The Comfort Rooms

First of, this is not a Tagalog versus Bisaya or Manila versus Cebu thing. No.

I'm just tired of it.

I know the Visayans are just offended by the racist jokes that Tagalogs make. And I'm really sorry for it. But everybody knows that the story does not end there. I traveled from Dumaguete and Cebu down to Agusan del Sur then Davao all the way to Pacquiao's General Santos City for 2 years as a teenage missionary. I have relatives and had househelps that are Ilonggos and I grew up learning conversational Ilonggo. I speak fluent Bisaya as well.

My point is, I am well-versed enough to speak about the Visayans and share some of my thoughts about them.

They are a proud people. The Cebuanos especially, by a hefty mile. The only thing I didn't like is that they tend to be the most regionalistic among all the other ethno-linguistic groups in the country. They can get to the point wherein they would almost always readily compete with the Tagalog. Don't deny this now. It's ok to admit it. They can always say how bad they think Manila is without us reacting but whenever we give even just the slightest hint of a negative comment about Cebu City, they would think you are a racist.

They CAN think that Manila is evil. Have you ever heard of Imperial Manila? The ultra-regionalistic Bisayas would love to refer to Manila as Imperial Manila. It is not out fault why we were chosen as the country's capital. Not our fault why Tagalog and not Bisaya is the national language. Not our fault why Manila is wealthier by a clear mile. Not our fault why SM has gazillions of SMs here compared to Cebu's one. Our success is the nation's success. Our success is their success as well. We think their success is our success as well. Where did bayanihan go?

We Tagalogs never refered to ourselves as Tagalogs. We're just Filipinos. Our thinking encompasses all 7,107 islands and not just to a specific ethnolinguistic group. Living in Cebu for a time kind of made me felt like I was being ganged up by some overzealous regionalists. I know some Tagalogs can be total douches and think of Visayans as second-class citizens. Not everyone is like that. However, it does not even justify an anti-Manila sentiment coming from them. Even a majority of my American friends from the mission are anti-Manila as well!

Tagalogs can't be complete Filipinos without the Visayans and I hope the Visayans feel the same way too. All I'm trying to say is that, I hope Visayans would widen their scope. Only a few nautical miles separate us.

Aside from the political ads that are taking the Filipino boob tube (television, stupid) by storm, it has got to be this Derek Ramsey ad encouraging people to lose weight, be seen, and eat Century Tuna by means of joining him run (more like chasing him) sometime in February that has got everyone abuzz. Can't even recall when will it exactly happen. All I know is that it will be held on Bonifacio Global City.

I think it is kinda obvious that I won't be joining in the fun. More like not join in the sweat. Not even Coach Rio's afro nor the flat abs of the Brazilian girls can entice me to join.

It was a clever ploy to make this run fun by creating an idea that people who would be joining the run can get this amazing chance to be chasing after Derek Ramsey. What if this would hold true come fun run? Will there be human stampedes? Will there be blood, hair-pulling, face-clawing incidences among girls and girls-at-heart? What will happen to Derek Ramsey after?

Thinking about it, will this fun run still be all about living a healthy life and stuff? How many phone numbers will be exchanged after the run? How many glutathioned girls and guys and gays will be able to sacrifice their pseudo-fair complexions for this chance to meet eye candies?

How many politicos will be there? Will the running priest still be there? Are we going to see another Gibo Teodoro sighting since he joined a run over the past weekend? Will this be an opportunity for politicos to attract potential voters?

Anyhoo, here's the TV commercial. Watch it. If you can't, salivate after it.



Will you be chasing Derek Ramsey?

One of the biggest perks for being an electronics store company employee is that we usually are among the first who gets to hear about soon-to-be-launched products. Though we can’t say anything about it unless we were told to do so, it makes us realize how far we have treaded, as far as technology is concerned.

According to the unofficial Michael Jackson Fans Bible, one of the most effective ways to show one's admiration of the King Of Pop is by imitating him dance.

Many have done that. The moonwalk, the white bedazzled gloves, the hat, the black coat with gold trimmings, the white socks over black shoes and pants, the crotch move, the tip-toe, the works.

Cebu's prisoners inside the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center or CPDRC has once again showed their Michael Jackson-ness by coming up with another Michael Jackson classic. This time, they had the choreographer, Mr. Travis Payne and dancers Daniel Celebre and Dres Reid, no less, accompanying them for their third (?) video. This has got to be viral marketing at work.

Watch the video!

I have never seen a single Glee episode. I know commercials won't work nor information both Google and Wikipedia can supply me with. I haven't googled Glee either. I don't know a single cast member nor their on-screen names.

I'm a Glee virgin and am proud of it.

My work compels me to sleep earlier than usual. No more late-night TV viewing for me during weekdays, and Glee is shown in the Philippines no later than 10pm.

My sisters talk about it at home. I overhear officemates sing and talk about the show almost everyday, I figured their singing The Journey's Don't Stop Believing must have come from watching that show.

Since the musical TV program is shown every Monday nights here in Manila, I always expect that come Tuesday morning, the Glee-fanatics in our office has got another reason to bond over their prized television show.

I know the show is addicting, eventhough I haven't seen a single episode yet. I just need to buy myself a DVD copy of the show (yeah, pirated) and then I can start relating myself with everyone.

As far as I'm concerned, Glee is cool according to my book. I love music by the way and was once a part of our school's glee club.

First of, I don't drive a Mini. Heck I can't even afford to buy one. Nor even ask my folks to buy the car for me. I'm just a fan, that's it. A guy writing about the Mini who can't even afford to buy Japanese for himself. Enough about me.

Here's the catch: Mini will officially open its first store here in the Philippines via its Bonifacio Global City showroom on January 18. That's a Monday. The second most popular car is now offically on our shores.

Are we going to expect a deluge of new Minis treading along EDSA and Ayala Avenue? Most likely. This seriously cute and cool car has been around since I could remember it. Although a Mini Cooper phenomenon has been in the mix the past few years.

It can be outright silly if you think of ginormous floods and massive moonholes here in the metro. But just look at the car. Consider its iconicness. Consider Mr. Bean. Consider the movie The Italian Job. Consider Britain. Consider the pogi/ganda points you will be getting when people see you driving one. Consider the new instant friends and VIP treatments you will be receiving once people start recognizing that you are a Mini driver. Aren't those reasons enough to make you wanna buy one?

By the way, the least you could pay for a Mini would be 1.95 million Philippine Pesos. The equivalent of three Japanese mini cooper-wannabes. You think it is pretty hefty? It is either you save for one, work three shifts for it, or drool while daydreaming of owning one. Heck this is a poor guy's account of the Mini. Hope you enjoyed.

Check the website at mini.com.ph or call 856-7555 for more details about the Mini.

I will be pasting here the article written (as well as the image)for the Facebook event called Wear Red For Haiti. Since its birth a few days ago, the total number of attendees number to 102,033.

Show your support for the victims of the earthquake disaster in Haiti by wearing red on January 19. We're all one people and we all share this world, and we must stand up for one another when others begin to fall apart.

Everyone who joins this group, if you would invite all of your friends and tell them to do the same with theirs. If we work together then we can show our strong support for those who have been affected by this unprecedented tragedy.

IF YOU HAVE A TWITTER, TWEET THE LINK TO THIS EVENT SO THAT ALL OF YOUR FOLLOWERS WHO HAVE A FACEBOOK WILL BE AWARE OF IT! TELL THEM TO CONTINUE TWEETING IT AS WELL!

If you are interested in donating money to the victims, you can do so in several different ways:
1. Text "YELE" to 501501 and donate $5 to an organization known as Yele Haiti that is supporting the relief efforts.
2. Text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross which is also aiding in the efforts.
3. Obviously if you are aware of any charities sending money to the victims, these would work as well.

Here is a long list of organizations participating in Haiti as of right now, so if you have the money to spare, please give what you can to help these people. http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/01/13/haiti.earthquake.how.to.help/index.html?hpt=T2

UPDATE: Actor Ben Stiller has just announced that ALL donations given through his charity StillerStrong (http://www.stillerstrong.org/) will go directly toward the disaster relief in Haiti. This is just another excellent way to show your support for the Haitian people.

IMPORTANT: If you are searching for relatives or friends who may have been in Haiti at the time of the earthquake, go to http://www.familylinks.icrc.org/WFL_HTI.NSF/DocIndex/locate_eng?opendocument. It is an excellent site that hopefully will reunite you with anyone that may be missing.

January 14, 10:15 PM - 20,000 members
January 15, 4:00 AM - 40,000 members
January 15, 12:40 PM - 60,000 members
January 15, 4:05 PM - 80,000 members
January 15, 6:45 PM - 100,000 members

If you wanna consider this as merely wanting to get a slice out of the media attention that Haiti has been getting the past few hours, fine, I don't need no commenting like that. I'm sure many internet-savvy people have blogged, twitted, facebooked, digged, what-have-you about the massive earthquake Haiti has suffered with. Not even a partial number of casualties and missings have been given, prompting more fear since this 7.0 magnitude earthquake's destruction is huge.

In reality, 7.0 is really not that strong. It is strong but not to the point wherein you would consider it like really strong. But this is Haiti, Americas' poorest nation. People live on meager resources. They earn less than $2 dollars a day.

The earthquake has left an already-shambled country into ruins. Even the presidential palace was damaged. The disaster respected no one. Rich or poor, black or white, old or young, local or foreigner.

Imagine if this has happened to your country. Imagine if this has happened to your city. Imagine if this has happened to your family. Imagine if this has happened to you. Your right ear bleeding, a block of concrete on your back. You lie helplessly on your chest, unable to move, hoping that no aftershock would make your situation worse.

Is it humanly ok for you to feel blessed? Yes. Is it rightful for you to feel indifferent? No. And I don't think anybody would really feel that way. But many of us would just consider this as some normal event that people won't really care. Time to make a change I think. Even a single prayer for those trapped inside buildings would help a lot.

May Haiti recover at the soonest time possible. May search-and-rescue missions unearth survivors, not casualties.

If you think this is a 2012 precursor, please don't start.

Somebody posted on plurk today asking whether we guys were pro-Batibot or pro-Sesame Street. As we all know, both were popular kiddie programs, one was popular in the US and the other, popular here in the Philippines.

Both were shown on local TV. Cable was still non-existent during the 80s, thus, both were shown on free TV. I honestly could not remember any spectacular lesson I learned from both shows. Back then, my second parents were still my teachers in school, my yaya and the books I loved to read. So TV did not have a huge impact in my life back then.

So I was asked on plurk whether I'm a Team Batibot or a Team Sesame Street. I answered Team Batibot. Why? Because Batibot was tailor-made for the Filipino child. My childhood would have never been the same if not for Ate Siena and Kuya Bodjie and Kiko Matsing and Pong Pagong and Kapitan Basa and Manang Bola.

It is not like a Jollibee-versus-McDonald's thing since McDo, throughout the years, has been Filipinized. Thus obtaining that sweet Filipino spirit only Filipinos can truly decipher.

Although Sesame Street was cute and the 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 song was addictive for a kid like me back then, it did not have a piercing effect on my childhood. All I knew back then was that Sesame Street was American and Batibot was Filipino.

Batibot makes me nostalgic. Sesame Street makes me sing the 1-12 song. Batibot wins for me.

I have to admit that the TV show (Keeping Up With The Kardashians) has got to be one of the biggest guilty pleasures.

Aside from the obvious fact that Kim is molten hot, the family is just really entertaining. Here's my take on them (on bulleted form):

* I think the family is really funny. I can relate to the fact that the sisters make fun of their mom plus the fact that my sisters make fun of our mom as well.

*Though Kris Jenner is a total MILF, she still very much reminds me of my own mom. Pretty much the same fashion sense to how she over-reacts sometimes, even to her trying to pass for a cheerleader and a rap star, she really reminds me of my mom.

*The Kardashian sisters remind me of my own sisters. My eldest sister's like Kourtney's responsible persona, the second is as sheltered yet independent like Kim, and the third is as spirited yet awkward like Khloe. My youngest sister pretty much like a cross between Kylie and Kendall.

*Am I Rob? Probably not. Cos I have a bigger share of the pie in my family. Meaning, I have my own say and my opinion has always been valued. Unlike Rob who's like the token middle child.

If you were like "who are they" upon reading my post, well I'm giving you a big thumbs down now. Why? Because this family is really cool and funny.

Try to catch the show, on your own terms!

For some metaphysical reason, I feel positive about my blog this 2010.

New things should be in store.

New insights, new experiences, no sadnesses, new excitements, new dramas, new stories, new mishaps, new me.

Expect changes in this blog. 2010 should be electrfyingly...uhm, boring. Haha! Anti-climactic huh?!

The Comfort Rooms will be the bomb!

People usually start their stories chronologically, they start from the beginning up till the end. That way, readers would usually get a clearer grasp on how the story really went. Stories become easier to understand. For some reason, I can't write this article on a chronological order. I might eventually later on but I will just rely on how my mind and fingers transcribe what happened earlier during the day.

Though he is not exactly a nobody, but David does not even consider himself a celebrity. It only makes sense to me. He did not come here to the country for fame and fortune. His was an adventure an independent spirit would love to hear. His was a journey a normal person would call "out-of-this-world"or "daring" and even worse, "crazy".

He (a Filipino-American) left the United States to search for himself here in his mom's homeland, leaving behind his job, school, security, and family. Armed with boxes and some $200 cash, his was an adventure that involved more than just backpacking, it was a journey searching for that one thing he still haven't found.

Throughout his pretty obscure persona (I can actually relate to him), I saw a man yearning for answers to questions he doesn't even know what they actually were. His life is a continuous search to whatever it was he was searching for.

He loves to laugh. He just throws out topics to conversations randomly. He knows what he wants. He hopes for the best. He questions his beliefs yet he hopes he is wrong. He doesn't want to be chained. He acts and does things according to what his feelings dictate him. He is an independent spirit indeed.

I hope we all get to read more about his life. He is indeed one inspiration.

Visit his blog.

The Tiger Woods scandal really came in as a shocker.

I mean, I know it is almost a given that a husband would not be completely faithful to his wife but this Tiger Scandal has been too blown out of proportions.

I guess everybody was just shocked.

It would be quite normal if one finds out that a football or a soccer or a basketball or a baseball or a hockey player might be womanizing. But not golfers!

I guess everyone saw golf as too classy a sport that a scandal like this would have never happened. Not even to golf's biggest star, probably the greatest the sport has ever seen!

I hope Tiger comes out victorious after this storm. Not just him, but Elin and their kids as well. If Kobe was able to resurrect himself from a scandal. why can't Tiger?

What do I think of Lady Gaga?

1. At first I thought she was Alicia Keys when I first saw Pokerface on MTV.

2. Why does she always have to be wearing her tangas? Will she ever consider doing an outdoor concert in Alaska?

3. She is still lightyears away from Madonna.

4. She is one heck-of-a marketing strategy.

5. Her dance music will die down.

6. She looks kinda like Mel C of Spicegirls.

7. She needs the movies to survive Hollywood.

8. She's got balls.

9. What's her real name anyway?

10. I'll say it again, she is one heck-of-a marketing strategy. Hahaha!

I'm not really the biggest fan of musicals.
Except for maybe school fieldtrips, I never considered going to the theatre and watch the latest play or the latest musical. Not a single member of our family was a big fan either.
We know it would be really cool to watch a play but never really considered to like make it a priority to watch one. Maybe we can put the blame on movie adaptations.
Maybe we weren't prepared for the Les Miserables or the Phantom of the Operas or the Miss Saigons (which i really, really regret not to have seen it), or the Cats, or whichever play or musical the theatre gods know by heart.
But if I had to cut short my musical play virginity, its got to be with this one hip musical play with a really cool song and a great story to boot - Rent.
I've been hearing about Rent before. I first thought it was a theatre group! Haha! Not until I was aware that it was made into a movie back in 2005. I already knew that it would be one of those musicals that would be cool to watch since it was hip and contemporary, devoid of neo-classicism or rococco or what-not.
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La Boheme. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side in the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of AIDS.
The musical will be shown on a limited run this month of February here in Manila at the Carlos P. Romulo Theater, RCBC Plaza in Makati City.

For pricing and other details, refer to this website.