Fire, Awards and Goong

Today happens to be the Recognition Day of my daughter for her academic achievements as a freshman. She made it to the top ten and the school also presented her a certificate for placing in the Metrobank nationwide Math Exam Division Level. Their team secured 1st place beating other prominent schools in Makati. I know she wants me to be there and of course I wanted to be present too but what can I do when duty calls.

The building admin chose this day to conduct a fire drill and I can't excuse myself since I have the key to our unit and of all places they want the would be trapped victim to come from the ledge of our window. The agony of having one of the best spots in the entire building ~ sigh~ After an agonizing hour of going through the entire drill everything was back to normal so I made my escape and kept my fingers crossed that I would still make it on time.

I made it alright, everybody were making their way out of the venue. Gosh I missed the awarding but they felt happy to see me so I can pay the official photographer who covered the event and since it's almost lunch we got to celebrate right.

After a filling Japanese bento meal I dropped her and mom home before going back to the office. Honestly my mind is elsewhere because this happens to be the last week of my current fave k-seris Goong (Princess Hours). After two hell episodes last week I finally saw the preview for tonight and tomorrow nights episodes and I'm now floating in cloud nine. Two more hours before showtime in Korea so I have to go home if I want to get some spoilers from my net friends.

The Art of Letting Go

My best friend has been scouring all the music stores in her area for a couple of days now to get hold of an album containing the song "The Art of Letting Go" by Mikaila but to no avail. My good-luck fairy was beside me today because I was able to secure it for her during my lunch break (thanks to the helpful guy at Tower Records).

The album contains 16 tracks that will pull your heartstrings if you happen to be going through a rough time in your lovelife. I remember a phase in my life when my eyes turns into a faucet everytime I hear One Last Cry by Brian Mcknight. Good thing I've learned to let go so it now leads to my question..... is there really an art in letting go?

We all go through our individual journey in life experiencing a gamut of emotions, some happy and exciting but pain and sadness will not be far behind. For what is life without lessons to be learned the hard way. Having gone to some very tough moments myself, I'm sharing what I've I learned so far in the hope that someone out there might need them.

Acknowledge the moment you are in, the emotions you are currently feeling. Sometimes we do get well meaning advise from friends not to wallow and forget it/him/her and go out to enjoy your new found freedom but we all need time to cry our eyes out. Time on your own to grieve, to cry and have fits of anger is needed to find a release. Depending on the intensity of whatever hurt or sadness that we feel, the emotional high will slowly subside and your feelings will start to numb.

To me the second phase is always the hardest. Once we've accepted the cause of our hurt then we begin the process of forgiving ourselves and whatever and/whoever caused our hurt. Our ego will rise like devils advocate as we weigh in the the why's and what of our experiences. It's a constant battle between logic, reason and emotion. It will greatly help if you have a spiritual adviser or a trusted friend to guide you at this phase but "guide" being the operative word here, it's still up to us to come to terms with everything.

Acceptance signals that we are ready to let go of whatever burdens us. Suddenly the world looks beautiful and fresh in your eyes so go ahead and enjoy life again. After all, letting go means being free at last from our past. Life is meant to be lived through all it's ups and down so here's hoping your journey will be a meaningful one.

What's Wrong With Our Coffee

I met my bestfriend this week-end to check out a record she wants and buy a book to relieve her boredom. My daughter tagged along so our discussions were on the safe side but I know she's itching to tell me something. So after an early dinner at Pizza Hut (thumbs up to their upgraded menu) my daughter agreed that we'll bring her back home so we adults could go out again and talk over coffee.

Mom greeted us at the door and when we said we'll just go out to have coffee she replied "Why go out when we have coffee at home?" Why indeed mom..... go figure

Jewel In The Palace in Manila

I'm a certified korean drama fan for two years now. In fact my collection of tv dramas and movies not to mention magazines, stickers and other small knick knacks takes up the space under my bed. But to me one of the best made series I've ever watched was Jewel In The Palace. The screenplay was fantastic and the cinematography just beyond what I've been used to when it comes to tv production. Not to mention the superb acting from all the cast.

You can just imagine my excitement when the station airing the said drama announced that they will be bringing Yang Mi-gyeong who played Lady Han and Jo Jeon Eun who acted as the little Jang-geum to do a meet and greet.



Good thing my work load was light so I was able to ask to leave an hour early yesterday and immediately proceeded to Market, Market an upscale mall 30 minutes away from the office. The place is already packed when I got there with a few friends so were left with no option but to find a good place to stand and still get a view of the stage. All those empty seat you see are reserved for the special guest of the Korean Embassy. It's a good 2 hours before they started the program and the heat from all the people around was becoming unbearable but since I already indured a lot what's another hour right?

The show started with some korean traditional dance and music and a speech by H.E. Hong Jong Ki, Korean Ambassador to the Philippines. We expressed his happiness for the love and support of the Filipino people to Korea through our appreciation of their cultural heritage. And as a token they co-sponsored the visit of the two stars here in the country. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is just a start and that we can expect more korean actors making official visit soon.

Then it was the turn of filipino artist Shamrock, Jonalyn Viray and the official songstress of all korean drama themes in the Philippines, Faith Cuneta to serenade the crowd. The show turned into an instant karaoke with the crowd singing along with them. The only glitch was when Faith tried singing the last stanza of the song "Pangarap Na Bituin" in korean but ended up sounding Japanese instead. I swear my friends and I all looked at each other bewildered at the words coming out of her and we all blurted "Korean ba yun?" (is that korean) but otherwise it was ok.

Finally the moment we've been waiting for preserved for posterity. Yang Mi-gyeong's smile lights up her face and her skin is beautiful. She looks a lot younger than her age (45 years old). Little Jang-geum is now a big girl and and is also blossoming into a pretty lady. I see another Moon Geun-Young in the making here.





After they said their good-bye I felt so drained walking became a torture. We were so drained and tired and what better way to end the night than by having dinner with friends. I swear I felt so dehydrated I drank a pitcher of ice tea, hehehe...

Summer Is Here

After just two months of relatively cool weather the heat of summer is making it's presence felt. I guess I'm an oddball in saying I hate summer!

I hate the sticky sweat that clings to your skin once you stray away from the cool comfort of our airconditioned office or the electric fan set on the high at home. I feel restricted in my movements because the slightest effort on my part can make me look like a drowned cat and I always feel the need to have a shower 20x a day, heck I can stay inside the bathroom the whole day!

I have to stock up on my migraine meds because I'm sure the attacks will be coming soon. How I wish I live somewhere where spring is about to start. How nice it would be to enjoy walking in the park enjoying the flowers with the cool breeze blowing your hair ~ haay ~

I guess I have to start counting the days until June when the rainy seasons starts and the temperature goes down again.

On Auto-Pilot

I've been functioning on auto-pilot for a couple of days now. Mom got a serious case of an upset stomach since friday and I hardly got any sleep to check on her. I cancelled my appointment for the following day so I can have her checked by a doctor and confirmed that she may have drank unsafe water. You know how hard it is for elders to get sick, their bodies have a harder time coping with the loss of fluid and since her food intake was limited she felt weaker by the days end.

I'm blessed to have her with me since I'm a working mom and one gets to realize it more in moments such as these. I'm dead tired on a Saturday - my day of relaxation and dread the following day. Thank God for cofee and The Wedding (a korean drama series) for keeping me company as I take care of my mom during the wee hours of the morning. What a relief that she's getting better and her IV was removed yesterday.

Now it's my daughter's turn to deprive me of sleep. Try cross stitching in the middle of the night so she can rest after a whole day of school and be able to submit her project on time. Aahh, the pains of motherhood.....

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Your Birthdate: June 1

You are a natural born leader, even if those leadership talents haven't been developed yet. You have the power and self confidence to succeed in life, and your power grows daily. Besides power, you also have a great deal of creativity that enables you to innovate instead of fail. You are a visionary, seeing the big picture instead of all of the trivial little details. Your strength: Your supreme genius Your weakness: Your inappropriate sensitivity Your power color: Gold Your power symbol: Star Your power month: January

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

What's With The Academy

I was expecting Brokeback Mountain to win the Best Picture at the Oscar's lat night but boy was I disappointed when they gave the award to Crash instead. I'm sure I'm not the only one who felt the same way basing on the reaction of the producers, they were surprised too. A lady in orange halter gown almost had a wardwobe malflunction when she jumped like a bunny from sheer happiness. The camera caught her pulling her top vigorously.

It was just a consolation that Dir. Ang Lee won for Directing, he really deserves it.

Can't wait for Saturdays broadcast of the Fashion Police to see who get's the best and worst dressed award.