Frilly Silly Messages

 

 

Your eyes aren’t fooling you. There aren’t any optical illusion here. My inbox really has 1884 messages. Not to mention another thousand in the “sent” folder.

I used to be captious. I find fault on just everything too readily.

Since I become a part of employment sector of this country, that negative trait just went away.

No matter how cool I want to be in any situation,  there are still circumstances that make my blood boil. In my case, receiving frilly messages just like this one.

“Nxa n if knuha me ung # u s pwenz me.”

As far as I know, you make some alterations only if:

1. You are in a hurry. I am not being unequivocal here. You are forgiven if you are in a commotion.  

2. You are in a cab or in a place where the situation makes texting  physically challenging.  My phone sports  a touch screen keypad so  I only use text speak whenever I am in a moving vehicle.

3. There isn’t enough space and you still have 3 or 4 more words to tell the receiver. It is called stretching your load.

The sender of the message above was clearly neither in a hurry nor in a difficult situation. She wanted a text mate.

Here is another one.

“Its tym 2 eat lnch n p0h mglnch n poh ikw msama p0h mgpLpAz ng gt0m. Tc oWiz!”

Text speak is understandable for me. A frilly message such as this one is a big NO-NO!

,.ndE scEnd poh Un,xE ilA2gAy qO xA fr!EndztEr un s0ng nA wAnnA bE,,n0od xE mhE ng myx…..nUh ul!t Un Ask m0h.?

Do I have to tell you that I stopped replying to her messages already? Well, I didn;t know what to reply. I couldn’t figure out what her message was.

My phone fell for the 19^th time if my memory serves me right. And it’s busted now. Finding the right cellphone for me is such a big task. There are thousands of mobile phones out there and I can’t just grab one as what other people can easily do. Buying something has always been a daunting task for me. From a bottle of cooking oil to a pair of shoes. So far, I narrowed down my choices to Motorola RAZR2 V9, Motorola Z10, and Motorola E8. Your help will be highly appreciated.

Untold Pinoy Stories # 2

Here is another tsismis or fact I received! You get to be the judges!

They were the best of friends. They were always seen together around the University of the Philippines (UP) campus in Diliman: one was undoubtedly a very good-looking guy and the other was unquestionably a plain-looking guy. Opposites really attract. Hey, but they’re both brilliant students. Well, birds of the same feather also flock together. Indeed, they were very close to each other. Unusually close.

They were the perfect tandem. Like suman and ripe mango. Or nuts and bolts. Peg and a hole.

They were both proteges of then UP Student Council chairman Chito Gascon. Soon, the good-looking guy took the helm as UP Student Council chairman. But the best friends seem to follow each other’s path. The plain-looking guy also ran for the same position with the all-out support of his good-looking friend. He won, of course.

The good-looking guy was the crush ng bayan of the iskolars ng bayan.

During lunchtime, students of all persuasions flocked to the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) cafeteria to catch a glimpse of the good- looking guy. Even singer-actress Regine Velasquez later admitted on national television that she had a big crush on the good-looking guy.

But loveless Regine’s daring admission did not earn her even just a movie date invitation from the good-looking guy; instead, the good- looking guy merely flashed a demure smile in response to desperate Regine’s thinly-veiled date invitation.

But after finishing college, the best friends went their separate
ways. (Or so it seemed). The plain-looking guy pursued his law
studies and later taught law courses. The good-looking guy delivered the evening news on TV, hosted a TV quiz show and wrote analytical articles on pop culture. His good looks, intelligence and impeccable manner endeared him to televiewers.

Despite their divergent career choices, the good-looking guy and the plain-looking guy really seemed to follow each other’s path. But this time, their path led to a nice little apartment near the Ateneo de Manila campus. And they shared that nice little apartment. Just the two of them.

Yes, the plain-looking guy and the good-looking guy lived together.

Those gifted with wild imagination got titillated at the mere thought of these two young men sharing a lovely apartment. The moralists out there shook their heads at the mere thought of the goings-on beyond that innocent-looking apartment door amid rows of middle-class houses in Loyola Heights in Quezon City.

But the pair would not budge from their nest. Nor would they yield to any pressure. Not even from the plain-looking guy’s bible-reading siblings who berated him for living with another guy. The plain- looking guy’s own family started to cast doubt about his masculinity.

All telltale signs which have accumulated all those years could no
longer be ignored. People started talking openly about the two guys.

Speculations about the true nature of the pair’s friendship became a daily fodder for gossip mongers. The academic freedom which alma mater UP’s oblation symbolizes seemed to have gone beyond the duo’s lust for knowledge.

In order to prove to his family that he was not what they thought he was, the plain-looking guy suddenly announced that he was getting married. His family jumped with joy.

But the plain-looking guy’s marriage did not dispel wild speculations about his sexuality; instead, it only succeeded in erasing any remaining doubt about his alleged agenda of using his wife to finally succeed in his failed initial crack at pursuing his lifelong dream.

 

And it was well worth his efforts. Because this former loser’s
desperate act finally triumphed. Thanks to his wife.However, the plain-looking guy’s deep friendship with his good-
looking friend took a backseat as a result of the former’s new civil
status. The plain-looking guy did not want to hurt his new wife’s
flourishing career nor spoil his newfound success. That’s why he
played his role as a good family man to the hilt. However, he had not forgotten his good-looking best friend at all. As a token of their undying friendship, the good-looking guy stood as one of the godfathers of the plain-looking guy’s first baby, together with Edu Manzano, Cesar Montano, Cherie Gil, Ciara Sotto, Angeli Valenciano, Fanny Serrano and a host of other household names. Of course, the plain-looking guy’s wife was clueless about her husband’s past.

But the plain-looking guy’s wife had her share of dark past. She is a single mother who parted ways with her good-looking “first husband” after she discovered that her good-looking “first husband” was already married to another woman when she hastily married him after she got pregnant at a young age. This meant that her marriage to her good-looking “first husband” was not legally binding after all. Now, the plain-looking guy was her knight-in-shining- armor who rescued her from the stigma of being an unmarried mother.

Ironically, while her non-binding marriage with her good-
looking “first husband” was solemnized by several high-ranking
priests at the cavernous Manila Cathedral amid countless clicking
cameras and thousands of shrieking admirers several years ago, her supposedly legitimate marriage with the plain-looking guy was
officiated not by a Catholic priest but by a pastor in a cramped
living room, with only few relatives and friends as witnesses.

Later, the good-looking guy reportedly got married also without
fanfare.. They said that his bride was a creative consultant for ABS- CBN Interactive. However, some women still believe and hope that he is still unmarried to this day.

The good-looking guy soon rose to become ABS-CBN News Channel’s (ANC) Director for Current Affairs. He has been circling the globe as host of ANC’s weekly travel show, Executive Class.

Yes, the good-looking guy is David Celdran.

And the plain-looking guy is megastar Sharon Cuneta’s husband,
Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan

 

Untold Pinoy Story #1

I got this from the internet. Read and be awed.

Her Mother’s Joy

Her mother has always been proud of her. Mighty proud. And rightly so.

In the spring of 1991, Julia Roberts graced the cover of People
Magazine’s special issue featuring its annual list of The 50 Most
Beautiful People in the World. Together with Julia Roberts in this
ultimate list of the most beautiful people were Brad Pitt, Tom
Cruise, Madonna, Mel Gibson, Whitney Houston, Michelle Pfeiffer,
Isabella Rossellini, supermodels Claudia Schiffer & Naomi Campbell
and oops, a Filipina?

Yes, People Magazine’s 1991 list of The 50 Most Beautiful People in the World included a true-blooded Filipina who was born, raised and educated in the Philippines.

Unlike most beautiful Filipinas who were the products of mixed
marriages and who have therefore acquired foreign physical features, this Filipina was born to a Filipina mother and a Filipino father. It is no wonder that she does not typify a beautiful woman by any standard: She is short, standing only 5′2″. She has a huge and deep acne scar on her forehead. She has that distinct Asian nose (read: flat). She uses only Avon cosmetics (gasp!) and applies makeup by herself. During her pre-Inno Sotto days, her clothes were not made by known couturiers: They were lovingly
sewn at home by her mother who is a dressmaker. She does not even have the right genes to inherit beauty from: Her mother was plain, even stern-looking. Her father was a dark-skinned guy with the tough facial features of a hardened military man..

Although both the first names of her mother and father means happy in two different languages, their union was not as joyous. Her mother and father were never married, making her and her only brother illegitimate children.

In the mistress hierarchy, her mother was not even her father’s
second woman. Her father had a first mistress who ranked above her mother.

She and her brother only belong to their father’s third family. And yes, the gay club performer who once appeared on national television was indeed her half-brother. She couldn’t therefore be faulted for not talking about her father. In contrast, too much has been known about her mother. Her mother was always visible, too visible for comfort.

Her mother gave her the name Carmen and raised her in a province north of Manila. However, when it was time for her to go to school, her overprotective mother brought her and her brother to Manila to give them the best education. Carmen studied in Preciosa Soliven’s Operation Brotherhood Montessori in Greenhills where she emerged as the school’s valedictorian. However, Carmen’s academic rival protested the school’s decision to award Carmen the school’s highest honors, claiming that she had better grades than Carmen. Carmen’s rival even revealed that the school’s owner, Mrs. Soliven, was only fond of Carmen because she always performed in school programs which gave Carmen an edge in extra-curricular activities. But academically, Carmen reportedly did not really rise above her rival.

Lured into show business, Carmen became part of German Moreno’s inane daily afternoon TV show, That’s Entertainment, where she got paired with comedian and now Quezon City Vice Mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista. (Some say that Vice Mayor Bautista was so enamored with Carmen that he later refused to marry his partner despite their having a child.) As one of the countless stars of Kuya Germ’s That’s Entertainment, Carmen’s talent was overshadowed by the ridiculous mass appeal of the triumvirate of Sheryl Cruz, Manilyn Reynes and Tina Paner.

Later, Carmen made a couple of forgettable films which were big flops. Unsuccessful in local show business, Carmen enrolled as a BS Biology student in Ateneo de Manila, hoping to become a doctor. However, the lure of fame and fortune shattered her medical ambition. She followed her other dream and landed in a |Dreamland! Yes, instead of comforting innocent and fresh-smelling babies in a hospital, she ended up entertaining horny, sweaty and foul-smelling drunken men in seedy bars.

When Carmen was a little girl, a local manghuhula predicted that she would be crowned Miss Universe. Her mother, legally known as Miss Imutan, was ecstatic upon hearing this. Sadly, the prophecy did not come true.

However, when Carmen was 18 years old, she bagged a beauty title. But it was farfetched from a Miss Universe crown. Carmen became Miss Saigon.

Yes, the only true-blooded Filipina who was included in People
Magazine’s The 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 1991 is Feliciano Salonga and Ligaya “Joy” Imutan’s only daughter: Carmen Lea Imutan Salonga.

Most of us know her simply as Lea Salonga

Earth Hour

Global Warming is happening. When these preachers are saying that the end of the world is near,I say YES, it is coming. The world is going to melt in time. Let’s say 30 years from now.  You know why? It is not because some Messiah is going to show up and actualize what is said in the Bible. Apocalypse is happening. Abnormal climate and weather, rising oceans, melting of Arctic ice caps, increasing global temperature and the list goes on and on.

In the Philippines, it is not just Global Warming, it is also about pollution. We have every type of pollution, from noise to water to land. Destruction of tropical rainforest and marine ecosystem is a fact in our country. I can name every environmental problem we have, but it would just ruin my day.

If Global Warming is too big for you to stop, think of your own easy way to help reduce the garbage we produce every year. Be not one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. These are my simple acts that reduce the trash I produce in a year.

1.  I bring old plastic bags when buying grocery items. I often ask the bagger not to use too many plastic for my items. And if it just a small thing like a toothbrush of lip balm, I just put it in my pocket.

2.  I avoid eating at restaurants that use Styrofoam plates and plastic spoons and forks. When I do, I bring them home and re-use them again.  When I put these Styrofoam products in my bag, I just ignore the humiliating looks I get from other customers.

3.  I use scrap paper from the office as memo and note reminder. Yes, those stationeries look cute and smell damn good as well, but it is the content of the memo that matters.  

4.  I use old notebooks.

5.  I give away my old bags, shoes and clothes.

6.  I buy products in big size. A 200 ml shampoo is more economical than 25 pieces of 8 ml shampoo. You are wasting more time, energy and effort every time you go out and buy a sachet.  And it will take the Earth 10 to 15 years to break those 25 sachets down. And don’t forget that you are only one of those hundreds of people buying 25 sachets every month. Do the multiplication and be horrified with the amount of trash we produce by using shampoo alone.

7.  Reduce, re-use, recycle, refuse, and RE-THINK. Before buying something, think if you really need it. I do these simple things to help.  

 

The Earth Hour 

Why not start on the 29^th of March? A global event is happening. It is called “Earth Hour”.  It started as a local campaign to increase the awareness of global warming in Sydney, Australia last year.  This social activism reduced Australia’s energy consumption by more than 10 %.Now, it is a global event. Countries are joining.

On the 29^th of March, 2008, turn off your lights for an hour at 8.00. P.M.

Tell your family, friends, and everyone you know about it.

Blog about it just what The Meliorist did.

Be a part of history! 

So when the “apocalypse” reach us 25 years from now, and the Philippine islands are starting to sink one by one and we are all drowning, I can tell myself that I did my part. Did you? 

For more information visit 

http://www.earthhour.org/about

http://savetheearth-now.blogspot.com/2008/03/lets-join-earth-hour.html 

I am Busted!

I wonder why my electrical appliances and gadgets are breaking down.  This is the Busted list in order.

1. Electric Cooker

 2. Automatic Rice Cooker

3. Hot Iron

4. TV Channel Switching Buttons

5. Electric Fan

6. Subwoofer and speaker which I had fixed.

And the latest,  my camera.  I love my camera, I had it with me for more than 2 years now. It is a brilliant camera. I did an assload of research before I settled on it. It got positive and recommended reviews from different camera websites and forums.  It is Casio Z750. It is considered as one of the best digicams that offer clear picture and a decent video quality.

We went to a cemetery. Before I could take pictures, the caretaker told us that it wasn’t allowed. He said that it was disrespectful. We waited for him to leave so when he did, I took my camera out and set up the tripod.

Click…click…click

The pictures taken were all over-exposed. There was too much light on every picture. We barely see ourselves.

Click…click…click.

My camera kept on making overexposed pictures. It gotten worse.

Could it be some sort of ghostly chuva?

Supernatural phenomena?

What about my other gadgets that broke down?

So what is next? Please, whoever put a *tech curse* on my things, don’t destroy my computer notebook. I can give you my cell phone and coffeemaker if you want.

I just informed my brother that I would give him a camera for his birthday.  I can’t do it anymore!    

Diet Time

Aren’t those pictures looking delicious? I love to cook on weekends. Those two are some of my favourites. I cooked them.

My weight usually ranges from 71 to 73 kilos. After December and January, it soared to 78. I was shopping for food items when I passed by the sport section. I saw some weighing scales and grabbed one. Upon stepping and seeing 78 kilos, I immediately took another scale thinking the first one was just busted. The second one registered the same 78 kilos. I tried another one and to my chagrin, it showed 78 kilos again!

Now, my fridge is full of lettuce, cucumber, fruit juice, and tomatoes. I am drinking my third cup of green tea right now as I type this post. This is what I cooked for my dinner tonight. Vegetables!

Wish me luck!

 

Tula ng Puso

I used to ignore literature. I didn’t like reading literature novels, poems, short stories and essays except if my sister wrote them. I was better off reading reference books about politics, history, philosophy. Back in college, I couldn’t get away from teachers requiring me to write essays and the like, so I hated them. Mind you, my essays tackling social issues were always different from the rest. My sociology professor told me that I have a unique logic. I just didn’t enjoy analyzing the works of Shakespeare and Coelho.

On my 22nd birthday, I received a message from my friend.We were classmate and used to be close. In the message, he greeted me and gave me this poem. 

Tula ng Puso

 Kaibigan kita sa mata ng tao

sa mata ng Diyos

pero hindi sa mata ng puso 

Di kita minahal kahapon

Di rin kita mamahalin ngayon

Baka mahalin kita bukas 

Pinipilit na maging kaibigan na nasasaktan

Nakikitawa sa tuwing sasabihin mong may bago ka na namang mahal

Nakikiiyak sa tuwing sinasaktan ka niya at binabalewala… 

Siguro lahat kaya kong gawin

huwag lang ma-badtrip ang pusong bihag mo nung simula pa lang

Kailan ko kaya manenenok ang pusong mailap sa pagtingin ko? 

Sana bukas…sana ibalato na sa akin ni kupido ito

Para sa araw ng mga puso ay maging maligaya ako

Kahit sa ilang sandali ay maramdaman kong minahal ako ng aking kaibigan

 na mas higit pa sa isang kaibigan…

at ang dati kong kaibigan ay akin na ngayong kaibigan.

I consider this poem as the best gift I’ve ever had.Oh, I forgot, I don’t like receiving material gifts. Celebrating my birthday with my family and friends is enough for me. Now, I appreciate literatures especially poems and essays. My respect goes to our Filipino writers who write in Filipino, English and even in Hiligaynon, Cebuano, Ilokano and all other dialects in the Philippines.

Keep your pen bleeding!

The 1st Peter Solis Nery Essay Writing Contest is open. For those who are interested, just go to http://couen.blogspot.com/. There are 5 poems of Nery. Just pick one to analyze and write an essay about it. I personally like his “The Names of God”.

Now, click that link and go.

   

Janina San Miguel: Strong!

Janina San Miguel has won the crown for Binibining Pilipinas Miss World 2008. A lot of people are contesting her victory.  For those who don’t know what I am blabbering about, just watch this Q & A portion  

Transcript

Vivian Tan: The question is, what role did your family play to you as candidate to Binibining Pilinas?

Janina San Miguel: Well, my family’s role for me is so important b’coz there was the wa- they’re, they was the one who’s… very… Hahahaha… Oh I’m so sorry, Ahhmm… My pamily… My family… Oh my god.. I’m… Ok, I’m so sorry… I… I told you that I’m so confident… Eto, Ahhmm, Wait… Hahahaha, Ahmmm, Sorry guys because this was really my first pageant ever b’coz I’m only 17 years old and ahahaha I, I did not expect that I came from, I came from one of the top 10. Hmmm, so… but I said that my family is the most important persons in my life. Thank you 

You laughed, didn’t you?Upon watching the video, I pitied and praised her. She sucked big time in Q & A and it was funny, but I didn’t see a stupid woman. I saw a sweet girl who courageously fought her way to the top. A brave girl who was not afraid to stand side by side with contestants from other so-called “good schools”. A humble girl who was not afraid to make mistakes and to apologize. A strong girl that defied the booing of the audience.

Why did Janina win? She got the crown after winning the two major awards re: Best in Swimsuit and Best in Long Gown. Any normal kid would understand 2 over 3 is bigger than 1 over 3.

Before you write insulting comments and call her stupid in YouTube or other forums:You better be sure that:

You can speak English without stammering in front of thousands of booing Filipinos.

Write your comment in English, please.

The Philippines is the 3d largest English-speaking nation in the world. Enough of the exaggeration. A normal Filipino uses Filipino language in his/her daily routine. Not all the 87 million Filipinos speak English. The Philippines is the 11^th most populous country in the world and that is not a hyperbole.

This is the trend in the Philippines. Laughing at other people’s grammatical errors. No wonder Filipinos are scared of speaking English. We are good in writing, listening and reading, but not in speaking. However, terms like cono, sosi, sosyal, maarte are some of those brands you will earn from narrow-minded people when you speak perfect English.

What will it be?  

Jomtien Beach, Pattaya, Thailand

This is from my Friendster blog dated March 15, 2006.

I’m back and I’m black. I was in Pattaya for an overnight with Bing, Beth, Chris and Kat. We headed to the beach just to see a swarm of old foreigners.They were all old males. If my memory serves me right, I only saw three foreign women and one male about my age, and all our oldies. I don’t have anything against them. The beach is just full of them. Aside from the oldies, there are so many male gay prostitutes at that beach. No women prostitutes at all.You can see humpings everywhere! Please don’t comment on this blog that I’m homophobic or discriminating, I’m just telling you what I experienced there. I’m not against gays, lesbians, and even prostitutions! This blog is under the category – blabbermouth; wanderlust.

We arrive at the beach at around 1 PM, then ate lunch in a small eatery, then took some pictures. I was sitting in a chair, my plan was to swim at around 3:30, because I really don’t want to get burned, but the call of the beach was really powerful! I hit the beach like it was my first time to swim at the see. Well, that was really my first after last year.I remembered my trip at Lingayen, pangasinan with my best friends. We really had fun there. The beach is an average type, but the presence of my friends made the trip fantastic and memorable.Back to Pattaya, Thailand, the water in the shower was blasting on my skin. You don’t even need to use soap for the water was so powerful, it would remove anything on your skin be it moles, hairs, pimples. I swear some of my hairs were pulled! The shower is like a fire truck’s hose but stronger.

I have experienced being cannoned by the fire truck’s hose twice. One was in a camping at Marikina with my best friends. We just got out of the muddy obstacle course and the last course was taking a bath under the fire truck’s mercy. The other one was in the anti-Erap rally (SONA) at PHILCOA, Quezon City. The police force used water cannon to pacify the rallyist.And it wasn’t an excellent act so the police resorted to throwing rocks on us, which was really effective because I ran with my backpack covering my head. My point is the shower at that beach was more painful than fire truck’s water cannon.I wasn’t hurt by those water cannons but that killing shower at that beach really did.

For the night, we went to the infamous “Walking Street”. Lots of bars, night clubs, stores, and of course, prostitutes! There are thousands and thousands of foreigners but the numbers of men, women, gay prostitutes are more than the numbers of foreigners. The “walking street” is like a big sex city! I don’t even know what’s with the name “Walking street”. I think, the “Sex City” would suit perfectly.

Back now in Bangkok, I just bought some albums; Alanis Morisette the collection, Best of BlackEyedPeas, Keane, and a compilation of best love songs (debatable). I searched for BIlly Corgan’s “Zwan” and “The Best of Jewel” albums but wasn’t succesful. 

The Horror of Vasculitis

 My wordpress blog is just two months old so you might think that I am new to the blogging world. This article is from my Friendster blog.

                                                          

This blog shoud have been written the week before last week but I was too busy with my work.

April 11 - 17, 2006, I had a sore throat. I took  a hell amount of Amoxicillin. 3 x a day so I am not exaggerating the word “hell.” So I developed these rashes all over my feet and legs. Bloody-red spots and patterns and some were even size of 50 cents! For 1 week, I looked like a person with eczema. As in ECZEMA! I went to the hospital for a check up. It was “Vasculitis” An inflammation of the blood vessels.One of the causes of vasculitis is allergy. In my case, it was an allergic reaction to Amoxicillin. My blood vessels literally exploded. I got medications but they didn’t make the eczema go away instantly.For two weeks, I got disgusted look from the people in the street.Of course I couldn’t approached all of them to say “Hey, don’t be afraid, my disease is not scabies! You won’t get infected!” Plus they don’t understand a single English word and I know I just want to slap them.

To be a zombie or a humanoid in a horror film is one of my dreams.It happened for  two weeks. I looked like the possesed girl’s brother from the movie, Exorcist.