Dream to Sleep

I was just browsing through all my personal files when I came across a very old poem that I have made. Entitled "Dream To Sleep," I can hardly remember what made me write this poem. Probably this was the time when my Spinsterhood days were the times when I was still being idealistic and looking for Mr. Right was highly romanticized by me.

DREAM TO SLEEP

And my vision blurs, head spiralling up
Into a great abode of fantasy
Where reality is but a dim light of a firefly...

I hear the sound of waves ashore
Whispering with serenity
The sun half-cut by the horizon
As I looked up at the salmon-blue sky.

And as I walk on the silvery sand
Clad with the finest jewels of old
My breath held out a gladly sigh
I saw my prince waiting for me.

With arms wide open for an embrace
I ran with impatience, with haste
And he, noticing my arrival
Stood up, and lifted me as my body touched his.

The joy of oneness surpassed all joys
As he gazed into my eyes
With a longing far intense than fiery coal
Burning my soul with passionate rapture.

As his lips touched my face
He warmly whispered words of love
He closed his eyes to kiss my lips
As gently as a feather's brush.

We walked together along the shore
Locked in an embrace we watched the sun set
For night will come, I am no longer alone
And there once again, love will reign.

VHS/05212002

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The "ME" Phenomenon

One afternoon while having a conference chat with my friends, we somehow got into a discussion on the Filipino "Me" phenomenon. This is a purely-text message (and, gasp, instant messaging!) phenom, which involves using the pronoun "me" in exchange of the grammatically correct "ako." I can understand that sometimes we speak Taglish. I can understand the deletion of letters or using numbers 2 and 8 in instead of a letter or letters or words to either shorten the agony of pressing in a lot of keys or to have longer messages. But to use "me" instead of "ako" is just plain eeeeeck!

"Kain na me." "Dito pa me sa mall." "Stay muna me at home." "Tawagan mo me here sa office." And so on...

Not to mention its equally twisted twin "U" thing.

"Kain na u." "Sundo na u at 8." "Work pa u."

What the???

I don't know if some person who was desperately trying to sound either cute or sossy invented it, but whoever did it, I think has some issues. I first encountered this kind of "me" thing a one or two years ago, and I was totally baffled by it. I thought she was trying to sound cute and all. But then more people started sending me messages that use the "me" thing. I first thought that it was a girl thing. But NO. Even some guy friends of mine did!

Forgive me if I am quite a snoot when it comes to grammar and all, but hey, these are the reasons why the results of surveys and studies show that the youth's grammatical skills, both in English and in Filipino, are deteriorating. Not that my grammar is perfect, but as much as possible I try to correct myself and refrain from speaking in Taglish.

Oh well, people have different tastes in expressing themselves. I just hope it will not come to a point where people will use the letter "h" too so it would be "mhe" instead of "me." Ugh.

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No Title, Just Read on...

I am now thousands of feet above the ground as I plane my way back to Manila, and I am in a somewhat mellow mood. I have been longing to go home for quite some time now, yet as I near my home country, I couldn't help but be sad because much as I don't want to admit it, I have become accustomed to the surroundings of Malaysia. Sure, I went to the doctor because my stomach could no longer take in Asian food available due to the spices, but I am beginning to miss my daily walk going to the office, the courteous personnel of Crown Princess Hotel, my after-office malling, "my" beloved room in the hotel, and of course, the people in the office.

It was a very special week for me last week, for a lot of firsts had happened. Last Thursday was my first presentation to the board of directors. It sure was scary, but I pulled it off quite well, thanks to the great support of our company's President. After my presentation, he told me that everyone in the board said that I did I great job.

After the board meeting was the annual staff party of Barber personnel in KL. I was in glam mode, with my sheer copper-brown dress, smoky eyes, and self-made hairdo. It was the first time I went to this staff party and I was really excited to be part of it. The program for entertainment was very well-prepared. They had a contest entitled "Barber Idol" and the winner was a guy who sang "Delilah." With his good voice and connection with the crowd, he really deserved to win!

A night before, I was invited to have dinner with the board of directors, and I was surprised that I was seated next to our whole group's CEO. I was a bit nervous, but he turned out to be a friendly person and wonderful to talk to. This actually helped me ease a bit during my presentation.

Three weeks of staying in KL was quite a bit lonely, because aside from the days when the Filipino Officers of our vessel were in KL too for their vessel software training, there was no Filipino there that I knew. But those three weeks gave me time for myself to be alone and to do whatever I want. Now I am sure that I will have to adapt again to my old atmosphere - office, house, and surroundings.

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