beauty of your face

Just another day
Of longing
Yearning
To be with You

I see the sky
Dancing above
And Your grace fell
In loving abandon

I have heard
The lullaby
Of Your wind
Serenading the trees

My heart
must tell You
What words
Could not describe

This love,
Spilling, coming
From my
Waiting heart

Today
I wish I had wings
To fly to
Where You are

Today
I wish my eyes
Beholds the beauty
Of Your face

(cathy perez)

May 26, 2006

a thousand love songs

When will I hear

a thousand love songs

from you?
Will I hear it tomorrow

as we steal glances and
cross each other’s path
Will I hear it

from my own heartbeat that hopes
to find a connection with yours
Will I hear it

from the echo of your laughter as you
pass by without any other words to say
Will I hear it

from the depth of your stare,

from all the
other things that melt away around us
Will I hear it

only from my imagination, from the feelings
of could be and could not be
Will I hear it

way too late as the years pass by
with nothing but vagueness between us
Or…
Will I hear it

after a thousand love songs

were played over this lovestory that
aches to begin,
and longs to be sung
over and over again.

(by cathy perez)

september 16, 2006

a sort of looking back

Back in high school, I used to go to this place where my classmates and I would bring snacks and do nothing but talk, talk and talk. It was a grassland, with some trees surrounding it. There was a passage of water coming from a nearby construction cite, and we used to joke around, saying that one who does constant foolishness would be thrown to the nearby watery area.

And now, going back, the place has never been the same, it has turned into a shopping mall and hangout - Ayala Center Cebu. But nonetheless, I love Ayala for everytime I go there, I'm reminded of the time when I was young and my vision of the world was limited to grasslands and after-class hangout with friends.

The years passed by, things changed, and Ayala had gone through major changes. I reflected on it one afternoon and reckoned that it's a lot like life, or maybe an aspect in my life. And every once in a while, you look back at that aspect and think of the memories that seem to fly like the wind at its speed.

Though sometimes, you look back and decide to linger for a while. It's not that you are desperate at your current life, it's just that those memories increase its value at the passing of time...and holding it in your heart, even for just a while, refreshes the retrospective self.

a bit of Shanghai

"People there are cold," said a Chinese friend when I told her about my plan to visit Shanghai. My friend had been to Shanghai two times and could surely tell more about this metropolis than I do.

Some said that Shanghai is trying to be like Hongkong, while others said to me that Shanghainese could be rude, all wrapped with what they call the "Shanghai pride."

I don't know much, really. I enjoyed my travel to Shanghai. And yes, I did meet "rude" and "cold" people...but I also met some really fantastic individuals who gave a smile to my face, and even until now, when I think of them, I am so encourage to pray blessings for them. Here are some interesting experiences and observations I had of Shanghai and it's people.

1. Taxi drivers are less friendly compared to those in other cities of China. I am not sure if it's really in there culture, or maybe because they think that time is so precious to waste it to a foreigner like me whose Mandarin is terrible but some taxi drivers in Shanghai don't have the patience, and are not so friendly in dealing with someone like me.

2. Many women in Shanghai smoke. I have seen more than twenty in my less than 24 hours stay there.

3. Traffic could be so bad in narrow streets like those going to the Bund, Sichuan Lu and East Nanjing Lu.

4. Life is fast.

5. There are English menu in restaurants. Good grief!

6. If you are lucky, you would find very accomodating people in Shanghai. Example, the guy who drove me going to Captain's Hostel. When I found out that Captain's Hostel didn't have available room anymore, he helped me find another hotel (and a cheaper one at that!). I asked him if he can drive me to the airport later that night, he said no cos he is going home but recommended a friend who is available to drive me. My stay in Shanghai was awesome because of that man...and also because of two restaurant staffs who were so friendly in serving me food. I felt that these people are not just doing their work, but also putting their heart into it.

7. Fuzhou Lu is like foreigners' haven. I saw so many there.

8. This could be a weird observation...I heard so many middle schoolers with loud laughters. I should know why they laugh so loudly.

9. Though there are stylish touring boats in the Huangpu River, and the Bund is such a gorgeous waterfront, I still couldn't take my eyes off the Huangpu waters --- read: murky. No wonder it is called the "undulating muddy dragon from the mouth of the Yangtze river." It is indeed muddy.

10. I saw several really stylish men.

11. The nice people covered the rude and cold.

Just some observations.

50 ways to leave your worry

I've learned that one of the greatest thing you can bring with you as you fight against boredom when you travel - waiting for flight boarding or check-in, train or plain traveling, and all the other humdrum in between - is to bring a book with you.

In my latest travel (to Hangzhou and Shanghai), I was accompanied with a book entitled "You've Gotta Be Kidding!" by Mary Hollingsworth. It's a book filled with inspirational stories, quotes and quips. I laveettt! I'm one of those who truly believed that God created laughter and I wanna make full use of it.

I came across page 43 with the page title - 50 ways to leave your worry. I shared this to two students who painstakingly toured me around Hangzhou and now I wanna share it with you, dear readers, no matter how few you may be. I pray that 2009 may be worry free for all of us, that we may learn to accept more and more God's gift of laughter and live lives to the full because in the grand scheme, we are so much loved and cared for.

Here are some ways to leave your worry, may it bless you as it did to me. Cheers for 2009!

1.Give thanks for the sunrise.

2. Stretch.

3. Try yodeling while brushing your teeth.

4. Be friends with positive people.

5. Doodle.

6. Take a deep breath right now.

7. Ask how big your present crisis will seem one year from now. Ten years from now.

8. Skip stones on the water.

9. Make shadow animals on the wall.

10. Practice saying "no" in front of a mirror.

11. Don't know all the answers today.

12. When you can, walk in the rain.

13. When you can, have a water fight.

14. Thank God for a friend's newer car.

15. Duplicate your face on the photocopier, fax it to someone.

16. Praise others.

17. Listen to music with your eyes closed.

18. Build a paper airplane. Throw it.

19. Sing loudly in the car. Roll down the windows.

20. Say hello to strangers.

21. Give the thumbs-up to moving vans.

22. Listen more.

23. Sneeze louder.

24. Read good books more than once.

25. Give a spouse or child a backrub.

26. Get help with jobs you dislike.

27. When on airplanes remove your shoes. Be careful with this one.

28. Plant something each spring.

29. Talk to your kids.

30. Talk to your neighbors.

31. Talk to your plants.

32. Exercise.

33. Smile.

34. Rest this Sunday.

35. Learn a good, clean joke.

36. Be grace full.

37. Play football with a roll of toilet paper.

38. Find a child and read Winnie the Pooh together.

39. Avoid negative people.

40. Buy a flower, smell it before you give it away.

41. Sing in the shower. Use the soap for a microphone.

42. Read a poem.

43. Whistle hymns.

44. Tickle your kids.

45. Try something new.

46. Have an oldies night once a month.

47. Take a humor walk - don't come home until you've laughed about something.

48. Enjoy a good yawm.

49. Thank God for the sunset.

50. Get enough sleep.


P.S. - Pic above were me and my friend Mira during our Christmas party celebration in Tianjin, China.