Also, Filipinos are known for their warm hearts and kindheartedness, and it is also not unordinary that some foundations work to help several charity causes. And what a better way to raise funds than to combine Filipinos' love for fun and helping the less fortunate? 

Rakaza! – Rock for Hope is a charity event in support of ChildHope Asia Philippines. This event helps promote the welfare of the street children in the country by providing educational scholarships, temporary shelter, counseling and support.
 

Childhope Asia Philippines is a non-profit, non-government organization operating in more than 20 locations all over Metro Manila and assists around 2,000 street children who work and live on the streets every year.

Global Village Academy’s partnership with ChildHope aims to help less fortunate children gain a better future and at the same time promote our local music industry.

We are inviting everyone to come and join the party. Rakaza will feature bands such as Urbandub, Radio Active Sago Project, Sinosikat?, Spy, Iray, Epic, Badburn, Rubberpool Funkarival, Brightclub, Valve8, Basilica, Check and more.

In cooperation with:

-ChildHope Asia Philippines
- MYX
- Epixtar IT Enabled Services Corporation
- Brand Archipelago Inc.
- Transit Magazine
- Magic 89.9
- Hit 99.5
- Dream 106.7
- DWRA
- www.aftercall.net

Rakaza! -Rock for Hope is brought to you by Global Village Academy.

For inquiries, please contact: 02 638 4819 or visit www.globalv.org/events

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REPOST OR BLOG ABOUT THIS. THANKS!

*Announcement brought to you by Paradise Philippines. 

No wonder the Magic Sing has been a phenomenal success. Filipinos just love to belt it out. Perhaps that's another reason why we've earned the reputation of being one of the happiest people on Earth. In the midst of calamity and poverty, Filipinos could afford to sing and laugh. I remember what Julia wrote in her blog: that Filipinos live in a world of their own.

Come to think of it, what is a Paradise without singing? ;) 

Go, Paradise Philippines! 

For my first project-driven post, I decided to present the Philippine Tarsier:

Tarsiers have huge, glass orb-like eyes (reminds me of house-elves :)) and long feet. The Tarsier's name was given to them because of their distinctive elongated tarsus bones. Mostly, Tarsiers eat insects by jumping at them and are also known to prey on birds and snakes. They move with such agility that when they jump from tree to tree, they can catch birds in motion.

Tarsiers are commonly found in Bohol, and there are several Tarsier sanctuaries since this critters are classified as endangered species. Come and see the cuddly little creature in Paradise Philippines!

PS. Send some link love this way cupcakes, please? :) MWA

Siguro wala naman ng makakapagsabi na hindi ko kilala si Karlo at ang pamilya nya, kasi lam nyo yun, 2 years na kami eh. Kumbaga, saksakan na ng tagal kaya di ko alam kung bakit may mga isyu pang ganito. Anyway papatulan ko na rin kasi matagal narin naman akong walang inaaway. Haha. Inumpisahan mo naman eh, ungkatin ko na lang lahat. Para naman mapagtanggol ko sila Tita na wala naman kamalayan eh nadadamay pa.

Nga pala, yung picture niyong feel na feel mo, hindi namin pinapansin yun. Nakalimutan ko na nga na may picture pala kayong ganun eh haha. Naalala ko lang kasi may nagturo sakin ng post mo sa Multiply at nung comment mo sa Multiply ni Tan. Pero ok lang, carry ko lang. Wala ngang nagreact samin eh, meron ba? Hindi naman kasi big deal. Mas marami naman kaming pic, at mas maganda pa kasama nya! Hahaha.

So yun, nung nagsisimula kami, oo nakatira kayo sa isang bahay. At dahil sa sobra ng napamahal sakin sila Tito Jojie at Tita Lab, kaya ko rin pinapatulan to. Mga tao nga naman, minsan manalo lang, magsisinungaling talaga. One of a kind ka, congrats!! Ngayon lang ako nakakilala ng katulad mo, YEAH!

Para malaman mo, mga tatlo or apat sa mga kaklase mo ang nagforward sakin ng mga pinagsasasabi mo sa Yahoogroups nyo. OO, alam ni karlo mga password mo dati. Hahaha, pero hindi totoo na hindi mo pinalitan yung mga yun. Kung matatandaan mo, pinakealaman mo yung entry ni Karlo non na dinidepensa nya sarili nya at ginawa mong Friends-only. Buti na lang friends na kami nun, ayun naturuan ko tuloy sya ng mga bagay bagay sa blogs. Pinalitan nya yung password nya nung gabi ring yun, at chineck namin kung pinalitan mo na rin ang passwords mo. OO, pinalitan mo. Wag kang sinungaling, kid. Bad yan. LOL

OO naging kami nun, nakatira kayo sa iisang bahay, at totoo naman na mas malaki ang binabayad nyo. At yun naman ay kung hindi bibilangin yung mga matitipid nyo sa palaba at pagluto at paglinis, kasi pinaglalaba at pinaglilinis kayo nila tita kahit nung hiwalay na kayo kasi nga sobra silang mabait at naawa sila sa inyo dahil walang umaasikaso sa inyo. At yung mga rides sa credit card, at nga pala, pag walang baon yung kapatid mo!! Hahaha, masyaso ka kasing lungo sa buhay mo eh, kinukurakot mo pa mga padala ng mama mo, yung kapatid mo tuloy naglalakad na lang papasok sa school. Sa sobrang bait nga nila tita, hindi ako makapunta dun sa bahay nyo nung umpisa. Iniisip kasi nila mararamdaman mo eh, akalain mo yun.

In fairness, parang nagsimula silang mahirapan sa buhay nung nakilala ka nya? Tamo ngayon, mas maluwag pa sila kesa sakin. At di hamak naman na mas maayos sila sayo.Hahaha. Ano nga uli sabi ng "bespren" mo? Karma's a bitch? Hell yeah! LOL. See how it's kicking your ass.

Nakakahiya naman sayo, ang yaman mo kasi. Yan tuloy, yung bahay na pinagmamalaki mong binabayaran nyo, kinailangan nyo rin umalis. Bakit nga ba? A, hindi nyo kasi mabayaran ng walang kahati. Tapos huminto pa kapatid mo, masyado ka kasing mapera. At wag ka, hindi namin yan sa blog mo nalaman! Balita nga naman, kahit nilalayuan mo, lumalapit sayo. Oo nga pala, yung katulong nyo dati, hindi nakatagal sa inyo kasi ang sasama daw ng ugali nyo. Tsk.

Kung meron mang dapat pagpasalamatan si Karlo nun, hindi ikaw yun. Mama mo siguro. Tutal sa kanya ka naman kumikickback nga mga pang sugar mommy mo kay Karlo eh. Hahaha oo in a way, pinerahan ka nya. Oks lang yun. Pinerahan mo lang rin naman si Jette eh. Nakabawi ka! YAY!

Sige na nga, nakituntong kami sa carpet nyo, nakikain sa dining set, anu pa ba. Hehe, eh masyado naman kasing maliit yung bahay na pinagmamalaki mo para magpasok sila ng sarili nilang gamit. Pero di kami nakigamit ng laptop mo, may PC naman kasi nun si Karlo. Pero dahil epal ka nga, ayun nakiepal ka rin sa PC nya. Para na rin alam mo, kaya lang nagdamot si Karlo kasi pinapatayan mo ko ng TV, at tinatanggal mo yung fan pag andun kami, ang ganda nga naman talaga ng pagpapalaki sayo. Kaya nga kahit tinago pa namin yung remote ng VCD, ginamit nyo pa rin! YEY!

Yup, ikaw nga pala nagbigay ng number ng ninang ni Karlo. Well, ako na magpapasalamat sayo ha. Tenkyu! Malaking malaking Tenkyu!! K.

Natatawa lang ako kasi pati ba naman yung paglalakad sa bundok, titirahin mo pa. Ang ironic nga ng life. Well, for the sake of the argument, alam mo ba kung nasan sya ngayon? Hahaha nasa bundok. May iniinterview kasi sya dun entrepreneurs, you know, for work (na wala ka. Ay, meron nga pala. "Work"). At last week, sa Baguio naman. Kaka text lang nya, nasa pangalawang bundok na daw sila. WOW! 2 bundok in 2 days!! Di nya kaya. Hindi talaga. Hahahaha.

Anyway, wala naman ako paki kung anu ginawa nya sayo eh. Basta ang alam ko ngayon, hindi nya ko kahit kelan sinaktan. Baka kasi muka kang lalake na pwedeng suntukin? Hahaha ewan.

Saka, di man nya nabibigay mga gusto ko (in fairness bigatin naman kasi mga pangarap ko, puro gadgets kaya oks lang), pinaghihirapan nya na mapagbigyan kahit man lang yung mga kakarampot na hilig ko, tulad na lang ng Harry Potter na kakatapos ko lang. Naisip mo kaya... baka lang hindi ka worth it pag-ipunan ng kung ano. Haha, ewan uli. Ska, isa pa, may peace of mind ako sa kanya. Kasi kahit kelan hindi ako naging number two sa kanya. Hehe.

Nakakapanggigil nga na tawagin ka ng kung ano ano. Mas nakakapangggigil naman na ang tagal mo ng walang ginagawa, bigla ka pang pagbibitangan. Tsk. Wag ka mag alala, lagi naman kaming pray. Mas kailangan mo ng prayers, kaya pagprpray ka rin namin. K? Kthnxbye.

*PS. Sabi ng friend ko di daw masyado below the belt to. Sabi ko naman, hindi kasi likas sakin pagiging bastos unlike some other people in the sidess. Haha. Nga pala, kahit kelan hindi matatalo ng Avada Kedavra ang Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus ang akin! Haha. Wala kang love parang si Voldemort. LOL

Kamusta naman ang effort ko at muntikan pa kong ma late. It's here! It's finally here!!! I'm gonna post pictures soon :D

I came to work today and as usual, I checked on both of our accounts. I got in the office earlier than he did, so I was the first to see the stupid tags someone left in his tagboard. Of course, as custom, I immediately dismissed them as the usual lame-o work of a sicko ex-girlfriend and just deleted them. Unfortunately, just now, a friend informed me that some sort of announcement was made (in their yahoogroups I think), and pointed us towards this blog entry.

As flattering as it is that you thought we are intelligent enough to hack your account (and as much as I want to claim the credit for thinking it up), I'm sorry sweetheart, we didn't. You see, we are much too occupied with our demanding jobs (which is something you don't have, apparently) to mess around with other people's account. I hardly even have time to blog for myself these days, and now you're accusing us of blogging for you? That is just so.. funny. And seriously, you really believe my boyfriend did that? He who sometimes has to ask me for directions just so he could embed a video in his blog? As you know, I'm sure, he's not computer-savvy enough to manage that.

Even if he knew all your old passwords, you really think tatandaan pa namin yun? After two years? HAHAHAHHAHA 

And now to answer a few points from your entry.

You stated, and I quote:

dude, alalahanin mo, nakitira ang pamilya mo sa bahay namin. konting konsiderasyon naman sa mga pinaggagagawa mo. sobrang nananahimik na ako. pero ikaw, ano ginagawa mo? wala ka bang trabaho at ginugulo mo pa rin buhay ko?

And simply because I absolutely cannot resist pointing this out:

which up to now can't bear the fact that i dumped him some 2 years ago.

He was over you wayyyy before you got over him. Or do I really have to remind you of the pathetic attempts you made to get back with him? I can't be strong without you coz you're my weakness and my strength, huhuhu.

Anyhow, giving you the benefit of the doubt that you really were hacked, I salute that person for, haha, outsmarting you. And for being so brilliant that his or her writing style is sooooooo damnfucking congruent with your writing idiosyncrasies, even the grammar mistakes were copied! WOW!

(Let me guess, you thought no one would ever read it again and when someone actually did, you thought it would be convenient to put the blame on us. PFFFFTTT.)

You were caught red-handed and you wanna make us your guinea pigs. That's so old. Don't point your crimson-colored fingers to us unless you have more substantial proof other than your hocus-pocus-ish suspicions. It makes you look more guilty. Oh, and three words for you: LET. IT. GO.

Ang tagal na eh.

That's all thank you.

But I wanna talk about it now. And not just because I need a topic to post about.

My grandma died last week. And for purposes of clarity, let me state that the only reason I ever stayed in contact with my father's family was because of her. She was the one who kept the strings tied, the one who calls every Christmas and tells us to come. And really, even though my memories with her are few and far between, I love her--in my own way. Because she is the only Grandmother I really consider to be my "granny".

For reasons I do not want to specify, she is the only grandparent that I really consider, you know, a grandparent. My other ones are more or less strangers to me. Have you ever felt that way? That though you spend a lot of time with them, and yet never feel connected? That you know you are related to someone, that you share the same blood that they have, and yet never felt like they're family?

When I was about five, my grandmother told me not to call her lola. That I, like my cousin Coco, should call her Mommy Glo. And I have been calling her that ever since.

I was her favorite. At least, I believed I was. I was the eldest apo, and for years I was also the only girl among us cousins. When I was twelve, she promised she would give me a Barbie dollhouse when she got rich. I never got the dollhouse, but I didn't really mind. I only remembered that because I knew that she wanted to give me something and just couldn't. I lot of people in my life could have given us some help when things were desperate, but didn't want to. And gestures meant a lot to me. And I never forgot that.

The last time I saw her was last new year. She pinched my side, because I brought Badi with me, and maybe she couldn't believe that the little girl she instructed to call her Mommy Glo is now through school and in fact, has a boyfriend. She told me to come to her birthday (which was on Christmas). And I told her I would come. And I remember thinking back then that maybe, just maybe, I would. She said she would give me some shoes.

If I'd known it would be the last time I would see her, I would've talked to her more. And I wish, I asked badi to take a picture of me with her.

She was sick and stayed at the hospital for a month, as I was told. And one day I just received a call from my mom, and she told me that my uncle called. And she was gone. And I sat down and scrubbed Badi's walls.

I never even got the chance to say goodbye.

In Cold Sassy Tree, it was said that to "be in grieving" is different from "to grieve". I am not the kind of person who wears white when someone died for a certain period of time, or someone who listens to sermons that has nothing to do with the grandmother as I knew her. I am not the kind who cries for weeks and weeks. I always smile, but it doesn't mean that my insides are not mourning. That every time it hits me that I will never see her again, never hear her asking me to come during holidays, I do not get sad. I am not "in grieving".

But I am grieving. I am grieving for the time we had, and the time we lost.

Especially for the time we lost.

SO when it comes to what I'm used to, it's very easy to convince me to change whatever that is even if the grass is greener at the other side of the fence, or it will benefit me more. It just doesn't have the same feel. Like Riz once said, "You could go on looking for the perfect pair of shoes all you want but at the end of d day, you'll simply want your tsinelas."

Yeah, this may be a small thing, but I took a leap. I gave up my old phone and got a new one. I used to avoid other brands of cellphones coz they're not familiar, but hey! 2 megapixels (which would make my fondness for shutterwhoring more FUN) for a relatively low price is enough to change my mind. Here are some of the images we took. And I assure you, there will be more to come. LOL.

Akala nyo seryoso no? :P

Tagged by Riz.

Okay, I was tagged by Riz ages ago but I really didn't feel like blogging so I'm answering this just now. :P

SIX WEIRD THINGS ABOUT ME:

When I eat burgers, I chomp it off from one end to another, biting off pieces of the burger so that it would be severed in a straight manner. You know, like it's been cut off by a knife? And then when I'm sure that the cut is even, that's when I start eating the next "row". I don't know when it started but now I'm so used to it, I do it unconsciously.

I don't bring umbrellas. I only do when my mom or Badi makes me promise that I would. Yes, even when it's raining. I don't mind getting wet. I even like it. Once, I turned up for an exam with my hair dripping in rainwater. My friend Chloe laughed at me for weeks for that. Lol. I think the reason why I don't like bringing umbrellas was because back in the olden days, there are no cool umbrellas small enough to fit in my bag, and whenever I have something that I can't put in my bag, I end up losing that thing. So I just gave it up. Come to think of it, I don't bring hankies either. For the same reason.

I'm an accidental pack rat. My best friend, Joeybears, is a voluntary pack rat. And by that, I mean that she collects knickknacks such as bus tickets, candy wrappers, tissue, scraps and other whatnots deliberately. She keeps em neat and tidy in a box, and sometimes even puts them in albums. She's very organized. But me, I'm the kind of girl who stuffs everything in her bag: (receipts, candy wrappers, tissue, etc.) because most of the time I'm flustered and I stuff it there cause I don't wanna contribute to further destruction of the atmosphere or whatever. So when the mess becomes unbearable, I sift through them and I become nostalgic with the event that the mementos represent, and then I can't bear to throw em away. So I put em in boxes or in scrapbooks like my best friend does. Haha.

I'm generally a messy person. My desk is messy, our room is messy and most of the time even my hair is messy. I take thing and I don't put them back to their original place, I leave my dirty clothes on the floor, I spill food on my shirt a lot. But I'm really really quirky where I cook, and where I sleep. Sometimes it takes me 3 hours to cook, coz I have to tidy up before I can start preparing the meal. And when i sleep, I need to make sure that there's a clear bit of space around with with no debris. My mom and I fight every night because she has every kind of crap in our bed, and I can't sleep with those. So I end up clearing everything off first. Pft.

I have a strange fascination with ant farms. I've wanted to have one for the longest time. Granted, ants scare me the way cockroaches and rodents make those teenage teenybopper girls leap and scream in fright. I don't know, maybe I'm a bit like Hagrid. I've read somewhere that his fascination with monsters has something to do with conquering his fears, so maybe that could be an explanation. Or maybe it just means that I'm weird.

I like watching animal documentary shows. I don't know if that counts as a weird trait or it's just plain and simple nerdy-ness, but I like the show from NGC, called Built for the Kill, best. I especially liked the one where they showed different kinds of spiders: what they do to reproduce, what they eat, how they capture their prey. I know it's the kind of show that puts most people to sleep, but I think they're really interesting. And well, it's just that those things? Animals and plants and how perfect nature works makes me feel God's presence and existence more than a thousand theology lectures could.

So, that's it! Your turn. Badi, Mitch and whoever you are who patiently read my ramblings. :)

A FEW CHANGES

I took out my tagboard for several reasons 1) I don't really have much use for it 2) My sidebar's looking a bit overcrowded and 3) The groupie tagger's been pestering me again. Let it suffice to say that what she tagged is a bit catty and she seemed a tad bit too concerned with um, my sexual appetite, nonetheless, I don't like the idea that people visiting my blog sees that kind of crap. I know she could still comment, but comments are not that visible and frankly, the thought of the tagger going as far as to actually comment makes me laugh. So there. :)

I added a twitter badge to my sidebar. I know that my twitter is mostly just bits of senseless ramblings and babbling, but I like it. And having my latest twit in my blog just seems cool to me right now, so what the heck. The available badges are kind of ugly so thanks to someone I found from our friendly neighborhood Google, I was able to customize my badge. RAWR.

That's it for now. BYES.

My girls are saying goodbye. I don't care what kind of sugar-coated excuse they say, but I really believe that Amy Sherman-Palladino leaving the show killed it. The storyline really lost a lot of its articulate and snappy dialogues and with that the wit and charm--which by the way, was the reason why Gilmore Girls has such a loyal following--steadily dropped. And hey, it's not just me. The cast says it too. Edward Herrmann says and I quote, that the story "tended to lose a little of its sharp edges." I've been a serious Gilmore Girls watcher since season 1 and believe me, there's a reason why Gilmore Girls lost approximately a million viewers during the last season. It just wasn't the same. And marrying Lorelai off to Chris really, really contributed to the show's demise.

Good thing I can buy DVDs. :P Or I'll go crazy missing my girls.

Fight or Flight

There's this vacant apartment, not too far away from his home, that I've been thinking about so much. Fantasizing about occupying the apartment has become such a recurring but unintentional habit that I became so used to it: I could go on for hours just thinking about living there. In my mind I dressed it up: with a sofa bed. A mini fridge. A microwave oven. A tiny stove. That pink bulb night lamp. A library at the second floor. Bean bags. Those folding chairs that you could buy for 180 pesos each in Toy Kingdom. A bunch of other knick knacks I see when we window shop.

Does it make me a bad person if I dream of living in a house without my mom?

Or more to the point, does it make me a bad daughter if I long for a life that my mother does not control?

So you've heard his version of the story. Now, take a look at mine:

Click image to view in full.
 

I tried to make it look Pan's Labyrinth-y, but methinks I need more practice.

PS. I love your poem. :) So much that I was inspired to illustrate it. Thanks for the beautiful lines. Totally made my day. I love you. :loveeyes: