The World of Second Chances

Willie Revillame

January 30, 2021

That’s Entertainment

During one of the lockdown episodes, Willie Revillame played the drums during the closing segment of his afternoon show “Wowowin.” My husband sighed that Willie played the drums well to which I replied that before he became The Willie Revillame, he was a good drummer in Loveliness.

Francis Magalona, Willie Revillame, Alma Moreno – YouTube

Loveliness was the weekly night show of Alma Moreno during the 80s. Fans were glued to the screen to see her dancing while taking off her clothes until all was left was a tanga. When wearing a tanga was a fad among actresses with a weekly night show like Vilma Santos and Sharon Cuneta, it was Alma Moreno who was hailed as the “Tanga Queen.”

Back to Willie Revillame, people knew him in the 80s as Alma’s drummer, Helen Vela’s son-in-law, and Princess Punzalan’s husband. He was one of Randy Santiago’s “Hawi Boys” in the noontime show Lunch Date. Shortly after, he tried acting and became the onscreen sidekick of famous action stars like Phillip Salvador.

When Meryll Soriano started her acting career as a child star in the early 90s, nobody made it a big deal that her father was Willie Revillame. After all, what’s there to talk about Willie who was then married to Princess Punzalan? Some people even thought that her mother was Princess but the strong Soriano features pointed out who her real mother was. Becbec Soriano, Maricel’s elder sister, was Willie’s ex-partner. And by now, we all know that his marriage to Princess did not last but they remain to be good friends.

Willie’s luck started when he was given a chance to be one of the main hosts of MTB in 2001. A dispute with the management resulted in him being kicked out in 2001. Two years later, he was able to return to the show but was suspended due to a sensitive joke that he cracked while on live TV. I was able to watch an episode of the Extra Challenge in 2004 wherein he was one of the challengers and I could feel that he was sending feelers to Paolo Bediones about his desire to be part of the show. Whether this was his deliberate attempt to make his presence felt in GMA or not, the gods of ABS-CBN realized that Willie still had it. In 2004, he even released his first album.

So in 2005, Willie was back in ABS-CBN as the main host of Wowowee. His comeback proved to be more powerful than any of his previous assignments combined. At this time, Willie had the masa’s back- the unknowns, the poor, the elderlies, the forsaken, the class C and D of the society. While the elite and the conservatives found him vulgar, the masa identified a champion in him. Willie was on top of his game and even married the beautiful Liz Almoro from the wealthy Almoro clan of Laguna. (Note: Liz and Willie annulled their marriage years later) In February 2006, the Ultra Stampede happened and critics blamed Willie for causing it.

His net worth continued to soar high and so were his connections. He started as a nobody early in his career and now, even famous politicians to the likes of Noli de Castro and Manny Villar are within his circle of friends. He financed Meryll’s education in London in 2011 then had a falling out later when she decided to pursue a career in Product Design instead of something related to business. Now a billionaire, Willie wanted her eldest child to learn the ways of the business so that when he retires, there would be somebody to look after his hard-earned wealth for him and his other three children.

Nineteen years after his MTB stint, I was forced to watch Wowowin whenever I needed to take the shuttle after work. The bus driver was a big fan of Willie so we had no choice but to watch the show, as well. Surprisingly, I found the show entertaining and he had a nice balance of co-hosts like Herlene Budol, Elaine Timbol, and Almira Teng! In all fairness to Willie, he has evolved into a pleasant host unlike two decades ago. I think that aside from his growing older and wiser, his female co-hosts have something to do with his mellowed behavior.

In his 60th birthday celebration, he flew a helicopter and landed on top of the Wil Tower. But despite his immense wealth and status, the celebrant burst into tears because he missed his live audience.

There’s a lot to learn from Willie Revillame’s life from his love-life to the ups and downs of his career. Aside from having loads of talent, what sets him different from the rest is his belief that he can do things and be successful.
The Crown

January 28, 2021

Life & Love

The Crown

“Queens don’t chase. That’s how the crown falls.”

I am trying to find the author of this quote but different names popped out. Anyway, this quote sends a powerful message not only to the women out there but also to men. Should a woman accept the size of the crown that her man gives just to please him?

When the crown is too small for the woman’s head, it will fall off. When the crown is too big for the woman’s head, the same thing will happen. Wearing an ill-fitting crown will not only make the queen uncomfortable but it will be prone to accident, as well. Besides, this is the reason why queens don’t chase because that’s how the crown falls.

Of course, I am not talking about the gender superiority complex here. I am talking about reminding couples in a relationship that compatibility plays a big factor in a long- lasting partnership. Most women fall into the trap of finding excuses for their man’s bad behavior. They become the chaser and not the chased. Men take advantage of this and continue with their misbehavior. When the woman starts to behave like a queen with a precious crown on her head, she is more in tune with her feelings and how she should behave.
Of course, there would be some men who would dare challenge women and question what’s the big deal with having an ill-fitting crown? Those men are so selfish, they do not care about offending women. If this type of man has this mindset, the woman must think twice before marrying him. And should a woman has already married this kind of man, she should prioritize her sanity and guard her feelings. Selfish men all care about what is good for them. Sometimes, insecurity triggers their selfishness, and women are not obliged to change how men should behave. Women are obsessed with the idea of being the one to transform men’s behavior and the success rate is small.

The truth is, men will change for the better when they deeply love a woman. The bitter truth is, men don’t care about offending women that they don’t really love and they take pride in getting away with it. A good relationship is for better and for worse. Don’t chase after somebody who is not into you. Believe in action and not by words.
How I Moved On From A Bad Break Up

January 21, 2021

Life & Love

There is this vlogger who is still hurting over her break-up with her actor-ex-boyfriend. To add insult to injury, the ex has fully moved on and even fathered a baby to his girlfriend. The girlfriend was not
somebody new because they had a relationship almost a decade ago. They parted ways because she could not cope up with a long-distance relationship. In 2019, the two met again in a TV series and they probably realized that the love was never lost in the first place. The actor broke up with the vlogger in December 2019 and the latter is still hurting until now.

Eight long years of the vlogger and the actor’s relationship were washed down the drain and I know how hurt she is. I’ve been there, I’ve done that, my heart goes out to her. But take note that I do not hate the celebrity couple and I will explain later why.

They say that you don’t need to ask your boyfriend if he loves you enough because he wouldn’t pursue you in the first place if there was no love. The better question to ask is how long will he love you? Will he still love you when he realized that you are not the dream girl he thought you would be? Will he still love you when things become rough in the relationship? Will he still love you when he finds a better girl than you? Will he still love you when he sees your flaws? Will he still love you when he becomes successful in life? These are some of the questions that you don’t need to ask your boyfriend but it’s good to keep an open eye if the red flags appear later.

Except with my husband, my previous relationships were all long-term. (We got married after less than a year of dating) The first relationship happened when I was a teenager while the second one was when I was a young adult. Truth to be told, the second relationship gave me more heartaches but I’d rather not talk much about it as I have moved on already. What I want to discuss was the healing process that I went through and how I forgave the ex for breaking my heart.

Seven years into the relationship, I was more mature and ready to settle down so the break up came to me as a big shock! The ex moved on quickly, secretly found my replacement, and then lived his life to the fullest. Of course, knowing all of these tore my self-esteem into minute pieces. I was ready to go to his place to beg for him to come back but I always came to my senses that it would have been a futile move. I never spoke ill against the new girl because logically, she had nothing to do with the break-up. Whether she was the third party or not would not change my ex’s mind about choosing her or leaving me. For a time, I could not let go of my friendship with the ex’s family as I had a good time with them when the relationship was good. Later, the friendship with them died a natural death when I got into a new relationship. Speaking of friendship, it is never my attitude to include my friends in troubles about my love life. I feel that as long as my life or sanity is not in danger, then there’s no need to tell anybody about what’s going on in my relationship. On the other hand, this silence backfired on me when people thought that my relationship was super okay so they were surprised about the break-up. But yeah, I still believe that you don’t need to overshare. When you speak about the break-up, the more people get curious about the next things you’ll do or say. Writing is therapeutic and it never fails to heal my broken heart, be it because of a failed relationship or something else. I don’t follow any of my exes on social media even when I have fully moved on. Some people do follow their exes and it works for them though. I am particular about how my family would feel so for me, it is for everyone’s best interest not to connect with them.

Looking back, I think that doing all the things that I mentioned above helped me in moving on silently. I would be honest to say that there were a few rebounds and flings to boost my self-esteem but they were all harmless relationships. I never got to be physical with any of them as what I needed were just text mates.

If I happen to see any of my exes by chance, I think my initial reaction would have been to laugh at what happened and remind myself about how I dealt with the break-up. There is always a reason why we did not end up with the person that we wanted so much but believe me, time flows forward and it heals a broken heart.
The Pains and Gains of Freelancing

January 9, 2021

Career, Finance & Product

I signed up for a freelancing website in 2017, hoping to get a gig. I got the idea from a high school classmate who, until now, is doing well as a freelancer. Almost four years ago, the demand for freelancers was not that high. The clients’ requirements did not fit into my qualifications as a manufacturing engineer. Hence, I had a very slim chance then to land a job.

Pre-covid, I wanted to spend more time with my young children, and what a better way to do that than to find a source of income in the comforts of our home. Four years ago, most Pinoy freelancers had little idea of what a Virtual Assistant is. Perhaps, some would even get confused about the roles of a Social Media Marketer. I’m pretty sure that only a few could answer about the difference between Amazon’s FBA versus FBS. Time is continuously changing and upgrading, especially in 2020, when the pandemic hit us. Today, E-Commerce becomes one of the most promising careers, and the influx of professionals wanting to become Virtual Assistants rocked the freelancing industry. On top of this, it looks like the Work From Home set-up made the companies realize that it is possible to have a productive and efficient remote workforce. (A reliable internet connection is another story.)

Of course, being a freelancer means knowing what you can bring to the client’s table. Just like working in a traditional workplace, a freelancer ought to have the right skills for the right job. Otherwise, you will start at the bottom. No worries, that’s fine as long as you are flexible and hardworking. Learn as many tools as possible because freelancers are working on their own. Most of the clients have limited time to even talk with you regularly. So don’t be surprised, too, if they ask you to install apps to monitor your daily tasks. Sample of these time and productivity tracking apps are Timeproof and Hubstaff. Some clients are very particular about the confidentiality of their data. Instead of these tracking apps, they would require you to connect to their company laptop or server and do the job from there. (Again, a reliable internet connection is another story.) If being “monitored” bothers you, you can accept jobs per project. Projects do not pay by the hour and do not require these time and productivity tracking apps. These jobs pay by the quality and delivery of your output, like logo design, video editing, and IT-related jobs like web design and development.

Those who think that being a freelancer means “owning” your time, I hope that you find a client that has a similar mindset. Some clients do not care about time and productivity as long as you do your job well. On the other hand, some jobs require your time and full attention to the whole shift, so babysitting while working may not work out. There is also the issue of getting multiple clients on the same work shift. If it’s okay with your client, then go for it. Otherwise, pick the best client and drop the rest. Make it a goal to produce only the best output for your clients because they hired us to do the job.

Cultural and language differences can be tricky and challenging at the beginning of your client-contractor relationship. To establish a good rapport with your client, do a little research about their culture and work ethics. Maintain a professional but friendly working relationship. Clients from the US generally prefer to be called by their first names and avoid the formality that “Ma’am” or “Sir” brings in. If they insist to be called Mr. or Miss or Mrs. plus their last name, it is okay, too.

Forget about the Philippine holidays once you become a freelancer. If you are used to spending your local holidays, get used to working during most Philippine holidays. Overtime pay for a holiday does not apply to freelancers. Well, some generous clients give holiday pay, though. If you are excited about the 13th- month pay, remember that freelancers do not have it. Freelancers pay their SSS, Philhealth, and PAGIBIG contributions out of their own pocket. So the goal here is to increase your hourly $ rate so that you can afford to go on a holiday and pay your SSS, Philhealth, and PAGIBIG contributions. Don’t forget to get a life or health insurance, too. If you are earning more than PhP30,000 a month, you need to pay your taxes.

Most contractors run after Australian clients because of the narrow difference between our time zones. Most clients come from the US so ready yourself to work on a graveyard shift. Graveyard shift takes a lot of effort and determination to embrace and love. The advantage of a graveyard shift is a quieter environment and a faster internet connection. If background noise is an issue for your client, there are noise-cancellation headsets available in the market.

In summary, being a freelancer is a choice as much as working on a traditional work set-up is an option. If you are tired of things like long transportation to work, dressing up, leaving your young kids to the yaya alone, then freelancing might be the right job for you. Just remember that it is not all pain (lifestyle adjustment, lack of clients, low hourly rate), there are also gains in the end.
The Christine Dacera Case

January 5, 2021

Life & Love

The case of Christine Dacera, a 23-year old PAL flight attendant shocked the morning news yesterday. The poor victim from General Santos City spent her New Year’s countdown in a hotel with three male friends who were also her co-flight attendant. According to the news, Christine called up her family to inform them about her New Year Party. Some reports said that her three male friends are gay and Christine was not aware that there were other guests at the party. The other guests were acquaintances of her friends and were staying in the adjacent hotel room.

One of her friends saw her lying on the bathtub at around 10 AM and thought that she was just sleeping. (Do they intend to wash her to wipe off the evidence?) When he woke up later to check on her, he found her turning blue so he alerted the hotel. The hotel clinic performed CPR but Christine was not responsive.
She was declared dead at 5 PM. The worse part of it is there were traces of sperm on her and bruises on her arms and legs. At least 10 people are now considered as suspects. Her cause of death was aneurysm but the toxicology report could tell if she was drugged.

Looking at her Instagram account, this girl was promising and looked hardworking. If it is true that her friends set her up, it reminds us that not everyone who laughs with us is our friend.
Instead of protecting her, Christine’s friends allowed her to be violated.

I don’t believe that Christine intentionally took drugs. As what I said, she looked hardworking and promising. Any smart person knows that drugs would do more harm than good. Her case is somewhat similar to a casino employee who died of a drug overdose some years back. I don’t know how much to maintain a drug-sniffing dog but I think it would help if hotels would have one to check on drug-carrying individuals.

This is a developing case.

I pray for her family’s strength and may justice be served the soonest.

Update- January 6, 2021
I mentioned yesterday that Christine’s case is under development, and my reaction was based on the news reports that were available online. Now comes the story from the other side of the fence that Christine died of natural causes. Ergo, there was no rape and drugs involved. I read that there’s going to be another autopsy, as initiated by her family, to validate the initial result. By now, the story says that it was Christine who booked the hotel room for them and that she knew the 11 men. I hope that the truth will come out the soonest so that her family can find the closure that they need. In case the 11 men are not guilty, it’s also a lesson for the media and the police to be careful about releasing pre-mature reports.
The Good Old Guava (Bayabas)

December 30, 2020

Filipino Culture

Ang bayabas!

I bought a few pieces of guavas in the supermarket last Monday and I was surprised to see the price tag! I didn’t quite expect that guavas are 120 pesos per kilo now. Rather, I did not expect that there will come a time when guavas would be this expensive. What’s with all the semi-rant? I guess it all boils down to my childhood when almost every house in the province had a guava tree. We had three guava trees of different varieties. The guava tree in the backyard had small and sweet fruits. My mother used to cook milkfish in guava soup using the harvest in the backyard. The second guava tree near the side of the house had big and sour fruits. The 3rd guava tree in the small garden had the best-tasting fruits. Because of this, it was prone to be “attacked” by curious children who were tempted to know if this tree’s fruits were delicious. Being a small sleepy town in the 80s, everybody knows anybody and as well as which house had the most number of fruit-bearing trees so that when the summer season comes, they knew where to ask for fruits. The 80s lifestyle was that simple and not yet commodified; you could either pick or ask for vegetables or fruits, free of charge.

Apples, oranges, and grapes were expensive back in the 80s, and eating one would either mean that you were rich or you had relatives abroad. Those were the days when imported fruits were limited because of logistics problems and maybe taxation issues. However, the good old guava used to be rare, too. It originally came from Mexico and was most likely brought by the Spaniards during the Spanish era. Early Filipinos loved this fruit so much and so Juan Tamad’s sleeping under the guava tree was written.

Medium-sized guava has 10 times more vitamin C content than a calamansi. It could help benefit your digestive system and it could help lower blood sugar levels. It could boost your immune system and I hope it’s true when they said that it could have an anti-cancer effect. Its leaves when boiled can be used as antiseptic for wounds. The young leaves can be chewed as a substitute for mouthwash. Just like me, those who are prone to motion sickness would benefit from the scent of the crushed young leaves.

The law of supply and demand states that when a product or service is limited, then we expect a higher price for it. Therefore, if guava is sold at 120 pesos a kilo now, then it means that as compared before, we don’t have a steady supply of this fruit now. Ironically, one could buy an apple now for 10 pesos each!
We are too focused on beautifying our gardens and backyards now. Unlike before, people now prefer concrete or tiled gardens and backyards for a cleaner look, leaving no space for trees to grow. There is also the limitation of a land area now especially on those who are living in small lot sizes but this should not be an issue because I saw people growing trees from large pots!

Now that everyone’s trying to go back to basics like going organic or turning into plantitos and plantitas, it wouldn’t hurt if we try planting trees again. Agree?
Breeze Liquid Detergent Feedback

December 29, 2020

Career, Finance & Product

Friction! Friction!

I have been doing a product review for the past 12 years now and this is the first time that I changed my approach. In case you need to remember, here is the link to all the reviews that I did: http://irisdcrystal.com/category/product/. Looking at it now, I can’t help but laugh at myself for appearing to be ranting about the products that disappointed me instead of taking the high road of talking directly with the proper channels to air my grievances.

A month ago, I decided to try Breeze Liquid Detergent for our top load washing machine. Before Breeze, I used a low foam powder detergent but I noticed some chalk build-up on the drain area. This powder detergent residue is not good for the washing machine and it might affect the service life of the unit. So, to cut the story short, the reason why I switched to Breeze was to take care of the automatic washing machine and maximize its service life.

Switching to the new brand is not difficult; I love the mild scent of the Breeze Liquid Detergent! As a bonus, I did not expect it to be economical, too. One bottle cap can do 15 clothes depending upon the thickness and of course, the level of dirtiness. The downside is, if you hold the bottle with wet hands, it is prone to slipping because of the lack of friction or handle on the body of the bottle. Please take note that I am talking about the 1000 mL bottle; the larger bottles have a handle. Because of this issue, I wanted to do a product review about this but I realized that during the past 12 years, nothing materialized out of my product reviews; be it a good review or a bad review. Certainly, my readers were able to get a tip on which product is okay and which product they should avoid but at the end of the day, the improvement that I have wanted did not happen.

The improvement that I longed for did not happen because I was busy making product reviews but I failed to communicate my concern on the proper channels. Well, I tried doing so with Unilever (for Breeze) last December 22nd and I was surprised because their consumer engagement team was quick to reply.

My message was simple, I suggested adding some friction on the body of the bottle if putting a handle is too much of a change. Should their design engineers take my feedback seriously, I don’t even expect the change to happen until they exhausted all of their current bottle inventories and until they make mold modifications to include this new feature. But hey, they should have added some friction on the bottle during the design stage, right?

Anyway, let’s wait and see if Unilever will consider my suggestion. Who knows, I’m not the only one who expressed an opinion about this. I think that writing to the companies and expressing our joy or disappointment in their products is more direct, proactive, and expected to yield better results later.