A FLOOD OF REALITY


I turned on the TV, and immediately wished I hadn’t.

I’ve been out of touch from the world for the weekend, preferring to watch DVD movies instead of TV programs. Although I have heard of some stories and reports of how Typhoon Ondoy has wrecked damage to our country during its passage, but nothing could exactly prepare me for the visuals.




Too shocked to move and too numb to even reach for the remote control, I sat down helplessly in front of the TV, and watched the news.

It’s beyond words.

Seeing hungry families stranded in their roofs, cars and houses damaged and overturned, and the vivid image of people riding atop a sheet of metal literally surfing the waves of flood, I am at a loss of what to say. I saw the bridge of Marikina and remembered the time I once passed by there while admiring their lifelike carabao effigies -- now the entire place is all muddy and indistinguishable. Even so much more distressing were the large number of corpses they have recovered, most of them dug up from the deep murky waters and mud, while others were just haplessly strewn on trees and other structures. It’s like watching a movie gone disastrously wrong.

Our city was not struck that much by Typhoon Ondoy, but I still feel a bit uneasy. I’ve always thought that our city was impenetrable to natural calamities because of its geography, but it was only a few months ago when our rivers overflooded and wiped out houses and lives. And it would have been OK if I know my family is in a secure place, but we’ve just recently moved into our apartment, which does not exactly look like sturdiest place to live in. And right now, I’m in an island and so far away from home. I know my family's OK, but I still can’t help but feel a bit worried. I just have to entrust their safety in God’s loving hands.

And for the rest of the victims of Typhoon Ondoy, all I can do is PRAY, and hope that amidst this tragedy, they can find the courage and strength to rise up and move on.

UNEXPECTED NEWS!

I just received news that my best friend is going to undergo Ceasarian section today!

I don’t know much of the details, but apparently she had preterm labor and was admitted at the Intensive Care Unit of Makati Med either yesterday or this morning. My best friend has a congenital cardiac problem and this is her first pregnancy. She has been on close monitoring and constant follow up with her obstetrician and cardiologist, and we just texted around 2 weeks ago discussing names for her baby, which I thought was still due late October or November. It was a surprise to hear news that she was admitted ahead of schedule. Doctors were contemplating if she could deliver spontaneously, but eventually decided to do CS because they noted signs of fetal distress.

Despite having assisted so many CS deliveries, I somewhat feel uneasy hearing that my best friend is going through that right now. Cath is not a very big person (physically), but she’s always had a strong personality. She was never the type to give in to her fears and her worries. But I’m sure deep down she feels them too. I remember when we were still in high school, we noted she was absent for the day, which was unusual cos she was never absent. We later learned that she has undergone appendectomy, and I felt somewhat numb deep down cos I was worried sick. (I had no idea what appendectomy was back then. Heck, I didn’t even know what an appendix is! XD)

Right now, I feel the same sort of numbness deep down. To be so far away from her, to have not talked to her prior to the operation, to have no first hand data of what she’s going through right now... All of these make me so confused! But I want to believe and have the faith that GOD will see her and her baby through this trying time. I fervently pray for the success of her operation, and hope both mommy and baby end up well and healthy tonight.

OUT OF EVA UNIT-O1

I posted pictures of our new apartment last time to share it with my blog readers. But my sister pointed out that I can't put stuffs like these up the net for security reasons, and I realize that she has a point. So I took the pics down. Now I'm putting the pics back up again because we're moving out of EVA UNIT-01 (as my boyfriend calls it XD).

See the resemblance? Hehehe

My parents stayed for two weeks in this house (and me for two days only!), but they've realized that it's not suitable for us. I won't expound on the reasons anymore. Sayang, it's quite a lovely place, but it's just not meant for us.

Luckily, my parents found a new place for us, which is a 2-bedroom bungalow unit. I went to see it today and although not as big as EVA UNIT-01 but it is quite spacious. The size is just right for my family. Well, come Saturday, we're moving into that new house #2 (which unfortunately doesn't have a flashy name as "EVA UNIT-01" XD). Many thanks to my Dad's friend Vincent and his wife Michelle for their assistance. They really went out of their way to help us find another place to rent. It warms my heart just thinking about this because we don't have that many friends here in the city, and what few friends we have really helped us during this tough time. I really appreciate their efforts. Thank you Lord for good friends. The world ain't that bad a place after all. *teary-eyes*

My uncle, who's been living in Cotabato, also arrived yesterday. He'll be staying with us for a while, which is great news since there's someone who will stay with my parents while I'm gone for work. He will also help us with the move on Saturday, so that's really a relief.

My sister is arriving at the end of the month. There will be a lot of changes in her life soon. For one thing, she's coming home to a different place. Hehehe

I want to write more stuffs but I'll have to end for now since I have to go home already. I'm using an internet cafe PC, which feels funny, since I haven't used one for a very long time. I remember the time when we still didn't own a PC at home, and I used to stay inside the internet cafe browsing and surfing like mad from 12nn to 10pm until the shop closes. That was such a long time ago. Ehehe~ ^o^

CHANGES IN MY LIFE


This is a picture of our new apartment with bright blue gate.


It is the first door of three apartments, the others bearing pink and purple gates respectively.
It is a three-storey building with two bathrooms and four bedrooms.
It does not have a garage, but we don't have a car so it doesn't really matter.


There's a small space between the gate and the house where we can do the laundry.
That's also where we plan to put our dog Didat. ^____^


This is the first floor. It's pretty much bare with no divisions. But it's quite spacious.


If you peer closer, notice that there's a small space at the back.
This is where the 1st floor bathroom is located, as well as spiral staircase leading up to the Emergency Exit at the 2nd floor.

Backdoor (First Floor)



Emergency Exit (Second Floor)




Now let's go up the stairs to the second floor.


Second Floor Hallway.
(Uh, just don't mind the rags and basin XD)



Second Floor Room 1: Master's Bedroom
This is the view from the door, and the view from the inside.



This is the view from the Master's Bedroom window. There's a construction going on outside.



Second Floor Room 2: My Bedroom
This is the view from the door, and the view from the inside.
It is very bare, and since I don't own any furnitures excpet my bed, I foresee that my stuffs will just be piled on the floor. XD


There's a bathroom on the second floor but I forgot to take a picture of it.


Going up the third floor, you can immediately see a sink.


I do not understand its purpose in life. XD



Third Floor Hallway.
Unlike the first and second levels which are tiled, the flooring here is made of Hardiflex.
It's weird cos the floor vibrates(?) as you move.



Third Floor Room 1
Nothing much to see here. It's just a small square room with tiny windows.



Third Floor Room 2
This is the view from the door, and the view from the inside.


Since we don't really own that many stuffs, the third floor will probably just be used for storage.
It's quite hot here too so it's not so comfortable, I guess.


My mom and I went there last Wednesday to clean up. And with the help (and vehicle) of my friend Gervie, we were able to move some of our stuffs in the new apartment already. The rest of our things will be transported tomorrow.

Before I left for Malaybalay, I also made arrangements for the transfer of our cable TV service. I initially requested to have our landline and BayanDSL transferred too, but to save us the hassle, I had them terminated instead. Our landline is not listed under our family's name, so there's a lot of procedures needed if we pushed through with the transfer. Likewise, I need to pay a huge amount if I want my BayanDSL transferred, so I decided to cut off the connection and just pay the pre-termination fee instead (PhP 3000! *cries*) since I have only subscribed for a few months.

Then I applied for the Philcom Landline + PLDT DSL package, which is relatively cheap and hassle-free. ^______^

And so last night I finished packing all the stuffs in my old bedroom, so that everything is now ready for the move. I won't be able to help out my family tomorrow cos I'm already scheduled for work, that's why I didn't sleep a wink at all last night just to finish packing everything. I went to work today feeling all lightheaded, hehehe. Good thing I'm not on 24-h duty today. After this blog entry, I'm going to catch some very much needed zzz's already.

WO YE SHI ZHONG GUO REN

Saw this news in Yahoo! Sports [read full article here] and thought I should share random pieces of my mind.



Apparently, Spain's Male and Female Olympic basketball teams posed for a courier ad which showed all of the players slanting their eyes. I don't know what their intentions were, but it never seemed to occur to anyone involved in that photo (including the staff) that what they did could be taken negatively. Even good fun has its limits. I personally find it shocking and offensive, particularly since China is playing host to the Olympics as of this moment.

I've always been proud of my Chinese background. Never mind that I am not that fluent and speak Mandarin/Fukienese with a weird accent, or that I can only recognize a number of Chinese characters (but good enough to understand raw dramas anyway! ^o^). Somehow, having "100% Chinese blood" stirs a bit of patriotism and pride within me. Seeing images like China hosting this year's main event and boasting of its amazing sights, or of the Great Wall of China standing tall for all of these years, or even of Jackie Chan and Jet Li making their names in Hollywood are enough to make me smile and feel excited.

But my being Chinese also has its not-so-happy times. Even though I was born in the Philippines, I've never been truly considered a Filipino. So when I was a kid, I've always been teased because of my one-syllable family name and I've been called lots of weird things (i.e. intsik kwakang baboy tikangkang). Even jeepney drivers/conductors have a tendency to holler something rude that pertains to my ethnicity to catch my attention. And some of my closest friends may have inconsiderately mimicked some Chinese phrases for fun or have made some nasty, stereotypical remark/s about Chinese people in front of my face. I usually just ignore these, but they actually upset me deep down.

Yet even if I am from a Hua Qiao family (both paternal and maternal grandparents were immigrants from China), but I also don't feel like I can be counted as an "authentic" Chinese. For one, I'm a Filipino citizen, and was born and raised here, and have no idea if I'll ever get a chance to set foot on China. Even my parents were born here and have never left this country. And then there's also the problem with language. All those Chinese classes didn't help at all and only dampened my social life in the past. I learned most of my Mandarin/Fukienese from my parents and from watching too much TV anyway, so school really didn't help. But I still graduated high school (there were only three of us in our batch XD) and maintained a healthy interest for the Chinese language and culture unlike many of the Chinese-Filipino kids out there.

Yet, I'm still not quite Chinese, and not quite Filipino at all.

But that picture is really controversial.

I'm suddenly so sleepy now. I can't quite understand what I'm writing anymore. LOL

08.08.08



In my life, I have never participated in any athletic activities, and have never been interested enough in any sporting event. But ever since one young pastor shared about Beijing's "Bird's Nest Stadium",
I somehow found myself drawn to the 2008 Beijing Olympics frenzy. Perhaps it is an innate Chinese pride, or maybe because I've incidentally watched some China-related features on the Discovery Channel, or it might just simply be my knack for delving into random interesting topics, but I've decided to pool some Olympics-related photos and infos into this blog entry.


So for this grand and global event, China has built four great buildings which revolutionized architectural history forever. I won't elaborate more on the details of the designs since I'm no architectural buff either, but you really don't need any degree to appreciate these man-made wonders.




Beijing Olympic National Stadium (aka Bird's Nest)
This iconic arena will be the venue for most of the events. Its design is innovative, at the same time functional.
[read more]






Beijing National Swimming Center (aka Water Cube)
Inspired by the structure of water bubbles, this futuristic LED-lit structure boasts of its stunning display of color patterns.
It also has the ability to trap the solar energy, utilizing it to heat the interiors. [read more about it here and here]





Beijing National Grand Theatre (aka Egg Shell)
This titanium metal and glass infrastracture will serve as China's top arts performance center and a first class art palace.
[read more]




China Central Television (CCTV) Headquarters (aka The Pants)
These two L-shaped high-rise towers linked at the top and the bottom, often been described as a 'Z' criss-cross,
will allow China State Television to broadcast the Olympics to the world.
[read more]





I was also able to surf a bit about the medals. And oh boy, what delightful bling-blings they will surely make!


One side of the medal, which cannot be changed, adopts the winged Victory Nike and the Panathinaikos Arena, the standard design prescribed by the International Olympic Committee. But on the reverse side, you get to bring home an unmistakable touch of China -- jade of exceptional quality inlayed and the Beijing Olympic emblem engraved in the center gold. There is also a very intricate medal hook. Noble and elegant, yet simple and symbolic, it is said that the medal is an embodiment of both Chinese culture and the Olympic spirit. And yes, I have a gut feeling that it can be pawned for quite a hefty sum. LOL [read more here]



The next thing I'll be describing is perhaps a familiar picture. If you've recently been to McDonald's, that is. XD


Fuwa, the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, are the embodiments of the five elements of nature and of China’s most popular animals -- Fish (sea), Panda (forest), Tibetan Antelope (earth), Swallow (sky) -- and the center Fuwa is the Olympic Flame (fire). They obviously draw their colors from the five Olympic Rings and carry a message of friendship, peace and good wishes from China to children all over the world. They have rhyming two-syllable names, which, when put together — Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni — means "Welcome to Beijing", offering a warm invitation from these young and playful ambassadors.



Next, we have here a large scale oil painting titled "Ode to the Olympics", done by artist Liu Ningyi and his daughter, Liu Haomei. This masterpiece took them seven years to complete and measures 112 meters in width (for the number of years in the modern history of the Olympics) and five meters in height (for the number of Olympic rings).



This beautiful artwork showcases the long and magnificent history of the Olympics, the peaceful interaction among peoples of different cultures and nationalities, and reflects the Olympic mottos of "Swifter, Higher, Stronger" and "Peace, Friendship, Progress".


Well, there's definitely so much more to rant about this phenomenal event (I haven't even started talking about the athletes yet!), but I need to stop for now. Indeed, the lengths at which China prepared for this is unbelievable, and how the whole world has joined hands together to bring forth all these amazing things only shows how far mankind has exceeded his potentials.



Beijing welcomes you, to One World and One Dream.

FUYU NO SONATA

Here’s an interesting piece of news I picked up while browsing through animenewsnetwork.



The 2002 KBS korean drama Winter Sonata will be adapted into a 26-episode anime, scheduled to air this 2009. It will be a joint production of Japanese and Korean animation companies, and will feature the original cast as seiyuus (voice actors) for the characters. You can read more about this news HERE, and you can view the homepage/trailer of the Fuyu no Sonata anime HERE.

I initially didn’t know how to react when I first read about this. I am well aware of the unbelievable phenomenon that hit Japan when Winter Sonata was first aired in their local network in 2004. It practically melted the political and cultural barriers between the two countries, and ushered in the Korean Wave into Japan. I’ve heard of stories of how tourism boomed in South Korea as hundreds of thousands of fans of all ages went on tours to visit the different locations featured in said series. I know how Bae Yong Joon's career immediately catapulted to its height, supported by millions of admirers hailing him as Yong-sama, and his face plastered almost everywhere promoting almost anything. I’ve even heard that Winter Sonata merchandise immediately became a hit, with items ranging from collectibles like DVDs, CDs and mangas, to fashion trends reminiscent of their stylish winter clothing, and even to stuffs like coffee mugs, keychains, dolls and toilet papers(?!!).


So I guess learning that an anime is in actual production right now should not be that surprising. But I was still honestly surprised. I didn’t know if I should be happy or excited about it, cos it just seemed ... weird. XD I thought that the Winter Sonata mania in Japan has already died down (since that was already like 4 years ago!). And I wonder how the general public will receive this, since majority of the Yong-sama followers are obaa-sans (but then anime is well-received by all ages anyway so I guess this wouldn’t pose much of a problem).

I’m not complaining by the way. I’m just venting out some thoughts. XD And I must confess, I was a huge follower of the Winter Sonata series back when I first watched it in 2002. At that time I recorded every episode with our trusty VHS player, and mulled over the joys and sorrows of first love. It was the very first k-drama I’ve seen, and IMO, the most beautiful and purest of all the Endless Love stories. It also threw me, my mom and my aunt into our own Yong-sama craze (especially my aunt who eventually bought all of Bae Yong Jun's series, including those dramas when he was still so young! XD). And I guess it was also the key that started my interest in other Korean entertainment as well. So I'm not really complaining, but just quite surprised. It was an unexpected news for me I guess.

Anyway, I took screenshots of the trailer and the art looks pretty impressive and realistic. And it seems to have a general nice and familiar feel to it, so we’ll just see how it will turn out.




Fuyu no Sonata The Animation -- something to look forward to next year!