The World of Second Chances

Things You Wish You Never Did

July 26, 2011

Life & Love

If you are familiar with Anna Manalastas, you know what I’m talking about. In fact, there is a little, if not too much, of an Anna inside of us. And maybe, at some point in your life, you were an Anna Manalastas, the Coney Reyes persona.

100 Days to Heaven is not your typical teledrama. You would fall in love with the characters portrayed by Coney Reyes as the adult Anna who died and was brought back to life as a young girl portrayed by Xyriel Manabat. Jodi Santamaria as Anna’s “sidekick” is good, too; she has screen chemistry with both Coney and Xyriel. Coney Reyes has always been my favorite since her “Coney Reyes on Camera” days. She just have this certain charm. But the real scene-stealer is Xyriel Manabat, she’s just so good in portraying good/bad roles. That’s what we call TALENT.

If I were in Anna’s shoes, I guess 100 days is not enough to correct every wrong decisions that I made, to make peace with every persons that I offended and generally, to edit or revise my life. In real life, we don’t have a second chance like Anna; that opportunity to be resurrected or reincarnated to correct whatever we want to correct. In real life, our second chance is correcting every misdoings that we did right after we realize that we should never did that in the first place.
I’m Just A Memory

July 20, 2011

Poems & Stories

Memories are like old songs
that make you stop whenever you hear them.
A song so out of date, you can’t even remember\
the start of the lyrics.
I am that…I’m just a memory.

Memories are like holidays and important events
that just come and go every year.
You can either celebrate it or forget it,
or even pretend that there is no event.
I am that…I’m just a memory.

Memories can make you smile or cry.
It can make you long for more.
It can deceive your mind into pining
for someone,somewhat, somewhere that has long gone.
I have been deleted out of your life.
I’m just a memory.
Let’s live our lives unparallel to one another.
Because no matter what we do, we can only count on the memories
but we can never be together.
Give me the freedom that I deserve because I don’t want to be a slave
of our past. Memories are betraying.
I do not know you anymore.
You don’t know me either.
I’m just a memory.
That’s Entertainment!

July 15, 2011

That’s Entertainment

Growing up in the 80’s gave me the advantage of watching “That’s Entertainment” every afternoon. Those were the days when Leah Salonga was still a struggling teenage artist (she is now a world class performer and she will always be remembered as Kim in Ms. Saigon). Who would ever thought that Sheryl Cruz and Romnick Sarmenta would part ways? You thought Aljon Jimenez would end up with Ruffa Gutierrez? He is now happily married to Manilyn Reynes. Ramon Christopher broke Tina Paner’s heart when he left her for Lotlot De Leon. Lotlot and Monching looked good together and they seemed to be always in love until they separated after more than a decade of being husband and wife. Now, the ex-couple is supporting their eldest daughter’s showbiz career. Mind you, Janine Gutierrez is even prettier than Lotlot during the latter’s younger days; I hope this young lady be given a chance in showbiz. Ruffa Gutierrez and Zoren Legaspi’s on-again and off-again relationship ended permanently when Ruffa’s schedule and priorities diverted her out of local showbiz. Now, Zoren has two wonderful kids with Carmina Villaroel who seemed to be very much in love with then Rustom Padilla (now known as Bebe Gandanghari). Aiko Melendez was dubbed as the young Hilda Koronel. Years later, who would have thought that she would become a politician? From being a shy young lady who was an underdog when Aga Muhlach split up with her, she became “palaban” with all the people who “oppressed” her. When ex-husbands Jomari Yllana and Martin Jickain cheated on her, she did not play martyr and she immediately thought of annulling her unproductive marriage. Jennifer Sevilla and Ian Veneracion looked good together. But the there was no off-cam romance between the two of them. (Hey, I still have a huge crush on Ian! Hehehe)

I had a high school classmate who tried showbiz. He also tried “That’s.” Glutathione was not yet existing as a whitening product during the mid-90’s so he was into chemical peeling to whiten his skin. His schooling was also affected by his “That’s” schedule. From what I remember, he belonged to the same group as Gladys Reyes. He was absent every Thursday and I would be glued to “That’s” in the hope that I would see a glimpse of my classmate’s face on TV.The next day at school, I would tell him if I saw him or not. Being a star (no, I don’t use the term “starlet”), he obliged himself to be properly groomed all the time. He changed the way he talked with his classmates and though I found it superficial, I enjoyed having an encounter with a struggling artist. When he was still a “nobody,” he had all the liberty to eat hopia or drink sago’t gulaman at the school canteen. Not anymore when he thought that drinking chocolate was more “susyal” than drinking sago. When asked if he thinks he could make it in showbiz, he confidently said “Yes, kaya yan. Sana nga.” I admire him for his perseverance but not every artist could be another Christopher de Leon, Aga Muhlach or Piolo Pascual. My classmate got some “pambida” roles for some low-budgetted films; he never made it to the top. Still, I admire him for his guts, his passion for the arts and believing in himself.
Ten Things That I Want To Do

July 4, 2011

Life & Love

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.
Balanga

July 4, 2011

Filipino Culture

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.
My Heart Goes Out To Jacklyn Jose

June 30, 2011

That’s Entertainment

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.
Credit Grabbing People

June 29, 2011

Career, Finance & Product

“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. 😉