A Break-up Letter


I never expected I'd be writing you this letter. We've had six years of wonderful memories but I'm afraid it had come to the Read more

Welcome to the New Yoshke.com


New look. New attitude. New experiences. Honestly, I had been neglecting this blog the past few weeks because of my awfully hectic schedule. Work had Read more

Sometimes We Burn to Live


Whenever I meet people for the first time, it always happens. When they start their sentence with "I hope you don't mind me asking but," Read more

Judging By the Cover


Our office is just a stone's throw from where I live. In fact, all I have to do is cross EDSA and voila, hello Read more

Fireworks, Hormones, and this Blog Post


You remember last week when I told you I found it difficult to blog since I met you? Since we became a couple officially, Read more

Do They Read Blogs in Heaven?


Whenever I say that the earliest memory I have is the accident wherein I had my left arm somewhat toasted, I lie. My earliest Read more

Unusual Breakfast


Here we are again. In the usual corner. Usual table. Usual diner. Usual time. And most probably, usual meal. I'm getting tired of this Read more

Top 10 National Stereotypes


Heaven is where the cooks are French, the police are British, the mechanics are German, the lovers are Italian and everything is organized by Read more

EDSA


It could have been a horrible Saturday. I was in the passenger seat. It was a bit raining. Normally, EDSA gets on my nerves. That's why Read more

Why Nursery Rhymes Are So Violent


A few months ago, I was teaching my 4-year old nephew some nursery rhymes with a DVD. After a lot of singing, he slowly Read more

Top 10 Worst Things to Say During Sex


Sex is the art of love. It must be done in the most enjoyable and most satisfying manner. This act of love of two Read more

The Promil Kid Drops the Bomb


Of all the living things created by God, I love my nephew the most. I call him the Promil Kid. He’s the cutest thing. Read more

••••••

My Top 20 Travel Moments of 2011 (Part 1)

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Yoshke in Lists, Travel |

You might be thinking: Why the hell am I posting a year-ender countdown in mid-January? All I can tell you is that I had been too busy with work lately. But better late than never, aye? Too busy or too lazy. Take your pick.

2011 was my most travel-heavy year ever. Considering that I am a holiday/weekend traveler, I still can’t figure out how I managed to go places given the hectic work schedule and limited leave credits. In 2011, I somehow neglected this blog Yoshke.com so I could focus on my travel blog. Don’t ask me for a link to my travel blog; I’m not yet ready to reveal ‘coz I’m not yet proud of it. Haha. I still have a lot to learn about traveling and travel blogging. I co-own it with a partner, who handles the SEO and the more technical sides of the blog. I take care of the content and it’s social media presence.

Anyway, I’m counting down the 20 best travel experiences that I had last year. This is the first half.

20. Kayaking Around Islets in Marabut, Samar

I blamed kayaks for leaving me completely useless on my first night in Samar. Empot, a friend, had a brilliant idea of circling around the towering islets dotting San Pedro Bay.

Me kayaking (top). My friends Empot and Dane walking to Marabut Extreme (bottom left). The bus we took to Marabut (bottom right)

While it was a fun and rewarding activity, we kind of forgot the fact that none of us had tried kayaking before. We were able to paddle back to our resort, Marabut Extreme Adventure, after hours albeit utterly drained out of energy. Not to mention that I was reminded that I had muscles every time they throbbed and ached.

19. 360 View of Kuala Lumpur from KL Tower, Malaysia

The KL Tower and the view from the Observation Deck

It was my first time in Malaysia and we only had half a day to explore the city of Kuala Lumpur. Not enough time, if you ask me. We set foot on the Petronas Towers, the Thean Hou Temple, and the Merdeka Square. But it was our visit to the KL Tower that was unforgettable. The building’s observation deck offers a 360-degree view of the Malaysian capital from 276 meters above the ground.

18. Getting Lost in Books Kinokuniya, Orchard Road, Singapore

Getting lost is an exaggeration but I had never been in a bookstore as big as the Ngee Ann City branch of Books Kinokuniya in Orchard Road, Singapore. I said it before, I just love the smell of new books. I love running my fingers tips on the edges of the virgin pages.

The entrance to Books Kinokuniya, Ngee Ann City

It’s one of the biggest bookstores in Southeast Asia. I had been to Singapore thrice but I never had a chance to enter this paper paradise until August 2011. I was with two other blogger friends and we decided to go our own ways as we looked for books. We ended up spending half of the time struggling to find one another. Haha.

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Batangas: Rediscovering My Hometown

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Yoshke in Travel |

“You’re the weirdest Batangueno I have ever met!” declared my friend Andre after learning that I didn’t know how to swim. We were on the way home.

“Wow, jumping to conclusions,” I objected.

“Well, for starters, you don’t have the accent,” he explained. “Batangas is known for beaches and dive sites; you don’t even know how to swim. Batangas produces the best beef in the country; you dislike beef. Batangas is home to kapeng barako; you’re not a coffee fan. You haven’t even been to the Taal Volcano.”

Hmmm. As hard as it was to admit, he was right. (Except for the coffee part. I love Kapeng Barako.)

But that single declaration from a friend who always told me the most brutally honest words had a huge effect on me. It got me thinking about and reflecting on my being Batangueno. I always say that I am a proud Batangueno but  I started to wonder how much of Batangas I had explored, how much of the culture I truly appreciated, and how much of our heritage and history I was familiar with.

Asia's largest basilica — Basilica de San Martin de Tours in Taal, Batangas

Cape Santiago Lighthouse in Calatagan

I spent most of my life in Batangas, in the small town of Lemery. I had traveled to many islands in the country, from Ilocos to General Santos, and even abroad a couple of times. Admittedly, other than neighboring Balayan, Calaca, Lian, and Taal, I had not “experienced” other parts of my home province.  Such a shame.

After that conversation with Andre, I quietly planned a trip to Batangas. I wanted to see, really see, and experience other municipalities and cities, not just the usual passing-through journey. One weekend. A good start. And so it happened.

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I Prefer It Free, Sorry

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Yoshke in Gay, Rants, Sex, Travel |

The other week, my self-esteem was crushed by a small piece of paper.

I was fixing my bag outside a convenience store in Tagaytay City when somebody gave me a piece of paper with a short note on it. Without looking at the stranger and the paper, I pocketed the note and expected the guy to leave me alone. Unfortunately for me, he was there for business.

“Massage, sir? I can massage you, sir, while you’re here in Tagaytay,” the stranger said.

“No, thanks,” I declined. “I’m on my way back to Manila.” I was still busy trying to put all the pasalubongs into my backpack.

“I also do business in Manila, sir,” the stranger insisted.

“No, thanks. I’m busy.”

“Where in Manila do you live?”

I refused to say anything more.

“I’m Romeo. How about you?”

Silence is my middle name.

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The Vanishing Coins

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Yoshke in Family |

Mystery solved.

I intentionally left several P5 coins on the side table in my room, pretended to be asleep, and kept half an eye on them. For months now, I had always found myself looking for missing coins around the house. I entertained the idea that an unseen, paranormal force hiding inside our house’s walls was responsible for the coins that seemed to disappear from where I left them. I even considered seeing a doctor because I thought my usually reliable memory was failing me. But that all changed when I decided to set up a trap to catch the culprit.

After almost thirty minutes of waiting, my nephew, whom I fondly call the Promil Kid, entered the room and watched TV. It wasn’t long until he noticed the coins on the table and pocketed them as if they were his own.

I was shocked. For the longest time, what I liked most about my nephew was that he didn’t care about money. Unlike most of the kids in my extended family, he never did approach me and ask for money to buy something. Honestly, whenever I tried to give him cash, he would just look at me and not take it. He’d rather be given food.

That was then.

Apparently, he is now very conscious about the value of coins and what it can do for him. Right after taking the coins, he went out  and I followed him to his room.

“Hey, hey,” I said, “why’d you take those? Those are mine.”

“Not anymore, Tito,” he reasoned. “You left them on the desk.”

“That doesn’t make them yours.”

“Please?” He threw one of those I-beg-you-Tito look, which works all the damn time.

“Sure.”

My nephew then took out a giant piggy bank (more like a giant baby bottle bank) from under the bed. It was so heavy he had to roll it on the floor. He could not even lift it up or move it around if not by rolling. One by one he inserted the coins into it. Looking at his savings, he flashed a satisfied smile.

“Is it already P10,000, Tito?” My nephew was eager to know.

“I don’t know. You need to count them.”

“There’s too many coins. I can only count up to 100.”

I joined him on the floor, opened the piggy bank and began counting. It took me more than an hour to finish.

“Eight thousand pesos,” I excitedly told him. “Where’d you get all this money?”

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Twice I Heard Death

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Yoshke in Emo, Personal Life |

I was 10 when I heard it for the very first time. No one would look after me at home so my mother brought me along with her across the street to the a neighbor’s. She was one of my mother’s bestfriends. My mom offered a crying shoulder and a helping hand to the family. As my mother did some chores in our neighbor’s kitchen, I was left wandering around the house. In the living room of the house was a bed — a deathbed — and in it was my mother’s friend, trying to catch her last breaths. Two of her children, both in their 30s, sat by the bed as they moved their ears closer to her mouth. She was finding it difficult to utter even the slightest syllable. I remember thinking to myself how weird she sounded. I concluded that time that it was the sound that dying people make. It was the sound of death.

Outside, on the porch, was the youngest of her children, Ate Lovely. Of all the three siblings, I liked her the most. She was kind, friendly and spirited. It was a surprise to see her on her knees, begging in front of a man with a hat on. I had never seen him before. Like her siblings inside the house, Ate Lovely, too, was crying. And she let out a train of please’s while holding the hand of the cold man with a hat on, who could not even look at her even for a second.

“Please po, please,” she pleaded. “Pumasok po kayo sa loob kahit sandali lang.”

The man with a hat on gave no response other than a slight turning of his head away from the poor woman.

“Kausapin n’yo lang po,” Ate Lovely continued. “Parang awa nyo na po.”

My mom found me standing at the doorway and invited me to try the dish she cooked. Ate Lovely was still weeping. So were her siblings in the living area. They stayed like that for more than an hour.

As I passed through the living area on my way out to play, I saw the man with the hat on enter the house and sit beside my mother’s bestfriend. The man, too, moved his left ear closer to her lips, awaiting words. But the words did not come. She was too weak to even control her lips. All three siblings gathered around the bed.

The man removed the hat, held her hand, and said in almost a whisper, “OK na. Wag mo nang isipin yun. Wala na sa akin yun.”

And then it happened. The sound of death stopped. The sound of loss followed. She was gone.

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Lessons from Behind the Wheel

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Yoshke in Conversations, Personal Life, Travel |

I don’t own a car. To get from one point to another, I use public transportation. I get from Point A to Point B either by the MRT or a cab. When I’m in a cab, I take the passenger seat. And it has been a habit to engage the driver in a conversation for two reasons — so I won’t get sleepy and so the driver won’t, either. Many times, I find myself sharing an interesting, sometimes enlightening, conversations with the man behind the wheel. Here are some of those instances.

Photo by my boss, Sir Rolen

What is it with heights that many, myself included, get so obsessed with? I easily get attracted to anything tall. I mean, all my exes are taller than 5’10″. And I don’t think I’m alone. Seems like every five years or so, the tallest manmade structure record gets broken. But I don’t know much about such records in the Philippines.

“Yan ang pinakamataas na building sa buong Pilipinas,” the cab driver said as-a-matter-of-fact-ly when I told him where I was headed to. I was to meet my friend that afternoon.

“Yung PBCom Tower po?” The building had no significance to me whatsoever.

“Oo, yan ang pinakamatangkad na building sa Pilipinas.” he reiterated.

“Hindi halata.”

The driver chuckled. “Eh kasi, matatangkad din ang katabi.”

“Siguro nga po.”

I had never looked at the PBCom Tower the same way again since then. Every time I pass by it, I look up and try to see the top of it. To me, it was beautiful.

A few weeks later, I was about to meet the same friend at the same place. I took a cab again. When I climbed into the vehicle and told the driver where I was going, I thought I could give him a bit of trivia.

“Manong, yun pala pong PBCom Tower ang pinakamataas na building sa Pilipinas.”

With his brows met, he looked at me and grinned. “Hindi siguro.”

“Yun nga daw po. Sabi po sakin ng isang taxi driver dati. Tapos ni-research ko. Tama nga. Yun nga pinakamataas.”

“Sabihin natin na tama nga,” he said, “Eh ano ngayon?”

###

The news on the radio was about the possibility of a fare hike. The cab driver turned up the volume. After the news bit, he shook his head. To my surprise, he was against it. This happened almost four years ago.

“Di po ba kayo pabor na tumaas ang pamasahe?” I asked.

“Hindi naman lahat ng driver gusto tumaas ang pamasahe,” he stated.

“Di po ba tataas ang kita nyo pag tumaas din ang pamasahe?” Read more Viewed 2762 times by 1054 visitors this month

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The Paradox of the Freedom Islands

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Yoshke in Public Affairs, The World, Travel |

A month ago, if a foreign traveler asked me where the nearest mangrove forest lies, I’d probably tell him to take the bus to Quezon or fly to Palawan. If one asked me to take him to a place where he could go bird-watching aside from UP Diliman, I’d probably drive him out of the city to Pampanga. If he asked me to take him to a place where he could see dolphins, I’d tell him to head over to Batangas. I just didn’t know any place within Metro Manila where anyone could bond with nature.

Recently, however, I learned about two islands stretching in Manila Bay. Freedom Island and Long Island, collectively called Freedom Islands, lie off the coast of Paranaque and Las Pinas. And these are no ordinary islands. Also called the Las Pinas-Paranaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area, the Freedom Islands have a huge ecological role in the area. The Freedom Island is the last remaining mangrove forest and salt marsh frontier in Metro Manila.  These two islands also serve as a sanctuary for many marine lifeforms and a refuge for more than 80 species of birds, both local and migratory.

But the Freedom Islands are under threat.

The garbage the city produces seems to have found its way to the Freedom Islands. The tides are bringing trash, most of which are plastic, to the shores of the islands. Not to mention that the waters of the Manila Bay had been severely polluted for the longest time. Pollution is a big threat to the wildlife in the islands.

In September this year, several NGOs led a cleanup program to start rehabilitate the Islands. They cleared the beach and removed the trash that had been damaging the area. But it’s a cycle. It’s back to its littered state again that it calls for another Coastal Clean Up!

On this note, I am inviting you all to join this program. October 23 is Freedom Islands Clean Up Day! Let’s all work together to tidy up this sanctuary and protect the wildlife that depends on it. The mangrove forest is shrinking and if it continues, then the birds would go away, too.

Details on the photo below or on this Facebook Event page:

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Keeping Them Straight

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Yoshke in Conversations, Gay, Humor |

“What’s wrong with me?” cried Celine, a friend and colleague. Moments earlier, she mastered the art of using all the functional muscles on her face to signal that there was a hot, goodlooking male behind me. Drowning in excitement and a deadly sin, she watched the guy behind me like she was ready to mate.

“Yeah, he was behind me in the queue earlier. He’s tall. He smelled really nice.” I told her. “And he’s gay.”

“No, he’s not.” First stage of grief, denial.

“Don’t you sense it?” I added. “Look at their body language, Celine. The other guy is his boyfriend.”

“Really? That‘s his boyfriend?”

I nodded.

“Really?! THAT GUY??! With THAT face?” Second stage of grief, anger.

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Protected: You Can’t Shoot What You Don’t See

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Yoshke in Entertainment, Rants, TV |

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A Break-up Letter

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Yoshke in Health, Humor, Whatnots |

I never expected I’d be writing you this letter. We’ve had six years of wonderful memories but I’m afraid it had come to the point where you started to break my heart. I should’ve seen it coming since I’ve been finding it hard to breathe lately. It’s time to end the pain that I’m feeling and I just have to say goodbye.

I’ve known you since I was a kid but it was only before my college graduation that we had a real relationship. At first, it was difficult for me to get along with you considering the nasty things some people say about you. They said you would hurt me, and you did. They said, if I continued spending time with you, it would be so hard to let go. It was.

True, you are all the bad things they were saying. Still, I accepted you. I let you get to me deep within. You’re smokin’ hot. I loved the feeling of your body in my mouth. I loved it when my lips touched your butt. You taste like euphoria. You reek of obsession.

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