I’ve never been this silent before. Except during the days where I feel so sleepy even a gallon of coffee couldn’t help keep my eyes open.

I don’t know. Maybe I just wanted to change and give being silent a try. Besides, baka kapag nag-ingay ako may matamaan na naman at mag-ala Ruffa. Haha!

Malay natin magustuhan kong maging tahimik. However, one thing is for sure…

…today is a boring day!

Photo by allisonkilla

I still can remember how I am always being scolded by my Dad because, all day, all I do is sit in front of the TV and play games. Lots and lots of games. Where I even miss to eat and do some of my chores. Where I always look forward to go home when I am in school because I wanted to reach level 99 and get my weapons upgraded to be able to give 9999 damage.

After watching the video below, I came to realize that it’s a good thing that I didn’t became addicted to video games. That you have a real life that needed your attention the most. That there’s much more than being a warrior, an orc, an elf or a mage.

How about you? Are you a video game addict?

Click here to view the embedded video.

To get the big picture to what I will be saying, let’s say the first path is AA. The second is BB. The thing is, you cannot get both. You really need to choose one. There will definitely be something that you need to sacrifice if you choose AA over BB and vice versa.

Mahirap mamili. Sobra. Hindi ko alam kung yung pipiliin ko eh beneficial sa akin o hindi. Sa ngayon ang tinatahak mo talaga ay si AA. AA is what you have set as your path in order for you to reach your goal. Then dumating ka sa punto na makikita mo si BB. Alin na ngayon ang dadaanan mo? Tuloy ka pa rin sa AA o sa BB ka na dadaan?

They say opportunity knocks only once. This is true. But think of it. Is it the only opportunity that will knock?

To help me decide which one will I take, I laid out the advantages and disadvantages in choosing AA over BB. It turned out BB has more disadvantages. But still I am not sure on this. What if in the end I regret not choosing BB? What if choosing AA left me with so many ‘what ifs’?

Someone I asked for an opinion told me that choosing BB can make me shine. That I can be recognized and be visible. And I still can do whatever I am doing in AA (if I am to choose BB). But the catch is, you’re not going to be full time on it because you’ll be expected to perform whatever entails your new role in BB is asking.

Another said, know what makes you happy. That I should follow what my heart desires. This is hard. Because I know whatever I choose makes me happy even in small amount. Yun lang may isa sa kanila talagang magiging masaya ka at na-eenjoy mo ang ginagawa mo.

After considering all inputs and a night of so much thinking, I stepped back and got my head cleared to realize that one thing is sure. I am still happy with what I have right now. That I am still contented with what I have thus I still don’t feel the need to go to the next stage. I don’t want to change whatever momentum I have now. And I see this change to be something that will hinder or slow me down to the goal I wanted to reach.

So…my answer would probably be…I decline.

Photo by RyanBSchultz

As I surf the super highway, I came across one of my post before. I don’t remember where I got it from or if I made it. If someone owns this let me know so that I can give you the credit.

Anyway, as I read the post, I remembered how was I in those days where I eagerly seek for someone to love and love me back as well. Where I can’t stop looking for someone that I will spend my entire life with. Where I spent so much time and money just to make myself look cool and make me a great catch. I was young. I was full of boiling hormones eager to catch up to the times where having a girl defines you as a real man because you chose to first finish your studies until college. I remembered the days of hurts, declines, and constant shattering of emotions. I remembered how I willingly agreed to be a rebound, how I was being played around, and how I willingly submit myself to be an idiot just because of that four-letter-word – LOVE.

Hindi ba nakakalungkot isipin, na mahal na mahal mo ang isang tao pero alam mo sa isip at puso mo na hindi ka naman niya mahal?

Pilit mong pinagtatangol sa isipan mo na mamahalin ka rin ng taong ‘yun. Pero hindi man lang dumarating ‘yung point na sasabihin niya sa harapan mo na mahal ka rin niya.

Naghintay ka ng matagal…buwan…taon….para mahalin ka rin niya. Nagsakripisyo ka para lang kahit papaano magkaroon siya ng idea na lahat ng ginagawa mo para sa kanya….para lang ibigin ka rin niya…

‘Pag tinatanong ka ng ibang tao, ang sarap sarap sabihin na, “oo, mahal ko siya at mahal rin niya ako”, pero sa loob loob mo, ang sakit isipin na niloloko mo lang ang sarili mo sa pagsasabi na mahal ka niya. 

Mahirap ipagtanggol ‘yung nadarama mo kung sa sarili mo alam mo na wala ka naman talagang pinagtatangol!

Kaya tuloy nagtatanong ka…niloloko ko lang ba ang sarili ko? O patuloy akong maghihintay…

….na ako naman ang mamahalin niya?

Photo by Andrew Jalili

I believe I had done what I didn’t do the first time I went in Dallas. Surely, the next time I get back here (if there will ever be a next time) it would be different again. Masaya din ang tumira sa US. Maganda pamumuhay, madami kang mabibili. Tamang tama lang sa kinikita mo. Ang mahirap lang ay ang kultura. Ibang iba sa kulturang pinoy.

We have this friend – kuya Ed – isang kano na may pusong pinoy. He’s very fond of our culture. We heard his story and was surprised that he believes that our culture is great.

He is impressed on how filipino family is setup not just because he himself have a filipino family but according to him he never felt that happiness having a family before. That’s an important aspect of filipino culture that I am proud of too.

Anyway, we’re now here at the DFW airport, waiting to board the plane. To kill time, we roam around the airport. We even got some starbucks to keep us awake while waiting for boarding. We’ll be traveling about 17 hours. Good luck to our butts!

Below are some of the photos we took.

Here’s a synopsis from IMDB.com:

A poor, oversized and under-educated teenager is recruited by a major college football program where he is groomed into an athletically and academically successful NFL prospect. Written by IMDb editor

“The Blind Side” depicts the story of Michael Oher, a homeless African-American youngster from a broken home, taken in by the Touhys, a well-to-do white family who help him fulfill his potential. At the same time, Oher’s presence in the Touhys’ lives leads them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own. Living in his new environment, the teen faces a completely different set of challenges to overcome. As a football player and student, Oher works hard and, with the help of his coaches and adopted family, becomes an All-American offensive left tackle. Written by Anonymous.

As expected, we took some photos and below are some of them:

Aside from the steaks, the place is noticeable too. With barrels of free fried peanuts, you won’t get hungry as you wait for you to get a table because of huge crowd getting to the place which generally means its popularity.

Here’s what they say in there website:

It all began when our founder, Kent Taylor had a vision of great steaks, killer ribs and ice-cold beer at a price that families across America could afford.

We currently have almost 310 locations in 44 states and plan to open many new locations throughout 2008.

“We wanted to provide a place that the whole family could enjoy,” says Taylor.“Texas Roadhouse is about a hearty, good meal with service that is friendly, energetic, and enthusiastic. Life should be fun – so the workplace needs to reflect that as well – and that is why we put our employees first.”

The Texas Roadhouse Story is simple. Legendary Food, Legendary Service®!!!

Hand-cut steaks, award winning ribs, fresh-baked bread and made from scratch side items are the standard at Texas Roadhouse. All of our food is created from scratch with only the highest quality-freshest ingredients. We combine large portions and great value to give you Legendary Food at a reasonable price.

But we’re not just about steaks. With great ribs, chicken dishes, fish, salads and lots more, we can satisfy almost any appetite. We guess that’s why you all voted us #1 in both Menu Variety and Value in the 2004 Restaurant & Institution Magazine’s Choice in Chains Guest Survey.

Legendary Service for every guest and Legendary Fun with our employees, are also main ingredients in our recipe for success. At Texas Roadhouse, our team has an incredible sense of pride in everything we do. We want our guests to have such a good time they’ll want to come back again tomorrow.

As usual, we took some photos of the place as well as with some cute servers.

What the hell just happened?! Focus! Focus! Focus!

Anyways, yeah, after church we decided to go climb up those peaks again – Twin Peaks. Naahh! Just kidding. We had our lunch there. We figured Hazel hadn’t had the chance to get into Twin Peaks last time because she’s so busy “resting” at the hotel due to “unforeseen stiffness” she experienced a few days back.

Well, I ordered some chicken breasts. The others ordered chicken fried steak. We had a good meal. While waiting for the hotel shuttle, Hazel did some hula-hoops while Anjay was busy taking her pictures. Grex and I were busy with our mobile devices.

Of course, we took some more pictures.

We had a great service and reminisce if everything we did was on God’s teachings and laws. Today’s lesson was great. Some stroke through. Some kept.

After the worship service, we head out and took some photos. And, said goodbye to some of the church members. It was a great day really.

When I get back here again, I hope I can bring my duty to sing in the choir. I miss singing hymns already. Back in Baguio, I am in the English Choir so I kinda memorized almost all the hymns. Well, babalik naman na kami kaya ayos lang.

Here are more of the photos: