WATCH: Bratislava, Slovakia


Here is the video of my short trip to Bratislava.


For more blogposts on Bratislava, click the link below.

Bratislava

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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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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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Seijaku: Calm in the Middle of Chaos

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There is a Japanese word I recently came across: Seijaku. It is connected with silence, stillness, and finding peace even when life around us is busy. I like this idea because my life is rarely completely quiet. There is work, studying, languages, travelling, exercise, family, friends, and always something to do. For years, I became quite good at being busy. Finish one thing, move to the next, and keep going. But being good at being busy does not always mean being good at living. I used to think peace would come later. After this busy week. After this course. After this problem is solved. But there is always another "after." Life never suddenly says, "Congratulations, everything is finished. You can relax now." 😅 Perhaps the challenge is finding small moments of stillness while life is happening. Drinking coffee without checking my phone. Walking home without rushing. Sitting quietly without feeling that I should be doing something productive. Working as a nurse ha...
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The Colors of My Niece Juyen

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Today, we are celebrating the eleventh birthday of my niece. Time flies so much. It seemed that it was just recently that I got to know that my sister, her mom got pregnant. I was worried by then, but I was excited how my niece became a tough and quite learned individual. I had a hard time describing my niece, so I thought of using the different colors to sum up every learning we got from my niece, our advices to her as she approaches her teen years, and everything that concerns her and makes her busy. BLUE I am guessing this is her favorite color, because she is fond of selecting or preferring objects of this color. Although my sister want red or pink for my niece, I agree personally that blue is indeed a good color. It symbolizes peace and tranquility. In connection to this, I hope my niece will eventually understand in depth and its real breadth the things within the family that for certain bothers her. It will take time for her comprehens why things are such, and why what she wan...
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Filipino Ethics: A Closer Look

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What seems to be correct in a Filipino perspective? Ethically speaking, where lies the boundary between what is right and wrong? As a Filipino myself, it is quite difficult for me to see that, because everything seems to be very subjective. Every Filipino could justify his or her action regardless of what it is. Nothing seems to be intolerable, and everything could explained as long as someone dares to do so. This makes the Filipino society chaotic and disorganized in a way. Nothing seems to be a standard way of evaluating actions and decisions. Ethical theories would not be sufficient even to explain the Filipino ethical standards. However in this blogpost, an attempt to put this relatively subjective threshold into an objective framework is to be made. Familiarity and consensus Change is something everyone of us would like to avoid. Filipinos takes risks when the available options are too few, but in general, most Filipinos would not want to change anything that is part of...
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7 Reasons Why Many Filipinos are Good Singers

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One thing that makes me proud of being Filipino is that there are many good singers in our country. I am not saying that the Philippines has the best singers in the world, but it is obvious that many Filipinos have showed to the world the God-given talent they have. 1. Parents encourage their children to develop their singing talents Children singing old songs and acting as if the song fits them well. Love songs, rock, whatever genre songs maybe Filipino children can sing that. Some even report that children learn humming a melody before able to speak well. Ofcourse, parents are very crucial in the development of this talents. If a talent has been acknowledged at an early age, this provides time for child to improve his or her talent in singing. Watch the newly-launced TV show Voice Kids Philippines. 2. Competition helps produce more good singers The most-watched Television shows in the Philippines are singing competition. Most artists are discovered in these platform...
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Bullying: A Part of Filipino Culture?

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Bullying became a hot topic in Norway today after a young teenager died of emaciation due to eating disorder that was primarily linked to anxiety from bullying at school. This was quite taboo in this Scandinavian country, given the nation is very keen on respecting socio-cultural differences and on protection against any form of discrimination. Discussions have been made on how to handle and prevent bullying and who takes the responsibility in these cases, whether the family, school or the State. Personally, I was not reacting in anyway as my mind says the concept is remote and almost impossible to happen in the Philippines. Perhaps, I was referring it to death, but not to bullying. However, after several days I was quite uneasy on the topic and further asked myself if I was ever bullied before and what it has caused me in the long-term basis. To my surprise, bullying was a crucial point in my childhood. My coping skills allowed me to hide in my consciousness what had happened...
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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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Shikata Ga Nai: New Perspective

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The first time I saw this phrase was in Facebook. It caught my eyes because it is associated with being negative but quite common and seemingly normalized. It intrigued me because it somehow compares to the Filipino saying, " Bahala na. " Literally, this Japanese phrase means "nothing can be done about it." This expression has contrasting themes, and this will be the focus of this blogpost. Have dignity in difficult times. Force majeure, a situation beyond our control. This is perhaps a tragedy, calamity or perhaps an accident, economic hardships, or just as simple as an end of a relationship. All of these situations are difficult to handle. However, even these are stress-provoking, we have to maintain dignity in ourselves. Even though one has little or no alternatives left, he or she is expected to accept and endure the pain or consequences in a dignified manner. For example, if one has budgeting deficits, one has to accept to work for long hours. So be...
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