Really?

     It may be Christmas, it may be New Year but political survey goes on. This week, Manila Bulletin published the survey and I can't believe what I saw .

The Presidential survey seems one-sided

     Bongbong Marcos is an all-time favorite, it seems, leaving all other aspirants behind. Mathematically, he is the winner in all angles. I am not sure if this remains until May 2022 when election comes. I hope if he wins, he becomes different from his parents, continue what has been significantly improved by the Duterte administration and drive the country to greater heights and improve the lives of the marginally poor.

The Temperature Drop

     At 2pm, the temperature is 20°C and it's like freezing. When I checked the temperature, I am surprised to get this reading.

It's 20°C after lunch almost

     The soft breeze penetrates deep into my limbs that I have to cover myself with blanket right after lunch. 

She's Getting Domesticated

     After almost a month of behaving like a wild animal, running away when we come nearby, Massy is getting domesticated (we used to call her Chichay only to find out previous owner who gave her to us used to call her as such). She is trying to play with me when I walk in the morning. Unfortunately I cannot run yet. 

She wags her tail when we are around

     I plan to train her to drive goats away that come preying on our plants. She could be trained to chase them.

Surviving the Christmas Rush

     We rushed to the nearest ATM and shopped after attending the 9th year death anniversary lunch of a relative. We went to the nearest grocery in town and though not surprise, it was crowded with everyone frantic for their Christmas Noche Buena. We joined the crowd to get our monthly grocery supply while I saw everyone picking up goods for their Christmas dinner. It seemed we were the odd one out there.

     When we had our grocery cart filled, we queued for the cashier. All were long queue and we had no choice but settle for the shortest possible. I was on the long line when one of the staff came to me, seeing me with cane, and asked me if I am senior citizen. I said no but told him my sister is. So he took our cart and led us to a new cashier counter being opened. I was truly grateful for the guy and I was the first one he found. My walking cane did the trick.

This cane helped us pull through the long Christmas queue

Kind of Normal After the Typhoon

     Everything seems restored to normalcy after typhoon Odette. Electricity, water, satellite TV, wifi are all in place working, thanks God. 

Our life in the bamboo hut is restored

     Power for electricity was restored two days ago allowing us to have lights and use all electrical appliances. We can watch TV and refrigerate our food 

     Water has been restored so we can use our tap now. My niece and nephew installed jetmatic water pump two days ago which we were able to use while the tap has problem.

     Satellite TV is back too, the Cignal satellite disk has been installed back. The technician came this morning to correct the disk direction to obtain the best signal for our TV.

     Our wifi connection is working now. Globe managed to put it back and got us connected back to the world.

They Are Endearing

     What endearing animals they are! At times they are naughty but when I saw them this way, they are adorable. It pains to know that Melon is dead. 

Choco

Choco and Melon(deceased)

It's the December Cold?

     The breeze blowing into the hut is cold. It penetrates into my flesh. 

It is damn cold

     This morning when I walk, I already felt the coldness but when I checked the temperature. It was not that low although it is not what we are used to.

It was 24.

     When I woke early in the morning around four, the temperature was so low.

It was 17.

Fundamentally Stupid

     I saw this first thing in the morning and it probably is going to ruin my day. This is the stupidest remark I ever read, although he is known for many other unpalatable comments. That is Pastor Quiboloy. I don't understand how he can lead a religious sect and have followers who obviously believe in all he says. I maybe blunt but his remarks are signs of a disastrous ending.

Really, Pastor?

Chichay is in the House

     Chichay is in the house, a day after Candy passed away. We will train Chichay to be domesticated our way. Hope she learns to bark at strangers. Although, learned from the previous owner they call her Massy.

Chichay adjusting to new environment

Candy is Gone

     Candy is our puppy, less than a month with us, then she passed away. It could be due to rabies as she fought the older Mackie last night over their evening meal. Mackie is the dog of my nephew in the nearby house. She ran, we tried calling her before sleeping to no avail, and we found her this morning dead lying in the dirty kitchen floor. With sad heart, we buried her praying for her eternal rest.

The dead body of Candy before we buried her

I'm Connected to the World Again

     I think the heavy rain so early in the morning yesterday damaged our electrical connection to our elevated router which we positioned high up outside to catch a good signal. With the heavy rain, it probably wetted the wirings despite of the plastic wrapping. Today managed to restore the signal with an external antenna connected to the router inside. We  purposely bought a new external antenna to connect to our internal router. It Is working well as we tried today. It connects us to the outside world as we continue to hibernate in this rural nook.

The external aerial antenna

The internal router connected to the antenna

The Elitist Class Wants Power

     This is indeed true. The top elites are the ones supporting Leni and the lower class and the masses are for Duterte. I hope money doesn't come in during election time and put her in power. This social imbalance is something I've not seen in Singapore or Malaysia. They want to regain the power to continue their hold on the poor and re-establish their domination.

Truly elites 

No Rain Day?

     It seems today is going to be no-rain day in about a month, two days less actually. It is going to be the first day without rain since we moved to this hut. It feels a bit warm and humid but the sun is definitely a breath of fresh air to truly dry moist stuff in the hut like our clothes and bedsheets. I do really pray for an all sunshine day to dry the pathway leading to our hut and dry out the mud pools.

What a sunny day it seems

Cignal Comes

     Finally, managed to install satellite TV and we can now access our favorite TV programs.

The installed satellite disc

     For almost a month we had no access to TV broadcast after moving to this new place, living like a hermit. We can now watch our favorite channels.  Netflix becomes intermittent.

This Is Ominous

     If this survey is genuine, next year's election for President is definitely one-sided. I am ambivalent at the moment given the Marcos history and EDSA 1986. He could be different and do better than his father, no one knows. This is a time of choices, really and I am still in limbo on my choices.

     Another survey by Social Weather Station says the same. It's indeed a threat to his opponents who are definitely back to strategy rooms.

Rest in Peace, Peter

     I was out of bed for the loo when I saw the post of a friend in the US about Peter. It was the most unexpected news in the wee hours of the morning, our friend Peter died at around 11pm last night as per her sister's post. To say I was astounded is an understatement. He was two years older than me, ahead of me in the Chemical Engineering department for two years at the then Divine Word University,  worked at Dutch Boy when I was working there, and got employed in Malaysia when I changed job. He was short of a brother to me. We will definitely miss him.

Our last photo together in Calbayog when I passed by in Nov 2019 on my way to Leyte from Manila

What an Awesome Morning

     I woke up to this, what a beautiful sight (the actual  view was prettier than the picture, please note). It was a great way to start a day. Looking at the natural beauty of the sky made me forget the misery of life here in rural Philippines.

A beautiful sky at dawn

     I thought it was going to be a bright, sunny day. Unfortunately, the clouds brought the drizzle and seemed we're getting a cloudy sad day.

Fishing for Votes?

     Politicians have been advertising on TV of all sorts to gain attention for their candidacy even though official campaign period starts only next year. Sarah and Baste withdrew from their Mayor and Vice Mayor candidacy in Davao. Baste is replacing Sarah's candidacy while Sarah is still quiet, although many, like me, are expecting her to run for President or Vice President. If she decides to become Bongbong Marcos' VP, they are going to be a formidable team, I believe. But that's not my story.

     Tiktok has become an instrument of politicians to reach the voting public especially the younger generation. I saw Leni's attempt to lure them and I also saw Risa Hontiveros' TikTok today. Them appearing suddenly on TikTok is definitely a political ploy to attract the TikTok generation. Wise move but very obvious to the thinking voter like me. Simply disgusting.

Funny? Or vain attempt to catch the young voters?

Rabbit Meat

     We tried rabbit meat, many for the first time, a chance to get away from pork for many of them. If I remember right, I tried rabbit meat once in China long before. The cut meat was tender, very much similar in appearance to chicken meat. We experimented on cooking it since it's the first time. Thanks God, it turned out right.

Spicy kalderetang rabbit 

Yolanda Memory

     Today marks the 8th anniversary of Yolanda (typhoon Haiyan in international name) and over tuba,  the traditional coconut wine, my family shared stories about their experiences during Yolanda. They talked about what they did, how they tried to survive and where they found ways to stay alive.

The strongest typhoon ever  to hit the country wreaked havoc all over (photos grabbed from Facebook of Gerry Ruiz)

     We talked about how they scavenged for food as their rice have all been soaked in water. They joined people in Tacloban looting in stores and shops in order to survive.

The highway was cleared in order to allow vehicles to travel

Talked about how a boat carried by the strong wind landed ashore

An entrepreneur, with or  without typhoon, was still selling lechon

The debris was too much but the Filipinos survived although many perished .

    I have many stories to tell but going through their memories is hard and kind of emotional.

Caladium

     I found caladium growing in the wild,  at the farmland where our new bamboo hut is. I transplanted some of them into our yard and I noticed there are a lot of small ones that I could transplant into pots. 

One variety of caladium, a plant became popular among plantitos/plantitas amid the pandemic

     They are growing wild here in the farm, only this variety. A lot of them. Anyway, we could commercialize this and make some bucks?

Plantito, Certified?

     I hope to be a certified plantito now that I'm very free, out of job, recuperating from my medical illness here in the farm. I started planting when I was in my nephew's house. I planted several plants, flowers and vegetables, now bearing flowers and fruits.

Blooming sunflowers facing the sunrise

String beans slowly crawling up

Bitter gourd climbing up the makeshift trellis

Lady fingers growing up

     Moving to a new hut gives me all the time and space for planting. I have started sowing the seeds of string beans and blue ternate and sent to me by a Malaysian friend. I saw some of them started sprouting. What a joy to see them grow from the soil!

     I learned there are ten plants plantitos must have at home, I write them here so I will not forget.

Peace Lily

Peanut Butter Tree

Catmon 

Green Pandakaki

Blue Ternate

Philodendron Majesty

Philo Hope 

Tropical Milkweed

Violets

Spearmint

Am I Ultra-Religious?

     Three years ago, we visited Monasterio de Tarlac where a relic of Jesus' crucifix is sacredly housed. It was moved here from Germany where probably nobody cared as there are not many devout Christians there unlike in the Philippines, the only Christian country in Asia, if I am not mistaken.

The sacred relic of Jesus' crucifix is enshrined in here

     The site is blessed, at least to many Christians, not only in the Philippines but the entire world. I am lucky to have visited this holy site few years ago although I have been exposed to non-Christian faith in my years in Malaysia and Singapore. Exposed to other beliefs such as Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism, it strengthened my faith in Christianity, my religion where I was born, baptized and grew up. Thus I made it a point to visit this shrine with my family when I was in Tarlac.

     I am not going to say my religion is the best because I firmly believe that what is in your heart depicts your true faith, and how you treat your fellowmen speaks for what you really are. I am not saying organized religion is the ultimate goal because I have met many friends who are free-thinkers. They don't adhere to any organized religion but they have their own faith and the way they deal with others, I think, speaks more of how they are than having any religion.

     There are good and bad people in all religion, in my experience. A person is bad, not because of his religion, but by nature he is that. Any person too can be good whatever religion they are from or they are free-thinkers.

Here Comes the Rain Again

     I woke up to a drizzling morning thus I couldn't do my morning routine of walking. I thought the sun yesterday was the beginning of sunny days yet the rain came again. Hopes of drying the clothes for good have been dazzled. I am not sure how long it will be rainy like this. Is it the rainy season already? I am not familiar anymore having been away for very long.

Nimbus clouds hover above in the sky

    The rain is a blessing though from God, I believe. It carries with it magic that can wash off all unlucky stuff in your life. Perhaps I spent so much time with my Chinese friends in Malaysia when I used to work there who would tell me things like this. The rain too waters what the farmers sow in their fields making them grow into healthy plants. 

Sunny Morning

     As I do my daily walk routine early in the morning, I saw the sun rising until it is fully out. I am glad it is a bright morning and I hope it's going to be sunny the wole day without the rain at least to dry everything that seemed moist ever since we moved to this new place. Time to hang those clothes that we couldn't dry well.

The bright sun is out 

Unpredictability of the Weather

     It has been intermittently raining since we moved in to this new hut. I don't remember a single day full of sunshine. The rainwater creates mud thus the pathway leading to the main road is muddy. It's a headache to go out to the main road. Car is difficult to drive in here too when it gets muddy. I have to park my car in my nephew's house nearer the village road.

Too much rainwater causes mud

     This is cuddling weather. It feels good to tuck in bed under the comfort of the blanket. Great weather to sleep. It's a good time to drink too, and sing karaoke (as planned by my niece, to bring their karaoke machine to the above hut).

     Actually, intermittent rain and sunlight is a blessing. The rain is kind of watering the plants so it's beneficial for farming. The plants gets the sunlight they need then gets watered when it rains.

     Praying for a full sunshine day as this intermittent rainy days have been like everyday. We need the sunlight to dry our clothes at least.

Hope the Masses Do Not Fall for the Powerful Elite

     Celebrities are towing the line for Leni Robredo as the country's next President. This is clear indication how the elite minority are thinking politically. I just hope the poor Filipino masses see this reality and do not fall to their campaign of elite promises, with the aid of the mainstream media who are fully behind them because they are so detached from the social reality among the poor masses.

Moving to a New Hut

     I moved to a new bamboo hut in the farm about a week ago on a full moon as the old folks believe that moving into a new place will be bountiful on a full moon. I have been busy settling into the new place thus I was unable to write anything plus the limited wifi signal which in fact it was only two days ago we managed to get the slightest transmission.

The bamboo hut built by my niece and nephew

     It is in the middle of nowhere, far from so-called civilization, I am sure some city friends will say. It is surrounded by vast empty land which my nieces and nephew inherited from my parents due to CARP(comprehensive agrarian reform of the Philippines) but that's another story.

     There is a lot of space to plant here to kill my time. I dream of becoming a certified plantito filling my surroundings with vegetables and flowers. I can do them slowly in here. I hope moving in here aid me in my full recovery communing with nature and my roots as this is where I was born and grew up.