Gotta get myself back to the ground.

The past month has been a real blast. 

Man. 

Gosh, ha ha.

Grabe talaga. 

Dude (or dudette), I can't even begin to describe how much I've done, and how fun it's all been.

Alright, a quick summary of the past month (month and a half, actually):

First week of July I celebrated with different groups of people here in Penang since I was gonna be in Manila for my birthday.

Dinner at home with classmates and siblings

So that week included watching several of movies, having numerous meals (lunches and dinners), and I had my high school classmates over for dinner (Ms Cindy's Apple Strudel was, is, to die for!). Then, I flew off to Manila on the ninth, just a few days before turning nineteen. (Yuh, I'm nineteen now... shhhhhhuuuuucccckkkksss)

Thanks to the Battung sisters, I was fortunate enough to watch Usher the night I arrived.
They called me when I was on my way to Manila from the airport and asked if I wanted to watch Usher. And it was their treat. Who'll say no to that? (Awesome birthday gift; thanks again!) But, as most of you might know, I'm not the biggest Usher fan. Though, he is undoubtedly really, really talented, and he did a tremendous job! The concert was riot, amazing. Oh, and it was my first 'real' concert. (I know, hahaha.)

The next few days included touring Intramuros, staying up all night for the FIFA Finals (¡VIVA ESPAÑA!) and overdosing people with caffeine, ha ha ha (Sorry, Ina. It was all Vince. I... wait, no pala, I don't swear, hehe).

Behind the Manila Cathedral

Left to right: Me, Elle and Ina Battung, Gail Salvador, Miguel and Nikki Calayan (via. shoepastryheart)

Then, after a few fun-filled days in Manila, we (parents, Sabina and I) drove up to Baguio with one real rowdy, "on-fire" (Vibrantly in love with God. So much so that it shows even when their not talking about it) bunch from Summit Church San Diego. Now, that was OHSOME. We travelled around the whole region (Agoo, San Fernando, Baguio, and they also went to Trinidad when I got back to Manila) and did a whole lot of stuff. We: made new friends, invited, sang, danced, prayed, preached, shared, laughed, cried, and gave lost of 'samples' heheh.

At a high school in Baguio City

Rob Carona, Darin Vey, Ben Fogelstrom, Chris Bair,  Ms Theresa Jones, and Ailina Urias performing "Itch"

It was an amazing outreach. So many lives were changed-- mine certainly will never be the same again. God revealed himself to me so much through so many different people. Particularly, through the people from San Diego. I can write a whole 'nother blog, blogS rather, just about the things I've learned and about that whole experience.

Ben Fogelstrom with some Bboys

Joyce Watkins, April Hughes, Debbie Odash as clowns at an orphanage

Nate Jones, Jun Kheng, Me, Andrew Hopkins, and Ben Fogelstrom feasting at "O' Mai Khan"

Tempted to put more pictures but I'll stop and just continue, ha ha. 

Anyway, there's a whole album here.

On the 20th of July, we drove back to Manila for the Every Nation World Conference. Oh wow, my passion for the nations was really rekindled! Those next few days were amazing. I got to catch up with countless childhood friends, and I met so many different people from so many different places! I spent a majority of my time with the delegates from India! It was great also that quite a few from Penang were able to come too! (Again, a whole blog on its on about the conference)

Bryan Teoh, Jun Kheng, Joon Han, Rachael Tay, and Brenda Teoh all from Malaysia

At the Photo booth with David, Sonia and Stephnie from India and some LifeBox people from Manila

More pictures here.

Ok, this is getting long. I apologize. 

SO, after the conference, we went to the beach! Montemar, Bataan with a few families from Penang, Malaysia and old friends from Manila. Here are a few of my shots. This is the first time I'm posting any of them though. I'll try to get the rest on Facebook soon.

Luis Henson

Luis & Jenny Henson, Ina Battung, Brenda Teoh, Elle Battung

Elle Battung

Then back to Manila after a few days to meet up with more friends, eat more food, and I finally got my [driver's] student's permit. I clocked in ten hours. That was pretty scary: driving in Manila, haha! I enrolled at the A1 driving school at the Alabang Town Center. I even got to Cavite one day, and Laguna the next. Man, the jeepneys and tricycles were nerve-rackingly scary. But it's all good, haha. I get my Non-Pro License when I get back to Manila this November! I'll be back to take the Lasalle Entrance exam. (I'll post another entry soon about the whole school and moving back situation)

M Villanueva, Stefan & Mish Suarez, Me

Me, Mark Ong, Robert Hechanova, Marty Espino

Anywho, I'm back in Penang! Got to see my high school classmates again, haha. I'm having a ball now that I'm back. It's hard too cause I know after I leave, I won't be coming back again for quite some time.

I'm excited for the next few months. But now, things are slowing down a bit. And, I gotta get myself back to the ground, ha ha.

P.s. Sorry for the spontaneity and lack of flow. Please excuse my grammatical errors too. If I have something that's pretty bad, please let me know so I can fix it, haha. Thanks.

Uhuru White Water Rafting, Perak, Malaysia

June 19, 2010

Several hours' drive south of Penang.

Eighteen of us went. Four rafts. 

Here are a few pictures of our raft. (Myself, Luis, Jenny, Dad, & Anne + the guide)

 .

"Double Decker". Yes, we were fully submerged!

See. heheh

We flipped over too.

It was a fake fall. We planned it... well, kinda.

Group shot at the mid-way point.

101 Dreams - Part 2

My Dreams. 

Twenty-six to Fifty 

[26-50]

(Fulfilled dreams are "bold") 

 Directions to this exercise are here.

Dreams [1-25]

March 25, 2010

26. Collection of vintage cameras

27. A really good Video Cam

28. Home movie theatre

29. Surround System

(via. The Movie Theatre Survival Guide)

30. ALDO ferrol

31. A house in Manila

(I couldn't help but post pictures of these places)

 32. Backpack  - SCANDINAVIA

Entering Civilization (via. mortenprom)

33. Central Asia

Himalayas (via. Katrina)

Buzkashi, Afghanistan (via. Po Lo)

34. Japan

Miyajima Five-Storied Pagoda Cherry Blossoms［ A World Heritage Site］(via. h.orihashi)

35. China and Mongolia

Choir on The Great Wall of China (via. North Sullivan)

Rooftop of the Potala Palace (via. reurinkjan)

36. Russia

St. Basil's Cathedral (via. BudaKedrova)

37. Former USSR

38. Egypt 

The Father of Fear ( أبو الهول ) (via. Baris Yonter)

39. Morocco

Morocco "Le Souk !" (via. ...cathzilla)

40. The Middle East

Hagia Sofia from the Golden Horn, Istanbul (via. ricof3)

41. Be a faithful and generous supporter of Missionaries

42. Have the whole Tolkien Collection (Hard-bound, paper back, everything!)

43. SANDMAN Collection

44. All of Gaiman's books, comics... all his work.

45. Gigantic movie library

46. A decent Marvel and DC collection

47. Get to at least the base camp of Mt. Everest

48. Have a house in Greece

49. & 50. Yacht parked in Italy & the Caribbean

...to be continued [Part 3]

A Daydreamer's Question (One)

 Q: Would you rather live till the age of 50 or 250 (or 205 *I had a typo while asking a bunch*)?

I don't really know why I'm asking this question.

It's just one of them random things that I think about.

Would I rather die early at, probably, the peak of my life (Well, 40 is probably the peak of life); at the time when I'd probably have my first grandchild? Would I rather choose to die when I most-likely will finally have enough money to live like no one else and travel like no one else and eat like no one else??

OR

Would I rather die late at, probably, the end of the pop culture (Well, the pop culture is already so different now from what it was ten years ago. And at this rate, I highly doubt that I'd be able to comprehend the slang and jargon of teens in two-hundred years. LMAO. *I had to google the meaning of that one*); at the time when the existence of my very own teeth would seem a distant memory? Would I rather choose to die when most--let me say that again--all, of my loved ones would have pasted, a.k.a died??

Honestly, I don't really know.
The mere thought of me choosing when I'd die is scary. What if I die at the age of fifty but I was actually meant to discover a vaccine at the age of fifty-one? And as a result, the vaccine was instead discovered five years later after thousands of unnecessary deaths. (Although, it is highly unlikely that I discover a vaccine for some disease. But, you never really know right?)

George Clooney is aged 51

Or what if I didn't die when I was supposed to at the age of eighty-three? And because I didn't die, I didn't inspire a certain individual who would've, in response to my death, started a revolution that would've changed the world?

eHhhEhe... this is my mind running wild right here.


"If I were to find my ultimate true soul mate, I'd live till I was 205" That's what Danny said when I asked him if he'd rather die at fifty or two-hundred-five. Pretty interesting if you ask me. I would too if I had someone to share all those long years with. Though, he'd have to explain to me what he meant by "soul mate" (Ha ha ha, you're really the romantic aren't you?)

 A few other answers I got:
Bea Fabregas answered "205 is way too long :| and 50 is way too short! but 205 as long as i'm healthy and not this useless old person that sits all day"
And I love Neal Jordan's response: "depends.. do I get to keep my body as it was a 21 year old? :P"
Haha dude, I should've known! Of course, you'd wanna be Forever 21. Anyway, who wouldn't? =p

The ageless Mister Dorian Gray from Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

(I had fun reading this book, fyi.)

My favorite answer though was the answer Nicole YSP gave me. "If by living to 250, the aging process slows down, then definitely 250. But then again, I get so caught up in things like the scary end times and wonder if I'd rather skip that as an old woman, so maybe 50, and I would be driven to accomplish more, have a tragic death, and live on in legacy. "

After reading that, I finally decided that, if I had to choose, I'd rather live till fifty. And also if I knew that I was dying so early, I would drive myself to make the most of my time here, and as she said, accomplish more and have a "tragic" (I would pray for at least a peaceful death since I was dying so early, haha) death and live on in legacy.

That would be a good way to go if you ask me. Living on in legacy is probably the most that the lot of us could ask for. But, again, it would only be worth-it to die that early if we made a big enough impact to live on in legacy. And fact being, only a small handful of us would ever achieve such an honor to live on in legacy.

(Oh, I just remembered that the King of Pop died at the age of 50.)

Yet even if the chances of me living on in legacy are quite slim, I'd rather die early solely for the reason that I would drive myself to make everyday a day to remember. I would cherish my love one's ever more dearly. And I would put a great deal more thought into things.

All in all, death is not a pleasant thought. And I, just like you, would put off that thought for as long as possible. I just amuse myself with these random daydreams and wonder what I would do differently if I only had fifty years to live. I sometimes play around with the thought and pretend that I had a mere month left. Who would I hang out with? Where would I go? What would my priorities be??

As we all know, death is not something we could escape from; it's inevitable. And although we cannot choose when we die (unless of course, we take matters into our own hands, suicide for example), we can choose how we live.

And to me, living like there were no next year, or no next month, or even no tomorrow as the expression goes, seems like the way to go. I'd rather make the most of my time here on Earth than to always procrastinate and put things off as if there were always going to be a tomorrow. Well, 'cause for one thing, there'll come a time when there is no tomorrow, and heck, I wanna make my life count.

Here are the other answers I got:
(ha ha, it's fun to see how some people react to the question)

• "OMG @_@ 250... I'd rather be 250 but that would be so sad. Haha." - Nina Peña
• "Hmmmmm... So either die young or live to be as old as the people in the bible??? Well I'd rather live to 250 for as long as I'll die with the strength of a 50 year old. hehe" - Lalli Kier  
• "HAHAHAHA next question please :P" - Maan Villanueva
• "250. I don't have a good reason." - Elle Battung
• "50. 250 would be too much for me. :) " - Josh Fish
• 50. I'd rather not see the people I love die. Too heart breaking. - Elle Cabiling
• 50. im not sure my body would be any use after the age of 100 up haha - Tony Kelly
• woah DIFFICULT. It's either, miss seeing your kids grown up, or outlive them by a century.  - Rachel Louis
• Maybe 50 :)) - Marlo Acosta
• 50 =P 205 is kinda long. =D - Jason Lyne
• That was soooo random. :))
• 50 nalang but i wont claim it cos i wanna live till i see my grandchildren :D :D just for blogging's sake :) id rather 50 dude than 205... daymmm i wont even have friends alive na (anymore) hahah - Jem Ferrer
• tough one man... id say 205 but Id rather die earlier than live for a few years as a vege :P - the rest of Neal Jordan's
• Hmmm... good question. 205. But i would not own a mirror. :) You? - Marielle Fabregas

I asked more of you, but I finished this blog before you could reply! I'll post your answers here when you reply! :)

A 250-year-old mummy at Sumapima Village of Baliem Valley 

--

Ask Me Anything via Formspring.me

I just randomly asked the people I follow on Formspring.me and the people I saw on my Hompage in Facebook.com and the people at the top of my head. If you want me to ask you these random questions too, either get a formspring.me account and let me know you have one or just message me so whenever I come up with these random questions, I'd ask you too.
Anyway, I'm a nice guy, really. (Haha! Right Nina?)

New pictures.

This is my balog entry, a.k.a. my blog entry, for today.

(Sorry, only Elle would get that)

The Sound Board

Today. What can I say about today?

I woke up late then took note of my mental-note-to-self "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" after which I got myself a bowl of cereal.

Aside from playing lego with Sabina, nothing much happened.

At first I wanted this to be my sort-of "journal". Don't think that would work out as I can't seem to get myself to write what I really feel and think.

I started reading "Anne Frank: The Diary of A Young Girl". I saw it on the "2nd Item at 50% OFF" rack in the bookstore and without even thinking, impulsively as you would say, I bought it. The second book that I got at half price was Roald Dahl's "Danny the Champion of the World". I was hoping that Sabina, my sister, would take fancy and read it. Instead, she said it looked, looks, boring and won't even bother trying to read it. Fail. I did want to read anyway. So it wasn't a total waste.

Anyhow, Anne Frank's story is so... interesting. I haven't finished it yet (and I don't think I'll ever finish it) but... man, I can't even imagine being in her shoes, experiencing what she experienced. She disappeared, or went into hiding, when she was thirteen; she was in hiding till she was fifteen and she passed before she was even sixteen.

Back to me writing a journal: I don't think I can write like her at all, haha. It's so intriguing reading her 'letters' because before she was in the Secret Annex and her first year or so, you can tell she's still a girl. But as time passes, her entries become more complex and her thought patterns change drastically. She had to grow up all of a sudden. In a way, her childhood was stolen from her.

Kind-of like Hit Girl from "Kick-Ass". I don't recommend you to watch it. But just to say, I loved it.

[It's a pity that Chloë Moretz is so young. But six years ain't that bad, right? Eh, it is bad, Joe]

Mindy Macready, aka HitGirl, Chloë Moretz's character in the movie, was also deprived of a childhood.

I realized that so many kids these days must be deprived of a childhood. So many of us probably had to grow up right away.

Anyway, I can't really write as well as Anne Frank.
To all young girls in your tweens, I suggest you read the book; you'll find that you're not alone.

Even for a guy, some... a lot, of the things that she went through (in areas of identity especially) I can identify with.

-----------

Shifting gears, remember that film camera I bought? The one that had an underwater case too? Well, I finally develop (had it developed) my first roll.

The first picture in this entry is from that same roll.

Here are more:

Sabina. I love it!

We had to do this shot twice. I forgot to wind it up and I had to ask her to swim towards me again, hehe.

Luis, front flip.

Note: keep your fingers away from the lens and hold the camera properly. heh.

Sabina's doing the Brother Eddie pose.

And lastly, the sun and our backyard.

What it wouldn’t be, it would...

I got this from Design You Trust - Part 6. The original post is from Here.

“What captured me the most is the title of this project: "What it is, it isn’t." beside the image of awkward looking cabinet, of course. Then, I realized the text was taken from ‘Alice in Wonderland’, which is written by Lewis Carroll and this project by Ontwerpduo get its inspiration from it.

What it is, it isn’t.
‘If I had a world of my own,
everything would be nonsense.
Nothing would be what it is,
because everything would be what it isn’t.
And, contrariwise, what it is, it wouldn’t be.
And what it wouldn’t be, it would.
You see?’
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland.


To describe the work better, these are exact text from Ontwerpduo:

‘Objects are how we perceive them to be. Our minds make things what they are and for us this is reality. Think of a branch hanging in the water. We see, with the refraction of light, the branch under the waterline in a different angle. But we know that in reality the shape of this branch is different. We learned how to see the world… read the rest and see more pictures here”

 Photo credits: "Alice in Wonderland" from here.

101 Dreams - Part 1

My Dreams. 

One to Twenty-five 

[1-25]

(Fulfilled dreams are "bold") 

 Directions to this exercise are here.

March 25, 2010

1. MacBook Pro

2. iPod Classic sports strap

3. Old leather notebook

4. Really nice fountain pens

5. Collection of tumblers and mugs

6. That grayish hat from TopMan

7. TopMan Sweater

8. Adidas Porsche Design shoes

9. Whole lot of Ray-Ban shades

10. Rolex Watch

11. Watch bag full of watches

12. Wardrobe full of designer clothes

13. Jet Ski

14. Whole lot of Kayaks

15. House in Palawan, Philippines

16. Rooftop Apartment in Manhattan, New York
17. Apartment in Paris [France]
18. Place in Madrid [Spain]
19. House in Porto [Portugal]

20. House in the south of France
21. House in Barcelona [Spain]
22. Grand Piano

23. Nikon D90
24. Smena
25. Lomo Camera

...to be continued [Part 2]

Photo credits:

"Zugster Leather Moleskine Cover" by Adam A.

"El Nido, Palawan" by Google

"Porto, Portugal" by Luis Marques

"Grand Piano" by Jerry Ipsen Photography