Kababalaghan!!

The concept of Halloween is quite new to the Filipinos. I don’t remember ever having celebrated Halloween or going trick-or-treating when I was a kid. Neither do I remember seeing my Mom go gaga over costumes. Not like me.

To most Filipinos, it is the “Undas” that is celebrated. I remember my father always used to say that we, Filipinos, were presumptuous as we would celebrate November 1 (All Saint’s Day) when we should be celebrating November 2 (All Soul’s Day). In his own words, “Ginagawa na nating santo ang mga patay natin!”

Typically, “Undas” is spent in the cemetery with the entire family. We used to make the yearly trek to the North Cemetery then to Manila Memorial to visit our dead. When we transferred our relative in North Cemetery to Manila Memorial it would become a whole day affair complete with tents, food, gaming table, and music. That’s right folks, we were very typical.

Sooner or later we got tired of the whole exercise. Coupled with the horrible traffic jams every November 1, we decided to scrap the whole thing altogether. Nowadays, we usually go before or after “Undas” to venerate our dearly departed. And we stay for an hour, max. We just clean our family mausoleum, light some candles, and say some prayers. Finished. No more eating, gambling, and singing.

Anyway, I just had to get that out of the way before getting to the juicy stuff.

Since this is the season for remembering our dead, allow me to say…..I used to see dead people. Seriously.

Let me put it bluntly, I see, feel, and hear things most normal people don’t. Some of you will call it the 3rd eye, some will say I’m psychic, others will say I’m crazy. Me, I don’t know what you call it but it’s scary. Trust me.

I noticed I had this ability when I was very young. Maybe around 6 years old. I would hear things going creak in the night. Or sometimes I would feel someone behind me when there would be nobody. Later on I would actually hear my name being called. One time even, my blanket was yanked from me in the middle of the night. There was also one time that there was this bright blue light underneath my bed and I had no idea where it was coming from. There was also the frequent knocking on my door and trying to unlock the doorknob at the most ungodly hours.

When I got older things got worse. I started seeing “them”. There was one time I thought my dad was in my room using my computer and when I walked out to the kitchen, there was my dad. There was this time that I was watching TV in my lola’s room and from the window I saw a tall man peering in at me, with no face. Then there was the time I was bringing out the car from the garage, at 4 a.m., to attend Simbang Gabi when a little girl in white suddenly appeared before me!! I thought it was our maid so I asked her to open the gate. Instead, she walked away and went poof!! One time it was my Mom who saw “something” tailing me from behind. That “something” was in white. The last straw was when I had a “manliligaw” visiting me and we were having some snacks in our library and without warning, the wall behind him just started going “KABOOM” as if someone was trying to knock it down. The force was so strong that the picture frames hanging were jumping!! I got help…fast.

The first person that came to mind was Father Bulatao of the Ateneo Psychology Department. He was known as a “pseudo-ghost-hunter/exorcist” kind of guy. You know what I mean. I went to him when I couldn’t take it anymore. On the day of my visit he was being interviewed by a writer for a local newspaper. I told him about my dilemna and he suggested that I be put in the dimension of those other “beings” so I could talk to them. I agreed. He put me in some sort of a trance and all I remember was flying to my house. I could hear him talking to me and instructing me to talk to the beings, who in this case appeared like a purple haze hovering above our living room. So I talked to “them” and told them to leave me alone. All this time the writer was chronicling the whole event. When I saw them leave I was asked by Fr. Bulatao to come back. When I did, the good father and the writer had looks of astonishment on their faces. Why? Well, according to them I was talking in some archaic language and in a ghastly voice!! I don’t remember any of that but it really happened.

It isn’t as bad now. I still feel them. I still hear them. But it’s been a while since I’ve seen them. A psychic once told me that I had “something” that brought “them” closer to me. He even suggested that I develop it. He said that whatever it was that I had was so strong that even psychics couldn’t read me. Nope, not my cup of tea.

Well, so much for my Halloween stories.

That’s all folks!!

MWAHAHAHA!!!!

It’s Halloween season once again. And with this comes the headache of having to find costumes for your kids. And for yourself too.

I’ve always been non-conformist when it comes to Halloween costumes. I’ve never been a fan of witches, ghouls, or even (gasp) fairy princesses. No offense to kids who love them. I just don’t. And neither do my kids. I think they have imbibed my attitude of wanting to be different from everyone else.

For the last couple of Halloweens, I have wracked my brain in thinking of one-of-a-kind costumes for my kids. Likewise, I’ve always been hell bent on winning the village sponsored costume contests, just for kicks.

On Gaby’s first Halloween I fashioned a “Hula Girl” costume from scratch. She was 7-months old. I made a grass skirt and a flower festooned bra. FROM SCRATCH!! Handsewn, handwoven, and hand-pasted. And we won!! First prize in Best Baby in Original Costume.

On Gaby’s 2nd Halloween I had a “Carmen Miranda” costume made. I didn’t sew it this time as it would take me 3 years to do this. I had a costurera make this for us. I also made her a flower and fruit hat to go with her ensemble. She won best costume in school. Her cousin came as her partner and in the village contest they won the Best Family in Costume award.

The following year Adi was part of the entourage. They went as Indian princesses. I had no illusions of sewing a royal sari so I bought them their outfits on a trip to Singapore. They’re cousin went as Alladin so again they won Best Family in costume.

Last year, sadly, there was no contest. I suppose the organizers knew that I would be conjuring up another mind-blowing, award winning costume so they just scrapped the contest altogether. Still, I came up with another set of unique outfits for my kids. Actually, 2 sets. For school they had an “Environmental” theme so everything had to be made from household stuff. They came as “Bird Ladies” with outfits made from trash bags. The hat I made from old Christmas decorations I found in my Mom’s bodega. For the village trick-or-treat parade, my kids went as “Belly Dancers” in costumes I (and my Mother-in-Law) made. Although there was no contest, the attendees of the party had great fun watching my kids shimmying and doing their belly rolls.

This year I was too dead tired to even lift a needle much less thread a string. So I did what any good mother would do. I bought costumes. Still, I veered away from the traditional. I got them M&M’s costumes. And for their just concluded school Halloween party we had to come up with unique homemade masks. So I decided, with my kids’ approval, to make “Mardi Gras” masks from paper plates, straws, and construction paper. And……Adi won the Best in Overall Costume and Best Mask in the Pre-Nursery level. They couldn’t give Gaby another award because she won the Newpaper Dance contest (with me) earlier so that would have been hogging it already.

So there, just a few tips on how to win Halloween contests…and how to have a little fun too.

To all HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Ang Bagong Kampeon

I was just testing my new webcam and Gaby wanted to help me test it. So, I think it works pretty well. And allow me to say…ahem…watch out Lea!

Let There Be Peace

Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is in response to the call of fellow blogger Inkblots for prayer and sobriety for the victims of the Glorietta bombing last Friday.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy;

O Master, grant that I may never seek so much to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love with all my own.

For it is in giving that we receive;it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Hello, try ko lang kung ma-upload; To all my JASMS Classmates, My Funny Home Video!!!

Guitar na ginamit ko dito replica ng kagaya sa Van Halen, pero homemade ko lang. RJ guitar lang yun, 4,ooo pesos plus, credit card pa ni Norman Tiongco ginamit, more than 10 years ago na ata.Inutang ko lang, nadoon pa si RJ- Ramon Jacinto mismo sa Robinsons Ortigas nag -jam kami konti habang tina try ko yung guitar nya. Gulat nga kami ni Norman eh, biglang bumunot ng gitara.Balong Malalim pa tinugtog namin. Yung Juan de la Cruz. Unforgetable experience ko yun. Well anyway alam nyo,yung original guitar ni Eddie Van Halen na tinatawag na Frankenstrat na gawa ng fender worth 1,000,000.00 pesos lang naman. Trivia lang sa mga rakista kong mga da-barkads noon sila Vlad, B.L., Norman, Edgar, Eric Bots , Balce and Joey Boy. Nini naka e-mail ko na pala sila Gina L.and Jaonna because of this blog.Tapos nag kita rin kami ni Louie sa office .Small world. Wag muna tayo mag malling, delikado ,gimik na lang kayo sa haybols safe pa, take a lot of ingat mga Jasms alumni and God Bless.!
p.s. Mag post naman kayo hehe.
GMRios

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Museum

It was on our last week of the trip that my husband and I decided to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the Met. I had the chance to visit this same museum in the past but this would have been the first time for my husband.

So with our subway maps in tow, we were off to 1000 Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street. It took me awhile to figure out the subway maps and we somehow managed to get off on the wrong stop. Silly me. Anyway, it was a nice day for a walk and we needed to burn some extra calories from the non-stop calorie fests we’ve been having. So walk it was.

Of course, it wasn’t that easy getting there. When you get sidetracked by some nice shops and some nice scenery, your location perspective somehow gets screwed up. Before we knew it, we were lost. But, trust the local government to have friendly police officers almost always around. All we had to do was ask and we were on our way.

We must have made 4 stops for directions and on the fourth and final stop (this was about a block from our destination) we were pleasantly informed that, “It’s Monday and the museum is closed.” NOOOOOOO!!!!!!! After all that walking!!! Darn!!

Still, we proceeded to the place just so that my dear hubby could at least set foot on the museum steps and pose for some pictures for our Multiply account.

Little did we know that something exciting was waiting for us, right on those very steps that we were planning to conquer.

When we got there, we were surprised to find that the entire front of the musuem was cordoned off with yellow police tape. And when I mean entirely..I mean entirely. And there were officers, paramedics, police cars, an ambulance, uzis (usisero)…….and CAMERAS!! Yessirreee, there was some filming going on. What? Didn’t know for sure…yet.

So armed with my most amiable smile I decided to ask around. Of course it wasn’t easy getting proper answers from other tourists…who didn’t speak much english. To count them, I spoke to a Pole, a Serbian, a Korean, and finally a museum guard who was armed with his own camera and was happily clicking away at the scene unfolding.

CSI : New York!! Woohoo!!

I was waiting for Gary Sinise to appear but, sadly, he didn’t. But…we saw Carmine Giovinazzo (Det. Danny Messer), Hill Harper (Dr. Sheldon Hawkes), and some other actors who I didn’t know.

To be honest, I’m not a big fan of this show. I wasn’t doing cartwheels or anything but it was still very exciting to see how a big show like CSI:New York was actually filmed. So I just clicked, clicked, and clicked away. And here are the results…….

Ni Hao Ma!!

These last few days, my youngest daughter Adi has been greeting us every morning with this basic Mandarin phrase. And she does it in a funny sing-song way too. I believe it means “How are you?”

For some parents this may not come as a surprise, but for us, who speak English and Tagalog at home, with no Chinese knowledge whatsoever, this is really a novelty. Plus, she’s only 2 years old!!

Apparently, Chinese class is Adi’s favorite unlike her older sister, Gaby, who didn’t fancy learning the language too much. She is constantly practicing her counting techniques (1-15) with matching finger-math movements and will gladly sing “Sheng ri kuai le” (Happy Birthday) for anyone who asks her to. I heard that she even sneaks in and listens during Gaby’s Chinese class and obviously has been picking up on some of the more advanced lessons. Proof : she has been singing the same exact songs that Gaby has just learned.

It’s a wonder that she even is able to keep up. We don’t practice at home because…well, I haven’t the faintest idea how to review her in Mandarin. But she has been acing her quizzes and she got a 27/30 on her last quarter exam. Pretty good, huh!!

But hey, don’t mind me too much. I’m just a proud Mama bragging about her kid. And to think I really thought that she would turn into the school’s thug. I guess you never know what to expect…but then again….heck, I don’t want to think about it.

Xie xie!!

What To Do When You Have 6 Hours To Waste

As I have said in my previous post, I was stranded in Detroit for 6 hours on the second leg of my journey back home. There wasn’t much any of us could do but wait it out. Initially it was just a faulty PA system and then the computer in the cockpit just went bonkers. They had to reconfigure the system from zilch.

What was really bad was that they had us board the plane in the first place. Immediately after boarding the announcement was made that something was wrong and that we couldn’t take-off just yet. The captain said that it would take a couple of minutes to fix the PA system. Minutes…bleh….try 3 hours. To make matters worse, they refused to let us out because, “You’ve all been cleared through customs and by having you deplane you could be considered as terrorists.” WHAT?!? Yep, terrorists. An elderly Filipina, who would later become my friend, started raising hell and demanded not only to be let off, because it was our right, but also to be given some form of reparation for all the trouble we were made to go through. Passengers were suddenly agitated and were standing in the aisles demanding answers. Me, I was trying to read but I couldn’t help it either. I stood too.

Soon enough the captain makes the announcement, “Please feel free to deplane. Also, kindly pick up a small token of our appreciation for your having chosen Northwest. Your business is very important to us and we would like to have you fly with us again on your next trip.” In 10 minutes the plane was empty.

So with our $10 cash voucher, to be spent anywhere in the airport, and 2000 air miles we were finally free. Did I mention I spent my $10 on soba noodles? I think I did. And I also ate them with my new friends. I met a few disgruntled passengers and managed to form some sort of bond with them. There is really nothing like a disaster that makes people come together. I met Allene and her sister, Filipinas from Ohio who were going home because their father had passed away. Also, I met Doris and her daughter, Filipinas from Virginia and who were travelling home to Cavite to visit Doris’ folks. I also met Dennis and Marlou, Filipinos who had just visited Boston for training. These guys were the best. They even promised to help me with my luggage as soon as I got to Manila. Well, of course this was after I told them that I had 2 Balikbayan boxes and a huge maleta. I also met another Filipino seaman but I wasn’t able to get his name. He was given leave due to an injured shoulder.

And here are my new friends….

Postscript : Dennis Espino and Marlou Aquino are the big guns of the Sta. Lucia Realtors team. I christened them Superman (Marlou) and Superman (Dennis) And yes, they helped me with my luggage.

When It Rains, It Pours!

Having started my blog around 6 months ago, I still consider myself a newbie in this state-of-the-art form of journaling. Admittedly, I am the last person who thinks I am a good blogger. As far as I’m concerned, I’m a trying-hard, second-rate copycat…oops…I think I just chanelled my inner Cherie Gil. Sorry about that. Anyway, I’ve had my fair share of techie-mishaps and boo-boos. And I am such a loser when it comes to doing research on how to improve such a simple thing as how my site appears. I am fortunate, though, to have some tech-capable friends who I can turn to whenever my brain goes into momentary shutdown whenever I am faced with a blog-related dilemna. To be honest, I can’t even figure out how to use YM properly. And forget about program installation and troubleshooting, not my forte, never was, never will be. Widgets, HTML, templates…duh. Thus is my life as a blogger and a techie-wannabe.

So, with this being said, I am so honored (to the highest degree) that despite my being techno-challenged and my newbie-blogger status, some of my favorite bloggers have adjudged me worthy of citation. Truth be told, I had to slap myself several times to get myself out of my reverie. When I read my name, I had to check the link if it was really me they were awarding. ME? Why? You sure? Are you very sure? Still, the wannabe in me can’t believe it. I really can’t. So it pleases me to no end that I have received several awards, in a span of a couple of weeks, from some of the best and brightest bloggers this side of Utopia.

From my blog-pals Mitch, Feng, Rowena, Anna I have received the award for…

Again from Rowena I received the award for…

And finally, again from Mitch I got the award for….

All I can say is….YAHOO!! Shucks ladies, you have really made my year. Thanks, thanks, thanks from the bottom of this wannabes heart.

To spread the love and the cheer, allow me to honor the following ladies as well…

• Annamanila – For being the writer I want to be. You are wittier than thou.
• Chats – For being courageous and honest. You are truly the best.
• Noemi – For her strength and conviction. You make me want to be you.
• Dine – For her enormous love of family. You encourage me to be better.
• Auee – For her rawness and wit. You are truly a gift to the world of blogging.
• Verns – For her candor and humor. You make life fun for me.

And to the ladies who honored me…back at you

Let’s all be merry and enjoy this moment. I know I will

Just a Few

It’s been a week since I got back and still my body clock seems to be functioning on the eastern timezone mode. Or maybe I’m just in denial that my vacation is over and I should really be getting back to business. Or maybe I’m suffering withdrawal symptoms from having to do nothing but shop and “make pasyal”. Or maybe it was that blasted 6 hour delay in Detroit I had to suffer. Never mind that they gave us bonus miles and a $200 voucher for our next trip. Oh yeah, and a $10 food voucher that we could spend on any restaurant in the airport. Which, by the way, I believe we deserved after being holed up in the airplane for 3 hours with only a glass of water for sustenance. I managed to blow my 10 bucks on a bowl of steaming hot soba noodles that weren’t too good. Which only goes to show that you should never order Japanese food in an airport. Unless, of course, you happen to be in Narita which serves the best damn soba noodles in the world. Or maybe I feel a little bad that my kids didn’t miss me that much thanks to their 2 Lolas who catered to their every whim, including numerous trips to Timezone even on school nights. Not to mention the enormous amount of chocolates and chips that they ingested, thanks also to the 2 Lolas. Not to mention the trips to National Bookstore (with my Mom) and telling the girls “Pick anything you like and Lola will buy it for you.” No wonder they weren’t too excited about our pasalubongs. Whatever it is, I should really stop doing this and try to get something done. I really should.

Well, to get the ball rolling, allow me to start by posting something from my oft mentioned “bakasyon grande”. Despite my promise to keep posting during the trip, I think I was enjoying myself too much that I didn’t really do a good job of keeping this promise. I only managed to do 2 posts and they really didn’t say much. So to make up for all my laziness I will post a few pictures of my vacation and maybe get some enjoyment out of it myself. Truth be told, I think I have enough posts about my trip on draft mode (in my head) that’ll last me well into next month. However, it remains to be seen if those posts actually make it out of my lazy brain.

And so without further ado…