The World of Second Chances

Adultery Movie of Vilma Santos

August 31, 2018

That’s Entertainment

Somebody posted on Facebook that a cheating woman is worse than a cheating man because the former has emotional investment whereas the latter can have sex without the attachment.

Warning: Spoiler alert.

The case of Aida Macaraeg played by Vilma Santos is a more complex one because she doesn’t care if she doesn’t love her lover for as long as she benefits from him materially. The movie starts with a struggling Aida who tries hard to provide for her family. Her father is bedridden, her mother is not working, her younger brother is irresponsible, her youngest sister has a lot of school expenses and Aida is tired of all of these. She is the only one in her family who understands her younger sister’s situation; Miriam is a mistress to a well-off old man.

Vilma’s acting as Aida is very natural. She complements Philip Salvador’s natural acting as her loving but poor love interest. Aida’s flaw can be seen from the start of the movie; she wants somebody to save her from her miserable life. Since Carding is the only one available, she decides to live with him even without the blessing of matrimony. This angers her religious mother and Carding’s conservative aunt. Aida doesn’t care about this for as long as she’s away from her obligations.

When Carding’s luck runs out, their union is put into test. What is ironic is Aida’s angelic face masking her unimpressive attitude and Carding’s tough exterior covering his soft character. With Carding’s incarceration, Aida becomes hopeless and entirely falls out of love and finds an old man to live with. But here’s the catch, Mr. Pangilinan is a married man with three kids. He does not hide that for her from the start.

While Aida lives a luxurious life as the 2nd Mrs. Pangilinan, Carding languishes when he is transferred from Manila to Davao jail. There never is a day he does not think about his wife and maybe her miscarriage. Carding is just too trusting to a fault. How can he not see that Aida does not love him enough and that wedding at the jail is his wedding alone and not theirs?

In a funny twist of fate, Carding is released after 7 years and looks for Aida as soon as he comes back to Manila. His excitement turns to confusion when the now sophisticated Aida seems to find reasons to avoid him. We can see Carding’s transformation, too from being ruggedly handsome to clean cut.

When Aida’s scheme is exposed to both Carding and Mr. Pangilinan, she faces more problem– an adultery case filed by Carding and the risk of losing custody to her son because Mr. Pangilinan hates scandal.

Aida asks for Carding’s forgiveness and Carding drops the case. The ex-couple meets one last time to say good-bye.

Aida: What happened to us?

Carding: Don’t bother to ask. The answer could hurt us.

****

It seems like a happy ending for both Aida and Carding but if we will analyse it, Aida is not really happy with the way her life turned out to be. First, she notices Carding’s physical improvement. Second, she asks Carding what happened to them. Third, she seems surprised about Carding’s perseverance in life after his release in jail. We cannot bake our cake and eat it, too. Aida’s lust for money blinded her for the more important things in life like true love. On the other hand, had Carding becomes hardworking early on their relationship, maybe they are still together and happy.

*****

While watching Adultery, I cannot help but admire Vilma Santos’ acting. She surely is the Star For All Seasons! She has this magnetic charm that draws viewers to the screen and want more from her. I know Philip Salvador as Kris Aquino’s ex-partner but I didn’t expect him to have this massive sex appeal during his heyday. My bad, I underestimated him and forgot that he is a Salvador; I should watch more of his old movies. Same goes through with his niece, Deborah Sun. I only knew Deborah as what she is today; she has a slight resemblance to Maja Salvador on some angles. It must be the eyes.

****

Lesson learned: cheating is never okay for both genders. When you cheat, you put yourself in the losing end because karma will catch up on you.
Must Try: Shampoo in a Bar

August 27, 2018

Career, Finance & Product
To all of us who are used to liquid shampoo, shifting to a shampoo bar will take time to get used to it. The reason why I decided to try Beauty Glamour Ph shampoo bar is because I wanted to lessen the number of shampoo bottles that I needed to either recycle or throw away.

Beauty Glamour Ph shampoo bar comes in two variants. I bought the pink shampoo bar. I love the fruity smell! The shape is almost cylindrical but can easily be grasped. The texture reminds me of our good old “panghilod” (stone scrubber).

It normally takes me around less than a minute to shampoo my shoulder-length hair using a liquid shampoo. Now, I need to wet the shampoo bar and stroke the juice on my scalp, using my palm. Running the shampoo bar through your hair is not advisable, else, you’ll end up with messy shampoo bar with hair sticking on it.

There’s nothing really special about Beauty Glamour Ph shampoo bar when it comes to its functionality; that is, to clean your hair and scalp. It doesn’t have the silky finish right after rinsing even it’s being marketed as a shampoo AND conditioner. Yes, it feels clean after rinsing but you still need to use a separate conditioner for that silky after wash feeling. (Rejoice Shampoo is the only shampoo that I don’t pair up with a conditioner).

Some items for improvement though are the following:
1. Consider making a conditioner bar.
2. Why not make a shampoo cube that we can dilute instead?
They say that a 150 grams shampoo bar can last up to 80 washes! That’s around two and a half months of use if a person takes a bath once a day or around one and a half months of use if a person takes a bath twice a day. You’ll be saving at least one bottle of a 150 ml-shampoo per month or 12 bottles per person per year!

If you’re an environmentalist, you must try Beauty Glamour Ph shampoo and conditioner.
Lesson From My Lemon Seedlings

August 14, 2018

Career, Finance & Product

Pardon me for not posting a picture of my two lemon seedlings because I want them to grow away from the spectators’ prying eyes. My tree planting journey started in July last year. The first seedling that I took care of was a mango tree that I got from a vacant lot beside our home. Three months later, I experimented with lemon seeds if they could survive my not-so-green thumb from seed to seedling.

What I did was to plant lemon seeds on five different containers, covered them with plastic bag, poked holes for breathing and then kept them from the strong sun. I was near to giving up until I got the surprise of my life when one of the containers showed my lemon seed germinating! To add more happiness to my already happy day, it was my birthday when I found out about it!

The original location of my lemon seedlings was at the shaded part of our tiny terrace. They stayed there from October 2017 up to March 2018. From April 2018 and up to the present, the lemon seedlings are exposed to the sun. Had I known earlier that lemons love lots of sunshine, I would have moved them last year. Unfortunately, only 2 out of 5 lemons survived.

The remaining lemons are given the same amount of water, sunshine and care but Lemon A is growing faster than Lemon B. Both came from the same fruit, by the way. I realize that no matter how healthy the fruit is, we cannot be sure that the quality of its seeds are also as good as it.

That is why as leaders, we need to look beyond our first impression because the weakest fruit on the table might be the one with the strongest seed of knowledge and we just have to uncover it. Likewise, the most beautiful fruit on the table might be the one that needs more salt for flavor. It’s perfect if we are able to find that one fruit with healthy seeds that can replicate the quality of its originator.
Ang Ulan Sa Pilipinas

August 13, 2018

Life & Love

Note: Ang mga figures sa chart ay mula sa website ng Climate Change Knowledge Portal.

Habang tumatagal, lalong lumalala ang sitwasyon ng pagbaha sa ilang lugar sa Pilipinas. Nariyan ang Bataan, Pampangan, Bulacan, Pangasinan at Metro Manila. Lumaki ako sa baha at ulan at sa isa sa mga chat naming magkapatid, pareho naming naaalala na hindi naman bago ang labis na pag-ulan sa bansa.

Base sa datos ng Climate Change Knowledge Portal na kinabibilangan ng mga taong 1991 hanggang 2015, ang taong 1991-1995 ang may pinakamababang patak ng ulan sa bansa. Kung hindi ako nagkakamali, panahon yun ng El Nino at talaga namang pahirapan ang tubig sa madaming lugar.

Pagdating ng 2001-2005, tumaas ng 12% mula 1991 ang dami ng patak ng ulan na may pinakamaraming dalang tubig sa buwan ng Hulyo at Agosto.

Sa sumunod na limang taon (2006-2010), tumaas naman ng 6% ang patak ng ulan na pinaigting ng mga buwan ng Hulyo at Setyembre. Matatandaang ang Ondoy ang puminsala sa atin noong Setyembre 2009.

Bagamat mayroon lamang 2% na pagtaas ang patak ng ulan mula 2011-2015, nakakabahala ang dami ng ulang binuhos sa mga buwan ng Hunyo, Hulyo, Agosto at Setyembre. Hindi ito maganda sa kadahilanang kapag ang lupa ay over-saturated na, hindi na ito makakasipsip ng tubig na syang nagiging dahilan ng pagbaha.

1.Sa kabuaan, tumaas ng 24% ang volume ng tubig ulan kung ikukumpara ang datos ng 2015 sa 1991. (Hindi pa available sa website nila ang datos ng 2016 hanggang kasalukuyan.

2.Sa nakalipas na pitong taon, consistent ang mga buwan ng Hunyo hanggang Setyembre sa dami ng hatid na ulan.

3.Bagamat hindi naman abrupt o biglaan ang pagtaas ng rainfall level kada taon, mukhang sasanayin na tayo sa pamemerwisyo ng baha dala ng tubig ulan.

Ano nga ba ang mga dahilan ng pagbaha?

Ang dahilan ng pagbaha ay magkakaiba bawat lugar kaya ang matatalakay ko lang ay yung common information.

1.Baradong drainage- bilang mamamayan, dapat nating pangalagaan ang ating kapaligiran. Yung simpleng waste segregation at recycling ay dapat nagsisimula sa bawat kabahayan. Sa pamahalaan, tungkulin ninyo pong siguruduhin na ang bawat barangay ay hindi namamaho sa basura. Pwede nyo ring ipatupad na hindi kayo kukuha ng basurang hindi properly segregated.

2.Kalbong kabundukan- gawin nating misyon na makapagtanim ng 1 hanggang 5 puno kada taon. Sumama tayo sa tree planting program. Taniman natin ng halaman ang mga vacant space natin sa paligid. Naniniwala ako na kapag maganda ang kapaligiran, nakakabawas ng stress sa tao at mas nagiging masigasig na maging mapagmahal sa kalikasan. Sa pamahalaan, wag nyo namang putulin ang mga punong tinanim namin lalo at hindi naman kailangan. Maging mahigpit tayo sa pagpapatupad ng batas sa pagpuputol ng puno.

3.Komersyalismo-wag nating patagin ang bundok para gawing pabahay o pang-komersyo. May dahilan ang Diyos kung bakit sya ginawang bundok. Sa mga negosyante, huwag puro profit ang nasa utak. Uso na ang mga simulation software ngayon kaya hindi na mahirap i-project kung ano ang mangyayari sa isang proposal sampung taon mula ngayon. Huwag din nating lasunin ang mga ilog sa walang habas na pagmimina. Mahirap gamutin ang kalikasan at talagang babalikan tayo nito kung hindi natin aayusin ang mga ginagawa at nagawa natin.

Seryosohin natin ang mga nangyayari sa ating kalikasan. Darating ang panahon ng mas malalakas na bagyo at wala tayong proteksyon sa baha kung patuloy nating ipagwawalang-bahala ang kasalukuyan. Noong unang panahon, nabibili lang ang isang hektaryang lupa sa presyo ng isang kalabaw. Ngayon, naibebenta ang lupa sa halagang PhP1500-PhP 3000 per sqm dito sa probinsya. Kung noong araw kaya ay nagpahalaga ang ating mga ninuno sa lupa, baka halos pantay pantay ang sakop na lupa kada pamilya.
The Magical Feeling

August 12, 2018

Life & Love

Photo taken from web.

Because ber-month is less than a month away, I’d like to share the magical feeling of setting up a Christmas tree and adorning the house with Christmas decors. I was the one in charge of the decoration and I used to do it every last week of October. The 4-ft Christmas tree was located in a big box above the cabinet. No matter how heavy it was, my adrenaline rush was enough for me to bring it down alone. Our Christmas tree was an 80’s style tree with its bushy leaves, thus it appeared big and fat.

The original ornaments were a set of reindeers, Santa Clauses and bells of different sizes. When the 90’s came and with two young kids in the house, the ornaments were either broken or lost so I did a DIY that was made of red and gold ribbons. The original Christmas lights were blue and red and were later changed to white. The Christmas star was the last ornament that I put on and it was also a sign of relief because setting up that Christmas tree normally took me around two hours. Despite its height at only 4 ft, it was heavy. It stood on a coffee table that was 2.5 feet so the Christmas tree became a towering centerpiece at 6.5 feet.

In my eyes, our modest home turned into a beautiful castle every ber-monts of the year. There was something magical about Christmas that reminded me that it was a season of giving and forgiving. Ironically, I was not into the religious practice of Christmas and the only Christmas mass that I attended was that one in St. Joseph Church in Baguio City.

I grew up listening to Jose Mari Chan’s enchanting voice. I would hear more of his Christmas songs on the coming months. It would surely bring me back to happier times of my childhood when my mother, grandmothers, aunts and uncles were still alive.
From Word of Honor to Hologram?

August 12, 2018

Life & Love

Photo taken from the web.

It’s 11:22 PM and I can’t sleep yet. It must be the inclement weather. As a person grows old, he/she tends to worry a lot not for him/herself but for those who must be in need. I have become dependent on technology since year 2000 from communication to my daily task plan. Now, I am depending once again on technology to get the latest weather update.

More than two decades ago and when cellphone was not yet in circulation, people depend on another person’s word of honor if they wanted to meet at a certain date and time elsewhere. My most memorable experience was when a friend and I agreed to meet at the entrance of the Baguio Cathedral after my enrollment. Bataan to Baguio used to take 12 hours for cutting trip from Layak to San Fernando to Dau to Baguio so whenever our kind neighbor whose into vegetable selling business would go to Baguio to buy, I was expected to be one of those on the big jeepney for a free 6-hour ride. (I will forever be grateful to the Almario family for that).

Our group arrived an hour earlier at 7AM. I went straight to the school and ate at the canteen. By 8AM, I started the enrollment and finished by 10AM. From the school, I walked along the Assumption Road and headed towards the shortcut going to the Baguio Cathedral. At the back of my mind, I knew it was impossible to meet my friend 4 hours before our intended meet up but anyway, maybe luck was on my side.

When it was confirmed that I was 4 hours advanced and there was no way to tell that friend that I needed to go home that day, I headed to the Victory Liner station with a heavy heart. I made a short call to my mother to inform her that I would be home, using the payphone at the corner of Piltel. It was also my way of letting my friend know that I arrived in Baguio earlier than usual.

It was past 10PM when I reached home and the first thing that my mother said was my friend called up and was looking for me. She said that I was on my way home and that ended the story of how inconvenient it was before to solely rely on word of honor when circumstances wouldn’t allow a person to be true to her word. Maybe some would ask why I didn’t spend the night in Baguio instead. The answer was because I had nowhere to stay for the night as I was on the process of transferring to another dorm or boarding house then.

The generation that I belong to is lucky enough to witness the boom of technology. My first cellphone was an Alcatel as I couldn’t afford a Nokia 5110. I got it through installment (6 months) and I used it for a year before acquiring my first Nokia phone. Whatever happened to Nokia saddens me; they used to be the big thing in the cellphone manufacturing.

Through my cellphone, I was able to confirm appointments and meet ups if it was a yes or a no, a sure one or a maybe. Some friends would say that they were on the way when in reality, they were still at home and dressing up. Some would cancel at the last minute.

Six or 7 years later, texting became a thing of the past because we now have Facebook messenger, Viber and Line (to name a few). What puzzles me actually is how people of today seem to become aloof when it comes to face-to-face communication but are very sweet and friendly on messenger. I don’t want to think that I now have more virtual friendships than a real one because to be honest, I am not for anything unreal; I can drop relationships that do not make me happy.

Maybe the texting or chatting of the future is through hologram. When that happens, I will still stick to what my heart truly wants— a real friendship or relationship with connection.
2018 Balanga Flood

July 24, 2018

Life & Love

Photo taken from the web.

July 22, 2018. It was another rainy day. I woke up at 8:45 AM, still groggy from the cold tablet that I took the night before. I checked on my Facebook and as a normal routine, I sent a private message to my family in Balanga.

Nothing seemed abnormal so I just focused on the day’s tasks. After lunch, I saw my classmate’s sister’s post about the raging waters at their farm in the upper part of Balanga. Then, another post from my cousin about how the waters in the lower part of Balanga seemed to be quickly increasing with that day’s heavy downpour.

After an hour, there was another post from a relative about the possibility of a flash flood at the low-lying areas there. I sent a private message to my father and brothers and they assured me that everything was under control. I slept and when I woke up at around 4PM, my brother’s message worried me a lot. The flood waters were rising and the residents were not prepared for an evacuation. They had limited time to save all their furnitures and appliances. It was unexpected.

They miscalculated the effect of the heavy rains and how the saturated soil failed them because they were used to the floodings. Tenejero, Ibayo, Talisay, Bagumbagayan, Pto Rivas and Tortugas have always been flood-prone areas there. I grew up experiencing walking in the flooded streets of Balanga but it was just a way of life there. It paled in comparison with the July 22nd flooding because almost all of the barangays in Balanga were affected.

The stress of being physically not there for your family affected me that night. I texted all that I thought needed concern and assurance especially those who were probably alone or trapped. I was hoping that typhoon Josie would be a weaker version of Ondoy or Yolanda.

The next morning, when their cellphone batteries were drained, I just checked the news online. I saw the damage; muddy floors, flooded furnitures and appliances; it was a total mess but my family and friends were safe.

Then I realize that we always complain about our daily discomfort when the real discomfort is facing danger or even death.

We don’t bother about the neighbors next door but they will be the ones to give us help and shelter during the trying times.

We don’t even know the members of the rescue team but during the time of calamity, they are the ones risking their lives for us.

We don’t appreciate the food being served to us but food and water are the basic things needed to survive.

We don’t give much importance to our surroundings, the environment, the changes until we’re at the receiving end of its wrath.