ZEN Bitchin'

Dispatches from a foreign country

Month: June, 2009

The sound of silence

For two times in February 2008, a group of Filipinos here in Phnom Penh gathered to talk about the political climate in the old country and its implications on us. It was the height of the ZTE scandal, and we were fortunate to have Dinky Soliman and Father Ed dela Torre as speakers. I wrote [...]

Gone too soon

This is not the post that I planned to write in the new home of my blog. However, when things in our lives happen, you might as well throw that plan out the window. This morning I was astonished to see a breaking story in an on-line news site: Michael Jackson is dead at 50. [...]

I love u but I don’t trust u anymore

Trust is like a glass window pane, once it is broken, you can mend it in many ways but it will never be the same. I am speaking from experience. In my younger days I have done many things that have broken my parents’ trust. I spent the later years trying to make up for [...]

The heat is on in Saigon

On May 27, my friend D celebrated his 42nd birthday by going on a trip to Ho Chi Minh City (otherwise known as Saigon), a place he has never seen before. Having nothing better to do (one of the realities lived by a freelance worker), I tagged along. We planned to make this a photographic [...]

Untitled missives 2

II
It seems I’ve waited for
Far too long that I have
Forgotten what or who
I had been waiting for;
I have distanced myself
From people that now
I can’t figure out how
To behave in this circle;
Seems I have unlearned
All the nuances that made
Me so attractive before–
All I have now, aside from
This quick wit, are my
Sharp tongue and insecure
Heart beating furiously
Inside [...]

Untitled missives

I
Waking up from a dream
Of walking with our hands
Clasped and kissing you
On a deserted street,
My eyes squint against
The bright rays of morning,
Wondering for a moment
What could I be doing
Thinking that I’ve fallen
In love once again.
There are no answers
To my questions, no promises
To assuage my heart, and no
Prayers to pacify my soul;
Except for, perhaps, your
Lingering presence
In [...]