Domesticated Chic

One of the nicest things about having one's place apart from cooking is the freedom to experiment with designs and interiors. With my good college friend Connet's (who by the way lives with me twice a month in the attic) prodding who brings out the "housewife" qualities in me, I started adding some home improvements.

My attempts are still far from the shabby chic theme that inspires me at desiretoinspire and delightbydesire. By the way these two blogs are my favorite happy reads!

The shell accent thingie you see at the left belongs to the owner of the apartment I'm renting. It looked hideous the first time I saw it because the people who lived before me used the shells as huge ashtrays. I just made the shells look girlie nice by placing scented candles and christmas whatnot.

On the right is a CD rack I bought eons ago and on top is a little Maori wooden carving I bought as souvenir from New Zealand. I gave away most of my CDs and all that's left are my favorites: Sting, The Beatles, Philippine Madrigal Singers, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ennio Morricone and others. I couldn't really think of anything to convert the wooden CD rack into so I just put some trinkets on it.

The other thing that belongs to the owner of the apartment is the brown sofa which bothers my colleague Gino so much because he thinks it's ugly. I couldn't get rid of it so I just covered it with comforter and pillows with vintage-y covers.

Got the comforter from my mom and it looks vintage. The pillow cases I bought off of Greenhills for 50 each! My favorite is the one with the old ship design. So yes Gino, you may visit now without having to cringe at my sofa :p


I bought an old wooden chest off of an antique shop in Taguig at a very discounted price :) I just coated it with varnish, placed a glass on top and voila, it now sits on my living room as a low center table. I love working on these things! See buying a ready made center table is expensive and wouldn't allow me to get creative. Now all I need is a nice rug to complete the living room. I'm still on the lookout for cheap but good rugs.

From the same antique store I bought a tall floor lamp. What I like about it is that I can be creative and put my homemade shade which is just what I did as a little project. It's not perfect with some crooked edges here and there but I made it myself :) The lovely white drapes below were provided by the very stylish chic Connet. Thanks girl!

This is the Yamaha Clavinova I bought last year. I love playing the piano and it still is my number one relaxation activity after all the day's work. Jas, my college friend and neighbor (who by the way is getting married soon) shared me her pieces of Nocturne and Moonlight Sonata and many many more! Sweet :)

When I transferred to my place, my mom finally got an excuse to dump all my things from our home in Alabang including my bookshelf and all the books I collected over the years. So now I don't have much trace in my parents' home. Even the books she wanted to dispose of, she trucked all the way from Alabang to Makati. Now I'm donating most of the books.

Just on the dining area, a nice little basket I got from my grandparents as placeholders for the jars of cinnamon and Milo and stuff which I bought on sale at Gourdo's Glorietta.

Up in my room, a tabletop clock present from Dubai given to me by my best friend Michelle (who by the way is also getting married soon, my friends around me are getting married!). For some reason she's scared of the clock and calls it The Amityville clock but I love it anyway. A red lamp sits on top which looked like Moulin Rouge according to Gino I bought from Dimensione. I love lamps! Connet (who is essentially married already) is getting another vintage lamp for me from Los Banos. She's also getting me indoor plants. I love my domesticated girl friends!

The good thing about all this is that I didn't have to spend a fortune unlike my other domesticated friend. I'm very careful not to overspend because this isn't my own place anyway yet. Other than that, I like reusing stuff such as the antique things and my grandparents' wooden dining chairs except of course when it comes to appliances which I really had to spend for in terms of energy savings and safety.

So that's about it. Home Sweet Home :)

Show and Tell

I've been neglecting this blog for quite sometime now and I'm writing this just to put a nice closure to the last two posts about our field trip in NZ North Island's extinct and active hydrothermal systems. I know this is getting old already but just because I said there that I'll let my very few readers (more like 2 followers) know when I've uploaded the pictures from our trip. So the pictures are all out on my public albums at picasaweb. Even some of the videos are out on my facebook account.

Anyhow it's just about the right time to wrap up this whole North Island's Thermal Region discussion. Because twice this week, I presented some key learnings out of the trip. And because of that, I'm beginning to be quite accidentally very familiar to the Taupo Volcanic Zone. First to the earth science and reservoir engineering community on what we call community of practice technical meetings where I got a taste of ribbing from a senior attendee such as "How did you go to White Island? Of course you went by helicopter! You didn't go to Kawerau? Maybe you flew by Kawerau!". Because again the whole training might have looked like a Rotorua holiday more than a field trip! And then I was asked to present, more like share, to our get-together event in the Church (yes, I'm active in the Church now and I hope to elaborate next time) where I showed lots of pictures and gave some insights.

So to borrow our instructor's words during our champagne toast on our class' last night together: Show and tell. You know how it is, you've been to a really wonderful place and experienced all sorts of things--from the beautiful sights to the nice weather, from science to the native's old legends and myths, from food to the roads traveled, from culture to what it's like on an ordinary day (the shops close at 5-6pm!). And me, being lucky enough to be in the position to be there, I'm just doing my share of showing and telling.

Field Day1 Waihi	Field Day2 Karangahake
Field Day3 Whakarewarewa	Field Day3 Whakaari
Field Day4 Waiotapu	Field Day4 Orakeikorako
Field Day5 Waimangu	Field Night5 Maori
Field Day5 Wairakei to Ohaaki	Field Day6 Ohakuri to Tongariro
Field Day7 Silica Rapids

I want to go the Hawaiian Islands just to see spectacular surface lava flows.

Here's to a wonderful planet!

Wairakei-Craters-Ohaaki-Waimangu

Wairakei is the first geothermal power station in New Zealand. Power generation began in the late 50s and since then has maintained about 150MW electrical. Now, there's a renewable energy for you. It's the first development of its kind, a kind of working museum to the extent that no field in the world that will be developed like Wairakei. From a geophysical point of view, it's no secret that it's the largest man induced subsidence in the world of about half a meter per year but that's tapering off. The subsidence bowl is 15m deep.

Next up we went to Craters of the Moon. Increase in steam discharge and hydrothermal eruptions occurred as a consequence of Wairakei exploitation. These eruptions have shallow focal depths. Hydrothermal eruption occur when water seeps down and becomes in contact with rocks heated by magma. The last eruption at Craters of the Moon happened in 2002.

We had lunch at Broadlands-Ohaaki located at the eastern margin of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. The dominant feature that you see is not a nuclear power station but the cooling tower.

Next stop at Waimangu. The Waimangu-Rotomahana field excursion is my favorite next to the White Island encounter. Below is a photo of Echo Crater and Frying Pan Lake whose water is acidic. In April 1, 1917, Echo Crater erupted which resulted to the destruction of the accommodation house and loss of 2 lives. Right there we were standing close to where the popular picture was taken in March 1903 showing the eruption of the greatest known geyser, Waimangu geyser which has been active from 1900 to 1904. That photo which I have a copy of from the souveneir shop, we were (jokingly) told, had geochemists running towards the eruption, geophysicists observing very very close to the geyser and a geologist taking the picture.

Below is a class picture of us. Thanks to Kok's tripod.

This picture was probably taken at Hot Water Creek and Springs, if not Hot Springs of Mother Earth. I show this picture of hot spring cyanobacteria out of a fascination for the origin of life. Yup, this is it. These are our ancestors. Say hello. According to our printed guidebook, the minerals that are deposited along the margins of the stream contain antimony, arsenic, tungsten and molybdenum. These minerals along with the blue-green algae, form the orange, brown, green and yellow colours along the edge of the hot springs.

Now this blue jewel below is the Inferno Crater Lake. It's very tempting to swim but the overflow temperatures can reach up to 80 degree C and the water is highly acidic caused by oxidation of hydrogen sulfide. That's amorphous silica deposited on the sides of the lake. So, yup I've learned these things now. I'm not very clear though on how the big surface area plays a part on the lake's acidity. Maybe we can ask our local geochemist around.

Below is a collector's edition of The New Zealand Chronicle in June 1886 with the Tarawera Rift eruption as the headline. If you zoom in on the paper you will see a black and white picture of the pink and white terraces, a popular tourist destination, which was destroyed by the eruption. There are other interesting tidbits that I read on the paper such as printed ads of sulfur being the cure-for-all so it was big business back in the day and recipe for sheep brain, among other things.

So there. That's the fifth day of our field trip last week. I'm still not finished organizing the pictures and videos we have collected, owing to the fact that I'm certified OC when it comes to these things. So sorry for the delay. I know some of you are looking forward to the pictures. Will let you know when they're uploaded.

Whakaari

I missed updating this blog over the last couple of weeks primarily due to preparations I had to make for our field trip in New Zealand. My fellow earth scientists and I joined a field trip on North Island's thermal regions. We were mixed with groups from the mining industry and academia and that provided us opportunity to meet new people as well.

As of tonight, we have just finished our week long training and will be flying back home tomorrow. This field trip training has been both very educational and fun for me. Well, that's an understatement. The whole trip has been a truly enriching experience with all the sights I have been exposed to as well as the onsite and offsite lectures supplemented by our well-versed teacher/facilitator.

Now I would just like to jump to the best part of our trip which is at Whakaari or White Island Volcano. I'm still sorting out the pictures and videos we have collected which has reached a little over 10GB. Thanks to my colleagues Aimee and Kok for bringing their DSLR cameras. I brought my handy Casio point and shoot and used it mostly for recording videos. One of which you will see below.

We boarded a chopper at Whatakane airport. We had a little safety orientation prior to boarding and were told what to do in case of eruption :p Actually, the volcano has been preserved in its raw form, no barriers, no signages so just common sense and instructions from our field trip leader will get us back safely.

Here are pictures of White Island from our helicopter. The Volcano is about 50km offshore and is one of the most active in the world. Upclose below is the crater lake which according to our safety debriefing, has a negative pH.

Fumaroles, mud pools and sulfur deposits littered the island. This is one of the videos I took showing off powerful fumaroles of about 120-130 degrees C at the least and a spectacular mud pool.

Sulphur was mined on the island back in the 1900s but a mud flow destroyed the mine and killed some of the workers. According to our pilot, attempts were made to reestablish the mine after the 1920s but the island's highly acidic environment was and remains too harsh for the equipment and manmade structures.

Closer to the crater lake. It's dangerous to get a little closer than this to the lake due to acid altered unstable grounds and this little picture below just shows a part of the crater lake.

Below is a group picture of us.

Wandering on the island, I saw a solar panel, battery cables and what looked like a short pole for GPS receiver. I took a picture but am not showing here. The earthquake monitoring station I saw looked abandoned.

There's plenty in the literature about White Island Volcano. It's intensively studied and I guess one of the reasons is because it's very accessible. The ashes of geochemist Dr. Giggenbach's are on the island, we were told.

Now coming back up.

To the Faithful

It's over. We won. Years after 1986 I would realize that the words meant we won our freedom back and we won it through a woman named Cory Aquino.

I was only three years old when that happened. We were in my grandfather's house in Makati City. I remember there was a commotion of a different kind. My aunts and my mom were uncharacteristically jubilant. I remember sitting on my aunt's bed asking them what it was all about. They kept saying, "it's over, we won". I remember they had my sister and I changed into yellow shirts, had us wore yellow sun visors, gave us yellow stickers and yellow ribbons and they taught us a simple hand gesture that resembled "L". I asked who was the man drawn on our shirts. Somebody answered that the man was a hero and his name was Ninoy.

Iskolar Ng Bayan. Ngayon ay Lumalaban. In January 2001 before the culmination of People Power 2, I marched through Mendiola with classmates and other students from the university. With our chants and banners, there we were in the streets unfazed by smoke and heat. There it was a thousand fists raised in the air with one common goal that united us all. To add to that moment of sweeping nationalistic fervor, the song of EDSA played.

And then I knew. Somehow I heard the song in an entirely different perspective. Never had the words conveyed such meaning and depth and truth. And never had I been so humbled and proud at the same time. I, as a part of history unfolding, begin to feel an intense encompassing dignity, purpose and pride over being a Filipino.

I was an activist too when I was your age. Of course we know what happened after EDSA 2, the ouster of Estrada. We were let down by the president we installed into office as the GMA administration was wracked by scandal after scandal and beset by corruption, cronyism and extrajudicial killings. To the older ones, it would be a betrayal of the people's trust all over again--for those who were let down after the 1986 EDSA revolution by the same people that they put into government service. After all, the Aquino administration also had its share of flaws from the issue on US military bases to the agrarian reform and the Mendiola massacre.

It was Saturday morning when I received a phone call from my relatives in New York. They heard about my joining the rallies. They told me no matter how many vehicles I was able to stop and made to honk, nothing will ever change the Philippines. One of them said "I was an activist too when I was your age. But now that I'm here ... it was all pointless."

I begin to recall the 1986 People Power stories about the same relatives walking the stretch of EDSA from Ayala to Camp Aguinaldo and my mom preparing sandwiches to give to the soldiers during the EDSA revolution. Whatever happened to the heroes of EDSA 1986?

They remained faithful. What I saw at the outpouring of love and gratitude for Cory Aquino in her death is that Filipinos remained faithful. The spirit of unity, freedom, peace, justice, love for God and for country and all things that EDSA revolutions represent are still alive with us. We do not forget. We may be too tolerant at times and to a fault as we keep silent over offenses and do not clamor for justice the soonest instant but we are stirred when our threshold for oppression has been reached as the mantra goes "tama na sobra na palitan na". We maybe resigned at times at the reality of corruption and bureaucracy in our government and national institutions but when we are called to action, we remain faithful and rally behind a leader who fostered this virtue. I have not met Cory Aquino in person and I only content myself with personal stories from my uncle who had been a member of her PSG during the administration. But looking back at her life, if there's one thing that I saw in her very clearly, it is her unwavering faith in God and in the Filipino people.

Faith is a decision. I recall the sermon in one of the masses I attended a few weeks back. The priest said, that like everything, faith is a decision. We do not become Christians just because of the sentiment of awe over miracles or the sentiment of joy over the feeling of being blessed. Faith is a decision, moreso in our hour of adversity. If I could take this farther, in much the same way, faith in one's country is not driven by sentiment. We do not embrace being a Filipino only during the time of glory, during People Power revolutions in a brief and sudden burst of nationalistic fervor then later on dissolve into apathy or even be taken by cynicism as we are let down administration by administration. Faith calls us to vigilance and at times even fortitude. President Cory Aquino remained true and faithful in this regard as being the ever watchful advocate of freedom and democracy in the country.

Common dream. Continued struggle. In 2005, when Cory Aquino asked GMA to step down, I was elated. I was hopeful. I thought that GMA will finally resign. But that day did not come. Still, everyday we read about the shameless diversion of taxpayers money for political expedience. We hear about continuing media killings and violations of human rights. We feel the lack of political will. We see able Filipinos fleeing the country and not looking back. In the face of all this, I know I have something to go back to. I only have to remember the true heroes of EDSA revolution: Ninoy Aquino, Cory Aquino, Jose "Pepe" Diokno, Chino Roces and all the nameless Filipinos who fought valiantly against the dictator. And if there's one thing I learned, it is this.

It’s draining and hopeless at times to endlessly dream and struggle to achieve a just and free society that we begin to consider it a dying cause more and more by the day. Because we find that even if we unite for a common cause, despite all our good intentions combined, conflicts arise. It happens because I think, more than our different approaches to the same problem, a common dream doesn’t change our incompleteness and imperfection. Rather a common dream and a continued struggle transform us in increments to become better individuals and a more learned citizenry. More often than not, the solution is just a matter of direction, of patience, of vigilance, of a continued dream and struggle to achieve a common good. This strong belief in the power of the human spirit to choose the moral path is where my faith in the Filipino lies.

Bangkok Pictures of Us

I finally finished organizing and uploading pictures taken from our Bangkok trip. The trip was a six-day tour because as it is, there are a lot of places to go to in Bangkok and we didn't want to compress everything in a very tight schedule and miss out on the essential stuff, such as my meditation class and a surprisingly purposeful meeting with a teacher. We also wanted to get a feel of the way of life so we visited the provinces, the city, the local markets and the malls, and commuted by PUVs.

Below are some collages I put together.

Chatuchak Weekend Market
First day at Bangkok, we went to Chatuchak by bus and shopped for clothes and souvenirs. We scoured through rows and rows of various merchandise. It's impossible to exhaust the whole of Chatuchak in just one day. It goes without saying, Thea and I loved Chatuchak!

Street food at Khao San Road
We stayed at Rambuttri street near Khao San road. We loved the street food!


Floating Market
Second day, we went to Ratchaburi to see Damnoen Saduak and Wat Bang Kung (The Banyan Tree Temple).

We traveled by bus, boat, tuktuk and motorcycles. That's Thea and me at Ratchaburi telephone booth waiting for the last bus trip to take us back to Bangkok.


The Grand Palace and Wat Pho
Third day at Bangkok, we visited the Grand Palace, Wat Pho (The Temple of the Reclining Buddha) and other temples.

At the end of the day, we were so tired but I managed to get online at some internet cafe across our street from 10pm to about 2 am to process some data for work. Thea also went online and worked in the cafe. Can't really leave work for 6 days, can you?

Ayutthaya
Fourth day, we did a day tour around Ayutthaya.

Below is an attempt to do "high fashion at the ruins".

Here is a picture of me that Thea took when I climbed to get a better view.
This Ayutthaya excursion trip was beyond expectations and was mostly where I burned my skin. My officemates thought I went to the beaches of Thailand because I was so tanned. But that's alright, my dark complexion is all worth staying under the scorching heat of the sun only to admire the ruins of the once glorious city of Siam.

At night, we went to see the shopping centers of Bangkok, MBK, the like and had dinner in one of these malls. The food was so good and a string quartet played while we dined. Sweet!

Wat Arun
Fifth day, we went to Chinatown then back to Wat Arun and I attended a meditation session where I met a teacher.


Central World Plaza
Sixth and last day, we visited Wat Suthat (with the Giant Swing) then went to Central World Plaza to buy tamarinds and other candies to take home. We also watched a charming Thai film called Dear Galileo. It's about 2 Thai girls who dreamed to travel around Europe (that's almost us!) and their misadventures along the way. After the movie, we chilled outside Central World Plaza until it's time to catch our flight back to Manila.


Thea put together an itinerary for this trip and I prepared a wikitravel of some sort which I gladly forwarded to friends who are planning to roam around the city after their trainings. The whole trip was walk intensive under the changing weather of Bangkok--from a scorching sunny day to a drizzle in the afternoon and finally downpour in the evening--but during the trip, it was mostly sunny. So for people who will be visiting the city, make sure to bring bottled water with you everywhere (7 baht from the ubiquitous 7-11), sunblock, and vitamins.

For everything else,

Thailand from Angel's Camera

Thailand from Thea's Camera

Six Days in Thailand

There are so many things to say about how my trip to Thailand went, from the funny things to breathtaking scenes and insightful conversations; from food to commute to shopping to culture and heritage. To start, here are brief but memorable anecdotes along with some photos I took.

Perspective. If there's anything that this trip gave me, it is perspective. Perspective has been a recurring moment for my travel buddy, Thea and myself, that it has become a normal expression for us over the duration of the trip. For example, wherever we went--while in the Grand Palace or at the ruins of Ayutthaya or even in the middle of the streets of Ratchaburi and Bangkok--one of us would tell the other to pause for sometime and get some perspective. That is to gather our thoughts and reflect, admire silently, converse philosophically, or position ourselves on the map we are holding.


Rich. Thai heritage is rich. I can only gaze in awe and respect at how they have built and preserved their own impressive temples and palaces and how they have kept their culture and practices alive. Any legacy is priceless and theirs, being ancient and glorious and diverse but intact, is truly something to be proud of and worth passing onto.

Diverse. Structures dating as far back as the Ayutthaya period show that the people of Siam have since then mastered openness and diversity. Sri-Lankan spires, Persian and Chinese style buildings were craftily incorporated into the the ancient glorious city of Ayutthaya. The history of the old kingdom of Siam is replete with accounts of foreign settlements--Japanese, Portuguese, French, Chinese and many many others--flourishing with their trade, arts and crafts.

I think this culture of diversity among the Thais persists as there is an air of openness that I felt in Bangkok which I presume allows Siam--old and new--to remain a melting pot of cultures.

Thea and I met a lady named Veronica from Chile on our Ayutthaya excursion trip. She was traveling by herself. We met a lady from Korea and another from Finland on the same trip. I met an Italian while chilling outside Central World Plaza writing on my moleskine journal. He came up to chat and I offered him banana-coconut candies. He used to teach French in the city a few years back and has come back to visit the place, meet old friends and possibly teach again. Bangkok has a kind of welcoming, friendly atmosphere with a right mix of culture, trade and mystery that makes anyone who visits there want to stay a little bit longer, if not come back. I will definitely come back, if not for training, for another holiday.

Original. What's amazing is at the heart of cultural diversity, the core values of Thais remain intact. As in the temples and palaces, of both ancient and relatively modern origins, despite the Western and other Asian influences, much of the structure and design is distinctively rootedly Thai.

As in their practices of trade, there are big malls such as Central World Plaza and other big establishments but thriving with all sorts of retail goods and getting a good share of the market are the local ones, countless small Thai stores, old floating markets and street vendors at every corner of the cities and provinces. This trade practice gave me a glimpse of the way of life among the Thais catering to the poor and middle-class and eventually becoming tourist attractions. It sort of reminded me of our very own neighborhood sari-sari store which always seemed charming for me but hasn't really become a tourist attraction and has been steadily disappearing (at least in the streets of my hometown) due to the rise of establishments like 7-11, Mini-Stop and nearby supermarkets.


Accommodating. The word to describe friendly and smiling Thais. There is a reason why Thailand is referred to as the "land of smiles". When pedestrians and vendors and even bus conductors could not express themselves in english, they smile even as they try so hard and ask the nearest person beside them to translate for them. Twice, helpful Thais allowed us to ride with them on their motorcycles--one time from Damnoen Saduak to lead us to the bus terminal in the province of Ratchaburi, the other time to take us to a tuk-tuk on our way to Wat Bang Kung. Yes, we commuted by PUVs for most part of our stay (with the exception of our trip to Ayutthaya) which brings me to being...

Mobile. Mobility in Bangkok is not very hard to learn. Thea and I spent 6 full days going around Bangkok primarily by bus, boat, tuk-tuk, taxi, trains and yes, motorcycles.

Delicious. Thai food is delicious and inexpensive. Thea and I were addicted to banana crepe that we scour through Khao San Road and nearby streets in search for this. Pad Thai, Tom Yum soup, coconut juice and the streetfood we tried were all good. Thai food from street hawkers seemed to be safe as we didn't get any digestive problems considering we only dined at restaurants two or three times during our 6-day stay, and the rest off the streets.

Benevolent. The word to describe the monk we talked to at Wat Arun, Temple of the Dawn. Wat Arun was already closed the first time we went there late Monday afternoon. A kind monk with a benevolent smile informed us that we can come back the next day. He invited us to join their chanting in the temple that evening. We did. This is another area of sincerity and openness that we witnessed--how people regardless of their background and gender are welcomed to sacred temples during chanting or teaching of students. At one point, we were even gently ushered in and taught how to put tiny gold papers onto Buddha and use incense and offer roses.


Pensive. I noticed that there was something about Wat Arun the first time we visited the place. It was ancient, it was magnificent. It effortlessly and gently evoked reverence. If there's one thing, just one thing that I would take away from this whole 6-day excursion, it is my experience at Wat Arun.

The second time Thea and I visited the ancient temple, we made it in time and was allowed to climb through the steepest and tallest steps I've ever seen. Considering I'm afraid of heights, I'm happy to have made it to the top terrace and happier to have gone back down unscathed.

The whole of Wat Arun was impossible to drink in--the delicate and exquisite carvings, the colorful ceramics, the figures, spires, prangs, pavillions, the view of the river and the town from above--that I gave up taking pictures because my camera doesn't give justice to the actual splendor before me. The same thing happened at the Grand Palace and Ayutthaya. Thea and I gave up taking pictures. We just admired with our eyes and bought postcards instead.

Thea and I decided to split up on our second day at Wat Arun. She went off exploring the city by boats and buses and trains while I stayed in the temple to catch a meditation session. There I met a wonderful person, a teacher, a former CEO and former monk by the name of Hartanto. Our discussion was very insightful and is one of the few meaningful conversations that I will remember. In a very contemplative atmosphere with the wind and the bustle of vehicles outside, by a historical and magnificent structure that is Wat Arun, I asked him questions and he answered them one by one, never judging, just understanding and gently coaching.

We talked about events, about Thailand, the Western world, corporate life, what they teach in universities, psychology, science, inner peace, understanding oneself and nature, seeing things as they are, impermanence, wisdom and yes, life, even the meaning of life. I listened intently to a short anecdote he gave about his life as a monk. I admired his courage to drop everything at the height of his corporate career to become a monk, and later a humanitarian, cheerfully and wisely performing his calling. He taught me about meditation, the core of Buddhism, cause and effect, thoughts and perceptions, cleansing one's mind, mindfulness, and above all, consciousness. The discussion seemed to flow seamlessly and carried with it so much purpose.

At the end of the day, I was so fortunate to have met a truly wise and generous teacher but was very sad and reluctant to leave even if I had to leave soon or I will miss the last boat trip to get to the other side of the river. I tried to content myself to be thankful for the bigger perspective that day and for a new skill to practice--that is meditation. It is really something else, to have a purposeful discussion with a wise and accomplished teacher and to connect on a deeply personal level. Powerfully life defining, if anything.

Then I got to thinking that we're not running out of wise leaders and preachers and teachers, moreso in the country. I know some of them in our Churches and I support them. I have a friend who is well on her way to becoming a leader and humanitarian and I encourage her.

Back at home here in Manila, immediately after arriving and putting down all my bags, I made a quick search for the teacher's name. It turns out, other bloggers have written about their encounter with Hartanto too. Here's one that best describes my conversation with him and my beginning efforts at meditation. Here's another and again, another one.