The Happy Hobo

Here's someone whom we could all learn a lesson from in the face of debt and destitution. Maybe it's time we sift through our priorities, leave out the superficial and unnecessary, and move on with only the essentials that we need to make it through this journey. After all, who needs all that extra baggage that will weigh us down in the end? Okay, okay. I sound more like a preacher now. But seriously, I envy this guy. I don't know if I can do the same with two kids (and one on the way) to feed, not to mention a husband who eats a lion's share. haha Anyway, here's an article from men.style.com that attempts to revive a long-forgotten proverb: money is not everything.

COULD YOU SURVIVE WITHOUT MONEY?MEET THE GUY WHO DOES
In Utah, a modern-day caveman has lived for the better part of a decade on zero dollars a day. People used to think he was crazy

By Christopher Ketcham; Photograph by Mark Heithoff
DANIEL SUELO LIVES IN A CAVE. UNLIKE THE average American—wallowing in credit-card debt, clinging to a mortgage, terrified of the next downsizing at the office—he isn't worried about the economic crisis. That's because he figured out that the best way to stay solvent is to never be solvent in the first place. Nine years ago, in the autumn of 2000, Suelo decided to stop using money. He just quit it, like a bad drug habit...(Read the rest of the story here)

Post-mortem post on the King of Pop

I don't know if I should have posted this in the first place. Anyhow, this is an anecdote about the immense popularity of the King (and not Da King). I mean, yes I know he's up there in the fame meter, but I didn't realize that he was that popular until my six-year-old asked me about him.

River: Mommy, patay na ba si Michael Jackson?
Me: Oo. Pano mo nalaman?
River: Sabi sa TV. Mommy, san siya pupunta: sa hell or sa heavean?
Me: (Thinks hard and long). Uhmm hindi ko alam. Teka, kilala mo ba si Michael Jackson?
River: Opo.
Me: Talaga? Anong itchura niya?
River: 'Di ba siya yung mukhang manika...ung sobrang puti ang mukha tapos kulot ang buhok.

I was floored.

When it rains, it floods

Woke up this morning to the eerie howling of the winds outside. My cellphone read 5:20 a.m. Shit. The rain hasn't stopped since yesterday afternoon. I bet the gutters and drainages must have swollen into a massive pool of filth and human excesses by this time. I shuddered at the mere thought. I planned on going back to slumber, but then the aircon went dead. Crap! Walang kuryente. I scrambled for my cellphone, switched on the torch light, and found my way to the kitchen. I saw ate busy cooking something. She was up very early as usual to help me prepare my son to school, only there were no classes today. I suddenly missed going to school. Not because I loved studying or I was the type who didn't miss a single school day. I particularly missed the announcements on TV during these days, when we were all hunched in front of the TV (or glued to a battery-operated radio during brownouts) waiting for the announcer to say that classes have been suspended. Because today, just like yesterday and the past few days, I've been literally dragging my ass to work. All this extra weight (ahem, as a result of my pregnancy) have made me lethargic and lazy. I can't wait for my maternity leave.

BEWAARREEE!

I know this is old news; so much has been written about the same incident in the web. But at the risk of sounding redundant, I will share this experience with you (actually, it's more of my husband's experience) to serve as a reminder to everyone especially businessmen to be vigilant and cautious when talking to entities who pose as NGOs or who claim to have ties with the government to extort money. This experience happened a few days ago. An unidentified man called my husband's office asking his company to make a P3,000 donation to their fund-raising event. The caller introduced himself as part of the Philippine Anti-Drug Support Group Commission, name-dropping influential people (mostly connected with the police and army) as the conversation progressed. My husband then told the caller that he will discuss the matter with the Board as this was a financial matter that required a consensus at the very least. This obviously annoyed the caller. So instead of waiting for the outcome of the "board meeting," the caller passed on the "offer" to my husband. In short, he wanted my husband to make a personal donation from his own pockets (or should I say our own savings).
This fueled my husband's suspicion even more. Without wanting to sound rude, my husband told the caller that "I will have to consult my wife first before I make any decision." You could imagine how pissed the caller might have been because at this point, he was already making threats perhaps to intimidate my husband and eventually persuade him to give the money.
My husband of course did not give in to any of his demands, and after the conversation ended he immediately searched for the name of the bogus company in the web. And here's what he found
http://www.edericeder.com/mag-ingat-sa-philippine-anti-drug-support-group-inc/

Define S-E-X-Y

This came as a surprise to many, including myself who's not even a big fan of Robert Pattinson or Twilight. I haven't seen the movie (maybe in DVD if I have time) but judging from the publicity photos and paparazzi shots, I think Robert Pattinson could pass for a hunk by any woman's standards. Guess we don't use the same stick as The Phoenix editors who demoted the Twilight hottie as one of the Unsexiest Men together with Chris Brown (ho-hum...I won't even start a discussion about this scum), Shia LaBeouf (crashing ur fender prolly shaved off his pogi points), and John Mayer (ok, being full of oneself is unSEXY, not to mention when you wear a 'mankini' in full glory), to mention some.

According to the article, what made Robert Pattinson unSEXY (mind you, the article said unsexy and NOT unattractive) is the fact that he smells...errrhhmm bad. Like anghit or putok? I know he looks stinky in photos but does he really? Kaka-turn off if true.

An almost perfect getaway

Lesson learned over the long holiday: never go out of town at the spur of the moment lest you end up ruining the last stretch of the holiday and risk a word war with husband.
Holy Wednesday was too late to make any reservations to any hotel, counting little unknown resorts from faraway land (Pundaquit, Zambales) which I only stumbled upon on the Internet. Everything was fully booked. Yes I hear you. We should have planned weeks ago. But planning is futile if you don't have moolah which was the case in our situation. This is not to say we are cash-strapped. We are just preparing for the financial crisis looming ahead of us (read: enrollment). Bah it's no joke to send your children to school especially if they attend exclusive institutions.
Anyway, we still decided that we wanted to take the kids for a swim last Saturday - at the last minute. As soon as Argel woke up, he turned on his laptop to search for a resort, hoping there's one within the city that's not yet fully booked. Alas, we came across 9 Waves in San Mateo, Rizal. The name sounds dubious...is it a spin off of the original 8 Waves in Bulacan? Who cares. The kids love water so I'm sure they won't mind. I called the resort, intending to make reservations. The person at the other end of the line answered: "May natitira pa pong rooms, pero hindi pedeng magpa-reserve sa phone. Kailangan niyong pumunta dito." And that's we did three hours later.
To our surprise, 9 Waves was inside a small subdivision in San Mateo. What the heck. It's still a resort, there's still swimming pool. The only problem is, the resort was packed that the guard had to shoo us away because they can no longer accommodate incoming guests.
Geeeezzz. This is what we get for being spontaneous...
Again Argel had to find a net cafe in this strange city to look for an alternative. His search came up with Club Manila East. I think this was the one that was featured in Jessica Soho. The one with artifical waves, surf instructors, and kayaking activities. Ok. Not bad. Not bad at all. The only problem was, it was at the opposite end from where we were. And by the time we reach Club Manila East, it would have been afternoon already. Frak!
Our last resort (no pun here) was to head back home and pray that everybody has gone out of town that nobody thought of going to Ace Water Spa, which was a spitting distance (that is, if you spit like a monkey) from our house.
Hooray! There were a handful of people alright, but not the rowdy crowd you'd see in Bora or Puerto Galera. My kids were excited. Entrance fee was kinda hefty. 550 for adults, and 25o for kids (and this is discounted rate already, huh?) Add to that the swimming trunks we had to purchase at Ace (apparently a strict dress code was being implemented here, and my boys were not dressed for the occasion) and our bill amounted to something. BUT it was well worth it. We all enjoyed the pool and the special water machines that massaged your back and arms while you wade in the water. Unfortunately, I didnt get to try all of those because my condition prohibits me to do so. I almost swore that I would make a trip back next month when my husband pointed something floating in the water. Is that what I think it is? Oh. My. Gulay. Yes, it is WHAT I thought it was. Somebody pooped in the pool. A toddler maybe? Shet. Has it been there for long? Argel immediately dragged us to the floor and called the attention of one of the life guards.
Ano ba yan. It was almost the perfect getaway for us...almost becos we didn't plan on it...almost because the kids had a blast...almost until some poop popped out of nowhere.

Sa prisinto ka na magpaliwanag...!

I hate explaining myself to anyone especially if I know that my actions are void of any malice. It's an ordeal for me therefore to ride the public train every morning. As you already know, I am in my second trimester of pregnancy and as such I have earned the privilege to ride the "off limits" section of the train reserved for senior citizens, handicapped, employees, officers of LRTA, women with children below 4ft., AND pregnant women. The problem is, at this point of my pregnancy, I don't look pregnant at all. Sure I appear bloated or busog but definitely not pregnant. The last time I tipped the scale, which was a week ago, I weighed a frail 112lbs. That already includes the 3 1/2 month old person inside my tummy. So you can just imagine my "acting" skills whenever I attempt to ride the special section in the LRT which honestly I myself find ridiculous. Because I don't look preggers, I try so hard to protrude and project my tummy just so I can get past the guardia civil manning the train. And everytime, and I really mean every single time, the guard would scrutinize me like I was some kind of a criminal.
"Hindi ka pwede dito," to which I would meekly reply while pointing to my tummy, "Buntis po ako."
This is exasperating and frustrating at the same time. But I don't want to blame these guards who I know are just doing their job. Besides, they haven't and will never experience being pregnant so how the hell will they know if a woman is pregnant especially if she's only in her first trimester like me? Perhaps they don't have a choice but to take our word at face value, believing in our innate sincerity. Unfortunately, there are people who are just so makapal ang mga pagmumukha. I have been a witness to countless encounters wherein these unscrupulous women who try to sneak past the guard to get prime seats during rush hour. Can't they read the sign? Or they just choose to be ignorant?
Haayy, some people just don't learn.