4 shapes of an Ace

Many of us consider the Ace as a lucky... umm... thing. Many consider it as the luckiest card in the whole 52-card deck. But the luckiest Ace for me is my family. They are the luckiest card in my life. There are 4 shapes of an Ace in the deck. I describe my family as the shapes of an Ace card.


The Ace of diamond resembles my father. Diamonds are girls' best friend, so does a king. My father is the king of the family. He is the one who makes the rules, keeping the family in shape, and keeping the family in order. He is a hardworking father. He wants the best for the family. Even though he works every day of the week, he can still find the time to spend the rest of his day with us. He is the breadwinner. He provides us "bread" and is a winning dad to us. He inspires me to be a great man one day and to be a great father to my own children in the future.


My mother resembles the Ace of heart. Heart is famously known for love. She is the greatest mother that I have ever known, not only as a mother but also a teacher and friend. She loves us no matter who we are. In fact, she loves us so much that she also helps my father just to give us our needs. She is the one who gives us our allowance and budgets the family money. She spends money so wisely. She never give anything that she thinks isn't necessary for us. But if we can afford it, she would give it. She wants us to be happy and to think that the world is a fun place to live in.


Ace of clover is my sister. Clover, to me, is a young leaf that looks like it just sprouted from the ground. My sister is still growing up. She has a lot more to learn about the world she lives. She is still hooked in to toys, even though she is already a Grade 5 student. She also likes to dress up. My room looks trashed because of her scattered dresses. She also cries so loud. Every time I tease her, her cry sounds like a shriek. But, even though we always fight, tease, and bug each other, she will always be my pretty, little sister and I like her just the way she is.


The Ace of spades. It's me. I don't know what a spade resembles but I do know what my role is in my family. I am the one that would take care everything in our home whenever my parents are gone. I must take care of my little sister. I will substitute my parents in teaching my sister things she needs to learn. I know that I can't do all these stuff; that's why I will still need the help of my parents. I may not be a perfect brother and son, but I will try to be the best that I can be.


We all have families. They keep us up when we are down. They help us during our bad times. They give us all the things we need to survive. We are not going to live with them when we are grown up. That's why we need to spend our best times with them as much as possible; because in those times we can remember how great our families are and how they shape us to be great persons we can be.

The Principles Of Wasting Time

Wasting time is my favorite pastime. It is what I do when I am bored. Many people hate boredom. They hate to do nothing. That is why we have hobbies. Hobbies are something we do to have fun, entertain ourselves, or just simply killing boredom. It is where we express our likings on things and actions where we actually get a sense of happiness while we are doing them.


I love sleeping. A lot. It is my greatest hobby that I can share to you. I love to relax and roll around my bed. My bed usually gets cold because the two windows are near my bed, so fresh air is always going inside my room, and onto my bed. I spend nearly half of my weekends sleeping, sometimes even more. Whenever I get the opportunity to sleep, I will definitely seize it. That is why sometimes I like boredom. It is the one that lulls me into sleep. I don't know why I like to sleep, but, it surely helps me to be energized everyday. However, due to the long time that I spend sleeping, whenever I wake up, I feel sleepy again. Or is it just that I am a very sleepy person? I'll never know.


You'll never see me walking around the mall or someplace I go without my MP3 player. I am a big fan of music, although I don't use it at home. I am a follower of metal music. Most people say they are just noise, but they are not. They just focus more on their instruments and play them in a thrash way. They are music too. I mostly listen on bands like Slayer, Lamb Of God, and Metallica. They inspired me to listen to a new level of music. I thank them for bringing metal to myself and the society. I just hope many would realize the beauty of metal music many would listen to them. I hope.


Puzzles. Puzzling, aren't they? They are my brain gym. If we have a gym for the body, we also have a gym for the mind. They maintain proper functions of our mind. I am that person who loves to think. I sometimes create my own problems and solve them myself just for the sake of thinking. My favorite puzzle is a 3-dimensional cube puzzle which is solved by rotating its 6 sides, or popularly known as the Rubik's Cube. It is the ultimate puzzle and "time waster". It is also the best-selling toy in history. I can solve the Rubik's Cube at a fair time, but I will keep the exact average confidential. Besides the "Cube", I also love Sudoku. I have joined Sudoku contests around the school. They are my best mind workout. Puzzles aren't only one that I use to train my mind. I also read detective riddles. I like to use clues and solve the case myself, like a real detective. But I think they are puzzles too, in a more literative way.


The greatest hobby ever created is playing. No person in the whole face of the Earth has never played at least once in his/her life. All people do it. Kids, adults, senior citizens, and even priests play. I don't know how priests play, but I assure you they do. Playing is everything we do to have fun and be satisfied. Computers, sports, puzzles, drawing, and doodling are all sources and reasons we play. I even consider sleeping as a type of my playing habits. My mind always play, nonstop. It always plays whenever and wherever. I am proud of my 3-pound meat in my head because it is capable of extreme "multi-thinking". Yep, "multi-thinking". My mind always thinks something while it is thinking. I don't know why and I don't know how.


Those are some of my principles of wasting time. There are still more. A lot more. I can't enumerate or tell them all in here. I can't concentrate on them because my mind is "multi-thinking" again.

8 years as an Augustinian

Colegio San Agustin -Binan has been my home and source of education for 8 years. I know almost all corners of the institution, except for the teachers' section in the library. But I did not start my education there. I studied at Amazing Grace School for 2 years, namely, Nursery and Kinder.


I first stepped on the campus floor when I took my entrance test for Preparatory last 2001. I was going to enroll to Casa Del Nino when my mother decided to enroll me here because she thought that it was better for me to study here. When I got the result, I got a fair score. Fair enough for me to be recommended as a Grade 1 student. But my mom chose to let me study first on Preparatory. My first day as an Augustinian was on July 5, 2001. The classes on Pre-school Department were suspended because the building where we are going to stay are still under construction. I was an official transferee and a certified Augustinian. My first year was not bad. I was a studious kid back then. On my first graduation, I ranked 7th Academic Excellence. I consider that as an outstanding achievement for me since I was a new student. I soon thought that I can still manage this kind of excellent performance. But I was wrong.


Elementary is obviously different from Pre-school. It has a distinctive ambiance that told me that I can't continue. But I never gave importance to that. I gave importance to my education , not to what level I am stepping on. I kept telling myself that I can survive this, although I would need time to adjust to the new ground, new environment, and the new atmosphere. I was now an elementary student. I started off as a Grade 1 student. Many old students were there. My first Augustinian friends, some familiar and unfamiliar faces, and new students. During the first few weeks, I was a mess. I can't understand anything. But, as time goes on, I gradually get the hang of it. I understood the lessons. I can do so many different things that I wasn't able to do when I was still a pre-school student. 5 years later, I was, again, a graduating student. It was, again, a new world. So many lessons, so many projects, so many problems. But I got over them. I ended up graduating as the 9th Honorable Mention. That award gave me the though that I overcame all the struggles and obstacles during that 6-year-long elementary life.


After graduation and a bi-month long summer, I found myself entering the golden gates of the High School Department. Most people say these are the best four years of our school life. But, I never looked it that way when I was a freshman. I didn't adjust that quick to the new level and new hardship of my education than on elementary. I was becoming a bit rusty during may freshman year. But, my friends gave me company, namely: Jeps, Nico, Josh, and Eduardo. They were my source of pride and joy. We always have laugh trips and, at the same time, we helped each other when one of us is down. They were the best part of my freshman year. But, tragically, I wasn't incuded at the recognition awardees that year. It was my first ever to spend an early summer. I was a bit disappointed to myself. But later on, I realized that I still have 3 more years to improve, 3 more obstacles to overcome, and 3 more given chances. After another bi-month long summer, I am now a sophomore. I find my sophomore year better than my freshman year, since I have already adjusted with the department and from my disappointing freshman year. My brothers and sisters today are awesome. Even if we are together for just 2 months, I feel like we have been together for quite some time. Many different faces but more familiar faces. I don't mind if there are different students. We are here to learn together, share together, and have fun together. I hope that this bond of my section and "siblings" will be stronger as time goes on.


My life in Colegio San Agustin has been great. I now feel what it is like to be a great part of the Augustinian family. But, I know that there are many more obstacles to overcome, more miseries and laughs, more faces to meet, more teachers to greet, more lessons to learn, and more experiences to remember. My journey in this institution is far from over. I hope that maybe my last 3 years in Colegio San Agustin would be as great as the experiences I got from this school, so that, whenever I feel dreadful during my college years, I can remember my great life that I have got from my great Alma Mater.

Bob's 3 books

I am the guy whom you'll see reading books in the bookstore but ain't buying. I love books. They were my source of joy before I discovered the infamous World Wide Web. For me, books are just like people. They have their own stories to tell. They are judged by their cover. They are not fully understood once not read. Every book is unique; so are people.

One day, my cousin gave me 2 books made by a man hiding in the pen name of Roberto Ong, aka "Bob Ong". Many people say that Bob Ong is just his pseudonym. Well, no one is sure except the publishers of his book, maybe. He has made 7 books. 3 story books and 4 essay-like books. He is that kind of guy who knows what is happening to his country and to himself. He is so good that he made them into books. He even made his own website, but he shut it down because he couldn't manage it anymore. I like him because of the way he writes his books. His books tells about everything that is happening to our country and its people. He is making us realize it by writing mostly the negative traits of our way so we can learn from it.

So here are my 3 favorite books:

First, Ang Paboritong Libro Ni Hudas. This book tells us the superstitious and unusual ways the Filipinos live. He even included a dead person (which symbolizes us) and God. The man doesn't believe in God at first because he doesn't believe in gods after all. Then on that long conversation, God finally explained to that man everything he should know about Him and himself. After the man understood, God gave him a second chance to live. This conversation tells us that God ALWAYS gives second chances and He knows more about everything than about everything that we know. Aside from that, this book has unusual articles that describes the traits ofthe Filipinos which cannot be classified as "good" or "bad".

Second, Kapitan Sino. This book tells a story about a repairman named Rogelio Manglicmot. He is a 25-year-old man who almost spent his working life inside his shop, which is filled with the things that he should repair. One day, his friend Bok-Bok gave him the idea that he has "special powers" when he saw the lightbulb hanging above Rogelio's head lit, when the electric power were off. He first sprung into action as a "ninja" because he covered his face with his t-shirt. Then, Bok-Bok and Tessa, his blind friend, made clothes for him. He is now ready to fight evil and save his barrio. Later on the story, a dreadful disease spread, where blood would come out of people's body. The doctor's found out that only Rogelio's blood can cure the disease. They extracted so much blood from him that he had lost all his power, as a human and hero, which led to his death. His friend Bok-Bok would later on continue Rogelio's deed as long as he can do it.

Last, and my most favorite, Bakit Baligtad Magbasa Ng Libro Ang Mga Pilipino? This book tells about EVERYTHING we Filipinos do. The way we live, our government, and our cultures and traditions. He emphasized there the positive and negative traits of Filipinos. He also stated there about his own understanding of a Filipino. He also told there about how the Filipinos live from sunrise to sunset. He wrote there about funny things about Filipinos. He stated that it was funny because Filipinos have good thoughts but they are having a hard time expressing them, which lead into funny results. From the middle until the end of the book, he wrote articles from his site, which is known as bobongpinoy.com. From that part of the book, it was kind of interesting. It was there where he stated about his feelings and perspectives about him being a Filipino. That part had a very srong impact me because most of them are EXACTLY what a Filipino truly is, although we don't realize.

Mr. Roberto Ong, for me, has the most inspiring books. His books can give much emphasis on how we act, how we think, and how we live. He taught me through his books about how I look and think about myself as a Filipino, as a hero, and as a person.

The Miracle Of My Life

The miracle of life. Amazing, isn't it? I know. Well, let me share you my story.

On the 1st day of September 1995, 2:00 in the afternoon, one baby boy finally felt the warm and bright light of the operating room, which is the first light he has seen. He still doesn't know what are the things, noise, smiles, and joy around him. He still doesn't know why was he born and what was his purpose for his family, life, and community. The next light he saw was the face of his mother, who overcame her 9 months of pain and labor. His parents gave them their first love as a mother and as a father to their first broodling while they are gifted by his sweet cry.


After 4 years of life, he still doesn't know much about anything, but he did learn how to read, write and understand. At least. Then, he learned about school. He thought of school as a place for kids, teachers, pencils, and papers; where they are taught about pretty much anything. Well, that child didn't worry much about that. He was so curious that he wanted to understand why he was studying, why there is a school, and why there is a need to learn. He wanted to look forward. He wanted to move forward. He was that kind of child who is so interested in his future, althought in every step of his childhood years, he doesn't care about his next step. He doesn't think about it. He doesn't care about the consequences, whether they were good or bad. He was just curious. He was still curious.


A decade of existence in this world, he slowly realize about his objectives in life, goals in life, and life itself. He is learning more and is still learning. He has a lot more to realize, a lot more to learn, and a lot more steps to take. He now know almost every basic statement in this world. He understands its fundamentals and is getting ready for the next challenge. He also know how to decide about his next step. He understands first whether it will be for the better or for the worse. He is starting to think independently, and is starting to try more things and gain knowledge from them. He still wants to know his world; and he definitely wants to know his life.


13 years of walking. 13 years of existence. 13 candles already blown. 13 wishes have been made, but only few were granted. He knew that those wishes must be done for them to be granted, but he only hoped for it. He already felt hardships in life. He already fell face down, wounded, and bled; all while walking life's long road and slowly learning more about himself, life, and its meaning to him and why he it was given to him. A new chapter will start. He will need to prepare for it. Prepare for its challenge and its joy.


After 13 years, I only learned two things: First, Life is a journey. We must cherish every day and don't worry about what's next. Just let it happen. Second, and most importantly: Life is a highway; and I don't want to ride it all night long.