philippines - love ko 'to!
to everyone that said the philippines is not a beautiful place, I BEG TO DIFFER. and if they need a foreigner's opinion on that, i suggest they go to this site and see the wonderful pics (and amusing comments) of my country first-hand.
God, this man is sooo lucky. how can you NOT delight in a scenery such as this?
other shots have human interest views, which makes observation on pinoy life all-together real than just mere photographs. of course, there are some that don't paint the pinoy lifestyle in the best light, but you gotta admire his honesty.
naturally though, reading his essays mostly brings an amused grin to my face, as only a pinoy would (and then have the difficulty of explaining) when confronted with a foreigner's bewilderment and fascination. that said, i'm torn between strangling this guy out of sheer jealousy (for experiencing pinoy sight and wonders, both beautiful and bizarre) or hugging him for embracing my land and culture so well.
likewise, gazing at the photos for so long only stir up feelings of homesickness, too, (sigh) but i'm just glad it leaves me with a deep appreciation for the beauty of home.
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years before, my friend tin and i promised never to be strangers in our own land, vowing to visit as many places (mostly beaches) we could go to as possible. so far, konti pa lang napuntahan namin, but that just makes us all the more eager to discover the rest, one at a time, for an exciting adventure -- from packing for the trip, solving money-pinching dilemmans, picture-taking and the actual journeying -- that will never get old.
of course, my being stationed here has temporarily derailed that, but m confident we can get back on track. we'll probably use this lapse of time to earn scuba licenses, scuba gear, underwater cameras (teka.. kakayanin ba natin to, tin? beaches and snorkeling na lang! haha!) basta, the dream lives on!
too bad corruption is leaving a sad impression/stigma on the philippines. sigh. kinda leaves a bad taste in the mouth talaga. makes me think that the only time that philippines reaches international attention are for bad stories, like this one. sigh.
m off to looking at tommy's site (hah! close daw ba?) again.
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NEW HARRY POTTER COVER REVEALED!
posted by ch-girl @ 7:45 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
CH:
the philippines itself is good...but not the people. well, there are exceptions...but...
if given a chance to leave this country, i would do so gladly...
it is just a pity that due to some of my decisions earlier in life, it is quite difficult for me to leave pinas and settle in another country where the streets are so clean you could lick them; where people have respect for others; where police officers know and understand respect; where politicians' top priority are their constituents; where safety is always observed; where corruption is nil; where people do what is right because it is the right thing to do, and not because others are looking above their shoulders; where a day's work is enough to feed a family; where everyone pays their taxes properly; where politicians don't cross red lights (same goes for other government officers and police/military officers); etc...
i could go on and on and i see these everyday, and i am already sick and tired living here.
i pay my taxes properly and i believe that i have the right to be treated as a human being here.
i only have one message: I WANT TO BE OUT OF HERE!
i understand, SS. there are SEVERAL occasions that i had and STILL diss pinas. times that just seeing all that scenarios you mentioned (and more) made living life in pinas more overwhelming as it already is. its a 'compounded' feeling similar to having the world on the shoulders.
however, despite those facts of reality, i've also come to a point where i managed to see something admirable. tenaciousness against all odds. over-competency mingled with hardwork. the average pinoy is truly a force to reckon with, if only those good qualities can be channeled effectively and properly.
we also have that other reality, a kinder history which showed a more progressive, happy philippines. and i think it was only a few decades ago (pre-Marcos).
call it optimism (or a twisted sense of humor). right now, i just feel on doing a little defending for pinas. it's not all that bad..
same as for other countries, which aren't all that good, either. being on the other side of the spectrum made me see that all that 'hype' and 'greener pasture' look is not entirely what it seems. there are underlying evils as well, such as racism (shudder). others are obnoxiousness and full-scale self-righteousness, which is more annoying when i see them in pinoys who are already here.
--
on hindsight, maybe we will never find that perfect place really.. unless we make one to be inside ourselves. circumstances made my leaving pinas inevitable, but pinas would always still be here with me.
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