One indulgent afternoon

ALL too often when we think of vacations, we think of grand productions where we bundle up the kids in the car and hie off to any beach south of Manila. Or if you’re like me, you look through tons of resort web sites, travel packages offered by airlines, or start calling our favorite travel agents to give us the best, low-cost but high-value destination packages money can buy.

But you really need not travel far to relax and forget the pressures of one’s family and career. At Sofitel Philippine Plaza, all it took was just one afternoon of unwinding with a few choice buddies. (Click BusinessMirror for the rest.)

Resolving workplace conflicts

ON A flight to Vancouver from Newark, New Jersey many years back – it was during those earlier tries by Philippine Airlines to fly that route – I was chatting with the flight attendant and telling her about how I was going to visit my Aunt and Uncle who was living in Oak Harbor, Washington.

I told her that I would have to spend the night at the Vancouver International Airport, then take an Alaska Air flight to the Seattle Tacoma airport the next morning. There was still no Internet then, so I’d probably just have to read the entire Mabuhay magazine just to fall asleep.

The flight attendant left me to go back to work, and I went back to my movie. But as we neared Vancouver, the same flight attendant came back, two paper bags in her hand, and told me to take them as baon. I opened the bags, and in them were two trays of food, some rolls, butter and utensils. (Click Something Like Life for the rest.)

Charice misses the point of Glee

(Charice, before Botox and Thermage. Photo from Pinoy Paparazzi)
HOLY Botox, Batman! That teenage singer Charice Pempengco’s got a new face! The question is, why?

Okay, so Charice says she did it because she wants to be “fresh on camera” for her appearances on the hit US series Glee (which used to be my favorite TV show). I didn’t know an 18-year-old was already considered tired and ancient. Damn, now what would that make 45-year-old me?

Charice added: “Lahat po ng mga tao inaasahan nila, ‘Ano kaya ‘yong itsura ni Charice? Karapat-dapat ba siyang itapat kay Rachel Berry?’ So, siyempre sobrang laki ng pressure,” she said in an interview with ABS-CBN News.

Isn’t it ironic that Charice chose to have her facial features enhanced when Glee is all about celebrating natural beauty and being true to oneself?

I remember one particular episode, for instance, where the rotund Mercedes Jones (played by Amber Riley) desperately tried to lose weight because cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester threatened to kick her off the team if she couldn’t wear the standard female cheerleading uniform of a short skirt and sleeveless shirt. It was former Cheerios star Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron) who had to remind Mercedes that she used to be so secure in her own beauty; no one should make her feel bad about herself. And it’s true, despite Mercedes/Amber’s heft, her talent and self-confidence makes her shine through, which is why she is one of the most admired characters among the Glee cast.

I’m aghast that Charice’s own mother, Raquel, allowed her daughter to undergo the cosmetic procedures, although technically at 18, she is considered an adult and capable of making her own decisions.

What’s more disturbing is that Charice’s cosmetologist, Dr. Vicky Belo reinforced the teenager’s lack of self-confidence by encouraging her to undergo the Botox and Thermage treatments! I’m surprised she didn’t even push the young singer to get a boob job!

But I’m pretty sure the doktora, who’s already been involved in a number of controversial issues in the past, is enjoying this bit of notoriety again. Anything to publicize the clinic for free, huh? And to use Charice in this manner…tsk, tsk, tsk. Shouldn’t the Philippine Medical Association be investigating the blatant promotion tactics of this doktora of her clinic? From what I know, other countries have strict laws against doctors advertising or actively promoting their practice. Why this unethical practice has been allowed to run unabated by the PMA is anybody’s guess. As they say, only in the Philippines!

For those who still don’t know, Botox is short for Botulinum toxin; in other words, it is a poison. It is frequently used in cosmetic procedures to smoothen out lines and wrinkles one one’s face, because it basically paralyzes the muscles. It is seen as a cheaper and less invasive alternative to a face lift, although the effects last only from four to six months.

So now, Charice has to go back to her doktora once her face starts swelling up again. This is for life, do you understand that Charice? Every six months you need to go back to your doktora and have her stick the needle along your jawline and shoot you up with poison to relax your facial muscles!

Aside from Botox injections, which reportedly made Charice cry, she also underwent a treatment called Thermage. According to the Thermage web site, it is “a safe, non-invasive, radiofrequency cosmetic procedure that’s clinically proven to help smooth, tighten and contour skin for an overall younger looking appearance. The treatment delivers natural looking results with little to no downtime—on all skin colors, on and off the face, all in a single procedure.” Obviously, both the Botox and Thermage procedures were designed for older people who already experience some slackness in their facial skin.

But according to Dr. Belo, Botox and Thermage were used to narrow the singer’s “naturally round face.” Then the doktora added that Charice’s face was getting wider because she chews gum. So couldn’t you just have told Charice to stop the habit, doktora? Of course, now that even the Hollywood press has played up this controversy, the doktora is now saying Charice is suffering from a medical condition called bruxism, which makes her involuntarily grind her teeth when she sleeps. Yeah right.

Charice didn’t look bad before she underwent her cosmetic procedures. In fact, she’s cute in a bibingka sort of way. But her fans admire her not because of how she looks but because of her powerful voice. She landed her recording contract and that spot on Glee because she could bring audiences to their knees. Oprah even called her “the most talented girl in the world!” And still the young lady (frankly I thought she was just 15) wasn’t happy with how she looked. Naku Charice, lagot ka ke Ninang Oprah!

Of course this just reminds me of singer Lani Misalucha who I already thought was smoking hot especially with her set of pipes, and currently wowing audiences in Las Vegas. I saw her in a feature by Cheche Lazaro’s Profiles sometime last year, and hardly recognized her! The only thing that was really wrong with her was her teeth – easily replaced with a new set of dentures or jackets. But it looked like she had a rhinoplasty to get rid of her typical Pinoy nose, and something certainly was done to her eyes and her chin. Apparently she made a local TV appearance recently that my friend Viola described her as “Madam Auring’s long-lost daughter.” Ach.

Then of course, there was Gretchen Barretto who also tampered with her already oh-so-lovely face and had what looked like a cheek implants. (Years ago, there were rumors of a lip injection as well.) Already so gorgeous (and rich!), and still not happy? Did Gretchen’s daughter stop telling her in the morning how beautiful she was, she had to tweak her face? Or was the man leaving? All the cosmetic procedures in the world won’t keep your man beside you, hon. Tsk, tsk.

Perhaps we just don’t understand the “pressures” Charice and all these other celebrities are under. If you spend your life under the spotlight, sooner or later, the cameras are going to notice your “flaws”. All I know is, if Barbra Streisand had fixed her schnozz, she probably wouldn’t have the success that she’s had. She never gave in to constant appeals of the idiots around her to have her oversized Jewish nose reworked. She knew that it was her voice that would carry her through every audition and every singing gig. Such moxie! And that nose is what gives Ms. Barbra character.

(If there’s anything that Charice should actually change is her fashion style. With all her earnings, she could very well afford her own personal stylist. You see her being photographed in ill-fitting hats, wearing Madonna-era black lacey gloves, then what about that ghastly Jollibee terno during President Aquino’s inauguration, huh? Ick.)

This is why I’ve always maintained that Charice is so wrong for Glee. She certainly missed the point of the show.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. This piece was originally published on July 22, 2010.)


(Charice - after the Botox and Thermage.)

(UPDATE:) While many doctors will swear to the safety of botox to the body - even my own board-certified dermatologist says so - my own research shows there really is no long-term study yet that supports this, except for the one drawn up by Botox's producer. If you still want to continue to inject it in your face, I'm not gonna stop you. What most dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons apparently object to was the use of Thermage on Charice, when, as I've already mentioned, it's a procedure meant for older people. So there.

Black sheep (and my own wishful thinking)

ALL families have one.

It’s the relative who doesn’t quite fit in the traditional mold of the rest of the family.

He is the relative who possesses the least number of personality traits that usually marks one as a member of that clan.

He is the one who sometimes brings embarrassment to the rest of the kin because of the things he or she says, or his or her aberrant behavior.

* * * *
Often called the family oddball or eccentric, his antics sometimes run from the quirky and harmless—you know, like Lady Gaga, who dresses up in outlandish but creative costumes—to the truly wild and jawdropping, like the relative who feels the urgent need to declare to the entire world that her partner gave her a sexually transmitted disease.

There’s no rhyme or reason for the black sheep. He just happens, much like the Joker in the deck of cards you’re shuffling which you thought you’d already removed.

In a number of families, he or she is just the constant butt of jokes—like your elderly aunt who always shows up for the family reunion with yet another escort young enough to be her grandson.

Then there is the drug addict in the respectable family of lawyers who constantly fails to get rehabilitated.

* * * *
I MUST admit that when I was campaigning for then-senator Noynoy Aquino last year, the most difficult criticism I had to fend off was not that he had no credible political track record to speak of, but that he had Kris Aquino, the TV celebrity, as his sister.

Unwarranted or not, Kris has become the epitome of what family black sheep are all about. One could easily dismiss it as her being born in the month of February and being an Aquarian, given to eccentricities, but even I, who share the same birth month and zodiac sign with her, and can come from the left field at times, am constantly stumped by her erratic behavior.

The potential voters I talked with then warned me that if and when Senator Aquino would become president, Kris would lord (lady?) over it in Malacañang. After all, Aquino has no wife, so who else would function as his First Lady? Certainly, they said, his other sisters—Ballsy, Pinky and Viel—had their own lives and families to get back to, and they felt that Kris, who always seems to crave the spotlight, would revel in the role of de-facto First Lady.

I, of course, defended my then-candidate that, no, Kris would have her showbiz life to go back to, and also her family—Josh, Baby James and Big James. I remember saying that with the amount of financial support Kris would send her brother’s way for his campaign, she would need to earn these back through more showbiz projects and product endorsements. I supremely believed then that when he won, Aquino would thank the bunso for her tremendous backing, then send her merrily away back to showbiz.

I guess those guys I talked with last year are now laughing at me, because what they had predicted has come to pass. Who else could have suggested to now President Noynoy Aquino to appoint Girl Abunda as tourism secretary? Ach. (By the way, just for the record, I also admit that I eventually didn’t vote for Senator Aquino after seeing how he poorly handled the infighting in his camp.)

* * * *
BUT what family, like I said, doesn’t have a black sheep—a relative who can be a continued cause of embarrassment? Of course, for political families, it can be quite devastating.

A story by ABC News in 2007—published on the occasion of the arrest of Al Gore III, son of the former US Vice President and then-yet-to-become Nobel Laureate, for possessing marijuana and prescription drugs—cited a number of famous political black sheep.

Former US President John Henry Adams had a son, Charles, who was an alcoholic. Others include the great Democrat Franklin Roosevelt’s son who became a Republican; the drinking and free-wheeling Alice, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt; William Henry Harrison’s sons (one an embezzler, another an alcoholic); the late Sen. Teddy Kennedy—himself a black sheep because of the infamous Chappaquiddick incident—and his son Patrick, now a congressman himself, who had a substance-abuse problem in his youth and was dragged into a rape controversy with his cousin William Kennedy Smith, among others.

And even before Kris, there have been also quite a number of presidential siblings who had gained notoriety: Jimmy Carter had Billy, who was on the payroll of the Libyan government; George W. Bush had Neil, who was said to have engaged the services of prostitutes; and Bill Clinton had a half-brother, Roger, a cocaine user and alcoholic (not to mention, a bad Elvis Presley impersonator).

To their credit, the older Aquino sisters knew that Kris could be a liability to their President-brother’s governance, so they apparently exhorted her to give up her showbiz talk shows.

(Of course, Kris being Kris, she stole the show once more just three days before her brother’s inaugural by admitting to the entire world that she has given up on her marriage to basketball player James Yap. UPDATE: Kris and her children flew to the U.S. on July 8, 2010 and is said to be taking a 3-week vacation.)



One only wonders how these six years of semi-seclusion from the public life will affect Kris. For all we know, being under the constant watch of her sisters could do her good. It can’t be easy for Kris, who lives to hog the headlines, to have her every action monitored and controlled by her siblings.

What many wish for Kris—and really, despite her antics, I admire how she always puts her children’s needs ahead of hers—is perhaps, a Teddy Kennedy moment. Once an embarrassment for his entire family, Kennedy - also the bunso among nine siblings and born in February as well - eventually shed off the bad behavior and became one of the most revered politicians of our generation. (Now, I don't mean that Kris should become a politician like Kennedy or her brother and father, although it wouldn't be surprising if she does enter the field herself, but to just well, grow up. And maybe shut up about herself sometimes. It doesn't have to be all about you all the time, Kris!)

So, you see, there is some hope for black sheep after all. I would like to believe that, eventually, Kris will find her real place in the sun, and instead of being someone that her siblings would always have to watch over, become a constant and major source of pride for her family.

(My column Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life Section of the BusinessMirror. Black sheep photo from www.mi9.com. Yap family photo from Reuters via www.daylife.com)

Ang pagbabalik ng...

DA WHO!

1. This recently-elected political hotshot certainly knows how to throw parties and give gifts to his supporters. After winning the recent elections, he threw a party at a 5-star hotel for his family and campaign volunteers. It's quite certain that he didn't pay a single centavo for the said party, as is his usual custom. Last Saturday, Mr. Hotshot hosted a birthday party of the spouse of one Presidential relative, who he gifted w/ a brand-new car. He also added to the merriment, held at a public university, by giving out expensive raffle prizes including trips abroad. Bingo!

2. Ms. Separada looks like she's depressed right now, but our sources have it, she is actually playing the romantic card w/ a very much married politician, said to have his sights on a higher political office in 2016. What she may not know is Mr. Married Politico has also been regularly seeing another woman (aside from her and his wife) who works in the hotel industry. We're pretty sure he's not just out to investigate the problems of the workers in her industry. Bam!

3. When a major scam hit the former occupant of Malacañang, this former head of a govt agency was said to have fled to country supposedly due to threats on his life, bec. of what he supposedly knew about said scam. The truth is, the scam became a convenient cover for his own personal scandal. Apparently, Mr. Ex-govt agency head was caught having an affair w/ a woman connected to a food testing lab.

Stumbling on the truth of her husband's les affaires, Mr. Ex-govt agency head's wife supposedly made sumbong to her cousin, a Senator who recently ran in the May elections, who promptly gave the ex-agency head a dressing down. Forced to see the error of his ways, Mr. Ex-govt agency head tried to woo his wife back by bringing her to the States. During their stay there, he privately told his close relatives and friends that he had been playing "driver" to his wife. Btw, there's no truth to the rumor that Mr. Ex-gov't agency head's favorite color is Pink.

Shalani's long wait

(President Noynoy Aquino and Valenzuela Councilor Shalani Soledad. Photo from Inquirer.net)

IT all started with my friend Casper’s Facebook status one morning last week.

He said: “P-Noy should exercise presidential prerogative and break protocol to let his girlfriend sit at the front row with his sisters at his inaugural. Pinoys love a good love story, and this is a good one for this nation of telenovela lovers.”

Casper, of course, was referring to the lovely Shalani Soledad, who recently won another term as councilor of Valenzuela. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like the fresh-faced Shalani...except maybe for presidential sister Kris? Hehehe.

The girl seems to be shy and soft-spoken—remember how she absolutely avoided talking to the press about her relationship to then just plain Sen. Noynoy Aquino after he had just filed his certificate of candidacy? This was one of the endearing things about Shalani, I suppose, and the romantics among the media who covered the then-senator just couldn’t stop needling him when he would marry the young lady.

After Casper’s declaration, his friends followed suit, commenting that they agreed with him. I was the spoilsport who didn’t support his proposed seating arrangement.

First of all, Shalani and her disarming smile, is still just a girlfriend, I said. The relationship between her and now President Noynoy could prosper—or it may not. There is no commitment between these two lovebirds to get married to each other, at least, that's what they've said so themselves. They are not engaged, so strictly speaking, Shalani isn’t family (unlike, of course, Girl Abunda, who has declared himself to be the fifth Aquino sister).

Also I told Casper, the electoral campaign was over, P-Noy had already won and “[he] should have enough sense not to use the relationship as a gimmick just to entertain the masses. There are more than enough telenovelas to deliver on that.”

But on the day Casper made his statement of support on behalf of Shalani’s place at her boyfriend’s inauguration, the gossip mill started churning out the bit that the President and his girlfriend were no longer an item. There was even one news report quoting Shalani denying the rumor which apparently had been swirling since P-Noy’s proclamation in Congress.

The rumor pointed to the fact that Shalani was seated four rows behind P-Noy’s sisters during his proclamation in Congress, and just beside singer/composer Ogie Alcasid. Also, she was absent at the small dinner celebration the Aquinos held with P-Noy’s buddies and schoolmates at Luk Foo, that Cantonese restaurant beside Puregold Supermarket along Commonwealth Avenue. (Good restaurant choice by P-Noy, by the way. Just simple and straightforward Chinese dishes, and inexpensive.)

Apparently, Casper also heard the rumor and by late afternoon of that day, he told me that the breakup was all true. He added that his respect for P-Noy even rose higher because of the latter’s reason for the breakup. “Para sa bayan?” I asked. Casper confirmed that, yes, supposedly P-Noy did it because he wanted to focus first on the task at hand, i.e., leading the nation.

Well, P-Noy’s inauguration on Wednesday went swimmingly without much incident at the Quirino Grandstand, and thank God it didn’t rain. But, of course, quite a number of people watching the ceremonies on TV noticed that Shalani was seated behind the Aquino sisters, specifically behind the President's sister, Viel Aquino-Dy. I don’t know if the seating plan is a clue to whether Shalani and P-Noy are still together or not. But why would you invite an ex-girlfriend to your inaugural ceremony, right? That’s kinda weird. And according to a GMA news report, it was P-Noy himself who chose Shalani’s designer for the event.

I think it’s already significant that Shalani was there. I don’t think people should make mountains about the molehill-fact that she was seated behind P-Noy's sisters. To me, it just means protocol was strictly followed by the inauguration team. We’re under a new administration after all, so it’s to be expected that proper decorum and rules on conduct are followed.

But gads, I would really hate to be in Shalani’s shoes these days. It can’t be easy when one’s relationships are put under the microscope, or in P-Noy and Shalani’s case, under close media scrutiny. Every move each partner in the relationship is constantly dissected, assessed, deconstructed and analyzed to no end. God help Shalani if on her way to work, she leaves her house with her hair all wet and unkempt. People will probably immediately dismiss her as unfit to be P-Noy’s wife!

Of course, the same kind of scrutiny goes for P-Noy’s siblings.

For instance, Miggy noticed that when Kris arrived at the Quirino Grandstand, she kissed a number of the guests, but didn’t even bother to greet Shalani. No beso-beso, no nothing. When Miggy put this out on her Facebook status, the comments poured in from her friends who also noticed the same. I missed that bit on the screen myself, so I couldn’t comment. (At the inauguration street party at the Quezon Memorial Circle later that night though, many noted that Shalani was seated beside Kris. So all's well, perhaps between this two?)

As a woman, I feel for Shalani. There is just too much pressure put on her, being the presidential girlfriend. As she said so in a lengthy newspaper interview back in April, she really has to mind what she wears these days. When before she could just dress up casually (“I go to the supermarket na naka-slippers, naka-shorts”), she now checks herself constantly, making sure her shorts or her skirts are of the proper length. (Well, Shalani was so gorgeous in her yellow terno by Rajo Laurel—a surprise—during the inauguration. She really stood out in her simplicity, and looked so much better than, sorry, P-Noy’s sisters, Kris included. Whoever made that 'Big Bird' terno for Kris and those updated Maria Claras for the other sisters should be shot.)

Of course, many people wonder if the relationship will last, now that Shalani's boyfriend is the new President of the Philippines. Sure, it’s a feat any girlfriend should be awfully proud of, but as Shalani said so herself, she expects there would be less time for them to be together. Even if she is mature enough to comprehend the realities of the situation, I’m sure she can’t help but wonder when she and P-Noy are even going out on a date again. At the same time, she will feel guilty for thinking just that. How can she put that kind of pressure on someone who has more problems to think about than setting the next date with his girlfriend?

Fortunately for Shalani, she will be busy with her own job as councilor, filing ordinances, and trying to get them passed by their city hall. She will have her family or close set of friends to hang out with after her work is done for the day.

Whatever happens, I wish Shalani the strength to take whatever difficulties may come in maintaining such a high-profile relationship with P-Noy. Between her and P-Noy, she will have to be the more understanding one. She will have to be the patient one, and the forgiving one, especially when dates have to be broken for reasons of the state, or when, yes, he bitches a little because he’s too busy to listen to her making lambing on the phone.

(President Noynoy and Shalani are certainly no Michael Douglas and Annette Benning in The American President.)

The romantics among us continue to imagine P-Noy and Shalani’s relationship as the same as Michael Douglas and Annette Benning’s which managed to beat the odds in the film The American President, but, really, it isn’t. In real life, a 30-year-old woman who could have anyone as her beau, and with marriage and children perhaps on her mind, is bound to ask herself if her boyfriend, the President, is worth the six-year wait.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror.)

Plug gaps or nix poll automation

'Before the next automated election, all the loopholes in the PCOS and the automated election process should be firmly plugged by either the current provider or by another more assiduous supplier. If not, a reversion to manual elections with heightened vigilance by organizations like the PPCRV and NAMFREL would probably yield more credible and accurate results. Comelec Director Jose Tolentino is right. The problem is not automation but the people running the automation, which is to say, the same people whose perennial and persistent misconduct of manual elections prompted the conversion to automation in the first place. Guns really don’t shoot people, people shoot people. Machines don’t cheat, people do. Unfortunately, the same people are still running Comelec despite periodic changes of Commissioners over the years and the leadership of well-meaning chairmen such as the incumbent.' (Rep. Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., Chairman's Report on the Alleged Fraud and Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) Machine Manipulation in the May 10, 2010 Automated Elections, June 28, 2010)

Observations, Conclusions and Recommendations on the alleged fraud in the May 2010 elections (Rep. Teodoro...

The full report here.

Vinyl

The attic is usually the space where we store our memories—mementos of a great time gone by through old black-and-white photos; proof of one’s accomplishments in the form of trophies, diplomas and old report cards; in my case, books that I no longer have the space for in my present bedroom (I was quite the bookworm in my younger days), as well as old reporter’s notebooks and important documents which I keep as a sort of protection in case anyone decides that a story I wrote about him five or 10 years ago has irreparably injured his reputation or business. (Not that this has ever happened, but still….)

Among the stuff I found were my Papa’s old vinyl records. He had such a diverse collection, from the sappy Roger Williams piano recordings, to nice and easy Frank Sinatra and the romantic Jack Jones; from the intense Latin grooves of Cal Tjader and deep percussion from various artists, to the breezy stylings of Stanley Black and Tommy Dorsey. He also had soundtrack albums like the Broadway musicale Camelot—which always stood out among his record collection because of its vibrant red color—and the film hit From Russia with Love, with a young and handsome Sean Connery staring at me from the jacket cover. (From Something Like Life, BusinessMirror, June 25, 2010)

Sex and the city

It is called a vagina. Not flower, not ponggay, not “your private part.” That’s the female genitalia for you.

For males, they have what is called a penis. Not a pitutuy, birdie, or pee-pee.

It is amazing that in this post-post modern age we live in where we Filipinos are trailblazers in using technology, we remain backward in our attitudes toward sexuality.

Have you ever called your arm, ear or any part of your anatomy by an infantile name? Or just the body parts that you think are “dirty?” (Click Something Like Life for the rest.)

Where to go for Father's Day?

I would trust these treats from Chef J. Gamboa and sister Malu:



Oof! That cochinillo is calling out my name.

Our pal Al

(Al Gore receives a plaque of appreciation from Hans Sy, president of SM Prime Holdings. SM Prime Holdings brought the former US Vice President to the country for the third leg of the Leadership Conference Series, with the theme "The Leader as Environment Steward." Photo courtesy Campaigns & Grey)

FOR those who’ve been asking, no, I don’t have a photo with former US Vice President Al Gore. The Nobel laureate was in town on Tuesday giving an updated Asian version of his global-warming lecture.

Unfortunately, unlike last year when former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair came over and I managed to have two photos taken, there was no press conference that followed our pal Al’s lecture. I understand a provision in his contract prohibited press interviews. (Suplado naman.)

So sorry, friends, you won’t be seeing any photos of me and Al showing up on my Facebook profile anytime soon. True, I could’ve attended the postdinner lecture and photo-op with him, but duty called and I had to write the news story about his lecture. Rats. (Click Something Like Life for the rest. My column is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror.)

* * * *
WHILE work commitments prevented me from attending the festivities after the lecture, I managed to get hold of the much talked about "sustainable menu" of dishes served during the cocktails which was prepared by the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.

"Sustainability-Makati Shangri-a's social responsibility extends to the way we value history, tradition, culture and environmental impact.

"This evening's glocal cocktail menu prepared by our creative chefs celebrates Filipino ingenuity at its best - social entrepreneurs that bring only the best of locally-grown Filipino ingredients whilst catering to an exquisite global palate."

Menu

Seared yellow fin tuna with wasabi mayonnaise of japanese cucumber
-Sourced from the fishermen of Mindoro, traditional hand-line fishing method was used to catch the tuna as opposed to open cast net - the first sustainable fish source from the Coral Triangle.

Kesong Puti with Cherry Tomato Salsa
-The kesong puti is sourced from organically-fed water buffalos in the province of Laguna

Blue cheese flan with caramelized onion and candied walnuts
-the low-emission blue cheese is sourced from a local cheese maker in Bulacan

Shredded Pork Adobo Puff
-Meat is sourced from a local piggery farm in Rizal.

Strawberry tartlets, calamansi sacher lollipop, tres leches and banana crumble stew
-The organically grown calamansi and banana are sourced locally from the province of La Union and Pangasinan while the sweetness of the strawberries are grown naturally from the highlands of Bukidnon

Sustainable cuisine is the current rage among environmental folk and these are dishes basically made from ingredients that have the least impact on the environment, i.e. beef from cows not injected w/ hormones, organic vegetables, fish raised from fishponds, etc. Not only will these help protect the environment, the dishes are supposed to be healthier as well as the ingredients don't have any of those preservatives and pesticides normally found in meats and greens.

So congratulations to the Makati Shang's chefs for coming up with these interesting pica-pica. I hope I have the chance to try the same in some future event. But first, can someone please explain to me just what "low emission" blue cheese" is about? ;p

A hotelier's charmed life

IT’S impossible to have conversation with Señor Miguel G. Cerqueda without laughing and reminiscing about the time he managed The Manila Hotel. After all, a large chunk of his 30-year career in the hotel industry was spent at what was once known as the “Grand Dame” of hotels in the country.

Fondly called the “ghostbuster” by his staff, it was Señor who would bravely sleep alone in some suites allegedly haunted, after ghostly apparitions were reported. (“She was on drugs! She was hallucinating!” he dismissed one such report of a woman so scared out of her wits by the supposed shadow of a little girl, she ran screaming in the hallway in the middle of the night.) Over lunch at the Astoria Plaza, which he now oversees, we joke about a few more ghost stories that he has been able to credibly explain away. (Click Sunday BusinessMirror, March 21, 2010 for the rest.)

Remembering Gary Coleman and Dennis Hopper

Coleman’s road was both more and less difficult than those of his cast mates. He was unquestionably a superstar, overshadowing them with his radiant charisma and boundless energy, but the kidney condition that enabled him, even as a teen, to play the world’s most precocious little brother on TV also complicated his life in ways most of us will never understand. We, his fans, grew up and moved on, but he stayed down there, stuck in a show-business netherworld, his increasingly incongruous physical appearance a source of lasting amusement to certain people my age, but never to me. (Click Remembering Gary Coleman w/o irony.)

Also, Dennis Hopper's photographs in Vanity Fair

First sister Kris Aquino

SCB: You called Pastor Quiboloy your best friend before he endorsed Gibo (Teodoro)...
KA: Ay inaway ko siya after. Tinext ko siya, “We could’ve been best friends. Ngayon friend na lang, not so close pa.”

SCB: Did he answer?
KA: Yes, sabi niya “You know that in my heart you’re my friend and Noy.” Tapos sinabi ko sa kanya “Not so. Na-miss mo ‘yung friendship.” (The rest of the interview at Manila Bulletin.)

Cringe.

Sound bites

POLITICS is one helluva nasty business!

You’re suddenly surrounded by groupies all trying to paint you as God’s gift to humanity, but clearly just enjoying the free food you serve after every campaign rally.

Then you have your family members at one point, trying to dissuade you from pursuing your candidacy for fear of your safety and that of the family’s. But when your victory seems inevitable, they quickly entertain thoughts of which interior designer to call and measure the windows in your new office for the new drapery.

You also have close friends giving you all sort of contrarian advice just to add more to your confusion on what policy measures to adopt once you are declared the winner. Of course, all these so-called buddies will probably be the first to line up and try to get appointments in your government, or at least get a business contract or two even before you’ve warmed your political seat.

* * * * *
Politics is all about relationships: forming new ones, letting go of those that don’t work, and trying to make the most advantage of the ones still remaining —all in the pursuit of power and administering control of governments or businesses.

And amid the cementing of alliances, there will also be treachery. Two major candidates in the last elections have already publicly experienced that bitter truth. The six-month exercise showed exactly who their real friends and supporters were, and who had stabbed them in the back for the backstabber’s own selfish goals.

For one, you had a presidential candidate who junked his own godfather's political party which he was to inherit at some point, in favor of his President's party of thieves. Unfortunately, the presidentita's own consort supported another presidential candidate in a bid to protect their own family’s financial interests and secure their protection from possible lawsuits.

Then you had a vice presidential candidate who gave his all-out support to his party’s standard-bearer, only for the latter to leave him by the wayside to his own devices. And despite the standard-bearer's own half-hearted announcements of support to his VP candidate, he declined to whip his own family members and groupies in line who supported a corrupt candidate instead.

As noted film director Jean Renoir once said: “Is it possible to succeed without any act of betrayal?”

* * * * *
IN my own case, I’m glad the electoral exercise is over.

As usual, we had to contend with the megalines, hot heads complaining about their missing names, and suffering teachers that seem to be part and parcel of every election. Thank God, the polls were generally flawless, and the results quick enough to determine clear winners, although as of this writing, the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms is still hearing allegations of electoral fraud.

But it’s understandable how many of us were simply putting our lives on the hold, declining to make major business decisions or even taking trips despite it being the summer vacation season, as we were all uneasy about the elections.

I, too, had to bump off a few appointments, and my standard response to lunch/dinner invites from friends would be “after the elections na lang ha?” just to drive home the point how much the run-up to the political exercise was dominating my life.

For another, I wasn’t able to sleep my usual eight-hour beauty rest because I was tethered to my Mac updating a blog aimed at informing the public with news, surveys and other data about their favorite candidates. Stress eating and lack of exercise were also taking its toll on my health, e.g., a three-month cough that wouldn’t quit until I finally managed to catch up on my sleep starting last weekend.

Now I’m back to my asleep-at-2am-and-awake-at-10am routine, still enough time to catch Ted Failon and Pinky Webb giggling and throwing furtive glances at each other on dzMM Teleradyo. (I must agree with Manong Johnny, who by the way, I mistakenly voted for—long story, don’t ask—when he told the radio couple, “Bagay na bagay kayo!” Manong Johnny is very happy!)

* * * * *
MY own relationships with idiot relatives and some so-called friends were also getting caught up in the heat of the debates, especially since we had supported different candidates.

How I wish I belonged to an entrepreneurial family where members gather and agree to support different candidates to protect their business interests. For instance, in one political/business family with interests in the banking industry during the Marcos regime but are also considered power brokers today, two brothers supported the fake impoverished presidential candidate, while their youngest brother placed his bet on the candidate whose only claim to fame is having famous parents.

So no matter which presidential candidate wins the election, this family’s businesses are safe. They’ve kept their eye on the bigger prize, and the entire family won. With such an understanding, no one gets hurt if one brother airs his views favoring his own candidate over his other brother’s bet, and vice versa.

Unfortunately, as I discovered in my case, some family members turned out to be users and were only loyal to whoever gave them the most funds for their campaign, instead of being grateful to the one who nurtured their careers in the first place. Yes, I hear you...that’s politics. But I simply detest such hypocrisy and their defense of the crooked politician they had attached themselves to. I now wonder if it’ll ever be safe for me to go home to my province after this.

Some of the campaign issues also divided a few buddies and me and have resulted in some irreconcilable differences. I know, I know, people always say that the safest discussion is nonpolitical talk.

On Facebook alone, a couple of long-time friends have been unmasked as traitors to the cause, and have thus been either deleted/blocked or walled out by my extremely high-privacy settings. (It’s silly, I know, but on Facebook, it’s much easier to detect who is being true to his word, or just giving you a whole lot of BS for the sake of friendship.) Some I caught telling me one thing privately, and seeking alliances and, right on their wall, saying exactly another.

I’ve been spied at bitched at, and lied to, but then, yes, I only have myself to blame for being so vocal about my own opinions.

Perhaps, when we’ve all become too busy again to care whether the President-elect takes his oath before a barangay captain or a ship captain, some of these broken fences will be mended again. Then again, maybe not.

(Unabridged version of my column May 28, 2010. Something Like Life is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror.)

I'm baaack!

HEY there folks! Sorry I've neglected this blog for quite some time. I had to focus on the elections and informing the voters about voting procedures and all news about their favorite candidates. The counting may not yet be over esp for the Presidential and Vice Presidential slots, but at least the pressure to publish timely news for my readers over there has eased.

In fact, it's been quite a sleepless period for me since I put up Pulitika2010 in January as I had to upload news and opinion pieces from various newspapers and broadcasting networks from 12 midnight until close to 5 a.m. If I happen to nod off in between those times, w/c I sometimes do as my brain just automatically shuts off, my work sometimes ends at 7 am instead. The effect was a really crabby me (okay, more than the usual crabbiness), and a persistent cough that didn't go away 'til I finally got my 8 hours of straight sleep last weekend.

Many readers have asked me if I intend to continue that blog, but I'm not inclined to as I'm still super tired. I need a vacation quick. Besides I put up that blog merely to inform the public about their candidates and other electoral issues. And since the elections are now over...well, let's see. There is a need to keep a close watch on the new President after all. Ach. Btw, I did enjoy learning how to tweet the news, although it can be quite obsessive. I don't know if I should use Twitter for this blog as well, but lemme assess in the next few days if it's necessary.

Anyhoo, I'm back (key in Poltergeist theme here), and I promise to resume writing about my favorite topics like food and travel soon enough. Meanwhile, here's a cute video from Glee (yay Glee!). Try to spot a favorite Filipino brand in the background. Enjoy!

dream 1 @ Yahoo! Video

Magic tricks

(Due to technical issues, BusinessMirror's April 30, 2010 issue wasn't published online. Here's my column from that edition.)

Something Like Life
I’M hardly the fashion plate that will give Carrie Bradshaw a run for her money, but I think I know all about correct proportions and style. This means, I have enough good taste (and common sense) to know whether a piece of clothing looks good on me or not (and for that matter, other women).

As a woman matures and takes on Rubenesque proportions, for instance, there are just some types of clothing or fashion trends that just scream, “HELL NO!”

For instance, there’s nothing more tragic than a 160-pound woman—60 pounds of which rests on her thighs—wearing leggings. I curse the designers that have brought this article of clothing back in fashion again! The last time I wore leggings was about 30 years ago when I was 30 pounds lighter, and I don’t intend to get suckered into this trend again.

But strangely enough, there are some huge women who think if they wear their leggings in black, their gams will look as thin as a walis tingting. Leggings are clingy…it’s still gonna hug your fat thighs hon!

Another pet peeve is seniors who think they can get away with wearing mini-skirts just because they had become recent beneficiaries of scientific breakthroughs. They’ve been freshened up, top up – meaning the boobs have been adjusted to defy gravity, then their faces are line-free and unmoving – and feel they now have a right to show off their spindly legs to the world.

Sure I can understand that a 60-year-old woman who’s just been pinched, pulled and Botoxed can be deluded into believing she is 30 years younger. So she will dare to fit into the skimpy bikini (despite her C-section) or raise her hemline that reflect the inflation rate.

But you know what they say, you can tell a woman’s real age by looking at her knees. So, old dears, next time you get your faces pulled and your lips plumped up, consider having your knees snipped and smoothened over as well. Remember, the knees are covered with skin as well, and as we move into our twilight years, they too will become all wrinkly and saggy just like our faces.


(Have some patience when trying on jeans. Carefully choose the style that will slim down your problem areas or accentuate the positive. From NYT)

You see girlfriends, we just have to be a little more honest with ourselves. When we reach a certain age (or weight), we have to dress and behave more modestly or more appropriately. Sure, we may still have the same bubbly personality as when we were adolescents or when we were just 110 pounds, that doesn’t mean we have to dress the same way as we did then.

I’m not saying we should start wearing granny sweaters any time soon or simply stay at home wearing our dasters. We just need to learn to be more fashionable despite our, uhm…flaws and maturity level. (Also, we ought to be more conscious about how our manner of dressing can affect our friends and family members. As I sometimes tell my 82-year-old mom when I see her try out a dress and the hemline is above her knees, “Ma, bigyan mo ako ng konting kahihiyan!”)

For instance, when I started noticing that I no longer could fit into even the large sizes at the teenage section of my favorite department store, I knew it was time to walk in the foosteps of David Copperfield. See, we women are multi-talented – we can be anything we want to be, even master illusionists! All we need to do is trick everyone’s minds into seeing/believing that we are thinner than we actually are.

So if you have a bit of a paunch, you may consider ditching the two-piece bikini and go for one-piece bathing suits. There are so many colorful and amazing designs for one-piece swimsuits these days, sometimes they’re actually more interesting to wear than the two-piece types. And swimsuit designers have become more creative and imaginative, fabricating pieces that cover up most women’s imperfections – pouchy bellies, teeny boobies, giant boobies, heavy thighs, large waists, etc. You just have to have enough patience to keep trying on those swimsuits until you find the perfect one for you.

If you still want to wear your two-piece swimsuits, go buy yourself a pair of board shorts. So instead of having all those extra layers of blubber spill out over your teensy bikini, the board shorts will keep them all tucked in and well-behaved.

Now if you have love handles, don’t wear a girdle then squash yourself into a pair of tight jeans. Tight jeans around a fleshy middle will push up your abdominal fat and make it bunch up on top of your pants creating that horrible phenomenon called the muffin top! If you must wear jeans, use one that is low cut and sits just below the waist so it will free up your tummy instead of squeezing it.

(There are many swimsuits that are flattering even to the plus-size women.)

Also, if you’re a bit hefty you shouldn’t wear a top made with Lycra. The stretchy fibers will cling to your body and unless you’re wearing Spanx that reaches your boob line, you will look like sausage meat being squeezed out of its casing.

Speaking of Spanx, a number of American women swear by it. For those who don’t know what it is, Spanx is a line of undergarments that shape the body. It’s no longer your run-of-the-mill panty girdles that will flatten the tummy but make you feel asphyxiated and uncomfortable all day. It has tummy tuckers, slimming camisoles that give you some lift up there, power pantyhose that keeps all those extra fats—from your limbs to your tummy—in line, etc. Of course, Spanx became more popular after Oprah Winfrey promoted it on her show. Now it has a line for men as well. (Why men would want to wear Spanx is another story altogether.)

Another pet peeve…seniors who insist on wearing sleeveless shirts or halter-tops. All that saggy skin under the arms makes them look like they’ve grown batwings. Please limit yourself to short sleeved shirts, or if you’ve got the financial resources, have those batwings snipped ASAP!

One last trick…if you have heavy legs but love to wear jeans, consider buying a pair in a solid dark color like black or blue-black. It will create the illusion that you have slim legs, especially if you wear it with heels. See, with just a few magic tricks, we can stay fashionable despite our defects. What’s that song again? “It’s just an illusion…ooh, ooh, ooh, ahah!”

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror.)

Madonna overload on GLEE

THIS was the best episode on GLEE, ever! It wasn't a surprise at all that Cheerios Coach Sue Sylvester was inspired by MADONNA. She attributes her take no prisoners attitude to the Material Girl. Haha.

This was Sylvester's own tribute to Madonna...hysterical!



Yay GLEE!

Live! from New York! heeeere's David Letterman!

Oopsie! Actually, it's the new U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines, Harry K. Thomas Jr. Here he is in his first YouTube address to all of us Pinoys, along w/ a few of his colleagues at the Embassy.



Ang cute ng Lolo nyo noh?! Don't you super appreciate his efforts to speak in Tagalog? Todo-enunciate! hehe.

Don't let the mega-gilagid smile deceive you though. According to American national security expert W. Scott Thompson who appeared in ANC's The Rundown, Ambassador Thomas is the real thing. Having this guy in these parts is a big deal. It's not true that the man has big shoes to fill bec. of his predecessor's record, bec. in fact, she was such a lightweight and apparently, didn't give an accurate picture of what's been happening around these parts to Washington.

The new ambassador means business, w/c means, the U.S. has its eye on us. So the presidentita better not try anything stupid during the elections. Big Brother is watching.

How to use an iPad

JUST when we've all but dismissed the iPad as just another frivolous gadget we don't need...



...here comes a Chinese concert pianist giving it a spin at the end of his concert! Hilarious! (Thanks Alberto for posting.)

Continental Micronesia ready to hike Guam-Manila flights

(David Kendell, Director for Sales and Marketing for Asia and Micronesia, Continental Micronesia. Photo by Rhoy Cobilla)

CONTINENTAL Micronesia (CO) will likely increase its flight frequencies between Guam and Manila, as the impending US military buildup on the island attracts Filipino investors and contractual workers.

David Kendell, the airline’s director for sales and marketing for Asia and Micronesia, told the BusinessMirror: “You’ve got Filipino businessmen and women that may be looking at Guam to start up businesses. You also have a very skilled work force that will [become] contract workers…so you’ll have an influx in demand built up over the next four years. Continental is positioned well to add services. So if we see an increase in demand, we’re ready to act on that.”

About 8,000 US military personnel and their families are expected to relocate to Guam from Okinawa starting 2011. (Click BusinessMirror for the rest.)

'Gusto ko happy ka!'

ONE of the catchiest slogans the electoral campaign season has burped up is probably old man Juan Ponce Enrile’s, “Gusto ko happy ka!”

My friends and I have gotten into the joking habit of using his line every chance we get, not because we’re voting for the geezer (really, we’re not), but just to make a point when we want everything to run smoothly and everyone is satisfied with either their food, purchases or whatnot.

And truly, I may not remember any of the old coot’s sponsored legislation or his privileged speeches given over the years—and, really, hasn’t he been around like forever?—but I will absolutely never forget Manong Johnny’s campaign slogan until the day I die. (Don’t get me wrong, I love old people It’s just that they kinda don’t know when to let go and hand over the reins of the horse to a younger new jockey. Why don’t you travel with a hot new babe, or enjoy your grandkids or something?) (Click Something Like Life for the rest. Photo from Vernon Go's blog)

How to make PR work for you

RECEIVED this announcement from Edd Fuentes, president and CEO of FuentesManila. He also chairs IPRA Phils., the local chapter of public relations specialists and publicists, affiliated with the International Public Relations Association.


(For registration details, contact Ms. Sheena Ramos of IPRA/FuentesManila at 893-9355 or Ms. Sonia Tejada at 638-0010. Students will get discounted rates.)

Hmm, maybe we should send this to HP Phils. and Stratworks. Who knows, their people could actually learn a thing or two about professional PR practices. haha.

Quick(ie) bites

(Chef Alain Rayé in the kitchen preparing our lunch.)

I FINALLY HAD the chance to meet two-star Michelin chef Alain Rayé, chef patron and owner of La Régalade West Vancouver last Friday. He prepared lunch for a few friends and I at La Régalade in Makati, a restaurant co-owned by veteran hotelier, Perfecto "Bubut" Quicho, businessman Antonio "Tony Boy" Cojuangco, and a host of partners - mostly businessmen who revel in fine food and wines.

I'VE gone to La Régalade in Makati a few times since it first opened in late 2008, whenever I've had a hankering for Duck Leg Confit, Manila clams and Lemon Tart. I've always liked the laidback style of the place, and because it's basically quiet, even when there are lot of diners. (Quicho explained to us before that it's because the fabrics they used in their seating, and in their lampshades absorb stray sounds.) What's more, the dishes are moderately priced, easily affordable by even the white-collar working men and women of Makati. And no joke, I've seen them pack this place at lunch!

Chef Alain is pretty much what everyone's idea of a Frenchman is. He is passionate about his food, his wines, and of course, his women. All that translates into his country-cooked dishes which are all heart and soul. These are dishes which you don't have to dress up for in your ballgown and blings, although the restaurant surely won't turn away anyone who does turn up at the door this way. (Picture this, Manila clams cooked in white wine and pepper cream sauce, then use some of their marvelous crusty bread to sop up the sauce. It's fabulous when you have some chilled white wine to wash it all down. At the end of a meal like this, I can't help but lightly suck at my fingertips just to taste some more of the clams delightfully salty-sweet piquant sauce.)

Some people have described Chef Alain's dishes as comfort food - like that bowl of steaming bulalo on a lovely rainy day. I think his genius lies in making his simple rustic dishes evoke so much feelings of extreme pleasure and immense satisfaction. So to me, it's more like the afterglow after a round of quick rough sex. It's intensely gratifying but you are left wanting for more.

Here are the dishes we had for lunch, in smaller portions though from the usual, just so we could have a sampling of what's being served on his special menu.


(Parmesan cheese w/ tomatoes served w/ a side salad in tapenade dressing - your basic vinaigrette w/ black olives tapenade. The sour-sweet combination of the salad complements the salty grated cheese topped by the sweetness of the juicy ripe tomato slices.)



(Fried prawns w/ fresh thyme. Very light, w/ the prawns succulent - a perfect summer dish. Perhaps bec. fresh thyme was used, there were only some hints of the latter; and does not overpower the dish w/ its usually strong flavor.)



(Daube of veal cheeks, left, with creamy potato gratin on the side. Pinoys use pork cheeks basically for our sisig, along w/ other portions of the pig's mouth and snout. Who would've thought that on its own, especially from a young pig, the cheeks would be so fleshy? Cooked slowly in red wine, the dish is decidedly tender and just easy to slice into. The tomato confit and fried basil lends the dish some sweet punch, w/ the dark chocolate easing in some tartness.)



(Left, Tarte Tatin and Tarte Chocolat on the right, w/c my spoon sliced into. Known around our parts as molten lava chocolate cake, the Tarte Chocolat oozes w/ a lot of chocolatey goodness. Some may find these a little too sugary, but for those w/ a sweet tooth, these would be probably winners for them. The capuccino that was served w/ these creations was excellent, however. The restaurant only uses Illy coffee, and so Cheffy was genuinely surprised when we told him that we produce exceptional coffee beans here in the Phils. as well, some of w/c make their away abroad.)

The Makati restaurant is currently holding its 1st Food Festival, w/ Chef Alain whipping up French bistro fare for dinner. And I must tell you, those tables are going fast, so reservations are very much encouraged. Ricky Banaag, a partner in the restaurant (another foodie, but whose dayjob is overseeing Intel Phils.' operations) says they've had to make even some of the co-owners - I won't say who - wait for their tables, esp. when they stroll in unannounced w/ no reservations. (Just a note, the two Michelin stars the chef earned back home in Paris were for his luxury fine-dining fare, so don't expect any of that in here - remember, no ballgowns, tuxedos and blings. I forgot to ask Chef Alain though if he missed that kind of complicated cooking at all.)


(The menu for the food festival. Some have commented that some dishes on the menu are not exactly French, but as Chef Alain says, "you've got to have some balance." I would think as this is bistro fare, the restaurant needs to put in some easily recognizable dishes, esp. for those unintiated in French cuisine. But he stresses that, for instance, "gnocchi is not just Italian," as there are a lot of French recipes that use potatoes in a similar manner - dumplings style w/ a variety of sauces.)

Chef Alain says the dishes the diners respond to the most will probably end up in the restaurant's main dining menu. (I just hope they still keep my old favorites!) And bec. he is so impressed w/ the quality of our seafood here, he will also be creating more seafood dishes for the new menu. Of course the challenge for the restaurant's owners now is to maintain the same exceptional Rayé quality of the cuisine, even when Chef Alain has gone home to Canada. (Believe me, we tried to persuade him to stay here. But Manila is just too hot for the chef. And after seeing his iPhone's photos of the morning scenery from his bedroom window back home, we don't blame him for wanting stay there!)

Now, it's not everytime you get to have your dinner cooked by a two-star Michelin chef, so I suggest you not waste your time and reserve a table right now. La Regalade's 1st Food Festival lasts until April 18. For inquiries, call 750-2104 and 05, or check out their web site at www.laregalademanila.com.

Mane tales

WHEN the heat of the summer season begins to sizzle, most of us usually pay more attention to our skin, slathering oils and lotions to protect and moisturize. What we tend to forget, however—perhaps because it has the tendency to just uhm, hang about—is our hair.

Hairstylist Cherry Tiosejo-Reyes and proprietor of Toni&Guy Essensuals Manila, says that just like any part of our body, we should also pay extra attention to our locks, especially during this season. The sun’s ultraviolet rays tend to dry out any ounce of moisture in our hair, so it needs proper conditioning every so often.

With the Earth’s thinning ozone layer already proven to do harmful damage on our skin, I am almost inclined to start wearing hats these days. Actually, I don’t understand why we here in the Philippines don’t wear hats more often, considering we live at least half of the year under the blazing sun. Don’t you find umbrellas just too cumbersome? (Click Something Like Life. Photo from the web, via BM.)

More on HP Phils. and the Stratworks issue

WE are re-posting a press statement from CyberPress:

April 4, 2010

CyberPress Official Statement

The IT Journalists Association of the Philippines (CyberPress) is issuing this statement to clear the issues regarding an incident involving our board officer Melvin Calimag and co-founder and former member Red Samar.

On March 1, 2010, Mr. Calimag wrote a story on the resignation of Ms. Bernadette Nacario, HP Philippines country manager for Personal Systems Group (PSG). The company branded the story as false although it did confirm on the following day that Ms. Nacario has indeed resigned. The CyberPress firmly believes that the story is true and correct in its totality.

Calimag, a long-time IT contributor of the InfoTech section of the Manila Bulletin, was told to stop writing for the paper. Samar, on the other hand, was the editor of the same section for 14 years, was stripped of his editorial responsibilities.

We don’t question the management prerogative of Manila Bulletin. However, the drastic turn of events was a direct result of a questionable action done by HP Philippines and its local PR agency, STRATWORKS, which communicated directly with Manila Bulletin Executive Vice President – Advertising Department Emil Yap in clear violation of journalism and PR protocol and ethics.

HP Philippines executive Bernadette Nacario and STRATWORKS PR manager Harold Geronimo said Mr. Yap asked them that a “letter of clarification” be sent to him immediately. But, even if it was Mr. Yap who initiated the communication, it was patently inappropriate for them to directly engage with Mr. Yap without involving the people on the ground – the editor and the reporter.

They sent the letter to Mr. Yap, who also serves as the paper’s executive vice president for advertising, when the matter was clearly editorial in nature. They did not contact the reporter and editor until two weeks later when Mr. Samar was asked by Mr. Yap to reply to the letter.

However, Mr. Calimag, as the writer of the story and the one directly involved in the issue, has not received any communication from either HP or STRATWORKS.

In any dispute regarding factual errors, the accepted proper course of action would have been a letter to the editor or a libel suit. What HP Philippines and STRATWORKS did set a very dangerous precedent in the journalism profession. There was obviously an attempt to influence the newspaper owner, suppress editorial integrity, and press freedom.

It is very unfortunate that this controversy has marred the good relationship of HP Philippines with CyberPress, which has been covering the company ever since its establishment in 1996.

Information Technology Journalists Association of the Philippines
(ITJAP/CyberPress)

Buyer beware!

So, how did I go from an $829 iPad to a $1,170 tab? In a word: Accessories.

Knowing I'll want to do some serious typing on the iPad, I sprung for the $69 keyboard dock (ka-ching!). To protect my iPad (and prop it up on any flat surface), I went for the $39 case (ka-ching!). I added the $29 USB power adaptor because I will want to charge my iPad in multiple locations, and the $29 VGA adapter so that I can view it on any display I own (double ka-ching!).

Oh, and I took the $99 AppleCare Protection Plan, which extends the 90 days of tech support and 1 year warranty (including the battery) to two years. (Big ka-ching!) Shipping was free, but sales tax added another $76.58 to the tab (ka-ching! to the State of New Jersey). (Click How My $499 iPad Purchase Became a $1,170 Credit Card Bill.)

HERE's my earlier take on the iPad. Will definitely wait a year or so until all the bugs and apps are fixed before considering to buy one.