during breaktime

several languages in one team room.
which is kinda part of the learning curve for life,
to embrace and enhance our knowledge of the dialects of the world.
i have to brush up on my spanish.

pub nosh

perceive

the sun was hiding behind the dreary clouds on saturday. goodbye, sun. back to status quo, dark and depressing.

then there was this venture into south london if the lush suburbia of middle class surrey is still considered part of london. i lost a lot of money in the pub quiz machine. i was shit on pop music or british geography or obscure names from cricket. i couldn't manage the bonus round. i've always been hopeless on abstract examinations. but all others standing next to me breath the bonus round with gusto. my husband was in his element. he knows his trivia.

in a birthday gathering, a christening reception, a wedding party, everyone should know everyone. but that is why there are tables, or corners. we gravitate towards people we know.

in an event the childhood friends are different from the present work colleagues. there are also the special mates, we share affinities and likes, in our case, tottenham hotspur. we can formulate the term family from our friends. and there are also blood relations, also called family.

but how do we amalgamate the special forces in our lives? they may all glue together or they may not. they're the sum of our parts, the unique ingredients for a resplendent existence.

grinding in the slums

in a perfect world, all dwellings should be formal -- paying rent, mortgage, leasing, owning the property. but in a not so ideal scenario, people set up a shack in other people's land, squat in empty houses like what is happening in the UK or live in a cemetery as in RP. it is usually driven by lack of economic power and property laws full of loopholes. slum areas are not a pretty sight. it's not wisteria lane or knots landing.

some of my closest friends have been in one way or another lived in urban tenements or succumbed to informal settling. it's pigado sometimes, a hard, hard life. crafting an existence with utter lack of privacy, sharing space even with family is not pure comfort. i know we should be grateful for the little blessings e.g. a roof above our heads, food on the table, family and friends. but it would be a dream for the Philippines to move on from its third world tag, eradicate the source of hardships, build a stable financial foundation that would impact the people and slowly erase the presence and necessity for squatter communities.

gorgeous

which is how i describe the sun since wednesday. this doesn't occur 365 days a year, more like a trickle here and there. since i'm on the opposite circadian rhythm i'm on my usual grumpy mode. maybe the sun will come out again, tomorrow.

adieu, screen legend

Dame Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011)

yet to see A Place in the Sun (1951) with Montgomery Clift
and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ( 1966) with Richard Burton.
and wishing that Rhapsody (1954) would be released on video.

wait, wait

the title had no bearing to my state of mind, just about to dash out somewhere, but first the exfoliation process. i got to close my netbook screen and evaluate how to gain access to this tome. i'll write more about slum or slum living next time, like the previous writing promises i couldn't link or even recall. not that i know anything about informal settling, what i reckon is what i observe in the marginalised society where i developed as an adult. this article mentioning the malalusan fire in bacolod. what is the malalusan fire? it's quite a significant topic of my childhood. i'll try in the next post.

a walk at the museum

I feel like a museum relic -- old, ancient, archaic. There are still portions of the V & A I haven't seen and a few galleries and monuments I haven't had my picture taken. As if our life is dependent on still photographs with hallowed grounds as back drafts. Most tourist attractions are free in London except for Westminster Abbey which charges £15 a pop, which my moaning date would dare not enter. Paying £15 to get inside a church? Why the H not? I could probably ask that for a birthday present.

fragments

alas, i'm truly enervated. i wouldn't be able to hoover close to midnight. or finish my book, or watch glee. i will try and try again to accomplish tasks maybe tomorrow, or wednesday.

dinner tonight

my husband's deft hand in preparing vermicelli (pancit bihon)

write, text, e-mail

i haven't visited this blog for two days. was i on de-tech? not really, i was utilising e-mails quite a lot as of late. it's very helpful driving points across the seas and oceans. but i still like snail mails, if we only have time for writing long, articulate letters and use words such as quidnunc, that would render a nice touch. nonetheless, these are very busy, hectic times.

now as for texts. with the current cellphone models in the market, there should be no more excuses and leeways, for text abbreviations. unless one is in a very precarious situation like in the middle of work or abseiling down a building.

text is still quite handy. but like e-mails, we await the reply with bated breath. for the chain mail however, i haven't experienced the miracles yet although i ignore them altogether.

bewildering march

we are halfway through march and it remains nippy, venturing into eight degrees or lower, reminiscent of winter. wait, winter? it's supposed to be spring right?

nevertheless, it's not snowing, like in northern japan and whatever dilemmas we have in our midst, it's not as bad as in the catastrophic areas. kudos to the 50 unnamed, unsung heroes at the fukushima nuclear reactors risking their health with dangerous levels of radiation to control the meltdown.

the japanese have been very subdued, calm and patient in these dire situations. which leave points to ponder, calm is boring, any extroverted person would concur that notion. but it's vividly a testament of strength.

no show

the thought of a storm, a typhoon, a hurricane, a quake, a volcanic eruption, nuclear reaction, now a tsunami fills a lot of people with dread and trepidation. the situation in japan is truly heartbreaking. having experienced several typhoons in my lifetime, seeing, reading, hearing about natural devastations is no movie, it's no day after tomorrow or even 2012. it brings memories of those blackout nights when the wind was too strong, and you prayed that the swift, howling air currents would not blow off your roof or at least spare your favourite jackfruit tree in the front yard or the datiles/sarisa tree that stretches your power of calisthenics. we lost the sarisa tree from typhoon nitang in '84. it was irreplaceable, i could never climb another tree ever again. a decade and maybe a few years later, my former classmate's house, located at the cliff near the bridge, was swept off by yet another powerful storm. i always wondered what happened to her family.

it's not theatre when it's real. imagine being actually there. hope the nuclear radiation in fukushima would be contained and the people up north in the affected areas, in the evacuation centers, in the scourge of uncertainty, would have their food, water and shelter from the snow.

de-teching

when i set foot on another country, i've learned my lessons in not logging unto facebook or i'll be saddled by skyrocketting phone bills and cause and hasten a myocardial infarction. that's the only time i do de-tech, during a few days backpacking pilgrimage. the internet with yahoo and google has been a tremendous innovation, helped us become less bored with proceedings. in 2003, before the era of smartphones, i was walking along Oxford town center with a colleague while she kept on looking and tinkering at her mobile phone. was she reading old texts? or she was so enamored with her phone, she forgot she had company? these days, i see fellow guests trawling the web at weddings, parties, dinners, not joining the humdrum conversations. are we all disinterested with real time day to day discourses? small talks anyone? petrified with the lulls?

we seldom de-tech, we are surrounded by gadgets at all times. we check facebook on holiday. we read celebrity tweets. we watch viral videos on you tube. we google. i google a lot. i consult wikipedia for trivial names, concepts, filmographies. it's all reading and imbibing. we can use our devices, even in the presence of others, just not to the point of rudeness.

going places

travel for exile, to escape the drudgery of work.
or travel just for travel's sake, to learn, discover and enlighten oneself on the ways and peculiarities of people from other cultures and countries.

aftermath of waves

as the tragedy in japan and the picture above shows, technology is ill-equipped to deal with the wrath of nature. one nuclear power plant is even causing problems. japan is a highly-developed nation with the manga cartoons, excellent and daring films, uniqlo and nintendo as their few highly-addictive, contributions to the world. they'll recover swiftly from the setbacks, but despite their standing in the world eonomy, they, at this juncture, need help.

analgesia

in highly- shallow breathing, in excruciating discomfort, resting on the cushion of hope, i'm overstocking with good tidings and thoughts. television has been quite good company-- the classic and effective laughs from frasier, third season forensics from csi: new york, the culminating aerial scenes from iron eagle (1987), Japan quake coverage from BBC news -- very articulate reporters. i find big words inspiring.

read a blog that may indicate that i'm underachieving on a large canvas, i don't need an indication of my weaknesses scrutinising blogs and social networks, i'm aware of my infirmities just by merely talking to my friends. sometimes shit happens. have to embrace a more sunny disposition.

grim quake

an 8.9 earthquake on the richter scale hit the epicentre of Sendai, northeast Japan, a devastating tsunami afterwards. tsunami threat along the pacific rim encompassing 50 countries including the Philippines. i got hold of this news through facebook through all the different time zones. although the Philippines was not gravely affected, from someone who grew up with typhoons causing extensive damage to my hometown, the pictures from Japan are mind-boggling. like that movie with john cusack and chiwetel ejiofor. scary.

blurry effect

red cup cake by pie.

for travel, for work

presenting a travel show is quite a cool job, it's not run of the mill nine to five or one of those backbreaking bonanzas that render tears in the eyes. the philippine archipelago is deep in cultural ambiance despite or inspite of all the insurgency and other infightings from within its population. reading about the host of travel time is such a joy. this article enlightens about some aspects of travel, we need to explore the world.

rob pats scrawl 2

was it only yesterday when robert pattinson was the cover of Vanity Fair? now here he is again, on yet another cover, promoting a movie outside of the Twilight series. i like the earlier interview better, more panache.

just seen

Had to drop by at Odeon Marble Arch this afternoon to watch the latest Adam Sandler movie, Just Go With It. I don't usually venture into Central London without my husband, a force of habit developed during most of the last decade. Holding hands, squeezing, moaning, traversing the crowds from Bond Street to Marble Arch on a weekend is not for the impatient. Of course, if this light flick is shown somewhere in a stone's throw from our location in North London, there wouldn't be any moaning or complaining about the crowds and the box office prices. I could well go see this on my own.

Yes, the prices, including the small popcorn and regular pepsi, it's about £30, Central London on a Saturday, plain and simple. Is it any wonder why some people prefer illegal downloads? In two months, the DVD version would be sold at £12.99 and in a year, it's £5. As for the movie, it's a Sandler comedy from Happy Madison production, it's full of laughs, and Lisa Kudrow's knack for punchlines has robbed off on Jen Aniston. Nicole Kidman has a bigger role than I thought, she's a riot and pale, terribly willowy.

bleary

things to do in the weekend:

tidy the surroundings, read the current book, watch a movie, dance for exercise, gather the recycling collection, e-mail, purchase a phone card, etc. it's a banal, shallow listings. but as i'm on tenterhooks for the most part of march, i'll settle for something that would cheer me well.

the current temperature is still in single digits, it's a very cold spring. the more i crave for warmth, the more it becomes unattainable.

keenness

been through a myriad of emotions this week, or let's say the past year. the ebb and flow of bloody drifts, painful truths, jarring impatience and longings bind together to create a rift in the otherwise ideal universe. the point is to remain serene and austere to realise the dreams.

serviette

dropped by a pricey Chinese restaurant earlier in the evening.

stellar service.
very obsequious staff.

james, anne, colin and others

i've never been so bored in an awards show ever. i blame the organizers. james franco and anne hathaway are good actors. but the committee who hired them ever got to see all their interviews in all the late night shows in existence, all their ad libs in SNL and decided for the right reasons, whether these kids could do the job? what young demographic? i've been watching this ceremony since shirley mclaine won her best actress award for terms of endearment and i was like nine. sense of humor is innate. last year, alec baldwin and steve martin were funny. the years before that, the singing-dancing hugh jackman was entertaining and chris rock was blunt and harsh on jude law, who's most redeeming value is that he's a dignified tottenham hotspur fan.

the winners are predictable. the king's speech, or as my husband describes it, a film of self-aggravating bollocks, probably through the weinstein power of campaigning, won best picture. while the social network is showing this march on tv. colin firth, reminiscent of previous english winners like daniel day lewis and helen mirren was not only articulate but a bright spot in the humor department. i've read that a third bridget jones movie is in the planning stages. christian bale spoke like my husband's friend john in his acceptance speech. was that his real accent, batman? melissa leo, who wore a doily, uttered the F word in a world where the F word is not acceptable. but sounds alright to me.