of deaths, rants, eats, and readings we learn

Movie Review: Ang Panday 2

2012-01-05T23:15:00.001+08:00

good: the effects were smooth and clean. the dragons had believable muscle movements. the beautiful faces of actresses cutting across generations were refreshing. two or three good lines.

bad: distracted with the perfect running stitches on the costumes, laughter acting from both villains, off-shoots from foreign fantasy movies. didactic dialogue.

worse: too many gma artists in the movie. i thought kuya germs was the only one missing until i saw his name before the end of the credits.

worst: flat and predictable story. flavio never gets an ounce of dirt on him. thinking enteng had a better story.

my seventh birthday

2012-01-02T21:36:00.002+08:00

adding my age today brings seven. here's a photo of what i mean when i say it's my seventh birthday. in the photo are glacier and adi. adi was sent from the uk and i went to the post office to pick it up last week. adi is a stress toy and can be squeezed just like body fat. after all, adipose is another term for body fat.

i spent the day almost crying over what to do with an article i was working on. after three hours of searching for the right answer, trying all sorts of editing just so it can be saved properly i found the answer. then, i had early dinner at avenetto with... adi. glacier did not go. hahaha. of course, i had dinner with a real person.

prior to that, i made my way to a wing at the shopping center and i was so happy to find the felt clothe i have been looking for. though quite expensive, the store allowed 1/2 yard cuts so i went crazy and bought six colors or three yards. well, honestly, i needed those colors last week for a project. then, when i could not find the colors i wanted then, i decided to stick it out with one color. so, now i am stuck with several colors and lots of project soon.

so, now i'm thinking of launching another blog that will only center on my experience as a crafter.

almost got hit by a rock three-fourths the size of my foot

2011-12-23T22:16:00.003+08:00

literally. every night, i go out of my house to turn off the water meter (this is another story for later). earlier, i took a bit of time to tease my dogs before walking out. a meter from me landed what i thought was a piece of brick. from where i stood, i thought it was a gift thrown or it was trash. yet, i was in our compound and the house on my right had people who were nice and would not do such.

anyway, i called my cousin who was approaching and told him of the rock. he took it and unwrapped the two-layer plastic that covered it. he said it was a rock from our compound. i was just stunned by the size and the sharpness.

if i did not tease the dogs and stalled for sometime, that rock would have hit me and literally, i would not have known what hit me.

theories: someone from another compound threw it in the air and i'm thinking someone in the school behind me might have thrown it. if it were a plain rock, i would think an entity might have thrown it but it was wrapped in plastic bags. second, it could have been on the roof and slided down.

oh well, this is not the first time my sluggishness saved me. i could have been at the glorietta bombing had i come earlier and read my time away at the booksale. i would have been within the area of the dlsu bombing but i felt too lazy to go to starbucks. now, this one.

yeah, tell me guardian angels do not exist.

i'm one of the 13,125 out of 41,729

2011-11-17T17:30:00.003+08:00

the wait of 39 days is over! the results are in. i am one of the 13,125 secondary teachers out of 41,729 examinees (31.45%). the statistics are quite sad.

what will happen to the 28,000 who did not make it? will they retake the exam? out of the passers, how many are engaged in the profession? and how many are truly competent teachers? more importantly, of the passers, how many are working as teachers and will remain in the country? although the exams separate those who have enough knowledge, one can retake the exam as many times as deemed in the guidelines.

to be honest, i did not have the resources and the time to enroll in a review class. all i had was a very good reviewer i bought from a local bookstore at random, some notes, and a stack of review materials i got from my tcp course. what worked for me in the exam were the years of accumulated learning from being a student in graduate school and in the teaching certificate program, and the actual teaching experience both in high school and the university. in other words, stock knowledge resurrected the moment i read the questions. i had a bad cold and cough then. i did not review until the last minute and even had a nightmare about missing the exam because i woke up late.

during the exam itself, i listened and followed all instructions. i did not hesitate to ask the proctors for directions i could not understand. when they said no erasures and be careful in shading, i followed it. i monitored my time and thought twice before shading any circle. i kept my composure, in between prayers, cough, and sniffles. (unconfirmed rumors said that not being able to finish the exam will make the scanner stop checking the answer sheet. i learned about that only after i took the exam.) i was even asked if i were taking the exam for a second time.

in summary: to be a successful exam-passer starts at day 1 of the class. listen to teachers and study well. keep notes, whether mental or in the notebook. during the exam, follow instructions, keep track of time, and keep poise. as for the review, well, my review school happened during my years of experience. to add more confidence, enroll in one but have an open mind that such schools do not work miracles.

now that i have passed the exam, it goes with a sad note. there's a pinch in my heart knowing that i am capable but have walked away. i am no longer teaching by choice. i already wrote lengthy entries about that angst. i am happier with what i am doing now. yet, i am excited to have a professional ID. that ID will be the symbol of almost two decades of living the life of an underachiever educator in the university and secondary institutions, unfinished years of graduate work,thousands of students who sat in front of me and learned.

the next part, sorry, i can't help it. i need to vent for the last time:
[not to mention the baseless bad words that stupid impolite rude ill-mannered moron who calls and thinks of himself a teacher - pity his current students at an exclusive boys school now - yelled at me sometime ago. again, i wrote a blog about that incident, which he and his sidekick duckling showed to some bosses. i deleted that blog already. sure, i am expecting a response like, "been there, done that!" who cares, his ID is as hollow as his brain, heart, and soul and i am assuming he has those but then again, i might be wrong.]

binondo trip again

2011-11-11T12:11:00.006+08:00

i dropped by binondo yesterday.after my lucrative errand, i had to give in to my craving at lan zhou. here's the bowl of beef lan mei and the left overs. the noodles are quite heavy or perhsps, the dumplings had something to do with my tummy space.

then i came across these two over at a grocery.

did i just see my first ghost?

2011-11-09T14:31:00.002+08:00

i have been having trouble sleeping the past few nights. i'm trying to see if it has something to do with my after dinner coffee. however, that has had no effect sometime so i decided to continue with it last night. it was close to 1 am and i still could not sleep. i was too brain-drained to even work and i had to allow the equipment to rest. so, i decided to settle at around that time. the mutts did not take their usual places as they seemed to be so restless and would bark sporadically at the slight meowing or cat mating noises.

while the dogs would bark, i would think of dozing while playing jewel quest on my mobile just to sleep. when i finally thought i was falling asleep, the dogs started barking and i felt the quick dash out of the room. i must have opened my eyes for a split second when i thought i saw a shrouded image watching over me. what made me wonder is that my startled reaction is that i sat up quickly and fell down upon seeing that image. in seconds, i reached out for my rosary and started to pray. half-sleep, i think i made it through the 5th mystery but i realized my prayers were incomplete.

i did not feel any shivers when i saw the image. i think, if it were indeed an apparition, it also got startled because i sat up and said, "whoa!" in amazement. this is nothing new as i have had dreams and even felt a strange presence several times when i was still sleeping in the other room and there was still that huge tree near my window, then. the dreams stopped when i asked them to leave.

the yapping mutts

2011-10-18T23:07:00.004+08:00

i have three fun-size dogs, a mom and her two daughters. they're luka, orci, and dora, respectively. the daughters are almost two come november. luka is more than five years old. i "inherited" her along with her late hubby, dino.

anyway, they've been invading my bedroom for a year now and i try best not to smell like them. i've kept the two young ones away from people and they have yet to walk along the street. orci got away once and ran. perhaps she got lost because she entered the other compound and what worried me was that there was a doberman there, male at that. so, i had to carry her back.

i had expected them to be polite to cats. however, they're not too keen on kitty cats and will bark at every sound the cats make outside the house. last night was awful. luka kept barking her lungs out. i thought there might have been a cat in the house and the dogs were just too uncomfortable with the cat sleeping on top of the shelves.

i usually let them bark as i knew they will tire out. after two hours of barking and the three of them running up and down, i gave up. i decided to hit the sack earlier hoping that they will follow. i was wrong. for another hour, they kept barking. even dora who was always docile, started to be restless as well. finally, i went down to check what the fuss was all about. by this time, luka was already barking for almost four hours, stopping for a drink or so.

i was so distraught when i saw a cat caught in between the screen and the glass panels of the window. there was no way i can free the cat by poking it as she had her body wrapped around the iron grills as well. she was growling as well. no wonder the dogs were so excited. she probably made the mistake of finding a warmer place to sleep not realizing the dogs were around. so, the cat was stuck and the dogs were yapping and it was after midnight.

i decided to lock all four of us in the bedroom to give time for the cat to regain her wits and escape. i prayed the cat wasn't hurt as i wouldn't want to wake up with a stiff figure in that awkward place. my action led to the predictable reaction of orci who kept jumping up and down the bed and attempting to scratch my face.

that's the difference between orci and dora. orci does not know her strength and would just scratch with all might and sharp nails. several times has she poked my eyes or heavily scratched my arm. she's hyper, too. dora, meanwhile, is the gentle one. she'll sleep her way around a problem if she could. she's always at my feet when i work and would be the first to be on the bed the moment i shut down the computer. she'll smell me closely but i'm confident she won't scratch me or hit me with her paw.

funny, but dora is the crazier one. she recently became playful, rather turning into a prankster. after i have cleaned the floor and placed the newspapers in their pooping area, dora will run across it the moment i leave. in less than a minute, the newspapers are in disarray and when i turn to her, she would run away. perhaps, to escape her being guilty, of course. her other trick is to poop after i have the clean newspapers neatly placed on the floor. again, she would run away after i would notice what she had done. when i'm cleaning, they're in the yard. luka does her thing outside with dora and orci watching. i hoped they'd pick up the habit but they never did. as for punishment, i have no idea what to do with dora.

back to the cat incident ---

so, when i woke up, i went down to look for the cat. i was so happy that the cat wasn't there anymore and there was no trace of blood.

right now, luka and dora are sleeping at my feet. orci is sleeping on a step of the stairs. all is quiet. the cats have abandoned my home for now.

the mistress-wife relationship: a review

2011-10-16T22:01:00.004+08:00

for almost a month, no other woman, has been ravaging box office results in the country. well, if we do the math, if it grossed P220M and a ticket costs P161, approximately 1.3M have watched it at the cinema. this doesn't account for the pirated copies, of course.

the strength of this movie belongs to what the two co-producers do best. viva comes in with its tight script and witty dialogue, while star cinema comes with its eye for the production. this is also a movie that has a good script and can work regardless of who the actors are but the director and the whole production team has to be intact.

let's not forget the formula. other than the witty dialogue that every filipino can relate to (allusion rich as far as the context of the Philippines is concerned), the movie had less than the usual confrontation scenes. there were only a few slapping, crying, violent, over acting scenes. everything was done with precision and subtlety. the fighting scene at the end was needed because no filipino wife-mistress drama would be complete without any physical scene. remove that scene, the movie will not lose anything because it has other things going for it. the locations were maximized showing only what was necessary of the grandeur of the resort, the homes, the stores, and the restaurants.

another plus point is that sex was not a marketing gimmick. if the love scenes were edited out, the movie will still hold but it is in these scenes that derek ramsey shows he can be a great dramatic actor. his eyes were bloodshot and close to tears when he was with kara the first time.

the story is simple. a very young couple, ram and cha, are happily married. ram, a former playboy, is a high-class furniture seller, whereas cha comes from a nouveau riche family and a housewife, of course. conflict begins when ram meets kara at a resort where his furniture will be part of the amenities. they meet in the sea where kara misses ram's bald head by a few inches.

so, the playboy in ram comes out and kara, finding out he's married, says the rule is to not fall in love with each other. things turn worse when cha discovers the affair and events logically fall into place after that. upon confirmation and confrontation, ram decides to end the affair. kara is cold and seemed not to mind it until ram brings cha to the resort.

at the resort, kara and cha engage in a cat fight and upon their return to manila, cha says no more because the whole incident is making her do who she is not (being sensual and wearing a bikini, having candles in the bedroom when all she wants to do is yoga, crochet, bake angry birds cupcakes). ram loses everything, mistress, wife, and business. one night, as he is closing his store, kara comes over and asks if they could talk. he refuses and drives his pick up as fast as he could but she has a topdown sportscar. predictably, he meets an accident that seems fatal but really, it's not.

at the hospital, kara is asked all the questions a wife should know the answer to. she says she's not his wife. she calls cha. cha is next seen at the chapel, rosary in hand, and kara talks to her. i now forget if she apologized but she did say it was all her fault and that ram should forgive her. ram wakes up and sees ... (i won't spoil it anymore) and years later, the scene shows ram with a baby ...

***************

come up with witty dialogue and put it in the trailer. BAM. viewers will watch it. i went to the cinema because i wanted to hear the actress, carmi martin, deliver that line, "itago mo na ang lucy torres, ilabas mo na si gretchen barreto. ako na ang bahala sa red stilleto," as an advice to her daughter, cha, who had just caught the ram-kara affair.

now, production wise, the scenes are well-staged down to the last detail except for the final scene. the make-up is right and appropriate. anne curtis, who plays kara, is one of those actresses who look pretty with minimal makeup and she registers well on the camera. thus, it was good to see her scenes on the beach without makeup. the same goes for cristine reyes, cha. her makeup and clothes are appropriate. since, she was dressed down, her sensuality didn't overshadow the movie.

acting wise, give these two three or four more movies of this type and they'll really do well. i disagree with critics who say that cristine's acting was overwhelmed by anne. i say she did well and at this point, i can't think of anyone who can match what she did. she fits the role well except for the part when she's crocheting. as for anne, she has had better exposure in the movies and in real life so she delivered. she's not exactly just a pretty face, she's a thinking and intelligent pretty face so that oozes out of her character as well. in one scene, prior to responding to ram's saying goodbye, her neck muscles moved. then, her tears came out of the right area of the eyes. (in most movies, tears come from the middle of the eyes. come on. real tears gather at the inner end of the eyes and fall down-like what anne curtis did)

critics have also minded carmi martin's face. they said she had botox allegedly done. nothing's wrong if that were true. her character called for it. however, i think production should have done something better for the character of her husband, played by john arcilla. years ago and a few pound less, he can match derek. his clothes, except for the party scene, were too shabby for the new moneyed. i wanted to see the real brands, not the sponsors' logo alone.

now, here are the low downs.

1. in the dinner scene when ram introduces cha to his boss, the dialogue went:
ram: i'd like you to meet my wife, sir.
boss: you are?
that was impolite. the correct response should have been: "i've hear much about you or glad to meet you."

2. ram is seen waiting at the lobby. the owner of the resort who is the father of kara, sees him.
mr. z: you've got a lot of nerve coming here. matagal ko ng alam....

why on earth is ram there after the scandal at the resort? unless, it shows how mucha loser he really was, that scene was just there so the other actor can have a moment.

the key to this scene was the dialogue:

mr.z: if you stop hating your father so much, you can become a better man.

3. alas, the viewers are never given a scene that showed that ram had reconciled with his father, played by ultimate crush, johnny revilla.

4. that baby in the final scene was dark-skinned that matched the sun-burnt skin of ram. half the audience at the cinema where i watched laughed at this scene.

i think the ending would have been if ram's father were also in that final scene. it's a good movie. the mistress-wife relationship will stay and can change if only marriage were taken seriously.

October 15 Feast day of St. Teresa de Avila

2011-10-16T00:44:00.002+08:00

how strange that we commemorate as feast days, days of death. i grew up in a school run by the belgian icm nuns. eons later, i found myself spending four years teaching in the same institution. however, no one taught us about the patron saint and it was only in college, the patron of which happened to be the saint of teachers, that i discovered how great st. teresa was. in fact, her visions were termed as a form of ecstasy. modern times have given it a malicious connotation and heightened by the interpretation of bernini, it does seem to have such. it was even mentioned in angels and demons by dan brown. here's a link to a video i found about the ecstasy of st. teresa de avila.

do grades matter?

2011-10-16T00:41:00.000+08:00

by day's end, numerical grades do matter until we rewire the educational system and the whole society with its obsession with numbers. what is important, really, is how you got the grade. were you honest in your quizzes, exams, reports? did you respect your teacher and your institution? what about your peers and parents? what's a passing grade when your heart knows you cheated or you refused to extend honest help to a classmate or you were cranky to your parents and little sibling because you were "studying" or you cursed your teacher every moment you could when he/she is not looking? good grades, compassion, honesty, and ability to change are the ones that matter.

of course, grades matter. good grades get you a raise in allowance, a new gadget, longer time to hang out with friends, extra licks from your dog, and strange kindness coming from peers, relatives, and parents! not to mention, that smile all over your face. : )

teacher's day 2011

2011-10-05T13:45:00.004+08:00

since it's the official world teacher's day, allow me to take time to thank the teachers who made me get into the profession. there is actually just one from the old high school (see my FB for that photo) and quite a handful from college, most of them my professors in literature.

i just quit teaching this year. though the love is still there, i got exhausted. teaching has to be one of the most demanding and underpaid professions. never mind the pay but the emotional and the intellectual drain took its toll on me. not to mention that i had to drop a few friends and tons of events along the way. the heart gets tired, too. before the exhaustion reached my mind, i quit.

quit. period. quit. it's going to be a longer hiatus this time. my anti-social self is upfront so i am quite happy working at home and tending my garden of eight and a half pots.

since my life is full of ironies, i just did one ironic thing last month. with optimism and high expectations, i pray for positive results. it will be another ID and that's what makes me excited.

greening

2011-09-29T20:38:00.003+08:00

i'm trying to concentrate but a neighbor is yapping at her teenage son. i pity the father who happens to be a cousin. he's rendered aside when the woman rants. when another neighbor made a status out of her, that woman went to the neighbor and told her that she has no right to talk about her because she's not the one feeding her anyway. this is what is known as "squatter mentality" - the incessant ranting without regard for the neighbors. it's crass behavior.

it's the same principle as one can take a person out of the province but the province can't be taken out of the person. in other words, no matter how much education one has, if that person is crass, that person is crass and has no manners.

i have had my share of such people and the sad part, they're in the academe. when they face students, they wear their polite and respectful masks, in the hope that they will be liked and loved. some succeed in deceiving students. again, sad. yet, there are those who are already rude in and out. they are being true so it's useless to be irritated with them because they show their true selves. what's worse are people who attack and yap over some baseless issue. people who just yap without reason. of course, i've experienced that but i'm too well-taught with manners to answer them back. i just believe in karma. what people do to me go back to them a thousand fold and i don't have to lift a finger. if i were vindictive, the cycle will not stop. energy will be wasted. i'm not to keen on being consumed by revenge. the world, make that, MY world is too pretty to be wasted on wrecking havoc.

oooooh. the woman has ceased. i think the boy spoke but he'll never be listened to. i wonder how the boy feels knowing that daddy just kept silent and laughed.

how to write a blog

2011-09-18T23:22:00.003+08:00

begin with what you want to say.

skip the feelings prior to your point. these, i believe, are free writing exercises and can be dragging.

write something interesting to the universal reader.

include what really matters.

be responsible. have a significant point.

or else, your blogging will be merely a set of rants that has only wasted electricity.

my mini-mystery and my broadband stick

2011-09-15T22:54:00.002+08:00

i run my internet access at the mercy of a prepaid internet stick. earlier, i got a notification from my provider that my prepaid account got loaded with P250 or roughly US$5. the thing is i didn't load it. the trace number said it was loaded at 933pm, real time. at that very moment, i was home and using my mobile. in short, it was a mistaken load for two reasons.

first, no one knows that prepaid internet number.

second, i never load that amount because it goes with free text credits that i can't use because i prefer to use my prepaid internet number purely for internet purposes.

so, i posted that as a status with a wish that whoever sent that load, text back and i would gladly return that amount.

i wrote the bank from which it could've possibly come from. an hour later, i get this message:

Globe Advisory: We apologize that your load was inadvertently deducted last Sept. 12. This was due to an isolated system issue that has already been corrected. Because we are committed to provide you with honest and seamless services, we have credited back your load to your account. To check your current balance, text BAL to 222 for free. Thank you for being a Globe customer.

i checked my balance and it's still the same - that P250 is still there. now, why am i uncomfortable?

it's not honest.

it bothers me because of the second reason. besides, i no longer load my prepaid internet number via atm. i prefer moving funds from my mobile.

now, there's another fb pal who experienced the same thing. she got P40 and has no memory of ever loading that amount. so, the plot thickens and we suspect it's the bank that's messing up.

Zombadings 1: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington

2011-09-07T21:44:00.002+08:00

SPOILERS

the title translates to: zombadings1: kill with fear remington.

what's a zombading? it's a cross between a zombie and a bading or a gay. how did that happen? (SEE BELOW for the plot)

AWAARD

contrary to some reviews that the movie's plot is not clear, it is quite tight. it's a comedy, drama, and horror flick combined into one. it's an entertaining movie and it can make people laugh.

what made the movie good is the acting that went with it.

commendable is the performance of young actor, martin escudero. he went through the transformation without trying hard. he was able to develop his character naturally. this is hard because films are not made in the chronological order. i'm sure he had to move back and forth with his character. he also didn't appear awkward. if he gets an acting nomination, i won't mind him winning. the supporting cast is as always dependable. actors who were good at being goons in other movies, came out as caring and heartwarming. the regular people were probably the people in that town. did the production call for casting to find such regular looking badings?

the setting of lucban was probably chosen because it is one of the most colorful festivals in the country. color=rainbow=gay. or only because, it happened at the time when they were filming. or quezon province has more gays that any other province?

even the script was well-written. the gay speak wasn't too irritating and it was witty and clever to have subtitles when this was happening. quite true that if you're not in the circle, you won't understand what they were talking about.

i hope it makes money so there'll be zombadings 2 where remington is now studying in the city.

PLOT and SPOILERS ALERT

as a young boy, remington points and calls "bakla!" every gay person he sees. at the cemetery, her sees one and eventually, the gay curses him - that he will become gay as he grows older.

years later, remington is now almost 21. his town is awakened by a series of gay murders. he is oblivious until one night, he is attacked by an ugly figure who tries to cut him. this begins the shokot part.
he wakes up and thinks it was all a dream but the scratches on his legs are real and he has lost his body hair. the next night, his tongue gets pulled. again, he wakes up and finds his speech has transformed into gay speak. as he wakes up, something gay happens to him. he finds himself falling for a neighbor's daughter (whose father he called "bakla" but that was the truth, anyway, according to her) and his best friend, the tricycle driver, who later reveals that he understands remington and does not mind being his lover but eventually stops because he fears remington might be the next victim of the serial gay killer.

what does he fear - turning out to be gay or having all the nightmares?

the serial gay killer kills the gays with a ray gun that was invented primarily to identify and segregate the gay goats from the male goats. all for agri purposes. but the gun gets into the wrong hands of the homophobic godfather of remington. when remington softens up, the gun vibrates and points out that he is gay. the godfather is so disappointed and decides it is his mission to rid his town of gays.

prior to one full moon, remington and his friends confront the gay who had cursed him. he said that the only way to get rid of the curse is to find a man who doesn't have any gay experience and who's willing to swap places with him. he has to find that man before the full moon ends. - this probably the remington part -when he investigates -remington steele.

that gay succumbs to the raygun and his faithful assistant revive him but awakens all the other gays who were murdered - this is the zombading part.

eventually, they manage to fulfill their mission and there was indeed a man who fit that description - remington's father.

despite the end of the full moon, the zombadings lived and had their own livelihood program, making zombading zombreros.

so much for the story,

The Historian by Elizabeth Kosovo (spoilers when needed)

2011-08-19T20:00:00.013+08:00

i've always been curious about the life of dracula so as much as i could, i would read about the myth. (sadly, twilight ruined the myth of vampires) so, in one of my trips to the same booksale (2nd hand books or discarded from the us libraries store), july 21 2011, i found the historian.

the historian is the work of a creative writing student, elizabeth kosovo.

the plot is simple. it lives by its title. so, expect a lot of characters whose lives are interwoven until the very end. it's written from the point of view of the unnamed narrator. she retells the events of her 16th year that led to the unraveling of the lives of her parents, his father's mentor, and vlad tepes. the difference is that she's already 52 now and an accomplished professor herself.

it begins with her finding a letter written to the unfortunate successor. this turns out to be a letter written by rossi, the father's mentor. from the letters, we glimpse into the life of rossi, an accomplished historian. he is positioned into the maze of the search of dracula by finding a book on his desk.

any scholar loves a mystery. any serious reader loves a mystery. i'm a pseudo-scholar and i love reading so if i were rossi, i would've done the same thing. i would've ignored the warnings and just continue putting all the clues together.

so, some chapters of the book are letters of rossi where he chronicles his life in his search for the truth behind dracula. however, rossi disappears one night. it was 1954.

out of his love for his mentor, paul embarks on a journey to find rossi, for he himself found a book similar to rossi's. paul meets helen, a student from eastern europe, whose interest in rossi is that she suspects him to be her father. together, they move in europe tracing the trail left by rossi. from turkey to hungary to bulgaria, they traveled in search of sveti georgi (saint george, the dragon slayer), thinking of dracula and bringing back rossi.

dracula has taken the dragon to be his symbol so references to st. george are relevant. the european myth of the dragon does equate with the reign of terror of vlad.

eventually, they manage to find rossi but he is already bitten and has his own sarcophagus. yes, he was kidnapped by dracula. he was taken for a purpose that made the other librarian-vampire so jealous.

SPOILER >>> dracula offered him eternal life and power if only he'd catalogue his library. despite the offer, rossi would rather see the sunlight and die the human way. sadly, it is with paul and helen that a stake is driven into his heart.

after this event, paul and helen get married. within less than a year since elsie's birth, helen can't seem to stay still so she disappears while on vacation in france. she had to give in to her thirst to search for dracula though she claims she fears her daughter might inherit her dracula lineage. earlier, helen was bitten twice.

years later, it is paul's turn to disappear from his daughter. comfortably settled in amsterdam, he embarks on a trip to france without leaving any explanation to his daughter. now, it is her turn to search for her father. along with barley (who didn't appear anymore in the present narrative so he's an underdeveloped character), she takes the train and traces her father's footsteps.

eventually, she and barley discover paul in the Saint-Matthieu-des-Pyrénées-Orientales, waiting for the arrival of dracula (he visits every so number of years). prompt as he is, dracula comes and so do helen and master james (barley's mentor). helen shoots a silver bullet into dracula's heart and he's reduced to ashes.

the thick novel is interspersed with letters written by rossi, paul, helen, and of course, the whole narrative is written by the narrator. this technique can be tricky as one has to get into the persona of the writer. however, i wasn't much on that style as i was reading more for the details and the historical aspect of the novel. i did my supplementary readings on the historical life of vlad tepes and i even recalled my reading of bram stoker's dracula.

so, the novel ends with the family reuniting. eventually, helen dies and paul, a day after disappears with the dagger. as readers, we are to assume that he plunged it into helen's heart so she won't become undead. fast forward to the epilogue: the narrator is now in her early 50s and as she leaves the special archives after looking at the notes of bram stoker, a librarian rushes to give her belongings, a book with the dragon imprint, similar to what her father and rossi found.

something is still alive, after all.

so, what can i say about this novel? the length is overwhelming but it gets to be justified because of the title. however, towards the end, the pacing just gives me the feeling that it had to end someway. it no longer had that drive as the beginning. nonetheless, it deserves to be a best seller.

on hindsight, portraying dracula as an historian, much more a lover of books, is witty but logical but lacks soul. i mean, despite all his deeds, he'll maim people to work for him as librarians. pun pun pun - he'll suck blood for a book! he'll offer immortality for cataloging books. at any rate, the obvious symbolism here is that evil lives forever in books. the most evil reads, too. (it is implied in the book that vlad learned to be undead because of what he about vampirism at the Perpignan monastery)

My Noodle Feast and Dong Bei dumplings

2011-08-15T09:51:00.009+08:00

frequent trips to binondo led me to try three of the best noodle soup in the area. they're the best according to reviews and other blogs. note: except for lan zhou and dong bei, i ate on three different days. i'm not that of a glutton.

Masuki Original Noodles (P120 small bowl)

If you're alone, stick it out with the small bowl of noodles. This is the best I like among the three in this blog. This is the original Ma Mon Luk but tastes better. There's a way to eat this. Scatter the chives on the soup. Raise some noodles, pour over the siopao sauce, and shovel in the mouth. I've learned to use my left hand for the spoon and my right hand for the chopsticks. I've also mastered eating golf-ball size siomai (compact with pork) with the chopsticks (not poking but really holding on with the two sticks)

Masuki is along Benavidez, right side, and closer to Severino Paredes.

Wai Ying Roasted Duck Noodles (P130)

Chunks of duck in this soup. Yummy but a bit oily. Still good soup. I tried the radish cake but there's nothing to rave about that. However, I will go back for the roasted duck, congee, and hakaw.

Wai Ying is along Benavidez. It's painted blue.

Lan Zhou Beef Noodles (P120)

I wasn't given the bowl of greens but it didn't matter. The beef flavor is very good, along with the hand-pulled noodles. Mix first so the essence of the beef rises to the top. Add a bit of aged vinegar to taste. The dumplings were being ordered frequently so I will try that later.

Lan Zhou is along Benavides and near the corner of Salazar.

Dong Bei steamed dumplings (P100/14 pieces; P200 per 31 pieces frozen for take home)

Don't mind the disorganized place. This is more of a dumpling-making joint than an eating spot. However, the kutchay dumplings are the best so far. They're subtle in taste and are freshly made. I tried the pan-fried pancake version and I didn't like it as much as the steamed. I brought the frozen pack and they're fun to steam as they don't stick with each other. Don't be deceived by the number and size, you won't notice you're down to the last two dumplings.

Dong Bei is along Yuchengco street. (turn left if you're coming from the church side)

original planker

2011-08-05T22:09:00.004+08:00

something i cannot understand is the phenomena of planking. planking is starting to be popular here and so are its haters. the other day, someone liked a site on facebook declaring this (see photo) as the original planker. the idea was hilarious but it was totally funny!

taken from: http://www.marketmanila.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/183.jpg

and here's a double

taken from: http://www.tanauan-leyte.gov.ph/images/photos/other_pix/our_products/lechon/lechon06.jpg

my new toy

2011-07-28T13:49:00.002+08:00

at P2,100 or about US $45, i got a compact 302 rollei. i'm amazed at the graphics it has and realized that a simple thing such as taking photos is now turning to be complicated because of all the options available. i haven't seriously gone out yet to take photos as the rains are horrible and i'm swamped with work.

i'm happy with the camera and will post photos soon. this is also my first purchase of an unused digital camera in my life so i am a bit excited to use something that's smaller than my small palm.

back to work now.

look before you eat that salad - a blog written about an incident last year

2011-07-27T10:02:00.007+08:00

(had to cover the logo but i have the raw file)

while editing an article about local cuisine, i got reminded of this entry i wrote in my FB notes more than a year ago. the postscript to this is that a friend of a friend is the lawyer of this chain so my email got to the proper people.

please help me identify this spider

as i took my share of the waldorf-chicken salad of a famous restaurant at glorietta, my friends noticed something odd -- there was a spider. it wasn't like any spider we had ever seen. it was black and quadruple that the size of the common house spider.

since they had eaten part of their salad and i didn't bother to eat mine, i will regret it if they have spidey powers after tonight's dinner. hahaha.

so, we told the waiters and the manager came forward. she insisted it might have come from the plants or dropped from the lamp above our table. ahm, nothing escapes my eyes that lands on my food. so we recounted the story.

to cut it short, she and the rest of the staff were cordial and did what's best. i was with a pretty calm set of friends so we just sat there, stared at spidey, and cracked jokes about it after the plate was removed. then, we all seemed to lose appetite and the ravioli went cold.

so, rather than create hysteria, discourage people from eating there, or sue the resto (unless my friends get super spidey powers and i don't), let me end by saying, make sure you squash everything before eating. err, i mean, look and look at what you're eating, don't just shovel it in.

beautiful pattern on this fish

2011-07-17T20:41:00.005+08:00

i noticed that this fish had an unusual pattern.

next time i buy fish, i'll look at the patterns again but i'll still cook and eat them.

i love mackerel. i bought three at the frozen section of the supermarket. they were cheap as each was around P20. i cooked them in vinegar and ginger. i haven't eaten them all as i want each one to be soaked in vinegar. so, tomorrow, that's breakfast along with tomatoes, rice, and boiled eggs cooked with caramelized onions.

comfort food - masuki original bowl

2011-07-17T20:22:00.004+08:00

it's that time of the year again when i go to binondo and help out in the contest. i've made it my rite to drop by masuki, the original ma mon luk. somehow i already know that place years ago but only stumbled upon its location when i started to explore the area. i didn't care that i already that yummy special ube siopao while waiting for the contest to be done. in my stomach, i had to get a bowl of this. then, i felt like it was the world's end, i had to eat two golf-ball size of compact and pure pork siomai.

what then is the rite in eating this bowl of noodles? i always order the original. the beef is too tasty if it's just all beef. the asado is too fatty. the plain chicken is pretty good but still, i'd stick it out with the original. the price depends on the condiments.

the bowl of noodles come in two sizes. this one is regular (P100). the bigger one (P120) with more soup and more noodles, i overheard, can be split and served in two. sometime ago, i tried that size and admitted i can never finish it.

what comes with the noodles are a cup of sweet sauce and chopped green onions. do not ask for calamansi or lemon to press into the soup. neither should one put soy sauce into it. put the chopped onions in to the soup. mix it. upon lifting the noodles, pour some sweet sauce over it before biting.

as for the siomai, it's pretty pricey at P30 each. since i had two, that was already P60. i only asked for one but the waiter gave me one order. what the heck, i'm not going to eat that much everyday.

the day at prc

2011-07-14T23:55:00.003+08:00

i made sure i finished all assignments due today so i can file my papers for the LET. the LET is a professional exam for teachers wanting to teach in either elementary or secondary schools. though i've already ended my teaching career and for now, have no intention to return, i still went through the motions of getting qualified for that exam.

if there's anything the horrible typhoon ondoy brought, is that it allowed me to enrol in teaching certificate units and got me this laptop. the school advanced a month's salary and the 13th month so i was able to have some financial breather then.

anyway, people have been egging me to take the LET and so after i finished my 18 units in the school literally behind my bedroom window, i had to fix my papers.

that did not went smoothly. first, the school wanted me to get transfer credentials from my alma mater. horrors! my records will say i graduated from that school. argh. i can't downgrade but i had to do that. i was made to shuttle from here to there just to get those credentials. i can't forget the registrar in the tcp school making me wait for half an hour while she talked on the phone. all she needed to do was sign a clearance that i still had to pass to my alma mater. there was nothing to read, btw. it was just a standard request that came from the tcp school.

then i had to wait for two weeks for my alma mater to release the transfer credentials. then i had to wait for a month so that my papers from the tcp school will be fixed. that freaked me out! but what was worse was the amount i had to pay for it! it was thrice the cost of documents at my alma mater.

time and money were short but i managed.

finally, this day came and i trooped to prc following all instructions from its website.

the lines weren't that long except for the screening of documents. since it's a day before the deadline for filing, there should've been at least four persons doing that task. anyway, the boys who were doing the screening were talkative and i commented that that was their way of amusing themselves amidst the flurry of people.

the one who evaluated my documents remarked that i spent four years at my alma mater and only a year at the tcp school yet, the tcp school wants to make sure that it gets credit for my passing in b/w. hahaha.

then there are other charges like P21 for a documentary stamp and P50 for notary, which are mandatory. then i had to shell out another P21 for the metered window envelope which was not yet needed as of filing time.

i brought with me glue, stapler, a nice pen, clipboard, passport photos, residence certificate, and the original and photocopies of my documents. photos and the res certf are all available there, so is photocopying which is at P2/ page.

all in all, it took me three hours to finish the process.

while lining up, i was asked by quite a handful if that were the line for re-takers. i must have looked like one. so, i had to tell them, it was not. hmmm...

so, i'll slowly prepare for the test on sept 25 and go through the motions. sadly, i will not join the ranks of teachers even if i pass the LET. i've let go.

the prc only took the photocopies of my transcripts and birth certificate. all the originals are with me. so, what will i do now with all these copies?

my theory on the ending of 100 days to heaven

2011-07-08T21:27:00.003+08:00

i've only followed a handful of telenovelas in my couch potato life. i grew up watching analiza over flor de luna simply because the latter had mean characters and janice was a batchmate, both i couldn't stand then. oh, i also got hooked on oishin, one of the first japanese telenovelas aired here. then, there was marimar that totally changed the evening habit of every tv fanatic. i missed the ending as those were my buffet binging days then. then, there came the korean series and i followed endless love, autumn in my heart. i skipped F4 as they were too cute.

then, i got hooked on pangako sa 'yo but when i saw the ending (instead of a well-thought out executed narrative, the series had each major character narrate her ending - the lamest and the most disappointing so far), that made me lose faith.

anyway, now, i got hooked on 100 days to heaven.first, i grew up watching the drama series of coney reyes and her real life drama - how she couldn't act yet, then she improved, got married, separated, hooked with vic, had a son, moved from 9 to 7 to 2, and i even got to learn her generous ways. second, the premise was interesting. it's not original but the twist is. third, that kid. she's incredible but since i saw her act in the last tanging ina movie, i knew her limitations. she's good. fourth, the snappy delivery of "you're fired!"

anyhow, i was disappointed last week when the drama started to reveal the sophia might be the daughter of anna. argh. i thought there'd be something more creative in the unraveling of the truth. but since, the network lives and brags on "alam namin ang gusto ng manunuod at nakikinig," i am not surprised.

where did i get the quote? all that one has to do is to suspend all biases and spend an hour or so listening to dzmm's mismo and the radio announcer whose movement in that radio show i followed not by choice, forever would repeat and brag that his network knows and gives what the viewers and listeners want.

so, i guess 100 days to heaven just went that way. at least, this teleserye had good subplots (or else i wouldn't have missed only around three episodes) and deviated from the stereotype screaming characters. it helps that B actors are mixed with great actors. just juxtapose jodi with jewel and valerie!

okay, here's my theory - i'm putting it up early so in case, it does get picked up, you know who suggested it.

eto ang theory ko sa ending ng 100 days. sophia will eventually find out that madame is her mother but then she (sophia) has to make a choice between kevin to live free from sickness or for her and madame to have a second chance at being mother and daughter.

(o, pag naging ganyan ang ending, ehem, i should have pursued my writing)

review review review

2011-07-08T11:15:00.002+08:00

my latest stash of books. despite the fact that i haven't read much these past weeks and have had a conscious control of book purchases, i couldn't resist these when i saw them. i only wanted to buy the millennium series of steig larsson so i went to the booksale. tought luck, it was the day their new arrivals were being stacked! thanks to this noisy bookbuyer who seemed to know what he wanted, i immediately grabbed the following books in case he also might be interested. i had to leave a sedaris and an adams behind.

i'm pretty excited to read the historian. a new author for me is italo calvino. i got his book because noisy guy said he had a market for this author. hmmmm... he got all titles except this one which was a second copy. then, i decided to purchase first french kiss for P20 as i found the author's note funny.

i still haven't forgotten that i still have to get a copy of karin slaughter's latest books (which have yet to be here) and come next cut-price sale, i will procure the three books of lisbeth salander.

a rollei is a rollei is a rollei

2011-07-04T23:01:00.005+08:00

i thought i'd be a bit financially safe until payday until i saw this was available for only half its original price. so, i got my membership and went through the process to avail of this camera. as i sat pondering on the waiting period, i realized i never owned a first-hand digital camera and slr.

my first camera was a very simple manual camera and i think i saw it somewhere in the junk pile. however, it's still working. my second first-owned camera is my holga. i've used it once but these days, the weather isn't sunny enough for nice photos so it's just sitting here.

as for my other digicams, well, one (canon)- the color is too yellow so the pictures are quite bright. the other (vivitar) knows a master because i'm the only one who knows that to use it means to have stable hands. otherwise, the photos will be hazy with the pixels scattered a bit to the trained eye. the latter also doubles for a lomo when i have shaky hands.

so, this new purchase at a real cheap price is making me all excited.

i bought this primarily because of the brand and the cheap price. okay, so, my secret addiction is online bidding that had to be put on hold as i was cash-strapped and still am.there are no samples of its pictures available on the net nor are there existing reviews.

i'll make my own review as soon as i get it and use it by late july.

the best eating place is not the cleanest of them all... who cares as it has the best liempo!

2011-07-01T21:36:00.003+08:00

the protocol goes this way. approach the main table and choose your viand. the inihaw (broiled) food ranges from tilapia, stuffed milkfish, fillets of marlin, medium sized squid, and liempo (pork belly). there are also other choices such as bulalo (boiled beef bones), menudo, dinuguan, adobo, etc. in short, the dishes except for the fish are all major causes of a heart attack! vegetables are scarce and cost as much as the meat dishes.

there's either a fork or a tong on the tray of the broiled food. for the liempo, you have to choose your piece and put it on the chopping board. a lady will chop it for you.she'll hand that to you along with a saucer with chili and calamansi. another lady will approach where you are seated and hand over your cup of rice. another attendant will come over and give you a small bowl of hot and tasty beef soup. the table will have a bottle of soy sauce.

squeeze the calamansi. crush the chili. pour the soy sauce. pour some soup on your rice. dip a slice of pork in the soy sauce and spoon some rice with it into your mouth.

in all my years of eating inihaw na liempo, this is the best. even the fish is fresh and tasty. however, i actually go there for the free broth. it's what makes the experience fulfilling. the whole meal costs P60 with no drinks. the liempo can feed two persons. i don't order extra rice because it's P10, quite expensive.

so, what if the place is not exactly the cleanest. in fact, they've already changed the seats (still plastic but firmer now) and added a bottle of vinegar for the whole area. the floor has been cemented and the roof is made of canvas now. i don't go there during lunch time, though as seats will be hard to find.

creepy fish

2011-06-29T22:57:00.003+08:00

i went to the market this afternoon as i wanted to eat something fresh. specifically, i was hungry for tilapia or squid. the squids were too small so i didn't bother. i tried looking for the vertical scallops that i cook with garlic and butter but sadly, there were none. so, it was the tilapia. despite the fish kill a couple of weeks ago, tilapia was still at 75 per kilo. so, i chose the live ones, four of them that cost me P90! i saw them scaled and gutted. i paid and walked away. i decided to buy some tiger shrimp at P85 per 1/4 kilo. perhaps the woman pitied me so she added a couple. i ended up with 10 pieces with one bigger than the rest. while i was waiting for my shrimps, something moved in my bag. i stopped. it moved again. and again! a fish was still alive! that freaked me out.

so, i went back to the tilapia vendor and he said that the fish will die in a few more seconds. wow! talk about being fresh.

i cooked the fish but i apologized first. yes, they were too fresh to be fried so i cooked them in a lot of boiled and softened tomatoes. yum.yum.yum.

as for the shrimps, sauteed in garlic and onions. one of these days, i will get 1/2 a kilo and feast on them. hahaha.

electrocuted by spam

2011-06-27T21:36:00.003+08:00

i was frying spam this morning on my electric stove and poking the slices with a fork when i got buzzed by electricity. my first reaction was - spam is a conductor of electricity! then i realized that if kept using my fork poking that slice, i might get an electric shock and what will they say caused my death - death by spam frying.

weh.

kewpie is japanese mayo

2011-06-18T17:11:00.003+08:00

shell cooked edamame. slice lettuce. chop kani. julienne takuan. put in bowl. add kewpie. mix until everything is coated. chill. serve.

i know i should save up for a better camera. lately, taking photos has been an after thought. however, eating is still top priority.

edamame, katuray and squash flowers

2011-06-11T21:08:00.004+08:00

(note that photos are not mine. the sources are watermarked on each one.)

after realizing i've had too much meat sometime ago, i decided to shift to eating more vegetables. last week, i cooked my own version of pinakbet with squash flowers. i realized squash flowers are better off eated steamed and on its own. tomorrow, i shall troop to the wet market and buy them at 10 pesos a dozen. i shall steam them and eat them with boiled rice. yummy.

katuray flowers are colored white and are often dismissed by people who have no idea they are edible. unlike the squash flowers which have no taste at all, katuray flowers can have a bitter taste. the best way to prepare them is to removed the pistil and end up with a pile of the white petals. these should be washed and blanched. the best way i enjoy katuray flowers is making it into a salad with chopped onions and sweetened vinegar. in the wet market, bees are always on top of the katuray leaves.

as of the moment, my tummy is filled with a pound of edamame or boiled young soybeans. i know i read about this but dismissed it as trivial. i even saw a sale and disregarded it. but last night, things changed. i became passionate about it and spent the whole afternoon looking for it around my area. after going to cartimar yesterday, cash and carry, walter mart, landmark earlier, i finally found edamame at a japanese-korean store right across goldilocks along pasong tamo (street about a couple of kilometers away from my home).

i knew it was bound to be addicting. i finished half a kilo earlier. i boiled it for a few minutes and seasoned it with salt and cayenne pepper. i still have half the pack in the freezer and definitely, it's bound to be my junk food soon. the frozen pack costs P175. i know i can get it fresh sooner or later. the fun is in the eating - putting the whole pod in the mouth and pulling it through the upper and lower teeth so that the seeds will be left on the tongue. the seeds taste like boiled peanuts with a lesser sweetness. it's not fun eating and cooking merely the seeds on its own.

tomorrow, sunday, i will be off to the wet market to buy chicken feet for my tinola (chicken broth with lots of ginger and unripe green papaya). my mutts have a treat tomorrow as i have to make sure their dinners are something of interest. half the chicken feet will be cooked with a sweet and spicy sauce. okay, so i don't want full meals - just nibblers. but i did hear that chicken feet are good for collagen or something - for the joints.

mmmm... i think my eating habits will be healthier. i now have time to go to the market and eat what i want. incidentally, i discovered a soy bean store in cartimar and i might just frequent it.

and edamame, even if it's under the family of beans, has yet to cause my joints to be in pain!

my take on mara, madam ana, amaya and the twins

2011-06-04T21:10:00.004+08:00

it is alarming to hear people behind the making of soap operas brag about them knowing what the viewers want so they give in to the demand. elevating the standard and taste of the filipino audience will not ever happen soon. besides, the way we watch tv is merely a measure of how loyal one is to either gma or abs-cbn.

i wrote that as my status in my fb page last night after watching a popular soap opera come to an end. mara clara is the second version of a soap opera that made the names of judy ann santos and gladys reyes household names.

there was a time i wrote teleplays for a youth-oriented show, that was in 1996-1997. i went through a couple of workshops for scriptwriting before that and i must and will still hold on to my belief that that is what i want to do. anyway, so at least, i know the business one way or another.

so, it is quite sad that the people behind these tv shows have that attitude. fine, making shows is a profit-oriented endeavor but there should be a conscious goal of teaching real life lessons. sadly, i think people and even little kids are hooked because, as the cliche gooes, they can relate with the evil more than ever before. i believe there is a correlation between the type of shows watched and the family set-up.

i'm curious as to how that little kid who cried her heart out when a character faked her death. her older sibling took a video and uploaded it and it had more than 100,000 hits (include 1 from me). i wonder if her parents or siblings spend time talking to her or is she hooked on tv, facebook, internet?

since i am ranting i will advocate a couple of tv shows from both channels. the first is 100 days to heaven. i got curious because i grew up watching coney reyes and i like the story of scrooge in a christmas carol. the kid is the minime of the character played by that actress. madam, played by coney, is a ruthless owner/ceo of the number one toy company in the country. the irony is that she's unloved by almost every one while her toys make children happy. so, her car explodes, she goes to the gates of heaven but is led to seeing the mouth of hell. but heaven gives her a chance to redeem herself so she is sent back as a child. from then on, she searches for those she had wronged and tried to make things correct.

i like it because there are no special effects, no guns, no violence, the evilness contained and the action is quick. i hope it doesn't succumb to the usual way its network does the ending. allow me, another status i posted in fb:

revealing of past events, gunshots, pole stabbing, falling off a building, almost drowning in a water tank but saved because of clairvoyance (talgang hahanapin sa water tank ha), crying to death, insanity, twin siblings, and as usual, late cops -- all because of unrequited love? tama na ang dalawang version ng mara clara sa isang lifetime! juday-gladys forever pa din

the other show that i know will not be watched as much is amaya. it's aired on the other channel and it's supposed to be a depiction of pre-spanish philippines. it's the story of a warrior princess. the story is nothing new as its issues are the same as that of the teleseryes. i watch it because of its production value. they employed historians as consultants for the show. also, the production is a treat - costumes, dialogue, scenery. i know money was well-spent.

now, the other channel shows a more popular show with the hottest male star (i wish he'd acknowledge the kid he fathered when he was starting out. the mother was more accomplished than him at that time but she had to put a stop to her career because she got pregnant with his child. now, she can't even stage a comeback) why am i dismayed with this? the premise is that twins were raised separately, one as a soldier, the other an underground rebel. they are now reunited but the ex-rebel twin is being portryaed as ill-mannered, disrespectful, angry, and vengeful. so, what is the show trying to say about ex-rebels reintegrating into society?

so what can we do? do now understand why this generation is hooked on korean telenovelas?

use the power of your remote!

so you want to get a copy of your birth certificate

2011-04-30T22:59:00.005+08:00

filipinos seeking employment, applying for national exams or getting a passport all require a birth certificate from the nso (national statistics office). the nso offices are located in quezon city and in pasay.

for those who have the time but not the budget*, one can personally go to the nso to get this document. i went to the nso at pasay. this can be found along macapagal avenue, across pnb. one needs to take the moa blue or orange jeeps coming from gil puyat corner taft or edsa corner taft to get there. fare is the minimum, P8. the nso is nearer gil puyat or a few meters across the world trade area.

i got there a little after 8am and was surprised to see that there were already quite a number of people. i was number 274.

STEP 1: fill up a form. one can request for the birth certificate, certificate of no marriage (i have no idea what this is for), a death certificate, or a birth card that certifies that one has records at the nso.

the form asks for the usual information - name, birthday, place of birth, father's full name (first, middle name, last), mother's maiden name (full name, middle name and her maiden last name). it also asks for the purpose. the last part is all in the check box, anyway.

after filling up the form, sit down and move as the people get to move. everyone sits and moves and this serves as the cue. movement is from right to right, then left to left - much like the letter s or in the "isaw" wave. one can actually sit down and fill up the form while in cue. that would cut the waiting for about 10 mins.

it takes about a minute or less to move from the next seat to the other. movement is usually done in 5's so if all the payment counters had been open that morning, the lines would be moving in 10's. there were only four open counters when i was there and it took me an hour to reach step 2.

STEP 2: there will be a lady who will be further inspecting the filled up form. then she will hand the number printout which is proof that one has cued and didn't merely cut into the payment line. the lady is the one who will approach the filee. just wait.

STEP 3: upon reaching the counter, hand in the filled up form, a valid ID and the payment of P140 for each copy of the birth certificate. the certificate of no marriage is P190.

STEP 4: go to the back office. from the entrance, go right at the ministop. sit in the room and wait for your name to be called. the documents will only be released if one has a valid id. this step took less than 30 mins. annd that's it.

i ended the process around ten minutes before 1100. not bad.

it is best to come early, perhaps by 7am so that one can be done early, too. moa opens at 9am, though.

NOW, if one has the budget, call NSO direct and pay via metrobank the P330 per copy of the birth certificate. it takes around a week for the door to door delivery of the copy. i spent P280 for two copies of my birth certificate and 1/2 day. if i called NSO direct, i would've spent P660 and the time to go to the bank and the waiting period.

and for those who want another person to get the documents. one needs to give a letter of authorization and an id of the document owner to get one.

zoobic adventure October 6 2006

2011-04-29T16:36:00.003+08:00

Taken from Friendster

October 6 2006
zoobic adventure

i got back from subic the other day and it was quite a photo experience. what excited me this afternoon was seeing my film photos of the ocean adventure attraction and i was so amazed that the canon eos 888 was able to capture the dolphins before they landed in the water - something my digicam failed to do (it was due to my adjustments and i realized too late that i did them wrongly). well, as soon as i am done with my work, i will sit down, fix my photos and make a photo essay out of my animal photos.

the guys at netopia madison along taft scanned my contact prints and i was so impressed.

bravo! bolshoi ballet and ballet manila! 2006

2011-04-29T16:32:00.000+08:00

bravo! bolshoi ballet and ballet manila!
June 16th, 2006

from Malaya:

The week-long event will feature some of the stars of the famous Bolshoi Theatre Ballet. Performing are lead soloist and honoured artist of Russia, Anastasia Yatsenko; lead soloist Andrei Bolotin; Nelli Kobakhidze, ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet; lead soloist Yekaterina Shipulina; lead soloist Alexander Volchkov; lead soloist Anastasia Goryacheva; and lead soloist Ruslann Skvortsov.

guess who was at ccp seated in one of those boxes last night in awe?

yup. thanks to the diva and the diva’s mom, i got a once in lifetime chance to sample the stars of the bolshoi theater ballet performing pieces from swan lake, giselle and the tarantella.

this was also with the participation of ballet manila. although in her early 40s, if my calculations are correct as she was in senior year when i was in frosh year, lisa macuja elizalde still exudes the passion for dance. rumors have it that doctors have warned her against dancing because of her age and the kids. nonetheless, lisa was "breathtaking" in their version of a muslim dance. she flipped, hung and sat on bamboo poles!

when sour grapes turn to whine, err.. wine

2011-04-29T16:31:00.002+08:00

(Taken from friendster. circa 2006. i wrote this a few months after resigning from dlsu and being hired at stc. soon, i will write why i resigned from stc.)

when sour grapes turn to whine, err.. wine
August 16th, 2006

just watch american dreamz. (it’s a request, not a report of a past action)

i’m not a hugh grant fan but i’ve gotten interested in the movies mandy moore appears in. face it, she can sing and act but not really excel in either. anyhow, someone paid for my ticket so i watched it and laughed hard because it was a funny movie. it made fun of "idol" shows and contestants, the us president, I-raq rebels, etc… since i am part of the gnd generation (grim and determined), the movie is really a black comedy, satire, lots of laughs with a whole lot of message like when william williams, two weeks short of training, gets to be sent to iraq (I-raq, not eerak) and gets shot and returns as a war veteran. argh… watch out for iqbal. this actor is so hilarious. where did the production find these actors who played iraqis- iqbal and omer. funfunfun.

of course, the following is more interesting than the above paragraph.

ah, the joys and perils of being part-time in an educational institution - your future gets decided by a respected handful. : ) by this time, they have gotten rid of the old ones who made the department what it is and gave it respect. (read between the lines) oh, i’m not sour-graping. my sour grapes are making themselves into bottles of fine wine and it’s wine that’s not about to turn. anyway, it’s reality - that if you do not have a master’s, your game’s over. come to think of it, when i lost work a year short of my accumulated 15 years in that institution, i found out who my real friends from that office were, people who had the decency to ask how i was and not only assumed i was fine (period). hmmm… only one from my friendster set (ec) asked. ms is exempted as she wasn’t part of my friendster yet. (well, the people in the office don’t even account for 5% of people i know.)

i guess that’s how it is. when you face a tragedy, R E A L, as in velveteen rabbit R E A L, ask you how you are even if they might be fearful of how your response will be. so, here’s my learning on that, even if i know someone is hurting and that i will be rejected, i will still ask how he/she is…only if i know i can be real myself.

oh, i’m just writing this because they did a britney …. oops they did it again, got rid of an old part-timer.

who's the diva

2011-04-29T16:25:00.000+08:00

taken from friendster. circa 2006 - my take on minette's first recital

who’s the diva?
March 19th, 2006

this is not a work of fiction. the event you are about to read is an actual account. this really happened. real people. real places. real event. i will not hide behind caveats. though, no psychologist was involved, someone turned out right… or so we think.

some time ago,way back when sanrio was the in thing and all kittens were white and wearing red ribbons, four girls from an exclusive school situated in the heart of D. Tuazon, Maria Clara, Calamba and Banawe streets - oh yeah St. Theresa’s College, Q.C., stood on the platform, exasperated - their singing exercise was over.

they sang: Kookaburra sits in the old gum

Merry, merry king of the bush is Laugh,

Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra

Gay your life must

note: a kookaburra is an australian bird and this kid’s song has four stanzas but we only knew the first.

then when all four stepped towards there seats, one was asked to stay and sing again. so, she sang with all her heart, nary a thought to what a kookaburra was. she thought kookaburra was some old tribal king of a remote tribe in Africa. ( geez, i was just breaking into puberty, why should i even care?)

then, as our ex future singing star sat down, she asked her seatmate, Why was I asked by Mrs. Padilla to sing again?

Kase, Beth, para kang tumutula.

shattered. dreams.

Thus, she clammed up and never dare sang another note in her entire life.

Fifteen years later, our hero was now teaching English after devoting her gift of words to literature, a senior co-teacher kept telling her:

Have you met the new faculty? She’s the daughter of Mrs. Padilla!

Mrs. Padilla, who?

Mrs. Padilla, your music teacher.

Sorry, I don’t remember. (okay, so, i had a conscious memory lapse.)

Beth??? Mrs. Padilla! Doesn’t she look like her mom?!

(ang kulit, ha! sinabi ng I don’t remember eh.)

a month and more passed, still the clam has no recall of Mrs. Padilla. then, one morning, when all was calm and Beth was cool, she stirs in her dreams as the melody of kookaburra roused her.

thus, to keep her sane, the clam talks of the story and reveals the truth as to why karaoke bores her and that she’s rather pay her way out of singing and why she’d never get a magic sing mike.

the real future diva tells the story to Mrs. Padilla and this is her reply: I must have ruined her life.

ha! of course, after sometime, I got a chance to meet up with Mrs. Padilla and even got invited to Baguio. she promises to make up for her, err, ruining by offering piano lessons.

yesterday, after I told this story, someone said that Mrs. Padilla is wise as she offered me piano and not singing lessons!

hahaha! so, that’s the diva, Minette, the soprana, the daughter of Mrs. Padilla.

Eating Time in Quezon circa 2006

2011-04-29T16:21:00.000+08:00

taken from my Friendster blog...

Lafang time in Quezon
June 16th, 2006

(this article appears in the KAISA newsletter. i wrote this on the pleas of jotan. after i ate…a lot… i had to write about it. bummer. at any rate, i did enjoy this food tour and we’re all dreaming of going to pampanga for a sisig spree. some pictures were taken during this trip. okay, me and a bus load of fil-chinese…)

*********************

Kulinarya Quezon: Not just a Gastronomic Feast

The Sunday of May 28, 2006, proved to be one of the best day adventures I ever had. First, upon the invitation of Jocelyn Tan, I knew of the possibility that I will be the only non-Chinese Filipino among the group of KAISA. Second, I had to wake up early as Jotan said the bus will leave anyone who is not on time at 600am. Third, we were all going to a CULINARY tour of Quezon province and that meant gastronomic delights to someone who’s always excited on anything that has to do with food.

As the bus left KAISA and proceeded to the Magallanes Shell station where we had to pick up two more participants, our tour guide, please insert her name here, talked about what we were about to expect that day, breakfast at Kusina Salud, side trip at Ugu’s pottery garden, lunch at Gala- Rodriguez, walking tour at Sariaya, food demos at Lucban, and the tagayan ritual of lambanog at Tayabas.

Kusina Salud, the home of world renowned Patis Tesoro in San Pablo, was a welcome to us weary and hungry travelers. The garden, mini aviary, antiques, paintings, and water fountains, all merging in a symphony of colors, were very inviting.

Breakfast consisted of organic brown rice, dilis served on a bed of egg-tomato-onion-kesong puti, scrambled eggs with kesong-puti, longganisa, beef tapa (It must have been kalabaw meat. I didn’t dare ask but it was on the breakfast menu and it is part of the traditional breakfast.) Dessert was a warm guinatan halo-halo, with the ube giving its rich purple color.

What caught my palate’s attention was the dilis. Its size was perfect and so was its crunchiness. Its presentation, on top of a salad of yellow, red, light purple and white, magnificently bursts of colors and flavors.

The food demo was the pako salad with a twist. First, it was prepared the traditional way (fish bagoong, calamansi, tomato, onion, pepper). Then, a whole salted egg was grated on it. Then to balance the taste, a dressing was poured over it. The taste was a fusion of saltiness, sourness, sweetness and the pako’s own taste.

The next stop wasn’t on the itinerary but it was the most significant. It was a brief stop at the monument of General Yue Fei. Located along the highway and with in the compound of a city center, the monument pays homage to the Filipino-Chinese contribution to China, similar to how Jose Rizal is the Filipino-Chinese contribution to the Philippines.

Lunch was about to be served at Ugu’s Pottery Garden, not anymore at the Gala-Rodriguez mansion. Although we felt that it was just a few hours after breakfast, we all eagerly anticipated what food will be served amidst the gardens and pottery of Ugu.

Ugu’s Pottery Garden in Tiaong is its well guarded open secret as there are no signs leading to its location. Still, this is a must see place for three reasons: its sprawling garden with cottages where people can rest and eat, the pottery as being there gives a peak into the potter’s works and works in progress and the most important, the food.

Ugu’s food demo is the kulawo. To make this extraordinary dish out of ordinary ingredients, one would need banana heart, boiled and shredded, grated coconut, vinegar, the aromatics of garlic and onion and salt and pepper. This dish tasted like inihaw na liempo! The secret, I think, lies in both the toasting of the coconut in live coals and using vinegar to extract its milk. (If you attempt this, do not forget to remove the coals before squeezing the shredded coconut. Also, if the taste is far from Ugu’s kulawo, then we can assume that it is the potter’s hands that make the difference.)

In first and second waves, lunch was cleaned in a jiffy. There was a clear soup of various meats and squid balls that had a very light flavor, calamares, inihaw na liempo, kulawo, pako, fried and steamed fish. All these were washed down by pure buko juice. Dessert was buko pandan which I had to forego as I was too stuffed with the kulawo.

Then it was off to the town of Sariaya. We were led to the church where the replica of the crucifix of the Sto. Kristo de Burgos was the main relic. Our tour guide said that it was only that replica that survived when the church burned, thus, strengthening the attributions of miracles to it. Then, in the middle of the summer afternoon, we decided to forego the walking tour of the old houses and just admire their architecture and enormous structures from our bus windows. The bus stopped in front of the Galo-Rodriguez ancestral mansion where we were welcomed with a serenade and the tagayan. This meant that everyone had to partake of the lambanog from the same glass.

The mansion itself has a rich history. It was built by Sariaya’s prominent family and was designed by Architect Juan Nakpil. Upon its completion in the mid 1930’s and a couple of days before the family was to occupy it, their matriarch, Doña Gregoria died. During World War II, the upper floor of the mansion was used by the Japanese high officials as their residence while the family stayed at the first floor. Old mansions are often designed with secret chambers and this is no different. The Japanese never detected that within the kitchen of the first floor was the trap door that led to the house’s cellar. It was her that the family hid the eldest daughter, Carmen, to avoid the amorous advances of one of the officers. Thus, christened cellar of safety, this underground area now houses some of the family’s belongings, including a collection of women’s shoes, a couple of chamber pots, among others. As part of the tour, we all went down into the cellar. However, what was really the treat was finding the exit and maneuvering one’s body to pass through the elevated small window. Of course, a hand full decided to simply go up via the trap door again.

The next stop was KoffeeKlatch Bakeshop in Lukban. Located at the foot of Mt. Banahaw, Lukban is sometimes known as Quezon’s Baguio because of its cool weather. The food demo focused on two of Lukban’s famous specialties, the kiping and the longganisa. On the one hand, kiping is made out of rice flour, water and food color. The sticky paste is then spread on the kabal leaves and steamed. After cooling them, the kiping is easily peeled off and dried.The colorful kiping decorations are edible. One either toasts or fries the kiping, sprinkles sugar, and one has a crunchy snack.

On the other hand, the longganisa’s tasty secret is its use of oregano juice and non-use of chemical preservatives. Our resource person was also keen on saying that they stick to the dried pig’s intestine for casing and replacing it with the synthetic edible one is much too expensive and unthinkable. The group was then treated to pancit habhab, round apas, cassava cake and the luckier ones were able to sample the longganisa. It seemed that no one left the bakeshop without buying apas, biscuits and longganisa.

The final stop was Mi Casa in Tayabas for the Tagayan ritual. Our gracious host, former mayor, Dondi Alandy Silang, patiently narrated the ritual of tagayan or the drinking of lambanog in a group. The most important role went to the one who is tasked to pour the lambanog, the tagayero. His task is to make sure that everyone gets the same amount of lambanog in the one glass used by everyone and that the bottle of lambanog will be enough for everyone. There is much respect involved in the ritual. One cannot simply refuse the drink nor can one just drink as much as one wants. “Patimtim po,” should be said for refusal. Since it is the women who often refuse the drink, they still have to make sure that their lips touch the rim of the glass. This adds pressure to the rest of the group, so one of the male participants has to save the drink (and the woman) by saying, “Sasakupin po.” This means that the “saviour” has to drink from the area of the rim that was earlier touched by the woman’s lips. However, one should never take lambanog lightly, particularly, Tayabas’ pure lambanog. It is quite potent, so moderation should be practiced.

Kusina ni Salud, Ugu’s pottery, Sariaya’s mansions and churches, Lukban’s kiping and longganisa, Tayabas’s tagayan, are all but samples of what Quezon has to offer. The tour only allowed a glimpse of the richness of the province’s culture and is still far from reaching its core; after all, we only reached a few towns of Quezon. Looking at the map, these towns are merely in Quezon’s periphery. Imagine how much more Quezon has to offer if one is able to go further into its heart.

(On a personal note, I am so appreciative of being part of the KAISA tour. Not only did I learn about what culinary delights Quezon has to offer, I also benefited from the anecdotes of Ma’m Tessie about the Chinese influence in Quezon’s history and culture, as well, as these are historical data that never get to land in the books. )

4/4/11

2011-04-04T23:23:00.002+08:00

today is 4/4/11.

repeated numbers, repeated dates, repeated problems.

there was a fire earlier. had i not missed work, i would've panicked at the thought there was a fire along my street. it was merely four houses away from mine. the flames began as a bonfire and the men were unable to control it. it was scary because the flames were goind beyond the wall and were about to reach the wooden house next to it.

the hose connected to our well was well used. the water well provided the initial drenching. in a few minutes, the fire trucks arrived and in a minute, a miracle happened. it rained enough to further reduce the white smoke to steam. how was that on a summer day! my street reverberates with prayers and masses so we're pretty much sheltered.

i looked at my dogs and wondered how i would carry them in case of a bigger and closer fire. i guess i'll be able to with the great adrenalin rush.

i hate fires.

what graduation

2011-04-03T08:47:00.003+08:00

The second meaning of graduation as lifted from the freedictionary:
a. A division or interval on a graduated scale.
b. A mark indicating the boundary of such an interval.

i'd take b. anytime. it means the ending and the beginning. it means something has to die in order for something to rise up. it also means a time in limbo and ask the easiest question of all, "what am i to do now?" thought the easiest, this requires the hardest answer. decisions are hard to make and honoring them often can be the downfall of some.

it also means letting go and keeping in memory the happiness and sadness the experiences and people brought into one's life. for example, a teacher could have praised a student for the most minute incident or raised hell over some miscue. the former could be the only positive point in the life of the student and he/she will magnify that in times of low self-esteem while the latter can lead to scars and resentment. but, with graduation, one has to move on and only look back to draw strength, not to wish to go back again.

writing calls

2011-03-27T13:55:00.002+08:00

if there's anything that recent events have brought back is the passion for writing. it's the essential answer to why i blog. i blog because i have my narratives to weave. i blog because every waking second is an opportunity to scream to the world my gratitude for being alive and being able to experience another day on earth. i blog because there are stories of other people which have to be recorded. experience makes sense only if we allow it to make sense. thus, your narrative should seeks a point where it weaves with mine. if it hasn't, then there might still be other narratives needed to be woven for us to connect.

over the weekend, i have developed the first signs of a cold and that explains my impatience during the practices. then, it became clearer, the virus has chosen to target my throat. that is, of course, brought about by my recent fondness for cold drinks. last friday, i gobbled a melon drink and topped it with scrammble. that latter drink was so gooood. ice was crushed correctly, froth was enough, flavor and milk poweder matched but the killer was the sweetness, that syrupy witness! without any semblance of discipline, i could've bought the biggest for the second round. then, i was back to drinking cold water - a practice i stopped for the past years as my throat was so sensitive to the changes in the temperature.

so, habits have to be reverted.

yes, i am glad school will be over in about 30.240 minutes/504hours/21days/3weeks/3/4of a month/ yadah yadah yadah yadah....

consoling

2011-03-22T20:59:00.004+08:00

how do you console someone whose talents and character are impeccable that she's always on the top two or three students trusted by teachers? seeing her in tears earlier was disturbing as i knew this was bound to happen. it was funny because the tears weren't tears of defeat but tears of there-were-just-so-many-things she had to do and literally, if she could divide herself, she might. ah, the challenge of the talented multitasker.

anyhow, after i put the thumbs down on what she wrote, that happened. what she did after was something i liked and admired. this was a show of humility. she asked her other talented pals to help her out with the writing while she attended another meeting. (i think any other student would have just kept it and not let others help).

so, the task was done in an hour and her other friends were very much encouraged to help her.

what did i learn from this? it's the humility to face the reality that if one cannot finish the task, there are others who can help. all one can do is to ask and humble oneself.

law of karma and the japanese tsunami

2011-03-20T22:26:00.001+08:00

more than a week ago, japan was hit by an earthquake which was then followed by a tsunami in its hardest hit areas, sendai and fukushima.

what triggered the devastation, ie, totally devastating a city, is the tsunami. the waters torrentially went inland and flowed with its might. nothing stopped the salt water from finding its level. it just swept through every nook and the tiniest areas of the town.

in the videos, cars seemed so light as the waters carried a fleet of cars and piled them on top of each other, houses floated and crashed, creating mountains of debris. i thought of whether people were saved or were they in their cars. what were they thinking at the point when at first, their cars floated and eventually, got swallowed into the whirpools or the rising waters.

this evening, over the radio, a resource person mentioned that he read somewhere that this event was payback time. it was karma for the japanese who are the number one murderers of whales and dolphins. the tsunami was the way of the creatures' revenge.

so, this made me think that perhaps, there might be wisdom in this. after all, it is a fact that the japanese have killed tons of whales and dolphins despite the protests of the world. now, whales and dolphins are the oceans' healers and perhaps, higher forms of beings. in the bible, jonah was swallowed by a whale but got out unscathed. there are other myths that tell of lessons of humanity's experience with such creatures.

well, whatever we call it, whether it is a mere natural phenomenon or nature's wrath, at least, the japanese are now turning to prayer and its traditions as in this article from usa today.

all we need is to generate as much positive energy to help heal the environment and we should start with prayers.

2011-03-17T06:26:00.000+08:00

di ko na 'to ma-take!

2011-03-16T21:48:00.003+08:00

nakakastress ito!

si utoy si boylet ni mara. si amante, hihiwalayan na ni elvira. si gary at cristina, galit na galit sa isa't isa. nagpapacute na sila utoy and mara! grabe.

ay eto ang stressful - the actors like bobby andrews and cherrylou are playing parent roles! grabe. they're just my age. bobby andrews never grows old, though.

on a happy note: commercial loads are different now for the baker king and mara clara. ay, kakastress din si jacob and si eula.

stressful pa! five days lang ako di nanuod - nabaril na si george wong! eh, si freddie webb lang ang gusto kong panoorin. ayun. still choppy editing, sequences are too short as they're too chopped up.

on a happier note - the wooden acting of machete is ending this week. one of the network's failed soaps, this was. viewers want escapist stuff - the usual drama or shallow comedy. i like regine in iheart you pare! machete is too contrite.

vivian velez is back! yipee. gina pareno is also such a good actress. bata pa ako i've always loved her movies.

waiting for updates? click here.

2011-03-16T05:42:00.003+08:00

this blog is being tracked. someone's retwitting, someone's linking. someone has linked anonymously (or so they think). someone is wasting time.

print, show and tell time again?

pray for forgiveness and healing instead of starting senseless issues and creating situations to seek sympathy and attention.

history and literature tell us: this too will pass - ozymandias (allusion from egyptian king ramses)

relief and recovery

2011-03-15T21:49:00.004+08:00

i came from the wake of my student today. i cried a bit but seeing the people in the chapel, i felt the family was much loved by people who have crossed paths with them. it was a relief to have seen that. yes, there she was in the bronze urn. peaceful. untimely, but she is free from the mundane world. i'm glad she lived a life of happiness while i am left with having to deal with the trivial...

dear reader: thank you for dropping by. i'm sure you're reading this because you're waiting for --

* deleted * you're too late. i decided not to share what i wrote earlier. rather, it would help if you read:

dear god, thank you for giving me the gift to write, for knowing when to hold my tongue, and for discerning immediately. please grant the readers with wisdom that blogs should be respected and further, help them understand the message of what i have written. help the readers use their time praying rather than looking for further topics they can retweet, reblog, and converse.

it's not that it matters to me but i feel their negative energy is adding to mother earth's uneasiness. please lead the undiscerning to the right path, to apologize when needed, and to not start arguments. do grant the rude and disrespectful with enlightenment that they should change their ways now. please bless the dear reader with patience for he/she might be disappointed in not finding an entry that can be printed out and shown to colleagues.

amen.

scrolling down? stop. what you're looking for is here.

this what we need now.

soap opera watching again

2011-03-08T21:55:00.003+08:00

i only started to watch mara clara a week ago. this abs-cbn soap opera got my attention only because my students were watching it and my co-teachers seemed to be into it as well. so, i caught the episode whereby mara and clara got kidnapped.

so, what makes it work? abs-cbn once again has hit a goldmine because the dialogue is witty and natural. it's also quite honest in a sense that the characters articulate thoughts that the viewers might actually be thinking. i am hoping that abs-cbn will do a very good ending to this. over the years, my experience in watching soaps from abs-cbn has led to the disappointment in how they end it.

now, over at abc5 there is another remake, babaeng hampaslupa. now, i started watching this because a batchmate repeated some of its lines and she was so into it. i've realized why i can't seem to really get into it. babaeng hampaslupa suffers from choppy editing. because there are too many characters and big stars, sequences are cut into scenes involving each one. this, sadly, has resulted to short scenes whereby these characters and actors are not given a highlight at all. then, there are stereotypes far worse than mara clara.

mara clara works because most of the actors are new and not exactly good looking except for bobby andrews and desiree del valle, among others. babaeng hampaslupa has all the big stars from susan roces to alice dixson so this must be tough for the director because of the pressure to make sure all the stars get ample exposure.

it is still infuriating

2011-03-05T15:52:00.002+08:00

hmmmm... i'm slowly withdrawing from socializing with the people i'm working with. i hope no one notices as i've been eating alone and hibernating in the library these past few days and just yesterday, i had to speak up over having activities that will take away checking time.

it is such a pretense that teachers advocate the no cramming policy yet looking at it closely, it is indeed how people live. so, if you're cramming, do your best.

case in point, after the SY is over, i am going to put up a photo with a note saying how the test items for my subject were very good. of course, we did it together (i don't work alone) and i won't claim sole credit for any periodical exam that my year level has administered. of course, my elective class is mine and mine alone. all exams are original.

back to the point, as usual, that exam was submitted a day after the deadline and that was my fault. since i've been having a hard time exorcising my internal demon of being late, i've become conscious of the quality of work tha goes with it. the least one can do with alte submission is to show that work was put into it.

what's infuriating? oh, i just saw a reposting in one of my homeroom students taken from a tmblr account of how great that ---- (understatement) is as a teacher by coming in costume, charming his way into students. mali po ang costume niya, btw.

i wonder how they'd react if they find out the truth that he tremendously lacks good manners and right conduct towards older women faculty. yes, i'm the latest victim so i have all the right to rant. he had to reason and are there moves for an apology? hahha. none.

to quote a commercial: ang tunay na lalaki, hindi nagsusuot ng skinny jeans... ang tunay na lalaki walang pambili ng skinny jeans.

but then again, ang tunay na lalaki, nagsosorry.

it was time to say goodbye

2011-03-02T22:23:00.002+08:00

when asked why i had decided to leave, i said it was like adam and eve taking a bite of the forbidden fruit. the thing is, not only did i taste one fruit, i now have a basket of fruits and i can't wait for the next basket.

hmmmm... okay. i'm not a good role model and i don't want to be. perhaps for manners and keeping cool, i'm good. har.

relationships evolve: stay on or cut cleanly

2011-02-27T10:19:00.004+08:00

in a predictable turn of events, a couple of friends were in for a surprise when over enthusiastic younglings called for a drastic change in the board composition. sadly, my friends are both in the top position while these youngsters were recently recruited.

the difference that i have realized is that it is quite difficult to work with people who are not familiar and open to the working styles of each other. though people might be bonded, that's not enough for work relationships.

despite the differences i have over work habits and styles with my friends, it never reached a point whereby friendships are forgotten. neither do we slam in each other's faces whenever we win an argument or proven by time that we were right. we merely laugh at the conclusions and move one. now, with them and the overzealous, the latter did not bother to cleam communication channels earlier, rather, they just slammed that letter without thinking.

this had nothing to do with a generation gap. this has something to do with the basics of life. what is the basic then - respect for each other.

again, it is sad that given the times, people have placed a high premium on expressing how one feels and that means, expressing it in whatever way. people forgot that it is not what expresses but how one expresses it.

youth has nothing to do with this, of course. it's pure human nature and the ability to discern what ought to be.

when do we say goodbye?

2011-02-19T02:17:00.000+08:00

when do we say goodbye? soon.

nice feb... self stabbing again

2011-02-13T21:13:00.003+08:00

this isn't my month. after that friday experience. mind you, i even had a shoe mishap earlier within the mass so i had to slip and have the sole glued but it didn't work so i had to buy a pair of cheap dainty black shoes. then the pm event.

then, i had just accidentally stabbed my left palm while slicing through the plastic wrapping of frozen oil.i knew it was about to happen but my mind was too slow for my right hand. the pointed edge of my knife pierced the flesh and i realized there wasn't much blood coming out but i still rushed to wash the area and grab a hanky to wrap around my palm to stop the bleeding. when i placed pressure on the area, i kept calm despite seeing that it was more than skin coming out. i think it was a bit of fat/flesh. the muscle pain became evident. it was like the fatty area below my thumb was under 10 kilos of bricks.

i waited if i will faint. i didn't. i was cooking and i still had to feed the mutts. i grabbed the frozen mineral bottle and placed it on the area. bleeding didn't happen anymore and the wound closed. it's now 3/4 cm in length, like a line made by a gtec. i still have a frozen bottle on it and i am typing with just the fingers of my right hand. there is no more bleeding but i'm now feeling both the muscle pain and cut pain.

what a day.

nice dog

2011-02-12T16:22:00.003+08:00

one of my mutts sleeping on my bag. nice little dog. more than a year old already. nice and not rude.

onions at 180?

2011-02-12T16:10:00.005+08:00

photo taken from http://www.petinsurance.com/healthzone/pet-articles/pet-health-toxins/Pets-and-Onions.aspx

i don't know if i saw correctly, 1/4 kilo of onions are at 45 pesos - that's almost a dollar! hmmmm... ever since i discovered the taste of caramelized onions, each dish with it tastes different. i like to think that at a certain point i forgot my loyalty to toasted garlic. ah, yes, aromatics. i like them in food and one should never scrimp on onions, garlic and ginger in cooking.

why bother with onions? well, high prices of onions can cause riots in india.

update: as of march 8, prices are dropping.

idiots are important, too

2011-02-12T07:58:00.008+08:00

march 19, 2011:

you're here because you are searching for that blog.

AWWWW! the blog you're looking for has been transferred. perhaps it will resurface. perhaps it might have real names. perhaps i did it for fun. but now, i have decided that there are better things to do - like you should, too.

you might not find it here but it doesn't mean it didn't happen. reality says that some readers downloaded, retweeted, printed and passed it on to a bigger audience. for those actions, i sincerely thank you. so, reflection time, did you learn anything? that whole incident should have taught you a lesson and shouldn't be on the level of chismis but then, it's reality and not chismis.

if not, please click here or here.

now, it is time to pray for people to have a change of heart for the positive and for people to not meddle in other people' business. (

written on march 16, 2011

i was thinking of deleting this. but after reading it early this morning, i was further amused at the news going around that a copy has reached other faculty members and guess who actually showed it to them. then, another story reached me that someone delivered an "i'm just defending myself..." speech to students. uhoh, dragging students into his mess. and i am quite happy to know that some students who have read have varied reactions

2009-01-16T00:53:00.002+08:00

sure. i saw someone in the hospital. it was awkward as i only smiled but i don't know if the person noticed it. i should have approached and talked but i kept avoiding that person. we only see each other during wakes and now this one. kakamiss din siyang kausap pero di na dapat. nagpalpitate ata ako.

another death and another one

2009-01-15T23:31:00.003+08:00

my mom's cousin died of a heart attack last monday. tito nap was 63. he came to the philippines from guam for his annual vacation. i even kidded him over that weekened over something trivial.

his story is much more in color because everyone thought his other brother, the flamboyant papa doy was going ahead of everyone. papa doy was stricken with colon cancer five years ago. he had his operation in new york and eventually padre pio extended a miracle to him. he was healed until late last year.

when i left the apartment to move back a year ago, i noticed that it was more often that his carinderia was closed. his chef died a few months back and he had to take the cudgels. since i was forever broke and moved out, he had to foot his own bill. what was funny is that the bill was still the same despite him living alone. a tv, a ref and it was a high bill.

so, when i saw him for the first time in 2009, he was lying on his chair and was very weak. he said that he was in pain and the area was on the right side, below the tummy. he said it was so much that if he couldn't bear it, he'd end it. i said, end what????? (now, i see a bottle of melatonin. did he think of an overdose?) then he said it must be the same pain that my mom and their aunt felt as both were cancer victims. my mom never said anything but i knew it was painful as she had high tolerance for pain but when she cringed, i couldn't and i refused to imagine it anymore.

then, last monday, i saw papa doy sitting under the big tree and told him that he had much improved color and i wished for his recovery. then, i went to school with a smile hoping that he would indeed get well. when i got to work, i got a text saying it was his older brother who passed away.

W H A T ??????

it was surreal. i don't know why it crossed my mind -- a similar scenario always happens in movies and radio dramas. argh. but this was real life. this was part of my life.

then, this morning, papa doy vomitted blood and had to be rushed to the nearby hospital. is it only in my area where the funeral parlors and city hospital are within a 100 meter radius? i had just came from there and he had some tubes attached on both his arms. he was breathing through an oxygen tank. his bp was so low like 80+/60+. they said he might need blood. if only i didn't have my period, then i could ask if i could qualify. my hypertension is within normal range even if i don't take medication

the doctors didn't know what was wrong with him. so they have this on the chart:
________________________________________________________________________________

i can't write anything. i just got a message that the doctors tried to revive him but it seems futile.

doy santos march 31 1948 - january 15/16 2009

bye br. rafe

2006-11-03T13:40:00.000+08:00

we knew him then as super mario because he looked like mario in the nintendo game. yet, we knew he really need to be more than super because he had to fill in the shoes of the big one (who went away early this year, weeks before his birthday). we knew him as the one who bravely said that we should leave our comfort zones (literally, i guess, as that was the time when we were pushing for the full airconditioning of velasco and miguel). we knew him as the brother who said, "kayong mga taga-La Salle, mahilig sa signs."

also, i remember that he changed all the benzes to a fleet of white corollas. it seemed that he wanted to put his own stamp among us. so, he was very visible in the community. he knew, then, that his reign will not last as the big one will eventually come back. he had to be the one to take care of the moments of transition. when the big one came back, super mario was reassigned and things went back to how they were, almost... that was more than a decade ago. few people in the community know him now but a lot will be curious --- for they found his body ashore last night. he was swimming with the brothers that afternoon in bataan. he disappeared and they knew that the undertow of the bay had taken, as it always did, another life.

good by super mario. sweet dreams, brother rafe. the big one andrew is starting his call.

pop writes 30

2006-09-06T12:07:00.000+08:00

august 20, 2006 300am. pop writes 30. he was bedridden for more than a year and was finally alcohol free but alcohol was his only fuel and he lost the zeal to live. he was 69.

finding the poem, the dead is a consolation or it could've been somesort of foreshadowing. so now, i must update my list for august.

okay so we were hip kids, we called our father pop. so we had mom and pop. hehehe.

The Dead

2006-08-12T15:28:00.000+08:00

simple but it does makes me wonder what happens to the dead. billy collins is my new idol! argh. as usual, i discovered this american poet only now. his poems are highly structured and have images. it's amazing how poets can weave together images that are so trivial into a blanket of truth.

i suppose this is a tribute to all my dead relatives.

listen to The Dead by Billy Collins

The Dead - Billy Collins animated poetry

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Forgetfulness by Billy Collins

2006-08-12T15:23:00.000+08:00

please cite properly : )

Forgetfulness by Billy Collins

The name of the author is the first to go followed obediently by the title, the plot, the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of, it is as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain, to a little fishing village where there are no phones. Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye and you watched the quadratic equation pack its bag, and even now as you memorize the order of the planets, something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps, the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay. Whatever it is you are struggling to remember, it is not poised on the tip of your tongue, not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen. It has floated away down a dark mythological river whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall, well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those who have forgotten even how to swim and how to ride a bicycle. No wonder you rise in the middle of the night to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war. No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

the inevitable

2006-06-20T14:01:00.000+08:00

i only have two uncles and an aunt from my mom's side still able to walk, talk and breathe. my father's only brother was accidentally shot in the us 40 years ago (henry was a navyman and news was that he was accidentally shot in a hunting trip. oh, sure, let me trust the us navy)

my mom's second sister succumbed to cancer this morning or night (LA time). so, i decided to make a list of their death months so i could not forget.

february - lolo celestino, eleng (their dad)

march - lola loring (my paternal grandmother)

april - tito baby, anselmo (my mom's second brother though i'm not sure)

may - lola meding, remedios (their mom; whose cold dead body was the first i touched)

june - tita medy, remedios (my mom's second sister)

july - tito bill, guillermo (my mom's eldest bachelor brother)

august - my mom, mercedes (after she died, i never looked into anyone's coffin again.... hmmm... i don't remember if i touched her dead body. i don't think i did or i could've.)

september - lola loleng, my mom's favorite aunt as far as my perception is concerned

october - tito eddy, eduardo (my mom's fourth brother, my funniest uncle and one of my favorites, but i'm not so sure of this month)

oh, and for each month, one of them celebrates a birthday, like my mom was born and had died in august, like my grandmother. see how close their numbers are: mom's bday was the 27th and she died on the 3rd, a quarter after midnight. my grandmother was born on the 2nd and died on the 27th.

funny how we cope with death, taking consolation in numbers and trivia.

starting again

2006-06-10T14:54:00.000+08:00

this icon marks beth calero blogging as herself. (it's a goddess sculpture mounted on a frame mounted on one of ugu's cottages).

now, since i have a small circle of friends but i do move is very distinct circles, anyone who feels alluded should be confident that he/she is the one.

hahahaha... for fear of being sued, i will not use realy names.