Right to Suffrage

May 13, 2013 - national elections came. Took me approximately 3 hours to wait and fall in line under the scourging heat of the sun. People were agitated and impatient for their turn to vote. Me? Was cheerfully talking to the ones before and after me. I used my special skills in socializing to make people feel less irritated with the system of election our country has. 3 hours seemed like 3 minutes because I killed the time with my jokes, small talks and some amount of positivity. 

I didn't get the chance to take a picture of my finger with an indelible ink this election but my friends and I took this photo when we exercised our right to suffrage back in 2010.

Despite the long hours of waiting, it was still all worth it. After voting, I felt a sense of accomplishment knowing that my one single vote already made a big difference.

No Place Like Home

I've been away from my homeland - Cebu for almost a year now. Went home last weekend to attend my bf's graduation and meet some good old friends. Also visited our house to check our newly renovated kitchen. The title sums everything for April. :)


BF Graduation Day! ("('-')") 
Graduation Day finally came after excruciating years of academic life.

Dinner with friends... :) 

Eat, talk, laugh... 

I'm home! ^__^

My sisters adopted a new pup... she's still nameless. Mom wants to call her Lyka... My sisters want to call her Casey, KC, and the list goes on. They just can't seem to agree with one cute name... :p

On Being Sick

If I am to sum up my life in February = SICK! 

It's been ages since I experienced an unbearable pain, fever, headache and nausea. Back in college, I was afflicted with acute bronchitis and now it's pharyngitis. I totally forgot the feeling of being terribly sick until this month. February was no luck for me. I was supposed to enjoy the Chinese New Year prosperity, Valentines LOVE and all the pizzazz this month has to offer but I didn't. Was bed ridden for nearly a week, unproductive, inactive and bored! The disease had taken its toll on me and I desperately wanted it to be over. 

After much reflection, I've come to a conclusion that my body needs rest. Being sick is my body's protest against my abusive habits! I work for more than 15 hours a day, sitting the entire day in front of my PC, working 7 days a week! Such an immobile and sedentary life. Who doesn't get sick with that lifestyle? In half a year, I've grown a bigger belly, developed swollen and tortuous varicose veins, suffered recurring back pains, daily migraine, hyperacidity & many other body pains I refuse to listen to because my brain cells are too busy to care! So there... I'm becoming unhealthy! I have to take good care of my health because this cliche still holds true today -> "HEALTH is WEALTH" Yes, I am earning more than what I need at the expense of my body's condition but if I get a serious health problem, all the money I've worked so hard to get will be put to waste.

Having a sickness is not absolutely negative in itself as it gives you better insight of what needs to be done before it gets even worse. 

Now, I am happy to say that I am fully committed to doing exercise for 15-30 minutes a day. Need to sweat, eat & sleep well before my youth deteriorates faster than normal.

I learned a great deal from this experience, I hope you did too after reading this post!

Looking forward to a healthier and still wealthier MARCH! - birthday is coming! :)

Carpe Diem!

I thought the year started with a bang when I traveled overseas. It did, but it was short-lived. 2013 greeted me with a bigger bang, a heart-wrenching news - a close friend in coma and in less than a week, she passed away. :( 

Tragic and sad but I felt a sort of liberation knowing that she's in good hands now. She will never be in pain ever again.  See you when I see you my friend...
Here's a tribute I made for you!

After a week or so, I thought I'd be able to recover from the depressed state but it escalated to a higher degree when another colleague died. Another sudden death, unexpected, unbelievable, scary and depressing with a bigger impact! :(

2 deaths in January 2013! The year is really getting off to a bad start. The thoughts of being sick and dying scared the hell out of me. But death reminds us of our mortality... we too, no matter how healthy, rich and powerful we can be, may still die any time, any day, any month or year... We will never know... 
So it's time to seize every moment of our lives!

Carpe Diem must be a good mantra to start the Year of the Water Snake!

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*Part of my yearly bucket list is to write at least once a month and so here I am trying to strictly abide by the self-made rules. What's in store for me next month? Chinese New Year? Valentines Day? Naaah...<3

Ides of March!

Year 1988 - Beware the Ides of March, for a chinky-eyed baby girl shall be born...
...and that was ME!


In 3 days, I'd be turning 24. I don't wish to receive fancy things because I've had enough of them. I'm actually throwing a lot of trash now because they clutter my limited space. I used to be a hoarder...sentimentalist, I'd say. Not that I've become calloused, but it's now easy to unload the excess baggage. Same goes with people. Let go of the dragging people around and focus on the important ones who value YOU! Not because they can bask under your reflected glory and get something from you but because they just love to be with you much as you love to be with them.  Shove off all the negatively charged creatures lurking around without being bitter. Life's just a tad short to live in bitterness.


I'm thanking all those who made my 24 years on earth one hell of a ride!
And I thank God for guiding me every step of the way! ^____^

Acha's Family

Here's our one and only family picture. Taken @ Boljoon, Cebu! Many years back!

Counting My Blessings!

I'm supposed to write my year end report before January like how I used to do way back when Friendster blog was still kickin but failed to do so because I was preoccupied with other stuff. Like cleaning up the mess in my room, everything's scattered til now...for the record...it took me more than a day to clean this filthy, mice-infested dungeon! Despite these odd things in life, I have so much to thank God for...

2011 was my year, I must say! Though astrologically, 2012, year of the Dragon, is my year! I don't normally look forward because I don't treat such act with whopping optimism. There's something in "looking back" that's mysterious and magical...even if events already happened, fortunes were claimed, a year had passed and life was never the same...I don't count golden chicks before the white eggs are hatched so here I am...counting my blessings this 2011! 
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1) Bought a netbook for myself! Thanks to my Sister Julie! She paid half of it.
2) Passed the board exam! I'm now a licensed teacher!
3) Got a new and exciting job! 
4) First international travel...to the land of the Merlion!
5) Dared to wear 2-pc in Boracay! (Call me loser! But yeah, that should be my first & last defiance against conservatism!)
6) Spent Christmas with Mom's relatives from the other side of the planet! 
7) Made a random act of kindness to a stranger. Feels good to be secretly altruistic in the most unexpected circumstance!
8) My siblings are precious pieces of me! We are still intact despite the grueling family issues.
9) My bf, never gave up on me? That should make me one lucky girl!
10) I'm still youthful, dainty, and lovely as ever! (Beauty is a choice!)
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I couldn't be happier, healthier and wealthier...with LOVE and intangible gifts!

It's yesterday once more!

Who would have thought it's been 10 years since...


...BOYS bullied girls
...GIRLS bullied half-bred boys
...HALF-BRED boys lured boys
...BOYS cut classes because of TAMIYA
...GIRLS bartered stationeries
...HALF-BRED boys tried to do both

...recess was the best subject
...with canteen's magic basket
...classmates were happy
...but some were unlucky (including me)
...to manage the basket market
...for every deficit
...we took out money from our pocket

Who would have imagined it's been 10 years since...


...we left our alma mater
...but we never really left our dear school


...we brought it with us
...despite different paths


...we remembered the lessons from our teachers
...despite different careers


...we valued education
...despite different inclinations


...and despite everything else
...we shall reminisce that at one point in our lives, we shared a kind of collective student experience only in

LAHUG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL!


KUDOS to our GREAT TEACHERS!


For a job WELL DONE! ^^


Short tribute to our teachers and classmates!

[Click picture to see youtube video]

[Click logo to see vimeo video]

Cheating Death!

Thank God I'm still alive! I have to write something about a disturbing experience just so I could preserve the lingering effect it had on me. Today, after eating lunch with my bf, I decided to take a nap - a nap that turned into a death-defying experience.


Have you ever experienced "urom"? It's a Cebuano term for its closest English counterpart "nightmare" but it's more than just a nightmare. If you've experienced this phenomenon, you're one of the lucky people who surpassed it. If it's been randomly recurring in your lifetime, then let me give you some notes so you could survive once more!

- a person undergoes a period of sleep paralysis so the body couldn't move for split seconds to even long agonizing minutes 
- hyperventilation, sweating and irregular breathing pattern
- it's usually associated with great fear or other strong emotions
- you perceive things very vividly that you construe reality from mere perception (lucid dreaming may occur-you can control the things around you and the events that you want to happen in that distorted reality)

And the most difficult part is to realize that you're under a dream. 
You must wake up before it's all too late!


So how do you check reality?

1. Try to navigate the place - go out and explore as much as you can! 







2. We've been surrounded by technology, so check if your gadgets don't fail. My personal accounts: can't call or send text messages using mobile phone, can't send email or IM, light switch malfunctioned

If TECHNOLOGY fails in such circumstances, then there's 80-90% probability that you're dreaming!

3. Stare and concentrate on one object for seconds and if it changes while staring at it, then wake up because if you don't have a mental problem, you must be DREAMING!


If you've checked reality and you are strongly convinced that you're lost in a dream, the next problem would be to wake your body up before it physiologically shuts down and leave you in an infinite state of limbo - an understatement of DEATH!


Now, how do you push yourself to wake up?



1. Look at your hands and shake them as much as you can! Or move your pinky finger!




2. Stomp your feet to the ground with force! 

     3. Grab or reach anything around you with all your might until you get it!

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These tips will surely be of great help but you can never cheat DEATH! After all, no one knows when your time comes! To die while sleeping is better than to wake up in a hell-like Earth and eventually die because of humanity's animosity!


(PS: My death-defying experience is yet to be continued because I'm too sleepy and ready to experience another dream! Hopefully, it's something inspiring this time!)

Reviving Blog Posts: Part 1

Good thing I was able to save my Friendster blog posts before the social networking site was doomed. I started in 2005 and until now I'm still trying to be an exhibitionist! One of the great argumentative posts I've ever made back in college was this "Blogging as an Act of Exhibitionism!" and I was totally against the premise!  Let me try to relive the frustration I felt 5 years ago...Take note: Everything is in toto!

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 22nd, 2006 at 9:58 am

blogging=exhibitionism?

no offense to the person concerned:
bloggers are not exhibitionists…
we are not exposing ourselves to public…
neither are we trying to get some attention watsoever!
we blog because we are rational beings…
capable of thinking, feeling and perceiving…
thus we simply share and express what we think, feel and perceive!
blog’s no less than a diary… it’s also a behavioral artifact which may help in understanding one’s inner self! as a blogger myself, i must say that blogging really helps in developing a person’s positive well being!
blogging is not a psychosexual disorder nor an abnormal act… how could you equate it with exhibitionism ?!
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And this post ticked some people off! Let's recall the comments too...
15 Responses to “blogging=exhibitionism?”

1.  Jackie-San Says:
   June 23rd, 2006 at 8:12 pmasa man ka nakadungog ana ba? Kinsa man gasulti ana ba?
2.  grace Says:
   June 23rd, 2006 at 8:52 pmyep..blogging is not exhibitionism.im not a blogger but i bet,writers or bloggers get satisfied only when we get some feedback.a reality one can never deny.why not keep a personal diary instead if one does not intend to let others know our thoughts?then,bloggers must be somehow waitng for response..BUT that is way way far from exhibitionism..
3.  YvAiNe Says:
   June 24th, 2006 at 1:24 amthen again what is his/her definition of exhibitionism?hmmm..?
4.  Charmaine Says:
   June 24th, 2006 at 2:12 amexhibitionism….
   indecent and compulsive exposure of the genitals in public to acquire attention… saonz!!!
5.  ' 'mara rev ' ' Says:
   June 24th, 2006 at 4:42 amdamn!!! asa ka nkadungog ana cham? im a blogger although dli au ko maka post daily, still you know me to be the blogger na mu-share jud sa iya feelings bwt, almost everything…exhibitionism? haller?! i agree with grace, its way far from blogging…blogging is one way of expressing ourselves, not exposing ourselves!!!! duh?!!!?
6.  Charmaine Says:
   June 24th, 2006 at 5:45 ammulang… pero sowee mara i cant tell u knsay nisulti anah…ahihi… i still respect her… bsag mean kaau iyang comment bout blogging…ahihihihi… ^_^
7.  Darliza Says:
   June 24th, 2006 at 8:06 pmi beg to disagree.
   exhibitionism para nako, is deriving pleasure from showing a part of yourself to others, and not just on physical terms.
   blogging is still part exhibitionism. i mean, why not? being an exhib doesnt have to be all about sex y’know. defy the borders of basic dictionary meaning. if you bare yourself for people to see, and actually get the kick out of it, that is exhibitionism.
8.  Charmaine Says:
   June 26th, 2006 at 1:09 ampsychologically or psychiatrically speaking, exhibitionism is the incapability of the mind to control the compulsive exposure of oneself, not necessarily the genitals, to attract public attention. in short it’s an abnormal act… a deviation from the norm!
   you can’t blame us, psych studs for perceiving things scientifically…or even if we try to defy the borders of basic dictionary meaning, we still couldnt get the negative impact of the term itself! it isnt just the appropriate term to describe blogging… it could have been sumthing that’s positive in its sense…
   i have nothing against those who feel to disagree with me…everyone’s comment is respected… and im happy that we’re trying to exercise the art of argumentation…^_^
9.  Rommel Says:
   June 30th, 2006 at 6:54 amhey… ingna cya ha… pabasaha sa akong blog, basin ma.usab iyang definition sa ‘exhibitionism’… pero i’m not saying i’m ‘flashing’ something there… just tell her to visit natio… basin makasabot cya sa difference.
   & if ngpatagad jud ang mga bloggers, so be it… with her mere comment, it just proves that she pays attention 2 d blogger’s alleged endeavor. hahaha!
10.  YvAiNe Says:
    July 2nd, 2006 at 9:10 pmi think that people react basically to what society is considered as a standard..and yes exhibitionism does have a sexual cum negative impact to the ears..but the nothing is, you go beyond the dictionary meaning, because really, its only a matter of perspective.
11.  Charmaine Says:
    July 5th, 2006 at 7:38 amsoweee ass di ko ka dare mo ingon sa iyaha…
    yeah it’s a matter of perspective rah… but may unta kung ang perspective sa mga taw kay positive… di mn gud nimo ma help kay ang nature sa word nega na gud… how wud u actually shift the perspective from negative to positive. 
12.  Jaclyn kline Says:
    July 8th, 2006 at 4:51 amexhibitionism…hmmm… makadawat pa ko’s ksp nga word better than dat. however dependnt mn xa’s paggamit. remember meaning varies (possibly radically) upon the writer, the reader, and the dictionary.
    i blv the word’s a bit harsh to descryb this act of self expression. we blog coz we wnt to share (hope that someone shares) our sentimnts w/ us. basta! the word’s just not the ryt one.
13.  Charmaine Says:
    July 8th, 2006 at 8:56 ammu jed… wrong kaau ang word…^:)^
14.  kOuRty Says:
    July 17th, 2006 at 1:11 amsory na jud cham nag kamali ra to si u know.. hehe… impulsive ra to oi… nyahahaha. maybe wala xa kasuway ug blog.. iya mistake ato kay iya cguro gi generalize, cguro kay naay mga blogger na nag exhibtion nyahahahaha
15.  Charmaine Says:
    July 17th, 2006 at 9:49 ambtaw… i knw la jud to niya gi mean… la mn sad ko nasuko… im just trying to defend “US”… ahiihihi.. mga vlogers…^_^

LOVE & HATE = YOU & I

LOVE wouldn’t be as blissful without HATE

I call our so called love story a HATE story because it didn’t really start with LOVE after all. It all started with being total strangers! Guess what’s next? He was an event crasher!  I didn’t invite him for our "free food taste" advertising class project.  What the heck? Who was he? Some classmates drooled over his unkemptly tied long hair. Guys like him can never catch my attention.  He was not even close to ideal. He was such an unnoticeable being. In short, NOT MY TYPE! But fate, surprisingly, has its own way of bringing you to the person whom you can claim yours forever! Of course not literally forever, but at least for the rest of your life!

Until now, I don’t exactly know what made him love the over demanding, self-gratifying, conceited, and emotionally unstable ME? Let me elaborate on being emotionally unstable. A girl is acceptably emotional, but beyond that is no longer tolerable! I know guys hate it when their girls switch from being sweet and gentle to an extremely monstrous state. I am even more monstrous than you could ever imagine. Almost every day, I used to greet him with devastating break-ups, whining words of frustration, and idealistic views of what a boyfriend should/shouldn’t do. I was freakishly immature and the relationship was a total disaster! But I guess there’s no precise formula whatsoever for a lasting relationship. We have had our share of ups and downs and we will continuously experience the seemingly endless cycle. It’s been two years since the day we committed our souls to each other.  I know it’s too early to conclude because the future is still uncertain but the uncertainty makes such relationship a marvel.

Our love story is not just a mere story of LOVE, it’s also a story of HATE

H = Happiness A = Acceptance T = Trials E = Experiences

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LOVE and HATE don’t collide after all, because they complement each other like 

                                             You & I 

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I’ve written this for our 2^nd year anniversary (July 15, 2011) but glad I didn’t share it yet, for words have been more substantiated since then.