Quoted Phrases part 16

No matter how hard I try. I can't stay away from you. -- Pretty Little Liars S02E25

Pretending not to love you is the hardest thing I've ever done. -- Pretty Little Liars S02E25

It’s not okay. It’s absurd and outrageous and crazy, but I like you. I don’t like you because it’s okay to like you — it’s that because I like you, everything’s okay. -- My Girlfriend is a Gumiho Ep12 

I like you so much that now, I can’t stop there. I can’t pretend I don’t like you, either. All I can do is not show you that I like you. All I can do is keep from begging you to like me. If I’m going to slowly distance myself from you, I think I’ll have to run really hard. -- My Girlfriend is a Gumiho Ep12

Don’t come back! Are you doing this because I didn't say that I missed you? Last time you left without saying a word, and now you’re going to make nothing but a phone call and disappear? You go ahead and TRY to disappear like this. Where are you? Did you follow me all the way to the hospital for my check-up? And how is someone like that going to disappear from my side? Don’t move a muscle and wait right there! I’ll come find you. -- My Girlfriend is a Gumiho Ep12

Giving such false hopes. It's almost an assault. The most powerful venom in love is false hope. -- Dating Agency Cyrano Ep1

You're already prepared to accept your death. What are you afraid of? Focus in the present. Be happy in the present. Love in the present. That's the most important thing for you as the person alive at this moment. -- Dating Agency Cyrano Ep11

To live, do you have to have a grand reason? I live because my eyes open in the morning, because I still breathe. Why? If a person doesn't have a reason to live, does that mean he can't?  -- That Winter The Wind Blows Ep2

I'm in love with you. If you stay, I promise.. There's no safer place in the world than right here with me. -- Safe Haven (film)

When I first got the brain tumor, what I wanted was to be comforted. But they didn't console me. Forget comfort. They forced the 6 year old to be brave. So cruel. It's alright. The surgery won't be scary. You can beat it. Chemotherapy is nothing. (Instead of) It's okay to not be okay. Its okay to be scared. It's okay to cry. If people had said that to me, I probably would've cried a day or two and been fine. Maybe because I didn't get to cry then. Even now when I think about then, at age 6, the tears keep coming out. -- That Winter The Wind Blows Ep7

Sorcery is the sauce fools spoon over failure to hide the flavor of their own incompetence. -- Tyrion of A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

If we're gonna fight a disease, let's fight one of the most terrible diseases of all. INDIFFERENCE. I've been sent to your schools and heard people lecture on transference and professional distance. Transference is inevitable. Every human being has an impact on another. -- Patch Adams (film)

No man is a failure who has friends. -- It's A Wonderful Life (film)

It's not fun receiving a present that you've already known about. The most important aspect of a present is it's surprise and unexpectedness. The present that appeared at an amazing timing, as if it were a lie... was more touching than a miracle. -- Reply 1994 (tv series)

The unseen enemy is always the most fearsome. -- A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin (book)

That's not a house. That's termites holding hands. -- Epic (film)

Bakit nga ba nawawasak ang mga tao dahil sa pag-ibig? Simple lang yan. Dahil meron tayong tatlong deciding bodies. Utak, puso, at bird. Dapat balanse. Pero minsan nagsasanib pwersa ang puso at ang bird. At nagkukudeta sa utak. Dun nagkakaleche-leche. -- Bakit Di Ka Crush ng Crush Mo (film)

You consider playing around with someone as you go out with them a good memory? Do you consider not knowing that you're being played a fool and liking someone like an idiot... A good MEMORY? -- Orange Marmalade (manga)

The people that are the most giving, hard working, and capable of making this world better, usually don't have the ego and ambition to be a leader. They don't see any interest in superficial rewards. They don't care if their names ever appear in the press. They actually enjoy the process of helping others. -- Before Sunset (film)

Not wanting anything, isn't that, a symptom of depression? It's healthy to desire. -- Before Sunset (film)

Be nice to your parents while you still can. Don't regret it like I do. I was too busy getting used to working in Seoul. Do you know what he said before he passed away? He couldn't even breathe well.. but he told me to go. He said he was fine so I should go back to work. He was afraid I was going to be fired. How could he say that.. -- Reply 1997 Ep13 (tv series)

I never should have let you... let me go. -- Gossip Girl S01E10

Many things that seem threatening in the dark, become welcoming, when we shine a light at them. -- The Legend of Korra S02E10 (tv series)

Things you own, end up owning you. -- Fight Club (film)

Is this your first day doing business? Public sentiment is meant to be turned. One incident covers another (previous) incident. If there is another more major incident, public sentiment will lean towards it. It's the eternal truth. -- My Love From Another Star Ep5 (tv series)

That kiss, whom did you do it to? Was it to me, or did you kiss the girl that looks like me? Do you know what's the most complicated three way relationship in the world? The third party being a girl from the past.. How does one win against the beautiful memory of a girl from the past? -- My Love From Another Star Ep16 (tv series) 

Weird girl: Why are you being so nice to me?
Popular girl: Because you're letting me? -- The Breakfast Club (film)

Yung hope na yan lason yan. Parang drugs, nakaka-addict. -- Starting Over Again (film)

Wala na akong ibang mahanap na libangan bukod sa anime simula nung maghiwalay kami. Maski computer halos wala nang epekto. Ang totoo, halos lahat ng mga nakaugalian kong gawin lahat nagpapaalala sa akin sa kanya. Madalas sisnasabi ko na walang panahon para malungkot. Pero nagsusumigaw ako sa alahat ng tao para tulungan ako makalimot sa sakit na nararamdaman ko. -- Ang mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan by Bob Ong (book)

Walang tigil ang tao sa paggamit ng enerhiya. Lahat ng maaaring pagkagastusan ng kuryente, gagawin nila. Nabubuhay sila sa sistema ng pag-aani ng mga kayamanan ng mundo upang gawing lason at basura. -- Ang mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan by Bob Ong (book)

Sibilisado, pero hindi ayon sa sibilisasyon ng ganid na mundo. Hindi kami gumagamit ng teknolohiya; hindi kami nagagamit ng teknolohiya. Oo nga't napapadali nito ang buhay. Pero hindi kami nagmamadali. -- -- Ang mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan by Bob Ong (book)

Whenever you read a cancer booklet or website or whatever, they always list depression among the side effects of cancer. But, in fact, depression is not a side effect of cancer. Depression is a side effect of dying. (Cancer is also a side effect of dying. Almost everything is, really.) -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

What do you mean by meant? Given the final futility of our struggle, is the fleeting jolt of meaning that art gives us valuable? Or is the only value in passing the time as comfortably as possible? -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

What should a story seek to emulate? A ringing alarm? A call to arms? A morphine drip? Like all interrogation of the universe, this line of inquiry inevitably reduces us to asking what it means to be human and whether, to borrow a phrase from the angst-encumbered sixteen-year-olds you no doubt revile, there is a point to it all. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

He called it preemptive dumping. So maybe you have this premonition that there is something fundamentally incompatible and you're preempting the preemption. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

I'm like a grenade. I'm a grenade and at some point I'm going to blow up and I would like to minimize the casualties. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

You are not a grenade, not to us. Thinking about you dying makes us sad, but you are not a grenade. You are amazing. You can't know, because you've never had a baby become a brilliant young reader with a side interest in horrible television shows, but the joy you bring us is so much greater than the sadness we feel about your illness. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

Everyone in this tale has a rock-solid hamartia: hers, that she is so sick; yours, that you are so well. Were she better or you sicker, then the stars would not be so terribly crossed, but it is the nature of stars to cross.. The fault, is not in our stars. But in ourselves. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

What a slut time is. She screws everybody. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

Witness also that when we talk about literature, we do so in the present tense. When we speak of the dead, we are not so kind. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

You do not immortalize the lost by writing about them. Language buries, but does not resurrect. The dead are visible only in the terrible lidless eye of memory. The living, retain the ability to surprise and to disappoint. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

I tried to tell myself that it could be worse, that the world was not a wish-granting factory. That I was living with cancer not dying of it. That I mustn't let it kill me before it kills me. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

That's why I like you. Do you realize how rare it is to come across a hot girl who creates an adjectival version of the word pedophile? You are so busy being you that you have no idea how utterly unprecedented you are. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

The weird thing about houses is that they almost always look like nothing is happening inside of them, even though they contain most of our lives. I wondered if that was sort of the point of architecture. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

Contemporaneity specializes in the kind of battles wherein no one loses anything of any value, except arguably their lives. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

Some tourists think Amsterdam is a city of sin, but in truth it is a city of freedom. And in freedom, most people find sin. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

I cannot indulge your childish whims, but I refuse to pity you in the manner to which you are well accustomed. Sick children inevitably become arrested: You are fated to live out your days as the child you were when diagnosed.. You are a side effect, of an evolutionary process that cares little for individual lives. You are a failed experiment in mutation. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

The marks humans leave are too often scars. You build a hideous minimall or start a coup or try to become a rock star and you think, "They'll remember me now." But They don't remember you, and all you leave behind are more scars. Your coup becomes a dictatorship. Your minimall becomes a lesion. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

Okay, maybe I'm not such a shitty writer. But I can't pull my ideas together. My thoughts are stars I can't fathom into constellations. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

We are like a bunch of dogs squirting on fire hydrants. We poison the groundwater with our toxic piss, marking everything MINE in a ridiculous attempt to survive our deaths. I can't stop pissing on fire hydrants. I know it's silly and useless but I am an animal like any other. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

She is so beautiful. You don't get tired of looking at her. You never worry if she is smarter than you; You know she is. She is funny without ever being mean. I love her. I am so lucky to love her. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world, old man, but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices. I hope she likes hers. -- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (book)

I'm a SURVIVOR.

"Where I come from, almost everyone is a hero."

I've read somewhere in Africa there are different forms of rituals many indigenous tribe do, in order for their men to cross manhood. Torture. Scarring. Mutilation. Revolting ways to prove one's worth. Not to mention excruciatingly painful. Although that can be voluntary or coerced. Nowadays, men of stature have different ways to showcase their manliness. Pseudo-benevolence glorified by media. Indomitable strength veiling the puppeteer strings. Eloquent bravery from the stands of their comfort zones. As much as I don't want to admit, but even my fellow women have succumb to the hunger that eats up our society. I really have no intention in delving into the many ways people around the world exhibit unnecessary battles in order to feed their ego, protect their authority, and hold on to power. There are far better things to share.

"Where I come from, almost everyone is a hero." I read this from one of the circulating posts in Facebook about the recent calamities that befall our country. And oddly enough, I found that statement true to its roots. Dating back when we fought for our freedom countless of times against colonization and tyranny. Now, the modern day heroes are those who give their all in service to their fellowmen. The nurses, firefighters, rescue units, volunteers, and even the ordinary citizens. The underpaid. In a country run by leaders who leech off the citizen's taxes in millions, and yet, the first people who you'll see helping out are the underpaid. Neighbors help out neighbors. Orphans look after other orphans. Because, we can't rely on the magnanimous nature of the people we put or not, in power.

Everywhere you look in the news, or on the streets, people have in more ways than one, been affected by the calamities which changed their lives momentarily or forever. Many have lost their homes, livelihood, and people they love. It breaks my heart to read and hear about the misfortunes one has to endure on top of the others. I can't begin to attest which stories changed me more, but my own. I myself had suffered losses but I am still very grateful that the most important of them all is safe and secure, my family.

This isn't the first time I have experienced a calamity. Hardly. But the 7.2 quake that hit our neighboring island Bohol on October 15, was the first natural calamity I've ever had in that magnitude level. As all the others were hardly noticeable. This time around though, roads cracked, buildings collapsed, people died. Catastrophic. Fortunately, that day was a holiday. Schools and offices were closed. And the time it hit was around 8am where malls weren't even open yet. And as if by God's grace, it didn't happen on a Sunday or weekend where churches and tourist's spots would have been full. Because, most of the edifices that collapsed were centuries-old Catholic Churches that were built by our ancestors using crushed corals and beach sand which probably is the reason why it collapsed easily. Had it been any other day, one can't seem to fathom the tragedy it would have become. Everyone was just really thankful that most of us were safe. There were also homes that got destroyed especially that these are provincial areas where concrete houses are not a trend. And even the concrete ones wasn't spared either.

At exactly 8:12am, I was already in my dorm room at the 3rd floor in a 3-storey bldg wearing a green towel, while buffering a TV series on my laptop. I was about to take a shower before hitting the sack when suddenly I felt the floor shaking. I couldn't understand what was happening. I mean, I didn't know that was an earthquake, as I never (as far as I am aware of) had experienced one. It took me a few seconds to realize that I needed to get to safety. My initial instinct was to get out of the building as soon as possible. (Not really a wise move. Something I wouldn't recommend. I guess I forgot all my earthquake drill training.) I couldn't even remember to think about any of my possessions. Like my phone or even wearing a slipper. I went out with just my towel on. Jumping two steps at a time while dust and debris were falling on me but I didn't care. All I know is, I have to get out. It's as if, I felt that the building would collapse due to the intensity of the swaying that I could hardly even keep standing and running. As I got to the 1st floor, I saw some dorm mates squeezing in one plastic table and I remember, TABLE! But as I got out of the gate while the streets were full of barefooted people and some with just their robes and towels on too, I realized, my table was made of glass. Theirs was plastic. Not a great idea either. Even so, the shaking still hasn't stopped. People were panicking because we were surrounded by apartment buildings. Debris were falling as if there was endless supply of dust. Cars were jumping like they're weightless. Electric posts were in danger of falling over had it not been for the wires. It was pandemonium. Nowhere near to go where nothing will collapse on you. It won't be long until a stampede will break out. Fortunately, after a few minutes, mother earth's wrath finally subsided. However, it did not end there. No, far from it.

After it was over, people waited in silence. Like maybe a tidal wave will come or something. It was long before the mass settled down. But nobody went back to their respective buildings yet. Because they know, aftershocks will follow. And by golly, it did. Another one almost as strong as the first one. This time, I saw for myself how our dorm were swaying to the dance of mother nature. Trembling from the aftermath of running and adrenaline rush, I couldn't go back to my room to at least change into presentable clothing and get my phone to call my family. Breathing laboriously and getting chest pains, I needed my medicine. So I thought, it's now or never. I had to go back to my room. After that first aftershock, I hurriedly went back, changed clothes, picked up my laptop, phone, and medicine and went out as fast as I could muster. Called my parents, checked on everyone, asked my 21 year old niece to come over (as my apartment was just a walking distance from my family's area) because I felt like I might collapse anytime soon. We headed to my parent's place as I couldn't bear to sleep in my apartment knowing a multitude of aftershocks still awaits. Which in turn, lead me to move out from there and move back in with the rest of the fam. So much for going independent.

cracks in our dorm

debris on the stairs

Everyday for a couple of weeks, more than 5 aftershocks a day scares the living wits out of us thinking it might eventually become an earthquake itself. A month after, aftershocks are still being felt. And you can imagine how jumpy the working half of the population of Cebu had become. Consider working at the 11th floor of your building with magnitude 5 aftershocks everyday. Man, it's a miracle I didn't get a heart attack. And I couldn't even get a leave off work. It was as hard as it could get. But then, it doesn't stop there. No, again, far from it. Just a few weeks after the earthquake, we got a low pressure brewing which eventually became a tornado that ravaged the northern part of Cebu. Houses were damaged. Trees fell. Livelihoods in the provincial areas were affected. My brother and his family who lived in the north didn't expect it would turn out like that but fortunately they were all safe. Only had some roofs flying and surrounding trees fell to the opposite direction of their house. God is still good.

However, for the 3rd time, it did not stop there. Something far worse was brewing from the pacific sea, super typhoon Yolanda. Just a month after the earthquake and a few weeks after the tornado, an initially cited as a low pressure was slowly becoming a super typhoon. Most of us really didn't understand the gravity of the situation. The news reminders was as how they normally were. In a country where around 19 tropical cyclones or storms enter in a typical year and of these usually 6 to 9 make landfall, we are kind of used to the typhoons. As the storm was fast approaching, the news however were finally sinking in. But details as to the preparedness of the government doesn't seem to make sense. They keep saying it's a very strong storm which could destroy homes but the local government units (LGUs) in our area were not even giving instructions as to evacuations or rescue teams in the event of severe flooding. Our island was at signal number 4 so you would expect there would be rescue units on standby. But there wasn't. I guess you could say most of us didn't really know what to do as the last super typhoon that passed through our island was back in 1990. I was roughly 3 years old then. I vaguely remember a memory of me being shepherded to the 2nd floor of our 2-storey-house as the water level went up to 5 feet high. In our region we don't get too much super typhoons nor severe flooding as we are in the middle of the country so mostly, storms disperse as they hit the land. I felt it in my veins that this wasn't a normal typhoon. I knew that it will be cataclysmic. So I was anxious of the calm. Why no evacuations? Why are the other provinces not evacuating? Why are we storing food, batteries, water in homes if this was going to sweep it all anyway? It didn't make any sense. It was like waiting for an impending doom.

As the live telecast of Leyte was being forecast on the day typhoon Yolanda started to make landfall, the 30-minute difference it made to Tacloban's storm surge was the worst news you would like to see before power lines were cut as the typhoon started to make landfall in Cebu by 10am on November 8, 2013. The news of the 10feet water level in Leyte sent the rest of the provinces to be engulfed in panic. This was when people evacuated to schools and gymnasiums. Which also did not make any sense as schools were not considered that safe yet due to the prior earthquake and gymnasiums doesn't have floors. So if there will be flood, what now? Torn between staying home or evacuating. Both didn't sound safe anymore. You couldn't help but get consumed by the deadliest immobilizer of them all, FEAR. As they say, fear cripples faster than any implement of war. But what can you do, but face the storm.

The winds started howling. Houses shivered trying to hold ground. Rain splattered like there were hooves on the roof. It was scary. The sound was like something out of a horror movie. As we were gathered up inside the nearest gymnasium, because we finally decided to evacuate, I heard cries from children who apparently weren't as oblivious no matter how their parents try to soothe them. Even adults hide their anxieties and fear in shawls and hoods. As I stare at my family gathered and squeezing in with the others, I couldn't help but wonder how we are going to survive, again, if our house will be swept away. Our gymnasium becomes our temporary home. And I couldn't begin to think that it will be again. No. Not again.

It went on for almost 2 hrs. But the good thing on our end is that, there wasn't much rain water. It was mostly wind so there wasn't any flooding at all. Only flying roofs and blown down trees. There weren't any casualties on our area. We were waiting for news on the provinces who got directly hit by the typhoon. But there were no power. Radio wasn't much of a help too as they couldn't get any news from the other provinces. Until by the end of the day, when power went back, we got news that there still wasn't news especially in Tacloban where the typhoon first landed. Wow. So much talk Mr. President about preparedness. We had relatives in Ormoc that we were trying to get a hold of but it's as futile as getting proper news on TV. The anxiety of waiting, and waiting, and waiting about what happened to your love ones in the most affected area was something I couldn't even bear to dwell.

It was after 3 days when we finally heard news about my Aunt and cousins. They were able to evacuate just in time. I was particularly worried about my 82-year-old aunt as she is frail and sickly. I was glad they were all safe and sound. Their concrete house didn't suffer as much damage except for the flooding. But they needed medicine for my Aunt as she keeps getting chest pains, and no pharmacies were open, as well as water and food. I had to do donation drives for both them and the rest of the Yolanda victims. It wasn't much. But I know it can make a difference. Because no matter how small your help is, if everyone helps, it would be a multitude of relief goods that can save many. Because the more you spread the necessity to be involved, the more people GET INVOLVED. It's like paying it forward. A matter of awareness. During this time you'll realize that everyone can be a hero. Stories broke out about courageous civilians helping neighbors. Local and national artists launch donation drives. Almost everywhere you can see drop off stations for relief goods. Media campaigns were made to report the gravity in damages and the lack of help the victims are getting. There was no way the world could not get involved. The response was overwhelming.

And the rest is history.

It has been 3 months since then, where are we now? Back to the old routines. Back to day to day struggles. Back to old political debates. Some houses have already been rebuilt. Buildings have been reconstructed. Roads have been repaired. But how about our lives? What we've lost? Livelihood, livestock, jobs, shelter, belongings, and most especially loved ones? Who do we wake up for? That remains to be seen. Because no matter what, life moves on for the rest of the world. It doesn't stop for us. We have to get back up to survive. And we are definitely SURVIVORS.