http://www.cfob.org/
http://www.altsean.org/
http://www.uscampaignforburma.org
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/

While most of us are in process of completely comprehending what's happening in Burma, I am sure most of you (like me) are asking what can I do to help? There are so much listed we can do from the sites above but for starters we can do this one immediately:

Support the Call for UN Security Council Action on Burma!

by signing an online petition

Alright, lets sing it: o/ Bahay-kubo kahit munti ang halaman doon ay sari-sari, singkamas at talong,  sigarilyas at mani, sitaw, bataw, patani,  kundol, patola, upo't kalabasa at saka mayroon pa labanos, mustasa, sibuyas, kamatis, bawang at luya, sa paligid-ligid ay puno ng linga. o/

What is a trip to Quezon without hand-made goods, broas, apas, pancit hab-hab & longganissa burps?

I also witnessed for the first time a Filipino game I used to read about in Pilipino books. Check out this boy's grip climbing the bamboo pole to retrieve a prize up top. Palacebo!. Palosebo!  

Lucban is situated by Mt. Banahaw, one can literally see the 8,380 feet above see level mountain from the town.The weather here is nice and cool and every once in a while you'll feel very light drizzle of rain. The old folks says this mountain has mystical powers. There are many stories of apparitions, heavenly voices, strange sounds, dwarves, fairies and even UFO’s! Cool.

People living in the foot of the mountain speaks of apparitions of Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary and even Dr. Jose P. Rizal and other national heroes. Hence, a grotto of healing and a park to honor Dr. Jose Rizal. The picture on the far right below is the church of St. Louis Of Toluse. The church that was destroyed and built 3x back in the Spanish days.

 The trip was topped off by the beautiful sunset over Laguna de bay.

The youth of this blood are not heard as much as we think unless they sing and dance for entertainment  or play piano by parents' demands. From the beginning, we were taught to respect our elders and in the name of obedience the youth are obliged to follow. This is one aspect of the Filipino family value I have kept for as long as I can until learning the lessons from experiences I've had with various "elders" both Filipinos and of other nationalities alike that people must earn that respect by example.

Growing up, I noticed how elders themselves create conflicts. They teach one positive value but they themselves break it. They promise, and its not because they cannot keep it - they simply don't keep it. They lie to protect, so they say, but they take actions out of fear and find themselves defeated in the end. Don't they realize that you cannot fight fear? You can only overcome it. They throw their dirt and trash (literally and metaphorically) and fail to realize it until  'flood' and 'landslide' comes. Don't they realize that the decisions they make now, the actions they take to earn power by money, glory by ego and the lack of proper action and care affects their own wrinkly future? including the future of their very own children. Don't they realize that doing the right thing for the wrong reasons has its way of backfiring? It's a never-ending cycle and only a few has the energy, courage and small voice who still has the drive to break it. 

Its such a relief to discover hints of hope. I stumbled across a non-profit website which serves as an online voter’s guide for the upcoming election on May 14. The site contains candidate profiles and platforms, political commentary, updated election-related news items, primers on national issues, and other relevant information, which aims to encourage healthier voting habits.

                          http://www.ivote.ph

I want to focus on nothing more than what this father wishes the world to remember:
 Virginia Tech grieving parent, Peter Read said,

I want to issue a direct personal plea, to all the major media. For the love of God and our children, stop broadcasting those images and those words. Choose to focus on life and the love and the light that our children brought into the world and not on the darkness and the madness and the death

 There is always another way to failure.
Bloodshed is not one of them.

'Mental health professionals complain their hands are tied in two ways when they try to help people like Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui -- a lack of funding for mental health services in general, and laws that makes it tough to treat people against their will'.

'If you support any moderate gun control policy you're an enemy of freedom. That just dumbs down what really needs to be a serious and thoughtful debate' --Ladd Everitt, director of communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, a gun-control advocacy group. You hear Bush talk about school violence but you will not hear him mention 'guns'.

Tough scenarios asking for a noisy debate.

mary karen read, waleed mohammed shaalan, partahi mamora halomoan lumbantoruan, erin peterson, liviu librescu, leslie sherman, reema joseph samaha, ryan christopher 'stack' clark, caitlin millar hammaren, ross abdallah alameddine, christopher james bishop, brian roy bluhm, austin michelle cloyd, jocelyne couture-nowak, daniel alejandro perez cueva, kevin granata, matthew gregory gwaltney, jeremy michael herbstritt, rachael elizabeth hill, emily jane hilscher, jarrett lee lane, matthew joseph la porte, henry j. lee, g.v. loganathan, lauren ashley mccain, daniel patrick o'neil, juan ramon ortiz, minal hiralal panchal, michael steven pohle jr., julia kathleen pryde, leslie geraldine sherman, maxine shelly turner, nicole regina white 

There will be no such thing as contentment without the constant feeling of or demand for respect. 

So why do we do it?  Because we were told whether be as a child or a growing adult to "believe in yourself." Who would've thought that such positive remark may result to excessive arrogance. This thin line between righteousness and self-righteousness causes the ultimate harm to others. It also drowns us with fear and anger. It forces us to spit quick judgements and form thoughtless preconceptions. It is the mask of our own fault.

Shame follows the pride chicken.

Baruch you rock. 

45 mins  beach walk, 4 hours hike up from jump off point, 1.5 hours descend down.

Nature trips has always been a humbling and self-challenging experience  ;)
More photos from hiking trips this year so far --> Check out Brian's photos.