Autumnal Break

Japan, Land of the Rising Sun.

I am fortunately given the opportunity to study in Tohoku University, Japan as an exchange student. My patience of filing that awful lot of application forms had finally paid off.

I'll be in Japan for 1 whole year! Yay. Of course, I'd like to document my stay here as much as possible. There are a lot of things that I'm looking forward to;

1. The four seasons,which I'll never in any way (unless there'll be a climate change or something) experience in my country.

2. SNOW, I just have to emphasize it. That is the thing that I am very much looking forward to.

3. The Japanese food. Hehehe Sushi, ramen, snacks, drinks.

4. The Japanese culture, Oh yeah.

Will be posting my experiences here. (crossed fingers)

Fated To Had Loved You

“There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.”

- John Lennon

Fate is funny. It has brought us to this reality, yet it unexpectedly makes its ways of teasing us onto dreams we've buried deep in our past.

I always find it mysterious. Now it's even wicked, specially for meddling into the sensitive feeling I used to believe as love.

Marriage of True Minds

Okay, it's been a long time since I post something on this blog, and believe me, it has left me empty and lonely. Okay fine, i'm a bit exaggerating. But still, I do feel hollow with what I'm doing. I know my studies are my priorities, but I grow tired of doing things to keep up with the pressures of a student's life--- project deadlines, quizzes, examinations, homework, advance reading... Sigh. I'm longing to express myself.

Anyway, enough with pity self-talk. I'm back here to post! Yay!

Because I'm pretty tired right now to write about my typical (semi-pathetic) life, let me just share you one of my most favorite sonnets, the Sonnet 116 by the great William Shakespeare.

Sonnet 116, "Let me not to the marriage of true minds"

William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds

Or bends with the remover to remove

Oh no! It's an ever fixed mark

That looks on the tempest and is never shaken

It is the star to every wandering bark

Whose worth's unknown, athough his height be taken

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come:

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

My own interpretation to this lovely sonnet.

Line 1--- Let me not to the mere legality of marriage, in which the supposed-to-be unbreakable vows can be nullified by human law.
Line 2-4-- What you feel is not love if it changes when your lover changes. Neither it is love when it's lost if your lover leaves you.
Line 5-6--Love is like a lighthouse; it faces the worst trials among lovers yet its foundation is never shaken.
Line 7-8-- Love, like the height of the stars up in the sky, is immeasurable, yet you know the overwhelming feeling to be with your love.
Line 9-10-- It is not love if it becomes less powerful with time. Love endures to forever, though the glorying crown of youthfulness does not. 
Line 11-12--Time will wear out anyone's beauty, but not love, which endures up to any man's twilight.
Line 13-14-- If anyone can prove me wrong, I daresay all my works and achievements are bootless, and no man has ever truly loved.

Unrequited Love

“Blame me not this insuppressible love.”

Make It Count

There is no guarantee of tomorrow, but you have today. It's a gift. Make it count. :)

Ways to Reduce Anxiety

Ways to Reduce Anxiety

We all deal with anxiety from time to time. When we’re minutes before a very important event, like giving speech to a huge crowd, taking a major test, undergoing surgical operation or skydiving, we find ourselves uncontrollably nervous----our hearts beat fast, our palms sweat excessively and our breathing becomes difficult and shallow. Don’t worry, these are normal. It’s in our human nature to feel panicky when we perceive that threat is forthcoming.

We however experience varying levels of anxiety; some have mild episodes while others have very high anxiety levels that could stop them from enjoying life to the fullest. In certain severe cases, it is recommended to see the doctor. Otherwise, you can take the following tips in controlling the anxiety you encounter daily.

Deep breathing and meditation

Breathe deeply whenever anxiety attacks, as it will help lighten the chest. As you make a good deep exhalation, imagine as if all your troubles and concerns are released from your body. The same goes with meditation. Meditating regularly for at least 15 minutes a day will help calm your muscle groups as well as aid to a good night sleep.

Reduce your coffee intake

You may be unwilling to decrease the steaming cups of coffee you take daily. Why would you give up caffeine when its stimulating kick helps you stay awake, right? Exactly. Caffeine stimulates the nervous system, thus instantly intensifying your anxiety, leaving you more depressed than before. Exchange your coffee with a good cup of tea, milk or orange juice during breaks to keep you calm and still throughout the day.

Stretch before you sleep

Make it a habit to stretch your muscles before hitting the bed. Mild stretching, even for just 5 minutes, will help relieve the stress in your muscles, thus relaxing your entire body. This is an effective way in having a good continuous sleep, especially if anxiety causes you to be insomniac.

Eat chocolate

Free yourself from your diet once in a while and grab that frozen bar of chocolate in the fridge. Occasional chocolate indulging is not bad, even science proves it. You may notice that you feel instantly cheerful on the first bite. That’s because the chocolate stimulates the production of phenylethylamine, a “happy” substance responsible for heightening the enthusiasm while suppressing depression.

 

 

 

Have a positive self-talk

Every one of us has a different approach to the same issue we encounter. You may react worriedly, violently, peacefully, naively---it all depends on how you talk to yourself. The human mind is like an empty glass. If you fill it with the negative thoughts, surely negativism will define you. If you feed the happy, hopeful and optimistic feelings into it, then you will likely feel less anxious about what the future may bring. Learn to control how you talk to yourself and allow the positive feelings in the world to flood your mind.

Be assertive

Express your inner dreams and strive to achieve them. Erase all your thoughts of being incapable and inferior because you, like anyone else, is worthy of the same place in this world. You deserve to love and be loved, to be happy and respected, as well as to reject, get hurt, fail and cry. Believe in yourself, your abilities and talents, and use them to get what you wish for.

Smile

Smile---and let the world know that you’re going to be okay despite the tension inside you. Think of the happy moments when you made a genuine wide smile in your face. Smile even if you don’t feel doing it and you’ll be surprised on how you will instantly lightened up. Consciously begin the joy in your heart, and share this to others. They will likely return a broad smile to you before they notice it.

Finding True Love

How to find true love

“For true love is patient; it is kind. It’s not jealous, nor it is blind, and love rejoices in the truth, not in the wrong. Love never ends.”

The extraordinary Taj Mahal, the astonishing painting of Mona Lisa and even the great Trojan War----all of these were made because of love.  

True love brings the heaven closer to the earth. It makes life effortless, spontaneous, beautiful, and worth living for. It describes life; it defines us. It is the delicately bizarre feeling when we know we finally meet the one we are dreaming for, the one who doesn’t love us for what we have, but for who we are. It’s an amazing, unexplainable connection that magically ignites between the two hearts----no reason, no grounds, just pure love. So what’s the secret password to reach this emotional attachment?

Love yourself first

Yes, you certainly deserve to be loved, but do you even give yourself the love you’re looking for? Do you value your strengths, talents and beauty? Or do you criticize your weakness and inabilities, always compare yourself with others and wish that someday you could change your façade? Then maybe you should begin to love yourself first before anything and anyone. 

Take time to look at yourself, dig deeper into your hearts, and know your feelings, desires and even your obscurity. In this way, even though your potential relationship needs to come to its end, you’ll still have the love from yourself. This love will embrace and protect you from completely breaking into pieces, and when the time comes when you’ve cried enough, you’ll be ready to face the world and love again. 

Enjoy life while you’re single

Singles are not doomed. They are happy, even happier than those in relationships. They tend to be able to love more people and enjoy life at greater boundaries, since no lover would hold them back. So don’t take pity on yourself, you are not missing anything anyway. Look at you’re status as an opportunity to communicate with new people with common interest.  Get up and club on Saturday nights, do your extreme sports, go to the beach, invite your friends for a dinner party, go shopping, live life in a way you’ll never regret. With this vibrant attitude, you’ll be likely to eventually catch the eyes and meet you’re one true love.

Appreciate life

Value life-----and you’ll be surprised on how the universe will respond to make you value it more, like the possibility of finding true love. Appreciation is simply one of those highest positive vibrations you could ever feel in this world, and this usually bounces back to you in the sweetest form you’ve never expected---love. Thus, be grateful and live each day like you’ve never been so blessed before. Look and smile at the people, your home, your health, your friends and family, your cute pet waiting for your cuddle.

Know your ideal mate

Face it, there’s no perfect guy that exists. Yes, we would be initially attractive if the guy is gorgeous, rich, smart, independent, drives his own expensive car or other sorts of fanciness. We tend to become delusional with the perfect Prince Charming we dream of. It’s just sad that the guys have to keep up with these illusions. 

However, the truth is, we don’t really need all those immaculately faultless traits to be real happy in a relationship. We just need to know and identify those specific qualities that we must see in our ideal mate to be contented and fulfilled. If we don’t choose our future partner according to those qualities, we start to forcefully accept and settle in the relationship. We begin to fake our feelings and eventually resent him for not satisfying what we need in the long run, thus leading to bigger problems.

Burned out? Then fight Stress

Ways to cope with stress

Stress is inevitable. You just can’t completely block it from attacking you daily. You always find yourself carrying some kinds of weight at the end of the day----be it from your job, family, relationship, or even the bills.

When you let stress go over you live, you tend to become irritated, nervous, scared. But don’t back off. Fight back. You have the power more than what you thought to manage the stress and thus make an enjoyable stay in this life. How? Here are the guides you can follow to keep the stress into the minimum level. 

Know its causes 

 

Figuring out the reasons behind the stress is not as simple as it seems to be. Sometimes, you need to look not on the situation itself, but rather on how you act towards its. For example, you’ve given a task with enough time to accomplish, but due to your constant delaying and prioritizing of the less urgent things, like TV watching or Facebooking, you’ll likely to become panicky when you’ve realized you’re running too far behind the task. Stress is not only rooted on the scenario you’re caught to, but also on your approaches and excuses.

Manage your time wisely

Time is truly as precious as gold. It is one of those essential things that will never come back once you wasted them. You may realize that when the time available is too narrow to finish an important task, you’ll get annoyed, panic and may eventually give up. Thus, don’t ever procrastinate---do your project, study your lessons, prepare for the business report, plan ahead of time. If someone or something is blocking your way, don’t just shrug and go with the flow; be assertive and face it. When a friend calls for a chat but you know you need to study for a big exam tomorrow, be frank and say that you just have a few minutes for talking. In this way, you’ll find yourself more focused on what you’re doing, thus accomplishing more at once. As one successful author said, “Don’t eat the marshmallow yet.”

Maintain a healthy lifestyle

Always remember that a healthy body is more prepared to handle stress than a weak and tired one. So feed yourself with the energy needed to start the day. Make it a habit to exercise regularly. Even just 15 minutes of mild exercising will help you to be revitalized for the next hours. Also, be sure to give yourself a deep continuous sleep every night. If you’re really tired with what you’re studying, better get some sleep than force yourself to study further, because your exhausted mind will naturally stop itself from loading additional information.

Take time to relax

Give yourself a break. Free yourself to the bustling life once in a while and do something you want. It’s not a luxury that you can just pass on anyway; it’s more like a need that you have to meet in order to carry on with your life. Go to the beach, take a walk at the park, chat with your friend, go to the spa, or even do stargazing. 

Express what you feel

Is there someone who’s been annoying you? Does your boss give you a seemingly impossible deadline, or a lover fail to meet you on time? Don’t bottle up your feelings since these may explode before you can help it. Secretly resenting doesn’t help improve the situation anyway.  It will just cause you to resent more and burden your heart. So share your concerns to a close friend if someone or something troubles you. 

Nature's Mysterious Beauty

 Nature is oh-so Stunning

Last December, my friends and I decided to have a get-together party before we leave for Christmas. We then chose this Tinago waterfalls near our place as a venue. Though I nowadays live in an area blessed with nature's gift of water recreations, it's not frequent that I get to visit those amazing spots.

Tinago falls is about a 1-hour jeep ride from the heart of our city plus a 20-minute walk down the very steeped stairs. The journey to the falls was quite exhausting and time-consuming, which gives reasons to why it's called "Tinago", a Bisayan word for hidden. But still, the effort is worth it, very very worth it. Here are some of the pictures while we were there.

 

 

 

We rode a bamboo boat to the mouth of the falls

 

Nature is truly amazing

Deep Blue-green water.

And I saw this full-bloomed flower somewhere

Funny Quotes

Time to Tickle Your Funny Bones!

Yes, laughter is always the best medicines----though sometimes it could be the killer. I once heard my roommate breaking the news that her previous schoolmate's dad died after experiencing a great bliss. He technically had a heart attack after, well, laughing so hard when he knew that his son won in the SK election. This is honestly true----go ahead search it in your all-time favorite Google if you're not convinced. 

Anyway, I always have this humorous bone in my body. I find myself so easy to laugh, even if the jokes are  obviously corny. I honestly hate engaging in serious conversations and I always try to save them with some of  the humors hidden at the back of my head. I used to memorize some of the jokes, thinking that these will come in  handy in case I need to impress my friends, or sometimes my crush. And I dare say, those tactics were truly effective. Humor can actually do such wonders. 

Here are a few jokes that I hope will get the bark, I mean the laugh, out of you.

Makabagong sagisag ng Pilipinas:

Pambansang Ibon: ANGRY BIRD

Pambansang Laro: DOTA

Pambansang Awit: KUNIN MO NA ANG LAHAT SA AKIN

Pambansang Sayaw: TEACH ME HOW TO DOUGIE

XD

Juan at the library: I want to borrow the book entitled "Psycho the Rapist."

The librarian searched for almost two hours then came back, slaps him and says,

"Idiot! The book's title is "Psychotherapist"!

Huh? Me? A muggle? Expelliarmus!!!

Kapag madami ang hadlang sa landas na gusto mong tahakin...

Kapag lahat nakakabangga mo at kumokontra sa 'yo...

Huwag kang makulit...

EXIT yan... dun ka sa ENTRANCE.

Chillax...

PINOY HENYO

"Kutsilyo"

Juan: Bagay ba to?

Pedro: Oo

Juan: Nasa bahay?

Pedro: Oo!

Juan: Ginagamit sa kusina?

Pedro: Oo!!

Juan: Matalim ba to?

Pedro: Oo!!!

Juan: Pinaghihiwa ng sibuyas, kamatis, ganon?

Pedro: Oo!! Oo!!

Juan: Uhm... Uhm... Pass!

John: I've been seeing spots in front of my eyes.

Peter: Have you seen a doctor?

John: No, just spots.

[Loool]

Years ago, people who sacrifice their sleep, family, food, laughter and other joys of life were called saints.

But now they are called STUDENTS.    :P

What happens when a lion roars thrice?

Think!

.

.

.

Any guess?

.

.

.

Ok, I will tell you..

.

.

.

Tom and Jerry cartoon begins!

Top 6 problems of students:

1. Allowance

2. Assignment

3. Exam

4. Grades

5. Professors and...

6. Paper!!!

Let's make life easier, shall we?

Two terrorists having discussion in a bar...

The waiter asks them what the discussion was about.

Terrorist: We are planning to kill 14 thousand people and a donkey..

Waiter: Why a donkey?

[Then one terrorist tells the other]

" See, I told you. Nobody will care about the 14 thousand people."

I guess I'll use Yahoo instead

Isang gabi, may babaeng nasiraan ng kotse sa isang liblib na bayan.

Sa tapat ng sementeryo may puno ng balete.

May lumapit na matandang may binebentang isang libro sa halagang Dalawang libong piso

Namahalan siya pero napilitan syang bilhin ang libro dahil na rin sa takot

Sabi ng matanda, "Huwag mong titingnan ang huling pahina kundi magsisisi ka!"

Tapos nawala na ang matanda...

Umandar ang kotse. Sa bahay hindi siya makatulog, kinuha ang libro, at tiningnan ang huling pahina.

Nakasulat:

" NATIONAL BOOKSTORE    Php39.50."

[In Bisayan Language]

JUAN: Pedro, sure ka mao ni ang lubnganan sa imong igsoon nga si Ramon?

PEDRO: Sure jud ko!

JUAN: Unsa imung ilhanan nga 10 ka tuig na man kaha nga wala kay bisita sa puntod?

PEDRO: Kani kay naa man gud R.I.P.

JUAN: Unsa man diay ng R.I.P.?

PEDRO: "Ramon Igsoong Pedro."

 Yeah, dare to call them gay.

Boy: Kabalo ka, mura kag kabayo doh

Girl: Kay gusto ko nimo sakyan?

Boy: Dili

Girl: Kay paspas mubuto imung kasingkasing kung naa ko?

Boy: Dili pod

Girl: Unsa diay?

Boy: Wala lang, mura lang gud kag kabayo.

I 'll never wish to have a heart attack in Africa.