Huwebes, Marso 15, 2012

"bida bes"

"bida bes"


When you think it doesn’t matter
if you fail or pass the test.
Keep in mind the reason why
you should always be your best.
While the whole world may not notice
if you tried to give your all,
there is a person in you
to whom it matters if you fall.
That little voice inside you -
which directs your thoughts each day -
will make the final judgement
if you won or lost each day.
Never can you fail yourself
if you give it all you’ve got.
The world extends a hand to you
when you give life your best shot.
For all that really matters
when you're finished with your test,
is not the final score at all -
but did you do your best?

Martes, Marso 6, 2012

"WAK-WAK" (Aswang)

     "Aswang" is a generic generic term applied to all types of witches, vampires, manananggals, shapeshifters, therianthropes and monsters. The original definition is an eater of the dead, also called the bal-bal (maninilong in Catanauan, Quezon), which replaces the cadaver with banana trunks after consumption. Aswang stories and definitions vary greatly from region to region and person to person, and no particular set of characteristics can be ascribed to the term. However, the term is most used interchangeably with manananggal and are said to be female in gender.

           Before modern medicine and science, aswangs served to explain miscarriages and other maladies. Today, aside from entertainment value, Filipino mothers often tell their children aswang stories to keep them off the streets and keep them home at night.
Like UFO stories, aswang stories are one of the favorites of sensationalist tabloids, especially when there are grave robberies, child kidnappings, strange noises, people with eccentric or peculiar habits, and other bizarre incidents that can somehow be attributed to them.
Stories of the aswang are popular in the Visayan region of the Philippines, especially in the western provinces of Capiz (a province on Panay Island), Iloilo and Antique. Capiz, in particular, is singled out by tabloids as an area of high supernatural activity: a home to aswangs, manananggals, giant half-horse men (tikbalang) and other mythological creatures. Many of those who live in Capiz are superstitiously inclined, and adorn their homes with garlic bulbs, holy water and other objects believed to repel aswang. Since the stories recount aswang eating unborn children, pregnancy is a time of great fear for superstitious Filipinos.
 The wide variety of descriptions in the Aswang stories make it difficult to settle upon a fixed definition of Aswang appearances or activities. However, several common themes that differentiate Aswangs from other mythological creatures do emerge: Aswangs are shape shifters. Stories recount Aswangs living as regular townspeople in meat processing professions by day. As regular townspeople, they are quiet, shy and elusive. At night, they transform into creatures that enjoy eating unborn fetuses and small children, favoring livers and hearts. Some have long proboscises, which they use to suck the children out of their mothers' wombs or their homes. Some also make noises, which are louder the further away the Aswang is, done to confuse its potential victim. They may also replace their live victims or stolen cadavers with facsimiles made from tree trunks or other plant materials. This facsimile will return to the victim's home, only to become sick and die. An Aswang will also have bloodshot eyes, the result of staying up all night searching for houses where wakes are held to steal the bodies.