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A Stressed Out Christmas Shopper

stressed out christmas shopperI just had to laugh when I saw one of my blog’s referrers “photo of a stressed Christmas Shopper”. Haha. Why would anyone want to check out on the faces of [tag]stressed out Christmas shoppers[/tag]? This [tag]Christmas season[/tag] has been stressful because of the failed attempts to close the purchase of a real estate property. It’s been two months since the Amityville Househunting nightmare and we thought we could finally have a new property this month. Should I be Exasperated? Irritated? Annoyed? or should I just let it go? The most silly things happen when one buys real estate in the open market.

Let me just name a few irritants.

1. Once sellers know there is a buyer for their property, they suddenly change their mind. This seller increased her selling price by half a million. Can you imagine the stupidity?

2. Brokers can destroy a deal. Some of these brokers aren’t even licensed and demand a 5% commission from the seller. Seller complains to buyer that their net proceeds are low. Why is that my problem now? Why are they selling in the first place?

3. A Chinese seller refused to meet with us before payment. “Everything should be done in the bank”, the broker says. Broker says seller is a Chinese and is wary of strangers and fears being kidnapped. Of all the stupid excuses! My imagination starts to get wild. I think the broker is pulling our leg. Maybe she kidnapped the seller.

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Teddy Bears for the Children of Bicol

Bicol tragedyLike my dear friend Cathy, the photo from today’s Sunday Inquirer moved me to tears. The article on the Bicol tragedy due to super-typhoon Reming (Durian) describes devastation that has wracked Bicol like no other. Not even World War two was like this. I texted most of my friends in Bicol and they have never seen such damage in the years they have lived there. Even Naga which is farthest away from Mayon suffered as well. My husband’s relatives (The Dado clan) are from Tabaco, Albay and there is still no word from them on their situation. No landline or cellphone connection.

Pedro Malate and his son Miguel, in that photo above hold on to each other for dear life, “wearing perhaps, the only clothes they have left. Little Miguel looks terribly dazed, Pedro, in all probability is in shell-shocked state.”

teddy bearI am helping Cathy with her “A Thousand Bears for Bicol” because this is a way to channel our sadness over the Bicol tragedy. Please read her site for more details. I trust Cathy will do an excellent job in delivering the bears to these children in time for Christmas day. Cathy comforted sick children by establishing Migi’s Corner , a play area for these kids in more than 10 public hospitals in the Philippines. If anyone can execute a project for children, Cathy Babao-Guballa , a TOWNS awardee is the most qualified and trustworthy person in the Philippines.

To children, stuffed animals are more than toys, they’re imaginary friends who are always ready to give comfort or play. They provide a certain amount of security in a sometimes scary world. Though it may be a small act, my heart’s desire is to bring as many stuffed toys – ideally friendly looking teddy bears to the children in the Bicol region. I am hoping to raise at least a thousand bears that I can send to the Albay province in time for Christmas, hoping that these bears will bring even a little joy and comfort to children like Miguel who have a long way to go on their healing journey. I am making arrangements with am NGO in the Albay province to ditsribute the bears on Christmas day.

Photographs do speak a thousand words. Great works of photography move you into action.

Help us bring a “A Thousand Bears for Bicol”. To send teddy bears, click here.
teddy-bear-angels

EDIT: I bought 10 teddy bears already.
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Philippine Idol Bloggers Create Buzz

bloggers
(ME,Jove, Bridget, Jher, Patty and Pamy who took the photo)

A meeting of Philippine Idol bloggers just before we went inside the theater. Jove Francisco (to my right), a popular Philippine Idol Blogger and ABC reporter told me that Philippine Idol bloggers built up Philippine Idol’s popularity. Maybe it’s true that bloggers contributed to the popularity of Philippine Idol. I remember when I first blogged about Philippine Idol. There were not many readers reading my Philippine Idol entries compared to recent entries. I notice that commercial breaks are getting longer indicating that there are more advertisers. The presence of celebrity guest in tonight’s show compared to the past show a vote of confidence for the Philippine Idol shows.

Tonight’s Big Band Night was such a refreshing change. Philippine Idol felt so alive and exciting. The top 4 [tag]Philippine Idol[/tag] finalists sang songs from the Big Band Era. The elegance of the production design and the songs made me want to dance with my husband. I am such a sucker for old standard music. It might seem boring to the younger crowd but it’s soothing and relaxing. Big bands makes all music sound great.

Gian measured up to the international standards of Big Band music. He was meant to sing this kind of music. I am not too confident if Mau can warm up to western audiences during the competition of a “World Idol”.

Who will be Philippine Idol’s Top 3? My prediction is:

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Screaming for Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

krispy kreme[tag]Krispy Kreme Doughnuts[/tag] arrive in Manila. Sort of. A dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts were delivered at my doorstep today. What will I do with all these golden glazed doughnuts? I called up my daughters at the dorm if they wanted Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. “Of course, send it over”, my daughters yelled. “We will microwave it here”

krispy kremeI haven’t tried their favorite method of eating doughnuts aka microwave style. Maybe it’s the warmth and soft texture that adds to the pleasurable eating experience. Doughnuts are their number 1 comfort food. The 12 golden glazed doughnuts look perfectly glazed. Glazed doughnuts of Dunkin Doughnuts or Go Nuts look sloppily glazed to me. Hehe, there goes my compulsive-obsessive nature.

It has been years since I last tasted a Krispy Kreme doughnut. Sipping my aromatic Kenya Coffee brew, I took my first bite. The first thing that I notice is the very tender texture of the doughnut. The taste is practically the same if one compares Go Nuts and Cello’s. I can feel my blood sugar rising because Krispy Kreme Doughnuts are just too sweet. One doughnut is all you need to eat to get over the doughnut cravings. Later on, I will have to bike for 30 minutes to burn this excess sugar. Krispy Kreme better come up with a sugar free version.

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My Canon PowerShot A710 IS

canon powershot a710A month ago, I bought a new digital camera, a Canon Powershot A710 IS (Image Stablizer). You might have recalled I also bought a Canon Powershot A530 last June for a Boracay trip that never materialized. So why buy two cameras in a span of 4 months? Well I gave my old Canon Powershot A530 to L. Deprived of a digital camera for more than one year, L begged to have a new camera because it’s her last year in Ateneo. I thought “L has learned her lesson so maybe it’s time to give her a digital camera”.

At the height of her blogging days, she had quite a collection of digital gadgets to enhance her blog entries. Unfortunately L seems to have a jinx with digital toys. I love L very much. Sadly, L just hasn’t been lucky with anything containing “electronic chips” for the past two years. Let me count the ways:

1. For her 18th birthday, I bought her this nice camera phone. Two months after, the phone drowned as she slipped into the shallow waters of Tali Beach. She wanted to capture the breathtaking sunset. The dumbest thing one can ever do when a cellphone gets wet is to turn it on. Naturally, the battery will cause a short circuit, I told L. “Just remember to remove the battery when this happens and dry the phone”

2. Her Sony Cybershot digi cam together with her Panasonic Digital Camcorder w/ Still Mode/MP3/Voice Recording were stolen as she played a video game in the Power Plant Mall. She had placed the bag on the floor and was too preoccupied blasting away the enemies in the video screen . Little did she know that her bag was already snatched just a few feet away from her.

3. A sympathetic reader donated a part of the cost of a new digital camera, a Canon Ixus 430 in 2004. L used her savings and I pitched in the rest to buy this new camera costing 35,000 pesos in 2004. It was expensive because a 4 megapixel camera was a new thing back then. Barely a year after, she vacationed in San Francisco. As she toured one of San Francisco’s aquariums, she slipped and the contents of her handbag fell into a pond. Her handbag’s zipper was not zipped and the camera fell off head first . What did she do? She picked her camera and turned it on. ugh, read number 1 above. Don’t turn on a wet electronic gadget.

There are a lot more. I cannot even fathom how her CPU’s motherboard ended up in smoke.

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Photo Blogging Philippine Idol

dance night at Philippine IdolYou all know that I watch Philippine Idol as part of the live audience, at least in most of their shows. I take photos as I view the show because I blog about Philippine Idol. Let me give you a brief background on my reasons for blogging Philippine Idol. I am an avid fan of American Idol ever since Season 3 and have blogged about it since then. Excited that Philippine Idol finally reached the Philippines. I also blogged about it. I didn’t know that Google loved that entry so much . I found my Philippine Idol Blog ranking no 2 or 3 with “Philippine Idol” keyword. By sheer coincidence, my husband announced that we have tickets to all of the Philippine Idol shows because of his friend in Freemantle (the franchise owner of the Idol concept?). Since then , I have been watching the live shows.

my 2 daughtersSince it’s my daugher’s semestral break the past two weeks, I dragged them with me. Knowing they could be a snob to Philippine showbiz, I assured them that they will be entertained. Anyway, I know there are other bloggers who watch it live. One of my favorite Philippine Idol blogger is an ABC reporter, Jove Francisco because he reveals juicy insider tibdbits. Although I hear some gossip inside the studio , I keep mum about it.

After I uploaded my photos and wrote my entry, I visited Jove Francisco’s Philippine Idol Dance night entry and I was caught by surprise:

I also enjoyed the company of this great woman. Magkasundo kami sa comments, and it was as if, magkakilala kami kahit hindi. I know she blogs though, I read her kasi, all the time! Good thing siya nakatabi ko. (One forum guest noted na ““parang galit” ako last night sa upuan ko, my seatmate can attest to the fact that I wasn’t, ang saya saya nga namin eh, hehehe)

Could that be me? I clicked the link and lo and behold, it was my Philippine Idol Photo Blog. Talk about mutual admiration society! I didn’t know he sat beside me. (see screencap below) Haha, it’s a good thing I didn’t make a fool of myself or else Jove Francisco would have blogged “…There was this crazy woman seated beside me bouncing on her seat and waving her camera all night .” I am just kidding. Of course he wouldn’t do that. I wrapped some glow sticks around my wrist that night and clapped and danced on my seat as the Idol performers crooned and cavorted onstage. You must know that as live audience and especially those that are seated right across the judges, are told to do the following:

1. Look cheerful and energetic. Don’t look bored. Frowning is a no-no.
2. Clap everytime the show goes live after commercial break.
3. Don’t talk to your seatmate. Don’t text.

That night, the ticket ladies assigned our seats right across the three judges . I didn’t want to complain because earlier, I had whined over our initial seat assignments. It wasn’t the usual center seats. They gave us side seating arrangement but changed their minds as we weaved ourselves to our assigned seats. My two daughters didn’t want to be caught live on TV and requested back seats. In an earlier episode, I didn’t know that we would get panned by an inconspicuous camera set behind the stage. Horrified, I saw myself during a replay the next day. There I was oblivious of the cameras, snapping photos while my husband had this dropped jaw look. How embarassing. Talk about another one of my misdaventure as a photo blogger Part 3! Conscious of the cameras, I resolved to take photos only during the performance and quickly tucked the camera under my shawl when the judges started their critique. My husband straightened his jaw as the cameras panned towards him.

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On Sharing Grief and Grief Share

interviewgrief.jpg
For the newly bereaved, November 1 hits them with the reality that it’s their first All Saint’s Day with their precious loved one. It’s their first time to honor the dead with the rest of the country. No wonder, grief is once again featured in the magazines , TV and radio. Last Sunday, Cory Quirino invited The Compassionate Friends to her DZMM radio program with the topic of “Handling Grief and Loss” . The thought of discussing the basics of the grief process in Tagalog caused me to panic. Can you imagine me struggling with words like “pagdalumbhati”? (if I even spelled that right) . How does one say “positive resolution of grief?” The best testimonials would definitely come from the newly bereaved parents who actively worked on their grief with help of The Compassionate Friends. I asked if I could invite more parents to the interview. I dragged 3 newly bereaved parents and Alma Miclat, a co-founder of The Compassionate Friends. A psychiatrist, Dr. Josefina Sayo served as the resource person on the grief process and explained that there is so much stigma attached to grief.

Typhoon Paeng’s update interrrupted the show that the one hour and half show seemed like thirty minutes.

What totally amazed me were these 3 newly bereaved parents who were able to express their loss and testified how sharing their grief truly unburdened some of their pain. We know that pain can never be totally taken away but somehow sharing it to others ease the burden in our hearts. And so The Compassionate Friends continue to come monthly…to meet, to hug, to cry, to laugh to listen and to try to understand another’s story. We come to love each other’s children that we never got to meet. Their faces become almost as familiar as our own children’s countenance and so incredibly dear because they were so special to our friends. In sharing our children’s lives and their deaths, they continue to live on through our stories and our pictures and we are comforted as we grieve together.

Sharing grief is a crucial step in grief work. No wonder my dear friend, Cathy Babao-Guballa started Grief Share, a new grief ministry for all types of losses.

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a mom blogger who advocates constructive engagement in issues on family & society.
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