On Being Positive

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."

- Aristotle Onasis

On Making Your Mark

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead 
where there is no path and leave a trail." 


- Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

Cross Stitch: Two Mustangs

I finally completed this design called Two Mustangs

* Design size: 15 x 11.25
* Cloth: Aida #10
* Thread: Anchor
* Number of colors used: 21

TV Series Quotes: Dracula

On Life

" We are like pencils. The best part of us is inside. We make mistakes, we erase.
 But we become a better person as we are sharpened."

- Anonymous

On the Truth

"A lie may fool someone else.
 But it will tell you the truth:
 You are weak."

-Tom Wolfe ( The Bonfire of Vanities)

Loboc, Bohol

Loboc town in Bohol is a place popular for its floating restaurants and the angelic voices of the Loboc Children's Choir. But other than those popular attractions, only a handful knew that this place has a lot more to offer than what they are known for.

The man-made forest

A part of the stretch of the man-made forest is located in this town. Just a few year's back, this area has been made as one of tour stops for photo ops. As a kid, I've travelled this road in the 90s to visit my grandparents who lived several towns farther. I remembered that the forest was lush despite the trees getting older. I also remembered that there used to have monkeys that would jump from tree to tree which was always a child's delight. Sadly, there are none of these in recent times.

A recent development in this town is the zoo which they sweetly named ZooColate Thrills, a shout out to Chocolate Hills, Bohol's main attraction. Their collection of animals are not much, but to those who rarely go to zoos, anything would be a delight. They have three Bengal Tigers and one of them is named Tiggy. They also have a monkey, a civet cat, a set of eagles, a pony, a turtle and an ostrich. There's a guide that will go with your group as you roam around the zoo to introduce you to the animals.

After the the zoo trip, we passed by the Loboc River where the floating restos ply. However, during the time that we went there, no restaurant passed.

We then proceeded to Loboc Ecotourism Adventure Park. They they offered a zipline ride and and a cable car ride.The ride is to go to the other mountain an have to pass above the great Loboc River. None in our group were dauntless enough to try it, but we tried out the cable car. The ride is just like one to two minutes, but it sure feels like more than that. Even if my mates were screaming their hearts out, my knees were still shaking. The ride is totally safe, but the harness/ seat belt did not stop my mind from thinking that in case we fall, that would be the last of us. The P350.00 fee was for a two-way ride, and when we finished the ride, it seems that we'd wanted to try it again. We did not.

Loboc is about an hour's ride from the capital,Tagbilaran City.

Loboc River - the route for the floating restaurants

At the zoo. This train is actually just for photo ops. 

 Tiggy

The Animals at the Zoo Colate Thrills

The Cable Car Ride- notice how far they've come from. The girl in black is not afraid of heights.

And its our turn for the ride. We were going to that speck on the other side.

That is where we came from. We disembarked from the car and has to turn around 360 degrees for the return trip.

This is what we saw from up above. Aside from the restrictive belt, I was too scared to move even a bit to take pictures.

The Loboc church building was ruined by the October 2013 7.2 magnitude earthquake that struck the region.The church is one of Philippines' oldest.

On Learning

"I hear and I forget.
 I see and I remember.
 I do and I understand."

-Confucius

Life Has Now Been Explained

On the first day, God created the dog. God said, "sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. I will give you a life span of 20 years." The dog said, " that's too long to be barking. Give me 10 years and l'll give you back the other 10." So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey. God said, "entertain people, do monkey tricks, make them laugh. I will give you a 20-year life span.". The monkey said, How boring, monkey tricks for 20 years? I don't think so. Dog gave you back 10, so that's what I'll do too, okay?". And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow. God said, "you must go to the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer. I will give you a life span of 60 years," The cow said, "that's kind of a tough life you want me to live for 60 years. Let me have 20 and I'll give back the 40". God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man. God said, "eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. I'll give you 20 years." Man said, "what? Only 20 years! Tell you what, I'll take my 20, and the 40 the cow gave back, and the 10 the monkey gave back and the 10 the dog gave back, that makes 80, okay?" "Okay", said God, "you've got a deal".

So that is why the first 20 years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves; for the next 40 years we slave in the sun to support our family; for the next 10 years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren;  and for the last 10 years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Animal Shots

A rooster

On Inspiring Others

" Try to be a rainbow on someone's cloud."

- Maya Angelou

On Heroism

" I think we all do heroic things, but hero is not a noun, it's a verb."

-Robert Downey Jr

Philippine Coins: The English Series in My Collection

I was lucky enough to be able to include some old Philippine coins which was dubbed as the English Series. Is is called as such because these coins are in the English language . These coins were minted between 1903- 1945 when the Philippines was under the United States.

 Starting 1969 all Philippine coins are minted in Tagalog, the official Philippine language.

 * Currency: Twenty Centavos ( Php 0.20)

 * Obverse shows Lady Liberty striking an anvil with a hammer. In her background is the Mayon      *  Volcano. "Filipinas" and "Twenty Centavos" are also encrypted.

 * Reverse shows the arms of the US Territories the words "United States of America" and the year          "1918".

 * Year Minted : 1918

  * Composition: 75% silver

* Currency : Five Centavos (Php 0.05)

* Obverse shows a man sitting on an anvil, and the Mayon volcano , and the words " Five Centavos"      and " Filipinas"

* Reverse shows the coat of arms of the Commonwealth of the Philippines; the words "United States    of America" and the  mint year  "1944"

* Year: 1944

US Coins

The following are the US coins that somehow went to the assorted coins I've been keeping.

* Currency:  Five Cents

* Obverse shows the bust of Thomas Jefferson, the third US President; the United States motto, In      God      we Trust; the word "Liberty" and the  year 1960 

* Reverse shows the Montecillio which was the house of Jefferson; the words "E Pluribus Unum",    which is   Latin for ' One out of many"-  a phrase in the seal of the United States; the words, "United States of        America", and "five cents".

* Year: 1960

On Faith

" The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious."

-John Sculley

Arts and Crafts

Three months ago, I decided to take a break from my day job, and have a real long vacation. If I had enough savings and less financial responsibilities, I would've taken a sabbatical and  my wanderlust, but sadly, its not meant to be -- at least for now.

Meanwhile, I learned to do some crafts and create some beautiful things. Most of my inspiration are found on different websites about crafts. Pinterest in particular have a million ideas that would make you go  oohh and aaahh.

Here are some of the projects that I have completed so far.

Redesign A Shirt

Somebody gave me this blouse, but when I tried it out, I decided there was too much fabric in the front that its not flattering to wear. It makes me feel like I'm trying to hide a bulge in my belly. So I decided to remove the dangling fabric, used the same cloth to create small butterflies and sew it to the blouse.

       before                                                                    after

Wisdom of the Innocent

A teacher of chemistry wanted to teach his 5th grade class a lesson about the evils of liquor, so he produced an experiment that involved a glass of water, a glass of whiskey, and two worms.

"Now class, observe closely the worms," said the teacher putting the first worm into the water.

The worm in the water writhed about, happy as a worm in the water as can be.

The second worm, he put into into the glass of whiskey. It writhed painfully, and it quickly sank to the bottom, dead as a door nail.

"Now, what lesson can we derive from this experiment?" the teacher asked.

One kid raised his hand and responded, "Drink whiskey and you don't get worms."

Expand Your Vocabulary

16. Dumdum n. a term for a wide range of soft ammunition
                     adj a variation of calling someone dumb.

17. Hobbledehoy /ˈhäbəldēˌhoi/   n. a clumsy or awkward teenager
                                                       adj. clumsy or awkward

18. lazulitte  / xx  n. a phosphate mineral which is blue in color
                          adj. a shade of blue

19. Prurient / ˈpro͝orēənt/ xx adj. lascivious; salacious; having excessive interest in sexual matters

20. Reel /rēl/  - v. loose one's balance; lurch violently;
                             
                            n. a device such as a cylinder or spool or frame

Words

A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day... 30,000 to a man's 15,000.

The wife replied, "The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men..."

The husband then turned to his wife wife and asked, 'What?'

On Death

" Death ends a life, not a relationship."

     - Mitch Albom