Recent update
- Dahil sa paglutang ni Lozada…
- First Bug (Should Die)
- Catching up on movies I missed
- Lack of sleep may be deadly
- I Wish I ws a Punk Rocker
- Anya Palileo Victory Liner (anlabo)
- Fear Pressure (Clean Version)
- Two old friends…
- Ang bagong Wendy Valdez ng bayan
- Pinakamatinik na Networking
Pagdating ko po sa Ubando
September 27th, 2006 by kwentongbayan
It doesn’t help that whenever I get in on our elevator at the office, which is walled with mirrors, I always check how one by one, my hair are turning to gray. Not even my penchant for hair fixers could hide it. I just tell myself that it’s something genetically inherited, from my tatay who’s also gray haired. But I just can’t help but think that each gray hair is but a strand untangled from the big commotion inside my head. My hair grows big, not long. It hides a lot. Di ko lang mapigilang mag isip lagi. Na minsan parang nakakabaliw na.
Bawat isang uban, katumbas ng isang gabing puyatan. O kaya’y isang kaha ng sigarilyo. O isang tasa ng matapang na kape. O ng isang gabi na di mapakali, naghihintay ng gimik pero wala. O ng gimik na meron pero di mapuntahan. O kaya ng mga pagninilay-nilay tungkol sa mga problema, mapa-pamilya, puso o pitaka (or the lack of it).
Naalala ko tuloy when I was younger, how I’d frown upon young people with gray hair at an early age. (Lalo na yung batang nakita ko na parang lola na sa dami ng puting buhok). Sabi nga ni Richelle "yuck, uban." As if nakakadiri ang magkaroon ng puting buhok. It’s definitely a sign of aging, which hopefully (but not at most times) equates to maturity. I flatter myself to have matured early. If an equal equation can be turned around, and maturity equals aging, then I know that that may have caused my hair to turn gray.
At bakit kaya the color gray is associated with loneliness, or a sorry, sad state. Gray skies, gray area, grey’s anatomy. Hanlabo. Should gray hair make anyone feel sad, or bothered like I am now. Di pa naman ganon kadami ang uban ko. Siguro ineexag ko nga lang. Masyado ko kasing pinapansin. Bilin pa naman ng nanay ko, huwag ko daw bubunutin at huwag ko daw papansinin, dahil mas dadami.
Ayoko lang ng puting buhok. Period. It says that I am aging. I matured early and missed out on childish foolishness. Gusto ko pang magpakagago na parang bata. It says that I am overly stressed with the comings and goings of everyday. And though I try to make fun of it, there is always something there to remind me. The uban is always there to remind me. Each gray hair reminds me of how time is running out for me to do the things that I want to do, and have to do.
Namiss ko tuloy yung barbero ko dati na tyinatyagang icut close to the root ang mga gray hair ko. Sigh.
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Lessons from a celebrity
September 22nd, 2006 by kwentongbayan
I don’t do blog hopping/reading much. I only read blogs of friends, and those currently updated in my Friendster page. I’m not fond of celebrity blogs (probably dahil may doubt if sila nga talaga ang nagsusulat non). Ang nakita ko pa lang na celeblog ay yung kay Ala Paredes, and her dad Jim Paredes. But when I caught sa showbiz news last Sunday about KC Concepcion’s blog where she talked about her meeting with her dad (first time after 10 long years), sobra akong nacurious, and finally got the time to look for it and read. I’m trusting na sya nga talaga yon. (http://kooki.multiply.com/)
One thing she wrote about her meeting with her dad Gabo really hit me. And it’s something for non-confrontational people (like me and most of you) to learn from. She said (and I quote without her ‘permission’):
"i learned from making a random call to speak to him after 3 years of silence, that following your instincts & learning to discern can take you places… if you know you’re already 1 to think a LOT, but your heart still SCREAMS for you to do something, then do what it says cos it must be RIGHT."
It’s nothing new actually. Ako, when all else fails (two weeks of pondering, sleepless nights thinking about how to go about certain issues; even making a list of pros and cons of a particular decision to be done), when all of that fail to give you a concrete, with-a-firm-backbone decision, and a feeling of security that it’s all for the better, i-instinct mo na lang yan dude.
Easy for me to say. My instinct has yet to be trustworthy.
And KC’s blog is a gold account sa Multiply. Hmmm…magkano kaya yon?
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Finally dropped the bomb
September 21st, 2006 by kwentongbayan
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Last Movie Seen
September 16th, 2006 by kwentongbayan
This is my current favorite. Isang hit-and-miss Korean dvd na binili ko sa Quiapo, dahil lang sa nagandahan ako sa packaging. Pinanood ko ito first at Raz’s home theater, pero nakatulugan ko, kase medyo nabagalan ako sa development ng kwento. Saka hindi cute yung girl bida (na later on, narealize ko na medyo Jennylyn Mercado hawig sya). Or baka kase inaantok na lang talaga ako non. But when I watched it again, this time with half my attention on it (sinabayan ko kase ng pagpaplantsa, hehe), naappreciate ko na sya. It made me, yet again, wonder about how good Koreans are in film making; both in telling the story and the technical aspects of it.
Etong favorite part ko: matagal nang hinahanap ni Jo Kang (the guy lead) si Ari (the Jennylyn lookalike). Until one day, she shows up at his workplace. The guy works as a loan officer, so naturalmente, madaming tao sa office nya, and everyone is on a queue, with numbers (just like sa mga bangko). And Ari has to wait for her number to be called para makausap si Jo Kang. Afraid that she’ll get tired of waiting and leave again, Jo Kang removes one of his shoe laces, and uses it to tie down Ari’s feet to the chair that she’s sitting on. (Check out Youtube for thraillers and music videos, andun yung part na ‘to, or it’s official website www.domabam2006.com).
It puts a new spice into a really old and gasgas story. Pero ang galing pa din. It has elements dealing with extra terrestrials, which I think when put into a love story with bad writing and baduy staging, it will really suck. Pero eto, hinde. Eto pa, walang subtitle yung title ng film. So walang clue as to what the story is about when I watched it. I had to research pa kung ano sya. Which is quite easy. I think the Korean title is ‘Domabam’, (may voice clip yung girl saying ‘do-me-bem’). The film’s english title is "LOVE PHOBIA".
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Tumblingero
September 15th, 2006 by kwentongbayan
This is what happens when people let you down. You’ve to cover for them. Saluhan. (One valuable lesson I’ve learned from my college org, Broad Ass).
Alas 4:35 na ng umaga. I’ve an event with a call time 25 minutes…no, make that 24 minutes from now. Nagbackout ang isang importanteng tao sa staff kaya I have to cover for her. Nagbackout…ang make up artist. BWAHAHAHA! Joklang. Ang nagbackout ay ang FD. Floor Director. Isang napakaimportanteng tao sa kahit anong event. Na mahirap hanapin. Mahirap hanapin na kakagat sa parang limos na TF. TF meaning, Talent Fordaloveof.
Actually, gusto ko din naman magFD. Favorite job ko ito sa aming BC 121 class under no less than Prof. Evelyn David. Although alam kong sumemplang ako big time sa aking mga FD stints noon. Sa class kase, rotation ang trabaho, pero you always become assigned a particular job for the production of a certain classmate. May time na interview prod, di ko nadinig masyado na patapos na pala yung oras. Eh wala pa sa kainitan yung discussion. I kept on signaling "stretch", na para kang may hinihimay na dough gamit ang dalawang kamay mo. Sige…istrets pa…CUT! Tapos na. Gudlak.
Pero ayoko sanang mapagod. Gusto ko lang maging spectator at observer. Sabi nga ni Rey sa blog nya, na sinabi daw ni Cheche Lazaro: "No story is worth your life." Amen to that.
In a few hours, tatambling na naman ako bilang FD. Although nakapagFD na ko in the past projects i’ve done, and I can say with confidence na "KAYA KO ‘TO." (Good morning.) I’m actually good at it. (I think…[self confidence dwindles...tininininin...]…) Pero with barely an hour of sleep. At sa halip na matulog eh bumablog pa ko…Dalawang red bull, isang lipovitan at dalawang sachet na extra joss ang katapat nito. At isang kilong kapal ng mukha at kaplastikang pagkahyper.
You prolly have seen countless times, at the bottom of your TV screen whenever you watch those live variety shows, this person with a headset always making the audience clap with their hands above their head. At napapaisip ka…"peke pala yang mga palakpak na yan…" I’ll be that person today. And more.
Bahala na si Batman.
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Pagmulat ng Mata
September 12th, 2006 by kwentongbayan
Nainspire ako sa ’80s kabataan blog ng aking kaibigan na si Che. (http://cheingles.blogs.friendster.com/my_turf/2006/09/mga_kanta_ang_b.html)
Isa sa pinagpapasalamat kong oportunidad na dumating sa buhay ko ay ang makatrabaho ang mga tao sa likod ng Batibot. Isa akong batang Batibot. Kaya siguro ang dating ay mala Devil wears ang trabaho. Not that devilish ang mga naging boss ko, pero dahil sa isa itong trabaho na pinangarap mo, at di inakalang mapupunta sa iyong harapan.
Sa Eskwela ng Bayan ko sila lahat nakilala. Sila din ang mga tao na nagproduce ng iba pang educational children’s show, isa na dito ang Bulilit na parang Batibot reincarnate, with Kuya Bodjie as lead character. Nakakatuwa nga, kase one time na nagpoprodmeet kame, kailangang iilustrate for video ang landslide (I handled the Science show for ENB). Tapos may sinuggest ako na way to do it. Na medyo dinudahan nila if it will work. Sabi ko, "ganyan din po yung ginawa sa Bulilit dati!". See, my director for my show then, Chuck Escasa, was a writer for Bulilit. At si Sir Lem Garcellano, na creative director namin for ENB, ay writer din sa Bulilit. Sabi nila, di na daw nila maalala na ginawa nila yun. They jokingly said na, may natuto naman pala daw sa show nila. Hay.
Syempre nakita ko na din ako kay Kuya Bodjie. When I first saw him, kinilabutan talaga ako. Parang nagbalik lahat ng childhood mornings ko that I spend waiting for Batibot. Parang gusto kong kumandong sa kanya at magpakwento! Haha! And I really made it a point na maging talent ko sya sa show ko. That was the most memorable taping I did. At isa syang magaling na aktor. Nakakatawa nga eh, hindi nya super memorized ang lines nya. What he did was fold his script tapos nilagay nya sa sahig at may I tapak sya para di halata. Minsan binabasa na nya talaga yung script, pero sobrang hindi halata!
Si Manang Bola nga nakasabay ko pang umuwi from Ortigas. Taga Novaliches kasi sya, si Lola Rose Nalundasan, at ako taga Muñoz. Nilibre pa nya ko ng pamasahe. Pagkausap mo sya, di naman agad halata na siya yung puppeteer ni Manang Bola. Pero kung patandain nya nag boses nya, ayun na! Sya din si Ningning. Or si Gingging ba. Di ko sure.
Sa tanong ni Che,na kung bakit nawala ang Batibot, eh may inside story ako. We all know what happened sa ating mga kaibigang sina Pong Pagong at Kiko Matsing. Binawi sila ng Children’s TV Workshop (producer ng Sesame Street), kase sila naman talaga ang may-ari ng mga ito. Ang chika kase, nanalo ang Batibot ng Prix Jeuness Prize, isang prestihiyoso at international award for TV. Natalo nila ang Sesame Street sa category nila. Naimbyerna yata ang mga taga CTVF, kaya bilang ganti, ay binawi nila sina Pong at Kiko. Well, not really binawi. Pinagbawal lang nila na gamitin ito ng Batibot. (Ang alam ko kase, ang CTVF ang nagpasimula at nag-assist sa Philippine Children’ts TV Foundation sa pagbuo ng Batibot, na nagsimula sa isang franchise ng Sesame Street na tinawag na Calle Sesame). Ayon sa isang article sa Kule a few years ago, nasa Cubao lang ngayon sina Pong at Kiko. Nakakahon at inaagiw.
Being the stars of Batibot, unti-unting nawala ang show sa pagkawala ng pagong at ng matsing. Pinalit nila ang isang original Pinoy designed character na si Koko Kwikwak to replace Pong and Kiko. Base sya sa Philippine Eagle. Pero sadly, hindi ganon mabenta si Koko. (I don’t remember liking him nga eh.) Kaya talagang nawala na ang Batibot.
May mismanagement din daw, ayon sa aking katrabaho na Batibot alumni. For the longest time daw, hindi sila sumesweldo, like mga two years na wala. Until napilitan nang umalis ang lahat. Until now, di pa sila binabayaran sa kanilang serbisyon.
May chika din na hindi sinuportahan ng isang TV network ang Batibot nung naghihingalo na ito. Kaya’t tuluyan na talagang natsugi ito sa ere. (Something that I believe, is the ultimate reason why Batibot never saw daylight again. Napakalaking factor ng airtime. Walang airtime, walang show.)
Nakakalungkot lang talaga. And like Che, I pity the younger generation. Philippine TV lacks (pasintabi sa aking mga kaibigan sa industriya) substantial programming, lalo na para sa ating mga kabataan. Mornings during our time were times of learning, about the alphabet, how to count, good manners, songs, different culture and values of Filipinos. Pero ngayon, maaga pa lang, bayolente na ang mga palabas. I’m a fan of certain animes, pero really, I think they’re young adult stuff. When I stayed nga sa Hong Kong, we had to wait for past twelve just to watch Dragonball and the likes. Puro mga cutsie Japanese animations lang ang mapapanood sa mga oras na may gsing na bata.
Kung may mga palabas na Pambata, puro naman magic. It might be teaching kids that there’s no other way to go about problems seemingly huge and unsurmmountable, but to use magic and the supernatural. Paano na ang pagtuturo ng tiwala sa sarili, pag-iisip at pagtitiyaga para masolusyonan ang mga problema.
Fine, may Dora, may Disney Channel, etc. Pero, pero, pero (malinis to pati na sa kusina). Kumusta naman si Dora na Spanish. Gudlak. There’s one good news though, irerevive daw ng ABS-CBN Foundation ang Mathinik at Sineskwela. Pero iba pa din talaga ang kamandag ng Batibot.
Nag-inuman nga kami once sa bahay ng TD namin na si Sir Rusty, at may nakopya syang mga random segments ng Batibot. Maluha-luha talaga ako nung pinapanood namin. Dala siguro ng kalasingan. At frustration.
Ang batang Batibot, ngayon lashengo na. Ahaha. Namulat na ang mata.
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Dream Destinations
September 11th, 2006 by kwentongbayan
Last Saturday night, while it was raining like hell and streets and flooded like crazy, I got stuck in Jollibee with my batchmate Pinky. We were on our way to Erica and Kaye’s birthday bash, but we had to stop kase super traffic at nakakatakot nga ang baha. Sa aming paghihintay sa Roces, napag-usapan namin ang napakaraming bagay, including our grand plan na si Pinky ang may pakana, na magback packing sa Europe. (Sosyal!)
Libre naman ang mangarap. Pero with the saving up scheme na sinasuggest ni Pinky, na I have to save 1/3 of what I earn every month, for like five years, eh medyo isang mapangarap na konsepto eto.
Naisip ko tuloy, I’ll be turning 25 in a few months time. (June pa naman, pero we all know how Monday is not that far away from Friday.) At gusto ko sana makaalis ng bansa, at magawa ang mga out-the-country escapades before I turn 30 and finally settle sa aking tinubuang lupa. Madami pa naman akong gustong mapuntahan. No, hindi lang mapuntahan. Sabi ko nga kay Pinky, I want to migrate to these places (any one of them) and start life anew, build a career, write a certain chapter of my life with an entirely new casting. Haha.
First Dream Destination: ESPAÑA
Ito ang pinakafeasible para sa akin. I’ve given up hope on my Big Apple-Carrie Bradshaw dream (gudlak sa visa). Ang Spain, medyo makatotohanan. I’ve a tita, na best friend ng nanay ko who’s already a citizen there; at may isa pa syang close friend na may ari ng hotel sa Barcelona yata. And a career in hotel is my second dream (either sa kitchen siguro or administration). So it fits, somehow. I just have to start na learning Spanish. Na ineffortan ko na thru Instituto de Cervantes, kaya lang they need a minimum of ten students for a class. Dalawa pa lang yata kaming nag iinquire.
Second Dream Destination: KOREA
I’m loco over Korean films. They’re just amazingly done (most of them), at napakagaling na magkwento ng mga Koreano. If I were to stick to my multimedia dream, pwede sigurong ipursue ko ito sa Korea, where cinematography is fabulous and storytelling isn’t crappy. Pero iniisip ko lang, ang easiest ticket going there is to be an English teacher. Okay lang naman sa akin kung tutuusin, pero iniwasan ko na sana maging teacher, kaya sana ayoko naman bumagsak ulit doon. And I think I’ll fit there, kase sabi ng housemate ko dati na Koreana na si Jackie, mukha daw akong koreano minus my dark skin.
Third Dream Destination: CHINA
Hindi lang dahil sa craving ko for Chinese food the other day, at sa pagkahilig ko sa mga…hmmm…singket…at sa fascination ko about Chinatown. Naengganyo lang kase ako dahil kay Nay Ge, former co-AP sa Eskwela ng Bayan, who worked for a time sa China. Nakakainggit ang kanyang mga pictures doon. They have nice beaches and the weather seems chilly. Nadarama ko din na magandang mag-emote sa China. Haha!
Local Dream Destination: BATANES
When I feel like cutting off myself from all the stress of city life, isa lang ang naiisip ko: Batanes. Closest place sa Pinas that I can associate with the Italian villages in Under the Tuscan Sun. It has a certain mystery to it, from the pictures and docus about it that I’ve seen. Para syang untouched relic of the Spanish influence in our country. A ghosttown, na hindi nakakatakot. I know I can’t say much about Batanes, not until I finally see it with my own eyes. For now, I can only try saving up for that trip, hoping na a great storm will come while I’m there, para mastuck ako don at dun na manirahan. (The same thrill I get as a kid, when it storms at walang kuryente at di kami makalabas ng bahay.)
Batanes pics galore! My favorite among, this bird’s eye view of Batanes. Mala Italian village.
See! Toldya!
Sila daw ang true-blue Insulares, mga descendants of Austronesians from Taiwan. The Ivatans.
Tara na, biyahe tayo! Magsurfing sa Siargao. haha! This is Batanes. (All pics here were taken by Joseph. Pero the pics talaga, the originals, were taken by pro-photographers who went to Batanes to capture those magnificent views.)
Di ko pa nakuha ang pinarenew ko na passport, na three years ago pa!!! Waaah! And the only savings I have is the one kept by my McDo tumbler (na lagi ko pang kinukupitan pag palapit na ang katapusan). I hope to win the lottery one day. But then again, kung mayaman na ko, baka di ko na masyado pangarapin na magtrabaho at kumita ng higit sa ibang bansa. My aim is not just to travel, kundi makasimula muli on better soil. Not just career wise. I just want to be wiser. Hanlabo. Sure, the grass is no more greener on the other side. But hey, it’s still of different shade.
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Non Birthday-Birthday
September 5th, 2006 by kwentongbayan
My apologies first. to those who greeted me last week. I appreciate it really. Ngunit patawad po, it wasn’t my birthday last week.
Wala lang kasi akong magawa the other day. At napagdiskitahang baguhin ang aking birthday to the day following that day na napagdiskitahan kong baguhin ang aking birthday sa friendster account information ko. I just thought that it would be a nice experiment, that "it’s my birthday today", but not really.
A handful of friends greeted me thru text and private messages here sa friendster. I appreciate it guys, really. At patawad po. If I were to trade shoes, alam ko kung ano ang pakiramdam na nagoyo, nagotcha kung baga. But really, it wasn’t my intention. And it wasn’t a "test of friendship" as some (SOME) might actually think.
Sabi nga ni Sheila (dormer friend at adakrab ni Cess at katambay ko sa Molave na New Yorker na ngayon), everyone deserves a non birthday birthday once in a while. Sana nga pala I went to some resto which gives free cake to birthday celebrators. (Nagawa namin to the few times na nag Fridays ako with Assers. Laging si Anya ang biktima.) That would’ve been nice. Or I could’ve spent that day like how I want my birthdays to be special.
In retrospect, baka mali pala yung horoscope that I was considering a sign, dahil sa kung naging August ang birthday ko, ibig sabihin, hindi yun dapat ang horoscope ko. Tsktsk…Karma chameleon.
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