Luksong Tinik

Dear insansapinas,

Luksong Tinik (thorn hurdles). 
This is a very common game played largely by girls ages between 7 to 12, though, in some areas, boys join in. This game is played outside with players divided into sets, comprising of the mother ('inay) and her child ('anak'). The 'it' are two players who seat facing each other, stacking their feet and hands together, gradually increasing the height while the opponents jump over it. Any 'child' player who touches any part of this hurdle is saved by the 'mother' who would jump on the former's behalf. If she, too, fails to accomplish the feat, both 'mother' and 'child' becomes the 'it' who would assume the seated position.
source


When I was small (and Christmas trees were tall) my friends and I used to play luksong tinik. We had a playmate who was "madaya". She would ask the " it", to lower the hands so she can jump over.
Talisod pa rin.


Our economy is like luksong tinik. The economic team asked the target to be lowered from, 6 per cent to 5 per cent.


Hindi pa rin inabot. Sus. Masyado na ang pulitika at showbiz. Tutukan naman ang ekonomiya. Hindi na rin ako magsusulat about show biz ---pag hindi sikat ang involved. Promise. Talking about show business, nakita raw ang prince kasama ang mother queen na galing sa ibang kingdom. Masayang-masaya raw ang prince. Ang sakit noon. Araguy. Talagang hindi pansin si princess, maglumugmok man siya.


Ito pala ang balita tungkol sa ekonomiya. 

The Development Bank of Singapore expects the Philippine economy to grow this year by only 3.6 percent, after the government reported that the increase in gross domestic product in the third quarter was worse than expected.

The Fairy Tale -Back to the Drawing Board

Dear insansapinas,

photocredit
In the far away kingdom in Asia, lives a prince. He is one of the attractions in the celluloid palace. But the prince appears that he is not what he claims to be. No worry, thought the publicity arm of the kindom. As long as there are women who'll  shriek to the "kilig" moments, they can always come up with damage control plan. In the past, every time his secret life was at the risk of being revealed by  the kingdom's press, the publicity group paired him with the most popular princess. Then the romance simply faded away.


In the last few years, he became bolder. His sightings with his special friends worried the think tank machine. So, what was best decision was to pair him with another beautiful princess.  The princess must have already an inkling of his personality but she has fallen...madly in love or she was challenged that she can change him.  She liked to give up several times but she would find herself going back to his arms again. Kilig din siya. Never mind if it is just for a show.  While she was crying buckets of tears, the prince would just dismiss it as simply as lovers' quarrel.


But then another talk show needs a new " pakulo". So came the interview. Would you believe that the counts and the countesses did not give their blessing for the " tell-but-not-really-tell-all" interview? Would you believe that they can afford their prince to lose his fans? There should be the do's and don'ts to define the boundaries of the expose. The people waited with bated breath. Is he or is he not? The revelation was a disappointment however. It just  made the issue  full of more questions. Congrats to the think tank. They made people glued to their seats while the couple was singing love songs to people who are unaware of the status of their love story. 


No mention of the real cause of the split." Make it vague". could have been the order. Let the viewers come up with conclusion.  The prince's mystic is going to be protected. He's a moneymaker of the kingdom.

Turo, Turo, Tourism

Dear insansapinas,
Update: Women’s group slams ‘sex tourism’ thrust

photocredit: 

The Philippines' tourist arrivals  of 3.5 million last year was  one of the lowest among Asian nations. Malaysia had 34.6 million; Thailand, 15.8; Singapore,  11.5 million and Indonesia, seven million. Vietnam received 5 million tourists in the same period.


Nasaan na ang chickenjoy? Nasaan na ang claim na promoting tourism is just like selling chicken joy? 


According to the news, the Department of Tourism would like to make the Philippines a haven of divorcees? Bakeeet? 
Ito ang explanation ng DOT.

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines as a divorcee haven? In an effort to lure more long-staying tourists in the country, the Department of Tourism (DOT) is developing the Philippines as a destination for divorcees or those trying to recover from broken relationships.
Tourism Assistant Secretary Domingo Ramon Enerio III said those running away from domestic turmoil are among the target markets of the DOT for its long-stay tourism program.
“At this time, the Philippines is among the few remaining countries that still prohibit divorce, so we think this is a big market that we hope to tap,” he said. “If we can be a wedding or honeymoon destination, we can be vice versa and become a destination for those in search of personal fulfillment, including those… in flight from domestic turmoil,” he added.
He said the Philippines can offer both relaxation and adventure to these tourists.

Pakigulo nga ang utak ko. Pakigising. Tulog eh. Hindi ko makita ang logic kung anong meron sa Pinas para magtakbuhan ang mga divorcees dito.  Do I have to read between the lines, under the lines or over the lines ? 

KC, KC, KC

Dear insansapinas,

Once Upon a time, there was a princess. She fell in love madly with a  prince charming. The relationship was said to be doomed from the start because the princess felt that the prince does not behave like a good boy friend should.

There had been rumors that they are already separated but in the kingdom, separation should be certified authentic by the publicity office which claims exclusive and explosive interview of the parties concerned by a host who pretends to think before asking question when in fact, it is already scripted.

Yesterday, there was an interview done but there was nothing new that was discussed. The most awaited moment of truth did not come. The palace should protect the other party. He is also one of their royalties. What was implied in the interview was that the princess can no longer bear heartache of knowing that his prnce is really her FAIRY godmother. Baka nag-agawan sila ng pink undies.

May pag-asa na naman si Biyay.

Pinaysaamerika

The Lounging Pants,The ROI, the Payback Period, Cash flow and the Just Compensation

Dear insansapinas,

photocredit
Four lounging pants were my only loot  last Black Friday. The discounted price was half the regular,You know naman, I do not go out often so I am always in my lounging pants aka pajama. Besides, it is winter here in the States where shorts is a no no even with a centralized heater. Besides, it is more comfortable to wear loose pants  especially if you are using diabetes med injectables.

For someone sick with the C, the doctor expects weight loss without having to lift the fingers to do some calisthenics. But I do all the time especially when I am browsing in the internet. Nageexcercise ang daliri ko.


And it was when I was browsing that I found someone claiming to have finished an MBA in a prestigious university wrote something about  concepts which she did not understand. If I were the professor, I could have not passed her without asking her to write 100 times...
The ROI is expressed in terms of  per centage while payback period is in terms of months and the cash flow is the expected receipts from a proposed investment for a given period of time. When you are asked of the expected performance of an investment proposal, you might say, the ROI is 5 per cent; the investment will be recovered after three years and the annual cash flow from the project is -----pesos or dollars. If you are not sure, skip the topic. Hindi mahahalatang rider lang kayo noong MBA days ninyo. Tseh.


Hindi pagtataray yan. I am attacking concepts and not the physical attributes of people. Palusot pa.


Just Compensation
What is just compensation? The President is urging DAR to see to it that the HLI owners (Cojuangcos) should receive just compensation for the land that they are about to give up. (Isn't the land bought from the proceeds of the government loan? Granting that they should pay. what determines the just compensation?  It is the court daw which is going to determine the just compensation. Interesting. Buhay pa ba ako noon?


When the stock options distibution scheme  was approved in distributing the hacienda, years ago, sa isip ko patay. Kailan man walang makukuha ang mga farmers sa lupa nila.


When implemented, this distribution type for corporate farm should have given the farmers share of stocks of the hacienda. The certificate of stock is an  evidence that the farmer is a  part owner of the hacienda.  As part owners, they have the right for dividends when the corporations declare one at the end of the year. But wait, there is a catch. Only when there is income and available retained earnings earmarked for that purpose. O sabay-sabay. Buhay pa ba kami noon?


The new Supreme Court decision disallows the stock distribution but I think, there is a suggestion to let the farmers chose this option if they want to. Waiiisss.


Assuming that the farmers have to pay for the cost of the farm, what is considered just compensation.


In a corporate setting, the value of the company is dependent on its stock--not the par value but the book value.


And how do you compute for the book value? Easy. The Paid-up capital stock plus the retained earnings divided by the number of shares outstanding.  The retained earnings account is the accumulated profits for the past year. So if there were no profits, the amount will be negative and will be subtracted from the capital. What if the negative retained earnings far exceeded the capital stock like?


Stockholder's equity of HLI as of 2008


Capital stock Php 355,531,000
Retained Earnings (1,129,153,000)


Di negative din ang book value? And if the corporation has long term debts, these debts have priorities over the payment to the stockholders. 

The Fish and the Fish Scales

 Dear insansapinas,

Ordinarily, a fish is not a fish without fish scales. For the fish to be adjudged Miss Bangus or Miss Tilapia, its scales should be serving their purposes--protection and identities and they should be made of materials that addressed to these two functions.


When NAIA was rated as the worst airport in the world, the basis of the ranking were the reviews of travelers who complained, among other things, of “safety concerns, lack of comfortable seating, rude staff, hostile security, poor facilities, no (or few) services to pass the time, bribery, being kicked out and general hassles of being in the airport.”

If it were a fish, the evaluation was not only about its fish scales ( TSA) or security but the whole enchilada--the scales, the tail, the eyes, the bodies...etc.

So when DOT Secretary Roxas  touched on the security of the NAIA, he was just talking about the scales.

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) may be one of the world’s worst airports, but passengers passing through the aging Manila facility need not fear for their safety, the government said on Friday.In a statement, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said Naia recently passed with flying colors a safety audit conducted by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

But we are not only selling fish scales. We are selling the whole fish. 

Some parts of the whole that need some changes do not require millions of pesos to make the airport at par with other international airports .  These are hostile staff, bribery practices which eat up most of the time of the staff, thus good services are not delivered. 


The officials are always ready to defend the administration's incompetence even to the extent of talking about fish scales instead of fish


ISDA kayo diyan, bilasa na.


Pinaysaamerika

I lied

Dear insansapinas,

I

 In my previous blog, I implied that I did not rejoice the news that a former friend of mine was losing her house due to foreclosure. I LIED. Being human made me feel that I have every reason  of feeling triumphant for the perceived payback of my friend's wrongdoing which made me fall into depression for years.

I can not say it is schadenfreude . It is more of retribution. She destroyed my career; she made me lost my self-esteem  by allowing me to believe that my work did not meet the boss' expectations.That I am losing it--that of being an efficient and conscientious corporate slave.


It is also my fault to harbor such feeling. To believe her about myself. I had forgotten that there were bigger BUMPS that came my way and I was able to hurdle them. The people involved were more powerful and yet I never said die or give up.


Last night, I realized what I had become, Kahit na ang kantang SAPAGKAT KAMI AY TAO LAMANG is not a justification for me to gloat on my friend's ill fortune. I guessed, I am not a candidate for  being a saint.

Wala pa pala akong halo.  mhahahaha.


Pinaysaamerika

After Six Years Part 2

Dear insansapinas,

" Hindi ikaw ang best friend ko. Sampid ka lang dito. Ang kaibigan ko ay si...


Nahh Virginia, hindi ito script. Pero parang teleserye ang nangyari.  Upo ka at ikukuwento ko saiyo.
Early morning, I received a call from a friend of mine from another state, greeting me Happy Thanksgiving. Nagkasama kami noon sa isang bahay hanggang mag-asawa siya. Hindi minsan kami nag-away. Ngayon tsismisan pa rin kami, tungkol sa entertainment, pulitika at tungkol sa pamilya.


Kinahapunan, isang tawag naman sa isang kaibigan mula sa California ang natanggap ko. Happy Thanksgiving, happy thanksgiving din. Pangal ng isang drumstick , kumustahan. Kumusta si C...adopted niya, Kumusta si B... common friend. Nakasama ko naman siya ng kulang-kulang na dalawang Linggo nang magdecide akong lumipat sa Los Angeles  para magtrabaho at maghanap ng sarili kong lugar.




Tapos bigla siyang nagtanong. Alam mo bang naghahanap na ng apartment si  G ? Paano kako yong bahay na binili nila ni P? Iiwanan na yata, sagot ng kaibigan kong tumawag.  Bigla akong napakagat sa drumstick. Kung buhay na manok ito, sigurado nang lumipad pagkatapos sumigaw ng OUCH (Merkano ang manok eh).

Humor Blog

Dear insansapinas,

As if you do not notice, mine is a humor blog. Trying hard nga lang. You need to tickle your funny bones to laugh after finding the humor which is  like a proverbial needle in the haystock  in an article pretending to be serious but falls short of the grade.

Before the video of the spokesperson of the SC became viral, I could have posted it in my blog to elicit laughter. But I didn't. I do not want to make fun of the demeanour of an individual due to her/his gender orientation or which was shaped by his upbringing.


I used to have  three  male faculty members who were suspected of being members of the third kind--- but they were not. Why did I write this in past tense? Because these three had already passed away. One from aneurysm, the other one was due to stroke and the youngest was a victim of robbery. The youngest faculty staff had a female  "extracurricular" activity which contributed to the dissolution of his marriage.  Some students asked me if he was " bakla"because of his effiminate mannerisms.  I answered an emphatic no. The other two were also married and had several well disciplined children. Pero mahihiya si Supsup sa pag-imbay ng balakang.


Even if it were true that the these men had secret lives, as long as they did not molest or took advantage of the students, I would not have minded. No one is perfect.




But it is just me whose one of favorite songs is by Rico Puno:

Bago mo linisin ang putik ng iba
Linisin mo muna ang putik saiyong mukha,

Kung ano ang di mo gusto, huwag gawin sa iba.
Kung ano ang inutang, siya ang rin ang kabayaran, ohh baby.

Happy Turkey Day

Dear insansapinas,

Happy Thanksgiving Day sa lahat ng mga :Merkano kong kaibigan. Kakain ako ngayon ng KFC chicken. hehehe. Hindi ko kasi gusto ang turkey. Naalala ko ng palagi kaming hinahabol noong mga bata pa kami. Tsuplado. Tseh. 


Thanks din Lorena sa greeting. Nasama sa deleted spam mails yong pinadala mo. Sensiya, malabo ang ulo ko erase erase...mata ko pala.


Pinaysaamerika. 

Parang Pagong

Dear insansapinas,

Ikalawang taon, wala palang kinahihinatnan. Tanong ng aking kaibigan, bakit di na lang sila multuhin at patayin sa sindak?

Kasi kaibigan, sagot nila ang kaluluwang mamatay sa takot. Sila ay isusumpa sa eternal damnation. Ang mga kaluluwang naghihiganti at di matahimik sa kabilang buhay ay para na ring napaparusahan dahil hindi sila makapagpatawad. Sino nga naman ang magpapatawad? Pero ang sabi nga, pag buhay ang inutang, buhay din ang kabayaran, Walang promissory note. Nakita naman ninyo si Khadafy, si Osama at si Sadam Hussein,


Pinaysaamerika

Naghuhulihan ng walang magawa

Dear insansapinas,

Siguro nagtataka kayo kung bakit mahilig ako sa naghuhulihan... Biruan ng aking kaibigan yan--yong namatay sa breast cancer. Minsan wala siyang magawa, gustong kumain sa Batangas ng bulalo, pupuntahan ako sa opisina. Pag tinanong ko kung anong ginagawa niya doon, sasagutin ako na naghuhulihan daw ng pangit, bobo o kaya walang magawa. Baka raw siya mahuli at least dalawa kami.


Meron na namang mga walang magawa pero hindi sila hinuhuhuli. Sila ay nasa Congress,  gumagawa sila ng batas...ang pagpalit ng pangalang  EDSA to Cory Ave.


Para bang yon ang makakasolve ng problema ng bansa ang palitan ang pangalan ni Don Panong (Epifanio delos Santos, isa ring dakilang Filipino). Kung hindi sa kaniya maraming sinulat tungkol sa Pilipinas na hindi na makikita pa kahit sa Library of Congress.


Oras na pinalitan ang pangalan, marami sa aming mga nasa ibang bansa ang hahanapin pa rin ang EDSA, ang makasaysayang kalye sa Pilipinas.

Naghuhulihan ng pangit

Dear insansapinas,

Nang papiliin ang mga tao (hindi ko alam kung ilan sila, ang tawag ay multitude, ngayon sila ay people power) kung sino ang pakakawalan ng Passover, ang pangalang isinigaw nila ay Barabas.May kalakaran kasi noon na pag holiday, isang bilanggo ang pinatatatawad ng gobyerno.  Ang hindi alam ng karamihan, ang tunay na pangalan ni Barabas ay Jesus Barabas. Sa bibliya, siya ay sinasabing bandit; sa iba naman siya ay rebelde sa pamahalaang gobyerno. Hindi rebeldeng kahalintulad ng mga sinasabi ngayong na mga political activists na nang humawak din ng puwesto sa gobyerno ay wala namang ginagawa AT tumatanggap din ng Pork barrel(?)  Hindi rin siya katulad ng mga nagbibigay ng titulo sa kanilang sarili na  digital political acitivist na ang advocacy nila ay para lang magkaroon sila ng maraming hits sa kanilang mga website para malaki ang tanggapin nila sa mga sponsored ads.  Hohoyyyyy.

Si Jesus ay naging biktima ng trial by publicity. Biruin mo naman na ibandera ka sa daan, dalhin ka sa mga opsiyales na wala namang makitang violation sa rule of law ng bansa.

Despite sa maraming mga witnesses na tumanggap din ng pera mula sa mga pariseo.  Tseh.

Hindi ko kinukumpara ang nangyari last week sa cenaculo ni Hesus. Walang kumparasyon ang dalawa.  Ang gusto kong eemphasize dito ay ang wala akong trust o bilib sa people power na siyang isinasuggest ni Armida Siguion Reyna para siyang magdesisyon sa buhay ni GMA. 

via Stuart santiago

Sabi niya. 

Bakit hindi magtawag ng tao, sa Edsa kung sa Edsa. Sa Luneta, kung sa Luneta, sa kahit saan, para sagutin ang tanong: Gusto n’yo bang makulong si Gloria Arroyo?
And my goodness, if people come in droves, if, say, two million show up, how can the Supreme Court (SC) overrule so clear a manifestation of popular will? If in the past, fewer numbers installed presidents, surely much larger figures can jail another.

Paurong ba tayo?  Meron na tayong mga batas na saliko man ay may mga tao pa ring maaring magpatupad. Hindi katulad ng panahon na ang pagpatay sa bilanggo o akusado ay pinauubaya sa kapritso ng mga tao na emotion ang pinaiiral. Isama mo pa ang mass hysteria na pumatay noong medieval era ng mga taong naakusahang heretics o kaya ang mga pinsan ko---ang mga witches. 


Ang dalawang million ba ay rule of majority? Do you trust people who parrot the lies and partisan opinion of paid hacks?


Naniniwala ka ba sa isang sinabi ng isang poster sa isang website. Ngayon daw ikukulong na si Gloria ay sasagana na ang buhay sa Pilipinas? What is he smoking? Alam ba niya ang iba pang factors para umunlad ang economy. Does he really believe that only GMA is the corrupt official? Sus.


Journalists lang nagsasabi na justice is served daw. Eh wala pa ngang conviction. Ito ang mga taong susundin instead na ang Supreme Court? 

Color Me Black

Dear insansapinas,


Pupunta ako sa doctor ko. Madilim ang kalangitan. 100 per cent daw uulan. Kaya magdadala ako ng payong. Hindi na yong payong na kasimbigat ng PENTAGON ang dadalhin ko. Naalala ninyo yong visit ko sa doctor ko last month. Kagaya nito yon. Kaya naman pala, hindi lang sa ulan protection kung hindi pati sa pintura at itlog. Mga salbaheng demonstrador. 

Ganito na lang ang gagamitin ko. Magaan lang, mweheheh. Pwede bang gamitin paglasing. 

Color me Black

photocredit: GMA news
Kahit Maputi na ang buhok ko. Tear jerker naman yong nagkitang mag-asawa. Nawawala yong lalaki. Araw-araw nakaupo ang asawa at may nakadikit na retrato ng missing person sa likod. Sa pamamamagitan ng mga facebookers, nagkita sila ulit. Talagang nagmamamahalan sila. Awwwww, Inggit ako. Pak pak. (sampal sa sarili). Wala naman kasing makakantahang, Kung Ako;y matanda na ....Kahit Maputi na ang Buhok ko. Kasi nagdadye ng buhok. Itim pa. dwahahahah,


Pinaysaamerika

Friends With Benefits--Ah Ganon?

 Dear insansapains,

 
I categorized my sets of friends in the previous blog. This categorization makes me utter ah ganon. (dahil sumasakit ang mata ni biyay sa blind item, may pangalan na ang mga characters).


From Victor Agustin of Cocktales:

A NUMBER of Cabinet members of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who were stumped by the increasingly strident and mean tone of ex-colleague Leila de Lima against her former boss, were overheard sharing notes Saturday night at St. Luke’s in The Fort, trying to divine De Lima’s complete, canine devotion to P.Noy for the justice secretary to even defy the Supreme Court.
 
In the course of the post-mortem, one ex-Cabinet member revealed that De Lima had appealed for economic assistance right after she was appointed by GMA as human rights chairman, with the feisty lawyer complaining about the meager government salary.
The long and the short of it was that GMA, according to the ex-Cabinet secretary, gave a million reasons a month for De Lima to thereafter look on the brighter side of life. This monthly blessings, added the former De Lima colleague, can be validated at the Land Bank branch in Malacañang.
The Cabinet member’s story was confirmed by another ex-Cabinet colleague, who wondered if De Lima had fessed up to P.Noy about how she could be an exhibit “A” for Kim Jacinto-Henares’ Tuwid na Daan campaign.
There was an added happy ending to this heretofore unknown story; because of the monthly blessings, De Lima has managed to employ the services of a particularly loyal driver,

a luxury that the wife of Michael Ray Aquino and the Ping Lacson boys had only been too eager to talk about not too long ago.

Power and Money--It makes you forget who your friends were. 
Have you seen the picture of Soliman lately in the news grinning ear to ear. At first I thought, she was the clone friend of GMA befire their falling out, You can see her side by side with the ex-president wherever she went. Can I categorize under her Friend with Beef.

Pinaysaamerika

Namamaalam

Dear insansapinas,

Minsan di natin alam ang atin palang kaibigan o malapit sa buhay ay namamaalam na.


I have sets of friends na binibigyan ko ng categories. Yong kaibigan ko sa graduate school ay yon ang Friends with Cash. Nagtuturo lang sila for prestige.  Ang bread and butter nila ay French bread at blue cheese. Hindi kami nanood ng sine. Panay lang sa kainan ang punta namin. Nakakarating kami sa Pangasinan para bumili ng tupig.


May mga kaibigan din ako sa village na ang tawag naman sa aming grupo ay AWA (Asosasyon ng mga Walang Asawa) o under category ko na Friends with Time. Hindi naman dahil divorce ang mga kasama ko. Seaman kasi ang mga asawa nila kaya palaging wala. Ako naman walang ma See man pagkatapos ng hiwalayan. Tatlo rin kami doon. Ang miyembro naman dito ay mga executives--vice president yong isa sa gum manufacturing business at iyong ikalawa ay may sariling food business. Ang bread and butter naman nila ay pan de sal at peanut butter with jam. Kami ang mahilig manood. Lalo yong mga tear jerker, Tagalog man o English. Nakikiiyak din kami.Punasan namin ay ang manggas ng blouse. Ayaw gumamit ng panyo. Ayaw mahalata.


 Ang mga faculty members at barkada ko sa university ay nasa category na Friends with Career. Ang bread and butter namin ay pan de limon at margarine, kung minsan Ligo sardines. 

Nakakalabas lang kami ng sabay-sabay pag nag-organize ako ng seminar pag summer tungkol sa updates sa aming mga kursong hawak. Pag kami lang na mga babae, nanood din kami ng sine (foreign naman na medyo controversial. pag Tagalog kasi, makikita kami ng mga istudyent. ) pagkatapos napapabulalas kami ng Don't tell me, it is happening. Sabay laki ng mata. Kita mo naman yan para kaming mga naive. Kaya lang may career nga kami kaya wala kaming time magbonding.Isa pa ang tingin nila sa akin ay mataas, eh 5'2"  lang naman ako. Halos magkakasing edad lang kami kaya ang tawagan namin lahat ay Tita. Kung ang pangalan ay Tita, ang tawag naman ay Tita square. Naasiwa silang tumawag ng boss.


Dito sa States, wala akong kaibigan na kasinlapit ng mga kaibigan ko sa Pilipinas. Marahil dahil walang time dito masyado ang mga tao. Yon namang may sinasabi ay karaniwan ipokrita. Para bang mataas pa sila sa ibang tao.Yong iba mga sinungaling. kesyo ganito raw sila sa Pilipinas, ganoon daw sila sa kanilang probins.Pag chineck mo hindi naman. Meron ngang isa, pinagkakalat na sa kanilang pamilya raw ang isang university. Eh kilala ko ang may-ari noon. Iniiwasan na niya tuloy ako.

Balik tayo sa title ko.


Dalawa na rin lang kami sa Friends with Time. Namatay na rin ang isa dahil sa heart ailment. Akala ko mauuna pa yong VP kasi nagkabreast cancer. 


Last time kaming nagkita noong isang AWA member ay sa San Francisco. Inihatid ko siya sa BART dahil doon siya pipick-up-in ng anak niya na nagtatrabaho sa isang accounting firm sa Bay Area --padala lang ng company mula sa Pinas.  Nag-stay siya sa akin ng isang Linggo dahil wala naman siyang makakasama sa bahay nila. Isa pa nagtatanong-tanong nga kami kung saan siya pwedeng magpagamot ng kaniyang sakit. Enlargement of the heart. 


Nang pauwi na siya ayaw niya akong bitiwan at pinipilit niya akong sumama sa bahay ng kaniyang anak. Hindi ako makasama dahil may appointment ako kinabukasan. Nang makaalis siya para akong nagguilty. Minsan-minsan nga lang kaming magkita, hindi ko pa napagbigyan.


Ilang Linggo lang, umuwi na siya sa Pinas, Nagkausap lang kami sa telepono. Sumunod na balita ay pumanaw na siya.


Ang kaibigan ko na namatay six years ago at classified under Friends with Cash ay namaalam rin pala nang hindi ko napapansin. (Yes, Virginia, I cried and am still crying for her demise, akala ko pwede ang sumpaan namin noon na walang drama. walang iiyak, walang malulungkot...). Habang ang anak niya ay nagsashopping, naupo kami sa  mall na malapit sa Ayala Alabang. Kinuwento niya na inayos na niya ang mga properties niya sa Batangas, isang bahay na lang ang itinira niya sa Ayala at pinaghati na niya ang milyon sa kaniyang mga anak. Pagnagsalita yon ang 30 na sinasabi niya ay hindi thousand kung hindi thirty million. Tanong ko sana, kasama ba ako sa Last Will and Testament, Kapal ko. Pero nagbibiro ako para i-humor siya. Wala akong hinala na maysakit siya dahil among the three, siya ang health buff. Ang dami niyang iniinom na herbal pill.Gusto ko sanang itanong kung bakit magsalita siya para bang papanaw na siya na palagi naming biruan na hindi rin siya tatanggapin dahil masusunog ang bibliya.


Kagabi bago ako makatulog, "tinanong" ko siya bakit di niya pinaalam sa amin na may sakit siya. That time nga pala kaming tatlo ay nag-uundergo ng crisis. 

Yong lady lawyer ay may problema sa family; ako ay may problema kung saan titira at siya ay may sakit na cancer. Kaya minabuti niya sigurong hindi na kami abalahin. Wala naman siyang kaibigan kung hindi kami. Hindi siya nakikipag alta sosyedad kasi maraming mga Tupperware. At least sa amin, WYSIWYG. Kaya noong makita ng anak niya ang aming kaibigan, dinala niya kaagad sa libingan niya sa Manila Memorial Park. Dalaga pa rin ang anak niya at nag-iisa na lamang sa malaking bahay nila.


Pinaysaamerika

After Six Years

Dear insansapinas,
I was looking for one of my best friends for more than six years. I found her at last. She is buried in the Manila Memorial Park. She had been dead for six years now. Breast cancer. No one knew. She made her daughter promised not to tell anybody.


I met her in the Graduate School. She was teaching Marketing Management and I was handling Management Accounting and Financial Management. Together with a lady lawyer, we formed a triumvirate. Mas maganda raw siya sa akin ng isang paligo.


Our children became close to each other. While we were in our classes, they're playing or just talking inside the cars.

One night she came to me. She was depressed. Her irresponsible husband left her to live in with a starlet who is a relative of a popular actress. I allowed her to crush in my couch. My friend who can not leave a house without even the basic make-up looked  like she did not have bath for days. I made her go to Quiapo Church to seek for solution to her problem. 


Later that week, I learned that she burned all the clothes of the husband. Her youngest son stopped talking and smiling. He became a trouble maker in the exclusive school in Alabang.


Then they reconciled. She helped him go to the US. He was able to get a greencard and petitioned for my friend and their youngest. A  woman from the US met her in the Philippines and confided to her that she was having relatiionship with her husband. She promised to give her a lot of money if she would divorce her and allowed them to settle as husband and wife. Little did the woman know that my friend had two houses in Ayala Alabang and  the bread winner of the family ever since. She owned a company. 


But what my friend did not know was, her husband and the starlet were seeing each other even in the US. When he got his citizenship, he divorced my friend. 


I saw her last when I visited the Philippines in 2003. The three of us, the lady lawyer spent the whole day in Tagaytay doing nothing but talk. We were trying to match her daughter with a bachelor friend of mine. We're all down to earth. She was from Ayala Alabang but you listen to her shout invectives when her car was blindsided by another car. Paalala ko sa kaniya,pare, professor ka, and she would answer, oo nga pala ano pare. TAn#$%^&&. buti pinaalala mo. Our lady lawyer is more refined having graduated from an exclusive girl's school and her law from UP. The most that she can say is Anak ng pating talaga... Ako ang pinakaconservative. Ang masasabi ko lang ay itong batok gusto mo? Ooops.


She came to San Francisco and we had a lot of girl moments. She was dancing with her Pjs and role playing some starlets while our videocam was on. We were not drunk of apple juice.




After that she vanished from the face of the earth. The phone line was disconnected. I tried to contact her thru friends.... Nobody knew where she went.


Until tonight, when my lady lawyer friend asked me if I am depressed, I thought she will be seeking advice how to avoid depression.  Since my other friend (classmate in the Graduate School) had a stroke, I felt sorry for him for being unable to talk. He did not want to be pitied so he avoided talking with anybody. Last September, another friend died of stroke. There was a time when I do not feel like talking to callers. 

Event Boundary and Sleep Texting

Dear insansapinas,

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My mother had fifteen other siblings. Some from the previous marriage of my grandmother. My mom was the youngest. I never had the chance to see my uncles and aunts in my mother's side except for my aunt who was only a few years older than my mom and was one of the three children in the second marriage--that of my grandpa's.


They're so big a family that every meal was like a banquet. The house was big, like a train that was so long with more than twenty rooms to accommodate also the extended family. You see my grandma used to take in orphaned relatives, nieces who became  homeless due to separation and or any relatives that extended their vacations/invitations.


Now why do I have to subject you to reading the description of our old house which was reduced to two-bedroom house when it became an empty nest. Wala ng ibon. Wala na ring itlog. Whoa.


There was the master bedroom and a big room for visiting relatives especially the grandchildren. I remember, my grandmom would bring out the big mat and big mosquito  net so that we would sleep together on the floor. The blankets were also big and heavy. 
Hindi uso sa lola ko  ang kasabihang pag maiksi ang kumot, magtiyagang mamaluktot.


I did not actually see the house at its splendour with a big porch and a living room with a  grandfather clock.  It was my mother who told me everything. The dining room was bigger with a table that can seat more than a dozen. Nandoon pa yon noong dumalaw kami. Made from kamagong or narra siguro. Noong bata ako, ginawa naming playground. Yong iba kong pinsan, ginagawang ping pong table.  There were also two kitchens. One was where the foods were being kept warm and the other one was where the gory side of cooking were done like butchering a small pig or dressing several chickens. One chicken was not enough for the family. 


What's the point of the discussion? It is the senior moment where a person forgets what she's going to do the moment she walks to another room and the possible solution to remember is to retrace the steps from where she has originally come from.


This senior moment is referred to by the experts as a doorway or an event boundary.

It appears, the mind regards a doorway as something experts call an ‘event boundary’, signalling the end of one memory episode and the beginning of another.Psychologists found the brain tends to file away events and memories from one room as soon as it exits into another, storing information in successive chapters or episodes.The latest research, published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, shows doorways act as a kind of trigger for the brain to file one chapter and move on to the next one.

Read more about this here. 


I do experience this "senior moment" even when I was still young. Imagine if I have  lived in the house of my grandparents when it was not downsized yet. By the time, I reached the last room, I must have forgotten my name.


Anyway, the doctor said this is not yet a sign of ALZ (thank God, whoa) but forgetting to take medicines (ooops, did I take the meds today? )  and the names of loved ones (Sino ka nga ba? ) require already the doctor's intervention,  

Sleep texting

You are familiar with sleep walking and sleep eating. 
There is a new disorder in town. It is called sleep texting. Symptoms inlude twisting and turning before catching the zzzzzz.   And the moment, a person is asleep, she reaches for the cell phone and texts a friend or a relative.

Blind Item as in bulag sa pag-ibig

Dear insansapinas,

 photocredit
Tsismis muna tayo. 
According to Victor Agustin of Cocktales:

Who is this Aquino administration official whose office staff has been disconcerted by her up-close and personal relations with her driver? Take note, the official is a she.

Hmmmmmmmm (hagod ng panga). Kaya pala.


Pinaysaamerika

Online Mass For Overseas Filipinos

Dear insansapinas,

Unlike in San Francisco where there are several Catholic churches, in other states and countries, there are only a few. These churches are open only on certain times of the day and are closed even when there are masses going on for fear of gangs breaking in and entering during the religious ceremonies. 


During Sundays, families go to church for Sunday service but you will be going out more as a sinner than when you came. Naku Day huwag kang mag--stay doon sa likod. The teeners are not even praying. They' re flirting, texting and or gossiping. You can't concentrate when you are praying. NJakikigossip din ang tainga mo.  So I am glad to learn that you can hear mass from Quiapo online mow.


Here is the news:


MANILA, Philippines—Now, devotees and parishioners from all over the world need not come to the Philippines just to hear Mass in Quiapo Church, home of the centuries-old image of the Black Nazarene.

Only recently, the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila, introduced the online streaming of its regular Masses, its rector, Msgr. Jose Clemente Ignacio, announced Sunday.

Ignacio said the live streaming service was initiated following numerous requests from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), mostly devotees, who want to hear Mass but could not do so because of their circumstances.

“At least it could help them and it would also nourish their faith,” said Ignacio through the CBCP News, the official news service of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

The live streaming of the hourly Masses—through the church’s website www.quiapochurch.com—begins from 4 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and resumes at 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays.

The Holy Hour or the Eucharistic adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, scheduled at 3 p.m., also on Friday, can also be viewed live.

All of the Sunday Masses from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. are also broadcast online, including the 3 p.m. Children’s Mass or the Misa Pro Populo.

Revenge

Dear insansapinas,

Revenge : An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.--Mahatma Gandhi


Pinaysaamerika