The agony and bewilderment with which I awoke after a tossing half sleep. It was a tad cumbersome to fall asleep last night after a nightmarish affair, I was devastated. My initial reaction to my problem was to cry, but I guess it did not come in handy. It has been a while since I [...]

It was breakfast time and I was sticking to the principle of trying to experience the local culture as realistically as possible. Padang is one of Sumatra’s largest cities and it is the jump-off point for most surfers who travel to that magical chain of islands nearby called the Mentawais. I was killing time in [...]

  A Different World Ever since I  was young, one of my dreams were to one day travel back to Vietnam, and visit my grandparents, who I’ve never met before. That day had come true when my sister, mom and I took off on a 24hr flight to Vietnam.  When we arrived I was so happy [...]

It was only ten in the morning and the salon was already filled with the scent of hair styling products and sounds of hair dryer. Lindy sat on the swirling chair as she waited for her turn. Although the hairdresser was quite a chatterbox with her high pitch voice that would hit and bounced every [...]

The bus driver slammed on brakes and we came to a screeching halt by the side of the road, setting off a cacophony of squawking chickens, bleating goats and swearing passengers. I craned my neck to see what had happened, but the only reason for stopping was that our driver had spotted more people who [...]

  At thirteen, Bibing looked every inch a young lady but was pretty much a child in many ways. She wanted to play but could not as she had to help augment the family’s meager income by selling merchandise around the town. She was the third of the 4 daughters one of which was a [...]

Lakshmi was busy preparing meals in the kitchen when she heard a scream from her bedroom. She was startled and hurried to the bedroom, wondering what on earth made her husband, Raju, scream so loudly. Meanwhile, Raju rushed to the kitchen to tell his wife about the disaster. Both of them almost ran into each [...]

(I am writing a script to assist people with an infallible way to succeed in life, based on my scientific and Vedic realizations. Modern man does not know that genetic energy and forces of Nature interact in fixed ways that old-timers called “natural truth” and classical science called “axiom.” That is why old-timers did not [...]

  LAND OF MIRACLES   Somewhere in India there lived a boy by the name of Satyajit. He was studying in the 6th standard and was staying with his aunt as his parents were posted in Australia. Summer vacation was drawing near and Satyajit was very happy, reason being he was going to meet his [...]

  My soles know no better than my heart Why my path leads to you. Their rough, lined skin a poor Protection against your call. The cracks on the heels Are the same as my heart’s. ~ FMJemena, U.P. Manila 1999