Ms. Beng, my fellow Toastmaster gave me a lovely and blossomy soap package earlier today as a birthday gift. I liked it very much. In fact, what inspired me to write this was the fresh scent of this gift. Haha! I like soaps, body wash, long baths. Bathing’s invigorating and it’s part of my daily…
Post-birthday Musing
I recently had my birthday and I wanted to post something on the day itself to mark it. But I was busy–I went to work, had lunch and snacks celebration with officemates, etc. and got home around 9p.m., fell asleep due to tiredness, and woke up before 11pm to eat the sotanghon that my mom…
2025, quo vadis?
It’s the 15th of January 2025. We’re only two weeks into the new year and yet, it feels like it has been a long time. Since January 2, there has been only 10 work days and two (2) weekends! But we’re back to the same routine, and the newness of 2025, it seems, is getting…
Happy New Year 2025!
On this first day of the new year, I wish you… good health happiness peace success love May you have an amazing 2025 with… new books to read new knowledge and skills to learn new friends to make and old friends to keep new places to visit and old places to rediscover new heights to…
Yearend thoughts
I woke up at 7am today and realized that it’s the second to the last day of the current year. Looking outside the bedroom window and the partially opened door to the balcony, I saw the leaves of plants and trees still wet from the rain at dawn. The sky and surroundings too looked fresh,…
Christmas 2024
It’s 3:55am and sleep is elusive. This is not too good for my plan to attend the 8AM Christmas mass. But let’s see. It is still raining, has been raining for over 12 hours now–a lazy, continuous rain that started in the early afternoon as the delivery man bringing some boxes of muffins that I…
Meandering Thoughts
I feel that one of the saddening moments of life is when a person suddenly loses interest and enthusiasm in things that previously made one happy or fulfilled. Like Veronika in Paulo Coelho’s literary world or in a lesser extent, John in “Brave New World” by Alduous Huxley, or Equality 7-2521 in “Anthem” (I like…
Sunday
Early morning calm The freshness of the leaves and the dewdrops The smell of brewed coffee Hot pandesal from the bakery (How delicious the scent!) Singers from the 70s to 90s crooning in the background Your mom or lola/lolo puttering in the kitchen (How nice is fried rice with danggit and atsara!) A few scribble…
Behind the Scenes of the Baguio Conference
I attended a conference in Baguio recently, where I was the keynote speaker on 24 October 2024. My topic was on the Internationalization of Higher Education. I appreciate this invitation from the Philippine International Friendship and Understanding Association (PIFUA) to the 5th International Conference-Training for International Students, Student Leaders, and Advisers (ICTISSLA), which gave me…
Two (2) Weeks of FSO Life
Lately, I’ve been writing about life in general, my reflections, my musings, so I thought of adding another entry to the FSO topic. What goes on at work? Definitely, it’s not your typical 8-5 job, especially in a dynamic office such as ours, the DFA – Office of Cultural Diplomacy. Allow me to share with…
Beyond Routes 