ABC STARS Inspires

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” - Mark Twain A SUITCASE was built to last in the early days. I was an eager young traveler with my family waiting for the bus at the terminal. I sat on the suitcase. That is the oldest recollection of one of my trips to distant Manila. However, I saw in old photo albums that even as a toddler, I was riding the Bicol Express. The coach wagon was splendid. Wow! We were traveling in style. Sadly, there were years when the Bicol Express was kaput so we had to take the bus. During those times every trip took a whole night from sleepy Naga to bustling Manila. Snacks were served making the trip pleasant. I held the cold orange juice packed in a pyramid shaped carton in my small hands with sheer joy. And yes, there was a...

Photo by cc IMAGINE you are thirsty and traveling on a desert, and you see something that might just quench your thirst. Unfortunately it is just a mirage. Oxford dictionary defines it as an optical illusion caused by atmospheric conditions, especially the appearance of a sheet of water in a desert or on a hot road caused by the refraction of light from the sky by heated air. I coined the term ‘modern mirage’ to refer to the virtual reality that we are all too familiar with. Everything has a quality of being ambivalent. To put it simply, this phenomenon can either be good or bad. As I type this piece I am reminded about the strides that have been taken in terms of communication technology. Gone are the days of typing laboriously on a typewriter. While doing this I toggle and research supportive data on the world wide web. This same innovation has preserved countless trees and help in the conservation of the environment. Also, I am grateful to this modern matrix that hel...