Strange strange day...

Today the following happened to us:

1. I picked up my bestfriend at her house so we could watch Transformers 2.
2. We went to Rockwell, parked, excited to watch. No available seats.
3. Boulevard of Broken Dreams... Let's go find something to fill the emptiness / void...
4. "Krikhet? Crickkkeeeet?" What kind of name is that?!
5. Drove to Greenbelt 3, dropped Bea off to buy tickets while I went to find parking. I didn't want to pay wasted parking money so I waited 'til she was sure of a ticket. Made her run to Greenbelt 1 but had no luck.
6. "It's a SIGN!" saw ministop. excited to have sharksfin only to find they ran out, so we had "shrimp's fin??" instead. scared i'd be fined for parking in a no-parking zone.
7. "Should we turn right then right to get to ayala?" "No, we turn left then left". "That's the same thing" "Yeah but...(Bea shoves the juice in my mouth while driving) "That will shut you up"
8. Omy that jeep looks like it's going to roll back. He's not going to make it up this hill....
9. "where we going?" ... aaaah nearly bumped into a taxi
10. Car fogging up, "I don't want that. I can't see..."
11. Let's get Xandra at "Fiesta bar" in Dusit Hotel ... saw the most flexible barrier. guard laughing at us. "Find the puttputt car" my poor old toyota.
12. the entourage beside us in the car. group of am boyz.
13. running the red light!!!!
14. handle bar - where the sound of the bikes make up for their small penises. hahaha Bea's theory
15. the girl who looked like a baklita - vocal about her lack of sex... "case in point" "a gynecollogical wonder"
16. "Hi this is Dina... you look like a naddi..." "Bea, Xandra, Heckle and Jeckle...." LOL My name not worth mentioning...
17. Martina and the guy who "threw" a beer bottle at her back... "Are you ok?" "If I'm bleeding then I'm not... we'll see..." "Don't...don't touch me!"
18. Marco's Pets: A. who couldn't open the door and Mr. Dreads who spoke German
19. Nicolo slurring and grabbing Bea's face "It's like I would never need Botox again" "Schlumpa?"
20. The big pink balloon/ball that floated on the highway like that plastic bag from American Beauty.

EPIC Dream Land.

The trouble with modern education

Time to get intellectual again as the start of classes has officially begun. I stumbled upon the following article written by a famous Filipino singer,member of the APO Hiking Society, Mr. Jim Paredes. I wish I could express myself as well as he does. I totally agree with what he is saying and I hope we all try to keep it in mind.

The trouble with modern education
HUMMING IN MY UNIVERSE By Jim Paredes Updated June 14, 2009 12:00 AM

Illustration by Rey Rivera

Summer has ended and kids are going back to school again (H1N1willing). For many parents, this is a time of anxiety over the never-ending challenges of educating their children. Consider the continuously rising tuition fees, transportation arrangements, the high cost of books, and the other matters that parents worry about when their kids start going to school.

Every parent in the world dreams of their offspring becoming great someday. I remember my early visions of my own kids on a stage accepting a Nobel Prize. Sigh. I’m still waiting. But who knows, they may still surprise me and become accomplished enough to merit that Nobel, or the Magsaysay Award, or any decent accolade at a later age. I just hope I am still around when it happens.

A great many parents dream of being able to send their children to the best schools they can afford and they sacrifice many comforts and set aside their savings, bonuses, salary raises, etc. to be able to do so.

I spent all my school life at the Ateneo de Manila. I was there from the first day of prep till I got out of college in 1973 to the last strains of the graduation song as we marched out of the gym, out of the school into the proud arms of our parents, and into the world.

Like my father and all of my brothers, I am proud to be an Atenean. And it was my fervent wish that every child of mine would get an Ateneo education as well. My two girls earned their college degrees there. But my son moved out after grade school and spent his high school years in Reedley, a relatively new school.

Every year, the alumni of elite schools like Ateneo, La Salle, UP, UST etc. look at the list of the best schools in the world just to see whether their alma mater has made it to the Top 500, and how it ranks vis-à-vis other local schools, especially their closest rivals. Among Ateneans and LaSallites, there is a perennial rivalry going on. These “jousts” extend to almost every aspect of life from academics to sports to the accomplishments of their alumni in terms of heroism, entertainment and other standards of prominence.

How quickly each school claims anyone who brings glory to it, however fleeting. But not so strangely, the alumni rivalry ends abruptly each time graduates of the two schools are involved in political, economic or social scandals. The rivalry descends to a silence when alumni notoriety is involved.

In my more innocent, naïve days, I used to wonder how anyone who went through the rigors, the grace and blessings of a Jesuit education could turn into a “bad” person. During those simple times, I felt that the religious, moral and intellectual training we went through in school was enough to mold anyone into someone who, at the very least, was capable of doing good, or thriving in any field of endeavor he chooses, or perhaps even becoming “great” someday.

I know parents who put all their bets and hopes on the schools that will “raise” their children. They can name all the good role models and heroes that the school has produced but conveniently forget or gloss over the villains, jerks and other low-life characters who got the same education their sons and daughters are seeking.

And here lies my point. In a book I am reading about education, the author, Rev. Matthew Fox, points out that there is a crisis in education that lies deep and threatens the human race. In an indictment of higher education, he points out that, not surprisingly, the top people responsible for the continuing degradation of the environment all have PhDs. And that people who ran Hitler’s Third Reich, the wars in Vietnam and Iraq and who were instrumental in causing so much destruction to human life were all highly educated in the best schools their societies could offer.

He says that, by and large, education has stopped touching people in a way that inspires them, or brings out their idealism and sustains it throughout their lives. Instead, it has given its graduates pure knowledge but without the wisdom of the ages. Thus, they are able to apply what they learn to systematized corruption, destruction and soul-killing work without any tinge of conscience or a sense of ethics that is developed enough to cry out in horror at what they sow.

In place of wisdom, modern education is becoming more and more just knowledge-based, not unlike a collection of facts and data, pretty much like what we put in our computers. The march to modernity has forgotten the collective wisdom, history, poetry, literature, morality and philosophies of the ages and those of our ancestors.

What is missing is the development of our sense of awe. When our thirst for mystery, imagination and historical connection are not fully developed, we have no grounding of any kind. We lose our interconnectedness to things. We begin to think solely in “compartments.” Thus, the moral dimension becomes alien to all other dimensions, just as all other dimensions become alien to each other.

And so it becomes easy, say, for government technocrats to steal since they do not feel any real connection to the people they are supposed to be serving. Take a look at the language of war as another example, where all dimensions of human activity are reduced to techno-speak. Human lives lost are described as “collateral damage,” and torture has become “enhanced interrogation.”

Albert Einstein reminded us that “imagination is superior to knowledge.” By that he meant that more than the technical aspect of what we learn, the driving force that makes us curious, or stimulates our imagination and gives us a sense of awe will make us more humanly complete.

I am more and more convinced that there is a need for “parallel education” that must happen at home and which parents should not default on, no matter how busy they are. Our children’s sense of compassion, conscience, history and morals must be cultivated by those who love them the most.

But more than all these, I am convinced that the sense of mystery and awe, which makes everything sacred and beautiful, is paramount, even more than political correctness, dogmatic faith and morals.

“I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief,” wrote Gerry Spence. We have seen how, throughout history, beliefs can change. But there will always be something to wonder about, and it is this sense of wonder that has made us human beings soar through time.

Repertory Philippines: Fantasticks!

People need to be able to harness their creativity, whether it be for fun or to find unique approaches to problems or situations. Our generation is on a constant technological buzz that sometimes fails to stay grounded in real, old school values. Kids are constantly glued to their television sets and play stations while family time means going to the mall and watching a movie. I'm not against these things cause obviously how can we live without our cellphones and facebooks!?! What I'm trying to say is we need to find more intellectual ways to entertain ourselves whether it be by reading a book or surrounding ourselves in the arts.

Watching plays can be an alternative to going to the movies. In the old days, going to the theatre was a ball-gown event where all the rich and famous were to be seen. These days, Philippine theatre is threatened by the movies which are threatened by piracy which is threatened by government authorities. So in short, the government doesn't provide enough patronage for the arts. Complain later, and promote now.

FANTASTICKS! A Repertory Philippines Production directed by Baby Barredo

July 3 to July 26, 2009
8:00 PM on Fridays & Saturday 3:30 PM on Saturdays & Sundays
Venue
OnStage
2/F Greenbelt 1, Ayala Center, Makati City
Call 8870710 or visit their website at http://repertory-philippines.com
Tickets
Orchestra Center P 600.00 Orchestra Side P 400.00 Balcony P 300.00

Here's their synopsis:
The Fantasticks, the world's longest-running musical, is a captivating and simple romantic comedy about a boy, a girl, two fathers and a wall. The audience uses its imagination to follow El Gallo as he creates a world of moonlight and magic, and then pain and disillusionment, until the boy and girl find their way back to one other.

In a clever reverse of the Romeo and Juliet story, two fathers put up a wall between their houses to ensure that their children fall in love, because they know that children always do what their parents forbid. After the children do fall in love, they discover their fathers' plot and they each go off and experience things in the world. They return to each other and the love they had, having learned from the world, bringing to life a funny and quite touching story of innocence, and of knowledge.

The score, which includes "Try To Remember", "They Were You" and "Soon It's Gonna Rain", is as timeless as the story itself. If a show opens in 1960 and is still running after over 17,162 performances, one can reasonably assume it is a good show in every sense of the words. Musical theater fans trying to remember the kind of September when this beloved Tom Jones–Harvey Schmidt tuner wasn't playing won't be able to think of many. Now a nationwide chestnut, the original Off-Broadway show—based on Edmond Rostand's play Les Romanesques—ran a record-breaking 42 years.

Repertory Philippines’ The Fantasticks stars teenage sensation Julia Abueva as Louisa, and teen heartthrob PJ Valerio as Matt. Completing the cast is a respectable list of theater veterans. Jake Macapagal stars as El Gallo. The Fathers, Bellomy and Hucklebee are played by Dido de la Paz and Jaime del Mundo. Miguel Faustman reprises his role as Henry, the old actor and relative newcomer to the stage but already making waves is Red Concepcion as Mortimer.

Calauit Island

Club Paradise is the closest resort to Calauit Island, a preservation project by former President Marcos. It takes around one hour by boat then visitors board an open caged truck which takes you to the reserve. Most of the animals are set free to roam around so visitors have the chance to get up close and interact with them.

Rudolph gets THE treatment (massage while eating)

The Calamian Deer can be found only in Calauit.

I want one of these! I wonder what my horse would do if she sees one.

Look at this baby giraffe, ain't it a cutie pie?

Porky - pine (spiky rat) ... kinda gross when you think about it...

I found this tiny snake in my bag (Thank God it wasn't poisonous!)

What's that lurking in the water??... Crikey!

cute bear cat

Some of the animals (the deer in particular) are under threat due to hunting by government rebels. I just wish our government or some activists make sure this island is protected and taken care of. It could make a good tourist attraction and animal reserve.

Palawan

Palawan, located at the west of the Philippines, has the most magnificent islands and marine life. The warm waters attract divers from all over the world. It's just a pity that most resorts are priced for foreigners and cannot be afforded by all Filipinos. I have a feeling some aren't even aware of or fail to appreciate how blessed we are.
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We flew Cebu Pacific Airlines and arrived in an hour. From the new airport, we rode the resort jeepney to a dock point where the banka (boat) awaited. At once, we saw the vast plains and rolling hills of Palawan. Most of us being riders could imagine the joy of galloping through the fields of grass. The boat ride was another 45 minutes and it took us through the river surrounded by mangroves.


For our summer vacation, my family chose Club Paradise Resort located in the Calamianes group of islands off the shore of Busuanga. The island itself is called Dimakya and it's across Coron which is at the northern tip of Palawan.

When we arrived on the resort, we were worried the weather would spoil our vacation as light showers blocked the sun out. June is quite a late time to go but for the rest of the trip we were pretty lucky with the weather. Apparently since Palawan is surrounded by mountains and coves fishermen can still go out to sea even if there's a typhoon. Since the winds were quite strong during the time we went, the clouds would pass by quickly and so we had good weather most of the time.
Club Paradise had pretty decent rooms. We stayed beach front so each cottage came with a duyan. For every meal, we had a lot to choose from the buffet. The food wasn't anything great but it kept us full. The service was friendly and the place was well maintained (considering our family last visited 13 years ago).


The highlight of our trip: Seeing the Pawikan (sea turtle)
It's rare to spot them and we saw not only one but two!!!
It was pretty tiring following them cause they were going deeper and the current was pretty strong. I was hassled with my leaking mask but seeing the pawikan made it worth it.

Philippine Fashion Week: Sassa Jimenez

Sassa Jimenez. 22 years old. FIDM graduate and cum laude. The next up and coming couturier of Manila. check out : www.sassajimenez.com.ph

The pictures don't exactly bring justice to her clothes since the details did not fair well with the flash. Upon closer view one could see the variety of fabric used - from sheer fabric, to tool, stretchy material and even feathers. All these updated the classic sophistication of the dresses. Although inspired by the old glamour of burlesque stars like Dita Von Teese, Sassa incorporated her youthfullness in the collection by playing with prints, ruffles and rosettes. You could tell she continues to improve her craft by exhibiting techniques of draping, pleeting, and more. Sassa was able to bring out her design aesthetic but at the same time cater to Manila's society. I can't wait to purchase my very own Sassa J.

Fabulous Friends (and Fans) of Sassa J

Stealing some shots from before and after show (credit: Lia Albano)



Menage A Trois : Zexy Zexy