SURREAL

Last Saturday was just surreal. I never thought I would see the four of them again play as a band that is why I consider it as one of my dreams. And the dream came true. For one blissful hour. It doesn't matter that the concert had to be cut short, it's all worth it. The money we paid which was a bit impromptu was so small compare to the fact that we would be able to see them live and listen to our favorite songs - songs of our high school. When Eheads played the first song, Alapaap, I almost cried. Lay jumped up and down and gave me high fives as he predicted that this would be their first song. The intro was perfect. People around us were cheering and singing along. People whose lives revolved around ultraelectromagneticpop sometime 15 years ago. When they sang Ligaya, the second song, memories of our high school corridor at Saint Patrick came into life. I remember walking along that corridor after the flag ceremony and hearing my guy classmates sing this song -"sagutin mo lang ako aking sinta'y walang humpay na ligaya"! Ely, Raymund, Marcus and Buddy smiled to the crowd and I can feel that they are overwhelmed by the huge crowd. The light in their eyes showed appreciation and surprise because after only 3 days of promoting a would-be free concert who would think that people would still be interested to pay P1370 and P840 respectively. The crowd was estimated to be at 10,000. There were also people outside the grounds who just listened and watched in the large monitors. I saw Buddy shook his head in disbelief, probably because after 6 years, their legions of fans are still alive and present to patronize them. They performed 15 songs on the first set. I can remember Alapaap, Ligaya, Sembreak, Kaliwete, Shake yer Head, With a Smile, Hey Jay, Toyang, Fruitcake, Huwag mo nang Itanong, Huwag kang Matakot. They also sang songs from their last albums. I was waiting for Magasin and Ang Huling El Bimbo but probably they'll sing them on the second set which is yet to happen. When Ely's sister went up to the stage to read a letter informing the crowd that the concert had to be cut short I was sort of disappointed. But later on I realized that this would not be the end of Eheads. They will play again. And when Ely gets better which I hope he does, they will finish the concert and I would definitely be there. Definitely.

I'm getting impatient

I entered Marlboro Phils. website as soon as I heard that they will be the one to distribute the tickets for the Eraserheads reunion concert this coming August 30. I took all the measures and answered everything I need to accomplish and I also sent them a scanned ID to verify that I'm more than 18 years old. But until now I haven't gotten any news about the concert, just the log in details for the Red List which is completely useless! Hello?!! the concert is 3 days away!! I don't think its fair that they made press releases and got everybody excited only to create a news that the concert will not push through. Will anybody clear this up? Will the concert push through or not?

www.marlboro.ph

Finally!!!

It's confirmed! Eraserheads will reunite for a one-night concert on August 30, 2008 at the CCP open grounds. As soon as I heard about it I can't think straight, this has been one of my dreams, to see Ely, Raimund, Buddy and Marcus again in one stage performing Ligaya, Pare Ko and all their hits. It was reported that Marlboro, the promoter of the concert, apparently paid each band member a staggering P10 million just to perform together on a 45-minute concert. The concert is supposed to be free but you can dowload the ticket on a website they will open on the first week of August.

North Park

Lacoste is on sale I think until the end of the month and my husband, Lay, went on to buy a rubber shoes that's half it's original price of P8000. I think he felt a bit guilty having bought a P4000 shoes so he kept on pushing me to buy a pair even if in my own opinion I don't need a new one. He goes on saying that my shoes are all worn out and as a manager I need to have a new one since my shoes is already 2 years old. But I love my nike. Yes, it's already 2 years old but the soles are still intact and it's still comfortable. But he was persistent so off we went to Trinoma cause the Nike Park here in SM Fairview doesn't have my size. I don't want to buy the Lacoste shoes, I am a Nike fanatic. The style that I like is not available but there's another one that's also nice. But I wanted to think it over first so Lay asked me if I wanted to eat. When your stomach is full, chances are you will not be impulsive when it comes to shopping so I agreed to eat first. We tried North Park in Glorietta before but I cannot remember anymore what we ate and how it turned out since it wasI think more than 3 years ago. We parked at the Mindanao area parking and while going inside we saw the North Park outlet. Once inside the staff greeted us warmly and attended to us immediately. There were not much diners since it's only 5pm. We ordered Lechon Macau, Yang Chow fried rice and Sweet and Sour Lapu-Lapu Fillet. The Lechon Macau was really tasty, the skin was crunchy while the meat was tender. The Lapu-Lapu fillet was fresh-tasting, the sauce was just the right balance of sweet and sour. I loved both of them. The Yang Chow fried rice was not dry, there were generous specks of veggies and shrimps, the rice is already a dish in itself! We also ordered Lemonade and all I can say is that it's true tasting lemonade, it doesn't taste artificial. Their food was really thought of, authentic chinese indeed. All in all I can say that this is some place we would really come back to. Moderately priced and the food is the center of it all. It doesn't hurt that the staff is also nice and very courteous. I give this restaurant 4 stars!

I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Whenever I am online I never fail to check out brian gorell's blog, chickatime, hollywoodgrind and perezhilton. Ok, I admit I'm a gossip addict. I only read about it and I don't start it which is kind of the lesser evil. Lately I discovered Kitty Go's blog "whenchichitsthefan.blogspot.com" and she wrote about the latest development in the closure of the SUPER DUPER ULTRA UBER EMBASSY CLUB. I've never been there. I saw it from afar when we went to The Fort for a company party some time 2 years ago. This particular club have been the frenzy of bloggers due to its popularity and it's proprietor - TimYap. And Brian really do made sure to dish out all the negative things about Tim, even calling him names, which is really kind of funny and believable at the same time. Well, I guess you have to check out Brian Gorell's blog to know what I am talking about. But I think most of the people in Manila knows Tim Yap, specially since he really made sure that he gets everyone's attention with his flashy costumes. So much for Tim Yap, he's already popular or shall we say infamous. Actually what I was supposed to write was how sad I was when yesterday as I clicked on my laptop to check out chikatime only to find out that they have said goodbye and apologized to people they have hurt in the past due to their witty and sharp comments about socialites and famous personalities. It's actually a gossip blog and they get all the information from their readers who hide behind anonymous names. It's really fun to read the blog even at the expense of other people but you just have to admit that some of them are not true and if they are you should not react lest you want to claim the issue. So here I go typing relentlessly to find out how it happened when I stumbled upon Kitty's blog wherein she hinted who might have been behind the closure of chickatime. And for those who doesn't know how to interpret blind items it's actually Jenni Epperson who got hold of the identity of chickatime's editors (Vanessa, Vhong, etc) through a techie friend who knows a lot about cyberspace and eventually found out the credit card number and name of the persons enlisted through the google ads. Jenni gave chikatime 24 hours to close down the site and apologize. I found out all about this through Jenni's blog mabuhayshoppingera. Well, a lot have been said about her in chikatime. I don't know if they are true, like she's a cocaine addict and a pretentious wannabe. But what I know about her that's true is her lack of taste in fashion considering she writes and blogs about it. I don't know much about fashion myself, but when you look at her you could just ask yourself "is this supposed to be fasyon?". Her clothes, her style and her defunct show at lifestyle channel are all baduy, sorry Jenni, this is my opinion. Would you shut down my blog for saying this? Hehehe. She's Tim Yap's bestfriend and you could just imagine where she gets her inspiration. Going back to Tim Yap, I was riding the bus last week going to work when 2 college guys were talking and obviously bragging. Here's their conversation as I remembered:

Guy 1: sa Starbucks ka pa rin ba tumatambay?
Guy 2: minsan na lang tol kasi busy sa school e. Pero minsan nasa Embassy kami.
Guy 1 : a talaga? tambay din kami ng mga barkada ko dun e, last week andun kami around 11pm
Guy 2: bat wala ka nga pala kotse ngayon?
Guy 1: coding e, kaya eto bus muna.

Guy 1 was abviously lying since Embassy have been closed since that time. What's with Embassy anyway? What made these college guys think that when you're in Embassy you are cool? I hope it won't reopen again. Because as far as I know, and this is not gossip for sure, that club is super full of cocaine addicts, pretentious wannabes and drug dealers. It wouldn't be ordered to close by the city government for no reason at all, right?

My Baby Loves Her Bath Time!

I cannot recall a time when Kali cried during her bath time. She loves this part of the day so much and I know she looks forward to it every day. Unlike most babies who cries incessantly, our Kali loves water and giggles and coos everytime I bathe her. She has a bath tub and net for support, and at three months she can't fit in the net anymore! She kicks and acts really excited when water touches her tummy. Unlike before when I can bathe her alone, now I need the help of her nanny since she really can wiggle during bathing. Here's our little baby enjoying her bath time...

Bad Experience #3

Last Monday my husband and I had to go to SM to buy diapers for Kali. I didn't get to eat properly the whole day so come 5pm my stomach is rumbling and I can't think straight. I told Lay to choose a place to eat since my mind is at that time stationary. Usually when we got out to eat I would always suggest a place, but this time I left that task to him. We walked around SM Fairview's annex building and chanced upon Dimsum and Dumpling's. We already ate there once but it was a long time ago so I agreed on his suggestion to eat there. A crew was standing outside trying to entice passers by to their restaurant showing their menu. I immediately sat on a booth and rested my tired legs while Lay procceeded on the counter to order. There were only 2 tables occupied. The restaurant doesn't have a door so the loud music coming fron the atrium can clearly be heard where we are seated. Jollibee was singing his heart out to the kids participating in their program. He might be dancing too, but i'm not with a kid that would strangle me to get up and check out the show so I didn't get to see his dance moves. I ordered their Chopsuey Rice with chicharon while Lay ordered Fish Fillet. He asked me what would I want to drink and at that time my preference was soda - Coke to be specific. They don't serve Coke. Alright then, i guess they might be selling Pepsi products only, that would do for now. They don't have Pepsi either. Hmm, hmm, hmm... I'll get iced tea if they don't have soda. All of their iced teas are mixed with other stuff. There's no regular lemon iced tea in the beverage line up. There's an earl grey tea which sounds refreshing. It's not available. I asked for water instead while Lay got a pineapple infused iced tea which tasted disgusting for me. My food arrived after about 7 minutes and I told Lay I couldn't wait for his food to arrive as I need to eat already, I just gave him spoonfuls of rice with chopsuey, careful not to place chicharon on it since the chicharon could really damage your teeth if you're not careful. While I was eating my bowl of chopsuey rice the music outside surged and people started to clamor their way to the banisters to check out Jolibee and his celebrity guest, including 3 staff of DND and their shift manager. No one was left to man the restaurant, nor the guests. They were clapping along with the people unmindful of our needs. It was more than 15 minutes already and Lay's food hadn't arrived so we called the attention of the guy who took our order when he came back realizing that we might be needing something. He proceeded to the window of the kitchen and shouted at the cook and we heard him say "hindi mo ba narinig kanina?" . Apparently, Lay's food was not prepared because the cook didn't hear the order. We thought the guy would approach us to apologize but he just said "sandali lang po" and then went outside to check out Jolibbee again. Grrrrr.....!!! I wanted to talk to the manager but he was busy texting while drinking iced tea behind the counter. Lay didn't want to be confrontational that time since he was on his uniform and identified with our brand. After another 10 minutes his food arrived. The crew just mutterred an insincere apology. I was finished eating my food and just waited for Lay to finish so we could go home. Halfway through his meal he saw a small strand of blue plastic. This is becoming irrititating in so many levels. This particular restaurant is struggling to stay in the business since not so many people go there to eat. We always pass by this spot and I can only recall a few times that they are half filled with customers. If they would really want to stay in this business they need to reflect on their weakness. And that is the people they hired to work for them.

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

Morning Routine

I always make it a point to read the newspaper daily, even in my 15 minute break I try to finish one story and resume reading when my 1 hour break arrives. But reading the broadsheet always make me teary eyed. This past two weeks the newspapers are filled with stories of devastation, murder and families losing loved ones. One story was the fate of many parents who lost their only child in China's worst calamity in a decade. Since most areas of China already applied the one-child policy due to their overwhelmingly increasing population, parents were left childless as school buildings collapsed in the 8 magnitude quake. One story that struck me hard in the gut was the couple who waited for many years to bear a child. The father wanted so badly to enter the rubble to rescue his little girl but authorities won't allow him as it is deemed to be extremely dangerous. They waited for rescuers to arrive but the severity of the situation left the government struggling. Hours have passed and they feared for their child's life. And after two days of lifting heavy stones, they saw the bodies of little children huddled close together. One of them their little girl. Chinese government have been really lax with implementation of building safety and adherance to structural standards. Most buildings were made of sub standard materials thus they easily got damaged, not earthquake-proof. Economists agreed that that is surely a sign of corruption as politicians approved funds for school buildings but some percentage of it go to their pockets. I wonder how could these people get to sleep soundly at night knowing that their greed cost thousands of lives.



Another story was that of the massacre in RCBC in Laguna. 10 people died senselessly. 9 people died instantly, and how could they not if they were shot in the head at close range. The people who did this are pure evil. In the past times bank robbers just get the millions in the vault and do not bother to kill, only if they had to. Like when somebody saw their face and might have recognized them. The 10th fatality succumbed to death in a hospital bed, with his life depending on the machines attached to his body. His family hoped to see him alive but when he died they thought that their father, their husband, their son wanted them safe from the hands of those who killed him. Because if he had lived to tell the tale his life and those around him would be jeopardized. In death he still thought of his family and their safety. Life is so unfair. These bank employees work to feed their families and for their children to have better future, better lives. How could anyone just take the life out of them? How could these murderers not think of their own family, and how would they feel if they suffer the same fate. The children of those who died are just kids. Kids who are not even past their teenage years. My heart aches for them as they would not be able to see their mama and papa ever again. They would not be able to tell them how much they appreciate the hard work they put into ensuring that they have a secure future. Everything is over. And with our justice system, I doubt that the killers would be put behind bars anytime soon.





The last story that made me actually cry is the story of "Ka Bel". Unknown to many, Crispin Beltran worked very hard for the benefit of the Filipino workers. As a congressman, eventhough he had the access to a lot of money, he never used his position to take advantage unlike most congressmen we know. He lived a poor life, and he died a poor man. Dignified. But what moved me was his and Ka Osang's love story. It was a story unlike many, he was a taxi driver by night and a UP student by day. Rosario rode on his taxi one afternoon and asked to be driven around since she is fuming mad with her father whom she recently had a fight with. Ka Bel asked her why she ran away and if he could take her back to her father. But Rosario was persistent on moving as far away as she can from her home. Since she doesn't have anywhere to stay Ka Bel offered to take her into his home and she stayed there for three days, sleeping in his room while Ka Bel slept on the sofa. Rosario's father found her in Ka Bel's house and he beat him hard and he was hospitalized. Her father wanted them to get married. Even if Rosario didn't love Ka Bel that time, she agreed because she saw the pureness of his heart and his good soul. They had 10 children. And when Ka Bel was jailed for 2 years during the Marcos regime Ka Osang took over his responsibility and delivered speeches during rallies. Ka Osang even plotted his successful escape from jail. Even if they have a meager income selling fish and vegetable in the market, they were never enticed to do anything illegally. All of their 10 children graduated from college. During the burial of Ka Bel I was on the morning shift and witnessed the procession at Commonwealth Avenue, a mass will be held at Batasan in his honor and then they will proceed to Bulacan to lay his body to its final resting resting place. As people in red passed by I uttered a shirt prayer. That we may one day see the fruits of Ka Bel's labor. That one day our country will truly be free from corruption and proceed to have better economy and better leaders.

I know because I'm a parent

Sundays are supposed to be family day but I have no choice but to go to work since in our industry you cannot have a fixed rest day, no regular family day. Some families stay at home and have a hearty lunch then be glued in front of the tv for some entertaining. Some go malling and window shopping with their kids in tow. And no matter how crowded the malls are these families never fail to be in attendance. As a parent, and a new one for that matter, I really want what's best for my child. I know parents only want their kids to enjoy their childhood and have great memories and stories to tell when they grow older. Whether these memories take place in a park, mall, in the province or even in school. That is why I found it really troubling when last sunday
at work we encountered a very unusual family, actually a very unusual set of parents. I was having a meeting with my assistant manager when one of my barista approached our table and informed us that there's a very horrible smell in one area of the store, in the smoking area. Some customers apparently asked if we have a comfort room because they smell something really bad. Since we don't have a comfort room, Marvin, my barista together with the security guard investigated where the stench was coming from. And voila! A kid, a girl, around 9 years old pooped there in the smoking area, beside her parents' table. The parents, both of them were busy typing in their laptops, oblivious of what happened to their child. I told Marvin to give the mother newspaper so she could pick up her child's poop. Because I for one would not let any of my baristas pick it up since we are handling food. And to everyone's surprise the mother did not budge and ignored Marvin and continued to type relentlessly in her laptop. Eventually since they would not clean it up the guard volunteered to pick up the poop. And the child , with poop on her dress sat on the table adjacent to her parents and scattered some of her poop on the clean chair. I mean, hello! This is your daughter! She is not even a toddler anymore! How can you let this embarrassing situation happen to her? And okay, it's done, she pooped already, how can you just ignore her and not teach her the right manners such as wiping up and cleaning herself. She is 9 years old for crying out loud! In 4 years time she will be a teenager already. Is this the kind of memory you would want to imprint in your childs' mind? That on a sunday, on a family day, my parents left me behind to fend for myself, in a place where most people gather to enjoy, have coffee with friends and family and have the best of that day. If both parents were doing office stuff I don't give a damn, it is not a matter of life and death. If they wouldn't want to be disturbed they should just left their daughter at home with the yaya. And if they don't care at all they shouldn't have decided to have one in the first place.