A SEQUEL TO THAT FUNNY BUS TRIP..

After a good night sleep and rest, am ready to write where i left off yesterday.

You could get quite close to someone  with humor. Women i believe, love that as i noticed in this trip. I told my seatmate i had always been a terrible shooter...and she asked why so. I answered that i kept missing her. She pinced me quite hard and kissed me on my cheek! So guys once you read this blog, keep some nice jokes handy lol.

As the bus alighted from the ferry and began the Mindanao leg of the trip, some passengers were at the end of their journey. The mood suddenly shifted. There was an eerie sadness like everyone wanted all to end their journey together. But each one has a place to come home to..where parents, brothers, sisters and even cousins are expecting their arrival. Its in our culture which others especially foreigners, find it difficult to relate.

Anyway...even good songs will have to come to an end. So did our trip..and the newly found friendships we had forged together. Everyone was asking/giving their mobile phone numbers; email adds too and Facebook accounts and promised to keep intouch. As the first passenger dropped off, we all noticed that she had quite a number of baggages. She shouted back that everyone in her family was expecting a pasalubong no matter how small or cheap. A guy too was bringing home lots of umbrellas; an OFW from Japan had a dozen huge cartons of pasalubong, etc. It was a sight to behold and one cant help being proud to be a Filipino. Even the arab guy who was with a pinay could not help but admire.

Amid all the sadness, humor still found its way to the group. When the guy, Roland stepped down in Butuan, he got a goodbye kiss from a naughty girl passenger who didnt know his girlfriend was waiting at the roadside. The whole bus exploded in laughter! I guess he had lots of explaining and fending to do!

The whole trip is a true microcosm of what a Filipino culture is; how we relate to others; how we enjoy or appreciate humor even in the midst of difficult and terrible times. And most of all, how family-centered we are that even where we are in the world, we keep our sight and thoughts on the family we left behind!

THAT FUNNY BUSTRIP I TOOK!

Bus trips could be fun afterall! I least expected it when i  boarded Bus no.941 and i was at the last seat, having been late due to that surprisingly great movie. I wanted a comfortable place in the bus..usually some few seats behind the driver. But no matter how i begged, there was only one seat left...seat no.40!


It was kinda rocking the first few kms and the rocking took to worse as the night wore on. I couldnt sleep. Some people were talking; a few were snoring...and me, i purposely turned my mind to that serendipity movie i just saw. It warmed my heart and i fell asleep taking over the lead role lol!


After the breakfast stop, we began to get acquainted with our fellow passengers. Soon the barriers were gone and all of us had forged friendship with each other :). The whole bus seemed like a marketplace. Since a lot of young ladies were on board, the outnumbered men, me included were asked to sit with the ladies we like. If 2 gentlemen like the same lady, the lady got to choose whom she wanna sit with. And the fun began! hahaha that was hilarious. I never expected the girls to be that game! The fun didnt end there. 


After lunch, the ladies without partners got to play rock/paper/scissor to choose their guys. The whole day got so interestingly funny that soon some were seen holding hands secretly. And i couldnt stop laughing!


I dont wanna stop writing..but guess my eyes are gonna fall off if i dont hit the bed now. Goodnite i promise to add the next chapter of the trip tomorrow!

SONGS I SING OR LISTEN TO WHILE ON THE ROAD..

Good music esp for a solo traveller is indispensable. It calms my flayed nerves the moment i put on my earphones. I instantly feel
like i have just been sedated. Surprisingly too, i remember every details when it was sang; what i did; whom i was with; and where i was....it too evokes a feeling of nostalgia..and my heart heaves with a heavy sigh ..and i begin in my mind, a sentimental journey over time.


Sometimes too when i listen to fast beats, i could not help tap my feet and smiles form on my lips.  I remember my disco times, as i gyrate on the dance floor like a contorting snake lol! But hey...what on earth did happen?? Fewer and fewer people are taking to the dance floor :(  I missed the good ol days!


I love rock& roll, folk, ballad, lovesongs, RNB, and even techno. I love the unforgettable images it replays in my mind like the rewind button has just been pressed.


Music let me travel through time .....as i travel down the beaten road or "the road less traveled"...as the poem goes.

            My best roadtrip song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvsmRuRp4cM

POEMS I DIG WHILE ON THE ROAD

       1.                                    The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by And that has made all the difference.

           
                                .Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

                 Whose woods these are I think I know.
                His house is in the village though;
                He will not see me stopping here
                To watch his woods fill up with snow.


                My little horse must think it queer
                To stop without a farmhouse near
                Between the woods and frozen lake
                The darkest evening of the year.


                He gives his harness bells a shake
                To ask if there is some mistake.
                The only other sound's the sweep
                Of easy wind and downy flake.


                The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
                But I have promises to keep,
                And miles to go before I sleep,
                And miles to go before I sleep.

GOT THIS FROM CAPT LONGHOUSE's BLOG..THNX

Just Enjoy Living

,,,,,,,,,,,either you grow old or just too BIG !

Views on Ageing

,,,Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. 'How old are you?' 'I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five!

,,,That's the key. You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. 'How old are you?' 'I'm gonna be 16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!

,,,And then the greatest day of your life .... . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony.. YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!! But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed? You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40.

,,,Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would! So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70!

,,,After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I Was JUST 92.'

,,,Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. 'I'm 100 & a half!' May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them'.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love. Whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next city; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

The STUCKMARKET..

Times have changed...so is the stock market. I hate to admit but its getting harder making profit from the stock market. My money got STUCKED in some shares i bought and i guess i have to bail out at a loss!


In the Philippines, one makes money only when the market is in bull run, so to speak. There is no shorting or puts unlike in other markets such as the US. Its solely a "buy & hold" strategy. However, with a patience of a saint, i might just be able to enter the US market soon. I love the Vegas-like excitement there; where i believe i could blend pretty well. With a meager capital, stock options will be the right path i should be treading.


Or i might dabble in Binary Options. It is trading in forex, equities, futures and commodities - where determining where the market might gonna go is far simpler and in shorter timeframe.


But this is putting the cart ahead of the horse...right now i gotta make some damage control. Those stocks that got stucked which humbled me in a sort of way, need to be saved to fight another day.
The market that seemed to get stucked in a bearish mode, could only hibernate.  Maybe when the DOW and the world economy will bring in back the bull, i could hold it by its tail!

A RoadTrip In A Sixteen Year Old Sentra Car!

I always love roadtrips...like it were blood in my veins that without it ill just wither and fall like a leaf from a twig. But what is amazing in this Easter trip is the ride we'll gonna make..in a sixteen year old Nissan Sentra
which i bought when my daughter, Laureen graduated from highschool as her graduation gift!


There will be three generations in this trip: me, Laureen & her brother, Erwin,  and Laureen's kids, Maryam & Zainab. Laureen is on vacation from New York, where she now resides with her family. Erwin who refuses to become an American, opted to stay single while he could. The kids on the other hand are simply so adorable that i am missing them already even before their arrival for their almost 3 month vacation. You see, i guess partly the reason why kids become spoiled brats is because of grandfathers. I simply cant refuse when these 2 kids wanna ask something. It was totally different when i was raising Laureen and Erwin :).


We all squeezed in into the small frail car with all our things when we finally left for a week roadtrip. I was a bit
apprehensive knowing that an old car in a long trip may just conked out in a deserted place and in darkness before we could reach our first stop. But it didnt. It ran humming like the first day i brought her home to show to Laureen. Her 5 & 3 year old kids got back home safely; hugging and telling Andre(car's name by Laureen) how much they love him!


The trip was equally historical not only for me, or Laureen and the kids or to Andre ....but to Erwin as well...as we took the trip to ask for the hand of his girlfriend, Kate. Hopefully, the next time Andre will take us for the next roadtrip will gonna be Erwin's big day!