When I went to Morocco in 2023 for a two-week scholarship program, I only carried one cabin-size and one medium-size luggage bags, plus two shoulder bags. Those were enough to carry my clothes, shoes, computer, and pasalubong for the program organizers and my fellow diplomat-trainees. As the days progressed, and we visited several areas, and…
Tag: writing
Ordinary Things, Extraordinary Stories (1)
When I went to Hyderabad, India for an official trip in 2017, I had the chance to join some members off the Philippine delegation to visit some places in Hyderabad after a full day of meeting. One of the places we went to is Charminar. It has this unfinished but charming castle, and vendors all…
Perspective
Many years ago, an FX driver, whose vehicle I had the fortune or misfortune of riding to Morayta was very zealous about his religion. For about an hour, he kept saying it’s the truest religion and citing information, both theologically and historically. What made that instance interesting was the driver was not originally Filipino, but…
09 Feb. 2026 Thoughts
This morning, after I cracked a native chicken’s egg in a mug of newly-boiled water, then added milk and sugar, I suddenly thought of my lolo. My lolo was a regular milk drinker, and his favorite brand was Nido. He also sometimes added a fresh egg to the milk, which gave the drink a creamier,…
Inertia
One of the things that I’m afraid might happen one day is that I will lose interest in things that give me meaning or at least evoke some sense of happiness in me. That wouldn’t feel good, right? My society-perceived success (good education, stable job), my altruistic vision, my plans for the future (other than…
All in a Week
These are some of the highlights as September ended and a new month began. I started the week with two (2) lectures on cultural diplomacy on a Monday morning, which were rescheduled twice because of Sept. rains and storm. This was followed by a despedida lunch for a dear former boss and mentor who is…
Beyond Routes 