Happiness management and how to defeat the scary clown!

ok whats the first thing that goes in your mind when you see a clown ....

Ahuh. its a horrific smile. very deceptive, fake and looks like its out to do something nasty. I have always been picturing certain adults as "strange" scary even. No its not about fictional characters
its really "them". You encounter these scary clowns everywhere. It could be in the form of people you know at work, school, neighborhood. 

Yah right its pretty traumatic! We can be scarred for life  from these made in hollywood symbolisms that turnout to be real life diabolic smiley creatures. You really cant tell them from a crowd sometimes....

Too bad i cant go on detail about my personal experiences on  these scary clowns or i might get myself into serious trouble. What i can divulge are my basic elementary appreciation of defensive tools to make your experience with scary the clown, more tolerable and yes happy. 

Afterall, happiness is universal.  A happy face the geunine kind, is infectious and mood soothing. A very genuine person in your conpany or random, is a pleasure to your senses and spirit. 

Think of your life as a series of empty colored buttons or circles and imagine what it would be like if you had control to these buttons and tag them according to what pleases you the most. . . 

You can tag them randomly according to the things that motivates you the most, people who you value the most and which circle gives you the most fulfillment and happiness. The color may not reflect the importance that you give it. You dont need to arrange it according to the "most" important or the "least".

Now imagine yourself having a tough time  something like  someone stole  your box of original 70s vinyl disco album records of abba or barry manilow  or something as lamer as you cant pass the entrance exam in a very competitive university cause youre good at everything else except algebra. Or worse something as a game changer as perhaps you lost a loveone or youre about to lose a job. 

These circle charts or as i may describe as "HAPPY POINTS" OR "SMILE BUTTONS" are your guide to keep you staying afloat and gives you more confidence to do what has to be done to increase your chances at happiness better. Ok no fast rules on this one. This is not even a solutions chart. Its just a guide to what can make you smile more when that scary clown starts making his presence known. Keep pressing on those buttons and gain your reservoir of happiness and confidence from your stronger colored circles. 

It works  this way peeps...if you got more power strengths on your relationship with God, keep pressing  on that yellow button to gain your peace and gather your strength to keep you going!

If you recently lost your girlfriend to some hunky rich guy,dont fret! something better is on your way and since the color red for "interests" keeps you occupied in basketball or academics, keep pressing that red button and be relieved that you can accomplish something better than having to spend months crying over something that wasnt meant to be. You can draw  your strengths from one or more circles and keep pressing it to relieve you when bad times struck.

Happiness is what you make it to be. If you want to be happy, start young and develop positive qualities. Dont allow the rat race to consume you and devour all the positive attributes that you learn from your parents, your school and your mentors. 

Its that simple? NO. But you will always get the relief that you are not the owners of all the burdens in the world. Youre never too ugly youre never too poor (unless you wanna stay that way) youre never too fat and youre not the unluckiest person out there. And if you are, then you need one giant circle for that or something more complex. If you believe youre the least lucky, go contact national geographic and let them do a special on you.

In the end, it doesnt matter what the scary clowns do to you and its really how you treat the world and how you define your happiness. You can get lost  those evil clowns and even develop a few of their traits. But remember, its just a facade. Their battles are different from yours and its never too late to shed evil and negativity off  your system. Camouflage yourself amongst those evil clowns and live the life that you always wanted! You cant always pretend. Be the real happy person that you deserve to be! 

Those fake smiles are a routine fixture of the world around us. Its make believe. You are in charge of your own happiness, be brave, be productive, manage your defenses and smile all around! 

Beyond Subic, Olongapo rocks!

Olongapo, northwest of metro manila on the map is well known as the small town outside the former SUBIC, american base that sits on beautiful subic bay in olongapo, zambales philippines. Now its a bustling city that no longer caters to american servicemen but the city now relies more on local tourism and a thriving business environment within the former US bases and olongapo city itself.

though most tourists go to SUBIC for leisure, the city of olongapo prides itself with its own attractions and that includes its numerous beaches. Just outside the perimeter of SUBIC about 15minute drive is the picturesque barrio barretto and baloy beach. it is lined with many resorts catering to different budgets and levels of comforts. 

As Olongapo is well known for its sleazy reputations, it becomes more evident  here in barrio barretto with the presence of its many nightlife entertainment establishments. but that shouldnt discourage you from taking a second look at olongapo. The city offers the nearest and most convenient beaches closest to metro manila. its merely three hours drive via NLEX and SCTEX and  there are regular bus schedules available in many terminals in metro manila going to olongapo. Take the blue jeepney when you get off the bus in olongapo.  It passes directly barrio barretto. 

You would be surprised by the attractions of barrio baretto and baloy beach. It has become home to many former US servicemen who owns restaurants and other businesses in the city. Trip advisory has a listings of all the cool restaurants in the area, plus sports bars too. Food is affordable and varied  compared to other places in metro manila and those popular resort towns south of metro manila frequented by local filipinos.

During the day time, its beaches come alive with activities offering water sports, boat trips, scuba diving, etc. Olongapo's biggest mall is a mere 15minute away from baloy beach and barrio baretto. And the famous water themed park, Ocean Adventure and Subic Safari are 45minutes from the area. Your hotel can arrange your transportation needs or you can ask locals how to do this cheaply.

People often dismiss olongapo as having dirty beaches. Well the presence of those huge shipping transporation vessels docked hundreds of meters away from shore give the impression that the water is reeking with oil, pollutants and greasy stuff. Well that couldnt be closer to the truth. During the rainy season, waves bring the garbage from other areas to the beaches but resort owners regularly clean their beach  fronts and during pleasant weather, water on the beach is colored emerald green, and is good for swimming. 

Its only recent that locals are beginning to discover this part of olongapo, foreigners have long been visitors of this part of olongapo espcially former US servicemen who were once stationed in clark and subic airbases. The openning of newer resorts and the upgrades done by the old ones have toughened the competition for businesses and thats good news for tourism in the area. Visitors will always try something new and they would keep coming back. 

We chose By The Sea resort for its nice beachfront, the property is huge with plenty of open spaces and nooks to move around. It has its own restaurant, a swimming pool to do your short laps,  a spa center and it really has a very relaxing vibe to it. Suzuki resort is also good, and so are the newer ones like Icove resort and Subic Grand Seas resort. All  are recommendable for their family resort atmosphere and accomodations. By the sea resort has ample parking and theres a really cheap and wondeful P150 buffet just outside the resort.

Driftwood beach in barrio barretto is a surprise.  Its the beach before the more " noisy " and popular baloy beach which is just minutes away from driftwood along the highway. Driftwood beach has a long shoreline but portions disappear during hightide while baloy beach has a much wider and more defined shoreline. As for my preference driftwood beach has a more "exclusive" feel to it. The resort owners are responsible about the cleanliness of the beach but during bad storm days, they really dont have the means to clean up such a big area. 

Ayala Company's newest mall outside metro manila, Harbourview mall recently openned in the subic economic zone area, and nearby along magsaysay boulevard is the new SM olongapo. Both are modern malls frequented by locals and visitors for their shopping and entertainment needs. Its just one jeepney ride away from the bus terminals in downtown olongapo you can take the yellow jeep and just ask the driver for directions. Just remember the yellow jeepneys take you to SM olongapo and near the gate goint to SBMA and the blue jeeps take you to the barrio barretto and baloy beach.

In Barrio Barretto theres not a scarcity for some modern convenience as the place is dotted by many convenience stores, fruit stalls, bakeshops, beauty salons, laundry shops, etc and  quaint restos that serve mexican food and the usual american favorites. The coffee shop is famous for its giant tacos. Playa Papagayo Inn has the best mexican food this side of town and with a fantastic view of the sea and zambales mountains this is a favorite among locals and food afficionados.

If you want long wide beaches, with more "commercial activity" on the beach choose baloy. If you want relative peace and quiet with less vendors stalking on you on the beach, ill choose driftwood beach. The resorts in barrio barretto look more decent and theres plenty of variety in terms of eating choices in the area.

Seriously many of the beaches in batangas are too "remote" and "expensive".   In olongapo, you have the convenience of  easily getting into the beaches, taking a stroll at the nearest mall or enjoy a world class theme park in subic. You are never far from an atm machine and the roads and time travelled to olongapo are much convenient for the traveller.  You also get alot of nice hotels within subic itself  that are not overpriced for what they are.  Honestly there are many good cheap choices here, designed to make your beach holiday enjoyable and value for the money. But they dont allow swimming  along the waterfront in subic. You need to go to Camayan resort which is closer to Ocean adventure if its swimming youre after. Baloy beach and driftwood beaches are generally swimmable. Go check the weather in advance before you plan your holiday, enjoy!

But if you have  the patience of going to tagaytay and sitting on traffic for hours to reach your beach destination in batangas south of metro manila, i dont have to pull your arm to think otherwise. Enjoy! and feel free to leave your comments below.