WATCH: Seoul-Incheon, South Korea


Here is my video on my short trip to South Korea.


For more blogposts on Seoul, click the links below.


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Vigelandsparken, Oslo Norway: Celebrating Human Spirit

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The world's largest collection of sculptures in a park is attracting one million people every year. The art pieces, which were made from bronze, granite and iron features the appreciation of the human spirit of Norway's most renowned sculptor Gustav Vigeland. Click the link below: http://vimeo.com/65900073 Visiting Vigelandsparken makes one realize things in life, inspired from the different sections of the park: the Main Gate, the Bridge, the Fountain, the Monolith and the Wheel of life. The main gate is very simple but elegant. It features a long pathway towards the main section of the park. It gives the visitor the feeling that life requires a pathway and direction where one should follow through. That direction is the person's purpose in his or her life, that will guide all his or her actions, no matter what situations the person will be experiencing and whoever the person will be meeting. The bridge is one of the most dramatic part of the park, which...
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Cebuano: The Language and The People

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Living in Norway for over 2 years, I have often encountered questions about the languages I speak. I usually answered I speak Norwegian, English and two Filipino languages. Then, people start asking if the second Filipino language is a dialect of the other. Given my mother tongue is Cebuano, the second language referred, I abruptly debunk the misconcept that it is a mere dialect. My most common explanation is that all Filipinos speak the Filipino language, but those who only learn to speak Filipino have difficult time understanding or communicating with one speaking Cebuano. Throughout the span of my childhood, I got to grasp the political and cultural differences of Filipinos speaking Filipino language or Tagalog as referred by most, and those coming from the Southern Philippines speaking Cebuano. The language in itself has become the boundary between the two groups of people. Due to their innate differences, misunderstandings result, not because of mere language confusion, but of cu...
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Padayon Lang: Just Continue ᜉᜇᜌᜓᜈ᜔ ᜎᜅ᜔

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There are words that stay with us long after the people who spoke them are gone. For me, one of those words is the Cebuano phrase: “Padayon lang.” These simple words describe my life motto. It is short, almost ordinary. It does not shine with poetry. Yet it has a quiet strength, the kind that you don’t just think about but actually feel deep inside. Literally, it means “just continue” or “keep going.” But in Cebuano life, padayon lang is less of a command and more of gentle encouragement, just a soft pat on the shoulder, a light that shows you the way in the dark. I first heard it as a child, when I struggled with school and say, “Padayon lang sa imong pagtuon.” Keep studying. It is not a word of triumph. It does not promise success. Unlike congratulations or I’m proud of you, padayon lang accepts that life is hard, that the road is tiring, and yet it reminds us that moving forward, even slowly, even step by step is still worth it. It is the Cebuano spirit of resilience, no...
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The Misunderstood Cebuanos

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I tell to most of my friends that I actually do not speak Filipino as my mother language. Ofcourse, the most natural question I get is what language do I speak? I answer Cebuano and explain that it is the second most spoken of the Philippine language. It is not a dialect, and the people that speaks it are popularly known as Cebuanos. However, due to the cultural and linguistic diversity among groups in the Philippines, misunderstanding occur very often. And this blogspot is all about the often misunderstood Cebuanos. Fatalism, Realism and Resilience The Cebuano has undergone a lot of bad things in the past. Cebuanos in the southern island of Mindanao could be followers of Islam or belong to an indigenous group. Being part of another religious and cultural group could mean oppression by a larger group. The Spaniards and Americans tried to suppress any resistance in the group. When the country became independent, co-Filipinos in Manila oppressed and associated the Cebuano cu...
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Today (November 30) marks the birth anniversary of the known Filipino hero Andres Bonifacio. Many including me are used to hearing Bonifacio's name but never really got to deepen the appreciation and knowledge about him. There were controversies and unresolved issues regarding the motivation, personality and death of Bonifacio; but in this blogpost, the focus would rather be on the learnings we could possibly derive from the story of Bonifacio and how we could reflect on it when applied on our own respective lives. Family and friends first At the age of 14, Bonifacio needed to stop going to private school to support his five other siblings because both their parents died of illness in a duration of a year. Because of this, he earned a living for his family until his siblings had been regularly employed thereafter. On the other hand, by mere impression, Bonifacio treated Rizal as a friend or as an important person of the Filipino revolution. Motivated by this, Bonifacio with his c...
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Baywalk Breeze (Short Story)

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Picture not mine. August 24, 2005, Ninoy Aquino International Airport “Three years after, I thought I would be happy. It seems nothing changed after three years of living in the United States. Three years of busy monotonous life, “Adrian said to himself upon his arrival in Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Carrying his baggage full of his personal belongings and “pasalubongs” for his relatives Adrian Palacios, a twenty-six years old nurse was a picture of triumph and courage in his homecoming in the Philippines after his contract as a nurse in urban hospital in Texas for three years expired. With his favorite book entitled A Man Named Dave: A Story Of Triumph and Forgiveness by Dave Pelzer in his left hand, Adrian walked into the baggage area to get his things and walked through the lobby of the airport towards the gate. To the opposite the road where relatives of the passengers wait, Adrian's attention was diverted. He saw parents embracing their son who have jus...
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Eve, Magdalene and the Misunderstood in a Patriarchal Society

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Upon reading the title, do not get me wrong. This article is not about biblical passages, nor an attempt to give light on a biblical history. This is about how women are treated in our society today. Their rights and roles have changed in the last decade, but there still exists inequality on how we deal with women vulnerabilities, characteristics and their potentialities. My personal experience with women from my mother, sister, female relatives, friends and some special friends have given me interesting insights on how women are portrayed in the society. This article therefore seeks to provide guidance on answering the question whether women are at fault or the society itself. Women are portrayed differently and are quiet misunderstood. This has caused confusion and even distortion on how we see women in general, specifically on how they should behave and think. It is expected the females must be the source of care, warmth and nurturance in the community. They must exhibit a role mod...
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The year that was. Again, twelve months have passed. It is my birthday again (September 23) and I am turning 29 tonight. I can say the previous year ran the fastest in my entire life. I do not know why, but 12 months seem like yesterday. This is perhaps because many things have happened, and of course together with all those things are the learning that I have gained. Those learning affected how I think, feel and see things, the greatest change perhaps that happened in the entire period. This blog post has hyperlinks that direct one to the individual blog posts I wrote during the year. Indeed, this is a sort of summary of the year that was. Big changes at the start I was not really certain during my 28th birthday if I will be allowed to stay in Norway or not. This has been my place of residence for three years now. There were challenges, surprises, ups and downs in that period of time. However, last year just after my birthday, I got to meet the deadline . Just almost missed ...
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Why are we lazy sometimes? Is it because it is a natural tendency for humans to feel it. Alternatively, it is because we are easily affected by the things we see in our environment, such that we mimic the behaviors of others like inaction. This is the focus of my blogpost. In stress reactions, there is a phenomenon we call fight and flight response in which either our body and psyche will confront all stress-producing events, or opts not to deal with them at all. From this, we can say that human can be lazy when the things and tasks we must accomplish either no longer challenges us or simply overwhelming us. So, sudden change in the quality and quantity of to-do list can lead one to be lazy or the opposite enthusiastic response. Thus, to counteract laziness, it is crucial to adjust these lists of actions. Take it easy. Remove the most demanding and hope things become better, instead of getting worse. On the other hand, laziness can be an influence of the culture and environment. This...
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