My wife always sees to it that she gets the gift I want. Lately, she’s been very particular about what she gives me for my birthday, our anniversary and Christmas. These are not available off the shelf of any store I’ve visited. I was so curious where she gets the gifts she gives me on these occasions that I asked her. She candidly told it was from a personalized gifts for him shop. I was so delighted as anyone who sees my my stuff are so impressed. I cannot say how lucky I am to have such a sweet and caring wife.

Crime rate is going up with the age of perpetrators getting younger. Experts attribute it to violence on media, either in movies or video games. I allow my kids (and know many parents) to watch these violent films or play these violent games. They turned out just fine and balanced.

I suppose they forgot that everything begins with good parenting. We are our children’s foundation. They do not come out of this world holding joysticks and DVD players. By the age of two, children should know what is acceptable or not, what is permissible or not and what is good or bad.

Just recently, 24-yr. old gang leader was killed by cops. In a short span of time, his gang was able to carjack 50 luxury vehicles. One would expect them to be from the ghettos or in some hood and were fighting to feed themselves. No, they were from well-to-do families, educated and had good lives.

With all the influences our children would encounter in journey called life, their resolve and principles would not be swayed if we parents do our jobs right. I may not be a perfect father but I tried to instill the right values in my children. We should not blame other things for our children’s misgivings or faults. After all, good parenting is our responsibility, not society’s.

It was my wife’s birthday yesterday. We just ate out wither parents and the kids. It was pretty uneventful but we all went home stuffed. Happy Birthday Lizza!

As usual, the weather forecasters got it wrong again. Last Tuesday night, typhoon Basyang struck the main island of Luzon. Forecasters predicted that it would hit the north. Lo and behold! With barelt two hours befor it hit, they changed their prediction. The typhoon would now hit Metro Manila direwctly. Two hours was just too late because by the time they made the new warning, the pwoer was already down. No radio or television transmission. Metro Manila was in total darkness and unaware of the devastation it faced.

Thank Go it was nowhere near Ondoy’s strength which devastated the entire Luzon island. Still it left more than two dozen dead and millions in damaged infrastructure. The next day created chaos but the efficient response of government quickly returned sanity. The light rails did not work as power was down most of the day. Isolated traffic jams were experienced by motorists.

Despite having limited resources, government agencies was able to reach typhoon victims. Even the coastguard was able to recover lost fishermen within the day. We’ve managed to get back on our feet quickly despite the downed power lines and downed cell sites.

Typhoon Basyang is only second typhoon to hit the country after we experienced El Niño. We have an average of 22 typhoons a year with the few last ones being the most dangerous. With the former administration depleting our calamity funds, I wonder how the current dispensation will address the coming disasters? I just hope that God be kinder to us and our new government.

Tomorrow is our 23rd wedding anniversary. That’s for our church weeding only. Time sure flies and our eldest is already training for a job. Soon, our son will be entering college and we would surely miss their company as they have their lives to take care of. Despite the tough times Liza and I had gone through, we stuck together. Some couples are not as lucky as they easily give up on their marriage.

I’m sure that we’ll still be together till the twilight of our lives. All I can say is it has been a wonderful journey and I look forward to the years we’ll be enjoying together. Happy anniversary Luvski!

“Happiness is not what you have but what you do with what you have.” I have rich friends and they’re not a bit happy as I am. A friend once asked what my secret to happiness is? I had a simple to his query, contentment. It’s how I make most of what I have. Whatever small thing I have, I cherish. It really isn’t hard to do. I consider every little thing a blessing.

Making the most out of what you have would make you happy because of the value you give it. I may not have all the riches in the world but whatever I have, I really enjoy it. What more can a man ask for when you have a wonderful family to share your life with? I cherish every moment I spend with them.

A friend of mine has lots of money, a successful executive and yet is still not happy. Loveless, childless and goes home to an empty house. He had to drag our friends to go out every night. I don’t envy him at all. I have a family to go home to everyday. Any family man can tell you how being welcomed home by your family can be so refreshing after a hard day’s work. Nothing comes close to the warmth of a home.

I suppose happiness can be found in one’s heart. As long as you are content, you will always be happy.

We’ve been hitting 37s in the past few days. Taking a bath is like entering a sauna. The heat is just unbearable and I could almost imagine those working outside. I must have been drinking more than 4 liters of liquid everyday. That doesn’t include the 10 glasses or so of iced tea. You don’t have to do anything to start sweating. I tried to see how much I would perspire after 10 minutes in the bathroom. Boy, it must’ve been buckets. With this heat, I don’t need to build a sauna.

A Korean couple recently signed up to play in our Wednesday League. Alex and Kelly (their American names) speak very little English yet we do not have any difficulty understanding each other. Last night, they surprised us all when they brought gifts for all the players. I’m the tournament director and was the one who invited them to join. With the wide smiles on their faces and the warmth the other bowlers extended them, they seem to be having loads of fun.

I’ve always thought that sports is a universal language. We had one thing in common and it brought us all together. Bowling to have fun is what united us. To Alex and Kelly, welcome to our bowling family.

This summer’s one of the worst I’ve ever experienced. Even the wind is so hot and the air is humid. Going out is torture and I cannot stand how sticky I feel after going out for just a few minutes. Standing under a shade doesn’t help a bit. Fans and air conditioners doesn’t do much.

The obvious culprit is global warming. We better wake up or Mother Nature will surely teach us a lesson we’ll all regret.

Impressed with Saving Pvt. Ryan and The Band of Brothers, I’m now following The Pacific. World War II has always been close to my heart. Hearing stories about my parent’s experiences and the hardships they faced during those dark years got me hooked to studying history. War in Asia was more traumatic as the savagery was beyond comprehension. To this day, I still love to hear tales of exploits of heroism of men and women who in one way or another lived through the hellish years of WWII.

WWII was a fight for freedom, of human rights and survival. It was not about ideologies or beliefs, it was of genuine love for humanity. I hope that we learn from it and how we sometimes forget that in war, we are all losers.