Today, aside from being busy in the office, I received a big news from my Mom.

She calmly told me that she is under observation and undergone a laser surgery to get some flesh inside her for biopsy. She told me her gynecologist told her she has cancer. Well, as we are miles away from each other, I feel she is strong and not so fearful unlike me.

This is what people feel when they got news of the big C - fear. I felt fear but not for my Mom but more of for my Father. Who will take care of my Father if my Mom will undergo a major surgery? My father is totally dependent to my Mom.

My Mom is a superwoman. She is strong and always calm. I told her not to worry but deep inside me, there are jitters and butterflies. I was not able to eat my dinner properly. But now that we dont know yet the Laboratory Examination results, I am confident it is not cancer. Or if is, it is curable by one operation or surgery.

So, please pray for my mother's health, please.

Investments

Being new with Investments and the world market news are giving people jitters, there are words commonly used but very technical. Ordinary people without background on business or is not adept to banking, economics, investments and money markets can hardly understand what is going on.

And as I realized that being there in that dilemna, I will give some definitions regarding technical vocabularies we usually read in the papers and hear in the news, according to my researches and consultations with Portfolio managers that I am around with.

And also, you my friends can also share by giving comments on my blog. You can also correct me but please, be subtle.

A Question We have To Answer

Do you love me because you need me or do you need me because you love me?

Most people if not all, expect that the love they give is given back. But for me, not that I am being idealistic, my love is always – I need you because I love you. And when I love, I give it all, all that I have and all that I got. Nothing is reserved for myself. That is why I am most susceptible to being heart-broken. And moving on is the hardest thing to do because I don’t know where to start since I don’t have anything left for myself but me.

Yes, I, me and myself. Hey, I am still alive and I have to move on. I don’t care if I was hurt because I have loved. It is better to love and be hurt than not to have loved at all.

If you were asked this question, what would be your answer?

The Basic Process of Recycling Paper

It was in 1995 that I took a course on making handmade papers at the Product Design Development Center of the Philippines. We were taught how to make papers from grasses and other indigenous materials that we can find around us.
Here, I will share the basic process of recycling paper.

You will need :
A blender (If you don’t have a blender, you can use a mortar and pestle)
Newspapers or other printed papers (cut into small pieces)
Water
A Big basin
Silk screen molder – 8in. by 12 in.
A towel or sponge
Dye of your choice

The Process:
Soak the papers in water for 2 hours or better if you soak it overnight.

Put the papers inside the blender and blend until it becomes almost beaten up well. (This is called pre pulping).

Transfer the blended papers in the basin. You can add chlorine and rinse the papers well.

After rinsing the papers, add water to your desired thickness of the paper you want to make. Remember, the more water you use, the thinner the paper you can make.

Put dye of your desired color.

Then in a separate bowl, mash the okra with a cup of water, then strain in the basin. This will make the water become silky that will make you strain the pulp evenly through the silkscreen molder.

Then sift the pulp through the silkscreen molder.

Use the towel or the sponge to take out excess water from the pulp. Then place it under the sun or near the window.

When it is dry, you can peel it off the molder.

*Remember : Practice Makes Perfect*

Extra Mile

What the heck! People who works for the money alone will not understand this. Those people whose work ethics is different from mine will never understand what the extra mile is really all about.

If you are from the Human Resources Department, you will understand this. The extra mile means doing more than what is your regular work. If your employer is expecting that you give 100% of your knowledge and talent, you give 150%. The 50% extra is the extra mile.

In the Philippine Corporate setting, when you are just applying for a job, the interviewer will ask you questions that will give the interviewer a hint or idea that you are the one that is not only capable of doing the job but who will give more than what is expected. I am proud to say that most Filipinos I know are trying to do their best for their employer, trying to give the extra mile.

Sad to say but those people whose motivation to work is the money and compensation will only give their 100%. And more than that, they have to be compensated even for little things they do for the company. It will never bother them to take the initiative to give more if there is no monetary consideration. Lest, they are the one who will ridicule you or laugh behind you and say you are crazy for doing more than what is expected of you.

Thanks to my Alma Mater, my faith and my upbringing. Or maybe thanks for being a Filipino. I was brought up in a family that taught me to be responsible not only for my self and family but also for our neighbors and to the community. The initiative that is being taught in our schools and universities, the good deeds that are being inculcated in our hearts and minds are our weapons in the arena of corporate world where fierce competition takes place in order to survive and to advance in our career up to the ladder of success.

Though we are not always correct and being human we are susceptible to mistakes, taking that extra mile will not only serve as our cushion in the effects of our mistakes but also will help us minimize our mistakes.

My principle is that it doesn’t matter how hard my work is or how much I give to my Employer or Company, as long as my Employer or Company will never be able to say that I did them wrong or stole something from them. It is always more blessed to give than to receive. As long as I am not the one stealing from my employer or company by coming in late and leaving the office early or just in exact time, or doing personal things rather than doing official responsibilities, I will continue to give the EXTRA MILE.

I will give it because its within me. It’s a virtue that no one can take away from me. You may judge me as crazy, I don’t care. For I know I can sleep well without worry. Because in giving the extra mile, I have my integrity intact and as solid as platinum.

F r I En D s

I have ten (10) friends who I can call real friends when we were still single. Well, I am still single and they entered the married life.

We were so close that it didn’t come to my mind that the time to separate our ways will come. No text messages, no calls, no emails! Whew! Maybe they are just busy with their family lives that they forget they still have friends waiting for them.

What is a friend? The most common definition - a friend is the one who is always there no matter how high or low the level of your life is. A friend who is always there when you are happy or sad, a victor or a looser, strong or weak.

I felt they have changed. They are not my friends anymore. Because they are not there anymore in any circumstance of my life. But life has to move on. With or without them. Thanks to them that I have learned what is being a friend.

Now, I have new friends. I have a lot of them. More than what I have before but the difference is not only in numbers but in the attitude and the meaning of our friendship, through thick and thin. I am alone here in Saudi Arabia, miles away from my friends who themselves are continents apart. But we are still together. No only in emails, phone calls, text messages and chatting, but also in prayers.

We were bound by the events that happened when we were together, when we were working together, and celebrating the success of another. We were bound by the experiences that we shared and the heartaches that we felt. We are happy for the success of each other. Or we are sad for the mistakes that were made by another. They have their own family and yet they didn’t desert me, nor I deserted them.

And that is what friends are for.

BESTFRIENDS

There I was, crying inside a chapel for a miracle. Miracle for whom?

Actually, I was 7 years old and my bird died two days after my grandfather was buried. That bird was given by my uncle and from the first day I was really attached to the bird that I will never take my meal unless he took his.

I was, in fact, I am a softy when it comes to pets : birds, fishes and dogs. I even dream of taking care of snakes. And here, I want to share a part of my life spent with my three lovable pets – my dogs.

Aside from my birds, and fishes (where I got my scar in my forehead), I had three dogs. Actually, its only three that I can truly call my own. But the reality is I was surrounded by dogs when I was a boy. My father had a german shepherd. A very big dog, big body and taller than me when he sits. My uncle, the one who gave the bird, had a golden retriever who is very dear to me. Her name was Peachy. And her pups that I even helped to be born. I was the only one who can touch her when she was bringing out her pups to the world. I even consider taking up veterinary science in college. At her old age, I was the one with her, because I grew up with her. Until one day, she had breathed her last.

But my story is for my first dog, Snoop. He was a Japanese Spitz given by my former girlfriend. I called him Snoop because he was always snoopy. When he was a puppy, he used to sleep on my belly. He would jump in my bed and will lay and sleep over my flat abs, then (lol).

I left him over my mother’s care when I got a job in Manila And I would visit our province as often I as could just to see how he was doing (of course, my parents, too). My mother spoiled him that he became choosy with food. But his favorite was chicken and vegetables like cabbage and carrots.

What’s amusing with Snoop is that he would sing with me whenever he hears our favorite CDs of old songs from Elvis and Frank Sinatra. He was so wonderful. I loved him and he gave his love back to us. He was my other best friend.

In 1997, two years after we transferred to our new house, he got loose and never came back. W asked all our neighbors but couldn’t tell us where my Snoop was. For weeks. I was very lonely and even shed tears whenever I feed my other pet dog, Nikki or Nik-Nik.

Snoop was one year old when Nik-Nik came to us. She was a tiny black dog, always crying and very afraid with people. Nobody dared to touch her because she would scream and tend to bite whoever tried to touch her. But I dared to touch her and she calmed down and let me caress her. I tried to tell her not to worry and that I would never hurt her. From then on, she was mine. She would always run to me for comfort as what Snoop do to me.

Snoop was pure white, and Nikki was pure shiny black dog. There was something special with Nikki. She would always try to embrace me, literally. She would embrace me tight as if she was a person. She would always cry whenever she sees me leaving the house as if telling that she wants to come with me. Oh, I loved that dog.

Even when I went back for vacation, coming from Saudi Arabia in 2005, she never changed. Though her black hair was not as jet black as before, there was streak of white hairs all over the body and in her snout, though her eyes were not as sharp as before, she didn’t forget me. And me, I still prepared her meals whenever possible. But in 2006, I learned that she died of pneumonia and of old age. This added to my depression of being away from home.

But wait! I still have another dog. His name is Spike. A very adorable, bubbly sheepdog. It is the first time that I saw a grayish blue color in his long and curly hair. But he is of the medium size sheepdog.

When Snoop got lost, I was so lonely and my uncle (I’m my uncles’ pet) noticed it and my mom told him the reason. One day he brought me a bubbly puppy, who’s always kissing everyone, runs to the house, bark with excitement, filling the house with joy. He is Spike.

Every summer, we would trim his hair to prevent heat stroke. He likes to be fed with my hands (how spoiled!). He will bark at me and smells his food but will never eat unless I feed him with my hands. It is only me that can do that. Maybe Spike knew that I will do everything for him. He always guards me and sleep besides my bed. He would always bark at me to awaken me when it is time to prepare for the office.

Now that I am based in a country where seeing a single dog is as seldom as we experience rain, I miss them a lot. They are my friends who are very loyal and dependable. Who will always listen to your litany of problems and frustrations. Having a not so happy childhood, they are my refuge. Now that two of them are gone and the one left is miles away. Sharing my experiences eases at least a little bit the pain and loneliness that I have.