You’ll succeed on the third attempt

There are only two ways to plug in, true or false.

But you'll succeed on the third attempt.

                                                  ―――――USB

Don't give up until your third try.

Recently I had to make a graduation speech in front of students at my ESL school's graduation ceremony.

At the end of the speech, I wanted to prepare something smart and funny but I was reluctant to cite others' aphorism so I decided to coin my own proverb-like saying.

Later on, when I was about to give it up before long and I was browsing 9GAG, I found something that hit the spot. Eureka!

That was the joke about USB. Then I added some encouraging words and remade it to pretend to be a real saying like above. I was supposed to be ready to say it.

Finally, when it came to mentioning the fake proverb in my graduation speech, I don't know whose fault it was, there was no laughter. They were so silent that I could hear their nods. It looked like that my sham saying was taken as a real maxim.

I really wondered whether I should let it pass as I pretended not to notice. However, I overcame the shame and tried to repeat it and explain it.

(I was seriously relieved that I didn't have to implement my aphorism, the third attempt.)

Luckily, some people laughed but if no one had laughed with even repetition, I wouldn't have gotten over the psychological shock.

Thanks to ReneeCole and CthuluFett’s revision.

In Rice We Trust.

In Rice We Trust.
Under the name of the marvelous staple food, let us all unite!
...I got carried away.
I saw the motto " In Rice We Trust " on a wallet I bought in a souvenir shop in a Filipino airport. It's a parody of the USA's motto.
Filipino people like rice so much that they likely will say the motto. I was awestruck to see a hamburger with rice and spaghetti with rice as a combo in a fast food chain. Rice is essential staple food of us, Japanese, but we never eat hamburgers with rice, so they've got us beat there.

Aside from the motto, I'm fond of this wallet which is composed of recycled tarpaulin like Freitag, and sliced old tires or some other recycled rubber product.
The inner part is made up of vibrant colored tarpaulin, and the outer part is rubber material so it's durable.
I like the contrast between the vivid inside and rustic outside. I usually don't buy souvenirs at airports, but I've never seen the wallet anywhere else, so I made an impulse purchase.
There were some other types of wallets made with the same material and they looked new and cool.  Considering how new they are, they should have a web page, but I couldn't find one at all.
I'd like to know where can I buy it in the Philippines and get something besides wallets next time, though.

Thanks to Annyali93, SY, and Craig's revision.

Speed of light, my perception

All my bags are packed...

I'm leaving the Philippines on a jet plane.
Beyond the ocean, it takes only a few hours from the Philippines to Japan by plane, but if I were light, I could get there within one-tenth of a second provided that the runway for light was not crowded.

Light is the quickest thing in the world. I know that, but I really don't feel that.
I admire the person who noticed that light has speed or who doubted whether light is omnipresent.
It's obviously a thing, like presence or absence, that's all for me!
Who noticed light travels 'a path' from a light source to our eyes?

I've never felt light itself, though I've felt light sources like lamps and things light shines from.
It's understandable that sound has speed because we can feel it, but regarding light, if I could live a 100 times, I wouldn't doubt it.

Some geniuses will notice and clarify things that are too normal to tell like emotions, distance, time, the difference between animate and inanimate, et cetera.
Whereas I'm taking an airplane while I don't know how it was made, how it flies, and where it'll go.

Oops, I know the last one.
But I don't know when I'll be back again.

Thanks to SY, Danielle, and Haiiro's correction.

Bohol and Kagoshima; Colonial Style houses from a long distance

I visited Bohol island.

I spotted this distinctive style of house many times on Bohol Island, Philippines.

They have big windows on the façade side, and the handrail under the windows is made of wood, but curved, resembling embellished pillars.

It reminded me of the old building I saw in Kagoshima, Japan. I felt that there were similar features on those two buildings from a long distance.

The building in Japan was built in the 19th century for British engineers' accommodation.

If my memory serves me well, the style was called 'Colonial Style' which was created based on European houses but adopted to a tropical climate.

Kagoshima area is the southern most area in Japan, so it might be built in that style.

I feel odd that I remember Japan rather than Europe when I see a style that came from Europe.

Which do you think is Kagoshima's?

Thanks to Chibi-lang and Madox's correction.

At an airport; To deal with remaining local currency

Ummm, what a convenient box. Have you ever seen it before?

I saw this unfamiliar machine in Manilla's airport. And that was what I want!

It said my left over local currency can be transferred into a PayPal deposit, iTunes credit, Skype credit and so forth (anyway many kinds).

By using this, it seems I don't need to visit currency exchange or be concerned about remaining small bills. I have several countries' small bills because they are not accepted with in Japanese exchange shops.

Isn't it futuristic?

What I was amazed was this kind of machine in an airport, although exchange stores must have been against for it.

I was a bit concerned about the commission fee, but just I tried to transfer all my money, 1000PHP, to PayPal but the message "'it's unavailable in your country"' truly disappointed me.

Japan fell behind...

(PayPal is not unavailable but iTunes and Skype are okay)

Although it is invalid in my country, I feel that currency exchange services might disappear in the near future.

Instead, that kind of service could be used as an international bank to withdraw and deposit money. There might be no need to bring much cash abroad, I hope.

Thanks to Zahnsan's revision

***

I checked the service later and it turned out it's called TravelersBox, and they have Japanese brunch but haven't started the service. It seems they've been running less than 10 machines on the globe, mainly in Middle East. The Philippines is the only country they conduct service in Asia as of now. The company was founded in 2012, based in Turkey (wow!).

A pier and a shoal, 遠浅

I walked on a pier jutting out from a shallow beach on Mactan Island.

The pier jutted out so far offshore that its end couldn't be seen at from the beach.

The pier consisted of concrete blocks with gaps so I could see under the pier while walking.

As I walked toward offshore, the water became clear and emerald green.

Although I was at several hundred meters from the beach, the depth was still shallow enough to see the bottom.

In a shoal, occasionally eccentric sceneries attract me, trees in an offshore and emerging a pathway towards the sea, for example.

I spotted a stair leading down to water at the end of the pier and went down to soak my foot.

The water was lukewarm unlike my hometown's lake that I tightly braced myself to dive there.

Surrounded by the sea, the sky, the shore in far distance, time passed slowly.

I returned that way thinking about swimming there after lunch.

The next time I went there, the tide had ebbed and the color of emerald green was lost.

I tried to swim regardless of the darker water but was prevented from swimming because of the rapid current.

Thank you Zerr and Madox!