Julio's Pictures

      The first picture is from my immersion. This for me is a happy picture because its a picture that reminds me of how fun like can be through the eyes of a little kid. One interesting story behind the taking of this picture is because I wanted to remember "boy patalim", the boy on the left side of the picture. I nicknamed him so because the first time I saw him, he was carrying scissors cutting away at anything he could find. The next day, I saw him carrying a small knife which for what purpose, I do not know.


                                            

 This is a picture of my brother that I took at a party during the Christmas break. I remember at the start of the party, the dance floor was plain until they turned off the lights and turned on the spot lights. Everyone enjoyed the music and the dancing even my brother in the picture that does not like to dance but is dressed like Justin Bieber.

     I took this picture from the time our my siblings, cousins and I took a trip to enchanted kingdom. It was fun hanging out with them after so long but the thing about enchanted kingdom when we went there was that it was packed. I think the picture tells you just how packed it was especially since the picture was taken at night. The log jam was actually the first ride we were able to go on despite us being there for almost four to five hours already. Although it took us this long to experience the magic of Enchanted Kingdom, the waiting helped us enjoy each other's company by playing games in the line or teasing, making fun of each other.

Danville is Very Nice!

Are you having a hard time finding that Christmas feeling? Does it seem like the Christmas spirit that you used to know, does not come around to visit anymore? If that is the case, I know what we're gonna do today!

 Today, you are going to watch the Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation. This is the holiday special of the hit cartoon show, Phineas and Ferb wherein there are these two step brothers who want to enjoy their summer vacation by doing something different, exciting and extraordinary every day in their town of Danville. The only difference now is that they are in Christmas vacation mode, just like how most of us are in now, this time of the year.

This show has got everything you need to give birth to the child within you and celebrate the holidays through that child’s eyes. The show has got the Christmas music that will get you singing along and yearning for more songs. They not only put you in the Christmas mood but because of the way they were used in the show, you just want to go out there and have your own great Christmas experience with your own personal soundtrack playing in the background.

It also does not have the usual Christmas story. It has the potential to make you cry, laugh or smile because of its heartwarming plot. It starts off with how Phineas and Ferb and most of the other characters in the show express their Christmas worries and wishes. Doctor Doofenshmirtz, the evil mad scientist of the story who has Phineas and Ferb’s platypus named Perry as an arch nemesis, is looking for a motivation to hate Christmas. Phineas and Ferb’s sister Candace, on the other hand, does not know what to give her love, Jeremy, for Christmas. It also starts off with how people just want to get their Christmas on, so they start decorating and spreading Christmas cheer to one another. However, little did they know, their holidays are in for a naughty twist which will get them all dazed in this holiday. The story also has a very uplifting and inspiring twist which is where I will end because I would not want to spoil anything for you.

This is why my Christmas wish for you is for you to be able to watch this show. This is because after you watch this show, you would just want to be a kid again, even just for this Christmas, and if you are still a kid, having had only a few Christmas experiences, you would not want to miss the next Christmas. Also, maybe after seeing the show, everyday would feel like Christmas to you and you would want nothing but to celebrate it every single day of the year. This is why it is time to turn on your sets and tune in to Disney channel, where the show is aired, or hunt it down on youtube or anywhere on the net, because this is something you should not pass on. Merry Christmas!

Snakes on a Plate

In my life, I never thought that I would be given the chance to eat a dog, a frog or a snake. In just one weekend, call it luck I suppose, I was able to try and eat all three animals, cooked in different ways from one another. This was because during this weekend, I was at my immersion in Tarlac wherein we lived within an aeta community and it was here that I watched how they cooked these dishes and later on, I excitedly consumed these interesting dishes to my sheer delight.

 The dog was simply added to a pot of water along with some vegetables without any other ingredients. The pot was placed on top of some rocks while a fire was burning underneath it. When the meat was tender enough, it was finally time for lunch. The frog on the other hand was simply barbecued. After they caught it from nearby, they placed it beside the fire and waited until it was ready. Although no special sauce was added before cooking it, the frog still had a nice flavor to it, making you to just want more of it with every bite. It did not taste like chicken but even the burnt part of the frog’s skin, was still very appetizing.

 The snake was the most interesting dish I tasted. Again, there was nothing special with the preparation. It was simply “grilled” then placed in water to create soup from its meat. As I chewed on its tough and scaly skin, I could not help but cringe during my first few bites. However, the more I chewed, the more I enjoyed its exotic taste. It was kind of like eating a tire. Moving on to its meat, I liked it better than beef because although it was boney, the meat was so soft that it seemed more like fish than snake. Looking at how these dishes were prepared, I would say that despite how simple it was to prepare them, and despite the meat being more alien than familiar to the tongue, these dishes gives one the satisfaction that would equal probably ten McDonald’s value meals or five boxes of Yellow Cab pizza.

This makes one wonder that if anything else was added in the mix, would the dishes be better? Would salt or sugar make it taste better than it already is or would it ruin its flavor? It is kind of how our lives are right now. Our lives are so fast paced that have we ever stopped to wonder if our lives would be better with or without what we have now. Does everything we know now, like science, religion or politics deprived us of our happiness? Have technological advances like the cellphone or the laptop, placed so much clutter in our lives that we have not been given the chance to breathe in the air and feel refreshed? Sometimes we just have to keep our lives as uncomplicated as we possibly can. Why? This is because each of our lives are as exotic and distinct as the dishes mentioned earlier. If we are to fully appreciate its taste, we just have to cook it without much of any other ingredient. This is so that we can fully appreciate our lives and live it to the fullest because all other distractions are gone. There would be no salt to make our lives bitter. There would be no sugar to make it seem sweet even though we know it really is not. We take our lives for what it is and enjoy it as much as we can. We are able to savor its flavor and its flavor alone. This is why we should, every chance we get, reflect on what we have, and take away the things we absolutely do not need. If you do this, you will learn that life does not always taste just like chicken and that, we do not need to make it taste like chicken either. Sure enough, once we accomplish this task and learn these lessons, our lives will be simple, and yet full of happiness with satisfaction guaranteed.