“𝗛𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲; 𝗜 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲.” -𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 3:30

These are St. John the Baptist’s prophetic words that I am taking inspiration from in my post today. This week leading and up to the Holy Week, I will not be posting #mycoffeecupreflections. I am humbly giving way to other online reflections that are better and more relevant to the holy season of Lent. I find the following sites very helpful in doing daily meditations:

https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/reflections/lent

https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/lent.../72794

I am sure you can find more. Let us journey together, embrace the cross of Christ and renew ourselves in Him. And as the popular song goes:

𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛

𝑆𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑒𝑑

𝐴𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒

𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑'𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠

𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒

𝑊𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝, 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒, 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑, 𝑇𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒

See you again on Easter Sunday.

Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

Two days ago, my daughter Nikkei received an email she wrote to herself 5 years ago using an app where you set the time when to receive every letter you wrote. In it were her thoughts about her life then as a student, her outlook into the future and many useless products of her 18-year old imagination. She started with a greeting, "Annyeong!" That was the year she started with her Korean transformation. Ain’t that cool?

Actually, this is one of the reasons why I write daily reflections. This’ll serve as the chronicle of my life that I can look back on 5 or 55 years from now. Memories that one twisted-minded like me would normally do not remember. Stuff that my grandchildren’s grandchildren may read about if the English we write and speak now would still exist by then. They will have stories to tell their kindergarten classmates about their not so great great-great grandfather’s recorded mistakes and how he managed to rise and fall again from them. And wrote and laughed about them, too.

I’ve also kept a copy of most of the letters I wrote when I was still working in Saudi. Some hilarious, others hilarious. I might write about some of them in this platform. If I don’t forget.

Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

If you’re the man of the house, male or female, I’m sure you’ve heard of WD40. Yep, the best 20th century invention spray that lubricates and loosens rusted bolts and solves a million+1 problems.

Andre was cook-in-charge fixing Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup for lunch yesterday. He was doing the latter part when a loud "OH MAH GASH!" was heard coming from the kitchen. I rushed to check what went wrong. As soon as I got into the heat of the matter, it was clear to me what transpired seeing him carefully scoop the battery-operated pepper mill out of the boiling soup. It apparently slipped out of his hands while seasoning. I immediately removed the batteries, washed off the soup with running water, dried it a bit and sprayed a good amount of WD40. Before dinner, I towel-dried the gadget and installed back the batteries to check if it still works.

Ladies and gentlemen, angels and saints -ja, it verks!

WD40 may just be what the world needs to end this pandemic. Never stay home without it.

And oh, the soup? It was electrifying!

Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

I made hummus from scratch. No, I didn’t plant and harvest sesame seeds, chick peas, grapes, olives and garlic. I harvested them from the supermarket. I prepared the tahini myself, opened the can of chick peas, crushed garlic cloves and processed the whole thing. But along the way, I miscalculated the recipe amount of lemon and garlic. Instead of the usual 1 clove, I put 2 and instead of 1 lemon, I used 2. The end product: much, much better! Ha! Perfect with fresh carrot and cucumber sticks. And spread on sourdough toasts, I am salivating already. My vegetarian family and neighbors loved it.

Many good inventions were products of accidents and odd science. My hmmm hummus, it’s one of them.

Don’t be afraid to make experiments and fail because a failure according to established standards may prove to be the next big thing.

Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

I cheated. You don’t have to tell my wife or my kids because they already know. They were with me. We all cheated. I broke my lent sacrifice of eating vegan -nothing that had eyes, nothing that had a mother. I ate 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙖 (spanner crab) cooked in sweet-spicy sauce in the tradition of Makasutra Gluttons Bay in Singapore. I had good reasons for eating. Ask me, "What?"

One: Our host told us that the persons who fished them out of the deep, dark waters risked their lives so other people may eat and enjoy. It was an appropriate response to eat to honor their sacrifice.

Two: I was hungry.

Three: I haven’t eaten this big a 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙖 ever in my life before. Ever! I only had to eat half and history will be made.

Four: I was very hungry.

Five: I was reminded of the time in Singapore with my family when I was still living as a normal carnivore. Nothing bad reminiscing while employing the taste buds, eh?

Six: See no.4. Add another very in the middle of the sentence.

So there. I confess. May you not find in your hearts to judge me in my weakness. Don’t we all fall sometimes? I’ve only just vegan.

Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

Yesterday, I had a face-to-face meeting with a client for an important project. My first in many months. The office is a medium-rise building with the first few storeys used for parking. And parking is the heart of this reflection.

Yesterday I found out the they’ve switched the entrance and the exit points of the building without anyone informing me. I drove thru the exit to enter. I did hear a guard shouting "HOY!!!" but I ignored it because HOY isn’t my name. When I got to the exit barrier, a few more guards were there signaling to me like it was the end of the world. One even muttered something that cannot be written here although I wasn’t able to hear it anyways because my windows were shut -haha!

As I drove back to where I entered, I saw the biggest sign only the biggest idiot will miss: EXIT ONLY. Ya, I missed it because I was so dang sure it was the entry. I’ve learned that many of the things that I have gotten accustomed to have changed due to the pandemic or to the global warming or to the alignment of the asteroids in heaven.

I will be more observant. Next time.

Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

The shower in our ground floor T&B hasn’t been used in years. I remember the last time I tried, water kept squirting in all directions through its valve. A few days ago, I thought of replacing the valve which has been sealed with all sorts including Teflon and rubber tapes. Removing it is a major production that requires the outdoor valve in the main pipe line to be closed. So no water for the meantime.

Bringing the sample valve with me, I went to every hardware and Home Depot store within 5kms radius of our toilet. Nada. The valve isn’t of today’s standard anymore. After spending an entire morning and half-a-tank of gas, I went back home conceding to a future of chipping off a big chunk of the bathroom wall to replace the entire valve assembly.

So replace the old valve I did and re-opened the main valve forgetting the rubber sealants that I initially removed. To my surprise, there was no leak! And the shower worked! Right there and then, I showered with all my clothes on in celebration. Miracle in toilet no.1.

Not everything rendered useless before may not necessarily remain useless forever. Including old ideas. And human brains.

Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

At breakfast this morning, our guest breakfaster -neighbor Ralph, pulled the last paper towel in the pack. Not wanting to proceed with the meal without it, I immediately rose to get a fresh pack from the stack. Each is packed in a plastic wrap that has perforations on top where you pull one out. I wanted the slit to be perfect so I used a sharp industrial-grade blade to cut it open. Happy seeing the perfect opening, I tried to reach for the first perfect pull to prime all pulls.

Then the big miscalculation reveal: I cut on one vertical side instead.

Then I just ripped thru the perforations on top with my bare fingers.

Mornings may. Mornings may not. 𝘔𝘪 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯̃𝘢𝘯𝘢.

Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

He approached me as I was washing my car, crossing the street from their house fronting ours. His little hands were greasy, one holding a piece of thick bacon, while the other tried to reach out for mine. He couldn’t mutter a word with his mouth so full. The little boy that I’ve not seen before wanted me to bless him by taking my hand and pressing it against his forehead in the Filipino tradition of Mano Po. He caught me by surprise because I am sure the 3- or 4-year old scrawny little lad was just a visitor who probably thought he saw in me someone he knew from before, like a dead grandpa or an old kindergarten principal. Maybe. I don’t know.

But I obliged. Not by giving him my hand but by just placing my hand on his head and said, "God bless you."

I’m pleased that he did because it’s been a while since someone, family or stranger, dry or greasy had asked for one. This pandemic has taken this tradition away from many of us. Kids and younger people just blow a kiss or do an air Mano Po when they see older people. I’m saddened because for me, Mano Po is one of the best traditions of Filipinos showing respect. I hope that when this is all over, the good old traditions will come back. And we all can embrace each other again.

To all my readers that I respect much and pray for everyday, Mano Po!

I raise this cup to you all. Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

My skin is showing its true color. I mean, literally its state of decay -afterall, this is over half-a-century old. Our daughter, Nikkei, who can be a spokesperson for Korean skin care industry, suggested that my wife and I, use moisturizing products after shower and before sleeping to somehow conceal the obvious: my 61-year old skin and my wife’s, err, skin (I still value my existence here on earth). But who are we kidding? I don’t think that there are products out there, no matter how expensive and how difficult to pronounce, will magically transform these good-for-wineskins covers into TV-commercial grade.

But we do it anyway. Everyday. And when we touch each other’s hands after, it makes us feel better thinking our skins are soft and supple, if only for a few minutes until the scent disappears. This is one of them things when you say: Be content and making the most with what you have. Yep, skin, hair, liver spots, bald spots inclusive!

I raise this cup to wisdom years. Cheers! #mycafenotes

I would have made good career in advertising or marketing. Because of my deranged mind, I can get creative juices out of it. Like when I’m alone in the car and driving, I would "edit" billboards signs and business names. Good thing tints in my car windows are dark enough no one can see me laughing at my own thoughts. If you’re thinking of a business name, check these out:

Foot spa - 𝙎’𝙥𝙖𝙖

Skin Care, Facials - 𝙎𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

Resto offering Oriental & Euro dishes - 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙀𝙖𝙩𝙨 𝙈𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙨

Veggies and Stuff - 𝙆𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙆𝙚𝙣𝙜 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙆𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙆𝙤𝙣𝙜

Nail Spa - 𝙆𝙖 𝙆𝙪 𝙆𝙖 𝙆𝙚 𝙆𝙖 𝙆𝙪𝙠𝙪̂ (for Kapampangans only). In English, 𝘾𝙖 𝙘𝙪 𝙘𝙖, 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙘𝙖 𝙘𝙪 translates to "You are mine, I am yours," while 𝙆𝙪𝙠𝙪̂ is nails.

Keeping my mind active maintains its sharpness and allows for new and good ideas to enter. Tho’ ideas in the opposite spectrum also enter but I know my guardian angel shields me from them better than what all the Avengers and Justice League heroes combined can do.

Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

Whenever I feel that my cellphone browsing is already excessive, and office/business work is done, and I don’t find the right inspiration to write, and there’s nothing to eat, and I’m too lazy to work out, and it’s not a run day, I do less-mental, non-gastronomic activities like going out to wash the car, doing the laundry, practicing my back swing for muscle memory and looking for things to put away that would contribute to project minimalism. I just don’t want to feel so useless swiping and liking online especially if I’m aware that there’s something better and more productive tasks that I can do. I refuse to be a slave to my cellphone.

And then, when I run out of options after the less-mental activities, I join my family in checking out the latest posts on FB and IG. Life in the pandemic. I know, right?

Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

When I was a struggling Christian, I was taught to read Psalm 91 every night before I sleep. After weeks of reading it everyday, I’ve memorized the words that whenever I feel some bits of danger any time of the day, I would recite it knowing that God’s words …will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Is 55:11). True to the words, I’m always comforted with the thought of angels guarding me in all my ways.

Now, my family and I recite one Psalm every night during our family prayer time. We’ve memorized several more chapters of the Psalms, some canticles, and my favorite, John 1:1-18. Believe me, every time I recite this, there is a new revelation to me about Jesus, my Savior. The Word. That became Flesh. That dwelt among us. Amazing!

Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

We have an orchard. Actually, it’s a garden. To be honest, it’s just a plant box pretending to be a garden, pretending to be an orchard. It measures no bigger than my ego when I shot the basketball in the opposing team’s goal way back in HS. In it, I tried planting tomatoes, papaya and basil. It receives a good amount of sunshine everyday and I also talk to the plants about ten good things everyday as suggested by a K-Drama. So far, I have only harvested frustrations, disappointments and bitterness.

The silver lining in all these is a pomelo tree that’s been growing in it and for the first time in a decade now bears fruit, laden with it. I’m talking about dozens of pomelo fruits. In fact, I have harvested a few ripe ones. Result: it’s no pomelo. Rather, it is a calamansi pretending to be a pomelo. It’s size, shape and smell is that of a pomelo but it’s taste: super ultra sour calamansi! Pretenders in my front yard.

Never judge a fruit by it’s anatomy. Lesson learned.

Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

I was a helpless subject to the powers of Mother Nature.

Take your bet: who has the upper hand?

𝘈 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘣 + 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 + 𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺;

-𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘴-

𝘈 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 600 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 -𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴.

With the money I earned working abroad for five years, I’ve invested in poultry business as a contract grower for one of the biggest food conglomerates in the country. Several months into the operations, we were able to harvest well. But a few days after the second batch of day-old chicks were delivered, Mt. Pinatubo, an angry volcano 35kms away, exploded. Thatched nipa roofs of the henhouses collapsed under the weight of thick volcanic ash made wet by heavy rains. Gas burners and heaters that were used to warm the chicks also caused a fire that barbecued nearly 10,000 chicks.

If you bet on the noob, you lose!

For the sake of the crowing rooster, the good volcano had 600 #%^&* years to crack but it chose this time! Had I bought a second hand Ferrari or several Patek Nautilus watches, I would have made more money flipping them than the revenue from a million drumsticks. But I knew very little then. No knowledge in business. No knowledge in volcanic eruptions. What I knew was lighting design. But I was a sleeping volcano, too.

All along, the business I was made for was right under my nose but it still took me another 20 years to finally get into it. Another 20 #%^&* years. In hindsight, I think the eruption was a wake up call I failed to heed. Still, God was patient. He waited. I am thankful.

I raise this cup to the Great Light. Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

If my life’s foundation is made of concrete, then failure is one of the main composites. Let me share with you two episodes in this excitingly boring life of mine.

One. I was an innocent subject to the effects of institutionalized corruption. I failed the licensure exam for Electrical Engineers. There were 3 subjects: Electrical Engineering, General Engineering and Math. I got 90s in the first 2 but in Math, my favorite subject, I got a 69. I thought this can’t be. I was confident I got all problems right because right after, my friends and I chewed over and analyzed each and every problem. I got them all right!

In all the schools that I’ve attended from elementary to college, I’ve never failed or repeated a subject. Not a brag, just a fact. I knew I had to do something. Equipped only with guts and shaky nerves, I went to the office of the Professional Regulation Commission in a brave attempt to fight the unbeatable foe. I was showed my Math papers with a red mark of 69. They were not my "official" papers but SCRATCH papers! And wow, I thought, my scratch papers scored 69! I asked that I’d be allowed to see the Math papers of those who made the top 10 list. Not granted. Those were the days when exam papers were allegedly switched because no names were written on the exam papers -only seat numbers. I took the next “remedial” Math exam and breezed thru it.

Later in life, I learned that school grades are not foremost in forming a child’s character especially when we homeschooled our children. Christian values are. Thankfully, I rebounded from that failure.

Part two is business failure. But that’s for tomorrow.

For now, cheers! #MyCafeNotes

I’ve been in this lighting business since I was 23 when I first worked abroad and the light has been burning brightly since. I have worked with several multinationals, as a free-lance consultant to a lighting manufacturer and finally established #toespin more than 10 years ago.

But lighting wasn’t in my standard answers when asked, "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱?" As a cute but mischievous kid, I actually wanted to be an astronaut, watch the planets revolve around the sun and study stars exploding into supernova. Also, there were no local schools that did student exchange programs with NASA or JAXA. And my dear 𝘛𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨 was too busy farming rice to help me apply for one.

From supernova to incandescent to LED lights -that has been my journey to where I stand now. The not-so-bright-side of this is that every time I enter a building, a house, a toilet, I look up. My eyes have been trained 30+ years toward lights. Hard not to anymore.

But above all, the brilliant side of it is that every time I see light, I know that the Greatest and Brightest Light of all is the One that I serve. Sort of I bring light to others through it.

Delightful, ain’t it? Cheers! #MyCafeNotes

Calculated Risk. I had to switch proposals while the City Mayor wasn’t looking.

Working in a multi-national, I submitted a proposal to the good mayor worth millions for a sports stadium project that the city government was building in preparation for an international event. Problem was that the prices I quoted were incorrect, below actual cost. The sooner I switch, the better chances I get without him or any of his team finding out.

Now you have to understand that this Mayor was well body-guarded with bulky men carrying long firearms. He once asked me who was taking lead in his project for the lighting supply. I told him it was me. "Oh good," he says, "I just need to know who to shoot if something goes wrong!" He said that in jest, I think. Or I chose to think so but still, his bodyguards were present when he said it. One word, one gesture, I’m done.

Also, he offers coffee to his visitors and pours and serves it himself. That, dear reader, was the factor in my calculated risk.

I went back to his office a day after I gave him the incorrect proposal. It was fastened to a brown folder parked on a tray right in front of where I sat. All throughout that day before the meeting, I was praying for only two things to happen: one -that he offers me coffee, and; two -that if he didn’t, the world ends right then and there.

"Coffee, René?" Hallelujah!!

"Yes, Mayor. Thank you. 10 sugars and 12 creamers, please" The longer he makes the coffee, the more time I have to execute the mission.

Right then, like in many events in my life, the sound track of Mission Impossible began playing in my mind. He turned his back towards the bureau where the coffee machine was set up to fix his and mine. I immediately reached for the revised proposal, took the folder, unfastened the old, made the switch and replaced the folder. All in under 29 seconds!

When he turned back to serve me the coffee, I was already wearing my sunglasses -a la Tom Cruise. Mission accomplished. The deal was signed.

Warning: Kids, please don’t try this at home or anywhere else. Unless you have carefully calculated the risk.

I raise this cup to risk takers. Cheers! #MyCafeNotes