The Brothers

For more than 10 years, I've been very close to these guys. That's me in the middle and my two cousins, who happen to be brothers, have been one of the closest friends I'd ever have. We date back year ago when they first came to our house and spoke in English. I understood English from cartoons on T.V. but when these two guys came the only phrase I knew how to say in front of them was "wait for me". It was a bit embarrassing, but it showed how determined I was to make friends even if I didn't know their language.

Ever since I started hanging out with the youngest, Carlton (left), I've been watching more American cartoons and started speaking in English. This guy taught me how to live life the way I wanted it. Going home from school, we started throwing away our H.W. from our bags and out of the window of the car going home. Our moms started to wonder why our envelopes were empty. We didn't tell them and they didn't know what we did. He was a bit of a bad influence to me, but I didn't try to blend in with him. Since he taught me how to live life the way I wanted it. I began to be more of myself than to follow everything he says.

The on the right is the older brother, Charlie. He was more of the leader type and that we both followed what he said because he was the eldest. He was the coolest guy I knew when I was young because he would always top us in everything, especially in video games where he would always win versus and build a better character in MMORPGs. This guy taught me how to become a leader and to become determined to what I do. Without this guy, then there would be no one else to try and top. To get above him was always my goal, and this is what made me today, someone who's determined to do things and never stop trying. Since he was the leader, we would always try to rebel against him. He was always being to be cool and we hated it sometimes. He taught me how to stand up for myself so that I could be a better person.

These guys, I admit, were rascals. But without them in my life then who would have taught me the things I've learned from them? I wouldn't have been the person I am today and the son my parents take pride in. I would have been weak and scrawny without a base to stand on like a twig fallen of from a branch, isolated. They're the reason why I stand up and live life happily, I thank them.

Friends Who Protected Are Stronger Than Walls That Crumbled

When I was a young boy, I always wanted all kinds of adventure. Action and Adventure like the war stories about my Great Grandfather my Great Aunt use to tell me about. For the rest of my childhood I was living a wonderful, peaceful and away from stress life inside the walls of our compound our Grandfather erected. I wasn't really much of a town boy in my early years living in this world. Though I didn't realize it before, I came to realize that I was a young prisoner when I was a young boy. That the world outside those walls had more than meets the eyes. That the world outside the walls had more stories than my imagination could create. Instead of the kitchen they had Markets and instead of cars that could fit only 1 family, they had jeeps that could fit more than the families living inside our compound, and instead of roommates they had neighbors who would help you instead of fighting for who gets what. Come to think of it, my childhood was boring. All I had inside the compound was the pond where I fished, the basketball court in which it's rarely used and the swimming pool that's been green more times than it had been blue.

But my Grandfather didn't want his grandchildren to have the same life as he did, so he made these walls. Walls that kept us outside from the childhood we could of had. It's sad just thinking about it, but it was the truth. This affected the way I lived as a child, but that didn't affect the way I communicate with people. I thought we were poor once back then because everyone else lived together happily whilst we lived inside the walls in paradise but with so much problems. They had friends to protect them, yet we had walls that would crumble and break. This made me the man I am today. A boy who appreciates the other people living outside our walls. Though they only had torn cloths and broken roof tops, but they had smiles that was worth more than anything we could afford. They were more contented than we could ever be, and that's why I know that they were better people than us.

"Pota Noh?!" — Boy

This picture — taken by my classmate Jonas Villalobos (Polomolok: Sunset) — was the best shot he got so far when they went hiking in the pineapple fields in Polomolok. I got a copy of it and I made it into a meme for our group. With the phrase "Pota Noh!?" which literally meant fuck yeah was a phrase our class kept saying over and over again. Until the picture was used in public and it became very famous. You might be wondering who this boy on the picture is. The boy on the picture is my friend and classmates since we were kinder in DPS (Dole Philippines School), and yes he was always this crazy.

Live It!

 It is not our fault if we are born poor in life, being disabled or having such a tragic start. Life as others know it is a race, the first one on the course is always the first. To them life is a systematic simulation where everyone are test subjects or lab rats just waiting to be first in place, but they are wrong. If you chose to live life as you want it then there wouldn't be any worries. I, for myself, an equalist. I belief that everyone in the world is equal and that it isn't your fault that you were born poor, being disabled or having such a tragic start. The world has given you life and there for you breathe the air in which we live in. So stand up and rise to complete the way you want to live. It's life it doesn't matter if you're last or first. What matters is how you live and how you chose to live it wisely. So stand up and live it!

Gensan Tuna Festival 2013 (Fire Dancers)

          

These are some of the dancers who danced with fire and performed in the Gensan Tuna Festival 2013 at the Oval Plaza. 

I almost burnt my face when my sister was taking pictures.

Tree Planting in Kalsangi

It was an early foggy Saturday in Kalsangi when I got there to participate in the tree planting for the 50th anniversary of Dole Philippines. I didn't expect that the weather there would be so cold and foggy all of a sudden—  then again it was Kalsangi. It was placed high above the mountainous area's of Polomolok. The grass was moist and the clouds were grey. It wasn't the weather you were going to expect when someone tells you, "Hey! Lets plant a tree". The weather you'd want would be sunny, where sky is blue with cottons of white fluffy clouds fly around and birds singing on branches so that they see you plant a new home for them. Never mind the weather, at least we healed the world even for just a bit. 

Chance

This photo was taken 4 months ago in a road trip to the beach, Isla Jardin Del Mar. I took this picture when I got to open the window of the car and tried to take the picture of the cornfields and just the corn nothing else. It just so happens that I took the sun with it too and I got this amazing shot by accident. Chance is a very important part in our life and it requires timing. We don't always get what we want, but when we get the unexpected it will turn out to be good in the end. So don't worry, chance will hit your life some point in time and all we have to do is just wait for it.