Are you up for the game?

Just when you thought you know yourself well, comes "Kokology". What is "Kokology" and what makes it an interesting game?


According to Wikipedia, Kokology is the study of kokoro (Japanese: 心) which in aforementioned language means "mind" or "spirit". The series of Kokology books were created by Tadahiko Nagao and Isamu Saito,^[1] a professor at Rissho and Waseda Universities in Japan and an author of a number of bestselling books regarding psychology and relationships.
The main focus is the analysis of the deep psyche. Using theories from Freud and Jung. Kokology Questions typically are "guided" Day Dreams or Submodalities
The books present a series of psychological and hypotheticals^[2] that are designed to reveal one's hidden attitudes about sex, family, love, work, and other elements of one's life. It is essentially a game of self-discovery that can provide interesting, and often hilarious insight by answering questions to seemingly innocent topics.


Now, that's so much for a game. Though it was not designed for kids, it was surely designed for the young at heart.

Luna's Day Trip

After a year, Luna has finally come back! This time she decided to visit Manila instead of going back to Cebu. Once again, I became "Philippines Most Wanted Tourist Guide".


It was such a challenge to make a day trip as fun as possible. There are limited places you could see in Manila. Malls everywhere and that's it. I believe that malls should not be a tourist destination. Travelers surely have malls back home. Anyways, there's the ever famous Intramuros, where I told her to follow Rizal's footprints and take pictures of the calesa. Speaking of calesa, I had Luna try riding the calesa and go around Intramuros. I failed to bring her to Luneta since it was getting unbearably hot and we were both hungry so we went straight to Harbour Square where we had a sumptuous Filipino traditional lunch (Harbour Square is right across the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and is less than ten minutes away from Intramuros). I wanted Luna to try authentic Filipino dishes so I brought her to Dencio's Grill. She liked the food, especially the sago't gulaman. After lunch, we met Carmelle at the Mall of Asia. Luna has seen SM Cebu and was overwhelmed when she finally saw how huge this mall along Diosdado Macapagal highway was. I introduced Carmelle to Luna a few months ago when Luna and I started tweeting each other. It was, indeed, a good idea to bring Carmelle along since she loves K-Pop so much that she sounds Korean already. They endlessly talked about Korean male singers, actors, and many more over coffee and crepes at Cafe Breton. That meant more quiet hours for me. Heavy rain poured while we were having dessert so we opted to stay a little bit longer and take more photos.


It has become a tradition for me to bring guests to Bonifacio High Street. I love the place and I'm more than sure that my guests would feel the same way. As expected, Luna loved it. Brought her to my favorite bookstore, where we played "Kokology".

Kokology is the study of kokoro (Japanese: 心) which in aforementioned language means "mind" or "spirit". The series of Kokology books were created by Tadahiko Nagao and Isamu Saito,^[1] a professor at Rissho and Waseda Universities in Japan and an author of a number of bestselling books regarding psychology and relationships.

The main focus is the analysis of the deep psyche. Using theories from Freud and Jung. Kokology Questions typically are "guided" Day Dreams or Submodalities

The books present a series of psychological and hypotheticals^[2] that are designed to reveal one's hidden attitudes about sex, family, love, work, and other elements of one's life. It is essentially a game of self-discovery that can provide interesting, and often hilarious insight by answering questions to seemingly innocent topics.(www.wikipedia.org)

It was such an interesting game that our conversations went deeper and we all got the chance to know each other a little bit better (Might as well try this game with my other friends soon). Fresh from the very personal game we played, we struggled thinking where to have dinner. Eventually, we chose Chelsea Market and Cafe to have salad, pasta and the weird-looking pea soup. Over dinner, Luna kept on complaining about a terrible headache so we decided to head back to her hotel so she could take her meds. After an hour or two, we decided to bring her to Greenbelt. Dropped by Bizu to buy some French macarons and had beer at Nuvo, stayed there until the wee hours of the morning, talked about K-POP, and other girl stuff.


The next day, Carmelle and I picked Luna up at the hotel and had breakfast at UCC Park Cafe 6750. We endlessly took photos and talked about cosmetics, importance of wearing make-up, and photographyyyyyyyyy. Luna finally got the chance to explore the features of her newly bought camera and I was able to check out what mirrorless cameras can offer. Personally, if you are a digital SLR owner, buying a mirrorless camera would be like a downgrade, unless you buy one just for fun. The camera does everything for the photographer. It sets the aperture and shutter speed automatically, has a great picture resolution, and serves as a camcorder. Great for beginners who are into film making. Everything is effortless though that's why for serious photographers, this is a total bore. For Lumix (specify the model), the lens can't be zoomed in and out manually. No manual focus even. Nonetheless, it's worth the money.

Saturday, October 16, 2010
Intramuros

• Entrance Fee (Fort Santiago) - P75 for Adults
• Calesa Ride (A tour around Intramuros) - w/o guide P250, with guide P300

Harbour Square

• Located right across CCP and is less than ten minutes away from Intramuros. Taxi fare: P65
• Lunch good for 3-4 people at Dencio's Grill ranges from P1000 to P2000.

Cafe Breton (Mall of Asia)

• Try their "Lost Paradise" crepe, which has rum in it and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
  I had Cafe Legoise or Lejoise. Darn it! I forgot how to spell it. Anyways, it's such a sweet treat for coffee lovers.
  

Market Market (The Fort, Global City, Taguig)


*Luna wanted to bring some dried mangoes back to Korea.

• Dried Mangoes - 3pcs. for P100 (small), 3pcs. for P200 (big)
  

Bonifacio High Street

• Played "Kokology" at Fully Booked. Bought the book for a discounted price due to the damaged cover, which I believe was not that damaged at all.
• Ate dinner at Chelsea Market and Cafe. Dinner good for 3 ranges from P1,900 up.
  

Greenbelt

• Bought some French macarons at Bizu.
• Had beer at Nuvo until 1:30 in the morning.

Sunday, October 17, 2010
UCC Park Cafe 6750


Carmelle and Luna had brunch while discussing "Make-up 101."

Epic Fail ng Google Translate

Titration(n) - a way of calculating how much of a substance has been dissolved (=mixed) in a solution by adding measured amounts of another substance that it reacts with until a chemical reaction takes place (www.macmillandictionary.com)


Ano nga ba ang katumbas na salita ng "titration" sa wikang Filipino? Ayon sa Google translate, ito raw ay nangangahulugang "pagsukat ng titi". Kung titingnan ito sa konstektong Filipino, paniguradong mali ang Google translate. Ngunit hindi naman natin masisi kung sino man ang nagbigay ng maling datos. Ang mahalagang malaman natin ay hindi lahat ng salitang banyaga ay may katumbas na salita sa wikang Filipino. Dito nagsimula ang panghihiram. Nararapat ding maintindihan ng tao ang kahulugan ng bawat salita bago isalin ito sa anumang wika.


Minarapat ko ring alamin kung paano isasalin ng Google translate ang salitang "penis" sa wikang Filipino at ito ang lumabas:




Tama! Ano sa tingin nyo ang naging pagkukulang ng naunang pagsasalin?

Two weeks and I think I'm gonna gain weight

Every pound I lost, I think I'm going to regain soon. Thanks to my new co-workers. We had pizza last week since Liza celebrated her birthday. Today, we had pizza again. This time, it's Jayson's birthday. I heard that somebody is celebrating next week. Whew! Prepare for PIZZA OVERLOAD.

Interactive Learning

What could make learning more interesting? Nowadays, many of us use the internet as a new source of information. Many public and private institutions make information sharing easily accessible to many by going online as well. So what good would it be to have stuff that would support and promote interactive learning?
I came across this article about C&E Foundation, Inc. (CEFI) granting five qualified schools P3M worth of educational systems. (http://ejournals.ph/edtechie/) CEFI was established by C&E Publishing, Inc., a local publisher in the Philippines which introduces innovative e-learning resources.

"C&E believes that through the use of technology and by advancing the ICT competency of Filipino teachers and students, academic excellence can be achieved. And the ICT4E grants are just the beginning of the long-term commitment of the company to push for 21st Century education in the country."

I have always dreamed of a better Philippines and I know that high quality education plays a major role in turning this dream into reality. I hope that more students would soon benefit from projects like this of CEFI. And for students, I urge you to continue exploring. There are lots of things yet to discover. Never let yourselves be left behind. Read. Read more. Feed your brain with sensible information and share them to everybody, especially, those unfortunate ones who can't afford to go to school. Remember, they need your help too.

Ibigay ang dapat ibigay!

Bwisit! Bwisit! Bwisit! Sinabihan mo pa ako tapos ikaw rin pala ang makalilimot!

Walang hiya sila! Palibhasa hindi na ako nagtatrabaho para sa kanila ay basta-basta na lang nilang kalilimutan ang obligasyon nila sakin. Hindi katanggap-tangap ang dahilan nilang nakalimutan nilang isama sa kompyutasyon ang nalalabi kong sweldo. Ito na lang ang natitirang obligasyon ng kanilang kumpanya sa akin bilang dating empleyado. Hindi ko sukat akalain na gagawin nila ang ganitong bagay sa akin. Sa aking pagkakaalala, hindi naman ako nagkulang sa kanila. Lahat ng kailangan kong gawin ay ginawa ko nang buong husay at walang halong kasinungalingan. Kahit sabihin pa nilang ibibigay nila sa ika-18 ang aking sahod, hindi pa rin katangap-tanggap na ipinagsawalang bahala nila ang bagay na ito. Tama nga ang desisyon kong lisanin ang kanilang kumpanya. Ngunit, panandalian lamang ang galit na ito. Sa paglipas ng araw, hindi ko rin masasabi sa kanila ang hinaing kong ito. Nakalulungkot.

Learnings from Amy Tan's "Saving Fish from Drowning"

Saving Fish From Drowning is a 2005 novel written by Amy Tan. It is Tan's sixth and most recent work. The story follows the trials and tribulations twelve American tourists face when they embark on an expedition to explore China and Burma. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saving_Fish_from_Drowning)


I read a couple of good and bad reviews about this book right after I read a few pages of it. But I cared less about those not-so-good comments since I was captivated by Amy Tan's humor and that Asian philosophy. She's definitely gentler than Anchee Min. Both of them are, without a doubt, wise and sensitive. However, Min is more political while Tan is more affectionate. Nevertheless, I love them both. That's why I decided to share some quotations from the book, which I believe would convince people why this 474-page novel didn't bore me at all.


"That was the advantage of being dead: no fear of future consequences. Or so I thought." "Reading the roster of my achievements, I should have been bursting with pride. Instead, it struck me as nonsensical." "Nothing filled me with the satisfaction I believed I would have at the end of my life. I could not say to myself: "That is where I was most special, where I was most important, and that is enough for a lifetime." I felt like a rich vagabond who had passed through the world, paving my way with gold fairy dust, then realizing too late that the path disintegrated as soon as I passed over it." "A shiny silver scarf was wrapped into a puffy bow around my lacerated neck. I looked like a turkey with aluminum foil, about to be put in the oven." "That was the legacy of my mother's side of the family, insufficient excess, too much that was never enough." ""You see respect is lasting. Fondness is passing, a whim for a season or two, only to be replaced by a new fancy....""


"But then I discovered art. I saw for the first time nature and pure feelings expressed in a form I could understand. A painting was a translation of the language of my heart. My emotions were all there - but in a painting, a sculpture. I went to museum after museum, into the labyrinths of rooms and that of my own soul. And there they were - my feelings, and all of them natural, spontaneous, truthful, and free. My heart cavorted within shapes and shadows and splashes, in patterns, repetitions, and abruptly ending lines. My soul shivered in tiny feathered strokes, one eyelash at a time. And so I began to collect art. In this way, I was able to surround myself with the inexpressible, to exult in the souls of others. What a lifelong debt I owe to art!"


"Passionate people create too many problems: They are reckless. They endanger others in their pursuit of fetishes and infatuations. And they self-agitate when it is better to simply relax and let matters be."


"But in art, lovely subversive art, you see what breaks through in spite of restraint, or even because of it. Art despises placidity and smooth surfaces. Without art, I would have drowned under still waters."


"Heidi was young, cute, and a little neurotic, a combination that would become in a short time less young, less cute, and more neurotic."


"Your situation and form in life are already determined before you are born. If you are a buffalo suffering in mud, you must have committed wrongs upon others in a previous existence, and thus, you deserve this particular reincarnation. "


"She had heard that many Americans, especially those who travel to China, love Buddhism. She did not realize that the Buddhism the Americans before her loved was Zen-like, a form of not-thinking, not-moving, and not-eating anything living, like buffaloes. This blank-minded Buddhism was practiced by well-to-do people in San Francisco and Marin County, who bought organic buckwheat pillows for sitting on the floor, who paid experts to teach them to empty their minds of the noise of life."


"For a man who rapes and murders little girls, what is a satisfactory punishment? Should he not be turned into a beast of burden who lives in mud and is whipped every waking hour so that he might learn what suffering is and thus become a better being in his next incarnation? Or should the villain be paraded about town to the jeers of a crowd, as they do in some countries, placed in a burlap bag, tossed over a cliff, and then dismembered so that he will have to walk sans penis in hell? On the other hand, as has been described in both Christian and Chinese hells, would it be more just if he were consigned to a vat of oil, one that boils eternally and in which each moment is as unbearable as the first dip of the toe, so that his horror is endless, without any hope whatsoever of redeeming himself?"




"With a limited diversity of life, there is greater diversity of purpose."


In China, there is a saying made popular after the revolution: Women hold up half the sky. In the Naxi Autonomous Region, women have always held up the whole sky. It is a matriarchal society, where the females do the work, handle the money, own the houses, and raise the children. The men, meanwhile, ride on the backs of shooting stars, so to speak. They are bachelors, boyfriends, and uncles, roaming from bed to bed at night, not knowing which children they have fathered. They take the animals out to graze early in the morning, they bring them back at dusk. In the mountain pastures, they roll their cigarettes and smoke, and when they call the animals, they lure them with love songs. They sing at the top of their lungs, which extract oxygen much more efficiently than those of most Americans...The men do poetry. To hear a song sung in the mountains is always poetry."


"What place do freedom and responsibility have when you're plagued with budget cuts, conniving upstarts, and competing charities? No one had vision anymore. It was all about marketing."


""Run, run," Heidi whispered to the piglets. "You're doomed.""


"The biggest boy tool a running leap onto the back of a water buffalo that was resting on the side of the road. He wrestled the horns of the implacable beast, then gave it a mighty kick in the side, before declaring for himself another victory. The other boys imitated him, getting a running start to vault themselves onto the buffalo and tumbling off its spine like gymnasts at hillbilly Olympiad. Had the water buffalo been so inclined, it could have risen to its mighty hooves and easily trampled or gored the boys in a second. What had this buffalo done in a past life that he must now serve happily as trampoline and vaulting horse?"


"She knew her precautions were useless. Death would come of its own accord, and she could not prevent it. Yet she still could not stop herself from trying, and she hated how she had become, conscious more of dying than of living."


"Only a week before, they had been ordinary nine-year olds, playing chinlon with their caneballs, swimming in the river, and taking care of their younger siblings. But the day had come when their parents consigned them to the local monastery to serve voluntary course of time, from two weeks to several years, as all boys of Buddhist families did. Their heads were shaved during a family ceremony, their locks caught on a piece of white silk, and upon promising that they would obey the rules of Theravada Buddhism, they took off their clothes, donned the simple sloth of the monks, and became sons of Buddha. This was their initiation into becoming human."
"For poorer families, this was the only way in which their sons could receive an education. The well-to-do families collected their sons after two weeks, but the poorer boys stayed on longer, if they could."
"Oh, but being American has less to do with one's proficiency in English and more with the assumptions you hold dear and true - your inalienable rights, your pursuit of happiness. I, sad to say, don't possess those assumptions. I cannot undertake the pursuit."
"Death was not a loss of life, but the culmination of a series of releases. It was devolving into less and less. You had to release yourself from vanity, desire, ambition, suffering, and frustration - all the accoutrements of the I, the ego. And if you did, you would disappear, leave no trace, like the mist at dawn over the lake, evaporating into nothingness, into nibbana."
"I was appalled at the idea. Evaporate? Would that happen to me? I wanted to expand, to fill the void, to reclaim all that I had wasted. I wanted to fill the silence with all the words I had not yet spoken."
"Constancy is its own satisfaction, said one of the older ladies, the predictability of days, the serenity of seeing the same loom and spools, the same co-workers beside me, the same wooden walls and high roof, with only occasional rain tipping the roof, like the thrumming fingers of a god, which was a small but welcome intrusion."
"What bloody good was human adaptability if people weren't willing to change? Wasn't that why no penal system really worked to prevent crime, why people went to psychiatrists for years without any intentions of overcoming their obsessions and depressions? Humans had this extraordinary fondness for their own peccadilloes. That's why you couldn't change a Republican into a Democrat and vice versa, why there were so many divorces, lawsuits, and wars. Because people refused to adapt and accommodate to others even for their own good! Precisely so! When it came to their own needs, humans, and women especially, were more territorial about their bloody psyches - their so-called needs - than dogs were over their raw meaty bones."
"I realized then that we miss so much of life while we are part of it. We fail to see ninety-nine percent of the glories of nature, for to do so would require vision that is simultaneously telescopic and microscopic."
"I saw our village was already on fire. The thatch of the houses was burning, the rice sheds, too, black smoke rising. I saw my family and other villagers crawling on knees and hands toward the soldiers. My husband, my daughter, her husband, my other daughter, the four sons of my rice-pounding sister, her husband, who was still looking back to see where she was. I saw some of them fall flat onto their faces. I thought they had been kicked. One by one, they fell. One by one, I shouted, Ai! One by one, I was leaving them. And even if I had tried to swim back, the stream was too fast, and it carried me away, like an empty boat. "
"I was going to tip myself over and fall to the bottom of the river. But then I heard them, Loot and Bootie. They were laughing like the tinkling bells of a singing shawl. They were still on the pallet, spinning in an eddy. After I reached them and checked them twice for holes, I cried and cried for I was so happy, and then I cried and cried again for I was so sad."
""What the hell was that about?" Dwight whispered to Roxanne. "It almost sounded like English. Did you understand any of it?" Roxanne shook her head, then added, "Nothing beyond Great God and Cheez Whiz.""
""We've come to this beautiful place," Roxanne narrated, "and we've learned that within beauty, there is tragedy.""
"The only thing certain in times of great uncertainty is that people will behave with great strength or weakness, and with very little else in between."
"Alas, in ever community that proposes to do good, there are always a few who do good mostly for themselves."
"I often wished I could give her the umph in triumph."
"Accepting help was like taking drugs. It would be addictive and in the end leave her worse off than before...."
"But how did you know whether your intention would help or whether it would only lead to worse problems? Sanctions or engagement? How could anyone know which approach would work? Who could guarantee it? And if it failed, who suffered the consequences? Who took responsibility? Would anyone be around to care?"
"Sympathy wasn't enough. You had to be that person and know that person's life and hopes as your own."
"She was stronger than that. It wasn't a failure. She simply had not come out of the jungle yet. She needed perspective. She needed to revise her life before she could revise her book."
There surely are more things one could learn from reading the book. Indeed, it was a great journey to self-discovery. Until now, I couldn't decipher how one would save a fish from drowning. I could be that fish. Who knows?