Dreaming of Prague

My dream vacation destination.....Prague, Czech Republic.



Wow… I hope someday I get to walk along Charles Bridge….

A little bit of trivia on Prague or Praha… for a period of time, this city was home to the great composer and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven. The baroque hotel located in a place called Mala Strana where he stayed at in 1796 is now called Beethoven Palace. The Prague castle is also considered as the largest ancient castle in the world.

If I were a queen, I want this place to be my Queendom!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague

Pinoy Trivia Quiz : Kakasa Ka Ba sa JOLOGS? (Part1)

As part of the program committee for our company’s Christmas party last year, me and some members of our team decided to run a contest on Pinoy Trivia. We called it “Kakasa Ka Ba Sa Jologs?”. Putting together the questions was so much fun, and the contestants had a blast reminiscin’ about the good-ole-jologs-days.

Let’s try our Jologs meter on you… Hari nawa’y makatulong sa pagtuklas sa ating tinatagong kabakyaan….!

Part 1 : Category : Showbiz, Movies, Famous Lines

Bakyang tanong:

1. Kung si Sharon Cuneta ay Megastar, sino ang tinaguriang Diamond Star?
2. Si Wowee De Guzman ay galing sa sikat na 90s dance group na ito
3. Pangalan ni Piolo Pascual sa That’s Entertainment
4. Bading na apo ni Inday Badiday
5. Tatay ng panganay na anak ni Marjorie Baretto
6. Ang dating screen name ni Francine Prieto
7. Mahaderang ina nina Tina at Danita
8. Young male director na anak ni Vicky Belo
9. Pangalan ng manager ni Angel Locsin
10. Fictional political character na alter ego ni Leo Martinez
11. Title ng pelikula ni Gloria Diaz kung saan sa trailer ay nakasuot lamang siya ng sando at nakasakay sa kabayo?
12. Longest running pinoy horror movie series na madalas may entry sa Manila Film Festival
13. Tinaguriang hari ng pinoy stunts dahil sa paglundag nya sa San Juanico Bridge
14. Ang gumanap na “Gagay”
15. Actress na bida sa “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” episode na “Undin”
16. Artistang kilala sa bansag na “impaktita”
17. Sa pelikulang “Tatlo Silang Tatay Ko” nung 80s, siya ang sikat na child star na kasama nina Tito, Vic, &Joey
18. Artistang nagpauso ng linyang “Trabaho lang, walang personalan”
19. Sa pelikulang ito binigkas ang mga katagang “Akala mo lang wala .. pero meron! Meron!!”
20. Title ng pelikula kung saan binigkas ni Vilma Santos ang mga linyang: “Kung hindi tayo kikilos, sino ang kikilos? King hindi ngayon, kailan pa?”


Bakyang sagot:

1. Maricel Soriano
2. UMD – Universal Motion Dancers
3. PJ Pascual
4. I.C. Mendoza
5. Kier Legaspi
6. Anna Marie Falcon
7. Daisy Romualdez
8. Quark Henares
9. Becky Aguila
10. Congressman Manhik-manaog
11. Pinakamagandang Hayop sa Balat ng Lupa
12. Shake, Rattle, and Roll
13. Dante Varona
14. Gelli De Bellen
15. Manilyn Reynes
16. Jean Garcia
17. Nino Muhlach
18. Rudy Fernandez
19. Bata, Bata Paano Ka Ginawa?
20. Sister Stella L.

Bitin ba? May Part2 pa!

http://telebisyon.net/balita/Ang-No-1-show-sa-GMA-Pinoy-TV/artikulo/534/
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/1306/deball.htm

Remembering BUCELS

When I see the poor state of public elementary schools in the news I can't help but feel sad for the young Filipino student who has to be content with sharing not only a short bench with four other classmates, but also a leaking roof with forty other students. It's disheartening to see crowded classrooms overflowing with students with a bleak hope of building a brighter future. Sabi kasi ni teacher, sila ang pag-asa ng bayan. Sabi din ni tatay, sila ang mag aahon sa kahirapan ng pamilya. Talaga lang ha? With textbooks containing wrong information and carabao grammar, ano pa kaya ang kinabukasan ni Juanito De La Cruz?

I was browsing through the internet trying to find some information about my elementary school and was surprised to see this photo on the website of The Heritage Conservation Society. From this picture, it looks like even my school is not spared from the worsening condition of our public schools.

Bicol University College of Education Laboratory School. This was the official name of my elementary school. It was known as BUCELS during our time but has changed its name a few years ago to Bicol University Integrated Laboratory School or BUILS (Ew.) Kasabay ba ng pagbantot ng pangalan ang pagsama ng itsura ng eskwelahan ko? Nalungkot tuloy ako.

Just the same, biased man ako, I always considered BUCELS as one of the best elementary schools in the province of Albay, at par with (if not better than) most private school you can find in the region. Unlike most public schools, each batch has less than 100 students and there are only two sections per class. The curriculum is focused on mathematics and science, and because it is a laboratory school, student teachers from the Bicol University College of Education is part of our early learnings.

During my time, I am proud to say that this school produced students that competed and bagged medals in regional Quiz Bees and other academic contests, as well graduates that would pass the entrance examination to the country's only special science high school -- Philippine Science High School. Teachers from my school would spend Saturdays conducting math and science review classes for the top students of the graduating class. Passing the Philippines Science High School entrance exam meant attending high school in Manila under a full government scholarship and an almost 100% chance at getting into the University of the Philippines at maging Iskolar Ng Bayan. Coming from a region with one of the lowest minimum wagess in the country, this opportunity meant a once in lifetime chance at a better education and thus a better life for the Bicolano.

This school holds a lot of history. My siblings and two nephews graduated from this same school. This was where I first learned how to write my lines and curves. Dito ako natuto ng "ba be bi bo bu", ng "My Dear Aunt Sally", ng pollination, at ng chinese garter. I learned the importance of water and sunlight sa pamamagitan ng pagpapatubo ng munggo. Natutunan ko rin na masaya pala ang science at wala pala akong green thumb. This school was instrumental in producing the engineers, nurses, and teachers of Albay.

I pray that the current state of the school building is not reflective of the existing quality of education taught in this school. I still believe that the youth is the hope of this country, at malay nga naman natin, baka sakaling ang makabagong bayaning si Juanito De La Cruz ay nandyan lang sa tabi-tabi, nagbubulag-bulagan sa tumutulong kisame ng kanyang eskelahan.

more photos of BUCELS by Ivan Anthony Henares from Heritage Conservation Society :http://heritageconservation.wordpress.com/2006/07/27/bicol-university-college-of-education-laboratory-school-legazpi-city/
oficial BU website: http://www.bicol-u.edu.ph/

Friendship the SCRUBS Way

I can never get enough of comedy shows on TV and SCRUBS is one of my favorite shows, along with The Office, That 70s Show, Will and Grace, My Wife and Kids, and Friends. Pagdating sa kabalbalan, SCRUBS is on top my list . The show is a satire on doctors and their profession called medical practice. Isn't it a bit strange that doctors call what they do "practice"?

Why do I love SCRUBS so much? Because of Turk & JD! Wala na yatang dalawang mag best friends on TV na kasing saya ng dalawang to. Not even Joey & Chandler of Friends can match them. Here is my favorite episode from SCRUBS. Ang kuhleeet...!!

I also love episodes that involve singing and/or dancing. See sidebar for featured vids on SCRUBS:

-Turk dancing to Poison

-Turk & airband persorms Boston's "More Than a Feeling" , Mandy Moore guests

-Scrubs episode fearuring the song Overkill by Colin Hay

- JD singing along to Toto's Africa

Keep SCRUBbing! Yeah!

Love Advice From Friends

When my girl friends decided to throw a bridal shower for me for my wedding two years ago, each had to write on a piece of paper whatever advice she wanted to share with me. They color-coded the pieces of advice based on my “shades-of-pink” wedding color motif --- general household advice written on white paper, “intimacy” advice on red paper, and pink colored pieces were reserved for love and relationship advice. They put everything in a round transparent container and we randomly picked and read a piece of advice as we passed the container around the group. The advices varied from the useful and serious to the crazy and kinky!

As I could not share with others the “intimacy” advices I got (trust me what my friends wrote are not for General Patronage, so I’m just going to keep them to myself), let me share the cool ones I received on love and relationship. To friends and other people who are going through tough times, I hope you get inspiration from these :

- Never quarrel about money.

- Love is not the right reason to get married. To grow together is.

- Stay friends. Love and respect follows.

- Don’t expect him to change. Don’t expect him to remain the same either. Love and accept him for who he is and who he will become.

And my most favorite love advice of all (and therefore I try my best to live by)

- Be his number one fan.

These five words may sound simple but for me it means so much more. For me, it means believing in your partner’s capabilities and talents, supporting his dreams, endeavors, and goals, cheering him on his successes and achievements, being there if he fails, and loving unconditionally. It means accepting his not-so-good side because his good side is enough reason to make your heart skip a beat.

As your idol, he is the source of your inspiration. And as a fan, you are behind him all the way. After all, a number one fan defends her idol to her friends, her family, and to his detractors.

Sweet and sensible di ba?

Poems Are Made By Fools Like Me

but only ee cummings can write a poem as moving as this.....

my favorite poem ....

somewhere i have never travelled gladly beyond

any experience , your eyes have their silence:

in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,

or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me

though i have closed myself as fingers,

you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens

(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and

my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,

as when the heart of this flower imagines

the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals

the power of your intense fragility: whose texture

compels me with the color of its countries,

rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes

and opens;only something in me understands

the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)

nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

- somewhere i have never traveled -

a poem by ee cummings

Feeling Trapped?

I named this picture "Teddy Trap". After a nephew finished washing his favorite teddy bear, he asked my sister to hang it for drying. I could not help laughing when I saw it. Hahaha! The teddy looked sooo cute and funny. But upon looking closer, don't you think the teddy looks sad?

Who wouldn't be? Isabit ka ba naman with blue pins in your ears (e red & green naman ang colors nya!), di ka ba naman malulungkot? This is worse than a mouse trap. At least kasi sa mouse trap there's cheese as consolation.

Di ba relate ka kay Teddy at times? Look around you. Daming Teddy traps around us. Trapped sa work. Trapped sa tight situation. Trapped in solitude. Trapped in a bad relationship. Trapped in poverty. Trapped in silence. Trapped in greed. Trapped in ignorance. Yep,tt one time in our lives, we have felt as trapped as this teddy.

Hmmm ano nga bang teddy trap ko these days? Maybe work. Don't get me wrong. Love my work. Happy with pay. But that's exactly why I am trapped. My job is my comfort zone. And sometimes I feel that I should be doing something else. Something more enjoyable. So that it wouldn't feel like work. I envy people who do what they love and get paid for it, too. If I were to choose a dream job, I would probably choose to be a big time record producer. Wouldn't it be cool to work with all the great artists of the world? Another small time dream job would be to work for an advertising company or be a wedding planner or own a small coffee shop/diner/bar . Coffee shop sa umaga, diner sa tanghali, bar sa gabi! Haha.

But just like this bear, until I find rescue, I'll have to live with my situation. I guess, it's not so bad. Some people got it worse. I'm still feeling lucky than most. Pin or no pin, I guess I'll just make the most of my stuation.... like probably make sure that the "pins" match my clothes!

One Republic's Say (All I Need) : My Favorite Song This Month

Their album is called Dreaming Out Loud and contains tracks that remind me of Keane's songs in Hopes and Dreams album.

I am one of the people who heard the song Apologize and thought it was a Timbaland song. Kasi tama ba namang ilagay na Apologize by Timbaland feat. One Republic? E kanta nman talaga ng One Republic yun. I'm glad that I heard the version of the original writer and band's lead vocals Ryan Tedder. Among my other favorites from the album are the songs Mercy, Someone to Save Me, Come Home, Stop and Stare, and of course, Apologize (slide2). Ganda!

More on this band http://www.onerepublic.net/bio/

Robby Navarro is Voted Out (Hmmpft)

It's official. Pinoy Idol sucks. Kainis. Robby Navarro was voted out of Pinoy Idol tonight. Good bye Robby. And for me, it's good bye Pinoy Idol as well. This just confirmed my earlier feeling about the contest. Nope. Philippines is not ready for a format like Pinoy Idol. Simply because Daryl Celis, Sue Ellen and Warren Antig are still in the competition, while Robby is not. It is Philippine Idol story all over again. I can almost see Ryan Cayabyab (instead of Wyngard) begging the voting public to choose wisely. I almost hated Ogie and Jolina for giving him poor reviews. But then again, like Wyngard said, the people will choose. Oh well.

I still hope that GMA7 gives Robby a singing career. This guy can really sing. It's sad to see such a great talent go to waste by singing in bars. I mean, let's face it, it's not everyday that rare talents who sing in music bars and watering holes are given big breaks like Arnel Pineda.

On a related note, I retract what I said on an earlier blog about Ram Chaves. OK, I now think that he has a good voice. Still, Robby was so much better.

I'm a Kapuso but sad to say... Pinoy Idol sucks (hmpft). And don't even get me started on that segment called Pinoy Idol Extra. Will remain a loyal Robby fan, though.

It doesn't matter if it's a singing contest or a senatorial race. The Philippine voting public cannot be trusted.

Goodluck, Robby!

Again, kainis. Sigh.

photo from http://www.clickthecity.com/event/detail.asp?evid=19270