fabulous.

Okay, so I dont understand anything about the lyrics except for some english parts, this is a Korean girl group performing in the Philippines, I was mesmerized. How cute! ^^

I'm Filipino but have no trouble understanding Mariah Carey singing to her songs or Taylor Swift or watching those english movies because most people here do speak and understand english very well, but now I get a chance to know what it's like to be Korean or Japanese or Thai listening to music I dont understand but still like it. I'm now liking many songs that are Korean and Japanese not caring for the lyrics or if they are in Hollywood all I care is when they are entertaining and good quality.

cheers to music, it bridges us across language barriers!

age of consequence

You know, when it's not better it's good. We don't want to think the worst though it is the worst this morning ever to hit the northern provinces of the Philippines. It's not over yet, Parma the typhoon that went away came back to stay for days...that's so weird for a typhoon to do but yes it did happen and it wanted to sweep off whatever is on its path very "thoroughly" leaving more than the damages Typhoon Ketsana caused. Yup, our miracle was short lived, but people are not losing hope. God is with us in this most difficult times, as people have not lost initiative in helping each other.

Manila and the nearby provinces are recovering good, it's the Northern Provinces this time that's been badly damaged and is submerged in deep, murky waters. WE ARE ONCE AGAIN APPEALING for your PRAYERS. That there'll be no more casualties adding up to statistics, we have accepted our fate that properties and land doesn't belong to us but borrowed from nature. Everyone is accountable for mother nature's wrath, small island countries like ours are the most vulnerable to Earth's abnormal rising of water levels brought about by too much heat in the atmosphere.

This isn't a WARNING...

"We are at the age of consequence"

===
Some beautiful photos of Philippines' Provinces of the North.

Ilocos Norte

Ilocos Norte

Laoag, Ilocos Norte

Baguio (Bag-yo)

Baguio
Pangasinan (Pan-ga-si-nan)
Pangasinan
Baguio
Vigan, Ilocos Norte
Banaue Rice Terraces (Ba-na-we)

We don't want all these to perish with bad, crazy weathers.

'Love each other, plant more trees!

xoxo,

Sassy.

=============================

bad yesterday.

We were struck by a typhoon yesterday here in Manila among nearby cities and provinces, the worst in 42 years! We all thought that it's going to be OK, at least as far as I know, we just let typhoons come and go without it affecting our "busy" work life in the BIG city. We never cancel a day on the job just because there's typhoon. Our buildings could withstand them besides the occasional flood that happens on expected below sea level areas, the city goes on with it's life.

We thought that the rain will eventually stop by the afternoon in time when everyone from work gets home, but it didn't, the rain came from dawn yesterday till the morning of today, worst is rising above 12-ft. in some locations. People got stucked in traffic in raging flood, some in their balconies waving curtains and bedsheets for the rescuers to spot them, some climbed up their rooftop drenched in cold rain with no food and without their belongings, some helplessly looking for their relatives, for kids especially whom they left when they'd gone to work.


-----------------
My husband and I are safe and dry. We got no work on Saturdays and our apartment building is located at one of the highest points in the City though our address brings a lot of panic to our families in the province since Pasig City is one of those cities that's been badly hit, the city is mostly submerged in water but our location is one of the few spared. We thank God a lot, almost in tears! We were supposed to transfer to a bigger place and looked in one of those homes that were unfortunately submerged up to the second floor! Our would've been neighbors perched onto their rooftops awaiting rescue.

We had no electricity though, our cellphone batteries were running out, we were eating canned food, our small apartment is lit by just one candle ... and we find humor in that amidst the calamity, that our apartment is indeed tiny to realize that we could brighten the surroundings by just one candle. ^^ WE texted our friends and relatives, relayed numbers that could help people in need like the numbers for the RED CROSS and TV networks that went on patrol. My parents texted me that I have relatives in different location that were stranded in their homes and might need rescuing, of course I feel bad that I couldn't do anything but pray for their safety. Well, that's all what we are unless we're RED CROSS or the Marines, we cannot go out and save the day. Our mortality smacked us in the face.


-------------------
Everyone is equal.

No one is rich or poor, celebrity or ordinary ... a famous actress was being interviewed on top of her mansion, ridiculous! How could they? Why don't they just airlift her, she's lost plenty for sure. MY rich cousin, had all of her Ford SUVs underwater and god knows whatever things she had swimming away with the flood... doesn't matter anymore. This is the worst that has ever befallen them and their properties but, she didn't care. All of her family are safe and that's what matters.

I'd rather go live simple you know and be happy with life from now on. Although I never did live large, I think I'd better not wish for more than what I can carry up my roof! BE grateful that we survived... I know we did for a purpose.

Stay safe everyone.
--------
Repost:For Offshore Typhoon "Ondoy" donation:BANK DEPOSIT Acct Name: The Phil. Nat’l. Red Cross METROBANK Port Area Dollar Acct.: 151-2-151-00218-2 Type of Acct.: SAVINGS Swift Code: MBTC PH MM BANK OF THE PHIL. ISLANDS UN Branch Dollar Acct.: 8114-0030-94 Type of Acct: SAVINGS Swift Code: BOPI PH MM For donations to be acknowledged, fax bank transaction slip at nos.+632.5270575 or +632.4040979 w/ ur name, address & number.Read More.

Snapshots: Tokyo - Part 2- people and places

wedding march

bride

wedding guests

wedding procession around the temple

don't mind the camera guy!

glimpse


temple

wine for the gods

Spiderman's view

tombstones

obviously Japanese!

Tokyo lights

Cityscape Tokyo Tower ^^

===========

credits:

Husband

Japan

the movie that's UP.

UP is awesome. One of the best movies this year. If it made me dredge up all emotions I could possibly invoke, it must be good. Really good. You have to watch it and you wont regret! The trailer says nothing about these "unexpected" twists, that made me silently cry in the dark ... its message comes across within layers and layers of metaphors. This isn't just a kid movie, this is quality movie.

Now I wont tell you why or you'll not want to watch this film anymore...but PIXAR did it again, surprised me with a very good plot, if you're a writer you know that this has nailed it.

click here for the movie trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USpI6Jzl3No
---
Public Reviews:

wownatalia:
"This is one of my favorite movies. It really shows how far someone would go in life for someone they love/loved. It made me cry so much. And it made me laugh so much. When I need to escape from the world, I'm going to snuggle up with a blanket and watch this movie on dvd again when it comes out. Can't wait! "

iLime14:
"I thought this would just be a happy/kiddy movie that would make me chuckle a few times. Knew it would be good because it was from Pixar...but no....this movie was so much more. =] "

esjhay19:
"i just loved this movie!...i loved the part..where russel introduces himself to carl! ..it really made me laugh...:)"

Danny2813:
"i really did love this movie "

all day Ninoy!

I'm dedicating this post to a great man, a leader. Who has served his country well and good. He never failed to believe in his country even when his country has failed to believe in itself. This video is very inspirational, an awesome speech, you'll never get bored ^^ An invitation to get a glimpse of what makes a man, a hero.



Some parts are in Filipino, not to worry the essence of the speech is not lost, "Palakpakan" means clapping/ applause, if you came to that part... This speech was made while the Philippines was still under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda Marcos, the first lady (most famous for her collection of expensive shoes, over 2000 in pairs!)wow.



Sen.Benigno Aquino Jr., "Ninoy" as he was called was imprisoned for 7 years and 7 mos. before this speech, he had been granted to fly to the US for a heart surgery, thus, he was in Los Angeles to give this talk. He mentions about his prison ordeal,
quote:

"...you will note that one of the greatest problem of a prisoner is loneliness, for 7 years I wasn't aloud to see the moon and the stars, there were days when they left me all alone by myself, I had no reading material, I had nothing, I was twiddling my thumb, I would walk and walk and walk across my room, just a room of but 4 meters by 5 meters, hoping that I get tired and then when I get tired I will fall asleep, knowing that tomorrow will be the same..."

In 1973, a high ranking official offered to release him if he'd endorse the "New Society" and make an apology to Marcos, ask him for forgiveness through a letter or a telephone call, but Ninoy refused;

"eh ano naman kako ang kasalanan ko eh sya ang nagkasala sa bayan, bakit ako hihingi ng tawad?!" / "Why? what have I done wrong? He's the one who made mistakes against his country? Why would I be the one to apologize?"

He briefed the audience of what was taking place in the country at that time, about the plans of the Marcoses to hang on to power and changing the Constitution to do so.



The new Constitution mandates the change from a Democratic type of goverment to Parliamentary type to make Marcos a President for life!



"...I shall dedicate the last drop of my blood to the restoration of freedom and the dismantlement of your Martial Law."

---

Today August 21 is a National Holiday to commemorate the death and heroism of Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. a modern day hero , an inspiration to all. He was assassinated at the Manila International Airport in 1983 upon his arrival to the Philippines after his stay in America. He left 5 children and a wife that will take on his visions of a better Philippines, Corazon C. Aquino, his widow became the first woman President of the Country, ousting Marcos through people power in EDSA 1986. August 1, 2009 Corazon C. Aquino passed away, Time Magazine's "Saint of Democracy", She is the woman in yellow that I featured thrice in my posts for all that she's done and now, we all realize how these couple have probably included in their marriage vows "to love and honor their country ^^," it's amazing how they devoted their lives in the service of the Filipino.

Salamat Ninoy, Salamat Cory.

I am watching you.

---

And in the midst of 2 controversies that should topple off the present administration from its seat and choke on the bill for expensive dinners that they had, we're like orphaned children not sure of what to do, where to go and who to trust. How do we put ourselves together after a loss of a good leader? She would have known what to do, she would have called upon people to step up against the abusive use of power and corruption, against insensitivity. That while these people we call "public servants" dine for a few hours that costed over a million pesos, an old man unable to fend for himself died last night of HUNGER... it costed him his life to have NOTHING. No food, no shelter. HUNGER, it is a cruel way to die ... to be deprived of a BASIC necessity for living, it is disturbing.

It was on the news, that man. That I was teary eyed for such a sad news. That I, having the prevelige to eat "more" than 3 times a day and could choose to control when to eat merely for " dieting" or "losing weight" feels so guilty for the food that I have not properly consumed or have left to stale. If I feel this way, I suppose these PEOPLE that we put into power feel worse for having failed in their DUTY... but who believes that they do??? NOBODY. They'd probably just consider him as part of statistics, people die. They've been burying people who live on the streets for years. He is no different.

That thought just made me sick to the stomach.

We are like orphans ... we needed that voice, we needed that someone who would say the opinion of the masses out loud and without fear. She would have spoken our truth and reason. But she is gone ... I know. This is the 3rd time that I've mentioned of bidding goodbye to her. Accepting reality that without her and the people who walked beside her, we must carry on with our OWN VOICE. We no longer have that someone who will do it for us...that while I go to work and continue living life as I know it with parties and karaoke. She and people like her, rally on the streets, hold press conferences, risk their lives for our causes. We cannot sit still and watch the world go 'round without IT noticing US... and though the STREETS are still too overwhelming for me to take, I will start with myself and mean to change my life for others. I wont be SELFISH. I promise.

I have every right to be heard because 30% of my monthly salary goes to tax! (eyes rolling...) and I wont let some dirty politician take VIP parking spaces!!! or get VIP services when we pay the same!!! Being in POWER is NOT a RIGHT but a PRIVELIGE, a TRUST given by the PEOPLE. It is a job, a commitment ... it is NOT a free BANK account!!! You owe your POWER to the people, you ARE NOTHING without the PEOPLE and if you don't believe in this you probably have STOLEN your way to get up there.

somethin's cooking!

I've always known that I'm gonna be an entrepreneur, I got my first store when I was 7...but of course that didn't really flourish as I was busy with school besides, I ate much of what I was selling ... so yeah, that wasn't really a serious venture...

BUT now, come September I'm ready. I'll be ready with my own line of accessories. I'm now at the stage of sampling out materials for production and processing permits and licenses. I've never told anyone about it at work, that I'm cooking up something big and huge outside my practice ...I think they wouldn't mind anyway that I'm venturing into another field other than just tall buildings and numbers! That I'm being creative on my own without anyone telling me what I should do or what I may be doing wrong according to standards. As I'm pretty much secluded in doing what the company and my job says. Now, I want to be creative in a ... feminine way. You know, how we girls like crafts and pretty things, that I too am entitled to that! I started with the love for make-up and that I have written on my previous post that I'm ready to drop my skyscraper dreams to do make-up! That really freaked my husband out, like seriously? You wanna do make-up for a profession? He is supportive but he is worried too, like what if this is just one of those decisions I make because I'm bored. Well... up until now, I'm still wishing it, so maybe that's already beyond boredom! Maybe my dreams and priorities have already shifted from being a career driven young woman to a wife.

I'm placing my priorities at a level where my husband and our future family life could fit in. That one day, I may have to totally give up that very "structured" career life for a time-friendlier career, like running my own business and owning my time. I don't ever wanna be tied up with deadlines and tight schedules while my babies are waiting at home or in day-care! So while I'm young and babies haven't arrived yet, I'm slowly making moves 'til I can eventually cross over and do it full-time. No one can question a person who wants to be ready for family, or for someone to question a dream?! ... can they?

Because I'm dreaming BIG, like magazine feature BIG! Billboard and TV ads big. I'm getting ready with product photo shoots and print catalogues by September ... soooo .... that isn't too much work, is it? ... hmmnn... the what if's .... what if it becomes a time-consuming monster career??? Then I'll be here all over again, whining about priorities! jeez! ... ^^ Oh well.

'wish me luck.

ME is for Mother Earth

Showing some love.

Just finished watching Wall-E, the Disney film? I know I should've watched it at the theaters when it was shown, it would've been really worth my money, if I had helped Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen rake in more money by tagging along friends and family a week ago... I should have watched films like this. Wall-E, a robot ... and the only surviving creature on the planet, while humans have inhabited Axiom on space for 700 years and has lived a very, very lazy lifestyle, with NO interaction with other human beings other than on screen like a hi-tech version of chatting on the internet! NO physical activities even getting dressed is done by a push of a button, everything is done by voice command and sophisticated robots do the work. Yeah, you can imagine how the humans look ... tubby beings. Cute, but not really how you want the human race would be in the future. We always think that our future is better with more conveniences, I mean who ever thinks of having a bad future ahead, of course we want it to be always better than where we are now, I don't know if anyone of you is contended on where he/she is at this point that "improvement" is not much of a need and will only try living life the way he/she knows how. hmmnn... well, being comfortable with life now is different from being "contended" ... Life as it goes should always be about learning, about the future about how we want our doings to end up and if we stop making a better future our goal ... we might as well be dead.

So how come life on earth as in Wall-E (the wholesome movie) can project the future to be without clean air, trees, with violent weathers and junk?! That is the future??? Really? wow...( wow in a bad way...) Well, it's a HUGE possibility, the film is not all fiction but there's truth in its purpose, that if we don't CLEAN UP our act we will all end up in who knows where if we can't invent that floating space vehicle to save us all and that in truth is a LIE. Or okay, you wanna believe that there could be a vehicle to save us all in space? Yeah sure, as intelligent humans are ... there is a possibility that in the future we might need that vehicle and may actually build one, but then ... when? Our time of self-destruction is ticking faster than a blink. Of course, when one side of the world is asleep the other side is awake, it never ends ... the destruction? NEVER. how sad. How I wish when we are awake in our particular time, we do something to help SAVE the PLANET. A fraction of our future plans should include all life-source conservation or ELSE ... build that space vehicle?! quick.

I think those probes on Mars and other planets that could someday be our new home is bull ... pardon me but hey! why? WE wont need a new home if we take care of the one we have now... MAYBE the ONLY one we have and we're not given any other choice until EXTINCTION. that's again sad... That humans can be so powerful that we can extinct ourselves. jeez. brilliant.

OK. So now that I'm aware and my views totally renewed by Wall-E ( the Disney film). I'm gonna get involved. It doesn't have to be grand ... I tell you, you don't have to join those organizations at an instant that you think you can help ... (but if only I could squeeze them in my routine, I would!) We can all start by doing things in our homes, backyards and community. WE can all start by carrying out the awareness to our offices and share it with friends and family. WE can all use our own BAGS for grocery each time (see my earlier post on green bags) WE can always re-use and conserve. When we do this, we protect our future.

Going Green!

Well,what do we have here? ... a GREEN Bag! Nice. I do very much support the campaign for using the "Green Bag" at the SM Malls, actually they have already started using Biodegradable plastics which is really something ... I mean, I've never heard of Biodegradable Plastics before but now that they use it for every purchase made, it's indeed a BIG help to the environment.

And this "Green Bag"? I must have it ... and so does my mom! Actually, what it does is to lessen the use of plastics at all or even paper bags. Of course, even without the "Green Bag" the idea is there... use a BAG whenever you do your groceries or shopping instead of having your purchases be put in plastics or paper bags every time. That simple.

At least by this bit, I'm able to help save the earth and if there's more like me who are doing this bit ... the help is greater than we think is possible.