Prayer to St. Jude

O most holy apostle, Saint Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honoureth and invoketh thee universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, and of things almost despaired of. Pray for me, who am so miserable.

Make use, I implore thee, of that particular privilege accorded to thee, to bring visible and speedy help where help was almost despaired of. Come to mine assistance in this great need, that I may receive the consolation and succor of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly (here make your request) and that I may praise God with thee and all the elect throughout eternity.

I promise thee, O blessed Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favour, to always honour thee as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to thee. Amen.

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Farewell, Whitney

Today (February 11 in the United States), one of the greatest singers of all time, Whitney Houston, died. My heart is aching. I grew up listening to her music and I loved her songs very much. She had the most wonderful voice and she made the most beautiful songs. She truly was my idol.

But she didn't find happiness in this life, despite her beautiful voice that made so many people happy. With her passing, heaven has gained another angel and her soul can now finally be happy.

Rest in peace, Whitney. You will always be remembered.

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After the Quake

It feels like the island of Negros is being re-shaped. We've been having aftershock after aftershock since the earthquake the other day, which was apparently caused by a blind fault--a fault that no one knew existed. As of 6:00 pm yesterday, there have already been over 1,500 aftershocks. They've gotten even worse today: stronger and more frequent.

My mom is devastated because the hardest-hit area is the area of her hometown, some two hours from Dumaguete. La Libertad is where she grew up and it has been battered, along with the town where she spent her high school, Guihulngan, which has been hit the worst. Our relatives in La Libertad are left without access to food, electricity, and fuel. The house that my parents built for my grandparents is partially damaged, with the comfort room having collapsed. We've sent my uncle to bring them food, and thank goodness there's a spring near where they live that they can get water from.

Pictures have now surfaced and the damage is just unbelievable! Roads have cracked, buildings have crumbled, and bridges have been broken. They're images we've only seen on TV before, as news from faraway places and even scenes from fictional doomsday movies. I can't believe they're happening here, on my beautiful sock-shaped island, and just a few hours away from me. It makes me realize that when nature exposes its wrath, there is truly very little we can actually do to help ourselves.

A road in Guihulngan. How will this ever be fixed?
© Florence Baesa

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Earthquake!

Today, at 11:49 am, Dumaguete experienced an Intensity 7 earthquake. I was at work at the time, and the quake was really strong! After the tremors subsided, we thought all was okay, but suddenly, some of our students mentioned receiving text messages of receding waters in the shorelines of the towns nearby. I immediately came home and told my mom to get ready in case we needed to evacuate. The husband of our housekeeper came, and he started telling us that we needed to get to higher ground. I don't know where he got the information, but we gathered our important belongings and documents and decided to head up to the adjacent town of Valencia in the mountains.

While we were on the road, they starting broadcasting on the radio that a level 2 tsunami alert was being raised in our province. Good thing we had an early start, because around 30 minutes after we started moving, people in our city apparently started to panic and were making a mad dash for the hills. The roads leading up to the mountains were full of cars and people! By this time, my mom and I were already safely tucked away in my uncle's house in an elevated part of Valencia.

Thankfully, there was no tsunami. Frankly, it's probably not likely that we will have a huge tsunami in this area because we are in between islands, but at that time, I don't think we were thinking. Fortunately, there was no major damage in Dumaguete. The earthquake, with an epicenter off the shores of the town of Tayasan, some 72 km north of Dumaguete, was still considered "inland". Although the center was in the sea, it was still close to land, so there was no tsunami. It was devastating in some towns north of the city though. Thirteen people have been declared dead in the province, with over 20 more missing.

The earthquake certainly shook us up, and now, less than 12 hours after it happened, there has apparently been over 150 aftershocks. We felt a handful of them, and we're all a teeny bit paranoid. We're hoping and praying, though, that there will be no more tremors.

Here are some photos from all over Negros Oriental, taken from Facebook, on this extremely stressful day.

Debris at Robinsons Place Dumaguete

Starting to panic, at the city center

In Guihulngan, the worst-hit town

In Tayasan, near the epicenter

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The (Dreaded?) High School Reunion

A lot of people dread their ten-year high school reunion. I didn't, because I was part--if not leader--of the organizing committee. So when ours came along during the last weekend of October, I was (forced to be?) in the midst of it all.

Our t-shirt design

It was funny, because months before, we had such grandiose plans of how we would celebrate the thing. But of course, as expected, a lot of people did not cooperate. Instead of a cocktail event at some posh resort, we had to come up with humbler plans.

We joined the school parade to celebrate its 107th anniversary, to an Angry Birds theme

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Hong Kong Honeymoon

My husband and I don't exactly have all the time in the world to spend with each other because of our current living arrangements, but we wanted to squeeze in a honeymoon after our civil wedding. We decided on Hong Kong because it was close to the Philippines thus we'd need less travel time, it had a Disneyland, and we thought it would be, well... cheap. It wasn't. Hong Kong is about as expensive the West, or Japan; at least the Japan of seven years ago. But it's beautiful. And clean. Yup, it's the cleanest and most beautiful city I've visited so far.

Their airport was lovely. And it was huge! Just imagine having to take a train from the arrival area to other parts of the airport. That's how big it was. And the shops--they were awesome! That is one airport I wouldn't mind being stuck in. It's divided into two terminals, but both are connected. We found this restaurant called Hung's Delicacies at one of the terminals and had our first taste of Hong Kong food. We had roasted chicken with garlic, and roasted pork with goose meat. My husband hated his chicken, and even though I am very adventurous when it comes to food, I can't say I enjoyed my pork and goose meal, either. They were just sort of, icky. They seemed to have this weird-tasting seasoning we've never tried before. The funny thing is, we were forced to eat the same kind of food the next day, and the day after that, in Disneyland and Ocean Park! It seemed to be the only food widely available. Whereabouts were the world-famous dim sum?!?

We checked in at the Regal Riverside Hotel in Sha Tin, New Territories. My husband and I go by the motto, "The most stars for the least price" when picking a hotel. We chose Regal Riverside because it was the best one we could get for its price. We knew it was a little out of the way, but we opted for comfort over location. And we weren't disappointed. The hotel was located in a quiet area relatively close to a train station and it had a number of restaurants. The staff were friendly and room service was good. It didn't have free WiFi, though. (Which should not be a surprise, as free WiFi in Hong Kong was hard to come by.)

I was in my element when we were going around Hong Kong! We took my most favored form of transportation--the trains--their MTR or Mass Transit Railway system. It was like Japan all over again, but even better, because for every Chinese instruction or announcement, there was an English counterpart. It was such a relief! The entire city of Hong Kong is connected by trains, so it's fairly cheap and really easy to go everywhere.

Of course, you can't visit Hong Kong without going to Disneyland and Ocean Park. Disneyland was so-so. If you've been to another Disneyland park before, I'll have to warn you that you'll be disappointed with the one they have in Hong Kong. Kids, of course, will still have fun, but adults might find it boring, like we did. It didn't help that Space Mountain was closed when we were there. Ocean Park was great, though. We loved the Raging River log ride and the Grand Rapids. We really got wet! The best experience of all was the cable car ride. It's something you should definitely not miss if you find yourself in Hong Kong!

The highlight of our Hong Kong trip was Victoria Peak. Known locally as The Peak, it's a popular tourist attraction of a mountain that offers great views of the the city and Victoria Harbour. At the summit is the Peak Tower, a building that has shops, restaurants, the Madame Tussauds wax museum, and an observatory. Getting there was extremely fun: we took the Peak Tram, an old train that goes at an incline up the mountain.

We had dinner at a restaurant called Pearl of the Peak at The Peak Tower. We were seated overlooking the city and harbor. The view was amazing, but the dinner was ridiculously expensive! We charged it to a once-in-a-lifetime experience, though. In all fairness, it was an extremely lovely experience and we had the best food that night. Ever. And I'm not exaggerating.

We only had a weekend to spend in Hong Kong, and that was very short. There were other spots we wanted to visit, such as the Tian Tin Buddha and Po Lin Monastery, but we just didn't have the time. We wanted to go to Macau, too, but that was impossible. Still, our Hong Kong trip, albeit short, was a lovely experience. It's one that we will cherish for a lifetime.

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Hitched

A close friend of mine told me last year that I would get married in 2011. I laughed at him. I did not even have a boyfriend at that time, how could I get married this year? Little did I know, my friend's prediction would come true.

I got married in a civil ceremony last month. Of course, as the Philippines--and my mother--are highly religious, a church wedding will have to follow. Not much has changed because my husband is still away from me in the meantime, but it still feels surreal. I have a new last name?! I still need to get used to it.

I guess that's how life is. It's full of surprises. You never know what's coming around the corner. Your best bet is to go with the flow. And when something feels right, there's no reason to hold back. So that's what I've done: jumped in! And I look forward to beautiful things ahead.

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The Gift

It is a common belief in the Philippines that if you complete the Simbang Gabi, or nine-day novena of dawn masses before Christmas, you will get something you fervently wish for. I have completed Simbang Gabi for the last three years without having my mom force me into it. The first year, I prayed for a scholarship to Europe. I was so confident God would grant my wish, too. After all, I completed my Christmas novena just a few months earlier. But oh no. I had some computer errors when I was taking the TOEFL (part of the requirements), so the results arrived too late and I wasn't able to apply. God didn't grant me my wish. The next year, I went through a major heartbreak. Reeling from that, I asked God that Christmas that the person I was then "rebounding" on, be "the one." He wasn't, either.

I was astounded by the two succeeding heartbreaks, almost unbelieving that God would do something so cruel. I really did not know where my life was going. Work was there, but surely I could not live just for work alone. I was just not that type of person. It was a trying time, and I remember a friend trying to console me with the verse from Jeremiah 29:11, something I really tried to hold on to:

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

The next year, I'd learned my lesson. My previous efforts had been futile, and I did not ask for anything specific anymore. I just asked God to arrange my life according to His plans. This was last Christmas. Little did I know I was in for a treat.

On December 25, 2010, I joined a penpal site. I was only expecting to find friends, but I found something more. I found someone who felt so right. I finally met him in person in April, and then we got engaged.

Now, I feel that spring has finally begun and my life is about to start; that this is what I was destined to do, and that this is God finally giving me my heart's desire. The fact that I joined the site instrumental in making me meet my fiancé on Christmas Day does not escape me. It just reinforces the feeling that he truly is a gift from above, something I am extremely thankful for.

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I got hit

After driving for four and a half years, I had my first car accident yesterday. And I'm still seething from it.

This 50-something man, in his easyride pick-up, just merged into traffic from the opposite side. He checked the traffic coming in his direction, but didn't mind that I was driving along on his blind side. I didn't even have time to stop, because although I saw him (stopped somewhere on my left side), I didn't even think I had to stop! Who in their right mind merges with traffic when there is an oncoming vehicle? In most countries all over the world, if two vehicles arrive on a certain spot at the same time, the vehicle on the right has the right of way, which in yesterday's case was me. And this wasn't even an intersection! I was just driving along in almost bumper-to-bumper traffic, and someone tried to run me off the road!

I guess he didn't see me coming, or else he wouldn't have tried to merge. But now my car has a huge dent on the driver's side door and right above my left front wheel. And the thing that infuriates me the most is that this man had the audacity to get out of his car, yell at me, tell me it was my fault, and then drive away in a hurry. I didn't even have time to get his plate number! I wanted to call the police, have them investigate the scene and see whose fault it really was, but how could I, when the other vehicle already got away? If it was truly my fault, then why was he the one in such a hurry to leave?

I feel so bullied by that man and it makes me so angry! So to all drivers out there, especially women (and especially if you're in the Philippines), let my experience be a lesson to you. Don't ever let anyone bully you in a traffic accident! If you're physically okay and there's no traffic enforcer around, immediately get the plate number of the vehicle who hit you. Forget about arguing, get the plate number first. I wasn't expecting the person who hit me to drive off, but he did, and I'm left to deal with this dent on my car alone. My only consolation is that I wasn't harmed and I was on my old Kia, not on our new SUV. But I am still extremely pissed off, and there's nothing I can do but let karma deal with that bastard who hit me. Now that is just a bitch.

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Love Day

Last year, I had a cringe-inducing Valentine's Day. Let's not dwell on the details, but let's just say that being single, I made the mistake of going out with my mom, to a nice restaurant, where all the other diners were couples--an experience I will always remember not to let happen again. In the ensuing weeks, I immediately worried about this year's Valentine's Day. Yes, as early as March 2010, I was already worrying about Valentine's 2011.

But lo and behold! It's Valentine's Day 2011, and even though I do not have a date (he is far away), I have never felt so loved in my life. Just a few hours ago, I received a lovely bouquet of roses. Yes, the first ever that is not from family, female friends, or that was not given as a prank. What is it they say? God provides?

Every day should be Valentine's Day, but I hope everyone is feeling especially loved and appreciated today. For those who are not quite there yet, though, there's only one thing I can say: don't stop believing.

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