Bookmark: Samahang Walang Kapantay

So I decided to write a poem on the fly, let's see how this goes.

May isang samahan akong nakilala

Nagdala ng kasiyahang di inakala

Walang kapantay, walang kawangis

Ibang iba talaga, walang kasing bangis

  

Dahil sayo kay daming nakilalang tao

Mga taong magtatagal wari ko

Iba iba man ang aming mga pagkatao at ugali

Makasama sila'y kailanma'y di pagkakamali

 

Mga kaibigan, kapamilya, at kabarkada

Yung mga tipong isasama mo sa Sagada

May mga mas bata at mga mas matatanda

Still we make good music, parang banda

 

Tanda mo yung mga ate at kuya sa MK

Yes, yung mga walang kasing okay

Sila yung naggabay sa akin nung bago ako

May mga payo na ayos at merong ding mga loko

         
 

Tapos nandyan yung mga kabatch, mga kasabayan

Nung una tahimik, then eventually kasama na sa tagayan.

Ang dami kong natutunan sa kanila, di man halata

Sabay sabay kaming lumaki, parang magkakabata

 

And then dumating na yung mga mas bata sakin

Sa kulit and galing, they are certainly not lacking

I wanted to be an awesome mentor para sa kanila

Eh sa kanila pa ako matututo ng marami pala

  

 

Sino sino nga ba sila, maaring tanong nyo yan

Syempre kasama dyan yung mga ser, rekta na yan

Tas included syempre yung sa execomm ay nakasama

And of course yung gatas na batch,closeness ay damang dama

  

May panahon na ako'y lumayo, tila nawala

Ito ay kailangan, iyon ang aking inakala

Para lumaki at matuto, tama din naman

Pero sa dulo, mahalaga pa rin ang samahan

 

Kaya ito nagbabalik bago mahuli ang lahat

Sa pagbalik, panibagong ako'y buhat buhat

Pero di naman masyadong nagbago, nagimprove lang baga

Mas magiging mabuting kaibigan at mentor, sa bato iya'y itaga

  

At ngayo'y may mga panibagong kaibigan muli

They seem to be a great batch, to tell you trully

Nawa'y makilala pa lalo at maging kalapit

Tulad ng mga nauna nang kaibigang mga walang kapalit

  

 

 

Mahigit isa ng dekada na ito'y nasa aking buhay

Dala nila sa akin ay walang humpay na ayahay

Para sa inyong lahat, alay ang tulang ito

Tingnan nga natin kung paano ko kayo mababanggit dito

 

Ilang years na kitang kilala, ngayon magthithirty ka na

Sobrang daming kaibigan, family ng maituturing pa nga

Di kita makakalimutan, I absolutely have no reason why

Now and forever, aim high fly high, UP Tangway

Shutter! - Random

A random quote about random memories on a random page on the old (you thought it would be random, didn't you?) Tangway Logbook.

Still, despite all the randomness, this is very true.

Unfortunately, I do not know who wrote this. If you do, come up and speak!

Thinking Out Loud: Love is Not A Word Reserved Only For Sweet Romance

Bakit mo mahal?

"Love is not a word reserved only for sweet romance"

That comes from the song Slip Out by the fictional band Beck from the anime series Beck.

I just feel like that there is this ever increasing notion that love is something that is reserved for the romantic kind, that love is only between loving couples. The truth couldn't be further from the truth.

Last weekend, I went to Quezon City to attend an event my college organization was a part-organizer, part-participant. I am making a conscious effort to visit QC and my friends there more often as a part of my recharging process (as you know, I have started studying again last January), and so far the results have been stellar. I used to thought that it was merely due to a change in scenery, but the truth is much...warmer.

The reason I get to recharge my internal batteries (as I call them) is due to being around people I love, and that love me as well. Now don't get me wrong, I have people I like and love at the office, and being around your family in a daily basis is a great thing that fills me with love on an everyday basis! But having this different kind of love sip in me is highly therapeutic! So yeah, I guess it is a change of scenery. Confusing? 

Anyway, the point is, I love these people! And it actually feels great to say you love someone without it needing to be about romance. You just love them. That simple! To give and receive love this simple and free of complications is very gratifying and really satisfying. See, love does not need to come with pain and unconditional suffering and tears and grief all the time. Love is a wonderful thing, and this is one of the best ways to see it in that light.

So this post is for all those people that I love. If you are reading this and you feel like I am talking about you, then I am indeed talking about you! Pero dahil naniniwala tayo na 'Don't assume unless otherwise stated', I'll state some of you explicitly!

(Pero wag magtampo kung wala kayo dito. This is based on those that I was with last Sunday and I have very limited time right now. Plus if I include all of you, this would be one long post. Don't worry, I'd make a more comprehensive post at some other time in the future)

Milky my prodigy, Klai my little sister that bullies me often, James my gunpla bro, Myan my morning clubmate since 2010, Adre my partner-in-TangwayBondingNights, Alex the Great Radical Thinker, TheDinar, President Uzzi, The Roj-Mia-Ange triumvirate, Mar my brithday bro (kahit wala ka dun), The every beautiful Nisay and our talks about her awesome thesis, Jeff and his smiles, the duo of Lem and Dags, and even the new ones like Agano-we-make-great-speech-coaches, Rica-heres-a-Magnum-kasi-di-ka-sumama and Emma Rose-HugotPaMore-Alvarez. 

I probably missed some names (like most Oscar acceptance speeches) and I apologize in advance. But to all of those names above and more, I love you all.

From The Vault: Ano Nga Ba Ang Patinikan?

(ed. note: I have a thing for speeches and public speaking. So here, I am posting my opening remarks speech during the Patinikan 2012. Added some pictures to make it less text heavy. :D)


To our board of judges, to our guest speaker, to all my co-members in UP Tangway, to all the participants and their advisers, welcome to Patinikan 2012, and good morning.

"Bakit Patinikan?" That has been a question asked to me countless of times before. They ask, shouldn't it be, Panitikan? Taking a look at the archives of our organization, it shows that Patinikan started off mainly as an essay writing competition. Hence, Patinikan is indeed a play on the word Panitikan. Not to mention, Bataan is a province very familiar with fishes, making the name Patinikan appropriate. But then, I am asked yet another question, "Ano ang Patinikan?"

Patinikan is an inter-highschool set of competitions. But is that all there is to it?

I'd like to think that there is more to Patinikan. That it is more than just the usual academic competition. I look at Patinikan, and see it as a medium to carry out a message, and raise awareness on the different issues that are prevalent in our society today. Two years ago, we talked about the role of mass media in the government, last year it was about the drive of the Filipino students in learning, and this year is about the responsible use of technology. To put it shortly, Patinikan transcends being a competition and is now a medium for awareness, a medium for change.

Yes, this may all sound very idealistic. Yes, we are not that big of an organization, and yes, who knows if what I am saying right now makes any sense, at all. But this reminds me of a video that went viral on YouTube about two years ago. It is a video of Professor Winnie Monsod's last lecture for that semester, and in it, she mentioned a quote. The quote was, "I am only one, but I am one. I can not do everything, but I can do something." Patinikan is our something. And if we each do our something, if we each do our part, then that moves us closer to achieving our everything. It would take all of our collective effort to achieve that everything, and it would be hard. It would not be easy, it isn't easy at all, and frankly, we shouldn't expect it to become easy. But then again, that nothing in this world that's worth having comes easy.

Again, a good day, and may we have a very memorable Patinikan ahead. Thank you. :)