Hindi ko alam kung pagkatapos kong gawin ang post na to eh maiiwan sya sa draft o mapupublish ba. Bukod kasi sa ikakatuwa to ng nanay ko eh ubod ng ka-emohan. Dahil tinatamad akong maligo kagabi pagkatapos kong mag cityville ng walang humpay (like everyday), nag trip down memory lane ako sa judo days ko. Yup, ako ay isang judo player. Kung ano ang judo na yan, click dito.
Birthday ni Migs sa Sunday
Punta kayo
3pm ha?
At syempre sumagot ako ng:
Sige. Thank you!
Costume party yung birthday at dahil meron na syang costume ni Green Lantern at Batman di na namin problema ang isusuot nya. Gift na lang at presence namin ang kulang.
Pagdating ng Sabado (bisperas ng birthday), nag fitting muna ang Julian ng costumes. Una ang Green Lantern. Siguro mga dalawang taon sya nung binili ng daddy nya ang costume. Kaya nung sinuot halos kalahati na ng binti ang iksi at talagang skin tight ang drama ng costume na 'to pero feeling ng mag-ama pwede na so okay na din ako.
Kinabukasan, ginising ko sila ng medyo maaga (10:30AM) kasi magpapagupit pa, bibili ng gift, lunch, maliligo, at maglilinis pa ko. First stop, pagupit. Medyo struggle tuwing papagupitan ang baby namin kasi nuknukan ng likot at arte. Nangangati sya dun sa mga nagugupit na buhok na dumidikit sa balat nya kaya panay kamot dito kamot doon. Buti hanggang ngayon eh hindi pa nagugupit ang tenga. Medyo OC ang nag gupit kay Julian. Talagang binusisi nya ang gupit na sa sobrang busisi tinanong na sya ni Julian ng:
Kuya hindi pa tapos? (ulitin ng limang beses)
(Intermission: Dahil sa tagal ng gupitan scene, nagutom na kaming tatlo at kumain muna sa Jollibee tapos bumili ng DVD kela Grace)
Next stop, gift. Napakahirap nito kasi kasama naman si Mr. Bili ng Laruan. Spoiled kasi kay AJ ang baby namin kaya konting ungot ng laruan, bili naman. Buti na lang uso ang toy kingdom sa palengke kaya mura lang ang mga pwede nya piliin.
Pag uwi, naglinis muna ako ng kwarto habang nagkakalat si Julian ng mga bagong biling toys nya. Si AJ naman nag survey muna dun sa party. Bandang 2PM pinaliguan ko muna si Julian. Sinuot na ang green lantern na costume kaso may problema, may malaking butas sa may pundya. Buti na lang andyan ang batman.
And off we go to Migs' party!
Tapos stop! Unang gagawin, itataas ang dalawang kamay.
Play uli ang kanta, DANCE!
STOP!
Next game: gagayahin yung eksaktong sasabihin ng clown. 2 lang ang magkalaban pero pag natalo yung isa, mapupunta dun sa panalo ang price tapos kukuha ng ibang contestant. Pag panalo ulit, kanya ulit price nung kalaban and so on. Unang salang si Julian at ang batang partner nya dun sa stop dance. Explain explain ang clown. Unang sabak, dun sa partner ni Julian. Sabi ng clown:
IsaSabi ng bata:
Isa po!Nagtawanan ang lahat. Napikon ang napahiyang bata. Binugbog ang clown. Talo sya kaya kay Julian ang loot bag nya. Nung si Julian na nasunod nya lahat ng sinabi ng clown.
Pusa. Aso. Kotse. Pula. Anong kulay ng kotse?Palakpak ako! Eh ang gagong clown nagtanong:
Anong pangalan mo?Na syempre sinagot ni Julian ng:
Julian!Talo sya pero hindi napikon at lalong hindi nambugbog ng clown.
 Pusa. Aso. Kotse. Pula. |  Anong kulay ng kotse? |  Anong pangalan mo? |
Hindi ko din tanda kung nag blow ba ng candles sa cake yung may birthday kasi tulog na sya. At nakahinga ako ng maluwag dahil hindi nagdutdot dun sa cake ang anak ko di tulad ng isang batang naka blue. Talagang tinitigan nya yung cake tapos dahan-dahan nyang kinuha yung bulaklak sa gilid ng cake. Solb! Nag-enjoy ako dun sa party dahil sabi ni Julian eh masaya daw. At kahit na gusto nyang harbatin yung lahat ng regalo sa mesa, nag behave naman sya. At isa pa, trip na trip nya yung mga pakulo ng dalawang clown na 'to.
 |  |
If there was a degree for house-keeping back in college, I'm pretty sure I would've taken that course because I believe I'm very good at it and I wouldn't mind being a housemaid if the pay was lucrative. I have a good eye for dusts, clutter, trash, dirt, and just about anything that keeps a room or house from being clean and neat. I'll be totally fine without new shoes or bags but never with a dirty and messy house.
Dusting, wiping, scrubbing, mopping, sweeping, deodorizing, and arranging everything inside the house I'm very good at, but never with WASHING clothes. I loathe it! I can't get myself to like it no matter what I do. We grew up (me and my siblings) without a nanny or housemaid that's why household chores are divided among us. I'd cook and clean but I will never do the laundry.
Dusting, wiping, scrubbing, mopping, sweeping, deodorizing, and arranging everything inside the house I'm very good at, but never with WASHING clothes. I loathe it! I can't get myself to like it no matter what I do. We grew up (me and my siblings) without a nanny or housemaid that's why household chores are divided among us. I'd cook and clean but I will never do the laundry.
 |
| Every week, we have five of that waiting to be washed. Photo here |
 |
| TVs scattered everywhere! |
 |
| I wonder how many cars are in this pile. |
 |
| They look like colored wooden sticks, don't they? These are actually cargo containers. |
In Twitter and Facebook, people are clamoring for prayers for Japan. Screw prayers. Instead, do something that can actually help these people. There are a number of ways to do so. You can donate to charities or foundations. Just be careful though. It's most likely that bogus websites will come up asking for donations so go only to reputable organizations like Red Cross and Save The Children. Some organizations in Facebook lets you help Japan by 'Liking' them. For example, like the 'Dog Bless You' fan page on Facebook and the more people 'like' their page, the bigger the donation to Japan would be.
Let's be proactive and at the very least be updated of the situation. Extend help if we can. Feeling sorry for them and not doing nothing is pointless. While we are hoping big time that people get rescued soon, electricity and water be available soon, families get in touch with one another, and more help from other countries arrive really soon, ponder also if hoping is all you can do. Maybe there's more.
 |
| 6 out of 15? Surprisingly, I got the best score in the group! |
Today's our first quiz. Teacher Sophie will say the word in pin-yin and we'd figure out how it's spelled. Easy if the words don't sound alike!
Lesson for today: tones. Vowels and consonant sounds, fucking difficult. Vowels + consonants + tones = What do you think? We practiced with these first:
a, o, e, i, u, u
Then we add the tones and we have four tones. You'll never be monotonous again just speak Mandarin. You have to get the tone right or you might be saying something entirely different from what you mean. Example, ba. It has four different tones so four meanings.
| Tone | Mark | Description |
| 1st | dā | High and level |
| 2nd | dá | Starts medium in tone, then rises to the top |
| 3rd | dǎ | Starts low, dips to the bottom, then rises toward the top |
| 4th | dà | Starts at the top, then falls sharp and strong to the bottom |
| Neutral | da | Flat, with no emphasis |
Table, here
We breezed through the tones more easily than we did with the individual vowel and consonant sounds. I'm not sure on Monday though because we'll be practicing in pairs and do dialogs. I think I'll be sick on Monday.
Me and my co-teachers are lucky enough to be given a short course on Mandarin and today was our first day. We were taught pin-yin. According to Sophie (our teacher), it's the pronunciation of the Chinese characters. To be more clear, pin-yin represents the characters in roman letters. She wrote the following on the board:
b, p, m, f
d, t, n, l
g, k, h
j, q, x
z, c, s
zh, ch, sh, r
y, w
Easy to look at right? Everyone in the room thought so but not until when she started reading them Mandarin style. I can't really illustrate how they sound but you can click here to listen the individual sound. After struggling with producing different 'tzcsh' sound, we went to the second part which is:
a, o, e, i, u, ü
ai, oi, ei, ui
ao, ou, iu
ie, üe, er
an, en, in, un, ün
ang, eng, ing, ong
I always struggle with vowel sounds in English specially when different sounds of the same vowel are close together in a word or sentence. My tongue bends and twists in different ways just so I produce the sound right. With the next part of the lesson, it wasn't only my tongue but my entire face was struggling. It felt like every muscle in my head had to align in the right places to produce the correct sound.
We had such a good time making fun of ourselves and others, too. If it were in a real class though, I would have cried and soiled in my pants. It's fun that we're all learning this for the first time (except for the class valedictorian Andrew) so it's okay to look and sound stupid.
We'll have our first short quiz tomorrow and whoever will get the lowest score will have to perform something in front of everybody in class. Wish me luck please.
We'll have our first short quiz tomorrow and whoever will get the lowest score will have to perform something in front of everybody in class. Wish me luck please.
 |
| Snow Patrol |
I'll sing it one last time for you
Then we really have to go
You've been the only thing that's right
In all I've done
And I can barely look at you
But every single time I do
I know we'll make it anywhere
Away from here
Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear
Louder louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say
To think I might not see those eyes
Makes it so hard not to cry
And as we say our long goodbye
I nearly do
Light up...
Slower slower
We don't have time for that
All I want is to find an easier way
To get out of our little heads
Have heart my dear
We're bound to be afraid
Even if it's just for a few days
Making up for all this mess
This is for you guys.
As you know, I now spend six days for work leaving me with only a day off and that is today, a Sunday. You could just imagine how terrible I'm feeling because of my schedule. Two days off is not enough how much more with only one. It's physically and mentally tiring.
Now, I only have less than 24 hours to do everything I wasn't able to do during the workdays namely: general cleaning and laundry, DVD marathon, trip to the salon, spend time with Julian, chat with friends, argue with my mom, scold my siblings, take a nap, and stalk people on facebook and twitter.
Guess how many I was able to do today? Well I was able to clean the fridge inside out, wipe dust off every surface, scrub the floor clean, sort the tools drawer, arrange documents, fold clothes, wash the trash bins and fan, clean the garage (including the canal), and that's it. At eight pm I was able to finally take a bath.
What a way to spend the only rest day I have. After dressing up, I finish all the updates in my PC, checked facebook and twitter. Then I saw Mo's tweet that GTA (Good Times Acoustic) is tonight and my favorite Johnoy Danao is the guest for the first episode of the show. Sweet lord. As I'm typing this, How to save a life by Fray is being played.
A million thanks to GTA for saving my Sunday.
(P.S. If you'd like to listen to a different taste of good music do check Johnoy Danao out and melt away with his voice and music. I highly recommend this guy! And Good Times With Mo the Podcast is also something I listen to religiously. Give it a try and I'm sure you'll love it.)
Now, I only have less than 24 hours to do everything I wasn't able to do during the workdays namely: general cleaning and laundry, DVD marathon, trip to the salon, spend time with Julian, chat with friends, argue with my mom, scold my siblings, take a nap, and stalk people on facebook and twitter.
Guess how many I was able to do today? Well I was able to clean the fridge inside out, wipe dust off every surface, scrub the floor clean, sort the tools drawer, arrange documents, fold clothes, wash the trash bins and fan, clean the garage (including the canal), and that's it. At eight pm I was able to finally take a bath.
 |
| Johnoy Danao, Philippines' best kept secret - Mo Twister |
A million thanks to GTA for saving my Sunday.
(P.S. If you'd like to listen to a different taste of good music do check Johnoy Danao out and melt away with his voice and music. I highly recommend this guy! And Good Times With Mo the Podcast is also something I listen to religiously. Give it a try and I'm sure you'll love it.)
Those who are in favor of this idea argue that it's time that bloggers in the country be united through common objectives and principles to benefit members and avoid controversies like the "Big bad blogger".Whether this national association will benefit me or not, I don't like it. More than the possible restrictions, I don't like the idea of an It group in the world of bloggers. Also, it would be next to impossible for would-be members to agree on a lot of stuff (click here for interesting views of bloggers and non-bloggers) just like in any other organization.
I don't make money out of blogging like others do. I write online not because I want to publicize my life, thoughts, or what not, but because it's a good place to keep something you don't want to be erased in case your hard drive crashes or your journal got burned. It's convenient, efficient, cheap, and flexible. You can make several back-ups and access it anywhere as long as you're connected to the web. Do I want all these good stuff gone? Of course not.
I believe the blogging community in the Philippines is doing okay. I don't think there are any real problems so a 'solution' is not necessary. Bloggers need to run free. Sure there are disadvantages of lack of regulations but like what others have said, there's an unwritten code of ethics among bloggers. if you're a jerk who writes lousy stuff, people are not that stupid to even bother looking at your stuff.
I was busy checking up on old posts of mine when I came across an entry I made about my resolutions for this year. Click here for the whole entry.
Here they are:
1. I will not wear make up for three months starting January.
2. Detox on the second week of January.
3. Bring Julian to the dojo consistently at least once during weekends to play judo.
4. No sweets and soda for the first three months.
5. Buy and read 5 books before June.
I'm still okay with the first one and so if you see me looking all glam, that's probably not me. Detox, failed. I was okay with two weeks but after that nothing. Number three never happened even once. First, the boy is still asleep by 10 in the morning and I have work until Saturdays. No sweets, failed also. Soda, I say I had two or three. Books, not even a pdf.
I have a lot of catching up to do.
 |
| Bananas are mean! |
As you know, I'm all crazy about shedding off some pounds (is 30lbs some?). In between tasks and listening to Mo's podcast, I search for ways to lose weight. From exercise to dieting. I don't have time to really exercise these days since I spend 6 days for work and 1 day for household affairs.
Unlike an officemate who finds eating more of a task, for me it's a hobby. God do I love eating, so I have to find a way to be able to eat more healthy and/or suppress my gluttony. I've tried several appetite suppressants and so far Slimina worked for me. I stopped for two weeks though and so the monster is back. I thought of going the more difficult but righteous path of eating healthy. Cut on carbs, increase protein, add more fiber, less oils and sweets, the works. Unfortunately, the good foods I should be eating are my sworn enemies, like this banana right here.
 |
| Monggo Hopia |
I never realized how in love I am with bread that has monggo! Monggo loaf and hopia.
I love Salazar's, Tipas, and Gardenia.
