Summer 2013

My family's Summer for this year - 2013.

We planned this trip months ago.  Paid all the dues and confirmed everything 2 weeks prior to the planned date.  It was originally a pool party @ Island Cove Water Park but we thought, beach could be a better place to start Summer.  And so I searched the web and try to find an available resort and with a reasonable price.  In a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest, I'd say the resort is passing 3.  In the end, we still got to enjoy the sun, view, food and company.

We left Cavite at 3:00am embarking on a 4 hours travel to Batangas.  The beach strip is located at the outer most baranggay of San Juan.  It's at the edge of the town.  Even so, we got to appreciate the rising sun while we are in the van, excited to see the splashing waves on the shore.  2:00pm is the scheduled check-in.  But we opt to travel earlier because the sun will be scorching hot by the time the clock hits 9:00am.  And so leaving at the crack of the morning, makes us reach the destination early too.  We're at the resort at around 8:00am and we can't check-in because there are still guest inside the Villas.  We then started chatting and laughing.  We played with our baby nephew most of the time.  I found a sweet spot inside the van to rest my eyes a bit.  And some of us began appreciating the beach.  As soon as the guest left the Villas and the staffs cleaned the room and changed the mattresses, we immediately grabbed all our stuffs and settled in.  Lunch was ready shortly after we got in.  There was a minor hiccup with our lunch package but the staffs attend to it after I asked them politely that I have reserved a specific menu for our lunch.  And so the admin stated and assured me that they will provide the next meal which is dinner the Inihaw na Liempo that was originally part of our Lunch but some mishaps had happened.  In the end, lunch and dinner were a feast.  We had fun under the afternoon sun, as we head-off to the beach and swim.  We planned on having a banana boat ride that afternoon and ended up having it the next morning.  Before we went to bed, we still had hours to talked about other stuffs.  Having a few bottles of beer and fruit cocktail, we had a blast.  Bonding and laughing about everything.

The next morning, the sight of the beach and it's pristine water rolling over the sand is refreshing.  It's the simplicity of the life in the province that gives me the awe and appreciate life as it is.  Then we changed into our swim wears and off to the beach we go again.  It'll be the last swim we'll have that day since we'll be leaving by noon.  So we decided to have the banana boat ride this morning, and so we did.  It was fun and very tiring.  Riding it over the wakes is very exhilarating but right after the boat tipped to the sides and we are all in the water, getting back on it drained all my energy.  It may be tiring, but it was still fun and a day to remember.  After all the fun and pictures we got on the beach, we then head back to the Villa and took a bath one by one.  We we're just waiting for our driver to be back to pick us up when we decided to took pictures again.  We left the resort just minutes past noon.  We had late lunch in Lipa Grill.  We reached home at around 4:00 in the afternoon.

Just Keep Moving Forward

Me as today's Guest Speaker.

It's long overdue, but here's my speech for the Elementary Commencement Exercise I attended last April 3, 2013.

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Ilang taon narin ang nakalipas nung huli akong tumuntong sa entablado para magsalita sa harap ng maraming tao. Pero mas maraming taon pa ang nakalipas nung ako ay nagtapos ng elementarya. Kaya't ng matanggap ko ang imbitasyon ni Sir Ernie para maging Guest Speaker ngayon, “Yes Sir! Sure, no problem.”, yun agad ang sinabi ko. Right after the conversation, tsaka ko lang naisip... teka, ano nga bang theme. Tungkol saan ang dapat kong sabihin at ibahagi sa mga Gagraduate ngayon. Bakit ako? Tila may pagaalinlangan pa kung itutuloy ko.

It was year 1996 when I graduated Elementary. Noon ang usong game console ay Family Computer at Brick Game, usong laro with friends ay siato at agawan-base. Year 2013: Kayo naman ang magtatapos! Ngayon, hindi ka IN kapag wala kang Play Station or Xbox Kinect. Ang madalas na naririnig ko sa mga bata ay laro tayong DOTA or anong highest score mo sa Temple Run. Noong ako'y nasa elementary pa, kapapalabas palang ng unang Toy Story Film. Diba si Andy, bata palang at halos panay laro lang. Ngayon na kayo ang nasa elementary, Toy Story 3 na. At si Andy, magcocollege na.

Sabi ko nga kanina, Si Andy at si Woody...gaya niyo, naging parte din sila ng buhay ko noong ako ay nagaaral pa. Diba sabi ni Buzz Lightyear, “To Infinity & Beyond!”. Natatandaan ko, madalas yan ang sinasabi ko kapag maganda ang performance ko sa school. Kapag madami akong nakukuhang stars at checks galing sa teacher. Diba Very Good! Pero syempre, hindi sa lahat ng panahon ay very good ang nakukuha ko. May mga times din na makakakita ako ng X sa test papers ko. Bakit wrong??? Malulungkot ako, syempre. Minsan nga iniiyakan ko pa. I remember back in highschool, hirap na hirap ako sa isang subject. Mataas lahat ng grades ko except for that one particular subject: Physics. But that doesn't stop me to be on top. Mas lalo pa akong nag-aral at nagpursigi. Na challenge ako eh. Mas lalo ko pang ginalingan. I listened more kay teacher. In the end, nakuha ko din ang mataas na marka. I listened more and so I learned more. Parang Treasure Island lang yan eh. X marks the spot. Kung saan may X, nandun ang treasure. With every trials and failures, there's another key gained for success. Diba? Hindi ka dapat panghinaan ng loob dahil nagkamali ka. Ang pagkakamali ay nandyan hindi para bigyan lang tayo ng sad face. It's made to give us the lesson and that little push we need to be back up and try again. Ang sumubok ulit ay hindi sign ng pagkatalo. You never fail, until you stop trying. Kaya nga kayo nandito sa araw na 'to kasi hindi kayo tumigil sa pagsisikap. Kaya kayo nasa Graduation na ito kasi You did it! You guys deserve a pat on the back.

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.” yan ang sabi ng Emperor sa Disney Film na Mulan. Ano nga ba yung adversity? Ayon sa Google...pero noon, Webster Dictionary lang, Adversity means difficulties and hardships. I was in highschool when I lost my father. Ako ay 2^nd year highschool sa St. John Fisher School-Camella Campus. It was so difficult, mahirap kasi my father was the bread winner. We had to cut our expenses. Lahat ng pwedeng tipirin, tinipid na namin. We don't live a lavish life nung buhay pa siya. Pero noon ko lang narealize yung madalas ibilin sa akin ng Mama ko, “Anak, mag-aral ka ng mabuti dahil yan lamang ang maari naming ipamana ni Papa mo sa inyong magkakapatid.” Nang mawala si Papa, si Mama ko na ang naging sole provider namin. May maliit kaming pwesto sa palengke, nagtitinda ng gulay at dry goods. Kapag weekend, kailangan naming tumulong kasi mas maraming namamalengke. Ang assignments and projects, magagawa lang namin sa hapon. Bihira ang summer vacation kasi nagtitinda during summer break. Mas naging mahirap at challenging nung ako'y nagkolehiyo. Halos dugo at pawis ng aking ina ang kapalit ng bawat tuition fee ko. Naalala ko pa noon, halos pamasahe lang ang ibibigay niyang baon sa akin. Pero dahil sa kagustuhan kong mag-aral at makatapos, papasok ako sa school ng may ngiti sa labi para Good Vibes. Di alintana na baka magutom ako. O kaya may kailangang bilhin para sa mga drawing plates sa school. Ngunit sa kabila ng kagipitan, nagawa kong makatapos dahil ganoon nalamang ang pagpapahalaga ko sa edukasyon na pinilit maibigay sa akin ng magulang ko. Sa kabila ng pagsubok, ginawa ko itong inspirasyon at dahilan para mas magsumikap na tulungan ang sarili. Apat kaming magkakapatid, lahat kami ay napagtapos ng college. Kaya ang araw na ito ay hindi lang para sa inyo na magtatapos ng Elementarya, kundi pati sa mga magulang na araw-araw nagtratrabaho para may pang enroll at pambaon tayo. Salamat kay Papa, Tatay, at Daddy. Salamat kay Mama, Nanay at Mommy.

“Reach for the Sky!” yan naman ang sabi ni Woody sa Toy Story. Kaya sabi ko naman, “Sige I'll dream big!” Libre naman diba? Maganda nga yun na as early as now ay may naiisip na kayong maging pagtanda ninyo. Hindi magtatagal, lahat ng pangarap niyo ay susubukan niyo ng abutin. Bata palang ako marami na akong pinangarap na maging. Noon palang, pinangarap ko ng maging isang arkitekto. Mahilig na akong mag-drawing ng mga plano. Madalas ang laro ko noon ay ang gawan ng sariling doll house ang Barbie ko. It was actually my father who thought me how to appreciate drawing. Kaya kahit ano pang mga nagdaan na unos at pagsubok, hindi ko inalis sa puso at isip ko na darating ang panahon, magiging isa akong Arkitekto. Eyes on the Prize dapat. Pero katulad ng iba sa inyo, nangarap din ako na maging isang Guro. Nainspire kasi ako sa mga teachers ko noon, kung papaano sila naging isang malaking parte ng buhay ko. Ang mga guro na nagsilbing magulang natin sa loob ng paaralan. Sila na nagbigay linaw at explanasyon sa mga tanong natin sa mga aralin. Dahil kung wala ang mga teachers natin, wala rin naman tayo ngayon dito diba?

Pero hindi sapat na mangarap ka lang. Hindi natatapos ang lahat sa dreaming big. Walt Disney once said, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” Sabi ko nga sa inyo, hindi naging madali ang buhay mag-aaral ko. It was never a smooth sail. Marami mang malalaking alon ang dumating. Nagawa ko paring makarating sa gusto kong puntahan. Ako'y naging isang guro at isang arkitekto.

As you received your diploma today and graduate from Elementary School, hindi ibig sabihin ay tapos na ang lahat. Ito lamang ang hudyat ng bagong simula. Sa pagtatapos niyong ito, ay siya namang simula ng panibago niyong adventures as High School Students. Mas maraming assignments, mas maraming researches. But look at the brighter side, more friends and more fun! More challenges, maybe more painstaking projects. But then again, these are the things that will help you reach all your dreams. Learning is a continous cycle. Even life after college, mas marami pang matututunan. Sabi nga sa animation film na Meet The Robinsons, “Keep Moving Forward!.” Our life as a student will never travel the concrete path for good. Madalas malubak at baku-bako ang daan. Hindi rin makalilipad ng walang bagyong susuungin. Tulad ko, naranasan ko rin ang tumawa at umiyak. I had been on the top of my game most of the time, and I must admit… I had landed short on some of it. I have gained a lot of new friends. I even lost my father on the way. But to sum it up, all the hardships and triumphs that I had… I was able to sew it all up together. Basta I always keep in mind to Just Keep Moving Forward!

Ngayon alam ko na kung bakit ninais kong tumayo dito sa inyong harapan at magsalita. Nung matanggap ko ang imbitasyon ni Sir Ernie para maging Guest Speaker ngayon, hindi ako nagdalawang isip. Bakit ako? Bakit hindi. Madaming beses na akong nakarinig ng speech ng isang Guest Speaker. Mahaba man o maikli, iisa lang ang ibig nilang ipahiwatig. Ang maging isang inspirasyon ang buhay nila sa mga nakikinig. At yun din ang siyang aking dahilan.

You guys have made a strong foundation right here. Alam ko, hindi biro ang mag-aral. Kaya binabati ko kayo, mga classmates. You did it! Muli, isang magandang umaga at Congratulations!!!

~ E N D ~