I couldn't have stumbled upon this video at a more opportune time. Recently, i've been commuting to and from work and most of the time i ride the bus. At one time there weren't many buses at the terminal and i ended up riding one that didn't have any available seats. A man, a total stranger, stood up and gave me his seat. There i was thinking, "Wow... may ganitong tao pa pala." I say this because its rare for people to be nice to a total stranger let alone take action when there need be. It takes less than a minute of your time to do a random act of kindness and be a blessing to someone - letting someone go ahead of you in line, giving up your seat, returning an item someone had dropped.... the possibilities are endless. Check out this video to know exactly what i'm talking about.

KINDNESS BOOMERANG by Life Vest Inside

Hopeful that the video did its job, here are the many ways you can be a blessing to others.

July has been a busy month for me. Can you tell? I had absolutely no post that entire month. It was as if i went on a hiatus and checked out completely. Believe me that was not the case. I was very much alive via Twitter, Foursquare and Instagram. There's not a day that pass by that i neglect to journal my daily adventures. Feeling exciting ang life. LOL.

Here's a recap of said daily adventures. Haha!

July was a lot of work and i mean that in the literal sense. Prep work for events, emails (lots and lots of emails), meetings (lots and lots of meetings), paper work... i think you get the idea. In short i have been a busy bee. I still am. But somehow by now, i have finally found my rhythm amidst the noise.

The first project i handled for an organization i'm working with was the launch of Michael Cacnio's piece, Man for Others, last July 20 at the Ignatian Festival. It was a whole day event but i was busiest the day before. A 3:00 meeting in Mandaluyong that started.. i don't know 6:00? Ended up adjusting the rest of my appointments. Including booth set up for this. Ended up staying at a nearby hotel just so i can make it the following day to man the booth. I stayed in The Oracle Hotel & Residences which was right in front of Ateneo De Manila University. I thank my lucky stars there was a promo that time! Otherwise i would've paid full price for just a few hours of sleep in a room that didn't even have windows! Well at least the basics were covered - the bed was comfortable and hot water was available in the shower. 

I am no art collector nor an art aficionado but one thing i know is that we have different tastes. Obviously we have our favorites. We tend to be bias knowing the piece was done by our favorite artist. Like i have mentioned before, i am no collector nor am i an art aficionado but i do trust my taste (Naks!). The first time i was given an opportunity to see Michael Cacnio's latest work was about two months ago. It was a controlled sample produced by the artist to give the people who commissioned the work an idea on how the end product would look like. At first sight, i understood right away why the artist designed it as is. Granted, i already knew what the theme was before the design was made available but still, seeing it made me think, "Yep! That's what you call Man for Others alright..." Believe me i'm not being bias. I didn't even know who Michael Cacnio was until this project came along. Like everyone else i turn to the one who had all the answers. Google. Haha! Then i understood why he has such a huge following. 

Well enough about my ignorance, let's talk more about the piece. It was a piece obviously depicting motion which i found very fitting since the theme is "Man for Others". How can one man be a man for others if not through one's actions? Makes sense right? Well to me it does. And what makes this piece more meaningful is that proceeds from the sale will benefit 3 charities - Tulong Dunong: Perpetuity Fund, P.A.G.S.I. Fund (Teacher's Fund) and the Jesuit Infirmary Rehabilitation.

The sale of the 88 sculptures commissioned by Ateneo Batch 88 Blunited, Inc. is still on going. For more information please log on to https://www.facebook.com/blunitedahs88 or contact them at 0915 956 9464 or blunited88@gmail.com.

Help out and own your very own Michael Cacnio piece.

Went to the beach last May 25, 2013 with a few friends from my previous work and my HS bestfriend. I had no vacation plans this summer but i wanted to squeeze in a little sand and sun just before the season ended. It took us about 3 hours to get to Aquaria Beach Resort in Calatagan, Batangas. I wasn't driving but it was just as tiring! Special mention to Mike for driving us to and from Batangas. Sa uulitin. :) 

The entry fee at Php 400.00 couldn't be more cheap considering it was a new resort and the facilities are nice. There are lockers available for a fee if you wish to store away your valuables (which  i find rare in Batangas resorts). The restaurant's menu needs a LOT of work though just as most in-house restaurants in Batangas resorts. At least this one had "more" choices compared to others. But if you don't want to limit yourself with choices from their restaurant, you can bring your own food and drinks without any corkage fee. For alcoholic drinks though there's a corkage of Php 200.00/liter. We sneaked in our drinks though so we didn't pay the fee. Ssssh!!! Haha! These terms of course are subject to change so it's best to call the resort and inquire about the fees. 

We went there at a bad time though i think. It was low tide and there were a lot of jellyfish. Not ideal for swimming. So that photo you're seeing at the right was our first and last attempt to get in the water. Haha! The pool was an obvious choice for that trip.

To get the ball rollin' we played a few drinking games that i have never played before which of course were so much fun we didn't even notice that we've already finished the 2 bottles of hard liquor we brought! It was so bitin! I guess the games sped up the consumption. Haha!I thought those 2 bottles were more than enough apparently i was wrong. Note to self, i'ts always best to buy more than enough when it comes to alcohol. Haha! 

The resort closes 6:00 pm (Yep! They don't have accommodations yet). The total hours we drove to get there and back was more than how much time we had at the resort but it was all good. What mattered was that we had fun and we were able to get away from Manila (as short as it was) and our busy schedules (Naks!). The verdict: As much as we all loved the time we had together there, it is just way too far. Basically we vowed never to return. Haha!

To cap off this post, here are more photos. :)

More and more people have been making ways to earn money via the internet. And Instagram's popularity paved the way to become a medium for online retailers. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of online shopping. I like seeing and feeling a product. However there are a few online retailers i find interesting enough to make me want to purchase. I've only bought just one bag from Farah (owner of Iamshopaholicmom). The design is great. I've gotten compliments whenever i use it. But i found the strap to be a bit thin. So i decided not to order anymore. Too bad too 'cause i love her designs. So when i heard she was having a Pop Up Bazaar i knew i couldn't pass up on this one. Luckily i had a few engagements within the area giving me THE PERFECT EXCUSE to shop. Haha!

Take a look at what i looted :)