Tag Archives: Filipinos

Podcast Episode: Libreng Damit at mga Salamin

9 Aug
Family sitting by a koi pond watching fish near a shopping mall

A family watches colorful koi fish in a pond at an outdoor shopping center.

Pip: Dreams are the one content format with no editorial calendar, no SEO strategy, and absolutely no regard for your sleep schedule.

Mara: And masmeron has been writing them down before they slip away — starting with a night of vivid dreaming that moves from a mountain stream to a shopping mall, and raises some genuinely interesting questions about what we receive and from whom.

Pip: Let’s start with the dreams themselves.

Libreng Damit at mga Salamin

Mara: This post is a dream journal entry — two dreams recorded in careful detail on the night of December 14, 2025, with the author noting the exact time each dream ended. The central question running through both is about gifts: who offers them, and what it means to accept.

Pip: The first dream opens in the mountains, catching fish in a clear shallow stream. Then a stranger arrives carrying handmade bags, and pulls something out for the dreamer. The post records the moment directly: “Ibibigay ko ito sa Nanay ko” — I will give this to my mother.

Mara: That line does a lot of quiet work. The dreamer receives a red sleeveless duster from an old man in a native hat, and the first instinct is not to keep it but to pass it on. Generosity moves through the dream rather than stopping at the dreamer.

Pip: The stream itself carries that tension — clear and full of fish upstream, then visibly polluted where a pipe from a nearby house drains into it. The dreamer notes the contrast plainly: the fish are gone, the stones are coated in mud.

Mara: It sits there without commentary. The post doesn’t editorialize; it just describes what the old man points out, and lets the image hold its own weight.

Pip: The second dream shifts entirely — a shopping mall, a glasses shop, a vendor offering free eyewear. The dreamer keeps returning mismatched pairs, one lens small and one large, until the vendor produces a heavy steel-framed set with four equal, clear lenses.

Mara: And then the vendor adds a curved mirror filled with small everyday items — toothpaste, lotion, a toothbrush. The post captures the dreamer’s surprise: “Hindi ako makapaniwala na may dalawang libreng items ako” — I could not believe I had two free items.

Pip: What lands is the vendor’s expression as the dreamer leaves: eyes welling up, watching them go. A stranger gives freely and feels something about it. The dream doesn’t explain why.

Mara: The post closes with the author waking at 5:05 a.m. and giving thanks for the morning. The record-keeping is the point — catch the details before they dissolve, and the meaning can wait.


Pip: Gifts offered by strangers, streams running clear then clouded — there’s a lot to sit with in a single night’s sleep.

Mara: More from Hands-on next time.

Podcast Episode: Hapunan sa Isang Kainan

9 Aug
People dining and socializing in a busy Filipino restaurant with colorful decorations

Friends and families enjoying Filipino food in a vibrant restaurant

Pip: Dreams are the original unfiltered content — no editor, no algorithm, just your sleeping brain running a dinner reservation with maximum complications.

Mara: masmeron’s recent writing takes us into that territory: a vivid dream of a family dinner, with strangers, crowded benches, and a quiet question about welcome and belonging. Let’s start with that dinner.

A Dream Dinner, Crowded Benches, and a Stranger at the Table

Pip: The setup here is a packed restaurant, a family trying to find seats, and a stranger who needs a place to sit — the kind of small social moment that dreams somehow make feel enormous.

Mara: The post describes the scene in careful detail, and then the narrator quietly asks a sister, “Pwede ba siya makikain sa atin? Magugustuhan kaya niya yung pagkaing Pinoy.” The sister’s answer is generous but honest: she can join, but she might feel awkward competing for food, and she won’t eat her fill.

Pip: That exchange is doing a lot of work. It’s not just about a seat at the table — it’s about whether a stranger can really be comfortable there, whether hospitality has limits even when the invitation is genuine.

Mara: The restaurant itself is drawn with real texture: warm yellow light, a long folding bench designed with individual sections, a shorter bench that the narrator immediately notices isn’t big enough for the whole group. The family ends up near the entrance, right in the way of foot traffic.

Pip: Seated at the door, not quite inside, not quite outside — which is a pretty good metaphor for the whole dream, honestly. The stranger is in the same in-between position: she’s at the table, but the food is Filipino, and the question of whether she’ll really belong there is left open.

Mara: The woman who joins them is described as Hispanic-looking, carrying paper bags from what seem like purchases, and she stands in front of their table weighing whether to sit. She eventually does — on that short bench — and then the narrator sees her again, or someone like her, queuing to wash hands before the meal, wearing the same black sleeveless dress.

Pip: The dream ends at 7:30 on a Saturday morning, the narrator waking and reflecting on the ceiling. It’s a small, quiet ending for something that clearly left an impression.

Mara: What stays with you is that the dream doesn’t resolve the question it raises. The stranger sits down, but we never find out if she eats, or how it goes.


Pip: Belonging is one of those questions that doesn’t wait for daylight to ask itself.

Mara: Next time, more from that same territory — the small moments that turn out to be the large ones.

Podcast Episode: Tatlong-Palapag na Gusali

9 Aug
Modern three-story cafe building with outdoor seating, illuminated at dusk

A lively evening scene at a modern cafe corner in a bustling neighborhood

Pip: There’s a genre of writing that doesn’t get nearly enough credit — the dream log. You wake up, you write it down, and somehow it’s more vivid than half of what happened to you last week while you were technically conscious.

Mara: masmeron has been doing exactly that, and today we’re spending time with one dream in particular — a three-story building, the people inside it, and what the dreamer noticed on the way down.

Pip: Let’s start with the building itself.

A Three-Story Building, Climbing Down

Mara: The post is a dream recorded on the morning of January 11, 2026 — a Saturday night vision that landed on the feast of the Santo Nino. The dreamer climbs a three-story building, reaches the top floor, and takes in the details.

Pip: And the details are precise. This isn’t “I dreamed of a house.” This is paint color, pipe material, approximate hue.

Mara: The post describes it directly: “ang mga dingding at kisame nito ay yari sa semento na pininturahan ng light color na parang pinaghalo ng puting pintura at konting asul kaya medyo bluish ang puting pintura nito.”

Pip: So the dreamer is up there cataloguing the finish on the ceiling. The third floor gets inspected, then abandoned — he doesn’t stay long and comes back down.

Mara: What’s waiting outside is a second three-story building, this one clearly a secondary school — same light color, but noticeably more blue. A man in a white collared shirt, somewhere between thirty and forty, is carrying a flashlight because the building is dark and unlit.

Pip: A guard with a flashlight heading into an unlit school at dusk is the kind of image a novelist would plant on page one and explain on page two hundred.

Mara: The dreamer doesn’t follow him in. The building is dark, and that’s enough reason to stay outside. Then the school comes alive — students pour down the stairs, talking loudly, no uniforms, as if they’ve just finished a practice of some kind.

Pip: And here the post slows down to describe what they’re wearing. One tall, brown-skinned young man in a gray shirt. A fair-skinned woman in a striped satin top — dark navy on both sides, white stripe down the center, hair in a ponytail.

Mara: The students spread out in front of the school, set their bags down under the shelter, and keep talking. Then the dreamer wakes up. It’s 5:30 in the morning, Sunday, January 11.

Pip: The whole thing reads less like a story and more like a photograph — held still long enough to write down.


Mara: What stays with me is the specificity — the bluish tint of the paint, the stripe pattern on a stranger’s shirt. Dreams rendered that carefully become something else entirely.

Pip: Something worth waking up for. More from Hands-on next time.

“Hello and Goodbye, August”

1 Aug

August guide showing summer sun, harvest, school prep, and events

An illustrated guide highlights key August activities and celebrations outdoors.

August is the 8th month of the year. It is the last month of summer in the northern hemisphere of the earth. It is the last month before the “ber” months approaching the Christmas season in the Philippines or winter break of certain countries in the north. However, August is a cold month in the southern hemisphere of the earth.

August is the hello month when someone’s birthday falls within this month which symbolizes happiness and hope for the family.  On the other hand, August is the goodbye month when one of the family members died in this month which symbolizes sorrow or grief to the family.

August month in Philippines has multi-faceted dimensions. For farmers, it is a tough month because farm crops are still growing and not yet harvest time. Likewise, it is a rough month for fishermen because they were stocked at home due to frequent typhoons that strike the bodies of water. Similarly, vendors experience lack of basic commodities and supplies in the market due to weather disturbances and delays of agricultural products.

Due to resiliency of Filipinos, they strive and thrive to overcome their shortcomings economically. Inspite of everything, the communal traits of Filipinos keep them  survive and live together in harmony.

His Presence, Message and Legacy

18 Jan

Wearing a yellow raincoat, Pope Francis waves to the faithful as he arrives in Tacloban, Philippines, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015. A rain-drenched but lively crowd wearing yellow and white raincoats welcomed Pope Francis in the typhoon-ravage central Philippine city of Tacloban early Saturday, chanting "Papa Francesco, Viva il Papa!" (AP Photo/Wally Santana)

The 2015 remarkable visit of Pope Francis in the Philippines brings up the real essence of Christian life in the country. The Filipino people really love him and Pope Francis also loves them too.

His Presence

When Pope came out from the airplane, he smiled to the Filipino people in the airport. His charming smiles may suggest that “Here I am.”  His presence alone was so significant to the Filipino people. Every Filipino was so happy and excited to see Pope Francis in person. Everybody felt the love at the airports, on the streets, inside the churches, at the mall and university, on the park and even at homes. His presence gave blessings for the persons with physical impairments. His presence provided hope for person with ailments. Pope Francis blessed the babies, children, youths, adults and elders. His presence shows genuine concern to victims of typhoons, earthquakes and to the poor families in the Philippines.

His Message

Pope Francis delivered an awesome message in every place of his visit in the Philippines. His inspirational message deeply-derived from his heart is truly sensible and gets political, psychological, social, intellectual and spiritual impacts to every citizen of the Philippines. The Filipino people attentively listened to his relevant speeches in spite of long-hours of standing in the middle of the rain. The religious faith of the Filipinos retained and sustained regardless of natural calamities and life challenges they had been experienced in the past up to the present times. His message focused on helping the poor ones which applies the true Christian life.

His Legacy

Pope Francis builds his Christian legacy for the Filipino people. His advocacy to help especially the poor ones is absolutely amazing. He touches one’s life through his mission. He listens to anybody attentively.  He speaks well with a sense of humor. He comes to you directly, hold your hands and bless you gracefully. With all your love, care and concern to us, the Filipino people would like to say “Thank you very much. God bless you, Pope Francis.”