When I See You Smile

Sometimes I wonder how I'd ever make it through
Through this world without having you, I just wouldn't have a clue
'Cos sometimes it seems like this world's closing in on me
And there's no way of breaking free, and then I see you reach for me

Sometimes I wanna give up, I wanna give in, I wanna quit the fight
And then I see you baby, and everything's alright, everything's alright

When I see you smile, I can face the world, oh oh, you know I can do anything
When I see you smile, I see a ray of light, oh oh
I see it shining right thru the rain
When I see you smile, baby when I see you smile at me

Baby there's nothing in this world that could ever do
What a touch of your hand can do, it's like nothing that I ever knew

And when the rain is falling, I don't feel it, 'cos you're here with me now
And one look at you baby, is all I'll ever need, it's all I'll ever need

When I see you smile, I can face the world, oh oh, you know I can do anything
When I see you smile, I see a ray of light, oh oh
I see it shining right thru the rain
When I see you smile, baby, baby when I see you smile at me

Sometimes I wanna give up, I wanna give in, I wanna quit the fight
Then one look at you baby, and everything's alright, everything's alright
So right

When I see you smile, I can face the world, oh oh, you know I can do anything
When I see you smile, I see a ray of light, oh oh
I see it shining right thru the rain, yeah
When I see you smile, I can face the world, oh oh, you know I can do anything
When I see you smile, oh yeah, baby when I see you smile, smile at me

~ Bad English

***

Happy 29th Monthsarry, Pi. I love you.

Photoblog - Tali Beach

Last November 29, I was fortunate enough to visit Tali Beach in Nasugbu, Batangas for the first time. Amazing place, perfect for some major R&R. But don't take my word for it, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

This be my teammates. You can tell we were very delighted to be on this trip.We arrived at Nasugbu at around 10 AM. My officemate's resthouse was located inside a private subdivision and was relatively near the beach. Had a hearty lunch of liempo and adobo (which, ironically, isn't really good for the heart) then played tourist afterwards. It was pictures galore from then on.

Nasugbu is such a beautiful place. I obviously couldn't stop taking pictures of the landscape. I have also, honestly, never seen seawater this clear before.One thing I noticed in Tali is that plenty of the people who come here have their own boats. Wish I had one of those.Absence makes the heart grow fonder. This didn't really apply to us since the absence of work made this trip a lot more enjoyable. I wish Pi could've joined us though.The youngest members of our team (L-R): Me, Len, Rostum, Paula, and Jesse.Spent most of the afternoon swimming. I also went snorkelling for the first time. Too bad I couldn't take pictures under the water. The things I saw would've have been really nice on photo.

Me: Happy and wet.Snorkelling buddies Rostum and Jesse.The highlight of the trip would probably be getting to watch the Sunset before finally going back to Manila. Sentimental bastard that I am, I enjoyed every second of it. Would've have been a lot more special if Pi was there with me.

Kodak moment. A grandfather takes his little granddaughter for a walk in the water.So there it is, our day trip to Tali Beach. I don't know when or if I'll ever get to visit Nasugbu again. I'm just happy I got the chance to tag along.

That's all for now. Check back again later. See you around.

I'm Still Here

My only regret in the two weeks that have passed is that I didn't get to update my blog. I did, however, manage to document the major highlights of those two weeks (special thanks to Gerwin for lending me his trusty "weapon"). Expect a whole bunch of photoblogs in the coming days.

Feels good to be blogging again. I missed this.

Clueless

ACTOR Fernando Poe Jr. seems to have quickly found out that politics can be bad for one's health. Just a few days after he declared that he would run for president in next year's elections, Poe got an invitation to lay bare his program of government before a gathering of top business executives. He accepted the invitation, but at the last minute he either got cold feet or developed a fever. He failed to show up at the forum for presidential aspirants organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Poe sent Senator Vicente Sotto III, who had worked hard to convince Poe to stand for election, as his stand-in. The businessmen were not interested in what the former comedian had to say. Not even Sotto's assurance that Poe himself had put the speech together could perk up their curiosity. By the time Sotto started to speak, half of the audience had left.

Everyone should have stayed and listened. Poe's five-page statement may be the longest spiel they will hear from the most laconic presidential wannabe the country has ever seen. And it speaks volumes of how little thought and preparation he will be bringing to the most difficult job this side of the world, if ever he gets elected.

Poe said he had one simple goal and plan: to help uplift the nation and run the government in consultation with all sectors of society. "I believe that a nation cannot be run by just one man but can be led by one," he said. But before that, he added, he had to know what he could do for the various sectors of Philippine society:

"I need you to tell me, the Filipino, whom I'm here to serve, what I can do for you. I need the business sector to tell me how we can improve and strengthen the business climate. I need the political sector to tell me how we can make the rules of governance work for the people. I need labor to tell me what needs they have. I need the Armed Forces and the police to tell me what our country needs to preserve peace and order in our ranks and in our streets. I need our foreign friends to tell me how we, as a Filipino nation, can be worthy allies of world peace and prosperity."

Earlier when he was asked what qualifications he would be bringing to the highest office, Poe replied that he was beholden to no one, that he was not corrupt and that he was sincere. Now we can add candor to his short list of recommendations. His very first speech was an honest admission that he was clueless about the many big problems facing the nation and had therefore no solutions to propose.

Poe can ask the first man he meets on the street what he needs and he will be presented with a very long list: a job, food on the table, a roof over his head, education for his children, security in his home and safety in the streets, health care, and so on and so forth. If he has not heard about them, businessmen have come up with many suggestions on how to improve the business climate, ranging from improved peace and order, more honest and effective governance to consistency in policy, less red tape, better infrastructure, and so on and so forth. If he wants to know what labor needs, he should go to any rally organized by labor groups.

Indeed, anyone who wants to know what needs fixing in this country doesn't have to go through any consultations. A week of reading the newspapers would give him a fairly good idea of the many, varied, urgent and almost insurmountable problems facing the nation and the Filipino people. To ask what people need is to invite being asked in turn: Where have you been?

Everyone, except Poe, would have an idea of what needs to be done. What anyone who aspires for the presidency must tell the people is how he is going to solve those problems or achieve those goals. Poe is asking the Filipino people to give him the chance to lead them. But he has not given even a hint as to where he plans to take them.

~ Inquirer Editorial, 3 December 2003