1. Watch the northern lights while eating Pringles.
2. Have coffee while sitting on a grass, on a foggy day.
3. Play under the rain and rest on a blanket of red flowers.
4. Sunbathing in Amanpulo.
5. Go to Nepal to see Mt. Everest.
6. Bring my kids to Disneyland.
7. Ride on the tallest and fastest roller coaster.
8. Travel in France, Turkey and Austria.
9. Learn a new language.
10. Feed a tiger in Africa.
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Those were the days when Balanga was still a town. Those were the days when patintero and tumbang preso consumed my afternoon to dusk. Those were the days when you can buy a bottle of 8-oz. Coke for 25 centavos. Those were the days when it was fun blowing bubbles made from gumamela extract. Those were the days of childhood innocence; when you are too confused why your heart beats to the one person that can make you smile. Those were the days of getting soaked in the rain, of making paper boats and sailing them on the flooded streets of Balanga. Those were the days when Beanery was non-existent; when the best treat in town was Eddie’s bibingka with free hot tea. Those were the days when Farrah and Aling Charing’s parlor was the “in” thing in town. Those were the days of the typewriter when free wifi is not a technology in Balanga. Those were the days of the snailmail, when Mama had to wait for the kartero for my father’s mail.Those were the days when Archade lorded it over on the RTW’s. Those were the days when Tdel was the only private school with secondary education in Balanga. Those were the days when Joyous Fishpond Resort was the 8 Waves of Bataan. Traffic was less and so was pollution. Everybody knew who their neighbors are. The Balanga town plaza was our playground at night.
I am proud of what Balanga has become today…but looking back, I can’t help but to long for Balanga’s innocence.
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Jacklyn Jose’s tearful revelation about her daughter’s real condition ended the speculation about Andi Eigenmann’s rumored pregnancy. Yes, the young beauty is on the family way; 18 weeks to be exact. I have to check if it was Good Housekeeping or Smart Parenting (two of my favorite local magazines) that featured Jacklyn and Andi some months back this year. Andi’s room was featured on that magazine and I thought, this young miss is enjoying the hell out her life! Getting married or even having a serious relationship was the farthest thing from Andi’s mind, I thought. (And she looked so attached to Jackly; she seemed to be enjoying her single life!)
I particularly took interest on Andi when she was just a young girl. Why, she was such a doll! If my memory serves me right, she tried acting at a young age and she used Andi Guck as her screen name. Years later, she was launched through a teleserye “Agua Bendita.” She seemed to be focused on her showbiz career minus her (serious) lovelife; never mind her heated exchange of online messages with a fellow actor who was her ex-boyfriend.
Now, it is confirmed that the 21-year old actress is on the family way. I feel what Jacklyn is feeling. Her young daughter will soon become a parent minus a partner who’s supposed to support her (Andi). Her daughter will have to leave showbiz at the peak of her blossoming career. Her daughter’s showbiz fate is uncertain and we don’t know how Andi’s fans will react.
Nevertheless, we should not put Andi down. It’s her life, anyway. She made a mistake and she’s now suffering the consequences of it; that of a possible fall of her showbiz career and that of being a single parent; not that I mean that being a single parent is a sin but the complexities of being a single parent especially for a young lady like Andi.
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“I did it.”
“It was made possible through my efforts.”
“This is my idea.”
“This could never happen without me.”
I was in college when I came across a credit grabbing teammate. We were working on a project and she was the appointed leader of the group. We noticed that everytime she would discuss the progress of our project to our professor, she would say “I did it” instead of “We did it.” The first time she did it, we just let it pass. Maybe she was overwhelmed or maybe we were paranoid. But after the third time and with my feisty character at that time, I decided to tell her that she was being unfair to the group. That she’s not supposed to let it appear that we were doing nothing for the project. That her being a credit-grabber was starting to get on our nerves. There was a heated exchange of arguments between the two of us and naturally, our teammates sided with me. We patched things up for the sake of the project and good thing, she became aware that being a credit-grabber would create enemies, not friends.
Actually, there’s a level of being a credit grabber in each one of us. Everybody wants to feel special and be put on a pedestal. But it is usually the one who grabs ALL the credit that irritates us. We want to have that slice of the cake that we baked along with the credit grabber, don’t we? The credit grabber must have the decency to at least make us feel that, although he is the star, we are the supporting actors.
I learned that aside from pride, insecurity plays a big role in credit grabbing. A person so secured of his capabilities won’t need as big recognition as what a credit grabber wants to achieve. The next time you chance upon a credit grabber, let him grab all the credits and let people believe in his false capabilities, it won’t last anyway to surface what kind of person or employee he truly is. 😉
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I’m very new to Facebook and I don’t intend to repeat the mistake that I did in Friendster; that of adding anybody for the sake of adding. Isn’t it cool to have 500+ friends or more? I would appear friendly and popular. But hey, do these people really mean to me or vice versa? Do we share the same connection or at least affiliation? Not all. Some of there are just lurkers, if not posers. I decided to make my Facebook extra personal; I will only add and search for people that I truly know. I would only add people that I share the same connection and affiliation. This is the reason why the pictures that I post in Facebook reflect my day-to-day life. It’s good to be posting pictures from a recent travel or event and I am also posting this kind of pictures on Facebook but I also want my friends to see how I look at my most normal day. I’d like them to see me without make up. I’d like them to see that I get zit sometimes. I’d like them to see how I look in the morning right after rising from sleep and at night, when I’m ready to sleep. I’d like them to see the clothes that I wear at home. I’d like them to know that I have a simple yet satisfying life. I don’t want to project that I’m somebody. I don’t want them to have the misconception that I’m living a charmed life or I’m living a very comfortable life. I’d like them to know me better based on my day-to-day activities. I’d like them to see me as me, no more and no less.
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Dear Daddy, Lolo and Tito,
We don’t know where to start because we’re not sure if you will appreciate this mushiness. Anyway, we have every reason to greet you on Father’s Day because of the following:
Daddy, this is Chang. The first time that Mommy informed us about marrying you, I had no apprehensions on that because I know that you are her Mr. Right. I’ve seen her fallen head over heels with her so-called love of her life and that love brought her into a downward spiral. With you, I saw the changes in her like regaining her faith in God. Money is truly not everything and I’ve never seen her with such kind of peace of mind until you two became a couple. I know we have different upbringings and we are both adjusting to co-exist. I am just too glad because you accepted me and treated me as if Adi and I are not half-siblings.
Daddy, this is Adi. Everybody in the house says that I am the baby in the family and I can feel that. Sometimes, in my young age, I can’t help but maintain the responsibility of being the clown and toy in the family. I am so used in being the center of attention. I love our playtime (Mommy is boring). While you are the disciplinarian in the family and Mommy is “one-of-us,” I harbor no ill feelings towards you because I know how much you love us.
Papa, this is Chang. Living with my grandparents gave me the opportunity to be a spoiled brat in a positive way. With my grandparents, I learned the value of taking care of other people who are in need. While Mommy hated the lack of privacy in our house when she was little, I loved being visited by people and I guess that gave me the flexibility that Mommy sometimes lacked. Thank you for taking care of me while my biological father was unable to do that.
Papa, this is Adi. You are so fun to be with and I can’t help to push myself to grow fast. I would like to spend summer vacations with you. We will go bird-hunting and biking. We will go around the town in a motorcycle. You say that all three of your grandchildren are your favorite: Ate Chang because she is the first grandchild, Ate Kai because she is so smart and me, because I am the first grandson. You are also our favourite grandfather because you exert the effort to communicate with us.
Kuya M, this is Chang. Mommy can attest to how much I adore you. You are more “masungit” than Mommy but I’ve always loved that “kasungitan.” Maybe because I was looking for a father figure in you and Papa that is why I became close to both of you. Thank you for helping me with my homeworks before. I’ve always thought that you are better than Mommy when it comes to academics. 😉
Kuya M, this is Adi. You say that I am your handsome nephew and Mommy feels happy whenever you say that. (Of course, I’ve got most of my features from her!) Maybe I am asking too much but I am hoping to have a male cousin from you. If that is not possible, it’s okay because we’re happy with Ate Kai.
Happy Father’s Day tomorrow to all three of you!
Love,
Chang and Adi -
I hailed a cab yesterday morning in EDSA, just a few meters away from Philam Homes. After around five minutes, I felt dizzy and I couldn’t breathe. I could feel I could pass out any moment.I tried to open the window but it was tight; I couldn’t roll it down. I gathered all my remaining strength and pretended to be suffering from LBM. I asked the driver to pull over because I would poopoo. (Yuck! Hehehe) Fortunately, he let me get out of the cab. I paid him while looking at the cab’s plate number and operator’s name.
I spent the next 10 minutes in 7-11, trying to figure out if my dizziness was caused by a chemical or not. If the cab had a faulty radiator, why would my system react to it that fast? It would take a strong chemical to knock a person off in less than five minutes.
I was not even wearing my earrings yesterday. I only had my wristwatch and pricey wedding ring. The company-issued laptop was inside an ordinary knapsack and my handbag was the ordinary one. I could say that the most expensive personal item with me yesterday was the wedding ring and it was not even noticeable.
I shall be finding out about the operator and owner of this cab. God is so good, He saved me from this one.
The World of Second Chances 