— witsandnuts

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February, 2010 Monthly archive

This is one of the mosques that I see everyday. This accommodates one of the many male Muslims that regularly pray. Normally, the females pray in a private (prayer) room. Although there is plenty of mosques in the UAE, it is still not enough and/or not strategically located to accommodate the population. Hence, those praying near and by the beach is also a daily sight for non-Muslims like me.

The mosques may come in different colors and structure, but the crescent moon over there stays quite the same. And yes, today is the (Muslims’) Prophet Muhammad’s birthday.

This is my entry for this week’s photo hunt (theme: daily).

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This morning I submitted this to thisiswhyyourefat.com.

What are you giving up for Lent?

I don’t mean to sound preachy. I just thought of sharing the jist of the few articles about fasting that I read recently. After all, I’m one of those who are guilty of finding a perfect opportunity to trim weight during the Lent through fasting. Some of us give up meat, sweets, and other stuff that seem to be a hard habit to break, in order to fast.  But why do we really fast?

Fasting is about abstaining from food for spiritual reasons. A hunger strike done by some groups even for a good cause and diet programs are not a fast because they are for vanity and/or other reasons.  We should fast:

  • So that our hearts will focus on God alone. In fasting, it is important to know why we are doing it. If there is no purpose, the practice is meaningless. As we fast, the motivation, sincerity and determination intensifies.
  • So that what controls us is revealed to us. We discover that it is not food that sustains our lives;
  • To uncover what is not essential to us. Our desires are often reckless, and they take over our lives. We crave for many things that we actually don’t need. By fasting, we feel the degree of control they have on us and we gain the opportunity to overcome them. The harder it is to fast, the stronger our desires grip us. But the more we fast, the faster we become free from them.

Isn’t it wonderful when we really know and appreciate why we’re doing something?

Related readings:

*Why we put ashes on our forehead

*Related points on fasting

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champorado at dilis

I had a fresh from the fridge chocolate rice porridge (champorado) with milk in it and dried anchovies sent from home (dilis) for today’s dinner. I set the AC to the max, enough for me to chill. It’s best to eat this perfect sugary and salty combo when it’s cold/rainy. Yes, mind over matter. As they say, dilis is Pinoy’s french fries so you should eat it with a hand.

PS. Excuse the vase (a coconut milk bottle). I actually don’t have a decent vase because I don’t maintain fresh flowers on a regular basis. Those are Valentine’s left overs. It’s good that I realized to replace the vase before taking a photo, otherwise I’m at the risk of being found out that I made my previous company’s mug as temporary vase. ;)

Have you tried the champorado and dilis combo? If not, you’re missing a lot.

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My weekend was full packed. Half of it was mainly devoted to mentoring students. It’s satisfying when you are able to find a means to make a difficult and really intimidating subject appears sort of easy. I was happy to have seen those enlightened faces. Call it coincidence. But that day, my dose of GodWhispers read like this:

Dear Jo,

Do your due diligence. I have given you a brilliant mind. Use it. I have also given brilliant mind to others – so use their minds as well. Seek out mentors and teachers and wise guides in this journey. I have littered your world with many of them.

Your Light,
God

PS. Mentor others, too, Jo. I will send you students.

Coincidence, eh? God is always on time. And I was given a bonus. I got (another) care package from my family/relatives: Choc Nut, curly tops, flat tops, wiggle mallows, banana chips, anchovies, boy bawang, Cloud 9, and more (not in the photo). I felt I was energized 5 times! See, I’m easy to please. Just give me food. Hahaha. I mean, the right kind of edibles. :-D

And it didn’t end there. It’s amazing how they could have read my mind. No one knew that I was planning to buy Twisted 8 and 1/2 this March and I got it as a gift, heehee. While going to Sagada is still impossible at this point, my closest cousin is passing over traces of it through this sling (and she gave me a traveling bag in 2008, with the same color/material, too). And the Flip Mino HD (it can videocord for continuous 60 minutes, oddly it’s not yet available in the UAE) contains a number of captured moments of them. As I watched, I was grinning and crying (because it made me miss them) at the same time.

That day was priceless.

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The bride and the mother at the wedding reception.

Weekly photo hunt is hosted by tnchick. See more cuddly photos here.

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