Call it strange or even eerie, but has it ever happened to you that the person you are thinking of suddenly shows in front of you? I recall many years ago, when I was in college, when my testosterone was at its highest level, I had a terrible crush on a girl I met at a party. We talked casually but I never really got to get her phone number and moreover, wasn’t sure if she liked me. It so happened that she was a friend of one of the guests at the party and wasn’t really known to the host so I agonized as to how I could get in touch with her. A couple of weeks later, as I was walking at a busy downtown street, I was thinking of how I could possibly talk to the guest who brought her to the party when lo and behold, she appeared in front of me ! She was on her way to school. I was totally dumbfounded, almost shocked at my luck of suddenly finding a lost treasure. It felt like a come from behind victory when you’re 10 points down 1 minute to go in a basketball game. They say luck is an opportunity turned into an account so I did maximize the opportunity of the hello, how have you been and took her phone number. The short end of the story is she became a big part of my life and I cherish every moment I shared with her. Sometimes things don’t work out. You love and you lose and I guess there are just things you love and treasure that aren’t meant to be with you forever.
A few weeks ago, as I was looking for a fast food place to have lunch with an office buddy, I felt a rather strong poke on my right rib and I thought someone stabbed me. It turned out the ribbing was from my parking lot neighbor at the train station, a charming Asian girl who drives a luxury car 😉 Darn, I wanted to chat with her over lunch but couldn’t. I was with my buddy who at that instant turned out of be an “amuyong” without his knowledge 🙂 I morphed into my silly old self there but for a moment , didn’t I ? 😆 The other day as I was boarding the train, the thought of her came into my mind for no reason at all. These days, with the volatile stock market swinging like a yoyo, thoughts about the financial crisis preoccupy my brain all the time. A few steps after climbing the train, there she was – sitting close to the window. So there I stood, pleasantly surprised almost tempted to say – ” I was just thinking about you” 🙂 I gladly sat down beside her and enjoyed the joy ride hehehe 🙂 Funny how strange coincidences happen sometimes. I know, I know the next question you folks are going ask me is – why TF are you telling us this? Hey, it’s about strange coincidences and both of us are married anyways. Besides I don’t feel like I’m guilty of anything except perhaps committing emotional adultery 😆
Any strange coincidence experiences? This isn’t a Halloween thing and I’m not talking of people rising from the dead okay? 
BTW the captioned picture is a photo I took of the train I’m taking everyday.
Rotten Tomato Review – SHILOH FALLS
On one of my weekly trips to the bootleg DVD shop, I included Shiloh Falls DVD in the bag , expecting some cool and riveting western action reminiscent of 3:10 To Yuma, or even the much slower but poignant and intense Open Range. After all, these bootleggers seem to know what stuff to sell. Wrong. The movie should have been named 3:10 to Snoredom because frankly, everything in this movie sucked – actors, screenplay, script. Yikes, it is one thing to have bad actors or a bad story but it is a travesty to the max to see actors who move like battery operated toys. Spontaneity is clearly missing with the action scenes and frankly, if I could find Pinoy cowboy-ninja fighting Japs films more entertaining than this movie, then something is pathetically out of order. The movie lacks definition, unable to effectively depict its western-horror flavor. It is likewise riddled with anachronisms, leaving the audience much to deduce. For instance, the normal folks trapped in a town filled with zombie-like creatures were saying they couldn’t get out of town ?! Hard to believe when you can visibly tell the place is pretty much open and one can jump out of the window and run out to the woods 😦
I bought the bootleg movie for a paltry 2 bucks but frankly, the movie is worth a dime or two, far less than the $14.99 it sells on the internet today. That’s probably the reason why they threw in 9 songs from “new artists” in the DVD, so people could get some worth for the money they paid.
Sure, the movie is an independent hence low budget but Juno was an independent too yet it bested the big boys in the box office. No excuse there. The garbage in, garbage out rule is very apparent here. When you paint a canvas with crap-yola, it will yield a crap-tastic result. This is the case with this movie. Keep your money. Stay away from this movie. My experience was like ordering pizza and my mother in law shows up at the door to deliver and says – can I watch the movie with you ? 😯
NEW YORK CITY ( view from Ellis Island)
A post 911 view of NYC from Ellis Island, where the Statue of Liberty is, with the twin towers conspicuously missing. I took this pic in summer of 2007.
The Warped Zone 
What a nice train. Wish Manila will someday enjoy such fine transportation.
I do believe a lot in Carl Jung’s Theory of Synchronicity; hence, always riveted to tales of “coincidences”, especially those of the auspicious kind 🙂 And in so believing, I find it occurring more frequently.
My late brother used to boast of having the ability to enjoy “lucid dreaming”; that is, he was able to direct his dreams like a movie — creating the scenario, outcome and the cast of characters involved.
The New Thought Movement of the early 1900s believe that they can create the ideal conditions they long for by nurturing them first in their consciousness. They believe that their inner desires of good are God’s desires for them. Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of them, I think.
For now, I will keep the image of your commuter train in mind with the expectation that it will someday be of Manileños as well. I’ll ignore the NYC image at this time, for I’m still enjoying my love affair with Manila.
Enjoy your Sunday, my friend!
Good for you because you’re thinking about the girl of your fantasy. Remind the other guys not to think so much about their mother in law’s. 😀
nice looking train…. how I wish the trains we have in manila look like that… =)
This so-called “coincidence or whatever” happened to me few months ago.
I was cleaning my drawer. Beneath the stack of papers and books, i found an old picture, taken more than 6 years ago.
I looked at the picture and started thinking “nasaan na kaya sya ngayon?” We lost contact 6 years ago.
After cleaning, I opened my computer and went directly to YM. Lo and behold, the person in that picture that I was thinking of left me a message, “musta na? It’s been a long time, ha… surprise, surprise…LOL”
I sent her a reply asking her what she ate that day that prompted her to send me a message.
Her answer, “I saw you in our old pictures many many years back. I moved somewhere kaya nakita ko mukha mo. And besides di ba February ka that’s why you were able to send me WIFI signals. LOL”
What great coincidences. Sadly, I had no such luck. I wih I had. About emotional adultery, I don’t think it would to such extent as to be called that way; but I am worried if your wifey reads this, she might react. (Hope you won’t mind my asking)
Thanks for the review, at least now I can save some bucks by avoiding it. I did like 3:10 to yuma very much, really one of a kind western. Although the very fast pace of the movie had blurred the entire story somehow.
Senor Enrique – I may have to check out Carl Jung’s Theory of Synchronicity. Like you, I’m only interested ino those auspicious ones 🙂 The power of the brain is simply amazing.
Incidentally, our commuter train here is owned and operated by the provincial government so I guess the taxpayers can always bang on the goverment’s door the moment service sucks 🙂
Hey, stay in love with Manila for awhile. You’re not missing much from Wall Street these days 😉
Abaniko – fantasize is a pretty strong word in this case which certainly doesn’t apply to mother in laws hahaha 🙂
Jeff – these commuter trains only travel about 2 hours max to the farthest points outside of the metropolitan area. They’re pretty comfy- have washrooms in every other car. Recently they added TV’s with close-caption.
MyePinoy – wow, that’s quite amazing and even eerie… Maybe your brainwaves travelled across the oceans to synchronize. But I do read about such amazing coincidences with people who are continents apart.
Major Tom – hahaha.. very good question ! The truth is my wife rarely reads my blog. At one point, she told me she read Snuggle Guy ( Snglguy) hehe 🙂 The answer to your question is yes, she knows about my parking lot friend 😎 The wifey and I are very cool soulmates and hacking each other up with axes because of jealousy is very unlikely 😆
I heard the word “emotional adultery” from a pastor who warned people that it may breed infidelity. He warned people to stop being close friends with the opposite sex. It was a rather strong message but let’s just say I can take care of myself very well with these matters 😉
Agree, 3:10 to Yuma was a very fast movie. It is a remake of the 1957 version and I wonder how they did it at that time when cinematography wasn’t as sophisticated as today’s .
I’m happy for you that that girl ended up become a big part of your life. 😀
But let me also say (since you mentioned that your wife reads your blog) that I am much happier for you now that you ended up with a wife you hold very dear as a “soulmate”. That’s a very important key to a happy and lasting relationship. 🙂 Take care.
There’s a saying that there’s no such thing as accidents or coincidences. I don’t know if its true or not, but that’s what people say. 🙂
Shiloh Falls sounds bad. hehe
I visited NY in ’98 and I took a picture on a ferry with the twin towers as the backdrop. Eerie looking at the photo now.
The first sentence just gave me goosebumps. At least, I’m not alone and hallucinating when I tell friends about these encounters. Just commented about “unexplained phenomenons” in someone’s blog last week.
In the mid-60’s, decided to visit my older brod who’s going to school in San Fernando La Union. As I was waiting for a return bus to Baguio, Elizabeth (real name) whom I broke up with a year earlier, suddenly appeared in my mind and told myself “wish we were still together” . A crappy thought in high school, hehe..
Anyway, I remembered a green bus stopped right where I stood and guess what?? My Elizabeth was in the bus window waving and smiling, she was headed to Ilocos Norte. Since then, these kinds of premonitions occured to me – I would be walking down the street, an old acquaintance appears in my mind and that same person will come to life on the same day. Unexplained mysteries, I think so.
Cheers and goodhealth!
Can I call them scary coincidences?
So that’s the rotten tomato review you were talking about. It’s good that I’m not a fan of western movies haha 🙂
Nice picture 🙂
Hmm, that coincidence thing happened to me too. I called up a friend and the first thing he said to me was “Watta coincidence! I was just thinking of texting you and asking you to call me!”. And this happened several times after that… weird, huh? 😀
Heh, now that one movie to avoid like a plague. Anyway I’m not too big on Westerns so my curiosity won’t piqued as much…
Panaderos – it is beautiful to have a relationship with someone you got smitten with big time, as if winning the lottery, esp if you win in a tight competition. The trophy would seem priceless at the start but once your emotional intelligence and indiosyncracies start to interact, there is no guarantee that such relationship would last, in fact any relationship for that matter 😯
Jealousy to me is like poison in a relationship. If you can’t trust your mate, better leave the relationship, period. There is no sense in suffering from stress and dying early in a relationship esp no infidelity is happening, yikes 😦 Might as well marry an orang-utang so your partner will be solely yours hahaha 🙂
Wil- true, just as the quote of the week on my sidebar says 🙂
Better to watch a Pinoy horror movie than Shiloh Falls haha 🙂
I bet it’s rather eerie minus the once dominating view with the twin towers.
TruBlue – your experience was truly eerie, since both of you were at a totally different place ! Man, there had to be some synchronicity of your minds there. The odds of it happening was like winning the lottery 😯
Irrealis – yes, you can call them scary, depending on the situation , I guess. If it makes me happy I won’t call it scary hehe 🙂
Good for you. There are few good western movies being made these days that make it to the 4 star review rating 😐
Sngl – would have been nice if a girl told you that eh? hahaha 🙂
I’m sure you have watched those Segio Leone spaghetti westerns of the past 😉 I can tell you they’re many times better than Shiloh Falls !
At some point coincidences are bound to happen I think.
We all commit emotional adultery don’t we? Life would be so boring without it. 😉
I’m thinking of renting Shiloh Falls now. Maybe I’ll get a good laugh 🙂
i have a friend in high school and everytime we walk together, something weird happens. usually a person stumbles or falls on the ground accidentally.
but it happened many times. it’s a little weird.
First and foremost, does your mother-in-law know that you blog? 🙂
You’ve finally written that darn movie review! Congratulations is in order. Thanks for warning us about that film!
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The first part of your blog post sounded like a Valentine’s entry (LOL).
Emotional adultery! Emotional adultery! Guilty as charged. Hehe.
Does your wife know that you blog? 🙂
BTW, I like the train and NYC pics.
Natez1 – when coincidences happen at improbable times, that when we think they’re weird 😯
I guess you’re saying emotional adultery being the spice of life? Maybe hehe 🙂
LOL… watch it and let me know if you can even finish it 😆
Dong – looks like it’s no longer the case of scary coincidence but a scary friend ! 😆
Jayred – fyi, I’m my mother in law’s favorite son in law hehe 🙂
I’ve got another rotten tomato movie review coming. I must get this out of the way too 🙂
Yep, my wife reads my blog. Major Tom asked the same question . Check out my reply to his comment 🙂
Thanks. I’m now trying to post at least one pic per blog entry. Time to populate my Flickr account with pics 🙂
Do your wife has her own blog…? Maybe she fantasizes about that mysterious Asian man…?
At least you could have included that gorgeous Asian lady in your picture…. 😉
Share your luck with us!
Sidney -” she fantasize about that mysterious Asian man ” – if that is true, would that be even-steven then ? hehe 🙂
Hey, I’m a good boy 😉
i have some instances like that. just recently i called a friend, i never called him for the longest time, and it was weird because that time he had no one to talk to (actually rant to) and he was thinking of me (rant buddies)…. i guess we are all connected.
and i believe that if you put your mind to it…. pwede nga siguro. haaaay
Very cool with the wifey over there. That way, there’d be no hazzles.
I was also able to watch the old version 3:10 To Yuma and it was good too.
Oh, I wish that would happen to me. There’s someone I’ve been aching to run into for the longest time.Sometimes scenes would play in my head as to how and when I’d see him, and in those scenes I always manage to say something incredibly witty or funny. Haaaay. Quoting Ally McBeal “I have a great imaginary world, but sometimes I just need things to happen.”
The biggest coincidence of my life so far was when I googled my surname and came across the imeem profile of a young lady whose nose is undeniably similar to mine. And it turns out she’s my half-sister, the daughter of the father I never met. Hmmmm, I think it’s more like fate.
Rheiboy17 – amazing isn’t it? There seems to be a network out there of which our minds are participants in the exchange of vibes.
Major Tom – with the fast pace of life here, people have been conditioned to making sure that there are things one must tolerate to maintain his/her partner’s sanity 🙂 I see wives and their women friends go to the caribbean or florida for have a one week holiday and enjoy each other’s company. Should the husband be jealous? It’s just a different culture methinks. As long as both partners are open to each other, there should be no issues. Tolerances between wives and husbands vary. I’m pretty much tolerant coz maybe I don’t have time to stress myself up with silly suspicions and deceptions 😯 If drive to the lake for 20 minutes to get some fresh air and the wifey starts investigating me like CSI, I bet you I wouldn’t last long in such a relationship 😦
I’d like to get a copy of the original 3:10 to Yuma coz frankly, the lastest Russell Crowe version looked like a bit Jason Statham-ish 🙂
Hey – I’ll try to do the 20 question meme tag in the next posts ok ? 🙂
Kat – “Oh, I wish that would happen to me. There’s someone I’ve been aching to run into for the longest time”
Hmmm… who would that be? An old flame ? 😆
Unsettled issues? 🙂
I like that Ally Mcbeal quote… Maybe I’ll put it in my sidebar (quote of the week) one day 🙂
That’s a strange coincidence, meeting your unknown half-sister ! I bet you didn’t tell mom or did you? 🙂
i have plenty of “coincidence” stories with the boyfriend. sometimes, i jokingly tell him that we could’ve been twins in the past. but of course, he hated the idea of us being twins. incest daw! hahaha 😀
Mari – looks like you and your boyfriend have really lots of things in common to call yourselves twins 😉
I do experience something similar too, like all of a sudden someone comes into mind from out of nowhere. The same day, either I get an email or snail mail from that same person.
how I wish while I am thinking of my long time crush, he would also appear front of me like this coincidence you have.:-)
nice sharing.
Ewok – a similar coincidence happened to me today. I was talking with my wife about an officemate of hers who visited us 4 years ago. This morning, the guy sends me an email saying hello, asking my wife’s personal email coz he didn’t get a reply from my wife’s office email address 😯
Cliffnotes – I certainly wish you good luck. And I hope when you cross paths, you’d be both by yourselves, with no barkadas or amuyongs with you hehe 🙂
Of course I was just joking about the emotional adultery thingy. 🙂 (This is something for my Freitag blog).
My husband and I are somewhat ‘cool soulmates,’ too. I do tell him about my crushes and vice versa. Now I know I have lot of competition, J Lo included (LOL).
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Seems like I’m getting tired taking photos. Might not renew my Flickr Pro account when it expires. Dunno…I’m in the stage wherein I crave for change. A la Obama, hahaha.
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So you’re the favored son-in-law…good for you!
Jayred – I guess he fancies Latina women like I do. I dig Jessica Alba too 🙂
I’m just a regular subscriber of Flick for now and don’t use much space. 😐
I lived with my in laws for a year when they visited a year after the wifey gave birth to our daughter. They said I was a real good boy, so good that they listen to everything I say 😉
meaning your vibes matched. the ladies wanted to see you too! hehe. 🙂
i dunno if it has something to do with esp or 6th sense or wachamacallit but sometimes weird things really happen like knowing what others might think or having a song in mind then suddenly it will be played on a radio. weird life really.
Tina – I wish what you are saying is true hehe 😉
Lawstude – there is something in the air that somehow we can’t explain. It might be sheer consequence but it does feel eerie 😯
lol…but yes, i agree that these things happen. hmmm…is she the same girl you were talking about in your previous posts? 🙂
Ipamena – you still remember her ? hehe… what a distraction eh? 😆