Walking Through the Streets of Al Rigga

An old post I made in my Friendster blog which I thought is worth a space here too. Reminiscing time...

Having my insomnia again, I decided to just prepare breakfast instead of counting more sheep. It's getting cold here, and every now and then, I get a tingling sensation running through my spine despite wearing socks and having a thick blanket over me. It's winter time, so they say...weird though because I don't see any snow (I always had the perception that winter means snow). Oh well, now I know that winter can be without snow. The cold weather made me think of hot soup or congee, so I decided to buy the ingredients. When I went out of the building, I saw mostly students waiting for their buses. I again felt the cold wind brushing my face and I shivered...brrrrr...good thing I was wearing a jacket because it felt like I was opening the door of a refrigerator.

I checked on the nearby convenience store (the very first store I entered when I arrived here in the city of gold) and it was still closed so I decided to check on the other shops. As I was walking through the streets of Al Rigga (one of the streets in Deira, Dubai), it made me realize a lot of things. How time flies! Before, I was still contemplating if I should really go or not...then there I was finally walking through the streets of my once-planned destination. Only a few were walking, I realized at this hour, compared to late afternoons and nights when the stretch of restaurants going to Al Ghurair Mall become swamped with people from all walks of life...dining...having fun...chit-chatting with their friends. It felt weird actually to see the street so empty and lonely.

I've come across some people who were hurriedly walking...probably rushing to get to work. I had a ready smile, but sadly no one to smile to. All seemed to be too busy to even look at the stranger passing by. Then I saw a man sleeping on one of the benches seemingly unaffected by the cold weather. I had to say a little prayer that I am still so blessed for having a roof under my head while a lot would just sleep on the streets. I passed by some construction workers busily doing their work for the metro rail, which I hoped would ease the traffic. As the day moves on, those same men would be sweating profusely as they go about their work, not to mention being immersed in the dust and dirt that goes with their work. And so, I again said a silent prayer thanking God and telling myself how lucky I am not doing that kind of job for my existence.

Realizing that the shops were still closed, I walked back again to where our flat was. I passed by some stray cats and then I remembered my dogs. If I were living in my own place, I would most probably take those orphaned cats to my house so that they wouldn't have to suffer the heat, cold, dust, and hunger they have to deal with every day. Then I saw some birds, which is quite a rare occasion, flying from one building to another, as if they have a choice when there is not a tree in sight. Then I saw some people getting their shops ready...all busily cleaning racks and display counters. What a life we all must live! Then I felt glad that I got to enjoy the morning walk as I stretched my muscles in the way I wanted and not out of occupation.

Finally, I arrived at my destination - back to our building. I decided to once again check out the convenience store, and lucky me, it was already open. I smiled at myself and mumbled good morning to everybody as if they could hear me. I told myself that this would be a lucky day for me and I am starting it with a thankful heart for all the blessings I have. So, I bought all the necessary ingredients and walked back happily towards our flat.

I was already in the middle of cooking the porridge when we ran out of gas. Oh well! But since I felt lucky (and of course being a true blue ingenious Pinoy), I remembered that we have a rice cooker and so I used it to finish cooking the porridge. See! there's always a solution for everything.

Sometimes you only have to see the imperfections around you to realize how blessed you really are. It's just a matter of thinking. When you're thinking positively, things will always look bright...and you will always feel lucky, happy, and blessed! Maybe I should do this more often...I think tomorrow I will walk through the other side of the street and see what else is there.

 

Of Weird Dreams and Stuff

Night shifts can take its toll especially if you only slept 2 to 3 hours during the daytime. Halfway through my shift, I was already so sleepy that I felt I needed toothpicks to keep my eyes open (of course you know what I mean). Reading through numerous websites did not help at all...it made me all the more want to visit dreamland. I played my current favorite game (thanks to Kyle) Chuzzle to keep me awake, but that didn't help also since my eyes seem to have problems distinguishing the colors of the little furballs. Anyway, when all else fails, my last resort was to buzz my friend-officemate and hope he is not too busy to entertain my uhmmm weird thoughts.

I asked him about what he thinks about dreams. Of course he gave me his usual comical point of view and asked afterwards what my dreams were. I told him I have had dreams with the same story-lines, almost always the same cast (ahem, like a movie), and sometimes, I dream of it successively but with different endings at times. Sometimes, it's like two movies (Hollywood or not) merged into one.

I told him about one of my all-time favorite dream - the giant blood-sucking turtle (yes, you read it right). The turtle came from nowhere and started to suck the blood out of my neighbors causing havoc in our community. It sucked every drop of blood that it left its victim looking like a dried piece of tree branch. Men, women and children ran to and from all directions scrambling to find a place where they can be safe. The turtle would grow a bit bigger each time it finished sucking blood and so with each victim, the turtle grew enormously in size. I was one of the many running frantically for dear life. Instinctively, I knew I had special powers, but for some weird reasons, I was concentrating more on my running and evading skills rather than turning myself into the superhero I was (hey, it's just a dream just to remind you again). I ran past familiar faces as I hurried to reach the roof of our house, and to my surprise, saw zombies chasing after me as well! I realized then that the dead victims all became zombies and they were as hungry as the vampire-turtle. And so I ran for dear life, mercy me!

Reaching the rooftop took almost an eternity though I cannot figure it out whether our house had turned into a mansion or a five-storey building. In real life, it was a no mean feat to reach the rooftop, but anyway, it's a dream after all so let it be. As I clambered towards the rooftop, I was aware that the monster turtle and the zombies were just a few meters away from me and if I don't act fast, the zombies will be tearing my limbs apart while the turtle sucks my type-O blood. Only then did I remember using my uhmm super powers. There was no magical stone that I needed to swallow, not even a few magical words to chant, but in an instant, I transformed into a superhero just when a zombie was almost ready to take the life out of me. And so punches were flying everywhere, a kick here and there, whooosh....whisssh...and yes, the flying stuff too! Wow, it was a great feeling being able to fly and fighting the bad guys (dead or not). The rest of the story ends differently though...sometimes, it ends with me throwing the giant turtle to outer space. In the other versions, I singlehandedly bring the pacific ocean to our dead community and flush all the zombies away. Other times, I just fly away to another place and fight criminals elsewhere. Then I wake up. Sometimes feeling tired from fighting the villains.

I asked him if dreams were products of our subconscious mind. He said he can't be sure, but told me it's good to have those kinds of dreams (especially the superhero and flying part). He suggested that I think about it before going to sleep and for sure I will dream about it again. And so when I came home I decided to think of something good to dream about (naturally it's not the turtle). Alas, before I even started to think of something good to dream about, I already dozed off to dreamland.

Lately, though, I've been dreaming of the same dream (different from the turtle, thank you)...weird though because it has never reached any distinct ending. It just starts with a few scenes (like a foreplay if you must) and then dissolve in oblivion. I wanted to know the entire story since I ain't playing a superhero or flying girl - it's just a pleasant dream to dream about(which might be interesting if it becomes a reality too). Well anyway, I ain't telling it here hehehe....let it just stay in my dreams!

Of Loving, Losing and Letting Go

 

Of Loving, Losing, and Letting Go

"Don't cry because it is over; smile because it happened".

How many of us have gone through falling in love and falling out of love? It's such a bitter-sweet feeling that nobody can't deny it. In the span of our lifetime, how many times did we fall in love, fall out of love, fall in love again, and get our hearts broken for the nth time? Yet, we repeatedly go through that vicious cycle, intentional or not. We only stop looking for love or evading love when we stop breathing. It's just like air...it's always there even though at times we don't see it.

Is it really better to love and get hurt than never to have loved at all? Are there really rules or guidelines to make love stay? Is it something real or just make-believe? Why does love encompass all kinds of feelings? It's happiness and sadness...it's trial and error...it's a gamble.

When we are too hurt after a failed relationship, we oftentimes swear not to fall in love again until unknowingly, love comes knocking at our doors again. Some would be too stubborn to accept it back while others welcome it with open arms. Then the cycle begins...again. All of a sudden, you find yourself in euphoria. It's like having angel wings and everything is perfectly right. You swear to yourself this will be the last and you'll move heaven and earth to make it work. Somehow it changes you. You feel you're becoming a better person, so awe-inspired, everything is like a bed of roses. Your outlook in life is oh-so pleasant. You fall in love with love itself. Then something happens along the way...things get out of hand and you lose control. Suddenly, your world becomes topsy-turvy...the happiness you once felt has changed to emptiness, sometimes, even remorse and hate. Then you cry buckets and buckets of tears enough to grow an oasis in the middle of the desert. You ask yourself what went wrong...why it happened...how are you going to cope with the situation. So many unanswered questions and sleepless nights of assessing and re-assessing. If you're not strong enough, things can even go out of hand.

Although we all go through heartaches and heartbreaks differently, all of us feel bad, one way or another, whatever the degree is. We may have resentments. We may blame ourselves or our partners, but after all this hoopla, we must accept things as it is and hope against hope that we can go through life again.

Love, after all, is a wondrous feeling. No matter what the results of love are, it's still a feeling we all should experience even for just a minute in our life. Love may leave us broken and tattered - yet, it only makes us more human. It can give us pain, but it certainly can also provide us with sheer happiness. It makes us better and stronger people.

Just like the grass that is stepped on...it grows back stronger than before. Yes, it really is better to love...although you might lose it in the end...still, it's better than never to have loved at all.