Gratitude List for the Week

I thank...

God, for a great week overall.

Andres Bonafacio, for dying as a hero ergo making the day of your death a national holiday. We owe you the long weekend, Ka Andres.That may not be that way that you want to be thanked but I still thank you for that from the bottom of my heart.

Vida, for laboring for 2days straight, rain and shine, just to get better at whacking balls.

Kuya Platap, for being patient with our footwork and ground strokes. Thank you for teaching us the basics in tennis. See you next week.

The Alaxan boys, you old guys from the tennis club who wagger your kids' tuition fees on tennis matches (but I really hope you were all just kidding), for the encouragement.

My roommate, Janice, for getting me a bonsai plant. I hope we can prove your boss wrong by making the plants last for more than a week. Oh look, it's already 3 days and they are still alive. 4 more days to go.

My manito or manita for giving me a box of Curly Tops and snake jelly candies for the Kris Kringle last week. Looking forward to "something sticky".

My work and workmates for reminding me that I'm not yet in paradise and things still need to get done the hard way. Special mention to Menard, Kevin and Jules for agreeing to work on a holiday on such a short notice. I also thank Ryan, Dim, Ruby, Mike, Chino and Danica for taking the time out to take my bugging calls on a Sunday night.Work is such a bitch sometimes but duty calls.

My manicurista, for my nail job. You have made the work week ahead of me much more colorful. And you have freed me from the torment of my laundry for the next few days.You deserve a higher tip but unfortunately, I'm not a millionaire.

My Weekend in Pictures

Tennis practice with Vida for 2 days straight. Muscle pains highly anticipated.

My lousy footwork and bad backhand stroke.

Lunch at the Blue Elephant after day 1.

Lunch at Golden City Dimsum after day 2.

With my wrists hurting, I decided to get a nail job, another excuse not to do laundry this week.

Forgive me, food is always the highlight of my weekend.

It Runs In Our Veins

Statue of Athena at the Academy of Athens (photo credit)

Athena is the Greek goddess of war, civilization, wisdom, strength, strategy, crafts, and skill. She sprang forth from Zeus' head fully-grown and fully-armed and was said to be his favorite offspring. She wielded the thunderbolt and the aegis which she and Zeus exclusively shared. (source)

Athena, I believe, is the most formidable deity in Olympus and that makes her my favorite. I like the fact that she is strong and smart and a force to be reckoned with. It is not difficult to imagine that her stare could turn her adversaries to dust. If she were human, she'd embody women empowerment and guys would cower in her presence. Anything a guy can do, she can do better. In heels. And I am not just talking about mental stuff. I'm referring to physical endeavors as well. As a testament to her non-dependence to men, she was also known as a virgin goddess. Maybe she figured that she was too good for any man, even in the days of great Greek gods, and does not want to be saddled with a weakling.

Athena can kick the balls and skewer the guts of any man. Mortal and immortal alike. How cool is that?

I Blog Because...

1. I'm vain.
2. You can't stop me.
3. Life is beautiful but sometimes I need a reminder.
4. I love to write and blogging gives me an outlet.
5. I am not good at saying things. Most of the time I sound stupid.
6. I'm vain.
7. Sometimes life sucks and I need a reminder that I'm still luckier than most.
8. I need to constantly fight my natural inclination to procrastinate.
9. I want to tell my friends that happiness is a choice and you can find it in every little thing if you choose to.
10. Did I mention that I'm vain?
11. I want to tell my female friends that having a guy who loves you is important. But not as important as your friends, who you can be yourself with. Not as important as your family, who gave you life and unconditional love.  Not as important as yourself, who holds destiny in your own hands.
12. It's good to know that I am normal after all.
13. I want to help eradicate illiteracy and ignorance. Both are not cool.
14. It is a nice surprise to discover things about myself that I didn't know before.
15. Sharing somehow helps me make sense of things I don't understand.
16. The goddess is mortal. But it would be nice to leave something that would stay in this world long after I'm gone.

Gratitude List for the Week

I thank....

God, for all things good and true. For giving me another week which I can spend to live and learn from life.

My family, for being the anchor to my ship. I will all see you soon. Special mention to my one and only sister for securing my XU tshirts.

My friends, for bringing color to my life. You're just a few handful, beautiful people. If it weren't for you, I would have been a hermit, God forbid.

My work and workmates, for giving me a reality check once in a while. Special mention to Vida for braving the blazing sunshine and clay court to join me in my madness for tennis. We'll get better, Vids, I promise. And to Tito, my boss, for the snacks. More, more!

My massage therapist, for expertly kneading my back pains away. Thank you for putting up with my "problem areas". You have made my life a whole lot better, honest.

Tide, for helping me combat my two weeks worth of laundry.

My bed, for helping me reach REM stage every single time.

My pen and paper, for making me realize how lucky I am to be able to read and write.

24 Hours in a Deserted Island

A goddess has a gift of clairvoyance. In the event that I get stranded in a deserted island, these will be the 5 things I will have with me:

My book of the month. In this case The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin. (photo credit)

My notebook.

My trusty, old pen.

A humongous bottle of water.

Okay, so this cheating because these are two different items. But what good will being stranded in an island be if you can't wear a bikini and frolic in the sand? Which is why it is just as equally important to wear sunscreen. (photo credit: suit, sunscreen)

There are a lot of runner-ups to this list, the front runner being an ipod, then a phone and then there is also a guy and, of course, food. But unfortunately those things tend to run out of batteries or just plain run out, period. As this is a once in a lifetime occurrence, I do not intend to sleep while being on the island and I am not gonna tolerate low-battery excuses from my companions either.

November Book: The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

The story of Pi was that of an ordinary boy of extraordinary faith who went under extraordinary circumstances. It was a story of survival. It was the story of a boy marooned in a lifeboat with a 450-pound Bengal tiger.

At first glance, Pi was like any other young boy I know. He suffered in the hands of school bullies. He was constantly teased by his more popular older brother. He was normally curious about all the things around him. In short, he was not the kind of character that I'd take an interest in or who would leave a lasting impression. He was too normal and I really don't read books for normal daily-life portrayals. However, there was one thing striking about Pi and that was his deep love for God. So much so that he was a practicing Hindu, Catholic and Muslim at the same time. What I loved about the book was the event that happened to him which tested that love. His entire family were to move to Canada. Alas! The cargo ship which bore them sank in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. His whole family perished. He was the only person who survived and, worse, he was trapped in the lifeboat with the only other survivor from the shipwreck: Richard Parker, the tiger. When he was still an impressionable young boy, his father had warned him not to get close to a tiger under any circumstances. But he was trapped. He could either jump overboard the lifeboat, get drowned by the unfriendly waters of the Pacific or get eaten by sharks, whichever comes first, or he could find a way around Richard Parker until they get rescued, which was what he did. For seven long months on high seas.

The Life of Pi was a great story about human faith. When all is lost, when there is nothing left to live for, what makes us cling to life so tenaciously? When we look around and all we see is despair, why struggle with death? The Life of Pi tells us that the reason is faith. When all else fails, it is our faith that would get us through our ordeal. When we are at the deepest pit and we tell ourselves that there is no way in hell we can climb back up, faith tells us to get up and start climbing. And that's exactly what we do. We climb up or die trying. It's amazing what faith can do to a person's life. Even if there is no guarantee that things will get better, we believe that they will. Even if we are defeated and all we want to do is lay down and die, faith grabs on to the last embers of our will to live and absolutely refuses to let it go out. Instead, faith fans it until it glows into a flame again.

Do you have faith?

P.S. This was the book I stole from the cottage I was staying in when I went to Malapascua with some people from work. I have never stolen anything in my life, aside from the occasional lose change from my father's pocket when I was a kid. What pushed me to swipe the book? Could it be faith telling me that this book will give me a new perspective? :-)