Home Improvement

V.All the maid has to do is tell me that our dust pan is broken. "Nasira? Paano?" Heaps of trash covered the floor. I decided to move the spilling garbage from the bins to the trash bags.  The maid showed me the poor thing to prove her point. It's edges were torn. It's scooping capacity, reduced. The state of the dust pan didn't surprise me at all. I have seen it around the house for a decade and

Doomsday Prepper | Act 1

It took just a single temblor to awaken the instinct: self-preservation in a catastrophic event befalling a city caught flat-footed. The seismic head bang slammed the hips of the archipelago. It did little damage. Taking with it a careless soul and dozens of flimsy houses in its ripples' deadly wake. The metropolis up north escaped unscathed. It's towering homes and offices didn't sway, its

The Martha Stewart In Me

I used to be that little boy who could grow plants at will. It's the green thumb, people say. But I pay no heed to their suggestion. Left under my own device, I scoured the city for herbs and tiny shrubs for my small garden. I pick them from someone's green corner (often without their permission) with the plants' roots still intact. The thumb-sized plants are then carted home in plastic cups

Eclipse Gym 24/7

ShawIt's my gym day but my mind tells me not to go. After all, today is my rest day too, the overcast sky might bring some rain and my pockets are getting shallower with each passing day.Besides, my pecs, biceps and triceps are still recuperating from my last work out.But when I think of myself five years ago, when beads of sweat dribbled down my face while Coach Blakedaddy tells me to repeat the

The Beginning Is The End | Morning Praises

4:00 AMThe last thing I remember is having a nasty argument with my mother, a verbal tussle that has not happened yet in real life, over her insistence to cross a craggy ledge. The drop below is simply too difficult to fathom. And just when we both agreed to let her sit on a man-sized skateboard, which I would gently push across the narrow passage, I was kicked out of dreamland, never to find

Project Tumblr

Twice I created a Tumblr account only to abandon the micro-blogging platform a few months later. Is it because I find the interface more difficult to navigate? The free layout lacking aesthetic merit? (on the contrary, a designed page comes with a steep price) Or because I'm not used to re-blogging other people's ideas, and instead prefer to come up with my own?Sa totoo lang, I find Tumblr users

The Radio Stations

One. I have given up on clubbing for a more sober life. Gone are the Saturday nights when I let myself get carried away and see my hips, arms and body fling to House music. The ledge-mounting, shirtless Mugen is a stuff of legends and I doubt if those who see me now would believe I carry such reputation when I was a bit younger. But it doesn't mean the sound has already left my eardrums. I still

Balentayms

All you need is a red cartolina, a pair of scissors and a black "pentel" pen. When funds are low and there are friendly seatmates nearby, you can always borrow their stuff. After all, it's their idea in the first place. You are just following the trend. Tell them, you will return the supplies later, and maybe, with a wink and a smile, the sweet damsels will be persuaded.Cut a small portion from

Changing My Bed Sheet

Seven days have passed and it's time to change my bed sheet again:Step One: I shared a bed with my mom and dad when I was seven years old. My mom would use square sheets to cover the mattress - whose metal springs protrude and prick my skin. Not only was it horrid to lie on, (because the bed cover had a low thread count and was itchy to touch) every time it gets creased, we had to get out of bed

Spaceship Adidas

Boys and gays, I'd like to present my new bag. It was a Christmas present from JC.A scrooge like me will never spend on something like this. I'd rather let my old mobile personal carrier get torn to shreds first before it gets replaced. Now if you're wondering about its contents, on a regular work-out day, these are the stuff I keep inside my bag.1. Jersey Shorts2. Muscle Shirt3. Small Towel4.

Relief

YUMMY HOT KUYA, BAYANI NG CDOTinatayang hindi bababa sa isang libo katao ang namatay, karamihan mga bata, matapos ang magdamagang buhos ng ulan na nagdulot ng pagbaha sa Cagayan De Oro at Iligan City, Sabado ng madaling araw.Bilyon bilyong pisong halaga ng ari-arian at pananim ang kasamang naanod nang umapaw ang Cagayan at Tubod rivers. Tinatayang aabutin pa ng susunod na taon bago makabangon sa

Authoritarian Rule | Lock Down

At past 3 am, I received a text message and a missed call from my sister.  "Nag ha-hyperacidity si Mama. Umuwi ka na." In an ordinary Saturday night out, I won't heed her SMS and still resume my drinking binge. But that morning, I felt something urgent about her plea. Two dance tracks later, I was saying goodbye to my friends to cut short my clubbing. JC decided to tag along with me.When I got

Backpacker: Santa Ana, Cagayan

Previously on Souljacker:Fourth Part: Country Inn by the SeaThe earthly trail evaporates where the sea meets the land, and once again, I am back to the same spot I had just left when the sun was about to reign over the sky.This time, there is no thrill in a comeback. My legs are heavy, like a log, and my head, woozy not because of sleeplessness but of hunger. The last morsels of noodles, meat and

Into The Matrix

In front of the PCI surf the web for any human signs that may hinder my continuous assimilationwith the inorganic machine.Three years after writing the passages above, a friend who used to work at Smart Communications told me the future of the Internet:Personal computers can access the web without the need of cables. Broadband would be useless and telecommunications companies, like the one he's

Backpacker: Santa Ana, Cagayan

Previously on SouljackerThird Part: Royal Snub at the Eastern HawaiiBackpacking presents two ways of learning from a road trip: One is to be immersed in the local setting and enjoy - first hand - the hospitality of ordinary folks. The other is to get the same kind of treatment most locals receive when entering a place strictly for tourists who have the influence, and money to spend. Life isn't

Backpacker: Santa Ana, Cagayan

Previously on SouljackerSecond Part: The Jotay BoyletIt's past six thirty and Tophe was taking too long to arrive. The bar where the guard at Jotay resort urged me to stay was filling up with people. The problem is, their get-up suggest that they are not stay-in guests. One was already well-groomed, and was wearing pants and collared shirt. And while the other wore jersey shorts and sando, his

Backpacker: Santa Ana, Cagayan

First Part: A Traveler's Tale"Baabaa! I have something to tell you ..."It's past 7 in the morning and I was standing outside the Eastern Hawaii Hotel in the town's Centro district. Robbed of sleep, I was waiting for the security guards to let me in so I could speak at the front desk and ask about their room rates."Balak sana kitang i-surprise at sabihing nasa Cagayan ako, kaso I'm in a bit of

Backpacker: Secret Blueprint

At first, it was a toss-up between Baler and Casiguran. Both towns nestle behind the humps known as the Sierra Madre, right at the eastern fringe of Luzon and whose balconies open to the Pacific Ocean, where the first rays of the sun cast its soft light over large swathes of mist-covered rain forests and remote white beaches. It must have been the result of watching too many episodes of Lonely

Wandering Mugs

The technological means may have changed. But as I have learned halfway through my roadtrip this weekend, the desire to take people with me as I cross the countryside remains an ever-present calling.Pinoyexchange Wireless Journal. circa 2002Twittercirca 2011Consider this as the prelude of the story about my journey to the north.

Anti-Planking Act

Everyone knows what planking is and a lot of kids (and stupid adults) have already met their maker by lying their stiffened body, face down in places that are too dangerous for people to attempt such pastime. (such as the corner railing of the balcony) But if Congressman Winnie Costelo of the Second District of Quezon City would be asked, what he knew about planking is that its a terrific