The World of Second Chances

Punta De Fabian

December 17, 2009

Travel

Punta De Fabian is an inland resort located in Baras, Rizal. Travel time is 90 minutes from Aurora Boulevard, Cubao. There are other alternative routes to explore though.

Dubbed as the resort where the “water meets the sky,” the place’s serenity is ideal for team building and business planning. Oh, I came there for business planning. (Thanks to my boss who brought me there.)

The things that I look for in a resort are the following:
Note: Ratings are the following:
5-excellent 4- good 3- fair 2- poor 1- very poor

1. Nice staffs – In Punta de Fabian, I had no bad encounter with their staffs. They are friendly and courteous. It seems like their management trained them well in pleasing customers; not one of them can be seen frowning.
Rating – 5

2. Accomodation – The rooms are spacious. Hot shower is available. There is cable TV. There’s complimentary bottled water and hot tea/coffee. But I was looking for a bar. Okay, maybe a bar is somewhat a luxury but what about a telephone so that I can order for food without bothering to walk from the hotel/cottage to the resort’s restaurant? The intercom was not working. What will happen if there’s an emergency? The bed is a little hard and the blanket, so thin so I requested for a comforter.
Rating- 2

3. Food- I am so much into Filipino foods and my palate usually craves for salty and sweet foods. I don’t know if Punta is into American cooking: less salt and less sugar. Personally, I didn’t appreciate their food save it for the very delicious clubhouse that they served at snack.
Rating- 3

4. Security- I wonder how Punta takes care of gatecrashers because I didn’t see much security personnels in the vicinity. The two swimming pools don’t have a lifeguard.
Rating- 1

5. Ambience- The ambience is definitely a “5.” You can see the Laguna de Bay while drinking coffee at the terrace. The air is unpolluted. The ambience reminds me of Tagaytay.
Rating- 5
Ikaw Sana

December 8, 2009

That’s Entertainment

I’ve never been a fan of tele-serye until I got hooked on GMA 7’s “Ikaw Sana.” Let me just clarify that I am not a fan of Jennylyn, Mark and Pauleen; I just learned to love their tele-serye.

Pauleen, in “Ikaw Sana” plays the role of Sophia Montemayor-Olivares. She is Eliza’s (Jennylyn) wicked half-sister. Like a true tele-serye that’s full of drama, the two women fell for the same guy, Michael Olivares (Mark). I’ve never appreciated Pauleen Luna’s acting skill until she played the role of Sophia. Pauleen can internalize and feel her role well. I wonder why she was not given any heavy drama role before. I can’t think of any actress who fits the role of the evil socialite Sophia than the pretty Pauleen Luna.

Mark needs to look matured as he’s still baby-faced; he can still be paired with younger actresses like Ynna Asistio. There’s no question that the Jennylyn-Mark loveteam is one of GMA’s bankable team. The couple (Jen and Mark) has evolved from portraying teenybopper to matured roles. There is chemistry between Mark and Jen. I wonder why Mark and Jen didn’t end up with each other in real life!

Jennylyn has grown prettier since her Starstruck days. I no longer read bad publicities about Jen and I hope that her reported mood swings won’t happen again. She is lucky because GMA gave her another chance after that unplanned pregnancy that gave her a very cute Alex Jazz.

Tirso Cruz (Gener Montemayor,father of Sophia and Eliza) and Maritoni Fernandez (Loretta Montemayor, wife of Gener and mother of Sophia) are seasoned actors and I think everybody appreciates the way they deliver their character. But honestly, my favorite is Ms. Marissa Delgado as Amanda Montemayor, the grandmother of Sophia and Eliza. Marissa is one classy lady that can effectively portray the role of a high-society matriarch. I always wait for her tarayan scenes with Maritoni Fernandez, who is also a classy lady and a LADY in real life. She is a daughter of a British aristocrat, Lord Anthony Moynihan.

Love, revenge and family issues; that’s “Ikaw Sana.”
Postpartum Calorie Watch

December 5, 2009

Life & Love

caloriewatch

If you are calorie-conscious like me, I am sharing with you the attachment that I downloaded from the net several years back.

On December 10, my baby boy will turn three months. That means that next week would be my third postpartum month! While I am among the very few mothers who didn’t gain too much weight during my pregnancy, I belong to the several many who find it hard to resume to our pre-pregnancy figure. Oh, don’t get me wrong that I have the same body type as Nicole Kidman or our local Aubrey Miles who were able to lose several pounds after giving birth. Nicole was said to be back to her pre-pregnancy figure two weeks after giving birth. As for Aubrey, she was proudly parading her post-pregnancy body during a lingerie modelling show some two months ago. If these women were able to shed several post-pregnancy pounds in less than a year, then why can’t the “several many” do the same?

I made a commitment to myself that I’m going to bring back my college days figure. It’s depressing to hear from college acquaintances that I’ve grown big. An old college friend told me not to mind those insensitive people.

“You’re not that big. You were just anorexic in college,” she would say.

Yeah, I was underweight in college. Blame that to those skinny fashion models! Lol!

I know in my heart that I could never bring back my old college figure. I gained weight after college and fortunately,
I didn’t gain a lot of weight during my second pregnancy. I’ll just have to change my idea of “how thin is thin and how fat is fat” and adapt it to my age.
Acidic Pop Cola?

December 5, 2009

Career, Finance & Product

Is someone trying to sabotage Pop Cola? Last night, (just like our ordinary nights) I asked my daughter to buy Pop Cola from our neighbor’s sari-sari store. When she brought home the bottle, we noticed that it doesn’t have the usual black color. The color resembled that of an iced tea.

I took the bottle, opened it and noticed that there was no “spirit.” I decided to taste the soda and to my shock, the liquid burned my tounge! It took me a lot of gargling before the acidic taste went away.

My question is, “Is someone trying to sabotage Pop Cola?” I should have kept the bottle with the acidic soda but panic attacked us last night; we gave back the bottle to the sari-sari store.
Anger Management

December 3, 2009

Wedding & Family Life

I need to undergo anger management seminar. I realize that I’m becoming the evil person that I am not really. Since I experienced a lot of stress this year from my mother’s “mysterious” disease to my father’s troubles to my mother’s demise and to the other stressful problems, I became hot-tempered and suspecting. I learned how to blurt out bad words when I’m pissed off. I learned how to verbally attack a person when I’m provoked.

I hate it. It’s not me.

I realize that I am still angry for everything bad and sad that happened this year.

I need to let go of my anger.

I need time and understanding.

I need God’s help and mercy.
Mindanao

December 2, 2009

Life & Love

Ampatuan vs. Mangudadatu
Nice headline. It projects an image of two warring Muslim royalties.

Maguindanao Massacre
Gruesome headline. It projects an image of a backward civilization.

Since last Monday’s (November 23) massacre, I’ve been surfing the internet for more facts and details about the Mangudadatus and the Ampatuans. I learned that they used to be allies. When we speak of allies, I hope it does not mean that the Mangudadatus supported the Ampatuans wicked activities. One article says that the Mangudadatus are warlords themselves. I hope that the Maguindanao massacre is not some sort of karma as I condemn political killings.

Mindanao is called “The Land of Promise.” But is it really promising? Mindanao’s lands are fertile; the perfect land for agriculture. Its seas are said to be perfect for fishing and tourism. I grew up with an impression that Mindanao is not a peaceful place. Its problems are more political than socio-economical.

How many Abu Sayaffs do we have and why can’t our military forces pin them down? It leads me to think that we tolerate these terrorists because there is business in war. There’s big money involved. And maybe, there are some big families in Mindanao that conspire with this group.

The MNLF and the MILF, in my opinion, do not regard themselves as Filipinos.
“We are Muslim,” they would say but never “We are Filipino.”
Does it mean that being a Muslim give them an authority to ask for an independent Mindanao?

Is there hope in Mindanao?
My Mother’s Daughter

November 6, 2009

Life & Love

I am sitting in front of my laptop with a cup of coffee; ¼ tablespoon of coffee, 2 tablespoons of creamer and 1 tablespoon of sugar. When did I develop a taste for coffee? Probably it was during my college days when I had to finish all my assignments and prepare for the next day’s lessons. Prior to my college years, I HATED coffee! It was my mother who was addicted to it. I didn’t realize that several years later, I would become the person that I never thought I would be. I realize that I am becoming like my mother in so many ways or maybe in so many ways that annoyed me when I was younger.

When my mother was still a full-time housewife, she was a neat freak. She took much attention of the restroom and kitchen. Did we, as kids, leave the toilet messy? Did I, at ten years of age, wash the dishes properly? Her being a meticulous made me and my younger brother take care of our things properly. I hate greasy pans and plates. I hate it when the glasses and utensils smell fishy. I hate it when the kitchen is left untidy. I hate it when the toilet is left messy. I realize, I was never this meticulous before and it would take a week of orientation before my helper gets my particular style in good housekeeping.

I thought I was not jologs like my mama when it comes to food but lately, I’ve been craving for cheap puddings, kupeng, otap and mamon. These breads cost less than ten pesos but enough to fill in a hungry stomach. Mama thought that my Goldilocks or Red Ribbon pasalubong were too expensive but would eat them, anyway.

Now the budgeting issue; whenever I remind my husband, my kid, my sister-in-law and my helper to turn off the lights when not in use, I hear my mother’s voice in my own voice. She would always ask me and my brothers to turn off the tap properly, turn off the lights between 10 AM to 5PM (unless necessary) and turn off the TV or sound system when not in use. I understand where she was coming from. She, being the breadwinner, knew the value of money more than anyone else in our household.

There are still a lot of comparisons that I have yet to discover and a lot of things that I hope I would be, someday. I would like to be a great cook like my late mother. Her kare-kare was the best. I would like to be motherly like her. I would like to be empathic like her. I would like to be patient like her. I would like to be a good wife like her. I would like to be a good daughter to my remaining parent like her. I would like to be a good sister like her. I would like to be be a good friend like her. I am my mother’s daughter; sooner or later, I would do funny, silly, relevant, meticulous and good things like her.