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a blogger’s life

May 5, 2008 – 6:47 am

i read somewhere that in blogosphere “publish or perish” is also pretty much the adage.  so when i created this blogsite i promised myself to have a post everyday or at least every other day.  well, i’m not very good at keeping promises to myself, am i?   one week and i already broke it!  for good reasons though…

a) to do further fixes on my site - because although this is powered by wordpress, i’m hosting it under my own domain and not wordpress’. this means i have to manually install plugins and widgets that normally come nicely packaged with the wordpress-hosted ones.  i’m still looking for a plugin for my blog stats :(

b) to move my old blogs from Friendster to this site so the rest of the world can read it.  i wish!  as at today, i’m still at it.  you can find them here after my post ‘Birth Pains’

c) i do have a life other than blogging, you know

         Friday - dinner at Yum Thai Restaurant at Dickson with hubby, Jim, Michelle, Tiff, Bernadette, Ana and Candice.   tea and movies at Jim & Michelle’s until late.

         Saturday - cleaned house.  lunch at Happy’s Chinese Restaurant at Civic with hubby, Jim, Michelle, Bernadette, Ana, minus Tiff and Candice.  dinner, tea and movie marathon at Jim & Michelle’s until dawn.

         Sunday -  shopped for grocery and winter clothes.  lunch at Thai Spice Restaurant at Woden with hubby only.  watched Iron Man at Hoyts, Woden. slept early.

i’ll do another blog today. cross fingers i’ll keep it.

pets | personal | Comments (0)

juicy talk

May 3, 2008 – 5:29 am

a wad of skin care products now claim to have vitamins or anti-oxidants in them to give your skin that glow, that radiance, etcetera… whatevaah.

it’s better to have those nutrients IN your skin than ON it!   To me, a yummier way is to drink orange juice.  It’s a good source of Vit C, potassium, folate, thiamine, B6 and other nutrients.  It’s also easier to drink a glass or two than chomp through 2-4 oranges a day.

but wait! before you grab that bottle of OJ …READ MORE… »

pets | beauty, food, health | Comments (0)

foreign trade

April 30, 2008 – 9:49 am

my husband can be so mega-impulsive sometimes.  i said out loud a wishful thought,  “hey, wouldn’t it be nice if we could see niagara falls…” and he ended up adding a one-day Canada leg to our already squashed US tour timetable.  it cut short his stay with me in New York to less than a day.  i was already in NYC at that time but will meet up with him in LA, then we tour California, fly to Cancun, Mexico and head back to Washington DC and then to NYC.

Feeling like a nyc veteran, i was so looking forward to zipping him around the big apple.  i put on hold two things -Liberty Island to climb the Statue of Liberty, and the Lion King on Broadway - as i wanted him to go with me.  they didn’t happen.  was I extremely, terribly disappointed? 

…well, with the junior presidential suite he booked for us at the Marriott Niagara Fallsview and Spa - with its own two-person whirlpool bath and large lounge area overlooking the falls - plus dinner, factory-outlet shopping and shows…?

Marriott  Marriott Niagara Fallsview and Spa

…and the utterly amazing, extremely gorgeous, extraordinarily too beautiful-for-words Niagara Falls…?

   me-in-niagara.JPG     falls.jpg 

                                                                                   the famous Horseshoe

 

no way! there was no way i could forever sulk.  was i disappointed trading Liberty and Broadway for this?  are you kidding me!!

 

pets | travel | Comments (1)

birth pains

April 29, 2008 – 10:20 am

setting up a website was not difficult…dammit, it was excruciating!  as i did each step in the most scholarly method of trial and error, i exhausted my limited vocabulary of swear words.   :x

y’see, one of the main reasons for the agony was, things i wanted  simply did not match my skill level.  Yup, I’m a control freak.  i wanted to have my own domain, my own dot.com to host my own webpage.  my skill level?  zilch.   8-O

to make a long story short, after tons and tons of reading, swearing, hair pulling, back pain, eye strain…here it is! my work-in-progress - Yebaah!  love it or hate it, i don’t care.  i am soo bloody pleased with myself right now!  :D


p.s.   i manage IT projects inc web stuff. i’m NOT a techie person. there’s a ginormous difference between the two fields.

pets | personal, tech talk | Comments (0)

scared witless

April 29, 2008 – 2:08 am

travel diary:  feb 04 - Narita, Japan

I just got off a very, very turbulent, hair-raising flight on my way to New York via Narita, Japan.  Somewhere over Japan sea (as our flight path on our tv screens showed), there was so much turbulence that our plane swayed left and right, creaked and rattled, and then suddenly dipped for like an eternity as everyone, including moi, shrieked!

The plane was still swaying and rattling as I looked around half expecting to see oxygen masks hanging off the ceiling…hmmm, there were none… and that meant no change to cabin pressure.  We’re pretty alright, I guessed; though it was a bit scary watching the cabin crew hastily got everyone to buckle up, tow food trays, and seats in an upright position.  I saw a few grabbed those puke bags but I was mightily glad none ended up using it.  The cabin would have reeked otherwise and that, not the turbulence, would have sent my guts and its contents flying all over.

I didn’t think the incident lasted for more than a minute or maybe it did, but by the multitude of thoughts that managed to race through my mind, it surely felt like forever. I developed multiple personalities in a matter of seconds.
Smiley_panic_3
The first One thought, Is this it? Are we gonna crash? Are we gonna die…? Oh my God, we’re gonna die. We are going to DIEEEE !!!!! :$

Smiley_rational_1 I slapped some sense into her and the rational me started remembering the safety drill, Life jacket…mark nearest exit NOW…not suppose to bring anything, but what the hell, pocket your passport and you will need your Visa!

Another part of me closed my eyes and started pleading my case with God, like a lawyer to a judge or jury (this is how I usually praSmiley_angely, by the way).  Lord God, please, please, please help us…Please save this plane!  You need to save these people! They have families and children to go home to. Please don’t make their children orphans…and huh? …why save me? I couldn’t think of any reason why I should be saved other than… coz I’d like to see my mom in New York?

Panicky Me shrieked again – this time, loudly - as the plane dipped again.  Mind you, almost everyone screamed. She hit me on the head (or was it caused by turbulence) and silently screamed, couldn’t you think of a more noble REAAASON!??!! 

As the plane shook and rattled, I looked around and saw a child, two years old or so.  She looked scared, more so from the screams she heard than anything else.  Looking at her and those wide and confused hazel blue eyes, I remembered my conversation with God.  Then from somewhere, a quite Me just calmly thought; God, your will be done. But if you must take a life… if you must, take mine instead.

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seeing red

April 24, 2008 – 3:08 pm

Comforted by the knowledge that Canberra is a well-organised, peace-loving city (sometimes touted as boring), I headed to Commonwealth Park this morning to watch the Olympic torch relay. I was greeted by loud shouts of ‘One-China, one-China!’ and a sea of red Chinese flags being waved at the protesters who were also chanting ‘Free Tibet, free Tibet!’

One only has to watch the news on the violence and protests that surround the Olympic torch relay to know that my fears of getting caught in the middle of a riot was well-founded. I’m against the human rights violations in Tibet but I’m also against angry and violent protests.  I’m all for freedom of expression in the most peaceful way.  :D  Violence and anger against other human beings promote the very things we abhor.

My family went to Beijing for a holiday last November and found the Chinese people to be generally peace-loving and friendly (those who realised that we speak no Chinese went out of their way to help us), which convinced me that Tibet is a Chinese government agenda and the suffering of the Tibetans is not something the Chinese people want.

I don’t see any problem using the Olympics as an avenue to protest against the atrocities in Tibet as long as it does not prevent others from also enjoying and sharing the Olympic spirit.   True to its form, Canberra did just that. Pretty sure there were plenty of sore throats and hoarse voices in the end…

pro-Chinese red flags…Dsc04330a_1

Dsc04388a protesters chant ‘Free Tibet, free Tibet’…

pets | politics | Comments (0)

my first time

April 23, 2008 – 4:38 pm

Feb 02, 2008

I watched my first show yesterday in Manhattan’s Radio City Music Hall on 6th Avenue - the Chinese New Year Splendor featuring the Divine Performing Arts and Renaissance Performing Arts.Radio_city_4

The show features Chinese classical dance and music (in tenor, soprano and contra-alto) conveying the country’s 5,000-year rich heritage and culture. It definitely was a different experience listening to the tenors in a different language other than English or Italian. Imagine Pavarotti singing in Chinese…hmmm.

Traditional Chinese instruments were also added to the classical western orchestra which brought in that distinctive eastern sound element. The message of the show was about peace, love and compassion.  The show also carried a political message regarding China’s human rights violation against Falun Gong and its practitioners - this surprised me as these were never mentioned in any of the show’s ads.

Altogether, the show’s something a classical enthusiast would appreciate - very colorful, elegant and unique. But because I imagined for a while that my exuberant personality would appreciate the classical genre, I felt like I wasted $88 ($176 to include my mom’s ticket) for a centre stage seat at the second mezzanine. Either the show’s too sedate for me or I was still in an extended state of jetlag that I dozed off…

But if you love classical, tickets sell for US$58-$150 and if you missed the New York shows, they are touring worldwide. Here’s the link http://shows.ntdtv.com/. 

This is where my mom and I crashed for our dinner after. Bubba_1

the unique table setting…the ‘run forrest run (or stop)’ signs tell the waiters whether you need them or not. Bubba_table

the ‘accidental fish & shrimp’ - grilled fish fillet and shrimp sauteed in butter, onion, tomato and parsley on a bed of jasmine rice and a final dash of lemon. YUMMEEHY!Accidental_fish

mama and bubba’s western & distressed-style interiorBubba_interior_1

  

a view of time square from bubba’s window

View_of_time_square

pets | food, travel | Comments (0)

Hello,hello moto? Part 2

April 22, 2008 – 4:26 am

Someone once proudly told me that the Philippines is the text capital of the world…  Huh? Oh well, ok, at least we’re a capital of the world for something…

True, text messaging is the cheaper alternative to voice calls and those who want to save use it more often than voice calls.  I can understand that.  What I hate is the addiction to text messaging to the point of dangerously risking one’s and others’ lives and limbs while driving on the expressway, reading and punching messages while having a conversation with someone (this is actually very bastos/rude), text messaging during meetings, sa movies, public toilets, just about everywhere inappropriate and dangerous including airplanes.

Passengers are instructed to turn off their mobile phones for take off and landing and while on board the aircraft, as these may interfere with the aircraft’s navigation system.  These instructions, both in English and Tagalog, are given at gate lounges prior to boarding, while passengers are boarding, during in-flight safety demo and landing prep.  Pero ewan ko ba, some Filipinos ignore this safety instruction and still keep on calling or texting on board the aircraft!  I have noticed these in all Philippine domestic flights and international flights where most passengers are Filipinos.

I used to work in a civil aviation authority and I know that flight instructions are not given lightly.  They’re there for a reason – the safety of the flight and thus, the passengers.  I remember a passenger in one Australian domestic flight I took admitted to checking in a baggage with a mobile phone that was left turned on.  Our flight’s departure got delayed as airport crew had to unload, locate her baggage, retrieve the phone and turn it off.  Maybe for Filipinos, the instructions need to depict a clearer scenario like “…as these may interfere with the aircraft’s navigation system and may cause the pilots to lose their bearing and therefore may cause the aircraft you’re on to:

a.  fly onto another aircraft and CRASH or
b.  fly onto a building or mountain and CRASH or
c.  overshoot the runway, join the south superhighway and CRASH

Hopefully, it will scare everyone shitless and into compliance; and then maybe, just maybe, I won’t hear anymore mobile phones ringing (na sinasagot pa!) mid-flight.

pets | etcetera... | Comments (0)

Hello,hello moto? Part 1

April 21, 2008 – 4:33 am

I don’t think there’s another culture that’s more fixated on mobile phones than Filipinos.  It seems every man and his dog has a mobile phone.  A recent study revealed that even the Filipino poor spend at least P100 per month on their mobile phones.  That’s good.  I believe in equality, everyone has a right to have one.  But I dislike those who use their mobile phones - and all its glorious accessories - as a status symbol, but don’t have money for load (phone credits). Nag-phone ka pa!****

Frankly, I hate text messaging.  My 6-year old niece could text faster.  Most Filipinos hardly use their phones for voice calls, they text.  Calls are expensive, so I just get texted.  And I’m the idiot that racks up on mobile phone bills because my thumbs are too slow to reply, I have to call.  So can some uber-geek out there help me and invent a texter gadget pleeeaaase?
I’m proposing a business venture here – build a texter with the following must have accessories: 

  • Voice recognition software (like the Dragon software for PCs) so the user can simply dictate what he/she wants to text
  • Text decipher function so text-illiterates like me can understand the shortened words and sentences people make like ‘san n u?’
  • Pinoys love to accessorise their phones, so the gadget must also have a large hole for users to hang all the bling blings they want including large stuff toys
  • Wrist band or neck band so users can append the thing to them all the time
  • Touchscreen/TV/FM/GPS/mp4

Optional accessory:   phone

***

Text messaging, on the contrary, is anti-social.  Come to think of it, gone are the days of long conversations over the phone.  I don’t think emoticons are better than the sweet nothings whispered over the phone.

(At pag ako’y asar, no emoticons ang tatalo sa kilay ko!)

****

Never ever leave your phone unattended.  I used to always have a loaded phone until this phenomenon called pasaload came into being…haaay…

***

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Home(?)sick

November 10, 2007 – 4:38 am

I have conjunctivitis and my eyes are red as a rabbit’s, swollen and so damn itchy!  I haven’t been the best since my holiday.  I sneeze all the time; my nose is itchy and runny – onslaught of an allergy. Either Digos has become so polluted or my immune system also went on a holiday L - probably a drawback from having lived in one of the cleanest cities in the world. I’m trying so damn hard to keep my asthma at bay – which is hard coz it’s hot, sticky and dusty.  I want to go home.

But where is home really? When I’m in Australia, I couldn’t wait for my next holiday to Digos.  When I’m in Digos, I miss all things Australian.  I face, I guess, the dilemma of those who migrated to another country at a ripe age – you are never quite fully home in one place.

But it’s more than things material or physical.  Though I now miss some medium-rare steak (which I wouldn’t dream of eating here in the Philippines), lamb chops, salmon or smoked trout from Fyshwick markets.   I also miss the quiet neighbourhood where your privacy is holy.  I miss the sensible and informative tv shows, traffic-less Canberra; and the compassionate, polite Australian psyche.  I miss my friends and my officemates…sigh… I’m itching to get the next flight back to down under but I know that as soon I get there it’ll be more than the buko, binagoongang mangga, panga ng tuna or kinilaw that I’ll miss. It’ll be my friends and family in Digos, of course… and something else.

Strangely, every now and then, one also longs to hear some lively noise (I’m actually amazed at how noise tolerant we are), watch some mindless tv or hear (mind you, not deliver) some tsismis – news, pinoy style.  The usyosera (gossip monger) comes in handy when one is in dire need of a security guard. For reasons of safety, suburbs in Australia are encouraged to form an organization of neighbours keeping an eye on each other.  It’s called Neighbourhood Watch.  In the Philippines, whether you like it or not and for whatever reason, your neighbours will watch you.

two worlds in contrast, two worlds I call home…

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the circus came to town

October 29, 2007 – 4:43 am

Thank God the barangay elections are over!

Having missed the elections for the last ten years, I was gobsmacked at the circus that it became. Hordes of posters and flyers made me think that it was the presidential elections.

For the last two weeks, I woke up to the ear-blasting ‘louie beltran atong botohan, louie beltran3x…sang to the mighty tune of Labamba.  What the?!! I will not vote for a clown who cannot respect my basic human right to have a peaceful sleep! If only I could vote…

It’s also federal election time in Australia so I can’t help but notice the stark contrasts.  You don’t see your street turned to garbage from posters stuck on street lights, building walls and anywhere one could stick something onto.  You get these in the mail together with the candidate’s plan of government and track record, or hear it on the radio or tv.

On election day, you simply vote.  The people and the political parties trust the system and the Australian Electoral Commission.  Ballot boxes are not made of steel with padlocks.  They are made of cardboard boxes.  Ballot box grabbing/rigging and flying voters are unheard of. Your fingers don’t even get inked.  You can mail your vote via the postal system and pre-cast your vote if you are not able to vote during election day.  To take it a step further, there are plans to allow voting electronically. Ten years ago, Pinoy barangay elections were a quiet affair.  And now, party poll watchers at barangay elections?  That’s not a step forward.  It’s mistrust in a system, candidate or the electorate now permeating the lowest level of government.

What’s next?  Student council or purok elections? 

pets | politics | Comments (0)

30/09, a new horizon

September 16, 2007 – 5:01 am

It’s exactly two weeks before my long awaited indefinite leave prior to retiring.  At least, I’m fervently hoping this is where it will all lead to.

 

There was really nothing special with 30th September.  It’s just a date my husband and I plucked from thin air to give myself something to aim for.  Now, I guess, it’s sort of special. To me.

 

The look on our director’s face was priceless when I told her that I wanted to retire. I’m happy being an Assistant Director and I don’t aspire to have the challenges and demands the next level brings.  If that will change in the future, I don’t know.   She said if I wish to come back after a year’s hiatus, she’ll be very happy to have me.  That was very reassuring.

 

I was amused by the different reactions I got from people.  I’m too young to retire….what am I going to do… what about my career… am I going to be ok… yadeedadeda…  The worst are from those people who perceive my desire to retire as desire to no longer live a productive life, to wander aimlessly, be lazy etcetera …

To do rhetoric on how wrong these perceptions are is a waste of time. We all see things through our own circumstances, beliefs or fears.  As long as I have the support of those who matter, I don’t care about the opinion of those who are irrelevant to me.

***

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