Ecstacy.

Ecstatic.  That's the word that can best describe the feeling and aura Pinoys are feeling and exhibiting these days.  One cannot help but be sucked into it.  It's in the air.

This ecstasy is not fuelled by the so-called "party pill," but by the impending inauguration and coming of the new President of the Republic of the Philippines - Noy Aquino.

Tomorrow, June 30th, is the swearing in of President Aquino.

But why such euphoric feeling?

I've been in Manila just for two months, but already,  I'm totally in the mood, and in one with the more than 14 million "kababayans" who voted for Aquino. 

I remember the time that Noy's father, then Senator Ninoy Aquino, visited U.P. Diliman.  It was before Martial Law; he went there to give a speech.  I don't remember anymore what he talked about.  I presume it had something to do with the excesses of the Marcos administration.

Senator Ninoy Aquino cut a dashing, charismatic figure.  He proved, during that short appearance, his flair for public speaking and his encyclopedic grasp of events and factoids.

Now, his son, Noynoy, who doesn't possess the same brand of charisma as his father, but still emits a compelling personality, will be sworn in tomorrow.  The people who knew and remember his father, could not help but feel nostalgic.

If Martial Law had not been declared and if Ninoy had not been assassinated, he was sure to have been elected as a Philippine president.  Certainly, this nation could have been totally different. 

We were number two to Japan in terms of economy before Martial Law had been declared; now we trail even Vietnam, who'd been just out of the destructive war and Indonesia, who had been just out of the chaotic civil war post-Sukarno and Suharto rules.

Pinoys could not help but be ecstatic.  Here is another leader who could provide change.  It's the feeling of hope.  Pinoys are good at hoping.

Post Mortem.

Attending a mass in a mall has its pluses and minuses. Plus because after a morning mass, you can have a quick brunch before heading to the supermart, running an errand, doing more shopping, catching an afternoon movie or heading to a game of bowling.

Another plus is if you bump into relatives you've haven't seen in a while, and are really glad to see.

But a minus if you run into certain individuals who'd ambush you and subject you to a stilted conversation. 

Long gone are the days when you attend a Sunday mass in your parish;  today, more and more people don their Sunday shopping dress and hear mass in a mall.

When attending mass in the mega church, I've often worn dark glasses.  You see, the regular mass we attend is being televised, and the glare from the huge lights and the intrusiveness of cameras panning the pews are difficult to bear.

I'm also into wearing a baseball cap, a habit from my Toronto days, and so, if you see me, you'd think I'm a fugitive hiding from the law. 

So the times I've let go of the cap or the dark glasses, people who know me, see me.

I don't mind talking to people, but certain individuals should recognize when a chit chat is not comfortable and should not be pressed on in the first place. 

There's no surer way to wreck a present than a past life. 

Chow Times.

Whatever happened?

Did you ever run into these TV entertainment programs with a segment called "whatever happened to?"

Whatever happened to would usually refer to a child actor of a long forgotten sitcom, or a to a star of a cancelled sitcom, or soap, or to a singer or a band with a one-hit record.  It is an update of sort, bringing the fans and viewers, into the present life of the once popular idol or star, now mostly forgotten. 

This segment is always interesting as it brings back memories of one's childhood or teens, and of the good 'ol days.

When I was new in the U.S., I happened to chance on the show "What's Happening," a show with an all-black cast, and I got hooked on it, although I was watching reruns of a 70's show.  I also loved the sitcom, Wonder Years, with Kevin and his family.  Wonder Years, I think, ran in the latter part of the 80's but had its setting in the 70's during the height of the Vietnam war. 

The 2009 movie, Wonderland, likewise brings a flood of the past for many.

The question whatever happened, almost always has a tone of nostalgia, longing and of bittersweet sadness at missing an individual or an opportunity.

Politics of Rumour.

I am amazed how rumour appears to have been institutionalized in the Philippines; it's become a tool to disseminate lies and tales, ambitions and dreams.

It's been so ingrained in the Pinoy life that it's permeated not just the day to day activities of families and individuals, but also the highest levels of government.

Take the case of  Vice President-elect Binay.  In the past two weeks since he'd been proclaimed, we've read and heard how he wanted to become the DILG chief, and how he'd been offered instead the DOTC cabinet post.

President-elect Noy Aquino told the public he'd never offered the DOTC post because he'd never talked to Binay.

After days of negative write ups about him, Binay today proclaimed that he never asked for the DILG post, and said he recognized it is the president's prerogative to appoint or not to appoint the vice president to a cabinet post.

So, all this brouhaha about Binay wanting the DILG post now seems to be a product of every one's imagination.  Of course  there's such a thing a "leaking" it to the press and letting the pubic react to it.

In Binay's case, the public pulse beats clearly.  The people approves of Aquino's strong and formidable show of leadership, and disapproves of Binay's seemingly "bullying" tactic.

I think Binay who's so used to being the Chief, is simply trying the Pinoy "kung makakalusot lang naman," or maybe it would fly, who knows. 

In the case of Kris Aquino and husband James Yap, rumour has it that the wife left the abode with two kids in tow. 

Kris Aquino's life has captured the pubic's imagination; she'd been very successful at openly talking about her life in public  that millions of Pinoys have continually watched her programs and bought her magazine.

To countless of people, rumour can add spice or poison to life.  I'm sure one time or another, you have been either a victim or perpetrator of rumour, knowingly or unwittingly. 

Local Tourism.

LEFT - Vacation house of a cousin in Nueva Ecija.

I've never really explored the Philippines. I've gone to most states of the U.S, and some of the provinces in Canada, and I'd seen most of Europe, but  I've only gone as far as Vigan up north, and have never been south.  Shame. 

I'd been to Sagada and Tuguegarao, two beautiful  but less visited places by both local and international tourists mainly because of its treacherous road (Sagada) and hot weather (Tuguegarao).

I'd travelled to Lucena in Quezon, Catanduanes, Camarines and Naga in the Bicol province, and of course to the other well known vacation spots (Baguio, Pangasinan, Laguna, Batangas, Tagaytay, and other parts of Luzon).

I've never been to Boracay, though, so this is upcoming in my calendar.  A sister is coming home in October and having a medical mission in La Union, so we might tag along as part of the volunteer group.

A sister in law of a sister is another visitor and wants to visit Cebu or Bohol, and again we were asked to join them.

A sister who's lived most of her life in the United States and now a regular visitor to P.I. recently commented that it's only now that she's really discovered the true beauty of the Philippines.  

So, I'm taking a cue from her and would start to enjoy the scenes of the Pearl. 

Unceremonious.

Ceremony. Rite.  The Catholic Mass is a rite for the faithful.  It is a beautiful ceremony that glorifies God.  I read of a Protestant minister who converted to Catholicism because he found the Catholic rites so much beautiful, sacred and a true tribute to Jesus.

Aside from the mass itself, other beautiful Catholic rites include baptism, confirmation, and wedding.

My father was a Catholic while my mother was an Aglipay.  So we, children except for two, were all first baptized as Aglipays, then were converted to Catholicism. 

Unceremonious.  Without the due formalities, abrupt. Some relationships, engagements, and friendships are ended without any formal notices.

The parties involved could choose closure; others simply coast along, some get hitched, for the right or wrong reasons; still others wander from one relationship to another.

Backyard Tourist. T is for Tulip Festival.

Where: Skagit in Washington State

When: Mid-April (2010) of each year

Local and Livid.

LEFT-  File photo.  (Taken from googling).

Was driving out of a parking lot yesterday and made a right onto a minor street when a traffic cop stopped me.  He told me that was a one way. What? One way, when all I did was merge into the traffic.   I explained to him there was no sign indicating so, and told him to alert the parking lot operator to put a sign.  He said "there is a sign."  He asked for my license and even my passport.  I told him I don't carry my passport when driving.

Anyway, it took him forever to write the ticket.  Deal?  No way.  I'd rather fall in line than corrupt another individual. 

My foot!  I have never gotten any ticket in Canada in the twenty years that I've been driving there ; just once.  It was for speeding in a road that had 20 km/h, and I was driving about 40 km/h (it was downhill and I was not braking that much).

In the U.S., in my younger days, I used to collect tickets for speeding, but upon realizing I was depositing too much dollars into New Jersey and Pennsylvania coffers, I stopped the nasty habit of going overboard.  Plus I aged and wisened up.  

I am a responsible driver.  I am too courteous, especially with pedestrians.  Even with the annoying motorbikes and trikes, I exercise defensive driving.

I hope the new Transportation and Communication czar or whoever it is whose in charge of street and traffic signage would construct BIGGER AND BOLDER signs so motorists could see far and beyond.

Am not committing suicide yet.

Hazard of glue.

The thing I love most about home improvement centres is that it encourages you to be a do-it-yourself-er. In Canada, doing it yourself is the trend because of the high cost of skilled labour.

I learned how to cook, how to lay tiles, how to wall paper, how to paint, how to repair damaged wooden floor and walls, how to install mouldings, among other things, because there was no else to do them, plus the fact that there were a thousand products to make doing the projects easier.

I particularly like the product called Liquid Nails - you can nail/attach wood, plastic, etc without using actual nails. The product is quite expensive but it saves you a lot of time and a lot of hazard ( e.g. hitting your own nails instead of the hardware nail). The liquid nail is like glue and the result is spectacular.

There are various types of glue in the market. Glue for tiles, for metal, for hardboard, cork board, wood, rubber, and for handicraft. There's the epoxy-type, the rugby type, etc.

When using any type of industrial glue or adhesive for any project, the do-it-yourself(er) must exercise caution. I wear an industrial mask all the time, to prevent inhalation which can cause nausea or worse, brain damage, even death. Working in a well ventilated area is also recommended.

Do-it-yourself (ers) choose from this wide array of products. I personally don't like rugby; others gloat over it, though.

Rugby reminds me of the sniffers - the street kids of Columbia and Brazil, the poor drug-folk of Manila, who inhale the chemical in order to get a high.

But there's another type of rugby that also gives a high - the English game, that is. To a lot, it's really the rough and tumble that excite; to a few, it's the persona that counts.

Not same banana.

Just saw "Killers,"  the movie starring Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher. It was quite funny and quite similar to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Early in the film, Spencer (Ashton) was stalking Jen (Katherine) who was vacationing in Nice, Paris with her parents. He then invited her to dinner and Jen readily agreed.  Just out of a relationship, Jen became too excited and too drank that first date that she ended up in Spencer's hotel room.

I like Jen's character.  She was not at all pretentious.  She got attracted to Spencer and did not dilly dally.  So she ended up married to Spencer.

It was a relaxing movie to see on a busy mall day - Father's Day, and two days before the opening of classes.  

Code of Six.

Yesterday was a Wednesday, and it's THE coding day. The plate number ends in six, so like other car owners with a six at the end, we were not able to drive the vehicle from 8am - 10 am and from 3pm to 7 pm.

I wanted to check out an exhibit in Makati but couldn't; Makati does not have a "window of opportunity," those times outside 8 - 10 am and 3 - 7pm, when you could drive on your coding day.

I remember some relatives who came to visit one time, and were forced to stay up to 7 pm because it was their coding day.  Twice, I confidently drove out of the house before 10 am having forgotten my window of opportunity started at 10 am.  Of course, I was stopped by those traffic enforcers.

If there are errands to be done on a Wednesday, we do so after 10 am.  Then, we stay in the place or wherever we would be until 7 pm. 

Killing time on a Wednesday becomes expensive. If you happen to be in a mall, you've got to have two snacks, a lunch, a dinner plus a movie perhaps, and to do some forced shopping.

Now, that Aquino has been elected new Philippine President, will he replace Bayani Fernando as MMDA Chairman?  And if he does, will the new chairman continue enforcing coding, or come up with new strategy to improve traffic in Metro Manila?

New and better roads, new forms of transport, new brand of discipline - these are what we need in Metro Manila.

Backyard Tourist. S is for San Francisco.

Square at Downtown San Francisco features a chronicle of the American-Spanish War of 1898.

BELOW, Remember Forest Gump and his friend Bubba's shrimp business? And Crooked Street.

LEFT, The Golden Gate.

ALSO, San Francisco's famed Street Car.

Boxed In.

How do you bring in your stuff to Manila? You have them delivered door-to-door. The waiting time is about one and half months.

Cost from Toronto is about CAD $ 60.00. From San Jose, California, it's USD $45 for a smaller box, and from Seattle, a whooping USD$65.

I thought that it would be cheaper shipping from the West Coast, but the Seattle figure disproved it. In all places, you get a replacement box each time you ship one.

I'd been shipping stuff since late last year, and it'd not been easy. And then, once the hardware get here, there's the problem of wattage conversion, from 110 to 220.

I brought in two converters plus there are two outlets in the house which are 110, but I've been experiencing fuse blow ups. Two small appliances already blew up, and two got faulty. Now, I'm scared to plug the more expensive ones.

I think it's got to do with Meralco having disruptive service or sometimes low input, much like water service. During the day, water pressure is low.

My laptop is also 110, but so far, because of its lower watt requirement, I've never had a problem. The toaster eats up a lot of wattage; the rice cooker, low; the coffee maker got burnt out, and a small radio decided to quit on me. I have a small refrigerator plugged directly into a 110 but now it sits in the dining area when I wanted it in the bedroom.

Small, seemingly insignificant things remain inside a box, and lots more have been left in Canada.

Having two countries of residence is no simple stuff. If I had been rich, it would be easy, but I am not. So I stay disoriented most of the time, unlike perhaps the "snow birds" who stay in Canada six months and migrate to Florida six months of each year. The two cities are about two days apart in driving time.

It's difficult being boxed in. Life's suddenly become a coop.

At stake is a lifetime.

Noy.

I've probably watched too many newscasts about the Philippine elections 2010 that I readily agreed to watch the movie Noy when asked to.  I was earlier planning on seeing Shrek on 3D or Prince of Persia.

It was a disappointment.  The premise was simple, acting was blah, cinematography was raw. 

But the biggest turn off was seeing the poverty on big screen. Yes, I am an escapist; I want to be entertained when I watch a movie.

I don't want to see the esteros nor hear too much profanity nor see brothers getting into each other's throat because they are plain frustrated of their poverty.  I've seen, heard and read too many of these on television, radio, print and in reality.

I bet this movie would be entered in a foreign film festival. 

Half way through it, I wanted to get out of the cinema.

This movie should just stay as a documentary, not a big screen movie. 

If film makers want to create change in society and think they would do so by creating films that show poverty, obscenity, corruption, etc, I think they are not going to be successful.

Lino Brocka did this genre many years ago, (and it was tastefully done).  But did he influence the people to rise up against the Marcos dictatorship who didn't do nothing to eradicate poverty?  Did the masses of the people change their hearts and voted for honest public officials

who would help eradicate poverty?  Did the Pinoys change their habits upon seeing the filth around them.  I don't think so.

Film makers who want to be socially relevant should make films that would encourage and educate people to act, to be vigilant, to be empowered, to think for themselves, to demand justice and service from their elected officials, not to be corrupt themselves, and to plainly show to Pinoys that Pinoys are achievers despite the poverty... and to do it without resorting to lies and dishonesty.  

Enough of drama.  If these indie film makers want to be seen and heard by many, start thinking of their viewership - which are varied. 

Sports.

There was a TV commercial for a product which I could no longer recall, but the ad itself showed two Scottish friends (herdsmen?) walking along a forest/hill and making use of sticks as walking canes.  As they ambled up and down the hill, they would kick stones with their canes and in the process competed on who would be able to kick the stone first and farthest. To me that commercial was showing how the game of golf started.

Sports as a form of entertainment is huge money.  In developed countries, sports ranks as number one leisure activity followed by music.

To prove this, consider the following:  In the U.S. if it's Super Bowl Sunday, the crime rate is almost zero, meaning almost every American is watching the game.  Also, baseball players command millions of dollars per contract.  And this, if a baseball player gets so much as a finger injury, he would be on injury list.  But wait, football is the rough game, right?  Right.  But baseball is America's favorite past time because of its very nature - it can be played in any open field or backyard - no fancy gadgets, just a bat and a ball and a cap. 

Which leads me to this point?  What determines what becomes a national game or sport?

In the Philippines, although "sipa" is the declared national game, basketball seems to be the national sport.  The PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) games are widely televised and Pinoys follow the games crazily, much like the way Americans and Canadians fight over NBA teams. Plus basketball is being played in both Pinoy rich and rough neighbourhoods.

But in developed countries, almost any sport (including national game) commands  a wide fan base and is a money maker, both for the player and team owner.

Look at tennis, hockey, golf, baseball, football, soccer, swimming, skating, volleyball, wrestling, boxing, biking, cricket, pool, even the rarely-known game of curling, has a solid following in Canada. Their players get big bucks and owners rake in dough from TV rights, merchandise, etc.

In the Philippines, we seem to have gotten the American fever for basketball and boxing; these are considered the games of the masses.  Then there are the sports which are considered classy such as tennis, hockey, and skating.  These three latter sports require investment in costly equipment. Of course even in North America, these three games are considered upper men's sports; you rarely see African-Americans playing them because of the group's prohibitive means.

Manny Pacquiao excelled in boxing because even by his limited resources, it was his raw talent that was required of the sport.  So did Gabriel Flash Elorde.  In the pool game, or locally called billiard, raw talent is also the king, not the gadget.  So Pinoys the like of Efren "Bata" Reyes command respect and winnings.

Now, if we scan the sport scenario among developing or newer nations,  it would seem that each country's taste for its national or favorite game has been influenced or dictated by its "discoverer" or conqueror.

So if you scan Latin America, we see soccer as the number one sport, because most countries here had been occupied by the British, Spanish, Portuguese, French or by other European greats.

Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the other members of the British Commonwealth got their love for hockey and soccer from the Brits and for basketball, baseball and football from the Americans who are the Brits' Anglo- cousins. 

And of course, in P.I., we drool over basketball and boxing as mentioned earlier, as legacies from our American occupiers.

So, are Pinoys going to be big soccer, hockey or even, rugby fans?  Is there a basis for loving these sports which are roughly European-based.  Tennis had been quietly accepted, but then tennis is a big American game, and Pinoys are big American fans.

P.S.

Who will win in the NBA?  I'm rooting for Celtics, of course.  I'm a closet Irish - I love green and feel lucky. 

Shadee.

Meet the house's new dog, Shadee. She was given by the lavandera, one of many owned by the lavandera's other amo.

Shadee, doggie formerly known as Brownie, is an energetic cutie. Her bro was given to the Parish priest who wanted a dog to prowl the church's backyard.

Shadee sleeps most of the day. Her favorite spot is just outside the bedroom near the washroom. Occasionally, she sleeps on her basket.

She thrives on dry food plus fruits.