Monday, May 30, 2011

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Ok my video post was NOT successful at all.
For some reason the audio was not in synch with the video.
So my mouth is moving weirdly and this could distract the viewer.
Whatevah.
What up! I just found out you could post videos on this thing. How low-tech am I?
Ok so here's a video I made in February.
I wrote this song in high school. It's about... good guess. A boy.
He's a drummer and I never got the chance to know him because I was too shy to approach him.
Also he was part of a big band back home. Underground superstar status.
So there.
And how stupid do I look in the beginning and between verses?
Hahaha.
Enjoy!
I cannot stand watching this performance by Adele.
It's such a very good, very emotional, very precise account of every failed love story.
It drags the corners of my mouth down to the ground.
She is so good.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

I am tempted by lots of C's this week. Panic!
Chocolate, Cosmos and carbs!
Yikes!
Must ask other C's to salvage this bovine lifestyle.
Vitamic C, costumes (wink) and Christian living!
Corny, cheesy, completely useless information.

Monday, May 16, 2011

I realized that one way I could help my Philippines is by supporting the Reproductive Health Bill.
It hit me when I had a conversation with a 23-year old Belgian who seemed to have vast intimate knowledge of what's going on in my uterus.
And I took no offense because I kind of had an idea why.
The Belgians have one of the best educational systems in the world.
The moment they hit puberty, their teachers are obliged to tell them what hormones do to you, and how they change your body.
As a result, they are smart enough to know when and when not to fool around.
They also know what to do when they do fool around.
And they now what's going on in their bodies.
And so the Belgians are able to plan their lives - when to settle down, have babies and juggle family life with career.
So the Kingdom of Belgium sits comfortably somewhere in Western Europe, with a population of over 10 million and a GDP of $466 billion.
The government does not need to worry about hungry mouths to feed, homeless families, and what the church will say about family planning.
Belgium is also a predominantly Roman Catholic nation, just like the Philippines.
I am no genius and have not conducted a study on whether the RH Bill will improve our lives and consequently the Philippine economy, but maybe it will.
Squeeze it into the curriculum.
Welcome questions.
Give people options.
We hear of families having too many babies because they couldn't afford condoms or pills, so they kill their babies or make them work before they could even go to school.
They're lucky if they could.
So what's wrong with a few free condoms being passed around the slums?
What's wrong with having options other than despair and death?
Let's give RH a shot.
Come one people.
We gave Erap a shot.
We will never ever be Belgium, but we can be a better, less hungry, less ignorant, happier Philippines.
Now where to start.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

forward, always forward: The Kardashians are back!

forward, always forward: The Kardashians are back!

The Kardashians are back!

Kris and Kim at Sonya's Garden, Tagaytay
Khloe, Kim and Kourtney with Gab at Dubai WTC
Kim and Kris at Sonya's Garden
Kourtney, Kris and Khloe performing at Kim's birthday party

Kim, Kourtney and Khloe at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi
Kourtney's karaoke birthday party
Kourtney, Khloe, Kim and Kris at Comedy Junction
Kim and Khloe hanging out at a coffee shop

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

I know that obsession over losing weight is not a unique trait.
Hundreds of girls shrink, get ill and even die from it.
But I am still learning how I as an individual developed it.
It's become embedded in my soul that I don't see it as a burden.
In fact, it is integral to my existence.
If within a month I don't shed unwanted fat, I panic and sometimes think my life is ruined.
But that is okay, because more often than not, I always do.
When I don't, I find a way to do so.
And the control I gain over how I am supposed to look and what the weighing scale should say is intoxicating, like falling in love or going on a really nice holiday.
Ok, at least I know where to start: control.
Control is synonymous for Leo.
Leos like being on top, whether it is of a situation or a nice young man.
They thrive in knowing that they are able to manipulate something or someone effortlessly that in the end, they are seen as powerful yet beautiful.
That is exactly how I feel and what I become when I lose a kilo, resist a cookie, or burn 900 calories in 90 minutes doing Bikram yoga.
So why do I feel the urge to control my weight?
I am generally a person who needs more patience.
And while it takes time to achieve my biggest goals in life, body weight is such an easy thing to play with.
Bikini season in a couple of weeks? No problem.
I can quit chocolate, drink a gazillion cups of green tea, walk a mile or two every day, and purchase every weight loss supplement in the market.
And then I am not tubby anymore.
And then I am happy.
Quick weight loss quenches my thirst for things to happen instantly.
Why did I grow up not being patient?
Because it was absolutely a no-no for my mother.
I am being completely neutral about this.
When I was a kid I thought my mom was ruthless and unbelievably impatient.
But as I grew up I learned that sometimes, patience is an excuse to not move a muscle and trigger activity in one's life.
In short, impatience makes me do stuff.
And I do stuff.
Wow sometimes I just go on and on about something and I totally lose my point and become sleepy.
Good night!


What is up with people who do NOT let me finish talking, only to either repeat what I was going to say, or make a really stupid point?
Along with deceiving a woman's heart, it should be illegal, Shakira.
I have developed this indispensable skill of standing straight and speaking without stuttering and looking down, and it is hard for me to maintain for years.
And it's hard for me to maintain that swag every time a douchelord interrupts me.
Good thing there is that breathe-and-count-to-ten technique, or prayers.
How incredible is life?
Seriously.
I have not had time to think about it lately, but when I do get a minute or two, like now, I make it a point to ponder events in my life lately, and it is simply awesome.
When a struggle ends, another starts.
And as we all know a struggle is not an end in itself.
Struggles make us stronger, wiser, happier in the long run.
But we can only take so much at once, and so we are given one at a time.
I am so happy that my mom is recovering fast and her doctor has reduced her meds.
It is truly good news for the whole family.
And right now we have something else - equally big and life-changing - to think about.
And it is a challenge I am willing to take on.
I am very excited because my family and I are working as a team again.
The fact that I am miles away is not even important.
We are so awesome.
I love it!

Sunday, May 08, 2011

I am in love with Blaine even though he is gay.

Rebecca Gonzales Zalamea is my mother.
Call her Becky for short.
She had me when she was barely 18.
So she was this tiny 18-year-old mom in the early 80's.
After finishing college, she started to work.
Every day she would commute from Quezon City to Manila, where she worked as a designer.
Every day she would work hard and go home to greet me and prepare dinner.
She worked to buy my milk, clothes, pay our bills, send me to good schools, pay for my swimming and ballet and speech classes, pay for our weekend holidays with our aunts and cousins, and give me some money to buy food in the school cafeteria.
She taught me to pray and we walked to church together every Sunday.
She was not one to show weakness.
Rest and solitude were for losers.
She kept working even when she was pregnant with little Zoe.
She worked through the most turbulent times of her life, and worked her way up until she was not longer a mere employee but an indispensable figure in her firm.
She established her own line of clothing.
She put up her own business.
Everything we ate, used and enjoyed were from the fruits of her labor.
I always thought she worked really hard.
She would take a vacation once in a few years.
She loved the States and Hongkong.
Straight from the plane, she would make sure we were good girls, and go back to work.
I cried to her a lot of times and she didn't like it.
I didn't like it either.
I wanted to be strong for her and I wanted her to see that I took after her when it came to possessing strength and soldiering on in the face of adversity.
And then the daily grind stopped this year.
She took a minute to rest and catch her breath.
She is regaining her strength and can't wait to get back on track.
That's my Mama.
I've been witnessing her tireless and selfless efforts to keep our family intact for 28 years.
Many people tell me that they admire my mother's resilience, and that they wish they could be like her.
Well, it hasn't been easy to get to where she is.
It took a lot of twists and turns.
But at present, we have never been happier.
You are an amazing mother, Mama.
You deserve the world.
I love you.

Thursday, May 05, 2011

This is the week of a LOT of Fs - fatigue, fun, friends, frivolous frolicking, fat figures, fading foundation, feces, favors, fixations, fiends and family.
And I cannot explain each one of em.