Why women rule here

In a conversation with a visitor from the US, I mentioned to them that the Philippines was the number 1 asian country in the top 10 countries for gender equality, our visitor came back with a witty yet kinda true remark, he said "Equality, what equality? women here rule" he then looked at our VP who is a woman.

This is my other version of why Women rule here in the Philippines. Well we have strong and great women here, our leaders and other women like my Mom.. Love you Mom (wala ng kokontra basta great ang mom ko) . The other reason is the magic power women have over the men. I am a busy person, and I have lots of day to day responsibilities, I look after one of the top earner accounts in my company , and I look after 40 IT guys every day,plus I make sure everything is well coordinated with our clients in the US and India..but suddenly all this got pushed aside. This is what happened.

I told some guys that there was this huge sale of electronics that I just went to and prices where crazily low. I had just got back in the office that time and had some stuff to do in the office. My crush, YM's back saying that it was timely and asked if I would be going there again, I told her I was thinking of it because I was looking at a DVD. She told me we should go then, she asked if I was busy.. I remembered all the stuff I wrote at the first paragraph, all the stuff I had to do.. so I answered her..NO, Im fine to go . My mind just froze , she asked me If I could just pick her up , well it was 10 min from my office to the warehouse and it was 20 min from my office to hers on a slightly opposite direction.. so of course I answered her "sure , no problem, your just on the way there". I figured, ok I leave at 3pm, I have a 530pm call, Ill be in and out of the place and be back before 530. I picked her up and went to the store, I bought a camera for a friend of mine, looked at a dvd player which I might go back for, and helped her out picking a new digicam. Well she mentioned if it was ok to go to another sale after that? So me with my schedule, of course I answered "Sure" , at the back of my mind, ok my 530 call is screwed wat do I do.. thank goodness for cellphones and remote access longdistance calls.So I went with here to this other sale, bought some stuff as well for xmas, and took the conference call from my cellphone.

So to make things short, women have also the power to turn guys minds to butter. Nagiging Utak Kamote pag girls na ang katapat.. We get Zombied out and highly agreeable. And Its all worth it. Because when I did get back in the office to finish some pending work ,I got it done twice as fast with a smile on my face.

Miss Earth 2006

Last Thursday, I went to this "Meet and Greet" the Miss Earth Pageant contestants in greenhills. I wasn't really sure what to expect, probably just a lot of photoops, but I didnt get a chance to chat with a lot of em, the area wasn't really condusive for chat. Tsaka no kaya ang sasabihin ko? Before I went , I did some mental notes on what would be good conversation starters for each candidate.. my thoughts:

Ms. Venezuela - Hellooo! Wow, you know I am a big fan , you guys always win in pageants, but you why is it alway traffic there, you know when I go to bulacan, its always the traffic.. good thing there is express way you know.

Ms. China - Wow I like your dress , is that original?

Ms. United Kingdom - You know , why do you call it United Kindom, but we have Miss Whales as another candidate?

Ms. Zimbabwe - Hi Have you seen Ms Romania?

Ms. Romania - Wow, Im glads to meet you, you know Ive always wanted to visit your country so I can see the pope.

Ms. Australia - You know, I am about the same height as Ogie :) I may not be a good singer but Im good at photography and Im cute and witty. Plus size 9 shoes and single.

Ms. Canada - Can you make Padala this sulat for me to my brother in vancouver?

Ms. Poland - Wow I think your very beautiful and I love your countries hopia.

Ms. Uzbhekis..Czeckhos.. Ms USA na lang - Wow I hope you win, Can I make padala also to you for my cousin in texas?

Ms Lebanon - Your the bomb!!

Surrounded by Beauty

It was a very long photography filled weekend that just passed. I did a photoshoot for the Miss Arctic Vodka Search at Fontana in Clark field Pampanga on saturday. We drove to Pamapanga around 9am with 12 of the 30 participants .The idea was to have a photoshoot and serve also as a briefing for the contestants. It was a long day, my friend mike and I did tandem shoots to get the job done. With 2 hrs of sleep, I left early in the morning for another shoot for an event that I had already scheduled long before. After lunch, I went to greenhills to shoot the remaining models at World Music Room. My day ended around 11pm sunday when I finally got home.

It was a week wherein I was surrounded by beautiful women, I took shots of them in casual and bikinis. Different poses, different settings. It was a looong and tiring weekend.. I took a total of 1000++ shots that weekend , I was tired but who would complain, doing the craft that I love and being around beautiful women... It was well well well worth the effort.

Then I would hit some lapses as I like to call them. A few times during that beauty filled weekend I would feel how tired I was , I would breathe deeply and then remember that this was times where in I wish I had somebody there for me . I would think to myself.. I am surrounded by all this beautiful girls, I get to meet , mingle and make new friends... 30 gorgeous girls..mingling with them for 48 hrs and yet at the end of the day when my body finally shouts..syet pagod na ko, I look for the feeling of someone to go to and hug and spend quiet moments with.. Yun nga lang wala pa. Well .. weather weather lang yan. Intay intay muna .. and I guess 48 hrs having fun with 30 gorgeous girls (clean fun ha!)isnt all that bad.. :) ok na rin. Pero I would trade this 48 hrs of fun for 10min of boredome I could spend it with someone special.

Matchmaking Dad

This morning, my Dad suddenly called me up, I was just about to leave the house when this happened, he called up to say that there was this pretty girl in the bank and he thinks I should meet her, then passes the phone to her... Lagyan ng malaking L ang ulo ko. Sapalagay ko naman eh hindi ako mahina, I go out on dates , I go out with women, minsan lumalabas ako at 2 beautiful girls ang kasama ko sa gimik. Haaay, ganyan siguro pag Apong Apo na ang erpat ko na gusto na nya ako magka GF at magasawa . Actually pag biniro ko an erpat ko na unahin ko muna apo bago magasawa, serious sya na payag sya. As in Serious sya. Iba na talaga ang peer pressure pag ganon age.. when you are young its toys, pag teenager its smoking, gimix, and sex. Pag nagwowork ka na, its cars, career and family. Pag Pag Tumanda ka na... Apo. C'est La Vie.

Wonder Products and Attitude of the 80's

OK, I know.. yes I did grow up in the 80's so it does show my age. Some of the things that I just couldn't forget are the products and the belief of the people during that time. I guess during the 80's where some of the darkest and also the brightest times of filipino culture as well. The 80's was the peak of the palakasan, kumapare, red tape, lagay and all the other bad stuff that proliferated during Marcos Rule which until now is stuck in our way of life. But of course there was also the EDSA revolution which kinda balanced things out. Pero hindi yon ang BLOG ko, masyado drmatix kung yan... I wanna remember the one of the great aspects of the 80's, the WONDER PRODUCTS which I like to call them. These are the products which are the solution for the faintest of problems. There was no TV shopping before, these products are like the answer to all your woes, mga products na.. cutting edge. Tipong sasabihin mo , syet dati eto lang ang sagot dyan...
Here are the stuff I consider Wonder Products, and please leave a comment if you remember anything that should be added. A wonder product is something na wasnt commercialized yet everyone has used it or knows it. It has to supposedly work so hindi kasama ang Carolina or Seiko Wallet kasi theres nothing wondrous about them.
My List:(see pictures below as well)
1. King Toh Nin Jiom Pei Pah Koa - The ultimate cough Medicine, kahit anong ubo specially the ones that have gone on and on for more than a week.. Eto alng ang katapat nyan!
2. Sebo De Macho - Nabulutong ka? May peklat? walang problema, Sebo de macho to the rescue!! Ano sinabi ng Diamond Peel dito.
3. Maxam Toothpaste - Sensitive Teeth? PAnis.. Sensodyne my foot!! Maxam to the rescue
4. Eskinol - Pimples ? Blackheads? ano ang sinabi Pro-Activ ni Puff Daddy at Vanessa Williams.. Vilma is the Man.. naisip na nya yon dati pa... Eskinol ..superkinis ang balat mo!
5. Fissan Powder - The ultimate and only cure for Bungang Araw. Actually di ko nga alam kung san ba nakukuha ang bungang Araw, feeling ko eh sunburn lang ata yon..pero ayun nga... kating kati ka na , hindi mo makamot kasi ginawa ni Lord na sadyang meron part ng likod mo na di mo makakamot.. so ayun..mapraning praning ka na ..pero wag mangamba, wag matakot.. budburan mo na lang ng Fissan at instant cure! Shangrilah!!! Goodbye bungang araw!
6. Fish Liver Oil - Nanghihina ka ba? Mahinang klase ang mga Enervon C at Clusivol..isang kutsara nito everyday at lalakas ka rin!
7. Oil of Wintergreen - Nahihilo ka ba? Sinisipon? Barado ang Sipon? sumasakit ang katawan? Taadaaaah!!! lahat yan, Decolgen, Advil, Bengay, lahat yan isa lang ang katapat!!!
8. Rugby - Lahat ng Bagay pwede maayos sa Rugby, well almost ..pwera lang plastic.. Ang di kaya ng MightyBond..kaya ng Rugby. Kung tama ang pagkakaalam ko, sa pilipinas lang inimbento ang Rugby.
9. Aspilet - Ang Wonder drug sa lahat ng sipon, sakit ng ulot at lagnat.
10. Ma Ling - Kahit saan , kahit ano ipartner masarap ang Maling. Mi hindi pa uso ang foot and mouth non eh uso na to. Lahat ng bahay ay me Maling. At higit sa lahat , kailan ka ba ever nakakita ng commercial ng maling sa media?
11. Combantrin - This product was solely responsible for bringing into consciousness the creeping problem of our youth in the 80's ...BULATE. Simula ng nilabas ang mga linchak na commercial na yan.. basta malaki ang tyan ng bata.. me bulate.. basta nanghihina..me bulate. I mean , during the 90's have you seen any combantrin commercials? Have you heard of any new anti-bulate medicine? Parang di na uso ang bulate since the 90's. In short , salamat sa combatrin , what antibiotics did for TB, Combantrin did for Bulate(so sossy naman my english).
12. Puruntong Shorts - Pinauso Ni Dolphy, made cool by Richard Gomez and Joey Marquez. Mas nauna pa ito kay Jordan, si Dolphy talaga ang nagpauso ng mahaba at baggy shorts, he was a visionary during the time na singit shorts ang uso. This also paves the way for the modern day ..cargopants. Hanep talaga si Pidol.
13. Spadril Shoes - San ka naman makakakutang masmatinding futuristic design.. Nike, Adidas aint got nothin on Spadrils... san ka naman makakita ng sapatos na parehong left and right. Astig.
14. Growth Balls - the wonder medicine that mirculously made a generatin taller than what our genes dictate. Well not all anyway.. Tanginang Growthballs yan.. ang sama ng lasa di naman gumana sa akin.
15. Eat Bulaga - For still being on air and fostering generations of starts , lingo and mass appeal gimmicks.
16. Carmi Martin - Wonder product kasi hanggang ngayon ganon pa rin mukha nya...ang weird!! hottie pa rin.

Missing my Lola

Just got home from a party , medyo sossy nga eh.. di naman ako mahilig sa ganon. Sana nag saguijo na lang ako, kaso wala akong makasama. Kamikazee and Rivermaya pa naman. I turned on the TV, reporter ata ang palabs, me nareunite na lola sa family nya. As usual wala pa rin akong cable , so kung ano meron sa TV..yun na.

Yun, don nagsimula, iniinterview ang lola, naalala nya ang anak nya , kinakausap nya tapos after a while makakalimutan nya kung sino kausap nya, sasabihin nya "kamukha mo anak ko" , then eto ang kicker , sasabihin pa nya "uuwi na tayo sa Sta Ana?" , sasabihin nung anak "sa Las Pinas tayo nakatira". At this point nagbabadya na tumulo luha ko. Sa lahat naman kasi ng lugar sa Sta Ana pa ang sasabihin. Dyaske naman.

Sa Sta Ana kasi ako lumaki, taga ron ako hanggang High School . Nakatira kami sa bahay ng lola ko all the time we were in Sta ana. Mahal nya ang bahay nya don, she built and grew it on her own. Modista sya then me mga paupahan sya na small houses. Lagi nya kinukwento na kahit maliit and magisa sya nakapagpagawa sya ng mga paupahan. Syet nalulungad mata ko pa rin ako habang tinatype ko to. Both my parents worked, so ang lola ko ang nagaalaga sa amin magkapatid, sya ang sumasama sa school or sumusundo. We got a new house sa qc non, every now and then pupunta ang lola ko sa bahay namin, titira for a week then uuwi rin kasi bored na. Then as time progressed, paiksi ng paiksi ang time na gusto nya away from the house. Ayaw nya na umaalis sa bahay nya sa Sta Ana, pag sinundo namin sya sigurado kinabukasan eh gusto na nya umuwi agad. Pag tinatamad or busy kami para mahatid sya , either pipilitin nya mag taxi or kukulitin mga katulong para hatid sya. She was a very persisent woman. Makulit ang lola ko.

It got worst and worst na ayaw nyang aalis sa bahay kasi baka me mawala daw or something, tapos every now and then gusto nya maglalakad papuntang palengke kahit hirap na sya maglakad. As years passed her mental faculties started to regress, I guess alzheimers or dementia na ang pumapasok. She would see things or forget our names or have no idea of time and date. Tapos pagmakikita nya kami, maalala nya kami "ay si daviid" (in a high pitched voice). Minsan mapagpapalit palit nya pangalan namin. Minsan makakalimutan nya sino mama ko. Pero everytime she would remember, kakapit agad sya, like me she would hold on to my arm and say "ang gwapo kong apo", then tatawa tawa sya. Minsan lolokohin ng brother ko sasabihin nya "ay si dabid kaya yan pinapadala sa abroad kasi me gusto sa kanya ang boss nyang bading".. in my defense sasabihin naman ng lola ko , "eh ano ba uso naman yon, gwapo eh" then she would laugh. Every time we visited her , lolokohin sya ng panganay namin and everytime she would come to my defense. That was something I was always assure of, she would always come to my defense.

Realizing now, siguro kaya ang kulit non ni lola kasi parang early stage of alzheimer or baka talagang ang kulit lang talaga ng dugo namin. Time went on na talagang her dementia got worst and she had trouble walking. We brought her home to QC where she would be taken care of. I would talk to her pag umaga bago pumasok.. pero she would barely remember me. Me spurts na maalala nya then mawawala. It was hard to see her like that. It was hard to imagine that the memories you would cherish so much, the things you try to look back to whenever you needed to feel good..mabubura parang file sa computer. It was sad and scary to fathom what she was going through. Minsan iniisip ko, talagang nakalimutan na ba nya, was the years of learning and experience all gone. Pero one thing I felt good was that she would remember me , my siblings, and she would always look happy when she did. She died , wala kami sa bahay, she was couldnt walk anymore and couldnt stand up, nakahiga na lang sya madalas. She lived a full life. She was a big part in shaping me the way I am now. Grabe na miss ko ang lola ko. :_(

Naiiyak na ako.. bwiset .. I really got to get cable.

Lola ko and Me.

Labor of Love

Man this day was a very tiring and hot day. I didn't have enough sleep as I came from a concert last night and had to wake up early for "Prenup" photo shoot at Lamesa Eco park. Junjun and Karla , the couple , got in late but that was fine, Im used to it happening in shoots. It was a hot and humid day but the couple was very easy to work with. I had fun doing the shoot. Tired but fulfilled. It started to rain hard come lunch time, I went home , had a good lunch with my parents. I was hoping I would sneak in an hours sleep before going to my next shoot, that didnt happen.

I went to the Fort for my next appointment. I had a shoot for the incoming board of directors and president of the JC's Manilena chapter. Started the shoot around 4, had to do a studio shoot and an on-location shoot . Solo shots and group shots, I was lugging a lot of equipment and the damn weather was really really humid. It was summer in november.

I did a shoot the shoot for 3 hours, just like my morning shoot the Manilenas was really fun to work with. They were game for anything and would love to shoot some more. The came in with their ideas which really helped as my creative juices was simmering down due to sleep deprevation. I had fun , I was tired but I enjoyed the whole thing.

Generally it was a very long, terribly tiring yet enjoyable day. I guess this is the definition of doing a "Labor of Love". Doing something that is close to your heart, some thing you enjoy doing. I got home, I felt so tired yet I couldn't wait to download the pictures and look at them again. Someday I hope to wake up doing my photography everyday. Right now the weekend is over and tomorrow I wake Im back to managing an IT company . Can't wait for the next long day.

Pictures of today: