New Year's Day

Just few months ago I'm counting the days until Christmas, now it's over and we're looking forward to New Year's day. 

I rendered a 30 minute overtime before my rest day. I went home with a Christmas bag of goodies from the office for Noche Buena. I boughts ingredients for fruit salad and waited in line for almost an hour to get a cab home. Last minute shopping was never a good idea especially if you haven't slept yet. I still have colds so my taste buds aren't working as well as my sense of smell. Not good because it's Christmas eve and I hate feeling sick. 

We opened our presents a week before Christmas so there's really nothing more to get excited about. Our elder brother paid us a visit today and brought some goodies. 

We checked out the this new store at the Atrium later called The Soap Factory where we saw yummy looking soaps good for gifts. I thought I'll buy some for my friends but you it's made to order I have to come back after 30 minutes. The soap artist told me that they need to come up with designs and that they don't have a catalogue. They pretty much create whatever comes to mind. They also need time to bake it. I hope someday they sell something handy.

Leecher

It's a rainy Friday morning. According to the morning news that an Anti-Charter Change rally is happening today and that Ayala Avenue will be closed at 12 noon. Good thing I'm on night shift so I don't have to worry about that I'm pretty sure by the time I get off to work the rally is over. My sister have shift today she texted me that protesters are starting to arrive at the Ninoy Aquino statue fronting Insular life where ABS-CBN's crew is ready to do a coverage of the event. 

I finished downloading Twilight last night I watched it right away. I liked the plot and the casting was good. It makes me think what if vampires are still around will that scare me or willl that be cool? The ladies fell for Edward Collins because of his mysterious character perhaps. My copy is not very clear yet it's too early to find a good one since the movie is quite new. I don't have anymore complains with my Internet provider because so far I'm satisfied that I am able to downloaded with no data limit. I'm happy that I've seen all the movies I missed these years. If technology lets you do everything better take advantage. 

Our regularization paper was given to us Tuesday morning I'm happy to stay but still uncertain about what the future holds for me in this company. 

Browsing and Stuff

The death of Starstruck Season 3 winner Marky Cielo (starstruck season 3 winner) was a shock to me. I saw a video clip of his untimely death earlier from Inquirer.net. I'm not sure if he committed suicide or he died in his sleep. While still looking for answers my attention diverted to this short film by an Australian cartoonist/animator Darcy Prendergast entitled "Off the Rails." It's about 3 weird guys on a train who each have stories to tell. 

If you're into indie/experimental/off the edge stuff I'm sure you're gonna love his work. 

Check him out here:

 http://www.deepeestudios.com/.

Getting Around Baguio

I just came back from a relaxing vacation in Baguio and just finished scrapbooking photos from my sister and I's trip. We have 80 pictures taken from Camp John Hay we almost run out of pages. We spent about 2-3 hours just taking pictures and walking at the park. We found a playground and a swing. It's been forever since I've been on a swing so I got very excited.

We went to the Cemetery of Negativism, Bell House, Amphitheater and many more. Of all the places we went to, I like Bell House the most. It's an old Victorian house which is a little spooky inside but I love the antique furnitures. I checked out the baby grand piano as well as every room in that house. I felt something strange especially in the dining room. Our digicam kept clicking even if we're not taking pictures. 

Later in the afternoon we head over to SM and cooled down with yummy treats from Cerealicious. I had one of those flavored cereal with vanilla ice cream on top we want some more we returned the next day to try other flavors after we got tired looking for ukay ukay. Our vacation won't be complete without grabbing a bite at Session Delights. We ordered pancit, it's really tasty and banana split for dessert. I miss Rainbow Cafe's "rainbow rice" too which is made up of vegetables, pouched egg, lechon and chicken. This local restaurant is located somewhere near the marketplace it's worth coming to. 

Jugno's Monster Pizza

I'm no pizza fan so I'm not aware that a monster pizza exist until my officemates ordered Jugno's pizza and had it delivered in the office. The pizza box is almost the size of our mini table. I told my sister that we should try Jugno's so one day we ordered a 20 inch size of 2 of their classic flavors "spicy taco" and "beef n' mushroom" in 1 box. Each flavor was cut into 16 slices It's a lot cheaper since for that size the box only costs Php448 compared to Pizza Hut or Yellow Cab. Aside from their 24 hour delivery, you can have more than 1 flavor in a box and customize the slice of your pizza. Jugno's tastes good except the crust. 

I'm not sure if I will order from Jugno's again but it's worth a try. 

Parol in the City

Christmas is just around the corner so I decided to hang our parol in the terrace to feel the holiday spirit. Our lantern is quite an eye catcher at night but some of the lights will not turn on anymore.


There is no greater symbol of the Filipino Christmas spirit than a parol. I thought the history of Parol is worth sharing so I decided to copy and paste the information from this website called MyParol.com in my blog.

The History of Parol Christmas Lanterns

Cultural Origins

In the Filipino language, a Christmas lantern is called a parol. There's no greater symbol of the Filipino Christmas spirit than the parol. All through the Christmas season, star-shaped lanterns can be found hanging outside homes and along the streets of cities and small provincial towns, farms, and fishing villages. For Filipinos, making a parol, decorating one and lighting a parol is an expression of shared faith and hope.

The earliest parols were traditionally made from simple materials like bamboo sticks, Japanese rice paper, crepe paper, and a candle or coconut oil-lamp for illumination; although the present day parol can take many different shapes and forms. Around Manila, parols made of Capiz shell or plastic illuminate the city. One of the most spectacular innovations can be found in the city of San Fernando where 20 foot tall parols with kaleidoscopic blinking lights are paraded through the streets on truck beds. Whatever the material or shape, the parol is a recognizable symbol to all Filipinos and represents the star of Bethlehem that guided the Three Wise Men to the manger of the newly-born Jesus Christ.

The word parol (pronounced “pah-roll” with a rolling "r") comes from the Spanish word for lantern, farol. According to World Book's Christmas in the Philippines, the roots of the parol can be found in the Mexican piñata. The piñata came to Spain from Italy in the 1300's, spread to Mexico and finally came to the Philippines when the Spaniards brought Christianity to the islands. The book A Child's Pasko: Christmas in the Philippines explains that the parol was originally used to light the way to church to attend the daily Misas de Aguinaldo, or Gift Masses, which begin on the 16th of December, and ends with the Misa de Gallo, or "Mass of the Rooster" at midnight of Christmas eve. The midnight mass is followed by a usually lavish meal at home, which is always anticipated by the kids. The first Misa de Aguinaldo that is held at dawn on December 16th marks the official start of the Christmas season.

To see the peak of the Festival of Lights in the Philippines, one must travel at night from December 16th up to January 6th. There you will see all kinds of parols.

The parol is a main component in the Filipino celebration of Christmas, which has become a Festival of Lights. The festivities cover the months ending with “BER” which are September, October, November and of course December. Christmas music can be heard sporadically in the beginning of September, and one could feel an increasing sense of the coming of Christmas as more and more Christmas songs are played on the radio, and as more homes, businesses, streets and parks become brightly lit with wonderful colors. The malls and department stores are the first ones to decorate, and showcase their mangers and beautiful parols.

A Christian Tradition

The parol was originally intended as one's offering to glorify the Lord. It was an important part of the devotion to faithfully attend the 9-day Misas de Aguinaldo, to petition for special favors. After coming home from church, instead of stowing the lantern elsewhere in the house, they would proudly hang it outside the window. At night, they would illuminate their parols with candles or coconut-oil lamps to display their art. The villagers would walk around to appreciate the work of others and see who had the nicest design. When new stylistic variations appeared, such as different kinds of tassels, streamers, or crowns around it, others would innovate their own creation, and make plans to display his "better" parol the following year. This friendly competition was encouraged by the church, and the Spanish priests offered incentives for the people to invest time and money to make their parol "the best" as a devotional offering to Jesus. That is why during the Christmas season, some made it a practice to visit various churches that yearly display these new designs and better craftsmanship.

The Spanish priests of old might have walked around the villages at night to appreciate the candlelit parols by the windows of his parishioners, and appreciated the beautiful symbol of the star that led the three wise men to Baby Jesus. Certainly there must have been friendly reminders to promptly blow the candles out before they go to bed.

During the Spanish times, the pale colors of papel de Japon were predominant in the designs.

Source: http://myparol.com/abouttheparol.html

Tech Support Baby

I got so stressed out with my niece's netbook last week when my dad bought a SmartBro prepaid kit in SM Baguio but she couldn't get Internet to work using usb modem that came with it. My niece was told to have the system reformatted for some reason. 

I bought buying an HP external dvd writer from Cyberzone located in SM Megamall so I can reformat my niece's netbook.  I got really OC trying to fix her computer I couldn't sleep until I fix the problem. I didn't want my dad to worry, there's no other way for my niece to have Internet access to do her homework in Baguio without prepaid Internet at least. 

Having no Internet these days would be such a pain. 

Typhoon Frank

Typhoon Frank brought major damage when it hit the country last Saturday.  


It took me an hour to get a ride home after my shift good thing a friend of mine stayed with me until a jeepney came to my rescue. I'm still lucky that the flood has already subsided it usually goes up to 2 feet in our area when it rains. There's still a power outage due to strong winds when I got home so I can't cook my food my I decided to eat out instead. Thank God the weather is okay now, the sun's out. 


A flood visited our house here Antipolo during the height of the storm last week so I decided to check if anything got damaged or something buts so far everything looks okay. We don't have Internet access in Shaw, good thing we still have it here so I'm able to can check my email. Mom swing by earlier and had my cousin cook food for lunch so I'm still kinda stuffed. My mom's the sweetest, she just doesn't know that she is hehe. My parents are going back to Baguio later today and I'm not sure when they will be back again. 

Good to Go

I bought my niece an Asus netbook last week so she can use it for school. It came with a Linux operating system but a friend of mine did me a favor and installed Windows XP. I find it complicated to install programs on a Linux system for some reason, to be honest. 


I had the unit replaced because the OS got corrupted I'm not sure if installing Windows caused it to crash but it' have it up and running now. It's fully functional so to speak. I'm able to use it to surf the Internet, I added some programs that she can use too. 


I'm just counting the days and I'll be moving on with my life in another company. I just can't wait any longer because I can't keep up with the high volume of calls coming in every day, it's way too much. The thought of working 11 hours every day is driving me insane. 

Way to Go David Cook

I had an appointment with the dentist earlier to finish the light cure treatment for the rest of my teeth, It still hurts a bit. I'm very patient when going to the dentist even if it's a pain to keep my mouth wide open for about an hour. 

I was watching American Idol this morning in Star World I didn't know that the show is live I think I missed half of it already but it will be aired again tonight so I'll make sure to watch it again even if I already knew that David Cook won. I thought David Archuleta's performance last night was better than David Cook but I've always wanted David Cook. to win and I'm glad that he did. 

My sister said few weeks ago that David Archuleta will win AI. I even want to make a bet for P500 that David Cook's gonna nail it but she refused maybe she have doubts hehe. 

I fell in love with David Archuleta's version of Ryan Gilmore's "In this Moment." David Cook's acoustic version of "The World I know" by the alternative rock band Collective Soul almost had the audience in tears, it was rather emotional. As expected, David Cook won by a landslide of 56% votes over 44% of Archuleta. 

The rest of the final 12 finalists had their share of the stage as well, the all sung George Michael's "Freedom." Jason Castro's really cute in his coat and tie. I thought I saw Paula Abdul cried over George Michael's song I'm not sure if it's tears of joy or sadness or just mixed emotions because Season 7 is over? Simon Cowell owe David Cook an apology for his comment last night that he should've sung "Billie Jean" or "Hello" instead of a new song during the third round because I think David Cook can sing whatever he wants. The "Singer's Choice" round is about personal choice after all. Simon apologized for being disrespectful to him to clear the air. David Cook applauded for David Archuleta, he's such a good sport and it's very sweet of David Cook to do that for him. David cried after he learned that he's the new American Idol.

Well done.

Nature's Wrath

Here comes the rain again. There was a blackout in our area last Friday I had no choice but to do my makeup by the candlelight, it was rather difficult. The power came back just before I left for work (oh great) at least I was able to check if my face look okay. 

I hate it when the weather is being like this, it gets too hot and when it rains, it rains a lot. This whole climate change is getting worst. Poor mother earth, she's been abused too much already I hope it's never too late to save her. 

Few days ago, a cyclone hit Myanmar. I learned about it from a friend when she sent me pictures of the said tragedy via email. It was devastating to see corpses everywhere I can't get it out of my head. Many of the victims are children. According to the news, roughly 133,000 people has been reported dead or missing. 

On Monday the 12th, a huge earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.8 hit Wenchuan, China. Officials estimated death toll went up to over 50,0000. More than 80% of the structures near the quake's epicenter collapsed that trapped a lot including possible survivors. It's scary to think that we can't do anything with nature's wrath but we can help in our little way by giving donations and praying for them. 

Bye Now Jason

Jason Castro got eliminated from American Idol but it's no surprise to me after his performance last night. If bob Marley is still alive I'm sure he will not be amused with Jason's cover of his song "I Shot the Sheriff." I totally agree with Simon and Randy that there's nothing special about it. I was hoping that he will be able to redeem himself on his second song but he fumbled on the lyrics of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" it was quite a disaster to be honest. Jason's cute and charming but vocally he's not as astounding as the two Davids. 

I thought Syesha will go home and Jason will stay since she's always in the bottom 2 or 3 but she did good last night that. Jason have gone this far for sure there's a bright future ahead of him. Poor Jason he must be really tired of the whole competition already that's why he looked so relieved and ready to go home. 

So who will be the next American Idol? For sure it'll be one of the Davids but we'll see. 

Sagada Getaway

Manila to Baguio

Baguio can't wait. We left Manila at 12:30AM via Victory Liner bus. A 7-hour trip was a pain in the butt. Watching movies and listening to music kept us company. We had a few stop-overs. We arrived past 6PM. Finally. 

Sagada here we come

Our elder brother drove us to town to accompany our sister to school for her law review class at the University of the Cordilleras. From there we rode an fx to Dangwa, Sagada's bus terminal to catch an early trip, unfortunately, it's almost full so we decided to wait for the next trip at 9:30 AM. Lizardo bus left on the dot. My sister brought the travel guide she printed out from the Internet which helped us a lot find a place to stay in Sagada. We had a great view of Benguet mountains on our way to Sagada especially when we're going up the in the boonies. we also sawrice and vegatable terraces. It was a long and winding road it gets scary as we're getting close. There are rough and narrow roads and believe me, I'm not really afraid of heights but when I saw we're literally on top of the mountains, I got nervous I thought it's the end of me so I prayed really hard that we make it to Sagada safely. Thank God we got there safely and found a nice place to stay.

Sagada Guest House

We arrived in Sagada past 4 in the afternoon. We're kinda hesitant at first to stay at the Sagada Guest House because we originally wanted to stay at the Log Cabin but we got tired from the trip we didn't wanna go any further so we chose to stay at Sagada Guest House.

Sagada Guest House is not so inviting from the outside. The building looks new but it needs some fixing. When the caretaker showed us the only vacant room available we had second thoughts. The rate was rather expensive for my sister and I along with our parents so we haggled. It was a big room with 1 king size bed and 3 singles. There's cable TV so you need not worry about getting bored during your stay however when it rains in the afternoon the cable signal gets interrupted. The kitchen is spacious it comes with kitchenware and a stove for cooking. By the way, I didn't realize that there are no ATM machines in Sagada and establishments don't accept credit cards good thing we have cash handy.

Yoghurt House

After an hour of rest, we had dinner at Yoghurt House which is known for their yummy yogurt. We ordered clubhouse sandwich, chop suey and yogurt of course. There are lots of yogurt toppings to choose from but I prefer yogurt with strawberry preserves. Other toppings available are banana, granola, strawberry, etc. Their yogurt is made of thick cream that tastes almost like cream cheese if not for its sweetness. Yogurt is a healthy alternative to ice cream and definitely good for digestion. My sister took pictures of the food and the place. It's really cozy and homey. I think it's a house converted into a little restaurant. I love the beautifully decorated ceiling, colorful lamps and old pictures of locals hanging on the wall. It was a really cool place.

Thanksgiving at Church of SMV





It's our 28th birthday. We heard mass as at the church of St. Mary the Virgin. The place is very peaceful you can hear birds chirping. Some cows are just roaming freely outside the church. It also not crowded unlike in Baguio cathedral. We attended the mass spoken in Ilocano I thought we might have missed the English mass or we're just too early. Locals sing in A capella it makes the mass even more solemn. The locals are friendly, they smile while saying "peace be with you." We also took pictures outside while breathing some fresh air.


Birthay Breakfast at Masferre

I really love taking pictures and looking at old photographs. What I first noticed at Masferre are the framed pictures of Igorot people on hanging on the walls. Picture taking is not allowed as posted on the wall so we discreetly took pictures of ourselves and the place good things they're too busy preparing our food. We're given ripe mangoes as an appetizer and ordered "country farm meal" made of wheat bread, butter, bacon, egg, tomato, lettuce, and cucumber. The serving was huge and the food was yummy.


Echo Valley's Hanging Coffins and Lumiang / Burial Cave

If you're a first timer in Sagada, you're required to register as a tourist at the municipal hall for a guided tour. We paid Php40.00 as initial payment and was later accompanied by a tourist guide to our first destination which is Echo Valley. We had a very little view of the hanging coffins. The reason behind why it was called Echo Valley as explained by our tour guide is because if you scream, your voice will echo in the air. I was like, uhm okay because I thought there's a more profound reason but hey no big deal. Our next stop is at the Burial Cave where we come face to face with century old coffins. The walkway down the hill was quite difficult. It's very steep and slippery so we're extremely cautious and a bit nervous. When we saw the entrance of the cave I realized that it was all worth it. We stayed for a few minutes and took pictures of the ancient wooden coffins. The tedious part was going up especially if you're short legged like me. Each step was agonizing, I nearly hyperventilated we forgot to bring water. We had to stop every few steps thank goodness we were able to reach the top. We couldn't manage to walk back to the municipal hall anymore, our knees were shaking so we asked for a ride home from our tour guide. We paid a total of Php650.00 for the guided tour. Whoa.

Birthday Surprise

Our birthday isn't over yet. My twin and I got really tired from the tour so we decided to stay at the guest house room while our parents went out to buy food. They brought us pancit and ice cream from Masferre for lunch. I love Masferre's pancit, it was very tasty. When it's time for dessert I was surprised when I opened the ice cream container and found out that it's nothing like Brazo de Mercedes at all but iced water. We laughed our hearts out but we can't have iced water for dessert so mom hurried back to Masferre to have the ice cream replaced with the real thing.


Farewell Sagada

It's still dark when we left Sagada Guest House. I got a little scared being followed by a group of dogs I thought they want to bite me. I can't help but get paranoid sine I was bitten by our own dog once when I was a kid. I realized that these dogs aren't as bad as I thought them to be, maybe they just want to say goodbye and thank us for coming to their peaceful town. The bus left at 5 in the morning. When the sun is up I again saw the breathtaking view of the mountains. I'm not sure if I will come back again in Sagada but I hope so.

Mission Accomplished

I can't wait to buy a Shemagh scarf (a.k.a. shmag, keffiyea, ghutra, yashmag, Arabian scarf, balabal for Pinoys, etc.) so I went to Quiapo church and scoured every corner but couldn't find one. I hope I have it already before my trip to Sagada because I plan to use it when I travel and I really like it a lot. I almost gave up I thought maybe I'll just buy pirated DVDs just to bring something home. 


I decided to go inside Quiapo church and ask help from the Black Nazarene to find the shemagh scarf I'm looking for. Believe it or not, my prayer was answered immediately because as soon as I went out of the church the lady in the corner of Carriedo Street approached me and asked what I was looking for so I told her that I 'm looking for a scarf. She asked one of her colleagues to accompany me to the stall that sells lots of colorful shemaghs. I had a hard time choosing the best one if only I can have them all. Prices vary according to the quality of the fabric. The thicker ones are more expensive so I picked the cheapest ones around Php180 and haggled for 150 but the sales lady closed the deal at 170. I did not complain anymore but was surprised that the change for my 1k is P420 which means that since I bought 4 shemaghs they gave it to me for P145 each, yay! I'm not really good in haggling but I guess the trick is to buy more so you pay less. Mission accomplished.


I head over to Victory Liner Bus terminal in Edsa to reserve Deluxe tickets for our trip to Baguio on Friday so the travel time will be shorter unfortunately, the Deluxe bus is already full, the only available time is for the 11:30PM trip so I thought I'll just reserve for the non-deluxe bus and just endure the 7 hour trip. 

American Idol

What's up with me? I'm addicted to American Idol for some reason. 


I didn't care about the show before until I heard that a Filipina made it to the top 12. Aside from Ramielle Malubay, I find Jason Castro quite interesting with his dreadlocks and all, he's kinda cute for me.  After Rockstar INXS or Supernova here I am watching future pop stars hehe. I'm glad that the show is now more open to format rock because music is for everyone right? 


 Last night's featured artist was Mariah Carey. David Cook rocked "You Will Always Be My Baby" and I agreed with Paula Abdul when she said that his version sounded like a movie soundtrack. another David, David Archuleta's vocal range is amazing as always while Jason Castro is adorable no question about it. The worst performer of the night was Brooke I'm not sure what is she still doing in AI, I hope she'll be gone soon. She's a pretty face but it's a talent competition. I'm hoping that all 3 guys make it to top 3 since one of the ladies impressed me so far.

Way to Go Jason

Jason Castro's version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was pretty good last night. He played a "ukulele" this time. Wiki says that this stringed instrument is commonly associated with music from Hawaii, where the name roughly translates as "jumping flea". It was developed there in the 1880s, based on several small guitar-like instruments introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese sailors. 

The song is just perfect for him and i'm glad he played using a ukelele for a change. I'm rooting for him to win AI hopefully  he'll get even better in the coming weeks. 

Ramielle's Last

It's sad to know that Ramielle Malubay got eliminated too soon from American Idol. Most people were surprised to see her go but after watching her performance last night, I'm convinced that it was not her best. 


Ramielle is undeniably talented and cute being the shortest and one of the prettiest among the ladies but I'm afraid that her Dolly Parson song choice  "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" didn't suit her voice and character. She gave her all. All of them will have to face the same ordeal of getting eliminated anyway it's just too bad that her time came sooner. To Ramielle fans out there, it's time to move on. She may not be the next American Idol but in the future, she can be more than that. 


Btw, I didn't know about her controversial photos until I saw it today from this blog:
http://www.jpsimbulan.com/2008/03/07/american-idol-2008-scandal-and-ramielle-malubay/. 


I thought it was something scandalous but it's nothing like that, really. Looks like just some girl and her friends showing off their boobies. They're not naked or anything. It's even a surprise to me since she grew up in the U.S. Give this girl a break she's only human, she's not born to be a saint. 

Ramielle Malubay and Jason Castro

Oh well, I still have a reason to watch the show. This time I'll be rooting for Jason Castro hopefully he'll make it at least to the top 3. He's kinda cute, I love his hippie style and singing of course. Jason's voice is not exceptional, to be honest, but really soothing. He surely knows how to rock hard on the drums I've seen the video of his band "Charlemagne" in Youtube he's a totally different person when he plays the drums it's kinda like what we see on American Idol is just the sweet side of him. 

Manila Ocean Park Experience

My sister and I treat our family for some fish watching yesterday at the Manila Ocean Park. I honestly thought that the experience wasn't that great. I guess I'm expecting too much of the place or something.

We arrived past noon and bought tickets immediately. It took us 15-20 minutes just to buy tickets which is just acceptable since we arrived not to early anyway getting inside was quite painful, it was rather disorganized. Everyone's starting to get pissed off thank heavens their marshals were able to straighten things up. We're in the verge of giving up and think about just letting it go, we're getting tired and hungry since we never had lunch yet. After almost an hour we're finally inside the Oceanarium and somehow felt relaxed after seeing different kinds of beautiful fishes. The view of Manila bay was breathtaking. Here's a footage I took inside the oceanarium.

Fix Ya

It's my day off. The only thing that I love about this four by eleven shift is the three days off, nothing else. I've not much to do, good thing my sister told me that there is something wrong with the Photo Viewer on our computer called Nero Photosnap. The problem is we can't view photos so I did a little research until I found a very useful link from one of the forums that I read. I re-configured some plug-ins that made it work. However, I also noticed that the ad plug-ins that used to appear on the right pane of Yahoo Mail is not showing anymore it says "page cannot be displayed" so I tried the "restore advanced settings" fix and it worked right immediately so everything is back to normal. I guess I'm learning a lot in tech support. 

Let me just share about the movie I watched recently entitled Persepolis. This is a monochrome animation based on a novel written by the director herself Marjane Satrapi who also happens to be the main character in the story. The movie is about the coming of age of a young girl during the war in Iran and the country's struggle for freedom. It's quite a bore at first but if you pay close attention to its English subtitles (it's dubbed in French) it tackles sensitive issues that concern women and freedom of expression. Marjane's character amused me because she is the rebellious type of girl who made a mistake at some point in her life but managed to pull herself together. to sum it up Persepolis is a story of struggle in war, love, and life in general. It's a pretty good movie for me.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Sunday! Our country is predominantly Catholic that's why it's really crowded in church on this day. Holy week is over I bet vacation is over too for people who work normal jobs. The priest mentioned in his homily earlier that Filipinos aren't taking this Lenten season seriously anymore. Instead of fasting or sacrificing a little, most of us take this opportunity to go to the beach and get some tan instead of taking time to pray and reflect. 


I must admit I'm not a devout Catholic. I don't go to church every Sunday, and my last confession was God knows how long time ago. I also haven't received the bread of Christ for many years but I don't just remember HIM during holy week. I just assume that God is understanding enough because I have my reasons. 


Twin sissy and I are here in Antipolo to do some cleaning. Our eldest sister and kids are moving to Baguio which means that we're left to take of our family home. We checked up on our old desktop and uninstalled unimportant files so it's somehow faster now. This baby is about 3-4 years old good thing it's still up and running. We're going back to Shaw tomorrow morning since we both have shifts already. My sister is fast asleep right now maybe she got tired of moving furnitures and she also went out to buy a new mouse for our pc she broke the old one. I don't feel like sleeping yet. I'll watch the movie "Music and Lyrics" on HBO later. 

Happy Graduation

I was in PICC yesterday to attend my sister's graduation. I was with my twin sister and niece. We waited three boring hours at the Main Entrance of the Secretariat building. We're told, however, that only two people are allowed to come inside. 


Digital cameras are not permitted and mobile phones are supposed to be turned off inside the building just to find out that none of the house rules were strictly followed. We're all hungry and thirsty we scoured the vicinity just to look for any food stall or convenience store but didn't find one so we just waited patiently until the event is over. 


We had dinner at Max's Restaurant, it was dad's treat. I thought, if the graduation ceremony took longer I would've collapsed already or something. The traffic going home was a pain in the neck but I'm happy to see Luneta Park and Manila Bay again after a very long time. 

Cheers

Graduation month is up again I'll be busy by the end of the week to attend my niece's Gradeschool Graduation on Friday and my sister's Law School grad in PICC on Saturday. I wasn't able to file a PTO (paid time off) for my niece's graduation my sister and I didn't know that we need to do her hair and make-up she doesn't want other people to do her makeup, I think she's a little anti-social or something hehe. 

Our eldest sister gave birth to a baby girl yesterday. My teenage niece who's graduating, was born on February 11, 1996 and her baby sister was born yesterday, the 11th of March. What a coincidence I thought, they were both born on the 11th of following months. 

My parents paid a visit earlier. I asked my mom to hand over my niece's graduation present since I couldn't make it hopefully she likes it. 

Looks like this month calls for a a triple celebration. Cheers!

Cashless

I finally got my visa card so I went shopping yesterday. My card got approved October last year but my friend got hers sooner so I became quite worried. 


The credit card company delivered my card to our other house and I only go there once in a while so it was returned to their office twice because there's no one to receive it that's when I decided to follow up to check what was going on. I decided to update the address to my apartment. My bad, If I only called I would've found out what's causing the delay and I would've gotten my card a long time ago, maybe sometime in November. But of course, I'm really excited to use it. The card will expire in 2010 so as much as I'd like to spend, I don't want to be left with nothing but huge bills to pay I'd rather use it wisely. The reason why I applied for a credit card is to use it primarily for an emergency like if I ran out of cash and not just merely for shopping. I'm good to go with one credit card, to be honest. I don't think I can keep up paying for annual fees it's only waived on the first year unless I got pre-approved. 

Time for Spaghetti

I bought some ukay ukay clothes yesterday I spent Php845 on all 3 blouses, a cool messenger bag with Egyptian prints and a backpack each cost from Php P100-350. Even if you have a lot to spend I think it's still practical to buy ukay ukay just make sure that you know how to pick stuff that is still in good condition or just need minor repair. If you're just shopping without checking, you might end up with trashy stuff. Fyi, some look good on the outside but tattered on the inside. Other clothes have stains that can't be removed anymore. 


I went to SM Megamall later to buy stuff. My sister and I met up and decided to have a dinner date at the Spaghetti Factory. I ordered "birdie and spaghetti pesto" which is not so tasty and not filling either. We bought a closet from Home Depot which will be delivered on Tuesday they told us they are fully booked we had no choice but to wait. Our last stop is the supermarket. 

Heart, Heart

Valentine Trivia

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'Valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his Jailor's daughter -- she visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

HISTORY OF CUPID and VALENTINE's DAY

Many wonder where did Cupid come from and why is he associated with Valentine's Day. Cupid has long played a role in the celebrations of love and lovers. He is known as a mischievous, winged child, whose arrows who would pierce the hearts of his victims causing them to fall deeply in love. In ancient Greece, he was known as Eros the young son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. To the Roman's he was Cupid, and his mother Venus. One legend tells the story of Cupid and the mortal maiden, Psyche. Venus was jealous of the beauty of Psyche and ordered Cupid to punish the mortal. But instead, Cupid fell deeply in love with her. He took her as his wife, but as a mortal, she was forbidden to look at him. Psyche was happy until her sisters convinced her to look at Cupid. Cupid punished her by departing. Their lovely castle and gardens vanished with him and Psyche found herself alone in an open field. As she wandered to find her love, she came upon the temple of Venus. Wishing to destroy her, the goddess of love gave Psyche a series of tasks, each harder and dangerous than the last. For her last task Psyche was given a little box and told to take it to the underworld. She was told to get some of the beauty of Proserpine, the wife of Pluto, and put it in the box. During her trip, she was given tips on avoiding the dangers of the realm of the dead. And also warned not to open the box. The temptation would overcome Psyche and she opened the box. But instead of finding beauty, she found deadly slumber. Cupid found her lifeless on the ground. He gathered the sleep from her body and put it back in the box. Cupid forgave her, as did Venus. The gods, moved by Psyche's love for Cupid made her a goddess.

HBD

I'm back from my two days off. Today's my niece's birthday I almost forgot because my dad gave her an early birthday treat last Saturday so I lost train of thought that today's her real birthday. 

We celebrated our niece's 12th birthday and had lunch at Barrio Fiesta. We accompanied her later to Odyssey to grab a copy of "My Chemical Romance" cd she said she doesn't want anything else, for some reason, I don't know why kids nowadays are very much into this "emo" stuff. We went ahead of everyone because twin sissy and I are both sleep and tired. 


Yesterday I bought my younger niece a Lilo Stitch stuffed toy from an ukay ukay store just a few blocks away from our house. I got myself a tote bag for my work headset whilst twin sissy got herself a pair of vintage shoes. We had a good night sleep. We kinda miss staying at our house in Antipolo it's been a long time since we spent the weekend with our family. We're back in Mandaluyong and back to work tonight as usual.

Mad About Dolls

I was checking out my Deviantart account when these Ball Jointed Dolls (BJDs) caught my attention. These dolls look so real it's like they have a soul. If I own pretty dolls like that I'll display it in a museum for everyone to see. They look expensive I bet they're hard to make so owning one costs a fortune. I guess my new addiction is looking at these dolls, my favorite doll maker in Deviantart is Oki-Oki but his friends have real nice dolls too so better check 'em out. I'll have one of these dolls someday. 

DIY Mobile Theme Maker

I used to download themes for my Nokia phone, but now I'm getting hooked on creating my own.


It was relatively easy since everything is provided for. What I do is just to look for a nice wallpaper, upload it, and see what interface will match my wallpaper. 


Since I can make my own mobile themes now I think I can make money out of it but I only grab wallpaper pictures from the Internet so I don't think it's fair to do that without giving credit to whoever owns it. My next project is creating blog skins hopefully I'll find real cool "do it yourself" or DIY templates that I can also share with others. 


You can download my DIY mobile themes at mobile9.com and see if you like it. 

A Nameless Soul

I was checking out GMA News Online when Howie Severino, a GMA News anchor's blog entitled "Death of A Cycling Companion" caught my attention. His blog talked about his bike ride conversation with activist/ex political detainee Ronald Sendrijas who's an heir of Francisco Dagohoy, the known hero from the province of Bohol. 

Howie recounts that when he met Ronald he had been released recently after spending time in prison for over two years for his rebel activities. Ronald was campaigning for a relative who was running for local office in his home town Inabanga, Bohol. He expressed his sentiments over activists nowadays that are just getting killed and put to jail unlike in the past they are honored with monuments. 

Howie wrote that Ronald was killed on his 35th birthday by an unidentified gunman on a motorcycle, another extrajudicial killing of activists. He was allegedly killed by an NPA.

After reading this, I asked myself what's happening to our country? There is indeed, a civil war that won't end.

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

R18, 1Hr45min
Musical, Thriller
Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Alan Rickman


Review By Shelley McDonald

There were a lot of things to be brought together in Tim Burton's adaptation of Sweeney Todd, not least of all his distinctive directorial mark. Based on the Stephen Sondheim musical about a young 18th-century barber, taken from his wife and child, by a corrupt judge, and sent to Australia for a crime he didn't commit.

With Burton at the helm, it's no surprise then that this is a gothic fantasy, set in a suitably grimy 18th century London.

Johnny Depp stars as Sweeney Todd the barber who returns after fifteen years to get revenge. Depp is singing for the first time and manages to find his voice and embody it with all the bitterness and bile that the character requires. Todd's accomplice is Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) also singing for the first time and though her voice is not strong, it seems fitting for a lonely widow, with a fetid pie shop and a tentative grip on reality. As Todd's old landlady, she has kept his beloved barber's blades. Todd's new business is murder, and it isn't long before he decides that anyone who comes to his chair deserves to have their throat cut. Mrs. Lovett sees it as a way to boost her flagging business. After all, times are tough and meat is expensive.


Running alongside the plot for revenge is a story of forbidden love between Todd's teenage daughter, in the care of the judge who wronged Todd, and a young man who knows the barber from the journey back to London and appeals to what is left of his good nature. Alan Rickman is superbly despicable as the self-serving judge aided by a perversely creepy Timothy Spall. Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen makes an enjoyable comedic cameo as an Italian barber, using a young boy to sell his miracle elixir. The boy adds yet another dimension to the plot and is an uneasy innocent in the care of murderous duo.

Much has been said. If you're into macabre and horror stuff I'm sure you'll love this movie. There are scenes that are a quite gross good thing it's a musical because without the singing it was a "bloody hell" experience. I love the gloomy filter and ghoulish make-up especially Mrs. Lovett's Victorian dresses. Sweeney Todd is a good one but if your not a goth musical fan and don't appreciate gross stuff, then this movie isn't for you. Definitely not for the faint-hearted. 

Chaikofi (Part II):

It's my sister's birthday today. I'm still on leave because we are supposedly going out to celebrate her special day but she attended her friend's wedding so twin sissy and I went out amongst ourselves and watched a movie. I guess I haven't had enough of pasta so after watching Sweeney Todd we head over to Chaikofi and had some of their Bavette Al Pomodoro. I also chill with one of their bestsellers Zonteas called Son of a Dutch. My sister craved for dessert we also had some cake I indulged on their newbie Oreo Cheesecake it tastes so good, it's sweet and light filling compared to the Chocolate Dome my sister ordered which is too chocolatey and sticky. I'm still on diet, am I?