Eye of the Beholder

Pang apat ako sa nakapila dito, parang mga 50 ata nakapila papasok. Mabuti na lang di ako nalate. Hehe Di ako magrush for 5 minutes.  Ganda pala kahit papano ang bagong building. Nung tumagal nga lang at dumami na tenants eh di ko maisip.. Bakit yun left side na lang pwede kami sumakay. Anong silbi nung kanan. Parang pangbaba lang ata or sa ibang tenant. Hmph! Sino ba sila.. hehe Ano pa ba. Medyo matagal ha. Sayang ang bagong elevator at building. Kakabanas.

Mabuti na lang, nakikinig ako sa Kings of Convenience. Cool sounds.. Sana pinanood ko sila noong nagperform sila dito. Hehe Anyway, medyo matagal ha, yun kabilang side di naman gumagalaw, at lalo naman kami na sobrang haba na ng pila. Yun dalawang babae nasa harap ko, todo sa chismax. Hahaha Parehong malalaking bulas. Yun nasa harap ko, chill lang si ate. Mukhang di naman nagmamadali. Sabagay, maaga pa naman, quarter to 8 pa. Siguro kung  5-10 mins na lang, yun mga kasama mo aburido na kasi malalate. Hahaha

Yun mga likod ko ok lang din, humaba lang ang pila. Puro mga kafloor ko. Parang wala pa sa ibang center o nagkataon lang. Nakita ko yun isang taga Teletech, grabe parang instant bad trip ang feeling. Hehe Bwisit talaga. See? Ganun agad ang reaction ko sa Teletech. Ayos din yun LED TV nasa harap namin, commercials ng mga shows ng Araneta Colliseum at ads ng kanilang food group, like taco bell and siyempre Pizza Hut. Hehe Parang yun TV na nakita ko, ok na sakin yun. Hahaha Sarap manood ng mkv or mp4 files, blu ray files.. Wow. Wag naman yun 70 inch or the one parang 80 inch ata. That’s just so much kahit marami akong pera. Hahaha it’s either, 32-40 inch LED TV or Projector. Other than that, wag na. I mean luxury TV. Kahit wala na nga net connection. Simply TV will suffice.

Sina ate sa sarap todo chismax pa din at nakita ko na yun isang elevator na pabukas na. Una na kami nakapasok, silang dalawa mukhang maiiwan pa. Eh napansin. Hahaha Pumasok bigla ang mga ate.

Sinara ko na yun elevator at may mga pesteng pumasok pa! Erghh. Ang babagal kasi. Ayun ipit ako sa loob. Mabuti na lang 8th floor lang ako. Hehe Well, agony never stopped there. Tumigil sa 4th floor kasi yun mga sasakay galing mall eh ayun pahiya. Hehe At yun 5th floor na galing 7/11 eh napahiya din. Parang MRT lang to, next train na lang. hahaha  6th floor, isa lang bumaba, galing pa sa likod. 7th floor may bumaba galing din sa likod. At sa wakas, 8th floor, parang ako lang bumaba. Pero ayun, partida kahit naghintay, dami pang oras. Daan sa locker at akalain mo yun kashare ko sa locker nandiya pa siya! 3 hours OTY?

Then enter yun drum beat ng Don’t you forget about me…

Eye of the Storm

Nung galing ako sa last break ko, at nakikita ko yun glass door sa gateway tower 2 bumubukas mag-isa.. Kinabahan na ko. This storm is no freaking joke. Actually Tuesday morning na dapat dumaan ang bagyo pero nadelay, PAGASA announced, it will coast on Wednesday at dadaan talaga sa NCR. Stronger than Milenyo daw. Ibig sabihin, wind type talaga to na scary. 

After that break, well bumalik ako sa station and I'm hearing rumors na wala nang kuryente in most areas. Di ko alam sa bahay kasi natutulog ng mahimbing mga tao. I don't know what to expect that time, I just want to go home.. Narinig ata ang hiling ko. Nagpower outage na sa office, on and off. Di na nga masave yun ginagawa namin. Management decided na uwian ng maaga. Nakakatuwa nga, hours earlier eh may backup business plan na in times na marami di makapasok. Sa kin, wala pa naman ako station, and training pa ko, so di naman makakapekto pa. I even volunteer na papasok ako next day basta walang baha sa E.Rod at Sto. Domingo. 

Everybody is worried that time, lalo na yun mga nakatira sa East such as Rizal, Pasig at Marikina. Notorious kasing waterworld yun mga lugar na yun. Isama mo pa yun rest of NCR, starting sa Manila siyempre. QC, di naman lahat binabaha. 

Quarter to 5 am nakauwi na kami. Weird but fun!!! I rode a cab pauwi at 15 mins nasa bahay na ko. Wala pang bagyo, at wala pang hangin. Ginawa ko muna reflection time and fix my bed, check muna ang mga balita sa web at natulog. Anxious pero nakatulog na din ako kasi malamig at masarap matulog. 

Around 8 am, nagising ako, sa sobrang lakas ng hangin.. Yun isang bintana ko kasi sira ang screen so yun curtain eh lipad ng lipad. Tinanggal ko yun mga saksakan at turn off the switches kasi may kaba na ko. Grabe yun hampas ng hangin, naririnig ko yun mga ugong at kung ano ano lumipad na yero or stuff. At siyempre yun hangin na pumapasok sa kwarto ko. Kinakabahan ako na pumasok yun ulan at mabasa yun mga gamit ko. I tried every way na matigil yun hampas ng hangin sa kurtina ko but I failed. 

I prayed dearly na sana di kami masaktan or well, no damage sa bahay. Pinabayaan ko na lang yun kurtina, at medyo kampante ako kasi di naman malakas yun ulan. Yun hangin napakalakas lang. 

Nakatulog na ko.. Kahit walang electric fan and stuff.. Sarap matulog. My fan stopped working so I guessed, well wala nang kuryente. 

I felt na sobrang tanggal ang pagod ko sa sarap ng tulog..

Well, I thought I did have a great sleep until I open my weary eyes..

For one of the scariest scenes I saw in my life.

Before and After Arise..

I don't know why I became late papuntang MOA. hehe Ah kasi naman late naman din ako nagising, 2am kasi ang uwi. Anyhow, pagdating ko eh great thing sa baba ako, yun mismong court ng MOA then start na ng worship! Oh Lord, late na nga ako. =) Ang naglead ng worship was the Emmanuel Worship, singing their own songs sa worship. Even I have no idea about their songs, but its uplifting and engaging to praise God. I thought matagal siya but well, I keep on sa worship, and prayer.. I hope next year, they'll bring a lot of those artists, kung kaya famous ones. hehe

After that great worship, siyempre some announcements and a show started na. A talk from Roselle Ambubuyog, the blind lady who is a summa cum laude graduate in ADMU with a degree in BS Math. She talked about her life how she became blind and rose to the challenge to be like a normal student/professional despite her disability. Kakainspire yun talk niya kasi yun pagiging blind niya di pala inborn, she became blind because of allergy sa gamot or some medical condition that affected her eyesight and never see again. 

Kung ako nabully nung HS, siya, mas mahirap, she almost cannot go to school kasi few schools lang ang nagaaccept ng kagaya niya. Until now, totoo yun, at di ata dumami. Yun challenges niya going to school and even yun mga teachers niya dati, grabe ni ayaw siya iguide or bigyan even normal treatment kasi nasa public. Kakatuwa yun transition niya from HS to college which is ADMU. Akala ko yun ADMU has facilities already before for the blind and disabled. Well, she's smart and very much faithful. Faithful in the sense that despite her blindness eh she can still serve being a lector, ang hirap nun ha.. Braille na Bible yun kailangan niya lagi. Tapos she's advocating yun sa blind, opportunity, giving speeches and yun blessed naman siya sa work, working for a company who is making software for the blind. 

To end my thought about her talk, it taught that me that despite the odds or disability, surrender to him and take pride of overcoming such difficulty without any doubts kasi you've lifted up to him. Ah, kakatawa yun sinabi niya about selecting her for top honors, one student who was interviewed answered the question, instead answering why you should be the top of the class.. The student asked and answered, why Roselle should be the top of the class, then answered she inspired us and we looked ourselves despite not blind, we did not achieve like she does then so forth. That made here proud. =)

Ah, next is a short talk with Bro. Bo about the course of KCON in the next two days then there, short worship and prayer. 

After that, ayun may nakita ako kasama, si Sis Bev. At we're running crazy sa buong MOA looking for food. Malas lang, wala! Sobrang jampacked and tight ang lahat ng kainan.. We ended up sa Spam Jam, eating some sandwiches. hehe Sabi ko sa kanya, bawi na lang paguwi. Tapos there, the catholic faith stream, siya ay nakalimutan ko kung san. hehe

Sunday, the end of liturgical calendar ng catholic church, meaning Christ the King. Then just like last year, end na din and highlight ng kcon. Singles talk muna then after that very fun filled and motivating talks... Di na ko kumain ng lunch, I went straight sa baba ng SMX, and great thing sa premium seats, malapit sa stage! 

After some hourse of waiting and wala akong katabi na kilala ko kasi malamang lahat ng kakilala ko nasa gilid ng SMX.. Eh di ko na ininda yun gutom. I waited and after some long hours, mass started!

The Holy Mass celebration was good.. And si Bishop Ongtioco very lively magmass and funny. Kahit yun sound system eh static and what not, the mass was filled with grace and joy. This KCON grand feast was massive, kasi I thought kami lang nasa baba, akalain mo sa taas, may 7thou people pa and still enjoying the KCON. Meaning they need to have a bigger venue next year! hehe

After the Holy Mass, the usual worship but bago worship, some entertainment and raffle!!! Damn, di na naman ako nanalo! hahaha Entertainment was good, a surprise entertainment from Lani Misalucha.. Damn, partida, mukhang kakagising lang pero ang performance level, pang concert! hehe Sulit ang paghihintay. 

Worship started and I can say, it's a special worship kasi di lang matagal but may additional sharing and talk.. Suprisingly, Bro. Pio shared that he almost resigned sa LOJ due to what happened in his family. Pero di naman tinanggap ng LOJ yun letter niya, it happened years ago.. Even ganun, he continued to serve and yes, he treated yun nangyari as a blessing and it made his family closer each other and to God. 

Now, as he is very happy with his family and yeah, yun tinakbo ng service niya sa LOJ. That proves everything happens in a reason, in the end, you'll see why it happened. =) Bro. Bo started the miracle worker series, discussed about us making or asking for miracles through him. We too, can share miracles to others. It ended with a great worship, spreading our faith to him and gladly finished KCON indeed, better.

Well, I do hope they'll find a bigger venue for the grand feast next year. Sa mga venue sa streams, hmmmm ok sa SMX, easier to find and transportation din pauwi at papunta mas madali. Yeah, thanks to that premium ticket and I do have great seats in the venue. 

Although until now, di pa really I mean reached the goals I want or changes that happen.. Ang gusto ko sa KCON is that the talks are there to inspire you to do better in life in small steps. Motivates you to make changes in the plans you have in place, to make plans na more suitable for you, wisdom is needed to make those changes. Be informed on the things that you're searching for answers deep inside.. Lastly, if you're looking for a break from everything, you want to be filled with God's love and grace and have a fun time, definitely, reserve the dates and go to KCON!

Now, kahit bumalik sa regular life, well.. Everyday, I'm moving forward and apply what I learn for the better. Looking forward next year, can't wait!

Always remember, we are champion in the eyes of God.

Arise and stand up, make your move...