Fabulous Famy

At a time when most people were still snoring, the Sabitski family herded themselves in two automobiles and made the long drive to Famy Laguna.

I personally had my apprehensions because I hate waking up before the sun rises and I've hated long drives after going to God-awful Matabungkay). In my book, if you wake me up early and force me to go on a long drive, there'd better be something fabulous at the end of such ordeal. And surprisingly enough, there was.

The place was verdant, lush and most of all, quiet. There was a river and the water was just perfect. The food was cheap (longsilog for 25p and fresh buko for 7p!) and there were several huts where you can drag your weary city-infested body for a much needed snooze. Of course, there was a karaoke machine but unlike in previous "vacations" the karaoke machine added to the unique charm of the place. I fancied myself to be in a music video, thinking about my beloved while "One Moment in Time" played in the background.

All in all, it was one for the books and definitely a nice way to cap off the summer.

Top Ten List

I got tagged by April, so here is my Top Ten Faves.

10. Watching a play (preferrably a musical or anything with no political agenda)

9. Driving around with buddies with no particular destination in mind.

8. Waiting in airports en route to some place I haven't visited before.

7. Waking up just to eat breakfast (and check my email :) and then going back to sleep until who knows when.

6. Ben Stiller when he's in his Zoolander mode.

5. Spur of the moment nightcaps with friends.

4. Getting excited over a book (this rarely happens).

3. A flattering pair of pants (one which will minimize and elongate at the same time).
2. Chinese food (specially peking duck) and cold pizza.

1. Letters you can fold and keep in a box for the grandchildren to find.

I'm now tagging Toni, Rachelle and Golda

We're waiting ladies...:)

Ninang Jill

Wouldn't you know it, I got asked to be a godmother again. This will be the second one for the month so I may have to change my last name to Gotti at the rate I'm going.

The lucky kid is Gavin Ulrich Moje. Gavin from the band Bush and Ulrich from Daimos. Cool name eh?

I guess have to start acting like a responsible human being now, seeing that I have become a godmother. I might as well start stocking up on baby gifts before the Christmas rush begins. Oh well, any excuse to go shopping is fine with me :)

Blah

I've officially hit a plateau of some sort. I've never felt this bored and uninspired ever.

Blah humbug.

On a perkier note, my Batanes dream is still going strong and I've started saving up for it. I now have a "never-touch-this-stash-of-cash-unless-you're-on-death's-door" savings plan. So far, I already have around a fourth of the money needed for the plane fare. With enough scrimping and saving (and some promised dole-outs from uber-generous relatives) I may finally go next summer or this October (weather permitting).

And that thought right there was the high point of my week.

Bayo Bad

The Filipino is no stranger to intellectual property right infringements (can you say pirated DVD?). Take a walk through Greenhills or Divisoria and you can have your very own Louis Vuitton bag for an atom of the price of the original (of course it's probably spelled as Luis Viton, but let's not nitpick). And every Jhun, Bhoy and Bhoyet are decked in Von Dutch with Nike baller bracelets. So why the furor over Bayo copying a few designs from a Japanese woman and then passing it off as their own?

Maybe it's because the average consumer (at least I know I do) thinks that copying and plagiarizing is something supposedly done by the little people in order to get back at the big industries or that it really won't make that much of a difference in the long run. I mean I'm sure we all think that buying one DVD from Makati Cinema Square won't really make a dent in Julia Roberts' net income, seeing that she's worth billions and all. Or that buying a Fendi bag in Tutuban is synonymous to putting one over those Italian houses because they've priced everything so ridiculously high that you need a recording contract just to be able to afford a keychain.

It's stupid I know, but it's one way of balancing the scale between the haves and the have-nots.

So when an established company like Bayo rips off designs from an illustrator it not only reeks of arrogance, but moreso of stupidity. I mean come on, they really didn't think they'd get away with it right? Haven't they ever heard of the internet? When one is a big company like Bayo (which ironically espouses creativity, can you believe it?) one should be anal about things like these. Things that could possibly bite you in the behind or slap you with a nasty lawsuit.

The funny thing is that the Bayo fiasco is not the only copyright infringement debacle ongoing today. There's another issue of a local band (Session Road) copying a song from a Brit(?) band. Again, a lawsuit is in the horizon.

What's up with that?!

Suspense

Quick backgrounder:
C06-text troup of UP Law Block C2006
pril-Private International Law (a.k.a. M'am Beth's personal weapon of annihilation)

Msg from C06, kei: Blokm8s, may pril grades na. If d ko kayo text, it means ok kayo (Blockmates, the pril grades are out. If I don't send you an SMS it means you passed)
Sent: 24-May-2005 (17:06:20)

Message from C06, kei: i dnt have ur indiv grades, ha :)i only have the names of those na sumabit... (I don't have your individual grades. I only have a list of the people who didn't pass).
Sent: 24-May-2005 (17:10:57)

Fortunately, I haven't taken Pril yet, so the next few minutes after Kei's SMS were uneventful for me. However, I'm sure that the very same minutes were anxiety-filled and stress-inducing for my blockmates :(

Law school life. All the suspense and cliff-hanger situations you'll ever want without leaving the comfort of your armchair.

Red Tape to Heaven

The way I understand the sacrament of Baptism, it's the manner in which one becomes God's child and one of the prerequisites to entering heaven. I'm sure there's a more theologically sound and Vatican approved description out there but I'm now afraid to find out just what it is exactly.

I was asked to be one of the godmothers to Ate Virgie and Rayger's firstborn and the baptism was held yesterday at the CHURCH OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY at Sun Valley 1. I was asked to be at the church at 8am. So off I went, feeling a bit guilty for being 10 minutes late. However, 30 minutes later, there was nary a sight of mother and child. I then received an SMS from Ate Virgie asking me to go to some chapel within the church grounds. Upon arriving there, I was surprised to find a woman robotically reading from a folder, something about the significance of the water, oil and other whathaveyous used in baptizing the baby. But it didn't stop there, she went on and on about other Catholic things for the next hour. By this time, I had nodded off and her voice became nothing more than a loud, annoying drone in the background.

There was then the mandatory mass. Finally, the ceremony began, or so I thought.

This "kuya somebody" then began arranging the people and once everybody was seated, began to berate us from the pulpit. "What does 8:30 mean? When the seminar started, only 4 people were there and they were the only ones listed. Didn't the letter say that there will be a seminar at 8:30? Then a mass at 9:30? Then the baptism at 10:30? And why didn't some of you go to mass? I went around the church after the seminar and I saw some families in the garden, some were in the gazebo. What kind of godparents will you be if you can't even follow the time and go to church? Of the 9 children to be baptized today, only 2 of the parents were married in church. The rest of the parents were married civilly. Civil marriage. What kind of a union is that? What kind of an example will you set? Parents, have you paid the baptism dues? Godparents, you're required to donate to the parish. Were you even paying attention to the seminar? What if I asked you now what the seminar was about? Did you pay attention to the mass? What if I asked you now what the presiding priest's name was?" etc. etc. etc. on and on and on.

Then the priest came. Read something about being baptized in flesh and water, but, his homily centered more on the importance of the baptism fees. "There are some Catholics who tend to complain too much, they say the church has commercialized the sacraments blah-blah-blah, but these fees do not go to the parish, they go to the diocese for stuff. You know, stuff." (then makes a vague gesture with his hand). White envelopes were eventually handed out to everyone in the church.

Finally, the baptism rites started in the most orderly manner ever. The Germans would have been proud.

And that's how my Sunday morning went.

P.S.
FYI the baptism fees in the CHURCH OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY in Sun Valley are as follows: 150p/couple plus a mandatory "donation" from the godparents

What annoyed me even more was that my brother and sister in law also went to a baptism yesterday and there was no seminar, no morally superior kuyas and no white envelopes passed. They said it was a very intimate and solemn affair and that it took no more than 30 minutes.

Announcement

Take note people, as of today I'm giving up my penchant for boyish boys and instead am transferring my affections to manly men. So goodbye Archie Alemania and hello Il Divo!

However, I'm still not certain who exactly is THE ONE among the four of them, so at present I'm claiming each and every one of them as my boyfriend.

I crush and heart them, yes I do :)

Toxic day. Toxic week.

Annoying patients who test my patience.

Know it all doctors who know shit.

There better be a silver lining to this dark cloud of misery. Or else.

Not even this chocolate muffin I'm currently eating is alleviating my over-acting state.

However, the thought of tonight's dinner at Las Paellas for the folks' wedding anniversary is slowly perking up my somber mood.

I'm so easy.

A Star is Born

Wow! Two posts in one day! This has never happened before! This must be something truly special then!

Just mosey on here and know what the hell I'm yapping about.

Enjoy!

Reunion

I've been stuck in the south for the entire summer, so when a get-together of some sort with my law school blockmates was planned along Zapote road (which is practically a hop and a skip away from my house), I immediately scampered to meet up with my favorite students. Of course, the setting was hardly ideal seeing that it was the wake of Juno's dad. Isn't it weird how a wake always inevitably turns out to be a pseudo-reunion?

So the gang was there, chatting and catching up with each other's lives. Woowee was ribbing Maha about her new love ("No blood no foul!"); the IHR interns exchanged notes and stories; the OLA interns talked about such alien things as pleadings and pre-trial conferences; the summer interns talked about the joy of free food and being everyone's gofer; Khay made the momentous announcement that her brother reset her phone so the top spot in Bejewelled was now up for grabs (much to Joan and Toni's delight); while Bobbie and Rich turned out in their office attires looking and smelling like the quintessential Makati girls (aircon and airfreshener).

I was pleasantly surprised to see a former HS batchmate during the wake, Mina Villanueva. I always knew that I was out of touch with my HS batchmates but I didn't realize the full extent until last night. I was amazed to find out that two batchmates got married in the US because back in HS I didn't even know that they had a thing for each other or an inkling that they'd have a thing for each other. So if through some bizaare coincidence they happen to read this, congratulations Mark Flores and Myra Aliwalas-Flores!

Last night also brought with it some staggering and disgusting news. Which brings me to ask: Where do you draw the line between a dirty old man and his seemingly harmless fantasies and actual libel/slander? At first I thought it was funny how he made up one story after another, I just chalked it up to dementia brought about by old age and a still pumping libido unfortunatly saddled with a fastly deteriorating body. However, funny eventually became repulsive and alarming, specially when I read his text messages and heard about his efforts to sow discord among friends. So I now have another question for everyone: What would be the best way to kill someone without getting caught?

If you're still with me and you have an idea of what I'm talking about, let me just say that there is no video of any sort lurking around. Sorry to disappoint you and sorry to disappoint him.

Just because I miss them so much, and I know that they'd be tickled pink to see their faces online, here are some pictures of my blockmates from our last day in LocGov class. I would have posted pictures from last night's wake, but I hardly think that that was the proper venue to go picture-taking and besides, I forgot to bring a camera :)

The Kingdom of Heaven

After watching "Kingdom of Heaven" I kept on thinking of whether or not Balian's refusal to accept King Baldwin's offer of leading the army after Guy is executed, was the right choice to make. As the king, Balian would have brought to fruition King Baldwin's ultimate dream of a society of tolerance. Jerusalem would have been an open city of some sort, welcoming both Moslems and Catholics, and the movie would not have stretched to nearly 3 hours, but that's beside the point.

I then began thinking of the difference between the "right decision" versus the "correct decision". It seems to me as if the right decision is always black and white. Either it's wrong or it's right. No gray areas about it. While the correct decision takes into account the millieu of the event, the prevailing circumstances, the possible repercussions etc. It does not isolate the event in some ivory tower to be judged solely by its lonesome self.

So while refusing the kingship may have been the right choice, given Balian's code of knighthood and his seeming quest to become the perfect knight, it was hardly the correct choice IMHO, seeing the carnage, destruction and loss of horseflesh that followed.

It's sad, but the reality is that the code of knighthood was created when the world was simpler and the people less crafty and self-serving. But as the movie showed, that world ceased to exist almost immediately after the promulgation of the code. A man should aspire to be a knight, but must also act with the knowledge that not all men aspire to be one.

Forgive me but I seem to be obsessed with that particular scene with King Baldwin, Tiberius and Balian (a.k.a. The Indecent Proposal Scene). What if they did not present the facts like they did? If the statement of facts had been Guy-is-treacherous-hence-he-must-die-and-you're-the-princess'-
new-boytoy-so-would-you-like-to-be-the-king? instead of We-kill-Guy-so-you-can-marry-princess-and-become-the-king, I think Balian would have agreed (of course, King Baldwin and Tiberius should not harp on the princess' boytoy bit, seeing that it may be contrary to the knightly ideal) and the carnage would have been averted and the horses saved.

All in all, this movie piqued my interest on the Crusades but there were moments when I half-expected Orlando Bloom's hair to suddenly turn all blonde and rebonded while his ears become suspiciously pointed.

TAR

The prevailing prayer among TAR fanatics seemed to be "Please God, anyone but Rob and Amber". And wouldn't you know it, Joyce and Uchenna won! Rob and Amber lost! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! As my friend said: There is some justice in the world.

Although I found it to be too much of a Hallmark ending, what with the finish line just a peep away and yet Uchenna insisted on paying the taxi driver ("Because it was the right thing to do") instead of dashing inside to the final pit stop. If that had been me, I would have asked the taxi driver to stay (I mean I'm sure he wouldn't go anywhere without being paid), quickly run inside to finish the race and THEN borrow some cash to pay for my cab fare. Is there a rule against that? Do the bylaws and constitution of TAR state that taxi/bus/pedicab/tuktuk drivers have to be paid right away or something along those lines?

Anyway, it really was an exciting race. And Rob and Amber lost. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Name Game

Baby Boy Garcia was born two days ago. His mom is my mom's midwife, but more that that, she's also my friend. For some bizaare reason, she gave me the honor of naming her first born son and I chose to name him Paolo. I've always liked the name Paolo, it seems so distinct (even if I'm sure there are a million other Paolos in the Philippines alone). And of course, I have other ulterior motives :)

So anyway, I was deadset on naming the baby Paolo when my sister butted in about knowing a Paolo in school who was a certified butthead and it wouldn't bode well to name a baby after a certified butthead now would it? She then suggested naming the baby Bernard Jericho instead, as she was leafing through a showbiz magazine at that very moment (three guesses on what she was looking at :). However, I was adamant about naming him Paolo and after a few minutes of disagreeing and putting down each other's choices for a name, we decided on a compromise and agreed to name him Bernard Paolo.

Fortunately, Ate Virgie went with our decision. Hence, Baby Boy Garcia will soon be christened as Bernard Paolo Rivera Garcia. Definitely a muy tisoy name. This little bundle has a lot to live up to, with a monicker like that.

On a personal note, I've long decided to name my future daughter Dagny after Ayn Rand's character in Atlas Shrugged although I'm still not so sure about my future son's name because I'm partial to last names which can also double as first names (Romero, Javier, Miranda etc). Sure, it will be confusing but I like to keep people on their toes :)

Alrighty, enough merrymaking for the day. The weather is supposed to reach 42 degrees today. Hope everyone manages to keep their cool!

Mwah!

Matabungkay

Bitching is so last season. So let me just say this about Matabungkay Beach, I'm sure a decade ago it might have been worth the long drive, but at present, unless they start handing out gold bars at the entrance, I'm never ever setting foot at it's crowded, noisy and vendor-infested shores.

At least someone had fun. Kids are so cute, just put them anywhere near the water and they're bound to be amused one way or another. Obviously, my nephew's amusement came from throwing sand at his Tita Jill/yaya-for-the-day.





The ultimate killjoy picture. Rather than bringing a swimsuit, I brought an umbrella. Wheeee. I was actually looking after my nephew here. To stave off boredom, I volunteered to look after Mick while he swam. Imagine that, me volunteering for anything. It must have been the heat.





Krissy, Char and I spent most of the day indoors. If you had been there, you would have done the same thing too. Trust you me.


P.S.

This pic is from last weekend's retreat. It was taken in the dormitory.

It might not be obvious, but we were trying for the "haughty-model" look here, although some people just can't seem to follow instructions...



(L-R) First row: Ryna, Randy, Jill, Glenn
Second row: Tita Marge, Colleen, Alvin, John

Bah Humbug!

What is it about these past few days? I've been irritable, sickly, speckly, sweaty etc etc. Which leads me to the conclusion that I am not a summer person.

Summer's all good when you're in some upscale resort with cutie cabana boys at your beck and call, but when you're in the middle of a heatwave, inside an office with a leaking airconditioner, then summer becomes a detestable beast.

It's strange how I've come to detest summer considering that I was the quintessential summer baby (I was even born during the summer). We'd spend all day along the shore and swimming in the sea, catching both sunrise and sunset, only going back because of lola's persistent threats of bashing us with her trustworthy tsinelas.

But now, summer is marked with the nervous wait to see if I managed to escape last semester's bloodbath unscathed. And the wait continues and is made even more arduous because of this insufferable heat. So join me, while I pick at the peeling skin on my shoulder, in saying "Bah humbug!" to summer.

P.S.
Tomorrow we leave for Matabungkay for the annual village outing, I normally wouldn't think of going because none of my friends are going, but I heard that Tito Dann (the resident gourmet) is preparing lunch so that's always a good excuse to go on a long drive :)

P.P.S.
I'm not into porn but I totally understand that some people are into it. Some like to watch, others like to read while some are even into internet porn. I really don't care. But I begin caring when it's more than obvious that the last person who used this particular laptop (the very one I'm typing this post on) surfed for porn last night and by some error or whatever, invited a whole slew of trojans (not the condoms) and spyware into the laptop's system!

It's very distracting when Jenna Jameson in her full glory suddenly appears while one is busy ranting about summer. And no, I'm not interested in seeing ebony ladies getting it on, thankyouverymuch.

Any form of help from any programmer/techie/computer-literate person would be greatly appreciated.

Sick in the City

I have been in no mood for anything the past couple of days. Blame it on the bug I caught last Sunday which left me blowing my nose til kingdom come and with the sorest of sore throat. However, the fans need not be concerned because the Jill is doing much better now. Two days ago, we were expelling sticky yellow mucous as if we were made of nothing but sticky yellow mucous, at present our nose merely overflows with white runny secretions. Definitely an improvement from the sticky yellow mucous. Did I just ruin your breakfast/lunch/dinner? Did I? :)

In spite of my current not so stellar physical condition, I still managed to make a trip to the grocery and then another trip at my favorite second hand store in Ruins. The former was to replenish on an essential, Pantene hair conditioner, while the latter was just to spread my virus and it's accompanying misery around. I don't know if I was successful with the latter but there's now a bottle of the best conditioner ever on top of my bathroom sink. So you do the math.

If you made it this far, I feel sorry for you. The incoherence is killing me. Must be the effect of overdosing on cough medicine. I swear, I really thought that it said "Adults: 2 Tablespoons", so I steeled myself and dutifully filled up two tablespoons of the vile stuff. The next morning, after a very restful sleep, the label now said "Adults: 2 Teaspoons". Somebody did a switcheroo in the middle of the night!

The only good thing about being sick is that I don't have to report at the clinic for the second day in a row. That means I'll get to watch American Idol at 3 or 4pm! Wheeeee! Die Scott Savol!

These are the ramblings of a very sick woman. So please take no offense at them. Die Scott Savol!

:)

How can someone be so wrong for you yet so right at the same time?

How can two people seem so different yet still be ridiculously similar?

Why am I going through this whole overplayed thing again?

Why am I such a wuss?

Don't answer that.

Time Out

I just came from an overnight retreat at the St. Scholastica Retreat House in Tagaytay. The schedule basically went like this:

7:00-8:00 AM Breakfast
10:00-10:30 AM Snacks
12:00-1:00 PM Lunch
3:30-4:00 PM Merienda
7:00-8:00 PM Dinner

And when we weren't eating, the priest reminded us of just how much God loved us; how singing for masses was equivalent to praying twice (twice the blessings); and that we were fabulous, just the way we were. Alrighty, tell me something I don't already know :)

Only eight from my choir made it to the joint retreat but it was probably just as well, because it made for a more intimate event and it made it less of an outing (as what usually happens when the whole group gets together) and more of a solemn event. But still, that did not stop the rum coke shots in the barracks/dormitory in the middle of the night. As the old, old saying goes: When in Tagaytay, do shots and not just of the picture kind.

Amen.

P.S.
One activity involved taping a sheet of paper on your back and then going around the room to write the good qualities of other people on the papers on their backs (I can't explain it well, still woozy from the rum coke, but you get the idea). I didn't know around two-thirds of the people there so I mostly expected general comments on my paper. As expected, I got "looks smart", "always smiling", "friendly" and other general comments along the same vein. But one comment in particular floored me, it was "smells good". Wow! At least somebody notices that I take a shower 2x a day :)

And that, aside from the food, is what I'll most remember about this retreat.