Bananarama and Bangles

Bananarama and Bangles!

Remember these all girls band from the late 80's? For those who are of the same age as I am chances are you do. I just remembered these two bands and thanks to free internet music downloading (guilty as charged of piracy hehehe) I downloaded several of their songs and am now listening to them for several days now.

I feel so gay hehehe.

Nice music, easy listening and definitely brings back memories.

This is an arcade game similar to Dance Revo of long ago. This has 5 steps/contact areas that if all contact areas light up you have to use whatever you have to touch them all at the same time. You can use your butt, you can use your face, or you can assign a friend to touch a specified arrow everytime it lights up. It's really challenging. It is harder to play than the Dance Revo. Dance Revo is just Toyota Revo, Pump it up is Ford Explorer! The music/sound playlist are interesting. There are many remix songs. There are classical musics like Beethoven's Virus it is presented in techno, much faster, much interesting, much challenging but I still don't like it. Other compositions are from Banya, Yahpp, Crash, T.O, and Tashannie. The one I like best is Chimera by Yahpp. Sayang, my daddy can't go with me to SM to play. I think he can play this game very well it's just like him having spasms and clonus on the dance mat. hehehe.



"Pump It Up, commonly abbreviated as PIU or shortened to just Pump, is a rhythm video game developed by Andamiro, a Korean coin-operated games producer. Players use their feet to step on arrows according to the music." from Wikipedia.

Recent Visitors

Recently physical therapists from not so long ago visited me at home. Elena and Hennessy have already gone a long way. Hennessy is now a mother of a pretty preschooler. Elena is enjoying her career as physical therapist and also as a big sister to her pediatric patients. It was great to see them again. We enjoyed several hours of conversation and eating and laughing and reminiscing.

Little Things In Life

Sometimes we think what we have is so little:

little blessings, little word, little salary, little allowance.

But if we'll start to appreciate little things in life, we will find out that we have so much....

So much of friends, so much of love, so much of trust, & so much of JESUS.

God Bless Us!

BYE BYE PUPPY

Bye Bye Puppy.

Unfortunately Ashley's only puppy also did not make it.

I will get another dog once I have extra money. For the meantime I will enjoy the company of my remaining pets, my dogs Necklace and Tootsie, my Fish and my Birds (three pairs have two baby birds each).

Bye Bye Ashley

Bye bye Ashley. Watch me from dog heaven.

I'm sad Ashley passed away due to post-partum complications. She left behind a single puppy which hopefully will grow up to be a beautiful dog just like Ashley. The problem now is I don't have dog's milk hehehe. The puppy is now bottle-fed with human infant formula. This is interesting, a dog having cow's milk formulated for human baby consumtion.

Bye bye Ashley. We will take care of your puppy.

Ashley Gave Birth

Finally Ashley gave birth.

Unfortunately it was complicated by ineffective weak uterine contractions and premature rupture of membranes and hypocalcemia producing fever. Out of six puppies only two survived hu hu hu. I was not counting the chicks before the eggs hatch, as what appears in my previous post, just being optimistic. Hopefully the two puppies remaining will live. I'm sure Ashley will get better.

Ashley My Golden Retriever

Ashley is now pregnant and in the next several days I am expecting her to give birth. Hopefully she will have several puppies, that way I could recover my expenses. I got her when she was about four months old. Now she will be a mother.

LEADER: AS PERSONIED BY TOPONG

“Leader works when staff are tired.
Leader keeps awake to work when staff go to bed.
Leader works without taking meal when staff are hungry.”

Enabled JunB: In Memory of Topong#links

Enabled JunB: In Memory of Topong#links

In Memory of Topong

I met Mr. Topong Kulkhanchit when I attended a seminar in APCD ( Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability) in Bangkok, Thailand. I had the good fortune of having the opportunity to have a one-on-one session with this great man. He was very charismatic.

When I heared of his passing away, I was saddened. He was a great man and a great loss that left a considerable vacuum.

Just recently, I visited the APNIL (Asia-Pacific Network on Independent Living) website. I read the letter posted by Mr. Shoji (I took the liberty of posting it here). For some unexplainable reasons after reading the letter of Mr. Shoji, I became teary-eyed. I am not an emotional person but that time made me realize that Mr. Topong made an impression that affected my attitude about disability. I remembered he said to me, "Keep moving forward!" And that I will do.

In memory of Mr. Topong Kulkhanchit.

Memory of Topong Letter of Mr. Shoji

Memory of Topong
July 3, 2007 ~ 8:32 am
Dear Friends,
As I mentioned in my previous email, Topong passed away at 11:20 (Thai local times) on 7 June 2007. He returned from the South Asian workshop on ‘Capacity Building of Southern Disabled People’s Organizations in Bangladesh on 4 June. At that time his condition was bad, so that he stayed at home for a while. Then he developed a high fever over 40 degrees and was taken to the Army Hospital. In the night on 6 June, his condition turned to be critical. He had cardio-respiratory arrest 5 times until the morning. After the struggle with illness, while he was taken heart massage from doctors, he passed away.Topong was a great leader of disability movement. Before he became disabled in 1986, Topong had served Royal Thai Army. Following his graduation from Royal Military Academy in 1981, he extended his study and training at the US. Army Infantry School in 1984-85. He got car accident during his patrol duty near Thailand-Malaysia border in 1986, injured his cervical cord, and became quadriplegic. He was promoted to be lieutenant colonel after leaving the army in 1989. While taking rehabilitation at the hospital, he participated in DPI Regional Assembly held in Thailand in 1988.His encounter with disability sector led him to deep commitment to equal opportunities of persons with disabilities in society. Then he got a chance to participate in the Nagoya City Handi-Marathon and to visit an independent living center, Human Care Association, in Japan. During his visit, he stayed my home and learned that a person with severe disability could live in community not in hospital. He began to live in community where he started to drive a car and to write by himself.Then he became President of the Association of the Physically Handicapped in Thailand (APHD) and developed APHD from a small organization coving only Bangkok area to a nation-wide organization. He was also an activist in an independent living (IL) movement, after he had invited to an IL study trip in USA in 1991 organized by the Human Care Association. He was always a great leader of our movements, such as establishing Rehabilitation Law, making accessible stations of Bangkok Sky-train, and organizing campaign for barrier-free new Bangkok airport. Appointed as Regional Development Officer of DPI-Asia-Pacific region in 1999, he used his talent for fostering young leaders with disabilities in Asia and the Pacific. His attractive character caught many disabled persons’ minds and brought unprecedented success in the last 20 years of disabled persons’ movements in Asia-Pacific region. In the region, there is no person with disability who has never heard of Topong Kulkhanchit.Our strong movement deeply owes to his activity. Once he said “Leader works when staff are tired. Leader keeps awake to work when staff go to bed. Leader works without taking meal when staff are hungry.” He spent his life as his words. He continued his fight until his last moment and I believe he fulfilled his life.May he rest in peace. I also offer my sincere condolences to his wife Ying, and his mother and sister.We persons with disabilities left behind carry his torch and continue to fight to realize his vision of society of equality and full participation.
Yours sincerely,

Shoji NakanishiChairperson, DPI Asia-Pacific Region

History of the Independent Living Movement in the Philippines

Since the late 1960’s the disabled people had been demanding for their rights in the Philippines.

In celebration of the Biwako Millennium Framework and the Proclamation 240 of President Glorai Macapagal-Arroyo, Human Care Association of Japan reached out to Disabled People’s Organizations (DPO) per island group last 2004, namely Spinal Cord Injury Foundation (SCIF) from Metro Manila and Handicapped Anchored in Christ, Inc (HACI) of Cebu and had a Peer Counseling seminar workshop in Cebu.

November of 2004, Abner Manlapaz was invited by Human Care Association to go to Hachioji, Tokyo in Japan for a more Intensive Leadership training on Peer Counseling.

March of 2005, Abner Manlapaz, one of the six leaders from the Philippines who received training on Independent Living was invited to the Asia Pacific Development Center on Disability (APCD) in Bangkok, Thailand for Training of Managerial Personnel of Independent Living Centers for Persons with Disabilities. Since then, there is a continuous study and learning on Independent Living, which later on was shared with their relatives, friends and colleagues.

July 2005, Life Heaven was established to promote the Independent Living philosophy and encourage all persons with disabilities to open Independent Living Centers by reaching out and giving seminar workshops to persons with disabilities especially the severely disabled beginning from Valenzuela City and adjacent cities and municipalities of Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

August 2005, Peer Counseling Leadership Training was held in Cebu attended by members of SCIF, HACI Cebu, HACI de Oro and Life Haven. Benjamin Bernandino and Nestor Baltazar were among the participants of this Training Workshop.

February of 2006, more Filipinos were invited for another Training of Managerial Personnel of Independent Living Centers and Peer Counselors for Persons with Disabilities at APCD in Bangkok, Thailand. Abner Manlapaz was invited as one of the Assistant Resource Persons for this International Training Workshop. Benjamin Bernandino was one of the participants from the Philippines.

December of 2006, former trainees of APCD were invited for a Refresher Course of the IL program at APCD in Bangkok, Thailand. APCD and Human Care Association gave recognition to the achievements of Life Haven. During the training, the Asia Pacific Network for Independent Living (APNIL) was established to link all the IL Centers in the Asia-Pacific Region. The president of Life Haven is one of the committee members of APNIL.

April 2007, Life Heaven held an IL orientation seminar in Philippine Orthopedic Center as part of their Psychological Service of the Rehabilitation Department. This opened doors for a possible new program of the hospital for patients about to be discharged.
May of 2007, Life Haven and SCI Foundation in cooperation with Tahanang Walang Hagdanan, Inc. conducted an IL Peer Counseling Seminar Workshop at Bahay San Leonardo (San Leonardo House) in Jala-jala, Rizal. Tahanang Walang Hagdanan (TWH) is the biggest institution in the Philippines with several Sheltered Workshops and Residential Institutions scattered across the Philippines. TWH is advocating Independent Living and is promoting inclusion and barrier-free country. Fourteen persons with disabilities attended the 3-day seminar workshop

New Blogger

I am a new blogger. This activity is interesting, enjoyable but complicated for me at this stage. So far, this is what is eating my time.

So much to do for a quadriplegic!

Eheads

eheads playlist

Life Haven Inc.

BRIEF BACKGROUND:

Life Haven Incorporated is an organization duly registered at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 7th, 2005. We aim to present Independent Living Concept in a new perspective.

We envision a society where people with disabilities are independent, self-determined and participates actively in promoting self-development.

It is our mission to lead the establishment of Independent Living centers in the Philippines as its vehicle towards full empowerment, integration and participation in the community.

Our goals are to lead and promote IL philosophy and concept among PWDs and non-PWDs.

1. To equip PWDs with the necessary knowledge and skills to exercise the IL philosophy and concept.

2. To define the criteria of an IL center based on Japan Council on Independent Living Center.

3. To mobilize resources both local and foreign in the establishment of IL centers.

4. To work in partnership with other organizations who share similar aims and objectives.

5. To provide other services that might properly be considered appropriate for the furtherance of the aims and objectives of the organization.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Hopefully, this will be an interesting activity for me.

Welcome to all my visitors. Enjoy my blog.

Junb