R.I.P Dear grandpa, Thank you for taking care of me as I was a child and I’d also like to thank you on behalf of my sister. You stuck around here in Australia when me and my sister weren’t old enough to look after ourselves while our parents were at work. Thank you for all the hard work you put in to raising us along with grandma. You taught me valuable life lessons that I will not forget. Like how you taught that I could be strong no matter how little or young I am. You always stressed to me of how much I should look after my mum and make sure I treat her well. I will try my best to stay strong for you so I’m able to continue being there for mum as she goes through this sadness and grief. I would have loved to visit you in the Philippines more often than I have, as I never got to bond with you as I grew older and matured, we could have talked about so many things and just lessons about life in general. I really wish to just have bonded with you as teenager/young adult. Although contact with you had been weak in my older years, I will not forget the things you taught me. You’re a fighter and fought cancer long and hard, you gave it your all and that’s what counts. I know we can’t win all our battles, I just wished I could’ve won this one. I’m glad you’re in a better place free of pain. May you rest in peace Tatay. - Your grandson, Bernard
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R.I.P

Dear grandpa,

Thank you for taking care of me as I was a child and I’d also like to thank you on behalf of my sister. You stuck around here in Australia when me and my sister weren’t old enough to look after ourselves while our parents were at work. Thank you for all the hard work you put in to raising us along with grandma. You taught me valuable life lessons that I will not forget. Like how you taught that I could be strong no matter how little or young I am. You always stressed to me of how much I should look after my mum and make sure I treat her well. I will try my best to stay strong for you so I’m able to continue being there for mum as she goes through this sadness and grief.

I would have loved to visit you in the Philippines more often than I have, as I never got to bond with you as I grew older and matured, we could have talked about so many things and just lessons about life in general. I really wish to just have bonded with you as teenager/young adult. Although contact with you had been weak in my older years, I will not forget the things you taught me.

You’re a fighter and fought cancer long and hard, you gave it your all and that’s what counts. I know we can’t win all our battles, I just wished I could’ve won this one. I’m glad you’re in a better place free of pain.

May you rest in peace Tatay.

- Your grandson, Bernard

The world is never the same the next day, Today is a day that was not like any other. Different things happen, change is constant. You could be at one place today and the environment & atmosphere will be totally different tomorrow, different weather, different people, the way things overall look be it night or day, sunset or sunrise, dusk or dawn, midday and midnight. There will always be something different to capture everyday and that is why I enjoy taking pictures.

Source: nardvrnza

Today I received tragic news from a friend that someone we went to highschool with passed away. Upon receiving this news, I was completely shocked, something so unexpected, completely out of the blue just happened. It’s incredibly tragic to know a person, to see them everyday at school for all the years you spent at school, every morning, class, recess and lunch, just gone.

When things like this happen, the most common thought that would come to mind is how life’s short and it could be your time at any moment, any place, unexpectedly. At such a young age, none of us are really prepared for it at this early point of our lives. It’s that type of thought that comes around and hits you right across the face showing you the cold, harsh ways of reality and you are momentarily taken out of your safe and secure state of mind only to realise that no matter how safe or secure we feel, it’ll all come to an end at some point and time. Deserving or non deserving, prepared or unprepared, we have no control over it. Hearing such tragic news makes you wonder about all the things that could have been waiting for them, were there things that they needed to say to other people? Hopes, dreams and goals gone to waste and all the souls that they could’ve touched and influenced. It really does make you wonder. When we hear about people we knew who pass away at such an early point of their life, you may start thinking differently, start doing things differently, have a different outlook on life just in case something like that happens to you. You fear death so you try and live life the fullest and to live each day as it if were your last. The sad, sad, sad thing about this, is that it takes a death, a passing, for us to realise how life is a fragile thing, more fragile than anything on this planet, it can be taken away in an instant. We finally see the true value of life and it becomes clear to us that we should not live our lives with anger, holding grudges, basically spending time being unhappy because we soon find out that time spent being unhappy is days, months, and even years of being happy that we’ll never get back. And then later on the future, we completely forget how to live. Once everyone has moved on, most of us, if not, some of us continue going back to our old ways and forget the true value of life because really, who would want to live in constant fear of death? So we forget about it and then out of the blue something like this happens again, it’s such a terrible cycle. And this is why I hate the bitter truth of reality. 

Rest In Peace Matthew Palma, God bless you, the souls you’ve affected and may your loved ones have the strength to get through the grief they are facing.

Source: nardvrnza

What a rewarding feeling to be able to make someone laugh, don’t you agree? I think it’s a beautiful sight to see another person bask in their laughter. It’s like the body’s way of saying “thank you, I needed that.” I think being able to make someone laugh during the course of their day greatly impacts how they feel during and at the end of the day. You may not know what the other person is going through nor how rough their day has been but if you even manage to get them to laugh hysterically until they’re gasping for air, giggle for a while or let alone chuckle for a split second, you’ve made their day a whole lot better. It could have been the one thing that certain person needed to get them through the day. I for one know what it feels like to just be able to laugh when you’re going through a lot, you feel lighter, like a weight you’ve been carrying around all day has been lifted off your shoulders. More importantly, you feel happier. I’m sure you’ve all been through a time when you’ve been upset, angry or when you’ve been bawling your eyes out and someone came along and made you smile even the slightest or laugh no matter how hard you tried not to, no matter how hard you wanted to stay mad or upset, am I right? Aren’t you thankful they’re able to do that? You then realise that a single positive outburst, such as laughter can weigh out all the bad, even if it’s just for a while, you know there’s a bit of optimism in you. Laughter is a great thing, I honestly don’t know what I’d do without it, after all, a day without laughter is a day wasted. 

Source: nardvrnza

I love it when there’s someone in your life where you plan trips/adventures or just things to do in the future which may be so far away. Because it gives me a sense of reassurance that you still picture me being around in the future to do all those things. It’s simple things like this that make me happy and appreciative that you carry that thought.

Source: nardvrnza

“2012, please be good to me”

Time and time again I see this all over my dash. There are so many people here who think by just simply asking for a good year, it will happen. I can assure you that, that won’t happen if you just sit around all day wishing for the year to be good. Do you want 2012 to be good to you? Be good to it and be good in everything you do. Get out there and do something with your life. Do things you’ve never done before. Experience new things. Climb new heights. Tell someone how much they mean to you. Give someone a well deserved hug. Stare at the stars. Smile because you can. Laugh until you’re gasping for air. Go over the top, be corny, be cheesy who cares. Go for long walks and explore with someone who you wouldn’t mind getting lost with. Sing in the rain, dance in it. Take too many photos, print them and stick them on the wall, in a book or give them to the people who shared that moment with you. Hold their hand, make them feel safe. Appreciate the simple things in life like how summer breezes feel as it moves your hair, the way music soothes your soul, the beauty of all the colours on this Earth, the way sand feels in between your toes, the rush of euphoria on your first kiss with someone. I think people are too focused on their happy endings, we often forget about the story, what’s right in front of us, what we have right now and what we should be appreciating. I can’t promise you that all this will give you a perfect year, because that’s impossible. You will encounter the inevitable hardships and problems will get in your way but I can reassure you that you can look back and know that the year was worth it. You want the year to be good to you? Make it worth it. “How?” you ask?

It’s quite simple really. Do what makes you happy.

Source: nardvrnza

  • Me: I feel like a triple quarter pounder.
  • Sister: I feel like a quadrilateral quarter pounder
  • Me: You do realise it's quadruple, and it wouldn't be called that, it's called a pounder.
  • Sister: Shut up, I hate you! *walks off*
  • Bernard - 1 Sister - 0

Mum won’t be here for Christmas.

It makes me terribly sad, but she has to go and she’s leaving this Friday and coming back on the 16th of January. My grandfather in the Philippines has been seriously ill for a while now and this morning my mum came through my bedroom door in tears. She told me that my grandfather has been given 2 weeks. I couldn’t help but tear up as my mum cried. Nothing is more painful than seeing your own mum cry, it breaks my heart. If I could, I’d take all that pain for her, I hate seeing my mum go through it. I wish I could come with her and provide her the comfort she needs as she goes through all this. Fuck.  

My prayers are with you Tatay. :(

Just got back from city, had to go buy a present for someone and went to pick up the photos that I had printed, THEY LOOK SO GOOD! Especially with a matte finish. Wow, I should print my photos more often and place them in a folio or something but these ones are going on my wall. :)