The World of Second Chances

A Baby Is A Blessing

January 10, 2009

Life & Love

Whether you’re 18 or 38 when you had your baby, consider it as a blessing. Not all 18 or 38 year olds are capable of having a baby.

Whether you’re struggling in life or very stable in life when you had your baby, consider it as a blessing. A baby becomes an inspiration of a struggling mother and a baby completes the comfortable life of a wealthy mother.

Whether your husband or boyfriend welcomes your baby or not, consider your baby as a blessing. An irresponsible father and unloving husband should never be a barrier to continue with your pregnancy. An excited father and loving husband should lessen your fears of pregnancy and childbirth.

A baby is a blessing, not a burden. We don’t treat something/someone we love as a burden if we don’t love them. How can the smiles of a baby be a burden if it brings joy to a mother’s heart? A baby is a blessing, not a burden.
Amazing Clean and Clear!

January 10, 2009

Career, Finance & Product

I normally get break outs before my period comes but it’s just a zit or two. I notice that since I started doing the following, my forehead never runs out of zit! Eeewwww!

1. when I started using Beautyclinic moisturizer with AHA

2. when I started using Maybelline powder foundation

3. when Facial Treats (a beauty salon) changed their facialist–the new ones are so-so

Anyways, I didn’t mention Beautyclinic, Maybelline and Facial Treats just to bash them. If I can praise a product or a service establishment, then why can’t I comment on products or service establishments that caused me harm than good?

Let me start with Beautyclinic. Actually, I didn’t buy the product. My mother gave me one of the two bottles that was given to her by her friend. The product has a strong acidic smell. It must be the AHA or alpha hydroxy acid. The red compound found on the white cream could be the AHA. When applied on skin, a slight burning sensation can be felt. This product worked wonders for a month until I noticed that small pimples started to appear on my forehead. I stopped using the product after that.

As for the Maybelline powder foundation,my fiance’ gave it to me since he knows my fascination with make up and beauty products. I am also thinking that the small pimples on my forehead could be due to clogged pores. But if I was using Beautyclinic at that time, it’s impossible for me to have clogged pores since AHA is a declogger!

Theory 3, the facialist at Facial Treats. Facial Treats is an affordable facial salon in Bulacan. When it comes to service and facilities, I can say that it can reach the status of Let’s Face It when properly managed. (Let’s Face It is the facial salon of the mass here in the Philippines. If you’re moneyed, you have Belo or Cosmetiderm to choose from for a facial fee of US$55.00+) Since October 2008, the new set of facialists have been getting on my nerves for being unprofessional and lax. Facial salon ought to be a cozy place where you can relax. But in Facial Treats, facialists waiting for customer just gossip with each other and laugh so loud. It’s distracting! Worse, the facialist assigned to me was in a hurry to finish.

Now comes Clean and Clear Pimple Clearing Face Wash and Speed Gel! I’ve been suffering from flawed complexion for three months now. What I did was, I stopped doing the three things that I mentioned and relied on the magic of Johnson and Johnson.

Amazingly, it’s just my 3rd day of using the product and yet the pimples are GONE! My skin is back to normal. I wonder what’s in it that works like magic?

Thanks to Johnson and Johnson!
Prepaid Card Modus Operandi

January 6, 2009

Career, Finance & Product
Don’t fall prey! If someone who claims to be your friend asks for prepaid card or cellphone load, be wary! He/she could not be your friend he/she is projecting to be.

My friend’s YM was hacked several months ago and I didn’t receive her warning about the fake one who’s asking prepaid load from the people in her YM list. The fake one chats with whoever is online and pretends very well that she is the real one. The fake one knows that the real one is abroad and has a wide circle of friends in the Philippines that includes me.

The fake one chatted with a common friend who’s based in Singapore, but was on vacation leave in the Philippines, to ask a favor. The fake one requested our common friend to send her 50 pieces of Globe prepaid card worth PhP500.00. Fortunately, our common friend was in a tight budget due to his wedding preparation. But unfortunately, our common friend referred me to the fake one thinking that she was the real one.

Our common friend texted me and gave me the fake one’s roaming number. I was in the middle of a trip but I texted that number since our common friend said that it was urgent and important. The fake one replied and asked for 50 pieces of Globe prepaid cards worth Php500.00 and she would pay me through my bank account the next day. I didn’t read the text message clear enough and thinking that it was only one piece, me and my companion rushed to the Globe prepaid card outlet to buy one. Just when the salesgirl was about to hand me over the card, I re-read the fake one’s message and realized that she was asking for 50 and not a piece of prepaid card. I only had PhP3,000 in my wallet at that time and the additional PhP23,000 was impossible to produce for the following reasons:

1. it was holiday in the Philippines on December 26 and the banks were close

2. I was on a tight financial budget to be able to give her that amount of Globe loads

But since she was a dear friend, a friend from wayback primary school and also my mother’s friend, I asked her if I could give her 20 pieces of Globe load instead. She said that it was fine but I had to speed up since her customers in her area were asking for Globe load. Like a friend’s intuition, I wondered when she started having an eye for business? She was never the type who would push a friend to give her favors, too. I wondered why she didn’t greet me “Merry Christmas” just the way she always did in the past. I decided to call Globe Customer Service hotline to check whether the number is roaming or not. It was not registered to be a roaming number but the number was unreachable when I tried to make a call.

It was a Friday when that incident happened and I promised the fake one that she’ll receive the Globe cards on Monday. What made her believable was she knew the real one’s YM ID and even asked me to have a chat with her. But her ignorance of the real one’s MSN ID was a give-away that she was not really the real one. At this time, me and my companion were playing games with the devil.

Sunday afternoon, I tried to contact the real one’s mother’s contact number but her mother replied the following day. She was surprised to know that the fake one is still actively pursuing for preys and she was glad that I didn’t fall into the fake one’s trap.

That same afternoon, I received a sort of follow up text from the fake one to verify if the cards can be delivered to her on Monday. I affirmed and asked her how her lovelife with ASG is going. ASG was recently married to our common friend and I expected her to react. But instead, the fake one said that I received the news about her and ASG very fast!

The following day, after a series of follow up text messages from the fake one, I told her that I only got 15 pieces of prepaid card and I was on the way to their house. This time, she said that I should not bother going to her house since she’s abroad. I acted surprised and told her that I could still go so that I could visit her mother.She said that since it was urgent, I should send her the cards’ PIN before going to their house. I replied naughtily,”You expect me to send all those 15 PIN’s? It would be easier for me to just give the cards to your mother and have her send the PIN’s to you.” She asked for my bank account number and I told her that she could send it thru Western Union.

After three hours, the fake one asked me if I could send the PIN thru text message. I told her that I gave the cards to her surprised mother. The fake one did not text anymore up to this day. She must have realized that I knew she was a fake.

My realizations:
1. That we should not open malicious links that could give the hackers our important passwords.
2. That we should be careful when using public computer terminal and remember to log out everytime we’re done.
3. That it is alright to delay a favor if it means saving ourself from the hassles and pains of being duped.
4. That we should trust our intuitions:if something seems not right, it probably is really not right.
A Few Will Cry On My Funeral

December 11, 2008

Life & Love, That’s Entertainment

Marky Cielo’s untimely demise definitely affected a lot of people; fan or not. Aside from being the first minority to reach star status in local showbiz, the boy was also good-natured. He had this charismatic aura that easily attracted people.

His star shone brighter in death. Proof of this is the long queue of mourning fans, friends, colleagues, former classmates, relatives and family. If we could only collect all the tears shed because of his death, it could have been a bucket full of tears in a day.

There are several speculations about the rootcause of his death. Was there foulplay? Was it suicide? Was it acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis? All I know is that his time on this life has ended to start a life beyond this life.

I couldn’t help but wonder if I would receive the same amount of mourning when my day on this life would end. How many people will cry on my funeral? One, two, ten? It makes me think that I want people to remember me as someone who touched their life in a positive way. I want to die leaving a good impression by having been a good citizen, friend, wife, mother, sister and employee. Maybe a few will cry on my funeral but I will leave a lot of people whose lives I touched.
Tara, Laro Tayo

December 3, 2008

Life & Love

Ang pakikipagrelasyon ay para lang pakikipaglaro ng mga bata. Pag naghahanap ka ng karelasyon, para ka lang batang naghahanap ng makakalaro.

Ben: Bata, tara, laro tayo.

Sandy: Hindi bata ang pangalan ko. Sandy ang pangalan ko.

Ben: Sige, Sandy—laro tayo. Ako nga pala si Ben.

Sandy: Ayoko. Pag nakipaglaro ako, baka masaktan lang ako.

Ben: Bakit naman kita sasaktan eh gusto kitang kalaro? Sige na. Pumayag ka na.

Napapayag ng batang lalaki ang batang babae na maglaro. Nag-jack & poy sila, holen, bunong-braso, jackstone, patintero at kung anu-ano pa. Nawala ang agam-agam ng batang babae na baka sya madapa at magalusan. Paminsan-minsan, umuuwi syang umiiyak dahil nadapa sya pero patuloy syang nakikipaglaro sa batang lalaki kinabukasan. Ang batang lalaki naman ay tuwang-tuwang kalaro ang batang babae dahil mabait ito at hindi nanggugulang.

Dumating ang panahong sawa na ang batang lalaki sa mga laro nila ng batang babae. Bihira na syang makipaglaro dito. Isang araw, kumatok ang batang babae sa pinto ng batang lalaki.

Sandy: Ben, maglaro tayo. Buksan mo ang pinto. Labas ka dyan.

Ben: Wala ako dito, Sandy.

Sandy: Ah, alam ko na. Taguan siguro ang gusto mong laro ngayon.

Maghapong nasa labas ng bahay ang batang babae ngunit hindi lumabas ang batang lalaki. Ganunpaman, inisip ng batang babae na baka nga taguan ang gustong laro ng batang lalaki.

Isang araw, nakita ng batang babae na may bagong mga kasama ang batang lalaki. Nagpapatintero sila. Nakisali ang batang babae.

Sandy: Pasali naman ako.

Ben: Hindi pwede. Sakto na kami.

Sandy: Sige na, isali nyo ako.

Ben: Hindi talaga pwede. Maghanap ka na lang ng ibang kalaro.

Matitigilan ang batang babae; magpapahid ng luha.

Ben: O, ayan ang ayaw ko eh. Yung iiyakan mo ako.

Sandy: Hindi naman ako umiiyak eh. Nagluluha lang ang mata ko.

Ben: Wag mong paluhain ang mata mo.

Sandy: Oo, susubukan ko.

Pinigil nga ng batang babae ang umiyak dahil ayaw nyang sumama ang loob ng batang lalaki sa kanya. Hindi nya alam kung dahil ba sa naaawa sa kanya o nagi-guilty kung bakit ayaw ng batang lalaking nakikita syang umiyak.

Lumipas ang mga araw at hindi na naglalaro ang dalawang bata. Ayaw na talaga ng batang lalaking magpakita sa batang babae. Napansin iyon ng nanay ng batang babae.

Nanay: Anak, matagal na rin kayong di naglalaro ni Ben. Hindi na ba kayo friends?

Sandy: Friends pa rin po. Ang laro nga po naming dalawa ngayon ay taguan. Ako po ang taya. Hindi ko po sya mahanap. Magaling po syang magtago.
Best Wishes, My Ex!

November 25, 2008

Life & Love

My daughter’s father married his long-time girlfriend this year. I learned about it yesterday through his Friendster profile. I experienced mixed emotions of being happy for him and being sad for our daughter.

We parted ways months after my college graduation. I guess, it would be better defined as “I dumped him months after my college graduation.” At that time, I was so angry at him for the following reasons:

1. He didn’t show any concern for our baby. He was afraid of the responsibilities of parenthood.

2. He didn’t fight for me in the real sense of the word.

3. The third reason is very personal. I’d rather not share it.

He tried to win me back for three years but I was so in love with PV; I didn’t give him the opportunity for a second chance. (PV and I went steady a month after my break up with my daughter’s father) But I gave him all the chances to be a good father. I gave him the liberty to visit our daughter every weekend. I hated him for what he has done to me but at the same time, I wanted him to be a good father if he couldn’t be a good husband.

He dated my officemate and it was fine with me. I wanted him to end up with her. During their first months of dating, there were no hassles among us three. It was like a tale in the movie, all four of us were just enjoying our life: me and PV and he and his new girl.

Things took a different turn when he and his girl decided to cut ties with me. It was fine with me because I wanted to focus on my relationship with PV. I wanted my ex out of my life but not out of our daughter’s life. He seemed so bent on forgetting me; he neglected his responsibilities to our daughter.

I didn’t take things sitting down. I wrote an e-mail addressed to him and his girl about his responsibilities and obligations to our daughter. They didn’t reply. After a couple of text messages and e-mail, I gave up.

I took the responsibility of providing for our daughter alone. I didn’t communicate with him for six months much to PV’s satisfaction. One time, I asked if we could see each other. He agreed and we had dinner at a cozy restaurant; his treat. We just talked about our good times with our present partner. It was an hour of fun, I forgot about our gap.

When I moved to another place, I lost in touch with him. The cellphone signal was not good in my new area. For two months, he was always on my dreams. I asked my former officemate if he knew what happened to my ex. He said that my ex went abroad to work. After that, I stopped dreaming of him. In a way, he was still connected to me because I could feel him. I got a missed call from him on December 25, 2006. I texted “Merry Christmas” but he did not reply.

He doesn’t forget to greet me on Mother’s Day. Could it be because deep inside his heart, he knows that I am a good mother? Almost two years have passed without much information about him that is why I was a little shocked to see his new profile—MARRIED.

Would it mean a total shutdown of opportunity to keep him bonded with our daughter? Would it mean a new life with a new family and totally forgetting the ones he had before (me and our daughter)?

I mentioned to Joel (my good friend) how I felt and with his old caring way, he insinuated that I should not be feeling that way towards my ex because I am getting married, too next year. So maybe, I shall wait for the day until my ex becomes a father to our daughter. Best wishes, my ex! Wish me luck next year, too!
The Antoinette Factor

November 12, 2008

That’s Entertainment

Some showbiz people are saying that Marian Rivera is not the real root cause of Dingdong and Karylle’s break up. While Marian is trying hard to defend herself from angry Dingdong-Karylle supporters, it seems like the real culprit (if she really is) is enjoying the merry-go-round as if she’s watching a real-life teledrama.

Surely, Antoinette Taus could never be forgotten as Dingdong Dantes’s first love. Never mind if he was linked to some starlets before like Bianca Lapus. Toni will remain to be Dingdong’s first love from the public’s point of view.

Their break up was not that controversial as compared to Dingdong and Karylle’s. Perhaps, the public lost interest in the Toni-Dingdong love team when the former moved to the US for her Hollywood dream. Until now, Toni believes that Karylle was the third party in the break up. And if Dingdong maintains a good level of friendship with Toni, it isn’t impossible for Toni to know the real score between her ex and the alleged third party behind her own break up with Dingdong. Notice that her answers in the Balakubak portion of Nuts Entertainment were not only brave but very sure.

I don’t believe that she and Dingdong have a child (or as they say, children). It isn’t about a child that continues to give connection to their aborted relationship; it’s Dingdong’s habit of making his exes his bestfriend. When Bianca Lapus’s mother died, remember that Dingdong was there at the funeral. When he dumped Toni for Karylle, he still visits her whenever he goes to the US. He maintains good friendship with his exes and I think that Karylle was most threatened to Toni among Dingdong’s exes.

Could Toni be the real reason of the spit up? Did she really intend to visit Bianca King on the set of Dyesebel or Dingdong asked her to watch the taping?

Whatever the reason is and whoever Dingdong will date after Karylle, Toni will remain to be the young love that Dingdong had.