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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Once upon a time... Summa Cum Laude

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It has been fifteen years since I completed nursing school. I culminated my student days as a Summa Cum Laude at Father Saturnino Urios University in the Philippines. It was a rare academic feat, but I managed to excel inspite of the difficulties I had back then. As I reminisce how it has been, I would like to point out the learnings I had through the years, and this will be the focus of this blogpost. Summa Cum Laude is the highest Latin honor one could get in the university. It does not just mean being the class valedictorian with the highest grade in the batch, but it means possessing a grade considered one of the highest throughout the school's history. In the Philippines, there are very few with Summa Cum Laude honors, and it is extremely rare in Nursing. Yes, I did that. Well, it was unexpected. I was actually expecting at least Cum Laude, the third highest Latin honor. However, some rules were changed, making it less difficult to get Cum Laude such that I was lit...
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Andres Bonifacio: 5 Modern Day Learnings and Reflections

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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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Keeping it Simple

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I have learned that simplicity is important for living a fulfilling life. This may sound strange coming from someone who can overthink almost everything. 😅 Maybe that is the paradox. I think a lot, but often because I am trying to answer one question: How can I make this simpler? I remember moving into my first apartment and wanting everything to look complete. I bought furniture, paintings, and decorations because I wanted my home to look interesting and stylish. At first, I enjoyed it. But after some time, I realized that all these things also needed money, space, cleaning, and attention. Slowly, I started removing what I did not really need. My home is still eclectic because I enjoy beautiful and unusual things, but now I choose them more carefully. Simplicity does not mean having nothing. It means knowing what is worth keeping. I learned the same lesson about my social life. Growing up, I sometimes wondered why I did not enjoy parties and large gatherings a...
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Which is Better: Introvert or Extrovert?

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Let me tell you something that's as pointless as trying to catch a slippery eel with your bare hands - comparing an extrovert and an introvert! It's also like trying to compare a chatty parrot with a contemplative sloth - they're both awesome in their own way, but they have different personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. This is the focus of this blogpost. Firstly, extroverts are like social butterflies who flutter around from one person to the next, while introverts are more like solitary cats who prefer to curl up in a cozy corner with a good book. We have some famous extroverts like Ellen DeGeneres, who is known for her outgoing and bubbly personality. She loves being around people and making them laugh, and her talk show is all about spreading positivity and joy. Another famous extrovert is Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who is known for his larger-than-life persona both on and off screen. He's a natural born entertainer who loves to engage wit...
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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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The Agony of Waiting

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Days turned to months while months turned to years. Someone is waiting for something to happen with the hope of the high possibility of reality inspite of the risk of uncertainty. This is the waiting game. The agony of waiting is undescribable and no words can explain how deep scars are created when one experiences it. It results to a state that breathing seems to cause pain while tears flow naturally. The memories of the past blends with the dream of coming back as time passes by so fast leaving the person unchanged but tremendously hurt. No one ever wants to linger in a state of waiting. It is a period of confusion when some people encourages one to be patient and persistent, while on the other side, the reality presents hypothetical what-ifs that needs to be answered. There exists a great demand for answers but only few are reasonable. Worse, questions are left unanswered yet more and more questions are generated every moment. The long wait can be considered a crisis as...
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There are many who consider morality as subjective. What is moral to one may not be moral to the other. Due to its subjective nature, morality has been a source of conflict as the majority in a certain society indirectly dictates what the rest of the population should follow. This results morality becoming a primitive source of laws, ethics and tradition. Although these terms are not the same, morality is well-associated with them. The challenge of morality is to describe what is moral in a particular society. This description has been product of various sociocultural influences, which include the role of family, value on autonomy and ofcourse religion. In most societies, some aspects are stronger than the other. This variation causes sometimes misunderstandings among individuals with contrasting moral values. Furthermore, the complexity of describing what is moral eases with the use of core values. This core values somehow encompass what a certain social group honors and believes for...
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