*Peaceful Morning*

I just woke up to a lovely, rainy Wednesday morning. Grabbed a cup of hot chocolate and looked out the window to a silent, peaceful Earth. Not that I hate noise, but too much noise scares me. Two birds are chirping and are taking shelter under the Avocado tree. The greenery outside our house looked so vibrant with the rainwater kissing their precious leaves. The road looks shiny and inviting.

...more birds are chirping now as if they don't want the soft rain to go.

...ahhh, this morning just gave justice to the song, "What a Wonderful World". =)

photo by Nhaj Bequilla, "Sundown Street Shoot"

*Falling Stars*

Twinkle, twinkle little stars..they do look like stars, don't they?

Now go, make a wish. Mine is INNER PEACE and of course, WORLD PEACE. What's yours? =)

all photos by Nhaj Bequilla, "Trails of Light"

*Street Life*

Just how lucky can one get to have three square meals in a day, two hot showers and a cozy bed to sleep in for the night? I would say, lucky. Very, very lucky.

People, especially children on the streets are not as lucky. They traipse the dangerous streets to find garbage worth eating. Get taken advantage of by greedy people, aka, syndicates. Beaten to near-death because they haven't labored for their parents for the day. That's the painful truth. Everyday, 8 out of 10 children all over the world gets deprived of a day's meal for not having reached their target amount of alms. This and more are the harsh realities of a street child's life.

I hope these photos help you remember how lucky you are to have a decent meal on the table and a roof on your head. =(

all photos by Nhaj Bequilla, "Street Photography"

*No Space for Haters*

This world is cramped up with haters and it cannot accommodate any other bed-spacer. I do not welcome haters in my life. But then again, who does? I don't give a rat's ass, but them haters seem to desperately knock on my doors and windows for VIP access to my rainbow-colored life.

I don't know. Some people just like me are hater-magnets. Some people just like the haters are insecure. And some insecure people just don't give a damn, which is a good thing. I'm hoping for much, much more people whose foreheads are tattooed with the word, PEACE.

As a good friend may have put it, "There's no cure for the insecure." So why not, avoid the sickness and keep it simple babe? That will definitely do you and everybody good.

Here's to THE PEACE MOVEMENT, y'all! =)

Which Way is Home?

This is for you, Marian. =)

http://mi.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/Query/img/arrow.png

The scorching heat of the summer sun pricked my skin in an unimaginable way. The sweat running down my forehead was endless. It was the summer of 2005 in the Philippines and the 38 degree temperature was torture. A pang of sadness suddenly enveloped me when I finally realized that this is the day my Mom and Dad will leave for the USA, leaving me and my two younger siblings behind.

The trickling sweat were replaced with tears in the hope of successfully conveying the message to my folks that I want them to stay. I don't want them to leave our nice little abode, that in the fourteen years of my life I lovingly called, HOME. Separation anxiety was all over me.

Things were not bad when my parents left. But it was not as good as having them physically around. No mom to tell my wee secrets to. No dad who answers our hearts every whim. The sight of my parents checking in for their flights marked my memory and broke my heart. And how I wished their flight get extremely delayed just so I could spend an extra hour or two with them. It never happened.

I carried on with my routine. Go to school, go home, do the assignment and go to bed. Go to school, go home, do the assignment and go to bed. During the weekends and holidays, I watch the latest movies and play like there's no tomorrow. I never missed a phone call from Mom and Dad. It was hard, but me and my siblings are pulling through.

After two years of living the memory of Mom and Dad in the airport, my siblings and I found ourselves in the same airport, but this time around, as passengers. As the plane took off, I cannot help but give a small shriek of excitement. Finally, we'll get to see Mom and Dad! At the LAX airport lobby, I searched for two familiar faces and lo!, there they are, the two smiling faces of Mom and Dad! I cried tears of joy upon seeing them. Oh, how I missed them! I gave them the tightest hug and told them how happy I was to be reunited with my family again. I did not mind leaving our nice little abode because whichever way we go to, family is where the home is.

*Visiting the Barristers*

This was my first visit to my barrister-friends who are reviewing at Ateneo de Manila University Law School. I have some few trips scheduled all the way until the Bar Examinations this September. They sure need a few distractions from time to time. *grins*

Those two days were the most exhilirating, yet fun days i have had since time immemorial. The malling and resto-hopping was crazy and Star City was even crazier! I loved the horror booths the most, which ironically, almost gave me a heart attack! One of my happiest-kid-in-a-theme-park moment, to date. Yahooo! =)

*Starter Affair with a Canon DSLR*

http://img.boot.lv/new/fotokameras/DSLR/canon/medium

First thing's first. I cannot afford a Canon DSLR and nor do I have plans of buying one. I thought that DSLR's are way overrated and that such gadgets are ridiculously priced!

Just recently though, I had a change of mind as far as its being "overrated" is concerned. My good friend Nhaj Bequilla just bought one and the quality of the pictures she took just blew me away! From this point onwards, I will be posting her captures, which by the way, are amazing for a starter like her. =)