MentalQ

Wala bang nagbabasa kay Belinda Olivarez Cunanan of Inquirer? (Joke joke joke)

I never did an OJT, but I remember one whom I supervised who gave me an ethical dillemma: na in-love yata sa akin. It would have been OK, except that malapit na akong ikasal nung panahon na yon.

Only once in college - tiningnan ko yung sagot nang classmate ko. I never did it again because I ended up with a higher mark for that exam while my classmate almost flunked. Terrible Guilt.

NCEE 99++

May nag-post na ba ng Trellis, near Heart Centre in Quezon City?

Parehong malayo nang memories para sa akin. But last Chirstmas Season, I had the chance for some informal reunions with Barkadas (high school and college) mas malalakas ang tawanan, mas feel mo ang samahan nung sa high school group. Pero puede rin kasing dala nang iba ang ambience at mas seryoso ang topics nung college group.

Memorised ko pa, pero pag-sinulat ko, mabubuksan ang ATM, brief case, etc etc nung nakaka-alam.

It seems I never stoped attending language courses, but I cant say I ever learned much except the odd phrase or two:

Conversational Chinese (Mandarin)

French

Bahasa Indonesia

Thai

If youre getting tired of the usual, I would recommend classics - start with the lighter ones like Baroque pieces, Vivaldi, Haydn or the Romatics, like Chopin and Liszt. It might awaken your heart to something.

Backreading , I saw some "I hate OPM posts."

When I was much younger, OPM used to mean "Original Pilipino Music."

Granting that some of the more recent novelty songs can really get one's goat, did anything happen to OPM which made people hate it so? I mean, the genre might have changed or the meaning of the acronym could have.

Some (American) foreign friends have recommended "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" and "Thermodynamics of Pizza."

Medyo matanda nang books, but I'd like to know the Filipino readers' take on them.

Setting aside the ruffled feathers, perhaps what is difficult to take is the tone (overtones or undertones) of condescension from some of our well-meaning Balikbayan brethren. Often, I sense an unstated postscript to comments that feel like "Ang tanga-tanga mo naman, bakit ka nagtitiyaga dito ... Mas qualified o mas magaling ka naman sa akin, bakit ka pa kasi nagtratrabaho para sa barya, eh puede ka namang kumita ng doll-ers (that sounds like it) sa States ..." etc.

Do others have that same sense? Mind you, I do not get that from total strangers; mostly these would come from cousins and aunts who visit

Ube and macapuno for me. Yes indeed, theres something about flavours at home when youre not in the Philippines. What I actually crave is the scent and texture; the ube yam itself does not have a distinctive taste (well, not a definite flavour as, say, camote).

Books

DVDs, CDs or VCDs of musicals (eg. Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, etc, Beatles recordings)

Celadon ware (antique & contemporary)

Dinner Service and crystal ware (eg for Chinese, Japanese, Western or Korean dinner)

Oriental memorabilia

Just finished Ken Follet's "Dangerous Fortune"

"Shibumi" by Trevanian and

Mark Haddon's "curous Incident of the Dog in the Night"

Depende sa barkada, but the cycle goes like this:

1-5 bottles (beer) - APO Hiking Society songs and other OPMs

6-10 bottles - Beatles (... I wouldnt dance with her mother- wooh- when I saw her standing ...)

11-15 bottles - Sinatra & broadway

>15 - On the first part of the journey ... ta da da ...On the first part of the journey ... (Hindi na matatapos ung kanta)

I rush into buying something and the moment I pay for it, I suddenly feel that "klong" of regret. I'm sure that whatever my purpose was wont be achieved

i consider myself a wine snob. but was surprised to find that some supermarket-grade wines are ok. JUST OK. not fabulous or anything. drinkable at best.

 

when beggars can't be choosers, grocery fare can satisfy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I do not know enough about wines, but there was a small grocery store in Kalayaan Rd (near QC Hall) that used to have a good collection and I experimented with a dozen or so. I remember missing the international bazaar that year, so I had to look for inexpensive sources. Mind, this was a couple of years ago.

Its really not fair to generalize; some are good guys and some are ... (please supply the appropriate noun).

For me, what I can never appreciate (even if, by and large, there was no malice intended; as mentioned, they were just creatures of their environment) is the undertone of "how could you people live like this/tolerate that/find it acceptable!" Worse than perceived arrogance is the annoying feel of condecension or the sense that they were probably the only ones or the first one to notice that things are wrong.

Re accents and language - My American secretary from way back could tell if the person I was talking to on the phone is a Filipino or of a different race. She said I tended to roll my r's and enunciate my o's clearly when speaking to a Filipino. She also says that my conversations with a Filipino tends to have 60 percent English phrases in them.

Jack & Jill Chippy and Potato Chips

Shing-a-Ling (binebenta sa mga bus papuntang Laguna)

Most vegetables are great when fresh. Does anyone like preserved vegetables?

I cant take any of them, except some kimchi.

I've always been faithful to Dior perfumes (for myself and gifts for special people), but I drew the line at Dune. I think Farenheight and Eau Sauvage are classics.

Lately, I've become more adventurous and been experimenting with Gio, CK and Bulgari scents.

I havent done much backreading, but has anybody posted "Aqua Velva" as a fave perfume?

Metro Manila and environs

Saigon, South Vietnam, Bangkok, Thailand and Singapore (1975)

Southern Tagalog and all-over the Philippines (but not -sob- Boracay) (1978 to 1988)

- All the regions and key cities except Regions East & West Visayas, Southern and Western Mindanao)

Southeast Asia & HKG (1989)

-Bali, Indonessia

- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

SIN and BKK

China/East Asia (1990-1997)

26 provinces in China

Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar & the Great Gobi)

North Korea (Pyongyang and Paekdushan)

South Korea (Seoul, Taegu, Sorakshan)

HKG and Macau

Japan

Southeast Asia (1998 to date)

ASEAN countries

Saipan and Guam

Darwin

Timor-Leste

Nice thread, Ms Lovelybabe. Reminded me of the early days of struggle (which goes on until now).

I served as Student Assistant (at PhP 2.50 / hour) during my sophomore year. To save on cost of lodging, I became a "big brother" in the dorm. This situation even forced me to take graduate courses when I graduated and started working, because it was the only way to keep my room at the dorm.

Then, PNA opened a Los Banos bureau, and most of journ students became srtringers, getting paid PhP 2.50 per column inch of printed articles; 50 ctvs per line of teletyped story (we were supposed to do our own teletyping).

Later, I graduated to editing thesis manuscripts; pag undergrad, almost pro-bono, but the rate increases for Masters and beyond; even more so if they have thesis scholarship/thesis support.

Even later, audio and audio-visual productions (pati audio commercial na ginagamit sa probinsiya, pinapatos ko) and then I was taken as a Research Assistant even as an undergrad (I was completing my thesis).

Since I go home to Manila every weekend, I even remember trying to haul quesong puti and fresh milk produced in UPLB to sell in our village. The market would have been good - pero tinamaan din ako ng hiya - I think I was trying to go out with a neighbours daughter at some time.

Mahahalata ang age ko, but it might be interesting to you youngesters out there.

I studied at UPLB in the late 1970s.

Freshman year - PhP 55.00 / week - inclusive of fare (QC-Los Banos and back), meals (PhP 2.00/meal), snacks, school supplies (bluebooks cost 25 ctvs), etc.

Out of that, I saved enough to buy bargain books (at National Bookstore), gifts and school stuff like dissection set, and the occasional toma.