Earlier this month, my brother from the US went home and celebrated a few weeks of Summer here in the Philippines. With that, I asked my manager for a week-long vacation so I can spend more tie with the family and also have time for myself.
With that, I spent the week in different places from here at home to a few hundred miles north to the province of Pampanga, and then back south to the nation's capital Manila to visit a couple of National Museums which for the last 32 years of my life, I have never set foot it yet until then.
I hope you enjoy this silent vlog and be relaxed by beautiful sights and relaxing music. Make sure you sit somewhere comfortable while you watch because those that have seen I felt really relaxed and ready to sleep right after (but they did finish the film before they took a nap haha)
Just last week, I was thinking of things to do on the weekend to relax my mind and get away from thinking of work on a weekend. So I got my personal laptop and decided to look for a free video editor and pulled out my hard drive that houses my travel photos and videos. I searched google and stumbled on this free Windows based video editor perfect for my laptop. I gave it a try - definitely hard for beginner with all the controls right in front of me but I managed to locate the important tools.
I came up with the idea of creating a short film with some videos I took from my trip to Europe last December 2019. I have a lot that I used to do my VLOGs but this time I wanted something chill and just music and motion. I have been editing my vlogs and vids thru my phoneall these years and it felt weird but also fulfilloing to edit something using my computer. Using videos from my time in the Netherlands, my first country to visit after arriving in Paris and staying just for a few hours to wait for my bus ride to Amsterdam, I was able to make a short film.
Hope you guys enjoy Een dag in de droom or A day in the Dream in dutch. (Best played on HD - just click on the gear icon at the bottom right and opt for the HD on Video Quality)
***
PS Thank you all so much for visiting my blog through it's new URL https://blog.stevensonque.com. To those who bookmark my blog, I invite you to update your bookmarks for the convenience of going straight to here instead of my old link -> http://www.stevensonque.com that I turned into this new landing page which you are also welcome to visit anytime!
First of all, I would love to greet all of my blogging friends a Happy Mother's Day! To those who are mothers and grandmothers, to those who are not, let me extend my greetings to your mothers and wives. I on the other hand, will greet my mother all the way to heaven. Never was a day that I missed her and even if I am already 30 years old, the last 10 years of my adult life has been quite difficult without a mother to guide me. Although I do know that she lives in my heart and that she did quite a good job in making me ready for the world that she will not be part of anymore.
My mother carrying me when I was three (1993)
Me and my mom don;t have the perfect relationship. Unlike other families where the youngest is always the spoiled one, it's the other way around on my case. We always fight and clash, especially when I was growing up, we always had our differences in ways and ideas and in a lot of other things. But I do know that she loved me so much.
When she was still alive, I thought she was playing favorites, but when she passed away, I thought, maybe not. Maybe she was the kind of mom that is different from us three brothers. She has to be the mom that matches our different personalities. And I think she knows I have a strong personality and at the same time caring, so she had to be the mother that would match those traits.
Through her, I have learned to be strong, independent, and most of all, to be able to carry yourself in a way that would respect others despite the differences. To extend that same respect to every single person I will be crossing paths with and love everybody for who they are.
Question: What is the best lesson you learned from your mother?
Since I cannot greet or embrace my mother anymore, I thought of recording a video as if she can watch and hear it. I know she does. I would love to share that with you. I know most of the speaking parts are in Tagalog, but I sang a beautiful song for her and all of you my dear friends and your mothers. It's a song by Il Divo called "Mama". If you wish to skip my emotional messages, you can go directly to the song at 2:26 mark.
During these troubling times, we can only have much power through prayer. But that power spans to infinity, especially if we all do it together and believe that nothing is impossible with God. Just as the song says, let us let the Lord lead us during these times, and through it, we shall be taken to the right path. With His help and guidance, there's no hardship, no sickness, no anxiety, and no pain.
