Live, Love Laugh LIFE

As one of the racing afficionado or “bayang karerista”, I became curious about the world where I was into. Many questions came up to my mind about this horse racing industry. Each of us kareristas have the reasons why we betted our money for our choice. We all knew that horse racing was a kind of gambling. And gambling is a chance of luck, it’s either win or lose. Some could win and some could lose, but more often we lost. Sabi nga ng isa sa mga nakausap ko; “Mas malaki ang talo kaysa sa panalo ang nanalo lang ay yung mga malalaking tao na may koneksyon sa karera.” At the OTB (off-track-betting station) in our place, I got to ask some bettors about their opinions and reasons in betting and horse racing. Here are my questions and some of their answers: A: Kuya/Tatay matagal ka na pong nangangrera? Palagi po bang tumatama? Bakit po kayo tumataya? kahit parati kayong natatalo tumataya pa rin kayo? Bakit po? Bettor 1:Ah oo matagal na kong nangangarera, Minsan tumatama, minsan talo. Matagal...

It was 2005 when I became familiar and was introduced to the world of horse racing. At first it was just a curiosity that started to become my hobby. I didn’t expect that this would make my life move to another chapter. Wala sa isip ko na maging isang karerista but it just happened… I remembered we have an old neighbor who was really known for this karera stuff. Dun na tumanda yung kapitbahay namin, sa pangangarera. I used to saw him everyday holding a piece of paper called dividendazo or a racing program when I was still a child. He won many times so some of our neighbors started to show some interests too. And because I was just a child, I didn’t mind it at all. Now that I was on the right age, I never thought that this stuff would be my part of life also. I have a cousin who always sends text messages to my father about this “karera”. Tips daw yun na nakukuha nya sa isang kaibigan. She encouraged him to bet. And those tips got to win on horse racing. I didn’t give much attention to ...

As I continued, sa infanta ko naramdaman yung “love” na sinasabi nila. In manila, I was very timid when it comes to girls. I was called “Mr. Torpe” by my classmates. But I didn’t expect that I could be so expressive to the girls of infanta. Maybe because in manila we, the boys were separated from the girls. Andyan yung medyo ilangan at hiyaan. Intimidation usually happens. Unlike in infanta, boys and girls were classmates or co-ed. It was a little bit new for me. Di ko pa alam kung anong ikikilos ko dahil ever since, puro mga lalaki ang mga kaklase ko. I was even distracted because some of my girl classmates were really good looking. Buti na lang yung pagka ignorante ko sa babae ay nawala at mabilis din akong naka-adopt with the help of my new classmates. They didn’t make me feel that I was new to the environment, sa pagsasalita lang medyo ilang sila hehehe. I learned many things from my opposite sex and I became at eased with them. Because of that, I started to fall for someone easily...

Every time I got depressed and felt lonely, I thought of something that could make me laugh and inspired. Something when you started to remember, you couldn’t help but to smile. I thought of infanta…….. Infanta Quezon was a second home for me. This was where I began to express my self and explore my whole being. I learned many things and gained more friends whom I considered to be my true and real ones. I discovered my talents and wouldn’t think that I could have. I still remember my days in infanta,quezon and it was 10 years ago. There were many unforgettable experiences I have and I wanted to share it with you: First, I felt I was an alien in my school for being different because of my way of speaking. Kapag nagsasalita ako di nila ako basta sinasagot at tumatawa sila dahil sa punto ko. So I have to learn their “punto” so that I could not be an outcast. I tried to avoid speaking my "so called language". Nagtatanong muna ako sa mga kaibigan ko ng ano at paano ang mga gusto k...

As I reminisced the first days after my tragic experiences, I couldn’t help my self but to cry. I pitied very much when it comes to my life before to my life now.I couldn’t picture out my life in this situation. Alam kong mali ang ginagawa ko pero at one point di ko pa rin ito maiwasan. I missed my life. I missed the old days… I have limited actions now unlike before I could do anything. My hobbies changed because the hobbies I used to have before were very complicated for me now. Iba na ang austin noon sa ngayon….. There were many things I used to do that I couldn’t for now but somehow I have adjusted already. Tanggap ko na ang lahat. And I’m still thankful for what had happened. But what I missed most was playing my guitar. Playing guitar was my passion since I was in high school. My day wouldn’t be complete without playing a guitar. Everyday I played 10 songs in my guitar. Ewan ko ba kahit paulit ulit di ako magsawa. Those songs were from parokya ni edgar, eraserheads, and from vari...

In the hospital, I was detected that I have an aneurism. That was the condition that occurred in my brain (cerebral aneurysm). Aneurysm was said to be a localized, blood-filled dilation (balloon- like bulge) of a blood vessel caused by disease or weakening of the vessel wall. It can be very fatal when the bulge in a blood vessel burst and could lead to death at any time. As stated by the doctors that attended me, these can be the causes of aneurysm in my brain: 1. congenital defects 2. poor eating habits 3. high blood pressure 4. alcoholic drinks 5. smoking 6. stress 7. drugs As examined, 6 of those were confirmed in my situation. They detected that the aneurysm in my head was a congenital defect. I have poor eating habits(Mahilig kasi ako sa mga maaalat,matatamis at matatabang pagkain. When I was in college I always eat “Kwek kwek” or coated quail eggs for my lunch and merienda. I didn’t know if its true; "Nung nasa hospital ako sa quezon, nang icheck ang aking blood pressure, bi...

The experience in the hospital always embarrass me lalo na kapag napapagkwentuhan yung pagkakasakit ko. My dad used to tell his friends, relatives and colleagues about my condition whenever they talked of something. Our struggles inside and outside the hospital makes me wonder how we overcame with it especially me. He told me that in my room, I’ve done many ridiculous acts and they were very affected. They got irritated too. One of those was after my emergency operation, I was put to the i.c.u. Nagbabantay sya sa kin at nang magising ako bigla na lang akong nagrecite ng multiplication table. Whoa!!! Sabi ko talaga po?!!! He said I actually recited almost the multiplication table of 50s. Ang bilis daw tuloy tuloy. I couldn’t make it again if you dare me to do it I exclaimed to him. Eto pa ang isa, I have an auntie who used to make fun of me when I was a child. He said when she talked to me, I answered her in English. Hindi na makasagot ang tita ko dahil tuluy-tuloy ang pagsasalita ko ng...

Hi I’m Austin, 24 years of age, a simple guy yet an extraordinary one. I just want to share something, anything and everything about myself and it always comes in 10s. 10 will be the significant figure in my stories…. 10 hours of my life changing experience…. It was June 8, 2001 7 o’clock in the morning I started to wake up because I must help my grandfather. (kailangan ko syang tulungan sa pag-aayos ng kanyang mga paninda sa kanyang maliit na tindahan). After that, we had breakfast and everything seemed to be alright. Until, I went upstairs to rest and sleep. In my room, I started to feel something weird. “Parang unti unting sumasakit ang ulo.” I didn’t mind it for it’s just a usual feeling when you woke up early from a late sleep. I slept in my bedroom but it seemed my head started to ache.”Grabe ang sakit!!! As if my head was hammered. Around 10 to 10:30 a.m., I stood up to go to the comfort room but it was so strange. Biglang bumigat yung ulo ko. At first, I didn’t know what to do ...