You don't know how proud I am to be a Filipino.
Our land have cradle such brave and fearless individuals who made sacrifices for the betterment of the country. From the books of history we have read that dozens and dozens of names were categorized as heroes. They fought for freedom and given up their lives for others to live. From Lapu-lapu to Ninoy Aquino. And the our story moves on.

In this modern time, I was able to witness new heroes. Just like the unsung heroes, our soldiers, our Overseas Filipino Workers who were parted from their families just to bring better lives to them.

But aside from them, we still have the recent individuals who make us proud being filipino.

Despite the tragedy from the typhoons that passed, the quarter storm bought some very very good things. And let me name some of them.

Efren Peñaflorida - CNN Top Hero


(Efren Peñaflorida as he receives his award)

Manny 'Pacman' Pacquiao - 7 Boxing Titles, the most popular boxer in the whole world, the pound for pound hero.


Angel Locsin - Star of the Night at the 37th International Emmy Awards (though she wasn't able to get the best actress award for her role in The wolf, she's still a winner)

I borrowed this title from a facebook friend and former officemates (Ger and Joyce).

Yesterday marks another day in history, the pound for pound boxer bags his 7th title as he blows punches towards Miguel Cotto.

This humble man from General Santos City, Philippines shows what a Pilipino is made of, Faith in God, Determined to win whatever the struggle, and Love of Country. He is the only man in the history of boxing worldwide gone this far.

What more should i say? How grateful i am that i am witnessing another part of history. The making of a hero (well, he already is). And I am proud to be a filipino, because we nurtured so many heroes and he is one of them.

Congratulations pacman! We'll always support you, you know (hehe).


(courtesy of yahoo)

Starting today, Starbucks patron and coffee addicts will be raiding Starbucks stores nationwide to start collecting 17 stickers for the new issued Starbucks 2010 Planner (that includes me also). And there is also this twist, the first 150 customers nationwide who will get their sticker cards will have a free sticker (unfortunately, i could not be one of them).
Unlike last year, the new Starbucks planner have this vintage print of coffee beans in the cover, which makes coffee addicts, addict-ier to coffee.
photo courtesy of spot.ph
Whatever the theme of this years Starbucks coffee, I will be getting one and be adding it to my collection.
If its Starbucks, it is sure to be good.
Happy collecting!!!

Let me share you a free verse poem (so impromptu) and my photo of the moon captured last night as I enjoy its beauty



To the man in the moon

As i stare at you in one cloudy night
I cannot resists your beauty
I was amaze by the way you portray
A different kind of view
that heals my anxiety and loneliness
You seem to be my friend
And my confidante
You listen to me always
and never leave my side
Even the clouds clothed you
And hide you away
You seem always near me...

As I look upon you tonight
I could never help but wonder
What are you doing there
What do you look like
Are staring at me at this moment
Or eyes closed by listening to the beat of my heart

As I am enjoying this moment with you
The minutes will always be forever
There is no time but there is today
And this moment
And I wish this moment will last
And I wish I could join you
and feel the solitude that you are feeling now
and the serenity that you have

To the man in the moon
Thank you.

I know you have seen many pics and videos of Ondoy's wrath. Many pilipinos as well as the foreign media upload it in the world wide web.

The Manila area that deeply affected by the typhoon have hit the world once again. And another story is written in history books.

Besides the wrath that lost many homes and killed almost 300 lives. The spirit of the pilipino's Bayanihan spirit still lives on.

Anyway, Bayanihan basically means a common tradition in Philippine towns where community members volunteer to help a family move to a new place. The process involves literally carrying the house to its new location. This is done by putting bamboo poles forming a strong frame to lift the stilts from the ground and carrying the whole house with the men positioned at the ends of each pole. (see Wikipedia) But nowadays, it is more of communal unity or effort to achieve a particular objective. It is very common of us Pilipino to do such Bayanihan. It is something that we are always proud of.

Aside from that, another Pilipino stands out and make it to CNN's top 10 Heroes, he is Efren Peñaflorida.

Please vote for him at CNN Heroes.

Anyway, here are some of my snapshots of Ondoy's wrath in our place. We were not badly hit but it leave a trauma to most of our townsfolk.

I envy a friend in Singapore because of the free WIFI they have in their apartment. All he needs to do is open his Studio 15 Dell Laptop, hooked it in the WIFI and PRESTO! He could surf, chat, blog eternally. And as for the speed of downloading and uploading the files, is faster than minutes he consumes while brushing his teeth.

Me, on the other hand is having a hard time connecting. First and foremost, I don’t have a laptop (I could not afford one), I am only enjoying the stature of my desktop. Second, I could only take advantage of the prepaid technology. Yes, I have prepaid internet connection via Dial Up. Let me name them.

Surfmaxx

Surfmaxx comes in preloaded 50 pesos (9 hours) and 100 pesos (20 hours). It is one of the product of Prime internet, which I believe is formerly known as Pacific Internet. The Username and Password is included in the card. And since I am residing in Cavite, I need to dial up the number they provided at the back of the card. Unfortunately, upon dialing the number, all I could hear is the busy tone.

However, once you get through it, you could only use less 50 kbps internet speed. You could download videos from you tube for more than an hour. Set up and install Yahoo Messenger for 80 minutes. Only blogging becomes handy since it doesn’t require much of uploading pictures and videos. Hmmm let me include responding and composing emails to friends is also convenient.

Surfmaxx also provides free internet use during off peak hours from 11:00 pm to 6:00 am. This pleasure is something that I cannot take advantage of because I prefer my bed rather than staying late at night and surf or downloading.

E-volve

Like Surfmaxx, Evolve is another product of Prime internet. 100 pesos is the lowest denomination in purchasing the card. And since they came from the same company, they functions are very much alike. They only have different phone numbers for acquiring a connection. And their given phone number is also busy just like Surfmaxx.

It will take decadessss before you could get a connection. Eventually, I cannot return the unused card to the distributor and could not even request for money back.

Yes, I wasted 150 pesos for a supposedly economical way of connecting into the internet.

But it is not yet time to bring on all the angst for these internet providers, because there’s more.

There are other ways of staying connected, and these were offered by three of the countries only mobile phone network providers. Their offer, a USB modem bagged with 2mbps speed that you could bring anywhere and use anytime the user wants. Anyway, it comes in different postpaid plans and of course, prepaid for those who could not manage to pay the plans they are offering.

Globe’s Visibility Prepaid Kit

I borrowed “Billy” from an officemate. I loaded it with 50 pesos, enough to do surfing and downloading. Unfortunately, the 3G connection is very limited in our area. I called the Globe Customer Service to confirm if there’s 3G in our place (which is one of the requirements of Globe Visibility), and they confirm that we have. If so, why can’t I connect? And whenever I try to “manually register” the USB modem only detects Sun-2G (another ISP) and Smart-2G.

Isn’t this a contrary of their ad “Abot ko ang mundo” (I could reach the world)?

Anyway, that is another 50 pesos out from my wallet donating it to Globe’s widest coverage and good service.

Smart’s SmartBro Prepaid Kit

Smart, one of Globe’s competitor releases its product that could contend Globe’s Visibility. Since SmartBro is working in our area, I decided to get the opportunity of their 1000 peso slash off of their prepaid kit. Yes, from 1,995 peso per kit, it was reduced to 995 bundled with 100 load for internet. That is sure lot of savings. It is almost an allelujiah for me, except for one thing. The 100 load could be consume for 5 hours since its first log in. As far as I remember, I only consumed 3 hours of internet, and when my sister tried it to her laptop, it is already empty.

NETOPIA Internet Cafe

It’s the nations’ largest provider of internet café. There are two branches in SM Bacoor. Their computer rentals for internet ranges from 35 for members and 45 for non members. Since, we are still in economy crisis, they have a promo of 20 pesos an hour for both patrons in block time. Their connection is of high speed. You could surf in minutes, reply to email at the same time and even upload and download conveniently.

The only downside is you are in a public place, using a public computer. So never neglect to leave your accounts open, never click on the remember username or password, never do purchasing via credit card and never store files, especially pictures in their harddrives. Aside from this, the place is not suitable for chat because of the DOTA addict people. Well, you know how overwhelm they could get once they are hooked on the game.

The Philippines do not have the luxury of being in the trend when it comes to technology. Still, different malls offer free WIFI for their patrons. But the convenience of staying connected at home is very limited especially for those who could not afford the post paid plans the network is providing. I just hope that they could make their prepaid offers more convenient to the users.

 

For the Filipino movie patrons, I know this came late, since the movie started its nationwide showing last September 16. This is because I prefer to watch this movie with my mother.

In My Life starred Vilma Santos (famously known as the Star of all Seasons and one of the pioneers of the Philippine Movie Industry), John Lloyd Cruz and Luis Manzano (Vilma Santos’ real life son to Edu Manzano).

The story is about a conventional single mother named Shirley Templo (Santos) who have two daughters  and a son name Mark (played by Manzano). Mark, a homosexual and successful LaSallian graduate that works in one of the business firms, resides with Noel (Cruz) in New York. Noel, on the other hand is battling with his illegal stay in the US doing several “rakets” or jobs just to suffice his everyday needs, looks for a US citizen girl to be his wife for two years to formally legalize his stay and provides the essentials for his family and his ailing mother in the Philippines.

Shirley followed Mark to New York. And at first, It is very hard for Shirley to adjust with the way of life of the American people. She is not accustomed with the freethinking, fast paced and busy lifestyle of the New Yorkers. Since Mark could not make time for Shirley due to his busy work schedules, Noel accompanied her in her trips to the city just to make sure that she will not get lost. Mark and Noel tried to give Shirley a taste of the working life. But since she is very used with her normal routine as a Librarian and Ex-PE (physical Education) teacher, she is disappointed in adapting the American working environment. Shirley decided not to give up and began to change her life, one step at a time. And when things are going well, she learned that her son was diagnosed with colon cancer and soon to have surgical treatment. She blames Noel for not telling her the truth. Noel blames her for not being a good mother. In the end, there are realizations and forgiveness.

The plot is very Filipino. It symbolizes the typical Filipino mother who always wanted the best of her children. A Filipino woman that is very tough in every situation. A Filipino that is strong in whatever challenges they face. A Filipino that is very devoted to their friends and love ones. Director Olivia Lamasan illustrates the Filipino people in so many ways being God fearing, family centered and values oriented.

The protagonists played their roles very well. Its exemplary staging makes the audience either laugh or cry and laugh and cry at the same time. It is a mixture of light comedy and light drama. It could be a tear jerker for some who could relate (like me, since I could connect to Mark’s situation).  The throw of conversations and lines are very memorable even the colloquial languages used during one of the tête-à-têtes of our actors. It is surely a great film to watch.

I would like to commend John Lloyd’s performance for his good… two thumbs up acting skill. He’d done so many films in the past which most of them are highschool-ish love stories, and this definitely made him superbly a good actor. His talent is almost with the same level with veteran actress Vilma Santos. When John Lloyd delivers his lines and his words, the audience could feel the emotions flowing.

What more could I say about Vilma, experience and numerous awards speaks for this star of all seasons. This is again one of her great movies of her time.

And for Luis, although this is his second movie after “Ang Cute ng Ina Ko” (My Mother is Cute) with Anne Curtis and AiAi delas Alas, he is doing good job. Hosting could be his craft but acting could be his art.

To sum it up, the movie is very unforgettable, it is overwhelming, it is full of emotions, it is the BEST so far!

I believe that the film will have its US debut soon. So I would recommend you watch it (watch it with your mother).

I just received a letter, hmmmm its a letter for my friend which i am allowed to open.

Let me rephrase that one. I got my friends letter and opened it. It is an invitation for the upcoming English Fluency Seminar hosted by one of the top consulting agency in the country.

I read the details of the seminar. It is a two day seminar to be held on October in Makati. Included in this seminar is grammar correction, intonation, pronounciation, daily conversations, the filipino english, american english and other stuff related to improve my english skills.

I believe the seminar is very benefitting to whoever the human resource will be granted this blessing.

I emailed the details of the seminar to our hr manager. I told her that it is a good seminar. But she told me that it would not be a good idea to send someone to that kind of seminar.

I told her that i am very much willing. Well, more than willing. She said that, she will tell the upper management about it. And she will inform me about their feedback, SOON.

I hope they will allow me to attend this 12k seminar.

Anyway, for non filipinos and filipinos abroad who wants to learn a little bit of our national language... let me teach you few of it in every blog entry that i am posting...

and our tagalog word for the day is....

magandang umaga - good morning

 

 I always wanted to be a writer. I started blogging before, a couple of years ago. Before, my blog was written in my native tonque, tagalog and the contents are humorous and as well as my blog became my angst absorber. After a time of routinary entries and piling up of work load in the office, I gave my blogging a rest.  But it seems that writing is in my nerves and pumping in my blood, I decided to give it another try. And this time, I prefer to do blogging in English. Whoa!!!! Wait!!!! I am not good in englsih and I am not confident in using this as medium but its worth a try. Anyway, you could always correct me. The tagboard or the comments link could be helpful in reaching out to me and tell your suggestions or comments and even violent reactions to my entries. Yes! I am open to improvements.

And to help me with my talent, I make use of my sister's mini HP. She's on a business trip for 4 days and decided not to bring her mini laptop, so i settle on notebook-sitting her little baby. As for the internet connection, I tried this new offer from SM, free WIFI, in every corner of the mall. Yes, you can blog anywhere as long as you are inside SM. And as I was enjoying blogging, I write my blog while walking and strolling inside the mall, while purchasing an insect repellent in Ace, looking for computer peripherals in CD R King, dining in McDonalds. And guess what?! All eyes are on me ... well not on me but on my notebook. Its not a usual sight to see someone tapping on their laptop while doing other things inside the mall. That's what we call, multi-tasking.

I am very fond of wearing a wash and wear hair, I rarely grow my hair on the usual girls hair. But since, emo short hairs are in nowadays. And I cut my hair and make it in with the trend. I bought hair wax and vitamin e to retain the emo look.  I don't know how long i am going to wear this hair. Maybe as long as i want.

24 years ago, I joined a declamation contest. My piece was entitled "Mother and Child". It is a very light piece that doesn't require much acting, and it is a conversation of a mother and an innocent child. I remember the start of the piece, here it goes, "Mother, where is God? Who made the trees..." Yes, this is a conversation of a mother and a child looking for God. Nowadays, I often asks, where is God... I even look for Him everywhere... I even asks Him to appear in my dreams and let me hug Him so I could transfer all my burdens to Him, just as He mentioned in the Bible. I even search self help books. I look everywhere for Him. But I know He is everywhere, but I could not feel His presence. Or I am just flooded with thoughts about myself, my likes and my problems. As life problems continues to flood in, I often cry to Him (true!), in my recent battle with tough decision makings, I seek for Him. But for me He is no where to be found. Yet, at the back of my head, He is shouting and telling me, I am here and you should trust Me, just like the way you trust your soft bed at night or your cellphone or your usb or your computer of your atm card. I pray, I gave thanks, I seek for His help but my faith is very little. The peace i am longing is still to far from my reach. But I am never hopeless. I know, beyond all this striving for mature faith and full trust in Him, i will find Him, and I will be able to end my 24 year poem in a different and inspiring finale. I know God is working on me, it will only take time and when that time comes, I will be prepared. For my faith will be stronger than anyone else, just as i improve and trying to be me at my best

A current weather disturbance is troubling the metro for more than a week now. Heavy downpour often overwhelmed commuters. People still ended wet, no matter what gear they wear to protect them.

I am not used in bringing a rain gear... Hmmmm let me rephrase that one, I am not used in bringing an umbrella especially that long one called cane umbrella. Its not my fashion statement to bring one. I prefer to wear a raincoat and wellies instead. Anyway, When my 7 year old umbrella became a victim of strong wind last month I find it hard to carry another umbrella. I tried to look for a replacement, but no umbs could satisfy my crucial taste. And so I decided not to bring one even though hard rains continuously pouring.

Early this week, another downpour gushed again. This time, I was so unprepared, and I was not spared from these angry raindrops.

A little stranger turned this unfortunate moment to a rewarding instant. Sensing my unpreparedness and my fear to encounter the heavy rain, he insinuate that his umbrella is for rent. I was hesitant at first but after giving some thought, I handed him my 5 pesos. Get the umbrella and walked in the rain.

You might be asking, what happen to the boy who lend his umbrella.  Well, this renting thing is not easy for him and also for me. He accompanied me to the jeepney loading area. He is bathing in the rain while I enjoy the comforts of his umbrella. Actually I did not enjoy that much, especially watching him walking barefooted and soaked wet on dirt road. Truly I am more fortunate than him, I have a couple of resources to buy myself a good umbrella but I used...rented this small guy’s umbrella.

On the other hand, you don’t know how thankful I am that I met this kid and he knows exactly what I need in that time of despair. He is such an angel.  And this is just another way to help them. I thank God for him.