Wouldn't it be awesome to live here?

Wouldn't it be awesome to live in this house and wake up to that view every morning of every day?

Nepali round houses along the Sarangkot-Naudanda hiking trail with Machapuchare in the distance

Amid a Confluence of Cultures in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala

It felt foreign yet familiar. In that Indian city high up in the Himalayas I found myself in the midst of a confluence of cultures, so exciting in its rarity and heartening in its spontaneity.  The temple of the Dalai Lama, just a few blocks away from McLeod’s main square, was teeming with visitors, but it was one of the most serene places I’ve been to. Its majestic prayer wheels--the ma ni lag ‘khor--never stopped turning, constantly set in motion by pilgrims from different corners of the world.

From where I was seated in that nondescript noodle house, I could see some women in woolen chuba or in Indian sari, Tibetan monks in maroon robes and travelers in head-to-foot Gore-Tex pass each other along the store-lined streets surrounding the square. Used to hearing the mantra om mani padme hum reverberating through the town,, I felt delighted when, in the middle of tasting my first ever hot momo soup, the Black-Eyed Peas’ Bebot started playing. "Filipino, Filipino. Filipino, Filipino. Hoy pare, pakinggan n’yo. Heto na ang tunay na Pilipino."  How surreal, I thought.  In that place, at that moment, I never felt more alive.

Left with the liberty of all those books

I realize that lust stands high in the list of deadly sins. And yet lust--the tightening throat, the flushed cheeks, the raging appetite--is the only word accurate to describe the sensation I felt that morning, as the painted door closed and I was left with the liberty of all those books. 

~ Geraldine Brooks, March, 2005

Lately

I’ve been rather preoccupied with several things lately – my Nihongo classes, our trip to the island of Boracay, my changing jobs and the never-ending travel plans, that always acts as my pick-me-up.

I did not expect the amount of time that learning Japanese demands.  I have to study incessantly for if I don’t I would fall back and it would be impossible to catch up and relearn everything.  The amount of words to memorize is just staggering.  I study almost every day, but I still cannot understand the dialogue in Japanese movies without English subtitles.

I am still trying to adapt to my new workplace.  I’ve been here for a week now and the culture is way different from the old one. The funny thing is that was mistaken for a fresh graduate.

My siblings and I recently went to Boracay where we celebrated the 18^th birthday of our youngest sister. Spending several days on the beach made me yearn for the mountains. Climbing a volcano in Indonesia is next on my list.