What APEC 2015 Meant To Me

Listening to frustrating stories of family, friends and colleagues stuck in monster traffic. Someone I know spent 9 hours on the road to get to work. Hindi na ito makatao. Makatae ito. Ang kapal lang nung nagsabing quits quits lang sa lahat ng nahirapan kasi siya nagkaron naman ng sunburn. Quits yan kung nasunog ka habang sinusubukan mong ipost yang kaputahan na shout out na yan.

Wondering if APEC member countries have the right to decline hosting the event. We are a poor country. Nakuha pa nating maging proud sa magarbong dinner, fireworks display, designer furniture. Very Pinoy. Ipinangungutang ang handa sa piyesta.

Worrying about terrorist attacks. Ang hilig kaya nilang magpapansin kapag may mga ganitong big events. Minsan, ayoko nang palabasin ng bahay ang asawa ko. Kahit gaano ka kabuti, kung tarantado ang mundo, anong laban mo?

Questioning the necessity of having a summit. Hindi ba puwedeng i-Webex, Skype or Google Hangouts na lang yang tradisyon na yan? Walang isasarang kalsada, walang designer outfit para sa mga bisita, walang gastos sa dinner, accommodations at kung anu-ano pa.

Waiting to see if the summit was worth everyone's trouble, time, money and effort. 

And last but definitely not the least, thankful. Because the holidays gave me this. Naiuwi namin ang mga bata. After so many months of being weekend parents, nagkaroon kami ng pagkakataon na magkasama sa ilalim ng iisang bubong. Ay concrete ceiling pala. At para sa isang manggagawang walang naaasahan sa gubyerno kundi monthly holdap, sapat na ito.

Hanggang sa susunod na legal holidays na sana ay long weekend. Mabuhay!

Testing Blogaway App

Because Blogger App does not like my country.

Speechless

Don't know much about the guy. Never really Google-d him. I just know that whenever people rave about some of his quotable quotes, I go... "but Covey/Maxwell already said that."

I don't know much about the guy but the title of the article got me. I just had to read. And for someone who hasn't owned, nor touched, anything Apple... it's sad that my first interaction with Mr. Jobs didn't get me to "think different" about my outsider (of the Apple cult) prejudice against him. 

He is, like their products, overrated.

Read article here.

What Happy People Know

This "Juan for all, all for Juan" replay is very touching. The winner, Imelda , was abandoned by her mother when she was barely a year old. At 43, Imelda longs to be able to meet her mother. Eat Bulaga's popularity helped send the message to Imelda's mom. It all ended with a reunion between 43-year old Imelda and her mother.

 

Touching right? I just hated one statement that kept coming out of Imelda's crying mouth.

"Nahihirapan akong ipakita sa mga anak ko kung paano maging ina, dahil hindi ko naman yun nakita."

That statement just pissed me off, big time. I hate it when people use their childhood/sad stories to justify their grown-up behaviors. My father was abandoned by his dad when he was barely a toddler. But he turned out to be a great dad. No but's, no if's, no nonsense excuses.

People, we are who we want to be. Everything that you have in your hands right now, are the consequences of decisions you made. You have the right to grieve every so often. Tao lang tayo. But don't fucking use your sorry-ass kiddy tales to defend yourself against your perceived failures, big or small.

I'm harsh, but I know what I'm talking about. Come see me if you have issues about this post. Or better yet, read this book. It will change your life.

Ms. EB Universe 2011

I'm a big EB fan. Ikaw na ang ma-hook kay Bossing since infancy. Haha.

Kanina, hindi maalis ang mata ko sa nangyaring rematch ng Ms. EB Universe. Napakagandang babae talaga ng aking super crush na si Paolo B. That's it 'teh. Ang tunay na maganda, kahit anong itsura, bagay. Sana sumali rin si Ryan Agoncillo one of these days...

Image is from here

 

Dogs are employees :(

There's a lot of K-9 presence in RCBC Plaza. I understand that it's important for them dogs to be involved in keeping everyone safe but it just breaks my heart when I see them in uniform.

"DOG ON DUTY. PLEASE DO NOT PET."



I wish they lose their ability to be trained for K-9 work.



I dream of a world where crocodiles and snakes, the fugly ones, do their jobs. Or let the beasts do what they do best. Tiger, lion, fox, what else? But please stop using the dogs.


Image is from here

Scarlett Fever

I don't have the details but it seems that Scarlett Johannson, or a look-alike, was spotted by someone somewhere. The Hubby would have been thrilled. :D

I love the last comment - "why, mabantot din ebak nun." Keeps everyone grounded.

Shit is shit. If a heterosexual guy is given the opportunity to sit next to Scarlett while she takes a dump, he's gotta be a real sicko to be turned on.




Image is from here

Good thing I'm no beauty queen.

Question: Would you change your religious beliefs to marry the person you love, why or why not?’

Answer: If I have to change my religious belief, I will not marry the person I love because the first person that I love is God and He created me. And I have my faith, my principles and it what makes me who I am. And if that person loves me, he should love my God.

Religious beliefs are not clothes nor hair color. You can't "change" them just like that... The question is semantically flawed, it does not deserve to be answered. But this is Ms. Universe. A dear fag friend perennially reminds us all: it's not a quiz bee.

For my peace of mind, here's a question worthy of a thought: Would you marry someone whose religious beliefs are different from yours?

And my answer, pretend you're interested, is YES. I actually did. In my book, religion should not define personality, aspirations, decisions and actions. Values take care of these things. Religion is nothing but a social construct and contract. If a social acceptance is too important to a person --- then the answer is NO. Uh-oh... wait... I did that.

Tough huh? Good thing I'm no beauty queen.

"I am X weeks craving Y"

I am extremely pissed. I congratulated someone because she posted this in FB. I really thought she was pregnant. Then she said no and hinted that it's about something that some people want other people to know about.

Research revealed that it's another lousy meme: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2392392,00.asp

Apparently, the same bunch of folks that thought of:

1) Post: "ABC"

Where "ABC" is a color

What it means: Color of your bra

2) Post: "I LIKE IT ON ____"

What it means: where you want to put your purse

And now

3) Post: "I'M X WEEKS AND CRAVING Y!"

where X = birth month

where Y = birth "day"

Month

January: 1 week

February: 2 weeks

March: 3 weeks

April: 4 weeks

May: 6 weeks

June: 8 weeks

July: 10 weeks

August: 12 weeks

September: 13 weeks

October: 14 weeks

November: 16 weeks

December: 18 weeks

Date

1: Skittles

2: Starburst

3: Kit-Kats

4: M&M's

5: Galaxy

6: Crunchies

7: Dairy Milk

8: Lollipops

9: Peanut Butter Cups

10: Meat Balls

11: Twizzlers

12: Bubble Gum

13: Hershey's Kisses

14: Chocolate Mints

15: Twix

16: Resse's Fastbreak

17: Fudge

18: Cherry Jello

19: Milky Way

20: Pickles

21: Creme Eggs

22: Skittles

23: Gummy Bears

24: Gummy Worms

25: Strawberry Pop Tarts

26: Starburst

27: Mini Eggs

28: Kit-Kat Chunkies

29: Double Chocolate Chip Crunchy Cookies

30: Smarties

31: Chocolate Cake

At 23, I found out that I may not be able to conceive the natural way. That was the saddest news I've ever received... Thank God for miracles.

So with much anger and pain, I stand by my FB post today

‎"I'm X weeks and craving Y!" is a meme. I am hurt by the lousy concept. Being pregnant is not a joke. Breast cancer awareness is not a joke. So cut it out!

I'm not a

Image is from http://sidoxia.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/busted-piggy-bank.jpg

Not Funny

Woke up with a not-so-happy disposition and chanced upon this site. It's supposed to be funny and cool for God-knows-who. I got really agitated.

This is the ideal woman. Topless, not fat, plays video games with partner. Change image on TV screen to basketball, football, UFC, boxing, porn, etc. and the caption will still say: #1 REASON I'M IN LOVE WITH HER.

It's one of those days when it's fulfilling to imagine how life would be like if God gave me lesbian genes. I just hate MEN today.


https://imgur.com/HU4il

*** backlog entry posted 08/31/11 03:09 PM... post date tweaked

Would love to go back

Much as I love to blog and Google anything/everything under the sun, I really wish I lived in a world without internet access nor mobile phones. I experienced this kind of life during my teens and early twenties --- I loved it.

I miss writing and receiving letters. Did this with my high school buddies. For every new heartache, crush, triumph, experience, etc... one letter. Also did this with the young boys I liked/loved (I was young too, how should I know the difference!).

I miss telephone conversations.

I miss the careful planning that comes with every meeting. Meet me at this time, in this stop... Now it's "text me where you are/when you're ready." I miss the way the heart somersaults in anticipation of the first glance.

I like waking up next to someone. I hate looking at a back turned against me because of net surfing.

I am not ahead of my time. I wanna go back.

Who'll take me?

*** backlog entry posted 08/31/11 01:55 PM... post date tweaked

English Only Policy (No More)

I've been writing in English to redeem something that I've lost over the past ten years.

During the last year of my college years, hubby and I were writing for the university publication. For our internship, we became news correspondents for a national newspaper. I used to write poems and love letters. All in English. I'd say I was pretty good at it.

After 10 years of being in the corporate world, I lost everything. I stopped being yummy.

This blog is supposed to help me find my way back to whatever or wherever I was in my writing life. To date, every post has been a humbling experience. I always feel the need to check proper usage for words/idioms, style and grammar rules. Every sentence is a tentative construction. I've got a long way to go and I am challenged.

However, I have not forgotten that writing in Filipino is my first love. When I'm writing in English, I write with my heart and mind. When I write in Filipino, it's all heart. I love me better when I'm all heart.

And so from now on, Filipino entries are no longer banned in this blog.

Yummy!

(Lost) Art of Gift-Giving

Two Saturdays ago, I learned the sad truth about gift registries. All this time, I thought this was how it worked: to avoid duplicates, all invited guests will register the gifts they purchased from the shop/mall. The compiled list will be used by all guests as reference.

Then I found out that the celebrant (enough arguing about usage of "celebrator" vs. "celebrant") actually chooses the things he/she likes and the mall/shop compiles the list for the guests. The guests will then need to pick their gifts from the list.

I love giving and/or receiving gifts, especially hand-made ones. This concept of setting up a gift registry for any special event makes me very very very sad for three reasons.

First, it makes a business out of the art of gift-giving. Yes, people have materialistic needs that they need to fulfill. Yes, there are talented (born) lousy gift-givers. But these truths makes the act of buying/receiving a gift special. Having a registry makes a glorified shopping day out of a special occasion. It also kills the creativity and passion of those (like me) who love to personalize or make, not purchase, gifts.

Second, it eliminates the element of surprise. Gifts won't be traditionally wrapped if the purpose of giving them is to have an inventory of gifts listed against gifts received at the end of a day of celebration. The premise of predictability, in this regard, is just not right.

Third, and I have children in mind, it teaches the wrong life lesson. Every day in life is like a gift. When you open your eyes, you don't know yet how the day will be like. You can plan all you want, which is great, but there are things, people and circumstances which will always be bigger than you. If I raise my kid in a world where every birthday means a gift registry, I am indirectly teaching her that she can always get what she wants... just make a perfect list, hate those that don't follow the list, don't invite them in future birthdays, etc. I cringe at the remote possibility.

I dunno. I don't even know how to end this entry.

It's just so sad.

P.S. Blog entries, for me, are gifts for me (and sometimes for the imaginary reader). If I edit, I feel that I'm giving a gift I chose from the registry list. So most, if not all, my entries are un-edited. :)