OF LAW AND BADMINTON

Serenity Prayer

2008-01-19T21:36:00.000+08:00

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

This is my mantra nowadays. Life seems so unfair. I feel so helpless. But when I feel depression coming, I just count my blessings. What more can I ask for? I have a very loving husband and we're expecting a baby who doesn't deserve to be stressed. Please Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Have a peaceful weekend everyone.

So, what's new?

2008-01-17T00:25:00.000+08:00

I feel like I've been gone for almost like an eternity, what with all the comments I received in my last entry....hahahaha.

Well, blame it on PLDT. We couldn't apply for a new dsl connection since the previous family who rented this place left a 5-figure debt for unpaid internet bills. Grrr... So, the only recourse we had was to transfer our previous line to this place, which took more than a month. After we had our PLDT connection, it was very intermittent. So we had to badger the PLDT people to come up with a solution. Plus, the router we previously used became unusable. So we had to return it to the dealer who replaced the unit since it was within the warranty period. Problem was, this happened during the holidays. We had to wait till the first week of January before the dealer could have it fixed by the manufacturer. This took about a week. Sheesh! One problem led to another which would explain why I could only update my blog last week.

Oh, and what a busy week last week was and this week has proven to be. Lots of reports and letters to finish. Hopefully, this will all subside by next week. I can't really over exert myself, what with the pregnancy and all. Oh! By the way, I forgot to tell y'all....we're expecting another baby! I'm just praying hard to the Lord and all the saints and angels in heaven that we have a healthy baby this time. I will definitely tell him/her stories about their Kuya Raphael.

Oh, and it's midnight already. Hubby says I should go to sleep already so that the baby stays healthy. So, I'll be a good soldier and go to sleep now. I just want to say that I really missed blogging and I really missed all of my blog friends. Tata!

Latest Update

2008-01-10T16:13:00.000+08:00

Finally, internet connection at last! It feels like I've been so out of the loop lately. Will update this blog soon. Have some stories to tell....seriously! But first, let me bloghop and surf the net. Freedom at last! Hahahaha!

See 'ya!

Quick Update

2007-11-06T18:46:00.000+08:00

Sorry guys, I know I haven't been updating in a long while. That's because we're currently moving to a new home. No, not a new blog address, but literally to a new (well, kinda old actually) home. Unfortunately, we do not have internet connection yet. According to Bayantel, it'll take approximately 2 more weeks before we can have our internet connection. (Well, good luck to us!!?!!) In the meantime, we're busy packing and unpacking our stuff. I will still try to bloghop every now and then, but I don't think I'll be able to post another entry until we have our internet connection. See you soon guys!

Bloody Friday - Glorietta 2 Mall Explosion

2007-10-20T10:41:00.000+08:00

It's been barely 22 hours since the Glorietta explosion and I'm still shaken from the incident.

You see, my friend invited me out for lunch yesterday, and since I was tired of eating bland cafeteria food every single day (well, except for weekends nga pala), I readily agreed. I even picked out the place, A Veneto at Glorietta 3. So, at around 12:20 in the afternoon, my friend and I were catching up on gossip over onion rings and great pasta. After having lunch, I told her I had to buy some stuff from The Face Shop. While inside, we even had to ask for directions because I forgot how to go there.

After buying my things, my friend then requested if we could go a sports store since she wanted to buy a basketball. I suggested Toby's. So, at 1:15 P.M., there we were at the ground floor of Glorietta 2 near the activity center, right where the bomb was about to explode, looking up at the establishments on the 3rd Floor, trying to locate Toby's. We couldn't find Toby's. I knew it had to be visible from the ground floor. I told my friend, maybe Toby's was directly above us, on the third floor of Glorietta 2 so we couldn't see it from where we were. So, we decided to go up.

True enough, when we were on the third floor of Glorietta 2, we were able to find Toby's. I told my friend to go there and make her purchase, while I would be browsing at the tiangge stores right outside. I was looking at the latest fashionable blouses, muttering to myself that I would never be able to pull them off. I still tried on one blouse, but to no avail. Hindi talaga bagay...shucks.

I received a text message from my friend at around 1:25 P.M., telling me that she was near Timezone waiting for me, but urging me to take my time. Immediately after I got her text, I tried to locate her. Not able to find her, I decided to call her up.

Just when the phone was ringing, I heard a very loud explosion nearby coupled with a very intense shake which felt like an Intensity 10 earthquake. I almost fell to the ground because of the impact! I felt like I was in twilight zone or something, as I watched debris falling everywhere and smoke billowing from behind. Suddenly, people were screaming and shouting and pushing me. I had no choice but to follow the crowd. I began to wonder whether my friend was safe and as I was about to call her up, I heard what seemed like another explosion. I froze for a second, terrified, not knowing where to go. At that very second, I felt terror grip my body, wondering if there were still several bombs about to go off, and wondering if we were running headlong into another bomb. I don't know how my legs were able to function but before I knew it, I was walking straight into Landmark.

Thankfully, the guards removed the table and opened the doors wide in order to receive the big crowd emanating from Glorietta 2. As I stepped into what felt like safe ground, I received a call from my friend asking me where I was. I was relieved upon hearing her voice knowing that at least she was OK. I told her I was at Landmark and not to worry about me. I called up my husband to tell him what happened. Fortunately he was just nearby and that he would pick me up immediately. I couldn't contact my friend anymore since the network (Globe) was already busy. Good thing there was no traffic in sending text messages. After texting her and knowing she was ok, and that her driver was about to pick her up, it was only at that moment that I suddenly felt relieved.

Whew! Close call indeed. Had the bomb gone off earlier or later than it did, I don't know what would have happened to us. I really thank the Lord and my Angel Raphael for bringing us back to safety. It is so sad that others were not as lucky.

Warning! This game is addictive.

2007-10-02T03:40:00.002+08:00

Still busy peeps. Need to finish an important project before I can post again, hopefully soon. In the meantime, I leave you with this very addictive game which I discovered recently.

Hahahaha...told you so!

2007 Yonex-Sunrise Philippines National Open Badminton Championships

2007-09-23T23:16:00.000+08:00

It's finally here! Now on its fourth year, the 2007 Yonex-Sunrise Philippines National Open Badminton Championships will be staged from October 20-28, 2007 at the Yonex Philippines Badminton Club on Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City. As of now, there is still no news on the featured events, but I will be updating as soon as I get more info. It is one of the most awaited local badminton tournaments of the year since it features an "Open" category showcasing the best of the local talents.

Sorry guys, haven't posted in a while. Been absolutely busy with work. I barely have time to eat and sleep when I get home, and then I'm off to work again. Shucks. I hope to post a more meaningful entry soon! Taa taa...

Erap found guilty of plunder

2007-09-12T10:01:00.000+08:00

While on my way to the office today, I heard the verdict. Former President Joseph Estrada was acquitted of the perjury charges against him, but was found guilty of plunder. His two other co-accused, Senator Jinggoy Estrada and Atty. Edward Serapio (who happens to be a former teacher of mine) was acquitted of the plunder charges.

In my opinion, the case is far from over. Should Erap decide to file a Motion for Reconsideration or appeal the case, I foresee that the case will drag on for several more years.

For Senator Jinggoy, life goes on. He may feel unfortunate that his father was found guilty, but he still has his career and his family to go back to.

For Atty. Serapio, however, the case is still far from over. Yes, he can go back home to his family who I'm sure will welcome him with open arms. But I'm not sure the legal profession will look at him kindly, having been dragged into the Erap controversy. With no legal career to fall back on, it's as good as finding him likewise guilty of the plunder charge. And with 6 years of his life spent behind bars, I do not foresee any company welcoming him with open arms. For him, convincing the public of his innocence is just about to start.

Think again before reaching for that bag of popcorn

2007-09-07T01:23:00.000+08:00

A fondness for microwave buttered popcorn may have led a 53-year-old Colorado man to develop a serious lung condition that until now has been found only in people working in popcorn plants.

Apparently, all fingers point to diacetyl, the ingredient that puts that buttery taste in microwave popcorns, as the probable culprit.

On the other hand, producers of microwave popcorn said their products were safe.

Studies show that "Heated diacetyl becomes a vapor and, when inhaled over a long period of time, seems to lead the small airways in the lungs to become swollen and scarred. Sufferers can breathe in deeply, but they have difficulty exhaling. The severe form of the disease is called bronchiolitis obliterans or “popcorn workers’ lung,” which can be fatal."

Of course, this study is not conclusive at this point.

Dr. Cecile Rose, director of the occupational disease clinical programs at National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, said that she first saw the Colorado man in February after another doctor could not figure out what was causing his distress. A furniture salesman, the man was becoming increasingly short of breath. He had never smoked and was overweight. His illness had been diagnosed as hypersensitivity pneumonitis, an inflammation of the lungs usually caused by chronic exposure to bacteria, mold or dust. Farmers and bird enthusiasts are frequent sufferers.

But nothing in the Colorado man’s history suggested that he was breathing in excessive amounts of mold or bird droppings, Dr. Rose said. She has consulted to flavorings manufacturers for years about “popcorn workers’ lung,” and said that something about the man’s tests appeared similar to those of the workers.

“I said to him, ‘This is a very weird question, but bear with me. But are you around a lot of popcorn?’ ” Dr. Rose asked. “His jaw dropped and he said, ‘How could you possibly know that about me? I am Mr. Popcorn. I love popcorn.’ ”

The man told Dr. Rose that he had eaten microwave popcorn at least twice a day for more than 10 years.

“When he broke open the bags, after the steam came out, he would often inhale the fragrance because he liked it so much,” Dr. Rose said. “That’s heated diacetyl, which we know from the workers’ studies is the highest risk.”

“This is not a definitive causal link, but it raises a lot of questions and supports the recommendation that more work needs to be done,” Dr. Rose said.

I guess the man overdid it a bit by eating popcorn at least twice a day for 10 years. Moi? I still love my bag of popcorn especially when watching a good movie. Heck, we only live once right???!

Note: You can read the rest of the story here.

My Current Obsession

2007-09-03T23:34:00.000+08:00

Just to clarify, I don't own a Nikon D80.....YET. Not enough moolah anyway. You see, I have more important things to spend my money on like food, food and more food...heeheehee.

Looking at the photos posted by these fellow bloggers Abaniko, Eric, Kyels, Rey and Sidney convinced me that DSLR is the only way to go. Please Santa, I've been good this year. What can I do to afford one? Let me count the ways:

1. I can buy tickets to the lotto and hope to win the jackpot. Wow! I can buy not only one DSLR camera but a whole truckload of them!!! Problem is, the chances are 1 in 10,000,000 or some similar digit before I can win the jackpot. I'll have more chances of being hit by a lightning than winning the lotto! Arrghh!

2. Try to join the next Philippine Idol and hope to convince everyone that I'm a deserving winner. Problem is, I can't sing even if my life depended on it. Do-re-mi, do-re-mi... I can still give this a try though, not everyone who joins these kinds of contests are excellent singers...remember Sanjaya Malakar??? Nuff said.

3. Maybe I can enter into a government contract to supply millions of equipments to some far-flung barangay??? Problem is, I don't have anything to offer 'cept my legal services and that's not for sale.

4. Maybe I can join a photo contest where the prize is a DSLR camera. Problem with this plan is that those who win these contests are those who already have a DSLR camera which they used to take the winning photograph! It's the chicken-and-egg cycle once more.

5. Buy tickets to the Oprah show and pray that the episode I get to watch is one where Oprah gives away the latest gadgets and hope that it includes a DSLR camera. But I guess there are many loopholes in this plan. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get to Oprah's show??? And what are the chances I get to watch the episode where she gives away stuff?? Boy, I would love to have been part of the audience when she gave each one a car.

As you can see, I'm running out of ideas. Can you help me formulate a plan??? Hahaha...all in the spirit of fun ha, nothing serious or illegal, ok?

Two awards and a meme

2007-08-30T00:39:00.000+08:00

Starting off the awards season is this "thoughtful award" from Ipanema and momoftwo, "for those who answer blog comments, emails, and make their visitors feel at home on their blogs. For the people who take others feelings into consideration before speaking out and who are kind and courteous. Also for all of those bloggers who spend so much of their time helping others bloggers design, improve, and fix their sites. This award is for those generous bloggers who think of others." Fooled you two, didn't I??? Hahahaha...just kidding. My deepest appreciation to the 2 of you.

I also received the thinking blogger award from verns. Thanks verns. Although I would have to refute this award because my blog is where turn to and just have fun without having to think. Ahehehe...just look at my previous post and you'll see why.

I'm supposed to give out these awards but since this post is already way overdue, I guess I will have to award these to you, my blog reader/s (so you won't think I'm presumptuous in thinking there's more than one of you....hahaha) for bearing with me especially during those times I wanted to quit blogging due to personal problems. Thank you to all my blog friends. You all deserve this award.

Finally, I got tagged by momoftwo. I'm supposed to mention 8 random things about me which I haven't yet revealed in my posts. Hmmm...it's a tough task but I'll try.

1. I'm a late-bloomer. I had my first ~~ought-to-be forgotten~~ boyfriend at the ripe old age of 24. Fortunately, that ~~forgettable~~ portion of my life didn't last long and I met my (now) husband soon thereafter.

2. I have a sister who's 10 years older than me. Yes, quite a big age difference noh? My parents were not planning on having another child after my sister, but one night they had a misunderstanding, and the rest, as they say, is history.

3. I have the attention span of a 4-year old. Sometimes, 3 minutes into the homily, I would ask my husband what the priest is talking about. I don't know how I was able to survive law school.

4. Like momoftwo, I'm also a crybaby. I cry when I'm happy, I cry when I'm sad, sometimes I just cry for no reason at all.

5. I have a secret ~~not-so-secret-anymore~~ phobia of worms, especially the big varieties. Please don't surprise me with one or I might just ~~accidentally~~ spill that steaming hot cup of coffee on your pants.

6. During high school, I went out on a group date. Among those present was a guy whom I really had a big crush on. We went to McDonald's. Guess what I ordered? Chicken joy. Hehehee...probably the reason why I'm a late-bloomer.

7. What am I supposed to write about??? Ahhh, 8 random things about me.

8. See, there goes my attention span. Maybe I'll rename this tag "6 random facts about me", hehehe.

Anyway, I really had fun with this meme. Thanks momoftwo. I'm not tagging anyone this time.

Hair Makeover

2007-08-24T01:29:00.000+08:00

I haven't had a decent haircut in months. If I remember correctly, my last haircut was still sometime in February, so can you just imagine my hair's current state??? I badly need a major makeover!!! So, I decided to have fun and goof around with possible hairstyles. I need your opinion on this...

Should I dye my hair blonde???

Hahahaha....lol! This doesn't look like much of an improvement at all. Wanna try and have your own makeover??? Just visit the makeover studio and have fun experimenting!

The Life and Love of Noli Eala

2007-08-22T02:26:00.000+08:00

Last August 1, 2007, the Supreme Court of the Philippines issued a decision which became a much-talked about topic in various legal circles. What makes this case stand apart from the rest?? Well, this case is principally a disbarment case, involves a love triangle (or is that square?), and most importantly, it involves a famous public figure.

Who am I talking about? The PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) Commissioner...or rather, erstwhile Commissioner Noli Eala. The case stems from a complaint filed by Joselano Guevarra against Atty. Jose Emmanuel M. Eala, a.k.a. Noli Eala, before the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Committe on Bar Discipline for “grossly immoral conduct and unmitigated violation of the lawyer’s oath.”

According to the statement of facts in this case, Guevarra first met Eala when his then-fiancee Irene Moje introduced Eala to him sometime in January 0f 2000. Eala was then married to another woman with whom he has 3 children. After Guevarra and Irene got married, he noticed that Irene frequently received phone calls from Eala, as well as messages some of which read “I love you” or “I miss you.”

Irene began to go home late at night or early in the morning of the following day. When asked for the reason, she would mention that she stayed the night in her parents’ house or she was just busy with work. They would have constant arguments, resulting in Irene abandoning the conjugal home.

On April 22, 2001, Guevarra went uninvited to Irene’s birthday party. He saw Irene celebrating her birthday with Eala, her family and friends. Guevarra angrily left the venue. Upon arriving home, he went through her belongings and found a love letter which reads:

My everdearest Irene,

By the time you open this, you’ll be moments away from walking down the aisle. I will say a prayer for you that you may find meaning in what you’re about to do.

Sometimes I wonder why we ever met. Is it only for me to find fleeting happiness but experience eternal pain? Is it only for us to find a true love but then lose it again? Or is it because there’s a bigger plan for the two of us?

I hope that you have experienced true happiness with me. I have done everything humanly possible to love you. And today, as you make your vows . . . I make my own vow to YOU!

I will love you for the rest of my life. I loved you from the first time I laid eyes on you, to the time we spent together, up to the final moments of your single life. But more importantly, I will love you until the life in me is gone and until we are together again.

Do not worry about me! I will be happy for you. I have enough memories of us to last me a lifetime. Always remember though that in my heart, in my mind and in my soul, YOU WILL ALWAYS
. . . AND THE WONDERFUL THINGS YOU DO!

BE MINE . . . . AND MINE ALONE, and I WILL ALWAYS BE YOURS AND YOURS ALONE!

I LOVE YOU FOREVER, I LOVE YOU FOR ALWAYS. AS LONG AS I’M LIVING MY TWEETIE YOU’LL BE!”

Afterwards, Guevarra filed a complaint against Eala before the IBP Committee on Bar Discipline for grossly immoral conduct. Among the evidence presented was the birth certificate of Irene’s daughter, pointing to Eala as the father.

Eala for his part does not deny his relationship to Irene but argues that the relationship between them was not carried on under scandalous circumstances. (Errr, I think he might want to retract that statement now.) The IBP Commission on Bar Discipline Investigating Commissioner found the charge against Eala sufficiently proven. This was reversed by the IBP Board of Governors, dismissing the case for lack of merit. The case was immediately brought to the Supreme Court.

The rest, as they say, is history. Eala was found guilty of the charge (eh umamin naman kasi eh) and was DISBARRED for grossly immoral conduct, violation of his oath of office and of the Code of Professional Responsibility.

Eala eventually resigned as PBA Commissioner even before the PBA Board members could promulgate their decision to remove him from his position.

First off, how cheesy can a love letter be???!!! "I love you forever, I love you for always, as long as I'm living, my tweety you'll be!" I hope he has other lovable qualities aside from his love letter-writing ability.

Regarding Eala's disbarment and the resulting scandal surrounding him right now, I’m sure he is man enough live with the consequences of his decision, no matter how publicly humiliating it may be. I, for one, am not making any judgments about his actions or his morality because I don’t think I am in a position to do so.

What I’m concerned about is the effect this scandal would have in the lives of his children. Imagine growing up and reading about the Supreme Court decision. Unlike the write-ups which might eventually be forgotten and be hidden behind tons of other write-ups in the Google search engine, the decision of the Supreme Court will be studied and talked about in law school classrooms for decades to come. In cases like these, the children are always the losers.

Final note: You may want to read the full text of the Supreme Court decision here.

Funny letter

2007-08-16T11:37:00.000+08:00

I received this funny email in my inbox. I'm sure some of you have already seen this. The origin of this letter is unknown and its authenticity is questionable. Nevertheless it elicited guffaws from me and I am posting it here to share it with you and to let you practice your powers of apprehension...errr, rather...comprehension. Let's just hope you don't get a headache after reading this. Good luck!

Dear ______,

We've been friends for a long time ago. We come from the same alma mother. Actually, our paths crossed one time on another. But it's only now that I gave him a second look. I realized that beauty is in the eyes. The pulpbits of my heart went fast, really fast. I realized he’s cute. And then, he came over with me. He said, "I hope you don't mine. Can I get your number?" I got worried. What if he doesn't give it back? He explained it's so we could keep intact. I told him, connect me if I'm wrong but are you asking me ouch? He was surprised. He shot back, “The! Aba! You have the nerve to get angry! Persona ingrata!!!” I cried buckles of tears.

He felt guilty. He said, “just think of it as a blessing in the sky. Irregardless daw of
his feelings, we'll go ouch na rin. Now, we're so in love. The past is mute and epidemic. Thanks God we swallowed our fried. I'm 33 years old and I'm running our time. After 2 weeks, he plopped the question. "Will you marriage me?" I'm in a state of shocked. Would you believe, when it rains, it's four! This is true good to be true. I immediately said yes. Love is a many splendor.

When we were making arrangements for the wedding, everything swell to pieces. We were having dinner when a lady in the nearby table turned to us and said, "Well, well, well. Look do we have here." What the fuss! The nerd of that girl! She said they were still on. So I told her, whatever is that, cut me some slacks! I didn't want this to get our hand that’s why I had to sip it in the bud. She accused me of steeling her boyfriend. Ats if! I don't want to portrait the role of the other woman. Gosh, tell me to the marines! I told her, "please, mine you own business!" Who would believe her anyway?

Because it's not my problem anymore but her problem anymore, she got tired of meddling. Everything is coming up daisies. I'm so happy. Even my boyfriend said like twice. He's so supportive. He said, "Look at is this way. She's our of our lives."

So, my advice is - take the risk. You can never can tell. Just burn the bridge when you get there. Life is shorts. If you make a mistake, we'll just pray for the internal
and external repose of your soul. I second emotion.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Ten random facts about my mom

2007-08-15T01:19:00.000+08:00

I was tagged by momoftwo and this time it's all about my mom. This is a ~~long-overdue~~ meme. Anyway, here goes 10 random facts about my mom:

(1) She's the 4th among 7 siblings. Unfortunately, 4 of her siblings have already passed away, while the 2 remaining ones live quite far; her brother lives in the province (La Union), and her sister resides in Alberta, Canada.

(2) Her birthday falls on the 28th of December, the feast day of Ninos Inocentes or the "Feast of the Holy Innocents."

(3) She has experienced so many griefs in her life, like the death of her husband and firstborn son, and I am truly amazed by her strength during times of adversity. She stood by armed only with her faith in the Lord and emerged from it all a stronger person. I believe I inherited my strength from her.

(4) She successfully ran a furniture business with an inborn business acumen, despite the fact that she was not able to finish her studies due to poverty.

(5) She is a freak when it comes to cleanliness, almost bordering on obsessiveness, though she will try to deny it when you ask her...haha. She never fails to wakes up every 3 A.M. just start cleaning her house. Grabe. This gene, I did not inherit, unfortunately. My husband can attest to this.

(6) She dotes on her grandchildren to the point of spoiling them. I think my angel Raphael would have loved playing with his grandma if he were alive.

(7) She is the most unselfish person I know. She always looks after her kids' and grandkids' needs first before thinking of herself.

(8) She likes spicy food. She can even eat siling labuyo. Need I say more?

(9) Ok, I tease her about this but I've observed that when she offers food to anyone, she always starts her sentence with "Ayaw mo nito...?" And even if I bring this to her attention saying that other people might get offended, she persists in doing it anyway.

(10) And finally, she cooks the best adobo in town. Well, according to my taste anyway.

So there, these are ten random facts about my mom. An extraordinary Filipina in my opinion.

Recall of Nokia battery and Mattel toys

2007-08-14T23:24:00.000+08:00

Who doesn't own a cellular phone these days, epecially in a text-driven country like ours??? That's why news like this gets top-billings in the headlines. Of course I was immediately concerned upon learning that Nokia is recalling defective Nokia BL-5C batteries since my unit uses the same kind. Immediately, I surfed the internet for more info and discovered this official site of Nokia where one could type the serial number located on the battery and find out whether that particular unit is among those being recalled by Nokia. The verdict??? Fortunately, mine wasn't.

The recall was made on batteries made by Matsushita Japan, although no serious injuries have actually been reported. Recalling 46 million batteries??? This must be a nightmare for Nokia, especially with various emerging threats to its dominant position as the market-leader in the cellular phone business.

Have you also heard of the recall by Mattel's of its toys featuring characters like Big Bird and Elmo from Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer because of excessive amounts of lead paint?? These toys were manufactured by a company in China. This is especially alarming since Mattel is one of the most respected names in the toy industry. Sadly, the owner of the factory in China hanged himself in a warehouse last Saturday. Probably due to humiliation...poor guy. I just hope that these toys won't find their way to the Philippine market.

Holy Cupcake!!!

2007-08-09T02:30:00.000+08:00

I was starting to get depressed with the incessant rainfall when my husband surprised me with this delightful box...

Cupcakes from Sonja's!!! Yipee!!!!

Unfortunately, one cupcake succumbed to the pressure of the long drive due to heavy flooding in Metro Manila....

But I was able to salvage this sumptuous ube piece...

As well as this chocolate delight...

The filling was absolutely wonderful...I think I just died and went to heaven...

And yes, those are my teeth marks....hehehe.

Cupcakes by Sonja can be found at the Serendra Piazza Ground Level in Fort Bonifacio. Check out this clipcast from ClicktheCity.com. Enjoy!!!

Improving the image of the "FILIPINA"

2007-08-06T01:10:00.000+08:00

It's very disturbing when you Google the word "Filipina" and you immediately get a list of dating/mail-order bride sites featuring Filipinas. I first heard of this upon reading the site of Noemi. So, I am now joining this bunch of Filipina bloggers trying to reclaim the word "Filipina" from these nasty porn site.

With Noemi's permission, I am now republishing the "Steps to reshape the sexy filipina image so that the search engine results appear wholesome":

1. Let’s continue to showcase, through our blogs, the stories about the loving Filipina wives and mothers, the professionals, and outstanding bloggers. The Pinoy Moms Network is gaining ground among Filipina mothers around the world.

How?

Men and Women!!

Write at least one entry with the word “Filipina” somewhere in the title of your entry and discuss anything about the Filipina — whether it is about you or some outstanding Filipina Woman you know. Use words like “Filipina, Sexy Filipina, Filipina woman, Filipina sexy woman, sexy Filipina mom, Filipina Mom or Smart and Sexy Filipina” in our blog entries. Chances are a few more enlightened women warriors may want to help reshape the Filipina woman’s image by using the same words to capitalize on the wholesomeness of the same words.

If you don’t have a blog, start one easily at blogspot.com.

2. Continue with the Google Bombing Campaign but let’s all link to just one site.

Why?

The Filipina Women’s Network (FWN) is on page 1 of the Philippines Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP) so there is a strong possibility to rank this site as number 1 for the “Filipina” keyword.

Note: “The Filipina Women’s Network is dedicated to advancing Filipina women across all sectors, enhancing public perceptions of Filipina women’s ability to lead and fostering the entry of Filipina women into leadership positions.” FWN is a virtual organization based in the United States, perceived by many decision makers in government, corporations, business enterprises, professions, non-profit organizations, and other sectors as having consistently and continuously grown in leadership and influence since 1996. Collaboration with other organizations worldwide? Plans are brewing as FWN members work on their game plan for “Filipina Power 2012.”

How?

In your sidebar or footer, place this link. [Don’t just write the word, “Filipina.” Instead, insert the link. The highlighted, linkable keyword, “Filipina,” will be the published result. ]

Copy and Paste on your sidebar
"Filipina"

If you have a large community of readers in your site, start a similar sitewide links campaign and use this alternate Filipina link:
"Filipina"

3. Brand it! Use this “Yan ang Filipina” badge (originally designed as “Yan ang Pinay”), created and lovingly donated by Jonas Diego, that links to Filipina Women’s Network.(Right-click on the image to save it in your hard drive. Then, upload and display in your blog. Don’t forget to point the link to the FWN site!)

Rockin' Award!!!

2007-08-03T12:30:00.000+08:00

Hey, I rock!!! Thank you Ipanema for this wonderful award. Hehehe...shempre sobra akong natuwa kasi first time ko lang maka-receive ng award na ganito. My fellow awardees were: Bugsybee, Gypsy, Niceheart and Toe. These ladies, including Ipanema, are truly exceptional and certainly deserve this award (which is to say that I also do...hahaha!)

So, in the grand tradition of these blogosphere awards, I have to spread this prestigious (naks!) award to 5 of my blog friends (shempre, aside from those already mentioned na ha). And here are my awardees in alphabetical order:

Dinna - this rockin' lady blogs from New York. I always look forward to her stories about her NY experiences, the places she visits, her beloved son, and even about her pesky officemates and the saga of her problematic stepson. This lady impressed me a lot when she came to the defense of her friends (and the gay community in general) during the time of the Justice Isagani Cruz brouhaha. A reliable and trustworthy friend indeed.

Kyels - this rockin' lady is one thoughtful gal. You can see where her heart lies in her posts. I felt her pain when her dog died. I am always touched by her messages of kindness and encouragement which always comes just at the right moment in my life. She also takes excellent photographs to boot!

Mitams - this rockin' lady never ceases to delight me with her mouth-watering culinary concoctions. How I really wish I live next-door to this lady so that I can always get a taste of her latest culinary treat. Her site is the first site I visit when looking for new recipes. She is now hosting the 20th edition of Lasang Pinoy and it's all about "BINALOT." Please visit her site for more info.

Momoftwo - this rockin' lady is a fairly new blog friend. Nevertheless, I am impressed how she juggles her time studying and being a devoted mom to her 2 munchkins in another country. I am entertained by her rants and raves about nursing school. (~~Maybe I'd like to try it out someday???~~) By the way, she needs more prayer warriors right now for her mother-in-law who's currently battling colon cancer.

Vernaloo - this rockin' lady is also a new blog friend. From her blog entries, I can see that this lady has a very charming and bubbly personality. Seriously, nadadala talaga ako sa mga kuwento niya, hahaha. I look forward to reading more posts about her life and (previous) loves. Keep it coming!!!

Spread the love guys!

From the Courtside: Humorous Pics from the 2007 Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open (Part 3/3)

2007-07-31T00:54:00.000+08:00

Of course with all the pictures I took during the 2007 Bingo Bonanza Philippines, there were bound to be some pics which were kinda funny. I took the liberty of adding some funny captions. "Bato bato sa langit, ang tamaan wag magagalit."

FVR while combing his hair
During the Mixed Doubles Event...

During the Men's Doubles Event...

Look at how high Tan Boon Heong can jump...

You wouldn't believe what else happened during the tourney. It has been tagged as the case of the "suicidal rat." During the WD match between Novita/Polii of Indonesia and Zhao Tingting/Yang Wei of China, while Polii was trying to request for a break, a rat suddenly fell down seemingly out of nowhere!!! The eyewitness account (pls scroll down and look for the topic "suicidal rat") was so funny. Apparently, the rat looked like it fell from the ceiling. Imagine the consternation of the lady players upon seeing a rat inside the badminton court!!! Oh dear. I hope you guys enjoyed the pics featured above. Tata! Till the next tournament!

From the Courtside: More pics from the Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open 2007 (2/3)

2007-07-28T16:25:00.000+08:00

As promised, I am posting more pics I took during the 2007 Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open Badminton Tournament. These pics were taken during the finals held on 22 July 2007.

Men's Singles Finals: Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) def. Chen Hong (China)

A heart-warming scene: Lee giving Chen Hong a hug after the match Women's Doubles Finals: Yu Chin Chien and Wen Hsing Cheng (Chinese Taipei) def. Pan Pan and Qing Tian (China)

Zhou Mi of Hongkong who bagged the Women's Singles Title

Mixed Doubles Finals: Lilyana Natsir and Nova Widianto (Indonesia) def. Yu Mi Hwang and Sang Hoon Han (Korea)

Finally, the Men's Doubles Finals: Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong (Malaysia) def. Zhendong Guo and Zhongbo Xie (China)

Men's Doubles Champions being awarded by Former First Lady Amelita Ramos

It was a very successful tournament. I leave you with some snippets from the very exciting Men's Doubles game. Enjoy! Have a happy weekend everyone!

From the Courtside: Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open 2007 (Part 1)

2007-07-26T00:00:00.000+08:00

Here are some pics I took while watching the 2007 Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open Badminton Tournament at the Philsports Arena (formerly Ultra). These are from the Semi-Finals last Saturday. It was unfortunate we were only able to watch the last 3 games that day because we were late. Not our fault since it was raining so hard and my husband's car had a flat tire, so there.

A shot of the audience who trooped to the Philsports Arena despite the pouring rain outside

Zhongbo Xie of China giving a hand signal to his partner Zhendong Guo

Defending champions Susanto Njoto and Yohan Wiratama of Hong Kong (former players of the Indonesian National Team)

Another shot of the Men's Doubles game between China and Hong Kong

Yu Chin Chien and Wen Hsing Cheng of Chinese Taipei (who won that day and eventually bagged the Women's Doubles title the following day.)

On a different note: I just finished reading Harry Potter Book 7 today! Finally, I can now function properly. Don't worry, you won't find any spoilers in this post. I just have this to say -- J.K. Rowling is such an excellent storyteller. I'm so sad this is the last installment in the Potter series.

My Most Expensive Pictures Ever

2007-07-24T01:06:00.000+08:00

Caught your attention 'ei? Well, you have to read the rest of my post to understand.

18 July to 22 July 2007 saw the staging of the 2nd Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open Badminton Tournament at the Philsports Arena (formerly Ultra). My husband was able to watch it since Day 1. But since I couldn't get off work to watch the games with him, I had to content myself with watching the weekend games. The semi-finals was scheduled last Saturday, while the finals was scheduled last Sunday. I will be posting more pictures during the event in my succeeding posts.

Badminton fanatic that I am, I was able to convince my hubby to wait for the champion of the Men's Doubles event (Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia, now ranked #3 in the world) to emerge from the press conference room and have my picture taken with them. Here are the pics:

With Koo Kien Keat of Malaysia

With Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia

While my husband was busy taking these pictures, he felt someone's hand brush up his butt but took no notice of it since he wanted to appease my desire to have my picture taken with these world-class players. Immediately after taking these photos, his hand went to his pocket to check if his wallet was still there, but lo and behold...it was already gone!!! Some evil conscience-less person picked his pocket despite the presence of several police officers in the vicinity !!! Gggrrrr...I hope whoever did this rots in hell!!!!

Fortunately, my hubby was not yet able to withdraw so there was only a minimal amount of cash in his wallet. But it wasn't the money we were worried about but all the hassle of having to replace his ID, driver's license, ATM cards and credit card. Aside from anger at the person who did this, I also felt guilty because my hubby wanted to go home immediately but I convinced him to stay so that I could have pictures for posterity. Sheesh! If only we'd gone home immediately after the games. (Ang pagsisisi talagang laging nasa huli.) I should have listened to my "gut feel" telling me not to wait for these players and go home already. But I didn't listen. Instead, I persisted with the original plan. A lot of "if-only"s and "what-if"s.

So, yeah, these pictures truly are unforgettable and my most expensive pics ever. Lesson well learned indeed.

My Romance with Harry Potter

2007-07-21T23:57:00.000+08:00

I have a confession to make. I'm a BIG Harry Potter fan. A friend of mine introduced me to this series when Book 2 was just released. Since then, I've been hooked and I always buy the latest book on its first release date. This time is no different. I've been carrying this book I bought from National Book Store all day and I couldn't wait to get home to read it. I'm giddy with excitement as I tear open the recognizable red plastic and behold the latest AND the last installment in the Harry Potter series. Tantararaannn....

Hmmm...somehow, there's something different this time. I've been home hours ago but I still couldn't get myself to read the first few pages. Perhaps it's because it's the last installment and I want to savor every word. Or perhaps I've been forewarned that another character will die and I know when I reach that point in the book that I'll probably get depressed. Ok....I think I better shut up now and start reading. Have a happy weekend everyone!

Quick Post

2007-07-14T01:36:00.000+08:00

Sorry guys. I've been remiss in my duties -- I haven't updated my blog for quite some time now. I even forgot to blog about my 1st BLOGSARY!!! Shoot. Anyway, just wanted you guys to know that I'm still alive. My hubby's competing in a tournament this weekend. Will probably post some pics after...that is if I get decent ones out of my new digicam (ehem). Have a nice weekend everybody!!!

Update: Too bad my husband's team lost. The tournament was a team event. A team has to win 3 out of the 5 events in order to win. My husband didn't even get a chance to play. So, too bad, I wasn't able to get a chance to take pictures.

VAMOS RAFA!!!

2007-06-11T00:14:00.000+08:00

Photos courtesy of Yahoo news.

This Spanish tennis phenomenon, often booed during his matches at Roland Garros, proved to everybody once more why he is worthy of the title "King of Clay." Rafael Nadal Parera, or Rafa to his family and friends, just won his third consecutive French Open Title in a row. My voice is almost hoarse from cheering, even if I just watched the French Open in the comfort of our bedroom.

I was surprised to find out that this left-handed Capri-wearing Spaniard is not naturally left-handed. Rafa is really right-handed. However, when he was ten years old, his uncle and current coach Toni Nadal discovered that this young lad had a future in tennis. Toni Nadal then decided that his two-handed backhand would benefit from a strong right arm, so he taught Rafa to play with his left hand.

What really amazed me most is the fact that he still lives in his hometown, in the island of Majorca in Spain, in their family home with his parents, grandparents, his sister, Uncle Toni and his family. His family is what keeps him grounded. There are talks that he still occupies one room even if he is already a millionaire. The locals have gotten used to having him around so that he doesn't get special treatment. He still has the same set of friends he had before he became famous. Humility among successful sports figures is a rarity nowadays.

As well as producing a champion, the family is happy it has brought up a well-mannered young man. "He has never broken a racquet in anger," Toni said. "It would be showing a lack of respect to people who actually have to buy the equipment to play the sport."

With this, I leave you with a funny video I found featuring Rafa. Enjoy!

RAFAEL NADAL "La Bamba"
Uploaded by sportvideos

Vamos Rafa!

End of summer and holdapan blues...

2007-06-08T01:38:00.000+08:00

The reason for my long absence??? I've been trying to enjoy the last remaining weeks of my maternity leave, taking care of things that need to be taken care of, before I go back to work and before my husband and I could even think of conceiving another baby.

First off, I had to have my impacted molar removed. Ouucchhh...that was really such a painful experience. What does it have to do with getting pregnant again? Well...nothing really, except that I read in the book "What to Expect When You're Expecting" under the section "Preparing for the Next Baby," the authors advised women to go see their dentist and have any necessary work, including X-rays, fillings and dental surgery completed so that it won't have to be done during pregnancy. Believe me, the pain was unbelieveable even after the surgery and I could not imagine having survived it without painkillers afterwards. Remember when I had to have my dermoid cyst removed???

I was also busy helping my husband arrange a mini-badminton tournament for all of his students at the Kimoni Badminton Academy. Kimoni Badminton Academy was estalished by Kimon Philippines in order to give high-quality badminton lessons in their headquarters in Sta. Mesa Heights, QC. They have tapped the services of former national players to teach its clientele the rudiments in badminton. The mini-tournament was a lot of fun since beginners were given a chance to experience how joining a tournament feels like.

Jojo Mance (in the middle) with the rest of the participants

Unfortunately, the day was not without its hitch. A couple who joined the tournament arrived late. Apparently, they had lunch in this small restaurant along Kamagong St. in Makati which was held up by 2 armed men aboard a motorcycle. The customers were told at gunpoint to give these 2 armed men their wallets and cellphones. The cashier (of the restaurant) was left unharmed. Tsk tsk tsk...to think that this restaurant is just near the Makati Police Station. According to eyewitnesses, this restaurant was already held up twice already in the past. Unbelievable.

So, beware when eating out in restaurants. Me? I prefer to dine inside malls or established restaurants where there is sufficient security.

Happy Mother's Day 2007

2007-05-13T22:06:00.000+08:00

Get Cool MySpace Comments

I would like to greet my mom and my sister a Happy Mother's Day, as well as all the mothers out there who happen to read this blog.

While everybody is celebrating Mother's Day today, I am just observing from the sidelines with an ache in my heart. I was truly happy when one of my nieces greeted me Happy Mother's Day during lunch today, a fellow blogger Major Tom greeted me in his blog, and another blogger Meily left a Mother's Day greeting in my previous post. Aside from my husband, who understands and also happens to share the pain that I feel, I did not expect anyone to greet me a Happy Mother's Day.

In fact, there are times when I forget that I am a mother also, because of the fact that I have no baby to hug, to feed or to take care of. But no one can erase the fact that I am still a mother to Raphael Roque, even though he's already in heaven right now. He means the world to me and I try to honor his memory as much as possible. While he may not be with me now physically, he will always be with me for I always carry him in my heart. I am still his mother after all.

The Blogging Phenomenon

2007-05-11T09:30:00.000+08:00

While trying to keep myself occupied last Saturday afternoon, waiting for my husband who was having his racket strung at a sports store inside Virra Mall, I happened to browse through some books at A Different Bookstore nearby. I was not planning on buying this book, The World Is Flat written by Thomas Friedman, but eventually did so upon the prodding of the store salesman. This book is an interesting read and talks about globalization and its impact in the business community.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't finished reading it yet -- all 571 pages. But I want to share with you some stuff that the author wrote about this phenomenon called "blogging."

"A new blog is created every seven seconds, according to Technorati.com, a site that tracks these easily updated Web journals. Technorati says there are more than twenty-four million blogs already, and the number is growing at about seventy thousand a day and doubling every five months -- from Iraqi bloggers, who give their own take on news from the front, to bloggers who follow and critique golf course architecture, to poker bloggers, investment bloggers, to just plain you and me bloggers."

I'm sure that this number has multiplied since the date of the release of the updated version of this book in 2006. But those are still large numbers. The author also mentioned that companies like General Electric even hire someone to plow through the various blogs and respond to them on a daily basis. Big companies are starting to take notice.

"It is impossible to imagine what it is going to be like in ten years when virtually everyone has a blog. But that is where we are heading."

This is awesome technology. I'm glad I live in this age of advanced digital technology. :-D

Badminton...for a cause

2007-05-05T23:56:00.001+08:00

The 1st LifeBridge Badminton Tournament was held last Saturday at the Greenhills Badminton Court. The Tournament Director was no other than my hubby (Jojo Mance). I have to admit that I knew nothing about this organization when I first heard about it. I decided to tag along since I needed to keep myself busy.

When I arrived at the Greenhills Badminton Court, the venue of the tourney, I was able to talk to the organizers of the tournament. I learned that LifeBridge is a non-governmental Christian organization helping people who were in need. For this particular badminton tournament, the proceeds will go to the Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Support Group headed by Mr. Don Suarez. When I talked to Mr. Suarez, the first thing I asked was what the Cornelia de Lange syndrome (“CDLS”) is all about.

What is CDLS?
Cornelia de Lange syndrome is a developmental disorder that affects many parts of the body. The features of this disorder vary widely among affected individuals and range from relatively mild to severe.
Cornelia de Lange syndrome is characterized by slow growth before and after birth, mental retardation that is usually severe to profound, abnormalities involving the arms and hands, and distinctive facial features. The facial differences include thin, arched eyebrows; long eyelashes; low-set ears; small, widely spaced teeth; and a small, upturned nose. Many affected individuals also have behavior problems similar to autism, a developmental condition that affects communication and social interaction.

The parents of children afflicted with CDLS created a support group in order to help one another. Moreover, since children with CDLS require constant care all throughout their life, it causes quite a financial strain on the family. The support group is a critical component of caring for the children. My discussion with Mr. Suarez was very uplifting and reminded me all too well of the tragedy that befell my son. It aroused in me the desire to reach out to others.

I also got to meet the consultant of the CDLS support group, Dr. Eva Cutiongco-de la Paz, who, aside from being a doctor, also happened to be a genetic counsellor. I believe that this was no ordinary coincidence. Jojo and I really need to see a genetic counsellor and we had no idea who to go to. Aside from this, I was also toying with the idea of forming a support group here in the Philippines for parents of children who have trisomy 18 or Edward’s syndrome. I mentioned this to Dra. De la Paz and she thought it was a good idea. She said she could help me since she has several patients who were also parents of children with trisomy 18. I really hope that our plans would push through. For the first time in months, I went home that day full of hope.

All in all, the tournament was a success. Here are some pictures from the tournament.

The organizers, tournament director and coordinator of the 1st LifeBridge Badminton Tournament

Jojo having an animated conversation with Mark Anthony Fernandez.

(Oh, did I forget to mention that some celebrities also participated in this event?)

Daisy Reyes with a crazed fan (???!!!)

Remembering Raphael

2007-05-01T23:47:00.000+08:00

When I got pregnant last year, I fully expected my birthday this year to be a very happy event -- I would either be holding a baby in my arms or just about to give birth.

Instead, this day proved to be one of my loneliest birthday ever because of the recent happenings in my life. I started it off by attending a mass in honor of my son Raphael. I know that my son is already an angel in heaven but I still like praying for him because it is one of the few things I can still do for him as a mother.

Hubby and I then went to Dangwa to buy flowers for him. After that, together with the rest of my family, we went to the cemetery to visit my Lola's grave where we kept the urn of Raphael. Lunch was a delicious affair by the bay as we bought various seafoods and had "paluto" in one of the restaurants nearby.

I received a lot of text messages greeting me a happy birthday but the ones which I appreciated the most were those which mentioned my son. For to remember my son is one of the greatest joys I will have as a mother.

Take a look at my yummy birthday cake which my husband ordered from Estrel's:

And of course, this is the portion I got:

"The mention of my child’s name may bring tears to my eyes,
But it never fails to bring music to my ears.
If you are really my friend, let me hear the beautiful music of his name.
It soothes my broken heart and sings to my soul.”
- Author unknown.

You are irreplaceable, my firstborn

2007-04-25T18:37:00.000+08:00

Today marks the third week of the birth of my angel....Raphael Roque. Birth...I’m not even sure that it’s the right term since Raphael was born straight to heaven. I’ve been dreading writing this post because it forces me to face reality....the reality that my baby who brought me and my husband so much joy and for whom we thought the future loomed so bright is no longer with us. I sometimes wake up dazed, fully expecting the cries of a hungry baby...a sound that have not and will never come.

I can still remember the day when my baby was diagnosed with having Edward’s syndrome during the seventh month of my pregnancy. The doctor advised my husband and I to prepare, both emotionally and spiritually, for the eventuality that our baby would only have a short life here on earth, that is if we even get to meet him alive. The odds were simply stacked against Raphael. But in spite of all the preparations, nothing could have prepared me for the deluge of emotions upon seeing the lifeless body of my son. Oh how handsome he was! With wispy hair, tender features and lips as red as a rose. It was truly gut-wrenching. I felt so helpless...I could not do anything to help save my baby, the baby whom my husband and I brought to life.

While my baby’s life may have been short, I will forever be grateful for his legacy. He has taught me how to love unconditionally...the way a mother loves her child, to see beyond his physical defects, see the beautiful person inside and love him with all her heart and soul.

I’ve always wondered why God took my angel away even before we got to meet him. I have this theory that maybe my son saw heaven and wanted immediately to play with other angels. Others say that maybe the soul of my son was so beautiful that God immediately wanted him by His side. Whatever the reason, one thing is for sure – Raphael is now happy in heaven, together with my father and brother, playing happily with other angels, waiting patiently for the day he eventually gets to meet his parents.

Oh how my heart aches so much for my baby. But for now, tears are my refuge and sleep, my comfort. To my precious baby Raphael Roque, I would like you to know that we love you and you will forever reside in our hearts. You are irreplaceable, my firstborn, my sweet angel Raphael. Till we meet again.

Our Precious Angel, Raphael Roque

2007-03-23T17:23:00.000+08:00

The past 3 weeks have not been very easy for me and my husband. During this period, much time has been spent praying, soul-searching and asking for prayers from our friends. No words could adequately describe what we felt and are currently feeling during these most trying times. Enclosed is a copy of the e-mail we sent out to our family and friends. Please include us in your prayers.

Dear family, friends and colleagues,

You all witnessed how happy we were for the last 7 months because the Lord blessed our union with a child in Mar’s [this is my nickname - ladybug] womb.

However, as some of you may already know, this happiness was short-lived. The 6th ultrasound 3 weeks ago showed what could be the presence of an omphalocele in our son’s stomach. We immediately searched the web and found out that an omphalocele is a congenital (found at birth) malformation in which variable amounts of abdominal contents protrude into the base of the umbilical cord, in our son’s case, his stomach and intestines. As the fetus grows in pregnancy, the intestines grow and get longer and project from the abdomen into the umbilical cord. This growth is taking place from the sixth to the tenth week of pregnancy. Normally the intestines return rapidly into the abdomen by the eleventh week of pregnancy. If this fails to happen, an omphalocele is present. However, more than half of all infants born with an omphalocele may have other birth defects. Some of these defects may be serious. This was what alarmed us instantly. We kept praying and hoping that it would just be an omphalocele, with no other complications.

We then went to see a perinatologist 2 weeks ago for a high-level ultrasound. We received more shattering news. Our son did not just have an omphalocele, he has several other congenital defects as well: hypoplastic left heart syndrome (A rare but serious congenital heart defect. It is the most common cause of death from heart disease during the first week of life.), absence of nasal bone, clubbed hands coupled with clinodactyly, among others. Presence of all these symptoms are highly suspicious for the presence of Trisomy 18. At present, further testing is deferred until Mar gives birth and the cord blood could be subjected to Karyotyping in order to fully diagnose the presence of trisomy 18.

What is Trisomy 18?

At conception, 23 chromosomes from the father and 23 chromosomes from the mother combine to create a baby with 46 chromosomes in each cell, two of each type. Each chromosome holds a particular "position" in the cell and carries certain genetic material. A trisomy occurs when a baby has three chromosomes in one position instead of the normal two.
The most common trisomy is Trisomy 21, also known as Down Syndrome, where a baby has three of the twenty-first chromosome. Trisomy 18 is the second most common trisomy and occurs when a baby has three of the eighteenth chromosome. This results in 47 chromosomes instead of the normal 46 in the affected cells. It is this extra genetic material that causes the problems associated with Trisomy 18.

Trisomy 18 is also called Edwards syndrome (or Edward's syndrome) and occurs in about 1:3000 conceptions and 1:6000 live births, as 50% of those diagnosed prenatally with the condition will not survive the prenatal period. Unlike Down syndrome, Trisomy 18 is usually fatal, with most of the babies dying before birth and those who do make it to birth typically living only a few days. However, a small number of babies (<10%) live at least one year.

Most trisomies (about 95%) are full trisomies. That is, the extra chromosome occurs in every cell in the baby's body. This type of trisomy is not hereditary, and is not due to anything the parents did or did not do, and it is by far the most common type. In most literature, Trisomy 18 means full Trisomy 18.
This disease has been described as “incompatible with life.”

No one, not even the doctor, could assess our son’s percentage of survival. Other children with t18 and with no heart complications have survived for a few months, while others without the heart disease did not even make it to full term. Each story is different for each family.

Please don’t hesitate to ask us how we’re doing or to discuss our son’s current situation. Sometimes, talking about it is a big help. At this point, we cannot do anything but continuously pray for our son. Aside from our family, we also felt the need to inform our friends and work colleagues in order to avoid awkwardness, inform people about this disease, and more importantly, to ask for your prayers.

We hope that we get the chance to meet our son alive and for him to be baptized Raphael Roque Nuval Mance.

Sincerely,

"Hush! My dear; lie still and slumber;
Holy angels guard thy bed.
Heavenly blessings without number
Gently falling on thy head."
- by Isaac Watts

Belated congratulatory post

2007-03-12T20:15:00.000+08:00

I know, I know. I haven't been a dutiful wife lately. This is a very belated congratulatory post. I would like to congratulate my hubby Jojo Mance and his partner Melvin Llanes for winning the Men's Doubles Open Category at the Powerade Badminton Cup 2006 held last December 2006 at the Yonex Badminton Court in Mandaluyong City.

Jojo Mance and Melvin Llanes (Champion in the Men's Doubles Category)
Irene Chiu and Jaime Junio (Champions of the Mixed Doubles Category)
Photos courtesy of Powerade, Kimoni and Yourbadminton.com

Champions of the Men's Doubles Category together with the organizers
(From left to right: Jojo Mance, Jenny Cinco of Coca-Cola Phil., Melvin Llanes,
Sharon Lee of Kimoni and Emma Mina of Mindworks)

Congratulations Honey! Unfortunately, I was not able to watch the games and cheer them on because I had to stay at home and rest from the operation I had last year (removal of my dermoid cyst). I'm starting to think that my husband gets lucky whenever I don't get to watch his games....hehehe. I broached this topic with my husband, and of course, he laughingly brushed it aside saying that I can never bring him bad luck. (Aww....sweet noh.) Anyway, you can read more of their feat at this website http://www.yourbadminton.com/article52.php

tag category: badminton tournaments

The Dilemma of Kris

2007-02-26T14:34:00.000+08:00

I've always avoided showbiz topics in the past. But I just cannot resist writing about the Kris-James-Hope love triangle. Last weekend, almost every television set in the Philippines was glued to Startalk and S-Files for the much-awaited revelation of "Hope" Centeno regarding her affair with cager James Yap, husband of Kris Aquino. Rumors/jokes circulated regarding what the revelation would include, e.g. lurid details about sexual encounters, content of text messages, etc.

This probably prompted the "collapse" of Kris when she first heard about the scheduled airing of the interview of Hope by Lolit Solis. My heart goes out to Kris at this point. While I may not agree with some of the steps taken and I'm reserving my judgment about the whole controversy, I can only imagine the pain she must be going through, and at such a difficult time in her life. She's also 7 months pregnant like me (note: unfortunately the similarity ends there as I don't have her multi-million peso account nor the face of my father in the 500-peso bill). I'm having trouble as it is - lower back pain, morning sickness (yes, I still have it and in fact it's even worse now and it seems to have rubbed off on my husband too), anxieties about the baby and the upcoming delivery - without having the "supposed" infidelity of your husband being broadcast over national television. Oh well, as Lolit aptly puts it - "Next week, this will all be forgotten. Until James gets in trouble again."

A little update...

2007-02-22T16:08:00.000+08:00

I know...I've been silent for a long time, a little longer than the usual. I've had trouble accessing the blogger website last month, which made me lose my cool and wanted to stop blogging altogether. But I realized that I missed all you guys. When I opened my blogger account today, I was surprised that blogger automatically switched me to the new version. Oh well, at least I had no trouble logging in and posting this entry. Actually, it seems even easier now.

Just a little update...

Whooaa...I've gained 30 pounds with the pregnancy. And there's still one more trimester left to go. My OB-GYN wants me to cut down on my carb intake. Aw shucks, I love my carbs...rice, bread, pasta, you name it.

I have edema ("pagmamanas") of the ankle and feet. From a shoe size of 8, I've gone to a size 9 and this morning, I had trouble putting on my size 9 shoes because of the extreme swelling. The only thing I look forward to are the foot massages my husband gives me every night in the hopes of letting the swelling subside. (I don't think it has any effect but please don't tell my husband.)

Anyway, I'm getting hungry. Im thinking of going to Greenbelt 1 and having some snacks...maybe pasta? ("Tigas talaga ng ulo...kasasabi lang bawasan ang carb intake eh.") Good luck ladybug!

Happy Birthday Kuya...

2007-01-18T15:04:00.000+08:00

Dearest Kuya,

Happy happy birthday! It has been a very long time since we talked and I really miss you very, very much. You've missed a lot of milestones in my life....passing the bar and becoming a lawyer, getting married and being pregnant right now. I'm so excited to tell you that you're going to have a nephew!!! I miss the way you torture me every morning by tickling me when I was still a little kid. I'm pretty sure you're going to do the same to your nephew and he is going to adore you. I just hope that you're having a grand celebration there in heaven. Don't worry, I'll tell my son stories about you so that he'll still get to know his Tito. I love you very much...

Love,
Your Little Sister

In memory of my Kuya
(17 January 1963-20 August 1993)

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-20T14:44:00.000+08:00

I am fully expecting the following days before Christmas to be a very busy time, both at the office and at home. I'm not sure if I'll be able to blog during this busy yuletide season. So, I just want to make sure that I'm able to greet all of you a very warm and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! With all the celebrations and parties around us, let us not forget the true meaning of Christmas -- the birth of our saviour Jesus Christ. Wishing you all a peaceful and joyous Christmas ahead.

I got tagged!

2006-12-14T18:00:00.000+08:00

After all the preparations and the recovery needed after my operation, I must admit I had no idea how to get my creative juices flowing again. My mind goes blank every time I log in to my blogger account. Good thing I got tagged by a blog friend Kat. This is a nice way for me to get excited about writing again. For this tag, I need to write 6 random facts about myself, plus an explanation for each item. Here it goes ...

1. I cannot sleep with dirty feet.

I might be dead-tired from work (arriving past midnight) with my make-up still on,
about to fall asleep the moment my head hits my pillow...and yet I cannot sleep with dirty feet. I have this urgent need to go to the bathroom and wash my feet even if I do not get to wash my face or brush my teeth due to sheer exhaustion. I just have no explanation for this. This is one of my quirks.

2. I like watching my DVD set of "Will & Grace" over and over and over again.

It used to be the TV show "Friends," but this has been replaced by "Will & Grace". I do not get tired of watching the same show over and over again. And I still laugh at the right moments. Don't get me wrong...I like watching the occasional new movie and TV show. But there is something about watching the same scenes over and over again...gives me a sense of comfort that nothing will change in my life and nobody will leave me...again. Must be all the childhood heartaches of relatives and friends migrating abroad and the memory of the death of my brother and father.

3. I love collecting bookmarks.

As a young kid, I loved to read the usual Nancy Drew series which progressed to Sweet Dreams which eventually progressed to more serious stuff. Since budget was tight, I was unable to buy and collect these books. I could only borrow them. So, in lieu of books, I thought of collecting bookmarks. Wala lang...bookmarks are a whole lot cheaper. :-)

4. I love to eat bananas dipped in adobo cauce and/or ice cream with potato chips or french fries.

These are some of my comfort foods. I love the sweetness of bananas or ice cream mixed with the saltiness of adobo sauce or potato chips/french fries. However, since I'm pregnant and currently in the stage of paglilihi, I cannot stand the smell or sight of bananas and adobo and any food with lots of garlic in them. They would have to wait until I give birth.

5. I have a very laid back disposition.

A friend of mine is frustrated with me. When I was still single and unattached, this friend of mine would always invite me to go to Sagada, Mountain Province to trek. While I am sure that this place must be very picturesque surrounded by the beauty of nature....I am not inclined to go through all that trouble to enjoy the beauty of nature. My idea of a perfect vacation is to stay in bed and sleep all day....hehehe.

6. Whenever I go inside National Book Store, I have this strong compulsion to buy something, even just a ballpen so that I will not leave empty handed.

I have racked up a lot of reward points with my Laking National Card because of this compulsion. There is absolutely no explanation for this. If you have any idea how to get rid of this compulsion, I would certainly welcome your suggestion. This is the reason why I refuse to go inside National Book Store if there is no need for me to buy anything.

I'm not tagging anyone with this meme. I'm just happy to be back.

Road to Recovery

2006-11-27T16:16:00.000+08:00

Last 17 November 2006, I underwent the operation to remove the cyst in my left ovary. It was successful and the baby and I are both fine. Since then, I've been slowly, but surely, recovering in the confines of our home. Rest assured that everything is OK. It was very painful during the first few days after the operation since I could not take pain-killers because of the bad effect it might have on the foetus. But I'm feeling a whole lot better now. Thank you very much for all of your prayers.

I'M BACK!

2006-11-10T19:14:00.000+08:00

Hi dear friends! I know I've been gone for a long time. Rest assured that I'm perfectly alright...so far. I'm touched by the messages I received while I was gone.

Anyway, I think there's a need to explain my long absence....but then there's really no explanation for it. Hahahaha. As most of my friends in the blogosphere know by now, I'm on the family way. I've been experiencing morning sickness from hell which explains my "suplada" attitude these days....teehheee....and hubby has no choice but to put up with it. My workload has been crazy. And most of all, there were the needed trips to the doctor's clinic and to the hospital.

My first ultrasound was a happy one, saw the peanut-sized foetus inside the uterus and my heart fluttered like crazy...until I saw the doctor frowning. "Doc, what's wrong?" She answered, "there seems to be a dermoid cyst in your left ovary." And that was it. What happened was a series of tests with different doctors to prove the presence of a dermoid cyst. There's really a need to remove the cyst because it's continually getting bigger in size and there's a chance that I might go into premature labor if it's not removed. The doctor assured me that it's routine procedure and the baby won't be harmed. I've been praying the rosary everyday, asking for help to make sure that the baby remains safe throughout the whole procedure and even afterwards.

So, how do you lift a sagging spirit? Why...shopping of course! It certainly won't solve the problem of my cyst but I sure do have to look at least presentable while I'm pregnant, right? So, armed with only a small amount of cash, I decided to go to the best bargain place in Manila....Divisoria. Why spend a lot of money when I get to wear maternity clothes for a few more months anyway?

So here are my bargain buys...

Php 130 or roughly US$2.60

Php 180 or approx. US$3.60

Php 100 or approx. US$ 2.00

I bought 2 of these beauties in different colors,

each at Php 100 or approx. US$ 2.00

Php 230 or approx. US$ 4.60

So, if you meet a pregnant lady one of these days wearing any of these outfits, it might just be me! :-)

Hapones?

2006-10-16T19:19:00.000+08:00

Overheard on the radio this morning, a radio announcer interviewing Robert Dean Barbers, the General Manager of Philippine Tourism Authority:

Radio Announcer: Saan pong bansa nanggagaling ang pinakamaraming turista sa Pilipinas?

GM Barbers: Maraming turista ang nanggagaling pa rin sa U.S.

Radio Announcer: Ay, ang akala ko po ang nangunguna sa listahan ay ang mga Koreano.

GM Barbers: Pinakamarami pa rin ang galing sa US, sinusundan ng mga Koreano tapos mga Hapon.

Radio Announcer: Ahhh....so mga Americans, Koreans and Japans. (?!?!?!?! )

Rough translation:
Radio Announcer: From which country do we derive the most number of tourists?
GM Barbers: Majority of the tourists come from the United States.
Radio Announcer: Oh, I thought the list was topped by Koreans.
GM Barbers: We get the most number of tourists from the U.S., followed by Korea, then Japan.
Radio Announcer: Oh, so Americans, Koreans and Japans (??!?!?!?!)

A reunion of sorts

2006-10-14T18:37:00.000+08:00

What happens when you put together former classmates from law school together? Why, chaos, of course. Venue was Una Mas, Greenbelt 2. I even forgot to take some pictures of the food we ate because we were all so busy catching up on each other's lives. All in all, it was an evening of good food shared with good friends. Hope we can do it again soon.

Bon voyage Jeanne!

Small plane crashes into a Manhattan building

2006-10-12T04:16:00.000+08:00

I woke up this morning with a full bladder and a strong urge to pee, so I went to the CR. After going back to bed, I also felt very thirsty. Ayayay...the discomforts of pregnancy.

Anyway, with all of these things happening to me very early in the morning, I could not immediately go back to sleep. So I decided to switch the television on, hoping to catch some boring show to rock me to sleep. What flashed before me did not make me go back to sleep. Instead, I was jolted into full consciousness and sent me running to the computer.

The image of a burning building in NY immediately caught my attention, accompanied by the headline banner of BBC saying that a plane crashed into a NY building. What flashed through my mind was "Oh no! Not another terrorism attack again please!" I'm sure the people of NY have not yet recovered from the 9-11 attack.

Anyway, there have been no indications of terrorism involved. However, fighter jets have been reinforced and there's a no-fly zone over Manhattan. According to the news reports, it was a small plane (probably a 4-seater) that crashed into the 20th floor of a 50-story condominium tower located on East 72nd. The Belaire Condominiums, built in 1988, has 183 apartments, many of which sell for more than $1 million. It is a tower overlooking the East River, about five miles from the former World Trade Center building. As of this writing, there have only been 2 confirmed deaths.

What's so disconcerting about this is that this building is located near a hospital, the Hospital for Special Surgery. So, several lower floors are occupied by doctors and administrative offices, as well as guest facilities for family members of patients of the said hospital.

I hope that this really is an accident and no terrorism is involved. For more info, please visit http://www.cnn.com/.

Tips on recognizing a stroke immediately

2006-10-05T19:59:00.000+08:00

Based on personal experience, I cannot stress enough the necessity of recognizing the signs of stroke at the earliest possible moment. So, when I read Kevin Kelly's site, I thought of posting some of its contents in my blog in order to help spread this information.

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim quickly he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed and getting to the patient within 3 hours, which is tough. Sometimes, symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. But doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by performing 3 simple tasks:

1. Ask the individual to SMILE.
2. Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
3. Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE. (Coherently, ie: It is sunny out today.)

The American Stroke Association lists more warning signs of stroke, and these are:
* Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body.
* Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
* Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
* Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
* Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.

Not all of these warning signs may occur in every stroke. In my case, I had numbness on the right side of my body, severe pain in my left eye and difficulty speaking. I could not even recite the alphabet. The important thing to remember is not to ignore signs of stroke, even if they do go away. Unfortunately, we don't have 9-1-1 in our country. The best thing to do under the circumstances is to bring the individual to the nearest hospital so that the doctors may give the proper medical care and attention. If diagnosed early, the stroke may still be easily reversed, depending on the damage.

Arming yourself with this knowledge may just save another person's life.

(P.S., you might be wondering when the stroke happened. This happened to me 2 years ago and I'm ok now. FYI.)

The weekend that was...

2006-10-02T12:42:00.000+08:00

I had a very uneventful weekend. The ravages of typhoon "Milenyo" were still visible all across the metropolis. I hope all of my friends and relatives are okay and weren't affected by the typhoon, except of course for the power and water interruption.

It's Monday once more and the beginning of a workweek. For some reason, I'm feeling a lot better today. Read somewhere that eating foods rich in complex carbohydrates will lessen the feeling of morning sickness. Must be the result of the oatmeal breakfast I had this morning. Note to self: I will eat oatmeals every morning from now on.

I'm sorry to all of those who commented on my previous post which were left unanswered. I actually answered them but for some reason, could not post the answers to blogspot. Don't know what's wrong. But I do appreciate all of your greetings.

My posts have become less frequent. But I'm not abandoning blogging. I consider it a very helpful therapy for me. I just hope I get into a writing mood one of these days. Anyway, that's it for now.

P.S.
Tomorrow, 3 October 2006, is the deadline for submission of entries in the 2006 Yonex Sunrise Philippines National Open Badminton Championships. It's one of the premiere events in the Philippine badminton scene. For more info on this tournament and on how to join, please visit this site.

Badminton World Championship, memes, etc.

2006-09-25T13:10:00.000+08:00

I had a difficult time waking up this morning. Wondered if it was related to my current condition. Hmmm, suddenly I remembered the reason why...I stayed up late watching the 2006 World Badminton Championships telecast live from Madrid, Spain. Aww shucks. Memo to self, sleep early from now on. I think I can sacrifice 7 more months of late night television in exchange for a healthy baby. It was quite funny though...I was rooting for Lin Dan on behalf of my unborn baby....hahaha. I'm so glad he won the World Championship. Bao Chunlai, Lin Dan's opponent and compatriot, is also a good player. There are other opportunities for him to win though, so good luck on his next try.

Anyway, these memes are long overdue. (Sorry Ipanema and Mita for the delay.)

First off, Ipanema requested me to name seven songs that I'm into right now. Hmm, I'm not really into music these days since I'm too sleepy to pop a CD in the player or to turn on the radio. Anyway, these are the songs that I last listened to on my cellphone/mp3 player:

1. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Art Garfunkel's version

2. Moon River - Louis Armstrong

3. La vie en rose - Louis Armstrong

4. What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

5. Do you hear the people sing - from Les Miserables

6. Master of the house - from Les Miserables

7. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - Johnny Matthis

I included the last one since this song never fails to get me in the Christmas mood. And I love the voice of Johnny Matthis. :-D

Now, onto Mita's meme. She requested me to list the top 5 things to eat before you die. I had more trouble deciding on this one because my taste buds are askew these days. Previous favorites have been included in the banned list at home...well, at least until I give birth. I cannot even take the smell of sauteeing garlic and onions. Oh well, seven more months....seven more months.

Anyway, here's my own list of top 5 things to eat before you die:

1. Steamed lapu-lapu from Emerald's Garden along Roxas Boulevard. I love their fresh steamed lapu-lapu with the mixture of just the right seasonings.

2. Prawn salad from President's in Chinatown.

3. Sweet lanzones from camiguin...and it's lanzones season to boot! (Yipee! My stomach is rejoicing at the thought of these sweet fresh lanzones.)

4. Pork chop from Tasty Dumplings (they have branches in Chinatown, Wilson St., Banawe among others). Their food is reasonably priced, even for those on a tight budget. Their chops are thin, crunchy and very tasty.

5. Razon's halo halo. I just love their halo-halo. Their recipe hails from Pampanga. The leche flan on top just melts in your mouth. Yummmmmmmyyy.

I would have wanted to include lumpia from a certain shop in Quiapo. But the name of the shop escapes me at this point. Sorry guys.

Anyway, there you go. Sorry for the delay. And since these memes are long overdue, I don't think I'll tag anyone. Hope you all had an enjoyable weekend. :-D

A Tribute to My Husband

2006-09-17T10:25:00.000+08:00

Tag Category: A Badminton Story

It's my husband's birthday today and I must admit that with all of the things that have recently happened in our lives, I was not able to prepare anything for him. I could not even cook for him because my olfactory senses simply could not stand the smell of cooking. So my husband is out right now buying food for the guests. By the way, we're not just celebrating his birthday....it's also been 5 years from the day I officially said yes to his proposal for us to date exclusively. Hahaha...uso pa ba yun ngayon? Kids these days are usually less formal. Di na uso yung panliligaw. I have to admit that I come from a different generation and I'm not familiar with the dating patterns of teens these days. But I digress.

I was surfing the net deciding on what my entry for today will be when I came across the site of Badminton Chronicles. I was reminded of this article written by Mr. Victor Belizario about my husband. I don't know Mr. Belizario personally but I was truly touched by his article. It is a fitting tribute to my husband who's celebrating his birthday right now. It also proves the importance of observing court ethics while playing badminton, and that a little help goes a long, long way. I would like to share this article with you. And to Mr. Belizario, whoever and wherever you are, my heartfelt thanks to you for sharing your story with the whole world. Here's to Jojo *toast*! Happy Birthday Honey and Happy Anniversary!

The day ee played against RP singles no. 1
By: Victor C. Belizario 17 January 2006 2:08 PM
One Sunday morning back in the early 1990s, we heard that Mang Tony was coming to join us in our weekly badminton game. He was a kababayan, a badminton buddy of my father and my uncle, but was then residing in Manila to tend to his business. He arrived with his son, Jojo, a tall and lean chap in his 20s. He's a very good player, we were told. Everybody in his family plays badminton. Hmm... that may be so, but it doesn't necessarily mean he's THAT good. Turned out that Jojo Mance was RP Singles No. 1 at the time and he was going to play with us weekend warriors! All right, I take it back. He must really be THAT good.
The venue was formerly a pelota court so only two sides were buffered against the wind and the rays of the sun. Good badminton courts were hard to find then, especially in Biñan, Laguna so we made do despite the additional opponents – Mr. Gusts and Ms. Glare. True enough, nobody could withstand the father-and-son team. As there were practically no televised badminton matches during that era, it was my first time to watch a player move – no, glide on the court - swiftly and effortlessly, it seemed. Compared to this display of finesse, our footwork seemed like that of chickens – the decapitated variety. And his deft and deceptive strokes were remarkable to us yokels. Not to mention the hard smashes he occasionally let loose. But more astounding was his demeanor. Aggressive, but not loud-mouthed. He was no android either; he affably acknowledged good plays of his partner and even his opponents. We didn't see tantrums or self-berating scenes whenever a less-than-perfect shot was made. Which is quite rare nowadays. After the oldies, we (younger players) were next - to have a whack at it, as it were. But this time, he went one-on-two with us. Uhmmm … maybe we have a chance to beat him after all, we mused. That thought quickly vaporized when the game started and he quickly piled on the points. As my partner and I were basically all-power-and-no-strategy players then, we virtually telegraphed our intentions to him during every rally. Well … not every rally, really … there was one point when we finally got to serve. Jojo anticipated a short serve so he was poised to lunge at the net for the kill when I had begun my service motion. But I executed a pretty good flick serve, which surprised him (and most of all, me!) The shuttle sailed in a textbook offensive arc just beyond his reach and landed just inside the service court. Uh-oh. Instead of being elated, I thought grimly – now, you've done it. He's going to whip you and your partner for that. Lintek lang ang walang ganti. But surprisingly, he just laughed softly at himself and nodded at us in recognition of the point. No grimacing. No menacing grin. He even returned the shuttle to us for our next serve properly. Kakaiba talaga!? These days an opponent might slam the bird into the net in disgust or begrudgingly hit the bird back to you, i.e. hit it out of your reach. Anyone out there who could relate? Okay, okay … you can put your hands down now.
Anyway, after our single-game match, he gave us tips on footwork, grip, strokes, strategy .…. in a casual, unassuming manner. But what he didn't mention, we learned by example. Sportsmanship. Character. Play hard but still be agreeable to your opponents. Yes, even to your doubles partner….especially your doubles partner.
As we bid each other goodbye after the game, we thanked father and son for playing with us. Today, at 45, I thank them for helping me sustain my love for the sport. Just a little kindness really goes a long way, doesn't it? The final score? Ahhh ..….. oo nga pala! Jojo whipped us 15-3. Yet somehow, we all went home winners.

Finally!

2006-09-14T18:22:00.000+08:00

Many of you might be wondering the reason behind my absence in the blogosphere. Don't you worry guys, I'm still alive and kicking! :-)

Let me start my post with what happened last Sunday. I accompanied by husband to the GO! Badminton Tournament held at Powersmash Makati where he paired off with Rocky Magnaye in the Open Category.

Rocky Magnaye and Jojo Mance

They both tried their best. Unfortunately, they did not win in their cateogry. Youth simply proved superior at this point. But to me guys, you're still the best!

After the tournament, I suddently realized that I was not feeling well. Aside from the hunger pangs I was experiencing, I also felt nauseated. We decided to eat at the food court in Glorietta. Suspecting something, I asked my husband to pass by the drugstore first before going home, to which he readily agreed.

So, after passing by Watson's drug store in Greenbelt 1, we immediately went home. Upon arriving home, I fell asleep from exhaustion. I woke up at 6 P.M., went to the bathroom to pee...and to administer the home pregnancy test kit that I bought at Watson's.

After performing this test for about a year, I was already used to seeing a single line in the test kit to signal that I was not yet with child. When I finally saw 2 red lines on the test strip, I cried like crazy and felt extremely happy that God has finally granted our wish -- to have a child. I immediately went to my husband and told him the good news. He was also very happy with the news and excited too.

So that's what's been happening to me guys. For the past four days, I have been swept in this wonderful feeling of euphoria. Unfortunately, it is not without its accompanying discomfort. I always feel nausea, my taste buds are askew and I've been feeling very sleepy lately. But believe me, these are sacrifices I'm willing to make for the realization of a dream. Finally!

Bistek Tagalog: Beef Steak Filipino-style

2006-09-09T17:06:00.000+08:00

It's Saturday and time once more for me to don my chef's hat (naks...hahaha). I'm sure all the Filipinos out there are familiar with Bistek Tagalog -- the Filipino version of the Western style steak. As usual, this is the result of the creativity of the Filipinos in order to stretch out this recipe to feed more people and makes use of native ingredients like calamansi.

I made use of sirloin steak sliced thinly and marinated it in a mixture of calamansi and soy sauce. Remove from the marinade and brown in oil for about 5 minutes. Add the marinade. Add soy sauce and a bit of water as needed. Top with pre-cooked white onions, sliced into rings. Serve over hot rice. Yummy!

Tag category: Recipe

Importance of court surface

2006-09-07T20:25:00.000+08:00

Tag category: Badminton 101

When my friends and I were still playing regularly at the badminton court located at the Court of Appeals, a friend of mine would constantly complain of back problems after a competitive game of badminton. I was not spared of any pain either. My feet would also ache due to the constant running I had to do.

At first, I thought the pains we were experiencing were due to the fact that we were getting older(lol!). It was only later that I found what the culprit was - the surface we were playing on was cement and it was harsh on our bodies due to the constant running, jumping and lunging we had to do. It was then that I discovered the importance of court surfaces in playing.

So far, I have seen four (4) kinds of surfaces in different badminton courts here in the Philippines, namely: (1) cement (hard court); (2) rubber mat-on-cement; (3) wooden planks flooring (wooden court surface); and (4) rubber mat-on-wood.

An example of a rubber mat-on-wood surface

Of these four, I prefer the last one, rubber mat on-wood. Cement is my least favorite surface. It has no 'give' after you perform a jump. Your body will have to absorb all the impact of that jump. A wooden surface, on the other hand, will help absorb some of the impact and will help the player 'bounce back.' Rubber mat, on the other hand, provides for a good surface since it has anti-skid properties. Due to the sudden stops and starts in a badminton game, this will help the player avoid sliding across the court after a sudden move. Obviously, a rubber mat-on-wood surface provides the best surface since it absorbs some of the shock and prevents the players from skidding inside the court. In the absence of available rubber mat-on-wood surface, I would settle for a wooden surface. I would definitely steer clear of those cement surfaces. I still want my knees and joints to be intact in my old age. :-)

Traffic condition last night

2006-09-05T19:18:00.000+08:00

It was around 6:20 last night when I heard the sound of thunder. My room at the office had no windows so I had to go out of my room and peek at the next available window. Sure enough, it was raining hard. I had a hunch that if I stayed long in the office with this kind of rain, we would have difficulty going home since we live in a flood-prone area. I called up my husband to pick me up. By 7:00 P.M., we were already on our way home.

The rain suddenly stopped. So feeling confident that the water will subside, we plied the Espana route. Lo and behold, there was water everywhere and traffic stood still. Arrgghhh, we should have known. That area is really prone to flood at the first sign of rain.

See the water on the street and the
stream of people crossing the street

The people walking hurriedly by inspite of the flood,
probaly to catch the latest teleserye at home.

With the elections looming next year, I just hope that the politicians make good on their promise to improve the drainage and flood-control system, not just in Metro Manila, but nationwide. Santa, I hope you're reading this.

Oops, I almost forgot. What time did we get home? 10:20 P.M. I could hardly believe it myself. That's how bad the traffic situation was last night.

Sinigang na Baboy: Pork Soup with Tamarind Mix

2006-09-03T16:54:00.000+08:00

My husband accompanied me to the grocery yesterday and I asked him what he wants for lunch today. He said sinigang na baboy (pork soup with tamarind mix). So I decided to grant his wish. Besides, I love cooking soup-based meals since it's an all-in-one meal.

The grocery we went to was out of pork pieces specifically for sinigang. I had to settle for liempo. Unfortunately, the pork pieces we got had lots of fat in it. But the good thing with this kind of dish is that it's not fried and there are vegetables so I still consider it somewhat healthy.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 kilo pork liempo
gabi (taro)
enough water to cover the pork
1 pack tamarind mix (I used Knorr's sinigang sa sampaloc mix with gabi)
onions, chopped
tomatoes, sliced
chili pecante (about 5 pieces)
kangkong leaves

Procedure:

Combine the water, pork and gabi and cook in a pressure cooker, about 5 minutes. Remove from pressure cooker (be careful, it's hot) and transfer to another pot. Add the tamarind mix, onions, tomatoes and chili. Let it boil and simmer for about 20 minutes in order to let all the juices out. Add the kangkong leaves and let it boil again. Remove from heat. Best served with rice and patis (fish) sauce with siling labuyo. Yummy!

And for dessert? Voila! Bibingka (sweet rice cake) which was a pasalubong from my husband after he came home from the gym this morning. (Sweet noh?!)

Tag category: Recipe

Friday night out with some of my closest friends

2006-09-01T23:43:00.000+08:00

My friends, Eric and Minnie and I, decided to have dinner tonight since we have not been able to get in touch with each other lately. Eric has been my friend since my days at the Supreme Court, while Minnie and I have known each other since college days at the Ateneo. I miss them so much and I was really looking forward to having dinner with them.

Predictably, since I would be the last one who could get off work, we decided to eat somewhere near my office. So, we decided on the old reliable Amici (ah-MEE-chi) di Don Bosco located at the Don Bosco School along A. Arnaiz Ave., Makati City. They serve excellent Italian cuisine at affordable prices. Jojo tagged along since I had always been convincing him to eat at Amici. I always teased him that I discovered Amici first even if he was the alumni of Don Bosco High School.

This is what we had:

Spaghetti with the house specialty - Don Bosco sauce
(tomato sauce with hams and mushrooms)

Penne Arrabiata (believe me this is really hot)Spaghetti Carbonara
(since we already ordered 2 pastas with tomato-based sauces)

Tutta Carne Pizza (all meat toppings)

How did we eat all of these? By sharing, of course! The best way to eat since we could each have a taste of everything. It was a wonderful evening. Good food, good friends. :-)

Good news for music lovers out there

2006-08-30T20:12:00.000+08:00

Music is soothing to the soul. It's common knowledge that Filipinos love music. It is is no wonder than that a large number of Filipinos join singing contests (just look as Philippine Idol and Pinoy Dream Academy), and the business of selling music CDs, mostly pirated, is a thriving enterprise. As a result, we are always on the watchlist of the United States for software piracy.

What accounts for this continuous abuse of the intellectual property rights of the music producers/composers/singers? My guess is that since we are a poor nation, with more than half of the population living below the poverty line, the masses in general cannot afford the stiff prices being charged by these music companies for original CDs.

Which is why I think that the new venture being planned by Universal Music Group to launch Spiral Frog, is music to the ears of music lovers out there. According to its official website, Spiral Frog, touted to revolutionize the music industry, is the new online music destination offering advertising-supported legal downloads of audio and video content licensed from the catalogs of the world's leading record laels and from independents. It likewise offers music-lovers a compelling alternative to illegal file-sharing and pirate sites, with a secure environment for them to satisfy their unyielding passion and thirst for music, entertainment, information and brands at no cost except their time and attention.

Spiral Frog will offer users of its no-cost web-based service the ability to legally download music by many of the world's most popular and award winning artists. How does Spiral Frog earn revenues from this venture? It will instead rely on advertising as a source of its revenues instead of charging the consumers directly. Many advertisers have expressed their desire to be part of the project.

Are you excited already? Whoa, hold your horses. This service wil be made available to the public starting December, 2006 and will be initally offered for residents of the United States and Canada. I just hope that this service reaches the Philippines soon. For more info, please visit this article on the New York Times.

Tag category: Intellectual Property Rights/Law

Rexona Cup and MAP Badminton Tournament

2006-08-29T17:52:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday was a very busy day for my husband and I. First off, we had to go to Club 650 Badminton Court along Libis, Q.C. for the Rexona Cup. No, my husband did not join that tournament because it wasn't open for national and ex-national players. Instead, they were part of an exhibition team, the PB Shuttlers, to be launched that day. As mentioned in my earlier post, the PB Shuttlers are composed of former ex-national champions and players who were tapped by Pinoy Badminton Inc. to perform badminton exhibition matches (ala Harlem Globetrotters style.)

I am happy to announce the PB Shuttlers received very good feedbacks during the exhibition match. They did not just exhibit their talent in the court, they also elicited guffaws and thunderous applause from the audience because of their funny, yet unstaged (*wink*wink*), antics. Here they are:

Badong "The Magician" Banquiles

Jojo "The Gentle-" Mance

Ronald "McDonald" Magnaye

Rocky "Balboa" Magnaye

After their exhibition match, we had a light lunch and proceeded to the MAP (Malaysian Association of the Philippines) Badminton Tournament held at Powersmash Makati. My husband paired off with Denden Dimarucot, the #1 varsity player of University of the East.

Jojo Mance and Denden Dimarucot

Unfortunately, they were immediately pitted against the Indonesian pair, Rudy Wijaya and Kwee Tek Min, former members of the Indonesian National Team. What can I say? They really tried their best but they eventually lost to the Indonesian pair.

Rudy Wijaya and Kwee Tek Min

Even the powerful duo of Ian Piencenaves (2006 JVC Champion) and Jaime Junio, current member of the national team, were no match against the Indonesian pair. Piencenaves and Junio even won the first set. The game went to a deciding set but was eventually won by the Indonesian pair.

Ian Piencenaves and Jaime Junio

The winners of the tournament? The Indonesian pair of Rudy Widjaya and Kwee Tek Min. Filipinos have yet to go a long way in becoming world caliber badminton players. The Asuncion siblings (Kennevic and Kennie), are one step closer since they are currently ranked #20 in the world, according to the 24 August 2006 ranking issued by the International Badminton Federation. Unfortunately, we do not have the opportunity to shine in regional tournaments because the world champions are also from Asia (China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Korea, among others.) But at least, our Filipino shuttlers are trying their best. They need more support from the government if we ever dream of bagging the World Championship, the Olympics or the Thomas and Uber Cup someday.

Tag category: Badminton Tournament ; PB Shuttlers

Korean Beef Stew

2006-08-26T19:11:00.000+08:00

Tag Category: Recipe

A fellow blogger, Mita, requested my recipe for Korean Beef Stew, so I decided to prepare this dish today. If you're reading this Mita, this one's for you.

1 head garlic crushed
1/4 cup oil (can be reduced later)
3 pcs. siling labuyo
1 tsp. shredded ginger
1 kilo beef short ribs
3 tbsp. sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cups water
3 tbsps. corn starch
1 tsp. sesame oil
2 tbsps. toasted sesame seeds
leeks

Combine the first 10 ingredients. Cook until beef is tender. I use a pressure cooker which takes about 30 minutes. Others do not like to use pressure cooker and prefer the slow-cooking method to allow the flavor to seep in. In that case, it takes about 3-4 hours. After cooking with a pressure cooker, transfer to another pot and bring to a boil, then simmer. Add the corn starch, sesame oil and sesame seeds. I have to admit we ran out of corn starch, so mine doesn't have it, but it is preferable if you put it in order to thicken the sauce. Then transfer to a serving dish. I added chopped leeks to give it that decorative touch. Voila!

In our case, I do not immediately put the sesame seeds in because there are others here at home who do not like the taste of sesame seeds. I just put some on the side so that those who prefer it can just put it in their dish. We respect diversity in our house...hahaha.

Anyway, since this is a Korean dish, I decided to pair it with Kimchi. No, I did not make the Kimchi nor do I know how to make it. Fortunately, these things are readily available in groceries and supermarkets. I prefer the chinese cabbage variety.

Arrgghh, I'm gaining weight with all this cooking. Oh well, I'll just start dieting next week....hopefully.

Introducing the PB Shuttlers

2006-08-25T19:25:00.000+08:00

Introducing a new concept in the Philippine badminton scene...the PB (Pinoybadminton) Shuttlers. The PB Shuttlers will be composed of the following ex-national players:

Badong Banquiles - Former Philippine #1 (1988); U.S. Opens Veterans Mixed Doubles First Runner-Up (2002, 2004); Badminton Coach.

Jojo Mance - Former Philippine #1 (1987, 1989-92, 1994-95); former Assistant Coach to the RP Team(1998-2002, 2005) and Head Coach to RP Juniors Team (1996-97); Badminton Coach.

Ronald Magnaye - Former RP national player (1990-98); former Men's Doubles Champion; Assistant Coach to the RP Team (2005); Badminton Coach.

Rocky Magnaye - Former RP national player; member of the PBA Grassroots Development Program; Badminton Coach.

The PB Shuttlers will not only showcase their talents inside the badminton court, they are guaranteed to bring smiles to the faces of the spectators. Their initial exhibition match will be held at Club 650 Badminton Court (Libis, Q.C. beside shopwise), on Sunday (27 August 2006), 11:00 A.M., as part of the highlights of the Rexona Badminton Cup. If I'm not mistaken, Prime Diva (RPN 9?) and Solar Sports might be covering this event, as well as Channel 23 (for Badminton Extreme).

If you have the time and you're just near the area, please drop by and you'll surely have fun watching the exhibition.

Tag category: PB Shuttlers

What's your name again?

2006-08-24T14:59:00.000+08:00

I just wanted to share with you this funny site. It’s a twist on the “name generator.” I first came across this game while watching an episode of “Will & Grace.” Apparently, there are different variations of this game.

Porn name (or drag name)

Combine your first pet’s name and the street you grew up on. – Mine is “Balto Kapitan Tiago.” (Hmmmm, doesn’t sound sexy at all.)

Super-villain name

Combine the color of your shirt or blouse you’re currently wearing and your least favorite vegetable. – “Pink Kinchay!” (Hahahahaha…….Pink Kinchay is here to destroy the world! I can’t imagine anyone being frightened by that name.)

I hope you enjoy playing this game as much as I did. :-)

Another sisig place

2006-08-24T12:43:00.000+08:00

Last night, while my husband and I were on our way home (around 9:20 P.M.) and could no longer ignore the hunger pangs we were feeling, we decided to eat at ALING LUCING SISIG along Pasong Tamo, Makati City. I read in a blog somewhere that ALING LUCING SISIG originated in Pampanga and the blogger had high praises for this establishment so we decided to try it out.

I had sisig with hotdog. (Price: Php 69.00 or US$1.34)

My husband had sisig with chicken. (Price: Php 69.00 or US$1.34)

Not bad considering the price. We still prefer the sisig of Dencio's because it's more crunchy. (I think they put fried pork skin to make it crunchy. ) But considering the reasonable price of the meals at Aling Lucing, it was acceptable. Next time, though, we plan to order the plain sisig big shot (Price: Php 130 or US$2.53) good for 2 persons because I did not like the taste of the hotdog, although the chicken was ok.

New Rules to be introduced at the U.S. Open

2006-08-23T12:39:00.000+08:00

Aside from being a badminton fanatic, I also love watching tennis tournaments, especially the 4 grand slam tournaments. I also have lots of books about tennis at home. Sadly, I can only manage a decent forehand and backhand stroke. I don't even know how to serve...that's because my tennis lessons went only as far as those 2 strokes before I eventually ended up playing badminton exclusively. (Previous story on this topic.) However, my love for tennis still persists.

I'm glad to learn that the upcoming U.S. Open Tennis Championships at Flushing Meadows will introduce a new innovation to the sport...instant replay. What happens is that when a player questions a call, above-court video screens show a graphic rendering of the ball's flight, in slow motion, with a dark spot indicating where it landed. That spot either touches a white line -- the ball was in -- or it doesn't -- the ball was out. Simple as that. (Wow!)

(Photo courtesy of the official website of the U.S. Open)

According to the U.S. Open official website, here's how it works:
- Each player will receive 2 challenges per set to review line calls.
- If the player is correct with a challenge then the player retains the same number of challenges.
- If the player is incorrect with a challenge, then one of his/her challenges is lost.
- During a tie-break game in any set, each player will receive one additional challenge.
- Challenges may not be carried over from one set to another.

This is a major change in a sport steeped with tradition. I'm glad to see that they're moving in step with advances in technology. I'm certainly looking forward to it! I just hope that the International Badminton Federation also adopts this new rule. Now, wouldn't that be something?

Badminton 101: Court Ethics

2006-08-21T09:17:00.000+08:00

Tag Category: Badminton 101

I love watching a good badminton game. I am what you might call a professional.....spectator! Hahaha... (Did you think I was gonna say professional player?) What makes a badminton game enjoyable to watch? In my personal opinion, it becomes enjoyable when the players are good, of the same caliber and of course, well-mannered. I have watched a million informal games in court and even a sizable number of tournaments and I have observed that there are a good number of players who do not practice the proper decorum in court. I have even seen a shouting match in a tournament when a player succumbed to the cheerings and jeerings of a spectator-mom, but that's another story altogether.

What constitutes good manners and right conduct of players in court? There are no hard and fast rules, although there are really some behavior that are prohibited in court as stated in the Players' Code of Conduct issued by the International Badminton Federation, the official governing body of badminton associations worldwide.

I also came up with my own list. Some of these can also be found in the Players' Code of Conduct, others are just my own observations. Please feel free to come up with your own list.

1. When the shuttle falls dead on your side of the court, you should return the shuttle properly to your opponent. The shuttle should be picked up either by hand or by your racket and properly tossed to the other side of the court. Please do not kick it, sweep it or smash it back to your opponent.

2. When the opponent is serving, do not engage in threatening acts or words in order to psyche out your opponent. Please leave that for the boxing match later.

3. When you are serving, please wait for your opponent to be ready before you swing at the bird...err...shuttle. Surprising the opponent is a "dirty tactic" that is easily gaining popularity...tsk tsk.

4. Please do not abuse the shuttle or your racket, especially in moments when you get frustrated. It is not nice to see a racket doing somersaults and back flips during a game.

5. When the opponent inadvertently lifts the shuttle high and near the net (otherwise, pag benta na -- badminton aficionados will understand this term), please do not aim for your opponent's face. This is not target shooting.

6. Show only the appropriate amount of emotion in court. Do not shout obscenities, use foul language directly to your opponent, the linesmen or the umpire. That behavior should've retired together with John McEnroe.

7. When playing informally with a group of friends, and the shuttle falls on your side of the court, please make the appropriate call. Please do not say that the shuttle is out when it obviously fell in. Remember the Golden Rule.

8. While this is not necessary, I really appreciate a show of apology by either raising your hand or your racket when the shuttle grazes the net and still falls in your opponent's side. After all, even world no. 1 Lin Dan does this. So shouldn't we, lesser mortals, follow his example?

9. Do not be intimidated by spectators. (Ang mapikon, talo.)

10. Finally, before this list gets any longer, after a game, please do not forget to shake your opponent's hand. (And that includes the service judge and umpire when playing in a tournament.)

With this in mind, just remember that the most important thing in a game is to enjoy. Happy playing!

Bicol Express

2006-08-19T14:10:00.000+08:00

The abundance of coconut trees in our islands is probably one of the reasons why our culinary culture is steeped with dishes using this ingredient. Coconut milk, which can be extracted from coconuts, can be found in native dishes like bringhe, bikol express, guinataan and laing. While coconut milk is now readily available in cans and tetra paks, I still prefer the taste of freshly extracted coconut milk.

I decided to cook bicol express today since it was my turn to cook in the kitchen. It was tough extracting coconut milk. Fortunately, Manang Anita was there to help me. I still had trouble though in slicing the pork since the skin was tough. Manang told me it was probably because the pig was already old. Ouch! I suddenly wished I had once of those super sharp knives available in the TV shopping network, so sharp according to the commercial that it can even slice aluminum. Hahaha…I’m really a sucker for these kinds of commercial.

Anyway, here is my recipe for bicol express:

cooking oil
5 pcs chili pepper (siling amerikano, the big green kind. You may also wish to use siling labuyo. Just adjust the amount according to your
taste/tolerance for heat.)
1 tbsp. salt
4 cups thin coconut milk
1/3 cup ready-made-bagoong ( I used Barrio Fiesta’s bagoong)
½ kilo pork liempo, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium-sized onion, minced
2 cups thick coconut milk

Heat the oil. Brown the garlic before adding the onion. Then add the pork and the bagoong. After 5 minutes, add the salt and thin coconut milk. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chili pepper and cook until half of the liquid has evaporated. Pour in thick coconut milk and continue cooking until oil comes out.

Here’s the finished product.
My husband absolutely loved it! :-)

Tag category: Recipe

That fateful night...

2006-08-17T12:38:00.000+08:00

It was a hectic day at the office yesterday. I had lots of stuff to do so I had to work overtime. My husband picked me up from the office at around 8 P.M., but since I was not yet finished, he brought me dinner and waited for me until I finished at around 9:10 P.M. Finally, I could just sit back and relax, or so I thought.

Traffic was light and we were slowly cruising along South Super Highway coming from Makati City. We were in no hurry to get home. Conversation inside the car was light, the topic ranging from the latest news about his friends to my current obsession -- blogging. As we were about to approach the Makati-Manila boundary, our car suddenly careened off-tangent, zigzagging as if having a mind of its own. Fortunately, my husband had presence of mind and the clear sense to grab hold of the steering wheel even when it was spinning wildly, trying to steer the car back to its proper course. Then the car stopped. Silence ensued.

Ladybug: “Anong nangyari?” (What happened?)
Hubby: Silence…breathing hard…
Ladybug: “Anong nangyari? Pumutok ba yung gulong?” (What happened? Did the tire explode?)
Hubby: “Malamang, hindi ko alam eh…” (Probably, I really don’t know)
Ladybug: “Grabe kinabahan ako dun ah…” (I got really nervous there for a while…)
Hubby: “Teka, mukhang nabangga tayo nung truck eh.” (Wait, it seems like we were hit by that truck.)
Ladybug: “Bakit parang hindi naman natin naramdaman.” (Why didn’t we feel anything?)
Hubby: “Teka, itatabi ko lang tong kotse.” (Wait, I’ll just park the car to the side.)

Upon doing so, my husband got out of the car and looked at the damage. It turns out that we were indeed hit by a truck – let me rephrase that – we were hit by a big six-wheeler delivery truck. This truck apparently transports alcoholic beverages for La Tondena Inc. The driver got out of the truck and talked to my husband. He was very apologetic and acknowledged his fault. He claimed that he was just trying to avoid some branches (what bloody tree is he talking about???) and he did not see our small (translation: teeny weeny) car driving in front of him. My husband kept his cool but I was silently chiding myself for cutting my nails the night before as I wanted very much to lunge at him and create big, red, blotchy, pus-filled stretch marks across his face. Well, at that point, what else can I do? Darn.

The time was 9:30 in the evening and upon talking to the owner of the trucking company, we had no choice but to go to the nearest police station to get a police report – a requirement of the insurance company. We went to the nearest police station which was a few blocks away, near Quirino Ave. and just before the Depot Station. Unfortunately, it was already part of Manila and they did not have jurisdiction over the incident. After about an hour and a couple of hits and misses, we finally found the appropriate traffic command station that had the jurisdiction and proper authority to fill out a police report. But it didn’t stop there. We had to photocopy the registration papers, as well as the license of my husband and the truck driver in order for them to properly fill out the police report. Mind you, this was already 10:30 in the evening. Finding an open photocopying business at this time of night is no mean feat. We finally found one after an hour of searching. I was cursing the truck driver under my breath.

Finally, we went back to the traffic command station with the required papers. Photographs of the vehicles were also needed for insurance purposes. Hey, I have a new camera—Canon Ixus 750! I could take pictures with it! Oh no, I suddenly remembered that I left the camera at home, safely nestled inside my drawer, gathering dust.

Darn! I made a mental note to always bring the camera with me from now on.

Here’s a picture of the damage to the back portion of our car. (Taken with my camera phone only.)

Finally, at 12:40 in the morning, after pictures were taken and the police report filled out, we were on our way home, FINALLY.

We arrived home at around 1:10 in the morning. We were so exhausted all we could do was climb into bed and fall asleep.

Travel Advisory Update (for ladies only)

2006-08-15T21:03:00.000+08:00

I just saw a recent travel advisory update on CNN. Apparently, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the United States started receiving feedbacks from passengers regarding the strict measures they have imposed as a result of the planned terror attack in Heathrow airport involving planes traveling to the United States. As a result, the TSA made some changes to their list of banned carry on items.

Passengers are still prohibited from carrying all kinds aerosols with them on board. However, under the new rules, travelers can take up to four ounces of non-prescription medicine, glucose gel for diabetics, solid lipstick and baby food, the agency said. Solid lipstick you say! Hahaha…I can just imagine the number of lady passengers who complained about not being able to bring with them their lipstick on board.

One book that...

2006-08-14T18:12:00.000+08:00

I got tagged by Senor Enrique…and it’s all about books. :-)

It took me awhile to finish the meme, but here it goes…

One book that changed your life. "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman. It has revolutionized the way I interact with my husband.

One book that I read more than once. “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen. I’ve read it about 5 times and I plan to read it over and over again. I consider her a feminist during her era.

One book you would want on a desert island. Hmmm…I’m not sure but I think I would want to read a book about the paranormal, about ESP. I think I would want to muster all of my paranormal powers to ask for help if I get stuck on a desert island.

One book that made you laugh. "Bridget Jones Diary" by Helen Fielding.

One book that made you cry. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.

One book that you wish had been written. Hmmm… "How to Win the Lottery"?

One book that you wish had never been written. I don’t know…probably "Guerilla Warfare "by Che Guevara? But I really haven’t read it myself so I really can't say.

One book you are currently reading. “1421. The Year China Discovered America” by Gavin Menzies. I’ve been reading it for quite some time already. Aarrggghhh….. nakakaiyak na sa haba. Maybe I should put this under the category “Books that made me cry.” Hahaha.

One book you have been meaning to read. “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Now, I have to tag 5 people to do this meme. So, I’m tagging the following people:

(1) Toe – kurokuroatbp
(2) Snglguy – Inside the Mind of a Single Guy
(3) Dinna – Pinay New Yorker
(4) Kat - yet another corner in a maiden's life's downtown
(5) Jairam - Insomniac's Mind

Happy reading!

My version of squash curry

2006-08-12T20:10:00.000+08:00

I decided to try out Mitam’s recipe for squash curry. Please check out her site, The Unofficial Cook, for the recipe.

Let the onions, garlic, ginger and curry powder cook slowly. (Haha…pasensha na, the pot looks very old)

Add the coconut milk and the squash

Bring to a boil and let it simmer

Unfortunately, her version looks a whole lot better than mine. Hahaha…mine doesn’t have a very good presentation. But believe me, the dish tastes great. I would recommend it for curry lovers. Next time I make this dish again, I’ll probably add chilis though. I have a penchant for hot dishes. Thanks to Mitams for the recipe. :-)

What am I most thankful for?

2006-08-11T13:53:00.000+08:00

I’m sure by now you’ve all heard about the discovery of the planned terror attack against Heathrow airport. (Read more about this here) Boy, I can just imagine that the U.K. and U.S. authorities must be heaving collective sighs of relief until now because of this discovery. Terrorists were in the "final stages" of a plot to simultaneously blow up as many as 10 jets leaving Britain for the U.S., sending the planes and thousands of passengers into the Atlantic Ocean. I could not even fathom the destruction and the psychological damage that such a terror attack could instill.

In view of this development, I decided to come up with a list of five (5) things that I’m most thankful for. None of the gooey “I’m so thankful for the air we breathe and the food we eat” stuff. This list features the things that I’m thankful for – despite an unfortunate incident that happened in the past. Feel free to make a list of your own. Here it goes…

(1) I’m thankful that I’m still alive. Sheesh! I know what you’re thinking. I just said none of the gooey stuff, right? Read on first before judging. I’m thankful that I’m still alive, despite the mild stroke I had at the age of 29. Yes, folks, a mild stroke. Fortunately, the stroke was reversed immediately and I was able to return to work after a month and a half of rest. This experience changed my outlook in life. I’m more appreciative of the people around me. And I know that even though my family is undergoing some difficulties right now, I am still thankful because I get to experience these things with them. Any problem is surmountable as long as we pray and help one another.

(2) I’m thankful that my mom is still alive. No folks, my mom did not undergo a stroke or a heart attack. I do not want to dwell on the fact that my dad and brother passed away already. While their demise caused untold grief and heartache in our family, I cannot change the fact that they’re already at peace with our Creator. I want to celebrate life. I want to celebrate that I still get to spend time with my mom, my sister and her family and my husband.

(3) I am thankful that I’ve found my soul mate. I do not regret that I went through several heartaches in the past. These experiences have molded me into becoming the person that I am now – more appreciative of my husband and more understanding of the differences between a man and a woman. I’m not saying that I’m perfect. I am still unreasonable sometimes (haha…just ask my husband). But I’m thankful that I made those mistakes with other people in order to prepare me for my relationship with my husband now.

(4) I am thankful for the lessons I learned in joining past badminton tournaments (I joined a grand total of 4), even though I was not able to win in these tournaments. (Note: I was about to win in the third tournament that I joined, however, this was the time I had the mild stroke. Napurnada pa.) The experiences I gained and the lessons I’ve learned made me discover my inner self. Sorry folks, I am not the competitive type. I enjoy the journey more than the destination. But don’t you get worried for my sake, I still hope to win at least a single tournament before I hang my racket up for good.

(5) Finally, I am most thankful that it’s Friday once more! Hahaha…Four days of stress-filled work days are worth it. When Friday comes, there’s just something in the air which soothes me and tells me that nice things are going to happen in my life this weekend. After all, I get to spend the weekend with my family.

“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” - taken from “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran.

A Badminton Story - My first badminton experience

2006-08-08T14:50:00.000+08:00

Tag category: A Badminton Story

For those who are hooked on badminton, can you still remember the first time you played this sport?

I can still remember that day. The year was 2001. Badminton was not in vogue then and there were only a few courts in existence: Rizal Badminton Hall, Villamor, Crame, Aguinaldo, Bonifacio, Club Filipino, to name a few. I was working at the Supreme Court (SC). Eric, my friend and officemate, had been convincing me to play with their group at the CA (Court of Appeals, beside SC) badminton court for some time already. I did not want to play the sport since I thought it was just a game for kids and I was more interested to play tennis. (Previous post on this topic)

Anyway, most of my friends in the SC were playing badminton already, and some were even hooked. So in order for me to spend more time with them, I had to play also. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. My first racket was a Prince racket, but definitely for beginners. It cost less than 1,000 pesos (approx. US$20).

I walked up the hot and stuffy stairs to the 4th floor of the CA Bldg. where the court was located. My outfit was an old t-shirt and sweatpants. I did not even bring water as I was not expecting to break out into a lot of sweat. The game looked easy enough. I had no expectations whatsoever. I had no idea that when I took the first swing with my racket, I was on my journey to a new dimension in my life. Haha…sounds melodramatic.

Anyway, I enjoyed my first game. However, observers surely noticed from our stance (we stood and ran like children running loose in the park) and swing (we looked like we were playing palo sebo…hahaha…a local game where a blindfolded person would swing a bat, trying to hit a pot filled with candies and other goodies) that we were just beginners. It did not matter to us. My friends and I would break out into fits of laughter, especially when we would miss certain shots.

I was proven wrong. I was so exhausted after 2 games that I had to stop. I needed water. Fortunately my friend brought lots of water and gave me some. I went home very exhausted…and very satisfied. I finally found a new sport that I really loved. That sealed my fate…I got hooked on badminton. Who knew that this sport would introduce to my future husband? ;-)

How about you? Got any badminton stories of your own?

Lutong Pinoy

2006-08-06T19:38:00.000+08:00

Tag Category: Recipe

(Note: For non-Filipinos reading this entry, the title of my post means “food cooked the Filipino way.”)

I was feeling quite lazy this morning, I just wanted to lie in bed and sleep the whole day. But since today is Sunday, it was my turn to cook our meal. Hmmmm … what to do … what to do.

I looked at the refrigerator and searched for ingredients. I wasn’t feeling particularly creative today, I just wanted to prepare something quick and easy. I saw a pack (1 kilo) of jumbo hotdog. I decided to try out a very simple meal which I saw in some turo-turo. “Turo-turo” literally means “point-point” referring to a small cafeteria selling various meals catering to the C-D-E crowd where customers can just “point” to whatever meals they want to eat. The meals are supposed to be cheap, hence, turo-turo owners must be able to come up with simple meals which consists of cheap ingredients and are easy to cook so as not to consume a lot of electricity/LPG.

But I digress. I cooked the pack of hotdogs first, then sliced it and set it aside. Then in a wok, I heated 2 tsps. oil and sautéed some minced garlic and sliced onions. Once the onions became transparent, I put in some chicken liver. After a minute or two, I put the sliced hotdogs and 400 g. of tomato sauce (I used the UFC brand which is kinda sweet since Filipinos are not used to the traditional tomato sauce and prefer the sweet kind) and 2 cups chicken broth (plain water will suffice). I added some salt and pepper to taste. Finally, I put in 5 chopped chilis (the relleno, inferno hybrid or elephant trunk type...not too hot) to give it some kick. Here is the finished product.

Believe it or not, my nephew and nieces loved it! Ubos na ubos. What Filipino child/pre-teen can resist any dish containing hotdogs? Hahaha! Uhhm, by the way, I have a confession to make. I cheated. I was too lazy to cook some more so I asked Manang Anita to cook nilagang baka (beef and vegetable soup) and fried tofu.

With the rising costs of energy and gasoline, people from walks of life, and not only Filipinos, must come up with ways on how to survive on a very limited budget.

Lunch at Cafe Breton

2006-08-05T01:43:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, my friend invited me to have lunch with her at Café Breton located in Greenbelt. I readily agreed as it has been a long time since I ate at Café Breton.

When I used to work at the Supreme Court, my friends from work and I would eat at the Malate branch of Café Breton. We had to wait for this branch to open at 6 P.M. since we, as government employees then, were out of the office at exactly 4:30 P.M. (haha...those were the days)

Fortunately, this branch of Café Breton is open during mall hours.

Here is a yummy picture of what my friend ate (Blueberries and Cream - surprise! there are 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream inside)

And here is a yummier picture of what I ate (Le Magnifique – with nutella, whipped cream, nuts and bananas)

Yummy! There’s nothing like a chocolatey dessert to pick up a tired spirit. :-)

Badminton 101 : Proper leveling - the heart of every tournament

2006-08-03T13:30:00.000+08:00

Tag category: Badminton 101

In my opinion, the heart of every badminton tournament lies in the proper leveling of the participants. Leveling is a procedure in a tournament whereby players are required to go to a certain venue and asked at random to play with other players in order for the organizers to ascertain their level in the tournament. Of course leveling is only done for tournaments at club levels. There is no need for leveling in tournaments of international calibers since these are “open” tournaments (i.e., no leveling and players can be pitted against anyone, even against members of the national team.)

I have seen many tournaments fall flat on its face due to misleveling. I hope I don’t give you the impression that other aspects are not important as well, e.g., having an experienced and well-versed tournament director, proper organization, having competent umpires and linesmen, sizable quantity of participants, good venue and proper lighting, excellent time management, etc. All of these factors are equally important. However, if misleveling occurs, either due to favors being granted to friends of the organizers or sandbagging, the reputation of the tournament becomes tainted and players will steer clear of such tournaments in the future.

Sandbagging occurs when, during the leveling of the tournament, the players deliberately do not play well in order to be placed in a level much lower than their actual level. This is being done by certain players in order to ensure that they win in their particular level. Sandbagging is unavoidable in every tournament and cannot be totally eliminated. However, if this happens on a wide scale in a tournament, then tongues will start wagging and the reputation of the tournament becomes at stake.

I have seen at least a couple of tournaments in the past wherein there was a wide scale of misleveling and sandbagging. These tournaments (whose names I will not mention) have not been staged since. (One time wonder lang kumbaga.)

How does one avoid misleveling during tournaments? I asked my hubby this question since he is the expert in this matter and not me. According to him, the leveling must be conducted by an acknowledged expert who will notice the various nuances in the acts of the participants. To clarify, the players may not win the game during the leveling but the “expert” will see how the players handle the rackets and shuttlecocks and will be able to at least differentiate a beginner from an intermediate player. An additional deterrent should be the length of the games during the leveling period. The “real strokes” of the players will most likely show if they play the full 1 or 2 sets instead of a shortened set. There are other telltale signs which can be recognized by an expert but I’d rather not mention them all here for fear that a “sandbagger” reading this blog might be able to pick up hints.

I hope that organizers keep these things in mind to make future tournaments, if not enjoyable, at least tolerable.

My very first meme...

2006-07-31T12:48:00.000+08:00

I got tagged by my friend Toe in Cambodia with my very first meme. This is a nice way for my newfound friends in the blogosphere to get to know me better. Anyway, so here goes…

SIX WEIRD THINGS/HABITS ABOUT MYSELF:

1. Whenever I walk on the streets/pavements/sidewalks, I try to avoid stepping on the lines. This is pretty normal behavior for kids, but kinda weird when you see a thirtysomething still doing it.

2. I love to dip bananas either in bagoong (alamang) or in adobo sauce. The sweetness of the bananas combined with the saltiness of either the bagoong or adobo sauce is just to die for.

3. I have an obsession about my hair. I was born with very wavy hair. As a kid, I would would put all kinds of pins on it to make it presentable. When I was in college, I discovered the magic of the salon and I started having my hair chemically straightened. Then, I started having “relaxing” treatments during the time I was in law school. I was so obsessed with having the “straight hair” look that I would spend an hour and a half blow drying my hair straight even though I hadn’t finished reading all the assigned cases. Hahaha…I was really obsessed with my hair. Nowadays, I still have my yearly “rebonding” or “relaxing” treatments. But I’m not as obsessed now as I was before. What brought on this attitude change? Simple. I got married. Now, my hubby is stuck with me no matter how wavy my hair becomes, especially with this rainy season in Manila which just exacerbates the curls.

4. I am not an insomniac but I go to sleep at around 2 to 3 in the morning. I do not have a perfectly good explanation for this kind of behavior. We do not have kids yet and as much as possible I do not bring home my work. It’s just that life is short and I want to read as many books as I can and watch as many interesting television shows and movies as I can. Of course I can only do this at night when we get home from work. Unfortunately, my husband is a light sleeper. He really gets annoyed because he is already in deep sleep and probably in dreamland already at this time and he would wake up because I could not go to sleep without hugging or embracing him.

5. I have trouble learning new/additional languages. I don’t know what chemicals are in my brain which makes me an idiot when it comes to learning another language. I can only speak Filipino and English. That’s it. I grew up studying in a Chinese school and my father is Chinese but I can only speak a grand total of 4 sentences (more or less) in Chinese Mandarin. I really have trouble understanding Chinese even when I was surrounded with a whole class of Chinese-speaking students. When I started working, I had the bright idea of learning another language…Spanish this time. So I enrolled in Instituto Cervantes which was then located in Leon Guinto St. in Manila. I took Saturday classes for more than 2 years. In fact I think I reached Level 9. But aside from the occasional Spanish words which just happens to be the same in the Filipino language, my know-how in Spanish is the same as that of someone who just reached Level 1. Pathetic! All those years of studying Chinese and Spanish down the drain.

6. I have an adopted half-brother in China which I probably will neither see and nor hear from again. Most of my friends don’t know this about me. My father and his wife (not my mom, by the way) decided to adopt a boy (actually, when he was adopted, he was probably around 23 years old already, so I could hardly categorize him as a boy) because they do not have a son. We all know how important it is in the Chinese culture to have a son who will carry on the family name and take care of the family business. Anyway, I got to see him a grand total of 2 times, first when we visited him in China and the second time was when he visited us in the Philippines. We never heard from him since my father passed away almost five years ago. And since you all know my trouble with speaking Chinese and my adopted brother doesn’t speak a single word of English, I do not foresee any possibility of us establishing contact in the future because of the language barrier. Besides, none of us knows his address in China. Hmmm…but all hope is not lost. Remember The Joy Luck Club?

Ok. That’s it. I decided not to tag anyone since I do not have a lot of friends yet in the blogosphere.

Thank God it's Friday!

2006-07-28T19:04:00.000+08:00

I just want to shout to the world “THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY!” No more drafting of letters to client, no more conferences to attend, no more reports to make…time to enjoy!

If you notice the title of my blog – “OF LAW AND BADMINTON” – it announces in itself that this blog is supposed to be about the law and about badminton. However, you will notice that so far I have only written about badminton, the weather in Manila, recipes and even make-up. No posts about the law…yet. I attribute this to the fact that since I am a practicing lawyer by day, I am too exhausted about my job to talk about it during my “blog” time. Grabe … .nakakasawa na.

This preoccupation to talk about everything else besides work would manifest itself whenever my hubby picks me up from work. Our talks in the car would begin by him asking how my day went. I would usually answer by telling him that everything went OK. Then I would excitedly ask him how his day went. He is, by the way, a badminton coach and former national champion here in the Philippines. I would want him to tell me EVERYTHING about his day. How his day went is definitely more exciting than my day at the office.

Anyway, weekend’s here! No work for two (2) days. Yehey! I am so excited. Hope you get to enjoy your weekend too!

My recipe for comfort on a rainy day in Manila...

2006-07-26T21:14:00.000+08:00

What can I tell you….it’s been raining like hell in Metro Manila for the past three days. For a short while this afternoon, I finally saw some dry patches of land. So, my hubby and I (by the way, we both stayed home today since I was not feeling well and hubby decided to take care of me…sweet noh) went to the supermarket for a while to get some groceries. On our way out, hubby bought 2 shawarmas for our merienda.

When we got home, hubby and I excitedly opened our shawarmas with the gusto of an eagle attacking its prey. To our dismay, the shawarma looked like this...

Grabe…super konti ng sahog. Anyway, what can you expect for 45 pesos or approximately US$0.90. Despite the small serving, hubby definitely enjoyed his shawarma, so I let him have the rest of mine since I was on a diet.

After eating the shawarma, hubby went back to sleep. Sarap kasing matulog pag busog, di ba? So with nothing left to do, I decided to cook pasta for our dinner. I went with linguine in white sauce since there were lots of all-purpose cream left in the cupboard. I left out the eggs which are usually included in my standard version since I had to be health conscious. Here is a picture of the finished product.

Ingredients: minced onion, olive oil, bacon (prosciuttos are hard to come by in this part of the world), all-purpose cream, chicken broth and parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Tag Category: Recipe

Tayo na sa Antipolo

2006-07-24T15:24:00.000+08:00

We went to Antipolo Church yesterday to attend mass and to pray for the safe trip of my nephew and brother-in-law to Vietnam where my nephew will participate in the 6th World Junior Taekwondo Championships. It has been a yearly ritual for our family to go to Antipolo Church during my birthday (May 1, or the nearest weekend possible depending on our schedule) and whenever a member of the family has to go on a long trip. This is due to the fact that the patron saint of Antipolo Church is the “Nuestra Señora dela Paz y Buenviaje” or “Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage.”

According to various historians, the Virgin Mary of Antipolo was brought to the Philippines on March 25, 1526 by Don Juan Niño de Tabora (who became the Governor-General) from Mexico. On this trip, Governor Tabora brought along the brown image of our Blessed Virgin Mother. The Brown Virgin would eventually accompany Spanish traders during the 16th and 17th century, and it was believed that the Brown Virgin protected the traders from the ravages of storms and pirates, hence its name “La Virgen dela Paz y Buenviaje.”

Unfortunately, it was raining yesterday so here is the most decent pic I could take of the church from the outside.

Another pic of the inside of the church from where I was sitting.

The Virgin of Antipolo sits atop a glass case high above the altar. After hearing mass, churchgoers would flock to the back of the church where they would line up to go to the second floor and have the opportunity to touch the miraculous dress of the Virgin Mary and pray. A museum can also be found on the same floor.

After the mass, we went straight to the building beside the church housing the stalls of the vendors where Antipolo’s famous suman and kasoy (cashew) are being sold. Aside from suman and kasoy they also sell various goodies enough to satisfy the cravings of anyone who has a sweet tooth.

My sister wondered how many fruits it took to produce this many cashews. Must have been lots and lots of fruits.

My Recipe for Bolognese

2006-07-22T21:34:00.000+08:00

For the first time in many weeks, I found myself without anything to do on a Saturday. No badminton tournaments to watch my hubby play or to assist him in officiating. So, I decided to cook Bolognese. This is my first time to cook this dish although in the past, I’ve tried to cook lasagna which also consists of ground beef and tomato sauce.

Fortunately, my Bolognese was a hit among my nephew and nieces. Here is a picture of this dish, followed by my recipe which I’ve revised since some ingredients are not readily available in Philippine supermarkets.

2 tsps. olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 small whole onion, minced
I lb. ground beef
I small can tomato paste
1 cup beef broth
500 g. tomato sauce (can add more, depending on your taste)
1 small can of champignon mushroom, sliced
salt and pepper, to taste
½ tsp. oregano
½ tsp. basil
1/3 cup of all-purpose cream (to lighten the color)
1 lb. pasta (either penne or spaghetti)

Heat the oil in a large wok, add the garlic and onion and cook until the garlic is lightly browned and the onion becomes transparent. Add the ground beef and cook for about 20 minutes or until the beef turns brown. You can add the broth if the beef dries up. Then add the tomato paste and the tomato sauce. Add the seasonings. Add the cream at the end in order to lighten the color. Serve sauce over hot pasta. Enjoy!

Tag Category: Recipe

Make-up Junkie

2006-07-21T13:17:00.000+08:00

I have a confession to make. I am a make-up junkie. There…I said it.

I have lots and lots of make-up I can’t use, most of which just end up in the trash. Whenever I have some money left and I’m feeling depressed, I immediately go to make-up counters (SM, Rustan’s, even Mercury and Watson’s will do) in order to lift my mood. I eventually end up buying stuff I won’t really need anyway. Honestly, how much make-up does a girl really need?

My main obsession is lipsticks. There are days when I want to feel vampy and I put on the red lipstick (“Red” by Bobbi Brown); when I want to go natural I use a pinkish brown shade (“Spirit” by MAC or “Crystal Rose” by Estee Lauder); and when I want to look natural but with a little bit of color, I put on a rose shade (“Soft Rose” by Bobbi Brown). I gave away most of my lipsticks (sniff…sniff…) because others can still put it to good use before they turn rancid, and still, around 20 tubes are left inside my “Caboodle” box. I plan on keeping all of them. I even had a bet with a close friend of mine that I will not buy lipstick this year. I was able to keep my end of the bargain…until June, that is. I also love blushes…I have the cream, gel and the powder kind. But the blush which always gets the most compliment is the powder blush by Bobbi Brown with a rosy shade.

One of my dreams is to own a cosmetic company someday. Boy…that would be the day! I almost forgot about that dream of mine until Eric, a close friend of mine, reminded me about it during one of our dinner get-togethers. He said I should never let go of that dream. The people we meet along the way, the experiences we encounter…they all help us toward making our dreams a realization. In the meantime, until that day comes when I have saved enough capital to put up a cosmetic company, I should never quit my day job.

A seller in disguise

2006-07-20T14:44:00.000+08:00

I decided to eat at McDonald’s (near Makati Cinema Square) during lunch today as I was craving for a crrrrunchy fried chicken. I went there a bit early so as not to catch the lunch crowd and proceeded to place my order. Once I got my order, I chose an inconspicuous place and started eating.

As I was halfway through enjoying the fried chicken (to the tune of Pa-pa-ra-Pacquiao…), a man, who by the way looked like a customer, placed a small birthday card on my table without any explanation and probably expected me to read the contents of the card. Instinct, as well as years of living in the metropolis, tells me never to trust any stranger, however well-meaning they may be. So, I continued eating the rest of the chicken, ignoring the card. By this time, I thought the man had already left my side and was probably distributing these cards to the rest of the customers. I was surprised when the man suddenly put a bag of native delicacies on my table, probably waiting for me to pay for his wares. I waved him away. I was annoyed by the fact that he was not upfront about his intentions and made it look he was giving me a birthday card. Does he take me for a fool? This kind of modus operandi bugs me no end. Hay nako….only in the Philippines.

The Fury that is Mayon Volcano

2006-07-17T18:45:00.000+08:00

Mayon Volcano situated in Legazpi City, Albay started spewing flaming lava and rocks from its mouth last Friday, raising risks of a major eruption and putting thousands of villagers on high alert for evacuation. According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Mayor Noel Rosal said that even wild animals, such as boars and snakes, had begun descending from Mayon and that springs on the lower slopes of the mountain were drying up, all of which were "a bad sign."

Phivolcs has also reported that the tremors in the area are increasing and becoming more violent, which shows that the volcano is ready to explode anytime soon. Unfortunately, I saw on the television this morning that there were still some people near the area who were unwilling to evacuate to makeshift evacuation centers. According to them, they will just starve in the evacuation centers and they prefer to tend to their farms since they feel that the volcano will not yet erupt, “predicting” that it will take weeks before it will do so.

For more information, you can visit the website of Philippine Daily Inquirer at http://inq7.net.

2006 MBC Celebrity Badminton Tournament

2006-07-17T17:24:00.000+08:00

The MBC (Manila Broadcasting Company) Celebrity Badminton Tournament was held last Saturday, 15 July 2006, at the Smashville Badminton Court in Pasig City. The event was, of course, sponsored by MBC/DZRH, with Nadia Montenegro as the Events Organizer and Jojo Mance as the Tournament Director. While there were a few mishaps and temper tantrums on the side, the event was a resounding success. The antics of john “Sweet” Lapuz (with his high-pitched screams when he would commit an error, and he would always grab the microphone from the commentator to make funny comments) proved to be a welcome respite from the high-intensity badminton games.

Here are some of the pictures from the tournament:

the MBC Celebrity Badminton Tournament poster

the celebrities during opening ceremonies...

Anthony Suntay with Jojo...

the champions of the Class A Division...
Emilio Garcia and Jestoni Alarcon

the powerful duo of Glydel Mercado and Karla Estrada

buti nakahabol pa si Janno Gibbs....

tournament director Jojo while relaxing and sharing light moments with Ian Veneracion and Jong Cuenco (the flutist, whom we discovered is a distant relative of Jojo)...

Aaron Villena with Robin Da Roza

Tag Category: Badminton+tournament

WE ARE THE WORLD

2006-07-14T18:44:00.000+08:00

Remember this song from the eighties??? I remember when, as an impressionable young kid, I would stay glued to the T.V. during lunch time watching MTV on Ch. 2, hoping that they would feature this song (it was summer when the song was released, so I had the opportunity to watch T.V. throughout the day). Fortunately, this song stayed on the charts for weeks on end, so I was a happy kid.

After surfing the web for more info on this song and its history, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this song celebrated its 20th year anniversary last year. (Grabe...20 years na pala...ang tanda ko na...) This single, released on 8 March 1985, became the quickest selling record in music industry history. Harry Belafonte, the one who initiated the idea after watching a news report on the famine in Africa during the Christmas of ’84, remembers fondly how the single came to life. It was actually inspired by the success of the British supergroup Band Aid and their 1984 fundraising single “Do They Know It's Christmas?”. The performers gathered at A&M Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, on 28 January 1985. Ken Kragen, Belafonte’s manager, selected the night of the American Music Awards to ensure as many artists as possible could attend.

If Belafonte was the conscience of the project, legendary producer Quincy Jones was the maestro. Twenty years later, he still has the lucky sweater he wore to corral all that talent and remembers the warning he gave them: "Check your egos at the door."

What many people don’t know is that the song was written by two pop icons: Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. (Michael is such a big icon in pop history. I hope he turns his creativity and talent to worthwhile pursuits like this.) Lead vocals were rotated among 21 of the performers, including Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. (more info on this site.)

Here are some excerpts from the song. It hope it touches your heart the same way it has, time and again, touched mine. (For the complete lyrics, please visit this site.)

We Are The World
( USA for Africa )
There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying Oh, and it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
We can't go on pretending day by day
That someone, somehow will soon make a change
We're all a part of God's great big family
And the truth - you know love is all we need
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day just you and me

This awful weather...

2006-07-12T18:26:00.000+08:00

I hate this awful weather we are experiencing in Metro Manila right now. It’s supposedly just monsoon weather and not the typhoon which hit other parts of Northern Luzon today. The typhoon’s name is “Florita.” (Hmmm…I thought PAG-ASA had already resorted to giving masculine names to typhoons? Why the female name now?) In Metro Manila, the DepEd (Department of Education) suspended classes this morning in grade school and high school levels (albeit belatedly, while the students were already in school and probably had a hard time getting home) and government offices sent workers home early. I also heard from the radio this morning that Metro Manila will be experiencing this kind of weather until Friday. (grrr...)

At about 4:30 this afternoon, I looked out the window and was surprised to see dark and gloomy weather. It looked as if nighttime had fallen already. So, feeling depressed (gloomy weather makes me depressed…I’m not sure but there’s some scientific explanation for it), I decided to browse the internet for news about the weather we’re currently experiencing.

I was stunned to see this picture here.

This is a result of the landslide which hit Baguio last night. In fact, a 4-year old boy was pinned down and is considered dead by the authorities although they have yet to recover his body. Tsk tsk... I realized that I have no reason to complain while I’m sitting here in my room safe and sound while several lives were lost due to the typhoon. I better count my blessings.

More pics from the JVC 2006 Badminton Tournament FINALS

2006-07-10T11:51:00.000+08:00

Here are more pics from the JVC Finals...

Tag Category: Badminton+tournament

JVC 2006 Badminton Tournament - FINALS

2006-07-09T13:19:00.000+08:00

The Elite, Elite Masters, Veterans and Veterans Masters Categories of the JVC 2006 Badminton Tournament finally came to a close yesterday, 8 July 2006. Congratulations to my hubby and his partner for winning 2nd place in the Veterans Masters Mixed Doubles category. It was quite an achievement for them considering that my hubby's partner started playing badminton and was even his student sometime in 2002. And inspite of that, they were able to beat some seasoned veterans pairs. Kudos to Jojo Mance and Jojo Hipolito!

Here are some pics during the finals and awarding ceremonies.

Tag category: Badminton+tournament

JVC 2006 Badminton Tournament (Semi-finals)

2006-07-07T11:19:00.000+08:00

These are pictures taken during the JVC 2006 Badminton Tournament last 5 July 2006 at the Glorietta Activity Center, Makati City. The featured events are Veterans Masters Mixed Doubles, Men's Doubles and Ladies' Doubles semi-finals and Men's Singles quarterfinals. The finals for the Veteran's Masters and Elite Masters will be held on Saturday, 8 July 2006. (Good luck Honey!)

Tag Category: Badminton+tournament

JVC 2006 Badminton Tournament (Quarterfinals)

2006-07-07T10:21:00.000+08:00

Here are some pics from the JVC Badminton Tournament Quarterfinals held last 4 July 2006 at the Glorietta Activity Center, Makati City.

Tag category: Badminton+tournament

MBC CELEBRITY BADMINTON TOURNAMENT (Part 1)

2006-07-03T16:11:00.000+08:00

A celebrity tournament being organized by the Manila Broadcasting Company will be held on 15 July 2006. Leveling of the celebrities joining the tournament is currently undergoing. Here are some pics from the leveling held last 1 July 2006.

Tag Category: Badminton+tournament

One sick day...

2006-06-28T12:53:00.000+08:00

I had to call in sick yesterday because I had LBM coupled with an intense pain in my stomach. So, with nothing to do all day (halleluiah!), I decided to watch all the DVDs I bought over the past few weeks which somehow got ignored with all of the deadlines and reports I had to do at the office.

First off, I decided to watch “Failure to Launch” starring Sarah Jessica Parker (“SJP”) and Matthew McConaughey. It was just a so-so movie. There were even some corny moments especially when the crowd was cheering Matthew on while he was trying to patch things up with SJP (they were viewing the scene in a laptop connected to several webcams in the room where Matthew and SJP was). It was like a scene out of the 80’s. I definitely wouldn’t watch this movie again.

Ok. I hoped the next one would be better. So, I popped in “Date Movie” starring Alyson Hannigan (of the American Pie series) and Adam Campbell. Omigod…this was even worse. I wasn’t even able to watch the whole movie since it was so boring that I slept through most of it. (Zzzzzz……)

Since I did not have much success in this area, I surrendered. I didn’t think the rest of the DVDs would make me feel better. So I decided to channel-surf instead and see what’s happening on the boob tube.

I suddenly remembered, it was Day 2 of the Wimbledon Championships. I got excited. There’s something about watching tennis players slugging it out in the nice green courts of Wimbledon which soothes me. I prefer it over the red clay courts of Roland Garros. I learned that most of the scheduled play for Day 1 of Wimbledon was suspended due to the rain. (so what else is new, this happens every year.) Play for Day 2 was also temporarily suspended, however, play resumed as soon as the rain stopped. I really pity the players who would just sit there all day waiting for the rain to stop. I hear there’s talk of putting a roof over the Centre Court….finally!

I just love hearing the British accent of the commentator with their quirky slangs. (“Kim Clijsters is in the doldrums.”) And the umpire is very courteous. (“Mrs. Henin-Hardenne to serve.”) The fact that Wimbledon is steeped in tradition never ceases to amaze me. I love watching the lady players curtsy especially when there are royals watching.

It was also nice to see the comeback of Martina Hingis in Wimbledon. She holds the record for being the youngest tennis player to win the Wimbledon championships in 1997. I think that the semi-retirement of Hingis gave her a more thorough appreciation of the game. I always thought that she was too young to appreciate her status then. (Who can forget her face full of tears when she lost to Steffi Graf during one of the Championships at Roland Garros.) She really has matured and has become one of my favorites, along with Justine Henin-Hardenne.

I also learned that this is going to be the last tournament of Andre Agassi as he is set to retire after the Wimbledon. It really is the end of an era. I hope that Agassi wins the tournament, the same way Sampras won the U.S. Open when he retired, just about the time Bridgette Wilson Sampras was carrying their first child. What a way to end a career. But let’s not forget that Roger Federer is on a roll. Who can beat him on grass? I don’t think that his nemesis, Rafael Nadal, can beat him on grass even though Nadal was won majority of their head-to-head matches (which are usually on clay.) The next 2 weeks in Wimbledon will prove to be exciting, so let’s all wait and see.

On the local badminton scene, the JVC tournament held at Powersmash Makati is ongoing. Badminton fanatics are encouraged to watch and cheer their favorite players. Hope to see you all there!

BADMINTON VS. TENNIS

2006-06-25T11:05:00.001+08:00

A friend introduced me to badminton during the summer of 2001. I was hesitant at first because the sport did not seem to be challenging at all. I would often see children on the streets playing “backyard badminton”. Tennis, on the other hand, seemed a lot more prestigious, with all the “Grand Slam” tournaments being televised, having “million-dollar” prizes and famous players landing ridiculously high-priced advertising contracts like Sampras, Hingis, Agassi and Kournikova. (Note: Remember, this was during 2001.) I would often dream of hiking off to England and watching a badminton game during Wimbledon, often considered as the most prestigious of the 4 Grand Slam Tournaments.

During that time, I made the mistake of training for badminton and tennis at the same time. What I lacked in talent, I made up for in enthusiasm. I would play badminton during the week and tennis during weekends. My hand suffered in the process. I had tendinitis on my right hand. Rest was the only cure. I could not play both sports without sacrificing my body and risking further injuries, so I had to choose between the two.

Badminton and tennis are often compared to each other. Players at opposite ends of the court aim to hit a shuttlecock (in the case of badminton) or tennis ball (in the case of tennis) over the net so that it lands inside the marked boundaries of the court, and aim to prevent their opponents from doing the same. However, unlike a tennis ball, the shuttlecock flies with a lot of drag and will not bounce significantly. Badminton is considered as the fastest racquet sports in the world with shuttles reaching speeds of up to 200 mph. Badminton champion Fu Haifeng of China set the official world smash record on 3 June 2005. The actual shuttlecock speed was measured as 332 km/h or 206 mph, faster than the Eurostar train.

The rallies of each point tend to be much longer in badminton than in tennis. This is true even though winning a ‘shutout’ match in badminton requires only winning 42 points (21-0, 21-0, in a Men’s Singles match according to the newest rule set by the International Badminton Federation), whereas in tennis it would require 72 points (6-0, 6-0, 6-0). Badminton can be physically more tiring than tennis as the time between shots can be much shorter (since the players have to hit the shuttle before it bounces, whereas in tennis, the players have to hit the ball before it has bounced twice or hit any fixtures.)

When a shot is played in tennis, the whole of the arm is used in one sweeping action, whereas in badminton, a wide range of motions is employed, from delicate flicks of the wrist and pressing of fingers to full-body smashes and clears. Speed, reaction and endurance are all important to a successful badminton player. From a fitness perspective, a close comparison can be made to squash which also has the same explosive starts. (Courtesy of Wikipedia.)

For personal reasons that will be made clear in future posts, I have chosen to concentrate on playing badminton. I recently cleaned my closet and gave away my tennis rackets to others who will put it to good use. I am not saying that one sport is better than the other. This is all about personal choices, about what kind of sports will fit each individual. After all, variety is the spice of life.