Okay class…tapos na yosi break natin. Resume na tayo:
So ayun…dumating sa punto na iniwan ko ang trabaho. Bitbit ang anak at isang dyip ng bagahe, I went back home. To live with my mother so she won’t kill herself and join my father in the after-life!
Yung 2 college, transfer sa city namin. Daily pamasahe, uwian. Si seaman bro, padala ng initial payment sa tuition. Ang succeding payments? Akin na ulit. Ang daily expenses, akin pa rin. Ang food at kuryente namin, akin pa rin. At kung anik-anik pa sa araw …

In barrio siete where I grew up,  I haven’t even gotten out of elementary school and yet the responsibilities on my shoulders were already heavy.
Heavy for a young girl. Heavy for an eldest daughter. Heavy for someone who’s supposed to be playing outside, but instead was locked-in,  on the study table, burning the midnight candle!
Kaya ayun, lumaki walang kilay!
I was that girl.
The eldest daughter.
The one who will get my family out of poverty.
The one who will send his younger brothers to college too.
Sa history ng barrio siete namin…I paved the …

Sa tingin ko wala na. Bakit ko kamo nasabi? Eh kasi naman everything starts at home right?
If  your parents are corrupt, unjust and cheaters? Most probably – as in 99% of the time – the kids will grow up corrupt, unjust and cheaters. What will these kids teach their kids? OF course being corrupt, unjust and cheaters! The same thing down the line.
Eh bakit pa maiiba, eh yan naman ang kinalakihan nila?
Alangan namang ang puno ng mangga eh mamunga ng mansanas?!
Besides… in this world, there are no absolute truths! ONLY …

[Photo Credits: Naharbat dito]
Hello people of the world…break muna mula sa kaguluhan dito sa barrio siete.  I have another barrio story to tell…listen up boys and girls (and everybody in between, he he)!
You all already know that I go home to my own barrio siete on weekends right?
Recently, my weekends have gotten a LOT interesting.
If you are a pinoy you have heard of asuwang already. But what are asuwangs or aswangs exactly?
Sabi ng OFW Writings:
Ang asuwang daw kung araw ay mukhang tao din tulad natin. Nakaka-usap, kumakain ng normal na …

On Saturday (August 1, 2009)…it was almost time for wowowee when i saw commercials saying ‘Thank You President Cory”. That’s only when I found out that Cory was dead. I thought, wow! Willie was truly sensitive to have a 2-minute-silence for Cory. He was even wearing yellow polo shirt.
Well I’m not really a fan of Willie and of his show Wowowee. For one, he plays on people’s emotions and poor-ness. The more you are shameless enough to tell on national TV, the sorry and painful story your life is… the …

Photo Credits: Yahoo
I was too young  to have much of a recollection of the Marcos Regime. If not for his ouster in 1986, what they did will not be known to me. You see I was a Marshal Law baby. I was born in 1973. What I heard about Marcos in my younger years were not good anymore. Because by the time I was grown-up, people were already tired of his regime.
During the 1986 People Power Revolution, I was in first year high school.  We were all listening to …

Senator Lito Lapid is part of GMA’s entourage to Washington DC.
Oo isang battalion ang dala ni PGMA sa DC.
Baket???
Ewan! Kunsabagay DC yon, kahit ako gusto kong makarating doon. He he he.  Sino ba ang ayaw makita ang White House at ang Lincoln Memorial?!  Cruise the Potomac River, pumasyal sa Virginia…and maybe sa North Carolina?! Basta mas exciting pumunta sa US East Coast, right?!
Teka…si Lito Lapid daw eh talagang personal na kinausap si PGMA (sorry ayaw ko banggitin ang first name nya, akin na lang ang first name na …

Barrio-mates! Enough watching the stupid SONA already. Wala namang sasabihing totoo yang si PGMA. IF only I am in Manila right now…I am most probably have joined the rallies out there!
Well anyways…my news for you is that: this barrio girl is now a city-girl! Well sort of…because I nowlive in the city 5 days a week, this time in a real house!
Eto ang bagong adventure namin kahapon:
I’m typing this entry in our new home in the city. Maybe in the coming week…i will have broadband installed. I’m still using my …

… yan ang nakasulat!
Ewan kung saan…baka kayo alam nyo?
Sabi doon sa movie na Maid in Manhattan:
“When God closes the door, He opens a window. So…jump!!“
Feel na feel ko ang mga katagang iyan sa panahong ito. Hinahanap at iniintay ko pa yung window kung saan puede akong tumalon…(not literally of course, hindi naman ako suicidal)…you know what I mean.
Ngayong umaga lang…merong nagsarang pintuan sa harapan ko. Hindi naman ito first time na nangyari sa akin. Pero hindi pa rin ako nasanay. Nalulungkot pa rin ako pag ganyan ang nangyari.
May mga bagay …

I’ve been away for 18 years and I can say that I don’t know my own Province.
Since coming home in 2006…I’ve started discovering the place.
Though I haven’t seen the whole place, still I’m surprised with what I see in the city.
For one, there is this Museum of Sorsogon Province:

Huwag nyo ako tanungin kung ano ang nasa loob ng museum dahil hindi ko pa napapasok ang isang yan. Totoo nga yata ang kasabihang ikaw ay dayuhan sa sarili mong bayan.
Ngayong nakatira na kami sa city during weekdays…nagtanong ako kung …

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince already premiered in London. While The rest of the world was tuned in to saying goodbye to Michael Jackson, the 5th movie installment in the JK Rowling series, premiered in a rainy place called London.
If you have read all the Harry Potter books (like I did!), then you probably know already how book 6 goes. It started with a scene that included small kids: Lily Potter, Petunia (Lily’s sister and Harry’ weird Aunt), and the third child is Severus Snape.
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I know…I might sound like a broken record if I still blog about Michael Jackson here  — considering the 2 previous posts about him – but let me blog about him anyway.
Besides, wala naman kayong magagawa dahil writer ako sa barrio siete na ito! He he he.
Anyways…katulad ng marami sa buong mundo, bumaha ng luha sa harapan ko habang pinapanood ko sya kaninang umaga. Separate videos of the various numbers/acts in the said memorial service are the only ones I found.
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In Chiz Escudero Country: Why is Sorsogon City, a City? It’s One Tricycle City! Sorsogon became a city in 2000. Consequently, 28 barangays of the former municipality of Bacon has to join in as barangays of Sorsogon City.
To this day, I am not convinced that a 3rd class city of Sorsogon is now considered a city.  Today, Sorsogon City is one tricyle city.
Compared to other beautiful, developed cities of the Philippines, you decide how Sorsogon City compares:

corner of Robertson’s Department Store and Supermarket
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I am still sad that Michael Jackson passed away last week. He is an irreplaceable music icon. 
In 1983, my family moved back to Bicol after 10 years of residing in Caloocan City. So I consequently had to transfer school in the barrio where I was born. I spent grades 5 and 6 in the said barrio.
In the 1982 Thriller album of Michael Jackson, Billy Jean is one of the singles that made it to the charts.

I love the black Michael Jackson and not the white-post-cosmetic surgeries Michael Jackson. In the …

This whole summer in my own backyard…the langka (jackfruit) trees are full of fruits. Another thing I love living in barrio siete is that I can eat the local fruits without buying them. For example, we don’t buy saba bananas ever.
So…going back to the hinog na langka…you can do too many stuf with it. You can put it in ginataan or insert them in turon. Either way, it is delicious. Eating hinog na langka plainly is good too. That’s what I’ve been doing lately.
My mother is harvesting 1 whole fruit …

If you are reading my personal blog, then you know by now that I live in a barrio siete with my family. We live some 20-30 minutes (depends on jeepney’s speed) away from the nearest city, where my son Raine goes to school.
Five days a week, we commute daily. One good thing here is that there is no traffic. Jeepney don’t run… they all fly! The view is good to ones eyes… you see greeneries all throughout the ride. Very minimal air pollution too. What will all that green sucking …

I just wasn’t able to take a picture along this road near my barrio siete that is under construction. There’s this big billboard saying “Proyekto ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal Arroyo”. Including a big picture of her.  You know…like a Bench endorser. It’s just that she isn’t in her underwear. He he.

Typical of any barrio siete right? Especially that the 2010 Election is looming ahead.
Sa totoo lang, wala namang diperensya ang road na yan. Nung March yata eh nagsimula silang mag-bakbak, patche-patche pa.
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One thing about living in barrio siete, is you get exposed to various kind of animals, insects and the likes. For example, when we were kids, we pick up leeches in the nearby stream and put them in a tabo or balde with soap solution. The leech will then leak out all its juices and then die eventually.
Then when you meet a small black/brown snake along the road (apparently black/ brown snakes aren’t poisonous, only the green/yellow ones) you either run the other way or kill the said snake senseless …

Photo Credits: Search Engine People
Nung 50 pesos ang palitan sa isang US dollar, napakadali nga namang mag-convert kapag meron kang ka-pamilya na nag-ta-trabaho sa abroad.
Sa mga umpukan sa barrio siete at sa mga waiting area sa mga eskwelahan, usapan palagi eh kung ano ang propesyon nung nasa abroad at kung magkano ang kita doon kada buwan. At kung lalong tsismosa(o) ang kausap mo eh itatanong pa kung magkano ang padala sayo monthly.
(Mind you, ang mga ganyang topic ang isa pang lalong ayokong pinag-uusapan sa mga umpukan. Isa pang …

Nung isang gabi, nagbrown-out dito sa barrio siete ng mga dalawang oras. Buti na lang maliwanag ang buwan at merong hangin sa labas. Lumabas kami ng anak ko at naglakad sa kalsada. Sa ilalim ng liwanag ng buwan. Walang ibang taong lumabas. Lahat ay piniling mag-stay sa loob ng bahay nila. Iba na nga these days, nung araw walang sumasayang sa liwanag ng buwan.

(Moon flip from here: Betsy Devine)
Kagabi, gising pa ako ng past 1am. Nakahiga lang at nakatingin sa bintana. Yung kurtina ng bintana namin manipis lang. Dahil maliwanag …

Nabanggit ni Silver ang betamax sa barrio…naalala ko tuloy ang buhay namin noon dito sa barrio nung ako ay nasa elementary at high school pa. Hindi pa uso ang TV noon, ang player ay betamax. Ang meron lang TV at betamax ay yung mga bahay na ang asawa ay seaman o kaya nagtatrabaho sa Saudi.
A few blocks away sa bahay namin yung neighbor na ang asawa ay seaman. Gabi-gabi kahit school night, may palabas sa bahay nila. Renta sila ng betamax tape sa bayan, then ipapalabas yun sa bahay nila. …

Umagang-umaga binubulabog ako ng mga bumibili ng yelo. Oo may tinda kaming yelo. Pero ice candy wala kasi namatay na yung magaling magbuhol ng ice candy (yung tatay ko) sa amin.
Kasi naman…may mga refrigerator din ang mga kapitbahay ko, ayaw isaksak! Bakit? Eh kasi mahal daw ang kuryente! Eh nagsi-bili pa sila ng appliances na de-kuryente kung magre-reklamo sa electric bills?! Syempre para pagpasok mo sa bahay nila may makikita kang naka-display na refrigerator, La Germania Oven (yung may burners sa top), microwave oven, bread toaster at electric fans. Pero …

Nakalapit ka na sa mag albularyo para pagalingin ang sakit mo na hindi mapagaling na duktor?
Ang stand ko sa pagitan ng dalawang uri ng manggagamot eh sa gitna. Bilang alagad ng siyensiya eh doon ako naniniwala sa medicine part.
Ngunit bilang tao na lumaki sa barrio na nababalot ng hiwaga ng mga taong merong healing touch at mga herbalist eh hindi maalis na maniwala ako ng konti doon sa walang scientific explanation.
Eto pa. Narinig nyo na ba ang term na espiratista? It a king of albularyo too pero sila …