I’ve Got to Thank a Good Friend for This

Blogging is such a rewarding activity for me. Even though I don’t get much money from blogging, I am rich when it comes to the great people I met online. And one of them is Mariel who is one of my first blogger friends.

Thank you Mariel for this award:

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I am glad that she likes what I write here. ^_^

So to keep the ball rolling, I would like to show to all of you some of my favorite blogs/bloggers:

Mariel – she may not update her blog most of the time but I always like reading her posts or just looking at the many pictures that she post. This girl likes to travel and her stories give some idea what place to visit next.

Suitapui – I make sure to drop by his blog regularly and drop some comments. I like to read the delectable foods that he posts. It is a kind of a cultural exposure for me. Also, he is one of the nicest fellow I met in the blogging world.

Tine – she is the most “makulit” friend that I have on Twitter. She is one busy student and only updates her blog when her free time permits. But still, I like to read her “makulit” posts.

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Marvin the Martian Meets Cherry Blossoms

The good thing about having friends is that they can throw you some surprises. I was indeed surprised when two of my far-away friends gave me unexpected gifts for even if there is no special occasion.

Cherry Blossoms

I am glad to receive a letter from my friend in Japan. He is my classmate in one of my subjects during my first year in the University of the Philippines. Apparently, he remembered me as the very first person who talked to him when he came to the university. He is an Ifugao and came from the Mountain Province. I never met him again after the end of my freshman years.
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This is another addition to my collection of personal mementos.

So, I much surprised to receive a letter from him and some petals of Sakura Blossoms. Very nice! I am yet to reach Japan but I already touched the flowers that are famous in animes.

And this Time Its Marvin

I was also surprised last week when a large package came to my home. To my surprise it is a very big Marvin the Martian pillow.
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He points a gun at me while I sleep. Bad Marvin!

Marvin the Martian is my favorite Looney Tunes character and I am so glad to receive this kind of surprise gift. My friend gave me this as a treat for my friend’s first salary. Because I am so glad, I have changed my Facebook profile picture into this image of Marvin the Martian.
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 I am very angry. ^_^

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Visit Ahab Reviews and Tips and read about my tips on how to haggle in the markets in the Philippines.

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First Needles from the Haystack

Three is this day's lucky number. Today is the third year anniversary of my blog, Before the Eastern Sunset. It is three years ago since I first posted my very first blog post in this blog. I remember during those days that I wrote nothing other than things the rumblings of my hopeless romantic heart. Thankfully, I overgrew those things and I wrote on things that interests me and. This blog had been my online companion for these past three years and it still help me in giving me a diversion from the stressful activities of my daily life.
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For the third year anniversary of my blog, I would like to look back and thank those people who became my very first pals here in my blog. They are the ones who inspired mo to go on writing. Without their comments and continued visits, this blog may not reach its third year. These people have their own blogs but some of them already stopped blogging. Many of them are still visiting me constantly and always have time to say “Hello.”

Active blogger or not, I am still thankful for them:
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 Claire

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Who first visited on my blog post “Two Weeks Without TV and Other Things”

Lester Cavestany
Who first visited me on my blog post, “Justice for Chris Mendez.”

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 Mark Angelo
Who first visited me in “Unlucky Friday.”

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 Allan Baredo (Lantaw)
Who first visited on “On Working Abroad.”

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Mariel
Who first visited on my blog post, “Laiya Aplaya.”

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 Megumi
Who first visited on “Lots of Thanks and Some of that Reminiscing Too.”

Liza (Azil)
Who first visited on “Prince Caspian.”

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TIN
Who first visited on “Operation Valkyrie.”

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Mai-Mai
Who first visited on “Joint Security Area.”

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Xprosaic
Who first visited on “Happy Mother's Day Mama.”

Finding friends like them are like finding needle in a haystack. But thanks to them, I persevered in blogging and found more great friends. Thanks be to GOD.

Of the bloggers mentioned here, the only inactive is Mark Angelo. I guess he is busy with his. work It would be great if start blogging again.

I got the idea for this post from good friend Bluedreamer.

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Visit Ahab Reviews and Tips and read about how dangerous Cubao is for commuters.

Picture of number three came from Lost in Your Inbox.

Happy Mother's Day

Ah Mothers!

What will happen to all of us if they do not exist? Obviously, we will also not exist.

Our mothers are the ones who gave us our lives. They are the ones who endured the sleepless nights, when we are just little babies, so as to keep us safe and comfortable. They are the ones who cry first on all of our failure and they are the first ones who are delighted to our all of our success. They are their prop us up when we fell.

My friend just sent me an SMS message that goes like this:

"I believe in love at first sight. Since the very first day that my eyes opened, she is the one I first saw and the very first person that I loved. I love you mom."

How true! We learned to love because we are loved by our mothers.

For this special day, let me greet my blogger friends who are mothers - who are great mothers. I am giving this little token for their being great moms for their kids.

This badge is for my dear mother, who is always there for me. I am also offering this token to my blogger friends who are great mothers.

Happy Mother's Day to Faye, Mai Mai, and Marites.

The Mother's Day badge was obtained from Wonder Clip Arts.

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Visit Ahab Reviews and Tips and read about my review of the novel, Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jane Auel.

A Grace of Friendship

I went to Davao two years ago to gain further experience in practicing my profession as an engineer. However, without foresight, I had also gained a good friendship that survives up until now.


Megumi had been a best pal even though he had just met for a few moments and were separated by a great distance. Due to her, I began to believe that friendship is not just based on how many times friends have seen each other personally. Friendship relies heavily on the sincerity that friends share with each other.


In our life, people come and go but there are those who stick with us in the time of happiness and in the time of distress. These people are what we human beings treasure greatly and what we call as friends.


Thankfully, I thank God to have sent me to Davao to meet a good and sincere person that is Megumi.

Also, drop by Ahab Reviews and Tips and read about COMELEC’s precinct finder.

Awards for Friendship

Good things are continuously coming my way and to all the blogs that I author. Just last week, I was gladdened to receive a very special award from a blogger friend named Mariel. This award is the Friendship Award.

I did not expect to meet nice people and good friends through blogging. But I did and to hell with my expectations. I am happy to have met many interesting people through my blogs. I am glad that I interacted with other bloggers through their comments and interactions with Twitter and Facebook. I am blessed to have argued and debated with other people that fought aggressively for their political beliefs. But the best of all is the friendship that I forged with other bloggers even though they just know me through my nom-de-plume (Oh yes, ma’am and sir, Ishmael Ahab is just a pen name).

As a token of gratitude and appreciation, I am also giving this award to the special people who always have time to give this humble blog a visit. I give the Friendship Award is given to my friends Bluedreamer, Mariel, and TIN.
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These people share more than comments and links on my blogs. They also make my blogging career more worthwhile. Thank you very much to you Mariel, Bluedreamer, and TIN.

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Visit Ahab Reviews and Tips and read my travel post, “How to Go Around Intramuros.”

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Block and Hide

Blog posts ago, I mentioned about a friend of mine who cut off all means of communication between her and me. Guess what, I just discovered that she blocked me in Facebook. She "unfriend" me in Facebook and enabled its blocking mechanism against me. Thus, from my account, I am not able to see her Facebook page. She does not also appear in the friend's lists of my other friends who are her friend too. If I search her name in Facebook, the only result is a man with this profile picture.

So there goes my very first time to be blocked by a friend (or ex-friend) in Facebook. It is amazing that she will go to that effort just to evade payment of her debt. She could do that but the world is too small for her to hide forever.


Visit Ahab Reviews and Tips and read about my tips on how to block earblocks will riding an airplane.
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My First Award in Blogging

I just want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Bluedreamer in giving my very first award in my two years (or so) as a blogger. I am glad that he found me worthy to receive such an honor.

The blog award that he gave me is the “Blogging for Friendship Award.”

This award made me contemplate on my reasons on blogging. Why do I blog? What are the reasons that compelled me to create Before the Eastern Sunset? Are my current motivations in blogging the same with the motivations I had when I began blogging?

I do not blog for friendship. I created this blog to find an outlet to all the loneliness that was locked up inside of me after my very first break up in my very first intimate relationship. During those days I posted works that chronicles my regrets and anxiety that grows everyday. That was a long time ago, now I blog because I love blogging. I like sharing my experiences to anyone who cares to read my posts. I like to help those who need information on the same things that I experienced, the places that I went, and the problems that I solved. I also love the conversation that ensues every time a blog post is made by me or my blogger friends. Blogging enables me to have a distraction on the monotony of my routine of home-work-home. It keeps my head sharp and makes the creative part of me alive by creating loads of articles each week.
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I do not blog for friendship, but then again, my motivations for blogging only proves that, just like the way I am in the real world, I love having friends online. Blogging enabled me to do just that.



Bluedreamer is a wonderful blogger, visit his blog, Feed Your Mind.
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