Happy People

There's a survey that was done recently by Happy Planet regarding who are the happiest people on earth. And among the 145 countries they conducted, Philippines ranked 14th. That's a pretty good rank I should say. It's not because I'm a Filipino, but I would say it's because I know it's true. Knowing that my country is STILL...sad to say, a 3rd world country, despite intelligent leaders and talented artists, my homeland is still poor economically. And despite the natural resources that surrounds it. Let me share the hardships I had back home. I can say that I pretty much grew up in an average family. Average would mean we eat three times a day(although i am not used to having breakfast because i always wake up at lunchtime)...we own our house(meaning we don't rent). We got cable TV, Ref, gas stove, electric fan, dvd player, cd/cassette player, telephone, internet, i get to buy new clothes regularly and watch movies every week. We don't have a car, though. Because in the Philippines, there are families that are a lot worse. Families of 7 to 12 live in shanties, one meal a day is good enough. Sometimes they have to dig in trash to get food, not to mention they have to pay bills. Or worse, they will just tap wire from neighbors to get electricity. And even though I say we are not poor, we still struggle. The monthly bills that I have to work on, the food to provide on our table and some other basic necessities. Plus sometimes when my mother's diabetes got worse and have some complications, that would even make it harder. That even if you work hard and paid good, sometimes, good is still not enough. It's just so hard to make ends meet. But what makes Filipinos happy? I really can't explain why...i guess it's the nature among asians with some spanish influencee that made us just a "carefree" people. Although according to the survey, filipinos were happy but not satisfied. That's very true, because most filipinos are hardworker and family-oriented. So, they'd do everything to help the family. Even when they got married and have their own family, most would still help their aging parents. Nursing homes are uncommon in the Philippines. Because it's a tradition that you should take care of your parents when they get old as a sort of a payback. So you must keep your aging parents in your home, together with your family(your spouse and kids). One way or the other, the children should find time to take care of their parents, in any way possible.
Sometimes I myself get amazed because we would always complain how hard life is, but yet, we still manage to get a five peso coin and put in the videoke jukebox and sing. We still go to the malls, and find bargains. Watch the latest movies. We are always updated. I remember, back in Manila, i get to watch concerts of international artists. Despite of and inspite of, really....
I was even surprised that the malls here in Daytona is nothing compared to malls in Manila. Even my husband Steve was amazed. We got SM megamall, which is about 348,000 square meters. And the Mall of Asia is about 42 hectares. It has the maximum capacity of a of 4.2 million people. I can't imagine that! Well, my point here is that, Filipinos are naturally happy people despite poverty. That i'd say those malls play a big role in making their lives enjoyable even without money to spend. It all boils down to being family-oriented. That whatever happens, blood is thicker than water. Whining and complaining can only make life harder and won't help. A simple meal is okay as long as the family is happy. We don't have to worry if we got no toast and toaster, nor peanut butter and bagels and cream cheese in the morning. Any food will do in the morning. You are lucky enough to have breakfast. It don't matter if we don't have hotdog buns. Any bread available will go with hotdogs anyways. We don't have to worry what food to pair with anything. We are brought up to be grateful enough that you have something on your table. That millions out there are starving to death. So you don't have to complain if you don't have cream cheese for your bagel...any spread will do. It won't harm your stomach after all. It's funny I remember days before I left the Philippines, I don't have enough money left. And my friends insisted on coming to our house to say goodbye and have a little get-together(a despedida as we call it), although i have done several farewell parties already. I can't stop them. So they came even though I warned them I have nothing to offer, foodwise. But instead, we cooked some ramen noodles ("lucky me" pancit canton), bought a 10 peso worth of monay (bread), a couple of RC cola bottles(soda). I fried some leftover hotdogs from the refrigerator and there we go, we had a little farewell party! And one of them made "pancit bihon" (like a fried noodles) which is very delicious! And we did some sing-along using a borrowed magic sing mic from the neighbor. So we had fun! See, how simple things can be fun without spending too much! I'd say we only spend 2 to 3 dollars total. It could be even less.
I guess that's one thing i would never trade of...the Filipino culture. Many go abroad looking for greener pasture, and help their families. But at the end of the day, they'd still go back....and go home.
I'd say my home is where my heart is...and for now, my home is with my husband. I am happy and content with what i have, and i am very thankful. I would say i am blessed. Although I admit I missed my hometown sometimes. It's not really the place, it's the people I missed a lot. My friends, family, the culture, and I guess the "happy attitude" of the filipino people.
Don't get me wrong, I am not patriotic or something.

Let Your Light Shine!

It's start of a new day! Hoping, wishing and praying that everything will be fine and that all goals and dreams and plans will be well-accomplished. Last night, the last night of 2010, Steve asked me to go out for a dinner and watch a movie. Just a little date, spur of the moment kind of thing. And so we went to a nice, casual Italian restaurant and then watched the movie Red on the theatre. It stars Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malcovich and Mary Louise-Parker. It was a nice movie. Then came January 1st, 2011. It's a beautiful day, 70 degrees and the sun is shining bright. We went to service with our brothers and sisters. I had a little girl-bonding time with Brandi and Hope. And Steve went to study with Frank. Then, sis. Clinton invited us for a little get-together at her new house. Her house is so pretty. I love the antique furnitures and the design of each room. Well, that's basically it. The year started with a relax mood. Steve and I plans to auxilliary pioneer this January. Here I posted a candle light photo. Just a symbol of letting our light shine all year through! Have a good one!

A Heart-Thumping Victory of Orlando Magic(Dec.25,2010 game)

It's December 25,2010 in Amway Center, Orlando,FL. It's the 4th game of the newly-traded players. And it's gonna be against the number one team in the East, Boston Celtics. Celtics had just won a 14 game winning streak until this day when Magic snapped it! Last Thursday, Dec.23, they also snapped the 10 game winning streak of San Antonio Spurs, the number one team in the west. They head Spurs 22 points behind, 123-101. It's kinda scary because they just traded 4 new players from other teams. Gilbert Arenas from Washingotn Wizards. Then, Hedo Turkuoglu, Jason Richardson and Earl Clark from Phoenix Suns. They only had one practice last Wednesday. They lost the 1st 2 games which is understandable because the 4 players just flew from their roadtrip games and barely has clothes to change. Not even a good rest. But then, after they practiced last Wednesday, after a "not-so-bad" loss from Mavericks, Magic came out strong against the Spurs on thursday. Then come saturday, on Christmas Day which is a tradition every year, Magic almost lost it to Celtics until Jameer Nelson made that two 3-point clutches under 3 minutes in the 4th quarter. Then JJ made 2 in 50 seconds left. Then Jameer made 4 free-throws that lead Magic on an 8 point win against Celtics, 86-78. The first 4 minutes of the game, Magic came on fire with 13-0 but Celtics managed to snatched that away and led the scoring from 1st to 3rd quarter. The biggest lead even came to 12 points I think. Start of 4th quarter, Celtics is ahead of 10 points. But Magic fought...and they got it! The much needed win, to boost their shattered confidence for the last 8 lost games they had. But honestly, they didn't play that good tonight. I thought they were terrible. Their shots are failing. They didn't play as good as with Spurs the other night. Dwight only had one field goal and only made 6 baskets and a rubbish technical foul. But what matters most is...they won! That's all that matters for the team. So, ESPN analysts, what's up? Hey Magic Johnson, were you laughing and taunting Magic earlier, right? So what now?

Will The Magic Still Works?

There has been a drastic change for my favorite basketball team, Orlando Magic last weekend. Four key players are traded to other teams. After they had proven themselves for the past 2 years for being a team that will bring championship to their homecourt, some internal issues came up and believed there are some personal reasons why the team is not making magic for the last 7 games they had. After that stomach virus that hit the team in Chicago, although they won the game against Chicago despite Howard, Nelson, Redick, Pietrus,and Anderson was out, they were able to win it and proved that the bench players can do it! But even then, the team's chemistry, for some reason, fell apart. Was it the virus? Is there some ego tripping going on? Who knows, but there's definitely something's going wrong. Otis Smith, the general manager is in a bad position for making this abrupt change.
And so, last Saturday, he traded Rashard Lewis(my favorite Sweet Lew!) to Wizards's Gilbert Arenas and will play as back-up for Jameer Nelson as point guard. Then, they got Jason Richardson,Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark from Phoenix Suns to trade Vince Carter, Mikael Pietrus and Marcin Gortat. I have seen Jason play and he's pretty good, Hedo is always been Hedo. But he never played good since he left Magic last year. I dunno about Clark, I know nothing about him. This change that Magic does is pretty scary for me. Well, I don't play basketball, I am just merely a fan of the game and I know little. But I wish this change they made will make the people of Florida proud. Though we have the big 3 down south(Miami Heat), I don't particularly like Lebron, so I don't care much about that team. I wrote this blog because I want to express my sadness. I love Rashard Lewis, I love Vince Carter and I like Mikael Pietrus a lot! But I agree that I noticed that sweet Lew's not doing great lately. I still believe in Vince, but it seems like he's not the "go-to" guy that they need. Mikael is hurt all the time and lacks aggression in driving the basket. Rashard and Vince is both 33 yrs old now and i guess age has to do with it. I think they were passed their prime. I feel sorry for Vince. He was so happy that he plays for Magic this past season because he was born and grew up here in Daytona. He was supposed to be the hometown hero! He had done a lot of community service for this city and even built a nice restaurant recently. I dunno...I hate to see them go. There's a game tonight in Atlanta against the Hawks. I don't know if it's even worth watching. But I will...out of curiosity. I wish them all the best.

The BB Experiment

I guess you'd say it's just one of those bored days and I just thought of doing some revisions of Brandon's photos. Actually these are taken from the video. I made like still photos of the video and did some revisions or say, experiment, as i would like to put it. Enjoy...

Live Long and Prosper!

Wow...I didn't realized it's been almost 6 months since my last post. I actually penned some but for some reason, I didn't get to visit my blog site. Anyways, I just want to post some of the photos from the Starfleet Reception, Star Trek Party my friends had recently. Though I admit I am not a "trekkie"(wish I spelled it right)...I was invited and been quite excited to dress up, honestly speaking. And so I pack up my camera and had fun taking pictures. Pardon my poor lighting. My built-in flash is no good so I just rely on the natural light Aaron's house provides. Plus some adjustments on my camera and a little help in photoshop. And I enjoyed it! Hope y'all too....Live long and prosper!

The Great American Dream

Sa puntong ito, tatagalugin ko ang blog ko. This is gonna be my first blog post in Tagalog actually. Una, medyo maselan kasi ang tema ng blog ko at ayoko namang makasakit sa mga kaibigan kong amerikano. Pangalawa, para sa mga pinoy talaga ito.
Ito ay tungkol sa masugid kong obserbasyon sa bansang pinapangarap ng lahat. Ang Estados Unidos ng America. Tutoo at aaminin ko na ito ay isang magandang bansa. Paraiso para sa ilan at tunay na isang malaking tulong pang-pinansyal lalo na't meron kang pamilya. Maraming magagandang benepisyo. Bawat estado me kanya-kanyang batas. At ultimong pagbabayad ng buwis, iba't iba ang kanilang patakaran. At makikita mo naman kung saan napupunta ang buwis. Magaganda ang kalye, walang traffic, public schools, parks, library( na pwede kang manghiram ng aklat,CDs,DVDs ng libre!) at marami pang iba. Pero ang di ko maintindihan eh pagdating sa Medical Assistance. Kanya-kanya ng insurance dito. At pag wala kang insurance lagot ka. Konsulta pa lang sa duktor, 100 dollars na. Wala pa dun yung mga ibang di naman kailangang mga examinations and laboratories, ek ek! Kaya dito, "BAWAL MAGKASAKIT!" As in!!!May mga over-the-counter-drugs pero pag kelangan ng prescription ng duktor, kelangan me insurance ka or magbayad ka ng duktor! Pagdating sa mga benepisyo at buwis, minsan at madalas, hindi parehas. Lalo na kung nasa middle-class ka, talo ka! Yung mga tamad at walang trabaho pa kung minsan ang mas nakikinabang sa Social Security. Ike-claim lang nila na disabled sila o kung anu-anong pamemeke o kaya mag-aanak sila taun-taon para makakuha ng benepisyo. Libreng pabahay, gamot, duktor, ospital, atbp. mula sa gobyerno. Libreng pagkain pa kung minsan. At yung mga nasa middle class ang nagdurusa. Kasi pag ang income mo eh nasa certain bracket, you may or you may not qualify for certain benefits. Which is a bunch of bull.
At eto pa, isa sa pinakaiinis ko. Andaming Kano na tamad at mareklamo! Mas gusto pa nilang tumambay sa bahay, magreklamo at magpalaki ng tiyan kesa magtrabaho sa mababang sweldo. Pag minimum o maliit lang ang bayad, ayaw nilang tanggapin. Mas gusto pa nilang magutom at magreklamo maghapon kesa magtrabaho. Tapos eto pa, galit na galit sila sa mga latino kasi di marurunong mag-ingles at pinag mumura nila at pinapalayas nila sa bansa nila. Eh ang problema kasi, eh yang mga latinong yan ang gumagawa ng trabahong dapat sana para sa inyo! Binibigyan kayo ng gobyerno ng trabaho pero ano ginagawa nyo? Tinatanggihan nyo kesyo mababa ang sweldo o madalas kahit okay naman ang bayad, pero sadyang mga tamad lang kayo at ayaw nyong mapagod at mahirapan. Kaya tuloy, binibigay ng gobyerno nyo ang labor sa mga latinong ito. At mas masahol pa, mas gugustuhin pa ng mga pribadong sektor na ipadala ang trabaho sa China, India at iba pang bansa sa Asia. Na tumatanggap ng kahit magkano para lang mabuhay at me makain sa araw-araw. Oo, dapat mas malaki ang makuha ng mga taong ito sa pagtatrabaho, pero wala silang magawa kundi magtiis. Pero minsan naisip ko, kasalanan din ng gobyerno nyo. Imbes na obligahin ang mga tamad na magtrabaho, mas sila pa ang nakikinabang ng mga benepisyo. Konting pilay lang, disabled na, ayaw ng kumilos.
Pero in fairness, marami pa namang masisipag magtrabaho. Marami akong kaibigang kano na kahit 60 plus na ang edad eh nagtatrabaho pa rin. At hinahangaan ko sila. Pero mas marami pa ring tamad at reklamador. Yun ang di ko maarok. Marami sa kanila ang gumagawa ng sarili nilang problema tapos magrereklamo at ipapasa ang sisi sa iba. Ngayon, natutunan ko kung bakit uso ang depression pills dito. Kasi maloloka ka talaga! Kaya nga sinusulat ko na lang hinaing ko. Pasensya na mga Igan. Dahil kung hindi, baka maloka din ako sa bansang ito! Sayang, maganda ang bansang ito at maraming magagandang benepisyo sa mamamayan nila. Kung masipag ka, yayaman ka dito. At hindi ako nagtataka na maraming banyaga dito na mas mayayaman pa sa mga kano. Maraming mga Indiano dito na may-ari ng mga hotel chains, gas stations and convenient stores. Tapos, yung amo ko, turkish. Yung negosyo nila eh successful at trabahador lang nila ang mga kano. Maraming intsik at mga latino na nagmamay-ari ng mga chinese and mexican restaurants. Maraming commercial establishments dito na mga banyaga ang may-ari. Maraming pinoy sa medical field.Duktor,dentists,nurses,caregivers, Physical therapists...also accountants,engineers,computer technicians, programmers atbp.
Siguro yun ang bentaha ng bansang mahirap. Magsusumikap kang mabuti para makaahon. Gagawin mo ang lahat para mabuhay. Sana lang wag magbago pag-uugali ng mga banyaga dito. Manatili sana silang masipag at matiyaga. Para maging inspirayon sila sa mga tamad at iresponsableng kano. Ano kaya mangyayari kung halimbawang dumating ang panahon na pamunuan ng banyaga ang bansang ito? Sigurado giyera ito. Pero kahit ano pwedeng mangyari. Kagaya ng nangyari nung 9/11. Sinong mag-aakalang sa loob lamang ng isang araw eh napabagsak ng mga terorista ang ekonomiya ng bansang nag-aangking pinaka-makapangyarihan sa buong mundo? Okay lang sana kung apektado eh yung mga karapatdapat na maapektuhan. Kaso damay lahat. Kawawa yung mga inosente at masisipag. Pero, alam ko naman kung bakit ganito. Kung bakit ganito ang pag-uugali ng mga tao at bakit ganto kalagayan ng mundo natin. At lahat ng iyan eh patutoo lamang na hindi kaya ng tao na pamunuan at ituwid ang sarili nyang landas kasi nga tao lamang siya at hindi sakdal. Sa alabok nagmula, sa alabok din ang uwi. Isa lang ang kasagutan, kailangan natin ng gabay ng Maylikha. At iyan ang hindi maamin ng mga tao. Na kailangan nila ng tulong at di nila magagawa ang lahat sa sarili nilang kakayanan. Pero darating naman ang panahon na lahat ng ito eh mawawala na at papalit ang sakdal na gobyerno na mananatili magpakailanman. Mabuhay!!!