i recently hosted a couch surfer. a lawyer from estonia studying language in japan. a free spirit in all sense. she’s on a 2 month long winter break, with the philippines as her first stop. fortunately it coincided with our company shutdown so dahon, des and i played gracious hostess. we went on a food trip to up village, the first stop was kiss the cook for lunch, chocolate kiss for dessert, isaw behind malcolm hall and then van gogh is bipolar for a light dinner.
she stayed for 4 days and left for puerto galera for a week of scuba diving. some people ask why i did it, why i welcome total strangers into my house. and i say why not. i do get their concerns; a stranger, might be a serial killer,might be a bipolar, obsessive compulsive. and i get it. though we need to be cautious, we also need to open ourselves. how often can you say that you opened yourself to a total stranger? that you help them, not only to have a roof under them for a couple of days, but also to feel safe and feel welcome. it’s like making people experience the experience you want to have when travelling.
tonight, another couch surfer guest is staying with me until thursday, when he is flying back to korea. he’s a filipino-canadian, teaching english. that same night, a married couple from romania will be staying with me until monday next week. now if my social life would be as active as this…
i have always been inspired by people who follow their dream. sticking to their principle even if it means swimming upstream. pink is of of those artist who’s not only gutsy but stands against objectification of women, specially in video music when they are portrayed as play things and nice to have of men. her stand stand against the midst of rap, r&b and pop videos were scantily clad women washing cars, soaping each other is nothing short of being ballsy.
but it doesn’t take away from the celebration of a woman; her sexuality, body, mind and spirit. i guess it’s all about how you portray a woman. a woman in skin tight clothes in the arms of a burly man is different from a woman in skin tight clothes running a multi-million company.
pink’s performance in the recently concluded 2010 grammys is amazing. the purity of the song, its artistic articulation in aerial acrobatic and carefully selected costume. in the sea of artistic compromises, this is art.
sacrilege! to all ben10 (ben tennyson) fans out there, mcdonald’s philippines have released 4 ben10 toys together with their happy meal. the toys are not that bad, really juvenile if you ask me, directly targeting the 6-9 age group. i have nothing against the toys, except this…
since when did aliens carry man-purse? something is wrong here. i know aliens are far intelligent, are they now more fashion forward? pushing the envelope people…
i am a coke fanatic. i am one of those people who can differentiate the taste of soda. pepsi doesn’t taste like coke, coke zero doesn’t taste like coke. coke in can is the best. although coke in vendo is better, i find that the taste not consistent, depending who does the tweaking of the carbonated water and syrup. and it’s not only the taste, coke has this certain feel, a certain ‘culture’ that seems to be inviting and appealing. coke seems to be very accessible and dependable, from the the first ahhh moment when you take a big gulp of this ice cold drink, to the last drop of its refreshing goodness.
and their commercials help too. the marketing is genius if you ask me. the appeal is universal and simplistic, very relatable. its strong presence and character stands out. so here’s to a product that is not only enjoyable but also is an icon on its own.
a new decade. i have been been asking myself what 2009 is all about. it seemed to have come and gone without anything significant happening to me. discounting the ampatuans, tita cory’s death and ondoy of course.
the year seemed to be my stand still moment, a time to reflect. that in hindsight seemed over done. who in their right mind would need a year to reflect? yes, i’m one big crazy. the question is am i that big of a crazy. but who cares, supposedly as long as i have learned something from it. that’s all that matters. between you and me, i haven’t learned anything at all. that’s life for me. it’s a short life, i rather live it.
it’s 2010, supposedly a fresh start. it’s not just a new year but a new decade. in retrospect, i am proud of my career. 9 years in the making to be where i am right now. that in fact is what the decade is all about for me, career building. that is what i have for show kids, an untarnished, shinning and dare say enviable career.
but through it all, all the hardships, pain, travels, employers, vacations that i should have taken, 3 hospitalizations, paranoia, weddings, living alone, deals and pursuits, the years have been good to me. benjamin franklin might be a great man but i beg to disagree. it’s not only death and taxes that are constant in this world, also good friends. to the tsongers, we may not be related by blood, but you are my family. you have put up with this crazy, as i have put up with yours. and it’s no easy feat but it’s something we all have helped to build. so dahon stop your whining and sudden bouts of migration plans, we are here to stay.
environment nut, yogi, non-vegan, geek who lives in the world wide web and hates the real one. non-alcoholic, coffee addict, shoes and bag whore, loves the color burgundy. finally, lights off.
