It's been exhausting being Filipino recently. One would think one would get numbed by the flurry of events: by incandescent words thrown almost blindly by the man the plurality made ruler, by disposed bodies of the unfortunate, by the crumbling institutions. I wish I'd just be numbed. Yet I'm glad I feel every bit of… Continue reading When bleak is bleakest
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A little less happy, a little more joyful: Christmas 2017
Sitting in the car with the windows half-open, the muggy Manila air half-choking us with the heavy weight of smog, I turned to you, stared at your face half-asleep, and asked, "Are you happy?" In the only way you know how, you pressed the palms of your hand on your eyes, and you replied,… Continue reading A little less happy, a little more joyful: Christmas 2017
On the need for help
I wish I could stop inconveniencing my friends. I wish I could sleep at night and not be so goddamn frightened of the shadows cast by the nightlight I keep on, wish I weren’t jolted awake every 2 hours to quickened pulses and shallow breaths. I wish I didn’t have to be up at 4… Continue reading On the need for help
An Ode to a Friend
I haven’t had the time to grieve properly since you left, though for some macabre way, I am glad you left the way you did — at peace, as the sun rose, lying on your side, the way you’d always do when you’re completely at rest. I guess that's why I used this photo of… Continue reading An Ode to a Friend
Blankets (Craig Thompson)
(N.B. It's summer break, and while my two months will revolve around my internship, I realise this is the first time in a while that I'll be able to have time to read the hordes of books I've accumulated over the past year or so. Here's to hoping I actually push through with this!) … Continue reading Blankets (Craig Thompson)
r e c a l i b r a t i o n
Prior to entering law school, I wrote a post about wanting to be reminded when the horror stories that law school is famous for become personal experiences, when I forget who I am because - in order to survive - I have to be someone else, when I become so drowned in school that I… Continue reading r e c a l i b r a t i o n
Ordinary miracles
I wish the palms of my hand were big enough to create shelters for those who have no home to call their own. I wish my voice were loud enough to speak for those whose voices have been silenced, whose rights trampled, whose dreams crushed. I wish I had pockets deep enough to assist… Continue reading Ordinary miracles
Kota: Tips and Tricks (and Stuff I Wish I’d Known)
To the Filipino hiker, Mt. Kinabalu isn't as hard the way conventional Filipino mountains are hard. Where Filipino mountains rely on natural trails (a root becomes a step, a branch, your foothold), Mt. Kinabalu is 80% stairs. This means the best way to train for Kota is not exactly to run hills, or to climb… Continue reading Kota: Tips and Tricks (and Stuff I Wish I’d Known)
Great Balancing Act
The end of every year shows Twitter in a flurry of activities: people tweeting about the things they're grateful for; about things they wish they had done, or done better; about lessons they learned or lessons they wish they were taught. On my part, I decided to go on a sharing spree about the good… Continue reading Great Balancing Act
A Christmas letter
Dear Jesus, Two thousand years ago, in a tiny town called Bethlehem, you graced the world with your presence. Born in the humblest of ways, with only stacked hay for a bed and a stable for a roof, the world told you, "You are here. This is home for now." I wonder what Mary… Continue reading A Christmas letter
Of perpetual finds 