Archive for the 'Rant' Category

Chikahan: Pinoy style

March 5th, 2007

On the bus ride to Katoomba on our way to the Blue Mountains, I ended up having a thought-provoking conversation with Mitzi. I knew she was tired from clubbing the night before (and so was I from lack of sleep) and I expected her to doze off. Yet she was very keen to speak about what the problems in the Philippines were, and how come it is so difficult for our country to rise from the ashes. What triggered the “downfall” of what appeared to be a cosmopolitan age in the pre-Marcos era? Are the Spanish really to blame for our damaged culture? How the hell did the Americans manage to dominate influence on Pinoys in so many aspects? Why are there still so many poor people in our country? Why do Pinoys vote actors into politics? Why do they run at all? Who are these bigwigs that steer how the country is faring? Why are Pinoys so enamored with Kris Aquino? Why is GMA so short a person?

Ok so the last one we didn’t really get to talk about. But I bet Mitzi wouldn’t mind discussing that too next time we meet.
====================================
A few more details about the Katoomba trip…
Continue Reading »

Pinoy elections 2007

March 2nd, 2007

This page gave me something to laugh about today. Thanks to benj whose blog led me clicking to it. Moment now to touch base with the goings-on in Pinoy-land. I admit it’s difficult to be kept on the loop on current affairs of the nation. Not many of us have much time to spare to do reading [lack of Pinoy TV is a big factor for me, too lazy to read] that would bring enlightenment. My weekday morning routine includes a half-hour of reading the columns by de Quiros and David and the occasional blog on related issues. I know it feeds much more to a specific opinion, but I just don’t have the stomach to see front page pictures of uninteresting personalities, especially poly-tick-cians (i.e., many bloodsuckers) while reading the headlines of inquirer.net. Time for a switch to tribune.net.ph?

I am a bit upset I cannot participate in the elections. I know my vote is just an insignificant count among the myriad of others, but still, I would like to have that statistical contribution. Though I have zero faith on the canvassing system, I still like to think that theoretically, I have done my country service.

These Pulse Asia results just suck. I am reminded, yet again, of that sinking feeling I had the moment I first had a chance to vote for presidential elections, and seeing my seatmate write in big bold letters across the first blank line on his ballot: “E R A P”.

Bye bye Rafa.

January 25th, 2007

Ho-kay, 1 day past at mali na ako agad. Out-of-sorts sya, kitang-kita na ninenerbiyos. And being so close to losing, just as it happened with Murray the other night, how can he face Federer in that form? Turned out Gonzalez was the better player last night. Lightning tennis! From the baseline, from the net, and that blasted chase for the ball was fantastic! (In the youtube clip below, see this game shot between timestamps 7:00 and 7:40, played 3x yata) Just a few nights ago he broke a nation’s heart by eliminating the last Aussie Lleyton Hewitt.

Matalo kaya ni Gonzales si Haas, at makatapat si Federer? O baka pati naman yung match with Roddick mamaya “surprise, surprise” na naman! Since watching tennis matches all in a row is new territory for me, this is really interesting to see. Ha! Maaga na naman ako uuwi mamaya.

Courtesy Ch7: Natuklasan ng ch7 na naka-thongs kasi si Rafa kaya sya laging nagkakawedgie. Susmaryosep, tama ba namang pag-usapan tuwing umaga?

================
updated: 4 p.m.: Ano ba?? Mali na naman ako… Serena Williams defeated Nicole! Maria’s game ongoing…
================
updated again the next day: Ok na si Maria. Si Roger na lang (talo si Andy!), kunsino man manalo between Haas and Gonzo. May kontrobersya pa tungkol sa pandaraya ng grupo ni Serena dahil sa attempt na silawin si Nicole with a watch. Di ako makakapanuod ngayon. Aussie day! Out to the streets to celebrate =)
================
updated Saturday: So ayan, comeback na si Serena as rank 14. Mukhang ninerbiyos si Maria sa kanya. Sweep ba naman. Iyak ako. Hehe.
================
updated Sunday: It will all be over by tonight. 4 hours ’til the finals of men’s singles. It’s likely to be a Fed express night, which makes me root for the Bull. Go Gonzo! =)
================
9.22 pm: Tight game!!! 96 minutes gone by. Go Speedy Gonzalez!
10.07 pm: Roger Federer has done it again, straight sets. Sparing a thought for Fernando Gonzalez, he is still amazing. Good fight, brilliant match. That about wraps it up for the Aussie Open this year. More titles to come!

Talong or not to talong.

January 24th, 2007

Ano ba talaga? Nalilito na ako. Mabuti ba sa atin ang eggplant o hindi? Gustung-gusto ko pa naman ng mga spicy eggplant dishes at tortang talong ni inay.

Masustansya ang talong. vs Hindi kailangan kumain ng talong.

=======
PS Malapit na matapos ang Australian Open! Tanggal si Martina! So ayan na ang Semis: Women– Maria vs Kim, Serena vs Nicole; Men– Fed vs Andy. Ongoing QF will decide whether it’s Nadal OR Gonzo vs Haas OR Davydenko for the Semis.

Unfounded prediction for the finals: (I wish! It is of course likely to go another way.)

Women: Maria Sharapova (Russia) vs Nicole Vaidosova (Czech)
Men: Roger Federer (US) vs Rafael Nadal (Spain)

Courtesy Ch7: Rafa’s wedgie scoreboard as of last game: 170 wedgies in 5 sets in a four-hour period. Hehe, kung si Sharapova laging nag-aayos ng buhok plus two ball bounces bago mag-serve, si Nadal naman laging nag-aayos ng pantalon! Ansikip kasi! Hehe.

Text speak is for cellphones

September 25th, 2006

I can never understand why people are using txt spk in internet forums/message boards and even in instant messages.

Nagpipintig talaga ang tenga ko kapag may nag-pop sa akin na officemate na “hi der, i hav a question, r u bc?”. Kapag di ko sinagot, mangungulit pa na “r u der?”

Anak ng pating. Nagpapa-cute ka ba o ano?

Gusto ko laging sagutin na, “Pindot system na nga lang ang alam mo sa keyboard, gagawin mo pang keypad ng cellphone. Itaas mo naman ang kaalaman mo day.”

I mean, I for one am having a hard time if I will adapt the txt spk here in the keyboard. I have to consciously think of the txt shortcuts to create my phrase. Unlike when I am typing the whole words with my nine fingers (yes, I do know how to type properly. Nine fingers because my left thumb is not doing anything).

Just for the sake of sarcasm, everytime I get an IM from officemates using txt spks, I reply with complete sentences and not phrases. I even capitalize the first letters of my sentences (which I normally neglect).

Tapos babanatan ka ng “mashadong formal k nmn.” Sa isipan ko, “kasi bobo’t tanga ka. Alamin mo na rin kung pano gumawa ng u na may dalawang tuldok sa taas gaya nito ü. Alt+0252 lang yun.”

This is probably one reason why Filipinos are generally unintelligent (I would have said stupid or dumb but I take it back). Trying to make a fashion out of something brought about by laziness. It’s not a trend. It’s not a fashion. It’s not even a way of life for crying out loud. It’s just to compress the messages going to and from your cellphones.

And for the record, I only encounter these kinds of IMs in the office with female office mates. Male dudes usually take time to type out their message. Pa-cute lang ba talaga ng mga babae ito?

Kolorete

September 12th, 2006

What’s up with women doing their make-ups inside public utility vehicles?

Just this morning on my way to work, I rode my usual shuttle service and I sat infront of the FX (beside the driver). The old lady behind me on the line climbed next after me and she forced herself to sit comfortably on her place. You know how manangs act, they want to be given more slack and all at the cost of the people around them. Just because they are old and grumpy they must be respected and honored.

Aside from her being an annoying manang, she kept on flipping through her purse much of the time during my unfortunate ride. Normally I would just shrug it off and shove my elbow to my seatmate but this instance, I was pinned down by her and the shift stick. I can’t move an inch.

Then she must have thought of fixing herself before unloading. First she took her hairbrush and began combing like I was not there. Hindi man lang refined na pagsuklay, napakabrusko pa. I covered my nose with my hand (can’t get my hanky) and prayed that no dandruff will go into my nose, di bale na sa balikat ko, madaling tanggalin. Wag lang na masinghot ko. She returned her hairbrush and got her lipstick and lipstick brush. She began coloring her lips with her weapons and since the ride was bumpy she had a hard time doing her thing. The devil inside me told me it’s payback time. I began twitching my arm everytime the brush is on her lips. Pretending I was fixing my mp3 player, I get to nudge her a couple of times. This doesn’t stop her, she got her make up and began powdering and applying foundation all over her face. Oh man, I told myself. Ano akala nya sa FX? CR? Kwarto nya? Di man lang nahiya.

Why oh why would women in general apply make up in public utility vehicles? It’s disrespectful to the people around you. Leave what needs to be done privately in your homes.

I can’t simply understand this phenomenon. It’s okay if you’re in your own car or even if in a taxi. But with people and strangers around you, have some dignity. Mas nakakawalang-respeto lang.

Nanghihinayang

July 18th, 2006

Just when you thought everything is going according to plan, you get hit with a flu/colds a few hours before you wake up. And with that, all plans you made 3 weeks ago will literally go down the drain.

Pen and I were supposed to have a fun weekend but alas I was stuck at bed instead. Nursing my colds with biogesic and neozep while watching Dr. House pokes fun at his patients (during that time I was torn if I would like to be diagnosed by Dr. House or not) replaced the three weeks of planning. Save for the rain early Saturday morning, everything must have gone well have I not gotten sick. Everytime I look at the clock, I can picture myself with Pen doing what we must have been doing that day. What pains the most is that free times like that does not come easily nowadays.

I’m fine now for those curious enough to know my condition. And for the record, this is the first time I have filed a sick leave where I am actually sick. All other sick leaves are just your plain old laziness. If I am not mistaken, even at UP I have not excused myself from teaching because I am sick. I excuse myself from teaching because of some other reasons. I always pride myself of having a great health but when the flu virus hits you, you go down buster.

Lesson learned? Buy a DivX player so you can watch more DivX files.

Da Vinci Code Brouhaha

May 11th, 2006

Few sleeps left before we can see the Da Vinci Code movie. That is, if the freakin’ moralist of our country will let us watch it. Nakaka-asar lang isipin na ipagkakait sa atin ang pelikulang ito dahil lang hindi siya tugma sa paniniwala natin.

Don’t they get it? It’s a fiction for cying out loud. The more they make noise, the more the public will clamor for this movie to be shown. They are just arousing the curiousity of the public. For me, there are 3 types of people who would want to watch the movie: (1) the ones who read the book 2-3 years ago and have known the story even before a movie was announced to be made; (2) the ones who are reading the book or have recently finished the book just because a movie is to be shown; (3) all the others who did not read the book and will only watch the movie because it’s uso. Oh, I would like to add a fourth one, the ones who do not have a freakin’ clue of what the fuss is all about so they just try to ban the movie altogether. Moralists. Bleh.

Political Theatrics.

February 27th, 2006

What’s going on? No classes again?

Constantly being put on edge is no way to be treated. Red alert, down to orange, back up to red. What are they trying to do to us? Keep us in fear?

Is anyone scared at all?

I was asleep most of this Sunday afternoon. I awoke to the phone ringing (Aj was calling to tell me classes were out tmw) around 10.30 pm. Mama and Papa were glued ot the TV, and as always they were hoping something “big” would fan out. I ended up refreshing inq7.net to review what happened the entire afternoon since I had no idea what the fuss was all about. The guys on TV had raised voices, and marine uniforms were all over the screen, so I thought it was a big deal. Turns out that that Acting Marine Leader (I don’t even care to remember their names anymore) with that usual awful-awful broken pulis-military English diction saying the “stand-off” was resolved; and with my Mama saying “Pinuyat lang tayo nito ah.”

I’m only surprised that those who are much thick-blooded than I am aren’t taking up arms yet. Wouldn’t that be great eh? Radio Veritas back in ’86 and tora-tora plane excitement like in ’86 (’87?)*

The thought of civil war is thrilling to the senses, if only we were sure that the ramifications would not leave us battered and even more impoverished as before.

=====

Too bad that these events unfold very untimely as those ravaged by the landslides suffer. Leyte is a natural tragic accident that illustrates how Pinoy politics run this archipelagic nation: Plunder and bury.

The efforts of the rescuers summarize how our very few true Pinoy heroes try to fight. They dig with their hands through mud as the heavy downpour of rain mocks their puny efforts.

Sigh.

=====

A crowd is forming I hear at UP Oble, with Prof. Randy again rallying the group. I wonder what will happen tomorrow. A fresh episode on this newest Pinoy Reality TV? Or just another refurbished re-run?

=====

*Papa keeps reminiscing these days ’bout that time he brought me with him to EDSA in ’86. I was in roller skates he said — I wish I could remember more aside from all those people in the streets. And we were home most of the crucial days. I remember this time was when I learned how to play chess and mastermind. The memory of playing mastermind with Papa while hearing Cardinal Sin speak in Radio Veritas is strongest in my memory of those times.

State of National Emergency (??)

February 24th, 2006

Labo.

May nangyayari na pala sa labas, di pa rin maramdaman dito sa opisina. Parang immune na rin ang mga tao dahil sa kabi-kabilang mga rallies. Wala namang nangyayari. Di pa rin matinag itong si GMA.

Nagkita pa nga kami ni Pen kaninang lunch dito sa Makati. Suspendido ang mga klase all-levels. Kami dito, tuloy ang trabaho. Siguro kapag martial law na talaga, tsaka sususpendihin ang trabaho.

« Prev - Next »