Making Rainbows

When we were kids, one of the weekend “chores” we considered as fun was watering the garden. We had a long green garden hose which would normally be found in one corner of the garden, coiled like a snake. When it was time to water the plants, we would connect one end to the faucet and the water would spurt out of the other end. We would wet each other with sprinkles, spurts, splashes and showers. We took turns watering the garden so that everyone had a chance to play with the hose.

In order to get the maximum area wet in the shortest amount of time, we would cover the end of the hose with our thumb and let the water spread into a fan-like fountain. I loved to do this because it was only when the water was spread out like this could rainbows be created (granting the sun was out).

In the Old Testament, the rainbow is the sign of the covenant which God made with man, never to destroy the earth with flood again. The rainbows come as the sun shines after a storm. It is a reminder of better things to come. It is a spectrum of hope.

When we went towards the Sydney Olympic Park to watch the movie UP, our meeting place was at the Overflow. We had no idea what the Overflow was but we were told that it was across the ANZ Stadium and that we wouldn't miss it. True enough, we found the Overflow and we couldn't miss it because we were greeted by the Olympic Cauldron filled with children.

It was late afternoon when we arrived and I was amazed that people were actually "showering" under the cauldron and getting themselves wet. As I paused to take a picture of the Olympic Cauldron, I noticed the rainbow made when the sun hit the water.

More often than not, one finds beautiful things in the most unexpected places.

Good Games Never Die

I am sure that our generation spent more time in front of electronic gadgets and playing games which required batteries or electricity than our parents did. And I am certain that my children are playing many more games on the computer and other handheld devices than I ever have (or will).

There was a time that these games were not readily available in the homes. We got these treats when we went out. At Shakey's we were able to play Night Driver, at Baguio Country Club there were pinball machines and PacMan, in Cubao (was it at Fiesta Carnival or at Ali Mall?) there were lots more arcade games.

At a certain point in time, computers became part of some households and simple games were introduced. We began with simple games like

Pong

and Space Invaders.

My all-time favorites would also include

Frogger

and of course the addictive

Lode Runner

Spy's Demise

Tetris

and Burger Time

There were more games that followed, both in the PC and battery operated games. We were lucky enough to have Game and Watch to keep us busy.

I think we had Toss, Fire, Vermin, Octopus and one or two more. We spent hours pushing those buttons trying our best to get high scores. Am sure the beeping drove my parents mad, not to mention the strain on our eyes caused by those little screens. On a positive note, perhaps it improved our hand-and-eye coordination a little bit.

As the years passed, the games became more "complicated" and "exciting."

I mean, "Sabrina dies at dawn!" for heaven's sake. That would be reason enough to play game the interactive game Transylvania, of course.

I remember it was the first time I'd heard of the term "hermetically sealed" and I think I had to look up 'elixir' to be sure it was worth picking up. I swear I played the game so much that I would have been able to draw a map to navigate through the various places within the game. (Come to think of it, I might have actually done that.)

Hhmmm ... those were the days.

Well what do you know? History repeats itself.

Although the kids are playing these often times violent, very high-tech memory hungry games with superior graphics and all, by some interesting quirk in nature, GI (and his siblings) are now hooked on Tetris. And when I say hooked, I mean HOOKED!

Since it is still officially summer, I am not at his back, but GI can often be seen multi-tasking watching something on his PC while playing Tetris on his PSP. Case in point on his being addicted to the game: he played Tetris all throughout the movie UP at the Overflow.

I know that after several series of Lode Runner games, I would imagine little men running across and in between words of a book I was reading. When this started happening, I knew for sure that I had been playing too much computer games. With all the hours GI spends getting his high score, I wouldn't be surprised if he starts looking as buildings as being parts of oddly shaped pieces. When he tells me that he has started dreaming about these falling tetrominoes, I will give him a knowing smile which will say, "You are playing too much Tetris, Mister."

In closing, I can say that good games never die, apparently they just get passed on to the next generation and are considered as classics.

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!

When someone shouts, "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!"

The expected response is "Oi! Oi! Oi!"

So ... Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!

Happy Australia Day!

Early Morning Music

I like to play music when I go about doing things around the house. GI is my trusty disc jockey when he is around. I would say, "Music, please," and he would unplug his headphones and share the music he was listening to (unless he was busy playing a game that would conflict with the multi-media player). If GI provides the sounds, it would typically be Michael Buble with GI singing along in the background.

I brought quite a number of CDs from Manila and was fortunate enough to get a Sony Discman from a FreeCycler here in Australia. We also got some amps and speakers from another FreeCycler which MacGyver set up. So in the morning, when the rest of the family are still asleep, I play some of my favorite CDs, including this one.

Yoyo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone -- definitely a great CD!

Y-E-S, Yes

Sometimes we do not realize what a simple YES can bring.

Often times we are afraid to say YES. I am guilty of that. I would normally have to think twice, thrice or many more times before actually saying YES to something. It takes a lot of courage to say YES. And when it comes to courage, I have a feeling I was sleeping when God was handing that out. (I'm teasing of course. I know that God gives us as much of WHAT we need, WHEN we need it.)

For this evening, it was a simple YES which MyGirl gave when I asked her if she wanted us to cook the sweet corn after dinner. This, of course, could not have been possible had it not been for the enthusiastic YES I received at the grocery when I asked the kids if they wanted some sweet corn. And even the cooking of the corn that night required at least one additional YES from another family member to make cooking the corn worthwhile. RD gave that particular YES.

These series of YES's resulted in the family gathering back at the table after dinner.

Apparently we haven't had corn often enough for them to know that butter and salt makes sweet corn taste better. (Perhaps we don't go to the movies enough so they can't associate buttered popcorn with corn that is still on the cob.) Anyway, I had fun watching RD and MyGirl enjoy their corn; each of them going through the cob in their unique styles.

While eating, I was glad that when they said YES to getting corn from the grocery, I didn't convert the cost of those cut-up pieces of corn and hesitate to make the purchase. I'm glad that MyGirl reminded me this evening that she had said YES to wanting corn tonight, even if we had already cleared the dinner plates. I'm glad that RD said YES to wanting corn this evening though that didn't come as a surprise because he is my biggest fan when it comes to my culinary experiments.

Without these series of YES replies, we would not have found ourselves in that particular situation at that particular moment.

There is a whole range of impact and consequences for our YES responses in life. These sweet corn YES's are peanuts as compared to the "Yes, I will take the job" or "Yes, I will marry you" or "Yes, I will donate my kidney" YES's we sometimes make.

In hindsight, I am thankful that I was brave enough to make some life-changing YES replies. These include getting married, retiring from the Bank and being a stay-at-home mom for a while, compiling kidbits into a book, moving from one bank to another, migrating to another country, and more.

Today, I remind myself that I should likewise be conscious of the everyday YES's that may not result in life-changing or dramatic events. These simple YES's should be appreciated for what they bring.

It's Just a House

We watched the movie UP last Saturday at the Overflow at the Sydney Olympic Park. (More on the Overflow in another post.) If you've seen the movie, then you'd know that a big part of the movie showed Mr. Fredricksen's attachment to the house, both physically and emotionally. The house was filled with items which were special to him because they were part of his life with his deceased wife. The house and many of the items inside the house had special meaning to him.

Towards the end of the movie, after the big fight scene, the house fell off the Spirit of Adventure (the blimp of his childhood hero Charles Muntz) and floated away.

The young boy Russel, who knew how attached the old man was to the house, said, "I'm sorry about your house, Mr. Fredricksen."

To this the old man replied, "It's just a house."

He had finally LET GO.

D E T A C H M E N T.

Easier said than done.

That line expressing his detachment rang loud inside me. Earlier that morning we had responded to one of the FreeCycle offers which read, "I'm clearing the family home ready for sale after moving my elderly mother into aged care. On offer is the long list of household items below." And truly there were a lot of items in the list and many more at the actual site. We rummaged through the items hoping to get things which would be useful for the house. We were able to get a lot of good stuff.

There were really a lot of things in the house -- everyday things in fairly good condition -- furniture, appliances, books, notebooks, plates, kitchen items, etc. Surely these were things which the owner must have treasured and saved up for, collected and used over the years. I am sure there were a lot of memories attached to these things. I couldn't help feel sad for the old lady whose things were being given away.

The things which SHE treasured had now been downgraded to 'a long list of items' and were really 'just things' as far as her children were concerned.

Things which could be given away.

Things which maybe could be thrown away.

Things.

Just things.

Although it it true that all these material possessions are just things; and that in the end, we can't take these things with us and that none of these things will really matter. On one side, I see that one man's junk is another man's treasure. I am thankful that the children had opted to offer these items up at FreeCycle because many people, including me and my family, would benefit from her things.

On the other, I see detachment on the side of the old lady. I don't know if it was detachment by choice or detachment by circumstance. All I know is that all these beautiful items which were once hers are now being divided in lots among the many FreeCyclers in need of things. She was no longer attached to these things.

Perhaps now she is free.

Along Coolong

MacGyver passed his driving test yesterday so when the kids wanted to go to the park, he proudly announced that he could drive us there.

We went to the nearby Coolong Reserve. The place has netball courts, a very large grassed area, some picnic tables, a place for barbecues, concrete pathways, children's play areas which include swings, slides, monkey bars and a big climbing web.

This is one of my favorite views of the WEB at the park.

Can you see the diamond patterns?

We usually climb the web when we go to the park.

Here is MyGirl within the diamond patterns ...

... and RD within the hexagons.

That was yesterday.

We went back to the park today and I was able to get a picture of MyGirl within the square patterns.

Our main purpose for today's park visit was to log some biking minutes for RD. Prior to today, RD had a total of zero minutes on the bike here in Australia and possibly less than an hour of biking over all. And I desperately wanted him to learn how to ride a bike.

We were fortunate enough to get a good bike from his first cousin's first cousin and borrow a helmet from one of his cousins. The hitch to biking in Coolong is that we would have to walk to the park because the bike doesn't fit in the trunk.

So walk to the park we did.

When we got there, MacGyver patiently coached RD on how to ride a bike, how to press on the hand brakes, how to break his fall, etc. They went along the concrete walkways taking advantage of the available downhill paths. MyGirl rolled around on her scooter for a while before deciding to climb the spider web. While we were on the web, we watched RD from afar as he balanced himself and manoeuvred his bike.

I was amazed at his progress. He was actually riding a bike.

No major falls, no minor scratches, no tears. (No aching back for MacGyver.)

(RD and MacGyver are the tiny images in the background of this picture, right above the horizontal bar. This was RD's second run on the bike along the path.)

I was so happy for him.

As you can see, he was happy too.

Time to head back home.

I would say this will be one of the more memorable trips to Coolong, especially for RD.

Skype Reunion

We scheduled a Skype reunion the other day. I had sent of an excel file with our respective time zones and had blocked off time slots between midnight and 5 am (even if I know of family members that move furniture at 3am).

I thought it would be easier for us to get together since some family members had flown off to be with family or in-laws for the holidays. J was in the home country, Mindy had flown in on New Year's Eve to be with Eldest Sis, both Sunshine and Slash-M were spending Christmas and New Year's with in-laws. That meant we had less countries and time zones to juggle.

Given the countries and the time difference, the most feasible time slot I found was

9 am 04 Jan -- Sydney (me)

6 am 04 Jan -- Manila (Father, Mother, J and Z)

11 pm 03 Jan -- Spain (Sister Deer) and Sweden (Slash-M)

10pm 03 Jan -- London (London Eye and Sunshine)

5pm 03 Jan -- New Jersey (Jersey Girl) and Virginia (Eldest Sis and Mindy).

Most of us were able to log-in and chat. We got to hear Eldest Sis' daughter play the violin. I was fortunate enough to get GI to play the guitar for everyone to hear. It was an impromptu performance on his part. He wasn't looking at a piece or anything. He just played away -- Ouray by Andy McKee.

(Until I am able to get a video of GI playing, people will have to make do with the original artist.)

Cheap Thrills

GI has been DYING to try out one of the Mythbusters features -- how to tear a phonebook in half. I still can't figure out what all the fuzz is about but I allowed him to try it out just the same.

I'm not sure if this was the technique he applied but apparently he is not alone in these 'check out how strong I am' 'macho man' 'phonebook ripped in half' things.

Was GI up to the challenge?

Apparently so ... check out his "accomplishment for the day."

He tossed the phonebook into the recycling bin. He wanted to try it again but I said one is enough.

First Lesson of the New Year

Christmas often bring new toys and gifts for the children. The New Year gives them the opportunity to play with these things.

RD got a PAPER AIRPLANE 2010 calendar for Christmas. He placed the calendar on the bookshelf in the dining room and he has made one airplane so far. This led MyGirl to dig up the 365 Tiny Paper Airplanes we had included in one of our shipping boxes. GI received this several years back (it was a 2006 calendar) but had not folded up and made them into airplanes.

MyGirl worked on several planes one after the other. She would fold them up then let me see them. My question would always be the same, "Does it fly?"

After several folded planes and test flights, she came upon one which stumped her.

"What kind of airplane is this?" she said as she completed the plane. "It's called TWISTER."

Without even looking, I told her that it was something that would fly vertically and recommended she go upstairs and drop it down.

She was dubious but tried it nonetheless.

To her delight, the twister flew beautifully.

She immediately called her brother to check out her new plane. (He was busy playing with his DS and replied that they had made something like that in school last year.) MyGirl didn't care, she ran up and down the stairs and made the twister fall over and over again. She would call my attention before every flight so that I could see the plane fly.

There was a long break between two sets of flights and I assumed she was making a new plane. However, when she called me to look at the next two test flights, we were sorely disappointed. It was still her original twister but on both occasions, the twister failed to turn and simply plopped down as she let go.

"Ohhh," MyGirl sighed as the twister gave a dismal second performance.

I suggested that she re-fold the plane and try again.

"But I already glued it," she replied.

Eureka!

I explained to her that these airplanes are able to fly because the paper is light. Putting glue on the plane, I told her, weighed it down making it impossible for the plane to fly properly.

She immediately understood the consequences of her actions and decided to use one of the previously folded sheets to make a new twister. After a couple of minutes, she called out again to show me her new twister.

It few magnificently.

I am reminded of a story which (I believe) Sister Deer had once told me about how ducks constantly clean themselves to be free from dirt and mud. She said that they do this because if they are packed in muck they are unable to fly. Her point? In order to "fly" and reach heaven, we too should be clean and free from 'dirt.'

It is the start of the year -- the usual time for resolutions to be made. The New Year, just as each new day, gives as the opportunity to do the right thing. Besides, it never hurts to try to be better everyday.

Happy New Year, all. And Good Luck on all those New Year's resolutions.