He Missed Some Notes

I took note of Jzan.

If you remember the last time, he was with the golden ladies who danced "Single Ladies."

At the elimination, the judges asked Jzan if he would be given a choice. They were asking Jzan if he could give way to the old ladies to the next level. Without second thoughts, Jzan said, "No." He wouldn't.

But, of course, it was just a matter of question. They both got in.

That's why I remembered. I was also in the same situation many years ago. I wasn't as young as Jzan, but still young. The stage where we are aggressive and wanted to take any road to success. I was asked by someone to give up something for him because he was at the final years of his life and if I give in, his final years would be kinda secured. It was a tough decision and I remember my mom placing the decision on my hands. I gave in. And I never regretted having to give up something that might have change a part of my life. I might not have become as rich if I would have not given up, but certainly, everything was and is happy.

Tonight, Jzan sang again. If you watched the program, you know what happened.

He missed some notes.

As one of the judges said, it now depends on the voters if they will give you a chance.

If I will vote (and I never have in any of these talent searches), I'd rather go for someone else who has pure talent than him.

I Miss Walking

I attended aerobics class just once last week.

Now, I did once, too, so far... last Monday.

I think I was better than last week. Last week, I was trying to observe myself for something that might come... like a pain on my incision. But there was none, at least during the exercise. There was something later - on my tummy, that is, but I took it that my body is just trying to adjust on the new task. To think that I didn't exert much effort in doing the moves.

Last Monday was better because I exerted more effort on the moves. I have always enjoyed the tae-bo segment and I did my punches with a little more push than last week's. Although I can still do a little harder, I save it for later. I am also very comfortable with the step aerobics segment, although I haven't used the steps ever since. I just enjoyed the move. I still haven't added those jumps, but I can do it with some arm movements for some moves. Maybe later I can complete the jumps and those with arm movements. But I am not aiming to use the steps.

I miss walking though. The serenity of the sunrise, the peace and quiet of the fields...

A Rare Occasion

My dad's day started early. His friend is scheduled for cataract extraction today and he wants my dad's company. It is no problem for my dad since he is, incidentally, due for his eye check-up today, too.

It's his birthday, too, but we didn't have any plans. We are just set to cook spaghetti for long life, as with every Filipino's tradition.

From the hospital, he called. He was excited to tell us that the check-up was good and that he is just to finish the eye drops and he can go ahead and have his eye glasses fitted. He can now also do those things that were not allowed after the procedure, and I am sure that he is very excited to go back to swimming - his one and only sport. He was supposed to just leave his friend accompanied by his son-in-law but they didn't want him to leave before them, so, he said that he will wait until his friend was done. He came home stuffed with lunch treat from his friend.

It was after lunch time when we got a text message from one of our two nephews that we took care of when they were kids. He asked if we didn't have any plans and he invited us to dine out when we said we didn't have any.

We ate at Max's and it was a good dinner. When we finally parted ways, I sent him a text message: Thank you for the wonderful dinner. You just don't know what it means to us!

He answered: Wala po 'yon, basta kayo, nanginginig pa!

I laughed as I read the message aloud for my dad to hear. Then after a while, I replied: Ang sarap pala ng feeling pag libre ng apo/pamangkin.

I know you know how it feels. And if you're still young, you'll know by the time you get old.

P.S.
I brought a camera but weren't able to take pictures. Maybe we all were too excited to talk that we totally forgot about it.

Drops

It rained!

It started slow, which is a good sign. I've always thought that a slow start for a rain would last for a while. It was right most of the time, but not today. It leveled up after a while, then stopped. But good enough to water the plants and draw some water in front of our house. Just when I thought about taking a picture, the sun seems to hurry up to end the rain's show.

I am always excited when it rains. In fact, I am more excited now since I have been home from Dubai. Back in Dubai, I always longed for a rain that I told my friend about it and she kinda laughed. She made me feel like it was a wishful thinking, although in my first few months there, I have experienced how it was like when it rains and the weather is cold, winter, in fact. But on the first drop of rain, she remembered to send me an SMS to tell me it was raining. It was night and I can't forget oh how I wanted to go out and get myself wet. What I did was just open the door and waited for the mist to damp my face and closed the door back.

But I think it was a favor for me that my recovery period from the operation is during summer. I have all the time for walking which as you know is good to avoid adhesions. I think I don't have any adhesions at all because I can't feel any. Now that it's already been six months, I attended my first aerobic session last Monday.

We are now looking for more rains as the summer season finishes. I hope for rain but not too much, for, as we all know, it brought us too much pain last year.

Where is that Extra Mile?

TV commercials have always been a part of my life.

I actually missed it when I was out of the country and worked somewhere else. My room mates there was surprised when I said that how I wished TFC have those. I like watching them because it shows our culture, what is 'in' in our society and what's not 'in' anymore. They even make my laugh.

About two or (maybe) three days ago, an ad caught my attention. There is a new teleserye about to start and they're showing scenes from it.

A particular scene caught my eye. The scene were the child was fighting for her life. It was barely a five-second shot/scene since it's just a preview. But I was really exasperated. The medical person was doing CPR on the child and he's using the adult CPR procedure. What the f**k?!?! I am not a medical person but I took up caregiving that's why I know. And it's so sad that I saw a wrong procedure. There are three different procedures when doing the CPR. A procedure for infant, a child and an adult and what they showed on that scene was totally wrong. Totally a bad example.

That's why I have always thought that these teleseryes are just making people stupid, believing something could happen when actually they won't, like believing that fleeing to the U.S. when you have a fucked up life here is just as easy as getting a ticket for a movie. In this CPR scene, people who know might say that we're not supposed to do CPR if we are not trained. This I know. But in life and death situations and help is like a mountain away (but can be reached by tv networks' signal), everything is worth the try. But if this scene were to be tried on a dying child, it is totally wrong.

My whole point is this. The Philippine Red Cross is just a call away, even a tweet away, these days. What harm could it do to make that one simple call? These volunteers would be happy to help in any way they can. And we don't eve have to show the precise details of the procedure... just that point that on child CPR, only one hand is used. That's it. You can call the Phil Red Cross now and ask this.

No, I am not trying to brag about what I know. I am just so concerned about what they are showing on television, especially on teleseryes. It's not enough that we show something. They should walk that extra mile to also educate their viewing public.

Influence and Change

A Night of Sinigang

Now there are claims about massive vote-buying. And this is not an isolated case. The news have been reporting about it everyday. And I heard that our town, this happened, too.

Again, good bloggers and writers are writing about it everywhere. So, I leave it up to them to send their messages to these politicians that are allegedly guilty of this act.

I, again, will talk to Juan. Because I believe that every person will have to be the change he's looking for, as Mother Teresa said. This is also why I started this blog. Because I believe that Filipinos are one of the best people in the world. We only have to get our acts together for a better Philippines.

Anyway, this might be the wrong channel to say what I wanted to say to Juan. Because the Juan I am trying to talk to this time barely knows how to read. He starts and ends his day trying to find money to feed him and his family, even just for today. So, how can he even access the internet?

This Juan chose to sell his vote for about Php 300. Just enough to buy him and his family one meal. I imagine that he's going to buy a kilo of pork and vegetables for sinigang, which is one of the most delicious Filipino dishes we have.

He chose a night of sinigang over six years of what? You know the answer.

Yeah, yeah. You can always say get the money and don't vote for him. But there are claims that these people get their fingers dotted with indelible ink after getting the money. So, how else can he vote? Again, I leave this charge to those who are best in this field.

Vote-buying has been and will always be there.

But not if there's someone who's not selling his vote. It's like the worldwide campaign they have for the products that come from sharks.

No one will shop for Juan's vote if Juan isn't selling.

Photo of the Week: May 2-8, 2010

Been there, done that...

The Road to Jovit's 'Pyramid'

Jovit.

I know many of you will not like what I will say, but that's okay.

Yes, he was amazing; I got goosebumps when I first heard him sing. Probably, half of the people who was seeing him the same time I did, got it, too. But the second time around, I couldn't help but realize. Just like Charice, these are two great Pinoy talents. They wow almost everyone. But, honestly, I wasn't really 100% wow'd by Charice when I first saw her sing. Yeah, Oprah and all were awed. But as for me, and probably a few people, I don't see it that way. I thought Charice was just copying somebody else's talent. And this is exactly how I felt with Jovit. He was just trying to copy someone else's voice. And they happened to be both very good at it. So, this is 2 talents, copying and singing good.

In voting, I would vote for that Ezra band for the uniqueness of their style. And Mr Ruther, too, who is a ventriloquist. Well, he's not yet as good as Jeff Dunham - who's my favorite - but I think he's getting there. The Ezra band's style is very unique. The vocalist has a very unique singing voice and the way they change the beat or melody of the song is pure talent, too. They sing songs of other people but they're not trying to sing it 'their' way. They are singing it on their own style.

Jovit will make it far, like Charice. I never liked Charice's style (take note, I said her style, because I like her that she has a talent for singing), but when she finally sang 'Pyramid,' I was awed. She finally has her own style. And I like her in a totally different way.

If Jovit wouldn't make it to the top of Pilipinas Got Talent, I hope there's someone who will see his talent and 'package' him in a totally different way. Sayang ang talent if he will only keep copying other styles. Pero kungsabagay, it took Charice how many years to find 'Pyramid.'

Roller Coaster Update

It's been six months since I went home from Dubai, five months since my operation, and four months after my 'in-between days.' [The time that I call 'in-between days' is the time between my biopsy result and my CT scan result.]

After my 'in-between days,' I have known a lot of people who were fighting the battle for months already. One of them was the friend who just passed away last week, the other is my friend's aunt and another one is my second cousin's husband.

I already wrote about my friend's passing last week here.

Over the weekend, I got updates from the other two.

My friend's aunt was rushed to the hospital yesterday due to difficulty in breathing. We have yet to find out what happens next.

My second cousin's husband, on the other hand, was told to stopped his chemotherapy and was being injected morphine almost thrice a day. He was at the hospital some time last week to extract fluid from his lungs.

I won't go to the details anymore.

I am lucky enough to have been cleared when I had my CT scan last December. But as per what my oncologist said, my cells are aggressive and there is no guarantee that they wouldn't be back even after chemotherapy, a procedure I didn't choose to undergo.

I don't know if these things make me more scared or more prepared for whatever might happen in due time and if ever they will happen at all.