. Joseph subdivision at tumungo na ng Ever mall kung saan mas maraming tao ang nakatigil duon. Tingen ko more than 200 people ata ang naka stay dun, sa pag aakala kong may makakainan, saka naman nagsara ang Chowking at Savory dahil ubos na rin ang pagkaen. Nagmamaktol na ang sikmura ko kasama na rin ng puyat dahil hinde ka naman talaga makakatulog sa ganung sitwasyon. Nararamdaman ko na ang paghina ng mga binti ko at iniisip ko kung makakatagal ba ako ng isa pang gabi na gutom at walang makakaen. Nagdecide ako lakarin kahit hanggang dibdib na baha papuntang Junction, sa awa ng Dyos at ng ilang good samaritans, kame ay nakaalpas. Gabi na ng makarating ako ng Antipolo. I appreciate my nice dinner, nice bath and a sound sleep. Its as if i miss home. Now i appreciate life more because I know that the reason why I wanna rush home is because there are people who cares for me. Thank God for another life to live to tell meaningful stories like this.

Sa lahat ng ito, may mga bagay akong natutunan kay Ondoy:

- Ang tunay na pagtulong ay walang presyong katapat. Hinde mo kelangan ibalandra ang pangalan mo sa tv para masabeng "makatao" ka.

- More rescue boats, more people we can save. Dapat mas marami ang bilang ng taong ililigtas at hinde dapat marami ang security troops sa isang boat.

- Invest in life vests. Napansin ko na sa lahat ng mga nag rescue, ni isa walang vest.

- Trust your hunch. Kung hinde mo kaya ang baha, wag ka ng sumuong pa. Stay somewhere safe.

- Give up material stuff. Value your life more.

- Go Green. Let us empower tree planting, we owe a lot from our nature.

- Love the people around you everyday, you will never know if you still see them around.

- Above anything else, pray because you cannot help yourself without Him.

Kaya para sayo Ondoy, wag ka na sanang bumalik pa, salamat sa yong pagdaan dahil marami kang alaalang maiiwan sa amen.

Sept 22, 2009 is the third blogcon session that features the makers of TunaynaLalake where we get to meet the contributors of this kwelang site. its clear that this group gets an accidental fame, they do not intend to make money out of their blog, they would just like to expose the kulitan publicly, and like me, they do not know whats going to happen with their blogsite, 5 years from now. the jargons they have on their website is very much like them, the website is their reflections, just being corroborated.

in this fast paced world, hard bounded books are converted to ebooks. contents are the same if u are lucky to get the full copy of it, and some are readily available in the internet. here are the ones i have collected, im currently reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.

And of course if you are a sydney sheldon fan, here are some goodies that you might like:

- Tell me your dreams

- If Tomorrow comes

- The sands of time

- A stranger in the mirror

Happy reading!!!

The Bucket List movie that stars Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson is all about "Living your life" its about two guys who shared a room in the hospital, had 6 months to live --- one is rich and always get what he wants and the other is living a typical life. So before they reach their final destinations, they thought of listing things TO DO, with a kiss of death. Isnt that cool that you get to do it before you will be buried 6-feet under. I like the last wish of their bucket list, "to witness something majestic" and it turns out that the friendship they build together and the fact that their ashes are kept at the top of the mountain is a majesty on its own. So if I were to create a bucket list, here would be some entries I could think of.

- An evening date with a long lost highschool crush. (just a date and we'll take it from there :P)
- Watch concert in another country.
- Ironed out a troubled situation.
- Travel with someone special.
- Meet NBA players. (i cant imagine how tiny ill become when im with them waheheh)
- Get laid few weeks before my very last breath. (since i dont know my "death date" then ill keep on trying, hahah)
- Saying bitchy things to a stranger in his/her face. (picking a fight eh?)

I hope to remember these when i realize that my day is coming or maybe i cud start to accomplish this list as early as now :P

earlier is the 2nd Trend Blogcon and we have the presence of Abe Olandres, or mr. yugatech himself. he shared some points which i think would be essential in blogosphere world, how he started and how he become after picking the appropriate niche. he made also a good differentiation of blogging vs. journalism, and i realized how one has an advantage over the other. for bloggers or id rather call it free-spirited writers, the urge to right starts from within. we do not write because we are asked to, we write because we are passionate sharing the stuff that we know. im impressed when he said that "audience are after what you know and not what you think" because there is a minimal boundary between the two.

Last night I have eccentric this dream that we are chasing a mom who unfortunately is wala sa katinuan hostaging an entire bus, kasama ang kanyang 6 year old daughter. The excitement and tension is very realistic, kase tila ganun ang nangyayari sa mga actual hostage scenes. The mom is like 40 plus year of age is nagwawala saying na hinde makukuha sa kanya ang kanyang anak, happens to shoot a civilian...so thats why the police and I are chasing her. (alright im not a police, its my dream scene so anything is possible right? :P) so the mom is shooting at us until she run out of ammo (i dont even know how she gets a gun to begin with) she then get off the bus, run in a park full of trees. at kame? syempre huli sa eksena, dahil kasama ko ang mga police, heheh well i think that makes the scene more intesifying. so we were like hunting them sa lugar na maraming puno at damo. (what a combination)

sumuko rin finally ang nanay nung tumakbo ang anak nya papunta sa mga pulis. wala syang choice kundi lumabas dahil iniisip nyang sasaktan ang anak nya ng ibang tao. associating it in a real world, nakakaawa ung nanay dahil she is mentally incapacitated, she is not capable of taking care of her daughter, and maybe she knew it kaya takot syang wag ilayo ang anak nya sa kanya. but more than that, mas naawa ako sa anak na syang biktima sa eksenang un. sa mura nyang isipan hinde nya talaga alam kung anong nangyayari, and maybe ung act na paglapit nya sa pulis is parang pakikipaglaro lang without knowing whats gonna happen to her. in our society, sa ganung scenario, the custody of the child will be given to DWSD or any relatives na mag claim sa bata, and ung nanay naman is sa isang infirmary or mental institution.

there are a lot of factors why some people become disturbed mentally, ilan na rin ba sa pinas ang me gantong situation, marami rami na rin, dala ng matinding stress, problema sa pera at kakulangan ng supporta ng pamilya. at naniniwala rin ako na lahat ng bansa ay may gantong bahagi ng society, ang mga taong tinatawag nateng "baliw" or "sinto" or "siraulo".......siguro bawat isa saten nakakakita ng mga nomad or mga taong palakad lakad sa lansangan na wala rin sa kanilang katinuan. i remember a movie saying na when the time comes na you are not asking yourself if nasa katinuan ka pa ba, its an indicator na malapit ka ng mag cross ng line dun sa kabalintunaan. siguro this is the same thinking why sometimes i check myself asking if "nababaliw na ba ako" how can i tell that im still in my real world and not crossing that line? do u ever ask urself about this, and if u do, are u worried for ur family that u might not know them anymore?

well we still have time to weigh the two sides. siguro the fact that im still writing here, its an indicator na tamang pag iisip pa ako, hehhe. pero hinde mo b naiisip na ung mga taong nasa kabilang line, ang tingen naman saten ay mga baliw din?

Pahabol: Si pareng Kanye West baka makarelate sa usapang "praning," after nyang gumawa ng eksena sa MTV video music awards, where Taylor Swift won the best female video.

Its the first Trend Blogcon session held at Shanghai Bistro in Eastwood Libis, and guess who's the speaker? Jayvee Fernandez, an icon in the world of blogging. He had given some pointers on blogging artistry and how it can benefit us. and its indeed true that the first step in starting ur own blog, is to start writing. people wouldnt care much of your turf, they wont even care bout ur network traffics or unique links, they are after what they can get from that creative mind of urs...gist ika nga.