Disney Stitch

            Stitch is my favorite Disney character, an extraterrestrial creature adopted by a Hawaiian girl named Lilo in the animated movie, “Lilo and Stitch” I really love Stitch but some don't, saying that he looks like a monster, very weird… but I just don’t bother… Kawaii.!!  

 

Stitch is small and he resembles like a cute puppy. But what I love most about Stitch  are the values I learned from him in the movie. Even a creature like him can be tamed and taught with patience and love. How much more to us, humans? It shows that everybody can love and can learn to sacrifice. No matter how bad a person is, there is always that soft spot within him that is vulnerable if touched. 

Perhaps the best part of Lilo and Stitch is when Lilo said this line: “O’hana means family, family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” I was amazed at how Stitch reacted to that. He might not understand the language but somehow he learned in another way. Later he found out where he truly belongs. He found out that he was not lost like the ugly duckling he had read in the book but rather had a family, though not realizing it earlier.

Here they are… weee… I didn't really collect these and I never planned to collect any. It just started when I saw a Stitch stuffed toy hanging by the store I window shopped before. Now they’re three.. I called them Stitches… pink and blue... ;)

 

Arcade Games

            Arcade games are the most enjoyable games I’ve ever played. Everytime me and my classmates faced a hectic day at school, it’s when we decided to go to the mall and play arcade games. After class we would shout, “Quantum! Quantum!” By the way, Quantum is the name of the place where we usually hanged out. Inside Quantum, you can freely play any arcade game you want. Let me introduce you to my so-called Quantum friends. 

 

            First is my favorite game. It’s called Dance Maniax 2^nd Mix and we often called it D2M for short. Dance Maniax is a rhythm game wherein you can use any part of your body to jive with the music. It can be played by either single or double player. By using your hands or any part of your body, you have to block the optical sensors to simulate dancing. On the screen, the player is given a certain pattern for a certain music he/she choose. The red circles are top sensors while the blue circles are the bottom sensors.

Somewhat similar to Dance Maniax is Dance Dance Revolution or DDR for short. DDR is a bit difficult and you need to be alert and fast so that you won’t miss a single point. DDR is a music video game series produced by Konami. The mechanics is similar to D2M but in this game, you have to stand in a platform and hit the sensor arrows with your feet. You also have to follow the patterns on the screen depending on what music you choose. 

Next stop is the Air Hockey. Air Hockey is also fun and is played by pair. Air hockey table, mallets, and pucks are used to play this game. The aim is to shoot the puck with the use of mallet into the opponent’s goal. A success in shooting the puck gives you one point. The score is race to nine and whoever reaches nine points first is declared the winner. Air Hockey is very enjoying too just like the other games I’ve mentioned lately.

Lastly is the Concierto. Concierto is not an arcade game but rather an open area inside Quantum where we stayed if ever we feel like singing. There are two tv screens in Concierto. One is facing the stage and the other is facing the “audience.” Concierto is a Spanish word that means concert. Of course it is everyone else’s concert so you have to have an audience watching you for support. Sounds cool, isn’t it.? We just have to select songs from the song book and reserve it in the machine using our tokens. And when it’s our turn, we take the stage and Viola.! It’s our time to shine.! Concierto is fun and somehow it developed our confidence. I’m not used getting up on stage but it’s now normal to me. I was able to conquer my stage fright anyway way back in high school.

 

            May it be in games or mini concerts; I always put in mind to do my best all the time. Of course, we exchanged our coins for tokens. But the point is that in every action we take, we must be able to anticipate the outcome and be prepared for the worst. I may have failed on the second round out of five exhausting rounds in D2M but I still learned to be optimistic, thinking that I won’t run out of chances to surpass my previous records. Life is just like the games we played and encountering obstacles and successes along the way is part of it. It doesn’t matter how many times we lose or win, what’s important is how we stand up after we fail and how we remain humble after we succeed. That’s LIFE for me… just like an arcade game. ^^,      

 

Open Communication in a Relationship

It feels heavy deep inside if something’s hindering you from telling what you truly feel. Sometimes thoughts keep on lingering inside your head but you just don’t know how to put it in words. Sometimes words are at the tip of your tongue yet you just can’t utter it.

Relationships are not really meant to be perfect at all times. Every couple would definitely pass the rocky road. Trials are everywhere and even in relationships, it exist. Loyalty and trust is tested through time.

Personally, I experienced the same thing; like having the right words in mind but having a hard time saying it face to face. I really can’t say the words to him, afraid that something might change between us. I can’t simply open it up for fear that the situation might go out of control and would rather become worse. Everytime I feel disappointed or sad, I always try to resist and hold myself together, keep the pain within me until I can’t hold it any longer and burst into tears one night.

But now I realized how important open communication is in building a strong relationship. It serves as a foundation that strengthens the bind of two people in love more and more with each passing day. It is also a way of engaging couples into a heart to heart conversation. Through open communication, misunderstandings and problems are patched up as early as it become more complicated. That’s one of the ironies of life, the more you open up things to your partner, the more you become close to each other. 

The essence of life is to love. To love is to help, to understand, to accept, to have faith, to believe, to fight, to hold on, to take risks, to commit, to care and expect nothing in return. Love feels like heaven but could hurt like hell. 

Though action speaks louder than words, 

there are still things that you can’t explain through actions, 

but instead needs to be articulated…

Remembering and Loyalty

I just want to share these two heart-rending videos here on my page. One is a story of a lion named Christian and the other is of a dog named Hachiko. I guess you've already heard of these cute wonderful creatures. Let me share this.. please watch the video..  

(To watch the video on youtube, just click the urls)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co3N4-6B2pM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaS37E3gKOU

Watching these videos is like sitting on green grasses and feeling the soft kisses of the wind to my skin. Nature is relaxing. I love animals and I always love dogs. Well… even if Christian is a cat I still love him anyway, especially the looks of his golden mane. I just thought how lucky their masters are and how lucky he is to be loved and cared by them. Everytime I looked at them even in these videos I could see a soul in them, a soul and a heart that could learn to love like humans. Most of all, I don’t see them as animals; I see them exactly just like us only without the ability to reason. They showed something very different from that of a usual animal.

Who would ever think that a lion which is supposed to be born wild can be tamed and can be brought up at home? Christian's warmthness towards his master has drawn me more to him. Staring at that beast's wild face seemed not to be frightening at all. Christian was left in the wilds for a year but when his masters went to visit him, he was still able to remember them. I know cats have a good sense of smelling but I just love the thought of remembering someone even you've been separated apart for quite a long time. I wish humans are like that too. Maybe humans are forgetful. In my life, I haven’t forgotten anyone who once became a part of me… my first kindergarten friend, my first crush, or even the first mentor who inspired me so much. They would always be the part that completes the puzzle of my life. I may forget their names sometimes but when I see them, I would always remember their faces.

God use each of us as an instrument in touching each other's lives. I may come to somebody else's life to teach him/her lessons in life or perhaps somebody would come to my life to show me the lessons I still haven't learned. Life is really wonderful if you just know how to live it. But what's the saddest thing about it is that sometimes we humans tend to forget. Once a person is out of our lives, we tend to forget them. We know them but we just don’t want to remember.. How sad that would be.. Memories are supposed to be treasures that shouldn’t be forgotten; just like people in our lives who made us what we become right now. Above all, to God Almighty who despite how sinful we are… continued to love us unconditionally.

On the second video, Hachiko’s story proved how unwavering faith can give us hope and strength to go on. Hachiko is a lost dog that was adopted by a university professor. Hachiko grew up with all the love and care he needed… a place to stay, a couch to sit on, a toy to play and a master to cuddle at night. The family didn’t want to have Hachiko at first but when the professor’s wife noticed how it made her husband so happy, they decided to keep him. Hachiko grew into a full grown akita and started to accompany his master every morning to the train station. In the afternoon around 5 o’clock, he would went to the train station again and wait in the square to fetch his master. That was his routine everyday… accompanying and fetching his master at the train station. Until one day, the professor died without Hachiko knowing what happened. Hachiko left home and still wait for his master every afternoon. For a span of ten years, Hachiko was doing the same thing every afternoon and that is to wait… sadly waiting for nothing until he grew old and died.

Hachiko’s story highlights the main value that most men cannot possess, the value of loyalty. People today deceive each other to survive. They would scratch each other’s backs if no one’s watching. Only few people have this value. Should I say dogs are more loyal than humans? Dogs are imprisoned to their own emotions. But how could they be so loyal to their masters? Best friends even hurt each other because of secrets revealed. Neighbors even throw bad words to each other because of simple things they disputed about. Couples even broke up because of misunderstandings that can’t be patched up or serious reasons like the involvement of a third party. Why is that we don’t know where our heart lies? Loyalty is something very important to us… it is loyalty that makes us trust people. Why can’t we live in a world where there is absence of betrayal, dispute, and deception?  

Religion and Politics

"What had happen to the Philippine Roman 

Catholic Church nowadays?"

The concept came up to me when my social science professor asked this question to herself in front of the class. The truth suddenly hit me. I just then realized that my professor was right about it. The question about how religion played a great role in politics is an interesting topic to ponder on.

Long before during the time of Spanish Colonization, Christianity was already used to manipulate the native Filipinos. Since Filipinos are naturally known as god-fearing people, they submitted theirselves to adapt the religion imposed by the Spanish friars. Spain took advantage of this and later used Christianity as a tool to get ahold of the political system in our country including the control of Philippines’ abundant wealth which includes resources and manpower. From then on rise corruption, like a disease it spreads to the veins of the system and became rampant as we forward to the present.

            Even today, the same scheme was used by some politicians. In the present Philippine setting, the participation of Church in politics is indeed evident. Like what had happened to the previous national election. Many religious groups gave block votes to their chosen candidates. Once they’ll be able to choose, full support is given and large percentage of votes is assured. Well, I’m not really against this. For me, it’s some kind of a strategy. Actually when it comes to this political thingy, my knowledge is not that broad and reliable. Now, what I’m trying to stress out is that the members of the religious groups have no choice but to obey what was instructed to them by their leaders. Now here comes the violation of human rights. The freedom of an individual to choose who he wanted to vote is violated. They were like mere puppets receiving checklists of candidates that the group supported.

            Some of my neighbors were members of a certain religious group. When my other neighbor asked them who will they vote, they just showed their lists. Some would say that it’s against their will, others would say that there’s nothing they can do about it. So, where’s freedom now? The involvement of money is also questionable. I’m not kinda sure about this but I overheard the grown-ups talking about benefits. Incentives are given to the members who followed as what was instructed to them and also the leaders of the group received benefits too. It reminded me of what my accounting teacher said when I was still in high school. “If you want to get rich, you enter politics or form your own religious group. In that way, you’ll never go hungry.” So, was vote buying really present? I do believe it is but I don’t have any real first hand information to prove it. What I do know is that the act of buying votes is absolutely unlawful. 

The role of the Church is limited only to its main purpose in the society and it should not interfere, or be a part in any means of carrying out political activities in the government. Vice versa, the government’s major responsibility is to serve its constituents and to make sure that everyone is served or is able to avail the service.

Traditional Vs. Internet Games

 Ever played pinoy games when you were still young?

            I noticed lately that Filipino cultures and traits were now slowly fading away. How much more on Filipino games that wasn’t given that much value at all?

            One fine afternoon, I really felt bored that I have nothing to do. It was an unusual afternoon since I haven’t seen a single kid playing in the street. It was supposed to be very noisy. I then imagined some few years ago, the street is always crowded with kids playing the once famous tumbang lata and luksong baka. Private vehicles would usually beep their horns everytime they passed the street. But now, the scenario in the street which I used to observe every after school was gone. 

            Since I was young, playing outside the house is a big no no… So everytime my mother is away, I would peep outside the gate. There was a time that I can’t take watching other kids having fun. So, I joined. I cut my knees twice because of playing tumbang lata. I’m not really good at running and other kids took advantage of that. That was the first and the last time I played in the street. I won’t forget it and it was fun.

But the world is constantly changing and the advent of technology influenced almost every aspect of our life. It may be at home, in the workplace, or at school. Life is now easy because of the product of brilliant men’s inventions. The moment computers were introduced to mankind, people’s attentions were diverted to it. Perhaps that’s the reason why I seldom saw kids playing in the street because most of them were now playing a different kind of game, the so-called internet games.

Try to go to any internet cafes and you’ll notice that almost half of the costumers inside are kids ranging from ages 12 – 16. My highschool alma mater is right in the heart of the city and you have to understand that everything you need is in the city itself. Our school is surrounded by many internet cafes that everytime you pushed the door of a cafe, you can deduct right away that it’s full. Every café is as full as the others. Since students are attracted to low rate cafes, then the cafes would compete for that.  

In our barangay alone, we only have two internet cafes. So naturally, I’d be expecting that the cafes are full all the time. The usual scene inside a café are kids sitting side by side or back to back with their hands rapidly clicking the mouse and pressing the controls on their keyboards. They would shout and say bad words openly as the speakers of their computers were disturbing the other costumers. Looking at those brats is like hell. I despise looking at them with their minds imprisoned to those online games their playing and their consciousness in words and actions are detached from their being. They never really get fit at that, unlike the traditional games which requires much running and strenuous actions.

Nowadays, having fun is no sweat. All you have to do is make sure that there’s an internet connection, sit back and let your fingers work all the way on the keyboard then you’ll have fun. But what is really better? Traditional games? Or online games? For people inclined to internet then they would choose online games. For people who’ve grown-up in rural areas or places not touched with advancements then they would prefer traditional games. But it’s really up to a person’s preference.

If I’m to answer that, it would be traditional games. Why? Simply because I don’t know how to play any online game and I love playing pinoy games so much especially patintero and the one with Chinese garters. Haha… just like that… =)