tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105200842024-03-13T11:02:32.278+08:00Quiet StreamA mom's quiet thoughtsquietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-44098546038811275222023-04-23T16:13:00.002+08:002023-04-23T16:15:06.990+08:00A year spent teaching at Colegio de San Lorenzo<p><i style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">By Karen Galarpe</i></p><p><i style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wrote this in August 2022 and this remained in my draft folder since then. Decided to let it see the light of day today. :)</i></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sad to hear that Colegio de San Lorenzo in Quezon City is closing.</span></p><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Back in 2005, I taught part-time at the college department of Colegio de San Lorenzo which was just a few minutes drive away. I taught 2 subjects per semester for a total of 4 subjects that year. These subjects were: Writing for Print, Print Media Principles and Practices, Business Communication and Correspondence, and Advanced Expository Writing.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I didn't really plan to teach. I just left my full-time job editing Smart Parenting magazine the year before, and was freelancing. But my grad school classmate <a href="http://nancydavidgalang.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Nancy Galang</a>, who was then heading the Communication Arts department, called me to ask if I'd be interested. I laughed. I couldn't imagine myself as a teacher. She said, "Bakit ka natatawa? E may masteral units ka naman?" And I realized she was serious. haha <span class="pq6dq46d tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me sf5mxxl7 gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu" style="display: inline-flex; font-family: inherit; height: 16px; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><img alt="đ" height="16" referrerpolicy="origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/ta5/1.5/16/1f642.png" style="border: 0px;" width="16" /></span></div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">So I inhaled deeply and said a prayer before entering my first class ever and put on my game face -- a performance art for an introvert like me. The young ladies and gentlemen in their well-pressed uniforms hurried to their seats and looked at me expectantly. In turn, I looked at them. Ok, let's roll.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I'd be at San Lorenzo twice a week for a few hours. I would stay in the faculty room in between classes, mostly just keeping to myself and reviewing my lessons, computing grades, or checking papers. The pay wasn't much, but it added to gas money. </div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">I dreaded entering the classroom every time, but would always come out feeling fulfilled. For there was always something so wonderful in seeing a student's eyes light up, a pupil's head nod, and a young person's face smile.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Since I taught English, I laid down the rule that only English will be spoken in my classroom. They complied, but I remember this one male student who clearly struggled while reporting, and said sheepishly, "Ma'm, i-Tagalog ko na lang. Ganun din naman sasabihin ko pero Tagalog lang."</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Also, since I taught writing, I made them write. In class. That's so I would really know they were the ones writing, not some other person they could ask to write for them if it were a homework. I would discuss writing principles then make them write short essays on the spot. I picked topics that were familiar to them -- their favorite food, what they did last summer, stuff like that. </div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">One time, one of the big guys in class who usually sat at the back went up to me after he submitted his food essay, and told me, "Ma'm, parang nalasahan ko ulit yung kinain ko." I said that's the essence of food writing, and he smiled.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">For finals exam in advanced expository writing, I asked my class to write an essay about the life lessons they have learned. These students were aged maybe 17, 18, 19, 20 then. They were so quiet during the exam. Then someone started to cry quietly. When they turned in their papers and I read them at home, my heart broke at reading a couple of them. One said his father was never there for any significant event in his life -- birthday, graduation, even his circumcision. And he said he didn't need the money his father would send from abroad. What he wanted was his father's presence. Another student, a female, also poured her heart out writing her final exam, saying she grew up with her grandmother because both of her parents were OFWs. They left for abroad when she was still a baby. The life lesson they both learned -- material things cannot compensate for the absence of a parent.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Then I remember I had a student in my business correspondence class. I asked him during the first day of class to introduce himself, maybe talk about what he plans to do someday. He just gave his name, and then, pressed for his future plans like what he wants to be or do after college, he just shrugged. Sometime later that semester, he got into an accident playing basketball and hit his head on the concrete wall. He fell into a coma and we visited him at the ICU at Veterans Memorial Medical Center. It seemed he just waited until his mother arrived from working abroad, as he died a day or two after she reached his bedside. Maybe he kinda knew early on that sem that he need not think about the future at all.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">There's this one time I was asked to sit as member of a thesis panel. It was to be held on a Saturday morning. I didn't have money anymore then so I resolved to just say I'll go home after the thesis defense, in case one of my co-panelists would invite us all to have lunch. Anyway, during the defense, I noticed that part of the thesis wasn't original. It was copied. I raised the matter, and as a result we told them they had to redo their thesis. One of the students defending the thesis cried right there because she knew what it meant: they wouldn't be able to graduate on time. Tough. But well, we can't bend the rules. Before I went home, I was given a letter envelope which turned out to be compensation for being part of the thesis panel that day. Wow. May pang-grocery na, thank you, Lord.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">The following year, the new department head called to ask if I can teach again business correspondence. They weren't going to offer the writing subjects anymore though, due to a change in curriculum. I said oh but it's the writing subjects I want. The department head asked me to consider teaching again even just the business correspondence class since they only invite back the teachers who got good feedback from students. I thought about it but decided to let go of the opportunity. I wanted to do more writing.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway, so those are my memories of San Lorenzo. It was a good year well spent. Thank you for the memories.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>BOOK OF THE WEEK</b>: I've had "One True Love: To Have And To Hold" by Dr. Grace Shangkuan Koo on my bookshelf for some time now but didn't read it coz parang hindi ako maka-relate. :) Only recently though did I pick it up to read it. It turned out to be a wonderful book discussing what it means to have a "forever" kind of love, with examples from both the lives of the author and her parents. It also devotes some chapters on why some relationships fail, and why for some singleness is bliss. A great read, good for the soul and the heart.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>VERSE OF THE WEEK</b>: Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is Godâs will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div></div>quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-44272344210454634942021-11-11T08:53:00.002+08:002021-11-11T09:21:19.316+08:00November thoughts<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7p9TQtB9JzhMwlpubKYZvIbQL9CKvtSYgXcLTInxiRMclax2NotIs56ZLW7kRsuFv5db2fyM328OjV98gfo8ILyqo0_vx5Sj6IrvXvHX2qPZSxsdpNFGCYtISwS4vwjSIbHEIRg/s750/brewedcoffee.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="750" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7p9TQtB9JzhMwlpubKYZvIbQL9CKvtSYgXcLTInxiRMclax2NotIs56ZLW7kRsuFv5db2fyM328OjV98gfo8ILyqo0_vx5Sj6IrvXvHX2qPZSxsdpNFGCYtISwS4vwjSIbHEIRg/s320/brewedcoffee.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i><p></p><p><i>By Karen Galarpe</i></p><p>And just like that, it is November. November 11 to be exact. đ</p><p>It now seems a lifetime away when things were more hurried and fast-paced, when workweeks meant going through EDSA traffic and trying your best to arrive in time for your shift, no matter if it starts at 5 a.m. when most countrymen are still fast asleep.</p><p>My OB said the COVID-19 pandemic has given us a gift -- the gift of slowing down and appreciating the passage of time.</p><p>I agree. The past 20 months saw us slowing down, working from home, spending more time with family, counting our blessings, and simplifying life. While others may have been itching to resume normal lives, I think I am one of the few who enjoyed the community quarantine and thrived in this setup. I've had more time to read books, declutter (an ongoing lifelong process), meet friends though not in real life but online, sing (hello, WeSing classmates đ€), and ahem, shopping online -- for needs like groceries, furniture, and clothes, and wants like books...and more books.</p><p>One of the books I bought on Shopee recently is <i>Heart On My Sleeve</i> by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LifeCoachEmGuevara/" target="_blank">Em Guevara</a> (yup, one r). I know Em, as she was my classmate in grad school in UP. I would also see her around during press conferences and media trips as we both covered the lifestyle beat for years. So I know how deep and fun she could both be. She had the best jump shot in Thunderbird Resort by the way when we were there a long time ago.</p><p>Anyway, back to Em's book which she published herself. It's a collection of her columns for various publications. I like how Em takes us through the phases of her life, from EMerging to EMphatic, EMboldened to EMpowered. Reading it, I feel like she's just in front of me making chika about her precious fur babies Matilda and Shakira, or her crummy date with that guy who wanted to put popcorn in her mouth on their first date. đ It took me awhile to finish the book, even though it's just a slim one, because I would read only a chapter a day after work or during lunch break. It was good to just listen to someone making kuwento about anything and everything after my mind has been processing hard news all day. But yes, just one chapter a day, so there would be Em again the next day making kuwento, this time about heavy stuff like grief and why choosing not to forgive will eventually let someone hold power over us.</p><p></p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUCZc8LBT2b/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 3px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 0px 0px 1px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 1px 10px 0px; margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px; width: calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding: 16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUCZc8LBT2b/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 0; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank"> <div style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0px;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0px auto 12px; width: 50px;"><svg height="50px" version="1.1" viewbox="0 0 60 60" width="50px" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g fill-rule="evenodd" fill="none" stroke-width="1" stroke="none"><g fill="#000000" transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0px;"></div> <div style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px;"><div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12.5px; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 14px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px); width: 12.5px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style="border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); border-top: 2px solid transparent; height: 0px; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg); width: 0px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="border-right: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); transform: translateY(16px); width: 0px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; transform: translateY(-4px); width: 16px;"></div> <div style="border-left: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); height: 0px; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px); width: 0px;"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0px 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUCZc8LBT2b/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe)</a></p></div></blockquote> <script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Another book I got this pandemic season is <i>Where Is God In a Coronavirus World?</i> by John C. Lennox, published this year by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CSMPublishing" target="_blank">Church Strengthening Ministry</a>. What a timely book, right? To date, over 250 million worldwide have contracted COVID-19, and more than 5 million have died of it. These statistics make you wonder indeed -- why is God allowing this, and where is he?</p><p>Lennox, a math professor at the University of Oxford, does not lecture in the book, but with the reader asks the same questions. And then he puts a name to our feelings, looks at past pandemics and disasters, talks about what pain does, and why things are the way they are. He then says that as a mathematician, he knows some questions may never be solved, and maybe we should be better off asking a different question. There is more to this little book (just 67 pages including endnotes) and I highly recommend this for reading.</p><p></p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CU4w-aRPdP3/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 3px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 0px 0px 1px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 1px 10px 0px; margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px; width: calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding: 16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CU4w-aRPdP3/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 0; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank"> <div style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0px;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0px auto 12px; width: 50px;"><svg height="50px" version="1.1" viewbox="0 0 60 60" width="50px" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g fill-rule="evenodd" fill="none" stroke-width="1" stroke="none"><g fill="#000000" transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0px;"></div> <div style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px;"><div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12.5px; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 14px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px); width: 12.5px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style="border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); border-top: 2px solid transparent; height: 0px; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg); width: 0px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="border-right: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); transform: translateY(16px); width: 0px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; transform: translateY(-4px); width: 16px;"></div> <div style="border-left: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); height: 0px; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px); width: 0px;"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0px 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CU4w-aRPdP3/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe)</a></p></div></blockquote> <script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, so what have you been thinking about and reading lately?</p><p><b>VERSE OF THE WEEK</b>: Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Proverbs 12:25</p>quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-15354937216980060782021-08-06T10:10:00.003+08:002021-08-06T10:23:58.594+08:00A delayed appreciation for vitamins and other supplements<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5af6kA4Fq0ZUUxGx1Nr5Enx8VxywEt6hhmXxpa7su4KRdRMBYkSumspNW39TDe8TaRi28u0Rbus6lFzWcyb6R_Zwg1HIPWx4Cy9H9Ox9IesN_j9uuMUC6Z-SkmPkWtsb2E_CjzA/s1600/supplements.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5af6kA4Fq0ZUUxGx1Nr5Enx8VxywEt6hhmXxpa7su4KRdRMBYkSumspNW39TDe8TaRi28u0Rbus6lFzWcyb6R_Zwg1HIPWx4Cy9H9Ox9IesN_j9uuMUC6Z-SkmPkWtsb2E_CjzA/s320/supplements.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> By Karen Galarpe</span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">One, two, three, four, five. I counted the tablets and capsules in my hand this morning after breakfast. There's vitamin C, zinc, multivitamin, fish oil, and vitamin D3.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Growing up, I took vitamin C or a multivitamin daily as my mom was worried I wasn't getting enough nutrients. I was thin, and was a picky eater too.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I started working after graduating from college, I would sometimes buy vitamins -- not just a multivitamin but vitamin E as well for good skin.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">But when I became a single mom, sometimes funds would be tight that I didn't buy vitamins anymore. I would only take them when my sister based abroad would send me some.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">So that became a habit -- just take vitamins when there's a supply. They were not on my regular shopping list.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">More than a year ago, a college classmate said she was selling vitamins and asked if I would like to buy some at around P1,300 per bottle. I said isn't that expensive? She said it would only amount to around P11 per capsule. So I bought some, but in my mind, it was only to help her make a sale. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Last April, I tested positive for COVID-19 (I'll write about it sometime. That deserves a longer separate post). My doctors suggested I take the following supplements during the course of my illness, on top of other prescription medicines:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">multivitamin/multimineral</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">vitamin C</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">zinc</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">quercitin</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">probiotics </span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">vitamin D3</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">omega 3 (fish oil)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">melatonin</span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Post-COVID, here are the supplements my attending doctor said I should take:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">multivitamins</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">vitamin C with zinc</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">vitamin D3</span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">So these are what I am taking now, the three post-COVID-19 supplements, plus I added fish oil supplement because I like it. As for quercitin, it is hard to find. For probiotics, I turn to yogurt instead. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another doctor said I should take selenium to boost my immune system but I haven't gotten around to ordering it yet.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">So there, I now take vitamins and supplements every day. Although we could get nutrients from our food, sometimes a little boost from supplements would be a great help. What supplements are you taking? âș If you're not taking any, maybe it's time to take some, especially with the current COVID-19 pandemic.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>BOOK OF THE WEEK:</b> I'm almost done reading <i>This Season of Grief</i>, a collection of stories, prayers, poems, and information on dealing with grief. I realized I am drawn to reading books about grief such as Joan Didion's <i><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CMTIJ2CH4cA/" target="_blank">The Year of Magical Thinking</a></i>, Dr. Ernie Santos' <i><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BCkxD6WmGWO/" target="_blank">The Big C: From Cancer to Christ</a>, </i>and Paul Kalanithi's <i><a href="http://quietstream.blogspot.com/2019/05/q-with-songwriter-raffy-cabristante.html" target="_blank">When Breath Becomes Air</a>.</i> Though the content of <i>This Season of Grief</i> may seem sad, there is hope in each story, each poem, each chapter.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CReAwAwrDOg/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 3px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 0px 0px 1px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 1px 10px 0px; margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px; width: calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding: 16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CReAwAwrDOg/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 0; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank"> <div style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0px;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; 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font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0px;"></div> <div style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px;"><div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12.5px; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 14px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px); width: 12.5px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style="border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); border-top: 2px solid transparent; height: 0px; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg); width: 0px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="border-right: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); transform: translateY(16px); width: 0px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; transform: translateY(-4px); width: 16px;"></div> <div style="border-left: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); height: 0px; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px); width: 0px;"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0px 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CReAwAwrDOg/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe)</a></p></span></div></blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>VERSE OF THE WEEK:</b> <span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">I will sing of the </span><span class="small-caps" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Lord</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">âs great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations (<i>Psalm 89:1</i>).</span></span></p>quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-55507007970349152572021-01-09T18:03:00.015+08:002021-01-13T08:24:39.589+08:00Be a hope bearer<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFkjNriKKBEqZuj1ddwoZG4sUKUAMx3Fp-Ecb6tc23k9I3qnVjENJ6LO-w6QgEMfWw5RvVAUl7Dcvl_PjZQDwCJukXwCRm3VMJv7qCKEb6tjQkmmsbpbCudMZMHUvauboDo5jGdw/s1067/hopebearer1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFkjNriKKBEqZuj1ddwoZG4sUKUAMx3Fp-Ecb6tc23k9I3qnVjENJ6LO-w6QgEMfWw5RvVAUl7Dcvl_PjZQDwCJukXwCRm3VMJv7qCKEb6tjQkmmsbpbCudMZMHUvauboDo5jGdw/w240-h320/hopebearer1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: times;"><i>By Karen Galarpe</i></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">When times are uncertain, such as what has happened since last year when the COVID-19 pandemic hit us, it is understandable to be nervous, afraid and pessimistic. After all, everyone is affected, and every business, every company, every school and government is faced with a challenge we haven't met before--the coronavirus. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Children are no exception. And while they may not voice it out much, they have their worries and concerns too.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">My five-year-old grandniece, for instance, frets that she could not go out to visit us or her favorite mall where her favorite toy store is located.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">Other kids lament that they could not see their classmates, and it's been harder on those whose schools had to close.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;">One of my favorite Bible verses is Jeremiah 29:11 which goes: <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">âFor I know the plans I have for you,â declares the Lord, âplans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.â</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: times;">I take comfort in the fact that no matter how bleak or difficult my circumstances can be, God sees everything and is there with my best interest at heart; He is my hope and my future.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: times;">Wouldn't it be good to spread such message of hope to others, even to kids? Church Strengthening Ministry recently published "Hope Bearer: Lessons of Hope and Courage in Times of Crisis and Change" with this same motivation.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: times;">The book is actually a compilation of modules or lessons one can teach kids aged 4 to 12 in Sunday school or at home, online or in person.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: times;">It serves as an easy-to-follow guide for parents and teachers and even aunts and uncles to teach Bible lessons which can impart hope to children especially during these times of uncertainty.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: times;">Each lesson has an activity which may be an art project, as well as a Bible passage and memory verse, and discussion questions to guide the child in applying what he or she has learned.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;">My fave Bible verse (Jeremiah 29:11) is discussed in the book's Lesson 2 (God wants to give us hope and a future). Using the Bible story of Moses' birth and how he ended up being raised as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, the lesson brings home the message that no matter what, God looks out for His children. The art project called for is a pyramid to be made using paper, crayons or paint -- so easy and apt for the lesson.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;"><span style="background-color: white;">May we be hope bearers ourselves and inspire others around us, even children, of the hope they have in God. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>VERSE OF THE WEEK: </b></span></span><span class="versenum" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-weight: 700; line-height: normal; position: relative; top: auto; vertical-align: text-top;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">Jesus said, </span><span class="woj" style="background-color: white;">âLet the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.â <i>Matthew 19:14</i></span></span></p>quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-16062409119642122002020-10-09T11:07:00.002+08:002020-10-09T11:07:53.959+08:00'Unchanging Grace': Mini musings for each day in 2021<p>by Karen Galarpe</p><p><br /></p><p>This year 2020 is such a challenge, isn't it? No one saw a pandemic coming and the things that go with it: lockdowns, social distancing, community quarantines, travel ban, business slowdown, even job losses. It disrupted our lives and our usual routines. Over a million people have lost their lives worldwide. </p><p>Many people have expressed exasperation on social media, saying, "When will 2020 end? Quota ka na." I believe though that there's a reason for everything and there's something to be grateful for in every situation.</p><p>Well we have just a little over two months left in 2020 before the new year 2021 rolls in. </p><p>This early, I am already looking for a planner that I could use for the coming year. It should have monthly and weekly pages, be big enough for me to write my schedule and things to do, and be light and thin enough so as not to make my bag heavy.</p><p>I'm also looking for devotionals -- little books one can read for every day of the year -- that I could use and give as gifts to friends. I find devotionals very helpful as they give me a moment to be calm during a busy day and remind me of what's important.</p><p>Some of the devotionals I've used over the years are <i>Our Daily Bread</i> by Our Daily Bread Ministries, <i>My Utmost for His Highest</i> by Oswald Chambers, <i>Experiencing God</i> by Henry Blackaby, <i>Finding Refuge and Strength</i> by Harold Sala, and <i>Encouraging Words for Women</i> by Darlene Sala.</p><p>This early, Church Strengthening Ministry just released a new devotional entitled "Unchanging Grace" by Pastor Jose "Joey" Umali. It comes in five different covers showing the country's natural tourist spots. Handy enough to fit in my hand, it's lightweight and can be easily tucked inside my bag.</p><p>There's a Bible verse, about four or five paragraphs of reflection, then a short prayer on each page. Going through each day's entry will just take five minutes or less, but each one is "malaman" and meaty.</p><p>Here's an example of what Pastor Joey wrote in one of the entries: "Faith is to the soul like the pupil to the eye. Faith opens in dark times such as the crises of life. Faith gives us the power to see beyond the darkness. Even if the future looks grim, our faith makes us see in the dark."</p><p>With eyes of faith, let's look forward to what 2021 may bring.</p><p></p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CGG2OYunrzb/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 3px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 0px 0px 1px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 1px 10px 0px; margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px; width: calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding: 16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CGG2OYunrzb/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 0; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank"> <div style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0px;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0px auto 12px; width: 50px;"><svg height="50px" version="1.1" viewbox="0 0 60 60" width="50px" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g fill-rule="evenodd" fill="none" stroke-width="1" stroke="none"><g fill="#000000" transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0px;"></div> <div style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px;"><div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12.5px; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 14px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px); width: 12.5px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style="border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); border-top: 2px solid transparent; height: 0px; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg); width: 0px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="border-right: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); transform: translateY(16px); width: 0px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; transform: translateY(-4px); width: 16px;"></div> <div style="border-left: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); height: 0px; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px); width: 0px;"></div></div></div></a> <p style="margin: 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CGG2OYunrzb/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Something new to read next year: "Unchanging Grace" by Jose "Joey" Umali published by @csmpublishing #devotional</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0px 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kgalarpe/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> K Galarpe</a> (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2020-10-09T03:03:06+00:00" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Oct 8, 2020 at 8:03pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p></p><p><br /></p><p><b>VERSE OF THE WEEK</b>: By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me -- a prayer to the God of my life. Psalm 42:8</p>quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-85779510595298982962020-10-09T07:24:00.004+08:002020-10-09T07:24:57.494+08:00Feeling like 'Miss Philippine' in Bangkok<div>By Karen Galarpe</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Note: This has been in my draft folder for the longest time (2010). Just discovered it again today. Posting now to share this funny incident wherein I felt how it was to be a beauty queen for a few seconds. haha!</i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>My close friends know I have to eat on time. If not, I would either get hyperacidity or hypoglycemia, wherein my hands would get cold and clammy, my heart would palpitate, I would feel faint, and I would just curl up, be quiet and need a piece of candy as a lifeline until the episode passes.<br />
<br />
That is why I always have some emergency food with me: candy and crackers, mostly. Once, when I pulled out some crackers, tea, and some more crackers from my bag, my seatmate at work said, "Ay, ang daming baon," then we both laughed.<br />
<br />
Last month, I found myself in Bangkok to cover an event for the online publication I work for, and I stuffed my bag with some emergency food.<br />
<br />
I'm glad I did, because the ride alone from the airport to the hotel was about an hour through Bangkok's famous traffic -- "worse than Manila's", someone said -- and I haven't had my afternoon snack. So I gobbled up one candy after another while the rest of the media people I was with slept in the van.<br />
<br />
The next day, we were supposed to ride a tourist bus to take us to Chao Praya River where we would dine in a ferry boat while navigating the river, passing by important landmarks such as the King's Palace, etc.<br />
<br />
So I had a snack before the 5 p.m. call time. I ate fruits from the welcome fruit basket, some crackers, and even the bread roll from the plane which I tucked in my bag "for emergency."<br />
<br />
Things were OK until we got caught in Bangkok's famous traffic. I was eating crackers and candies already on the way, but could feel the hunger still.<br />
<br />
It took us almost 2 hours to reach the pier, and by then my energy was at a low point.<br />
<br />
We were having buffet -- hurray -- that means faster access to energy-giving food.<br />
<br />
Alas, we were escorted to a small air-conditioned function room below deck. Though the ferry was big, one could feel the boat swaying and I felt I would throw up anytime soon.<br />
<br />
So I ran out, told my hosts I am getting dizzy, and they said they'll put me in a taxi which would take me back to the hotel. I just nodded while one of them talked in Thai to the driver.<br />
<br />
On the way back, I was just praying that I wouldn't faint. I was in an unfamiliar place and the driver could only speak Thai.<br />
<br />
I munched on some more crackers, had some more candy. Traffic, as expected, was again bad, though it was worse on the way to the ferry earlier.<br />
<br />
Midway back to the hotel, I was already curled up in a fetal position and just eating the crackers like a mouse (I can't eat as I felt like throwing up, so I would eat it little by little). I knew I had to put something in my stomach for the energy and to prevent hyperacidity.<br />
<br />
We reached the hotel, finally, at around 9 p.m. I was surprised I could still walk. I headed to my room and promptly called room service for a cup of hot soup and a ham sandwich -- the lightest meal I could see on the menu.<br />
<br />
In my pajamas, I just curled up in bed. Had no appetite at all anymore.<br />
<br />
Then the doorbell rang and as I opened the door, the room service man greeted me with, "Good evening, Miss Philippine! How are you today?"<br />
<br />
For the first time in 2 or 3 hours, I smiled. But of course, how can you not smile when someone equates you with Venus Raj? hahaha<br />
<br />
So I said, "Oh, I'm sick. I don't feel well."<br />
<br />
The man said, "You don't feel well? You go to the doctor?" He sounded concerned, while wheeling in a cart which serves as a table, topped with a pretty red rose and my order under a silver cover.<br />
<br />
I shook my head and said, "I'll be OK." <br />
<br />
And he parked the cart in front of the TV, took the silver cover with a flourish just like they do in the movies, to reveal [drumroll] ... tadah! My ham sandwich. The consomme soup was in a pretty little bowl with a cover too, and seeing everything look so nice made me feel a little better already.<br />
<br />
He said he'll come back later when I'm finished. I thanked him.<br />
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Since it was already 9:30 p.m. by that time, I couldn't eat much anymore -- nalipasan na ng gutom. I finished the soup, took 2 little bites of ham sandwich, and nibbled on the french fries, smiling to myself. "Miss Philippine!" hahaha<div><br /></div><div>Tomorrow would be a better day for this Miss Philippine, I thought. But first, rest and beauty sleep on the agenda.</div><div><br /></div><div>Have a great day!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>BOOK OF THE WEEK</b>: Reading these days "Gilda Cordero Fernando Sampler", a collection of some of her essays, short stories and speeches. Her writing was so flawless, and her essays are my favorites. Such a talented writer. I've seen her in some events before, and now regret not having the guts to have had a photo taken with her.</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CEYXwJDnACk/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 3px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 0px 0px 1px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 1px 10px 0px; margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px; width: calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding: 16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CEYXwJDnACk/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 0; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank"> <div style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; 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font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0px;"></div> <div style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px;"><div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12.5px; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 14px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px); width: 12.5px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style="border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); border-top: 2px solid transparent; height: 0px; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg); width: 0px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="border-right: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); transform: translateY(16px); width: 0px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; transform: translateY(-4px); width: 16px;"></div> <div style="border-left: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); height: 0px; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px); width: 0px;"></div></div></div></a> <p style="margin: 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CEYXwJDnACk/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Will reread in honor of one of the best Filipina writers, Gilda Cordero Fernando. I love her writing. She will be missed. đ#gildacorderofernando</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0px 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kgalarpe/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> K Galarpe</a> (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2020-08-27T05:20:22+00:00" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Aug 26, 2020 at 10:20pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>VERSE OF THE WEEK</b>: As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. ~ <i>Proverbs 27:19</i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-30650445158347545472020-07-09T12:31:00.000+08:002020-07-09T15:37:57.713+08:00Getting fit at 50 and beyond<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i>By Karen Galarpe</i></div>
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Up. Down. Up. Down. I watched my friend Anna Carlos-Alegre lift what looked like four liters--two liters on each side--of water or vinegar or cooking oil. She did it effortlessly, and I couldn't help watching her do it again and again.<br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Been NEAT-ing to keep moving lately, and mostly in the garden. Today was a cooler, windy day and it was perfect for a quick lunch workout!" she wrote on her Instagram post.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CB4ngv7hV0c/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Been NEAT-ing to keep moving lately, and mostly in the garden. Today was a cooler, windy day andnit was perfect for a quick lunch workout!</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/femmefitall/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> a.c. alegre</a> (@femmefitall) on <time datetime="2020-06-26T04:19:36+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Jun 25, 2020 at 9:19pm PDT</time></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">So there she was doing this in her garden during her lunch break, lifting liters of <i>suka</i> and water. Under the noonday heat. At 50-plus years old. She's my FITspiration!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">"That's actually 4 gallons plus 20 lb barbells in my hands. hahaha," she told me later.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Anna, who was my classmate in UP grad school, in an email interview shares she wasn't really your healthy kid growing up.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">"I was a fat kid, and for the most part, I didn't mind. When I became a teenager, my mom gave me a book about fitness. I forgot the title, but it was a diet book. haha. That just tells you how concerned she was about my figure," she said.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">That got her thinking about the importance of eating healthy and working out. At 14, she got into aerobics and started watching what she ate. At 18, a doctor told her she had scoliosis. "It was slight, but the doctor advised me to do a few back strengthening and stretching exercises," Anna said.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">She then enrolled in a weight training class for P.E. in UP Diliman and "got hooked." Thus began a regular exercise routine of a combination of cardiovascular activities (kickboxing, spinning) and weight training at the gym. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">"For diet, I did portion control, and for the longest time, that was how I controlled my weight," she said.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Anna moved to the US in the 90s and worked as a grade school teacher in California. In 2000 though, she took a break from teaching to go into fitness training. "Why not? It was always part of my life," she said. Anna then became a certified fitness trainer with the International Science Sports Association (ISSA). She also worked for two gyms in Los Angeles. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">After a year though, she went back to teaching grade school students. "I missed it too much," she said.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">In 2012, Anna and her husband moved back to Manila. She continued with her work in education, at one time heading a preschool. Today she works for an international organization committed to education.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">Before she turned 50, Anna discovered she was prediabetic. She then became more serious about getting fit and eating well.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">"I went on a ketogenic diet and have moved on since to a low-carb and non-processed food way of eating," Anna said.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq_HYk2hfYk/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="background: #FFFFFF; line-height: 0; padding: 0 0; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank">
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq_HYk2hfYk/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">August vs December 2018. The journey to 5 unassisted #chinups</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/femmefitall/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> a.c. alegre</a> (@femmefitall) on <time datetime="2018-12-05T00:51:28+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Dec 4, 2018 at 4:51pm PST</time></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">How she became a recertified fitness trainer is a story worth sharing.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">"In 2017, I was on a plane and sat beside two brothers who came from the USA and were on their way to Bacolod. One of them was an online coach, and the other, an Olympian! So we talked about--what else--fitness and pursuing dreams. I told them that I was thinking about getting recertified but I was 49. And the coach said, 'Do it. If you fail, so what? At least you won't look back on your life regretting that you didn't even try.' So I did! And I passed! I got certified by Fitness Edutraining Asia and ACE (American Council on Exercise)," Anna said.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">I've always wanted to ask Anna why it's hard to lose weight, can one get fit after 50, and many other questions you might have too, and so here's my Q and A with her. Hope this would inspire you as well.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><b>Q: Why do people gain weight? </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><i><b>Anna</b>: There is not one reason why people gain weight, but, barring medical conditions, it is generally this: Calories in, calories out. If you take in more calories than you burn, you gain weight. If you burn more calories than you take in, you lose weight.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">It gets harder to lose weight when you're older because around the age of 30, men and women will lose half a pound of muscle a year, especially if they have a sedentary lifestyle (not having any sustained, intense exercise for more than 30 minutes a day or at least 200 minutes a week).</span></span></i><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><b>Q: Please share your 5 best tips for people to lose weight and get fit in mid-life -- tips you yourself have followed and proven true.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><i><b>Anna</b>: These are what have worked for me for the past 3 years. I have never kept my weight off AND stayed this healthy (my family has diabetes and cardiovascular disease on both sides):</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">1. I lift heavy weights to fight the natural loss of muscle and bone density.</span></span></i><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BtCY8f4hTak/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="background: #FFFFFF; line-height: 0; padding: 0 0; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank">
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BtCY8f4hTak/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Was a bit anxious about being "AWOL" for almost 2 weeks, and began my routine the way I usually do, with #deadlifts ... But this time with 60kg 10x2 to warm up and then test 80kg 2x2. Refilling water dispensers at work seems to work for me đȘđ #fitnessafter50 #fitafterfifty #after50fitness #womenwholift #80nutrition20percentexercise</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/femmefitall/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> a.c. alegre</a> (@femmefitall) on <time datetime="2019-01-25T00:28:44+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Jan 24, 2019 at 4:28pm PST</time></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> <script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><i>2. Even without the gym, I try to incorporate the 'big five' movements every day for at least 30 minutes: pushing, pulling, lunging, squatting, and strengthening my core (people usually say 'abs' but abs are made in the kitchen). </i></span></span><br />
<i><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">There are 35 muscles that give you core strength: the abs is the most superficial one. The rest are back muscles, trunk muscles, and hip muscles. All those muscles keep you stable and resistant to injuries. When they're toned, they also make you look lean.</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">3. I found the way of eating that works for me: low carb, IF (intermittent fasting) on weekdays. </span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">I began with keto to lower my triglycerides and bad cholesterol, and my blood glucose, but it fixed a lot of things, including my craving for carbs.</span></span></i><br />
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<i>Abs are made in the kitchen. You can do 300 situps a day and plank 5 minutes, but those muscles will only come out if you lose both visceral fat (the kind that surrounds your organs and is more dangerous, especially to the liver) and subcutaneous fat--the one under the skin.</i></div>
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<i>When you cut excess carbs and calories, the very first to go is visceral fat. That's the fat that makes your belly area big or thick. Subcutaneous fat or that jiggly fat under the skin, is harder to burn. That's where a lifestyle of exercise and healthy eating is essential. </i></div>
<i><span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">4. I try to move around a lot to be in 'NEAT' -- Non-exercise activity thermogenesis. It means all the energy burned for everything that is not sleeping, eating or exercise. So when I walk, I walk briskly. When I sweep and mop, I do big, fast movements. During ECQ, I began gardening. Rakes are amazing NEATers! hahaha</span></span></i><br />
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CAG7ogBB9H9/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">#covid19fitnesschallenge #nogymnoproblem #nogymnoexcuse #quarantineandchill</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/femmefitall/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> a.c. alegre</a> (@femmefitall) on <time datetime="2020-05-13T00:42:00+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">May 12, 2020 at 5:42pm PDT</time></span></span></div>
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<i>5. I stay accountable. I post my progress, my failures on social media so that if I succeed, I succeed publicly. But if I fail, it's more embarrassing because I also fail publicly! And I pass on my knowledge to others. But I can't teach if I don't live what I teach, so it's a wonderful cycle. =)</i><br />
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So there, getting fit even beyond 50 is doable. We may not get to lift weights as much as Anna does (well, I can't, haha), but we can take little steps to put in at least 30 minutes of exercise daily. Here's to good health!<br />
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<b>BOOK OF THE WEEK</b>: I'm reading now this little book <i>Kain Tayo!</i> by Beng Alba-Jones, which I bought <span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">at the </span><a class="notranslate" href="https://www.instagram.com/omflit/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" tabindex="0">@omflit</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> bookshop at Il Terrazzo when I had to wait for someone and realized I had no book to read while waiting. I bought it because it was cheap, lightweight, and easy to read. Well it turned out to be a fun read too since the author shared little anecdotes revolving around food (her hard-as-rock first cake ever, her being called rice lady in the US, among others). There are heartwarming words of wisdom as well and recipes too.</span><br />
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</a> <br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CCaGTPJnt0n/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">I picked up this little book entitled âKain Tayo!â by Beng Alba-Jones at the @omflit bookshop at Il Terrazzo when I had to wait for someone and realized I had no book to read while waiting. I bought it because it was cheap, lightweight, and easy to read. Well it turned out to be a fun read too since the author shared little anecdotes revolving around food (her hard-as-rock first cake ever, her being called rice lady in the US, among others). There are heartwarming words of wisdom as well and recipes too.</a></div>
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A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kgalarpe/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> K Galarpe</a> (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2020-07-09T04:23:34+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Jul 8, 2020 at 9:23pm PDT</time></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> <script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>VERSE OF THE WEEK</b>: "Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!" <i>Psalm 34:8</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #262626;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> <script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></span></span>quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-20279486669053805502020-05-18T12:51:00.002+08:002022-02-03T11:17:48.549+08:00Going offlineBy Karen Galarpe<br />
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<i>Note: I wrote this back in September 2012 and only saw this recently in my inbox, still unpublished. Well, here it is, seeing the light of day. :)</i></div>
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It's 9 p.m. as I write this, my bedtime in fact, but I have yet to log off on my Twitter and Facebook accounts, my personal and work email addresses, and close the tabs on my browser. </div>
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Let's see. I've been off work since 4 p.m., but I was busy working on something, and subsequently clocked out at 5:20 p.m.</div>
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When I got home before 6 p.m., I checked our website and my emails just to see if there's nothing urgent in case of the latter, and nothing erroneous in the articles I edited and posted online during the day.</div>
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From there, it was a quick hop to Facebook and Twitter, and when I saw someone post a story pitch in our group on FB, I went back to check our website to see if we had covered it already. Indeed we had.</div>
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But what are the new stories posted on our site? I click the archives, read the headlines, read stories.</div>
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Soon I remembered something and wrote an email about work.</div>
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So now it's 9:20 p.m. and I am still up.</div>
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"But how do you go offline?" my friend asked me last summer after I answered his question about my work.</div>
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I stopped in my tracks. How indeed do I go offline?</div>
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The truth is, I hardly go offline.</div>
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Going online is just a way of life. In the morning, I check the news sites and social media to know what's happening. When I need to contact a friend, I check first if she's online, and if not, that's when I text her. At work, instead of hollering to someone across the room, I use the chat function on Gmail. Looking for a recipe? I turn to a food site. Need directions to get to a place? There's Google Maps. And if I feel like trying out something new for lunch, I look up food blogs.</div>
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The downside to this, though, is that going offline can be jarring, especially when it's involuntary.</div>
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Three weeks ago, when the habagat flood inundated Metro Manila, our Internet service at home got cut. And many other subscribers also experienced it, as reported by the recorded message played on the hotline of my ISP.</div>
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It took two weeks before service was fully restored, but our router is still not working, so that makes it 3 weeks now.</div>
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I had no choice but have no access to the Internet outside the office, unless I go to a Wi-Fi place or an Internet cafe.</div>
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At first it was unsettling, but later on I learned to enjoy my off-duty hours reading a book (print version), lying down, resting, and even cooking.</div>
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And I realized going offline can be relaxing.</div>
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When do you go offline? I heard one IT exec saying he turns off his Blackberry after work so he can enjoy time with his family, and he did realize that work can wait til the next day.</div>
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Sometimes we have made going online our default mode that we forget the joys of an offline life. Let's not miss out on those.</div>
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And I realized going offline can be relaxing.</div>
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<b>BOOK OF THE WEEK:</b> <span face=", , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #262626;">I'm still reading Anthony Bourdainâs âA Cookâs Tourâ which I started before the ECQ. For 30 minutes, over lunch, I feel like Iâm in Vietnam eating pho, in Spain having tapas, and in Portugal eyeing the cozido even if Iâm just having Korean ramen or homemade egg sandwich in Manila.</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B7igBtgH8_C/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Iâve been reading Anthony Bourdainâs âA Cookâs Tourâ while having lunch the past few days. For 30 minutes, I feel like Iâm in Vietnam eating pho, in Spain having tapas, and in Portugal eyeing the cozido even if Iâm just having Korean ramen or homemade egg sandwich in Manila. đŽđ„Șđ đ€đ</a></div>
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A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kgalarpe/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> Karen Galarpe</a> (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2020-01-20T11:02:32+00:00" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Jan 20, 2020 at 3:02am PST</time></div>
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<span face=", , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #262626;"><b>VERSE OF THE WEEK:</b> </span>Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom (NLT). <i>Psalm 90:12</i></div>
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quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-88208938481234404412019-05-21T17:13:00.000+08:002019-05-21T18:53:22.200+08:00Q&A with millennial songwriter Raffy CabristanteA few years ago, we had an eager young man on our social media team at GMA News who seemed to never run out of energy. Raffy Cabristante, who hails from Dumaguete City, would do his job well even at odd hours, contribute articles even when it's not required of him to do so, and pester me often in hallways to ask if we had a job opening for a news reporter.<br />
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Off duty, he would do some jamming with a band he formed with friends.<br />
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It was no surprise then when I read from one of his Facebook posts that a song he wrote (lyrics) got recorded by his friend named Kyle Juliano. This was "Malapit Pa Rin."<br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BoKmpoHskSs" width="560"></iframe><br />
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I messaged him to congratulate him and ask, um, how does that Spotify link to his song he posted work? Do I need to subscribe or download an app?<br />
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Patience seems to be one of his virtues and so he advised this non-techie tita of Manila what to do.<br />
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So that's how "Malapit Pa Rin" became one of my most played songs on Spotify. Raffy also told me he had another song (music and lyrics are his), also recorded by Kyle Juliano, entitled "Crashing." He said this was the song that is most personal for him.<br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hEhGFpPszOM" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Anyway, so the other day Raffy posted on Facebook that "Crashing" just got 3 million plays on Spotify. Congrats, Raffy!<br />
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<iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="675" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fraffycabristante%2Fposts%2F10215904573820712&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe><br />
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I asked him before about songwriting and all that stuff, and thought you might find this interesting too. Here's our Q and A:<br />
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<b>K: Tell me something about yourself.</b><br />
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<b>RAFFY</b>: <span style="background-color: #f1f0f0; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm 25, born in Manila but raised in Dumaguete. I work as a community journalist based in Dumaguete City, but I also work on music from time to time.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f1f0f0; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>K: Have you always been into music? What can you remember doing when you were younger?</b></span><br />
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<b>RAFFY</b>: I've been into music since fifth grade, when I started writing lyrics and poems on my notebook in between classes. My interest in music grew as I learned the drums and guitar (partly through lessons but mostly self-taught) when I was in the sixth grade. It was only when I knew how to play instruments that I set the lyrics into music.
I first fell in love with music when I joined our church choir as soprano when I was a kid... and later bass when I grew up (big drop haha). </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f1f0f0; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>K: Tell me about your music career.</b>
<b>RAFFY</b>: I feel fortunate that I spent my teenage/high school years in the 2000s when interest in rock music (particularly OPM rock) was so high. Since I already knew the guitar and drums at the time, I would frequently join different bands in high school. Most of the time, we did covers of hit rock songs at the time (like songs from Callalily, Kamikazee, Parokya ni Edgar, Bamboo, Hale, and other OPM bands)... but we also wrote songs. I was so passionate about music that I ended up leaving my studies behind. I was a freshman then at the Ramon Teves Pastor Memorial - Dumaguete Science High School, a prestigious public science high school with a minimum grade requirement of 85 (at the time). Because I focused more on music than studies, I didn't meet the requirement and I was advised to transfer to another school. Funnily enough, the school that booted me out because of music also invited me (and my present band The Chill Pills) to do a gig in a major school event. Ironic, but funny. Haha!
My passion for bands continued until college, when some friends I met at NSTP got together to form a band called TetraPack (a reference to the packaging brand). The band was quite short-lived because we were too busy with academics, but we did land a gig at a fun day at the Silliman University College of Business Administration in 2010. Hehe!
It was in 2011 when a song I wrote finally got public attention, when I became a finalist for that year's Valentine Songwriting Competition, one of the most well-known songwriting tilts in Dumaguete and Silliman's version of "Himig Handog." The song was about heartbreak called "Slowdown." It didn't win, but hey, being a finalist in a competition as well-known as VSC was already enough for me then.
Through the following years, I was so busy with school and with pursuing my other passion of journalism. When I was still working with GMA News in 2015, I managed to form an acoustic band with college classmate (and erstwhile GMA News SMT teammate) Katrin Arcala, jamming together during our days off in BGC and a studio in Makati. I played the guitar, Kat was the lead singer; pina-MYMP. We would make short videos of covers then; it was really more of a way for us to unwind from the daily grind of our individual jobs. We called ourselves "The Chill Pills" (Kat and I made up the first lineup). The name was inspired by Alma Moreno's viral TV interview then, when she blurted out "Pills!" It also took inspiration from the expression "take a chill pill," which pretty much described the music we were making back then.
The present lineup of The Chill Pills is Kyle Juliano on vocals and rhythm guitar, Jon David "JD" Garcia on lead guitar, and myself on drums and percussion. We got together late 2016 after I tapped Kyle (a churchmate of mine) to sing a song I was working on called "Malapit Pa Rin." Kyle and JD were bandmates during their high school years; Kyle called JD in when we were recording "Malapit Pa Rin" at a friend's indie home studio on December of that year.
Even though Kyle is already based in Manila as a solo artist for Universal Records Philippines, we still jam together from time to time as a band, especially when Kyle comes home to Dumaguete. Most of the songs I wrote were performed by Kyle. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f1f0f0; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>K: What are your compositions? How did you come up with each of them?</b>
<b>RAFFY</b>: Here I'll only discuss my notable published compositions:
a. Malapit Pa Rin - a Filipino adaptation of the hit Indonesian pop song "Dekat Di Hati" (Close To My Heart) by the group RAN. I wrote the Tagalog lyrics in 2016 and talks about long-distance relationships. We released the song independently on radio and online on Valentine's Day 2017. Later the song was discovered by Universal Records. After getting the proper permission from the original Indonesian artists, the song was re-recorded by Kyle and was released on August 2017. It became a viral hit on Spotify Philippines; it peaked at #10 at the "Viral 50 Philippines" chart. Kyle also performed the song with Piolo Pascual on ASAP on July 2017.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f1f0f0; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">b. Crashing - This is perhaps the most personal song I've ever written. I wrote the song when I was still working as an online journalist in Cebu during the summer of 2017, based on real-life experiences. It's a ballad that tells the all too familiar story of a hopeless romantic, who first gets his hopes up when he falls in love with someone but later finds out that it was all for nothing after a rejection. At first, I didn't really intend the song for public release as it was only a way for me to deal with pain at the time. But I realized that I can't pass up on the opportunity of it going published and it was later noticed by Universal. It was recorded by Kyle and was released as a single on December 2017. "Crashing" has topped several different radio charts all over the Philippines; its lyric video is the most-viewed among Kyle's singles. It has also been nominated for "Pop Song of the Year" at the 2019 Wish 107.5 Music Awards.
My favorite line in the song is this: "And I pray to God to give me strength / Cause your beauty makes me weak"
c. The Boy I Used To Know - Written only a month after "Crashing," this is the only song I wrote that was not performed by Kyle. It was originally "The Girl I Used To Know," but the gender was changed after the song was given to a female artist. It was first recorded by Dumaguete-based singer-songwriter Jamie Kay Roa, and we released it independently on Facebook. It was later re-recorded by celebrity singer Angelina Cruz and released as one of the tracks of her debut extended play (EP) on July 2018, under Universal Records Philippines.
d. Unta Single Na Ka (Sana Single Ka Na) - This is perhaps my most notable Cebuano pop song. Kyle, JD, and I first recorded the song as a rough demo in March 2017. It later gained attention after it became one of the finalists for the first Kanta Kasingkasing Bisaya songwriting competition. It was a worldwide songwriting competition, with the finals night held in Cebu City. The final version of the song was performed by Dumaguete-based artists Zach and Zeph Buenavista.
It's a song whose theme was inspired by "Kung Ako Na Lang Sana;" it's a message from a guy who's in love with her girl best friend, the girl only comes to him to open up and when her relationship runs into problems. It was released under Kasikas Records and Viva Records.
e. Take Control - An upbeat urban cool pop song where the singer asks a girl to take a chance on him, even if they're both hurting from their previous relationships. Its sound takes inspiration from the electronic pop music of indie bands LANY and The 1975 (which Kyle and I are big fans of). The song is a collaboration of myself, Kyle, and upcoming urban music singer-songwriter-producer Fern. (Fern Tan). "Take Control" was released as one of the tracks of Kyle's debut EP on September 2018, under Universal Records.
<b>K: Any advice to other young composers?</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f1f0f0; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>RAFFY</b>: Well, to my fellow young composers, here are two pieces of advice.
First, keep writing. Never stop. Write about anything, write about everything. There's no other way to keep the fire alive other than fanning it. Our love of music and songwriting is a fire, and by continuous writing, we let our talent grow and we keep it alive.
Second, be yourself. Even if they don't know the songwriters personally, people can easily feel the raw, authentic emotions of a song that's honestly written. Most of the hit songs out there (like MercyMe's "I Can Only Imagine") were inspired by real events, real people, real feelings, and real experiences. Madaling nakukuha ang loob ng tao sa pamamagitan ng kantang may malalim na pinaghuhugutan. I experienced this first-hand when "Crashing" became a radio hit and people came to me saying they felt the emotion of the song. Keep it real, and the emotions will simply come out in the songs you write.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f1f0f0; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, Raffy. Keep on writing!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f1f0f0;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>BOOK OF THE WEEK:</b> Have you heard of the book "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi? Ay grabe. Excellent prose, touching story. Kalanithi is a neurosurgeon who wrote about how he struggled to treat others when he himself needed healing from cancer. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f1f0f0;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>VERSE OF THE WEEK</b>: By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me -- a prayer to the God of my life. <i>Psalm 42:8</i></span></span></span><br />
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quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-16397777171123894822019-05-20T21:13:00.000+08:002019-05-21T08:57:01.623+08:00MoonglowDriving to work this morning at around 4:45 a.m., I was mesmerized by a beautiful sight in the sky. The moon. A beautiful moon. A beautiful round full moon glowing down at me.<br />
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I looked at it while waiting at a stoplight and told myself to take a picture of the moon when I get to work.<br />
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Because I parked maybe 4-5 blocks away from my workplace, it took maybe another 5-10 minutes to get to the office. By then the dark skies have become a bit brighter as sunrise was just a few minutes away.<br />
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I looked again at the moon and made a mental note to arrive at the office earlier tomorrow -- earlier than 5 a.m. -- so as to be able to take a photo of the moon against the background of a dark sky.<br />
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Thank you, Lord God, for the moon, I whispered a prayer.<br />
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May we not be so busy that we fail to see the beauty around us and to give credit to the Creator.<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxsvj-klKKM/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Moon over a city getting ready for the day. 5:10 a.m. in QC. Rise and shine! #moonglow #moon #timogavenue</a></div>
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A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kgalarpe/" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> Karen Galarpe</a> (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2019-05-20T21:16:45+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">May 20, 2019 at 2:16pm PDT</time></div>
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<b>BOOK OF THE WEEK</b>: I'm reading "How To Make Disease Disappear" by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee. I read health books and fitness/diet articles online because I believe that if I bombard myself with tons of health stuff, I will actually be brainwashed into pursuing a healthier lifestyle. Dr. Chatterjee's book is simple to understand yet is very practical and helpful. The advisory in a nutshell: Relax. Eat. Move. Sleep.<br />
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<b>VERSE OF THE WEEK</b>: "How blessed is he whose help is in the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God." <i>Psalm 146:5</i>quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-43471175984906474122019-05-10T21:58:00.002+08:002019-05-11T15:42:04.517+08:00RestI spent most of my day off yesterday curled up in bed or the armchair. I don't know why I felt so tired. Maybe it's the summer heat or the lack of sleep or the busy schedule, or all of these. So I just heeded what I think my body was telling me, and just rested.<br />
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My rehab med doctor once told me: "Listen to your body." Sometimes we ignore what our bodies tell us and still keep busy despite the pain or fatigue, and then we get sick.</div>
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Make time for rest. I for one would love to go out of town and just do nothing but rest. Hopefully I can get to do that soon.</div>
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"Doing is important but so is resting," according to this post I saw on Instagram.</div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BxSEPwNAx2x/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Rest is important and we all need it. It can be hard to admit this, i know. Often we are caught up in the businesses of our daily lives and we forget to stop and take a minute. To soak in the present, give ourselves credit and take a breath before we move forward. So this weekend take a minute to have some quality time to just rest. Just be. Appreciate yourself †Artist credit: @sonaksha</a></div>
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A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thedailygrin/" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> YOU MATTER</a> (@thedailygrin) on <time datetime="2019-05-10T12:37:59+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">May 10, 2019 at 5:37am PDT</time></div>
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"Take time to work. Make time to rest," my friend Lyqa Maravilla advised.</div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw67wqFBlkO/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">There's a right time for everything. This should include time to #work and #time to #rest. Don't wait for the perfect time to hit #pause on things. Because if you don't make time to rest, your body and your mind will give up on you. That's something I learned the hard way.â â â â â â â â â .â â â â â â â â â So, work hard. But, make time to rest. Write it on your #calendar. #Plan it ahead. The more you work and the more crucial the tasks are, the more you should prioritize time to #breathe, rest, and #play.â â â â â â â â â . #PayoNiAteLyqa #Quote #QuoteMe #Inspiration #Motivation #TeamLyqa #Advice #success #life #lifecoach #selfcare #selflove</a></div>
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A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lyqamaravilla/" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> ANGELIQUE | Coach Lyqa</a> (@lyqamaravilla) on <time datetime="2019-05-01T13:01:18+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">May 1, 2019 at 6:01am PDT</time></div>
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So rest. Yup, you.</div>
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<b>BOOK OF THE WEEK</b>: While curled up on my favorite armchair yesterday, I finished reading <i>It's A Mens World</i> by Bebang Siy. Wow, what an interesting book! So hard to put down.. Bebang writes from the heart and talks to us her readers like we are her bestfriends as she makes kuwento about living in Ermita, having a broken family, dating, etc. in a funny endearing way. No wonder this book is a bestseller!</div>
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<b>VERSE OF THE WEEK</b>: "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows." <i>Matthew 10:29-31</i></div>
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quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-71405918426990622552019-01-04T19:09:00.001+08:002019-01-05T16:15:18.868+08:0025 things I have learned so far<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">After greeting me a happy birthday this morning, someone asked me via Viber today what I have learned so far and what I am looking forward to. Wait, that deserves a more lengthy reply, I said. đ </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Iâve learned so many things in my 52 years of living (yup, no use hiding my age) and here are some of them:</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">1. Eat on time.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">2. Have some time to be quiet.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">3. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day on most days.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">4. It pays to sleep early.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">5. You donât have to go to every party.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">6. People may forget bylines but not the way you treat them.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">7. Integrity is what you do when no one is watching.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">8. Drink lots of water.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">9. Set your priorities right: God first, then family, then work.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">10. Rest. Youâre not a superhero.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">11. Love your family and spend time with them.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">12. Read. It widens your world.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">13. Read the Bible. Feed your soul.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">14. Dark chocolates are healthy and a great way to cap the meal. Meiji Black is yum!</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">15. Make time to meet friends and listen to what they have to say.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">16. Be friends with your exes (generally).</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">17. Eat more veggies.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">18. Make friends with the watch your car boy and parking attendant.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">19. Listen to your body.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">20. Find a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">21. Pursue your passion.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">22. Learn something new every day.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">23. Sing when you feel like singing even when in the car alone.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">24. Travel, even by yourself, to recharge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">25. You may not see the future, and clouds may be blocking your view (as in a video I took this morning in Tagaytay) but with God, everything will be alright. â€ïž</span><br />
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A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kgalarpe/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_medium=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> Karen Galarpe</a> (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2019-01-04T11:08:16+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Jan 4, 2019 at 3:08am PST</time></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">As to what I am looking forward to, just more of some peace and quiet, as I trust God that Heâs in control.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>BOOK OF THE WEEK: </b>My sister told me about this book written by her classmate's mother who is already in her 90s. I got curious and asked if the author is Lourdes Syquia-Bautista. Yes, she's the author of "Faith, Family and Friends: A Celebration of God's Goodness." I was ecstatic to have the chance to read this book (my sister lent me her copy given by her classmate) written by Mrs. Bautista, wife of our adviser in The Varsitarian when I was in college, the late Felix Bautista. She is also the mother of my editor-in-chief at The Varsitarian, Noel Martin Bautista. Small world! I'm in the first few chapters already and it's a good engaging read. Mrs. Bautista, who taught English for decades, writes very well. This book collates her articles for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Life Today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>VERSE OF THE WEEK:</b> The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. ~ Psalm 23:1-3</span></div>
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quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-17498930265741161052018-12-31T17:41:00.001+08:002019-01-01T13:28:03.955+08:00Life lessonsIn a few hours, the new year, 2019, will ring in. Looking at my planner this year, I can't help but be amazed at how fast time flies. So many things happened this year, 2018. New friends were made, old friends found again, and wonderful moments were spent with loved ones.<br />
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One of the lessons I have learned and am still learning this year is the need to make time to rest. Rest is good. Rest is refreshing. Rest is a must.</div>
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One of the country's most successful businessmen, John Gokongwei, Jr., apparently makes sure to take care of himself well. He takes hour-long power naps after lunch. He also exercises every day and is always home for dinner. More of his life lessons are in the book "Lessons from Dad, John Gokongwei, Jr." by Lance Gokongwei with Yvette Fernandez -- a little book worth reading.<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BsC9fk3ByUX/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_medium=loading" style="background: #FFFFFF; line-height: 0; padding: 0 0; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank">
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BsC9fk3ByUX/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_medium=loading" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">One of the best reads I had this year is this little book I swiped off my dad's table: "Lessons from Dad, John Gokongwei, Jr." by Lance Gokongwei with Yvette Fernandez. You can finish reading it in less than an hour, but it's filled with wise advice practiced by Gokongwei himself covering family, work, living. Some of the lessons he lived and shared: Spend as much time as you can with your family; It is never too late to get an education; Find your passion; Live simply; Pray. #karensbookoftheweek #lessonsfromdadjohngokongweijr #bookstagram #lancegokongwei #johngokongweijr</a></div>
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A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kgalarpe/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_medium=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> Karen Galarpe</a> (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2018-12-31T09:13:24+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Dec 31, 2018 at 1:13am PST</time></div>
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What has this year taught you? May we all take stock to look back at what we have learned and ought to learn some more, and thank God for His blessings. Happy new year!</div>
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<b>BOOK OF THE WEEK:</b> I finally finished Nick Joaquin's "A Question of Heroes" which casts a critical eye on our history. Heneral Antonio Luna, Emilio Aguinaldo, Apolinario Mabini, Jose Rizal, and Andres Bonifacio, among others, come alive in this book and you come away feeling that history would have turned out differently had cooler heads prevailed.</div>
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<b>VERSE OF THE WEEK:</b> You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. <i>Isaiah 55:12</i></div>
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quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-43779520931254421592018-09-15T21:20:00.001+08:002018-09-15T21:24:18.016+08:00Is he the one?<i>By Karen Galarpe</i><br />
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These days I'm feeling the pain of a couple of friends who are both going through something hard -- something that hits the core, the love life kind of pain.<br />
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The most I could do is listen and pray.<br />
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A few years back, another friend opened up to me and with tears asked me, "How do you know he's the one?"<br />
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Well how do you answer that?<br />
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When I was so much younger I asked this too of someone more mature than me. And she said if you have to ask that, then chances are he's not the one. Because if he's the one, you would know.<br />
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There are some couples, who when you see them, they just seem so right for each other. They're a good fit, they complement each other, and they're so happy to know they're meant for each other. It's a joy coming from deep within.<br />
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Some of these couples are our pastor Peter Tan-Chi and his wife Deonna (authors of the book "Motivate"), their daughter Joy Tan-Chi Mendoza and her husband Edric Mendoza, and our pastor Dr. Alex Marcos and his wife Dr. May Marcos.<br />
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Two of my friends have also found the one for them. I asked them how they met and how they knew the other was the one. Maybe this can help point you to the right direction.<br />
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<b>Met at McDonald's</b><br />
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Vie Lising-Velasco is a ballet teacher. She is married to Rene. Let's hear it straight from Vie:<br />
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<i>"Back in the day when McDonald's was at its peak in hiring college students, I was summoned three times for interviews and got the job! That was where I met my now-husband Rene. According to him, it was never the same after he saw me. I detected by his actions that he wanted to court me. I hesitated because in my heart I was not sure if he was the right man for me.</i><br />
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<i>"After around a total of six hours of intermittent conversations, he mentioned that he is a Christian. He was exhilarated to know that I, too, am a follower of Christ.</i><br />
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<i>"During our four-year boyfriend and girlfriend relationship, we broke up twice. My mother would call Rene and ask him to reconcile with me. Now that I am reminiscing that God-sent moment, I realize that God can use parents to make His will known.</i><br />
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<i>"Through all the circumstances that God orchestrated plus Rene showing the fruit of the Holy Spirit of what a Christian should be, I knew he was the one.</i><br />
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<i>"We celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary last July. Every year, our three wonderful daughters would always come up with something on our wedding anniversary!"</i><br />
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<b>Youth pastor to husband</b><br />
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Anna Carlos-Alegre is an educator. She is married to Venjoy. Here's Anna in her own words:<br />
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<i>"My story may be unique, but I think it is the best way to find your forever! My husband was my youth pastor, my mentor, and eventually, became my best friend and confidant. For 15 years! That is probably the most unique part of our story.</i><br />
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<i>"To condense the impressions that God made in my heart over that span of 15 years (met him when I was 16), he was my best friend -- he knew me inside out. He was selfless; he saw me through my string of "love lives" and broken hearts (because he was my confidant), and always gave good advice -- that wasn't necessarily favorable towards him. </i><br />
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<i>"He also said, 'You need me!' as he made his love known, and in my youthful proud heart, I tried proving to him that I did not. He was loving enough to confront me when I was wrong, and he did it gently. And despite the happiest romances I had over those years, I always felt like he was home.</i><br />
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<i>"When I lost him to the US and silence for 4 years, that was when I knew that he was the one that this phrase embodied: 'Don't marry the one you can live with. Marry the one you feel you cannot live without.' He was right and I had to humble myself!"</i><br />
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So there. If it is God's will for you to marry, He knows best. Seek His guidance and trust Him.<br />
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<b>VERSE OF THE WEEK:</b> Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. Proverbs 19:21<br />
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<b>BOOK OF THE WEEK:</b> There are two kinds of leaders: the self-serving leader and the servant leader. Which one are you? According to The Servant Leader by Ken Blanchard, the self-serving leader spends most of his time protecting his status. Feedback is thus received negatively. The servant leader, on the other hand, views leadership as an act of service. He embraces feedback and sees it as a way to improve and provide even better service. To be an effective leader, you have to start with the heart.quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-61771927646591711762018-09-12T22:06:00.001+08:002018-09-12T22:25:24.182+08:00Hunter's got a new heart!<i>By Karen Galarpe</i><br />
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There is this little baby in Gainesville, Florida, whom I look out for daily. His name is Hunter Fenix.<br />
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Every day for many months now, I've been following the updates of his parents, Pastor Jonathan and Coco Fenix, on Facebook. </div>
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Born with a congenital heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, which affects the normal blood flow of the heart, Hunter has been hooked to a Berlin heart for quite some time now. That Berlin heart is an artificial device that pumps blood from a ventricle and delivers it to the aorta.</div>
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Sometimes clots form and there was a time he had sepsis. But God has delivered him from those otherwise worrisome instances. </div>
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He has many tubes going into his body, but that doesn't stop him from enjoying cuddling with his parents and playing with his rattles and mobile toys.</div>
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According to his parents, Hunter needs a donor heart since he can't use the Berlin heart forever. And so I joined the many people praying for little Hunter to get a heart soon.</div>
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Well, guess what, God has heard our prayers! Hunter got a new heart today! Thank you, Lord!</div>
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Let's continue praying for Hunter, that his body won't reject the heart. Let us also pray for the family of the donor, that they may feel God's comfort and love most especially at this difficult time.</div>
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Join me in following updates on Hunter. Like the FB page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/heartforhunterfenix/?__xts__[0]=33.%7B%22logging_data%22%3A%7B%22page_id%22%3A864815707024210%2C%22event_type%22%3A%22clicked_all_page_posts%22%2C%22impression_info%22%3A%22eyJmIjp7InBhZ2VfaWQiOiI4NjQ4MTU3MDcwMjQyMTAiLCJpdGVtX2NvdW50IjoiMCJ9fQ%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22www_pages_home%22%2C%22interacted_story_type%22%3A%22565413710334575%22%2C%22session_id%22%3A%22ded78393ccdd30c327f948c3fa4f5087%22%7D%7D">Heart for Hunter Fenix</a> and see this miracle baby.<br />
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<b>BOOK OF THE WEEK: </b>I picked up the book "Perennial" by Twila Paris at Books for Less inside SM Hypermart in Tiendesitas about a year ago or so. It's a beautiful book collating her musings about life and the lessons God has been teaching her. Written in a warm, friendly tone, the book also gives gardening tips and includes lyrics to Twila's songs. Twila is a Christian singer with several albums to her name. A delightful read.<br />
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<b>VERSE OF THE WEEK: </b>For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. Psalm 139:13</div>
quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-38251239653876576342018-07-20T12:45:00.000+08:002018-07-20T20:17:24.378+08:00Leptospirosis took a freshman's lifeBy Karen Galarpe<br />
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More than 20 years ago, I found myself walking with someone toward a yard with a huge tree somewhere in a barangay near the yet-to-be developed Bonifacio Global City. It was a cloudy afternoon, and the skies, with its dark clouds soon to bring rain, seemed to be mourning.<br />
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Outside a simple house were a few chairs, and we were met by a woman with a sad look on her face. She was the mother of the young girl in a coffin inside the house.<br />
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Entering the house, she gestured toward the simple white coffin, and "introduced" us to the young girl. "Anak ko," she said.<br />
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We barely said a word, and proceeded to view the body. She was a lovely girl, so young and full of promise.<br />
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Her mother then bade us to sit, then told us about her.<br />
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She was a freshman at Centro Escolar University in Manila studying dentistry. One day it rained so hard, and she had no choice but wade through calf-deep floodwaters somewhere on her way home from Mendiola to Fort Bonifacio.<br />
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Then she became ill with fever and malaise. "Akala namin, trangkaso lang," the mother said. But the young woman got worse as the days went on, complaining of headache and body ache. Then she turned yellow.<br />
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They brought her to a doctor but by then the leptospirosis had already caused kidney failure. She died a few days after.<br />
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We didn't know what to say. What made it worse was that only after the girl died did my companion find out that she was his sister from a different mother.<br />
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This is a true story. It's what made me want to reach out to my own brother from a different mother.<br />
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Leptospirosis can strike innocent youth as well as otherwise healthy adults. This rainy season, please do take the necessary precautions and avoid wading through floodwaters.<br />
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And reach out to your family. Before it's too late.<br />
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<b>READ:</b> <a href="http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/healthandwellness/658627/even-simple-skin-abrasion-can-lead-to-leptospirosis-doctor/story/">Even simple skin abrasion can lead to leptospirosis --doctor</a><br />
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<b>READ:</b> <a href="http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/specialreports/269490/infographic-what-is-leptospirosis/story/">Infographic: What is leptospirosis?</a><br />
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<b>BOOK OF THE WEEK: </b>I am currently finishing the Left Behind: The Kids series by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye with Chris Fabry after I was able to order the books missing from our collection. Yes, I read young adult fiction. :) The Kids series is the young adult version of the Left Behind series. It's Christian fiction that's hard to put down.<br />
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<b>VERSE OF THE WEEK:</b> "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." <i>Ecclesiastes 3:1</i><br />
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<br />quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-48635844505867684632018-06-08T16:32:00.000+08:002018-06-10T13:31:26.716+08:00Thank you, and thank you againI wrote this back in 2012, and found it my email today. Sharing because it is still a good reminder to be grateful. đ<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;"><b>Thank you, and thank you again</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">What are some of the first few words and phrases we teach children? It could be "please" or "mama" or "papa". Or even "yaya." After a child masters these words, don't we teach him or her to say "thank you" too?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">Yet be honest with me. How many times have you said thank you today to someone or for something? Maybe less than what we hope to have done.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">Don't worry; don't be guilty. I, too, need more practice in that department.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">Have you ever wondered why it's not easy or it's not a default mode for adults to be thankful--even if this is one of the first things they are taught?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">Maybe we have been busy. Or skeptical, or jaded, or cynical. And that is a sad thing.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">Toward the end of the little book of 1 Thessalonians (I say little because you can finish it in one sitting; go ahead and try it) is one phrase--it's not even a sentence--that God wants us to do.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">It says "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">If you paraphrase it, it will be something like this: Thank God for whatever happens to you because He wants you to go through it now that you are one with Christ.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">When I read that, I am struck by when we are supposed to be grateful. It says "in all circumstances." Are we supposed to thank God even for the circumstances which are not pleasant, example: financial difficulty?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">Yes, because the Bible says "give thanks in all circumstances" -- that means both the pleasant and unpleasant circumstances.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">Now when you have only P500 left in your wallet, it might be hard and even illogical to thank God.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">Or when your child or sibling or parent gets really sick, it is hard to say, "Thank you Lord," isn't it?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">But God has a plan for each one of us, since this verse says God wills it that certain events happen in our lives.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">So I think it's all a matter of trust. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">Let's look at what the Bible has to day further:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">Psalm 34:1: I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">Daniel 6:10: Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">Ephesians 5:20: always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">The words "at all times", "as he had done before", and "always" appear in these verses, making it clear to us when we should give thanks--in both the good and hard times because God is in control.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">I can be at peace knowing that God has a plan for me, and nothing happens to me without His permission. Although some things may happen that we don't like, God must have a purpose why such events happen, thus we should trust Him and be thankful that He is in control.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">Aren't you glad God is in control? And because He is, we can just rest secure in His love, no matter what happens.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">To summarize, let us have this mindset: thank God for everything, for both the pleasant and seemingly unpleasant events in my life. Trust Him that He is in control of everything and you are safe in His loving arms.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;"><b>BOOK OF THE WEEK:</b> I'm just in the first three chapters of "French Women Don't Get Fat" by Mireille Guiliano but so far I like what I have read so far. To lose weight, go for quality over quantity (a little piece of dark chocolate twice a week for instance instead of Snickers bars), never be hungry, have yogurt (hurray!), and have a little pack of nuts as emergency food. This looks to be one diet book that doesn't make you feel deprived.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BjQvHbejl6V/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Merienda: Greek yogurt, walnuts, and a few chapters of the non-diet book "French Women Don't Get Fat" #healthyeating #frenchwomendontgetfat</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kgalarpe/" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> Karen Galarpe</a> (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2018-05-27T00:54:36+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">May 26, 2018 at 5:54pm PDT</time></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , serif;"><b>VERSE OF THE WEEK:</b> The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. ~ Habakkuk 3:19</span><br />
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<br />quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-44335997965300779932018-05-15T20:27:00.000+08:002018-05-15T20:27:17.792+08:00Happy happy hormonesby Karen Galarpe<br />
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Let's see... that's two Happys (by Pharrell Williams), two Septembers (Earth, Wind and Fire), two Boogie Wonderlands (Earth, Wind and Fire), one more Happy, and to catch my breath, one Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Frankie Valli).<br />
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Those were for my 30-minute workout today at home, which I am happy to report, I finished. Yay! Never mind the awkward moves (it's true, I have two left feet) but if I can stretch and move and do so without blacking out, then that's good enough for me.<br />
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I've been trying to have a healthier lifestyle since last year, and although I think I am more fit now than I was a couple of years ago, I wish I could be more consistent in working out. My mission: 30 minutes a day at least, or on most days. My vision: a flatter tummy, slimmer arms, or, if those two are unreachable, then just a body that's more fit today than yesterday.<br />
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And so I cheered myself on as I rose from the comfy armchair I usually plop into when I get home from work. C'mon, Karen, you can do it, I told myself as I set the alarm for 30 minutes afterward on my phone.<br />
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So yeah, I did those aerobic/Zumba moves or what passed for those, and although midway I was contemplating ditching the workout and just resort to singing instead (mas kaya yata), I soldiered on, lunges, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrZ9evvksgA">grapevine</a> steps, and all.<br />
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Soon, the alarm rang. But wait, I want one more Happy! And so, one more Happy then. Thirty-four minutes workout today as a result. Happy happy hormones!<br />
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Have you done some exercise today? Lately? This year? Go and do something, and if you need some music to groove to, try two Happys, two <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs069dndIYk">September</a>s, two <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=god7hAPv8f0">Boogie Wonderland</a>s, one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcJm1pOswfM">Can't Take My Eyes Off You</a>, and another dose of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbZSe6N_BXs">Happy</a>. Have a great workout!<br />
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<b>BOOK OF THE WEEK</b>: <span style="background-color: white; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">I learned so many things about myself and other introverts in this book "Quiet" by Susan Cain. "The same person who would never raise his hand in a lecture hall of two hundred people might blog to two thousand, or two million, without thinking twice." Ha! Is she talking about me?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> đ</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BirUXCWDzNq/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">I learned so many things about myself and other introverts in this book "Quiet" by Susan Cain. "The same person who would never raise his hand in a lecture hall of two hundred people might blog to two thousand, or two million, without thinking twice." Ha! Is she talking about me? đ #quietbook #susancainquiet #susancain #introvert #introvertlife #karensbookoftheweek</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kgalarpe/" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> Karen Galarpe</a> (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2018-05-12T12:08:54+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">May 12, 2018 at 5:08am PDT</time></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><b>VERSE OF THE WEEK</b>: </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a motherâs womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Ecclesiastes 11:5</span>quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-54946475239358136572018-04-06T17:12:00.000+08:002018-05-18T14:58:27.889+08:00Christians on social media: How to be the light online<div style="color: #454545; font-family: ".sf ui text"; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";">How many hours do you spend a day in social media? If you're like me, surfing on the Internet and checking what's up with friends on social media -- whether that's Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram -- is a daily thing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";">But while there are a lot of good stuff online, there are negative stuff too. Such content discourage rather than encourage, bring despair rather than build up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";">The Chronicle Ministry of Christ's Commission Fellowship-Commonwealth will be conducting a social media workshop for Christians on Saturday, April 7, 2018, 9 am-12nn at CCF Commonwealth, Berkeley Square, Commonwealth Avenue near cor. Tandang Sora, Quezon City. The workshop aims to help Christians be more of a blessing to others on social media. Let's lessen the negative stuff online and spread the good news instead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";">I had the opportunity to interview our speaker Lyqa Maravilla, a YouTube influencer herself, via e-mail, and here's what we talked about:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";"><b>Q: Please tell us something about yourself.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";">A: I just turned 30 a few weeks ago. I finished the Basic Bible Course from FEBIAS College of Bible and got my degree in Psychology, magna cum laude, from Messiah College. Iâm also a registered psychometrician. In 2013, God gave me the gift of getting the top spot in the Civil Service Exam. I didnât know it then, but that was Godâs giant blinking detour sign for my life. The past four years after that has been an adventure. God led me away from the corporate lifestyle that Iâve always wanted to pursue and towards the unconventional path of being a YouTube creator, online educator, and social media influencer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";"><b>Q: How did you get into YouTube vlogging?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";">A: When I was in college, I was part of a non-profit organization called Sound Check Ministry. We travelled around the country helping local churches establish and strengthen their worship ministries. I was in charge of teaching people how to play the drums. We could only stay and teach for a few days at a time and it wasnât enough for my students to learn all they needed. That was the primary reason why I started my first YouTube channel. Iâd record lessons and drum covers of praise and worship songs so that my students can keep learning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";">A little more than three years ago, I started making educational videos to help people pass aptitude tests like the Civil Service Exam. It all started with one video. When people from all over the country started reaching out to ask for more lessons, God showed me how important these tests are to others. They can determine which school or university they can attend, which job they can get, and whether or not theyâll be promoted to a better position. After some time, my first viewers created a Facebook page which helped us build a community of learners from all over the world. With their encouragement, I developed my own review program and reviewers. I also hold review events and teach all over the country.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";"><b>Q: Please talk briefly about your ministry -- what do you do, and why do you do it.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";">A: I consider making YouTube videos and teaching through social media as my primary ministry. Through this platform, I can teach and reach people from all over the world and share Godâs hope with them. Bible verses are integrated into my lessons and I pray really hard to represent Christ to them. I also started a personal Facebook page where I share encouraging verses and motivational quotes. After people started reaching out with their personal problems, it became a great way for me to share a Christian perspective and offer Bible-based advice to people who are looking for it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";">Aside from those, I also volunteer as a writer and editor for our churchâs weekly publication, CCFâs Chronicle. Being surrounded by volunteers who love God and want to give back through writing helps keep me grounded. I love how the printed content doesnât show the name of the people who worked on it. It doesnât matter who we are or what we do. The goal is to get Godâs message across and we work as a team to accomplish that. After more than a decade of being onstage with the music ministry and as a speaker, working behind the scenes gave me a better appreciation of how the body of Christ functions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";"><b>Q: In a nutshell, how should Christians use social media?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";">A: Social media is a tool. Like any other tool, you can use it to do good. But, in the hands of someone who doesnât know how to use it properly, it can be very dangerous. The key is, as with anything else in this world, moderation. We must filter everything we read or see online through Godâs word. We must be aware of how much we use social media. And, even before we create an online profile, we must ask, âWhat is your purpose for using social media?â Too many people are focused on getting more followers that they forget Godâs call to help others become Christ-followers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";">I know Christians who chose to stay away from social media entirely and I see the wisdom in that, but I also think that we need more godly people who speak Godâs truth online. The reality is that most people, especially the younger generations, spend more time online than in the âreal worldâ. Sometimes, the only way to reach them is through social media. Think of it as doing missions work. In the same way that we go to different places and learn a different language to reach people and share Godâs word, we must meet people where they are to tell them about Christ. If theyâre online, we should be, too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";"><b>Q: What can we expect from your talk on Saturday?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";">A: "Declare" is divided into two parts. In the first hour, weâll talk about the Dos and Donâts of Using Social Media. Iâm going to share some of the things I learned or had to learn the bad way. Weâll set simple goals and guidelines to help us maximize the power of social media and keep it from overpowering us. The second part is a workshop on Content Creation. Itâs a guided course to help potential creators gather ideas, produce content, build a brand, and, maybe, earn money through social media. Iâm looking forward to sharing what Iâve learned and learn from everyone in the group on Saturday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ".sfuitext";">Interested to hear Lyqa's talk? Just come over to CCF Commonwealth on Saturday, April 7, 2018, 9 am at Berkeley Square, Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City! Open to all.</span></div>
quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-47228485374000252222018-02-28T20:33:00.001+08:002018-03-01T09:52:50.586+08:00Childhood revisitedI just finished reading the memoir "An American Childhood" by Annie Dillard and wow, what a lovely read!<br />
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I enjoyed reading about the author's days spent as a young girl growing up in Pittsburgh in the 50s, throwing ice balls, reading books, spending summers with her Scottish-Irish grandparents, and collecting and identifying rocks, among others. There were hours spent learning to dance, hours spent praying in church (but checking if others were praying too), and vacations which called for diving into the cool waters and boating with her dad.<br />
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Her stories hint of a privileged childhood, but you don't get the feeling that the author was showing off. Instead, I felt like she was a best friend telling me about her life while we sit drinking iced tea and giggling over funny anecdotes while outside the hot summer sun is preparing for sunset across the beach we're in.<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BfvUla9AW0S/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">A lovely, lovely read: "An American Childhood" by Annie Dillard. Got this preloved book at P200 from The Book Snoop. Dillard's writing is flawless as usual, and is entertaining as she talks about her days as a young girl growing up in the 50s in Pittsburgh. #anniedillard #karensbookoftheweek</a></div>
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A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kgalarpe/" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> Karen Galarpe</a> (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2018-02-28T11:53:38+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Feb 28, 2018 at 3:53am PST</time></div>
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I have always loved reading, for books take me places I can't physically go to. Books let me meet people I wouldn't otherwise bump into on the streets of Manila.<br />
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Reading also makes me introspective. This book, for instance, brought memories of my own childhood -- times spent climbing the guava tree in the backyard, waiting for the neighbor's santol fruits to drop on our side of the fence when someone climbs their tree and shakes it so the ripe fruits fall, following with my eyes the little colorful fishes as they go round and round in the little aquarium my sister and brother-in-law bought.<br />
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I also remember going up on the roof and just sitting there mid-afternoon because there's nothing to do and the view up there seemed different.<br />
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I remember piano lessons in school with Miss Arceo, and more piano lessons at home with teachers I can't bear coz they either seemed to be bored or frustrated with me that I got a slight slap on my hands whenever I made mistakes.<br />
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There was Snoopy, our white (or make that off-white) poodle who one day ran out of our gate. I was so heartbroken, our neighbor volunteered to help me look for him at the city dog pound and a nearby barangay.<br />
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I remember I had a birthday party at home and we kids danced to the hottest tune then -- "El Bimbo". To this day I remember that dance step.<br />
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And how can I forget playing bahay-bahayan with my cousins at our bahay kubo in the backyard? We dressed our dolls, pretended we were cooking, and swept the floor to keep house.<br />
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I hope we can all find time to read books -- not just social media posts and news articles, but real books to widen our world and inspire us to journey on this life with a spring in our step and hope for the future.<br />
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<b>BOOK OF THE WEEK:</b> Tonight I started reading "Silver Linings" by Cathy S. Babao, a collection of her heartwarming posts on Facebook. Cathy writes from the heart.<br />
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<b>VERSE OF THE WEEK:</b> "And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is." <i>Ephesians 3:18</i><br />
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<br />quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-7180314150256419442017-10-01T22:26:00.001+08:002017-10-02T05:36:53.236+08:00Grieving takes timeBy Karen Galarpe<br />
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Today, we went to the wake for the mother of a college friend, and I was struck by what my friend said. "Nu'ng nagpo-post ka tungkol sa Mommy mo, naisip ko nu'n, 'Kaya ko kaya pag dumating na sa point na 'yon?' Tapos ngayon, eto na."<br />
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It's been two and a half years since my mom passed away. Still, I think of her every day. I remember her when I see the flowers in the garden, and the near empty ref (my mom always shopped at the supermarket so our ref was always full). I think of her when I put night cream on my face -- her brand was more expensive -- and when I see her black and white photo in my dad's room. In that photo, she was smiling so warmly looking down at someone -- who turned out to be me as a baby.<br />
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In short, I still think of her, and I don't want to stop thinking about her.<br />
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The thought came to mind that God chose our mothers well. He picked the best mothers for everyone. And I thank God for choosing my mom for me.<br />
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Six months after my mom passed away, I wrote the following on my Facebook wall. I read it again today and thought it may be somehow helpful to my college friend and all those who are grieving.<br />
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Here goes...<br />
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Last night, I had a dream wherein I hugged my mom. I can't remember now the context of that dream but I do remember the hug. :) And that's enough to put a smile on my face, and soothe my grieving heart.<br />
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It's been six months since my mom passed away, and someone just asked me last week, how are you coping with your grief?<br />
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Here's how:<br />
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1. I allow myself to grieve. Let go. There were -- and will be -- moments when I suddenly get reminded of my mom by the simplest of things: an empty Olay bottle, a J. Co donut, the Recipes restaurant sign, a pretty shawl. So I allow myself time to remember her and cry when I need to cry.<br />
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2. Daily, I ask God to tell my mom I love her, to hold her hand, and hug her for me.<br />
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3. I put a stop to the "If onlys." "If only I spent more time with her," "if only I made it to the hospital in time," "if only I took a leave from work." I can't bring back time so it's useless to dwell on the "if onlys."<br />
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4. I think about the times we've shared to replace the "If onlys." Times we went to the salon together, the times she would carry my son when he was still a baby, the times we would ride the Love Bus going to Cubao to shop for clothes when I was small, etc. And be thankful for those times.<br />
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5. Most importantly, I rely on God to see me through. The first two months were hard, and especially the first two weeks, but when you just ask God to sustain you each day, He does so. There were days when the most I could utter in prayer were: "Help me. Heal me. Comfort me." And He does. "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted, and he saves those whose spirits have been crushed." (Psalm 34:18)<br />
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When my mom died, someone told me to be strong. I didn't want to be strong. And I don't have the capacity to be strong. Nakakapagod yon. But I've found that He gives enough strength to see me through each day.<br />
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6. I remind myself to allow time for healing. It was only two months after my mom died when I realized I stopped writing for six months. That was when my mom's health became more fragile and she started talking about dying.<br />
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Now for a writer, six months of no writing is like six months of not existing. Two months after my mom died, I started writing again, and once again experienced the exhilarating joy of finishing a personal essay or a feature story. My life coach asked me, "So what does that mean?" I replied, "I've started to heal."<br />
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A few months ago too, when I was contemplating on my career's future, my boss told me to my face, "You're grieving!" It was a sharp reminder to hold off making major decisions while my grief was still raw and fresh.<br />
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7. I stepped out only when I felt ready. I didn't want to go out much after my mom died. I had no energy after work, and just wanted peace and quiet. And so I was honest enough to tell friends who have been inviting me to events and parties and reunions that I just needed space. And I'm grateful they understood.<br />
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8. I remember that I don't have to grieve like others do. A few months ago, someone asked me at what stage of grieving I was in already -- denial, anger, acceptance? I said I'm not conscious of the process; I just allow myself to be.<br />
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9. I express myself. And this is why I post status messages like this. :) Or why I post photos of things that remind me of my mom. Or why I document our Sunday bonding moments at the cemetery. A friend told me months ago, "I see that you're still grieving based on your FB posts." Yes, I am, and this is me. I can't hurry up my grieving or pretend it's not there. You can always hide me from your wall if you'd rather not see what I post. :)<br />
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10. I share and reach out to someone. Only this year have I learned that there are people around me who have been carrying their grief or have not allowed themselves time to grieve for years. YEARS! Madugo yan. And so I take the time to listen, hold their hand, share what I've learned.<br />
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Grieve if you must grieve. It's the first step to healing.<br />
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(September 13, 2015 Facebook post)<br />
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: I'm in the last chapter already of "Work Worth Doing Well" by Dr. Grace Koo (published by Church Strengthening Ministry, 2017). It's a good read and helps one take a look at his/her work -- does it make sense? Are you bored? Stressed? Are you happy? Healthy? Is it honest work? Dr Koo, with her educational psychology background, delves into the issue of work and gives expert tips to help one find meaning in one's work. It's worth reading!<br />
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VERSE OF THE WEEK: "May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us." Psalm 90:17quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-13751377009892006072017-09-08T19:32:00.001+08:002017-09-08T19:37:10.477+08:00Sunday afternoon with Juan Luna and other artistsInspired by my friend's recent <a href="https://beingkirei.com/2017/09/04/12-days-of-reconnection-day-3-heart-for-arts-sake/">road trips</a>, I had this urge to go and see some art last Sunday. As in, right that day itself, whether or not someone could go with me.<br />
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I am that type of person who enjoys going to museums rather than shopping malls, to my late mother's frustration. "Ayoko sa museum!" she said when we were in LA many years ago and were thinking of where to go. Whereas we could drop her off at the mall in the morning and pick her up at the end of the day, I was the person who would gladly spend a day at the museum while travel buddies snap up good buys at shopping areas.</div>
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So after attending the second worship service at church last Sunday, I drove all the way to the National Museum of the Philippines on P. Burgos Street near the Manila City Hall. Never mind if I just had an hour to spare to go around before I had to do the groceries. I just had to go, no matter what.</div>
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Sundays, I found out, is the best time to go to the National Museum since there is hardly any traffic, save for a slowdown near the Quiapo Church area.</div>
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Entrance to the museum is now free. Visitors have to register first and sign the logbook, then deposit their belongings (save for wallet and cellphone) at the security desk.</div>
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That Sunday, there were quite a number of people visiting, mostly families or couples on dates. I was one of the few who went solo. Well, this was me-time and I was looking forward to it.</div>
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With just a little over an hour to spare, I focused on my favorite old paintings at the National Museum of Fine Arts at the old Legislative Building. </div>
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Entering the museum, the first huge painting I saw was the <i>Spoliarium</i> by Juan Luna. I have seen this before a number of times but it still left me in awe. Such mastery and skill. There was beauty in the pain depicted. I could spend an hour just looking at it. </div>
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A post shared by Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2017-09-03T06:55:46+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Sep 2, 2017 at 11:55pm PDT</time></div>
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Opposite it was Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo's <i>The Assassination of Governor Bustamante</i>, another huge oil painting done in the 1800s.<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BYkcsBZhUXi/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">The Assassination of Gov. Bustamante by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo. 1898-1904, Paris. Oil on canvas. #nationalmuseum #felixresurreccionhidalgo #art #philippineart</a></div>
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A post shared by Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2017-09-03T06:53:02+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Sep 2, 2017 at 11:53pm PDT</time></div>
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In the same hall was Guillermo Tolentino's sculpture <i>Diwata</i>, so perfect in its beauty.<br />
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A post shared by Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2017-09-03T06:58:18+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Sep 2, 2017 at 11:58pm PDT</time></div>
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In another hall, I found more of Juan Luna's iconic paintings, to my delight.<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BYkecKlhjJw/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Una Bulaquena by Juan Luna. 1895. Oil on canvas #nationalmuseum #philippineart #juanluna</a></div>
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A post shared by Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2017-09-03T07:08:21+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Sep 3, 2017 at 12:08am PDT</time></div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BYketY7hIAh/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Portrait of a Lady (a.k.a. Portrait of Paz Pardo de Tavera). Circa 1885. Oil on panel. #philippineart #nationalmuseum #juanluna</a></div>
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A post shared by Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2017-09-03T07:10:42+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Sep 3, 2017 at 12:10am PDT</time></div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BYke7CnBBBg/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Juan Luna's Mt. Fuji painting. Japanese Scenes. Oil on panel. 1896. #philippineart #nationalmuseum #juanluna #mtfuji</a></div>
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A post shared by Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2017-09-03T07:12:34+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Sep 3, 2017 at 12:12am PDT</time></div>
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Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo were buddies, and the museum had a large reproduction made of National Hero Jose Rizal's sketch of them.<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BYkfZLehGbr/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Reproduction of Las Dos Pintores Juan Luna y Felix R. Hidalgo, pencil portrait by Jose Rizal, Madrid, 1888. #nationalmuseum #philippineart #juanluna #felixresurreccionhidalgo #joserizal</a></div>
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A post shared by Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2017-09-03T07:16:41+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Sep 3, 2017 at 12:16am PDT</time></div>
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At a room dedicated to Jose Rizal, I found this small terra-cotta sculpture our national hero did back in 1893.<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BYkf6l9hRzF/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">National hero Jose Rizal was a good sculptor. Here is his work "San Pablo el Ermitano, dedicated to Fr. Pablo Pastells, S.J. 1893. Terra-cotta. #joserizal #sculpture #philippineart #nationalmuseum</a></div>
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A post shared by Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2017-09-03T07:21:15+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Sep 3, 2017 at 12:21am PDT</time></div>
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A copy of the book <i>The Imitation of Christ</i> by Thomas a Kempis given by Rizal to his wife Josephine Bracken was also on exhibit, together with the dedication.<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BYkgOh2hDH1/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">A copy of Thomas a Kempis' The Imitation of Christ given by Jose Rizal to Josephine Bracken. Dedication: "To my dear and unhappy wife Josephine. December 30, 1896. Jose Rizal" #joserizal #josephinebracken #nationalmuseum</a></div>
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A post shared by Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2017-09-03T07:23:58+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Sep 3, 2017 at 12:23am PDT</time></div>
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In the hallway, I found this gem of a sculpture by Isabelo Tampinco.<br />
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BYkhgN8BOgq/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Solitude by Isabelo Tampinco y Lacandola. Circa 1890-1900. Polychrome concrete #isabelotampinco #philippineart #nationalmuseum #sculpture</a></div>
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A post shared by Karen Galarpe (@kgalarpe) on <time datetime="2017-09-03T07:35:07+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Sep 3, 2017 at 12:35am PDT</time></div>
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There were many other paintings that struck a chord in me, such as those depicting the Battle of Manila, and the artworks of Fernando Amorsolo. There's indeed so much talent, so much beauty, in the Philippines.<br />
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Go spend a day (or an hour) at the museum. It's a great way to feed your heart and soul.<br />
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<b>BOOK OF THE WEEK:</b> Someone gave me the book <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BTsRPUHBBuY/?hl=en&taken-by=kgalarpe">Agueda: A Ballad of Stone and Wind by Anna Maria "Bambi" Harper</a> sometime ago but I only got to read it this year. Harper's writing is exquisite as she takes us to the world of an orphan who came of age during the transition from the Spanish colonial times to the American occupation. The book gives readers an idea of how women were regarded back then, and what life was like for both the upper class and the poor when the country had yet to experience real independence.<br />
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<b>VERSE OF THE WEEK:</b> Be still and know that I am God. <i>Psalm 46:10</i><br />
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quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-10737220076804126362017-08-29T16:55:00.000+08:002017-08-29T20:25:01.493+08:00Hey, I'm back!Yup, I am reviving this blog because it's there and it's free and I have all these thoughts to share. đ<br />
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This year I became a golden girl, and got reminded via a blood test that I am not getting younger. Those fatty foods (daily silog meals, for instance) I've eaten through the years drove up my bad cholesterol count to an unhealthy number.<br />
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And so, I resolved mid-year to take care of myself more: Eat better, sleep better, exercise better, rest better so as to be a better steward of this body.<br />
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That meant:<br />
1. Changing my usual breakfast of silog meals to healthier options -- a protein shake, yogurt with granola, oatmeal, fruits, or a sandwich using whole wheat bread.<br />
2. Giving up coffee. I used to take 1-3 cups of coffee a day. Coffee doesn't drive up bad cholesterol but it does make the body acidic.<br />
3. Eating more veggies and fruits. Surprise -- I can have just a salad for a meal and still feel full.<br />
4. Giving up sugary drinks. Bye bye soda and iced tea!<br />
5. Choosing brown rice over white rice, and just half a cup please.<br />
6. Snacking on healthier stuff like yoghurt, trail mix, wheat crackers, fruits (I love nilagang saba), fruit shake, nuts.<br />
7. Sleeping earlier or trying to have at least 7 hours of sleep.<br />
8. Checking my calendar to make sure there's ample rest time. It's not good to have a crowded schedule.<br />
9. Aiming for at least 30 minutes of exercise daily.<br />
10. Drinking more water.<br />
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These are simple things I've done since May. I also went on the 28-day kit of the Yoli Better Body System where I followed a meal plan and took alkaline supplements and other healthy stuff. Results: 7.5 pounds off, cholesterol level now normal, and two inches off my waistline.<br />
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It's doable! Get on the road to health, friends!<br />
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BOOK OF THE WEEK: I'm reading "How To Lead and Still Have a Life" by H. Dale Burke. Are you in a leadership position and feeling tired or burned out or overwhelmed? The author gives practical tips to help leaders in any situation (at work, ministry, etc.) such as making sure there's time for the 4 R's in one's schedule -- Rest time, Results time, Response time, Refocus time. Burke also reminds readers to guard one's heart -- what's in it? One's convictions stabilize the leader, strengthen character, and provide moral guidance, said the author. I've had this book for years but reading it at this time in my life opened my eyes to new truths. It's published abroad by Harvest House Publishers in 2004 and locally by OMF Literature Inc. in 2009. Great book for leaders!<br />
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VERSE OF THE WEEK: Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. -- Proverbs 4:23quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-944380658571969642013-06-08T19:18:00.001+08:002013-06-08T19:18:41.412+08:00The fire victims<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">The way he boarded the jeep took us all by surprise: first he slid a plastic drawer, no doubt part of a cabinet, with a jersey shirt covering the contents. Then he hoisted a little girl without shoes, with feet covered in soot. His wife then entered the jeep, with a baby in her arms. Only then did he board, his wide dirty unshodden feet quite noticeable.</span><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">The little girl whined that they have no slippers, to which the man grimly said, "</span><em style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Bibili na lang tayo</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">."</span><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">He set the girl on top of the pile of clothes on the drawer in the jeepney aisle.</span><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">The family was quiet, and everyone in the passenger jeep seemed to have the same question even as the vehicle continued to weave through traffic on E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue.</span><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">"</span><em style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Nasunugan kayo?</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">" the man's seatmate, a woman, asked curiously.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><i>Continue reading on <a href="http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/253564/opinion/blogs/the-fire-victims">GMA News Online</a></i></span>quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10520084.post-90270964500408007542013-06-08T19:16:00.002+08:002013-06-08T19:16:38.365+08:00The pamanhikan tradition<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">In this day and age, marriage has become optional, and even commitment too. Just take into account the various permutations of relationship statuses these days: just going out, hanging out, just friends, special friends, dating, exclusively dating.</span><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Even President Benigno Aquino III is in some kind of relationship with TV host Grace Lee as they confirmed they were "officially dating."</span><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">That brings a question to mind: If there's such a thing as "officially dating", is there a status dubbed as "unofficially dating"?</span><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">And if so, is that the same as the MU (mutual understanding, or mag-un, for those who like each other but can't shout it out to the world) of a generation ago? What happened to good old-fashioned boyfriend-girlfriend commitment?</span><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">With commitment hanging in the balance, it was thus comforting and reassuring for me to note that some good old-fashioned traditions are still alive.</span><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br n="" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">One of them is the pamanhikan.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><i>Continue reading on <a href="http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/253563/opinion/blogs/the-pamanhikan-tradition">GMA News Online</a></i></span>quietstreamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331076521071821413noreply@blogger.com0