Two weeks has passed since I wrote my last update. It’s summer vacation here and we happen to have a beautiful weather this year. So I decided to keep myself away from the pc and go out with the kids instead. We went swimming, biking and had a grill party several times. We built a small camp with one tent in our garden for the kids. A bonfire came to my mind (reminds me of my girl scout era), but it is unfortunately not allowed to do this in private grounds. Germans - as we all know has rules and regulations for everything. We can only have bonfire in designated areas with a written permit from the mayor. Anyway, we still had a perfect and joyfull nights even without it.

Today, we were planning to have a biking tour, but then I refused to do so dahil makulimlim at malamig ngayon. The temperature has dropped from 32 °C to 20 ° C and it’s sooo windy. Kaya mas gustuhin ko pang magmukmok sa bahay kapag ganito ang panahon.

Speaking of gloomy weather, I can’t avoid feeling depress when the sun don’t shine. Hindi lang ang temperature sa labas ang affected kundi pati na ang barometer nang mood ko. I thought, keeping myself busy will be the best remedy para hindi ako malulungkot. So I decided to sort out some old belongings of mine. While sorting, I found a small box…containing old photos of mine (when I was 3 yeras old), several letters from my family and friends, cards and an old music cassette from my mother (wala nang label dahil sa kalumaan). I played the cassette out of curiousity…and there comes an old but very familiar melody that my mother used to sing for us when we were small. A visayan songs “Matud Nila”, “Usahay”, “Uhaw Sa Gugma” and etc. The music brought me back all the sweet childhood memories…

I recall when I was a teenage, my mom and I used to fight when she bought those kind of music. I find it super baduy kasi or corny dahil masyadong melodramatic. Siyempre iba ang taste nang mga generation nang ating magulang, they love “Kundiman” while teenagers loves pop or rock.

Let me go back to the topic “Visayan Songs”. It may sound as a cultural bias because I’m someone of Visayan descent, my father is from Leyte and mom is from Davao, but I really do believe that Visayans write the finest of Filipino songs. Visayan songs convey emotion with a stronger power than the more popularized Tagalog music. So often Visayan music is turned in to Tagalog music and popularized in Tagalog while the Visayan origin of that song is forgotten. Non-Visayans are familiar with Visayan songs and dances such as Tinikling from Leyte, Matud Nila and Usahay. But the Visayan repertoire extends far beyond Matud Nila and Usahay. There are scores more songs, much in the same vain as Matud Nila, that the Visayas have produced. Much of these lesser known songs are far more original and expressive than the more popular Tagalog songs.

I’ve never been a Visayan music enthusiast. But years has goneby…the music that has driven me nuts before, is the same music that brought me to tears a while ago . Want to listen one Visayan Song? Click Here

Waaa ang daya :scared: ng neighbor kong si Rhada, she tagged me. This is very first time in my young blog life that I got tagged. It’s not a difficult thing to do…the hardest part is to find other five bloggers whom I can tag as well. Yey, my list is not long…and some of them are taken already :roll: I mean “tagged”. Well well, let me check if I can complete this task of tagging others. But before doing so let me answer the following questions first.

*What are the things you enjoy, even when no one around you wants to go out and play?

Hmm, it varies from time to time and it also depends to the weather and my mood.

1. I like to window shop during winter season or when it’s raining and I do not want to stay home. We live not far from the fashion city of Germany, Düsseldorf.

Oh my! Did you know that Düsseldorf is one of the most elegant shopping metropolises worldwide? With its exclusive Königsallee, a splendid boulevard featuring luxury shopping malls and flagship stores, and Schadowstraße, the shopping street achieving the highest turnover in Germany. And last but not least, the trendy boutiques of the Altstadt. This is shopping at its best! So girls, whenever you like to visit me…I can show you the place ;-). Yon nga lang…be sure to bring a sack full of Euros or a black American Express will also do.

2. Flea Market- I’m a flea market lover. When I read the local newspaper, I never skip checking the current flea market schedules in the neighbouring towns. It’s very exciting and money’s worth. Most specially when I find things like this.

3. I also enjoy walking. Lalong-lalo na sa countryside and when it is autumn. I love the changes…the red, orange, yellow color of the leaves always attract my attention. I can walk for hours aimlessly admiring the nature.

*What lowers your stress/blood pressure/anxiety level? Make a list, post it in your journal.

1. Horseback riding is the best way to lower my stress or anxieties. When I horseback ride, I see the world or my sorroundings from a different perspective. When the horse started galloping, it feels like as if I’m flying. Amidst in the prairie or in the woods, carefree and overwhelmed by the feeling of freedom and solitude. Oh ako ba ito? Hehehe…I think I’m carried away lang ng aking emosyon. But I meant what I wrote, you should also try it guys…maybe just to find out how it is. Malay natin baka magustuhan niyo rin, di ba?

here comes the last part…the hardest part :thinking: :idea: :crazy:
*Tag 5 friends and ask them to post it in theirs.

Sino kaya sa aking mga blogmates ang hindi pa na tagged? I have to bloghop for this part. Okay doks…here is the first victim of mine. I have chosen missP(aa) she’s been having trouble lately with her byutiful legs. I thought giving her a small task might divert her mind a bit from the pains. The next is the sweet dabawenya Karina. She’s a fresh grad academ who is working in Manila, a sweet lonely girl who needs a bit fun. Luckily Mommy Ting isn’t tagged yet, kasisilip ko lang sa site niya…so now she is my third biktima. Here comes our culinary expert World Cuiscene. My fourth victim is a person who is in Hongkong. An astig Wordpress user na si Knoizki. Like Karina, he is also alone and sometimes lonely dahil malayo sa pamilya. Wow ito nakalima din ako :cutie: the fifth is another culinary expert who lives in Boston, Ma. she’s no other than Mommy Stel who owns the Baby Rambutan blog. She’s a busy mama like me. I admire her cooking skills just like Mommy Ting.

Why am I fighting to live if I’m just living to fight? Why am I trying to see when there ain’t nothing in sight? Why am I trying to give when no one gives me a try? Why am I dying to live if I’m just living to die?

Please don’t get me wrong…but I am not under depression. I was cleaning up my old pc early this evening…deleting old files I no longer need and happen to find this quote in my backup dir (this was saved in my WP database file). I had once a “Quote Of The Day” plugin when I started blogging. This quote is so meaningful thus it made me think deeply after reading it for the first time.

I think all of us has already asked the question about the sense of life. It mostly occur when we feel down or when problems seems so endless. Naitanong ko na ito sa sarili ko nang ilang beses and I only came up with one answer. It’s simply, to live…to struggle…to survive. The above quote just reversed my answer into a question…even more.

Ano nga ba ang kahulugan o saysay nang buhay? Try to philosophize life and let me hear your answer.