Today, One Quote

"Only to live, to live and live! Life, whatever it may be!"

When God Created Mothers

When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth day of overtime when the angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

And God said, "Have you read the specs on this order? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic. Have 180 moveable parts, all replaceable. Run on black coffee and leftovers. Have a lap that disappears when she stands up. A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair. And six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands? No way!"

"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," God remarked, "It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel. God nodded.

"One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks 'What are you kids doing in there?' when she already knows. Another here on the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't but what she has to know, and, of course, the ones here in front that can look at the child when he goofs up and she'd say 'I understand and I love you' without so much as uttering a word."

"God," said the angel touching his sleeve gently, "Get some rest for tomorrow."

"I can't," said God, "I'm so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick, can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger, and can get a nine year old to stand under a shower."

The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. "It's too soft," she sighed.

"But tough!" said God excitedly. "You can imagine what this mother can do or endure."

"Can it think?"

"Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise," said the Creator.

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek.

"There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told You that You were trying to put too much into this model."

"It's not a leak," said the Lord, "It's a tear."

"What's it for?"

"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride."

"You are a genius, " said the angel.

Somberly, God said, "I didn't put it there.”

"Mi Familia y Yo"

¡Hola! ¡Buenos tardes señora y mis compañeros de clase!

Mi familia es una familia alegre.
Nosotros vivimos en la provincia de Iloilo.
Iloilo es un lugar muy habitabale y es bueno para nadar y para visitar muchos iglesias y muchos catedrales. Es os son centenarios. Nosotros visitamos Iloilo cuando nosotros tenemos el tiempo.


De todos modos, yo continuo.
Mi padre se llama Isaiash. El tiene cincuenta y tres años. (Creo que si..) El es un poco viejo ja. El es capitan de un barco. Ahora, el esta en Iran. Cuando mi padre esta en Iloilo, el disfruta cocinar para todos nosotros durante los Domingos. Yo se que el ama mi madre muchisimo.

Mi madre se llama Carol. Ella tiene cincuenta y cinco años. ¡Espera!, ella no es asi. Ella tiene cincuenta y cuatro años. Antes, ella es empleada en una compania electrica. Ahora, ella es jubilada. Mi madre es baja pero ella tiene el corazon grande. Ella ama todos nosotros. Tambien, mi madre cocina el major Carne Frito. ¡Muy delicioso!

Ahora, una de mis hermanas y yo vivimos aqui, en Katipunan. Se llama Niña. Ella estudia en el colegio en la Universidad de Ateneo de Manila antes y ahora ella estudia medicina en la Escuela de Salud Publica y Medicina de Ateneo. Mi hermana es guapa y muy dedicada en sus estudios. Ella y yo amamos tomar cafe juntos. Ella es soltera aun.

De vuelta en Iloilo, mi otra hermana estudia en el colegio tambie. Ella es mi hermana mas joven y es la mas bonita. Mi hermana se llama Czena. Ella estudia ser una azafata en el futuro. Ella ama vestir se especialmente cuando nosotros vamos a la iglesia los Domingos o cuando nosotros viajamos a muchos lugares.

Finalmente, soy Isaiah. Soy el unico hijo de mis padres. Por la tanto, soy el mas guapo en mi familia. Estudio ingeniera civil. Soy joven aun y el mundo espera para mi. Tambien, se jugar al futbol.

¡Asi que vamos a hacer esto!

Ahoy Hanoi: Hoa Quả Dầm

If you happen to go to Hanoi in the summer, I'm not going to blame you if you'd find yourself one day spitting nothing but moans of exhaustion and complaining about nothing but the utter hotness of the day. Summers in Hanoi can really get heated and at times, yes, really sticky. On the skin, that is. Thick humidity in the city plus the undeniable heat and you know what you'll feel after a few minutes of walking around the generously wide sidewalks of Hanoi.

But don't worry, don't stress yourself too much on that fact. For one, there are plenty of coffee shops around the area where you can definitely have a cool break from the sun, and a refreshing cup of whatever drink you prefer. And, if I may suggest, you might try to prefer a glass of iced egg coffee some time. It surely is a promising treat.

What's also promising is this: hoa quả dầm.

It's a sweet treat for the hot afternoon! It's a heaven of fresh tropical fruits mixed in a bowl with a scoop of strawberry-milk yogurt or two. Oh, wait, you actually have to do the mixing part, but of course it's no problem, right? Usually, in this little food corner in the Old Quarter, along Tô Tịch Street, they sell a bowl for only ₫20,000 VND, so it's something, I'd say, which you will and can actually get more from what you've just paid for. Trust me on this. The little food corner, also, is very easy to spot; the moment you turn right at Hàng Gai Street to it, you're already almost there. So, I don't think there's going to be any problem on that. At all.

Tell me what you think after you've had a bowl of it.

Ahoy Hanoi: In Taking the Public Bus to the Old Quarter

Taking the public bus that goes around Hanoi is fun! It's comfortable, it's quite cheap, it's convenient, and it's really easy.. well, after your fourth or fifth time. Haha! I take the bus from where I stay to the Old Quarter (almost) all the time.

Basically, all you have to know before are the following:

1. Know the nearest bus stop from where you are staying. Then, name it your "home bus stop". There, you'll see what bus numbers make a stop in your home bus stop. In my case, from my house, the nearest bus stop is just a hundred meters away so I walk to it every time; and the bus numbers that make stops in it are bus numbers 33 and 50.
2. Figure out which bus number in your home bus stop has a route to another bus stop in the city which you can make transit in to bus number 9. You can Google this one. Bus number 9 is the one that goes directly to and has its terminal stop at Hoan Kiem Lake. That's where you want to go if you want to go to the Old Quarter, and easily remember how you did it. In my case, I can either ride bus number 33 or bus number 50, then go down after I pass three bus stops from my home bus stop. From there, I transfer to bus number 9 and I'm nineteen bus stops away from Hoan Kiem Lake. I measure the distance by just counting the number of bus stops I need to pass by from where I got in to where I'm going because it's so much easier than remembering the name of the particular bus stop. It's hard enough to figure out where to go, what more to actually read tiếng Việt.

Now, when everything that's needed to know is known, all you have to do is this:

1. Go to your home bus stop.
2. Ride the bus that will get you to the bus stop where bus number 9 makes a stop.
3. Go down at that bus stop.
4. Ride the bus number 9.
5. Wait.. and enjoy the ride until you get to Hoan Kiem Lake.
Reminder: The route of bus number 9 will pass by another lake before reaching the Hoan Kiem Lake so remember not to go down at the first lake that you'll see during the ride because it's not the lake yet.
6. Go down at Hoan Kiem Lake.

And that's it! You're in Hoan Kiem Lake, and you're just a short walk away from the bustling Old Quarter of Hanoi. Job well done!

The bus fare is the same for almost all the buses, regardless of how far the distance that you will take. It's ₫7,000 VND, that's the minimum fare. Only a few bus numbers in the city collect a fare that is a bit higher, only those that go to the suburbs. You can always check the fare upon entering the bus anyway. It's usually displayed on the door and windows.

Be willing to give up your seat to the elderly or pregnant women as soon as you see them go up the bus, too. Bus passengers here do it almost instinctively and immediately, and I think it's good and just right. It is the norm here, take note. But if you don't want to do it (for whatever personal reason), I suggest you find a seat at the back of the bus so the "pressure" on you is not that much. Unless, a pack of senior citizens suddenly suddenly gets in the bus, then you basically have not that much choice. So, just go get your ass off the seat and suck it!

Getting back to your place from the Old Quarter is another story, I guess. You can try to figure it out on your own.