Graduation Coming Down

Ask ten people what their high school years were like, and you’ll probably get two answers, split right down the middle: Best years of my life, five will say. Worst years of my life, five others will vow.



But even those who absolutely hated high school and could not wait to get out — you know who you are — probably recall graduation itself as a pretty significant moment: either because one crucial phase of life was so obviously ending while another was about to begin, or because it meant they could finally do what they really wanted to do. You see college is a bliss!

 

But like my premise I too love and hate high school years. Yes they were awkward, but the mixed emotions of anxiety, pride, relief, excitement and not a little melancholy made it all worthwhile.
Did you still remember that familiar feeling of walking across a stage donning a cap and gown to shake hands and receive a diploma?

Unforgettable.

“"I hope your dreams take you... to the corners of your smiles, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities, and to the most special places your heart has ever known.”- Author Unknown

How I Relate Myself to Oscars

February is a lot of things to people. From Valentines to JS Prom to EDSA Revolution and of course, The Oscars. The Hollywood people's piece of heaven. This and thousands of other occasions man so cleverly concocted and invented, perhaps to ease the burden of daily living. I am not so much of a follower. But this is Oscar. Now, we all know that coming Tuesday everyone will be asking if you saw what Jennifer Lawrence was wearing or how cute Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield were on stage.

As much of a t-shirt and jeans wearing person as I am, there is some part of me that still want to look all dolled up, with curled hair set so beautiful on one side, in gown that will make me Amy Adams for a second. And where else can you see glamorous people in gowns and suits but in this much coveted event. And while it may not be 100% about fashion and style, how about the artistic side of it? Luckily this year offers a much better selection, and I can say with confidence that every film on this list is worth watching (though I have not seen all of them.)

I saw Life of Pi, and glad that I spent time for it. If there’s anything, it’s that this film justifies the existence of 3D. It is so visually ambitious and amazing. And the story, it is so profound but oh so beautifully related on screen.



The cameo appearance of Michelle Obama pretty much tells that Oscar has become a bit of a politics too. The red carpet, in the company of the rich and famous in their priceless Valentino or Dior. I know most about the Oscars it’s the way the movie awards have the power to influence filmmaking. This time of year it’s more and more difficult to tell if certain films are even meant for us, the audience, or if they should solely be shown to the Academy in exchange for little gold men.



Having said all these things, we can actually learn life’s lessons from the Oscar. And these lessons I summed up in 2:

1.There is God, and there are little gods.

2.I have seen them and it makes no sense.

No matter how rich, powerful, brilliant or influential a person is, that person cannot escape the fact that all the things in the world is temporary and short-lived. Fame and fortune will soon fade away and things will boil down to one thing: Character. It is defined by what you‘re willing to do when the spotlight has been turned off when the applause has died down, and no one is around to give you credit.

The Weight of a Woman

There’s no business like show business. Everything about it is appealing. And of course, nowhere can you get that happy feeling.

This line is from a musical Annie. And it also says that there are no people like show people – those happy, flashy, extravagant, over-the-top people who have seamlessly mastered the art of acting, singing and dancing.

They look so powerful and seem well put together. But if you dig deeper ever so slightly the surface, the glamour perhaps the high profile status is torn down and changed into much more humane and common and totally relatable. You see them on cam and you tell yourself how perfect they are. Like all the puzzle pieces just naturally fall into place. You can just tell by the way they talk and carry themselves. It really is a sight to behold, actually. But behind the spotlight, they turned into wives and mothers who are also scared, broken, scarred and worried by life’s imperfections.

These women are beautiful as well as amazing.

And they both have children with severe autism.

Kris Aquino is a celebrity here in the Philippines. She is at the moment a single parent, who loves his two sons so much, including the special child Joshua. He is diagnosed with autism, learning disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder.

In fact, she has already allotted a big trust fund for the two kids specially to her special child. Her brother, Noynoy Aquino the president of the Philippines, even said that he didn't marry because he wants to take care of Joshua.

She delivered the late night news. Broadcast journalist Karen Davila’s firstborn, David, was 3½ years old when he was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (PDD/NOS) in the Autism Spectrum, a severe form of autism. The development pediatrician said there was no cure for David’s condition.

These women are remarkable. And it makes me feel like, little by little, those walls of stereotypes and misconceptions are being torn down. You see them all glammed up but sure they’d come home to children who need them, like how my children need me. Who can make them laugh, aren't afraid to be silly with them, who knows just the trick to get them to eat their peas – and other tons of things in this world to raise kids, to watch them grow and learn and thrive.

And speaking of disabilities in case you ask, would we ever trade your children and exchanged them for somebody who are cuter, chubbier, brilliant, more talented individuals. Our answer? Never.

If You Have a Date Then This One Is For You

Welcome to Valentines week my friends! where will you be on the fourteenth? Around this time, everyone is planning to go out and it made me think about those places where lovers normally frequented. While some places are definitely worth the trouble, others, not so much. Let me give you idea where to go and why these places are good or bad.



On the good list: The Rizal Park. Our national hero’s not only been immortalized by a penny but his park now becomes more majestic especially at night when it's glowing in light, it's free, and you don't have to stand in line to be there.



On the bad list: The Quezon City Circle. Okay, what is this thing supposed to be? How does a really tall, skinny, 3-vertical structure honoring Manuel Quezon? Did anyone ask him about this design? Maybe he would have liked a nice statue with him on the horse instead. And am I the only one who looks at this structure and wants to play an areal game of ring toss? On the plus side, it makes a good place for flying characters to zoom around as they try to evade each other.



On the good list: The Manila Ocean Park. You get to learn interesting stuff, covet precious gems, see frightening looking fish that lurk in the dark parts of the ocean--something for everyone. Plus, again it's a good place to set a scene for underwater wedding proposal, with large stingray looming above you.



On the creepy list: Any museum that has mummies. I mean, there's something unsettling about seeing shriveled dead people from thousands of years ago laid out in front of you like they were treasures. Inside an open casket or an open jar, or standing with pieces of bones chained inside a see-through box like the one in National Museum. If I ever inherit an antiquity, the last thing I want is a mummy. Shriveled dead people don't go with most people's home decor and there are just so many things you can prop up in your living room. A nice vase, I would take.



On the good list: Break water at the back of The Mall of Asia. Open seas are beautiful, peaceful, and make for good background for Prenup video. Nothing is more relaxing than enjoying the waves especially if you taught of seeing them aboard a rented yacht.



On the bad list: The Mall of Asia. What do you have if you combined the SM Mega Mall concept with Greenbelt's upscale ambiance plus the crowd at Divisoria? This place. It housed at least 200,000 people at peak hours. This huge crowd and the main entrances and pedestrian/ cat walks are really far from the nearest van and bus terminals. That many people could have been there but the reports may have forgotten to account that about 100,000 of those people were lost in MOA’s overpopulated complex and just wound up there and barely get out there alive.



On the good and the bad list simultaneously: Makati Shopping District. The travel magazine says that 15 million people visit a year, and I believe them as there were at least that many people standing in line in front of me when I pay at the Cashier. I love the new Glorietta, their new boutiques, the interior decorations, and the outdoor landscape in Greenbelt--I mean, if they aren’t awesome, I don’t know what to call them.

But sorry Mr Ayala and Mr Sy,your malls are as jampacked as MOA when there is a holiday. You may end up at food court if you want a quick lunch or dinner. However, there are also a lot of buffet restaurants you can wait for if you have the time. I might ask Hubs to bring me to Yakimix if we have the chance, Valentine’s day or not.

Well, I could go on but I still have a lot of things on my plate right now. I hope you all have the loveliest V-day on Thursday!

How Much Do You Need TeleSerye In Your Life?

Okay, I admit it. I have a tendency to torture myself. Whether it’s killing myself dancing Zumba, or dying watching TV. I’m a TV addict. You can bribe me to stay home all day by just leaving the TV on. Basically, I know how to entertain myself.

But in spirit of brainless fun, allow me to describe what I love and hate with what’s on TV every night.

What are the odds that when you are explaining the value of honesty to your son, telling him to avoid use of profane languages, and howling and crying won’t do him any good, that when you switch the TV on you’d be shocked by the name-calling, cursing, yelling between bida and contrabida even Tabasco has no match to their spicy words?

Apparently, the chances are pretty good.



First of, Channel 7, after Indio (btw this show’s use of old vernacular makes them sweet to ear, so this one can pass up) welcome Pahiram ng Sandali. Look s like the selling point of the story is "hell hath no fury than a woman scorned.." There are mildly amusing scenes here and there. And there is a mildly sexy, slightly charming flirtation scene between the still sexy but obviously old Lorna and well toned, young Dingdong. Dindong shows us why women still fall head over heels for him, now if only that’s a bit gross to imagine. All in all, this is teleserye. Anything can happen.



At about the same time, on channel 2 airs Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw. See the sexy Anne Curtis as Ruth who is so hell-bent on becoming a model in New York that she stages her own kidnapping to extort money from her father to finance her dream. In real life, of course, short girls like Ruth, the name of Anne’s character, don’t stand a chance even on the runways of New York, Cubao.

Sadly, this one offered very little over-the-top propositions in its first week that would make it worth buying a stored-value-ticket for. Nor did it hint that things will eventually get exciting. From the poster alone, we already know that Anne and her sister Roxanne, played by Kris Aquino, will both fall in love with the lone leading man, Robin Padilla—even if Roxanne pretends to be all nice and supportive of her rebellious sister’s pursuits in the beginning. Second, we already know that Robin and Tirso Cruz III have a past—and not the kind of past we’re interested in (like maybe Tirso was once Robin’s Mrs. Robinson). In the soap, Tirso, a former security guard, has something to do with the death of Robin’s father. Big deal.



If you stayed further late, prepare to watch Temptation of Wife, a Korean remake. Be enthralled by Heidi’s bangs. It is so straight and shiny, you wish you can grow one yourself. She is so sexy but cunning and schemy you also want to rip her apart. But wait, there’s Angeline-turned-Chantal. Even my 3 year old kid can guess she is the former. But this, again, is a teleserye. People come back from the dead in teleseryes. Your mother will turn out to be your daughter’s sister in teleseryes, and Sam Milby and Paulo Avelino will fight tooth, nail, abs, and dimples just to win Angeline Quinto’s heart. This is the reason people risk their lives every week night taking the MRT, where it is possible to die from getting squeezed to death or just from inhaling the aroma of the city’s commuting public: to make it home in time for an hour's worth of unbelievable.



Back to channel 2 again at around 10pm, watch Iza Calzado’s disobedient wig. Why on earth this one never move? Is she sick? And why is Andi Eigenmann head over heels mad at her? I don’t think Jake Cuenca's weird moustache is worth it.

In closing, you'll ask why everyone hates everyone? why on earth there's always a mistress in each story?

Probably it might be a good idea to skip watching for a week. Because it’s usually when you stop watching that the network bosses get nervous and order a bunch of rewrites (a botched effort at which is probably the reason for the early demise of A Beautiful Affair). So when you tune back in two weeks after, these teleseryes will start blowing your mind with a pile of incest twists, loads of zinger dialogue, and a bunch of people coming back from the dead. Who knows, maybe Anne Curtis will come back from New York a more interesting character, or taller, or as a fashion model very curiously resembling BB Gandanghari.

I’d might take the train for that any day.

Because It's Valentine

Since when was the last time you went geeky? crazy? slave? because of love. Did you ever try doing the most unimaginable thing just because you are so over-the-moon in love with a person? If anything, romance as they say is tempestuous. You don’t love hard enough if you never had done something so hilarious, funny, dramatic, suspense-filled, death-defying, shocking action when you're in a relationship.

Or may be you’re contemplating on staying single all your life. All because you think there are lots of more important things to do and think about rather than jump on the bandwagon. And you have decided that your heart is not a plaything to do with whatever mind wants. After all, it’s the brain that tells your heart what to feel. Heart just pumps blood.

But whatever your analyses are, people become more interesting when they are starting to fall in love, already in-love, and falling out of love.

Take these cues from UP professor, writer, TV comedian, Ramon Bautista on his TUMBLR account. Funny that he is still single, but this guy seems to know a lot about relationships than many of us do.

Girls, hear this out:

If only men can tell this straight to our face

I hope you all do your part to consume as much sugar, ice cream, cake and chocolate as possible.

Advance Happy V-day my friends!