Fake imitation?

While I have yet to get over my "school jitters" yesterday, here comes another grammatical blooper which I chanced upon while I was preparing my husband's favorite lychee and almond gulaman. Muntik ko ng sabihing, "Shet what a coaccident."

I found this carton of unflavored jelly mix inside the kitchen cabinet. I don't usually read labels especially if I use the product regularly, but I've never seen or heard of this "gulaman" product before and so my iron chef instinct told me to quickly go through the label which read, among other things, "Manufactured in the Philippines."

Ok it's good enough. I didn't know we had local gulaman packaged in a cute carton. As I was about to open the packet, lo and behold, I saw a disclaimer printed on one corner of the carton -- "Beware of fake imitation."

Juiceko po! There goes my lychee and gulaman dessert.

This could only mean two things: the product was already an imitation of another brand and that they are warning consumers of unscrupulous companies "faking" their already imitation product. Hence beware of fake imitation.

Second, and I am pretty sure about this, is that the manufacturer is no smarter than a fifth grader.

Watchuthink?

School blues

Im feeling a bit cynic this morning. Woke up early than usual so I and Argel would not miss the Parents Orientation in our son's new school in QC at 8:30 am. If it's worth anything, the orientation started on the dot pero naman, the moment I sat inside the auditorium and listened to my son's would-be teachers, my first impulse was to get a refund.
Natakot ako! Goodness, these teachers who are supposed to guide and mold our kids to be smart citizens should be schooled themselves!
Being the nitpicker that I was, I busied myself halfway through the orientation jotting down grammatical flaws that were so obvious it was almost hilarious!
This particular teacher, who I think was the day's facilitator, kept on addressing us as "payrents." Ha? "Payrents?"
And the litany goes on... endayvor, bayring, ee-ducation, diskrisyun. At one point, the assistant principal for academic affairs expounded on developing the love for reading among children.
She remarks: "...so that the children is easy to read." What the f+@&k!" Seriously, it's beyond comprehension. Paki-translate nga po.
I have nothing against any dialect. In fact, I am proud of people who embrace their native accent. I don't care if you have an American accent and all that crap so long as you can pronounce the words CORRECTLY and can carry a conversation decently.
At my son's age, he's like a sponge who absorbs everything and if he's being fed wrong information mahirap nang ituwid pag tumanda na! Just look at these teachers, at their age they still pronounce parents as "payrents." Maybe that's what their former mentors taught them and now they are passing it on to their students. It's really frustrating sometimes and I am mortified.
Paging DepEd...

Say cheese!

Am back from Sta. Ana, Cagayan. Spent some four days there with my son Riv and a couple of friends from the media. More about it in my next entry.
For now, let me share with you my experience at the Belgian Delicacies Night at the residence of Ambassador Vardakis.
Cheese parties are something new to the palate of food-loving Filipinos so just imagine how giddy I was on my way to Forbes Park armed with a big appetite (unfortunately I forgot to bring my cheese knife and a doggie bag).
While cheese parties are not exactly popular in this country, it’s no trade secret that the smellier a cheese is the better it tastes (just like our own.. ehem.. durian).
It was difficult to keep tabs on all the names of the cheeses (all 25 varieties for everyone's picking!) but there were a few really good ones that could compete to the French cheese.
A hands down favorite was the Crotte de Bomal, a raw goat’s milk cheese sprinkled with salted ashes which is said to enhance the taste and the development of the bacteria similar in blue cheese. Hmm. Interesting.
Guests who were after the most flavor (that includes moi) opted for the Bio Bleu Belge, a farmhouse blue cheese derived from raw cow’s milk washed with whisky.
One thing about Belgian cheese parties is that it does not always have to be paired with wine. They actually prefer beer with their cheese. Can't blame the Belgians, they in fact have the best beers in the world with more than a thousand varieties brewed in monasteries.
Beer-brewing in Belgium traces its origins to the Middle Ages and so far there are about 125 breweries that have sprouted in this tiny kingdom.
Unfortunately for us, Belgian beers and even the cheeses are not yet locally available. Until then, we could only hope for another cheese party perhaps sooner rather than later.

The Verdict

The verdict is out and David Cook won by 12 million votes (if I heard Ryan right). While it doesn't really matter who won the American Idol because I like them both anyway, I was kinda disappointed with the performance of Cookie last night. Ano ba yan, walang dating ang mga kinanta nia! I was waiting for goosebumps to come but sadly, the only chills I got was from the cold air coming from our rickety air conditioner. Ayayay!

Also, bakit parang mejo low-key yata ang show ngayon compared to last season in spite of the fact that it broke previous records with 97 million viewers casting their votes this year? Wala man lang earth-shaking performance from any of the guests.

By the way, where the heck is Taylor Hicks? I haven't heard from him in a loooong time. Sayang, we had high hopes for him. The guy is so humble but underrated. Nagkaroon ba siya ng album after American Idol? Could somebody please tell me...

Anyway, David Cook deserves to win and so is Archuleta. Am just glad it's over. Now I can catch up on sleep. ZZZZZzzzzzzzzz

(Photo courtesy of www.americanidol.com)

The two Davids

Now that American Idol is about to wrap up in a final showdown, we are torn between the two Davids. For some strange reasons, my husband has a knack for spotting great talent and if his hunch is right (again) then David Archuleta will be named American Idol tonight. But then David Cook always blows me away whenever he sings. I guess it's his sheepish grin that makes me blush inside and secretly wish that he'll win this one -- hands down!

Either way, we are anticipating a good show tonight brimming with talent and great performances. Bring in the Boy Bawang, please!

(Photo courtesy of www.americanidol.com)

Trinkets and more

I was in Quiapo last Sunday to replenish my bead collection. I found some stuff that I really liked including these red stones which looked so luscious I had to keep them away from my kids who thought they were cherries. I also bought some chains with varying textures and sizes which I used to create layered necklaces.

Here are a couple of the designs I made. For those who are interested, don't hesitate to drop me a line at my gmail account.

Gameboy addict

It's hard to talk to a five-year-old especially when his Gameboy is clamoring for the same attention. That's always my problem with my son River who's glued to his gizmo most of the day. One time, Riv asked me to help him score some "coins" using a slot machine so he could buy a virtual Pokemon. And that's when I got hooked.
Although I'm no big fan of computer games (except perhaps for solitaire), the doting mom in me readily obliged. Just like in arcade games where you save your points and exchange them later for an item, this Pokemon game had its same addicting effect on me.
I soon found myself trying to milk the slot machine with as many coins as I can until 11 p.m. and woke up at 5 a.m. to play again.
My excuse was, I wanted to surprise my son with enough "coins" so he could buy the most expensive Pokemon when he wakes up in the morning. The truth was, the game was too enticing to resist.
My husband used to say in jest that I'm such a pathological gambler whenever we played "tong-its" on rare occasions. I guess I just hate losing.
One time, we went to Casino Filipino at Waterfront Hotel in Cebu to play. It was our first time to enter a casino together and we were kinda embarrassed to exchange our P500 for some chips not when you have other players betting as much as P20,000!
We ended up fighting that evening because I really wanted to play at the slot machine yet none of us dared approach the dealer for some chips.
Maybe this is one of the reasons why families are torn apart due to gambling? Fortunately for us, we immediately kissed and made up as soon as we went back to our room. =)

P.S.
Incidentally, I just read in the news that Charles Barkley (one of my favorite NBA players of all time) owes a $400,000 gambling debt to a Las Vegas casino. While he said that he's not broke and promised to pay up, I can't help but do a mental calculation of what one could buy with such money.