Happy Birthday to the Missus!

Today is the birthday of the wife. She is a Golden Girl now. We spent the day quietly as she requested. We had lunch and watched a spectacular movie, Inception with the boys.

How time flies so quickly. But one thing is for sure, she has remained to be as beautiful as the time I first saw her.

Happy Birthday, Masky! May God bless you with a lot more years of prosperity and health. We love you!

"Nagiisa.." (Alone)

I saw this man sitting quietly in the early morning of Wednesday at a vacant lot near the Terminal 3, the new airport here in Manila. He stared blankly at the field, watching closely the planes that came and went.

The man seems to have lost his mind, perhaps unable to take anymore the serious blows of life. He prefers to shut himself out from the world around him. His lonesome state appears to be his escape to a harmless environment where he feels no hunger nor pain. He feels no reason to return.

As I took this shot, I could not help but count my blessings for being gifted with the life that I have. It is nothing perfect as I have my share of troubles. But my path is rosy and trouble free when compared to what this man seems to have been through.

"Mahimbing" - The Calm after the Storm

Typhoon Basyang came to town hardly announced and surprised everyone. It came unexpected and its path and strength caught a lot of people by surprise.

It signaled its entry at midnight by wiping out the power lines in the entire Luzon grid. Communication lines like hand phones, FB etc were compromised too and the only thing left that kept us abreast with what was going on was a small Philips winding radio.

As everything seemed to be calm in spite of the black out, we decided to retire.

Two (2) hours later, we were awakened by whirling winds. The strong winds whistled loudly as if to warn every one of an onslaught. The roof of our house shooked as we all waited helplessly for an eventuality.

The rains poured hard and sifted through every possible opening in the house. We tied the windows, mopped the floors and did everything to minimize every possible damage that this wrath of nature can do. Afterwards, we could only hope and pray.

After 4 hours, the havoc stopped. At around 4 am, nature finally gave us some rest. The sun shone timidly in the morning and I saw its gentle rays touching my youngest son's face. I took this shot.

Now we go back and rebuild what nature took away.

Hubad na Katotohanan (the Naked Truth)

I saw this little boy, running half naked in the middle of Sucat Road here in Manila. He was unmindful of the on rushing traffic as he chased cars to ask for alms. Such a sight is common in our current environment, the dreadful scene of hunger and poverty.

As we mark the beginning of the term of our new president, we pray to the Lord to implore upon us and our new president His Divine Providence. May He help us as a nation to recover from the decay that we are in.