I'd rather have a small cozy home than a mansion.

because I experienced mopping for about half and hour and it felt so tiring. >.< I felt pity for those who work as janitors because they have to do it for 8 hours or so. But then, I could hire a domestic helper to save me from the task. But then again, I'd rather not! Because, it's like passing the "job of the female" to another female thus reinforcing the thought that house work is only for women, which is NOT TRUE. I'd rather do it by myself and share it with the male specie/s who'll be living with me under the same roof. Anyway...

I spent the morning cleaning 2 dormitory rooms in the seminary that would serve as rooms of Kamalayan from the 28th to 30th. They will have "lakbay-aral" (the Filipino term for study tour) in Manila. The purpose of the lakbay-aral is for them to gain knowledge about urban poverty and its connection with rural poverty. Another objective is to show the historical background of war as one of the causes of poverty. By the end of the tour, we would like them to realize that it is not true that there are always better opportunities for them once they choose to work in the city. In the end, we would like them to value the life of farmers and fisher folks and move them to take action to solve poverty from the rural area.

Lakbay-Aral Program for Kamalayan
October 28 - 7 hour travel from Perez to Manila | Orientation | Dialogue with the Redemptorist priest, Fr. Willy
October 29 - Intramuros and Fort Santiago | Home stay at Smoky Mountain
October 30 - Discussion about the Push and Pull of Urban and Rural Poverty | Roaming around Makati (exposure to rich) | Solidarity dinner with Volunteers of ACCE (Japanese food. Yata!)
October 31 - Back to Perez

Kamalayan stands for "Kabataang Mabuti ang Layunin sa Bayan" (Youth who has a good objective for the nation). They are an organization of high school students and out-of-school youth aged 12-21 years old from a rural poor community in Perez, Alabat, Island, Quezon Province.

 Here is a picture of them after the success with the Cayacas Street Dance Festival
last June 2010. "Cayacas" pertains to the leaf of the coconuts which is highly regarded by the
people of Perez, since primary crop in the agricultural area is coconut.



They were my oo-facilitators at the "Workshop of Poverty in Perez"
for the children scholars, last May 2010 (Summer Tutorial Class).
 

I miss them! and after 3 months of not being able to go to Perez, I'm looking forward to seeing them again. <3

it's self-indulgence to write about your love story.

The cast (Always, San Chome no Yuhi 2),
while waiting for the announcement of the Literary Award winner. Picture's from here.

I learned it from the rich father of 'Junnosuke' from (Always, San Chome no Yuhi) who commented on Chagawa-san's touching story in the Blue Authentic which apparently was a finalist for a Literary Prize. He commented that Chagawa-san's writing is nothing but a mere self-indulgence or in other words, gratifying one's self through writing about own real life emotions and thoughts.

which is true.

Chagawa-san, the novelist. My favorite character, next to Ippei. ._. 
Picture's from here.

However, he missed a point that art is the 'expression of one's self'. Going by the logic that literature is art, self's expression through writing is still art, may it be written creatively and beautifully or not. What am I saying.. or rather writing.

What I just want to express is that.... for people, it is therapeutic to write about one's self. More so, it is an art for the matter that I believe in art as the opportunity for every human being to be given freedom to express what goes on with his or her mind, what he or she pictures when his or her eyes are closed and to try to paint a scenery from their own imaginations may their be tools be paintbrush, guitar or pen.

I forgot where I got this picture ages ago. I'm sorry.

All of a sudden, I remembered my friend Jesse, a Philisophy student, who lectured to me before about "love as the primary motivation of any human being to take any action" such as the "Helen of Troy" or the "Romeo and Juliet" or even the fate of Marcos to be dictator with the push of his wife, Imelda Marcos. From him, I learned that "love can make one do things beyond the limits" and "be creative". I must say forgiveness to Jesse for not remembering the philosopher's name who initiated the thought. 

So then, I'll continue to write as well as sing and draw about love, as my favorite subject of art, poetry and music. <3

how to make gyoza (dumplings)

It was too early when I arrived at Ame-chan's house so they were surprised at my arrival. "Hayai na~" was the greeting. It was just my mistake to estimate the travel time 'again'. They also asked what happened to me for I was wearing a skirt. Well, after a few checking out of friends in Facebook, I figured that I hadn't change with how I put clothes on, and my friends from college are way too grougeous now and fashionable than before. Amazing! Anyway..

It was our "gyoza party"! We made gyoza, though some looked like siomai and out-of-this world gyoza shapes. :)

This is the original one: 

 

I don't have picture of what we made but it looks like this,
I got this picture from here.

How to make gyoza:

Ingredients: (for 5 people)
*1 kilo Ground pork
*1/4Cabbage
*Onion (We forgot about it)
*Garlic
*Pepper
*100 pcs Dumpling Wrapper
*Water

1. Make the filling - ground pork mixed with cabbage, onion, garlic and pepper.
    --> Basically same as shanghai rolls. You could also put carrots if you like.
2. Wrapping:
    a. Put a teaspoon full of the filling in a dumpling wrapper.
    b. Wipe a little of water, painting a crescent (or half the dumpling wrapper).
    c. Fold in the tip, and continue folding until you get to the other side.
    d. That's it. You can also experiment other shapes. :D
3. Frying
    a. Put a pinch of oil at a frying pan and align gyoza.
    b. Wait until it turns brownish and turn.
    c. Pour in a little water and cover.
    d. Wait until the water runs out and TADA!
 
If you didn't understand my explanation, here's a better one. Click!

how to make an NGO survive

How to make profit when you're a non-profit organization?

Even though, NGO is not about money but empowering people. We need money for the management of projects and maintenance of our office and staff. Most supporters prefer that their money be spent in the project, and not in the administrative expenses. It is understandable but the heart of the NGO is in it's staff - how can a program go on without its staff? That's where counterpart comes in or how an NGO exerts its effort for it to survive. There must be a fund-raising activity by the NGo itself, besides getting funds from development assistances, aids and funding from funding agencies. 

Today, from the meeting with volunteers (with Kuya Maks, Ate Eri and yuko-chan), I learned that other NGOs use exposure tour to their project sites to gain funds. Ordinarily, other NGOs would ask participants to pay P1000 ~ P2000. However, with our past 1 day study tours in ACCE, we just ask the students to pay P150 ~ P250 for food and transportation. Their presence in the project sites is already much appreciated - since our aim, is for them to take action after seeing the situation in Smoky Mountain, in lahar-affected area in Pampanga and rural poverty in Alabat Island. In the end, we would like them to share their knowledge, skills and talents not only their cash. What's most important for us is that they learn the roots of poverty, the relationship between international issues and local issues and the meaning of empowerment.

But we might have to rethink... The idea is:

This is for 1 day study tours done by VOA (Volunteers of ACCE) in Philippines.

One idea to make the NGO survive is do a fund-raising activity such as study tour with multiple purposes. One, is to make person understand why he/she should help and to what project and poverty area s/he is supporting. Two, is to get the support, not only financial. Three, to make a venue where people in the community can voice out their problems to middle class people and in turn letting them into a dialogue. Fourth, helping the community build relationships with friends that could be their partners in changing their situation.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Introducing Volunteers of ACCE (VOA)
2010: Shino, Sara, Yuri, Bebe, Eri, Yuko, Johnson, Haruna, Nino, Allan w/ Yuko, Kring, Maks
We meet every Saturday to plan activities of changing our world into a better place. :)

 This picture was taken by Ame-chan. :)
In this picture: Shino, Bebe, Yuri, Haruna, Kring, Johnson
Farewell party of Shino. 9th, October, 2010.
ACCE-Philippines, Manila office.

It was a little sad not having Yuri, Bebe, Shino, Johnson and Haruna in the meeting but we still pushed through with the volunteer meeting today. We are still doing the preparation for the 1 day study tour by VOA on November 20. I hope it will be a good one! ^^

the feel-good feeling brought by making someone happy

My today's post was supposed to be about nuts, warm milk and not having caffeine for at least 4 hours before you go to bed will make your sleeping patterns better... but save it for next time.

Walking past the apartments beside our NGO's office, I was comfortably pressing my head against my rounded hat and thinking about someone's reminder of me taking rest seriously. It might have been the most gloomy afternoon and the routine heading back to my father's nook, eating dinner and dozing off if not for my silliest idea of taking my father out for a movie. It was a sudden temptation that brought me and just a slip of the tongue that I said "I'll treat you." Unexpectedly, his face painted a light and glad smile that I thought secondly of saying "I was just joking, I'm saving money these days." So, there we went...

While we were on the way to the theaters, I was consoling myself that it was alright since it was only once in a while and that basically, it was the money I would have spent for food and bus fares if I didn't got sick and stayed at home for 3 days.

Want to know more about the movie. Click here.

"Life as we know it" was about two young adults who hated each other at the start but learned to love each other by taking care of Sophie, their god daughter, after she has been orphaned after her parents, who were the best friends of the two died in a car accident. It was a trick of fate.

After the movie, my father and I walked through the mall swiftly, pass the shops and got-off the train station, as routinely as we do each time we're heading back home at his nook. By the time, we were closing home, he walked slowly and said "it was a good movie, better than Resident Evil."

"But I thought Resident Evil was your favorite", I replied.

"Yes, but I've got copies of all episodes in my computer", he said.

I didn't get it at first but I guess he was just thankful for a little time outside with her daughter and for the free movie. Most of the time, it's he who paid and I've got to choose the movie I like. This time, I let him pick but he picked "Life as we know it", probably in consideration with what I would like. Today, I don't regret the slip of the tongue for it's immeasurable with the feelings I had after seeing his smile of "excitement" when I said I'll treat him. In the end, I thought "money isn't really that important in life, but you need it to make the people you love happy sometimes." I hope to see that smile from Papa again.

not to count the chicks before the chicken lays its eggs.

or not to be overly excited into something that hasn't been concretely happening.

Last night, I couldn't sleep in the thought that in just 3 sleeps, I will be striding the rice terraces in Banaue. But after packing my things for the trip and heading to the office for last preparations, a bad news came that there is yet another typhoon entering the Philippines. After the wreck that Typhoon Juan has caused, what is there to wreck more in Northern Luzon? 

 

This is Banaue Rice Terraces. It's one of UNESCO's hailed "world heritages".
Since I don't have the chance yet to take picture from there, I got this picture from here.

 

The rice terraces are around 4,000 years old! and it would circle half the world if we put each step along side each other, even longer than the Great Wall of China. It is the benign concrete evidence that Filipinos are intelligent people, as they were able to engineer an agricultural system by making steps in the mountains. Contrary to other world heritages that is now merely a museum, the rice terraces keeps on living as rice is continually planted and harvested from the steps. There are worries though since young generations of Ifugao prefer to take on professional jobs likely of the city people thus passing on the culture and intelligence of preserving the terraces is on threat and quality of the rice harvested is at the down surge. That is all I know and I hope to learn more though the trip but unfortunately... Shikataganai ne~! \ It can't be helped. 

 

So, unwillingly.. I agreed with the idea to postpone the trip not unless, I am really comfortable with being stranded in Banaue for a couple of days. I don't want to. First, there's not enough penny in my pocket for the food and lodging and second, there are so many work left undone that I was planning to put my head and heart unto right after coming back from the refreshing Banaue trip.... Kyaaaaa~~~

Anyway, I hope we could reschedule the trip by next week or next next week. If not, then probably it would be scheduled on January or March. /sad

Writer's Block: Time in a bottle

It would be fun if time stops for one to be stuck in a memory, but it would be better that time continues ticking for people to make more memories.

we're a generation of people making most out of our time that we sometimes forget to take it slow

I wrote this weeks ago... luckily, LJ had back-up saved. 

Since the doctor told me about persons of my age are becoming prone to my sickness, I couldn't help but wonder what's the sociology behind it. I started to look at my own self and the people of same age around me.

We are always "on-the-go". We are people who tries to wake up early everyday to live our dreams - to catch the train or bus to office, to enjoy what we most like to do at work, to save money for out-of town and country trips and to stay up late at night with long unmet friends. We are people who want to make the most of everyday - resulting into insomniac nights, days without breakfast and penny in our pockets spent not on food alone but of all the material things this fruitful time of technology is offering. 

Though there's nothing wrong with making the most out of our lives, we must also take a step back and take care of ourselves. So as not to suffer from pains of monthly medication and the frustration of being unable to do things that we like. Our hearts and minds may force our body to move mountains, but still, the movement depends on our body that's why we must take care of it more than we value our minds and hearts.

I've always been thinking like this for 3 months now but there's always been the day in a week that I'm plastered on bed. Just to realize, I've learned nothing at all for I haven't applied it. 3 months more to go for the medication.... I should be more kind to my body from now. and I advise all people in my age not to think that "we are superhuman", that a tiny drop of rain couldn't affect us, because it could. With regards to health, forget all about the superheroes (Batman, Superman, Wonderwoman, Astroboy, Voltes 5, Power Rangers) that we grew up with because we are all just 'humans'. Take a rest for a while. <3