The travel to ITALY

During the first half of this year, my dream was to travel to Italy, to watch the Novo Concertante Manila where my son and daughter are members, compete in a contest. But that would only be possible if I won the Lotto, or would be qualified as a finalist in a photo contest I joined, because the finals would be held in Italy. Those two conditions would of course be very hard to achieve so it is anybody's guess that it is almost an impossible dream.

I had a lot of travels this year though, but domestically and work-related. I had no choice because I need to work and my work requires me to travel. One way or another, those travels gave me wonderful experiences. They were in the following places:

I - Iloilo in the Visayas of the Philippines
T - Tanza (a barrio near Silay City, Bacolod) in the Visayas
A - Angeles, Pampanga in Luzon of the Philippines
L - La Union in Luzon and Lapu-lapu in Mactan, Cebu in the Visayas
Y - Yakarta

That last one was Jakarta, of course (LOL), and a travel abroad. It was an incentive trip not from the company I work for, but from our upline in Tiens Group, Agus Tri Laksono, who is the Father of one of the education network groups of Tiens or Tianshi, the Lion Network International. I've been a Tiens member for more than a year now, and since we use Tiens or Tianshi supplements and gadgets regularly to prevent illnesses, my rank went up gradually until I achieved the incentive trip promised to me by my upline.

Sometimes one big dream overshadows the many blessings given to us by God, which sometimes are rare opportunities and experiences that are more timely, than what that one dream we were longing for, can bring.

Pleasing a special needs child

Last night, I dreamed that my seven-year-old Lyca could talk. In reality, that seems impossible at this point in time, but someday I'm sure that dream will come true. At present, Lyca could dance well. Since she couldn't use her feet yet for dancing, she uses her head, and she dances as well as the dancing fountain featured here. She very lively moves her head left and right with her arms also dancing to the rhythm of the music. It's surprising how she's able to do that since she is blind and doesn't have an idea how other people, or even the dancing fountain we watched, with her maybe just listening, could dance.

Lyca would like to be strolled around often, and I guess it's about time we replace her stroller. I saw a travel pram fit for her in a very educational website for baby's things, though the pram I was saying is suitable for children of all ages.

It was just a few months back when Lyca could sit easily from a lying position without falling back. The play pen she still uses until now helped her to achieve that. I also saw several cribs or bassinets from the same website I was saying.

Lyca knew that we enjoyed watching the dancing fountain of Eastwood City Mall. Listening to the amused expressions from the people around her is enough to make this special needs child enjoy too. Only a little more exercises to achieve balance while moving, our dreams for her to dance with her feet and run as she pleases will soon be achieved.

A dream to inspire

When I was trying to update my Dreams List a year ago, I realized that I have a new dream that was not yet on the list. I'd like to be an inspirational leader. It was not really a new dream because since five years ago, I've started to be one but it was more an obligation than a dream. I hope to continuously inspire people, thus that dream was created. It is the main reason for my continuous effort to write inspiring posts in my blogs.

To achieve such dream is not easy, there were times I'd like to leave that task of inspiring people to well known personalities who already gained popularity in that area like John Maxwell. But it seems I am always placed in a situation where I also have to perform that difficult task of inspiring people. In my blogs, I sometimes feel I am running out of inspiring posts because I now have a regular job that steals all my time from other noble tasks. But recent developments in my job are now whispering to me that big challenge of leading people to a noble 'cause and inspiring them to carry out their part in fulfilling a great mission.

The nice thing about that is I can now stop asking questions why in the past few years I can't find a job until I was suddenly offered a job in a company I never thought will give me an opportunity to be employed again. The progress of events is amusing, I can't help but think that I might have a mission, and yes, I can feel that now.

Memories, Dreams, and the "State of the Nation" song

In 1984, one of the most popular songs was "State of the Nation". That was more than twenty five years ago, and at that time, I was employed in a private agency servicing the Bureau of Internal Revenue of the Republic of the Philippines. This private agency was the Revenue Information Systems Services Incorporated or RISSI. I could remember taking part in a dance number of some ladies of RISSI to the tune of this "State of The Nation", so playing back this song will surely bring back many memories. Along with these memories were the dreams we once had, some fulfilled, some never achieved.

I see them marching off to war
They're looking so heroic
I'm told they won't be gone for long
But that's a lie and they know it
Ten thousand gone they won't return
Never to be seen again
Strategic games is all we learn in the end
But they say:

Don't you worry about the situation
(A message from the telephone)
They out there fighting for the state of the nation
(I'm waiting a chance to come home)
They always have to fight the alienation
(I realize I'm fighting alone)

When nightmares memories fades to dust
We'll get back on our feet again
This war has nothing to do with us
But somehow we're still involved in it

Well...

Don't you worry about the situation
(A message from the telephone)
They out there fighting for the state of the nation
(I'm waiting a chance to come home)
Well, Don't you worry about the situation
(A message from the telephone)
They always have to fight the alienation
(I realize I'm fighting alone)

There's no place like home
There's no place like home
There's no place I don't want to be anywhere else

There's no place like home
There's no place like home
There's no place I don't want to be anywhere else

There's no place like home
There's no place like home
There's no place I don't want to be anywhere else

There's no place like home
There's no place like home
There's no place I don't want to be anywhere

Don't you worry about the situation
They out there fighting for the state of the nation

Don't you worry about the situation
(A message from the telephone)
They always have to fight the alienation
(I realize I'm fighting alone)

They out there fighting for the state of the nation
(I'm waiting a chance to come home)

They always have to fight the alienation
(I realize I'm fighting alone)

There's no place like home
There's no place like home
There's no place like home

2009 World Cup of Pool Champion

The champion of the 2009 World Cup of Pool was Team Philippines, or the tandem of Efren "Bata" Reyes and Django Bustamante.

In the past, whenever there was a local billiard competition where the two were opponents, I didn't know to whom I would side because both of them were my favorites.

If there was one thing in the history of sports that was a dream come true as far as I'm concerned, it was the team-up of these two great billiard champions. Once again they made the Filipinos proud by regaining the championship of the World Cup of Pool.

My Spanish Dream

I had high grades in my Spanish subjects in college, my first grade was 1.25 followed by 1.5 the next semester. But I was not really good in Spanish so my relatives would ask me how I got the high grades. The answer? Because I was good in singing Spanish songs so my Spanish teacher could always count on me to participate in her events that usually included a singing group.

Singing Spanish songs had been one of my secret dreams, but I realized that even by just listening to a dream choir like Novo Concertante Manila singing Spanish songs, my dream is fulfilled.

A chorale's fulfilled dreams

This month of July, Novo Concertante Manila's dreams were fulfilled! Several of us shared the same dreams for this chorale, where my daughter and son are members, to win in the international contests which they participated in Austria and Spain.

Through the website of the organizer in Torrevieja, Spain, we were able to watch the Certamen Internacional de Habaneras y Polifonía live! Novo Concertante Manila won first place in the Polyphonic category in this contest. But I love listening to their songs in the habaneras category too, I wish I can post that part here too. The video here is the chorale's pieces for the Polyphonic category.

My Dream Bag

To travel to different places had always been my dream. This July, I dreamed of traveling to Europe to watch the choir where my children are members, Novo Concertante Manila, compete in two contests. That was not fulfilled because I suddenly got a job, and of course, you cannot achieve two unrelated big dreams at the same time. But my new job brought me to Davao two times since my employment, and some places outside Metro Manila. For the next two weeks, I will be traveling north of Manila and that can include Baguio City, the coldest city in the Philippines.

Every time I travel, I always think of the most appropriate bag that I can use, but it seems I haven’t found what I want because I keep on buying new ones. I need to bring my laptop all the time, but I want a fashionable laptop bag. Though there are times I’d like to look very professional but I also want something light.

I’m sure there a lot of people like me, and I have a good news for those people and other travelers, because I found a website that will answer our idiosyncrasies about luggages and bags. I’m talking about Shopwiki’s website and the nice thing about it is it gives you a lot of helpful information about luggages and all kinds of bags, including designer handbags.

Going through this site of Shopwiki is a dream travel in itself. A lot of learning awaits us all, aside from finding the dream bag you and I are looking for.

Aspire One

Yes, I was aspiring to own one small notebook, and you'll see that in my "Dreams List", my very first post in this blog.

I was actually forced to get one because my new job entails a lot of travels that will need a laptop. My first one would be heavy for me to bring along wherever I go.

A smaller laptop was a dream maybe almost two years ago, but I believe I finally got it at the best time. It is lightweight, has a 2GB RAM, and a 160 GB hard disk capacity. I haven't imagined it to be that powerful! I even got a free external DVD drive!

I'm just a little worried about the price of this small laptop, because the price can be the lack of time for me to post entries in my blogs. Didn't you notice that? It's now almost the end of June, and this is my first and last post for this month! I just hope not, and that the situation now is only temporary.

Dream car for a deserving soul

The first time I attended a seminar in Tianshi Phils. with a doctor as a speaker, I was amazed with the big number of attendees, and I wondered why. During the seminar, the speaker announced when would be his next seminar, which was the following month. I hoped it could be earlier because I looked forward to learning more. It was from this speaker whom I first learned the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM, and how it differs from Western Medicine. He answers all questions with clarity, and whenever he sets a date for his seminar, he dedicates his whole day for it, so he could answer all questions or give advices even after the seminar. He always shares a soft copy of his lecture, he himself copying from the laptop to our USB drives. He encourages people to share whatever they learn and would jokingly say "if you don't share, you'll have cancer", and then would smile.

It seemed that joke was very effective, because as much as I could, I shared whatever I learned from his or the other speakers' lectures, some through my blogs.

Until it was announced that he is one of the two awardees of a series 3 BMW car, for the rank he attained in Tianshi Phils. and the whole Tiens Group. He said he wished it would be a series 7 instead. That was last year.

The awarding of the BMW was originally scheduled in February but was moved to May. Two months before that, I read in a Tiens magazine that BMW turned over more than a hundred of series 7 BMW cars to Tiens Group. I told myself, that model was the doctor's wish but maybe the next batch of awardees will get that model.

Until the awarding took place, just last night. The awarded car was a series 7 BMW, and it was a dream come true for a deserving soul. Maybe the funny quote of Dr. Hector dela Cruz can be revised a bit, so it should be "If you don't share, you'll have cancer, but if you share, you'll have your dream!".