oh wow, it's been quite a while since i last sat down and just dorked. heh. felt good. maybe a change in layout is due around here, in the first place (it has been raining like crazy, and it's hardly summer anymore, yeah?). but in the meantime, i added december 2006 and january 2007 in the old blog backup and right now, i'm looking at coding a pretty prolific year. \o/
on other news, the girlfriend's lj is looking pretty ~sweet today. YEAH.
still, on other news: i am digging anberlin's new surrender album. god i thought i've moved on from this kind of music, but. heh. don't judge me.
8.17.2009
8.01.2009
Corazon Aquino, 76.
I hope that history will judge me as favorably as our people still regard me, because, as God is my witness, I honestly did the best I could. No more can be asked of any man.
On June 30, 1992, the traditional ceremony of political succession will unfold at the Luneta. The last time it was done that way was in 1965. I shall be there with you to proudly witness the event. This is the glory of democracy, that its most solemn moment should be the peaceful transfer of power.
Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat at paalam.
-Corazon Aquino, in her last State of the Nation Address, July 22, 1991.
photo from CoryAquino.ph
*
I have no words for this grief.
I woke this morning around half past seven to several messages containing the same news: Former president Corazon Aquino, icon of democracy and People Power, is dead. She was 76.
Upon getting the news, I went to work with my coffee in tow to get further ahead with captions. On Thursday, a few of my co-workers headed to Tarlac to visit the Aquino Museum to get a few photographs of Mrs Aquino. We agreed to finish captioning them ASAP. This was last night.
By 3:18 AM this morning, she was dead.
The fact is, we saw this coming. It was not sudden in any way; it was a year-long battle with colon cancer, after all. A few days ago we were even shaken by false news that the much beloved former president was dead. And honestly, I don't think any Filipino has been prayed for this hard ever.
But then, perhaps nothing could have really prepared us for this eventuality.
A few hours ago, I was watching the live sky patrol of Cory's hearse being transported from Heritage to La Salle Green Hills, where the public could view her until 4 a.m. tomorrow. Her hearse traversed Edsa slowly, as funeral hearses are wont to, and surprisingly, all the other vehicles gave way, which is just the rarest thing, and I think it's rather safe to assume the people driving behind Cory's hearse weren't grumbling but were rather proud to have been part of some informal entourage.
It just goes to show, what the Inquirer said in its editorial on Cory ("Eternal Flame" via inquirer.net) is true: "Unity is a rare thing in our country; we have it now; and adding to the feelings of grief is the wistful realization that it took the passing of Cory to reunite a divided nation."
President Aquino's passing marks the passing of an era -- if not the starkest mark of it. I will remember this as one of those distinct moments when I felt I aged significantly. I was born a year after her husband Ninoy Aquino was assassinated on that tarmac; in other words, right in the middle of an angry nation slowly inching toward a breaking point. God only knows what would have happened, had this country not seen a woman of Cory Aquino's strength and courage, or People Power altogether.
As a person working in the media industry, I feel like I owe Mrs Aquino for this freedom of expression that the Philippine press is currently enjoying. I have no words for the weight of this feeling -- of responsibility, of gratitude -- and to use a phrase I've seen somewhere, we can only use such small words for feelings so enormous.
There was an interview on ANC a while ago, where the interviewee says something about how we as Filipinos have been looking at symbols too long, and that maybe her death wants to tell us, Maybe it is time to look inside ourselves.
I think it's a challenge, and I think it is time to take it.
I think it's going to be a very interesting 2010 Elections.
On June 30, 1992, the traditional ceremony of political succession will unfold at the Luneta. The last time it was done that way was in 1965. I shall be there with you to proudly witness the event. This is the glory of democracy, that its most solemn moment should be the peaceful transfer of power.
Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat at paalam.
-Corazon Aquino, in her last State of the Nation Address, July 22, 1991.
photo from CoryAquino.ph
*
I have no words for this grief.
I woke this morning around half past seven to several messages containing the same news: Former president Corazon Aquino, icon of democracy and People Power, is dead. She was 76.
Upon getting the news, I went to work with my coffee in tow to get further ahead with captions. On Thursday, a few of my co-workers headed to Tarlac to visit the Aquino Museum to get a few photographs of Mrs Aquino. We agreed to finish captioning them ASAP. This was last night.
By 3:18 AM this morning, she was dead.
The fact is, we saw this coming. It was not sudden in any way; it was a year-long battle with colon cancer, after all. A few days ago we were even shaken by false news that the much beloved former president was dead. And honestly, I don't think any Filipino has been prayed for this hard ever.
But then, perhaps nothing could have really prepared us for this eventuality.
A few hours ago, I was watching the live sky patrol of Cory's hearse being transported from Heritage to La Salle Green Hills, where the public could view her until 4 a.m. tomorrow. Her hearse traversed Edsa slowly, as funeral hearses are wont to, and surprisingly, all the other vehicles gave way, which is just the rarest thing, and I think it's rather safe to assume the people driving behind Cory's hearse weren't grumbling but were rather proud to have been part of some informal entourage.
It just goes to show, what the Inquirer said in its editorial on Cory ("Eternal Flame" via inquirer.net) is true: "Unity is a rare thing in our country; we have it now; and adding to the feelings of grief is the wistful realization that it took the passing of Cory to reunite a divided nation."
President Aquino's passing marks the passing of an era -- if not the starkest mark of it. I will remember this as one of those distinct moments when I felt I aged significantly. I was born a year after her husband Ninoy Aquino was assassinated on that tarmac; in other words, right in the middle of an angry nation slowly inching toward a breaking point. God only knows what would have happened, had this country not seen a woman of Cory Aquino's strength and courage, or People Power altogether.
As a person working in the media industry, I feel like I owe Mrs Aquino for this freedom of expression that the Philippine press is currently enjoying. I have no words for the weight of this feeling -- of responsibility, of gratitude -- and to use a phrase I've seen somewhere, we can only use such small words for feelings so enormous.
There was an interview on ANC a while ago, where the interviewee says something about how we as Filipinos have been looking at symbols too long, and that maybe her death wants to tell us, Maybe it is time to look inside ourselves.
I think it's a challenge, and I think it is time to take it.
I think it's going to be a very interesting 2010 Elections.
7.09.2009
whew july?
+ i don't know where june went, honestly. *shrugs*
+ though judging from my compiled twitter updates over at lj (hehehe) i think the following sums up what i think ate up most of last month:
anyway, my lj was actually quite helpful. as long as i kept my twitter compilations ~private lol to keep from spamming other people's f-lists. hehe. but all in all, having written nothing notwithstanding (actually this is not true; i've written quite A LOT in june, it's just, ~irrelevant.) -- june seemed like quite a good month.
+ note to say: GOD I LOVE PASSION PIT. and BON IVER. and this NEW ROOM -- well, of course, i'd love anywhere so long as i go with you. ♥
+ though judging from my compiled twitter updates over at lj (hehehe) i think the following sums up what i think ate up most of last month:
- adobe cs3 and GIFPARTIES involving the children of skins. to wit:
eye!sx ftw!
- my sister giving up the apartment i've kept since summer 2004. the end of an era.
- aH1N1
- rilke's letters to a young poet.
- rain.
- the prescott twins (of course)
- pagasa getting it all wrong. all the time.
- my brother moving into pisay dorm and HIGH SCHOOL. us having to haul encyclopedia sets into his room.
- LIPGLOSS ♥
- third eye blind
- andrea's new hair ♥
- BLOCK REUNION!
- lily loveless on twitter (hihi)
- father's day
- old planners
- michael jackson, RIP
- saguijo
- annual midyear sickness FTW
- that gossip girl photoshoot. lord.
anyway, my lj was actually quite helpful. as long as i kept my twitter compilations ~private lol to keep from spamming other people's f-lists. hehe. but all in all, having written nothing notwithstanding (actually this is not true; i've written quite A LOT in june, it's just, ~irrelevant.) -- june seemed like quite a good month.
+ note to say: GOD I LOVE PASSION PIT. and BON IVER. and this NEW ROOM -- well, of course, i'd love anywhere so long as i go with you. ♥
5.27.2009
wtf wednesday presents
woke this morning to news that the california supreme court has upheld proposition 8 in a much-awaited vote tuesday, a move that successfully reinstates the gay marriage ban in the state.
apparently, the court says, the people have the final say on the matter, and until these californians change their minds about proposition 8, the ban stays - or at least, until the time they decide to change their constitution AGAIN. fortunately, the court upheld the marriages that occurred when it was still legal in california - that's 18,000 couples, and well, at least that's a relief. but still.
obviously, i'm not too happy about this AT ALL. come on, california, i thought you were on OUR side. and come on, i thought your country has already elected a black president, aren't you supposed to be over this already?
*eyeroll*
oh. wait.
better? (god, naomi has the best eyeroll ever, i tell you)
and it's not only naomi who doesn't like it, btw:
yup, i think blair is so pissed she's going around throwing her bag, of all things.
ps. on the bright side, i'm loving how my favorite buffy girls eliza dushku @ElizaPatricia and amber benson @amberbenson are totally rallying against prop8 on twitter (along with another favorite, kat dennings @officialkat). seriously girls, my heart swells.
apparently, the court says, the people have the final say on the matter, and until these californians change their minds about proposition 8, the ban stays - or at least, until the time they decide to change their constitution AGAIN. fortunately, the court upheld the marriages that occurred when it was still legal in california - that's 18,000 couples, and well, at least that's a relief. but still.
obviously, i'm not too happy about this AT ALL. come on, california, i thought you were on OUR side. and come on, i thought your country has already elected a black president, aren't you supposed to be over this already?
*eyeroll*
oh. wait.
better? (god, naomi has the best eyeroll ever, i tell you)
and it's not only naomi who doesn't like it, btw:
yup, i think blair is so pissed she's going around throwing her bag, of all things.
ps. on the bright side, i'm loving how my favorite buffy girls eliza dushku @ElizaPatricia and amber benson @amberbenson are totally rallying against prop8 on twitter (along with another favorite, kat dennings @officialkat). seriously girls, my heart swells.
5.12.2009
ilioilo weekend recap
that was perhaps one of my longer weekends with the parentals and the siblings. by the grace of my boss's leave-granting powers (hehe) i found myself with four straight days off from work, which began on friday and ended yesterday. and yes, were those four jampacked days or what.
destination: iloilo
we left manila onboard a philippine airlines (PAL) flight that left around 4:30 on friday and arrived around an hour later in iloilo's new airport.
i've never really been to iloilo via plane in recent memory, much less ride planes and be in airports that often; in fact, the last time i was in iloilo was four years ago and we took the pick-up truck all the way from cavite to guimaras via the nautical highway (read: ro-ro). and i think that was the year i also last used an airport haha (in a flight to cebu and from tacloban). go figure, that was the year i also graduated, and let's just say it was one of those blissful (unemployed) in-betweens. hahaha.
so imagine my glee to find the airport relatively not congested and those trolleys really nifty. haha. and also, a(h1n1) what? i expected more people to don masks, and yet there were none. i also looked for a thermal scanner btw... also none. but i guess depende sa airport? anyway i think that was the centennial airport. i was lugging along my all-purpose backpack that contained this laptop and it was effin heavy, btw.
note: the airport has free wifi for 30 minutes. other than that, you have to load something. and oh, i saw CHR chair leila de lima, i think she was boarding a plane to cagayan de oro. and at the risk of inappropriateness, she was *hot*.
anyway (clears throat)
auntie had a reservation in a small inn in downtown iloilo called city corporate inn. the place was nice and clean, nothing too fancy, though it had tv and hot water (a must if you're traveling with my dad) and there's wifi in the lobby, which the siblings took advantage of to keep their mafia wars activities in check even during the vacation (DORKY I KNOW).
we had difficulty finding something that was still open for dinner at past 8; it was a friday night and yet the streets were unbelievably empty (i'd find out why the following night). anyway we settled for jollibee -- oo nagpunta ng iloilo para mag-jollibee hahahah.
we checked out the following morning to have breakfast in nearby mang inasal (oo nag-iloilo din para mag-mang inasal HAHAHA) and then headed off to delgado st. where my auntie digay, my dad's cousin, lives. (a wifi hotspot too, since her husband uncle nonong is practically the tech-savviest person i know hahaha) and they have CATS! TWO OF THEM! hihi.
then hied off by cousins to walk through downtown. at 2 effin pm hahahah oh sun i missed you! have i mentioned how the weather was lovely and how it was so unexpected since originally we were expecting the weekend to be rather rainy? anyway, thanks universe!
so the cousins and us siblings with auntie headed to the provincial capitol by foot, then entered museo iloilo.
and then we rode public transport to gaisano to have (drumroll) la paz batchoy in, well, la paz. HAHAHAHA we are such cliches.
which was, really, awesome. Deco's = awesome. and if the photos are awesome too, it's because they were taken by kuya arnel, ate tintin's husband. his cam is awesome and so is he heheheh :)
anyway.
we checked into nearby Four Seasons hotel right behind their house on Delgado for the night. a bit more flourish here, if i may say, with really heavy curtains and fluffy colourful comforter and a nice spacious bathroom which sadly did not have hot water come morning BOOOOO i swear it was 5 a.m. and auntie was furious AND freezing.
but before that, that night, while i was taking advantage of the awesome wifi at the Deco's branch at the ground floor of the hotel (i think i saw more Deco's branches than jollibee and mcdo combined), we received word that the espanolas were coming right over in full force to take us out on a "night out" - wy included. hahaha.
we headed to a place they called "Smallville", which really reminded me of Eastwood, even larger than, i think. and i was like, So this is why the streets are empty at night - everybody's here! :) we had coffee and cakes at Coffee Break, which is cheaper than Starbucks by a mile, which does make it more awesome. actually, i didn't see starbucks anywhere, and needless to say, i did not really miss it with coffee break around hehehe.
this one was on ate lala (espanola, the same one behind the calayan rail? awesome birdwatcher, the girl is) and the conversation = awesome. just how much? to wit: there's that's entertainment talk c/o ate tintin, short wave talk c/o ate lala, scorpio nights 2 interviews c/o indaycel, whose brand new hubby kuya ronnie looks like yul servo but more gwapo, and banats from ninya and kuya pabs and everyone else. nyahahaha. oh wylo's poor innocent twelve-year-old ears. (scanning database hahaha)
anyway, we turned ourselves in at past 11, anticipating a loooong day ahead - and it was a REALLY long day, mingling with about a hundred people who share, at one point or another, a surname. seriously.
to wit:
i'm telling you, that really old man in the foreground is 97 years old. in three years, we're having a centennial and it would be AWESOME. anyway.
for more camwhorage, see:
we headed to auntie gingging and uncle cyrus in tigbauan that night, 19 people in four families aboard a rented jeep, and everybody went for a swim in a nearby beach while we got lost hahahah anyway. le fam and i spent the night at le mer mar (i have no idea how to spell this) and we went for a swim very early the following morning. as in 6 a.m. early hahaha compliments of my father, who all woke us up at 5:30. the sun was gorgeous and the water was so still. we were planning to go to guimaras, but then, collective tanders-ing commenced and we stayed put instead.
our flight back to manila was due at 8 pm and so we headed out to iloilo city early from tigbauan, detouring for a bit to uncle glenn's for dinner before going to the airport. when we got there, we were informed by a PAL official that the flight we had booked had been rescheduled to two hours earlier and that they had sent an email last April 15 to inform us about it.
wtf.
you don't go changing people's itineraries via email, for crying out loud.
we explained that it must have been a mistake, that it was our manila-iloilo flight on friday that had been rescheduled to two hours earlier - someone called home on May 7 to tell us that our manila to iloilo flight the following day had been rescheduled from 6 pm to 4 pm. it was krista who got that phone call. curiously, the person from PAL also told her to check dad's email because they had sent word re: resched of manila-iloilo flight.
the email never came. so good thing then that someone had bothered to call, right?
so anyway, out of prudence, auntie had checked and double checked for a possible resked of the return flight as well - this was a day before the flight out of manila, four days before the flight out of iloilo and MORE THAN 20 DAYS AFTER THEY HAD REPORTEDLY SENT THE EMAIL NOTICE. so yeah no info provided, everything was in its right course, ho-yay yada-yada...
up until that moment we were supposed to check in the luggage, which was when they told us, "Ah, we sent an email. Didn't you get it?"
HELLO. I SENT AN EMAIL DIDN'T YOU GET IT. that's professional and efficient.
but yeah, all things taken into consideration, the PAL guys found us five seats on the 8 pm flight, which was the last flight out of iloilo, btw. we sat in separate seats, but it was okay. thank universe for small mercies.
so anyway i'm back in one piece and returning to the real world in 3...2...
(scouring for more photos in a bit.)
destination: iloilo
we left manila onboard a philippine airlines (PAL) flight that left around 4:30 on friday and arrived around an hour later in iloilo's new airport.
i've never really been to iloilo via plane in recent memory, much less ride planes and be in airports that often; in fact, the last time i was in iloilo was four years ago and we took the pick-up truck all the way from cavite to guimaras via the nautical highway (read: ro-ro). and i think that was the year i also last used an airport haha (in a flight to cebu and from tacloban). go figure, that was the year i also graduated, and let's just say it was one of those blissful (unemployed) in-betweens. hahaha.
so imagine my glee to find the airport relatively not congested and those trolleys really nifty. haha. and also, a(h1n1) what? i expected more people to don masks, and yet there were none. i also looked for a thermal scanner btw... also none. but i guess depende sa airport? anyway i think that was the centennial airport. i was lugging along my all-purpose backpack that contained this laptop and it was effin heavy, btw.
note: the airport has free wifi for 30 minutes. other than that, you have to load something. and oh, i saw CHR chair leila de lima, i think she was boarding a plane to cagayan de oro. and at the risk of inappropriateness, she was *hot*.
anyway (clears throat)
auntie had a reservation in a small inn in downtown iloilo called city corporate inn. the place was nice and clean, nothing too fancy, though it had tv and hot water (a must if you're traveling with my dad) and there's wifi in the lobby, which the siblings took advantage of to keep their mafia wars activities in check even during the vacation (DORKY I KNOW).
we had difficulty finding something that was still open for dinner at past 8; it was a friday night and yet the streets were unbelievably empty (i'd find out why the following night). anyway we settled for jollibee -- oo nagpunta ng iloilo para mag-jollibee hahahah.
we checked out the following morning to have breakfast in nearby mang inasal (oo nag-iloilo din para mag-mang inasal HAHAHA) and then headed off to delgado st. where my auntie digay, my dad's cousin, lives. (a wifi hotspot too, since her husband uncle nonong is practically the tech-savviest person i know hahaha) and they have CATS! TWO OF THEM! hihi.
then hied off by cousins to walk through downtown. at 2 effin pm hahahah oh sun i missed you! have i mentioned how the weather was lovely and how it was so unexpected since originally we were expecting the weekend to be rather rainy? anyway, thanks universe!
so the cousins and us siblings with auntie headed to the provincial capitol by foot, then entered museo iloilo.
and then we rode public transport to gaisano to have (drumroll) la paz batchoy in, well, la paz. HAHAHAHA we are such cliches.
which was, really, awesome. Deco's = awesome. and if the photos are awesome too, it's because they were taken by kuya arnel, ate tintin's husband. his cam is awesome and so is he heheheh :)
anyway.
we checked into nearby Four Seasons hotel right behind their house on Delgado for the night. a bit more flourish here, if i may say, with really heavy curtains and fluffy colourful comforter and a nice spacious bathroom which sadly did not have hot water come morning BOOOOO i swear it was 5 a.m. and auntie was furious AND freezing.
but before that, that night, while i was taking advantage of the awesome wifi at the Deco's branch at the ground floor of the hotel (i think i saw more Deco's branches than jollibee and mcdo combined), we received word that the espanolas were coming right over in full force to take us out on a "night out" - wy included. hahaha.
we headed to a place they called "Smallville", which really reminded me of Eastwood, even larger than, i think. and i was like, So this is why the streets are empty at night - everybody's here! :) we had coffee and cakes at Coffee Break, which is cheaper than Starbucks by a mile, which does make it more awesome. actually, i didn't see starbucks anywhere, and needless to say, i did not really miss it with coffee break around hehehe.
this one was on ate lala (espanola, the same one behind the calayan rail? awesome birdwatcher, the girl is) and the conversation = awesome. just how much? to wit: there's that's entertainment talk c/o ate tintin, short wave talk c/o ate lala, scorpio nights 2 interviews c/o indaycel, whose brand new hubby kuya ronnie looks like yul servo but more gwapo, and banats from ninya and kuya pabs and everyone else. nyahahaha. oh wylo's poor innocent twelve-year-old ears. (scanning database hahaha)
anyway, we turned ourselves in at past 11, anticipating a loooong day ahead - and it was a REALLY long day, mingling with about a hundred people who share, at one point or another, a surname. seriously.
to wit:
i'm telling you, that really old man in the foreground is 97 years old. in three years, we're having a centennial and it would be AWESOME. anyway.
for more camwhorage, see:
we headed to auntie gingging and uncle cyrus in tigbauan that night, 19 people in four families aboard a rented jeep, and everybody went for a swim in a nearby beach while we got lost hahahah anyway. le fam and i spent the night at le mer mar (i have no idea how to spell this) and we went for a swim very early the following morning. as in 6 a.m. early hahaha compliments of my father, who all woke us up at 5:30. the sun was gorgeous and the water was so still. we were planning to go to guimaras, but then, collective tanders-ing commenced and we stayed put instead.
our flight back to manila was due at 8 pm and so we headed out to iloilo city early from tigbauan, detouring for a bit to uncle glenn's for dinner before going to the airport. when we got there, we were informed by a PAL official that the flight we had booked had been rescheduled to two hours earlier and that they had sent an email last April 15 to inform us about it.
wtf.
you don't go changing people's itineraries via email, for crying out loud.
we explained that it must have been a mistake, that it was our manila-iloilo flight on friday that had been rescheduled to two hours earlier - someone called home on May 7 to tell us that our manila to iloilo flight the following day had been rescheduled from 6 pm to 4 pm. it was krista who got that phone call. curiously, the person from PAL also told her to check dad's email because they had sent word re: resched of manila-iloilo flight.
the email never came. so good thing then that someone had bothered to call, right?
so anyway, out of prudence, auntie had checked and double checked for a possible resked of the return flight as well - this was a day before the flight out of manila, four days before the flight out of iloilo and MORE THAN 20 DAYS AFTER THEY HAD REPORTEDLY SENT THE EMAIL NOTICE. so yeah no info provided, everything was in its right course, ho-yay yada-yada...
up until that moment we were supposed to check in the luggage, which was when they told us, "Ah, we sent an email. Didn't you get it?"
HELLO. I SENT AN EMAIL DIDN'T YOU GET IT. that's professional and efficient.
but yeah, all things taken into consideration, the PAL guys found us five seats on the 8 pm flight, which was the last flight out of iloilo, btw. we sat in separate seats, but it was okay. thank universe for small mercies.
so anyway i'm back in one piece and returning to the real world in 3...2...
(scouring for more photos in a bit.)
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