The World of Second Chances

Passport

March 16, 2011

Travel

Express passport processing now takes 15 working days. If you are to get the services of a courier company, expect your passport on the 16th day. But better be wary of SOME courier companies; the promised “passport delivery on the 16th day” could be broken.

I could have mentioned the name of the courier company here but since their customer service representative was helpful and polite to me last night, then I would forget about exposing it.

To the courier company: Don’t make false advertisements at the expense of your customers.

To my fellow Filipinos: If you can afford to personally claim your passport, then do it especially if the courier company does not have a branch in your area.
A Time To Give Back

March 15, 2011

Life & Love

I feel bad about what happened in Japan.

I can’t put into words the emotion that I am feeling.

In my own little way, I guess it’s the right time to give back.

Let’s help Japan.
Six Things About Jason

March 9, 2011

Life & Love

Friendship is important to me. I consider a few trusted people as my circle of friend. Jason is one of them. Our friendship has evolved from being too focused on my vulnerable lovelife to discussing financial/investment matters. How well do I know him? Maybe not that much yet as we have a lifetime to discover more about each other’s similarities and differences. The items below are the things about Jason that matters to me.

1. He is a Scorpion like me. I have a hard time remembering birthdays and it’s easier for me to recall a person’s zodiac sign. Jason is a Scorpion like me: passionate, loyal and temperamental. His passion to make good at his profession is something that isn’t obvious to those who doesn’t know him well. Yes, the guy looks easy-go-lucky. His loyalty to those that mattered to him is commendable. I have yet to hear him badmouth a friend or a mentor. Just like me, his moods are unpredictable especially during his younger years. (Thank God I’m past that stage now!)

2. He is one of my BBF (Boy Best Friend). I got the term BBF after watching Richard Gutierrez’s “My Valentine Girls.” I feel comfortable and safe sharing my life stories with him. I think we really got very close during my vulnerable period. He practically saved me from losing my sanity by just being there to “listen.” He was the first person outside of my family to know about me entering into a new relationship, getting engaged, getting married and having a new baby. He’s the only person outside of my family to know about the ups and downs of my career.
3. There was a time when my ex was jealous of him. Don’t ask who among my exes but this ex of mine came to the point of asking me if there was ever a time that I felt I was or at least, I was close to falling in love with my BBF. “Maybe yes maybe no” was my answer. That was an unsafe yet honest answer, I know, and that added up to my ex’s speculation that his gut feelings were valid but for the sake of transparency and truthfulness, “Maybe yes maybe no” was the right answer.
The MAYBE YES: Love is measured in many different ways and I love Jason for being him.
The MAYBE NO: I loved my ex when we were still together and that love distracted me from falling in love with other men. On the other hand, I have always been fond of Jason’s relationship with the love of his life and that prevented me from establishing a deeper, more than platonic relationship with him.

4. He is his worst critic. He sees himself as stagnant and average for whatever
reasons. What I see in him is a person who’s trying to achieve most out of life.

5. He is a bookworm. He loves information to the point of info overload.
6. It may not show but he is a loving kuya to his siblings.
Adi at 18 Months

March 1, 2011

Wedding & Family Life

Next week, Adi will turn 18 months. He’s growing up really fast; both physically and mentally. He says “Tek yu” (Thank you!) whenever he’s being given something to eat like bread and biscuits. I am happy to see him growing up to be a fine young man. He can be very mischievous, too like knocking on Chang’s room while saying “Ate!” He knows how to make Mama and Daddy happy by showering us with kisses. He rides on his bike and joyfully greets anyone he sees at the compound. He loves his yaya and he cries whenever she has to go home every night.

Adi is our angel, our clown, our little one rolled into one. We love you, Adi!
Teacher Talk

February 25, 2011

Life & Love

Teachers are our second parents, we stay with them most of our waking time as young children. Teachers can make or break a student. Teaching is a noble profession and one must consider it as a vocation in order to be an effective teacher. No, I am not saying that teachers must be sweet. In fact, most of the teachers who are on the sweet side are being taken for granted by their students. No, I don’t want a teacher who terrorizes his/her students. I want the following characteristics in a teacher.

1. He must be intelligent
– I am not saying that he must be Einstein- like. A teacher must be diligent in order to be intelligent. He must study his lessons in advance so that he can answer his students’ questions. If he is an English teacher, then he must be very good in speaking and writing the language. If he is a Math teacher, he must be good in problem solving and computations. Until now, whenever I remember Ms. Yolly Pruna, my grade 4 teacher, I regard her as an intellectual. She’s good in both English and Math. When it comes to Physics, nobody can beat Mrs. Mila Tagorio.

2. He must be patient.
– Not all students are equal in intelligence and comprehension. A teacher must know this. In reality, teachers prefer those who are smart and bright. There’s this silent discrimination on the slow learners. Some teachers resort to verbal and physical abuse when a student cannot catch up with the lessons. I know of a teacher who knocks hard on her students’ head whenever they could not understand the lessons.

3. He must watch his words.
-Words hurt more than spanks. “Tanga, bobo, pangit!”—these words hurt a student’s pride. But aside from these words, a teacher must refrain from making judgmental remarks.

4. He must put in his head that being a cleaner is not a student’s core responsibility.
– Most, if not all, public schools assign their students to do the cleaning. Students clean the classroom and school ground in the morning and in the afternoon. Ms. Flor de Jesus was my teacher in grade 2. She was Mrs. Gloria Castillo’s substitute. My cleaning schedule was twice a week but because she admired me for being hardworking, I voluntarily cleaned everyday! Hahaha! She was the opposite of one teacher who reprimanded me for just standing instead of going to the school ground to clean. I told her that my classmate asked for my help to open the classroom windows that was why I was standing. The window was too big for a 5th grader and I needed to support the other end of the capiz window for her to open it.

5. He must be prudent.
-With a number of sexual harassment, sexual molestation and even rape charged against a teacher, parents must get to know the personality of their children’s teachers.

6. He must be fair.
– Not every student is pretty, cute, intelligent and rich. Teachers must know that and they must not be the ones implicating those differences in their studenst.
“X is my favorite because they own this business.”
“Throw these flowers (santan given by student A) to give room to B’s flowers (Holland roses).
My Jobhunting Experience

February 24, 2011

Career, Finance & Product

Okay, so this article (http://redmindedme.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/on-hr-and-disenchantments/) inspired me to share my jobhunting experiences.

When my then boyfriend moved to the city, I decided to search for a job so that we could be in the same area instead of maintaining a lonely long distance relationship. My skill set then was inclined to manufacturing and I found it hard to even get an interview invitation from the companies in the city. Nevertheless, there were some companies who invited me for an exam and interview.

1. Major telecom company- they knew from the start that I had no background in business analysis and yet they thought that my educational background would be enough. I waited for an hour to be called by the recruitment staff. When it was my turn, she told me that the interview would only take 15 minutes as there was a long queue of applicants. Now I realize that it must be the screening method. The recruitment staff was stern and snobbish at times. She was cutting me and during the middle of the interview, I felt like she was getting impatient because she was interviewing an engineering graduate with no experience on business management.

2. Sister company of a major bank- it was a panel interview. The position was Systems Analyst. I had no background on banking and I sweated a lot during the interview. The interviewers seemed elite but were accomodating.

3. Major courier company-Again, a panel interview. They had opposite personalities; one was friendly the other one was a terror. I burped when I was about to answer Mr. Terror’s question. Lol!

4. Major food company- The recruitment staff was accomodating and I loved their facilities. It was just that, I fell short of their qualifications, I didn’t get the job.

Getting a job is like entering into a relationship.
1. You look around for a prospect.
2. You try to get your prospect’s attention. In jobhunting, you send your prospective company a resume’.
3. A job interview is like a date, you try to impress your prospect by wearing presentable clothes.
4. An employment contract or a job offer is like thinking things over if the relationship would work. Either give it a try or turn it down.

What I enjoy about jobhunting is the opportunity to go to unfamiliar places, meet different kinds of jobhunters, meet different kinds of interviewers and treating myself to a luxurious dinner after the interview.
Dalaw Movie Review

February 23, 2011

That’s Entertainment

Stella’s (Kris Aquino) husband dies in a car accident while the two of them are arguing. Feelings of guilt continues to haunt Stella specially when she meets and reunites with her old flame Anton (Diether Ocampo) four years after Danilo’s (her husband) death. Her husband’s possessive nature seems to haunt her when she accepts Anton’s marriage proposal. Her son and Anton get along well and her relationship with Anton’s mother turns good.

True to his word that he will start a new life with Stella, Anton splits up with all the women attached to him including the possessive Lorna (Karylle). Anton and Stella’s wedding could have been perfect except being interrupted by Stella’s son’s loud screams and finding out that Anton’s mother suffered a stroke. Prior to that, Anton’s mother (Susan Africa) sees a shadowy figure and checks on it.

Stella sells her house and moves to her mother-in-law’s house with Anton and her son. The couple struggles financially and Stella is sometimes doubtful of Anton’s fidelity. Stella learns that she is pregnant and Anton works harder to provide for her.

More ghostly apparitions both in her dreams and in reality attacks Stella and even her unsuspecting son. Olga’s (Gina Pareño) satirical attitude towards Stella is temporary as she becomes her ally in driving away the “dalaw.” Olga works in their household as Anton’s mother’s caregiver.

The relationship between Stella and Anton is put to test when Anton’s mother died on a freak wheelchair accident. Anton does not believe that the “dalaw” has something to do with it. Kylie’s (Ina Feleo) death adds up to Stella’s stress. Olga advises her to confront the “dalaw.” Olga tells her that the “dalaw” is not a male but a female and this confuses Stella even more. (Note: The “dalaw’s” gender is beyond recognition as it is covered with mud.)

Just as Olga is preparing for a ritual to get rid of the “dalaw,” it appeared and stuck her with a broken glass on her forehead. Then Olga sees her deceased young son for the first time and decides to go with him. She is the third casualty of the “dalaw.”

Anton admits to Stella that Lorna is dead while the “dalaw” is violently attacking Stella, her son and Olga’s niece (Empress Schuck) at their house. Anton brings a priest with him at the site where he buries Lorna who he accidentally stabbed in the chest while stopping her to commit suicide. Lorna’s ghost is unforgiving and he kills Anton. At the house, Kris is reminded of Olga’s instruction to destroy everything that the “dalaw” has a connection with. She burns Lorna’s picture and the “dalaw” is seen burning, too.

Anton knocks on the door and the couple embraces each other. Stella discovers Anton’s wound and realizes that Anton is already dead, too.

Kris Aquino is said to be the co-producer of this project and I must say, she’s wise in getting a row of talented supporting actors/actresses like:
1. Gina Pareño- her facial expression, her acting and even the scary contact lens in her left eye is something to watch for. She is comic in some of her scenes where she delivers lines from Vilma Santos’s old movies. You can feel her pain at the scene when she first saw her deceased young son. Despite being able to see ghosts and spirits, the first time that she is able to see her deceased young son is when she’s dying.
2. Susan Africa- Susan’s acting has always impressed me since her Mara Clara days. A real actress does not need to speak a word to act. Her facial expression as a woman who suffered stroke is enough to speak for her role.
3. Ina Feleo- Mom is Laurice Guillen and dad is the late Johnny Delgado, would you wonder where she got her acting talent?
4. Alessandra De Rossi- Is she even acting? She acts so natural you would think she’s mean in real life, too.
5. Karylle- Is that Karylle? Wow, she should get more movie/TV projects.
6. Diether Ocampo- This is the first time that I get to appreciate Diether Ocampo. He improved a LOT. He carried the right emotions the role required of him. He looked good on this movie, too.
7. Kris and Diether’s son on this movie is good, too.

Kris’s acting on this movie is entertaining for me. She portrays the role of a low-key yet sweet young widow and heck, we know that she’s just acting! In reality, Kris speaks her mind; I wonder what would she reply to Alessandra’s tirades had she used her real character in the movie!