We’re going to lug this blog to a more permanent blog site! I can’t really say I’m a huge contributor to the back end of this but Teach has been gracious enough to do that for me. He just told me to sit pretty. (What a nice friend, huh?) NOT only that… he’s hosting my site… FOREVER (seriously! that’s what HE said.)! I guess I’ll have to find a way to get a message to myself in my next life so I could keep blogging on that account. (…hmmmmm…)

Sometime soon, you’ll be redirected to http://underthetropicsun.com whenever you visit this URL. I can’t wait! *humming merrily* I didn’t know I could get this excited over a new URL. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, TEACH.

He has a passion for photography, by the way. I’ll have to ask permission but I want to post some of his photos here (or on the new site… can’t wait!). I’ll ask to post one of it in a while but maybe he’s reserving it for his portfolio. So I’m not at all too sure. I dunno if I can declare his site yet (since it’s not up and I’m not sure if he wants me to) but I will anyway… (or maybe not) I’ll just wait for him to register first.

Still, I’m so excited!

Across the floor we swept away,
There weren’t much words for us to say.
Your gentle eyes said it all,
It had much love than I recall.

I wanted to tell of things in my heart,
But I didn’t know how to start.
Your loving arms held me so,
That I didn’t ever want to let go.

Behind my eyes I could never hide,
It told you everything I couldn’t confide.
That I couldn’t say how much you meant,
When the moment came up and went.

“I love you, Papa. More than words can say,
I’m grateful for you in every way.”
Our eyes welled up for all to see,
But that moment belonged only to you and me.

Judgments.
We are all guilty of judging people by the way they look and so are we all victims of being judged.

Pretty = Dumb
Glasses = Nerd
Fat = Lazy
Sweet = Weak
… and so on.

No wonder many of us are don’t like ourselves too much. Take a paper and pen and make two columns: a column for the things you hate about yourself and the other for things you absolutely love about yourself. Without looking, I am willing to bet that it took longer for most to list down the things that you absolutely love about yourself.

How I love Felicia Fields’ quote and aspire to live by her words. A complete change in mindset is in order to be able to help others too. I am my own harshest judge. To be able to accept myself for who I am, gives others permission to do the same.

I was rummaging through some of my photos in my hard drive when I came across some old photos of Siargao. I miss Siargao!!! It’s been 5 years since we last visited that beautiful island. Last time we went, it was for business (with A LOT of pleasure) because I had to write an article about the place for our local newspaper… Surfing Siargao. I’ve never been back since.

Believe it or not, the first time we went (which was three months before my “business” trip), we ended up spending P5,000/each (about $120) for the entire week. This includes our boat fare, accommodation, food, boat rental (for island hopping), surfboard rental (with guides), etc. We didn’t have first class accommodations but that’s part of the experience. I realized that it was cheaper to go with a group (we were seven on the first trip) because when we went back, we ended up spending a bit more. It didn’t help that we missed our boat and had to fly back home, either.

I wasn’t aspiring to become a surfer or anything but finding surf spots around the Philippines was a fairly new thing and at the time, my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I was hungry to try something new. It wasn’t so difficult to enlist friends to take the journey with us even if none of us knew anything about Siargao. We were really going on an adventure which really paid off. We had the time of our lives and we still talk about it to this day.

My husband commented that it was so out of character for me to suggest, better yet, PLAN an adventure to the unknown. I hated surprises and have an obsession in making sure everything goes off without a hitch. I guess, that’s why I love Siargao so much. It was a place that rewarded me for taking chances, for being spontaneous and for treating the unknown with excitement instead of fear.

Since then, we’ve made trips to different parts of our country. I wasn’t scared to try new things and visit new places anymore. In fact, I welcome it. 7,100 islands… there’s still so much to see. Now, our “Places to visit” list no longer consists of mostly foreign countries but local destinations instead. How can we appreciate what is out there if we don’t know what we have here? Discovering the beauty of my country one place at a time is such a pleasant challenge.

If you’re like me, most likely you fell in love with the wrong person at least once in your life. I am such a sucker for “love at first sight” stories which may or may not have been part of the wrong choices I’ve made in the past. I’d like to believe that there are couples out there who truly met and fell in love all within a span of a second. But like most people, I had to trudge through a path of heartaches… leaving behind a trail of painful memories.

There were times when I lost my faith in love. There were also times when I felt like maybe there was something I did that was so bad that I did not deserve to belong with someone else. A few tears later and after the self-pity has subsided, the hopeless romantic in me would gain strength and I would be back on the search once more… only to fail miserably again.

It wasn’t until the day that I said: “All or nothing” when things started to change for me. It was a secret pact I made with myself. It was either I’d find the one or I’d spend the rest of my life being content with living life precariously through my siblings. By then I was feeling pretty pessimistic and was thinking that nobody every really finds the one. People around me were merely settling down and my parents’ relationship ended up in separation. Not very inspiring. Until I met him.

It wasn’t the fireworks-at-first-sight kind of thing when my brother introduced us and we didn’t become fast friends either. I can’t remember it exactly when we became close friends. It was like one day I just knew who he was and in the next, we were hanging out so much… text messaging each other every day ’til one day, I found myself missing him. My day didn’t feel complete if I didn’t get to speak or see him. That’s when I knew that I’ve fallen… that was four years before we got married and six years ago from today.

He has always been so wonderfully patient with me and still loves me even when I am at my worst. He makes me feel so secure. I see him across a crowded room always a vision of calm and quiet confidence, nothing else mattered. Not my nervousness enveloping me in a room full of strangers, not my inability to make small talk… none of those feelings mattered. I can’t think of a better person to spend the rest of my life with. I feel so privileged to be growing old with him. I can’t wait to know that one day far from now, I’ll be at his side and watch the world pass us by.

There are so many things in him that I am grateful for. I am most especially thankful for his love. It is his love that has shown me that I am indeed worthy. He makes me feel loved not just by him… but also by my self.

The song “Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts summarized everything I felt and feel. I know that many of you can relate to this song too. Here’s the video:

Calling on all bloggers! Help make a difference by simply adding the 350 challenge badge on your blog. It is called the 350 challenge because their goal is to offset 122,500 lbs. of carbon of the first 350 bloggers to submit on their site. That means, when you post their badge on your blog, they’ll offset 350 lbs. of carbon in your name. Isn’t that just COOL?

Let’s face it, reducing our carbon footprints on our own is somewhat very, VERY challenging. Humans, being creatures of habit, makes it almost impossible to reduce our current carbon footprints if we don’t make a conscious effort now. Even with the dedication and focus, there’s only so much we can reduce. Unless you want to fall off the face of the earth and not use any of our creature comforts like electricity, I commend you for being so supportive of Mother Earth. But seriously, that is not too realistic so every little thing helps. 350 lbs. of carbon is like using your car for two weeks. So, I say, yes, it could really help.

What they don’t make painstakingly clear on their website is that they’ll offset 350 pounds of carbon for THE FIRST 350 people who submit their sites (I had to find this out on the 350.org website). It also doesn’t say how many people have already submitted their blogs but since it’s a relatively new campaign, they can always change the rules at some point. I’m hoping they do.

After a few clicks, what I found was even more rewarding. I learned about 350.org and Brighter Planet. Check them out! Brighter Planet uses credit card points to fund and support renewable energy products while 350 is an organization that is campaigning for awareness. They want the word to spread out that we need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from 387 ppm (parts per million) to 350 ppm to avoid any more drastic climate changes. Since we currently increase 2 ppm each year, this means we have to stop adding to our carbon footprints now and start reducing it.

Every little thing helps! I may or may not have been able to make the first 350 bloggers to post the badge, but the things I learned because of posting it here is even more invaluable to me. It has spurred me to write and help spread the word. As James Thurber once said: “Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.” So let’s stop laying blame or give up on our future, let’s use the awareness we gather and move forward. Reduce our carbon footprint now.

Do you have a friend that you’ve seen on and off through the years but when you see each other again it was like you just spoke yesterday? That’s how it is with my Teach… our pet names for each other because when we met, he was teaching me all the *uhm…* “ways” of the internet world. While I, on the other hand, taught him how to live life outside the confines of his monitor. Well, not actually taught him… more of reminded him that there’s still life outside the internet. Luckily, he fell in and out of love during the years I’ve known him and at times when I was almost ready to give up on him ever going to have a life outside the internet. Oh, how I praised the heavens!

He’s a character in more ways than one. Always striving towards perfection in every endeavor he chooses to pursue… and brags about it! LOL! He has every right to do so as do anyone who has accomplished so much on their own. He deserves a pat on the back every time he does something commendable because he really does pour his heart out whenever he does something. Like right now, he’s into photography. He’s like a boy with a new toy during Christmas morning. He’s spending every free time he has to honing his photography skills. He has also given me his word that he’ll be my official photographer for this site. He knows I am going to hold him up to his word. I know he won’t disappoint me.

The photo above was taken with Teach’s new toy during his honeymoon in Cambodia by his lovely wife, Lorena Croft. Who, by the way, I believe with all my heart has THE EYE for photography (I’d tease him that she is more talented than him… and he hates it). He’s such an affirmation-whore. LOL! But that is what makes him my Teach.

Despite our friendship, there were times when I wasn’t such a great friend to him. I fell short of being a friend during my “dark phase”. I forgot those who were close to me, those who truly cared and he was one of them. Yet, he never judged, even when he tried to reach out and was shunned by me. He knew me well enough to know that I always considered him one of my best friends and I would reach out to him when I’m ready.

This entry is dedicated to him simply because he has been elemental to this site. He has always encouraged me throughout the years to keep writing and berated me when he found out I stopped. He threw my excuses unto the ground and stomped on them, refusing to accept. Thanks, Teach. Throughout the years, you have remained a true friend. Even through the miles, you still managed to teach me a thing or two. I am eternally grateful to have you as my friend.

Isn’t it great that there are establishments out there that are really thinking and doing things out of the box? The Bronx Zoo, an advocate to wildlife preservation and education has a really cool restroom in their midst. Here’s the video of what they are doing:

New York City has one the biggest per capita water usage in the United States. So, every big or small effort in conserving water can make a huge impact. What they do not say in this video is that the toilet system was installed by Clivus Multrum Inc., a manufacturer of composting toilets and greywater irrigation systems and that it cost US$1.6M to install. I really don’t know if it was billed to the zoo but from what I know, it was the Wildlife Conservation Society who commissioned the work to Clivus Multrum.

I don’t really see it becoming a trend any time soon. The fact is it costs a lot to implement and it is difficult to go about and redo the plumbing of every existing building in New York. Plus, everything that goes down the drain or the toilets has to be non-toxic. It’s just not that realistic to get every household to change their cleaning materials and habits now. But it’s a start.

I came across a lot of blogs that are numb with the progress of eco-friendly technologies today. They think that the politicians only found a new platform to use in their campaigns and speeches. They’re usually people in their 50’s and up. I can’t really blame them because it was their generation that started the whole think green, save mother earth thing (you know, the hippie movement back in the 60’s?) and they do not have much to see now. I bet there were a lot of them who eventually just gave up and caved in to the daily routines of life. But it’s this very same generation that paved and are paving the way for us now. There are those who never gave up and as a result, awareness is here, it’s broad, and it’s unavoidable. Everywhere we go, we are constantly reminded of going green.

These eco-restrooms are just but one of the great technologies out there that can start helping mother earth today. The least I can do as an individual is to prepare for these toilet systems in case it comes my way any time within my lifetime (please let it be soon). The best thing to do is to avoid toxic cleaning materials in my own home. Which I have started, by the way. I used a combination of lemon (or lemoncito in our native tongue) and baking soda to clean my washing machine, stove, oven and refrigerator. It works like a charm and smells really great too. For more non-toxic cleaning ideas, go and visit Care2’s website. Let’s start doing our part now!

]]> http://underthetropicsun.wordpress.com/2008/05/24/eco-restrooms/feed/ 4 jopiecab http://underthetropicsun.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/the-search/ http://underthetropicsun.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/the-search/#comments Fri, 23 May 2008 04:43:35 +0000 jopiecab http://underthetropicsun.wordpress.com/?p=25 ]]>

Credits to the design of the blog entry:

Grass Brushes – http://katikut.deviantart.com
Old Paper Brushes – http://synthexstock.deviantart.com
Tree Brushes – http://www.horhewsbrushes.com

I wrote this poem in October 10, 1999.