Meet the newest member of my bear family, a gift from a dear friend. I contemplated on what to name him, a toss between Ho-dong because he's so chubby but decided for Min-young because that name will always be special for me. And those white roses now grace our dining table providing a nice contrast to the other bouquet of colorful roses (red, pink and beige) I got last Sunday from another sweet friend.
By now the world already knew that Taylor "Soul Patrol" Hicks emerged as AI Season 5 winner. I won't protest the win since he did a better job than Kat in singing their final song.
Aside from the annoying clip of Kelly Pickler, and Tony Braxon's duet with Taylor (is she on drugs that night) the whole finale was the best I've watched. But my favorite moment was when Clay Aiken appeared while his AI impersonator is doing a good job of butchering his song. It was an ultimate fan moment for that guy and wow! It's a whole new Clay bangs and all. Jay Leno even mentioned that he looked like Lindsay Lohan, hahaha........ so here's the clip to enjoy that moment again
It was another humid Sunday afternoon with nothing to do and the prospect of spending the whole day sweating it out at home made me and my daughter restless. I remembered that my fave singer Lani Misalucha will be having a mini concert at Glorietta Mall later in the afternoon before jetting back to the States but just the thought of walking a few blocks to get a ride made me have second thoughts. Good thing I opted to go because I would have missed a lot.
Lani was already in the midst of belting her first song when my friend Pau and I met. Oh boy did I miss hearing that beautiful voice. I've been a fixture in her concerts before she decided to migrate to the States together with her family two years ago. Her gigs in Vegas did a lot to improve her performance on stage, she can now groove!
The show went on for more than a hour with the crowd reacting wildly as she sang with that full golden voice of hers that can reach high notes without sounding like a metal being torn apart. Sadly all must come to an end but she made a promise to return next year for a major concert. Wow, a lot of things to look forward too in 2007.
The Philippines is celebrating the triumph of 32 year old Leo Oracion for being the first Filipino to reach the peak of Mount Everest at 5:30 pm Philippine time. A few hours later, his team member Erwin "Pastor" Emita followed suit.
In a country where no mountain reaches 3,000 meters and the only ice is inside freezers, Oracion, his teammate Erwin Emata and rival climber Romeo Garduce were hailed as heroes as they labored up the southern slope of the 8,848-meter (29,028-foot) mountain.
Meanwhile, Romeo Garduce, the other Filipino aiming to reach the summit is on his way to Everest’s Camp Three from Camp Two, which he left at about 7 a.m. (Nepal time). Garduce, 37, a systems analyst, is due to reach the summit on Friday, according the report.
Let's all pray he'll make it to the summit tomorrow and that they can all return to our country and their families safe and sound. Mabuhay!
I enjoy receiving cute email messages from my friends and I would like to share one that made me smile recently.
Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.
Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.
Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!
Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!
Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!!... Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?
Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.
Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO . Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around!
Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.
Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!
Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.
I was pissed last night and still am whenever I think about it. The officers of one of the organizations I belong to asked for a meeting to discuss what Rizza is offering as assistance to the group while she in on her korea for a vacation. We are all professionals working for various companies and I was assuming all were in sane mental health at that time so when they laid out their plans and what needs to be prepared and agreed to meet last night so they can give the materials I was assuming that they will come through. I even saw the minutes of the meeting posted in our forum.
Imagine my surprise when I received an sms message informing me that those people will no longer meet us because they cannot give Rizza anything and forgot she is leaving this Friday. We never asked for anything hard or impossible to do.
1. Profile - As far as I know our group already has a profile that we have previously submitted to a record company here. All it needs is a few minor revisions that can be done in a few hours if they wanted to. And if they are too busy to do it they could have asked our help.
2. Two newsletters that only needs to be printed again from any desktop publishing shop around our area.
3. A gift for somebody special celebrating his birthday next month. If money was a problem they could have brought it up last friday so we can make a contribution.
And if they are not willing to do anything for whatever reason, they could have said so and not waste other peoples time. Not everyone is within the area, there are people who travelled a few hours just to be at the appointed place on the appointed time. If they have concerns about it then they could have at least come out in the open and say what's on their mind instead of giving us a lousy excuse. We are not imposing anything we are just doing our best to help make our organization more professional in doing things.
You know who you are, iIf you ever come accross this posting I hope you people will reflect on what you just did.
I was watching Showbiz Extra last night and got the most welcome surprise, they showed the music video that I requested a few weeks back. It's the song Parrot by HOWL that was used in the latter part of the drama series Goong. The melody of the song is beautiful and the vocals is impressive. For those who haven't heard of the song, check it out this live performance clip that I got from youtube.
Korean Romanized Lyrics Parrot - HowL - Full Version
doragal su itdamyeon nae maeumeul moaseo nae gaseumeul deoreoseo da geudael jul tende......
saranghamnida nan saranghamnida geudaeege baeun manko manheun maldeul junge i mal hana ipbeoreutcheoreom na jungeolgeorimnida......honja babocheoreom mianhamnida cham mianhamnida dwineujeun i malkkaji mianhajiman yeomchieopsi geudael gidarimnida haengyeo naeireun doraolkka......
i maeum...... kkeutnae geudaen molla ol su eopseodo geudaega byeonhae deoneun nan anirado bulleobogo dasi bulleobomnida aengmusaecheoreom geudae ireum...... geudae sarangman...... ireoke......
English Translation-Parrot by Howl
I miss you again, just like it's yesterday My desire to see you just won't disappear You just keep appearing in my mind
The more I comfort myself, the more I cry Even if I rub away those tears secretly.. The memories spreading to other memories Making me cry with pain
I regret that I've only recieved Will you forget me because I haven't given you anything I love you, I love you
This is what I learned from you Out of all the words and phrases in the world This has become my favorite phrase I mutter it to myself, as if I were stupid I'm really sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry for these words that are too late I wait for you without a sense of honor Will you return tomorrow by chance
I liked it, I was happy
I didn't know how to confess, I believed in forever If on that day, even if only in my dreams If I could return to that day, I'd collect all my emotions I would empty out my heart and give it all to you I love you, I love you
This is what I learned from you Out of all the words and phrases in the world This has become my favorite phrase I mutter it to myself, as if I were stupid I'm really sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry for these words that are too late I wait for you without a sense of honor Will you return tomorrow by chance
This mind/heart Even if it's ended, we won't know Even if you can't come Even if you've changed Even if it's not me I call out I call out again Like a parrot, I call out your name And your love, like this
Rizza will be leaving this Friday for her Korean immersion trip while dearest Flor will be celebrating her birthday soon so the entire Voltes team decided to throw them a party last Saturday. And when we celebrate we are not talking of just a few hours, that will never suffice. We rented a penthouse of a hotel and partied till the following day.
In fact my day started early because Flor and I did some last minute shopping before proceeding to the hotel. Those in charge of our lunch got stuck in traffic but good thing Charity cooked chapchae (a korean noodle dish) so our hunger pangs were appleased. Finally by 3pm almost everyone is present and we had more food than we can consume but whose complaining? I'm not....
With so much to talk about with people who are all beautiful, smart and interesting in their own way it's no wonder I enjoyed every minute of it. The only lowdown for me was getting only two hours of sleep because one of our onni who by the way is a very good cook decided to test all the lights at 4am so she can satisfy her craving for hot cofee then thought ice latte is better so she got a bag of ice tubes out from the freezer and used a fork to break it apart. I swear she's like the rabbit on those everready energizer battery ads on tv. But eventually batteries run out of power and our sweet lady finally settled a few hours before check-out. Too bad I can't do the same so sleep has to wait for a few more hours.
Like Pau said, our friendship may have started from something trivial ~ a likeness for a single eyelid korean pop artist but we have gone beyond that and as time passed we have discovered more about each other. So dear friends, here's to more get togethers and happy memories!
You have social courage and as a consequence are open and extroverted. You are seen as a well known person who is liked and is involved in many social events. I do have a healthy social life, right chinggus? You feel confident about your position in social situations and will not hesitate to say what you believe. You do not like too much responsibility, but you do not mind being in the social center. You must know everything that is going on in your greater social circle and spend a lot of time talking to others to find out the latest gossip. This I have to disagree since I hate gossips and I don't have the time to seek them out. You tend to be friendly, but can be criticizing when you see others as thinking of themselves too much. Yes, In fact I have someone in mind for a week now.
You prefer to work in challenging people oriented jobs where you can compete against others and rise in the ranks. Who doesn't enjoy a challenge?Others usually like you but can sometimes be intimidated by your outspoken comments and criticisms although they do not show it. People tend to feel comfortable around you and respect your opinion. I'm blessed to have friends who will agree to this statement. You can use this social weight to get things done for you but usually opt not to call in favours people owe you. True
Your view of other types You tend to like Boss types and try to get close to them, as they possess the intimidating factor and confrontational attitude that you lack.I enjoy interacting with them because you get to learn a lot. You regard Academic Types as mostly withdrawn from life and too uppity to interact with. You associate with some Blue collar and White collar types, and find that these are the people that mostly want to hang around you. You see Artist types as attention seekers and are often the person to criticize them. False, I have a lot of close friends belonging to this group.For this reason, Artist types envy and fear you. You may enjoy the risk taking personality of Gambler types, but you also think that they are loners. You see Drifter types as social dropouts.
Other types' view of you Boss types like you but they dont always trust you. Academic Types have very little in common with you, therefore they avoid you. Artist types tend to avoid you because you may attack them verbally due to their personality differences. White and Blue collar types like interacting with you, and they sometimes envy your charisma. Gambler types may deal with you if they think that you have something useful to offer them. Drifter types may associate with you, but they generally believe that your archetype is stuck up.
Alpha Charmer: -More ambitious than Charmer Expected Occupations: Corporate Executive, Real Estate Agent, Politician Charmer: -More fun-loving than Alpha Charmer Expected Occupations: Sales representative, Teacher, Aesthetician, Hair Stylist, Artist, Actor, Social Worker, Manager
Finally I've finished posting the final installment to my Corregidor adventure. Sorry for the delay folks.
One of my closest friends in high school came home for a short holiday together with her family. Since we haven't seen her for almost a decade we went out of town during the week-end then we visited all the known nightspots during weekdays after office and going home at the wee hours of the morning only to wake up after 3 hours to go to work. The same cycle went on for a week and I'm still recovering until now. I'll blog about it after I've organized my photos but in the meantime enjoy reading the final entry of my trip to Corregidor.
A lunch buffet awaits us at the Corregidor Hotel and after all the walking I did the whole morning I was really looking forward to a hearty meal. Maybe because it was Black Saturday so the selection was limited. You can choose between plain or seafood rice, some steamed vegetables, chicken adobo (chicken cooked in soy, vinegar, peppercorns and laurel leaf), grilled fish steaks with lemon butter sauce and spaghetti carbonara (honestly any type of pansit would have suited the other viads better). Fresh fruits, turon (deep fried banana wrapped in rice paper and sprinkled with sugar) and leche flan (egg custard) were offered for dessert. As we are waiting for our turn to get our food, one of the older ladies in our group bodly squeezed her body infront of me and proceeded to fill three plates with food. You got it right I was pissed! She didn't even have the courtesy to ask if she can go before me and I would have relented but she acted as if I was invisible and took her sweet time to choose the cuts of meat that she will put on her plates.
I was so irritated my friend and I opted to be seated at the open air balcony instead of the airconditioned dining hall and share the same space with her. So after getting ourselves comfortable we started eating but lost my appetite after a few bites. They need to change their chef if they want to attract more diners to their hotel because I can make a better tasting meal than I what they served that day.
After lunch we continued with the last leg of our tour by visiting the Filipino Heroes Memorial. It is one of the newest landmarks in Corregidor which honors Filipino heroes and martyrs in their struggle for freedom and independence. It was erected and inaugurated in 1987 and 1992, respectively, and has 14 murals depicting the different eras in struggle from the Battle of Mactan in 1521 to the more recent People Power Revolution in 1986. Other murals depicted include the Dagohoy Revolt in 1744, the 1782 Palaris Revolt in Pangasinan, the 1896 Philippine Revolution, and World War II. The memorial complex was designed by Francisco Manosa while the murals and a statue of a Filipino soldier-farmer were sculptured by Manuel Casal.
Our final stop was at the Japanese Garden of Peace This garden features a 10-foot high stone Buddha with a reflecting pool, a shinto Shrine, and other Japanese soldier memorial shrines and markers. It is also used as a praying area for Japanese war veterans and the families and relatives of Japanese soldiers who served or were killed in Corregidor during World War II. Also on display within the garden are anti-aircraft guns which are relics of the war. A small pavilion houses some Japanese memorabilia and World War II photographs. The construction of this garden was made possible through funds generated by a Japan-based private group.
We said our good-bye to our tour guide and after having some last minute picture taking, we boarded our boat for a trip back to Manila. We were reluctant to end our day just yet so we decided to stroll along the newly rehabilitated baywak along Roxas Blvd. and wait for the sunset while listening to the acoustic music being played by one of the open air restaurants in the area.
It's almost lunchtime but we still have one more stop to make so we boarded our tramvias for our short trip back to the bottomside of the island. The view along the way was worth the discomfort I was feeling because of the heat. In fact I was really praying hard for a cool breeze in lieu of a dip in the waters sorrounding Corregidor.
We are heading to the east of Bottomside on hill that rises abruptly to an elevation of 390 feet called "Malinta. To facilitate passage and to create a bombproof shelter, the Americans drove a shaft from a rock quarry at Bottomside directly through the hill, creating the famous Malinta Tunnel. Construction of the tunnel took about 10 years. Work was initially started in 1922 and it was substantially completed in 1932. The 835 feet long East-West passage served as the main tunnel which is 24 feet wide and the height at the top of its arch is 18 feet. Branching from it are 13 laterals on its north side and another 11 laterals on the south side. Each lateral averaged 160 feet and 15 feet in length and width, respectively. A double-track electric trolley line used to run through the main tunnel which is reinforced with concrete walls, a concrete floor, and overhead arches. Blowers were installed to allow the circulation of fresh air.
The tunnel had been dug through solid rock and offered complete protection from artillery or air attack. Command communications and medical units were located there. Gen. MacArthur set up the headquarters of USAFFE inside the tunnel where men and women would live and work during the siege of Corregidor. The tunnel was originally designed to house huge quantities of ammunition, food and supplies, and an underground hospital with a 1,000-bed capacity. The location of the tunnel beneath Malinta Hill made it ideal as a bomb-proof headquarters for the embattled Filipino and Americans defenders of Corregidor during World War II. During the siege of Corregidor, a number of shops and storage areas were added.
To have a better feel and understanding of the significance of the tunnel to our nations history I strongly suggest to everyone to take the optional 30 minutes Malinta Light and Sound Show entitled "Malinta Experience" scripted by national artist and film director Lamberto Avellana and sculptures made by national artist Napoleon Abueva, the show is a re-enactment of World War II’s dramatic events.
For those staying overnight, a night tour of the tunnel allows visitors to see for themselves the different laterals of the 1,000-bed capacity Fort Mills Hospital which was used during the siege of Corregidor. A guide will accompany those brave enough to explore the pitch dark laterals of the Malinta with only a flashlight to light your way around. The said tour can be creepy since some Japanese soldiers committed suicide inside rather than surrender to the advancing American forces.
I'm a single mom, a friend and a woman who enjoys the freedom that I have. Books are my constant companion, music and scented candles are my fave stress releaver and chocolate cake is my ultimate mood lifter.
